Afraid Of My Shadow

by Deyeaz

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, DJ P0N-3, Human, Sad, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Other, Romance, Trixie
Length: 71751

Sometimes, our most irrational fears can become our worst nightmares.... (Sequel to Horns, Hooves, and Fur)

It's been four years since Jace and I defeated Insanity. In those four years, multiple things have come to pass. While the world is purged of Insanity, that doesn't mean that the world is cleansed of all evil...

A new threat is looming on the horizon like the everlasting Sun. However, this one... is one to destroy at all cost, and it is crucial that Jace and I must rid the world of this evil, and stay away from its temptations by any means necessary.

Otherwise... when you stray too far into the shadows... the darkness can swallow you whole....

*Sequel to Horns, Hooves, and Fur - Told in first person by both Jace AND Praxis; POVs will alter every chapter.*

*Others: Since I can only select 5 characters at max, I will have the "others" character box checked because there are more characters in the story. So expect other characters, ladies and gentlemen.

Welp, here's the sequel. Me and Craimer can't thank any of you enough for the support. We really hope that you will enjoy this, even though we think it might not be too good. We've actually been waiting to take a crack at this, to be honest. So... here goes nothing.

~S.W.
~CraimerX

Published 2012-07-30 03:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-02 02:51:01 UTC

I - Visiting An Old Friend (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

I - Visiting An Old Friend (Jace)

“You got a spider...” I tapped the large glass container containing the pillow-sized arachnid and it shifted slightly to look back at me with its large eyes.

“Yup! Sure did! Had to get something while you were away... Would’ve gotten bored...” I raised a brow and turned to Vinyl. “What?”

“You couldn’t have gotten a dog?”

“Well, Snare is like a dog! With... Eight legs...”

“You named him Snare?”

“Uh-Huh!” She magicked the top off the glass container and wrapped an aura around the spider and, to my horror, pulling him out and setting it on the floor in front of me. I stared at the little furry beast in front of me and it looked back up at me.

“...Where did you say you got this one again?”

“Uhm, I think the lady said it was from Stalliongrad.” Ohhh, really now? Stalliongrad?

I cleared my throat and tapped on the floor lightly, “Малый, приходите. (Snare, come.)”

As if on cue, the spider ran forward and stopped not one inch in front of me. “Well then! An actual live Stalliongradish attack spider... These were specially bred to go behind enemy lines and plant venom into guards when they slept. It was the perfect thing to do. Sure, training them is hard, but it pays off.” Vinyl watched as I commanded Snare around a bit and then got him to crawl up my arm and rest on my shoulder.

“Babe, that’s awesome. You got a shoulder spider. That is kick ass, DUDE!” Vinyl hopped around a bit and then went up to Snare. “Uhm, how do I get him to get on my head?”

“Малый, сесть на лошадь и сидят (Snare, hop on mare and sit).” Again the spider hopped from my shoulder onto Vinyl’s head and hunkered down in her mane.

“Awww, dude, this is RAD!” She looked up at the spider and smiled wide. “That’s why he never responded to what I told him! I never talked to him in Stalliongradish!”

“Eeyup!... but hang on, how did Wubsy react?” I asked Vinyl.

“Well...”

“Hi, momma!” A familiar voice called out as the front door opened and closed and a little black colt with a yellow mane entered the room. “Who’s your fri-....” The little colt stared at me as I turned to face him. His jaw hung open for a few before I gave him a warm smile.

“Hey bud.”

“D...daddy?” With tears in his eyes, Wubsy charged head-on towards me, tackling me in the biggest hug he could muster. I held him to my chest and returned the hug with all of my might.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’m here... I’m here.” The colt pulled away and smiled widely at me.

“I missed you, daddy.” Wubsy returned to mightily hugging me.

“I missed you too, bud...” I felt the unfamiliar wetness on my cheeks as tears cascaded down my face and onto the floor as I hugged my son. “I’m so sorry Wubsy... Daddy will never leave you again, I promise...”

“Say, Wubsy... Did you go and visit your Uncle Praxis again after school?” Vinyl asked.

“Uh-huh, momma!” Wubsy answered happily.

My mood turned down slightly at the words. How in the hell did I miss that pagoda...?

“Erm... listen, guys. I’m gonna head out for a little bit and get some fresh air.” I got up and placed Wubsy in the lap of his mother. Vinyl nuzzled him affectionately. “I’ll be back soon, alright?”

“OK, Daddy,” Wubsy declared.

“Take it easy, honey,” Vinyl told me as I left the mansion.

I stepped out into the cool air once more, wrapping the trench coat around my body to keep warm. I started my trek out of the mansion towards the town square. It would take a good ten to twenty minutes to get to the town square, but I didn’t care. Besides, the weather was gorgeous today.

After the long ten-minute walk, I reached the pagoda. My breath was taken away by the sight. A little moat was surrounding the perimeter, with small wooden bridges in front of the entrances. Lotus flowers on lily pads and floating candles glided gently along the moat. The smell of exotic plants hit me in the nostrils and made me sigh in ecstasy. I walked into the pagoda. On the walls of the building were four paintings, each one in between the entrances. One of the paintings depicted me, Praxis, Vinyl, and Zeke, each of us sitting in the grass and smiling happily. Another depicted Lyra being carried by Praxis as he walked along a beach, the two of them blushing vigorously as they looked into one another’s eyes. A third showed me, him, and the Mane Six, also laughing and joking around as the Cutie Mark Crusaders frolicked around us.

The fourth was a bit of an enigma. Praxis and Lyra were sitting on the grass, smiling, but on the man's shoulders is another satyr. This one had seafoam-green fur on his legs and a white stripe in his hair like the mare, and his hair was black and he had the same facial features as his father, sans the beard and large horns.

It was Praxis’s son. Riku. Smiling widely as he was being painted, sitting on his father's shoulders as Lyra sat on Praxis's lap.

I had seen neither him nor Lyra when I left for Stalliongrad. And I couldn’t help but think, 'Goddamn, he looks likes his parents.'

The statue of my friend was still there, after all these years, with the plaque on the pedestal still shining in the light of the sun pouring from the glass roof of the pagoda. The smile on his face still never went away, and the tear still clung to his cheek in mid-descent.

