Chapters The Shadow Tales: Before the Shadow War
A Father's Vengeance A Mother's Forgiveness
A Father's Vengeance A Mother's Forgiveness
Have you once heard of a Father one who looks after the foals and teaches them skills and virtues such as strength, survival, choice, and, necessity? Or maybe you have heard of a mother who holds the foal in her loving hooves and teach them the virtues of mercy, kindness, morality. Well what if I told you that the shadows had a mother and father, two who taught the shadows different things then what an average guardian would teach. The mother taught the shadows to live as she breathed life into each and every one of them, the father only taught them death as he taught them to make weapons of war and ingrained the knowledge of fighting and war into their minds. Have you heard of a gift, a present, a blessing, the shadows were given two gifts since the race first began the mother's gift the capacity to love, feel, and grow and excel into beings of their own as they gained curiosity and the want to learn. The father's gift was the capacity to hate, destroy, and crush all those in their path as they were given bodies of darkness and a cruel design. The shadows were blessed by these two gifts, but sadly most could never wield the gifts for how can you learn when you were made to destroy, and how can you mindlessly kill when you feel the ever growing thought of mercy. The shadows lived their lives within this limbo of contradiction and existence, but legends state that there are shadows who learned to co-exist between these two gifts and gain true sentience, it is said they are destined to one day shake the very foundation of the shadows, and where they stand within the world. The father and the mother were not always all powerful beings who brought life to the forgotten race, once they were simple ponies who were in love.
~~~Equestria during the Great Civil War 1000 years ago~~~
A lone pony looked up from the cliff he was standing on as he watched the night sky alone to think on his thoughts as tomorrow he had to go and face the event known as a war where good stallions enter but come out as something different, something twisted. But he wasn't alone as he heard soft hoof steps approach his position and he knew those steps anywhere as he turned to see a unicorn with a with a brown coat walk up to him. He smiled as he admired the rest of her features as he looked at her mane which was mostly a light yellow which could have looked as if they were strands of sunshine from Celestia's sun and the streaks of white on her mane also shined with a brilliant glow matching Luna's moon as he walked closer to the mare. Once they are inches away from each other they stare deeply into one another's eyes as his eyes shown conviction to his duty and the love he felt for this mare while her eyes shown worry and fear but also returned a look of love as well as their faces inched closer. They shared a tender kiss under the rays of the moonlight and after a few moments they separate as they wait for the other to talk first as silence fills the air as they stare at one another until the mare decided to break the silence.
"Dark Soul Branded, what are you doing here I assumed you would be at the tavern to give me one final dance before you----" She stops as she starts tearing up and hugs Dark
Dark held his lover close to him as he replied "Please dry your tears Purity Light I was merely out here to think and lost quick track of time I did not mean to break my promise I had to you."
Purity looked at Dark and shushed him as she said "Dark please I'm not crying because you forgot but on the fact that you're leaving to fight and this may be the last time I will ever see you my love." as she rested her head in his black coat
"I know you are saddened that I'm doing this but the war is getting serious and I fear if nopony ends this war then you will be one of this war's victims and I'd give my life to this cause if it means you will be safe my one hope and light" Dark says as he pats her on the back and whispers sweet nothings into her ears to calm her
Purity looks up as her eyes dried "How will I know if you won't just die out there when fighting?" She asked as she looks into his eyes yet again
Dark chuckled as he kneeled and pulled out a box and opened it revealing a ring as to which Purity gasped and teared up "This is how you know I won't die out there because when I end this war I will celebrate it with our marriage as we can live in a world where our children can live in peace" as he hugged her with his wings wrapped around her
Purity hugged back happily as they slowly rocked back and forth which slowly turned into them dancing with one another under the gaze of the moon for in this moment there was no war or conflict just the two ponies showing their endless love for one another
5 years later
Dark walked back to his hometown with bandages on him as he smiled greatly as today was the day he ended the war but even greater he was here to return to his love and reunite with her as he hopes to live the rest of his life with her, but as he returned to the village he heard news that somepony else was marrying Purity and it was his best friend Damien the only pony he entrusted Purity's safety to as he angrily stormed off to his long time friend's house. Dark knocked the door down splintering it to pieces as he ignored the splinters he had and walked over to his friend who was sitting calmly at a table eating soup, but before he could take a bite Dark slapped the meal away from the table as he breaks the table in half and yells "WHERE IS SHE?"
