Chapters In the Center of Ponyville
It was a seemingly normal day for princess Twilight Sparkle, she spent time with her friends, went to the market, and even found a little time for herself, sure things were different ever since she became a princess, ponies often tried to give her the royal treatment no matter how much she detested it, yet she still managed as if she were a normal pony. After doing her daily routine, Twilight likes to stop and eat, today it was just her and her number one assistant, Spike, Twilight was enjoying a nice dandelion sandwich while Spike chose to eat some gems he brought with him. " Wow Twilight, today has been real peaceful, you only had to talk two ponies out of not giving you the royal treatment," his statement made her blush slightly, which in turn made the young dragon chuckle slightly.
Twilight, still blushing from slight embarrassment, turned her head away slightly from her adoptive brother, " Well, I can't help that I'd rather be treated like a normal pony than as a princess," she stated, What she said was indeed true, Twilight wasn't very fond of how her new "subjects" treated her, she was much more comfortable with just being plain old Twilight Sparkle, but this new life did have as many ups as it did downs, " Anyway Spike, since we've done everything for today I think we should start planning tomorrows schedule as soon as we get home," Spike couldn't help but groan, he didn't exactly like planning things out, he preferred letting things happen as they do instead of planning out each and every little event, but living with Twilight, he didn't exactly have a say in the matter. Twilight was about to start talking again when screams from near by filled her ears, " Scratch that Spike, sounds like trouble," Spike thanked Faust on the inside, whatever it was that was going on had just saved him from another night of tedious schedule planning.
Several ponies screamed and fled as the slightly injured dragon walked into Ponyvile, he wasn't large for dragon standards, but he didn't exactly look friendly, in fact the first pony that had attempted to speak to him received some form of threat. He growled out of annoyance as the ponies fled, " Fools, all of them," he grunts as he grabbed his injured side, it dripped blood and looked burnt. He was slightly surprised to see a pony running towards him for a change, " Well this is interesting," his attention had mostly turned towards the young dragon that sat on her back.
Upon hearing the screams, Twilight put Spike on her and ran as fast as her legs would take her as she ran towards the source of the screams. She arrived to see an empty street which confused her greatly, " What the hay is going on, just a second ago there were screams all over, and now there's not a soul to be seen," she said. Spike began to shake nervously and tapped Twilight on the back of the head and point, " What is it Spike I'm.....looking....oh," just a few yards away from her stood a dragon like creature that stood just as tall as princess Celestia, his skin was as black as charcoal, is eyes were as red as the very blood that poured out of his side, one of the strangest features on him were his horns, he had two on the back of his head, yes that seemed normal for dragon standards, but then there was a third horn that sat above his eyes in the middle like that of a unicorns. " Sweet Celestia, what am i looking at, he looks like a dragon, but hes much to small, and I don't think I've ever seen a dragon with features like those ," as she stayed stuck in her thoughts the dragon in question was slowly walking towards her, despite how desperately Spike was attempting to get her attention.
It didn't long for the dragon to reach Twilight, he easily towered over here despite being hunched over slightly in pain, " And who are you," he said in a slightly cold tone. She audibly gulped from the slight scare he gave her, he on the other hoof was looking her over very thoroughly, " Your an alicorn, how surprising....," he could feel anger welling up inside of him, but it was quickly replaced by pain as it shot through his entire body, he grudgingly looking at the bleeding spot on his side which he did his best to cover up with his wing.
The expression on Twilight's face quickly turned from fear into that of concern as she eyed his wound, whatever did that to him must have wanted him gone, " A..are you alright sir," she asked cautiously.
He looked slightly taken aback by her question, since he had woken up she was the first pony to not only not flee from him or try to attack him, but also to ask if he was OK, " I'm.....I do not know, this injury pains me greatly...ngh," he did his best to not show how much pain he was really in, but to no avail.
Twilight didn't hesitate in grabbing the dragons clawed foot with her hoof as she tried to lead him to her home, " Please come this way mister??," she realized she didn't know his name yet, and thought now would be a better time than any.
He wasted no time in answering, " Shade, Midnight Shade," he didn't say anything other than his name before going silent.
" Alright Shade, please come this way, I'll tend to that wound, perhaps there's a spell I can use...cause after everyponies reaction to you just a bit ago, I don't think the hospital would be the best place to take you, now hurry, before it gets infected," she tried her best to remain her calm demeanor by making small talk, this however proved pointless due to after saying his name, Shade would not speak another word. It wasn't until they reached the castle entrance that Twilight attempted talking to him again, " I know this isn't exactly time to ask this, but what are you,".
She honestly didn't expect him to speak, but much to her surprise, he did, " I guess it's only fair I tell you, but first, get me inside," Twilight nodded and led him inside to a guess room where he climbed into bed and laid on his uninjured side.
As soon as he laid down she had went to searching through a book for healing spell," OK Shade, as soon as i start fixing you up i want you to explain who and what you are," she had quickly found a healing spell and combined that with her knowledge of first aid procedures, and began to work on healing his wound to the best of her ability.
Deep inside Shade was feeling rather angry at the fact an alicorn, the very thing that encased him in crystal, was tending to the wounds he got during his escape, but the anger soon left him as he began to lose himself in thought. He was slowly remembering how exactly he got the injury, he knew he had gotten it after being freed, but the rest was a blur after that.
Shade was getting closer and closer to the very ponies that found him, his eyes were still glowing that eerie blood red color, " I'll make this fast," he took a deep breath before spewing searing hot flames at the ponies, despite the fact Shining Armor's best attempt to shield them with a magical barrier, it proved pointless, as the stream of fire ripped right through the barrier, impacting the ground in front of the ponies, and erupting into a plume of searing hot flames.
Shining looked at the eruption as it cleared, and where a crowd of ponies once stood, was nothing but ash and scorched earth. Shining Armor could only look in horror at the heinous act, " How....how could you..YOU MONSTER!!!," he turned towards Shade, lowered his head and charged at him in a valiant effort to attack him. Although his attempt was in vain, as he was was only a foot away, he brushed aside by a swift smack from shades tail, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud.
After knocking Shining Armor to the ground, Shade turned towards the downed stallion and began to make his way towards him while chuckling, " I commend you on your bravery, but as it's always been, the brave ones always go down the fastest,". He let out a low growl as he reached him, " Don't worry, this will be as quick and painless as it was for those poor unfortunate souls, or perhaps, I'll make it slow and agonizing, it all depends," he make a short pause as he lifted his clawed foot into the air, " It all depends on my mood!!!!!!," he brought his foot down on the downed stallions leg, resulting in a loud snap. Shining Armor wanted to scream but when he opened his mouth to scream, nothing came out, Shade saw this and looked displeased, " No cries for mercy, pity," He made a swift turn, slamming his tail into the side of Shining's face in the process, knocking the prince unconscious. Shade turned back towards the unconscious stallion, he raised his claw into the air once more as he prepared to finish off, but before he could a bolt of magic passed by his head, " More pest,". He turned around to see that he was surrounded by guards, " It won't be like last time, besides, you don't have that infernal chain, your as harmless as infants to me," his eyes began to glow brighter along with his horn which had also began to glow a red aura, " Die,".
Princess Cadence had been looking at the mines from her castle balcony, she worried for her husbands safety whenever he went out,he was a brave and strong pony, but he could be reckless at times, "Shining, I just hope your OK,". As she was overlooking the location of the mines, a bright flash followed by an explosion occurred right where Shining was supposed to be, " Oh no!...Shining," she spread her wings, hopped over the balcony railing, and took flight towards the source of the explosion.
Shade looked around to see if any more guards were left before looking down at the still unconscious Shining Armor, " Feel privileged, I Spared you a quick death by shielding you from the explosion I caused, I could have just as easily blown you to pieces like I did those pest,". He stared at the unconscious body at his feet before swatting it away in disgust with his tail, " So fragile yet at the same time you never want to die...I'll spare you this time, just don't ever get in my way agi- AGH!!!," he was cut off mid sentence when he felt something stab into his side.
He looked to his side to see a pink alicorn with her horn impaled into him, " How dare you!!!," she charged up the magic in her horn with the intent to destroy the fiend that attacked her husband, " Disappear monster!!!!,". She fired the magical blast right into his impaled side, scorching the outer skin and launching him into a pile of stones, " Serves you right, beast," she exhaled before trotting over to her downed husband.
Upon being blown into the pile of stones, Shade placed his foot on is injury only to see blood pouring out, he began breathing deeply and growing as he tossed each and every stone off his body in one motion. He wanted to fight back and make this princess suffer, but he couldn't risk another injury, " This, is not over," he spread his wings, took off running as best as he could with his injured side and took off into the air before eventually leaving the princess of love's sight.
It wasn't until Twilight nudged his shoulder to get his attention, that he was stuck in thought, " Um, Shade, are you alright, I asked you a question,". He stared at the princess for a moment before nodding, " Good, I thought you were in pain, now as I was saying before, I want you to tell me who and what you are, if that's OK with you," she waited for him to reply, he was silent for a minute before finally speaking.
" As I told you before, my name is Midnight Shade, I.....I am a dragon and unicorn hybrid, a crossbreed to some others, I was born to a farmer are who had an affair with a dragon as it was passing by her hometown on the annual dragon migration," he did his best not to tell her the whole truth, while still giving her his honest answer. Twilight had a fascinated look on her face, she always wondered if ponies and dragons could have offspring, ever since Spike first developed his crush on Rarity. " Upon being hatched I lived a rather normal life for living on a farm, of course there was the occasional pony calling me an abomination, it wasn't until I was a young foal that I learned of my magical powers, I started small, the basic spells, as I grew I moved on from my small farmland home and moved onto bigger lands, and as i grew, so did my magical prowess, I started developing spells of my own, I also delved into other arts, such as science, and alchemy,".
This is what peaked Twilight's curiosity about Shade, " You created spells?!, fascinating, and you say your a scientist and alchemist,", she couldn't help but smile, for once there was another pony, well not exactly a pony, but still another pony that shared interest with her.
Shade looked beyond Twilight, past the open door out of the room, and eyed multiple bookshelves in the hallway of the castle, it reminded him of the bookshelves he had in his old home, " I'm also a prominent reader as well, why I remember in my old home I had a library so large it was twice the size of my own living space," despite the fact it was an alicorn he was speaking too, the one race of ponies he had vowed to destroy while he was imprisoned, something about the princess before him peaked his interest, there was something about her that made him not want to destroy her.
Twilight however thought something else about the dragon she had patched up, " You may be the most amazing pony to every wander into Ponyville, I am princess Twilight Sparkle, and it is a pleasure to meet you," Twilight heard somepony laughing behind her, she turned to see Spike sitting in the door way, snickering at Twilight, " Please pardon me for one moment Shade,". She went over to Spike, picked him up with her magic and carried him out into the hall and shut the door behind them, " What do you think your doing Spike, what did i tell you about eavesdropping?!,".
Spike could tell that Twilight was peeved but he was still laughing to much to react properly, it wasn't till Twilight dropped him out of her magical grip that he stopped laughing. " OK, sheesh I'm sorry, it's just that's really funny,".
She didn't exactly understand what Spike found so funny, " What are you talking about, what's funny," she was slightly irritated at this point.
" You honestly don't know, oh cmon Twilight, hes basically another you, both really good at magic both like different studies, and both of you are total nerds when it comes to books, I also think you got a crush on him," he began snickering again much to Twilight's dismay.
Twilight however was now blushing at this point, " Wha?!?, thats...thats not true Spike, besides I only just met him, and so what if he has things in common with me, it just means I finally have someone like myself to talk with and this might even possibly help me further understand new forms of magic,". The more she spoke about Shade the more toned out she seemed as if she were getting lost in thought, only to be snapped right out of it by the sound of Spike's laughing. She got frustrated again before thinking of something quickly, " Well Spike, I thought you'd be really interested in him, not only is he a dragon that could teach you more about being a dragon, but hes also a dragon and unicorn hybrid, meaning," Spike ws furiously blushing as he put his hand over Twilight's mouth to silence her.
" Don't say it out loud, what if somepony is listening, and fine you win hes an interesting dragon..pony...thing..guy...hes interesting OK," now it was Twilight's turn to chuckle, which made Spike blush even more.
" Well romeo, why don't we go back in there and get more acquainted with our guest, who knows, he might stick around," Spike gave a quick nod and walked towards the door with Twilight. They were about to enter the room when Spike burped up a scroll, " A letter, whose it from," She picked the note up and looked at the stamp on it, " It's from the Crystal empire, It's more than likely a note from Cadence and my big brother," She opened up the letter with excitement, similar to that of a filly or foal opening a gift on hearth's warming eve, but when she read the letter, her eyes widened, and her mouth hung open in shock.
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I hope you enjoy this new chapter, I had a bit difficulty, I had originally intended on releasing this yesterday along with the first chapter, but technical difficulties occurred and it all got deleted, so I had to rewrite the whole thing. Anyway, I appreciate any positive feedback you guys and gals give, I really love that everyone is enjoying it so far. Thanks everyone a bunch and I'll see you all next chapter
The Truth Behind the Past
Inside Twilight's Castle
Despite her best efforts to keep up with the fleeing Shade, Twilight inevitably lost him after ten minutes of chasing him, " He's faster than he looks....I wonder what made him run off like that, he was acting perfectly fine while we were at Rarity's,". Twilight had went home after her failed attempt at keeping up with Shade, the place she went to as soon as she got home was the library, however as soon as she got there she was in for a surprise. Sitting in the library was Shade, it seemed that as soon as Twilight lost sight of him that he immediately ran here, " Shade?, are you alright, you just ran off all of a sudden ".
She waited for him to reply, which he eventually did, but only after five minutes of awkward silence, " I haven't been entirely honest with you ". This confused Twilight greatly, Shade saw the confusion on her face and knew she was waiting for an explanation, " I haven't lied, yet at the same time I haven't told you all of the truth, the truth about who I am ".
" Wha..what do you mean Shade, what haven't you told me," two feelings were welling up inside of her, the feeling that he might have some dark secret that would ruin their new friendship, and also a feeling of great curiosity to know what he was talking about.
He looked her dead in the eyes before speaking, " You'll want to take a seat if your going to hear this,". Twilight did so, showing him that she was eager to listen to what he had to say. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, " Very well, for starters, my origin, half of what I told you was true....I was born to a farm mare who mated with a dragon, but what I didn't tell you was when I was born," he watched as she eyed him with anticipation to hear the next part, " I Was born over five thousand years ago in ancient Equestria ".
Twilight's eyes opened as wide as they could go without her eyes popping out, was she really hearing him correctly, " F...five thousand years....," he simply nodded. " But how is that possible?! I know dragons can live for a long time, but even they would show some form of aging, you look as young as can be, how?! ".
He put one of his claws over her mouth to silence her so that he could continue, " I'll get to that shortly, allow me to continue,". Twilight nodded slowly, letting him continue where he was, " Like I said, I was born over five thousand years ago, when the princesses were young and so was Equestria, my mother was shunned for having birthed an abomination and to committing adultery, so...she got rid of me, put me in basket, laid me in running water, and let me go ".
Twilight held a look of great disgust on her face from hearing this part, " How could anypony do that, and to an infant as well, that makes it even worse, why I've never heard of a pony doing that, it sounds so heinous, I mean yes fillies and foals are orphaned but theres normally a reason, but it sounds like your mother did it out of selfish reasons ".
Shade stared at Twilight as she ranted, waiting for her to finish talking before responding, " Some ponies will do whatever they can to save themselves ". Twilight understood what he meant, it wasn't the first time she had heard of somepony doing something selfish to preserve their own being. " Don't delve on that thought though, I was found by a couple of unicorns who lived in what is now the everfree forest, where the princesses resided, they both served under Celestia and Luna, my surrogate father worked as a royal chef, while my mother worked as Celestia's personal housemaid, " he took a short pause to look at Twilight's facial expression, she had a look of amazement on her face, it was clear that she was soaking in every little detail he said. " My new parents loved me dearly, no matter what I looked like, and from them I learned the basics of magic, and as I grew so did my love for learning and my magical abilities, eventually I started going to work with my parents, spending afternoons watching them do their assigned jobs, and it was there I first met Princess Celestia herself ".
He was cut off by a gasp, " You knew Celestia back then, oh what an honor it would've been if I could've seen the Princess when she was that young, I bet she was as dignifying and regal as she was now, " however before she could continue talking she was interrupted by a loud "Ahem". She looked to see Shade staring at her with an unamused look on his face, " Oops," she was blushing from slight embarrassment, " Go ahead and continue ".
" Thank you, now as I was saying, after weeks of working with my parents, putting my magic to use, I caught the attention of Celestia herself, she was quite interested in me, I am an odd creature after all, but it wasn't myself she was interested in, it was the fact I could use magic despite being mostly dragon, it was this factor that would impact her next decision, making me her very first student,". He awaited another gasp, but he didn't get one, instead Twilight was speechless, not only was her new guest thousands of years old, but he was also the very first pupil under Princess Celestia, " Speechless I see, I find this better than being interrupted, no offense, " this earned another blush and a slight laugh from Twilight. As soon as she was ready to listen again she nodded to tell him so, he nodded in return and went back to speaking, " It was under her I developed most of my magical prowess, yes it was abnormally high for a unicorn foal, but the tutoring and training I received increased this prowess tenfold in a short time, and even more than that as I grew and as my studies furthered, " he took a very short pause before turning his head towards the window, " However I couldn't remain her student forever, eventually I learned everything I could learn, but by that time Celestia had already seen me as the younger brother she never had, my parents had no objections with letting me stay at the castle, in fact they were more than thrilled to learn that I would be staying there ".
Twilight looked him in the face as best as she could form the angle she was at, " It sounds like you were in the life of luxury, but the tone your speaking in is more somber than reminiscent, why is that, " she awaited a response from him which was quickly delivered.
He turned back to face her as he started to speak, " It was also that time that Celestia assigned me a task, one that I had a hard time fulfilling, that task...that task was finding a pupil of my own so that he could not only learn from Celestia, but from me as well, I chose one alright, his name was Starswirl, he was a young unicorn foal, but he had great potential when it came to magic, I took him under my wing, he was like a younger brother to me, although when it came to appearances we both looked rather young,". When Shade took another another pause he looked at Twilight, who at the moment was being rather silent, he was expecting her to ask him a question, yet she sat there, mouth agape, eyes widened, " Twilight, are you alright? "
She shook her head upon hearing him call her name, she looked slightly dazed for a second, but just moments later she looked back to normal, " Sorry about that, it's just your pupil, hes THE Starswirl the Bearded, one of the greatest unicorns in all of history, if you taught him everything he knows, well then you gotta be as amazing at using magic than he was! "
Shade stared at Twilight for a moment before turning away, " So that foal did grow to make a name for himself....good for him ". He cleared his throat before continuing on about his life, " As I was saying, Starswirl was my pupil, a little brother in my eyes, I taught him to the best of my abilities, life seemed good for what it was, until Equestria got two unlikely visitors, but before I go on, I have a question of my own I'd like to ask you ".
Twilight nodded, ready to answer him, " Ask away ".
He looked around the library, as if taking in his surroundings, I've seen pictures of you around here, yet you weren't an alicorn, how is that, and how did this castle come to be ".
" Well let me start on how i became an alicorn," Twilight stated, " I was originally a unicorn, but through the magic of friendship and all the experiences I've been through, I became an alicorn princess,". Twilight let out a sigh of reminiscence, only to be brought back to reality by Shade, " Oh yeah sorry, and how I got my castle, well there was this evil centaur, his name was Tirek, he somehow escaped Tartarus where Princess Celestia had sealed him away in, he started reeking havoc all over Equestria, he, " she however was promptly cut over by Shade putting his claw over Twilight's mouth.
" He Drained the populace of all their magic, growing stronger with every ounce of magic he absorbed until he seemed virtually unbeatable ".
Twilight was at a loss for words, he knew exactly what she was going to say about Tirek, " How exactly do you know that, the only other ponies to have faced Tirek were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and a young Starswirl the bearded ". Then something dawned on her, she remembered everything Shade just told her and it hit her, " Oooh, that's how you know, cause," once again she was cut off.
Shade nodded, " Cause I was there, in fact if it weren't for me, they would've never sealed him away to begin with, I remember the battle as if it were yesterday, allow me to show you," his horn had shined for a moment, and suddenly a mirror like object appeared in front of them, " This is a mirror image, it allows the viewers to watch the memories of the being touching it, now watch and try to refrain from talking please, " He grabbed a hold of the mirror, his eyes turned white, and finally an image began form on the mirror.
Inside the Castle of the Two Sisters, Over Five Thousand Years ago
A young shade slammed against a marble pillar with incredible force, he had blood running down his right front leg, in front of him stood his attacker, Lord Tirek, who towered over the young dragon many times. " You Won't get away with this! your brother has already turned against you, " Shade exclaimed, "Your all alone in this Tirek, just surrender!!! " he charged the hulking centaur with all of his might, Tirek attempted to swat him away as he did last time, but Shade wasn't falling for this, he swiftly leaped onto the monstrous hand, and lunged right for Tirek's face with his claws ready to strike.
He was mere inches away before he snatched out of the air by Tirek's other hand, " You've amused so far abomination, but I've grown tired of you pestering me, it's time I ended you, " Tirek declared with his titanic voice. He grasped both of his hands around the captured dragon, and proceeded to literally squeeze the life out of them, having exhausted himself, Shade had no means of escape, he was seemingly helpless as Tirek slowly crushed him. Tirek however, delved in the screams of pain from the dragon, " Awww does it hurt that bad, maybe it's time you go to sleep, permanently, " he began to apply more pressure, eventually he could hear bones slowly cracking.
The screaming soon stopped, but Shade was far from dead, in fact he wore a confident smirk on his aching face, " I always eat a snack before I sleep!! " He opened his jaws wide, and clamped his razor sharp teeth down on Tireks' hand, resulting in the tyrant yelling in pain and releasing his grip on the dragon. Shade clung onto Tireks hand as though his life depended on it, even after Tirek fought through the pain and grabbed him again, Shade still refused to let go.
" You insolent insect!! how dare you bite me, I'll squeeze the life out of you!!!!! " but before he could continue crushing Shade, a peculiar smell hit his nostrils, the smell was smoke, his eyes looked in the direction his nosed led them too, only to see smoke leaving the edges of the dragons mouth, suddenly a sharp pain hit his hand. " AARGH!!!! " You filthy abomination," he lifted the hand that Shade was clung to in the air, and thrusted it towards the ground, it proved to be enough to get him to let go, cause as soon as his arm was thrusted downwards Shade was slung against the floor and bounced across the room from the impact. Tirek looked down at the dragon with a look of disgust on his face, " How could such an ugly creature exist in this world, well no matter, soon he nor any other pony who would dare oppose me will exist anymore, " a glowing red orb began to form and soon expand in between his horns, " Say goodbye!! " he launched the orb right at the downed dragon with the intent on erasing him permanently.
He watched as the orb impacted right in front of Shade, causing an explosion that engulfed him, making him seemingly disappear from total existence. Tirek watched and waited for the smoke to clear, only to see a sight that would greatly disappoint him, where his destructive orb had impacted wasn't a crater like he expected, instead there sat a barrier that had covered Shade, as well as the pony holding it up, which was revealed to be a young Starswirl, he used most of his magic to shield his mentor from the massive magic blast, " Nopony....hurts my friend," the brave colt passed out upon uttering those few words.
Tirek was furious at this point, but he did his best to restraint himself, " Well at least that's one nuisance out of the way, now for the abomination," but when he looked where Shade was laying he didn't see him, " WHAT?! Where did he go!! ". He began to look around the room, smashing pillars that Shade would possibly be hiding behind, tearing walls apart and even tearing the floor apart, but Shade was nowhere to be found.
" Hey why don't you open your eyes, you big ugly bastard!! " Shade had been attached to the ceiling while Tirek was in his enraged state searching for him. His claws detached from the roof and he quickly descended from the roof onto Tirek's head, where he began slashing at the tyrants vulnerable face with his blade like claws, causing the tyrant to shout in great pain, " It doesn't feel too good does it!!! ". Shade however was interrupted from his viscous assault by Tirek's large hand grasping his body, " Oh no, we will not have a repeat of this again," Shade's eyes began to glow red along with his horn as his magic began to build up at an incredible rate, surprising Tirek in the process.
" So I see you were hiding something from me, an incredible magic within you, it's a good thing I didn't destroy you, it would have been such a waste of good magic, " He tightened his grip around Shade, making the dragon lose his focus, at this point Tirek began draining him of his magic until it was all gone. " There, all mine," He simply tossed Shade aside before turning away, " So much magic in one little dragon, how amusing ". He then smashed his way out of the castle walls before leaving the castle grounds entirely, leaving Shade and the young Starswirl, out cold in the ruins of the room they were in.
As Tirek walked away from the castle, another being entered the very same room , that being was a young Princess Celestia. She looked weak and brittle, having been drained of her own magic by Tirek, she weakly stepped near the down Shade, " Shade, please wake up Shade....Equestria needs you, the ponies need you..I need you...please...wake up, " a single tear left her eye and dropped down onto his snout.
His eyes shot open only a second after the tear hit him, he felt all the strength that had been sucked out of him being rejuvenated , but something was different. He turned to see Celestia on the ground at his feet, " Princess?! are you OK?! I'm sorry I failed you....but I've got my strength back I don't know how, but I think it has something to do with me being part dragon, I'm going to fix this just rest, he kissed her head, spread his wings, and took off out the whole Tirek made in the wall, and into the sky. It wasn't hard for him to find Tirek, all he had to do was follow the monsters path of destruction, and in a matter of minutes he had found the tyrant. Tirek was enjoying all the power he had as he terrorized the country side, Shade wasn't going to stand for this, " TIREK!!!!!!! " he took a nose dive from the sky right towards the tyrant, he shifted from a nose dive to a shoulder charge as he slammed into Tirek's side, knocking him over over in a single shot, " You've pushed me too far!!! DIE!!!!! " he sucked in as much air as his lung could hold without bursting, and in an instant he shot an intense wave of searing flames all over the centaur, which quickly engulfed him, " That was for Celestia and Starswirl ".
As the flames went out, Shade looked upon Tirek, he was laid out on the ground, covered in dirt and soot, but the tyrant was far from done for. " How is it possible," Tirek said as he started to pick himself up off the ground, " I smash you, I crush your body, I drain every ounce of magic from your worthless body, yet you still stand to defy me, tell me, how do you still have the strength to face me, what is your secret ".
A smirk formed on Shades face as he flew above the monstrous centaur, " There is no secret, my true power comes from my undying will, and the need to protect those closest to me, also, you only saw the unicorn in me ". The expression on Tirek's face turned into that of a slightly curious one as he said this. " Now," Shade then began to bare his teeth and growl deeply, " It's time I show you my inner dragon!!!! " he took another dive at Tirek, but instead of going for a body shot like last time, he swooped by Tirek's face, striking the tyrant across the left eye.
Tirek moved his hand to his eye that had been struck, he felt a warm liquid on his face, that attack had actually left blood, at this point he was far past furious. " I'M GOING TO SMASH YOU UNTIL THERE'S NOT EVEN DUST LEFT, YOU FILTHY CREATURE!!!!!!! " he began to throw punches and swat at the flying dragon, but he was so blinded by rage that it seemed impossible to hit him, which only furthered Tirek's anger and frustration. The tyrant began gritting his teeth and squeezing his fist so hard that blood dripped from him, never once had he been made such a fool of in his life, " Your just an insect to me!!!!! An Insect!!!!! " he began to charge up another orb of destructive magic, this one far larger than the last, and in a matter of seconds he was set and ready to fire, but as he shot off the blast something went wrong, the ball shot into the air instead of at the dragon.
Much to Tirek's surprise it was no accident that caused the misfire, in fact it was the very source of his rage, his front legs were being risen into the air by the dragon he sought to destroy, " What's the matter big guy.... i was just gonna give you a taste of your own...Medicine!!! ". Shade had actually managed to lift Tirek's entire body into the air by his front legs, a seemingly impossible feet to even the strongest creatures, and yet this mix of a dragon and pony was doing it, with some struggle however, Tirek's sheer size made it difficult for Shade to hold him up for long. " Let's....let's see how you like being thrown like a doll!!!!!! " using every ounce of strength his front limbs could muster, Shade heaved the behemoth higher into the air, before hurling him a great distance into the side of a mountain. Shade stumbled over after tossing the monster, his body sore all over from the incredible feat of strength, " It's......not fun....is it..." he clenched his teeth shut from the burning sensation going through every muscle in his body, but he couldn't stop now, he needed to stand, he needed to end Tirek.
After being slammed into a mountain by a creature that he could consider an ant to himself, Tirek was beyond furious, he was completely enraged at this point, " I've had enough.....NOW YOU DIE!!!!! " without warning he charged up another ball of magic, and fired it right at the exhausted dragon, " There's nothing that can save you from this one!!!!! ". Shade's eyes widened as the orb of raw destruction hurled at him, he dropped to the ground at the last second however, letting the ball hit the earth behind him, resulting in an explosion that tossed the already exhausted dragon a good distance until a tree stopped his flight. " I know your still alive!!!! I won't stop until every little piece of you is wiped from existence!!!!!," Tirek began rapidly firing in different directions, he was so blinded by rage that he didn't care which direction it was, just as long as it would hopefully hit Shade.
As Shade was laid out in the branches of the tree that caught him, he slowly began slipping in and out of consciousness, " Can't.....give up.......got to......stop him ". The branch was was on eventually gave out, dropping the dragon onto cold hard ground, luckily enough, he managed to land on his feet, although he was a bit shaky when it came to standing. Having mustered as much strength as he could, Shade began to walk towards the enraged centaur who was still firing in random directions, despite the pain going through him he held a calm and cool demeanor, blood poured from both his mouth and head, he had a visible gash across his back thigh that you would think would hinder his walking capability, yet it didn't seem to do much of anything to the determined hybrid. He sucked in a good amount of air, and fired a ball of pure fire right at Tireks face, it didn't hurt him, but it sure got his attention.
Tirek felt something hot hit the side of his face, his eyes turned towards the direction from where the ball of fire came from, only to see Shade standing there, as defiant as ever. Tirek, still enraged, could only manage to get one word out before charging at Shade, "ABOMINATION!!!!!!! ". The earth beneath him shook as he neared the dragon that pestered him, this time he would crush him thoroughly.
Shade braced himself as the behemoth came crashing towards him, one wrong move and he would be as good as dead. He waited right until Tirek was right over him to make his move, he jumped at Tirek's leg as it was about to trample him, latching onto it with his claws. From there he began to scale the titanic centaur until he was on the back of Tirek's lower body, " Alright big guy, let's see how well you handle back pain, " he lowered his head, and rammed his horn as hard as he could right into Tirek's back. The impact caused the behemoth to come crashing to his knees, and bringing his charge to a halt, he shouted in pain as he could feel the horn buried right into his spine. Although Shade's blow to his spine dealt a great deal of pain to Tirek, it didn't hinder him completely, cause he was still able to reach around and pull Shade away from his back before tossing the dragon into the sky. This however is exactly what Shade wanted, on the ground he would have a tough time moving, but in the air he has the perfect vantage point, from there he could gain a greater height to achieve his next move.
Upon regaining his composure after being impaled in the back, Tirek immediately began looking around him for the dragon that had gone from a minor nuisance to a thorn in his side, " Where are you, this time I won't miss!!! " Another destructive magic orb began to form within his horns. He was just about to launch the orb when he heard a loud whistle noise, his ears twitched and he looked in into sky where the noise was coming from.
" INCOMING!!!!!!! " Shade made a sharp nose dive towards Tirek, but instead of slamming headfirst into him, he re-positioned himself so that all four of his legs were pointed right at Tirek. The tyrant had little time to react as all four of the hybrids powerful limbs slammed into his exposed gut, knocking the wind out of of him and leaving him dazed, " You're wide open!!! " Shade used Tireks gut as a surface to launch himself into the air and boomerang around the winded centaur, and strike the center of his back in the same manner he had struck his abdomen, this time knocking Tirek to the ground entirely. Shade jumped off of Tirek and onto the ground as he collapsed, however Shade himself nearly collapsed upon landing, his legs were weak from the amount of tension he put on them, " Serves.....you....right, " he said between gasp for air.
At this point Tirek was so mad he could explode, not only had this nuisance troubled him far more than any other, but he had also managed to physically harm him. Tirek slowly picked himself up, he didn't speak as he had done before however, he was far past the point of words. He turned towards the struggling hybrid who was only a few yards away, he used all four of his powerful legs to charge at full speed, giving Shade little to any time to move out of the way even if he could. Upon reaching Shade, Tirek lifted up one of his front legs and slammed it down on Shade's back legs as hard as he could, resulting in a loud breaking noise and a blood curdling scream of pain. The enraged tyrant began laughing wickedly as he picked up the broken dragon, he tossed him in the air as if he weighed nothing, but before Shade could hit the ground, Tirek pulled his arm back and threw a devastating punch that hit Shade directly.
The force of the punch was enough to send Shade flying, he skipped across the ground like a pebble in a pool of water, before finally slamming into the castle. Every ounce of pain he had before was magnified nearly tenfold, added on with the devastating injuries he had just received, it seemed that even breathing was becoming a tough task for Shade, his eyes began to slowly shut, and as he faded from consciousness a single thought went through his head, " I'm sorry Celestia.....I let everypony down ". He would have entered eternal slumber right then and there, had it not been for a weak but beautiful voice.
" Please, you need to wake up, please you cannot leave us! " the voice pleaded.
Shade did his best to open his eyes, yet the best he could do was barely cracking them, "...Can't..." he weakly said in his mind.
" Yes you can, that is an order, you need to get up now and stop Tirek, " the voice said, this time in a more demanding tone.
This time he had just barely managed to get his eyes open, yet it didn't seem to do much, as his vision was rather fuzzy at the moment, "...whose....there..., " he wheezed as he spoke.
" Shade, you need to open your eyes all the way, I know you can, " the voiced pleaded once more.
" That voice.....Princess...Celestia... " he let the order she had given him soak in for a moment, and his eyes shot wide open. Although at the moment his body was broken and bashed, he could still move his eyes to look at the solar princess. " It is you, you're OK...thank goodness ".
Celestia looked down at her former student, a slight pain went through her as she looked at his broken form, " Shade, the few ponies who did not have their magic taken, They have a gift for you, they all gathered here while you were battling Tirek, and they transferred all of their magic to me, I wouldn't be much help in my current state, and with you how you are i doubt you would..but we have another solution ".
It was right then a much younger alicorn princess walked in towards the two, it was Princess Luna, who had been hidden within the castle during Tirek's assault. She walked up to the crippled hybrid, eyeing him closely, " You're hurt, here, I'll use my magic to heal you to the best of my abilities, just please....defeat that monster, " Shade gave a firm nod in response, which was responded with a nod of Luna's own. Her horn began to glow a dark blue, and along with her horn, so did Shade's body. As the young princess healed him, Shade slowly began getting back on his feet, he had a look of surprise on his face as the pain left his body, until eventually all of it was gone. Luna looked at the revitalized dragon before nodding once more, " I've done all I can.....well...not exactly...here, take my magic...show him just what happens when you threaten our home, " she flapped her wings as hard as she could, her horn glowing at the same time. She floated towards Shade's face, and touched her horn to it, both of their eyes glowing in the process.
As she watched, Celestia felt that now would be the best time to give Shade the ponies magic, after all, this was their only and last chance at defeating Tirek once and for all. She too placed her horn against Shades, and then all of their eyes began glowing in unison.
Shade's eyes opened as wide as they could upon feeling all the power flow into him, and as the glow of the princesses horns died down, he knew he could do this. He pulled the two princesses into a hug, turned around to face the direction Tirek was in, spread his wings, and took off at incredible speeds before reaching Tirek in a matter of seconds.
Tirek at the moment, was preparing to destroy a village for the fun of it, he charged up a destructive magical orb and shot it right at the village, but while it was in the air, another magical blast intercepted it, knocking it off course and sending it right back at Tirek before exploding on contact. " Who did that!!, who dares interrupt my destruction," he began to look around, searching for the fool would oppose him, only to find the same dragon that he had beaten down, not once, but Twice. His mouth hung open as he looked at Shade," N...n..no...Impossible!!! I crushed you like an insect!!! You should be dead!!! " another magical blast formed in between his horns, before he started rapidly firing them at the hybrid above him, but to no avail as the blast seemed to go right by him. At this point Tirek was slightly horrified, " What...what are you?!!?! You're no abomination, you're a monster!!!! "
The terrified centaur prepared to fire once again, but before he even got the chance, he was interrupted by a multiple swift strikes from Shades claws. " It's funny that you say that, coming from the monster who stole the magic from almost every pony in Equestria and..and..and..." his eyes began to glow white as his anger reached its boiling point, " AND TOOK THE LIVES OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER!!!!!! " his horn shined as bright as ever as he prepared his own magical blast, one that dwarfed Tirek's blast in power tenfold. He swung his head right at the tyrannical centaur before firing the powerful blast.
The blast was strong enough to knock Tirek away by a few yards, it also left him burnt and singed from the blast, " D..damn..you ".
Shade wasn't done yet though, he took off straight into the sky, higher than he had ever gone before, and as he flew up, his horn shined brighter and brighter. Eventually he was at an altitude that let him see all of Equestria, but he wasn't there for sightseeing, no he had something else in mind. Upon reaching the peak of his flight he took a sharp nosedive right towards Tirek, but this time he began spinning, and the faster he spun, the brighter his horn would glow, until eventually the light enveloped his whole body, becoming a bright shining spiral. He accelerated the speed he spun as he neared Tirek, then he shot forward, hitting the centaur in the abdomen, where he kept spinning and spinning. He kept the spiral going until he eventually pierced Tirek's abdomen, going straight through like a drill leaving a gaping hole where he had gone all the way through.
If Tirek could be pale in the face, now was the moment, he knew he could heal himself using his magic, but it wasn't the wound that made him like this, it was the fact a wound such as this could be inflicted on him, until he had faced Shade he has viewed himself as being invincible, but here he was, being dominated by some abomination that shouldn't even exist. This was the last straw, he would not lose to some worthless hybrid, " THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!!! " steam left his nostrils as he huffed from anger. Much to Shade's surprise, the hole he had left in Tirek's torso began to slowly close itself, " TIME TO END THIS, ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " he place his hands in front of the arc that his horns made, it was then he began to charge a magical blast, but this one was far larger than any of the others, in fact it was so large, that had he held it in his horns like the rest, then it would have destroyed them, so he held his hands up to hold it while it formed. " NOW YOU DIE ABOMINATION!!!!! I'LL DESTROY YOU AND THIS WORTHLESS KINGDOM IN ONE BLAST!!!!!!!!!! " he raised the enormous orb above his head before chucking it right at the castle.
"NO!!!!! " Shade flew right in front of the orb to intercept it, he had one chance and one chance only. He landed a good stance away from the orb, but still remaining in front of it, " Here's the real deal, it's time to end this," he sucked in as much air as his lungs could hold, until it felt like his lungs would rupture from the pressure, and upon taking in a significant amount of air, he fired a massive stream of fire from his mouth that met the orb, yet it did little to hinder it, the most it did was slow it down. Despite this Shade still kept the searing hot stream of fire pushing against Tirek's blast, "I won't give in, not ever!!!! " images of the princesses, Starswirl, and of his late parents filled his head, and the more he thought of them the stronger his fire seemed to get, but it still wasn't enough to stop the blast. The longer he kept spewing the stream of fire, the more strain it seemed to put on him, " ...I'm slipping...too much...." and right then his eyes began glowing pure white.
Tirek couldn't help but laugh at how futile his attempts were, " Hahaha!!! What's the matter abomination, having difficulties, here let me make it harder on you!! " he charged up a smaller orb in his horns before firing it at the larger one, which quickly enveloped it, making it even larger.
The enlarged orb came hurdling at Shade and the castle even faster than before, easily shoving through his flames, but this didn't stop Shade. Shade's eyes glowing brighter by the second, along with his horn and soon a bright light came from his mouth where the fire was coming from. " That's it Shade, let is out...Explode!!!! " he told himself in his head, his magic began enveloping the fire coming out of him and in a matter of seconds the stream of flames turned from their original fiery color, into bright white flames mixed. Once the white flames hit the orb it started to decrease in size, as if Shade's magically enhanced flames were draining them, and that's what they seemed to be doing, because the smaller the orb became, the larger the fire that spouted from Shade's mouth became.
" Im...impossible...w..what are you...." Tirek said as he slowly began backing away, he knew if he stood there too long he would be hit by the flames.
He heard a thunderous shout come from the hybrid, " I am the thing you fear the most Tirek!!!, I am the one individual who will stop you, once and for all!!!!!!!!!" soon the white flames over came Tirek's orb, absorbing every last bit of it before blasting right at Tirek.
The tyrant had little time to react as his body was being overcame by the magical flames, pain slowly filled him as the flames torched his body. The scorching pain was the least of Tirek's worries compared to what the fire was actually doing, he received an even greater pain as magical fire forcefully drained him of every last drop of magic, and as the magic was pulled from his body, his body began to change.
The flames from Shade's mouth began dying, he too was having the magic he borrow drained from him, but it wasn't being taken, it was being replaced with his own magic that Tirek took from him.
Once the flames completely disappeared, Shade watched carefully as the smoke from the fire died as well, and where the once strong monstrous centaur stood, now stood a feeble and elderly looking centaur, so brittle looking that even the slightest touch would harm him. " W...what have you done to me..... " was all the decrepit tyrant could say before passing out.
Shade could only help but smile at his deed, " It's over..." he closed his eyes and passed out right then and there.
The image faded from the mirror and soon the mirror itself entirely disappeared, and once it did, Twilight could only look where it once was, jaw hanging wide with an awestruck look on her face from what she just witnessed. After nearly half an hour of silence, Twilight finally spoke, " I can hardly believe what I saw.....but...it was all true wasn't it, " Shade simply nodded in response. " To think the princess never told me about this, I wonder why, " she turned her head away and began pondering.