“Hey, man....” I said happily, patting the pedestal. “How’s it goin’?” No answer. “It’s been a long time, man. Wubsy visits you daily, I guess.” More silence. “I also take that your son is born. Kudos, man. I’m happy for you.

“Listen. I gotta get back. Stay here, alright?” I blinked at my last words and facepalmed: of course a statue would stay in one place! Unless he’s actually a weeping angel, then I’m screwed beyond belief. “Just... forget I said that. Take care, bud.”

I left the pagoda towards Sugarcube Corner: Pinkie Pie DID say she was planning a surprise party for everyone for my return, after all.

I did a double-take right when I exit the pagoda and look back at the statue. After seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I simply turned back around and went about my business, my hands in my pocket as I whistled a jaunty tune.

But still... something was wrong...

Did I imagine that cracking sound?

II - Late Night Escapades (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

II - Late Night Escapades (Praxis)

Almost... Alllllmooooossssst... C’mon, damn it!....

*CR-CR-CR-CR-CRACK!*

Yes! Got it! Finally, I’m free!

The stone prison around me started to fall off like chipped paint on a wall. After multiple minutes of struggling, the stone that imprisoned me finally gave way, revealing....

“Guess who’s back, bitches!?”

...yours truly.

I inhaled the afternoon air as deeply as I could, my nostrils finally glad to be placed in an environment with fresh oxygen. Now, let me tell you, I actually feel BAD for Discord: having to be locked up in an airtight petrified version of yourself for thousands of years has to take its toll on someone.

I went to take my first step off of the pedestal and onto the grass. The only sad thing was...

… was that my legs were in entropy.

“Oh, fuck....”

*TRIP!*

“BAA-AA-AA!!!” I bleated in surprise at my legs’ failure to function as I leaned forward precariously and started windmilling my arms in an attempt to regain my balance. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case here. Instead, I landed face-first in the dirt and concrete rubble that littered the ground, my back almost being thrown out in the process. “Oww... my everything....” I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed in frustration.

“Please, God, let this be a shitty joke,” I said to the Man Upstairs. I used my arms and upper body strength to get me into a sitting position on the pedestal. I twisted my torso and popped my back. The sound of joints cracking was music to my ears. Loud, machine-gun-like, painful music. I whimpered from the immense pain of my back finally being realigned. I take a look at my right hand and grimaced.

The hand, all the way to the middle of my bicep, was pitch-black, with the dark hue transitioning to my tan skin at the shoulder. The fingertips ended in sharp points like claws. While the hand was black, the details remained: I could see where my fingers were supposed to bend and the wrinkles in my palm. My elbow had a flat, yet sharp, spike on it, and every time I bent and straightened my arm, the elbow spike would either make itself known by sticking out or resting on my tricep. I turned my hand over and winced. The back of the hand sported a draconian eye, sky blue in color. Gold lines rimmed the eye, giving it a dark, Egyptian feel. I shuddered when the eye’s pupil shrunk and grew before it blinked, two separate sets of fleshy lids snapping at the speed of a train.

“Ergh.” I shuddered again as the eye focused on me. I tried to get my legs out of entropy, a difficult feat indeed. I tried doing what Uma Thurman did in Kill Bill: wiggle my hooves.

“Wiggle your big hoof...” I idiotically coaxed my leg. “Wiggle your big hoof... wiggle your big hoof....”

TEN HOURS LATER

Night had already fallen a long time ago. I stood up from off of the pedestal and walked around the pagoda, happy that my legs were now functioning. Now that walking was out of the way... how about running?

I stepped out of the pagoda and towards Canterlot. I better tell Princess Celestia that I was back: I felt like it would be important. Plus, I didn’t have to worry about being spotted, especially since it’s nighttime... however, I may have to watch out for Princess Luna and her nocturnal guards.

I turned to the pagoda and looked at the little moat that Applebloom had also added on over the years. Even in the darkness, I still saw my reflection. Large horns, white shoulder-length hair that lay flat on my head, magenta eyes, a more tanned skin. I blinked a bit, surprised by what I looked like. So that was what became of me when Insanity took over? Strange....

But what’s past is past. I need not care for what happened back then. I tensed my legs again and took a deep breath before setting off for Canterlot.

Ahh, to run at near the speed of sound again... it’s so BEAUTIFUL. The wind whipping my ears and hair, the blur of my hooves. It’s been awhile since I’ve done this. And I’ve never felt so free.

It was good to see that the landscape around me was once again an immense blur as I sped through the fields of Equestria. Arms behind me, slightly leaning forward, long and rapid strides; it was nice to be in such a position again.

After a few minutes of speedy traveling I finally reach the base of Canterlot and started running up the mountain towards the pristine city like before.

Once I reached the top and traverse through the town until I reached the castle, I stopped and hid in a nearby bush before a Royal Guard sentry passed through. How was I going to get in, especially with all these guards roaming around? I couldn’t just simply run up the walls, they’d hear my hoofsteps on the stone.

If I had a cardboard box, this task would be much easier.

Sadly, no such container is at my disposal, so I had to do what I did best: improvise...

Unfortunately, that was also out of the window.

“Darn... I should’ve thought this one through....” I whispered grouchily as I threw my arms up in frustration, yet I did a double take when I saw the right arm.

The arm simply... lengthened... like it was some sort of rubber band, until it was about ten, twenty, even thirty feet, then it descended. The claw, having nothing to grab or latch onto, simply retracted until my arm and hand reverted to their normal length.

I’m glad my arm was black, otherwise I’d already be up Shit Creek with the guards and without a paddle... however, that didn’t stop me from freaking out at what had transpired. To prevent screaming into the night in surprise and giving away my position, I shouted into my hand, “What the FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!”

...Yeah, I guess the general consensus can be made off of that statement alone.

Regardless, I still tried to find someway to maintain whatever cool I had just decimated in the process. Once I’m returned to normal, I look back at my hand. How did I get it to stretch like that? Just tossing it aside like that?

I looked at the peak of the castle wall, which was about twenty feet taller than me, then back at my hand... then back at the wall... then back at my hand.

Sadly, the wall wasn’t my hand... Aww... Wait...

IDEEEEAAAA~!

I cocked my right arm back and swung it high. The arm stretched to the height of the wall, and my hand latched onto the ledge, the claws clinging onto the stone.