Damien smirked and said "You're going to have to be specific I know a lot of mares hell over half of this goddess forsaken land is filled with more mares then we can count" but he was quickly silenced as Dark threw him against the wall and said "WHERE IS SHE?"
Damien smiled as he said "Oh you heard the news well isn't this just an amazing day I'm getting married to such a stunning mare but do be careful she is in a bit of a bind"
Dark rushes up stairs he had no time to deal with this as he sees a tied up Purity and as he went up to her and took off the gag she screamed "DARK RUN NOW" and Dark could feel the blades enter him from the back as his vision turned to red and he hit the floor slowly bleeding out. Damien then walked off in front of Dark as he smashed his hoof against his muzzle as he laughed dragging Dark away into the deep part of the woods to waste away.
Dark struggled in the forest as he felt his life fade away and when his vision blackened he uttered out "P-Purity" before feeling the icy grips of death take hold of him. He later wakens in a dark plain and in the middle of it was a dying bipedal creature as it was slowly breathing heavily. Dark slowly walked towards it as the creature says "So another soul who has died tragically"
Dark merely shook his head as he looked for a way to return to the world of the living but after hours walked towards the being and said "Can you take me back to the world of the living?"
The creature nodded and said "Yes, I can take you back though at a cost which is to allow the darkness to consume you and your soul and become a monster warped beyond repair"
Dark didn't care about the cost as he accepted and felt it slowly ate away at him as bones cracked into place and in a few moments the creature in the chair was gone and Dark was now a bipedal shadow creature with hands as he took flight phasing past the line of death and into the living as he lands dark feathers floating around him as he pulls out a great sword ready to destroy the traitor
Damien sat in front of a crying Purity who had her head down not taking a look at her soup. Damien smiled and said "Please eat your soup dear it'll get cold just like the body of that little stallion friend Dark oh how I wished he was here to see this," but as he said that a wall bursted open as a dark figure stood by the entryway as its red eyes look at Damien with an icy glare.
Damien smirked and said "Oh great another interference well might as well take care of you" as he lunged at him but Dark in this new form merely grabbed Damien and threw him away into the forest but before he could pursue Damien and end him once and for all he saw Purity walking up to him saying "D-Darky is that you?" as she reached out to him
Dark stumbled back but Purity only came closer to him as she touches his face and says "Oh Darky I'm so glad you're alright please never put me through that ever again" as she hugs Dark tightly nuzzling into him. Dark could only hug back as he calmed his love and eventually they slowly rocked back and forth to calm their nerves as it slowly evolved into a sweet and tender dance and for the second time the two lovers shared a loving dance under the moonlight.
After the dance however feeling that Purity could be threatened he flew off with her in his arms as they lived isolated in the woods together for many years and eventually bore a son who they had named "Enigma" but there is always trouble in paradise as Damien came and with an order they burned the forest the three had been living in and Purity died. Dark was outraged by this and declared war on Equestria as he wanted to see it all burn to the ground but his son Enigma stopped his father by sealing him away and to make sure his father would not have to suffer the fate alone joined him as he split his soul which was used to create the race of shadows but when the Dark was sealed he was reunited with Purity as she was given the offer to accept a being of light into her as they recovered the soul of their child and created the shadows together. So that is the story for how the Dark Father and Brood Mother created the shadows or it could be a simple legend but this is not the end of the tale little foals we are just getting started.