Shade turned his head away from her, " That is something you will need to ask her on your own time......as for now, stay here and read with me.....that memory always brings down my spirit, perhaps your company can lift it,". Twilight managed to smile and nod before picking out a book from the shelf and sitting next to him, where they read for the rest of the night, the things Twilight had seen would not leave her mind any time soon.
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I hope you enjoy this chapter, i'm sorry if it's not the best, i'm not that good at writing out action scenes. Also I'm sorry for this coming out late, we just got new puppies and I've had to divert most of my attention towards them. I promise that the next chapter won't take as long unless something comes up, I hope you all enjoy reading and keep reading, I'll talk to all of you later
View Online
Unexpected Visit and Unexpected Revelations
Unexpected Visit and Unexpected Revelations
Inside Twilight's Castle, Three Days later, Four days until Festival
Three whole days had passed since Shade told Twilight about his past and his battle against Tirek. In that time, Twilight had managed to tell her friends about Shade's endeavors and who he was, on the one condition that they keep it a secret from anypony else no matter who they are, the condition was promptly met with a pinkie promise. Shade had spent most of the past three days learning about the world, going through book after book, learning every little piece of knowledge that had been lost to him due to his five thousand year sleep.
That's also what Shade was doing at the exact moment, he had next to him, a massive stack of books, far larger than him. He had been reading almost non-stop, only stopping to eat and occasionally rest. As he read, he was unaware he was being watched, every night Twilight would watch his constant reading, although as she would watch him, she couldn't help but worry for him, in the past three days he had yet to make an attempt to leave the castle. She remembered their talk from three days ago, right before Shade had told her of his battle with Tirek, he had been explaining his origins, he had said he was over five thousand years old, or at least from five thousand years ago, he never actually explained how it was possible. Twilight was tired of waiting for an answer, she decided to take things into her own hooves to get her answer.
Shade's ears began to lightly twitch, his super sensitive ears could hear the lightest of noises, one of those noises would be the sound of a certain lavender alicorn attempting to sneak up behind him, " Twilight, what are you doing,".
Twilight stood still with shock, a bemused look covered her face, " H...how did you know it was me,".
He lightly chuckled before closing the book in his claws and turning around to face Twilight, "It's easy, your the only pony awake at this moment who resides here, Spike is sound asleep so that only left you, plus your not exactly sneakiest,".
Her cheeks turned red with slight embarrassment at his remark, but she quickly shook it off before responding to him," I uh, I wanted to ask you a question regarding your past,". The ridge of his eye slightly raised at her saying this, Twilight took the expression as him telling her to continue. " Well, you never exactly told me how your here now as you were in your time, if your from over five thousand years ago, it doesn't add up, I mean even the princesses have aged since then, why haven't you,".
He remained silent for what seemed like the longest time, he seemed to be staring past Twilight into nothing, as if he were lost in a trance. He stayed like this for nearly fifteen minutes before shaking his head, " I guess i did forget to tell you.....," his voice sounded more somber and slightly depressed.
Twilight was slightly confused as to why he sounded like this, perhaps it was a terrible experience, or perhaps it was something he just would like to forget, or maybe both. " You know, if you don't want to talk about it Shade, you don' have to, I understand completely," but to her surprise he simply shook his head to what she said.
" It's better if you know, however if I tell you, you may never see me the same ever again......but may I ask of you something first," he looked Twilight in the eye and awaited her answer, which turned out to be a nod. Shade gave a nod of his own before speaking again, " I would like a few days to.....get to know the ponies here, and to get to know you better, Twilight Sparkle, and after that I will tell you, is that reasonable,".
His request caused a small smile to form on Twilight's face, " That is very reasonable, now what would you like to know about first, Ponyville, Equestria now, oh how about my friends they're really nice, oh how about," she was cut off by Shade putting one of his claws on her lips, while it did quiet her, it made her blush at the same time.
" I wish to know about you, Twilight Sparkle, and for now, just you," Shade said. Whether she wanted to or not, Twilight could only nod to what he said.
She remained silent for some time, which didn't seem to bother Shade, he just awaited her response. After some time of silence she finally spoke, " Well, what's there to know, I... I'm from Canterlot, I'm the youngest of two children, when I was a little filly I was enrolled into Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns and after a test i became her pupil ". She seemed to stop after noticing a look of slight disgust form on Shade's face, " Is...is something wrong, was it something I said, I'm sorry ".
" No no, it was nothing you said per say, it's just that something that took a pony being of great importance was no longer required to be Celestia's pupil, where as now it's as simple as a test, " he couldn't help but shake his head at the thought of it .
Twilight slowly nodded in an understanding matter, " I see, the world is very different from the world you knew, but don't worry, I'll help you understand the world around you, I promise," she placed her hoof on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile.
Shade returned the smile, just only a bit smaller, he also place placed his claw on her shoulder as well. They're eyes connected as they smiled at one another, and they stayed that way for a good while. It wasn't until they heard the door crack open and a voice that was familiar to both of them, yet it sparked a much different reaction from both of them.
" Twilight, are you in here, it's me Celestia, I know you were informed that I wouldn't be here until a few days later, but I decided to come ahead of schedule so I could watch the festival, I'm sorry if I surprised y- ". She was stopped mid sentence by what she saw the very being that had plagued her nightmares. An expression of rage formed on the usually peaceful rulers face, " YOU!!! " she said as she gritted her teeth.
The hybrid heard the voice and his head darted towards the direction it was coming from, there he saw her, the same princess who sealed him away all those years ago. He could feel the rage inside him boiling, " YOU!!!!! " he bared his razor sharp teeth at the ruler of the sun.
" Get away from her you monster!!! " she quickly charged up a magical blast and fired it from her horn right at Shade.
However he was easily able to evade the bolt of magic, as he swiftly leapt out of the way. His eyes began to glow blood red, a sign that Celestia knew all too well, but the would be brawl was intervened by Twilight sparkle who stood in front of Shade in a defensive manner, " Princess please stop!!! he hasn't done anything!! "
Celestia was in slight shock at what her former student was saying, but while she was focusing on Twilight who was defending Shade, she had taken her eyes off of him, and in the moment she took her gaze off of him he teleported out of the room and into somewhere in Ponyville. " No!! guards!! " the frantic princess called, and as soon as she let out her beckoning call, two stallions in armor walked in, one being a pony that Twilight knew by the name of Flash Sentry. Both stallions saluted to the princess as they trotted up to her, " Now listen, this is urgent, a being far more worse than Tirek is on the loose in Ponyville, I want you two to take as many guards as you can, find it and detain it, as soon as possible, now go ". Both gave a loud " Yes your highness" and quickly rushed out into Ponyville.
The solar princess soon regained her composure, she turned to see her former student with a hurt look on her face, " P..princess, why did you do that? he hasn't hurt anypony, hes been here for the past few days and hes been the nicest pony I've ever met, so kind, polite and smart, " whether Twilight knew it or not, she stated the last part as if she were a schoolfilly with a playground crush.
" Twilight, it may seem that way to you, but I know what THAT, really is, hes only fit for hurting others....I don't know what hes told you but, " she was about to continue her rant but was quickly cut off by a short outburst from Twilight.
" But what?! every little word hes told me was the truth, he even showed me his memories! he saved you and your kingdom from Tirek, how can you treat him like hes some monster that deserves to be caged up, why are you doing this princess!!! " Twilight took a few deep breaths in order to recover from her outburst, she honestly didn't know what came over her, all she knew was that the treatment Shade was receiving was wrong.
Celestia was even more shocked than before, never had Twilight ever taken up such a tone with her before, but she quickly put that aside to get back to the subject on hoof. " So he did tell you the truth.......there is no hiding it then, I'll tell you exactly why I'm acting this way ". Twilight was ready to listen carefully to what the solar princess had to say, she needed an explanation and now. " Shade is wanted for several things from ages ago, things that forced me to....I think it would be easier if I told you what he is wanted for, he is wanted for necromancy, assault on royalty and nobles alike, treason against the twin crowns and threats of war on Equestria....I was....I was forced to seal him away inside of a magic crystal for all of eternity....."
If it were possible, Twilight's jaw would have fallen off of her and onto the ground, she didn't seem to care for his crimes, it was his punishment that she found cruel, " Princess...h...how could you ".
The princess of the sun slowly shook her head, " Twilight you don't understand, he was too dangerous...to us..and himself, before we sealed him away...we noticed that he was suffering from a mental illness, it made him prone to small fits of extreme anger if he were provoked certain ways ".
" That doesn't matter! you could've tried helping him, instead you made it worse....he was in there for over five thousand years...five thousand years all alone, " a small tear began forming in each of her eyes as she thought of the pain he endured. "Not knowing what the world outside will be like when he got out, spending days, weeks, months, years even, wondering if he would ever get out, I bet it only made his mental stability worse, I don't understand why though, why would he act the way your saying he acted, he even said you and him were very close ".
This time Celestia nodded in response, however it was a sad nod, " Yes...we were incredibly close, and I was devastated after I sealed him away....Twilight, there is something I need to tell you, something you should've known long ago, but first, young Spike isn't near by is he? "
Twilight was unsure if he was around or not, " I don't think so, but why would it matter if he were around or not? " she said in a confused tone.
Celestia let out a deep sigh as her expression turned into a rather remorseful one, " Because what I have to tell you involves him ". Once again Twilight was greatly confused, but she decided to just go along with what her former teacher was saying, so she responded with a simple nod. " There is surely a part that Shade left out about when he defeated Tirek, it's how he celebrated his victory, you see, after waking up we decided that a feast was what he deserved, but he seemed too depressed to eat, when I questioned as to why he told me that he had lost his parents during Tirek's rampage, so I decided to cheer him up on my own, albeit at the time wine wasn't the best choice, it did in fact cheer him up, however, it lead to some rather embarrassing activities afterwords, one being...a night of courtship that I'd rather choose to forget,". Not only was Celestia blushing from embarrassment, but Twilight was blushing from just hearing this information.
"Princess..I would never have thought that you would do something like that, b..but what does this have to do with Spike ".
" Well Twilight...you see...the night Shade and I shared together....that night bore fruit, but by the time I found out...Shade had already been sealed away, and in another few months I had birthed an egg.....that egg was the very same one one I gave to you..the very same one that hatched Spike ". Celestia turned her head away in shame.
Twilight's pupils shrunk in her eyes, " But, that's not possible...you gave me spike's egg when I was a filly, how could the egg your talking about be yours, and how would it even make sense, Spike looks one hundred percent dragon, it makes no sense what so ever! "
Twilight's rant however stopped as she saw the shamed look on Celestia's face, " I will explain...I did things that no princess should ever do...things that I hate myself for, when the egg was first brought into this world, I feared what the world would think if my child had any signs of being related to the most dangerous being in existence at the time....so I used my magic to alter Spike.. I took almost all traces of being a pony out of him..only leaving in a small part...which resulted in the coloring of his scales and his behavior...the rest, he received the rest from Shade's dragon side, afterwords I couldn't even think of myself as being fit for a mother....so I placed the altered egg in a temporal holding spell..so it would not age, nor hatch until I...until I...."
"....Until you found somepony fit enough to take care of him... " Twilight responded in a rather cold and saddened tone.
" Twilight, please forgive me, I didn't know what to do at the time, I was sc- " she was cut off by the sound of breaking glass. Both princesses turned they're heads to the sound of the noise to see Spike standing in the doorway, a tray with broken cups of tea lay at his feet as his hands stay frozen in the position they were in when they held the very tray on the ground. " Spike please let me explain " Celestia said in a pleading tone, but her plea fell on deaf ears as Spike rushed out of the room and out of the castle in tears.
Somewhere near the edge of Ponyville
Several guards lay on the ground, some unconscious, some were not, and there were some who were nothing more than a singed set of armor. Only one at the moment seemed to be awake and alive for that matter, but it seemed he wouldn't be for long in the position he was in. Flash sentry, a usually strong and proud pegasi guard, now laid on the ground, pinned down by the claw of the very thing he and his fellow guards had been sent to detain, he would attempt to escape, but the claw that pinned him, had him pinned by the neck, and he could feel pressure being applied to it. Tears formed in his eyes as he let out a plea in a weak tone, " Pl...please...don't kill me, we were only following orders...please... "
Shade let out a low growl at the stallion that he had pinned to the ground, he honestly wasn't in the mood to deal with such insects, " I can't make any promises,". He began to dig the sharp part of his claw into the ground, slowly pushing Flash's neck against the cold hard ground beneath him, but as he had started to crush the stallions wind pipe, he was alerted to a near by noise, the sound of a twig snapping under somethings foot.
Spike had run into the woods on the outskirts of ponyville, he was hoping to get to Fluttershy's hut unnoticed, the last thing he wanted was somepony talking to him at the moment, but as he was trekking through the woods, his ears caught the sound of two voices, one weak and one deep and dark, he however recognized both voices. He had attempted to get closer in order to get a better spot to listen in, but in the process he stepped on a twig that he had failed to see, " Darnit ". He shook out of pure fear at what his eyes had rested on upon looking up from the twig, multiple downed ponies, some in decent condition, some in worse conditions, and in the middle of them all was Twilight's house guest, Shade, and beneath him was Twilight's ex crush, Flash Sentry, where as Spike didn't ever really like Flash, he didn't deserve to die.
The unicorn dragon hybrid kept his eyes on Spike, " Hatchling, " he lifted his claw from Flash's neck, and delivered a swift strike from his tail into the pegasi's side, knocking him into a tree, and knocking him unconscious.
Spike shook even more the closer Shade got to him, but as Shade got closer, Spike was overtaken by an incredibly warm feeling, then he remembered what he had overheard from Celestia, about who he really was and how he was connected to Shade." Your my...my.." Spike mumbled.
Shade kneeled before the young dragon, his cold and dark demeanor quickly changed to a calming and caring one, " Tell me young one, what troubles you, I can see it in your eyes, " but much to Shades surprise instead of replying, Spike gave him a hug, a hug that lasted, because Spike never let go of him.
Tears formed in the baby dragons eyes, " your my dad... " Shades eyes widened at what he just heard...he wanted an explanation right then and there, but he knew exactly who to get answers from, so he placed a single leg over the crying dragon. He began flapping his wings before taking off into the sky and right towards Twilight's castle.
" I know not if what this hatchling says is true, but if it is, I'm getting answers, or somepony will burn , " He flew furiously, going as fast as his wings could take him.
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I'm terribly sorry for taking so long to put this out, alot of things have been going on, I meant to put this out much much sooner, but my best friend, and the person who would read my stories before I published the...she passed away and I attended her funeral. Afterwords I decided to take a short break to get things together, but now everything is back to normal, and I'll try releasing chapters on a regular bases, thank you for your patience, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll talk to you all next time, buh bye!
Back at Twilight's Castle
Twilight Sparkle had always seen her former teacher as a kind and caring ruler, one who would never judge wrongfully, and always treat the people of her kingdom fairly, but what she was hearing did not sound like the kind princess she knew. " Princess.....how could you.....," tears of anger welled up in the purple alicorns eyes, but before she could start scolding her former mentor, something else caught her attention, the sound was large scaly wings beating against the wind at rapid speeds. " Princess....you and I shall discuss this some other time...just, please leave now," she watched as Celestia opened her mouth to deny Twilights command, but she was cut off before a single word could be uttered. " Please!, just go, Shade is on his way back and I don't think you want to be here do you, I'll visit the castle after the festival...just..please go..for your safety,".
To say Celestia was at a loss for words was an understatement, she knew if she stayed things would get worse, but she couldn't just leave. Her mind however, quickly changed as the sound of a nearby roar caught her attention, it was a roar that was fueled by a fiery rage. She looked her former student in the eyes before slowly nodding, " Very well....we shall discuss this after the festival...goodbye Twilight Sparkle," and in a magical flash, she was gone.
Upon seeing Celestia leave, Twilight collapsed onto the ground and began quietly sobbing, never before had she felt so hurt, Celestia had said it herself, Shade was sick in the head, but she never attempted to help him, and to top it off not only did she make it worse by concealing him away from the world, she also lied about it for all those years. The sound of a window opening caught Twilight's attention, and when she looked up her eyes rested upon Shade, and in his left claw was a sleeping Spike. She rushed over to them and wrapped her hooves around the both of them, " I'm...so glad...your both OK,".
Shade placed his free claw around Twilight and held her close to him, " What did she do, what did she say," he spoke in a serious tone, but at the same time it felt calming to Twilight.
" She told me what you did....what she did to you..it wasn't right, I don't care how bad the crimes you committed were....nopony deserves what happened to you, she also told me about Spike...she had no right to do that," she could feel more tears welling up, but she managed to hold them in.
He lowered his head slightly, " So it is true, this young one...he is mine, damn you Celestia," he gritted his teeth at the thought of her doing the same thing to his offspring that she had done to him. However before he could let his rage get out of hoof, the sound of light sobs caught his ear.
Twilight buried her face into shades chest and sobbed, " Shade...please...please make me a promise, I want you to be happy, after everything that's happened in your life, you deserve to be happy, promise me that you'll stay here, and promise me you won't hurt anypony innocent," tears ran down her face as she looked up at him.
He gave a solemn nod, " I promise," he gave her a kiss on the head and sat down on the ground before wrapping both Twilight and Spike in his wings. " I also promise that no harm will ever come to the two of you, and that Celestia will pay...," as much as Twilight didn't exactly agree with the last part, she knew in his head he thought he was doing right, that and she was too tired to deny it. After a few minutes of laying in Shades embrace, Twilight finally fell asleep, and after she had fallen asleep Shade picked her up while still keeping Spike in his other claw, and proceeded to carry both of them to Twilight's room.
Twilight's Bedroom, Five hours later
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, a slight pain ran through her head but was gone as soon as it was there, she looked towards the window only to see that it was late at night and raining. A small light source caught her attention from the corner of her eye and what she saw made her smile softly. Shade was sitting only a few feet away from the bed with a book in his claws, a small candle aided him in reading in the dark. " Shade..," she said in a slightly tired tone yet she still managed to keep her smile.
Shade raised his head and averted his eyes away from his book to look at the now awake Twilight, " Did you sleep well?,". His tone seemed much more calm than usually, not to say he wasn't calm, but it seemed more peaceful than previously.
She gave a nod in response to his question, followed by a question of her own, " Have you been there the whole time?,". He gave a small nod before looking her in the eyes. " Is..is something the matter?," she questioned, unsure as to why he was looking at her like that.
He gave a small chuckle before shaking his head, " No, I've just been doing some thinking, like, why am I so drawn to you, when I broke free I vowed vengeance against any and all royalty, yet....I felt no hostility towards you Twilight, only a strange warmth,". He closed his eyes and took a short breath, it was obvious that something was going on inside of his head. " The whole time you were asleep I've been thinking as to why, then i noticed something, in a short time I've grown more feelings for you than I had for Celestia in all the years I've known her,".
Her eyes slightly widened, " Sh...Shade, what are you saying exactly," she asked with a slight stutter.
He opened his eyes too look her in the eyes once again, " I won't sugar coat it Twilight Sparkle, I'll be up front with you, I think.. I think that I'm falling in love with you, something I've never done before,".
Twilight's eyes widened, she was at an utter loss of words, she wanted to say no, but she knew she'd be lying to herself if she even tried denying him. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster as she forced herself to admit her feelings, " Shade, I lo-," her confession was cut off by a monstrous tremor that shook all of Ponyville and the surrounding areas. " I don't know what that was, but that can't be good," she said in a worried tone.
" You took the words right out of my mouth," he stated.
She hopped out of her bed and made a mad dash to get outside, but stopped as soon as she saw Shade sitting in the same exact place, " Aren't you coming?,".
Shade then stood up in front of her, " I will, but first i need to make sure Spike is safe, you go ahead, I'm sure your friends are already waiting, I won't be long,".
Twilight looked him in the eyes before quickly hugging him and taking off out of her room and out of her castle, right as she stepped out of the front gate her eyes fell upon something that greatly shocked her. A massive chunk of crystal was sticking right in the center of Ponyville, it has completely crushed the town hall underneath, it was easily taller than the town hall, being at least a story and a half taller than the building that once stood there. " No way," was all Twilight could utter before taking off as fast as she could go until she was in the center of town.
"
In the Center of Ponyville
"
Waiting for her in the center of town was her merry band of best friends, and the first one to say something to the princess upon showing up was Applejack. " There ya are sugar, what took ya so long, we were all sound asleep in our beds when all of a sudden there was this really loud crash and here we are, standing right here in front of whatever this here thing is," the rest of Twilight's friends nodded in agreement.
" Whatever it is, its gorgeous," stated Rarity as she stared in awe at the massive chunk of crystal.
" Maybe its... ROCK CANDY!!," Pinkie exclaimed as she attempted to run near the crystal, only to be picked up by Twilight and placed right back where she was.
Twilight just shook her head at the pink ponies antics. She then placed her attention back on the crystal, and the longer she stared at it, the more something dawned on her. " Girls, I think I know what this is, Shade showed me something he had been placed inside of a long time ago, this crystal is made out of the exact same stuff,".
Pinkie pie had an awestruck look on her face for a moment before replacing it with her usual face, " So you mean theres a HUUUUUUUGE dragon pony thingy inside of that there big rock,".
Twilight could only facehoof at Pinkie's question, " no," Twilight stated.
" Well then spit it out egghead, if it's something dangerous then it needs its butt kicked, and I'm the one whose gonna do it," Rainbow Dash said as she held a confident and cocky grin on her face.
" No would you listen," Twilight said, it was easy to tell she was annoyed by the tone of her voice, but before she could give her friends a proper explanation as to what it was, the ground began shaking violently. Along with the ground shaking, the crystal itself began cracking severely until finally it shattered. Twilight's eyes widened and her pupils shrunk as she stared at what came from within the crystal, " I...was saying...there was something....inside," all the ponies that had came to investigate the crystal all began to slowly back away and cower in fear.
" Wh..what in tarnation is that," Applejack asked in a shaken up voice.
" I..I...I don't know, but whatever it is, it doesn't look friendly. The creature before them was massive, being at least ten feet taller than Tirek was in his final form, it's body seemed to be made of a pitch black stone or mineral as well as being covered in many crystals similar to the ones it was previously encased in, it stood on two legs that held up its enormous upper body, it possessed two massive arms with hands that ended in crystalline claws, its head was the most menacing part, its head was conjoined to its torso making it appear as if it were apart of it, a large horn sat atop of it and on its face rested four glowing crystalline eyes that stared down the ponies that had come to investigate the crystal. .
" Well...you said you were gonna be the one to kick it to the curve...weren't you Rainbow Dash," Applejack questioned, still visibly shaken up.
" I have no clue what your talking about," Rainbow Dash said as sweat poured down her face.
The creature let out an earth shaking roar that along with literally shaking the ground beneath it, caused all the ponies who were there to flee in fear, all except for Twilight and her friends. " Uh Twilight, do ya got any ideas," Applejack said in an intimidated tone.
" I do have just one," her eyes widened as the stone behemoth raised its foot into the air in order to crush the ponies before it, " RUN!!!!," Twilight shouted.
Inside Twilight's Castle
Shade tucked Spike into bed before turning towards the bedroom window, he then felt the ground shake again. " Rest well my son, when this is over you will wake up and know nothing of tonight," he opened the window, spread his wings wide and took off towards the golem that stood in the center of town.
Little did Shade know, Spike was never truly asleep, " please come back safe...dad..,".
Back in the Center of Ponyville
Twilight and her friends had just barely managed to evade being crushed by the stone giants foot, leaving the six friends in clear shock. " That...was close," Twilight wheezed, she quickly shook herself to regain her composure. She quickly spread her wings and took off into the air so that she could meet the stone beast at eye level, " You appear out of nowhere, you frighten the citizens of Ponyville, and you try crushing me and my friends!!, alright you asked for it," her eyes began to brightly glow white and a lavender hue covered her horn. " Leave and never come back!!," she yelled as she fired a beam of magic energy that collided right with the giants face, which resulted in kicking up a cloud of smoke from the magnitude of the blast. Twilight's eyes widened in shock as the smoke cleared, her expression turned to that of a horrified one as her eyes laid upon the stone golem, unscathed by her magical blast, " no way...,".
" Twilight get out of there!!!," shouted Rainbow Dash as she flew at breakneck speeds to push her friend and herself out of the way. The two ponies had just barely evaded a swipe form the golem's massive right arm. " That was too close for comfort," but they weren't out of harms way just yet, at that very moment the beast shot his other arm straight into the air in an attempt to grab the two ponies, and right as it was about to grasp the ponies in its massive grip, three searing hot fireballs slammed into the golem's face, and although ti did not damage the beast, it did draw it's attention away from the fleeing ponies.
The golem turned towards it's attacker, only to see Shade flying in the air at it's eye level, " You know, tonight could've been a nice night, but some giant flatfooted rock freak decided to ruin it, now I'm mad!!!!," Shade lifted his head into the air and opened his mouth sucking in as much air as possible. While Shade was doing this, the golem was reeling it's arm back, readying itself to throw a massive punch right at the hybrid. " Not so fast big guy ," Shade said to himself as he had finished taking in air, " LET'S TURN UP THE HEAT!!!!!," he shouted as he spewed a massive wave of fire from his mouth which quickly consumed the golem into the searing flames. As the smoke from the flames cleared, Shade was in just as much shock at Twilight was when she attacked the beast, " But my fire is hot enough to eradicate stone, grrr, fine you asked for it!!!!," with a single flap of his powerful wings he shot straight into the air, gaining great height before arching in the air and aiming to go right back down towards the golem. Much to Shades surprise a giant had game rocketing towards him from the golem, " No way!!," the massive hand took grasp of the hybrid before bringing him all the way back to the ground and slamming him into the cold hard ground.
Twilight's eyes widened in shock, her eyes began to water out of anger, and out of nowhere she took off towards the golem, her eyes and horn glowing simultaneously, " DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!!!!!!! ," Twilight's voice echoed loudly as she got up into the stone giants face before blasting him at point blank range. The power of the blast caused the golem to stumble back, giving Twilight enough room to fly down to where Shade was, the force of the impact practically buried the hybrid under stone and rubble. Right as Twilight was about to dig him out, his claw shot up out of the ground, soon followed by the rest of him, " Your OK!," she gave Shade a tight hug before quickly letting go.
" I'm fine," he then cracked his neck before turning his attention towards the golem, who had finally regained his footing. " It's powerful, I'll give that, but not powerful enough," he let out a deep growl as he spread his wings once more, Twilight watched in awe as Shade's body began to pump up looking more muscular and powerful before, " This is my dragon half taking full control, now the fun is gonna start,". He took off at breakneck speeds towards the stone adversary, reaching the behemoth in no time at all, he lowered his head and slammed it into the golem's chest. The golem let out a cry of pain as it came crashing towards the ground, falling apart upon hitting the earth below, " Too easy....way to easy," shade began scanning the area for anything strange, but by the time he saw what he was looking for, it was already in his face.
The golem's rock solid fist collided with Shade's body, launching him towards the ground, the only thing breaking his fall were the several buildings he got sent through. The Golem had rapidly reformed, this had given Shade no time to react, and after launching Shade through multiple buildings it made chase after him. Unbeknownst to anypony around, Rainbow Dash was flying upwards to the sky, going as high as she could without leaving the stratosphere," Let's see if this boulder brain can take a sonic rainboom!," a cocky grin formed on her face as she kept flying until she reached the distance she needed, " I just need a few seconds, I hope Shade can hold him till then,".
Shade had once again taken flight, this time he was furious, " That's it, now you've done it," he inhaled as much air as his lungs could hold. He then flew towards the golem's face, " Let's see how well you take the heat big guy, " . He spewed a super heated stream of fire form his mouth, hitting the golem at point blank range. The golem attempted to shield it's face with it's arms and began backing away from the hybrid. " If you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen!!!," the stream continued to pour from his mouth, the stone behemoth quickly became enraged as he could feel his body heating up past it's limits. It lifted it's right arm high into the air, and swung i downwards, smashing right into shade, effectively stopping the fire, and crushing the hybrid beneath his hand at the same time.
Twilight looked in horror as she watched the stone giant crush Shade under his hand, " No!!," she fainted before being able to see what would happen next however.
Back up in the sky, Rainbow Dash had finally reached a suitable height, " Alright big guy, lets see how well you handle sheer awesomeness," her confident grin formed on her face as she turned back towards the earth below her and readied herself to perform the sonic rainboom.
Back on the ground, the golem was sure he had crushed the hybrid, but was surprised to feel that his hand was lifting up against his will. Shade was slowly lifting up the golems hand with his front limbs, using a mixture of sheer strength with his magic to help give him a boost. His eyes flared and began to glow a deep blood red, " Now i'm mad!!!!," he looked up at his attacker, a look of anger covered his face as he bared his razor sharp teeth at the golem, " No more games,".
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I'm sorry about the delayed release of this chapter, some things came up but they were no big deal. Anyway I don't know how long it will be until i release the second part to this. * NOTE* When I say this I am not saying I will be on a hiatus, I'm saying it might be a few days extra before the next chapter, I just ordered in a copy of the Metroid Prime Trilogy online, I do plan to play it so I'll be juggling my time between the story and the game. Don't worry though, I will still regularly release chapters, I would never stop writing, unless i say a story is on hiatus, or that I am on Hiatus, then any other time I will not be. Anyway everypony, I hope you guys and gals enjoy this chapter, I decided to split it in half rather than write the full two parts, to save time. Also, I didn't do like in my story Demon Heart, where I released a picture of the main character, thats because my drawing tablet has been screwed up, I just recently got it fixed, so I will be releasing a picture of Shade soon. Please go ahead and comment any ideas I can use as the story goes on, and also, a friend of mine who read the story asked me a question that I originally pushed aside, Should Shade go on and be paired with just Twilight, or should there be more to his love life than just her. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter, comment like, do whatever you feel like, I'll talk to you all next time
On the Edge of the Mostly Ruined Ponyville
Shade locked eyes with his attackers, blood dripped from his mouth as he bared his teeth. He let out an earth shaking roar as he flapped his wings while still holding up the golem's hand, effectively shooting himself through the golem's hand and through his arm before exiting out the shoulder. The stone behemoth let out a wail of pain as the half breed burrowed through and out of his arm, " I'm made of tougher stuff than you!!," a glint in the sky caught his attention, " Looks like I'm not the only one doing something about this eye sore," and with that he took a sharp turn in the air and flew as far back as possible.
" HERE I COME, BIG AND UGLY!!!!," shouted Rainbow Dash as she shot down from the sky straight towards the stone golem, she soon punched through the sound barrier, creating a sonic rainboom, and pushing herself forward greatly at the same time. In a matter of seconds she was only mere inches away from the beast face, time seemed to slow down as she made contact with it. Upon colliding with the golem, she shot straight through it's stone body, the force of the rainboom causing it's upper body to practically explode. " Take that!!," Rainbow cheered as she stopped herself in the air to look at the damage she had done to the colossal being, but her cheers soon fell silent at what she had begun witnessing, " No...no way,".
Everypony present at the battleground watched in shock as the Golem, not only managed to stay standing after having most of its upper body blown off and also tanking a head on sonic rainboom, but mere seconds after that, began reforming every piece of its body that it lost from surrounding debris in the area. However while it was reforming itself, Shade caught of a glimpse of something shining within it's chest, but only for a brief moment, " Perhaps that's our solution, ".
Rainbow Dash, shocked and distraught at how easily her effort was shaken off, slowly descended to where her friends were, " But...the sonic rainboom is my most awesome move....why didn't it work,".
She felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned to see Applejack next to her, " It's alright sugar cube, it would've worked on anypony else, but this here thing ain't no pony, it's best that we leave it up to him now,". The rest of the main six nodded in agreement, including the usually ecstatic Pinkie Pie.
Shade eyed the golem's body, searching for any exploitable weak points, " Whoever animated you knew exactly what they were doing, but they missed one major flaw,". The dragon hybrid took flight once again, having thoroughly examined his foe, he was already calculating a strategy in his hand, and by the time he had finished coming up with a plan, he was only mere feet away from him. The now enraged golem swung is massive arm at the oncoming dragon, but this time Shade was expecting this, in fact, it was the first step for his plan to work. He took a rapid nose dive right as the massive arm came down to crush him, dodging it in the process, which led him to the next step, " Like I was saying, you have one major flaw, THE BIGGER THEY ARE!!!," he flew as fast as he could at that moment straight towards the golem's leg, making direct contact and barreling through it and taking it off in the process, " THE HARDER THEY FALL!!!," he watched as the stone giant came crashing down onto it's back, shaking the earth beneath it.
Twilight awoke to the feeling of the ground she laid on tremble, " Ow...my head, w..whats going on,".
" Twilight darling your OK," it was Rarity who first took notice of Twilight's awakening, and greeted her friend with a warm hug.
" I'm glad your OK Twilight," Twilight could instantly tell it was Fluttershy who was speaking to her, the soft voice gave it up right away, " For a second we thought you'd never wake up..,".
The sight of an injured Rainbow Dash caught Twilight's attention in a matter of seconds, " Wh..what happened to Rainbow?!,".
Rainbow Dash looked up at Twilight and gave her a weak grin before letting out a small groan of pain and answering her. " I hit that big lug with a sonic rainboom....but he just took it all...wasn't too long before he rebuilt himself..ow,".
" Sugar cube we'd like to help ya, but without that there fancy chest we used to beat Tirek I don't think any of us would even last a minute against that thing,". The others gave small nod of agreement after hearing Applejack speak.
" Your probably right..but theres got to be a wa-," Twilight cut her own sentence off, she and the rest of the main six turned their attentions towards the battlegrounds before them, what they saw caused their jaws to drop, and caused Pinkie's jaw to literally fall to the ground.
Shade grasped the golem's remaining leg at the base of the foot, using his already impressive physical strength, aided by his magic, he proceeded to lift the golem into the air. Although he knew it was risky, riskier than what he was doing now, he forced even more magic from his horn, which aided him in flying while holding the stone behemoth. " Let's see how well you fly," he gritted his teeth as he just barely managed to keep the golem above his head. Using as much strength as he could muster, he issued an ear splitting roar, and hurled the beast straight into one of the mountains at the edge of Ponyville. The force of the collision alone caused the crippled golem to fall into a pile at the foot of the mountain.
" D..did he just...," Twilight's friends gave a simultaneous nod.
After regaining his composure Shade flew over to the rubble that was the golem as fast as his weakened wings could take him, " I know it's here in this pile...but where,". He scanned the area below him for whatever it is that he was looking for, unaware of the danger above him. The golem burst out from the mountain, bringing it's colossal fist down on him, and smashing him and itself onto the pile of stones below them.
Twilight shot up onto all four of her legs as she watched Shade being crushed, " NOO!!!!," without thinking about anything else at the very moment, she took off towards them, praying that Shade was OK.
The golem quickly reformed, leaving an injured Shade underneath the rubble of it's previous body. However it was too busy getting a feel of it's new body to notice the magic blast hurtling towards it. The blast made contact with tremendous force, causing the stone giant to stumble back with every blast.
" I HATE YOU!!!!," Twilight was enraged, for all she knew Shade could be dead under that pile of stones, she didn't even get a chance to tell him how she felt, like she had planned back at the castle. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shot off blast after blast, each blast chipping away at the golem's stone hide.
The more she hit the golem however, the more enraged it became, it wildly swung it's arms at the angered princess, only to be blasted again and again.
Underneath the rubble that was the golem's previous body however, Shade was very much alive. In fact despite being buried underneath tons of boulders, he had a grin on his face. " I'm ready to end this," he could feel his blood literally boiling as the heat inside of him built up to dangerous levels.
Fire shot from the boulders that laid on top of Shade, seeping through every crack and crevice at super heated temperatures. The sight was enough to stop Twilight's assault on the stone giant, this however left her open for an imminent attack. Which is exactly what happened, while her attention was diverted towards the burning pile of stones, the golem brought it's hands towards Twilight, clapping both of them on her, causing her to fall unconscious, and plummet towards the ground below.
Right as the golem let Twilight drop, the pile of boulders behind it erupted in a powerful and fiery explosion, but despite the sound the explosion let out, it did not drown out the roar of pure rage the Shade let out as he stood on his hind legs. The golem went to turn towards the source of the noise, but upon facing Shade, he was no longer there. It was too late for the golem to realize that Shade was flying right towards him, " ENOUGH!!!!!!, THIS ENDS NOW!!!!," Shade's horn began glowing brightly, rapidly enveloping himself in it's glow before becoming completely covered in a ethereal dragon. Shade made contact with the golems chest in a very distinct spot, quickly burrowing through it's chest cavity and upon exiting on the other side he had exposed what was keeping the golem alive the whole time, a large chunk of crystal that was embedded into the golem's chest, during the whole fray it had done it's best to hide it's weak spot, even resorting to moving it to another part of his body when Rainbow Dash hit it with a sonic rainboom.
Twilight weakly opened her eyes as she slowly plummeted towards the ground beneath her, a slight smile appeared on her face as she softly mumbled something, "...Get him Shade..,".
Shade let out another earth Shaking roar before making a quick u-turn and aiming for the golem's exposed weak point. The golem attempted to shield the exposed crystal, but it was too late, Shade pushed himself further, excelling in speeds that could match Rainbow Dash. Using this speed boost he launched himself back through the golem's chest, this time barreling through the crystal, and shattering it on impact. The ethereal dragon quickly disappeared from around Shade, allowing him to take a rapid nose dive in order to catch the falling princess, and right as she was about to hit the solid earth below her,he swooped down, and flew her to where her friends were. " And stay gone," all six of them watched as the golem let out a loud death cry that shook the earth, before falling apart, boulder by boulder, until he was no more than a pile of rocks.
a small cough escaped Twilight's mouth as she attempted to stand up, " H..how did you know where to hit it..?,".
" Yes darling how ever did you know how to put a stop to that monstrosity, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash hit it as hard as they could and yet it didn't work, how did you know that gorgeous gem was in it's chest? ," asked Rarity.
He let out a short chuckle before letting out a sigh of relief, " I kept my eyes open the whole time, when Rainbow Dash struck the beast only it's upper body fell apart, but when it began reforming I noticed something rather interesting, a bright and warm shine within all cold stone, and then it hit me, that's what made it so invulnerable,".
"..F..fascinating," Twilight looked at Shade and gave him the best smile she could muster.
Shade returned the smile, but it didn't stay for long as something caught his attention, rising from the corpse of the golem were shards of the same crystal he had just shattered. " What in the..," he didn't get a chance to finish what he was going to say as the shards flew towards him at blinding speeds before flying right at his chest, but instead of burrowing into him like he thought they would, it was as if his body was letting them inside. Despite the rather warm welcome his body had given the crystals, the warm feeling was quickly replaced by unbearable pain. Shade let out a shout comparable to that of someone who was being murdered, he grasped his chest before falling over as he slowly passed out.
Twilight screamed in shock and terror as she watched Shade fall over unconscious, " Shade!!," she tried her best to limp over to him, only succeeding in stumbling and falling next to him, but she never hit the ground.
" Twilight, is everypony OK?!," Twilight recognized the voice of her former mentor, " I'm sorry I didn't assist in the crisis....to be honest, I was too shocked to do anything," she turned her head towards the unconscious Shade. " Perhaps I did judge him too quickly...," using her magic, the solar princess lifted up both Shade and Twilight, " Come everypony,there is much to discuss,". Although slightly confused by the princess's behavior, the rest of the main six could only comply with what she had ordered them to do, perhaps it would finally shine some light on everything that just happened.
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, I was originally gonna have this one combined with the last chapter, but do to time issues I was forced to split them. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the battle, As I type this, I'm already planning the next chapter and I'll do my best to make it much longer, and if it isn't as long as I wanted it to be, I'll just release another chapter after it and hope that it's longer, so I've got a bit on my plate
Somewhere Inside of a Deep Dark Abyss
Shade floated aimlessly inside the darkness, time never seemed to flow, but he didn't ask where he was, he knew exactly where he was, the pitch black abyss around him was the inside of his mind. "..W..what happened....why am I here again, what reason have i been dragged to this infernal abyss...,". He began scanning the area around him, there was nothing but emptiness as far as the eye could see, just a pitch black fog that covered his mind. However, something caught his eye in the darkness, a dim light off in the distance, " That's new...,".
He slowly approached the dim light, watching as the closer he got the less dim it became " Come closer, chosen child of the ancient crystal ," said an almost angelic voice. Upon approaching the light, he found nopony there, but instead a floating ethereal light, but the same voice he heard before, was soon heard again, coming from the light. " Forgive me for intruding in your mind O, chosen child, I have been searching for you for a long time ,".
" Searching for me? ," he asked in a rather curious tone.
" Yes, for you see, it was I who helped awaken you from your ancient slumber, I awoke you and your five siblings ,".
A confused look formed on his face, " Siblings?, preposterous, I am an only child, what nonsense do you speak of," he was growing annoyed rather quickly.
The ethereal spirit let out a slight chuckle, " You may not have any siblings you know of through your birth mother or father, but these are your spiritual siblings, one of which you destroyed tonight ," the spirit's tone became somber as she continued to speak. " You see, long ago, there was an evil being that reigned over the land that would be what you now know as Equestria, now mind you this was before any alicorns ever reigned over this place ," she came to a slight pause before watching Shade give a slight nod to show that he was listening. " As I was saying, this was before alicorns ever took they're place as the rulers of the land, the evil being ruled the world using fear and immense power, until one day, a group of ponies that would become the first alicorns took a stand, they discovered that despite the fact they could not defeat it, they could seal it using enchanted crystals, but the crystals would not work unless they had a living host to provide the power, so six ponies made a sacrifice, and after ensnaring the dark being within the crystal trap, they had managed to imprison him deep within the planet, where it could never harm another being again, at the cost of their comrades being stuck inside of the crystals ," the spirit took another pause, she knew Shade had been absorbing every word that she spoke, but that was not the reason she paused. " You see, for the longest time the crystals held the dark being in, but as the years went by, he slowly manipulated the crystals to do his bidding, eventually turning the host into the first children of the ancient crystal, and by freeing them, he freed himself but not all at the same time, first his children had to reek havoc across the land, which was now ruled by the second alicorn king, he made short work of the first children, but only because of the lack of power they had, however this did not stop the evil one from being freed, he became enraged at the death of his creations and begun his second reign over the world, which was brought to a halt, as the knowledge of how he was sealed away was used once again, this time the king himself sealed himself in order to make sure he stayed shut away ,".