“Monkey D. Luffy, step aside, please!” I leaned back towards the ground, my arm getting as taut as elastic under strain. I took a deep breath and adjusted my aim until I was RIGHT where I wanted to be: Celestia’s tower.

I jumped, my arm retracting quickly as I let go of the wall at the peak of my jump. I shot through the air like a cork in water, arching through the sky like a rainbow. I spun, twisted, and flipped, adding grace and badassery to my flight. However, I only landed on the wall of Celestia’s tower and not on the balcony itself. Had it not been for my sharp claws and the slightly jutting stones of the tower, I would’ve kissed my ass goodbye.

I looked back at the balcony, gritting my teeth from the brunt force of the impact with the wall. The balcony was sticking out a few feet behind me. In the position I was in, I couldn’t exactly climb to it. I wanted to run, but I would need momentum from the ground to do it.

What I did next was a bit sketchy, but I was confident it would work.

I tensed my legs and arms before I jumped off of the wall backwards. I launched my arm at the balcony as I started to fall. My hand clutched onto the rail of the balcony, yet just barely. I winced as my clawed fingers hardly clung to the edge. I swung back and forth, slowly gaining momentum so that I can jump and land on the balcony. After some moments of continuous swinging, I did just that, backflipping multiple times in a curled ball before landing precariously on the rail.

I stepped into Celestia’s room, with dawn being only in about a few more minutes left. It was my internal clock that told me so. I perched myself on one of the wooden posters of the bed like a ninja and waited until Celestia had to get up.

Sure enough, after many minutes of waiting, the alarm clock on her bedside drawer went off like a bomb. Celestia, in a fit of sleepy rage, punched the alarm clock off of the table. The clock went sailing out of the room and past the balcony, finally coming to a destructive halt at one of the castle’s walls with a sickening sound of destroyed machinery and broken glass. Celestia moaned tiredly as she got up and magically removed the sleeping mask around her eyes.

When the mask came free, she went slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the sight of me.

I give her a big smile as I sat there on the bed poster. “Mornin’, toots!”

III - The Best Welcome Home Present (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

III - The Best Welcome Home Present (Jace)

Weird... I could’ve sworn that cracking sound was coming from the pagoda... Must be my mind playing tricks on me. I let out a huff and straightened my beard out before heading into the gingerbread like bakery and seeing all the lights out.

I rolled my eyes and smiled wide before putting on my best confused face. “Hello? Hello, is anypony here?” I scratched the back of my head and looked over at the light switch on the wall and flicked it up, just to have ponies of all assorted colors jump out and yell ‘SURPRISE!’

I stumbled back lightly and looked around. “What’s all this then?! A party? For what?” I looked around the room and everyone just smiled at me. Pinkie bounced seemingly out of nowhere and rushed up to me in her... Bouncing haste.

“Silly Jace! It’s your ‘Welcome Back To Ponyville After Being Away For Four Years In Stalliongrad’ PARTY! WHOOO HOOO!!!” I chuckled lightly at Pinkie’s enthusiasm and heard the scratch of a turn table. I whipped around, expecting to see my wife but I gaped when I saw Wubsy on top of a vinyl record.

“Hey Dad!”

“Wubsy?! Son, what’re you doing on the deck?!” Vinyl’s face came up from under the booth and she just smiled at me as I stared into the big purple goggles she wore.

“Relax, babe! He’s just helping!” As if on cue, Wubsy hopped off the record and scratched on it with ease and I just gaped at the skill. It took me years to learn how to do something like that, and my four year old son knows how to do it! Holy crap, my son is amazing! “You wanna join in on this?” I smiled and was about to make my way to the booth when I felt somepony tug my hand. I looked over and was embraced in a big ball of cyan fur and technicolor mane.

“Oh my Celestia, it’s true! You’re back! This is totally awesome, we missed you so much!” I smiled and hugged the pegasus back while looking over her shoulder at the other five elements of harmony. Twilight was first to approach me.

“Jason!” I cringed slightly at the pronunciation of my full name, but I kept my composure set. “It’s so good to see you again! Four years and you still look great! That beard looks great on you as well!” I kneeled down to hug Twilight close and smiled lightly.

“It’s good to see you all as well, and you really think so? It took me those years in Stalliongrad to actually grow the darn thing! The radiation must’ve helped.” They all seemed to stare at me with some slight apprehension. “Uhm, is there something wrong?”

“Well, it’s tha fact that yer accent changed and ya look lots different...” Applejack did have a point, I have gained the gruff Stalliongradish accent. Well that’s the price you pay when you have to speak the language and be around the locals for four years of your life. But the beard? The beard was a bonus.

“Well, I’m still the same Jace you all know and love! Trust me!”

“Hey, I know! What if you do some of your super cool awesome magic skills that you used to do?” Pinkie bounced around at just the thought of me using my magic. I had to raise a hand to stop the chatter amongst the girls.

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t’?! Of course you can! Just make it happ-” I shook my head at Twilight.

“I’m out of practice. I haven’t used my magic in all that time in Stalliongrad. I even left Eclipse with Zeke...”

“Eclipse is your scythe, correct?” I nodded at Twilight.

“That’s correct. I used what I was given. Good thing I have skills in fighting other than magic. Like when I get an adrenaline spike, I can use that to think faster than a normal being. For example: I could be standing two hundred meters away with a magic spell ready to fire. Twilight you would have already fired a spell and due to my adrenaline, I would be able to easily duck under your burst of magic and retaliate much faster than you can comprehend. A very rare thing to possess, but I’m lucky to have it.”

The girls eyed each other nervously and then back to me. “Well, I’m the real Jace. Just trust me. Not like a changeling or something can take the form of a human, right? Last time I checked, it was just ponies.” The girls agreed silently with each other before I stood from my kneeling position and wiped off my suit pants. “Well, I better go see the soon-to-be wife. I can all trust you to be at the wedding next Wednesday, correct?”

“Yup! We’ll all be there! Take care now ya hear, Jace?” I got a quick hug from each of the Elements before making my way to Vinyl who had possession of my iPod for the years that I’ve been gone. Seems she got ahold of the Katy Perry remix... Ho boy...

The song started to play as a few progressive synth sounds going up the scale at points and a voice resonating lightly from the speakers. The lights dimmed slowly and I quickly noticed the spotlight trained on my body.

There was a point where the beat started to pent up, then it was released with a modulated bass moving swiftly through the levels and Vinyl’s voice came through the speakers.