The Shadow Tales: Before the Shadow War
A Shadow's Curiosity
Deep within a mountain and below its crusty interior there lay a place an underground base of some sort and at the edge of this supposed area was a portal that led to the surface as close to that door was a lone shadow shaped like a pony but wasn't a pony at all as it stared longingly at the door. By the shadow's hooves were a rune circle with ancient writing circling inside it as it glowed a red hue being the only source of light within the darkness that was its home. The shadow took one solitary step before he felt a presence behind him and looked back to see who had followed him to the door as he spots another shadow but this one was a bit taller by a few inches and had more muscles then his hooves as the bigger shadow spoke.
"What are you doing here again? You are not assigned here unless this is another one of your attempts at trying to reach the surface" the bigger shadow said as it took a step forward the two blades on its back glistening in the darkness
"Hey you know me just need that sunlight you know it helps make a shadow's life all the more brighter" the smaller shadow said in a joking manner as it took a step to the portal as he thought to himself "I made it this far can't go back now"
"You know I can't let you walk out of here. Going out there will bring unwanted attention and it goes against protocol to go up top without clearance from the Dark General and could warrant serious punishment" the bigger shadow said as we see the shadows inside it move around as it enters a bipedal stance as its fore hooves become fingers and hold onto the two swords on its back
"Yeah serious punishment wow you're right that slap to the hoof will really teach me a lesson about this" the smaller shadow says as it gets closer and closer to the portal each second becomes more anxious to go through
"Spell Caster of the fifth division of the ShadowLands you will stop where you are and report back to your post" the bigger shadow said as it took the swords out of their holsters and carries them in his hand
"Oh now we're bringing rank and name into this eh? Well Sharp Swords of the 17th division of the ShadowLands what are you going to do about me leaving?" Spell said as he looked at Sharp with a smug expression on his face as he entered a bipedal stance standing on two legs his forehooves not getting any fingers as the runes which he dubbed spell circles were forming on his forehooves as they stared each other down
Ponyville 12:00 am 5 days ago
Twilight Sparkle looked out her window for the 50th time as she was studying the magical anomalies that were happening near Ponyville such as time distortions where things go faster and slower then their normal speed, random bouts of darkness where it was dark when it should have been bright, and a random increase and decrease of gravity. She had recorded down the recent results from the observations she had made so far as she peered out her window yet again paranoid that there was a possible anomaly happening that she did not record down. Twilight looked back to her book as she studied on what these anomalies were and what they could possibly mean as she looked through many references and history books and even looking into books of legends to see and grasp what was happening. After a full night of studying Twilight sighed as she double checked her data and graphs to see if she was missing anything but soon fell asleep as exhaustion overtook her while the true event was going to happen closer then she would have ever expected.
Twilight woke up as the rays of the sun pierce through the window as she slowly got out of bed and check outside yet again for any changes that she needed to record as she walked downstairs hearing Spike in the kitchen preparing breakfast as she yawned getting herself a cup of coffee as she gave Spike a usual good morning.
"Good Morning Twilight, uh are you alright you look like you barely slept last night" Spike asked as he took a worried tone seeing the bags under Twilight's eyes
Twilight merely waved it off with her hoof and said "I'm fine Spike I was just up all night researching the anomalies that have been happening around Ponyville and the surrounding area" as she took a sip of her coffee
"I really think this isn't healthy Twilight I mean you've been staying up all night for the past week trying to figure out something that may not even be that serious and could just be something minor" Spike said as he bit into a gem he had on him
"Spike, you know how important this is when Princess Celestia herself says that these could be a very important signs of a threat to Equestria!" Twilight said to Spike to as she waved her hooves above her
But just when Spike was about to answer back with a reply a stranger in a hood had knocked on the door and let himself in as he looked over the many books that were in the library as if he were searching for a certain book of some kind as Twilight walked up to him.