Shade had a quizzical expression on his face ," I'm just going to take a guess it didn't work, just because of how things ended up now,". He let out his own chuckle at the situation, the spirit however just remained silent, which was enough of a yes rather than having a verbal answer.
" You guessed correctly.....the king didn't count on the evil one from turning him into his own minion, you see, after the spell is casted, the host of the crystal become and stay linked to the evil one as long as they are in the crystal, this time it was the next king that ruled Equestria before the ones you know as Celestia and Luna that defeated the children of the ancient crystal and used himself to seal the dark one away believing that his will would persevere, but unlike the others who used other ponies to seal away the dark being, he used assorted beast, including the golem you fought, yet he could only ever get five if he included himself, and yet, it seemed to be enough, but in order to catch these rather powerful beast, he used a magical chain, a chain that would subdue even the mightiest of creatures, draining them of their power as long as it remained around them ," she stopped as soon as she heard Shade utter a very low growl. " You know exactly what he used, after catching four beast and sealing them and himself in the crystals, the evil one went into a sort of slumber, years after that the princesses were born, then you, then it comes to how you are apart of this, the princesses had discovered note in their fathers old journal, discovering both the spell that sealed the beast away and the very chain he used, they were unaware of anything else, you see, I have been spending the last five thousand years trying to free all of you before he could corrupt you, and it seems that you are the only one who I was able to save ,".
"....I see," he tightly clenched his claw together, if he were in his real body and not his mind it would have surely drawn blood. Another thought came to him suddenly, " Spirit, tell me, what of the crystal that my body took inside of myself, what did it do me,".
There was a long silence before she responded to him, " The crystal...it was the heart of the golem, when your body absorbed it, you took an ability from the creature you destroyed, you can only do this to other children of the ancient crystal, as for what you claimed from your sibling, well...why not try it out for yourself,". As if on cue a pile of stones appeared out of nowhere next to the two, " Focus on the stones as if you were going to cast a spell form your horn,".
Shade didn't exactly trust the spirit, but she had revealed so much to him in such a little time, he had no reason to deny her command, for he too was curious as to what the crystal did. " Alright then," he turned his attention towards the pile of various stones that stood before him, he began focusing on it, feeling his magic well up inside him, and without warning the stones began to float. " What is this, I'm not lifting them," the stones began to circle Shade , going faster and faster, changing shape as they did until they appeared plate like. Each stone plate soon attached itself to Shades body, until there were no stones on the ground.
" Take a look for yourself O, chosen child ," a small puddle of water formed on the ground in front of Shade.
Upon looking at his reflection, Shade was stunned, the stones had attached themselves to him, creating armor, but it was unlike any armor he had seen, he could move in it without restraint, he could flap his wings with ease, and unlike other forms of armor it felt very light, especially for being made of stone. " Astounding, never in all my years could I have imagined such a thing, but it is stone, would steel not make a better form of protection?,".
The spirit let out a small giggle at his question, " Perhaps, but where are you going to find steel in situations where your body is vulnerable, especially when there is stone and gems in just about every corner of the world ,".
" Gemstones?, i can use this new magic to form armor out of gemstones?!," he sounded absolutely astounded by this.
She let another giggle out before replying, " Maybe, now there is one thing you should know, there is a crystal inside of you, a crystal heart so to speak it is what makes you as resistant to damage as you are, it's also what allows you to absorb the powers of your fallen brethren, which brings me to the last thing you must know, there is a reason you were freed without being corrupted, you possess a strong spirit, with a will that is stronger than any form of armor,despite not knowing it you fought off the evil one many times in your own mind, you can stop him once and for all by doing what was never attempted by any other child of the ancient crystal, you must find and vanquish all of your remaining siblings before the evil one can be freed, the next one you will find will be-,". The spirit abruptly stopped speaking before letting out a cry of unbearable pain, " Oh no!, hes...hes found me, hurry Shade hurry, don't let him do to your world what he did to mine, hurry!! AAAH!!,".
" What do you mean what he did to your world, what do you mean?!!," but there was no response, and soon everything around him began cracking, light was slowly slipping in through the darkness. " No I can't wake up now, I need to know what she meant!!," but it was too late.
In Twilight's Castle, A few Minute's Prior on the Outside world
" Princess, what are you saying exactly," said a still weak looking Twilight Sparkle.
Princess Celestia let out a deep sigh, " I'm saying I want to give him another chance, but..he's too dangerous even if he doesn't mean it,".
Rainbow Dash stood on her four legs quickly, despite still being winded from the fight with the golem, " So what if he's dangerous, he just saved all of our hides, and hay, he probably saved all of Equestria, if Twilight couldn't topple that big pile of rocks then, and no offense princess, then what could anypony else do,".
" I understand what your saying Rainbow Dash, but he isn't just a danger to everypony around him, hes a danger to himself, Shade is a force of nature in his own way, if he gets mad his magic goes out of control," Celestia's tone became softer as she spoke about him.
" Um...e..excuse me princess...," Fluttershy stepped towards the solar princess with her usual shy expression. " I..I know I don't know Shade as well as you or Twilight knows him...but he isn't so bad...he saved us...I think you should give him a chance...besides..maybe...maybe that's all hes ever wanted,".
A small smile appeared on Celestia's face as she listened to Fluttershy, " Perhaps..perhaps you are right Fluttershy, if i stay in the past forever...then what chance do I have of ever being able to move on, but I don't just want to give him a free chance..hes still dangerous..,". Celestia watched as a frown formed on the face of each member of the main six, " But..if he can past a test..then I shall accept him and...I will give him his place back in the royal advisory, as he was all those years ago...,".
Twilight shot right up upon hearing this, " A test!, that's perfect, Shade is incredibly smart, I'm sure he will pass,".
" I'm glad your so enthusiastic about this Twilight, because it's going to be because of you ponies, that he passes or fails, because, the test I'm giving him is a test on the magic that is friendship, something you are all so familiar on," Celestia sat down, after all that has taken place she was exhausted, not physically, but mentally.
Twilight however was awestruck, she had not expected her former teacher to think of something like this for somepony whom she supposedly hated, but at the same time she was excited, " Don't worry princess, all of us are going to help Shade, he'll understand the magic of friendship by the time of Hearths Warming Eve, which just so happens to be one month from now," she said with a big smile on her face.
" Is that so," everypony nearly jumped as a deep voice came from nowhere.
Fluttershy had hidden underneath Twilight's couch out of fear, " W..who said that,".
" It's Shade!!," Twilight said with an even bigger smile on her face. She pointed to the half breed who stood at the top of the steps, she then quickly trotted to him, going as fast as her weakened legs would take her, and upon reaching him she gave him a big hug, which he returned, although he only used one claw.
" So if I learn about this magic that is friendship, then you'll stop treating me like some freak of nature, is that right Celestia,". Although it was rather stiff, she gave a nod in response, " Heh...you've grown soft over the years, I accept,".
Celestia's jaw dropped, not even once did she think he would actually accept her offer, " V..very well Shade, starting tomorrow you are to spend the whole day with one of the former holders of the elements of harmony...those being Twilight and her friends..if you can show me you truly understand friendship by Hearth's Warming Eve....then I shall...publicly forgive you and give you your role as a royal adviser back..., is that fair,".
Shade placed his claw on his chin as he thought, " Hmmm...forget the royal adviser part and we have a deal...I'd rather live my own life than make choices for royalty any more," he put a big grin on his face before chuckling.
As surprising as i was. Celestia too smiled, perhaps she could finally find redemption for sealing him away all those years ago instead of helping him. As she looked around she saw that all of Twilight's friends, including Twilight herself, all shared a smile, it seems that even now no matter who he befriends he always puts a smile on their face, " I may not like this..but it's the right thing to do, Shade...please pass this ,".
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I'm back, and again, I'm sorry for a short chapter compared to the rest, I've been working on multiple chapters to catch up on lost time so some might be short some might be long. Anyway the next one should include a little bit of action, I hope you guys and galls enjoyed, comment like, do whatever you feel like doing. I'll see you all later
Unknown Location, Several Hours Later
Upon leaving Twilight's castle, princess Celestia and her two royal guards took off on they're own business, however rather than going to Canterlot, they took an entirely different direction. " That was too easy, now for my little plan fall into play, starting with me igniting the flame that will spark my plan," she started chuckling wickedly when suddenly her eyes turned an ominous green.
" Your highness, what issss ssso special about the hybrid, sure he possesses a great power..but he looksss weak minded," the royal guard to her left said with slight hisses in his speech.
" Yesssss I agree, he did have a rather weak willed look to him," the other guard said in agreement.
They're ruler stopped in her tracks, remaining dead silent for a short moment before responding. " Are you two fools saying I am wrong in my choice....you morons can't even begin to imagine the power he possesses, and that " weak will" was my doing,". The two guards began to cower as their ruler grew angry, " He's the perfect being to rule by my side...think...the magic and physical power he has combined with my own magical prowess, would spawn the perfect offspring to take Equestria by storm," rather than chuckle like before, this time she began cackling, and in a matter of seconds the supposed princess Celestia shed her skin, revealing her true identity, along with her two guards who were changelings all along.
" Forgive ussss Queen Chryssssalisss," they say in unison.
Her maniacal cackles died down leaving a small grin on her face, " All is forgiven my changelings, but you should learn not to speak badly about my future husband,".
Both changelings nodded in response to their queen before one of them spoke again, " What exactly is your plan to acquire that which you desssire your highnesssss,".
" Yesss, what ingenious idea do you have to gain such a powerful being as your own," the other changeling guard added.
" Why, I'm glad you both asked," a malicious grin formed on her face, growing bigger the more her plan circulated throughout her head.
Inside Twilight's Castle, the Next Day
Deep down in the basement of Twilight's castle, Shade had been spending most of the day working on different potions and mixes. He had been working for hours undisturbed, hoping to finish his work by the end of the day, he hadn't interacted with anypony since he had awoken this morning. " Just a little more...just a little more," he repeated himself as he carefully dropped an orange liquid into the main mixture, one drop at a time.
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle sat the table in her dining hall, lunch time had already passed, but she found that during this time of day it was the quietest place in her castle, making it an ideal spot to catch up on some reading. Princess Celestia's words had thoroughly sunken into her mind, Shade had until Hearth's Warming-Eve to prove he's reformed...yet deep down it felt like he honestly didn't care about the magic of friendship. Her ears perked up at the sound of small feet on the floor, " Spike, what are you doing,".
The small purple dragon froze up the second his name was spoke, " Uhhh...yes Twilight," he quickly turned around to face her, sweat dripping down his face as an innocent smile covered his face,".
" Where exactly are you going," Twilight eyed her assistant, he had a stack of books in his claws and on top of that was a tray with snacks on it. She trotted towards Spike who was just as nervous, " That's an awful lot your carrying Spike, what are you doing with it, and please tell the truth, OK?,".
After letting out a small sigh of defeat, Spike looked Twilight in the eyes before speaking so that she knew he would be telling the truth, " You see my dad said he wanted to spend the day reading, even though he was told that he needed to learn about the magic of friendship, but when I brought it up he said he doesn't remember anything of the sort, so rather than arguing with my own dad... thought I'd be a good son and get him some things,".
Twilight could only let out a giggle as she looked at Spike, " Well aren't you just adorable,". As she looked at all the thing that Spike was carrying, a thought dawned on her, Shade only had three months, so he needed to learn about friendship as soon as he could, which is something he couldn't do if all he did was sit around and read all day, " Kind of ironic really, heh ,". " Hey Spike, I have an idea, why don't you, me, the girls, and Shade, go camping, you know so that way we can all help him understand friendship," she was hoping that Spike would agree, Shade was his father after all, and she was sure the last thing he wanted, was for his father to become a worldwide criminal.
Spike remained silent for a good two minutes, staying in the same position as well, seemingly frozen, until his frozen expression turned into that of a big smile. " Twilight, that....IS THE MOST AWESOME IDEA THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!!!!!!," Spike was overflowing with joy, not only does he get a chance to spend quality time with his father, a pony who until couple days ago he didn't know existed, but also all of his best friends.
Despite the fact he had nearly popped her ear drums with his sudden shouting, Twilight was smiling, if Spike would agree, then it was definite that Shade would go with him. ," Spike, go and get your dad up here, I'm gonna go get the girls," wearing a smile of her own, Twilight headed off to gather her friends, leaving Spike with the seemingly most difficult task, convincing his father to go with them, and so that's what he'd do, so off to the basement the little dragon went.
" In the Basement of Twilight's Castle "
Despite all the times he had been down here with Twilight, Spike had never really been down in the basement by himself, to him it was like a whole new place. " It's...darker than I remember...and bigger," he had to squint his eyes in order to see better, and in the midst of the sea of darkness that covered the basement, he could see a small light, and hear what he thought was mumbling.
Sitting in the midst of the basement was Shade, now lying his on the table that his work had been sat on, " Why was she acting that way to me......she hates me....and I hate her....yet she was smiling the whole time last night...why was she..huh?!," he quickly stopped his mumbling when the sound of little feet walking on the stone floor caught his attention. He turned his head towards the noise, " Spike....is that you, what are you doing down here ..son?," and as soon as he said that, his small purple son stepped out of the darkness, looking as if he had just been scolded for being down there .
Spike mentally slapped himself, " Well, so much for not being seen ," ," Uh hey there dad, I was just wondering if you'd like to do something was all,".
" Canterlot Castle, that Exact Moment "
After a stressful day of calming the populace down due to an event that occurred in Ponyville last night, Princess Celestia had finally found time to relax. One thought stayed on her mind, the fact that she knew Shade was somehow related to the incident, several of the guards that were sent to Ponyville earlier this morning had already sent reports given by Ponyville denizens, Shade had been seen there, but from what the rest of the reports say most of the ponies were too busy fleeing to see what was going on. " Perhaps after a quick nap I'll go check myself....Shade...what did you do..,".
Just as the solar princess was about to drift off to sleep, the sound of her door opening made her raise her head and turn it towards the source of the sound, where she saw her sister standing, a worried look on her face. " Sister, we are worried about you, you have been acting rather strange for the past two days, does something plague your mind," it was easy for Celestia to hear the concern in her sisters voice.
Celestia simply lowered her head, a single tear leaving her eye, " Luna...,".
Luna saw the single tear fall onto her sister's bed, prompting the lunar princess to rush to her sisters side, " Sister please tell us what bother's you, please,".
Pulling her sister closer to her, Celestia's eyes began welling up, her lip quivered as she tried to speak to her sister, but only light sobs came out. Luna gently rubbed her sister's head, attempting to calm her down enough to get an explanation. Soon Celestia's sobs were simply sniffles, it was then she began speaking, " H..h...he's out there...Sh.Shade..,".
Just the sound of his name made Luna's eyes widen in pure shock, " He..he can't be, we sealed him away long ago..it cannot be true...can it?," fear emanated from her voice.
"...It was him...I saw the look in his eyes...the look of betrayal...that same hurt look that was on his face the day we...we imprisoned him," Celestia could feel more tears welling up in her eyes, her vision blurring quickly.
" Sister..," Luna pulled her sister into another hug, " Why does this accursed creature cause you to cry, we banished him to the confines of that crystal long ago..,".
Before Celestia could give a sound answer to her sister, a rather unwanted guest decided to pop in, quite literally. " Iiiiiii'm back, Celestia Luna, there you two are," there stood Discord, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt with a lay around his neck, and a suitcase in each claw. Both princesses turned to glare at the creature of chaos who had made his home in Canterlot castle as of recently, " OH! I can just tell that you two have missed me SOOO much, why Celestia your practically tearing up at the sight of me!," Discords happy disposition left him the second he took a double take at Celestia. " Wait a second, Tia you are crying," in a flash Discord was gone, only to reappear moment's later, wear a pair of glasses with a large fake beard on, he sat in a floating chair, " Go on tell the good doctor what's wrong,".
Luna could practically growl that she was so angry, " Go away, can you not see that we are trying to console our sister, if you have not been informed, HE!! is back, and his mere presence has brought our sister to tears, she does not need your unruly behavior around her!!,".
Discord had been completely ignoring Luna up until the part where Luna mentioned a " HE". Discords eye's literally shrunk upon doing some light thinking, " Luna..by "HE" you don't mean....him do you,". Luna could only give a slow nod in response, " Well...I guess after being frozen in a crystal for so long...he finally got out," Discord's tone sounded completely unnatural for himself, there was a sense of dread in his voice, something that hadn't been there since Tirek had attacked for the second time.
" Discord, you are afraid of Shade are you not, you were the same age as he was after all," Luna could practically see Discord shaking at the thought, by that she could literally see him shaking in place as if her were a plate of gelatin.
" Me, afraid, absolutely not, I'm especially not afraid of an abstract, half blooded, cross bred freak that has a temper with a trigger like an active volcano," Discord crossed his arms and turned his whole head away from the princesses, rather than just turning his head with his neck.
Before Luna could say something, Celestia shot up, tears still running down her face, but something was different, just a moment ago she was sad, now she looked incredibly angry. She gritted her teeth as she looked at discord, her eyes turned white and her horn began to glow with it's magical aura, " DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!!!! LIKE YOU HAVE ANY ROOM TO TALK!!!! ," Celestia was so mad she resorted to using something that she had not used in ages, her Canterlot voice.
The sheer volume of her voice was enough to cause Discords face to fly off, leaving him with a literal blank expression. " Well, what got into her," Discord said as a disembodied face that had been plastered to the wall.
Luna stepped in front of her sister, separating her from Discord, " Sister what has gotten into you?! that's it! we knew it, that beast has messed with your mind," with that thought in mind, Luna's eyes began to glow furiously, " We shall make the beast pay,".
" Luna stop!,"the princess of the moon froze in place, her sister had never shouted at her unless something really did matter. Celestia seemed to have spaced out for a moment, her gaze never left the floor, that was until more tears began to build up, " I..I can't help it..," she said in a quiet sob.
" Sister.....what is it that you cannot help...please..tell us," the anger in her was soon replaced by worry, her sister hardly ever cried, and when she did Luna just had to help her.
Celestia's sobs continued, but she was able to get the words that she had wanted to get out for such a long time." I...I..I can't help it........he will always be important to me....,". However upon speaking these words her sobs grew greatly as she buried her face into her shocked sisters neck, seeking comfort from her.
" Just Outside of Twilight's Castle "
" Ugh, where are they!, we should have left half an hour ago, at this rate it'll be dark by the time we get to camp, and I wanna be able to tell some scary stories before everpony gets tired," complained an impatient Rainbow Dash. Every member of the main six had been gathered in front of Twilight's castle, along with them came the cutie mark crusaders, who at the moment was under Applejack's watchful eyes.
Applejack could only roll her eye's at her impatient friend, " Ya know Rainbow, none of us complained when ya took fifteen minutes just to find yer sleeping bag that ya didn't need cause we brought tents,". Upon hearing Applejack's rebuttal, Rainbow Dash became rather quiet, a slight blush covered her face from embarrassment, followed with everypony present at giggling.
While waiting for the two dragons to come out, everypony started chatted, Applejack and Rainbow Dash conversed on who between the two of them was the sportiest, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and oddly enough Fluttershy, talked about what sort of activities should be done while camping and who was sharing a tent with who, and lastly the cutie mark crusaders were conversing among themselves, talking about one subject in particular. " Hey girls," Sweetie Belle said to get her friends attention, " I was wondering, Rarity and the others were talking about somepony else coming with Spike, I wonder who he is,".
" Beats me," Scootaloo stated in bland tone.
" Ah heard that it was his dad, ah didn't know that Spike had a dad, ah always thought that Twilight hatched him from an egg, sorta like a chicken," Applebloom added.
A sudden sound caused everyony to pause what they were doing and turn their heads towards it, the sound in question was the sound of a large door opening, a castle door to be exact. Spike stepped from out of the castle to see all his friends waiting patiently, well almost all of them, " Hey there everypony, sorry it took so long, it took a bit to convince him after i told him all the details, but after a little persuasion, I finally got my dad to come with us," the expression on his face was that of an overjoyed one, Spike could hardly believe that his dad, a pony he didn't know about until a day or two ago, was going camping with him and all his friends. He turned back towards the door, looking slightly confused for a second before smiling again, " You can come out alread you know, I'm sure their all tired of waiting for us,".
" Very well then," said a deep gruff voice, Spike's excited expression only grew as the sound of clawed toes grew closer to them. Shade stepped from out of the castle, and into the now setting sunlight, there he saw six mare's that he was somewhat familiar with, joined by three fillies whom he had never seen before. He took notice that everypony there was just staring at him, " What are we waiting for...aren't we all supposed to be going...camping, or are you all going to stare at me as if i were a wonder of the world,".
Twilight shook her head to regain her focus, " That's right, let's hurry everypony, the sun is already setting,". Everypony present nodded in agreement, save for Shade who was just waiting for them to get moving already." Ok everypony, let's get going!," cheered Twilight, joined by the resting cheering as well, and like that, they set off into the Everfree Forest.
" In the Everfree Forest, not too Far from Fluttershy's Cottage "
They had soon arrived at their destination, a large clearing in the forest, despite being surrounded by the forest itself, the spot they had chosen actually had no canopy above it. It didn't take long for them to set up, especially with three talented users of magic with them, and making a fire was no trouble whatsoever, after all, they had a dragon with them whose fire could turn stone into putty. " Now then," stated Twilight, " Since we have everything set up, there is only one more matter of business to attend to before we can start tonight, where everypony will be sleeping and who will share a tent with who," everypony nodded in agreement with her statement. " Now i've taken the liberty of writing everyponies name on pieces of paper and putting the paper in a hat, now I already know a few arrangements, Applejack, your sister and her friend's will be sharing a tent with you, and Shade, Spike will be joining you in whichever tent you get assigned to," Shade gave a firm nod towards her in response, " He's being very quiet, he must be shy around too many ponies ,". " Ok now, Rarity has provided me with a hat of which i have placed all of your names in, now I shall draw the first two ponies to share a tent,".
Pinkie inched close to Rainbow Dash with an excited look on her face, " I hope she picks my name first," said Pinkie in a not so quiet whisper.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and chuckled, " As if Pinkie Pie, what are the odds of that,".
" First pony out of the hat, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped upon hearing this, but before she could get any words out, Twilight was already calling the next name. " And Pinkie will be paired with Rainbow Dash," Pinkie scooted towards Rainbow with an enormous smile plastered on her face, causing the other ponies to chuckle at the sight of the two of them. " The next one will be a bit different, because there is an odd number of us here the second tent will hold three ponies along with anypony else with them," she then drew three separate names at once, " Let's see, in the second tent is, me, Rarity, and.....Shade,".
Applejack chimed in after Twilight had said, " I'm guessin that leaves me an Fluttershy in the last tent with the girls,".
Twilight, albeit in a somewhat nervous tone spoke up, " Y..you don't mind sharing a tent with me and Rarity do you Shade,".
The resting half breed opened one of his eyes to look at Twilight before nodding, " I don't see why it would be...just as long as I'm with my son,". Spike began smiling widely and ran towards shade, giving his father a big hug, which in turn, made everypony there smile and aw at the sight, that was until Shade growled at them out of embarrassment, it did make a few of them giggle however.
" Alright everypony," Twilight said after calming down, " I'd say it's about time for our first camping activity, Pinkie Pie!, the list if you will," and just like that, Pinkie Pie practically just appeared next to her, a rolled up scroll in her hoof, ready to be given to Twilight. " Thank you Pinkie, now the first activity that I've got written down is," Twilight's voice grew quiet, a shocked expression on her face. ," Pinkie!! what is this!," Twilight exclaimed as she held out a blank scroll, " I thought when I was saying these out loud you were writing them down!,".
" Oooooh, so that's what you said, I heard you say to write down sooomething but I wasn't sure what, so I just drew a picture of us on the back," Pinkie pie said, her usual joyous demeanor showing greatly.
With a sigh and a shrug of her shoulders, Twilight just shrugged it off, albeit in a manner that made her seemed highly annoyed, " Oh well, I guess we don't need a list to enjoy spending time with one another,". Everypony agreed with her, including Shade which surprised some of them, but made others smile, and so their exciting night began together.
" Sometime Later that Night ,"
A few hours had passed since they arrived, despite the claims that Rainbow Dash made about staying up until the sun rose, even she, like the rest of the ponies there had fallen soundly asleep, everypony except a lone half breed. Shade had silently slipped out of the tent, so that he made sure not to wake up Spike, he made his way to a nearby river. There he sat, staring at his reflection in the flowing water, "....Do I really deserve this...,".
Although, Shade wasn't the only pony who was awake at the time, a restless Applejack had been awake the whole night. She watched as the hybrid left his tent, and out of curiosity decided to trail him, albeit as quietly as possible, the last thing she needed was him angry. She didn't need to trail him long before he had stopped at the river, her heart racing at the thought of alerting him, she had seen what he was capable of when angry, she couldn't imagine surprising him and causing him to attack her on accident. With a few deep breaths she finally decided to step out from her hiding spot and approach him, " Sh..Shade?," she said in an almost timid voice, comparable to Fluttershy's normal speaking voice.
Shade quickly jumped up and spun around, his mouth gaping open and flames began to rise from the back of his throat, causing Applejack to flinch, but he didn't attack. He slowly closed his mouth, quickly calming himself down, " Oh...it's only you, what do you want," he resumed his original position, turning away from Applejack and staring back into the river.
Without thinking, Applejack trotted over towards Shade, seating herself next to him, her eyes fixated on his frozen expression, " I..I saw ya get up from yer tent, ya looked a little troubled..so I decided to follow you and find out what's wrong,".
In response to her words Shade gave out a rather gruff grunt, " You're either very kind...or very stupid...either way, thank you,". Applejack was utterly surprised, despite the fact he may or may not have insulted her, " Very few ponies have ever genuinely cared for my well being...most either fear me or see me as a monster...you, Twilight and your friends are the first ponies to care in ages..thank you,".
Just from the tone of his voice, Applejack could tell his words word genuine, his somber voice had not an ounce of any form of lying in it. " Yer welcome Shade, remember this sugar cube, if ya ever need to talk about anything, just come to me, I can help ya out in any way possible,".
Right as Shade was about to give his thanks to Applejack, several loud screams filled the air, causing both of them to shoot right up and speak in unison, " The camp!,".
As if were he were as nimble as a leaf, Shade took off towards the camp, making large swift leaps rather than running, several loud screeches filled the air, easily being heard over the screams, " Griffons...,". With intent to kill the attackers, Shade increased his speed, his claws and teeth bared.
Author's Note
Hey ladies and gentlecolts, been a while since I've released a chapter, I meant to release this last month but a lot of things have been popping up left and right, what with me currently job hunting and the holidays here. Well I'm sure you'll all be glad to know that I will be working on a new story alongside this one, BUT!! I will be putting all forms of crossovers on hold while I work on these two stories. For those of you who like Shade he will be in this story, albeit in a humanized form, and it will be less Teen rated and more or rated M for mature. What's it about, well you'll just have to find out I will give this one hint though, despite not being a crossover, the new story is heavily inspired by a game though. Until then everypony, I'll see you then!!
In the Forest, Just Outside of the Campsite
With movements as swift as the wind, Shade neared the opening that lead to the camp, an expression of great determination and at the same time incredible anger covered his face. " I'll tear their feathered bodies to pieces when I get my claws on them!!," it didn't take long before a single griffon came into his view, with a mighty leap, Shade came launching right at the unsuspecting griffon, the poor thing barely had time to let out a scream as a pair of teeth came down on his neck.
" What was that?!," said a griffon soldier to his captain.
The captain of the griffons was too busy tightening a red chain around his captives to notice the cut off scream or his subordinate speaking to him, " The sooner we get you back to the capitol city, the sooner these chains can come off," he ended his sentence with a malevolent laugh before turning towards two soldiers, you two, fly the captives back to the capitol now,".
" Yes sir!," they said in unison before grabbing onto the binds that held Twilight Sparkle and four of her friends, and flew off with them.
" Hahah, I'm sure to get promoted after this," before he could start laughing again though, the sound of a body dropping behind him caught his attention, " Whose there?!,". He turned around swiftly, drawing his scimitar from it's sheathe on his side, " You picked the wrong griffon too..," his eyes widened and his mouth gaped at what he saw before him.
An enraged Shade stood before him, easily towering over him by a head and a half, in one claw a soldier was being choked, under the other was the soldier whose neck he crushed with his jaw and in his tail was the captains second in command, her neck being squeezed by the powerful tail. " You......you're going to pay for that," in one swift movement he hurled the soldier who was in his claws towards the captain, who was just barely able to dodge the body, but was unable to react to the female griffon being tossed into his body, knocking him too the ground.
The griffon captain began to shake from utter fear, "..Wh..what are you," with nothing but adrenaline fueling him, he climbed to his feet, hastily flapped his wings and took off as fast as he could. Despite this however his escape was pointless as the ravenous dragon that took out his subordinates was right behind him and closing in fast.
Fury clouded Shades judgement, he wanted one thing right now, and that was for this griffon to cease to exist, " COWARD!!!!,". His shouts did nothing more than make the fleeing griffon fear him more, " I'll tear you to pieces!!!!," he reached for the fleeing griffon with his claws, swiping at him furiously.
" You won't get me you beast!," the captain stated defiantly as he quickly took a nose dive into the woods in an attempt to lose his pursuer, but to no avail as Shade was still behind him, plowing through any and all trees in his way, while the terrified griffon had to maneuver around each and every obstacle in his way.
With a quick burst of speed, Shade was right above him, latching his claw onto one of the griffons legs, swiftly bringing him to the ground, smashing him against it upon reaching ground level. Despite being slammed against the cold hard ground, the captain still had enough strength to attempt to crawl away, but the attempt was in vain. " Where are you going," the tone he spoke in was as cold as stone, to the point where anypony who heard it would be chilled to the core. He lifted him up with ease, just letting him dangle there, " Where did you take them...tell me and I might not end you.
With a clear quiver in his voice, the griffon captain began to reluctantly speak," ..The..the griffon capital city....the high king wanted them so that his son could had a bride...to show that ...that..the griffons were superi-," he however was cut off by the enraged hybrid, who swung him upwards, " PLEASE NO!!!!,".
His cry however fell on deaf ears as Shade swung him downwards into the ground repeatedly, his superior strength making it easy for the nearly limp body to break the ground beneath. " Begone!!!," after thoroughly crushing the captain with the ground he threw him to the side with incredible power, causing the body to barrel through several trees before nearly coming to a halt, only to be crushed underneath all four of Shades powerful limbs, finishing the job.
Back at the Campsite
Applejack exited the safety of the forest to see the damage that had been done, she could easily tell what was done by Shade and what was done by the griffons, " That's one feller ya don't wanna make mad..,". Before she could fully inspect the damage, the sound of a rustling bush caught her attention, " Whose there, show yerselves,".
On her command, four little heads popped out of the bush, belonging to, Spike, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo, all four being visibly shaken up by what happened. " A..are they gone sis," Applebloom asked in a hushed voice.
" Yeah...it's OK to come out ya'll, just...don't try and look at anything, it ain't pretty," she waved her hoof towards her as she ushered the four young ones towards her, wrapping her front legs around all four of them. "Sweet Celestia, I'm glad you four are alright, for a while I thought them griffons done snatched you up like they did everypony else...,".
" B..but my dad got them right, he got griffons who took everypony and got them back didn't he," Spike said with hope in his voice.
Applejack's silence wasn't exactly helpful, his little head lowered in sadness, " No son I didn't, but I did find out where they were taking them though,". Shade exited the forest into the opening that held their camp, his head lowered, " If only I had control of myself...they wouldn't have gotten away with them...,".
At the sight of his father, Spike jolted towards him, hugging his front leg with no intention of letting go at the moment, " Dad....you'll save them won't you, you'll save Twilight and the others right," he looked up to his father with tear filled eyes.
Shade looked deep into his sons eyes, the sadness in them seemed to bring out something Shade hadn't felt in the longest time, a sense of purpose. Sure he had destroyed the golem, but it wasn't because they needed him too, it was because he wanted it gone, this was different, " I will son, I'll bring them back, we all will, ".
His words brought a large smile to his son's face, but not only his son's, but also all three members of the cutie mark crusaders, along with Applejack. " Just one question sugar cube, how in tarnation are we all gonna get there, I sure as hay ain't lettin my little sister, or her friends go with us if we gotta go through some dangerous place just to get there," she spoke with clear concern in her voice.
" Don't worry, I have a way of getting us all there in one piece," a look of great determination could be seen in his deep red eyes as he spread his wings.
Upon watching his wings spread, Applejack had a clear idea as to what he had in mind, and without much thought she walked towards Shade. " OK, I get what you've got planned, but I swear if anything happens to my sister or her friends I'll..," she took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, " Just promise me you'll take it easy with all the flyin sugar cube, OK? ,".
With a firm nod, Shade gave a nonverbal promise for the safety of Applejack, her sister, and her friends, " Lets go then,". Without hesitation, Shade lifted the cutie mark crusaders onto his back, his son onto his head, and picked Applejack up in his front legs in a bridal-like position, making her blush slightly out of surprise, " Hang on tight, the take off is always the roughest part. He began flapping his powerful wings, which began to kick up large clouds of dust and dirt around him as he readied himself to take off, " Ready!!, Go!," with one powerful wing flap, he launched upwards into the air, getting high enough that he could see past any nearby mountain ranges.
Applejack covered her eyes with her hooves, She had been this high before, but the last time she was she in the safety of a balloon basket, " I thought you said you'd take it easy with the flyin! ," she shouted.
" Open you're eyes," Shade said to her, his voice seemed to be calmer than usual.
Albeit she did it reluctantly, Applejack removed her hooves from in front of her eyes, and what she saw made her eyes widen slightly. Despite having a rather bumpy takeoff, they were now flying smoothly, as if they were a gust of wind, and from this height they could see just about everything. " Th..this is amazin, we're so high up, everything is so small, but it doesn't look like we're gettin anywhere fast, I thought you could fly faster,".
" It's true I can, but to tell the truth, at the speed I'm flying right now, we'll reach the griffon capitol city by sunrise, if aided by the wind current," Applejack gave a slight nod to show that she understood what he was saying. " Just rest for now, once I find a suitable place to land I'll inform all of you," he said in a slightly hushed tone, and one by one, they fell asleep, excluding Spike, who sat atop his fathers head, staring off into the distance, a worried expression on his face. " Just rest son, they'll be OK, I promise, and if they even so much as lay a talon on any of them, I'll tear them to shreds,".
Spike couldn't help but form the slightest smile on his face, despite his fathers dark threat towards the griffons, he could only think about how he was going to save his friends, "..Goodnight dad,".
After positioning his son safely between his horns, Shade close his eyes slightly before mumbling to himself, " Goodnight son,". Upon opening his eyes seconds later, he could feel his anger welling up inside, but even that wouldn't deter him from saving Twilight and the others, and in the process, he could tear apart any griffon who stood in his way. " Don't worry girls, we're on our way," and so, they flew through the night sky.
Canterlot Castle, at that Same Moment
The night had been a rough one for the princess of the sun, not only had she been at war with her emotions, but she couldn't sleep without dreaming about him. Celestia tossed and turned repeatedly, normally she would have been deep into her nightly sleep by now, but something was different tonight, ever since earlier that night, all she had been able to do was think of Shade, whether it be how much she knows that he hates her, or wondering if he still has feelings for her. " That's enough," she said in a stern tone to herself as she got up out of her bed and walked to the balcony attached to her room, staring out at moon that her sister provides to everypony every night. With a deep sigh, she mustered a sentence that she had been contemplating saying all day, " I'm going to see him tomorrow night,".
" You're going to what?!?," Celestia turned around at a rapid pace to see her younger sister standing in her doorway.
" Luna?!, what in all of Equestria are you doing in my room so late in the night..? ," she said in her tired tone of voice.
Luna couldn't help but look guilty, " The truth is..I've been outside you're door for the past half hour..I couldn't help it not only could I hear you tossing and turning, but I could hear you mumbling, Sister I'm worried about you,". The lunar princess lowered her head, she couldn't find it in herself to look her in the eyes at the moment, " Ever since he was freed....all of those painful memories you worked so hard to put away, they just came back, why would you want to see him,".
Celestia turned her head away from her sister to look out at the night sky, " Luna...you wouldn't understand, he may be a force of darkness, but he has a heart of gold.....even if he does hurt others..,".
" Sister," she began to speak before letting out a small sigh, " If this means that much to you...then I will support you, but I will never see...him...as an ally,". In a matter of seconds upon speaking, Luna was quickly pulled into a hug by her older sister, causing her to smile lightly.
Before the two could say anything more on the subject, one of the royal guards walked in, a scroll was help in his magics grip, " You're hignesses, forgive me for interrupting, but I have a letter from princess Cadence and prince Shining Armor,".
" Thank you, you may return to you're post now," Princess Luna instructed the guard. After waiting to be totally alone again, Luna opened the scroll, " Well sister, let's see what they wanted to tell us sister, shall we,". She quickly but carefully unrolled the scroll, the skimmed across every single word written on it, her eyes widening slightly upon getting halfway through it.
Celestia grew worried as she saw the look on her sisters face, " What..what's it say,".
The Griffon Capitol City, the Very Next Morning
Upon arriving in the city, Twilight and her friends had been immediately taken to the palace dungeon, where they were restrained with the same magic inhibiting chains that they had been brought there with. She awoke to the voices of her friends, her vision was blurry and her head ached from the hit to the back of the head she received upon waking up last night. " G..girls?," her voice was slightly groggy from the pain in her head, " Is..is that you..?,".
" Easy there Twilight, you got hit on the head pretty hard, dirty stinking griffons, got us while we were asleep," Rainbow Dash said, it was as clear as day that she was angry, angrier than she's been in a long time.
Rarity took her attention from the crying Fluttershy, and diverted it towards her angry cyan friend, " Please Rainbow Dash dear, you need to stay calm..," it was clear that she too looked to be on the verge of tears, but managed to keep herself from doing so.
The ever so happy Pinkie Pie however, seemed totally unaffected by all this, she kept her big cheerful smile, " Hey girls don't worry, we'll be outta here in no time, yep yep yep!!,".
Twilight shook her head, making her vision slightly better than when she had awoken, " Wha..what do you mean Pinkie,".
" Yes dear, we're trapped in some awful, dirty dungeon, who knows what they want from us..," slight despair was in Rarity's voice now.
" You girls are forgetting something, they didn't get allllll of us, aaaaaaaand there's a really strong pony dragon with her!," said Pinkie Pie, her hopeful smile began spreading to her friends, save for Rainbow Dash who was still flustered at the scenario.
" Hey," Twilight started to say, " Pinkie is right, they didn't get Applejack, and Shade is with her," this information was just enough to lighten the mood between all five of them. " We'll be out of here in no time girls, I'm sure of it," however, right after finishing her sentence, the sound of heavy metal hitting the floor passed her cell, followed by that of a regular griffon guard, forcing the five mares to stop all forms of communication.
The guard that had passed by their room, came back a few minutes later and opened the door, " The king wants the five of you in the throne room, now,". Three more guards entered the room with him, picking up their captives forcefully and carrying them to their kings throne room.
" Shade, please hurry, we need you.. ," a tear slipped from Twilight's eye as she was carried away with the rest of her friends.
"
Just Above the Griffon Capitol City
Shade had flown all night and all morning, momentarily speeding up, despite the fact that Applejack didn't like this one bit, but they had finally made it. " We're here, now lets get down there and find them,".
Applejack could see the anger welling up inside of Shade, but she knew that anger was what he'd use to get her friends back. " Now don't do anythin drastic sugar cube, we want our friends back, but we don't wanna start a war because ya couldn't control yer tamper, alright?,".
After letting out a long sigh Shade nodded to Applejack, his silent response was enough to bring a small smile to the farm ponies face.
" What what?," Applejack's eyes widened, but before she could object, Shade had already begin plummeting. " Sweet Celestia please let this be over soon!," while Applejack was praying to Celestia that she'd survive this endeavor, the girls and Spike were having the time of their lives.
In a matter of seconds they made impact with the water, making a great splash, but to prevent them form being harmed, Shade managed to hold everypony in his front legs, and turned his back towards the water so it would hit him first. All six of them emerged from the water, unscathed by the fall, but soaking wet, " that was fun wasn't it,".
" YEAH!!!," shouted the fillies and Spike.
" It was absolutely not fun!, ya nearly gave me a heart attack Shade, why in tarnation would ya do somethin like that!," Applejack spoke in an almost scolding tone towards the hybrid.
Shade climbed out of the water along with the rest of them, " That's why," he pointed towards crowds of griffons going towards the royal palace. " If I had simply flown in we would have been noticed, so I decided a less..expected entry,".
What he said wasn't what she was expecting, and at the same time, it was, " So to stay unnoticed, ya decided to fall from the sky like a darn comet, makin the loudest splash possible,".
" In a sense, yes, and the sound that the splash made wouldn't exactly matter, the cheers of the crowds were enough to hide the noise we made,". With a single flap of his powerful wings, Shade kicked up a powerful gust of wind, strong enough to dry off himself and everypony with him.
" Hey dad," Spike walked over to his father and hugged his front leg, " What are you gonna do now that we're here, do you have a sort of plan,".
With a slight grin, Shade looked down at his son, " I'm gonna go crash whatever party is going on, I want the five of you to stay outta sight,".
" Now just wait a gosh darn second, I thought ya said you'd keep calm, now I hear yer gonna go and stir up trouble!," Applejack scolded him once more, but this time her scolding was quieted by one of his claws covering her mouth, making her blush from the sudden contact.
" Just trust me ," and without another word, he spread his wings, started running, and took flight towards the palace.