“You're so hypnotizing

Could you be the devil?

Could you be an angel?

Your touch magnetizing

Feels like I am floating

Leaves my body glowing

They say, be afraid

You're not like the others

Futuristic lover

Different DNA

They don't understand you

You're from a whole 'nother world

A different dimension

You open my eyes

And I'm ready to go

Lead me into the light”

When the chorus hit, Vinyl hopped over the booth to land right in front of me and get up on her hind hooves to in combination with her magic, pull my face to her’s and have our noses touch together as she sang.

“Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me!

Infect me with your love and

Fill me with your poison

Take me, ta-ta-take me

Wanna be a victim

Ready for abduction

Boy, you're an alien

Your touch so foreign

It's supernatural

Extraterrestrial...”

As some notes played in the background, I could feel our lips just graze each other before she pushed me back and continued to sing with a smile on her face.

“You're so supersonic

Wanna feel your powers

Stun me with your lasers

Your kiss is cosmic

Every move is magic

You're from a whole 'nother world

A different dimension

You open my eyes

And I'm ready to go

Lead me into the light...”

She made her way over to me again, this time just nuzzling on my legs and I kneeled down to caress her cheek lightly.

“Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me

Infect me with your love and

Fill me with your poison

Take me, ta-ta-take me

Wanna be a victim

Ready for abduction

Boy, you're an alien

Your touch so foreign

It's supernatural

Extraterrestrial!”

She pulled on my tie to pull my face close to hers again, just like before, our noses were touching and she was slowly pulling her glasses up so I could gaze into her red eyes. She sang slowly and sweetly, putting emotion behind the words she sang.

“This is transcendental

On another level

Boy, you're my lucky star

I wanna walk on your wavelength

And be there when you vibrate

For you I'll risk it all

All...”

“C’mere you...” I whispered lightly as the bass began to drop and I pulled Vinyl into a big kiss. The crowd of ponies in the room exploded when our lips made contact and it was like the first time we had publicly came out with our love for each other all those years ago. I could feel that spark was still there as we kissed, that spark of pure love and care that I oh so wanted to feel again.

But what was strange... Is that I felt a different spark. A spark that flicked something on in my head... I can’t quite pinpoint it...

She pulled from me, tears running down her cheeks as she sang the final bit of the song as I embraced her in a large hug.

“Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me

Infect me with your love and

Fill me with your poison

Take me, ta-ta-take me

Wanna be a victim

Ready for abduction

Boy, you're an alien

Your touch so foreign

It's supernatural

Extraterrestrial

Extraterrestrial

Extraterrestrial

Boy, you're an alien

Your touch so foreign

It's supernatural

Extraterrestrial...”

When the lights came back on, the ponies in attendance at the party exploded in cheers and hoof stamping as me and Vinyl shared yet another kiss. I opened my eyes to look over at the DJ booth to see Wubsy with a hoof pointed to his mouth as he pretend gagged. I smiled and went back to kissing on Vinyl, who was showing no mercy with her tonguing, not caring if she was in the middle of a public party.

What seemed like hours flew by as we were sitting there, lips locked together in a passionate kiss. I never wanted it to end, to be honest. I wanted to sit here for the rest of eternity with my lover and just feel like this forever. The feeling of being whole again. Not having a giant hole where my heart used to be. It felt like I left my heart with Vinyl, and now that I’m back, I have my heart back. I was a cold motherfucker in the zone. To make me smile was only a thing Vinyl or Wubsy could do through the power of the Journals. It didn’t matter if I was killing, surviving, hunting, or whatever. Never smiled when I did stuff like that. If I did smile at some point, then I don’t remember it happening.

We soon pulled from each other after we were pretty much going blue from the lack of air. I hugged Vinyl close and buried my face in her neck and took in her scent of... Hold on...

*SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFF~*

Ahhhh, blueberries~

Anyway, as we moved from each other’s embrace I stood and looked out around the crowd. “Thank you all for showing up! This means so much to me that everypony is here to welcome me back home. I’ve thought of all of you every day, and I’m actually so glad that I can see you all here!”

The crowd applauded again, smiling widely at my words. “Well, don’t just stand there! This is a party! Have fun! Go nuts!”

TEN HOURS LATER

My God, that party was long as shit... I’d seen Pinkie Pie orally destroy cupcakes before, but seriously? I had reason to suspect that she was capable of denying all the chances of getting diabetes.

And Vinyl... Holy crap. I didn’t know she could do that with a banana! I mean my word! I had to shield Wubsy’s eyes from what she was doing to it.

I also think Berry Punch spiked the punch... I don’t know if that was true or not, but I felt more alive than I did when I proposed to Vinyl!

Eventually, I did leave Sugarcube corner with Vinyl and Wubsy and decided to just take a nice walk home.

As I walked through the town’s desolate streets as the peak of morning was becoming more evident than before.

Sadly, when me and Vinyl walk by the Pagoda, Vinyl screamed in surprise.

“Jace, look!” She wailed, pointing a hoof at the pagoda. I was in the middle of stargazing when she had yelled out, and I instantly got defensive and moved in front of Vinyl out of instinct. I looked back to see what she was pointing at and my gaze was drawn to the pagoda. I gasped lightly at what I saw.

What I saw, was nothing.

Nothing was IN the pagoda! Praxis was MISSING.

“Vinyl, Wubsy, stay back. I’m gonna go check this out...” I took tentative steps towards the pagoda and looked around the inside of it, seeing nothing. I looked down at the stand where Praxis stood upon and kneeled down to pick up what looked like a chunk of cement. “What the hell?”

Hang on... chunks of cement? Missing satyr?

I started smiling like an idiot at what my brain was formulating. “Erm, Daddy?” Wubsy said as he made his way to my side. “What’re ya smiling about?”

“Well, Wubsy, the best welcome home present I could ask for...”

IV - Visions Of The Past and New Roommates (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

IV - Visions Of The Past and New Roommates (Praxis)

Man... being on the moon SUCKS. I now know how Luna felt now when Celestia booted HER ass over here...

…

...Psych, I’m just kidding. I’m not on the moon.

But from the look of distraught and surprise on Celestia’s face, I might as well just pack my bags and go to the moon already.

...Of course, I also told her to bite the pillow, because I was going in dry. Sadly, that also resulted in my getting thrown against the wall by her magic.