"Hello sir its pretty early to come and borrow a book but you seem to be looking for one in peculiar is there anyway that could help in locating this certain book you would wish to borrow?" Twilight said as she tried to see past the stranger's hood
"Oh I was just skimming this here library for a book I've been searching for some time and yes I would be quite delighted to have a fine mare such as yourself to help me find what I have been looking for" the stranger says in a deep voice as his eyes twinkled behind his hood
"So what is the title of this book that you wanted to borrow?" Twilight asked as she looked around her library looking through books that were not commonly found
"Oh this book is called the "Shadow's Principle" an old book with a bunch of myths surrounding the legends of the shadows I doubt you've heard of them" the stranger said as he looked around
"Oh that book yes I do believe I have it and if I remember correctly there are only five copies that exist within Equestria" Twilight says as she takes out an old and withered book from the shelves
"Ah, yes that is what I am looking for" the stranger says as he takes the book from Twilight quickly and looks it over to see if it was the real deal
"You seem quite excited about that book I mean the contents are observations on where the supposed shadows live and a story about a stallion and a mare in love but were betrayed by a close friend and are reunited in death as they create the supposed shadow race" Twilight summarizes as she remembers reading it as a story in bed
"Yes, the story is quite a read but what I'm most interested is the story about the offspring between the two, Enigma the first shadow" the stranger says as he walks off with the book in hoof
"Wait sir I never got your name or where I can find you if I need to get that book back" Twilight yelled at the stranger
"Well I'm a wanderer so I'll come give it back when I need to return it and the name is Prometheus" he said as he walked off chuckling a dark aura could be felt at that moment as he disappeared
The Shadow Tales: Before the Shadow War
Time stood still as the two shadows stood and stared at each other as Sharp's swords were glistening in the darkness while Spell's spell circles were crackling and glowing with an intense arcane might as the two slowly moved around knowing that if one of them were to back then they would lose and the other would succeed. The silence between these two dark entities would go on for hours until Sharp broke the silence as he said
"Spell think long and hard about what you are going to do. Is it really worth this? Are you seriously going to put the very lives of all the shadows at stake to accomplish your goal? Are you that mad to reveal us to the world just to do what you want?" As Sharp raised his blades ready to charge Spell if necessary
"Yes, I truly think its worth it why it must be achieved. I swore on my life that I would leave this place to search for them, to find those things that the shadows lack, I swore an oath that I would check out those one of a kind mare flanks I mean you have to agree with me I mean those things are glorious. Just compare them to our females' and wow do they just blow you away." Spell said as if he had walked upon a glorious revelation while Sharp merely facepalmed as a sweat drop falls down the back of his head anime style
"I can't believe I'm having this sort of conversation with you Spell I thought after the first 50 attempts you'd learn that this is a stupid and terrible idea that would doom our very species to either enslavement or extinction." Sharp said in a tired tone as he rubbed his eyes from Spell's inability to understand their current situation but when he looked up he let out an annoyed and exasperated sigh as he saw no signs of the smaller shadow anywhere.
But as Sharp was about to jump through the portal after Spell he experienced intense pain as his body was engulfed by fire as the spell also caused the portal to close and as Sharp laid on the ground recovering from his injuries he telepathically communicated a message to the others to intercept Spell and hopefully stop him before he does something incredibly stupid and poorly thought out like the last 50 times he did something like this.
Meanwhile, Spell was running for it and after a few moments of running and looking around to see if any shadow had followed him he sighed and laid down on the soft grass beneath him. He took a deep breath taking in the natural and fresh air around him as he stared up at the night sky as stars twinkled around him as he saw constellations dance across the sky. After an hour of stargazing and wonder Spell finally got onto his hooves and was ready to explore this new world he's heard so much about as he sees a nearby village up ahead and when he reached the outer limits of the village he saw a sign that read "Welcome to the town of Shimmer Mist"
Spell smiled as he was excited for this might be the moment he meets creatures with flanks he could imagine on the level of a goddess. Spell stayed under the cover of the shadows that the trees were giving off as Spell could see a figure walk behind its home and walk through its garden. As Spell walked closer to this figure he could see that based on its features being similar to a shadow female that this figure in front of him is a pony female as he snuck up behind the unsuspecting female. Of course in most situations staring at somepony from the behind without alerting them could warrant for some undesirable behavior so with this in mind Spell walked up to the female from behind and when he was close enough tapped her on the back and said "Hello nice evening ma'am may I admire your admirable assets called a flank?"