Apllejack let out a slight sigh, " I sure hope you know what yer doin sugar cube,".
Not too far away from the park that Shade and the others had landed in, on the very street that the crowds had surrounded, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, were being paraded around in a cage to show that not even they could stand against the mighty griffons. " I can't believe this! those no good, dirty griffons are making us look like zoo animals!," Rainbow Dash said in a rage, her friends remained silent, save for Pinkie who continuously spoke of where they were going.
Staring out in the distance, Twilight couldn't help but wonder if Shade was really coming for them, " Shade..where are you, we need you.. ," Tears began welling up in her eyes as they neared their destination, that is until a black blur in the sky caught her attention from the corner of her eye, she knew only one thing that was that color and could fly that fast, " He's here,". Should couldn't help but show off a large hope filled smile," Girls it's him, he came for us," and in a matter of seconds, Twilight's smile spread to all of her friends except for Rainbow Dash who attempted to keep a calm and cool demeanor despite being extremely happy on the inside.
Shade watched form above as the mobile cage made it's way into the palace, he positioned himself right above the palace, picking the perfect spot to dive bomb through the roof. However his planning was interrupted by the sight of two griffon soldiers flying right at him, " Or, perhaps i could improvise," he grinned wickedly as the griffons closed in.
Now inside the throne room, Twilight's gaze was distant, she kept staring towards the ceiling, she knew Shade was here, and she knew he would save her and her friends.
Meanwhile across the throne room, the king and queen griffons looked closely at their captives, thinking over which one would make the perfect bride for their son, " Well my darling queen, I think the alicorn would be perfect for this occasion," said the king in triumphant tone.
" And what of the other four dear, what will become of them," his queen asked in response to his statement.
The king griffon took a moment to think about what his queen said before speaking again. " We'll get rid of them, I'm sure they would sell finely if we just...happened to....lose them to slavers," the king gave out a dark chuckle as he rose from his throne and stepped toward the cage that held the five ponies. Walking along with the king were four fully armored griffons, one of which held the key to their cage, " Well my son can only keep one of you little ponies, so the rest of you will be sent away after the wedding ceremony, as for the pony he will be marrying it is y-," the king was caught off by two griffon soldiers flying down through the roof of the palace, slamming into the armored guards that surrounded the king.
" HE'S HERE!," the five caged ponies shouted in unison.
Shade descended towards the king griffon through one of the holes he had made by slamming the two soldiers through the roof," So you're the scum that's in charge," the tone in his voice was as threatening as ever.
The king backed away quickly as Shade touche the ground in front of the cage, " Wh....who are you, what are you?!, guards!!,"on his command several armored guards came to his aid, quickly surrounding the hybrid intruder.
Undeterred by the sight of the guards, Shade walked towards the startled king, swatting away any guards that came near him with a single swipe of his tail, " You're going to pay for this, and there will be hell to pay..," his eyes began to glow a deep blood red as he neared the now frightened king.
The royal griffon fell backwards as he watched the dragon rear his head back, flames pouring from his mouth, he hastily made it back to his throne, his face very pale, " RELEASE THE ADAMANTINE SENTINAL!!!," he shouted with fear in his voice.
" The what?," shade looked around wondering what he meant, before suddenly feeling the earth beneath his feet shake. " What the hell is going on?!," and before Shade's eyes, a massive crystal shot out of the ground, being the same crystal that held the golem that nearly destroyed all of Ponyville, and in it, rested a huge metal griffon. " No way," other than those two words, Shade was speechless, and right as he spoke, the metal griffons eyes shot open, directly focused on Shade, " You want me, come and get me,".
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, sorry for the delayed release of this chapter, as of recently I've been looking for work for myself, some things are going better than others, but anyway I will try and get the continuation of this chapter out as soon as soon as possible. Knowing that those of you who read my stories, enjoy them makes me very happy, I thank all you, and I can't wait to talk to you guys and gals again soon. Also from now on I will be putting a question with every authors note, I want you guys and gals who read the chapter to give a reply in the comments, if the answer to the question has anything to do with a future part of the story, then it's quite possible it will make it into that part
Question: Who do you think Shade will end up with, sure he has a steady and strong relationship with Twilight so far, but that doesn't always mean shes the one, so who do you think it will be, it can be an obvious answer, or it can be one that nobody at all would expect, can't wait to see what some of you have to say
Guardian
Inside the Griffon Royal Palace Throne Room
Before Shade could utter another word, the griffon encased in the massive crystal began to grow violent within its crystalline prison, struggling within it angrily, causing the exterior to crack. Shade readied himself for the armored sentry, " I know you're gonna bust out any second metal head...so do it, make my day!!,". As if reacting to his voice, the armored griffon erupted from the crystal, immediately spreading its metallic wings and flying towards Shade at breakneck speeds. " Whoa!," being able to just barely evade the aerial rush, " For looking so heavy, you're a fast one,".
The metal griffon flew back towards the throne, landing in front of the king, " GO!! destroy that abomination my adamantine sentry!,". With an ear piercing shriek, the charged right at Shade, this time on it's legs, but even then it was no slouch when it came to movement, " Show no mercy!!," the king shouted.
The throne room floor trembled as the rushed towards Shade like a wild animal, " Oh no you don't!," Shade grabbed the metal griffon by it's plated shoulder, using his own physical strength to stop it in it's path. The floor under his clawed feet cracked from the force between the two, the griffon placed its own metallic claws onto Shade's own shoulder, seemingly bringing the two crystal children to a stalemate. " You're pretty strong, but let's see how strong you are when I unwind!!!," with his own incredible strength, Shade lifted the metal griffon above his head, standing on his hind legs, " Have a nice flight!," with a mighty toss, Shade hurled the sentry straight through several marble pillars, and into a solid stone wall.
Those who witnessed the battle couldn't help but gawk, the two had just barely begun fighting and things had already started heating up. Twilight stared in awe as Shade fearlessly faced down the metal sentinel fearlessly, as he had done when he faced the golem from before. A single thought went through every member of the main six's mind, " Please...base safe Shade ,".
With a single push form his powerful legs, Shade leaped right for the downed griffon, fire spewing form his mouth onto the sentry. Shade's eyes slightly widened as the griffon spread it's wings within his flames, before taking off at mach speeds past him, shooting through the roof," He's fast, but I'm faster," the glare on Shade's face sharpened, he spread his large wings, began to flap them, which in turn kicked up a strong gust of wind. " HERE I COME!!!!," with one last flap of his wings, Shade rocketed after the metal griffon, managing to catch up to him in a matter of seconds, " There's no running form me bird brain!!,".
Applejack managed to catch a glimpse of two figures flying at speeds that she had only seen Rainbow Dash reach, it didn't take being as smart as Twilight to know who one of the figures was, " Go get em' Shade,". With all the chaos from the two aerial combatants, Applejack saw the perfect opportunity to sneak into the throne room to save her friends, " Looks like it's my turn,".
Both Shade and the Adamantine Sentry were locked in a fierce air fight, clashing with one another as they dodged buildings and other obstacles while still managing to keep near sonic flight. Shade managed to match the razor edges on the sentry's armor by using his magic to envelope his wings and create blades out of them, and using his own claws to counter the griffon's. Bystanders watched as sparks filled the sky, magic met metal, claws met claws, the sheer speed of the two made it hard for the fight to be seen at first. With both combatants making a rapid u-turn, they had been set on a course to hit one another head on, to avoid the oncoming collision, Shade did a mid-air roll, be slightly cut in mid-roll by the sentry's razor sharp wings, " Damn....that was close...alright buddy as much as I love flying, it's about time you got grounded!!,". With a swift change of direction Shade ascended at a sharp angle, positioning himself above his metal foe before dive bombing him at rapid speed, sending it flying down towards the ground.
Using Shade's battle as a diversion, Applejack managed to quietly sneak her friends out without being noticed. Before they could get out the door however the large metallic griffon he was fighting came flying right over their heads, making impact on the ground behind them. " Hurry up everypony, move!," Applejack shouted, she didn't want her or her friends in the middle of a battle, or the destruction it brought.
The adamantine griffon picked itself up, glaring at Shade from where he was, a glare so sharp it could cut diamonds, with an earth shaking scream the metal griffon launched towards Shade so fast that the only member of the mane six who could keep up with his movement was rainbow dash.
However the griffon wasn't the only one flying right at someone, Shade had made his own aerial charge, " HERE I COME METAL HEAD!!!," both flying at speeds where the sound barrier had already become visible around them.
Rainbow Dash knew what was going to happened when those two collided, causing her eyes to widen, " Everypony get down!!!!," she managed to get all her friends to the ground before getting on the ground herself.
" Rainbow Dash what's wrong with you?!," Twilight shouted in confusion at her cyan friend, but her answer was soon given to her.
Both Shade and the griffon collided in the air, creating a mighty shock wave, kicking up gale force winds and shaking the earth below them. The collision had also managed to send both Shade and the griffon hurdling towards the ground, both slamming into the stone streets that sat below them. " Not bad..you hit harder than I though," Shade said as he sat up, wiping a little blood off of his face. several meters away from Shade, the metallic griffon also sat up, his razor sharp glare never leaving his face for a moment, it was clear that at this point he wanted Shade dead, and he wanted him dead now, " Yeah I can see that glare of yours!," Shade shouted from his position. " Doesn't bother me one bit, " he climbed out of the hole he had made upon impact, " I've gotten worse glares from a rabbit," a cocky grin spread across Shade's face, the sight of the grin infuriated the metal sentinel.
The griffon's glare grew sharper, it's rage began to surge through it's body, causing a red hew to seep out of the it's armor, giving off a red glow. With a mighty roar the griffon charged towards Shade, it's razor sharp claws being swung right towards the hybrid.
" Whoa!," Shade exclaimed as he dropped to the ground, just barely dodging the blade-like claws, " That was close," this however left him wide open for the next attack.
With another roar, the griffon brought down it's front legs onto the ducking Shade, slamming the dragon into the ground.
" Shade!!!," Twilight shouted in fear for him, she could only stand and watch as the metal monstrosity repeatedly slammed her friend into the ground. " Her lips quivered as she felt something welling up inside her, she realized that during Shade's last fight that she wasn't much help. With a stamp of her hoof, Twilight's facial expression turned from a frightened one, into an angered one, she gritted her teeth as she watched the griffon pummel Shade. " LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!," she shouted as she took off towards the griffon, her horn glowing brightly before firing several powerful magic blast at Shade's attacker.
The metallic griffon stumbled as the barrage of magic slammed into his exposed side, he quickly turned towards his assailant, the enraged princess Twilight Sparkle. He Rushed towards the attacking princess, shrugging off the magic blast that she fired at him, winding up another claw swing, only to be evaded and bombarded by magic once again.
" You're going to pay for hurting Shade!!," Twilight continued her assault, despite doing little damage, the least she could do was try. Her friend's stood in awe, they've seen the princess angry before, but never to this extent, and violence is something Twilight would hardly ever resort too, the only villain to cause her to use it before was Tirek. Twilight could feel her strength draining rapidly, she was putting more power into each blast she fired, and even though this made them more effective, it meant that she could only fight for so long before she was spent. " I...have to.....keep fighting!!! " she clenched her eyes shut tightly as she forced more and more magic out, her anger pushing her further than she could have normally gone.
The armored griffon became progressively angrier with ever blast that hit him, to the point where the same glow form his armor was coming from his eyes. It wasn't long before it stood over the weakened princess, letting out a vicious snarl as it glared down at her. Twilight tried her best to fire another blast, but to no avail, she had used up all of her magical energy. The griffon began to lift up it's front right leg, spreading his claws apart as he did, before letting bloodthirsty roar and bringing it's claws down toward's the winded princess.
" Leave Twilight alone you big bully!!," shouted a small voice, followed by the owner of the voice hopping atop the griffon's head, covering it's eyes.
Twilight opened her eyes at the sound of the voice, looking up to see Spike atop the griffon's head, " Spike?!?!," her voice was full of shock. " Spike get down form there now you're going to get hurt!!," she tried her best to build up the magic to lift him off the griffon's head, but it was taking more effort than she thought.
" No way Twilight!!, this creep hurt my dad!! So I'm gonna teach him a lesson!!!," Spike clung to the metal beast's head for dear life, being able to just barely keep a grip. With a loud gulp, thoughts began racing through Spike's head, the main thought being what would happen if he let go. However that thought soon became a reality as the griffon reached it's claw back, grabbing the small nuisance that was attached to it's head, " Tw..Twi..TWILIGHT HELP!!!!!!," Spike screamed at the top of his lungs as the metallic griffon tossed him right towards the cold hard ground. Spike's eyes clenched shut as he was about to make impact, but he never touched the ground, " What the ?," he soon saw it was Twilight who saved him, she had managed to muster enough magic to catch him and move him over to her.
Give the baby dragon a weak smile, Twilight gave him a hug, " ..I'm glad you're OK Spike..," it was easy to tell just how exhausted she as. However their seemingly happy moment was soon ruined by their same assailant, the metal menace stood high up on it's back legs, raising it's front legs high into the air, readying itself to crush the two underneath it.
"..Twilight..I'm sorry..," tears began leaking from Spike's face, in an attempt to comfort him before they met their end, Twilight gave him a tight hug, keeping him close.
The sentinel quickly brought it's claws down towards them, however, Right as it was about to make contact with them, Shade burst through the ground beneath them, headbutting the griffon on it's lower jaw, not only knocking it back, but also causing it to lose it's balance and fall on it's back. " That was for driving me into the ground!!," before the gs unexriffon could get a chance to stand up, it was quickly lifted above Shade's head, only to be brought back down onto the ground with great force, " It doesn't feel too good does it!!!,".
Both Twilight and Spike smiled at the sight of Shade, "...Thank you Shade...I...I was sure we were done for...," Twilight said in her weak voice, tears welling up in her eyes, "....and I don't want to die yet....there's something I have to tell y..," She was cut off by a quick kiss on the lips from the half-breed, causing her to blush the deepest Shade of red anypony could imagine.
" You can save it for when we get home, for now, I've got a tin can that needs to be opened," Shade turned his attention back to the rising griffon. " Screw being opened, I'm gonna melt him!!!," after taking in a deep breath, fire began building up in Shade's mouth, quickly changing form it's usual color, to a light shade of blue. " Feel the burn!!!," Shade let loose a powerful stream of flames from his mouth, meeting the griffons adamantine carapace, causing the beast to shriek in pain. Shade continued to shower his foe with fire, drawing closer to it as the intensity of the heat increased by the second, and the hotter the fire became, the louder the griffons shrieks became.
Right as Shade was a mere yard away from him, the griffon lout out a loud bellow, cracking the ground with the sheer sound of his cry. This unexpected noise caused Shade's fiery shower upon the griffon to cease, allowing the autonomous griffon to rise, his armor singed badly from the fire that was bathing over him, but other than that no real damage seemed to be done.
Shade growled out of frustration as he watched it stand up, " You're a tough nut to crack I'll give you that," without hesitation, he lunged towards his rising foe, teeth and claws readied to tear away at it's metal hide. However the metal griffon wasn't having any more of it, with swift movement he latched his claws onto the lunging dragon's throat, lifting him into the air, "..Grrr..put me down you big tin can!!," Shade's eyes had begun to glow a deep red, similar to the griffon's own eyes. Fire seeped out of the edges of Shade's mouth as he looked his foe in the eyes, he could feel as it attempted to crush his neck, but he wasn't going to give it the chance, Shade opened his maw wide, releasing a torrent of flames into his attackers face, causing him to be dropped, and giving him the chance to swing his tail at the griffons legs, knocking him to the ground once more.
While Shade was keeping the autonomous griffon at bay, Twilight's friends rushed over to her, helping the weakened princess to a safer spot. " Are you alright sugar?," Applejack asked Twilight in a caring voice, " We're sorry we didn't help ya...it's just we didn't think we'd be much of any help, I mean it's not like we got the elements of harmony anymore,".
A frown formed on Twilight's face as she looked at the regret in her friend's eyes, " ...It's alright Applejack, really...it is...besides, it isn't like I did much myself...anyways...Shade's got it covered from here...j..just look at him,". Twilight and her friends turned their heads towards the battle, watching as Shade swiftly dodged attack after attack, evading every blow the griffon attempted to deliver.
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she watched them fight, she wanted more than anything to help Shade, " It's just not right...we should be helping him! he's already saved our lives once!!," she began to hastily flap her wings, the rage that she had pent up had begun to take over.
" Darnit Rainbow Dash! would ya listen to reason, what can we do, the tow of them are tearin this city apart," Applejack scolded her friend, but not without reason, she didn't want to lose her friend just because she was fired up.
Rainbow lowered her head, she knew Applejack was right, but she still wanted to help Shade, it wasn't until Twilight placed her hoof on her shoulder did she regain her focus. " ....It's OK Rainbow...I know how you feel...that's why I did what I did...but..we need to leave it to Shade from here, just look....he seems to have things under control," Twilight turned her friend's head back towards the battle, this time Shade was on the offensive.
With an earth shaking roar, Shade stood on his hind legs, just being a few heads shorter than the metal menace, he could care less the damage his body would endure, but he would not allow this griffon to harm his new friends. " YOU'RE DONE FOR!!!!!," he tackled his adversary, latching his claws onto the edges of it's armor, making sure he had a tight grip on it. He spread his large wings, and with a single flap he had taken off with the metal monster in his grip. Despite the weight of the griffon, Shade had still managed to fly as fast as he did, not stopping until he had risen beyond the clouds, " Going down!!!," and without warning he took a nose dive, keeping the sentinel close to him before beginning to spiral in mid air, increasing his speed in the process.
The armored griffon fought violently to get loose, but to no avail, Shade had managed to dig his claws into the spots of it's armor where it couldn't shake. It's eyes widened as it saw how quickly they were nearing the ground, and out of nowhere it began to muster what sounded like words out of it's feral voice, " L...L..Le.. LET GO OF ME!!!!!,".
Shade's eyes widened slightly, until now the only noises that came out of the griffons mouth we're shrieks and roars, he hadn't expected it to speak, but this minor surprise didn't halter his flight, in fact he seemed to fly faster upon hearing the voice. Letting out a loud grunt, Shade's facial expression turned from frustration, to a toothy grin, "..With pleasure!!!," just mere yards form the cold hard ground, Shade go of his foe, letting the metallic griffon slam into the ground at high speeds, creating a shock wave on impact along with burying the griffon under several feet of rubble. After making a quick landing, Shade turned to see the overall damage of the battle zone, " I realize I'm more than likely ruining the lives of hundreds of griffons, but I won't stand for anything that tries to hurt my friends!,".
Twilight and her friends rushed over to Shade, albeit she was assisted in the whole aspect of rushing towards him. She gave Shade a hug, keeping her hooves wrapped around his neck, "...Shade..you did it...I never doubted you for one minute...I knew you could do it," she looked to be on the verge of tears, she wasn't sure why though. Before a single tear could drop, she felt Shade give her another kiss but this time on the forehead, "..Sh..Shade..,".
" It's not over yet...down in that hole...he's still alive and boy is going to be pissed when he digs himself out," he let out a gruff chuckle, " And when he does I'll be raring for round two,". Right as Shade spoke the ground where the griffon had been buried began to quiver, " Right on time, I want you girls to get to safety again, I'm gonna end this,".
Rainbow Dash and Applejack helped move Twilight to a safe distance, followed by the rest of her friends, " Shade, please be safe, I don't want you lose you before I get a chance to confess ," a single tear dripped from her eye as she prayed for his safety.
With his anger welling up again, Shade directed his glare toward's the hole, his grin never leaving his face for a moment, " Come on big boy, I know you're down there, get up here and give me the match I want,". And as if responding to Shade's words, a large metal claw shot out form the rubble, Shade's grin grew wider as he witnessed this, " Round two metal head,".
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, did you miss me, because I sure missed you. I am so sorry for my hiatus, for those of you who read my blog update, you know why I was absent, for those of you who didn't, allow me to fill in the blanks. I recently started working which has begun to take up a lot of my free time, and on the days I'm off I'm working on moving in with my girlfriend, and also I've recently begun playing my new favorite game, Monster hunter, which has given me a wonderful idea for a future story. Anyway I've started working on pieces of art for my story, and I got to thinking, why not let the readers submit their own art, so if any of you would like to show me your own art, send it to my deviantart page, my user name is DarklordAxel35, I'll be sure to put any art submitted into the end of each chapter along with the name of whoever submitted it. Also, the question of the chapter this time is this, Shade is a pretty strong character, but as some of you might be able to guess, he isn't at his maximum this early into the story, guesstimate what you think his maximum power would be, and after doing that, who do you think Shade would be on par with, the character of you're choice can be form any series, in any media. Well I thank you all for your patience, I've made time to begin writing in the middle of work and moving, so I should be able to get a few chapters out before I'm busy again, but I'll make sure to leave a blog update before that happens, so keep an eye out, alright?
Rampage
In the Center of the Griffon Capitol City
Crimson eyes locked on one another, both casting glares as sharp as any blade, being just as intense as the combat they had witnessed. Shade stared down his metal foe, his unbreakable will had been more than a match for the armor that made up his adversary, be able to combat anything he had thrown at him. " You know, this is the most fun I've had in a long time, sure you've pissed me off, but you've given me the best fight I've had in ages, so I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you this, I'm not fighting at full power, and I know that you aren't either, so throw aside any thoughts that you can win this at the pace you're going at now".
The metal sentry eyed Shade up and down, but at the same time never losing eye contact with his enemy, " You're right, I have yet to show you the full extent of my abilities," he spoke with a robust, but metallic voice. He spread his wings wide, the edges of each adamantine feather giving off a glare from the sunlight above, " And when I do show my full power, I do not expect you to survive".
A deep chuckle left Shade's throat, " Funny, I was about to tell you the same exact thing". Shade mimicked his adversaries pose, spreading his wings wide and readying himself to charge, " Don't go disappointing me!!" . With swift movements both combatants flew at each other faster than most could keep up with, clashing in the middle.
Inside of a Building Nearby
The main six had managed to reach shelter before the two could clash, avoiding the initial shock wave they made. Applejack and Fluttershy both tended to Twilight to the best of their abilities, at least making sure that their friend would be OK, "....Don't worry Twilight...everything is going to be OK...," Fluttershy said, her voice was shaky, she was frightened by the combat that she had witnessed.
Spike watched intensely as his father fought to protect him and all of his friends, " Dad....I want to help you....but I know I'd just get in the way...," Spike clenched his balled up fist tightly, digging his claws into the palm of his hand hard enough to draw blood. His friends saw the blood trickle from his claws, bringing looks of concern to all of their faces, but they knew his reason for doing this, they too wished they could help.
Back on the Battlefield
Both Shade and the griffon gained some distance between one another, staring one another down once again. Shade was about to make another charge towards his foe, but stopped when something caught his eye, the griffons armor plates began to shift and separate, allowing the red light to shine brighter from within him. " I guess he's showing me his true power now, this is gonna be exciting," Shade's grin remained on his face, showing just how fearless he was, even when the level of the threat increases, he managed to keep a level head about it.
The metal griffon stood high on it's hind legs, raising it's head higher into the air, before suddenly letting out an earth-shaking roar, followed by the glow from his armor shining brighter than before, creating a flash of light made even Shade cover his eyes. When the light finally faded, it revealed the now fully powered armored griffon, his armor became expanded, giving it a muscular appearance, razor sharp edges had formed on his wings and his claws became hook-like. What appeared to be red lightning circulated around his armor, crackling loudly as if it were natural electricity, " Now, witness the full extent of my power, for it will be the last thing you witness at all," and before Shade could react, the griffon opened his metal maw, releasing a stream of crimson electricity at Shade, striking him directly.
Shade roared in pain as the red lightning zapped him incredible power, so much that it had knocked the hybrid to the ground. The griffon began to advance towards Shade, the closer he came towards him, the stronger the bolts of lightning became, " .....Not...good!!!...if..if I don't find a way to get away soon...I'm g...gonna get fried!!,". Using his willpower, Shade managed to stand up, despite the continuous electricity being poured into his body, " It's....g..gonna take a lot more than this...t.t..to put me down!!!," Shade dug his claws into the ground, getting a good grip on the earth beneath him, using his incredible physical prowess, Shade began to lift the ground up from underneath his adversary.
" What?!?! Impossible!! You shouldn't even be able to move!!!!!, I'll just have to increase the output of my-what the?! ," he was cut off by Shade lifting him and the hunk of stone he sat atop.
" I've! Had!! Enough!!! of Your!!!! MOUTH!!!!!," With a mighty heave, Shade hurled both the slab of rock, and the metal griffon into a nearby building, bringing the entire thing down on top of it. With powerful roar Shade charged towards the rubble that covered his opponent, using his magic Shade lifted what had to be a ton of rubble off of his foe, only to slam his own body into his metal foe, knocking him across the ground, this attack however caused Shade to lose his grip on the rubble, dropping it down on himself.
" ...The fool, crushing yourself in an attempt to land an extra attack on me, it cost you your life," having turned his attention away from the rubble that had seemingly crushed Shade, the adamantine sentry turned his focus towards the building that Twilight's friends had taken her for shelter, " Now for the rest of them,".
The ground beneath him began to shake as he stepped towards the building, causing the griffon to stop and turn back towards the rubble pile. A low growl came form underneath the pile of rubble, followed my a shimmering red light, " DAMN YOU!!!," Shade busted through the rubble with incredible speed and force, his horn glowing brighter than usual, the aura creating a long slender shape but at the same time seemed as sharp as any blade. " DIE!!!!!!!!!!," in what seemed like a single moment, Shade sped by the griffon, striking him across the chest with the blade of magic, creating a long, clean cut across his metal torso.
The griffon's eyes widened, he slowly looked down at his chest, inspecting the cut, "..Im....impossible....how...my armor is......," . He turned his head towards Shade, who was standing tall and proud, the magic blade still formed on his horn, " HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS!!!!!!!!," he began shouting, " HOW!!!!!!!!!!!!MY ARMOR IS INVINCIBLE!!!!!!NOT EVEN THE STRONGEST OF METALS COULD PIERCE ME!!!!!!!HOW DID YOU DO IT!!!!!!!," lightning poured from his body as he continued his outburst, breaking apart the ground around him in his rage.
Another chuckle escaped Shade's mouth, " Heh, guess that armor was pretty important to you, but what cut you wasn't any metal, it was raw magic condensed into a strong blade, strong enough to cleave even your armor,". Shade kept a close eye on his foe, watching as he turned his whole body towards him, " Maybe now you'll show me a real good time, that lightning actually hurt, but its gonna take a whole lot more than tha-," Shade was cut off by a powerful bolt of crimson electricity striking him, knocking him to the ground, followed by another continuous stream .
" Leave my dad alone!! ," Spike came rushing out of hiding, throwing rocks at the metal griffons head in an attempt to get his attention. The griffon paid no mind to the smaller dragon pelting rocks at him, and continued to to take pleasure in the larger ones pain, Spike however wasn't going to accept this. " I said!!," he began running towards the griffon, " LEAVE MY DAD ALONE!!!," he attempted to hop onto the metallic griffon, but upon making contact he was zapped with electricity causing him to shout in pain, and get sent flying towards the ground below.
Shade's eyes widened upon hearing the scream, " Sp..Spi...Spike?!?," his eyes landed on his son, unconscious on the ground with smoke rising from his body. Shade felt his blood run cold as he continue to stare at his son's unmoving body, " Spike...my son.....I should've finished this sooner....you'd still be alright.....but I just had to get a kick out of this... ," turning his line of sight towards the griffon who had him pinned down, Shade's eyes widened further, followed by an eerie glow coming from them, " How...how could I let this happen...how could I let this happen to my son.....I'll make you pay......I"LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR HARMING MY SON!!!!!! ,". Shade let out a ferocious roar before managing to force himself off the ground, viciously fighting his way out of his attackers grasp before eventually throwing the metal griffon off of him and onto the ground.
" What?! no way!!," the griffon quickly rose in an attempt to pin Shade back on the ground, but the attempt was in vain, Shade was already on him, snarling like a feral animal as he repeatedly struck him. " He's gone mad!! ," The griffon did it's best to fight back, but was outmatched quickly by Shade's new-found strength that was fueled by his feral rage.
The battle had quickly gone from evenly matched to one sided as Shade struck blow after blow, easily denting his foe's armor with each hit. Shade let out another ferocious roar as he gripped his claws tightly around the griffon's legs but he didn't fall to the ground when Shade grabbed him, instead he felt himself lifted into the air. Shade had begun to spin the griffon around rapidly, the emptiness in his eyes showed how little he cared for anything other than destroying what he considered his prey, " Destroy!!!," in his current state, destroy, seemed to be the only word he could muster.
" Let go of me!!," she griffon shouted angrily, he fired another bolt of electricity at Shade to get him let go, but unlike the last time, Shade was unphased by the electric attack, in fact it only seemed to fuel his feral rage, making him spin faster.
" RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!!!!" a grizzly noise echoed out of Shades mouth as he let go of his prey, sending him flying through not one, but two entire buildings, and to top it off, Shade chased after the griffon, managing to catch up to him right as he was about to meet the ground.
"..Ugh....what's going on..," the monstrous roar that Shade had let out brought Twilight back to her senses, she forced herself to sit up in order to see what all the commotion was about. "..G..girls?," she looked towards her friends, each one with a different expression, from shocked, to horrified, " G..g...girls...what's the matter?..,". Instead of getting a reply, Applejack simply pointed, Twilight reluctantly looked, and when she did, her face grew pale and her eyes widened. She saw Spike, unconscious on the ground, but that wasn't all that she saw, she witnessed as Shade brought himself down upon the griffon, slamming it into the ground and pinning it down, " Sh..Shade?!,".
" We don't know what's wrong with him sugar cube..," Applejack started, " B..but he ain't himself....his eyes, they're empty...,".
Twilight's eyes fell upon Shade's face, she saw exactly what Applejack was talking about, his eyes were completely red, devoid of any and all emotion except hatred, the eyes of a feral beast, whose only purpose is to destroy. "...No....no this can't be right, Shade hes just...hes....just angry...,".
" Twilight are you listening to yourself?!," Rainbow Dash exclaimed, " Just look at him, that isn't Shade, just some animal,".
Rainbow Dash's words hurt Twilight, she didn't care if he was an animal, deep down she knew that Shade was still there, "...Shade....," She closed her eyes, she couldn't bear to watch what Shade was going to do now that he had his foe pinned down.
His gaping maw hovered over the pinned griffons face, saliva dripped from Shade's mouth down onto the griffon's armor, creating smoke upon contact due to the sheer heat of the liquid. Shade snarled in the face of his prey, he cared not for the pain or suffering he would inflict, all that mattered to him was destruction, destruction of the thing who hurt what was most precious to him. Lifting his head high in the air, Shade closed his mouth partially, it seemed as if he was finally coming back to his senses with Spike on his mind, but the peaceful pause was interrupted by a beastly roar that he let out, shaking the ground around, followed by Shade bringing his razor sharp teeth down on his pinned foes neck, crushing the metal between his jaws.
If the griffon had blood it would have run cold by now, his supposedly impenetrable armor, had not only been sliced open, but now it was being crushed by the jaws of the very thing he had been ordered to destroy, "....You're not a monster.....you're a devil, a cold blooded devil hellbent on destroying everything in his path....,".
Even with his mouth full of metal, Shade let out a vicious snarl, the autonomous armor's words only infuriated him more, but something inside of him prevented him from doing any further damage to his downed foe. " RAAAAAAAAAAA!AAA!!!!!!!," Shade let go of the griffon, standing up and backing away all while grabbing his head in intense pain.
"...Tw....Twilight...," Fluttershy mumbled to her friend to get her attention, "...He...he looks like hes in pain...,".
"....Shade......you are in there....," tears began to well up in Twilight's eyes, " Don't worry Shade I'm coming!!!,". Twilight did her best to stand up, despite still being shaky from using all of her energy beforehand, "...just, just hold on!,".
The eyes of all of Twilight's friends widened, she was attempting to leave the safety of their shelter to get to Shade. " Darling you can't do this, we don't even know if Shade can recognize you in his current state," Rarity protested.
" She's right sugar cube it's too dangerous, besides you can hardly walk, how do you expect to get him," Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie, she had been abnormally quiet the whole time. " Pinkie, you try talkin some sense into her, please," everypony fell silent as they awaited their usually talkative friends reply.
" Huh?, oh sorry, I guess i got distracted, I mean with all the noise it's hard to think, so I decided to distract myself to get some peace and quiet," Pinkie gave her usually large smile to show she was her, not-so-normal self. Her friends fell silent, each one having a flabbergasted look on their face, save for Twilight who was more focused on getting to Shade, " What's everypony looking at, do I got something in my teeth, I diiiiiiid eat a cupcake in my head, " she let out a loud gasp, " Do you think I ate it in real life when I ate it in my mind,".
" Oooh!...I don't have time for this, he needs me, They! need me...," doing her best, Twilight limped out into the ruins that were left behind from the battle, making her way to Shade and Spike.
Shade began to dig his claws into his head, shouting even louder as the pain grew, but not from the self inflicted wound., " GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!! GET OUT!!!!!!,".
While Shade was busy dealing with the pain in his head, the armored griffon had managed to pick himself up, then turning towards the hybrid who was in so much pain. " Allow me to put you out of your misery," he quickly rushed towards Shade, slamming his forelegs into Shade's side, knocking him onto and across the ground, followed by a bolt of electricity, striking him directly.
Shade's cries of agony fell silent as he slid towards his unconscious son, still being just barely awake, Shade managed to glance at his son before muttering what few words he could, "............Don't die on me son.......I love you........and......and when we get home.....I'm going to be the best father I can be...,". Shade felt his conscious slipping away from him slowly, ".......I can't fall....not yet....," but just as everything around him began to grow dark, a warmth formed on Shade's back, followed by a soft but concerned voice.
" You need to wake up, please!," the voice pleaded to him, " Please get up, you can't die on me, not now!,".
" ..That voice..... is that... , " Shade's eyes cracked open, barely looking around to find the source of the voice, " ....T.....Twilight....,".
Twilight's eyes shone with hope at the sound of his voice, " You're awake...you're alive," but before she could start speaking again Shade's eyes has begun to shut again. " No Shade you can't give up!.....don't leave me...I know we haven't known each other long...in fact we're still practically strangers to each other...but...but..I...I love you Shade...," tears welled up in her eyes, she didn't want him to die.
" How touching," the metal griffon began walking towards them, " Why don't i help you, help you join him in the afterlife!!!," he opened his mouth wide, letting electricity pour out towards the now weeping princess, " Die!!!,".
A gasp left Twilight's mouth, her body was still too weak from before, she knew she couldn't move out of the way," SHADE!!!!,".
Shade's eyes shot open at the sound of her cry, and before the lightning could touch Twilight, Shade was in front of the princess, acting as her shield. The electricity made contact with Shade, making him stumble slightly but nothing more than that, " I won't let you hurt her,".
"..Sh..Shade, you're OK..," Twilight looked onto him, watching as he protected her from the lightning, she was surprised to see that he was using his own body to protect her rather than a magical force field, but her surprise was quickly shifted towards something else. Pieces of stone had been lifted from the ground and any surrounding rubble, floating towards Shade as if he were a magnet, and once reaching him they began to rapidly circle him.
" I'm going to make you pay, for hurting my son, for hurting my friends, for hurting Twilight!," the stone began to attach itself to Shade's body in plates. Piece by piece the stone attached itself to him, until eventually it had made a sturdy stone armor around him, this protected him from the lightning all together. " It's no use, your little ability won't pass this armor," Shade entered a crouching position, spreading his wings and raising his tail, which was now covered by stone that had fashioned itself into the shape of a blade, and readied himself to strike.
The griffon began to laugh, " Do you honestly expect that armor to protect you, metal is stronger than stone, and always will be!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!, I knew you were a fool but this, this is priceless, ". He shifted his eyes towards Twilight as he chuckled, " You, watch as I rip the armor, and then the scales from your lover," he adorned a wicked grin on his metal face before standing on his hind legs and roaring into the air, but the roar was cut short, something had just slammed into his torso hard enough to dent his breastplate.
That something, was Shade, who had headbutted him right in the midst of roaring, but he wasn't done form there, spinning his body onto his back while in the air, Shade positioned himself just right, then delivered a powerful buck to the same spot he had headbutted, sending the griffon flying into a clock tower nearby. " I'm tired of your mouth!!!," once he had landed his feet again, Shade pushed himself off the ground, rocketing straight into his foe, headfirst into his chest, sending him through the tower and into the air.
" Im...impossible, I had him beat, he was dead!!, where is this power coming from!! ," the sentry was helpless as Shade continued his assault, quickly grabbing onto his metallic foe's legs and bringing him down to the ground hard followed immediately followed by Shade bringing right back up into the air. " DAMN YOU!!!!!," he struggled violently to get free, swiping his claws upwards an attempt to hit him, even firing his electricity, but Shade just wasn't letting go.
" I've had enough out of you," Shade had begun to throw him across the sky from there, but before he could get any real distance, his adversary had opened his wings, stopping himself in mid-air. A smirk came to Shade's face, " Just what I wanted," Shade busted out of his stone shell, increasing his speed, allowing him to speed by the griffon, seemingly flying right past him at first.
" Hahah, you just made yourself an easier tar......get...," an incredible pain spread through his body, many small cuts had appeared on his body, " What...what did you do to me!!!," his eyes widened when he looked at Shade.
Shade's horn was glowing as bright as ever, a large magical blade had enveloped it, " Your body should be the least of your worries,". Shade had managed to form his magic blade in mid flight, and strike the griffon several times before flying past him, Shade turned himself around to look his foe in the eyes, but wasn't met with eye contact, the metal griffon was too busy looking at his body, taking notice of every wound that Shade had inflicted. " Don't worry, I'll make the pain go away now, so," Shade took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before regaining his focus once more, " LET'S END THIS!!!!," with that shout he took off right for the griffon, ready to finish the fight once and for all.
Author's Note
Well hey there ladies and gentlecolts, it's me again bringing you a whole new chapter. I'm glad to get to speak with you all again, I'm finally finding more time to write, and you all know what that means, more chapters for you guys and gals to read
Twilight confessed her feelings for Shade in this chapter, but she also said they were still practically strangers, do you guys/girls think this is a case of love at first sight, true love meant to be or something else, and if so, how far do you think they would take this.
Well i'll leave everypony to that question, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and hope you're all enjoying the story, if anyone ever has any ideas feel free to send them in to me and i might be able to implement them depending on how I manage with them. I'll be seeing you all again soon
Going Home
In the Sky, Above the Griffon Capitol City
" LET'S END THIS!!!!," with that shout he took off right for the griffon, ready to finish the fight once and for all. The blade of magic formed on Shade's horn once more, this time forming a much longer blade, pointed right at the metal griffon's chest .
The griffon remained frozen in place as the blade came hurtling towards him, fear had filled his metal carapace, "...im....impossible...". He tried his best to move, his best to get out of the way, but to no avail, his eyes had locked with Shades, he could feel the sheer shower within Shade, causing him to freeze in the air, the only thing keeping him there being his wings which kept flapping despite his protest.
" DIE!!!!!!!!," with a short boost in speed, Shade was right upon his foe, quickly impaling him straight through the chest, the beam of magic sticking through his back by a good foot. Shade turned his eyes upward to look at his foe's face, the griffons eyes had widened, it was as if he wanted to utter a scream but couldn't. " Goodbye," was all Shade uttered before forcing the blade forward, causing it to expand, with a roar, he began to burrow through his metal chest, creating a hole, and coming out on the other end.
"...D..d..damn...you...," the griffon wheezed out as he stared at the hole in his chest, terror filled him as his own crystal heart was now visible, he did his best to attempt to cover it up with his claws, but the unbearable pain he was in prevented him from doing so. Time seemed to slow for a moment as he watched Shade flying high into the at mach speeds, he was unsure what the hybrid was doing, but part of him knew that whatever it is, it would be the last thing that the sentry ever saw.
A wicked gust of wind hit Twilight and the others as they came out of hiding, the gust being caused by Shades takeoff, " Wh..where did he go..," Twilight's eyes searched the sky for Shade, but she couldn't see him through the clouds that had formed during the battle.
" Hmmmmmm," Pinkie pulled a pear of binoculars from seemingly nowhere, and scouted the skies for Twilight, " I'm not sure, but there's something reeeeeeeeeally bright right there," Pinkie pointed out the exact spot as she spoke.
Using her magic, Twilight practically snatched the binoculars from Pinkie Pie, quickly looking towards where her friend had pointed too, " It's Shade!!," Twilight said with an excited smile, but the excitement quickly left her face. " Girls...," Twilight dropped the binoculars and quickly picked up the unconscious Spike, and took off for the exit to town, " RUN!!!,".
" What in Tarnation got into-," Applejack was cut off by what looked like a giant flaming dragon descending from the sky at speeds comparable to the sonic rainboom, " She's right, lets get the hay outta here!! " On the way out, she gathered the cutie mark crusaders, before quickly catching up with Twilight as they made their escape.
Shade descended faster and faster, the faster he went, the faster his fiery aura grew, to the point where he was the size of an actual dragon, " WITNESS MY FULL POWER!!!!, WITNESS IT, AND DIE!!!!!!," within seconds, Shade impacted the metal griffon, quickly enveloping him within the searing magic flames. He witnessed first hand as the dragons fire ate away at the griffon's metal, " Goodbye, forever," with a single boost, Shade shot right through him, causing an explosion from both the griffon, and Shade's impact point.
Twilight realized that they weren't going to be able to escape the blast radius, so she did some quick thinking, " Alright everypony gather around me!" Gathering her friends, and their siblings around her, Twilight shot a magical blast at the ground, creating a hole big enough for them to fit in, before shoving them in said hole.
" Are you nuts Twilight!!," Rainbow Dash shouted, but was quickly silenced as Twilight herself jumped in after them, before covering everypony in a protective magic barrier. " Huh, maybe you aren't," in response to her statement towards Twilight, Applejack gave a small, but tough hoof punch to Rainbow Dash's right shoulder, " Ow ok, I was only kidding, alright?"