“Who are you? An assassin?! A burglar?! Explain yourself!” Princess Celestia demanded out of me as she got out of bed and made her way towards me, firing me a glare so intense that I almost urinated myself in fear.

“My body wasn’t ready, damn you...” I groaned painfully. She gasped in shock, her harsh gaze relinquishing from me.

“P...Praxis? Is... is that you?”

“Well, golly, sugar tits, what do YOU think?” I deadpanned. Before I knew it, Celestia brought me over to her at the speed of a train with her magic and pulled me into one of the biggest hugs I could’ve ever been yanked into.

“Oh, dear FAUST, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S YOU!!!” She screamed in joy.

“Can’t... breathe! Leggo... Celestia... PLEASE!” I choked out through being suffocated by Celestia’s fearsome glomp.

“Sorry... I couldn’t contain myself. How did you get out?”

“Simple. With the indirect help of Jace, the statue around me broke loose. And as for how I got in here?” I waved my right hand in her face and she gasped in shock, the eyeball blinking at her a few times.

“Praxis... what happened?” She inquired. I told her everything before I was set in stone: About Insanity cutting my arm off, how I tricked him into overshadowing me, how the arm regrew, and how the Harmony Cannon removed almost all of Insanity’s essence.

Almost....

Hang on... if part of Insanity is now within me, I also seem to obtain some of his powers and perks: strength, powers, intellect (if any), and, if my knowledge serves me right...

Immortality.

I didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit. Was I also to undergo the same un-aging process as Celestia, Luna, and Jace? To simply... exist? Until everyone dies, and only us four remain?

I didn’t want that... but as I mentioned before... we can’t always have what we want.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie. “Celestia, art thou okay?” A voice said: It was Luna.

“Oh, ponyfeathers!” Celestia muttered. “Quick, hide!” I look around the room, and then my eyes rested on Celestia’s closet. I quickly closed the doors before the Princess of the Night entered.

“Art thou alright, sister? We heard yelling and a loud noise,” Luna said.

“It was nothing, Luna,” Celestia reassured nervously.

“Art thou sure? It didn’t sound like nothing.”

Time stood still for a couple of seconds. I had two choices: either make myself known or continue hiding. I could choose the former, and reveal myself to Luna. However the chances of her attacking me are high, especially since she’s more aggressive than Celestia. Or, I could choose the latter, and remain in the shadows of concealment. Sure, Luna might find me and kick my ass... and this closet is small because of all the clothes... and is that a pair of panties?! It’s all... red and small and FRILLY!

Ahem... moving on.

Make myself known or stay hiding? Decisions, decisions....

Oh, fuck it. Time to surprise THIS bitch.

“KNOCK-KNOCK, MOTHERFUCKER!” I shouted as loud as I could when I kicked open the door, the biggest smile plastered on my face.

Needless to say... I actually DID get my ass beat.

For starters, Luna yelped, rushed over, grabbed me by the horns, and started slamming me on the floor like Hulk did to Loki in The Avengers.

“LUNA! *SLAM* YOU! *SLAM!* CUUUUUUUUNT!” The last word came out as a drawn-out yell as Luna throws me at the wall, imbedding my horns in the stone of it from how strong the throw was and how sharp my horns were.

“HOW DAREST THOU INTRUDE UPON OUR SISTER’S ROOM AND HAVE YOUR WRETCHED WAY WITH HER?!” Luna bellows at me.

As she was yelling at me, I was trying to get my horns dislodged from the wall. “It’s good to see you too, sweet flank.”

“P-P-P-P-P-PRAXIS?!” Luna’s jaw almost fell to the floor.

“The only and only.” Luna, in a fit of apologetic hysteria, tackles me in a hug and holds me tighter than a straitjacket.

“PRAXIS, WE ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE US!!!!” She begged in the Royal Canterlot Voice, almost threatening to rupture my eardrums.

“I’ll... forgive you... if you... let go!” I smacked her foreleg to show that I tapped out and surrendered.

“Sorry!” Luna let go of me, and I fell to the floor, once more straining to regain my breath. “How did you get out? And what in Tartarus happened to your arm?!”

I sighed in frustration before telling her all what I had told Celestia.

“In...incredible...” Luna murmured in awe.

“Wait, why did you visit me in the middle of the night?” Celestia inquired.

“What, I can’t see an old friend?” Celestia smiled warmly, a bit of a blush reaching her cheeks.

“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever had casual visitors before....”

“Exactly... I wanted to see both you and Luna. I also want to tell the world that I’m back... but I guess the statue being broken is enough evidence.”

“Not entirely... nopony in Canterlot, or any other town, knows you’re back,” Luna reasoned.

Touche....

“Very well... but how are you going to go about this?” Celestia asked.

I take a seat and ponder for a few minutes on what to do. I want to do something comedic. Something jovial.

“I’ve got an idea....”

“This is probably the second-stupidest idea I have ever heard....” Celestia deadpanned. She had just finished with chowing down, bringing me up a few scraps once she was finished. Another thing I miss when I was a statue: food. No matter what, I always died inside whenever I saw some fat pony eating something when they visited my “grave”. Luna went to sleep, for she had been up the whole night, leaving only me and Celestia on the balcony of her room.

“What was the first?” I asked.

“Jace suggesting that the planet orbits the sun....”

“Oh well, it’ll work, though.” I informed her. She grabbed me in her magical grip and placed me on her back. She let out a small grunt of exertion as I sat.

“Good grief, you’re heavy!” she commented.

“....” She started flaring her wings, getting ready for takeoff. Her magic flared a little bit, and my throat underwent a slight tingling sensation. I nod my thanks, and she takes off into the sky. I clear my throat.

“Ready?!” She shouted as we flew over the town of Canterlot. I nod. I clear my throat once more before giving a shout to the almighty heavens.

“I AM BASED GOD!!!” I bellowed, trying to keep a straight face. “THERE IS NO USE IN HIDING YOUR BITCHES: I SHALL FUCK THEM ALL, ANYWAY!!!”

What? Shut up, it was totally worth it.

Anyways, back to what happened.

My voice rang like multiple gunshots, surpassing even the sound limit. The whole town of Canterlot and possibly beyond shook from the sheer force of my voice. Everypony down below us looked up and saw us flying over their heads. They recognized Celestia and waved, smiled, bowed, what have you. But their jaws dropped when they witnessed me. Some didn’t recognize me right away, or had forgotten.