Now the mare did what any mare would have done in this situation and proceeded to scream and smash a hoe right into Spell's face as an audible crack could be heard as Spell fell to the ground as he yells saying "Hey stop that you're supposed to be happy and blushing that I a downright stunning shadow asked nicely to admire your features" but this fell on deaf ears as the mare completely panicked as she smacked the garden tool against the poor shadow. This abuse continued on for about half an hour before Spell did a simple roll and grabbed the tool and threw it behind his shoulder and then tackled the mare to the ground cover her mouth before the screaming could wake up any more ponies and cause any unneeded trouble. Spell then dragged her into her home as he felt that any pony looking at this would take this the wrong way as he dragged her into the living room and into a chair as he said "Look stop screaming and I'll answer anything question you have and I won't do anything to you and if you want proof well you're just going to have to trust me at this point." The mare seeing no other option at the moment relented as she gave a nod and Spell swiftly uncovered her mouth allowing her to speak as she looks at Spell afraid as she asked "What are you? A monster and if you are one please don't eat me." as the mare whimpered in her chair.
Spell simply rolls his crimson eyes and says "No I'm not a monster and I would definitely not try to eat you I mean sorry for the insult you don't look tasty at all unless we're talking about a different type of eating are we?" The mare simply shook her head many thoughts going through her mind as she was with some creature who was obviously flirting with her poorly and looked like a monster ripped out of some horror story.
Spell simply sighed as he stared at the shaking mare as he saw this as a wasted opportunity as this was one of the few times he could leave the shadowlands with the search party still scrambling to respond after his attempt to explore the world of these pony creatures who's vibrant colors were blindingly positive compared to his previously dark life under the ground. But alas Spell's train of thought was interrupted as his ears twitch as he heard sounds farther then a pony could hear as the sound of the earth being pounded could be heard and in an instant Spell's eyes widened as he knew only one shadow who could make the earth tremble. In an instant he immediately got and grabbed the mare who was still panicking and ended up panicking further as she was being pushed throughout the woods as she says in a frightened tone "W-What's happening? W-What are we running from?" She keeps her voice down afraid this Spell would eat or even kill her if she spoke loudly.
Spell for the most part would stay quiet till he reached a clearing where he looked around frantically before dropping to the ground and huffing as he was exhausted and nervous. Eventually Spell gets up and looks at the mare with a scared and terrified look and says "Look I know you have a lot of questions right now but due to our most unfavorable of situations I think I only have enough time to tell you we are being hunted by a beast of a behemoth and I believe he actually will tear us apart if he catches us so it would be in our best interest to stay quiet or else we are going to be dead."
Silence fills the air as Spell worried looked at the mare to see if she was alright but instead what he saw was a face that looked like it peered into the darkest pits of death as Spell could hear heavy and aggressive breathing right behind his as cold air flows down his back sending chills down his spine. Spell petrified simply uttered a sentence and these were "He is right behind me isn't he?" As Spell said that a deafening roar could be heard behind him as Spell felt his blood turn icy from hearing that roar as he felt the shadow grip his torso slowly crushing it.
The Shadow Tales: Before the Shadow War
A Huge Misunderstanding Right?
Spell felt the cold icy grips of death knock on his door as he shook and turned to see a nine foot shadow standing over him and ordinarily if this was just a tall shadow, Spell would have absolutely no problem with talking it to death with his usual bravado. Unfortunately this was no simple tall run of the mill shadow, as Spell noticed the tense shadow life forces pumping through the veins of this behemoth as cruel spikes grew off its back. The menacing shadow growled, obviously pissed as he crushed Spell by slamming it's hand down slowly onto his chest, knocking him down onto the floor as the mare nearby let out a scream waking the rest of the town.