Twilight felt pressure pushing down on her as the explosion passed over her makeshift shelter, doing her best to prevent the barrier from breaking. While she was doing this, the small purple dragon on her back began to wake up, " ..Huh...wh..what happened..," Spike muttered, he held his head as he felt a headache had formed while he was out cold.
" SPIKE, YOU'RE OK!!!," all of his friends said in unison as they all gave him a strangling hug.
" I'm..OK?? ," Spike was a little confused as to what was happening, the last thing he remembered was helping his dad, then everything went black. ".... DAD!!!," Spike looked around seeing if Shade was with them, " Twilight, where's my dad at!" She practically shouted in distress.
" It's....al..alright Spike, Sh..Shade is out there..saving us...," as soon as she felt the explosion fade away, Twilight dropped her barrier, and nearly collapsed.
After the dust cleared, the ponies poked their head out from their makeshift shelter to see the destruction caused by the impact, the once luxurious city, was now a hollow burnt shadow of it's former self, buildings both big and small we nothing but charred wreckage, piles of rubble and debris. They remained silent as they stared in awe at the scale of destruction, only for the silence to be broken partially, by Rainbow Dash " Whoa," was the only word she could muster.
Shade fell to his knees, the impact caused major recoil to his body, leaving him with a broken wing and front leg, " ...I went and banged myself up.....nice job Shade..". However, Shades efforts weren't in vain, when he caught glimpse of what was left of his adversary, a grin grew on his worn out face. Using whatever strength he had left, Shade limped towards the severed, broken, chest cavity, which was all that was left of the griffon after being hit with Shades attack, inside the charred armor piece, resting shards of a red crystal, similar to the ones that were in the golem, "...There it is..". Shade went to reach for the shards, only to have them fly straight into his chest, slowly sinking inside his chest as the other crystal had done , " I guess...I didn't pass out this time," he looked around the surrounding area, taking in the devastation he had caused, "..I'm gonna get an ear full for this..," his eyes laid upon the ponies who he had originally come here to save, before slowly limping towards them.
" Hey everypony, look! It's Shaaaaaaaade!," Pinkie pie spoke in an almost ecstatic voice, similar to her usual one,but slightly more high pitched.
Both Twilight and Spikes heads shot up at the sound of his name, both climbing form the hole and rushing towards the injured half breed. Tears welled up in Twilight's eyes as she looked at his battered body, but not tears of sadness, tears of joy, "You're OK.. you really are ," she managed to muster a smile through her tears.
" Dad you are the coolest!!," Spike went to hug his father, only have him collapse next to him, " D..dad!?," Spike shook him slightly to see if he was alright, but he was unconscious.
"..It's alright Spike..," Twilight said to the distressed dragon, "..he's just..worn out..,".
" I'd say you all are, " A voice came from the sky, to which the confused ponies looked around, their eyes eventually landing on princess Celestia, who was in the process of landing next to them. Upon touching the ground, she scanned the area, a look of distaste on her face as she took in the destruction, "..He did not need to take it that far...".
" P..princess!?," Everypony said in unison, a shocked tone in their voice.
Twilight stepped towards her former teacher, trying her best not to fall over, " Princess Celestia..wh...what are you doing here?"
" I was originally going to visit your castle, but when I saw that nopony was home, I used a tracking spell to find you, and...now that I see what's happened...," She cut herself off, shaking her head, before continuing, " I'm just glad you are all alright..," the small smile on her face, was enough to make the rest of the ponies smile in return.
" Uh, not to ruin the moment, but uh, princess," Applejack started, " Can we please, just go home, the girls are all shaken up," a visibly shaken Apple bloom stayed hiding behind her older sister, only peaking out to look at Celestia.
" Of course we can Applejack, however in Shades condition we cannot simply teleport, there is a train departing soon, we must hurry," Twilight, along with the rest of the ponies quickly nodded, picking Shade up with their combined strengths, and carrying him off.
However, not to far the ponies, a shadowy mass stood over the charred breastplate that once belonged to the armored griffon, it's emptiness seemed to stare at the ponies as they made haste to leave " .....Shade..... ".
Inside the Blackness that is the Abyss
Opening his eyes to a familiar sight, Shade looked around, just like his last visit, there was nothing but emptiness, " Hello darkness my old friend," his voice echoed throughout the black plane as he scanned for any signs of life. Rather than the spirit from last time appear, this time a small white dot appeared in the distance, despite it's size, it was easily recognizable among the sea of darkness " Well, that is certainly new," he made his way towards the light, the closer he came towards the light, the bigger and brighter it grew. The light soon became so bright that Shade had to block the light with his claw, only moving it away when a small silhouette within the light caught his attention ," Huh, whose there?! "
" You're here, you're here! " A small voice squeaked as Shade walked closer towards the silhouette, the closer he got to it, more the silhouette took the form of a small filly.
" Where is...here, exactly? " Shade questioned, still looking around, before looking down at the filly who had seemed to be waiting for him, " And who are you exactly, little one? "
The filly let out a small giggle, " Don't be silly papa, " she stepped forward out of the light, revealing her deep purple fur, deep enough that it was nearly black, her eyes were unusual for that of a pony, her pupils, rather than look rounded out, had more of a slit shaped look to them.
Shade took a slight step back in shock, his eyes widened as he looked the filly over, " P..papa?! but..but, my only child is Spike, this abyss, it's messing with my mind" .
The little filly looked up at Shade with a confused look on her face, not sure what he was talking about, only to silence his questioning with more giggles, " Silly papa, big brother is at the house with mama, hurry up! " she grabbed the half breeds claw and began dragging him along towards the light.
Using his other claw, Shade covered his eyes as the bright became unbearably bright, only for it to fade away, revealing a small field surrounded by forest, covered in flowers in grass, in the center of the field sat a small cottage like house, " Wh...where are we?" Shade looked around, trying to find out where he was exactly" .
Another giggle left the fillies mouth as she looked back at the pony who she claimed to be her father, " Don't be silly papa, we're home, big brother and mama are waiting for us " . Finally reaching the cottage, her eyes stayed locked on Shade as she opened the door, " We're gonna miss lunch" .
" What in the?! " a bright light came from the door, causing the half breed to shield his eyes, the light seemed to envelope everything around him. Once the light began to fade away, something felt off to Shade, the gentle breeze from the field was gone, instead there was a harsh wind, the wind carried an intense heat within it, alongside the wind was the distinct scent of brimstone, " Wh...wha..what happened?!?! Little one?! " Shade looked around to see if the filly was still with him, only to see that the landscape around him was nothing but a volcanic wasteland, skeletons filled the several trenches that filled the landscape, most charred and burned, some were in much worse conditions. Off in the distance Shade could hear voices, familiar voices, making haste, he flew towards the sound of the voices.
" This is the last day you walk this land monster!!! " Shouted a voice that was strikingly similar to that of princess Luna's, " Free my sister, and Twilight Sparkle, while you still breathe!!"
Shade Arrived on a nearby cliff-side, looking down at the source of the voices, " What in Equestria is going on, please somepony tell me!! " he grabbed his head tightly, everything that had been happening was causing his head to ache greatly.
" O chosen bearer of the crystal, " an ethereal voice started, sounding different from the first spirit that visited Shade, What thou art witnessing it the second fate that possibly awaits your future, thou hast saw the first fate, a peaceful life with a family, this is the second fate, the very things that thou seek to destroy, corrupt thy spirit, creating an even more powerful monster, only caring about his own personal lust for destruction " .
Shade's eyes widened, before turning back towards the edge of the cliff, witnessing something that caused more confusion than shock. Sitting atop an adjacent cliff, was, himself, but he was so different, he had a darker aura to him, his wings were longer with slight tears in the edges, all three of his horns were longer, and on his chest rested a large scar, and surrounding the scar was a form of red corruption, looking like crimson cracks traveling out from the scar. The same corruption also appeared on his face, surrounding his eyes, giving his already blood red eyes and even more red glow to them, below the supposed mirror image of him, sat a group of ponies, and discord, the group of ponies were made up of unicorns from both ponyville and canterlot, Twilight's friends, and princess Luna, who looked as if she had been to hell and back.
The darker Shade let out a low chuckle, just the sound of it was enough to send chills down the spines of the bravest ponies, " Now, why would I go and give my beautiful wives to trash like you, to be honest, I'm surprised that any of you survived my three year reign over all of Equestria " .
The former princess of the night glared daggers at the evil half breed, " I'll make you regret those words you abomination!!, with this spell, we'll send you to oblivion where you belong!!!," her horn began to glow a bright dark blue, the light from her horn slowl began to grow, quickly enveloping everypony around her.
Another chuckle left Shades mouth as he slowly shook his head, " I admire your tenacity princess, maybe I'll spare you after all, another wife means another heir in my name, and Discord, if you be a good boy I could use a court jester, HAHAH, other wise you are all asking for a death sentence!!! "
An orb of magic began forming above the ponies as their powers combined into one, " I would rather die than be your filthy concubine!! " The defiant princess shouted, her eyes turning white as the power surged throughout her body, " But that won't be happening, because with this spell, you, will, die!!! " Shade eyed the defiant princess, his smirk left his face, only leaving a cold scowl in it's place, " No more torment!!, no more suffering!!, I'm going to end you, free my sister, free Twilight, and every pony that you've left alive to writhe in agony!!!, now... DIE!!!! " With a mighty shout, The princess of the night fired off the magical attack, hurtling it right towards Shade.
The darkened half breed didn't even flinch at the sight of the magical orb hurtling at him , rather he began cackling maniacally before forming his own orb of magic on his horn. The ponies below watched in horror as it grew to enormous proportions , easily dwarfing Luna's blast a thousandfold , " DIE YOU WORTHLESS FOOLS!!!!! " with a single flick of his head, the orb began falling towards the group of ponies, easily absorbing Luna's blast on the way down.
Luna's eyes widened as the immense ball of magic came crashing down towards them, easily tearing through the terrain around them, her eyes darted towards the darker Shade, watching him teleport to the sky, where he could get an aerial view of all of their deaths, "....No..." .
Off on the distant cliff, Shade watched as the sphere of magic exploded upon touching the ground, releasing a tsunami of magical hellfire, wiping away anything around. For the first time in his life he felt fear like no other, his heart raced as the racing explosion quickly reached him, soon enveloping him in it, "N...n..No!!!... NOOOOOO!!!!! " sweeping him away within the flames, before disappearing in a flash of burning white.
On the Train Ride back to Ponyville
" N....n..No!!!..... NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! " Shade shot up breathing heavily while holding his chest, sweat poured down him as he swiftly looked around, quickly calming down when he saw he was no longer in the hell he had just witnessed.
Twilight came running at the sound of Shades screams, panic was visible on her face, " Shade?!! Shade are you alright?!? " her eyes landed on the sweating dragon, the pure horror could be heard in his gasp for air, without any hesitation, she quickly rushed over ti him, giving him a comforting hug, ".... Shhh...it's alright.. it was just a bad dream...I'm here for you, " using her magic, she picked up a rag and began wiping the sweat away from him, at the same time while gently patting his back.
"...It was terrible....it was...there was...I was...," He could let out stutters in his still terrified state.
Unsure of what to do, Twilight simply did the first thing that came to her mind, she kissed him, holding the kiss for a few seconds before moving away and looking him in the eyes, " ...It's alright Shade...I'm here for you..." .
Shade looked the lavender pony in the eyes, a memory raced through his head, a memory of Twilight speaking back on the battlefield when he was fighting the metal griffon, " You said something to me back in that city...you said..we were still practically strangers..but that you also loved me...".
A bright red blush appeared on Twilight's cheeks, a blush almost as red as Shade's eyes, " I did...didn't I ," she looked away, trying her best to hide the redness on her face, only to have her head lifted up by her chin, "..H..h.huh?? "
" I feel the same way, I don't know why, but I feel a strong connection with you, a bond...you saved me more than anypony else has...and...I want to be able to do the same for you," if his body weren't covered in black scales, he too would have a blush on his face.
"..You already have...do me one favor though..don't go proposing to me too soon, alright..I want to be able to savor this feeling," she looked him in the eyes, " Can you do that for me, please ".
He gave out a small chuckle while slowly shaking his head, " Of course I can, " he pulled her close, giving her loving kiss on the lips . After pulling away from the embrace, Shade looked out the window of the train, and then back at Twilight, " Say, where is it that we're going exactly ".
Twilight let out a small giggle at his sudden question before pulling close to her new coltfriend, " We're going home ".
Author's Note
Well, hey there everypony!!! First of all, I just want to say that I'm sorry for my hiatus, I just needed some time to myself, a lot has happened since I last wrote a chapter for this story, I've had a lot to go through, but I've finally pulled through, and I'm back to writing, I hope that everyone enjoys the chapter, I'm sorry if it's not up to my usual standards, I'm a bit rusty from not writing for a while, but I'm finally back, and I'm here to stay for a while before I take another break, I hope you ladies and gentlecolts enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all again soon
Inside Twilight's Castle, A Day has Passed
Early in the morning, inside her throne room, Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends sat chatting, going about their daily routine, as if the incident from yesterday had never happened. " I'm just glad to be back home in the safety of my own castle, " Twilight let out a sigh of relief. After yesterdays events took place, she had felt safer than ever inside of her home, " It felt good to be able to sleep in my bed again, " her friends let out giggles in response to what she had said.
" Easy there sugar cube, we were only gone a day, you act like we've been gone fer weeks ," Applejack replied with a small chuckle.
A slight blush formed on Twilight's face, " Sorry, it's just, it really does feel that way though, I mean, don't you girls feel that way in the slightest, I can't be the only one can I? "
" Um well.. " Fluttershy started, getting her friend's attentions, " I uh, kinda feel that way, I um, mean, it was really scary, getting captured like that, and watching Shade fight that awful thing...it feels very nice to be back in a safe place.." she shyly hid her face in her hair.
Her friends kept looking at her for a moment, before smiling at their shy friend, that was until Rainbow Dash spoke up, " Hey speaking of Shade, where is he, I wanted to race him today, you gotta admit, it was pretty wicked watching him flying yesterday! "
Applejack let out a small chuckle before leaning towards Twilight and whispering, " Ya might wanna watch out Twilight, I think Rainbow's a little smitten with yer new coltfriend " .
Twilight simply giggled at the thought, " Oh Applejack, it's just Rainbow Dash so I have nothing to worry about " .
" Whatever yah say sugar cube, but yeah like Rainbow said before turning all fanpony, where is Shade at, shouldn't he have woken up with ya?" Applejack asked.
More blush came to Twilight's face at Applejack's question, " I..I don't know, Shade and I have separate beds, I sleep in my room, and he sleeps in the guest room down the hall ," sweat dripped down her face, she still wasn't used to being in a relationship such as this one just yet.
" OOOOOO!! That sounds super fantistical!!! " Pinkie Pie exclaimed, " We're all gonna make the biggest bestest super dooperist festival EVER!!!! " she shouted as she shot from her seat, straight into the ceiling.
" Heh, seems someponies excited, " Applejack chuckled.
"Well I for one, am looking forward to putting my artistic skills to work on making the festival look stupendous ," Rarity stated with pride in her voice.
" Heeeeey? what's all this talk about a festival ," Spike came walking into the room, rubbing his eyes with one hand, and holding his bandaged up side with his other.
" Spike, good your awake," Twilight smiled as she looked at her assistant, " Come here please, we need to prepare for the arrival of princess Celestia, my brother, and Cadence, do you think you can manage that? " she asked him.
Spike put a weak smile on his face, obviously sore from yesterday, but he could never turn down an important request from Twilight, You can ngh! count on me Twilight , " he might've been in pain, but that wouldn't stop him from being the best assistant in all of Equestria, however before heading off the start the preparations, he turned to look at Twilight, " Oh yeah, my dad took off this morning, something about finding a nice quiet spot for the day, I wasn't sure what he meant but I didn't want to bother him," having said what he wanted to say, he happily went about to attend to his duties.
Twilight was slightly disappointed to learn that Shade wasn't in the castle at the moment, but she didn't want to worry her friends by looking sad, so she hid the feeling. " Well there goes my heavy lifter, Rainbow Dash, Rarity," Twilight got her two friend's attentions, " Do you girls think you could go look for Shade for me, you don't have to bring him back, just tell him that I need his help later on, can you do that for me? "
Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other before looking back at Twilight and nodding, " Of course we can darling, besides if hes anything like Spike when he wanders off, I'm sure to find a few rare gems, " Rarity said eagerly.
" And you can definitely count on me going, this might be the best chance to challenge him to a race! " she flew from her seat feeling greatly excited by the thought.
* if you don't mind me sugar cube, " Applejack started while looking at Twilight, " I'll tag along with em' if it's peace an quiet Shade's after, then he probably went into the woods, an these two will get lost fer sure if I don't go with em' ".
Twilight gave a smile and a nod in response to her friend's request, " I don't mind Applejack, in fact knowing that you're going makes me feel a whole lot better, " she gave her friend a hug and whispered into her ear, " If you could could you make sure he's not hurt or anything while you're out there ".
With a small chuckle and a nod, Applejack got up from her seat and looked at Rainbow Dash and Rarity, " Alright you two, let's get goin, otherwise we might not be able to find him at all, " and with that, the three of them were off to find Shade, they only hoped that they could find him before he moved on from wherever he was.
Deep in the Woods, Later into the Day
Deep in the woods, although, not too far from civilization, all is quiet, no birds singing, no ambiance from within the forested area, only the sound of a roaring, yet calming waterfall. Standing atop a large jagged rock, Shade meditates, attempting to calm his mind, having been plagued by visions ever since he had awoken this morning. The sound of the roaring water crashing down was in a way, peaceful to Shade, it helped calm his nerves as he tried finding inner peace to rid himself of the outlandish visions.
Not far from Shade's location, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash made way towards him, having trekked for a good portion of the day. Applejack's ears twitched as the sound of running water resonated towards them, " Ya'll hear that? sounds like a waterfall, " this got both Rainbow's and Rarity's attention.
Rarity clapped her hooves together out of pure joy, " A waterfall?! Absolutely splendid! " she exclaimed, " We've been walking for hours now and I could use a rest, and a waterfall sounds just perfect ".
Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof into the air, " Hey, waterfalls are really high up right? maybe I can fly up and get a better lay of the land, there's no possible way I could't spot Shade from that high up, " she spoke as if she were bragging about it.
" You know Rainbow, " Applejack started, " that actually ain't a bad idea, the moment we reach that water, go take a look, and for corns sake, don't go dilly dallying with any fancy stunts while yer up there, we're here to find shade, not for you to practice yer flyin skills, " Applejack replied, practically scolding her for something she knew Rainbow Dash would attempt.
" Girls, " Rarity said, tapping both of them to get their attention, " I don't think we'll have to look far for Shade, " she pointed towards the figure standing atop the jagged rocks at the base of the nearby waterfall.
Applejack took her hat off her head and wiped the sweat off her brow, " Well I'll be, it took a few hours of hikin, but he weren't that hard to find after all, " they started sprinting towards him, all excited that they had found him.
However, resting on one of the cliff sides next to the waterfall, something sinister laid in wait, watching them with a large sinister eye which rested amidst it's black amorphous body, " There you are, brother "
Back in Ponyville, Insides Twilight's Castle
Twilight waited with anticipation for her brother and sister-in-law, to arrive at her castles gate, she had managed to spot the train they were arriving in through the use of her telescope. She was practically bouncing in place out of sheer excitement, " Oh I can't wait for them to get here, we'll have so much fun, just like their last visit, " she clapped her hooves together at just the thought of it.
" Sheesh Twilight, " Spike said, taking a slight step away from her, " You act like you've never seen them before, there's no need to get so giddy, I mean for a moment I couldn't tell if I was standing next to you, or Pinkie Pie ".
" Why can't you stand next to both of us silly-billy, " Pinkie said out of nowhere, standing right behind Spike as if she had just appeared there.
Spike jumped straight into the air, latching onto the chandelier, practically shaking and chattering teeth, " D..d..don;t do that Pinkie! " he exclaimed whilst shaking rapidly.
" Oops, my bad, " Pinkie only smiled as she looked at Spike, who was hanging from the chandelier like a pinata.
Twilight could only place her hoof on her face and slowly shake her head in disapproval, " Would you two knock it off, their gonna be here any min- " Twilight was suddenly cut off by a feeling of dread running down her spine, a cold, dark feeling.
Both Spike and Pinkie became very confused at the sight of their friends eyes growing to the size of dinner plates, but her pupils shrinking the size of a period. After managing to get himself down, Spike went to Spike and began shaking her slightly, " Hey Twilight, snap out of it, what's got you so spooked? "
She shook her hair, regaining her composure, but kept a slightly horrified look on her face, "..I just..felt something...like something terrible was about to happen somewhere ".
Pinkie looked at Spike and then at Twilight, " That's odd, my Pinkie senses didn't go off, hmm, " she stopped herself with a loud gasp, " What if Twilight has developed a Twilight sense and it's something only she can sense!! "
Spike smacked himself with his claw, " Pinkie Pie that's ridiculous, Twilight probably just got a cold chill, " it was then that there was a knock at the front gate. Spike looked at the gate and walked towards it, " Relax Twilight, besides, your brother and Cadence are here, what would they say if they saw you all pale in the face just cause of a weird feeling you got ".
Deep in the Woods
The three ponies who had gone out to find Shade, eagerly ran up to him, joyous expressions on all three of them. " There ya are sugarcube, I was worried we'd never find ya, " Applejack said happily.
Shade opened his eyes and looked down upon them, " You came all the way out here to..find me? " he asked with a puzzled look on his face, " What for, I told Spike to tell you all that I wanted peace and quiet, " he seemed slightly upset but at the same time understanding.
Rainbow Dash flew up towards him, reaching his eye level, " Listen Shade, Twilight is having her brother and his wife over, she'd really like it if you attended, so can you just come back with us already ".
Shade closed his eyes and lowered his head, thinking over what he was just told, but suddenly, his eyes shot wide opened, he quickly turned to see a large purple magical blast flying towards them. Using his quick reflexes, Shade managed to shove the three ponies out of the way a forcefield, and fly out of the way of the projectile, which then collided with the rock spire he was standing atop, blowing it to piece on contact, and leaving a crater in it's place. " Who dares!!! " Shade bared his teeth and clenched his claw together hard enough to draw his own blood, his eyes scanned the cliff sides for a culprit, but before he could get a good view of them, the culprit came hurtling towards him at rapid speeds, appearing as only a moving ink blot, which he barely managed to dodge, " What the devil?! "
The amorphous black blob made contact with the ground, splattering all over, creating a large black puddle where it made contact with. The four of them watched as a large bloodshot eye rose to the surface of the goo, and as it lifted itself up, creating a body of sorts. It remained where it had risen for a few moments, only staring and occasionally blinking at Shade.
" Good heavens!! " Rarity exclaimed, what is that hideous thing! " she sounded appalled, the sight of such a creature nearly made her sick.
Shade growled furiously at whatever he was looking at, " Whatever it is, it's done for!!! " he took in a deep breath and began spewing a sea of flames onto the amorphous creature. However, when the flames died down, the four were shocked to see it still standing there, just, staring, "..Th...that's impossible...there should be nothing...what...what are you!? " Shade stared back, eyes widened with shock.
" That's no way to treat your own brother now, is it...Shade? " it's voice was cold and vile, enough to chill even Shades bones.
" Br..brother?! No, you lie! I have no siblings, " Shade began growling again, reading himself to lunge at the unknown creature before him.
" Your choice is a poor one, I did not come here to fight you, but if I must, I shall put you in your place, " several tendrils began growing from the gelatinous pool that the eye had risen from, all pointed directly at Shade.
" Put me in my place huh, I'd like to see you try, " and without warning, Shade rocketed towards the eye, magical blade extended form his horn, but before he could make contact, the creature quickly evaded, latching itself onto the nearby cliff side, " No way?! "
It slowly shook it's eye back and forth, disapproving of his undisciplined attacks, " You are just too slow brother, no matter how strong, or how fast you are, " it was almost as if it were taunting him.
Shade's eyes began glowing red, he had already had enough of the living sludge's nonexistent mouth, " Shut up!!!!! " he rocketed towards it once more, slamming into it, smashing it into the cliff. " Whose slow now!!! " he began repeatedly stamping it into the cliff side, but he was in such a rage, he didn't notice the tendrils rising up behind him.
" Foolish brother, brute force means nothing if you are unable to inhibit properly, " it's tendrils suddenly wrapped themselves around Shade, extending themselves out, where it began swinging him back and forth, slamming him into both cliffs repeatedly, hitting the cliff sides hard enough to leave deep craters each time. " Do you see now brother, I have no muscles and even now I am overpowering you, " it quickly whipped him into the air, before hurling him down towards the ground, creating another crater upon impact.
Shade coughed up blood as he attempted to regain his composure, " Why can't I hurt it, " he did his best to pick himself up out of the hole he had made upon being tossed into the ground.
The amorphous puddle slithered in front of him, the sinister eye continuing to stare at him, " Perhaps you would prefer I give you a handicap, " without warning, it latched onto Shade and began enveloping him inside of it's body, only to spit him out a short moment afterwards. " Maybe this will be slightly easier on you, " the puddle began shrinking as it began forming a ball, but it didn't stay as a ball for long, it quickly began growing, and growing, taking on an all to familiar shape, causing everypony's eyes to widen.
" He...he....he looks just like... " Applejack stammered.
Shade, taken aback by the sudden transformation, stared at the once amorphous mass as it had taken on a new shape, "...Just like me.. "
That it did, the black liquid mass had taken the shape of a much darker Shade, it's head hung limply as if it hadn't any bones to hold it up, it lacked eyes on it's head as well, making up for it though, the large sinister eye from before was rested upon it's chest, staring right into Shade's soul. " What's wrong brother, don't like my new look, I thought that perhaps you would feel more comfortable fighting against a familiar face, or should I say, lack of face, " he let out a wicked chuckle before suddenly lunging at Shade, magical blade adorned atop of it's horn.
Having been unprepared for the sudden strike, Shade could just barely dodge, resulting in a cut across his chest. He cringed in pain as he landed a good distance from the mysterious foe, " Not bad, " he placed his claw on his chest where he had been cut, a shocked expression on his face as he saw the blood there, "..You...you actually hurt me... " he look completely befuddled as he looked at the red substance on his claw and chest.
With another wicked chuckle, the false Shade slowly walked towards the real one, his head moving uncontrollably, " Correction, you actually hurt yourself, and you're about to do it again!! " once again, he lunged with the blade drawn, however this time, Shade was prepared, and successfully clashed his own magical blade against the imposters.
" I don't know who, or what you are, and don't say my brother!! because I don't have any family!! but I will kill you!!! " Shade could feel his rage building, fueling him further. His own magical blade began overtaking his doppleganger's blade, " Nopony knows my body like I do!!! " with a quick slice to the exposed eye, and fierce push from his head, Shade knocked the fake into the air. With a broad grin, Shade took flight towards the seemingly defenseless foe, however before he could make contact, a thick tendril grew form the false Shade's back, and came hurtling right towards the real Shade, " What in the?! " Shade was caught off guard, only being able to barely dodge once again.
The false Shade fell towards the ground, landing on it's feet, unphased by the previous clash, " I tire of this, I wanted to see the limits of your abilities, but all I see is a rage driven fool, " . It began to melt, but instead of it's previous puddle-like form, it now took the form of a floating sphere with it's large eye in the center. " I shall now end this pointless battle, " annoyance could easily be heard in it's voice, having had enough of Shade's futile attempt at fighting it. In a matter of moments it had begun growing hundreds upon hundreds of black tendrils, all waving about erratically, " Face my wrath!! " and without warning, every last tendril pointed itself right at Shade, and lunged at rapid speeds.
Using what little reaction time he could, Shade took flight, flying at hyper speeds to avoid the oncoming tentacles, which came crashing down behind him, smashing the ground below with ease. Shade did his best dodging any of the tendrils that came down in front of him, but the more he dodged, the more that seemed to come down upon him, " There's too many of them!, gotta think fast...gotta think fa- " his eyes widened greatly as he spotted a tendril coming right down on top of him, " No way, there's no way it could catch up to me!! " he quickly went to speed up to evade it, but it was too late.
The three ponies watched in horror as the tendril came crashing down on Shades back, impaling him through the lower torso, resulting him crashing down onto the ground, followed by several other tendrils stabbing down into Shade's body. " Shade, NO!!! " the three screamed in unison as they witnessed twelve more tendrils come crashing down onto his body.
Shade let out a cry of immense pain as he felt himself lifted into the air by the tendrils which had pierced his body, he wanted with all of his strength to rip them out, but he could find no strength at all, "....H....how..." he coughed up blood as the tendrils moved further through his body.
The floating mass stared at Shade as he writhed in pain, " I'm going to say this brother, I will not kill you, in fact, I only came here to give you a warning, it was you who made my visit more complicated ". Shade stared in horror as a much larger tendril emerged the orb, this one tipped with a scythe shaped blade, " As I stated before, I shall put you in your place, but first, I will tell you the error of your ways, you are like a wild fire, raw uncontrolled power, destroying everything in your path without rhyme or reason, you must learn to control that power, harness it, you could easily be the strongest of all five of us if it were not for this major flaw you possess ".
Shade coughed up blood once more as he attempted to speak, "....W...why won't you die.......why... " talking didn't help, in fact it only seemed to make him hurt more.
The eye gave another chuckle before answering his supposed sibling, " The same reason you won't die, our hearts, we both possess what is known as a crystal heart, " a cavity opened up on the pitch black orb, revealing a black crystalline organ, surrounded by blackish red veins which pumped out what could only be blood for this creature.
Shade's eyes widened further as he stared at the organ, and again as his looked down at his own chest, his heart being the only place that had been left unscathed, "...No... ".
" Yes, " it simply replied, so long as I leave your heart in tact, your body will regenerate, as with all of us, well, what's left of us, did you honestly think you could kill two of our siblings and go unnoticed by our master, I think not, and so I was sent here, not to kill you, but to teach you the error of your ways, now, before I go, my last lesson, humility, ". The eye's tendrils suddenly spread Shades body out in an X shape, some even left Shades body completely.
Shade could only watch in horror as the large scythe shaped tendril rose up, pointing towards his exposed torso. For the first time in his life he felt as if he could die, as if this were his last breath he was about to take, "...N....no.... " but there were no words he could say to reverse this, the razor sharp tentacle came hurtling towards his body at rapid speeds, impaling him through his chest and lifting him further into the air, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head as the pain was too much.
" Pathetic, and to think the master said you were the one to succeed him, " with a single flick of the tentacle, it had sent Shade flying towards the waterfall, crashing into the stone wall that lay behind it. " Do me a favor brother, try not to die, " it's eye began to glow for a short moment, only for it to fire a massive purple blast at Shades limp body.
Using what strength he had left, Shade lifted his head up, only to see the destructive magic orb flying right at him , "...Tw...Twilight...forgive me... ".
Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity watched in pure horror as Shades near lifeless body became enveloped into the blast, "..Sh..shade..." Applejack uttered, the others being completely speechless. They could do nothing as they watched this amorphous being beat Shade senseless, Shade, a pony who they had come to know as so powerful that anything they had faced before seemed like fillysplay compared to him, he was beaten, stabbed, and blown up with ease.
"..Theres...just no way..." Rainbow Dash stared in disbelief as the floating eye suddenly vanished, leaving before the smoke even faded away, "..Th..that no good gooey piece of- " Rainbow Dash stared shouting, only to be stopped by Applejack.
" Calm down Rainbow Dash! " even Applejack was thrown into a panic, " Wh..what are we gonna tell Twilight!! huh!! answer me that!! "
While the two of them shouted at one another, Rarity had begun slowly making her way towards where Shade was, her eyes widened as she spotted, sticking out of a pile of stony rubble, a single black claw, " Shade?! " Without hesitation, Rarity began using her magic to lift the several heavy stones that covered his limp body, she kept doing this until finally she uncovered his body, " Girls!!! " she shouted to get her friend's attention.
Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash hastily made there way towards her, stopping in their tracks when their eyes laid upon Shade, "...Sweet Celestia... " was all Applejack could say upon seeing him. His body was in terrible condition, a large gash where he had been impaled by the scythe-like tentacle ran down the center of his chest, several smaller wounds ran all over his body from the smaller tendrils, his body was charred from the magical blast, they could only watch as he twitched where he laid, unsure if he was even still alive.
"..Is....is he.." Rainbow Dash started, but before she could finish, Rarity shook her head, allowing her to let out a sigh of relief.
" While he may be in the worst condition I've ever seen a pony in before.....he's alive...he has a pulse..barely... " Rarity was unsure if this was a good thing or not, from what she could tell he was in an unbearable amount of pain, if he were even conscious.
" Well we aren't gonna wait for him to die then! " Applejack exclaimed, " Rarity, you use some of the stuff you brought with you to make bandages, we need to get him back to Ponyville before he....dies... " She watched as her friend nodded, and begun hastily taking some cloth out of her saddle bags, before turning her attention towards Rainbow Dash, " Rainbow, once, rarity get's him patched up, I need you to fly him back to Twilight's castle, otherwise he ain't gonna make it, please ya got to do this! " she practically pleaded.
Rainbow Dash gave an assuring nod, " You can count on me Applejack, I'll get him there faster than you can count ".
Half an Hour Later, Ponyville, Inside Twilight's Castle
Laughter could be heard echoing through the halls of the castle, Twilight was greatly enjoying the visit form her brother and his wife, it was rare that she ever got to see them outside of visits to the Crystal Empire. " I don't know how many times I've said this now, but it's so wonderful having you both here! " Twilight exclaimed as she clapped her hooves together.
Her older brother, Shining Armor, chuckled at his sisters filly-like behavior, " Easy there Twily, that makes twenty three times you've said that now, we're both glad to see you too ". He grinned sincerely at his sister, not minding the fact he was wearing a cast, he wouldn't let a simple injury hinder him form visiting his sister.
The whole time they had been there however, Twilight had been eyeballing the cast, wondering how her brothers leg had gotten hurt, " Say Shining, I know you said you'd tell me later, but- " but before she could finish asking him, Spike popped up in front of them, a joyful expression on his face.
" Hey Shining Armor! " he jumped up waving in front of him.
" Well hey there Spike, It's nice seeing you, say have you gotten taller, " he rubbed the little dragon's head, always happy to see him as well.
" Yeah I guess I have, oh wait that's now what I wanted to tell you, I found my dad! my very own dad that I never knew I had, but I found him! " he was practically bouncing at this moment.
" Your dad?! " both Shining Armor and Cadence asked puzzled, they turned their attention towards Twilight and then back at Spike.
" Yep, my dad!, and he's staying here in the castle until he finds a place of his own! " the baby dragon grinned form ear to ear.
Cadence looked at Spike once more before looking at Twilight, " Twilight is this true, I haven't seen any other dragons here? " she said, even more puzzled than before.
Twilight gave a small nod, " Uh huh, he lives here alright, but at the moment hes out, I was really hoping he'd be here, well because um.." Twilight was blushing at this point. " You see...he's not really all dragon...he's um..half..half pony.. " the more she spoke of Shade, the brighter red her faced turned.
" Half pony?! " Shining Armor asked in a befuddled tone, " Is that even possible?! "
Spike gave a confident nod, " Mmmhmm, hes got the body of a really tall pony, but he's got the features of a dragon, and hes suuuper tough ".
Shining Armor smirked slightly and placed his hoof atop Spike's head, " Well if that's the case, then I see where you got your looks from Spike " the two of them began laughing at that point.
While the two of them laughed, Cadence looked at Twilight with slight concern, she had noticed how red Twilight's face was getting, " Twilight, what's the matter? you look like you got a fever, " she placed her hoof on Twilight's forehead, resulting in the lavender princess to jump from surprise.
Twilight had gotten lost in thought, thinking about if Shade were alright or not, " Oh uh, sorry about that..well you see it's...it's just... " she couldn't find it in herself to speak any more.
" Oh, She's alright Cadence, " Shining claimed, she's probably just a little warm.
However, Twilight had to tell them, " No....it's not that.." she began, getting both of their attentions, " It's just that...I'm..hes....Spikes father is my coltfriend! " she suddenly let out an outburst revealing what she was trying to say, but almost immediately she covered her mouth with her hooves.
Shining Armor looked at Twilight, unsure of how to react, but cadence on the other hoof, looked ecstatic, " Oh Twilight!, you found a love of your own! that's wonderful!! " she shot right up and pulled her younger sister-in-law into a bear hug.
" You really think so? I was worried you'd think wrong of me for being with a stallion much older than me, " she said, still slightly worried.
" Twilight, " Cadence said, her voice, tender a ever, " You're family, you don't ever have to be ashamed of anything, isn't that right Shining ". Shining Armor could only smile and nod, still unsure of how to react to the situation, cadence however, looked just as happy, " You see Twilight, you don't need to hide things from us, now, I can't wait to meet him, I just hope hes treating you alright, you are a princess after all, "
Twilight instantly began blushing again ," He treats me perfectly fine Cadence, " sweat poured down her face, " in fact, he treats me better than a princess, oh I can;t wait for him to get here, you'll love him, his name is Sh- " but before she could finish, a flurry of several loud knocks came from the front gate, " Pardon me one moment, I'll get that, Spike, you keep Shining Armor and Cadence company ".
" Can do Twilight! " he gave her a thumbs up and a grin as she walked out of the room and towards the door.
" I wonder who it could be, " she let it a tiny gasp at one thought, " Maybe it's Shade, maybe he came back early " she quickly made her way to the door with this thought in mind. But upon opening the door, her eyes came to meet a horrific sight, "..N...no.. "
Rainbow Dash held in her hooves as best as she could, Shade, covered in blood soaked makeshift bandages, " Twilight....he needs help..please...or else hes gonna die.." her voice was hoarse, as if she had been screaming the whole way there.
Twilight's eyes began welling up with tears, she could see him barely breathing, the numerous blood soaked bandages on his body barely holding together, "..Sh..Shade... ".
A loud cry soon echoed through the castle, a loud, sorrow filled cry, " NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " but after that, all was quiet.
Author's Note
Hey there Ladies and Gentlecolts, it's me again, sorry for the long wait for this next chapter, I've just been taking a little break between writings as of lately. But as of now, I'll be writing a little faster than I normally have been, that doesn't always mean chapters will be out as fast, but it does mean they won't be out as slow as usual. Anyways, I don't have much to say this time, nothing new coming up, just new chapters and all that jazz. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter, and I'll see you all again very shortly
Twilight's Castle
The sound of the scream resonated throughout the castle, reaching each and every room, including the one Twilight had left her Spike, her brother, and his wife in. In a matter of moments, all three had quickly made their way towards the castle gate, stopping in their tracks upon seeing Twilight holding a battered and bloodied body in her hooves, sobbing into it. " Tw..twilight?! " Spike's eyes widened as he ran towards her and Shade, his eyes began welling up with tears at the sight of his fathers unconscious figure, "..D...dad?!?! " the sight was enought o make him faint on the spot.
" Dad?! " both Cadence and Shining questioned simultaneously, looking more confused than they ever had.
Twilight's head shot up suddenly, " Rainbow Dash, help me get him to my room, hurry! " Rainbow Dash could only nod as she began helping Twilight lift the large half-breed stallion into the air. Twilight fought back her tears as she did her best to focus her magic on lifting his body, " Spike, you need to get the emergency first aid kit...please...hurry.. ".
Spike was quiet at first, still in shock from the initial sight of his father, but he quickly shook his head and nodded, " Alright Twilight, you can count on me! " without hesitation, he bolted off, hoping to find the supplies quickly.
Before Shining Armor or Cadence could get a good look at Shade's body, Twilight and Rainbow Dash had already begun hauling him off. Cadence watched with a worried look as they did so, "...Twilight... "
Shining Armor looked at his wife, just as worried as she was, he had never seen Twilight like this, never had she been so grief stricken, "...Cadence...she'll be alright..let's just...go and support her.." he went to follow them, but he stopped upon feeling his wives hoof placed on his shoulder.
She slowly shook her head, "...No Shining.....we need to give them space....she'll tell us when she's ready.....this isn't just any emotional problem...this is her heart..and I know more about that than anypony else ".
" But she...but Cadence, Twilight is..." he stammered momentarily before letting out a sigh of defeat, " Alright...we'll wait, " he couldn't help but look at the blood trail that the body they were carrying left behind, it must've been in terrible condition to leave that much of a trail, even with all those bandages.
Twilight fought hard to keep herself from bursting into fits of uncontrollable crying as she carrying Shades limp body, after seeing what he had been capable of doing, she thought it was impossible for something like this to happen. They soon reached Twilight's bedroom, wasting no time at all in getting him onto the bed, and as soon as Spike arrived, made haste in replacing his bandages. Although some seemed to have healed, there were still too many, including the gash going down his chest, just the sight made Twilight feel as though she could vomit, "...How....how did this happen to him Rainbow Dash...what made my Shade look like this... " she softly rubbed his cheek that wasn't bandaged up, never taking her eyes off of his body.
Rainbow Dash looked at the floor, remaining silent for a good minute before saying anything, ".....It was awful Twilight.....we found Shade out in the woods...he was..meditating or something like that....but right as we were about to bring him home...this thing..this...evil....thing...attacked him....Shade wanted to fight back...but....sweet Celestia...that wasn't a fight..it was a slaughter.... ". Rainbow Dash looked as if she could get sick at just the thought of what that vile thing did to Shade, the pain it inflicted on him, "....we....we couldn't do anything...the three of us were frozen from fear...I'm sorry Twilight... "
Twilight slightly looked towards Rainbow Dash, she wasn't acting like herself, not her usual self that was, whatever happened must've shaken all three of them up terribly. She slowly stepped towards Rainbow, and upon reaching her, gave her a hug, "...It's alright Rainbow Dash.....I...I just can't thank you enough for getting him back before....before... " she clenched her eyes shut again, trying her hardest to fight the tears that oh so desperately wanted out.