Others, however? Well, lemme just say that I don’t always get imprisoned in stone... but when I do, I break out and get rained in scanty undergarments.

...Yeah, I’m just messing around with you, they didn’t do that. However, I feel like that that’s what should’ve happened: living legends that get encased in stone usually don’t come out of stone... well, aside from Discord, but he’s not important right now.

What is important... is finally getting back home again.

Celestia dropped down low to the ground, and I hopped off of her back and onto the pavement in the middle of the road. Her horn glowed, relinquishing the voice-amplification charm. She nodded and smiled, wishing me a fine farewell before flying back up to her castle. The ponies on the ground saw me and waved happily, greeting me good morning.

I only smiled and waved back. I continued travelling the streets, taking in the sights and smells of the town, my ears twitching every now and then from the sounds that the civilians casted.

I stop for a second, the smell of more food teasing my nostrils. I turn around to see a small cafe about sixty meters away. The sign read “The Coffee Bean”, in all capital letters and neon tubes, with the ‘ee’ in ‘Coffee’ shaped like a large coffee mug, steam rising out of it. The scent of food, mixed with herbal teas and caffeinated beverages, grew more tantalizing by the second.

It’s been awhile since I had indulged myself in sweet red tea....

Sadly, as I made my way there, I do one not-so-smart thing: going down an alley to get to it.

The narrow strip of walkable pavement bore seven things. Two trashcans, a Dumpster, and four large cardboard boxes, two of them severely thrashed. Apple cores and broken cider bottles littered the ground, along with a few spare bits that no one had bothered collecting. I walk over to them and picked them up, not even caring that they were in a neat pile.

Unfortunately, I had walked into a trap.

With a shriek of anger and a whooshing sound, something jumped on top of me, knocking me to the floor from the sheer strength of the impact.

I bleated in fear as the thing that jumped me punched the back of my head, sending my face into the pavement and causing my nose to bleed.

It wasn’t a thing... it was a PONY.

I got flipped onto my back via magical leylines to face...

“Give Trixie all of your money, and nopony gets hurt!”

‘Oh, HELLLLLLLLLLLLL no.’

Now, this would’ve been a successful mugging, had it not been for one drawback.

She left my arms free.

I grabbed Trixie’s horn in my right hand and grasped it firmly, making sure not to hold it too tight, lest the strength of this newly-acquired arm destroys her horn.

“Give me a good reason as to why I shouldn’t break your horn with my bare hands,” I say vehemently.

Trixie was racked with immense fear, shaking heavily at her horn being grasped, the vice-like hold stifling her magic. Now that I took a closer look at her, I saw that Trixie was the worst for wear. Her azure coat was matted with dirt and possibly blood. Her mane and tail were heavily disheveled and dirty. Her cloak and hat were tattered and rips in numerous places. Her eyes, above all other things, were starting to brim with tears.

“P-p-please spare Trixie!” she screamed.

Another thing that somewhat irritated me: Trixie’s urge to keep referring to herself in the third person dialogue. I would’ve tested the strength in my arm, had it not been for the sound of the cafe’s door opening, the sound of a tinkling bell striking my ears. I whipped my head around, hand still gripping Trixie’s horn, and saw a large golden yellow Pegasus pony with red eyes and a black and golden yellow mane and tail walk out of the coffee shop with a garbage bag in his mouth.

“Oi! What’cha think yer doin’, boyo!” the pony shouted at me, the bag falling out of his mouth as he spoke. I dropped Trixie in surprise, and she squeaked as she hit the floor. “P-Praxis?! Is that really you, boyo?!” The pony trotted closer to me, and I could see that he was well-built. He was rather tall, his nose coming up to my chest as he stood in front of me. He started to pace around me, and look over me. “Well, I’ll be Nessy’s uncle! It IS you!”

“Uh-huh... I take it you’re Black Gold?” The pony nodded.

“Hang on... that’s PRAXIS?” Trixie asked as she got up off of the floor. “Oh, ponyfeathers.”

“Trixie?! Getcha’ flank in here, Lass! Yer gon’ be catchin’ a cold er sumthin’!” Gold backed away from the door to make room for Trixie to pass into the shop. “And you, Fluffy! Get in’ there!” He smiled wide at me. I returned the smile and did as he asked.

The shop was a beautiful foundation, styled like a 50s diner, with a very wide bar being in the middle, and the kiosks being placed against the wall. Each kiosk seat had red vinyl on the seats and backrest, and each one had a lovely table. Working behind the center bar was an Earth Pony mare with a light-brown coat, and a darker cinnamon-colored mane and tail.

“Oi, Nutmeg! Looky what the cat dragged in!” The mare turned around after finishing an order and went wide eyed and gasped when she saw Praxis standing next to Gold.

“Praxis! Well, ah’ll be!” OK, this is one thing I’ll point out, this family has some accents... I’ll tell ya that much. We got Black Gold who has a thick Scoltish accent and Nutmeg who has a hint of a southern accent. Where these two met, I’ll never know. “We all thought y’all were dead!”

“Well, then, death’s veil is very thin, if that’s the case.” I walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. I grabbed a napkin from off the bar counter and tore it in two before I plugged my nose with the shred, temporarily stopping the blood flow. Nutmeg saw my hand and shivered in grotesque surprise.

“Not ta be rude, Praxis, but... What happened to yer arm, boyo?” Gold asked, slowly making his way to the bar next to Nutmeg. Now, I could get a comparison of size here. Compared to her, Gold stood about a good head taller than his wife, Nutmeg.

I recounted with them the story I had told Celestia and Luna. While this was only the third time today I’ve had to explain myself, I had a very bad feeling that I was about to be telling everypony everything.

“Interestin’...” Nutmeg hummed. I looked back to see Trixie still sitting right by the door, looking down at the laminate tiles.

“‘Ey!” I called. She jumped up about a few inches in the air. “Don’t be a stranger! Have a seat.”

Trixie stood up and precariously walked over to my side, and sat down on the stool next to me.

“Trixie? Mah word! You look like you haven’t eatin’ in ages!” Nutmeg trotted over to a display case of donuts and assorted cakes and such and pulled out a piece of coffee cake, put it on a plate, and set it down in front of of the showpony. “There ya are! Eat up!”