Spell let out a gasp in pain from the slowly growing pressure being placed down on his chest. "H-Hey come on n-now let's not get h-hasty here." Spell said as he was slowly losing the air in his lungs from the pressure of being crushed within the grip of the larger shadow, the mare slowly snuck away out of the clearing and back into the cover of the forest to lose the two. As soon as she reached it she would start to run in the direction of the other houses as she had to warn the others that monsters were invading.
Within an instant the larger shadow threw Spell into a wall as the force of impact would break the bones in both his left arm and leg with an audible snap. Spell attempted to get up quickly with blood bleeding from his wounds as the scared mare meet with the other inhabitants of the town who had all woken up and walked out of their houses quickly to see the two dark figures standing in the distance.
One of the ponies who had woken up walked to the panicked mare and said to her “Berry Mulch! What's happening here and what are those things?!” The audible sound of trees breaking could be heard as the Spell rolled and ran to each and every tree he could use to shield himself from the sharp spikes shot by the larger shadow as they impaled themselves into anything moving.
Berry Mulch looked at the pony her eyes filled with panic and fear as she said to him “I don't know what those monsters are! I only know that the small one invaded my home and almost kidnapped me and the larger one was going to kill me! We have to run before they realize we are here! Now Golden Shield!!!”
Golden Shield looked Berry Mulch in her eyes his determined red orbs looking into her scared green. He would step forward and glare as he said to Berry “Go and evacuate the rest of the town, if these monsters are what you say they are then that means they might hurt somepony and that's something I can't allow.” Golden would then walk towards the two shadows to keep them distracted and away from the rest.
Spell looked up to see a fist being swung at him as he rolled to the right narrowly avoiding the pound as it shook the ground. Spell would huff and grimace as was holding his wound tightly while catching his breath as his vision was getting blurry. He would look up to see the taller shadow approaching once again to deal another blow, but Spell smirked as it was time he brought out his silver tongue and diplomacy the everlasting buck out of this shadow as he said while coughing up some blood “H-Hey come on dude how long have we've known each? Ever since we were little shadowlings that's how long! How about you and I just calm down and you simply let me live and we can talk it all out?”
The tall shadow let out a blood curling roar before looking down at Spell and said in a deep voice “You dare think you can reason with me just because we know each?! You whelp!! You have been nothing but a nuisance to the shadows and myself! You barely follow the orders of our superior and constantly put our actions at risk with your little escapades to this surface just so you could view these bags of flesh!
Spell would slowly retort with “Oh come on Spiker you've known me for years, you already know that I'm a free spirit who wanders where he wants to wander and these so called flesh bags are quite the lookers when compared to the females of our race and you know it Pain.”
Pain Spiker angrily glared at Spell before yelling “Is there anything in that useless skull you call a head that isn't about some form of vile adultery!?!?”
Spell merely shrugged and said “Hey it may seem like this might all have been for a stupid reason, but come on and just look through my view for once. Do you think being near our females is a nice experience because I can say for sure it's not and I'm fully aware you know why.”
Pain snorted angrily as he yelled down at Spell saying “Not only do you have the audacity of claiming these useless misadventures are for a good reason, but now you insult one of the highest ranking classes of our hierarchy by comparing them to these useless bags of flesh!!”
Spell would attempt a reply but would be stopped as he saw the approaching pony who's coat was as golden as the sun, who's eyes were as red as blood glistening under a light, and who's mane was as black as night. Golden Shield kept a brave face as he faced the two shadows and said in a cold tone “Who and what are you two and what is your purpose for coming here and bringing harm to this peaceful village?”
Pain growls as he turns away from the fallen Spell to face this interference as he stood towering above the pony with spikes growing out his back as he said “Leave little morsel or suffer true pain under my heel and I suggest you leave quickly before I change my mind and make what little of a meal I can get from that poor excuse of a body.”
Golden Shield enters a defensive stance as his horn glowed with magical energy as the two stared each other down as he said “You have until the count of 3 to leave now or else you'll see why nopony messes with us ponies.” and slowly but surely he would say under his breath “1…...2…..3” and as soon as the last number was uttered the group of ponies evacuating the fight swore they could of heard the sound of magic and the roars of a terrifying monster.