"..Twilight..." Rainbow Dash returned the hug, gently patting her best friend's back.
Taking a moment to regain herself, Twilight wiped at her eyes with her front leg, before stepping towards Shade again, "..Rainbow...I need you to go to the hospital....and bring....just bring anypony...any doctors you can....he needs medical attention....more than this..or...it'll just get worse.... "
Rainbow Dash hastily nodded and prepared to take off out of a nearby window, " Don;t worry Twilight, I'll have them here faster than..faster than me! " and like that, she was off in an instant.
Twilight felt the tears fight back, urging her further to cry, but she wouldn't, she had to be strong, for him, "...Please...don't leave me Shade....there's so much in life that I want to experience with you.....so much that I want to tell you... ". She gently laid her head on his chest, although faint, the sound of his heartbeat began calming her, easing her nerves. She released a small sigh of relief as the urge to cry slowly left her, "...I love you...Shade... " but suddenly, her peace was interrupted by a fit of coughs coming from Shade, causing her to panic slightly
After finishing his sudden coughing, Shade slowly opened the one eye that wasn't bandaged, laying his gaze upon Twilight, the sight of his eye was enough to relieve Twilight of her panic, and instead, caused her to jolt towards him and hug him. " Ow....ow...easy..Twilight..." but when she attempted to pull away, he simply pulled her back into the hug with his working leg, "....I...love you too....Twilight... "
Twilight's face turned bright red, her heart started beating rapidly, but she had little time to say anything, using his last seconds of consciousness, Shade gave her a loving kiss on the lips, one of which she happily returned. She remained hugging him, even after he had passed out again, "...Get well soon....please Shade ".
Deep Within the Darkness of Shade's Mind
Here Shade was again, deep within the recesses over his mind, the same place he retreated to every night he slept, the same place he spent over five thousand years trapped in, it would always feel familiar to him, but something was off this time, the abyss within him seemed, disturbed. " Somethings not right... " the pitch black ground beneath him rippled like water being pelted with stones, but a thousand times more violent, almost like a raging storm in an ocean. This however, did not deter Shade from going about his routine whilst inside this emptiness, he begun walking in a single direction, not knowing where he would go or what he would find within his head, he just kept going in the same singular path.
The further he went, the more violent the rippling became, and the more violent the ripple became, the louder the voices that reside within Shade's psyche became, crying out to be heard, pleas for help, for silence. Shade lowered his head, the louder the voices became, the more he ached, two voices were the loudest of all of them however, two voices he'd never forget. " ....Son...where were you....we needed you... " Shade's eyes widened at the sound of the first voice, " .....we needed you son...why did you leave us.... " he placed his claw over his heart, he could feel it pumping rapidly from the shock, but there was no rest for him, the voices of his past continued to torment him.
" SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! " Shade screamed, he dug his claws into his head, shouting in continuous pain as the never ending onslaught of voices continued, they were the voices of every life he had taken, every life he had ruined, and those long gone to him. In an attempt to silence the voices, he began bashing his head against the empty, yet solid ground at his feet, " JUST BE QUIET ALREADY!!!!!! YOU AREN'T REAL!!!!!!!! " however in the midst of his shouting and crashing his head into the ground, Shade noticed something, he had begun to sink into the abyss beneath him. He looked panicked, he did his best to try and pull away, but he only kept sinking, he could feel the blackness around him, enveloping his body, trying to change him into monster like it had done to others, " NO!!!!!! I won't let you!!!!! " but the more he fought the deeper he sunk. He could feel the darkness covering his body, reaching up to his eyes, which slowly became solid red, he twitched as he tried fighting, but to no avail.
All seemed lost for him until suddenly, light began shining within his mind, light, and the angelic voice of his love, the voice of Twilight Sparkle, " Shade...I...don't know if you can hear me..but please wake up soon...I...I need you, " the light poured over Shades body.
The bright light that Twilight gave off was enough to cause the darkness around him to fade, release his body from blackness around him, "..Twilight...." he stumbled towards her, his claw extended out towards her until finally, he placed his outstretched claw on her hoof, and then, a flash, he was struck with another vision.
Somewhere in the Forest, a Lone Cottage Sits
Shade walked towards the home that he had built with his own claws, the place he now called home, he had pushed through a hard day, the only thing he wanted now was to be with his family. He made his way up the front steps, opened the door , " I'm home! " but the second it barely open, something had rushed towards him, or, somepony more like it.
" Daddy's home!! " a little filly, no older than five jumped up and wrapped her front hooves around his neck, " I missed you so much daddy, " she nuzzled her little head against his scaly body, taking in the warmth he gave off.
Shade could only smile and rub the fillies head, slightly ruffling her purple and grey mane, " Daddy missed you too Dusk, " he pulled the filly into a warmth-filled hug.
She fluttered her tiny wings and gave the brightest smile before practically shouting, " Mommy!! daddy's home!! "
" I can tell sweetie, " a cheerful voice called from the kitchen.
Shade could hear the sound of hooves making their way from the kitchen into the living room, his smile grew wider as his eyes laid upon his loving wife, accompanied by his son Spike " After a long day of being out of the house, the best thing to brighten my mood is coming home to be with my wonderful family ".
Back in the Abyss of Shade's Mind
"..No..it went away again...that vision...I was....happy.... " he placed one of his claws over his head, grasping it, happiness was not a feeling Shade had possessed in a long time, he may smile and experience joy, but he has not experienced true happiness for thousands of years. The light that Twilight gave was still shining, as bright as ever, almost as if she were beckoning him to come to her, which he did, he continued stumbling towards his new beloved, "....Tw...Twilight... " but as he drew closer the light quickly consumed him, enveloping him in its shining beams.
Inside Twilight's Castle Three Days Have Passed
Sunlight shone in through the window of Twilight's bedroom, the bright beam laid upon the sleeping Shade's eyes. It wasn't very long before he was sitting up and opening his eyes, he scanned around the room, aside form the beam of sunlight it was dark, dark and devoid of anypony else. Upon getting out of bed, he immediately made his way out of the bedroom, and towards the main lobby of the castle, on his way he spotted nary a soul anywhere, "...It's quiet....where is everypony ? " He stopped along the way to look at himself in a mirror he was about to pass, his body was covered in bandages, the sight angered him, he clenched his claws tightly, partially drawing blood, "..I'll make that thing pay... " with a swift swing of his claw, the mirror shattered and he went along his way.
Just a few rooms away, Spike had been sleeping soundly, having stayed behind to watch over his injured father, he had stayed up all night waiting for Twilight to get back. The sound of shattering glass was enough to wake the young drake up, causing him to literally jump off of the couch he had made into his temporary bed, " wha?! who what when where why?! what the hay was that ". He poked his little head out of the room, only catching a glimpse of his father tail going around the corner of the hall and towards the front door, " D..dad? "
Upon reaching the front door, Shade placed his claws on each door, he took a deep breath, his body still ached, but he could care less at the moment, the only thing on his mind, nay, the only pony on his mind, was Twilight. He gave a powerful shove on the large metal doors, and as they opened, sunlight began pouring inside the castle and bathing his body in the bright rays, but even with the beams of light in his eyes, he could still make out an image making it's way towards the castle, "...Twilight... "
Right as Shade had pushed the castle doors open, Twilight had been trotting her way towards her home after finally making it back from following the mysterious map that had led her and her friends towards a village in need of their help. Her eyes widened and her mouth partially opened letting out a gasp, she couldn't help but stare at his mighty figure, even when covered in so many bandages he was a marvel to behold, " Shade! " She took off on a full sprint towards him, practically leaping into him, but lucky enough for both of them, Shade had great enough reflexes to catch her with ease. She began kissing him multiple times on his cheek as tears started pouring from her eyes, " I'm so glad your OK!! " she clung to him tightly and sobbed into his bandaged up chest.
Shade wrapped his front legs around her, keeping her close, " Twilight...I'm so sorry for worrying you...I'll never do it again... " the two looked upon one another, crimson met violet, dark met light, the two most unlikely of lovers held one another with powerful, yet loving grasp.
"...I was so scared you'd never wake up..I would have stayed the whole time..but..the table in my thrown room..it's really a map..it was telling us that we weer needed somewhere...I...I " she started stammering as she tried her best to explain to him.
" Twilight, it's alright, I'm just glad you're back, with me, " he picked her up off of the ground, still holding her as close as he could, and carried her back to the room which he had been bedridden in for three days.
" Dad? " Shade heard from behind, quickly turning to see his son standing there.
" Spike...my son...come to your father.. " he knelt down and held out his free claw towards him.
Spike's eyes watered, he too had been worried about his father, not knowing if he'd ever wake up, but he did, Spike's wishes came true, " Dad!! " he sprinted towards his father, hugging him and sniffling.
Shade only gave a small smile and picked him up, "...You both have given me something I've always wanted...ever since I was young..."
" W..we have? " Twilight said, slightly confused, what could they had given him that his parent's never could.
" Yes...you've given me a place in the world...a world that for so long I felt as if I did not belong, " he stood up, and continued on his way towards the room, " You've given me a life I want to hold onto for as long as I can...I love you both. "
Twilight Smiled and wiped the tears from both her eyes, and Spikes, " We love you too Shade, don't ever leave us, please, " she lifted her head upwards towards his, and gently placed her lips on his once before pulling away.
" Cmon guys can you not do that in front of me, " Spike said, his head turned away and his arms crossed.
Both Shade and Twilight chuckled at the little half dragon's reaction to their kiss, " What's the matter son, I thought there was a pony that you yourself had your eyes on, you do realize you'll have to kiss her too someday right, " Shade grinned as he watched his son's face turn as red as his own eyes.
" D...dad! I know that but..but I'm waiting OK! " he couldn't help but feel embarrassed as his father spoke, and it wasn;t helped any when Twilight added on.
" Yeah Spike, you'll need to get use to kissing, I mean even a kiss on the cheek from Rarity is enough to turn you into a little pile of jelly, " she giggled as he tried to find words to deny what she was saying, but couldn't.
" You guys are mean, I can't help that I'm no good when it comes to mares! " he said defensively.
" son, " Shade started, " It's alright, I'll teach you how to not turn into a puddle at the sight of a female you care for " .
Spike looked at his father and smiled slightly, " You will? You're the best dad ever " he gave him as tight of a hug as he could, but to Spike it was as if he were trying to squeeze a rock.
" Of course I will, I am your father after all, and I'd gladly do anything for you, but first, " he suddenly paused and looked at Twilight, " I want to hear all about the trip you took, and if everything went well " .
" You..you want to hear about the trip we took to that village I said we went too? well, alright then " she rubbed her chin with her hoof, trying to find where to start with.
Shade sat and listened as she told him everything that happened, about how all the ponies there had the same cutie mark, and equal sign, about their strange leader, a pony named Starlight glimmer, and about how the ponies there had there cutie marks taken away by force, then about how Starlight glimmer was really the one behind it. He could feel himself clenching his claws tightly as she spoke of the part where Starlight had taken her cutie mark as well, but with a little help from the village ponies, she had been able to to stop Starlight, and get everyponie's cutie mark back, but not before Starlight could slip away, unable to be found. He was listening to her intently, but the whole time she was talking, he could only think of her, she amazed him, even without powers like his, she still managed to make everything as it should be, she didn't use might or force, instead, she used something he had mentioned many times, the magic of friendship. While he could not understand the magic itself, he could understand how she was able to use it so easily and skillfully, she had the purest heart he had ever seen within a pony, it was just one of the many things that made him want to be with her even more.
After Twilight had finished telling them everything that happened, both she and Spike soon dozed off in Shades grasp, keeping close to his warm body. He kept his front legs wrapped around each one of them, keeping them secured against him, he didn't want anything bad to ever happened to them, they were his loved ones, they were his very own family, " I love you both so much, and I'll never leave either of you as long as I live, " he kissed them both on their heads, and laid back in the bed, closing his own eyes, and joined them both in slumber.
Author's Note
Well hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I'm really sorry for the short hiatus, it's harder than it looks to juggle a job, writing, and a loved one all at once, but I manage. Anyway, to talk about this chapter, I thought since the last few chapters have been filled with action and violence, that this chapter, and the one after it, would have a more somber, and relaxed tone to it, I mean, even ponies as powerful as Shade need a little time with their family every now and then, as for my other stories, they too will be updated soon, along with this one again, I just need some time, but seeing as it's the weekend now, I might have a little extra time to get some writing in. Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter, if you have any thoughts or comments, feel free to say them below the story, and I'll see you all again real soon
Bit by Bit
The Next Day, Inside Twilight's Castle
After having experienced the first night of sleep without a nightmare, in the longest time, Shade awoke to the sound of chirping birds outside the bedroom window. He opened his crimson eyes and began looking around the room, stopping when his eyes laid upon a sleeping Spike, but no Twilight, "...Twilight? " Not wanting to awaken his sleeping son, Shade silently slipped out of the bed, and out of the room, making his wake out into the castle hallway. He quietly walked throughout the large hallways, at first glimpse they didn't seem that big, but upon going through them himself, Shade soon found out they were longer than he had previously thought, however his trek through the halls was brought to a halt by the sound of running water, " Twilight? "
Twilight sat alone in her castle's bathroom, she had originally intended on getting an early start on her day with an early shower, however all she could think about were the events that took place three nights ago. She stared at herself in the mirror for what seemed like the longest time, even with the mirror fogged up, she could still make out what looked like tears dripping from her eyes, "...I'm so confused..." She closed her eyes, images of her brother and Cadence flashed by, followed by several images of Shade, each one a different side of him she had witnessed, from him being depressed, to him being infuriated, but out of all of them, all she could care about was a singular image, the kind and caring Shade that she had come to know. She kept her eyes closed as she brought herself to remember the events that bothered her so greatly, "...I'm sorry....but my choice is final... "
Three Nights Ago
Twilight stood over the unconscious form that was Shade's body, the did her best to keep from bursting into tears as she gently rubbed his head, "...Shade.....please be OK ". She had kept everypony except for Spike out of the room ever since Rainbow Dash brought him, she had wanted her brother and Cadence to meet Shade so badly, but not like this.
Spike sat outside the room, waiting for Twilight to come out, he had tasked himself with keeping anypony except for Twilight out of the room, however despite staying strong for her, inside Spike could feel his heart tearing, he just recently had gotten his father into his life after going his whole life, he couldn't lose him now, but even so, he stayed strong, he knew that Shade wouldn't want him to cry, not now. He jumped up quickly once Shining Armor came into his point of view, he positioned himself in front of the door, showing that it was off limits at the moment.
" Spike, please let me in, Twilight hasn't left that room all day and I'm worried about her, " Shining Armor pleaded to the small dragon.
Spike swiftly shook his head, " No, nopony is allowed in this room until Twilight says so, " he stood firmly, ready to stand in the way of the door for almost anything.
Anything, except for the door opening behind him, causing him to fall forward, " Oh! I'm so sorry Spike! " Twilight cried out as she helped the young drake up to his feet.
" Twilight, " Cadence began, " We're worried about you, you've been in that room all day, I'm sure he'll be fine, " she did her best to console her aching sister-in-law, but to no avail.
Twilight lowered and shook her head slowly, "...You don't know that Cadence....he's been hurt a lot before...but never this bad...his body isn't healing like it should...almost like it's preventing itself from doing so... " her tone of voice was somber and filled with pain.
" Twilight what are you talking about? " Shining Armor asked in a much confused tone, " What do you mean not healing like he should be, just who do you have in that room? " his tone was quickly going from confused to upset.
"...Wha..what do you mean Shining...I...I already told you...his name is Shade...he's my colt friend.. " she tried her best not to stammer on her words, doing what should could to explain again to her brother while keeping as much of a secret at the moment as she could.
However, Twilight's secrecy only upset her brother more, " That isn't telling me anything Twilight, now please, get out of the way, I want to see this....thing...for myself, " although he hated getting upset with his sister, Shining armor was just making sure this dragon, or pony, or whatever it was, was how she described.
Twilight's heart dropped at the sound of her brother calling Shade a thing, she was so shocked that she paid no attention as he moved her out of the way, and opened the door. She however, came back to her senses upon hearing the door open all the way, " Shining Armor wait don't! " but when she turned to her brother, he was stiff as could be as he stared upon the bed that Shade was laid in.
Images flashed through Shining's head, images of the beast that snapped his leg like a twig, images of the beast that murdered all those innocent ponies in the mines, there was no mistaking, the creature he was staring upon, was the very creature that put Shining Armor in the cast he now wears. " Cadence get Twilight away from here, it's that..that thing!! " he shouted out to his wife.
Cadence instead, came rushing into the room, instantly glaring upon Shades unconscious body, " So this is where it ran off too.. " she said in an angry voice.
" No stop!!! " Twilight cried out as she teleported in front of them, blocking them off from Shade, " don't hurt him!! " she pleaded.
Shining Armor's eyes widened as he watched his beloved younger sister protecting this monster, " Twilight, what's gotten into you, do you know what that..that thing is!! " he practically shouted, trying to reason with her, but with no success.
" He's not a thing!! He is Shade!! My coltfriend, my hero!! and I love him!!! " Twilight responded, shouting just as loud.
" Shining, " Cadence said to get her husband's attention, " I don't know if this thing hypnotized Twilight, or if she's actually in love, but she won't let us near it without forcing her too ".
Shining was torn, he'd never had forced Twilight to do anything, they had been the best of siblings growing up, " Cadence....if that thing is controlling Twilight...I'm gonna make it pay! " his horn began glowing as he picked his sister up and moved her out of the way, despite her protest.
" No, let me, " Cadence said as she approached the unconscious half breed, only to stop and mumble something under her breath, "....however...if he's not controlling her...Twilight will hate us both forever... " her horn began glowing brightly as she prepared to attack to sleeping dragon.
" NO!!!!! " Twilight screamed as she began fighting back, both her eyes and horn began glowing a ghastly blackish red as she quickly overpowered her brothers own magic, " I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!!!!! " she let out a magical shockwave, knocking both her brother and Cadence against the walls of the room, hard enough to crack them greatly. It didn't take long for her to come back to her sense and look upon the damage she had done, the room was practically destroyed, the windows shattered, and both Shining Armor and Cadence laid upon the floor, unable to move. " What...what did I do... " but before she could panic or anything of the sort, she saw that Shade, and the bed he laid upon, were unscathed, untouched by her furious magical outburst " Shade! "
Managing to open his eyes, Shining Armor watched as his little sister threw her front legs around the monster that he witnessed take innocent lives, " Twily....why...he's a murderer...why would you defend him, " he truly wished to know, for the life of him he couldn't figure it out.
She looked at her injured brother, both regret and sadness could be seen in her teary eyes, "..I know that he's a murderer Shining...he told me his whole past....he was betrayed by the one he cared for most when all he needed was somepony to console him...I've chosen to look past the bad he's done...and look at the good he's done....and..and I love him..and he loves me... " Her eyes darted towards Cadence who had managed to stand herself up, albeit in a wobbly manner, and make her way towards Shining Armor.
"...So....I guess that means you're choosing....him.. " Cadence asked quietly.
Twilight's eyes were as watery as a lake at this point, "...I'm sorry...but my decision is final..now... " she did her best to hold back the massive amount of tears that wanted to flood from her eyes, "....Now...please leave...he needs his rest... " she turned away from them, laying her head on Shade's chest, not wanting to watch as the two left.
Twilight's Castle
Twilight remained staring in the mirror, the memory replaying in her head, making her relive one of the hardest choices in her life, of whether she sided with, her lifelong family, whom had cared for her since her birth, or Shade, a pony who had only recently come into her life, but in the short time he had, managed to steal her heart. She was brought back to reality at the sound of the door creaking open, " Huh, the uh..the bathrooms occupied Spike, so don't come in! " she quickly grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her still dry body.
" Do I sound like my son to you? " Shade asked as he stepped into the bathroom, staring at Twilight as she did her best to cover herself up, despite always being without clothes, " Um, what is it that you're doing? " he said, slightly confused as to why she was hiding her body.
" Oh! Sh..Shade, what are you doing in here, cou...couldn't you tell I was in here, now..um please wait outside while till I get finished, don;t you know it's impolite to walk in on a mare while she's undressed? " her face burning red with embarrassment as she tried to get him to leave.
" Twilight, " Shade said in a simple, yet serious tone, " You're always undressed, I don't see why this would be any different, " he moved the rest of his body into the room, closing the door behind him and looking upon his love.
" O-oh, yeah I guess you are right, " she said as she dropped the towel, still blushing as brightly as possible.
Upon further inspection, Shade could tell something was amiss, through her embarrassment, he could see sadness inside her glimmering eyes, " Twilight, what's wrong, something is bothering you, please, don't hide anything from me, I want to help, " he took a step closer to her and placed his claw on the side of her face.
" There's no hiding anything from you I guess... " she could feel her tears rushing back to surface, she couldn't hold them back this time however. " I...I..I hurt my brother....they..they wanted to hurt you...they said you were the one who hurt all those ponies...please...tell me the truth...I won't think any less of you if you did..but please...tell me... " she practically clung to him as tears poured out.
"...It would seem that I did...I am sorry... " she could hear regret in his voice, but the way he worded, was as if he didn't know if he had or not, as if he had blacked out at the moment. " It was a blur, I awoke inside what looked like a cave, but the first thing I saw..was the last thing I wanted to see at that moment...royal guard armor...I " he stopped himself, doing his best to try and piece the dark memory together.
" You panicked, " Twilight suddenly said, " You were scared, confused, you didn't want to go back...it's alright Shade, I said I wouldn't think any less of you.. " she remained close to him, not wanting to pull apart form him at the moment.
"..I did...that's exactly what happened..only when I was fleeing did I come back to my senses...had I been at my full power at that moment... " he shuddered at the thought.
Twilight lowered her head, her tears still present, "....I made a choice....I...I chose you over them...I...I'd choose you over all of Equestria right now...well, maybe not my friends or Spike, but over all else...but...even though I felt like I made the right choice...I still feel torn...conflicted... "
Shade gently patted the back of her head, doing what he could to console her, " That is a common response to what you went through, there comes a time in everypony's life where they must make a choice that creates a tear within themself, only time can fix that tear, time, and the help of somepony close to them ".
She lifted her head up, staring into his crimson eyes, he never would cease to amaze her, he was so wise, so caring, even when he himself were aching as much as Twilight was, " You're right Shade...thank you, " she wiped the remaining tears from her face, picked herself up on her hind hooves, and placed a kiss on his nose.
On a dime, Shade suddenly changed the tone of the conversation with a single question, " Um, Twilight, it's a bit foggy in here, are we going to take a shower, or just stand in the steam, " he asked in a quizzical tone.
" Oh right, yeah I guess we should...wait.. WE!!!! " she practically leaped onto the ceiling at the sudden thought of showering with Shade, " Wha..what..what do you mean by we Shade? " she was sweating bullets, her heart was racing, and her face was a deeper shade of red than it was previously.
" Well, I mean we're both in here, we're coltfriend and marefriend, we love each other, why can't we bathe together, is there a law or something against it? "
Twilight's entire face was as red as Shade's eyes at this point, her eyes were as wide as could be as she thought of something to respond with, but despite freezing up, something deep inside told her to just go along with it. " She took a deep breath and relaxed herself, looking at him and taking a deep gulp, " alright, we can, " she did her best to smile without looking nervous.
Shade gave a small smile and walked past her towards the source of the running water, " Alright then, I could use a nice wash after being bedridden for so long ".
Twilight let out a small giggle, " You're right, you do kind of have a smell to you, not a bad one, but one that needs to go ".
Twilight's Throne Room Half and Hour Later
Twilight's friends had arrived only recently, where they sat, awaiting their best friend to join them, but she hadn't arrived yet for some reason. " Where is she?! " Rainbow Dash said, rather impatiently at that.
" Hold yer horses Rainbow Dash, " Applejack told her, " We can't go rushing her, Shade might be better, but that don't mean she won't wanna spend a little time with him ".
" Last I checked, Twilight was in the bathroom, " Spike replied, " As for where my dad is, I'm not sure, " he passed cups of tea around to each one of them before heading back to the kitchen to grab them snacks.
Rainbow Dash gave out a snicker at the thought of something, " Oh yeah, she's definitely spending a little time with him, if you catch my drift, " nopony else laughed, except for Pinkie Pie, but that's for obvious reasons, Applejack gave her a small hoof punch on her shoulder as an immediate response to Rainbow Dash's joke.
" Rainbow Dash! " rarity gasped, " You know better than to talk like that, what if spikey wikey heard your awful sense of humor ".
All Rainbow Dash could do was roll her eyes, " Come on girls, grow up, it was just a little joke, " she leaned back in her seat, trying her best to relax whilst waiting for her tardy friend.
Right then and there, Twilight entered the room, a bright smile adorned on her face as she came to look upon all of her friends, " Girls, you're here already, " she then started blushing after realizing that she had arrived late to a meeting that she planned.
" there she is, " Applejack pointed out, " What took ya so long sugar, Spike said ya were in the bathroom, did ya slip and fall, or forget you were in there or somethin of the sort? " she asked curiously.
As if right on cue, Shade walked up by Twilight's side and wrapped one of his wings around her, " So you planned a meeting today and forgot that you planned it? " he asked while slightly grinning.
Twilight lowered her head slightly, her face glowing red, she let out a slight growl from the embarrassment and bumped her hoof into Shade's still sore ribs, " I just forgot, OK? I mean it happens to everypony, doesn't it? "
" Ow! " Shade cried out from the sudden jab at his ribs, " True, I suppose it does, " he replied as he rubbed his aching rib cage.
Rainbow Dash did her best to hold in her laughter, not at Shade being hit by Twilight, but by the fact that her little joke might actually have been real, " So, Twilight, " she started, trying her best to hold up her composure and not let her laughter out, " What kept you so long, or should I say, who, kept you so long, " she couldn't help but snicker as her own laughter fought against her.
" Ra..Rainbow Dash!! " Twilight cried out at her, " That is none of you're business! " but her outburst only seemed to fuel Rainbow Dash's laughter, causing her to burst out laughing as loud as possible.
Both Applejack and Rarity rolled their eyes, Fluttershy covered her face trying to hide the blush on it, and Pinkie, well, Pinkie had no earthly clue what they were talking about, but decided to laugh along with Rainbow Dash. " Ignore her Twilight, " Applejack told her best friend, " Now, sugar cube, what did ya need us for? " she had been wanting to know since she arrived.
After convincing Shade to let her go, Twilight made her way to her throne and took a seat, looking at her friends, still slightly blushing from the previous ordeal, " Right, the reason I called you girls here, " she gave a small cough to clear her throat before continuing, " The reason I called you here is because of what happened yesterday and the day before, about how the map lead us to that village that Starlight Glimmer was controlling ".
A growl came from Rainbow Dash who was still ticked off over the whole ordeal, " That dirty no good...why if I ever get my hooves on her, she'll regret ever doing what she did! "
Twilight's eyes darted over towards her cyan friend, " Calm down Rainbow Dash, everything is fine now, so let it go, " she watched as Rainbow Dash let out a loud sigh and slump down in her seat in defeat. " Alright, now if I may continue, as I was saying, the map lead us somewhere we were needed, so maybe, the map will keep leading us places we're needed, it only makes sense, " she looked around the room, taking in her friends expressions as they took in her words.
" If you ask me, it seems like that map is some kind of radar for trouble, " Shade suddenly stated, catching everyponies attention. Spike just then walked into the room, instantly spotting his father and readying himself to run to him, " you say it lead you, here, " he pointed to the village on the map, " and yet you didn't know where, here was, until you found out, perhaps the map is able to take you places you don't know about, " Shade was suddenly cut off by the feeling of a small body latching itself onto one of his legs.
" Good morning dad! " he said cheerfully to his father, who in return gave a warm smile.
" Good morning son, " everypony in the room let out a small "Aww " at the sight of Shade's fatherly affection, which was promptly met with a rather angry growl, causing the girls to giggle and laugh at him.
" Oh yeah, I almost forgot, " Spike's eyes slightly widened as he let go of his father, and made his way to the kitchen. Shade remained where he stood, looking slightly confused as to why his son suddenly run off, only to have his question answered upon seeing his son come out carrying two trays of snacks, " I thought since some of you girls might not have gotten a chance to eat breakfast yet, that I'd make everypony a snack, some sandwiches and fruit, I hope you all enjoy, " he smiled as he laid the trays and small plates out.
Shade smiled as he watched his son handing out the snacks to all of his friends and Twilight, " Heh, he did the same thing I did at that age, I enjoyed cooking with my mother, seems like he picked up the knack all by himself though ". Shade's smile remained as he watched his son, but only when he offered him a piece of fruit did it grow, " Thank you son, and as gratitude for this, I'll show you something ". Taking the fruit in his claw, Shade tossed it high in the air, watching as it rose up, and then as it plummeted, along with everypony else in the room. Right as it reached his eye level, Shade released the same magical blade from his horn that he used against the metal griffon, using it to slice the fruit apart at blinding speeds, only to retract it as the freshly sliced pieces landed safely upon a plate waiting in his other claw.
" COOL!!!! " Spike exclaimed, jumping up and down and looking at his dad like he were a celebrity.
" Indeed darling, " Rarity added, " Such skill and swiftness, oh you must be able to work wonders with a sewing needle! " she said, getting slightly starry eyed.
" Whoa! " Rainbow Dash's eyes got wide, " Now that's some speed, and you weren't even flying, you must do everything fast, isn;t that right Twilight, " she said, snickering again.
" Ignore her sugarcube, " Applejack said as she patted Twilight on the shoulder, " But I gotta agree, that was some fancy trick ya did there Shade ".
" Applejack is right, " Twilight finally said, " As a matter of fact, that's one thing I've been wanting to ask you ever since we got back form the griffon kingdom Shade, what is that magic you're using, and how do you use it, oh wait! let me get my paper and quill! " she suddenly jumped up and to rush off and get her supplies for taking notes, but she was stopped in mid air by Shade managing to catch her.
" There's no need to take notes Twilight, " he stated, gently sitting her back in her throne, " it's called, " he took a few steps back, " the Magi Blade! " he cried out as the illuminating ethereal blade extended from his horn, glowing the same color as his magic's aura.
" The Magi Blade?! " Twilight asked, curiosity and enthusiasm practically pouring from just that simple question.
" That's right, the Magi Blade, short for Magical Ether Blade, an incredibly powerful blade, created from condensing the raw magic within a unicorn, or alicorn's body, and focusing it at the base of the horn, rather than the tip ". Twilight soaked up every word like a sponge, only fueling her desire to write down everything Shade was saying, " Give that built up magic enough focus, and it'll start to take a physical form, magic you can touch, but you wouldn't want to touch this blade, the raw magic has heat like properties, making even the slightest touch painful, this also allows it to cut through just about anything, as you saw before, and the more magic you push into it, " he stopped momentarily to focus, letting the blade coming from his horn to suddenly expand in length, along with the vibrant aura surrounding it, glowing brighter, " The more powerful it becomes and the longer you can make it, making this spell vital in close and long range combat situations, perfect for self defense ".
Twilight watched as he drew the blade back, her eyes widened with amazement, her mouth left agape, speechless as to what she had just heard. It took Applejack clapping her hooves together in front of her face to snap her out of her trance-like state, " Uh, sugarcube, are you OK? ya sort of blanked out on us ".
Twilight nodded, albeit she wasn't focusing on her friends, her focus was primarily pointed towards Shade, she had come to learned in the time that she knew him, that Shade was a master at using several forms of magic, some that she herself had already mastered, but this was one form she had never even heard of, or knew of, until she witnessed him use it. " Shade, " she called to him in a slightly hushed voice, " Please, teach me how to use that, " she stared in the eyes, again, crimson met violet, as she internally, and externally pleaded for him to teach her how to use the spell he had just demonstrated.
Shade stood silent for a few minutes, contemplating his beloved's request, on one claw he knew that someday it might help her, or even save her life, but on the other, training could be rigorous, as it takes most years to master it, but something deep inside Shade told him to let her, that he should believe in her. " Alright Twilight, " he finally responded after taking time to think it over, " I will teach you how to use the Magi Blade, but only because I care so much about you, and this could someday save your life, as techniques like the Mage Blade, even have the capability to incapacitate foes like myself, with enough power pushed into them, " the room stayed silent, everponies, including Spike's, eyes widened at what he had just said.
Twilight's eyes were opened the widest, could she really handle such a form of magic this powerful, while she wasn't sure of herself, she was sure of one thing, Shade must believe in her greatly if he thinks she has what it takes to learn such a spell. She gave a confident nod and smile in response to Shade, " I'm ready Shade, I'll do whatever it takes, if there's a form of magic out there, I want to try my hardest to master it! " she raised her voice, albeit in a confident manner. Shade grinned at her, impressed with her confidence, he motioned his head towards the exit of the room, " Wait, so we're going to learn it now?! " she was taken aback by this, she hadn't expected him to teach it to her so suddenly. However, rather than speak, Shade only nodded, and made his way towards the rooms exit, Twilight shook her head, building up both her composure, and her confidence even further, " Alright then Shade, I'm right behind you, " when she saw he had already left the room, she leaped from her throne in a panic, " Sh..Shade!! wait for me! " leaving everypony else in the room giggling at her being tardy, yet again.
Author's Note
Well hey there ladies and gentlecolts, nice to see you all again
Ponyville, Twilight's Castle, Three Days Later
Three whole days had passed since Twilight began her training with the magi blade. In that time she had made phenomenal progress, for beginning at least, albeit in her eyes the progress was minimal as her blade was nothing compared to the one Shade could form atop his horn. Letting out a loud sigh, Twilight slumped down, she had spent the whole day practicing to control the magical weapon as best as she could, wearing herself out in the process. Twilight huffed and puffed as she forced herself to her hooves, cringing as she did so, " ...H-how...how does Shade make this look so easy....I mean sure...he has been doing this waaaay longer than I have...but still... "
Just as she was about to resume her training, Spike came rushing out of the castle and towards her as fast as his little legs could carry him. " Twilight!!! Twilight!!!! Twilight!!!! It's important!!!! " unfortunately Spike was going so fast that he missed Twilight entirely and crashed into a bush nearby.
Twilight's eyes widened, " Spike?! " she hurried over to him, however before she could pull him out of the bush, a scroll that was grasped within Spike's claws caught her attention. " Huh, what's this? " using her magic, she pulled both Spike and the scroll out of the bush.
Spike crossed his arms, a small scowl had formed on his face as he floated in the air, leaves stuck to his body, " Gee, thanks Twilight, I'm alright. "
A small bead of sweat dripped from Twilight's forehead as she helped wipe him off, " Eheheh, my bad Spike, guess I got distracted by the scroll you were holding. "
Spike's eyes quickly widened as she mentioned the scrool, " Oh that's right!! Twilight, that scroll is from... " Spike hastily looked around, making sure his father was no where near. The small drake cleared his throat before continuing, this time in a whisper, " ... the scroll is from Princess Celestia... "
This time it was Twilight's eyes who widened, "....Princess Celes- " however she was promptly cut off by Spike covering her mouth, followed by a loud " shhh " . " Oops....Princess Celestia... " she spoke with a soft whisper, " but, why would she send a scroll out of the blue, there aren't any upcoming events that I know of. "
Spike quickly snatched the scroll from Twilight with an unamused expression on his face, " maybe instead of asking twenty questions we should actually read it. "
More sweat dripped down her forehead as she grinned sheepishly, " Eheh, I guess you're right spike, let's uh, get to reading it then, " using her magic, Twilight unraveled the scroll, revealing it's contents to the both of them.
" Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
Forgive me for the suddenness of this message, but this is urgent. As of yesterday the Crystal Empire has come under assault by an unknown assailant, one of which we know nothing of, as the destruction Luna and I witnessed was far too orderly to be anything Shade could do, but that is exactly why I am writing this to you. Twilight Sparkle, my dearest former student, I, Princess Celestia, need your assistance in recruiting Shade to aid in finding out just what kind of assailant is plaguing the once peaceful empire. I know you may have many questions, I myself have just as many, but you must refrain from replying to this message, as I am writing it with the utmost discretion, I also ask that you refrain from informing your brother and princess Cadence of your sudden visit, as they still foresee shade as a threat due to the abruptness of his behavior. I am looking forward to seeing you again my former pupil, and whether he believes it or not, I am looking forward to seeing Shade again, I only hope he does not see this as some form of deceit, he may be the only one who can aid in this situation.
Your's truly, Princess Celestia.
Upon finishing the message, Twilight's eyes were as wide as saucers, " Sh-she wants....Shade to come with us.....but...but... "
" That's a terrible idea though! " Spike exclaimed, throwing up his arms in a dramatic manner as he shouted.
In order to calm the young dragon down, Twilight gave him a light smack to the back of his head, " Calm down spike, this won't be any easier if we panic. " Despite saying this to Spike, deep down Twilight too was panicking. " Maybe we can ease Shade into the idea, or uh... we could maybe... " She found herself at a loss for ideas, Shade already detested the thought of being anywhere near princess Celestia, what in Equestria could compel him to put aside his hatred to help her.
" I've got it! " Spike snapped his claws, an idea had suddenly emerged within his mind. " All we have to do is not tell my dad that we're bringing him to the Crystal Empire. "
Twilight's already wide eyes felt as if they would tear her eyelids if they got any wider, Spikes suggestion was a complete shock to the lavender princess. " S-Spike...do you know what you're suggesting..? "
Spike replied with a nod, no hesitation was visible either, " I'm certain, sure my dad has a pretty bad temper, but I'm sure her won't stay mad. "
All Twilight could do was let out a sigh of defeat, she knew that there was no point in arguing with Spike. " Ever since Shade showed up Spike has become as hard headed as ever, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. " " Alright Spike you win, " however before Spike had time to celebrate his " victory " Twilight had one last thing in mind for him. " But, while I get myself and Shade ready, I want you to gather up the girls and meet us at the train depot, understood? "
Spike gave en exaggerated salute in response, " Yes ma'am Twilight ma'am, " following the salute, Spike jolted off as fast as he could go, this time avoiding any oncoming shrubbery.
Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes as the baby dragon made haste to gather their friends, " It's almost hard to tell them apart sometimes. " Twilight wasted no time in making her way inside her castle, even with Spike's plan she couldn't help but worry, Shade was rather sporadic when it came to his mood. "...Well, I guess there's no use in worrying...the sooner I get him ready the sooner this'll be all over... " she muttered under her breath as she searched for her coltfriend.
It didn't take long for Twilight to stumble across him. Shade had been in the library all day, going over any and all books that he had missed when he first arrived. Much to Twilight's surprise, when she found Shade he had what seemed like hundreds of books circulating around him. While it was obvious that he was using his magic to move the books about at such a fast pace, she had no feasible idea on how he was supposed to be reading them. " Ah Twilight, I was wondering when you'd come inside, " Shade made no attempt to even look at Twilight, his focus was solely on the books around him.
" Uh, Shade, What exactly are you doing? " for a few seconds Twilight had forgotten her whole reasoning for even being in the library.
" It's simple, " he began, still keeping his focus on the floating books as he spoke. " I'm testing a new spell that allows me to focus on multiple objects even if they are moving, effectively giving me multiplied sight. "
Twilight was flabbergasted, she had never thought a spell such as that to even be possible, " H-how long did it take you to...to come up with it...it must've taken a while I mean... "
Shade shook his head in response, " Not really, if anything it only took an afternoon of thinking and half an hour to prepare for, afterwords it was merely foalsplay. "
If Twilight's jaw could fall off it would have, not only had Shade created an entirely new spell, but he had done so in a single afternoon, while it took Twilight at least a day to finish an incomplete spell. But suddenly Twilight's original intentions on being in the room came rushing back into her mind, " Oh that's right! " she exclaimed.
" Hmm? " Shade's ears perked up from Twilight's minor outburst of realization, " What's right Twilight? " he asked with a tone of mild curiosity.
Twilight cleared her throat and took a deep breath to regain her composure, " Shade I would like you to accompany Spike, the girls, and myself on a trip out of town, " she spoke with the utmost confidence. That was of course until she watched Shade's expression shift, " Th-that is...unless you're too busy too..if that's so then I understand...I really do... "
Instead of Shade giving a stern "no" like Twilight originally braced for, he began chuckling, " Sure, why not, I'm not that busy especially since I just finished perfecting this spell. " Twilight watched as he placed the books back in their original places on the many shelves perfectly, surprising her again. She might've known where each and every book in the library went, but even she'd lose track with that many books.
" A-are you sure...I...I mean you don't have too... " Twilight was having second thoughts, she knew that having Shade so close to Celestia was the same as having a lit match near a stack of fireworks.
" I'm sure, my schedule is pretty clear, what with nothing threatening your well-being and all, why not, " he rose, turning towards his beloved, a slight grin on his face. Shade made his way out of the library, despite his otherwise calm demeanor, Twilight could tell something was on his mind.
Twilight made haste to keep up with him as he made his way towards the front of the castle. " Sh-Shade, don't you need a bag or anything...we might be gone a few days.. " she was trying her best to buy more time in order to think of a way to keep things in order when they arrived in the Crystal Empire.
" Nope, " was all Shade had to say as he reached his claws out to open the front gate.
Twilight did her best in order to quell her inner panicking, lest she seem suspicious towards Shade, which at the moment, is the last thing she wanted to do. " Well then... " she took a deep breath before continuing, " I guess we should head to the train station, Spike already has my bag and his readied up. " Before Twilight could step out of her castle however, Shade lowered his head and kept his claws pressed against the castle doors, " Shade.....is something wrong... " She asked rather nervously.
A deep grunt could be heard coming from the half-breeds mouth, "...When were you going to stop lying to me and tell me that we're going to see Celestia. " He turned back to face Twilight, giving her a partial glare as he awaited an answer.
Twilight was speechless, sure she didn't do much to not be suspicious, but she hadn't once mentioned anything about Celestia to Shade. " ...I...how...we were... " Twilight fumbled on her words, she had no possible idea how Shade had known.