I watched Trixie’s eyes light up like fireworks... but her face fell when she asked the question, “But how is Trixie pay for all of this?”

“It’s on the house, hun!” Nutmeg said happily. Trixie’s face brightened once again as she magicked a donut with strawberry filling over to her mouth and bit hungrily, savoring the taste of it.

“Thank you!” She said once she swallowed.

“Mah pleasure!” Nutmeg told her.

“So Praxis, what can I do ya fer?” Black Gold asked.

“Erm... can I simply use the kitchen for a bit?”

“Why, certainly!” Nutmeg replied. I nodded my thanks and hopped over the counter of the large bar towards the kitchen. I saw a large kettle of water on the stove, as well as a small tin of black tea leaves and a couple sprigs of mint.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘Praxis, I thought you wanted RED tea, not BLACK tea!’ Actually, that’s correct. I DO want red tea, for I haven’t had it since I was still a teenager. But us Libyans have... special ways of brewing black tea leaves. For starters, it doesn’t come out as dark as night, but instead, it is shown as a dark crimson, almost like blood.

I went to the stove and turned on the section that the kettle rested on, the needle of the dial cranked on ‘HI’. I washed the mint sprigs and waited for the water to boil. After a minute of waiting, the water started to bubble and froth merrily. I tossed a few teaspoons of the tea leaves into the water, the color changing almost instantly as the leaves bled out into the frothing liquid. I toss the mint sprigs in later, and lower the heat on the stove section down to ‘LO’, letting it simmer.

Another minute passed, and I took the kettle off of the stove. Nutmeg removed four mugs from out of one of the cabinets and gave them to me.

What happened next was completely unexpected.

When Nutmeg saw the red hue of the tea, she let out a scream and hid behind Black Gold, all the while pointing at me. “RUN!!! HE’S BLOODTHIRSTY!!!”

I facepalmed, almost threatening to bloody my nose again.

“Aww, ‘Meg! It’s tea! That, or he’s one of them Reapers...”

“No, I am not a Reaper, my friends,” I said. “Not anymore, at least.” Before I could continue on my explanation, I heard something whimper from behind me. I turn around and see a little filly with a dark brown coat, black mane, and hazel eyes. She saw me look at her and flinched, before trying to run away.

However, Gold put a stop to her escape by gently sticking his hoof out and halting her. “It’s alright, lassy. He’s not gonna hurt ya.”

“Mm-hmm,” I said as I knelt down and gave her my left hand to prevent from scaring her any further. “Hello, little one,” I told her in the kindest voice I could muster. “What’s your name?”

“M-M-M-Moc-c-c-cha L-L-L-Lat-tt-tt-tte,” she stuttered heavily.

“Mocha Latte? It’s a very lovely name for a very lovely girl.”

Mocha’s shaking slowly died down. “Th-thank you, mister,” she said, a weak smile on her face. I smile, making sure not to flash my sharp teeth at her.

“Mocha, sweetheart. Would you mind taking this order ta that nice stallion ovah there?” Nutmeg pointed to a stallion who was sipping on a coffee and reading the morning paper.

“Of course, mama!” The little filly trotted over and Nutmeg balanced a tray on her back, putting another cup of coffee and a slice of coffee cake on it. Mocha happily made her way to the stallion and gave him his order.

“She’s such a big help around here... She takes the orders ta people, she helps clean up when we close...” Gold smiled wide.

“Fascinating...” I said as I stood up and gave the still-surprisingly-warm tea to Trixie, Nutmeg, and Gold, taking one for myself. I take a quick sip.

Absolutely perfect.

The other three seemed to enjoy it as well, sighing in content before adding more sugar to their tea. Personally, the mint added to it is enough for me, for it gives it a fresher taste.

I actually took a few leaves off of the remaining mint sprigs and placed them in my mouth, my teeth grinding them into paste. The taste of the leaves soon cleared the bacteria off of my tongue and freshened my breath.

I sighed in content.

“Eh, I got a question, Praxy my boy,” I turned to face Gold. “Have ya gone ta see Jace yet?”

I shook my head. “Nor have I gotten to see Lyra.”

Worry started to plague both Gold’s face and Nutmeg’s face when I mentioned Lyra. “Guys, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Er... nothin’,” Nutmeg responded. “Nothin’ at all.” She smiled nervously to prove her point.

I walked over to Nutmeg. “C’mon, it doesn’t sound like nothing,” I said as I put my right hand on her forehead in an attempt to comfort her and coax into telling me the truth.

I wished I hadn’t.

The second my hand touched Nutmeg, the eye on top starting glowing an even brighter sky-blue. My eyes rolled back into my head, and when they returned to their normal position... my vision seemed to... change. Like I was no longer in a cafe, and that everypony else around me wasn’t there. Instead, I appeared in what looked like a hospital room. In it were Doctor Stable, Nurse Redheart, Derpy Hooves, Carrot Top, Bon-Bon, Nutmeg, Black Gold, and, on a sickbed, Lyra. Everything seemed ever-so-slightly foggy, and yet, no one seemed to notice that a satyr had just mysteriously appeared in the room. Judging by Lyra’s strained expression and the way her back legs were propped on a legrest, she seemed to be giving birth.

“C’mon, Lyra!” Doctor Stable urged the seafoam-green Unicorn, whose hoof was being held tenderly by Bon-Bon. “Push, darn it!”

“NNNNNNNNGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” The BPM on the heart-rate machine was off the charts, beeping at a rapid rate. Lyra was sweating from the exertion of childbirth. After a few quick breaths and another large push, followed by louder and more painful screaming, I heard something amidst all the chaos.

A baby crying.

I saw Nurse Redheart go wide-eyed as she withdrew a bundle of blankets and looked into its contents. I walked over and couldn’t restrain the smile that spread across my face.

Inside the bundle was a little baby. It wasn’t a foal. But it was like me, a satyr, due to its pointy ears I saw at first glance. There was a white stripe in its short black hair, on the left side of his head, his light-tan skin shining like silver. I saw a tuft of light green sticking out where his waist was supposed to be, and I saw that the fur was the exact same color as his mother’s coat.

I turned to face Lyra, and smiled. “He’s here...” I murmured, my words falling on deaf ears.