It felt almost like Shade's gaze was cutting right into Twilight's very soul, " do you really think a window and a few hundred feet are enough to keep me from hearing everything that goes on in this castle? "
Twilight was dumbfounded by his question. The way he said it made it seem as if it were something even remotely normal. However Twilight's surprise quickly left her as she felt the guilt running back to her, " ...I'm sorry Shade..it's just...princss Celestia needs us..and- "
" And she says she needs my help more than anypony else, I've heard that one from her before. " Shade's tone was stone cold, colder than it usually was when Celestia was the subject.
Twilight physically cowered away as Shade's blood red eyes laid on her, " ...I-If you don't want to....I'm sure princess Celestia would understand... "
" No, " Shade stamped his foot, briefly shaking the castle floor, his tone of voice went from cold to stern in an instant. " If SHE wants me to come, then I will, but I won't cooperate in any way, shape, or form. "
The sternness in his voice made Twilight fearful of his actions once they would reach the Crystal Empire, but at the same time it showed that he was serious about the situation. Twilight was caught off guard as Shade pulled her into a close hug, "...Sh-Shade... "
" ...Let's hurry...we don't want to keep everypony else waiting... " was all Shade said before the couple vanished in a flash of red.
Ponyville Train Station, right at that Moment
Both Shade and Twilight appeared in the center of their friends, causing almost all of them, excluding Pinkie Pie, to jump out of surprise. " Sweet Celestia, don't do that sugarcube, ya bout gave me a heart attack thirty years too early! " Applejack exclaimed fearfully as she held her hoof to where her heart rested in her body.
" Yes darling, while we appreciate the two of you being punctual, please give a notice before you just pop up in the middle of us all, " Rarity stated.
" forgive us for the scared, " Shade looked around, eyeing each one of their friends until his gaze eventually met Spike's. " Son? why are you and Fluttershy stuck together like that? " Shade asked curiously.
Spike quickly took notice and quickly leapt away from his shy friend, " Well sorry dad, but we didn't expect you to appear so suddenly, I mean, Twilight normally just walks to the train depot. "
Shade eyed his offspring carefully before breaking the gaze, " Very well then, Id rather not dawdle, in fact to be one hundred percent honest, I want this fiasco-to-be, to be over with as soon as physically possible. " Shade's statement was as blunt as could be, leaving everypony but Twilight speechless in response.
" Shade and I already talked this over, " Twilight started talking, " He's not exactly comfortable with being around princess Celestia, so he's going to see what it is that she needs, and then he's heading home. "
A loud and long " Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww " came from Pinkie's mouth in response to what Twilight had said, " But it's no fun if we aren't all there. " Pinkie crossed her front legs and made a childish pouting face before suddenly springing up, " OH!!!!! ohohohohoh!!! I know I know!! " she suddenly started hopping in place rapidly. " We can throw a part just for Shade when we get there, we can even invite princess Celestia!! "
Normally Pinkie's smile was enough to make almost anypony smile, but not this time, if anything it made Shade's scowl grow, " Pinkie. No, " was all he said.
" Oh cmon silly billy, don't be so sour, it might be the perfect chance for you and princess Celestia to make up finally, so why won't you agree to a party?!? " Pinkie's eyes were that of a pleading filly who desperately desired a toy in a store.
However Shade wasn't in the mood for Pinkie's antics, his temper had been on the breaking point all day, and this was the finally straw. " Pinkie Pie..... I don't want a damn party!!! and I especially don't want to make up with Celestia!! BECAUSE I HATE HER MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!!!! " His sudden outburst shook the ground beneath their hooves and made almost everypony cower before the mighty half-breed. Shade quickly looked at everypony, the sight of their fearful gazes brought him back to his senses as quickly as he had lost them, causing him to collapse, " ....I...I'm sorry everypony...I'm sorry Pinkie Pie..I don't know what overcame me...I just...wanted to explode all of a sudden... "
Everypony watched as Shade grasped his head tightly, it was as clear as day that he was in distress. " Um Shade, " Pinkie crept towards Shade, not wanting to spark another outburst, " it's alright...We don't have to have the part if you don't want to, just please be happy again, alright? "
" ....Pinkie Pie... " Shade lifted himself off the ground and took a deep breath.
" Are ya alright sugar? " Applejack made her way towards Shade and put her hoof on his shoulder.
Next was Rarity, " Yes darling don't scare us like that. "
"...yes...scare us to death.. " Fluttershy added.
Twilight stepped forward and lowered Shade's head to meet her own, " Just calm down Shade, everything will be alright. "
Everypony watched as the couple touched their horns together, creating a spark of magic upon making contact. " Now ain't that there sweet, " Applejack commentated over the show of affection.
However before another word could be said on the subject the train to the Crystal Empire pulled up to the platform. " All aboard for the Crystal Empire! " shouted the conductor.
On cue, the six ponies and two drakes made their way onto the train, ignoring the stares Shade received along the way. " ...Their stares...they're nothing new to me... " Shade's cold tone of voice had returned.
" J-just ignore them Shade " Twilight laid her head against Shade as the two walked towards their seat on the train.
" Yeah dad, they're just jealous that they aren't a super strong, super cool dragon pony, " Spike added in an attempt to cheer his father up.
However it was unclear if Spike's attempt did anything at all, because the first thing Shade did upon sitting was fall asleep. " Just let him sleep Spike, " Twilight said as she gently rubbed the hybrid's head. " If anything that's the one thing he needs most to ease his already ailing mind. " Twilight's concern only grew as she watched her coltfriend scowl in his sleep, " ...Just what are you dreaming of Shade..? " mumbled Twilight.
The ride seemed to last forever as Twilight and her friends watched the scenery fly past them. " Is something wrong Twilight? " Spike questioned the look of concern on her face.
" Yeah Twi, you look like you're expecting the worst disaster ever to happen or something, " Rainbow Dash added.
" Go on Twilight, you can tell us anythin, " Applejack smiled in an attempt to cheer her dear friend up.
" ...Yes Twilight...You can tell us anything...We are your friends after all, " Fluttershy added on to the attempt.
Twilight gave her own small smile in reply to her friends attempts at lifting her spirits, " Thank you everypony, " she started speaking, " I'm just worried about Shade is all, I mean for the past few days he's been....out of it, almost like there's something he's not telling me. " The princess of friendship turned her gaze from her friends towards Shade, only causing her worry to grow.
Before another word could be uttered, a bright flash of light came from Shade's body, engulfing any and everything. The six ponies around Shade shielded their eyes as the light expanded, and expand it did. The light expanded almost indefinitely before finally stopping, and when it finally did stop, so had time itself, leaving all except the six frozen.
" Wh-What the hay is going on?! " shouted both Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
" Twilight...what in Equestria is going on? " Rarity asked in a panic.
" I-I don't know Rarity, it's like everything just stopped, everypony as well...Shade..Spike...everypony... " She hastily scanned around her, looking for any signs of movement, any at all. There were none. "We...we really are frozen...but why? " however before any of them could question further, several orbs of light appeared before them, floating in a circular motion.
" Do not fear children of the planet, for we mean thou no harm, " The voice spoke in an olden accent, similar to that of princess Luna when she was returned back to normal, but yet, the accent seemed older.
" Wh-who are you..? " Twilight asked fearfully, despite being told not to fear them.
Another orb flew forwards, this time speaking in a tone similar to that of a changeling, " We are oraclesss of a world long forgotten, one much older than thy Equesssstria. "
" Oracles? " all six questioned at once.
This time an orb with a more masculine voice spoke, " Yes, twas our job ages ago to speak with and the deity's that formed our ancient world, each one of us represents a single race birthed by the four. "
" The four? " Twilight was now intrigued by what the orbs were speaking of. " Who are the four...what deities did you speak for? " she asked with the intent on gaining more knowledge of what was going on.
A very stern feminine voice flew towards Twilight, " Now is not the time for questions such as those child, we have revealed our presence to thee for a very specific reason. "
" And just what reason is that huh?! " Rainbow Dash was becoming impatient already.
Her tone didn't amuse the oracles one bit, but before the stern voice could retaliate, a much larger orb of light flew forward. " The destruction of thine world, " The orbs words silenced Rainbow Dash, in fact they silenced everypony who heard them. " That is not the only reason we have shown ourselves to thou, the six of you have become intertwined with the fate of the chosen crystal bearer, " the oracle continued onward, causing all six to look even more confused.
" Crystal bearer? Now I'm not tryin to be rude or anythin, but what in Equestria do ya'll mean by "chosen crystal bearer" , " Applejack was the first to speak up on her thoughts.
" Yes please, tell us what you mean! " Twilight practically begged.
" Very well, " a different male voice spoke up this time. " But listen with care children of this world, for we shall only deliver upon thee this information once, " if the orb speaking had arms of any sort, Twilight imagined he would have them crossed at the moment.
" Are thou familiar with the abyssal magic, " the largest of the orbs questioned the six, to which they promptly replied with a shake of their heads. " I see, allow me to give a shortened explanation, for the actual tale would span days to tell, and that is time thou does not have, " Twilight and her friends did not speak, rather they simply nodded. " Abyssal magic, one of the earliest conceived forms of magic to ever appear on thy world, it's very existence is disastrous at the least, and cataclysmic at the most, for the use of it results in the consumption of any and all who wield it, and all around it. "
Twilight was at a loss for words, she had never heard of the concept of anything but dark magic being so terrible. " That sounds terrible, how could anypony use such a thing and live with themselves afterwords, " Twilight just couldn't imagine it being possible.
" Yes, abyssal magic is a terrible thing indeed, and yet, in the old world, so many were drawn to it by the power it possessed, such magic could take the weakest of beings and turn them into something that could easily shadow over any alicorn in this modern day. " The six ponies faces were that of awe, a magic that could give that much power had never been conceivable to any of them. " However, only certain beings were allowed to wield the destructive magic, only those chosen by the darkest of the four, and those chosen would soon wish they had chosen death, for not long after, the very magic they yearned for consumed them, twisting their very bodies into nightmarish entities who only knew destruction but twas not the only alteration to their being, for their hearts crystallized within their chest as well. "
" Crystallized in their chest?! That's impossible! " Twilight suddenly blurted out.
" The word impossible defined nothing in the olden world, " replied the oracle. " The crystalline hearts within those chosen gave them many great abilities, but none were greater than their vitality. A being chosen by the darkest of the four could fight for days on end and recover from the worst of injuries so long as their heart remained untouched. Twas both a gift, and a curse, for once a being had been chosen, their free will was taken, their minds stripped of their former self. "
The ponies were speechless, the magic the oracles were speaking of sounded like something from a nightmare. " ...That sounds absolutely dreadful...why would anypony want such a thing at that great of a cost..? " questioned Rarity.
This time the more masculine of the oracles spoke, " Twas not always their choice, after betraying his siblings, the darkest of the four was sealed away by is elder brother, yet his influence remained long after his brother went into a slumber that would last eons. Because of this, the darkest of the four made numerous attempts to escape his prison, to combat this, we oracles, devised an ancient spell, one we wish we had not, for it is the very cause of this abyssal magic spreading to others. "
" ...Wh-what do you mean... " Asked Fluttershy in a hushed, frightened tone.
" The spell we created was made to created six keys, keys that hold the dark one in captivity so long as the six remained sealed away, " said the largest of the orbs. " However, despite our intentions being as pure as can be, we had not foreseen that the dark one would turn the keys against us. Using what small influence he had, he altered the spell using his dark, abyssal magic, infecting any sealed within the crystal keys with it, and thus beginning the vile cycle, but by the time we had found out, it was already too late. "
Something dawned on Twilight as she listened to the oracles speak. They had just brought up the fact that the keys for sealing this "dark one" away, were crystals that held live beings inside them. " One second please, you said they were sealed inside a crystal...just like Shade....are you saying that... "
" We are indeed saying that, " replied the stern female oracle. " For you see, even long after our own passing, the cycle continued, for our world had ended, and thy world had just begun, the dark one's desire for freedom grew even greater knowing that we were no longer around, but that didn't mean he would escape with ease, for our knowledge had been passed down generations after our deaths. Oh how we wish it hadn't for that meant the spread of abyssal magic would continue so long as the spell was used, and used it was, for ages upon ages it was used to hold the dark one at bay. "
" Twas like this until seven thousand years ago, when the last king of this land lived, he had devised a plan. He would use five keys instead of six, while he knew this was only a temporary solution, as they would one day die within the crystals, he also knew that it required six of the keys for the dark one to continue the cycle, and for a time, it worked. That was until over five thousand years ago, two young princesses would use the forbidden spell to seal away one they saw as a threat, we are sure that thou must know whom we speak of. "
" ......Shade..... " Was all Twilight could say as her gaze fell upon her frozen love.
" Indeed, the one known as Midnight Shade was inadvertently sealed away, becoming the sixth and final key, but as fate would have it, other events took place. " The ponies listened as the second male oracle explained, " By somehow escaping the binds of the crystalline prison a thousand years early, only half of his heart could crystallize, this was the first sign that the chosen crystal bearer had awoken. "
This time Rainbow Dash spoke up, " Alright we're getting what you're telling us, but the one thing we don't get is whatever this chosen crystal thing is. "
Ignoring Rainbow's attitude towards them, the large orb spoke in place of the male oracle, " The chosen crystal bearer is apart of a premonition we foresaw ages ago. A being who had escaped the binds of the abyss, one with the might of a dark warrior, but the mind and heart of hero, this being is Midnight Shade. However despite this, the crossbreed still suffers detrimental aftereffects from his imprisonment, he sees the face of every pony he has ever seen die in his sleep, whether it be by his claw or not. Another aftereffect was the splitting of his internal personality, where as most beings have one, his has been split into that of a dark, destructive, malicious force who cares not for whom he harms, he only seeks the thrill of battle. The other half that it had been split into was that of a light, righteous side who would valiantly fight to bring peace and prosperity to the world, but between the two halves lies the true Shade, a grey entity that seeks control over the two individual halves, resulting in nonstop internal warfare amongst himself. "
Twilight didn't know what to think, everything she was hearing was hitting her so hard she felt like her legs were going to give out from underneath her. " ...I had no idea Shade was suffering so much... " In the midst of her feeling sorry for Shade another thought dawned on her, " Wait a second, is Shade's crystal heart the reason for those crystals flying into his chest after fighting that golem and metal griffon?! "
" Precisely, " responded the larger orb, " We already know of Shade's ability to absorb the crystal shards of his fallen foes, however there is another reason he should continue seeking the crystals out. "
Twilight couldn't believe it, they wanted Shade to keep fighting, to keep putting his life on the line. " How could you say that! Shade doesn't need to fight anymore, I've already almost lost him twice now, I don't want to see it happen again!! " the princess blurted out.
However the oracle ignored her outburst, " That reason is this, Shade's malformed heart is slowly killing him. "
Hearing this caused everypony's eyes to widen and their pupils to shrink. " ...It's what... " Twilight mumbled, she felt as if her eyes could start leaking tears at any moment.
" The crystalline heart is what supplies unending life to those previously imprisoned, should it not properly form it will do the exact opposite after so long, it will take the life of it's bearer. " The six ponies were trying their hardest to swallow everything being told to them, but there was so much that it made it difficult. " The only way Midnight Shade may sustain his life is by obtaining the shards of his fallen brethren, and in doing so, freeing their trapped souls so they may be reborn in much purer images of what they should have been. In addition to all this, with each shard he attains, his power shall grow. "
" Um excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me Miss floating oracle ball lady! " Pinkie cried out as she waved one of her hooves around wildly, " What's gonna happen to Shade once he get's all the crystal shard thingies? "
" An excellent question young pink one, " replied the deeper male voice, " The moment Midnight Shade has obtained the shards from his last abyssal brethren, he shall gain full and total control of his heart, which will allow him to awaken an ultimate power, one which he will use it to face the vanquish the darkness that plagues this worlds existence. "
Before any of the ponies could speak their minds, the brash female oracles quickly spoke up, " However you mortals have a vital task, Midnight Shade's fate upon defeating this evil lies in your hooves, for two paths lay ahead of him, one where he is the worlds savior, and one where he is it's destroyer. "
This caught everypony off guard, even more so than the fact that Shade was slowly dying. " That can't be possible! " cried out Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all at once.
" I don't believe you one glorified light bulbs for one minute! There's no way Shade could destroy the world if he saved it! " Rainbow Dash shouted loudly.
" So the cyan mortal does no believe our premonition, then we'll just have to show them all, " the brash voice spoke to the others in response to Rainbow Dash's outburst.
Without warning the world around them went black, dropping the ponies into a void, but after a certain time, they stopped falling and began floating. " Wh-what's going on ?! " they cried out in a panic.
" We shall show you a vision of just how dangerous Midnight Shade's powers can be, should he go down the path of evil. " A bright flash came from the first male oracle, a light that would expand until the blackness around them became a world of it's own. " Do not speak, simply watch. "
The world around them had shifted to that of a battlefield, without hundreds of thousands of soldiers from all corners of the world. all species from ponies, to griffons, to minotaurs, to even dragons, stood circled around a single plateau in the midst of a barren wasteland. Atop the mountain stood a dark figure, one which dawned a black cloak, but it was unmistakable who the figure was.
" Midnight Shade!!! On behalf of the governments of the world, you are hereby sentenced to death for the crimes you have committed!!! A general among the pony ranks shouted at the cloaked figure. " If you do not surrender yourself and take the execution in Canterlot, then we, the united armies of the world will end you right here and now!!!
However the generals threats had no effect whatsoever on the dark crossbreed. " Such feeble beings, their futile attempts will only ever end one way, " Shade gave a glare so sharp it could cut any metal as he raised his head to better his view of the armies.
" Very well then you murderous maggot!!!! Any last words before you meet your maker!!! " The general shouted.
A wicked grin cracked on Shade's face, followed by a dark, deep chuckle. " As a matter of fact general, I do have something to say, it'll be the last thing you ever hear, " and without warning, Shade let out an earth shaking roar, one that caused every soldier and every leader to cover their ears. However the roar was the least of their worries, as Shade was roaring, he released an orb of fire at the ground, and begun feeding it, causing it to grow rapidly, soon enveloping everything, every soldier, every landscape, until finally a massive dome of fire had spread miles across the world, not even leaving ashes where living beings once stood.
Twilight and her friends watched the events unfold in sheer horror, not even the world around them returning to normal brought them out of the state of terror. " That.....that was terrible...how could....how could Shade do something so terrible...he's so kindhearted... " Twilight thought out loud.
That is the very reason you should heed our words. " The tone of voice the lead oracle was speaking in was more threatening this time, " For should Shade go down the path of darkness, all will be lost, and only the six of you can keep him following the path of the light, dost thou understand? " The six ponies nodded in unison, " Very well, then we shall take our leave, be wary though, Shade's next trial lays in the destination thou art headed to, aid him in any way you can, and lastly, do not inform him of this meeting, should he learn that you know of our presence just yet, fate could make a change for the worst, as for now, farewell young ponies, may we see thee once more. "
Twilight watched as the orbs faded away one by one, until finally they were gone, and when they were gone, the world around them resumed in motion. Once everything had returned to normal, the six were left with bewildered expressions upon their faces. " Uh Twilight? " Spike snapped his fingers in her face, " What the hay is wrong with you girls, you look like you just had the worst daydream ever? "
Twilight shook her head and gently hugged the young dragon, " ...nothings wrong Spike...we'll tell you about it alter, just...get some sleep, it's going to be a long ride. "
Spike watched as Twilight and the others closed their eyes, " Well, alright then, goodnight everypony, " the young drake closed his eyes, and joined his friends, and father in slumber.
Author's Note
Well hey long time no see ladies and gentlecolts. It's been a while since I've gotten a chance to work on this story, but I finally did and took the opportunity. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope I enjoy writing the next few, but not as much as I hope all of you enjoy reading them
The Crystal Empire, Inside the Castle, Mere Moments Ago
Hundreds of thoughts and memories flashed through Shade's mind as the darkness enveloped him, each one pushing him deeper and deeper into the void of his mind. " ....Is this what hell is like...voices of the past tormenting and nothing but regret... " There was that word, a word he had despised since he was a foal. Regret, just the thought of the word sickened him, " ...Regrets...every last one I've ever had is coming to the surface...only furthering my torment...every soul I've ever wronged...everypony I've ever let down...mother...father Cel- " His eyes slowly widened as the name of the pony he had hurt the worst came to his mind.
" ...Celestia... " His deepest regret was all the pain he had put her through. A pony he once called the love of his life was now his most hated enemy, and in turn he hated himself for seeing things that way. " ...I'm such an idiot..if only... " He stopped his thoughts as Twilight's voice echoed throughout his mind, but hearing it only pushed him down deeper. " ...Twilight...no...what if I end up hating her as well...was I ever meant to even feel love... if only I could go back...stop myself from ever becoming this...thing.. "
It wasn't until a very specific memory suddenly came to his mind, one that caught his attention more so than the rest. One he longingly reached out towards, possibly one of his more cherished memories of the pony he hates, and loves the most. Despite losing almost all of his will to keep going, Shade pulled himself closer and closer until finally his claws made contact with the stationary memory, causing everything to go white around him.
Equestrian Royal Castle, Over Five Thousand Years Ago
All was peaceful in the still young nation of Equestria, the threat of Tirek would not take place for more than half a decade, so peace was prosperous. A teenage Shade lazily rested under a large tree in the castle garden, not a care in the world or a worry in his head, just peace and quiet. It wasn't until a shadow loomed over him that his feeling of peace faded, " So how long are you going to stand over me, " he kept his eyes closed but still seemed to know who he was speaking to.
A soft giggle came from the pony "intruding" on his quiet time, " Until you've stop lazing around, " she cheerfully responded.
A groan left the half-breed's throat, " Then you're gonna be waiting a while, cause I'm taking the day off. " He cracked open one of his eyes to see a white alicorn standing before him, just smiling at him.
" Well if you're taking the day off, " she moved under the tree, positioning herself beside him before sitting, " then so am I. "
Another groan escaped him, " You're a stubborn princess you know that don't you, " he bluntly commented. She stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner, " It's a habit you're going to have to break, you are the ruler of this "illustrious kingdom after all. "
The young princess crossed her front legs across her chest and began pouting like a filly who didn't get their way. " I know but I don't want to spend my whole life in this castle, " she stated as she looked up towards the sky. A slight smiled appeared on her face, " I want to get out and see the world, I want to do more than sit on a throne and deal with nagging dignitaries. " The last part of her statement got a chuckle out of the hybrid that she adored so much, causing her slight smiled to get bigger, " Let me rephrase what I said, I want US to see the world, just the two of us together going places that nopony has ever gone before. "
Shade chuckled again, " I might just have to take you up on that offer, " he relaxed his body and placed his claw atop her hoof, making the princess blush in the process. " To be honest I don't really like the thought of being in one place for so long either, when the times right let's ditch this place. "
Celestia always found Shade's blunt way of putting things to be amusing, enough to make her laugh sometimes. However her cheerful attitude quickly faded as another thought came to her mind, " ...Shade...I want you to make me one more promise... "
" Another one? You know you're awfully needy today, " he jokingly commented.
" ...I'm being serious Shade... " she lowered her head slightly.
This caught his attention, normally she was carefree and happy as can be, but was rarely serious about anything. " OK something's definitely wrong, you're hardly ever serious, " he had known Celestia ever since she accepted him as her pupil back when he was just a foal, and never knew her to be the serious type.
She looked her beloved half-breed in the eyes and began to speak, " ...I know how dangerous the world is...and I know that anything can happen...so make me this promise...no matter what happens...no matter how much either of us changes...please be there for me...if my life is ever in danger...please come and save me from whatever's threatening my life...can you keep that for me Shade..? "
He looked back into her eyes and gave a sincere nod, " Tia, I swear to keep this promise, with all my heart. The very same heart that belongs to you, no matter what kind of danger you're in, I'll be there for you. "
The acceptance of her promise pleased Celestia greatly, enough to have her shed her serious expression almost instantly. " It makes me so happy to hear those words come from you...I knew I made the right choice in picking you as my beloved, " she continued to smile.
" I didn't realize there were other choices, " Shade quipped with a chuckle.
Celestia stuck her tongue out at him once again, " That's not true there were plenty of suitors I could have picked....you were just the only one who didn't bore me to death... " she turned her head and mumbled the last part.
He extended his front limb around her shoulder and held her close, " Sure there were, but I was the most outstanding among them all, wasn't I? "
" Maybe the most stubborn... " she lightly mumbled.
" I heard that, " he replied, again earning a childish grimace from his princess. He gently ran his claws through her mane, " Can you do me a favor in return for all these promises, stop talking for about an hour or so, I want to be able to enjoy some peace and quiet with you and that's kind of hard without the quiet. "
To most ponies Shades "favor" would come off as rude and insensitive. To Celestia however his attitude and the things he said only made her love him more, it was their strange way of showing their affection for one another. " Consider it done, " she happily sighed and rested her head against his neck and relaxed her body, joining her beloved in an afternoon of peace and quiet. " I love you Shade... " she softly spoke one last time before staying silent.
A slight smile appeared on his face as he relaxed his body, " I love you too Tia. "
As the memory ended and the white faded Shade found himself repeating those last few words in mumbles, " ....I love you too Tia... " And as he spoke those words it felt as if a gust of wind filled his unconscious lungs, bringing the will to keep going back to him. " ...Tia..Celestia... " Using what mental strength he could muster, Shade begun clawing his way from the abyss that was his mind. " ...I made I promise...how could I be so stupid all this time...I have Twilight to thank... " He continued pulling himself from the darkness and towards the light where the sounds of shouting could be heard.
The words of the promise echoed around him, fueling his desire to escape the abyss further " ...I know how dangerous the world is...and I know that anything can happen...so make me this promise...no matter what happens...no matter how much either of us changes...please be there for me...if my life is ever in danger...please come and save me from whatever's threatening my life...can you keep that for me Shade..? " His life never felt so complicated, he loved Twilight because of everything she had done for him, but deep down his affection for Celestia thrived, no matter how deep his hatred for her was. " ...Yeah...I'll do that for you Celestia...even if I've been beaten to bones...I'll keep that damn promise...Just give me a moment to wake up... "
Despite his newfound determination to keep going he felt his strength begin to wane,...This pain....it's unlike anything I've ever felt...it's almost as if my heart is going to explode....just...just need a little rest... " He could feel his thought's leaving him at a rapid pace, when suddenly a light shined in on the darkness that had surrounded his mind. " ...Mustn't give up...must fight pain...but why...why should I... " " SHADE WE NEED YOU!!!!!! " Twilight!!! " Twilight's pleas reached Shade within the darkness of his mind, forcefully pulling him from death's door and rejuvenating him completely, and once Shade's strength had returned to him, his eyes shot open and let out a vigor filled roar, grasping the crystal spike in his chest and began crushing it as everypony watched in disbelief, " ...I can't just...give in...not with the two of their lives on the line...can't give up....I...I won't... " " ...I WON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!! "
Author's Note
Hey there everypony, more of a shorter chapter than usual coming your way. I meant to have this out much sooner, but like Shade's life my life is getting really complicated as of lately. I've dealt with all sorts of things from work issues to depression and the sort. But I'm back to writing I don't know what pace I'll be writing at but I'll try my best to keep putting chapters out. I hope you all enjoy this unusually short chapter and leave your thoughts on it, if it helps think of this as a transitional chapter leading into the big action. I'll talk to you all next time, see you then
Unearthing the Past
Approximately six thousand years ago
Two princesses, one the ruler of the sun, the other the princess of the moon. Both heading for one destination, a cave at the tip of a mountain near their Canterlot home, inside the cave was the solar princess's prized pupil, also being her first pupil. Upon arriving at the mouth of the cave, they both stopped where when the lunar princess suddenly spoke to her sister, " Sister, dost thou think this beith a bad idea, he would most certainly become enraged at what we have to say,". The solar princess took in her sisters words, yet did not speak to acknowledge that she heard her.
" He is taking this too far, I do not wish to do this, but to protect our home I must, the tone in her voice was grave and dark," the expression on her face looked as if she were experiencing heartbreak and anger at the same time, as if conflicted on which one to feel.
The princess of the moon looked concerned for her sister ," Sister dearest, it does not have to be this way, we know that you possess this knowledge, ". She hugged her sister before they both turned back toward the mouth of the cave. " If thou ist ready sister, then so are we,". The solar princess simply nodded, her sister took a deep breath, they then both marched in, ready to do whatever deed it was they had to perform.
A dark figure sat in front of a table, hastily flipping through a book as he was stuck in his studies, he desperately searched for the last piece he was missing in his research, " I'm almost there,just a little more time,". His claw steadily, yet quickly flipped page after page, his eyes skimmed over each and every letter of each and every word. Upon finishing the book in a matter of seconds he tossed it aside and opened another one and quickly began flipping through it as he hunted the missing piece to the puzzle he was working with at the moment. His eyes lit up with joy upon flipping to a page, " That's it, I've founding the missing piece to this puzzle," he picked up a quill and began jotting it down in an old journal, but the moment he wrote down the last letter he dropped the quill he had in his claws grip, " So you've found me......I knew it would come down to this one day," . He turned towards the two princesses, although his face and head were shrouded by a cloak and hood, his glowing red eyes were still visible through the darkness that hid his identity.
The eldest princess stepped towards him, a glare forming on her face, " I did not wish for it to come to this, you've just become too big of a danger, and now your delving into dark arts such as necromancy, I cannot stand idly as this goes on, I am truly sorry, but this must end now," it was obvious that she was having a hard time speaking the words that were coming out of her mouth.
He began chuckling in a low, dark tone before letting out an outburst as anger and the feeling of betrayal welled up inside of him, " TOO BIG OF A DANGER!?!?!, You!, you dare call me a danger, after everything I have done for you and your precious ponies! the very ponies who looked at me as if I were a beast, who look at me for only my dragon side and not for my pony heart!!!," the princesses physically flinched from the outburst, they had expected him to experience anger, but not of this magnitude, " I don't even see why I helped them, oh I know why, because my dearest, Teacher!!!, not just my teacher, you were my best friend!!!!, you should know why I'm doing this!!!," his toothy maw was now visible from under the hood, his outburst only getting larger the angrier he became.
She turned her head away slightly, " And you know as well as I do, that once somepony is gone they can't be brought back!!,"at the moment, getting mad was one thing she couldn't do, part of her didn't want this, but another part told her that it was him or the ponies she so fiercely protects.
The hooded figure bared his teeth, heat poured from between the razors that filled his mouth, " You don't know that!! I've found the last piece of the puzzle that is reviving the dead!! then I'll prove you wrong!!!," they desperately wanted to talk him out of his angered rant, but it was clear that he was blinded by anger and betrayal. " You don't know anything that your talking about!!and then theres your little pet!!! I was your first student, Starswhirl is nothing compared to me!!! I practically wrote every scroll that litters that library!!! You've been planning this!! replacing me with that worm!!!, well I wont let you get the chance!!,". He opened his maw, and as he did a great heat poured out of it along with sparks that floated from the back of his throat. Both princesses eyes widened as they saw what was about to happen, he released a stream of fire, hot enough to turn solid stone into molten rock.
The two princesses swiftly jumped out of way as the burning stream just barely missed them and blasted out of the mouth of the cave, " Sister, we think it would be best to subdue him," the lunar princess inquired.
Celest closed her eyes and turned her head away, fighting back a tear as she nodded, " Very well, let us do this the-," she was cut off by the screams of her sister. She turned around to see her former student holding her sister down with both magic, and his claw to her throat, for that moment, all the regret left her body as he eyes began to glow white, " I gave you your last chance, I am sorry but I will not allow you too harm my sister!!!!," Her horn began to glow as her former student was lifted into the air, she watched as he struggled, growing ever more violent, although he didn't physically show it, she could see his inner sadness and pain, she wanted to help him so much, but could do little.
His eyes began glowing, instead of glowing white his eyes became a blood red, and along with his eyes, the horn that sat on the middle of his head began glowing with a red aura, " I will not let you throw me aside like trash!!!!," he pushed his way out of her grasp with his own blast of magic before leaping towards her. She jumped out of the way, but not before his claws could scathe her cheek, leaving a cut, it wasn't a big cut, but she knew it was enough to scar, " What's the matter teacher, not going as easily as you imagined!!," *his horn began to glow again before he fired a blood red bolt of magic at her that hit just a few feet away from her hooves.
She gritted her teeth, " I never said this twas to be easy," she fired a stream of magic right at his, which was promptly met with his own magic. " I should have expected this, I did in fact teach him almost everything I know of, and he was always practicing, " she could feel her body being forced back by his magic, but it wasn't the pain that he wished to inflict on her that bothered her, it was the pain that he was inflicting on himself just to hurt her, it wasn't hard to tell that he had not slept in a number of days and his magic capabilities were weary due to his lack of sleep. Her eyes widened as she felt herself being forced back further, he had started walking towards her while continuing this magical clash.
Using every bit of strength he had inside of him, he pushed forward, getting closer and closer to the princess that he had once called his teacher, " I trusted you!!,". He turned his eyes towards where Luna had been laying to see she was gone, " Damn, I'll deal with her once I finish this traitor!!,".
Luna on the other hoof, had quickly fled back to the base of the mountain where soldier after soldier had been waiting. She trotted up to the captain of the squad, " Follow quickly, our sister needs us," the captain nodded and saluted before marching up the mountain with his troops. Luna looked at the top of the mountain, the clash was visible even from the base of the mountain, " Please sister, beith safe," she took flight to assist her older sibling, going a fast as her wings would go.
Celestia's former student let out a vicious roar that practically shook the very ground they stood on, " IT'S OVER!!!!!," he shouted ferociously as he let out a massive blast of magic that rapidly over powered Celestia's. Her knees trembled as she try her best to hold the blast off, " It's futile to try and fend yourself just give in!!!,". It seemed that this was the end for the solar princess, until a blast of magic struck the dragon in the back, making him drop his guard, and opening a window of opportunity for Celestia to gain the upper hoof. He clenched his teeth together with anger, " Who dares to interfere!!!," he turned to see the Lunar princess who flew to her sisters side.
" Twas us foul beast, we shall put an end to you with the help of our sister," Luna said with a strong glare on her face.
His eyes widened as he clenched his teeth before letting out another earth shaking roar, " I!!!!!! AM!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!! BEAST!!!!!!!!!!! ," not only did the blast of magic that came from his horn grow in power, but he also released a stream of fire towards both princesses.
Celestia looked at her sister and nodded, they then put their horns together and fired an even larger beam of magic, clashing with the dragon hybrids own blast, meeting it smack in the middle. " Now!!!," Celestia shouted, and as soon as she shouted, an enchanted chain was thrown around the enraged drake.
He roared and fought against the restraints around him, and in the process he began loosing the struggle between him and the princesses. He turned his head towards the soldiers holding the chain and opened his mouth as he prepared to burn them to a crisp, " I will burn anyone who interferes leaving nothing but ashes!!!," he barely had the flame out of his mouth before something stopped him.
" Luna, now!!," The beam of magic from their horns grew in size and strength as it rushed towards him. Celestia closed her eyes and mumbled to herself just before the magic hit him, " Forgive me, I cannot kill you, so I must imprison you, farewell,".
" No!!!, I will not allow this!!!! I cannot lo-Agh!!!," his body was quickly overtaken by the magic blast, he had expected it to destroy his body, but instead his body had started to become covered in crystal. Tears of anger and pain formed in his eyes, " This isn't the end Celestia!!!, this is just the beginning...," they listened as his last words turn into silence as he became encased in the crystal prison.
A tear fell from Celestia's face, she couldn't even face the crystal he was in, " Take him to the Crystal Empire, he shall remain there for the rest of his days...,"
Present Day, Crystal Empire Crystal Mines
An archaeological dig site had been set up in the mines of the Crystal empire, several archaeologist had flocked from far and wide to excavate the rich historical site in search for historical items that had been lost in time. For their safety, the Crystal Empire royal guards had been assigned the task of protecting the archaeologist from things like thieves, troublemakers, and even monsters if that's what they ran into there, and the stallion in charge of this task is none other than prince Shining Armor himself.
The search had already proved fruitful, as many artifacts and rare gemstones had already been dug up within the first few hours. Shining Armor had been trotting through the tunnels that had been dug in order to search, a part of him enjoyed the enthusiasm that each and every pony there had been showing, even the guards seemed excited to see what would be dug up next, " If only Twilight were here, she'd really enjoy this sort of thing ," he sighed as the thought had entered his head. He was quickly dragged from his thoughts when one of the guards had ran up to him.
The guard hastily saluted to the prince before speaking, " Your highness, one of the researchers here has unearthed something that you won't believe, I could tell you myself but you wouldn't believe me, please sire follow me," he quickly ran back to where he was, this time with a curious prince following him.
" You've peaked my curiosity, now where is this find?," as Shining finished his question the guard came to a halt in front of him and slowly pointed his hoof towards what he had been speaking about. Shining's gaze followed the stallion's hoof, he couldn't believe what he was looking at, at first glance it looks like a rather large crystal, but further inspections shows that there is something or somepony in there. He wasted no time in shouting out an order to everyone in his location, " I want every able body pony to help get that thing out of that crystal!! that's an order now hurry!,". The unicorns there secured the giant gem with chains to prevent it from falling, the earth ponies and pegasi there helped in unearthing the rest of the crystal by chipping away at the stone wall that held the gem.
It took a total of thirty ponies, prince Shining Armor included, to get the crystal free, and carry it out of the mines, and upon finally setting it down one of the archaeologist pointed something out to the prince, there was a large crack on the crystal that appears to travel all the way through. Shining Armor, three guards, and many researchers stepped near the crystal which was still chained up at the moment, until something made them want to back away, the eyes of the creature that was inside the crystal, were glowing a dark deep red, and whatever was in there, didn't seem too happy that he was in there , " Everypony, stand back, who knows whats in there," Shining said with obvious worry in his voice.
" Where am I, I can hear voices, out there ," the creature within the crystal opened is eyes and looked beyond his crystalline sarcophagus, where he saw ponies in armor, and chains, " No, not again, they will not hold me here!!! ,". His eyes began to glow as he struggled from the inside of the crystal prison, the more he struggled the weaker the crystals hold over him became, and soon his horn began to glow, and in a bright red flash, the crystal that held him burst open, and in that moment one thought went through his head, " I'm,....I'm free ,". He sat up and a toothy grin appeared on his face, " I'm free!!!!!!!, And you'll never seal me away again!!!," he then turned towards his spectators, " And I think I'll start repaying the world by ridding those who sealed me away, a dark grin formed on his face as he stood up and slowly walked towards the ponies around him, both Shining Armor and the guards stood their ground, prepared for whatever this beast was.
Meanwhile inside of Canterlot castle, Inside of Celestia's sleeping chamber
After a day of restlessness and constant political meetings, the princess of the sun would prefer to delve into a nice long nap, although this time the nap would not be very nice. Although it didn't happen often, nightmares would plague her mind, this was one of those occasions.
Celestia had been enjoying a nice peaceful day in the Canterlot gardens, she enjoyed the serene feeling the garden had and how it brought peace to her mind. " Such a wonderful day, no meetings, not papers to look over, just peaceful time to myself and this lovely garden," she said as she lowered her head to sniff a flower, she closed her eyes as she inhaled the flowers sweet scent, but instead of a sweet aroma, the flower gave off a scent similar to brimstone. She then opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings, everything had turned from a beautiful serene garden, to a burning field of slag and ash, ad in the center of the field stood a silhouette of what seemed like an alicorn, but its wings were reptilian in shape, and the figure had two more horns on the back of its head, its tail swung slowly, back and forth. A sense of dread filled her body as she stared at the figure, then, it slowly began to turn towards her, and the first thing she noticed were the blood red eyes it adorned, she began to shiver from just looking at them, " Whose there, speak now or face the consequences," she demanded as she tried to stay strong.
The figure began to chuckle darkly, " How could you forget little me, why you taught me everything I know and more," a look of great fear covered Celestia's face, and for some reason she felt as helpless as a mere filly. The figures shape and body became much more clearer the closer he got to her, the silhouette was no longer a shadowy shape, it was in fact her former and very first student. He bared his teeth the closer he got, " What's the matter...princess!, I didn't give you the goodbye kiss I promised you, its the least i can do for sealing me away for all these years".
Celestia found herself against a wall, " Stay back!, it can't be you, I sealed you inside of a crystal," she was quivering more and more the closer he got, a malicious grin grew on his face as his exposed teeth got closer to her neck.
" I know, but now I'm free, and now let me give you a little love bite," he drew his head, his jaws opened wide and swung towards her, clamping shut around her neck, she fell silent as the pain slowly filled her body and as her blood left her neck. He then looked at her with somber eyes, " Goodnight my dearest teacher, I've always loved you,".
Celestia woke in a panic, tear running from her eyes, she put her hoof on her neck to assure that it was only a bad dream. She looked down at her bed to see that it had been soaked in tears, " Faust have mercy on us all if he were to ever escape....," she got out of her bed and left for her throne room where she would think over the dream to see if it meant something.
Author's Note
Hey ladies and gentlecolts, I'm finally moved in, and I said I would be working on a fallout crossover, I still am but i thought i'd work on a story that I've been working on for a while, I hope you guys and gals enjoy and stick around as the story goes, and i will still keep working on Demon Hearts since its my main story and i will eventually redo friendship is digital. I thank all of you for your patience and for enjoying my fics
Inside Twilight's Castle
Upon finishing the letter sent to her, Twilight had an expression of utter shock and horror. Spike attempted to grab her attention by shaking her, " Twilight, what's wrong, cmon say something," but despite his attempt to snap her out of it, she still remained where she was, frozen from shock.
Eventually Spike got tired of waiting for Twilight to snap out of it, so he grabbed her tail, and yanked it as hard as he could, resulting in Twilight jumping from the sudden pain, " Ow!, Spike was that called for," she was about to chew him out for what he did, but before she did the thought of what the letter had written on it, hit her, and as a result she suddenly broke into tears, " Oh Spike!..it's terrible, the Crystal Empire, it was attacked by a dragon, Shining Armor, he was...was," she had to get her composure back before continuing her sentence, " Shining Armor was hurt badly, I want to go check on him but Cadence said it would be best if I stayed here,". Spike watched as Twilight slumped down and began crying again.
He hugged the crying princess and patted her head, " Twilight it's gonna be OK, Shining Armor is a tough pony, he'll be better in no time," where as his words didn't stop her crying, it did tone it down a little. In reality, Spike didn't know if Shining Armor was going to be OK or not, he hadn't read the letter, and if it was so urgent that they needed to send a letter, then it must've been serious, he just needed to think of something to say so that Twilight would stop crying, his idea only half worked however. Twilight walked away from spike to attempt to find comfort in a book, and while she was doing that, Spike picked up the letter and began reading it, " Wow....this does sound bad, the dragon that did all this must be huge, or at least really grumpy," a look of concern formed on Spike's face, if the Crystal Empire could barely hold off a dragon like that, what would happen to Ponyville if it showed up, the very thought made him shake, but he stopped when he felt something on his head.
Shade had crawled out of bed as soon as the pain in his side left him, his rather sensitive ears had picked up the sound of someone crying. He stepped out of the room as soon as the sobs traveled from one room to another, and where the crying originally was, sat a young purple dragon, shaking in fear. He walked up to Spike and placed his clawed foot on is head and softly rubbed it, " Whatever troubles you young one, just push the fear to the back of your mind, it can't bother you there," for some strange reason, the tone of Shades voice along with how gentle his touch was, calmed Spike down. Shade followed the sound of the cries, which have seemed to have toned down to jut sniffles, and once he found the source of the sniffles he saw Twilight, who was sitting in a chair and reading a book, tears had stained her cheeks where they had been rolling down, her eyes were puffy from having cried so much. He walked up to the sniveling princess, looked at her and then put his claw on the top of the book to lower it in order to get her attention, " A beautiful princess shouldn't cry you know, your a strong individual from what I can see, what would cause you to sob like this,".
Despite the fact he was practically a stranger to her, Twilight felt a slight warmth from his comforting tone, the fact that he cared at all was enough to tell her that he was a good hearted individual in her eyes. She looked him in the eyes, trying her best ot hold the sniffles back, " It's my brother...he...he was hurt badly, a dragon attacked his home and he was injured....I'm glad he's still alive, if he were I'd.....well i don't know what i'd do to be honest...," Shade saw the tears welling up in her eyes, the last thing he wanted on his claws was a crying princess, so he needed to think fast on what to do.
He gently began patting, " I'm sure your brother is fine, from the sound of it hes a tough individual, you shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure he wouldn't want to see you like this," he wasn't quite sure of what was coming out of his mouth, but it seemed to be working as the sad look left Twilight's face. He inwardly let out a sigh of relief, that was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel good about himself for helping Twilight, " That was close, the last thing I need is her sobbing, but at the same time, I feel like I accomplished something in helping her get past her pain ," he wasn't in thought too long, cause while he was thinking to himself, Twilight gave him a quick and unexpected hug.
"Thank you, I know you haven't been here long, but in the time you've been here you've been a better pony to me in a short time than most are in a day, well everypony is really nice to me, but your a special kind of nice," she held a big smile on her face as she hugged Shade. He however was blushing, but he didn't know why, perhaps it was the warmth that Twilight was giving off and it was making him hotter, or perhaps it was something else, whatever it was he seemed to enjoy it. Twilight saw the red on his cheeks, but only assumed he was hot, " Oh, your cheeks are so red you can even see it on your black scales, you must be burning up, perhaps your wound got infected before I could tend to it," Shade sheepishly grinned as best as he could and simply shook his head. He was about to suggest that he go somewhere else, not wanting to bother the princess, when he remembered they were in Twilight's library, he couldn't help but stare at all the books around them, Twilight saw him looking at their surroundings and promptly let him go, " I see you like my library, this isn't all of it, but I still have an impressive collection," She watched as Shade picked out a very old looking book,he eyes widened as he grabbed the fragile book, " Oh wait please do be careful that's a one of a kind and very old,".
To her surprise though, Shade held the book as if it were his own prized book, he flipped from page to page with such fluent movement even for just flipping through a book, " Impressive is correct, I remember there only being three copies of this book in existence," he inwardly grumbled to himself, " And if memory serves me well one of them belonged to myself... ,". Twilight looked at Shade in slight shock, she hadn't known of anypony but herself with knowledge of books like the one in Shade's claws, in fact other than the Princesses the attendants at the royal library, and Twilight herself, nopony else knew of that books existence. " You seem to be an adequate reader, I'm impressed, nopony other than myself has ever loved reading this much," his words brought a smile to Twilight's face, it was rare that anypony had praised her for her love of books, most told her books weren't everything.
Twilight stared at Shade as he flipped through the book, never in her life had she met a stallion, well she guesses that sh should refer to him as one, but never in her life had she met a stallion like him before, " Such a kind hearted and intelligent individual, I wonder if he has a special somepony, oh what are you saying Twilight, you only just met him, besides he probably has more important things on his mind , ". As Twilight argued with herself in her head, Shade moved onto another book, another old one, but not as old as the previous one, he read it with an intrigued expression while Twilight remained stuck in thought. It wasn't until a thought hit her that she was pulled from her inward argument, the thought, introducing Shade to her friends. " Shade, I have a great idea, since your up and able to move around, maybe i could let you meet my friends, you know, help you get accustomed to Ponyville, I mean if your gonna be staying you need to know the area....you will be staying won't you," she looked at him with a pleading look, to be honest she didn't want him to just leave right then and there.
Shade looked at her for a good three minutes, staring at her in awkward silence before finally answering, " Of course I am, what form of guest simply leaves when their hostess is as kind as you are princess Twilight," she could tell he was doing his best to sound formal, why he was, she didn't know, all she knew was his response left a big smile on her face.
" That's wonderful news, now let's hurry, I can't wait for everypony to meet you," despite the fact he didn't want to leave the library, he had to comply, after all. he was the guest of royalty, something he thought he would never be again in his life, but there was something about this princess that was different from all the others he had met, he just couldn't put his claw on it. By the time Shade started pondering the thought, he was already out the door with Twilight holding onto his claw.
Near the Center of Ponyville, Inside Rarity's Boutique
Rarity had invited her friends over to show all of them her new line of clothing, she felt proud as this felt like one of her greatest accomplishments to her, " I'd like to thank all of you for coming for this momentous occasion,". She however was quickly cut off by Applejack who tapped her with her hoof.
" Not to ruin yer moment sugar, but not all of us are here, a certain princess is missin," Applejack only rolled her eyes as Rarity and the others gasped, she was the only one who had noticed that Twilight was the only one of them who hadn't shown up yet.
A certain pink party pony didn't seem to excited about Twilight being late," She said she'd be here, maybe shes just being a tardy pants," where as pinkie did have a point, some of the others had other thoughts in mind.
Applejack was fed up with hearing the squabbling, " Now would all of yah hush up, I bet Twilight just got side tracked, it ain't the end of the world if she don't show up on time, I bet she'll walk through the door at any moment," and as if right on cue, Twilight walked through the doors, " That was was fast," Applejack implied, but she and the other ponies were even more shocked when the pitch black dragon walked in right behind her.
" We're here," Twilight chimed, " now everypony I would like you to me-," she was cut off by Rainbow Dash pulling her aside and stepping where she was getting right in Shade's face.
She gritted her teeth as she stared at the dragon, " Hey pal just who do you think you are following Twilight around, why I ought to slug you right here and now, explain yourself before I get mad," Rainbow Dash said in a rather hotheaded matter.
" Rainbow Dash please just listen to me," but her words fell on deaf ears.
" Not talking huh, well then here I come," She backed up, expanded her wings and launched right at Shade, but instead of hitting the dragon as she planned on, it was as if she passed right through him as she kept flying and slammed right into the dirt. Rainbow Dash along with her friends were shocked to see that Shade was in the same exact place he had been before Rainbow rushed him, as if he had never even moved, " Just, just who are you," she said in a slightly shaken voice.
That's when Twilight stepped in, " That's what I was trying to tell all of you before you went into over protective mode, everypony, this is Midnight Shade, hes a guest staying with me for the time being,". The rest of the main six had a look of shock on their faces which was quickly replaced with regret. Twilight saw the looks on their faces and used her magic to pull all of them to her where she gave them a big group hug, " Girls it's OK, but you need to know that not every suspicious looking pony in town is going to hurt me. The others looked rather confused when she referred to Shade as a pony.
Applejack was the first to speak everypony's mind, " Uh sugar, not to be rude or anything, but hes not exactly very...pony-like,".
This caused Twilight to chuckle slightly, which brought on further confusion to her friends, " That's because hes a hybrid," she saw that everpony, but Pinkie and Rainbow Dash understood her. She rolled her eyes as she began to explain, " A hybrid as in a mixed creature, hes a mixture of a pony, a unicorn to be precise, and a dragon," she watched in an amused manner as her friends looked at the hybrid with bewildered eyes.
" That's correct," Shade said, the ponies were slightly surprised, they hadn't expected the dragon to speak, " My mother was a unicorn, and my father was an unknown dragon who was passing by my home on the annual dragon migration, I possess both the physical prowess of a dragon with the magical prowess of a unicorn,".
Nopony spoke until Pinkie Pie got a sly look on her face and scooted over towards Rarity, " Hey Rarity, you know what that means, it means and Spi-," she was cut off by Rarity placing her hoof over her mouth.
Rarity had a nervous look on her face, " No Pinkie darling we shall talk about no such thing at the moment," she turned her gaze away from pinkie and towards Shade, " Please darling make yourself at home, a friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine, and might i say, your scales are an absolutely breathtaking shade of black, and your eyes, as red as rubies ".
Shade looked at the ground, it had been so long since anyone complimented him on his looks, it felt strange to him," Thank you miss....Rarity was it," She nodded in response giving a smile along with it.
After a few minutes of standing in the same place, he was about to sit down when he felt someones gaze on him, he turned to see the cyan pony who had attempted to attack him when he first showed up, she was inspecting his wings, " These look like some strong wings, you must be a fast flier," he only nodded to comply, " I like that, I'm Rainbow Dash, The fastest flier in all of Equestria, although I'm sure you've heard of me.
He only scratched the top of his head in confusion, " I cannot say that I have, and as for you being the fastest flier, where as I have never seen you fly before, I can say this, there is no such thing as the fastest, cause eventually, there will be somepony faster than you,". Rainbow Dash looked at him with a dumbstruck look on her face, not only did he not know her, but he also doubted her being the fastest, which in her book, was a first class insult.
Twilight came up and put her hoof on rainbow's shoulder, " Rainbow, Shade isn't saying it to be mean or anything, hes just saying you can't be the fastest forever , OK? the last thing Shade would do would be insult you,".
Rainbow Dash soaked in her friends words, before simply nodding, she then looked at he dragon, eyeing him all over , " What about you, are you a fast flier," she asked out of the blue.
Shade just looked at her before speaking, " I wouldn't say I'm the fastest, but I can maneuver well enough in the air, I trained myself by staying out in severe thunder storms and even a hurricane, dodging lightning bolts and holding against the harsh winds," After hearing this Rainbow Dash had a more shocked look on her face, she had heard of ponies flying in dangerous situations to hone their flying abilities, but never once had she heard of one willingly face a hurricane.
" Your something else you know, your like, an even cooler version of a dragon, like a twenty percent cooler version of one,"she patted Shade on the back before walking over to Applejack.
The farm pony looked at her friend with a teasing face and chuckled, " Someponies smitten ain't they,".
Rainbow growled at Applejack, " So I can't call a pony cool without liking them huh, I didn't say anything when I saw you looking at his flank,".
Rainbow's remark caused Applejack to blush deeply, " Oh hush up, you were lookin at it too, hes got a darn nice one," Rainbow Dash bumped Applejack in the shoulder with her hoof, " Hey what in tarnation was that for," but she wasn't getting a response, Rainbow was too busy laughing.
Twilight could only smile as she saw her new friend getting along with her best friends, although she was surprised when she saw Shade walk to the other side of the room. She trotted over to him to see he had a confused look on his face, " Shade, what's wrong, you seemed to enjoy yourself just a moment ago," she asked with genuine worry.
He looked at her before turning his head towards a window, " I was only thinking, being surrounded by so many friendly ponies, it reminds me of when I was young and had friends like this...I'll tell you about it when we return to your home, the memory is too painful to talk about in the current situation," Twilight nodded to him, he replied with his own gesture by giving her a slight smile.
She gave him a smile in return, " Shade, you may be new to my life, but consider yourself my new best friend," She gave him a hug, which surprised him, but because he had experienced a hug from her before, he decided to attempt to return the gesture, sure he was shaky, but he still managed to give her a hug. Twilight's smile got bigger as she took in the warmth he was giving off, " And your welcome to stay with me as long as you'd like,".
His smiling growing bigger, Shade, for once in over five thousand years, felt genuinely happy, " Perhaps I should forget my old life, maybe I can start a new slate, forget Celestia ,".
He kept hugging Twilight before promptly letting go, he thought that now he could start off on a new life, but before he could tell Twilight, a little white filly with purple and pink hair rushed inside towards Rarity, " Rarity, girls, you'll never believe, Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville to hold some kind of festival,". Everypony looked excited at the thought of the festival, everypony, except for Shade.
One thought went through his head at that moment, one thought that been haunting him ever since he had been freed, the thought of being frozen in crystal and locked away, especially not now that he had finally made friends like Twilight and the others. He rushed out the door and towards Twilight's castle, " S..shade?!, girls i'll go after him you stay here," she made chase after him, something was wrong with him and she needed to get down to the bottom of it.
Author's Note
Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, sorry if this chapter came out later than I had planned it too, I had to do some home renovations yesterday and most of the day before that. Anyway, I hope all of you guys and girls enjoy this chapter, there isn't exactly any action in it, but there will be in the next chapter, keep reading and I'll be sure to put out the next chapter as soon as possible, oh and I'm always up for taking ideas, so if you guys and gals have any, just send them to me in the message or leave a comment, that's up to you. Well I'll talk to everyone next chapter, later
Sometime Later, In The Crystal Empire
After what seemed like the longest train ride ever, the locomotive bound for the Crystal Empire finally arrived in it's destination. Everypony had begun leaving the train, save for a certain group of ponies. The group of six had circled around their sleeping friend, trying their hardest to wake him up before the train took off again. " It's no use darling, we've tried just about everything and he still isn't awake, we should just carry him out, " suggested Rarity as she feigned falling over.
Applejack rolled her eyes then looked at Twilight with a small smirk, " We haven't tried everything, there's one last thing we could try, ain't that right Twilight? "
" Wha-what do you mean Applejack, " the lavender princess gave a sheepish grin as her orange friend leaned in close to her.
However before Applejack could speak again Rainbow Dash flew up in between the two. " Oh for the love of Celestia just kiss him already before the darn train leaves with us on it! "
Rainbow Dash's voice made Twilight's ears ache from being so close. She rubbed her sore ears as she turned towards Shade, " OK, OK there's no need to shout. " And Twilight did just that, she leaned in close to her sleeping coltfriend and gave him a light peck on the lips, " There, happy Rainbow Dash, it didn't work, this isn't some fairytale a kiss wont- " but before she could continue speaking, Shade began to move slightly.
The crimson eyes of Midnight Shade slowly cracked open as he awoke from his deep slumber, where they immediately laid upon the purple eyes of Twilight Sparkle. " Tw-Twilight? Is that you..? Are we there? " He lifted his large body upwards whilst he was still asking the mare questions.
" Told you the kiss would work, " whisper Rainbow Dash to Applejack, who promptly replied with a hoof-punch to Rainbow Dash's shoulder, " OW! hey! "
" My bad, " Applejack said with a grin.
" Easy there Shade, " Twilight helped him to his four feet while keeping one of her front legs wrapped around his. " Yes we're here, now just take it easy, " the group began walking out of the train, where they were almost immediately met gazes of both fear and amazement.
The many stares quickly agitated the hybrid, " Just what do they think they're looking at.... "
The six ponies accompanying him looked on with fearful faces as they saw the vein on his forehead swell with his temper. " ...Somepony do something... " Rainbow Dash spoke in a hushed voice with her teeth clenched.
" ...What do ya want me to do...wrangle him with my lasso, sure Rainbow Dash that'll go over just well...! " Applejack replied in her own hushed tone.
Before Shade could do anything too drastic, Rarity, and surprisingly Fluttershy, got in his way, cutting off his view of the other ponies on the train platform. " Now now darling, there's no reason to do rash, " Rarity gave the most convincing grin she could as she and Fluttershy walked in front of shade the whole way.
" Y-yes Shade....there's no reason to hurt anypony just b-because they look at you in an odd way... " Fluttershy gave the most confident look she could muster in her attempt to deter Shade's wrath.
Though the two ponies were shaky as they tried convincing the half-breed, their attempts were indeed successful. " ...Very well...but only because you two are my friends, that and I intend on releasing my rage upon a very specific pony. "
The group of six as well as Spike watched as he walked ahead of them, something that made them worry greatly. " Cmon everypony, the last thing my dad needs to do is be on his own in this place! " Spike called out as he rushed off to accompany his father.
Twilight nodded before following him, " Spike's right, not only does Shade not know his way around here, but he might also be a wanted criminal here. "
" Did Twilight just say he might be a criminal? " Applejack asked with a look of both confusion and concern as she followed them with the rest of her friends right behind her.
Elsewhere Inside the Crystal Empire Castle
Princess Celestia stared longingly out at the large crystal city that surrounded the castle, she had been anticipating the arrival of one pony for days. Her sister Luna walked up behind her, with another expression on her face, worry. " Sister, he's here isn't he...? "
Celestia nodded, " I can feel the intense rage from here. " The gaze of the solar princess didn't falter, it remained on a single spot, " It's so much stronger than it was before...so much...darker... "
" Sister perhaps we should simply call this meeting off, " Luna suggested to her older sister. While she detested Shade with every fiber of her being, she knew just how big of a threat he could be and that leaving might be the best action.
However Celestia shook her head in response, " To run away would only anger him more, we must atone and make peace with Shade, lest his rage will grow infinitely. "
But before Luna could get another word in on the matter, a crystal guard came rushing out onto the balcony. " Your royal highness! Your.....guest have arrived... "
The princess of the sun could see fear in the guards eyes, this assured her of the feeling she had been having. " Thank you for informing me, you are free to take leave now, " she made her way past her sister and the guard before leaving the room entirely.
" Sister please wait! " Luna hastily followed her sister down to the throne room, where both Shining Armor and Cadence had been waiting for them.
" Ah princess Celestia there you are, " Shining Armor turned towards the sisters and gave a small bow before noticing the serious look on Celestia's face. " Princess what's the matter, whatever it is Cadence and I could see to it, " he offered generously.
Again Celestia replied with a shake of her head, " There is nothing that can be done yet Shining Armor, my special guest has arrived. "
This information brought expressions of worry and anger to both Cadence and Shining Armor. " So the monster has finally returned... " Cadence mumbled, but still received a distasteful look from Celestia, causing her to turn her head away.
" Midnight Shade is my problem and mine alone, I want the two of you to simply stand aside, " Celestia declared in a much more serious tone than usual. " Unless things spiral out of control, in that case.....Just remember what I told you... "
They were hesitant at first but soon both Cadence and Shining nodded, " ....We understand aunt Celestia... " replied Cadence.
Just a few rooms away, Twilight Sparkle, along with her friends and Shade, waited patiently for Celestia, with some being more patient than others. Twilight could see the displeased look on Shade's face slowly morphing into that of an enraged one. " Shade please calm down, we're going to get through this, together, " she placed her hoof on top of Shade's claws and looked him in the eyes.
After a brief amount of eye contact between the two Shade turned his head away, " Very well, but she has five more minutes before I leave, and that's final. "
Twilight let out a sigh of defeat knowing that she couldn't convince him to stay otherwise. Pinkie Pie came up to the two and wrapped her hooves around their necks, " Oh come on Shady just stay already! We can throw a party after this big old boring meeting! "
Not even the smile on Pinkie Pies face could deter Shade's decision, " Pinkie Pie, no "
" Hey you didn't even give Pinkie a chance! " Rainbow Dash yelled out at the angered hybrid.
" And who says I needed to!! " Shade replied angrily, he was becoming more agitated by the second.
" Everypony just please stop! " Twilight stepped in between the two, preventing any physical violence from breaking out.
It was that moment when Celestia stepped into the room, followed by dead silence. Nopony uttered a word, which added onto the already sudden and thick tension. " Please come this way, " she gestured with her head. It wasn't until Celestia spoke up that the silence was lifted, however it did nothing to dissipate the tension in the air.
Twilight took immediate notice of what looked like smoke rising from Shade's body, " Shade please calm down and just listen to what she has to say! "
Shade looked Twilight dead in the eyes, " Fine, but if ONE thing doesn't go how I want them too, there will be hell to pay Twilight, so when that happens I want you and the others to get to a safe distance. "
The princess of friendship just stood there for a moment as Shade walked off. Several scenarios ran through her head all at once causing her to panic and run after him, " Shade wait!! Don't do anything you'll regret!! "
" I've never regretted anything I've intentionally done, " Shade stated calmly before walking into the next room.
Twilight panicked internally, if Shade went berserk now there would be no way she could talk everypony out of imprisoning him, or worse. " How can he be so calm when saying things like that! Oh I just hope things don't get out of hoof , " she hastily followed her coltfriend, desperately hoping he could keep what little cool he had.
Once inside the throne room all eyes were on Shade, every guard and member of royalty stared him down, some with glares, others with expressions of fear. The first pony to speak up was Cadence, " It's so wonderful to have you all here again and I hope you enjoy your sta- "
However Before she could finish her sentence with the most sincere voice she could, she waas abruptly cut off by Shade. " That's enough, I have no time for pleasantries, I'm here because you "asked" for my presence Celestia, so cut to it. "
Shade's interruption and disrespectful tone of voice angered Shining Armor, " Why you no good!! "
But Celestia spread her wing out in front of Shining, preventing him from moving towards Shade. " He is right, I did call for him to be here, and so I will get to the very reason I did so, " Celestia spoke calmly, although deep inside she was having multiple doubts.
" Princess Celestia if I may interrupt I think Shade needs some rest, the train ride took a lot out of him, " Twilight fibbed in an attempt to get as much space between the two as possible.
" I'm fine Twilight, now if this backstabber would be so kind to tell me why she pulled me out here on such short notice, I'll be happy to not raze this castle. " Shade's words only angered Shining Armor more, something Shade took notice of the glare he was receiving and returned the gesture tenfold.
It was then that Spike walked into the room, which drew everyponies attention at once. There was one pony whose attention was drawn to Spike more than everpony else, his birth mother. Celestia's eyes met with Spikes for a short moment before the young drake took refuge behind his fathers leg, only peeking out occasionally. This saddened Celestia, she never intended to hurt Spike the way she did, but she had to look past all that, at least for now only. " Shade, there is an important reason I called you here, something I've been meaning to speak to you about ever since you appeared in Ponyville. "
" Well if you're going to say it then say it already I'm already fed up with all these bothersome ponies staring holes into me! " he growled in response, his agitation at it's peak by this point.
" That's enough!!! " Shining Armor shouted as he stepped forward. " I've had jsut about enough of your disrespectful mouth! If you speak out of line once more I'll be forced to place you under arrest! " The threat did nothing except make Shade start laughing, which only scared the more fearful ponies, " What's so funny! "
Shade laughed for a solid minute before giving the prince a powerful glare, " You are, you ponies think you can police me because I'm different than you, you think just because I look like a monster you have the right to mistreat me!! " Shade stomped towards the male unicorn, with a mighty rage in his eyes, " So prince charming I'm going to give you one chance to shut up, before I break your other leg!!!! " As Shade drew closer to Shining several crystal guards moved in his way, which only angered him more, " OUT OF MY WAY!!!!! " and with a swing of his horn and a little use of his magic, the guards were sent flying into a wall.
This time it was Cadence who stood up, " Vile monster! I sent you away before I'll do it again! " Her horn began to glow as she rushed at Shade the same way she had done before, however this time she didn't make contact, in fact she didn't get close to him. Cadence was completely immobilized in the air by Shade's magic, " L-let go of me you beast!! "
" Gladly, " was all Shade before dropping her on the cold hard floor.
" That is enough!!!!!!! " Celestia stamped her foot, causing everypony to turn their heads towards the princess of the sun. Celestia had not been this angry in some time, she could feel a rage of her own swelling up inside of her. " Now I called you here to talk Shade, not for you to assault the ponies of the Crystal Empire, now listen to me! " this outburst surprised everypony, including Shade himself to an extent.
" Heheheh! Hahahaha!! " Shade's sudden laughter confused and worried everypony in the throne room. " Heheh, Alright Celestia, I have a newfound respect for you, you're either really brave all of a sudden, or really stupid, so you got my attention...for now. "
Celestia was speechless, Shade would actually listen to her, especially after how aggressive he was previously. After giving a nod Celestia lowered her head and began to speak, " After all these years I've finally come to understand the pain I put you through...I'm the reason your hatred grew to such extreme heights....and I feel so responsible..not just for hurting you...but for hurting our son... "
Whispers filled the room, most of them being about the fact that princess Celestia had a child, with this monster of all ponies. " A-aunt Celestia...what are you saying?! What son could you possibly have with...that... " Cadence asked in a very baffled tone of voice.
Using her magic, Celestia lifted Spike up and moved him towards her. " This is our child....little Spike....now I won't go into how he came to be....but I will say I have hurt him....and I'm sorry....I'm sorry Shade...I want to make it up to you...please.... "
There was no response, the eyes of everypony in the room were laid on Shade, who at the moment had his head hung very low. His mane covered his face, making it impossible to tell what his facial expression was. It wasn't until they saw a faint red glow come from within his mane did the ponies in the room begin backing away.
" Sh-Shade....are you alright...? " Twilight asked as she inched closer to the dragon she loved.
A low growl escaped from his mouth, " You're.....you're.... " he muttered in a deep raspy voice. " YOU'RE SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " his voice suddenly boomed, and with enough force to physically knock ponies to the floor. The enraged half-breed raised his head, revealing an expression of pure, unadulterated rage, " HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!! YOU CALL ME HERE WITH THE INTENT OF SIMPLY APOLOGIZING FOR EVERY LAST THING YOU'VE EVER PUT ME THROUGH!!!!!!! " the ground beneath him cracked and crumbled as he raved violently.
" .....Shade.... " Celestia had expected this fully, but even she was taken back by the anger he was letting loose.
" You detestable mare!!!! You keep me from going to my own parents funeral!!!! Then when I leave to explore my own magic you track me down and brand me as some monster!!!!! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO HAVE GOVERNED MY LIFE THAT WAY!!!!!! " Shade's horn began sparking erratically with small red bolts of electricity.
" You don't think that I don't feel terrible for doing those things!! " Celestia yelled back, but her own yells were overshadowed by Shade's own anger.
" I HAVE THE RIGHT MIGHT TO BATHE THIS ENTIRE EMPIRE IN FLAMES WITH YOU IN IT!!!!!!!!! " Shade's fury had begun taking over his mind, blinding and deafening him to what he was saying and everything he'd do.
" That's it I cannot stand for this any longer!!! " Luna flew forward angrily, " Time to put you back in crystal where you belong you despicable, disgusting monstrosity!! Shining Armor, Cadence now!!!! "
As she called out the married royals used their magic to summon a very familiar crimson chain, one that at the sight of it furthered Shade's rage. " NO!!!!!!! YOU WILL NOT PUT ME AWAY AGAIN YOU BITCH!!!!!! " Fire began building up in Shade's mouth but before he could breath it he grabbed his chest. A sudden piercing pain overcame him, causing him to drop and leaving him totally vulnerable to the crimson binds that then wrapped around him with the help of Luna as well as several crystal guards.
" Luna NO!!!! " cried out both Celestia and Twilight.
" Back to the crystal where you belong monster!!! " And with a wave of her head she fired a massive magic blast at Shade with the intent of sealing him away, permanently this time.
The blast struck Shade directly, engulfing the half-breed with a blinding blue light. " NO!!!!!!!! " cried out the ponies and Spike who had accompanied Shade to the empire.
" There, the deed is do- " But as the dust from the blast faded away, Luna's eyes widened greatly. " Th-that can't be...that's impossible... " She slowly backed away as if she had seen death itself before her.
Celestia saw the same thing Luna did, but instead of looking fearful, she looked completely shocked, " ....How can this be... "
Shade was completely unaffected by the spell, if anything the magic seemed to aid him in regaining control of himself. He let out another furious growl before turning to face Luna, " .... Like I said...you will not....PUT ME AWAY!!!!! " a strong pulse of electric electricity escaped his horn as he roared out loud. The force from the literal shock wave was enough to shatter the chains around him as well as knock everypony against the walls, except for Twilight and Spike, who were amazingly unharmed.
Luna forced herself to stand, she gave the dragon an intense glare, " ...I won't give up..not till you pay... " She was determined to punish Shade for the many crimes he had committed, even if it cost her own life, " Feel the wrath of a princess of Equestria!!! " she went to fire a magical blast at Shade, but after a moment of focusing with her horn, nothing. " M-my magic..I can't use it!!! "
In fact nopony who had a horn, alicorn or unicorn, could use their magic, leaving them all horrified. " This is absolutely dreadful!!! " Rarity shouted as she desperately tried using her horn.
" ...What did you do you monster... " Shining Armor gritted his teeth as he stared down Shade.
Shade, who at this point had managed to calm down significantly considering the circumstance, simply looked on at the white unicorn. " I have no idea what you mean fool. "
While all the unicorns as well as the alicorns in the room began to panic, Twilight was experiencing an amazement all of her own. She could still use her magic, it was like the pulse ignored her altogether , " Incredible!! Look everypony! " she called out to get their attentions. Twilight used her magic to lift a few stones off the ground, while not an amazing feat in any sense, it shocked the rest of the magic users who had just been rendered helpless. " What Shade did, the electricity leaving his body...I've seen it before when we were in that griffon city...but nevermind that... what I really find fascinating is the effects it had on the unicorns and alicorns in the room, its almost like the...pulse...disabled your magic temporarily..or at least I hypothesize temporarily. "
" Uh could you speak in a language we all understand egghead... " Rainbow Dash muttered as she picked herself up off the floor.
Rainbow's attitude resulted in Twilight rolling her eyes, however before she could reply, it was Pinkie Pie who popped up and began speaking. " In other words Dashie, Shade's sparkly lightning can turn off the magic of anypony who has a horn, almost like it was the exact opposite of magic. "
Pinkie's rather, simple, explanation left Twilight speechless for a few moments. " She's...absolutely right...the electricity Shade put out is a type of anti-magic, an EMP of sorts.... " Twilight explained.
" What's an EMP? " Rainbow Dash questioned, still confused on what Twilight was saying.
" An EMP, or, an electro magical pulse, a term I've just come up with, is a pulse of electricity that is capable of knocking out the use of magic in ponies with horns. " Twilight felt proud in herself for giving such a descriptive explanation, but quickly dismissed the feeling once Rarity spoke up.
" Well that's all fine and wonderful darling, BUT HOW DO WE GET OUR MAGIC BACK!!!!! " the fashionista screamed in terror.
Twilight remained silent for a moment, she honestly didn't know how, all she could think of was that it would come back after a little while. As she was about to give another explanation though, her eyes drifted towards Shade, who was on the ground holding his chest and breathing heavily. " Shade!!! " she quickly teleported over to him and helped him to his feet, " Shade...what's wrong... " Then something dawned on her, " His heart...It's hurting him... , " her eyes widened as she remembered what the oracles had told her.
Suddenly Shade's ears began twitching, "..Wh...What now... " he could feel vibrations beneath him, as well as the sound of something breaking through the ground. Even with the pain he was experiencing, Shade pushed through, he had to keep Twilight safe at all cost. " EVERYPONY MOVE!!!! " he used his magic to move everypony else away before grabbing Twilight and leaping to a safe distance away.
" Sh-Shade what are you doing?! " Twilight practically cried out at his sudden actions. She soon got her answer though, as a large amber colored crystal shot out of the floor they had just been standing on. The crystal that was all too familiar with Shade, Twilight and their friends, as well as the two princesses. "...Sh-Shade.....is that.... " Twilight begun to speak, receiving a small nod from Shade, " That's what I was afraid of... "
" What in the name of Equestria is that? " Luna questioned as she slowly made her way towards it.
Celestia stared at the crystal in shock, it was completely identical to the one they had sealed Shade away in all those years ago. " I...I am unsure sister... "
Upon further inspection Luna could make out the shape of a pony within the monolithic crystal, " Sister there is a pony in there! " Luna couldn't believe what she was seeing, it started dawning on her that the spell they had used on Shade might have some connection to this.
But before Luna could get a further look Shade had begun rushing towards her in a panic, " Get away from there!!!!!! "
Luna was caught off guard by Shade's sudden actions and froze in place. It wasn't until the crystal began cracking that Luna began worrying about something other than Shade, " ...By the night sky.... "
" Luna move!!!! " Shade practically tackled her out of the way, and just in time too. The very second Shade got Luna out of harms way the crystal shattered, releasing hundreds of deadly crystal shards. Despite this nopony was harmed by them due to a magical barrier put up by Twilight at the last second. Shade glared at Luna whom he sat on the ground after saving her, " When I say move I mean move!!! "
However Luna was struck with utter shock, the thing, no, the pony she hated the most, had just recklessly saved her life. " ...You...you saved me... " she muttered shakily.
Shade quickly turned away from her, avoiding eye contact at all cost, " Yeah whatever, give me a medal sometime later...there are more pressing matters on hoof... "
Everypony's attention was suddenly turned towards the thing that had just been within the crystal. The pony who had erupted from within the crystal limply floated in midair, remaining in the exact same spot they had been in inside the crystal.
" It's....it's a pony.. " Shining Armor remarked, " But ...are they alive? "
Shining Armor's question would soon be answered by the pony abruptly opening their eyes. " Does that answer your question?! " Rainbow Dash replied, obviously panicked by the situation, especially knowing the dangers of these crystals.
The pony dropped to the floor below before raising herself up to her hooves. Her body cracked and creaked as she stood herself up, her head hung as if her neck had been broken, but this didn't deter the pony from forcibly changing the direction of it. The shape of her body was eerily similar to that of an alicorn, in fact that's exactly what she is, the only thing was her horn was crystalline in appearance. But the most disturbing parts of her anatomy were what took everypony by surprise. Where most alicorns possessed wings, she merely had stumps, her eyes were bloodshot and dilated with her pupils being in slit shapes lastly, several parts of her body had been either crystallized or replaced by crystal all together.
" ...I'm...free... " she breathed in a disturbing manner as she looked over the room repeatedly before landing on Shade. " ....Brother....or should I say... " without warning she flung her head back, straightening it out with a loud snap. " TRAITOR!!!!!!!! " she screamed with enough volume and force to shake the castle violently.
" ....Not again...Not another freak calling me their brother!!! " Shade stamped his foot down hard but before he could attack he clenched his chest once more, " .....Dammit.....not again..... "
Shade's words confused most of the ponies in the room, all except Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. " ...Shade..what do you mean not again? " Celestia asked, not understanding what it is that he meant.
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as memories of the thing from the woods came flashing back to her, " It's just like that freakish blob from the forest! "
" I think Rainbow Dash is right, shes got the same look that one eyed varmint had in it's eyes, " Applejack remarked cautiously.
The mysterious "alicorn" began cackling wickedly, her eyes remaining focused on Shade. " So you ran into our little sister, she might be master's favorite, but I'll do what she couldn't!! I WILL KILL OUR TRAITOROUS BROTHER!!!! " The castle shook once more with her shout, except this time her horn began glowing. " Once you're dead master will love me like I've always wanted him too, so be a good little brother and DIE!!!!!!!! " with her shout and a flash of her horn large crystalline wings formed out of the stubs on her back.
" ...I'd like to see you try you crazy bitch... " Shade fought through the pain in his chest, doing his best to make his way towards the maniacal pony.
" Then i'll try not to disappoint you, " she gave a horrific grin followed by her hair and eyes glowinga bright neon blue, " Now do what your big sister says and perish!! " the alicorn wasted no time in firing a large magic blast at Shade, sending the already pained dragon flying through several pillars and finally into the wall of the throne room.
Shade let out a painful cry upon impacting the wall, " ...this stupid heart pain.... " he said as he continued to clench his chest.
" Awww poor baby does it hurt, here let big sister make it better!!!! " suddenly her horn began glowing and large pillar like crystal shot form the ground before flying towards Shade and impaling him in the center of his chest and wings.
" AAAGHCK!!! " Shade spat up blood upon impact as he desperately grasped the crystal in his chest trying to crush it.
" SHADE!!!!!! " cried out Twilight and her friends.
" DAD!!!!! " Spike yelled as he ran towards his father only to be stopped by the hoof of the pony that assaulted him.
She gave the young drake a terrifying grin with her eyes opened wide, " Don't worry you adorable little thing, you'll be joining your daddy shortly, you all will. " Before she could do anything though several crystal guards rushed into the throne room and towards the alicorn, " One moment please, " she said calmly as he horn began glowing again when a bright flash suddenly came from the tip.
" What is she doing?! " Luna yelled out as she and every other pony covered their eyes from the blinding light.
When the light died down everypony opened their eyes, however they soon wished they hadn't. " ...Dear Celestia... " Twilight mumbled as she looked on at the crystal guards, or should she call the the crystallized guards. " ...They're frozen in solid crystal... " Twilight couldn't fathom what she was looking at, it must've been the work of the alicorn's magic.
Princess Celestia had had enough, but without her magic she couldn't do a thing to stop her. " Stop this senseless violence!!! Now tell me who are you and why are you doing this!!! " Celestia was furious, not only had she hurt Shade, but she had also dragged innocent ponies into the matter as well.
" Heheheheheh, " the pony chuckled loudly and gave the equestrian ruler an entirely different look, it lacked any of the insanity of the others, but had just as much malice as any of the others. " I suppose since you're all about to die I could tell you who I am, or should I say, who I was. "
" ...Who she was? What does that crazy mare mean... " Rainbow Dash asked in a whisper.
" ...How am I supposed to know Rainbow Dash now quickly talkin and think of somethin quickly or things are about to get much worse.. " applejack replied.
" I was once the most beautiful alicorn alive, " the maniacal pony began speaking, " Back when we flourished in the world, when there weren't a hooful of us left, I was the empress of this lustrous empire. "
" You were a ruler of the crystal empire?! " almost everypony cried out at once.
She nodded in an eerie manner before continuing to speak, " Yes, I led this wondrous empire into an era of prosperity, one that rivaled canterlots, " but she paused suddenly. " That was until a great evil threatened my home, however rather than defend it....I embraced it, I allowed it into my land and I fell madly in love with it. " She began cackling as she reminisced on how she was sealed away, " I had a dear friend of mine seal me away with a very unique spell, so that I could be with my master, and he promised me we could be together if I can take the life of Midnight Shade. "
Everypony's eyes widened upon hearing her revelation, " That's why you're doing this?! To be with some terrible monster!! That's why you hurt Shade!! "
The insult of her master angered the empress, " BITE YOUR TONGUE YOU PEST!!!!! " she didn't even use magic and somehow she sent Twilight tumbling hard back towards her friends. " I've had enough of you rodents, now just die so that I may be with my master once and for all!! " She gave a single flick of her head and something bright and familiar appeared on her horn, a magi blade. " Farewell pest!! " her blade shot forward at an incredible length, going far enough out of the castle that it stuck out of the front of it.
" ....That's...that's not possible... " Celestia said in disbelief.
" The end is now for you fillies and foals, " the crystal empress swung her head around in a full circle, managing to cleave the castle in two in a single swing. " Goodbye, I'll see you all never!! " and in a flash she was gone.
The second she vanished the castle began to rumble and crumble from above. " The castle's going to collapse! " Cadence cried out, " everypony get out quickly!! "
" No not until we get Shade off that wall!! " Twilight protested, she refused to leave him there while they escaped.
Shining Armor rushed over to his sister and tried moving her away from the half-breed, " Twilight there's no time! ...Beside I doubt he could survive a wound like that...Now get out of the castle!! "
" NO!!!! " Twilight's voice boomed as she unintentionally moved her brother away with her magic.
" Uh, I hate bein the bearer of bad news, " Applejack said, interrupting the sibling argument, " But there is no way out! "
Every possible exit had been sealed by the same type of crystals that were used to attack Shade. " Please no!!! " Rarity banged her hooves against the crystal with great futility as did almost every other pony.
Twilight looked up in horror to see the ceiling collapsing and falling towards them at great speeds. Her tear filled eyes widened, " SHADE WE NEED YOU!!!!!!! " she clenched her eyes shut as cried out in desperation.
The world had gone dark around Shade, his heart pain wouldn't fade and now he had the pain of his abdomen being impaled weighing on him. " ...This pain....it's unlike anything I've ever felt...it's almost as if my heart is going to explode....just...just need a little rest... , " he could feel his thought's leaving him at a rapid pace. When suddenly a light shined in on the darkness that had surrounded his mind. " ...Mustn't give up...must fight pain...but why...why should I... " " SHADE WE NEED YOU!!!!!! , " Twilight!!! " Twilight's pleas reached Shade within the darkness of his mind, forcefully pulling him from death's door and rejuvenating him completely, and once Shade's strength had returned to him, his eyes shot open.
Author's Note
Hey there everypony, sorry for the majorly overdue update, for the past month my computer's been busted and I've had to save up for a replacement which I just recently got. However now that I have said new computer I will be putting out a chapter within the next week and a half and if my work schedule stays cleared up I'll have another out in that same pattern, maybe faster if said schedule is clear enough. Anyway, getting away from that subject this chapter was already halfway done by the time my computer had gone on the fritz so if it looks like one half is written differently than the other that's why, I've done my best to fix that so maybe you'll notice and maybe you won't. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that you'll keep reading, leave you're thoughts in the form of a comment and whatever else you feel like, I'll see you all again as soon as I can