“Ca... Can I see him...?” She asked weakly in between great breaths of air. Nurse Redheart walked over with the infant in her foreleg and laid him next to Lyra on the bed. The infant smiled contentedly as he snuggled closer to his mom.

“He’s... beautiful...” She whispered feebly, her breathing getting fainter and fainter as her eyelids got heavier by the second. “I wish... Praxis... was here... to see this....”

I almost broke down into tears of both joy and misery at those words. I just wanted to shout out that I was there... But like before, my words would not be heard.

I looked that the BPM meter... and my heart sank instantly.

*BEEP... BEEP...... BEEP......... BEEP............BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-*

I feel my feet violently leave the ground and slam back into it again as I re-emerged in the present, back in the ‘The Coffee Bean’ cafe. Nutmeg and I are panting heavily, like she had run a marathon and I had run twenty of them. Trixie, Mocha Latte, and Black Gold are staring at me.

“Are you alright, Meg?” Gold slowly made his way to his wife who looked over at him and nodded a bit before leaning against his body. “Jeez... I couldn’t get you two ta snap outta it for almost an hour!”

“Wh....What happened?!” Nutmeg asked exasperatedly.

“When you touched Nutmeg’s forehead, Praxis, The two of you just went... blank. Your eyes seemed to be just whites,” Trixie explained. “Even worse, Trixie saw you two float in the air for a few seconds. Half of the customers got scared out of their mind.”

“Mr. Praxis... are you alright?” Mocha Latte asked.

I turned to face her, wetness streaking my face... was I... was I crying? No.. for the past four years, I still have not shed a tear. Albeit, I was in stone, but that's it. Now?

I'm utterly devastated. Lyra's... dead?

No... it can't be. I know her: she's a tough one, she is. She can't just die because of some childbirth process....

But still... that vision... that memory... it only pointed to the most obvious answer.

Lyra is dead....

“Yeah...” I lied. “I’ll be fine.” I wiped my face, got up off of the floor, and made my way for the exit. “Trixie, you coming along?”

“What are you talking about?’ The showpony asked.

“I can’t let you live in the streets, now can I? C’mon, you’re staying at my place.” Trixie smiles widely at my gesture and scampered along. Once we exited the door, I waved back at Nutmeg, Black Gold, and Mocha Latte. I picked Trixie up and rested her on my shoulders. She yelped in surprise, tightened her hind legs’ grip around my neck and grabbed onto my horns to prevent from falling off. “Good thinking...” I swung my arm at one of the tallest houses I see, a large mansion about fifty feet tall. I leaned backwards once the claws dug into the stone of the place of dwelling. “Because this is gonna be a bumpy ride.”

I jump up, my arm immediately retracting as me and Trixie shot up multiple yards above the house.

I seemed to have overshot it, however, when we both flew beyond the Canterlot boundaries and began descending down the mountainside.

“OH, SHIT!” I screamed in panic. Trixie wa holding on for dear life, screaming like a banshee from Hell. I quickly looked back at my hand and swallowed hard before I threw an arm-extending punch at one of the jutting rocks on the mountainside. My fist plowed through the rock, and I quickly plant my hooves on the large broken slab. I soon start skateboarding down the mountain.

Upside? Not only does this bring back good memories, but I also seemed to have found a new way to get down mountains faster.

Downside? Trixie’s still screaming.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I folded my ears down so that I didn’t have to hear her wail like a ghost. It wasn’t very effective: her shrill voice still burrowed itself into my head and made my brain cry in agony.

We both reached the bottom of the mountain, and I jumped off of the slab of rock at the last moment. The momentum of the descending rock gave me quite a bit of air time, and I landed a bit sloppily on the ground. Trixie is shaking viciously, like she had been caught in a snowstorm.

“Trixie? Trixie!” I shouted. “Calm the HELL down, woman.” The mare seems to snap out of her fit of fear and looks at me.

“Sorry. Trixie is just not used to... *gulp* extreme heights,” she explained, her eyes as small as a pea.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind some speed,’ I said.

“What are you--”

*FWHOOSH*

“--TALKING ABOOOOUUUUUT?!?!”

I tried to ignore her screaming, but once again, her voice still drilled into my skull. At least this is faster than sliding down that mountain.

Within a few moments of high-speed travels and relentless screaming that anyone would’ve mistaken for opera, we finally make it to the beautiful town of Ponyville. I veered off course, however, and went to the one place in the Everfree Forest that I still assumed was safe.

“Here we are!” I say after a while.

Standing before us was a monolithic, hollow yew tree. A large archway with fray grass curtains stood in front of me. I pushed through the curtains and sighed at the large and thick layers of dust that coated everything: the chairs, the carpets, the coffee table, the spiraling staircase. Everything. Even worse it’s incredibly dark, and I could barely see a thing, save for the light streaming from the windows.

“My Goddess, this is terrible!” Trixie exclaimed. I almost threw her outside.

“It just needs some dusting, is all,” I retorted defensively. “OK, rules. First off: no speaking in the third-person.”

“But Trix-”

“Nope!” I intervene. “No third-person. Period. Refer to yourself as ‘I’, ‘me’, or ‘my’. Understand?”

“Yes...”

“Second: No showboating.”

“That, Trix -- er, I, can understand.”

“And the third: clean up after yourself: I’m not your damn maid, alright?”

“Okay,” Trixie said. “Wait, what happens if Trix -- um, I -- break the rules?”

“...I hang you upside-down by your hooves and beat you with an ugly stick,” I deadpanned.

A light chuckle came from inside the treehouse as a candle was lit and the dark figure of Zeke could be seen in a chair, in the living room, head down, hood up, and just sitting there. “Glad to have you back...” He lifted his head and his red eyes bore right through my stare. “Praxis Moradov...”

V - Learning The Ropes (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

V - Learning the Ropes (Jace)

I opened the mansion doors quickly, with Vinyl following close behind. “Jace! What’re you doing?! Just use your magic to get there fast!” Wubsy was coming in next to Vinyl who stopped at the stairs as I charged up them.

“I can't, Vi! I lost my mojo! I’m out of practice!” I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at her. “Still got my iPod?” She nodded and dug in her saddlebags to pull out my iPod and magiced it over to me. “Excellent! I need peace and quiet if you will...”

“D-Daddy... W..What are you... Gonna do?” Wubsy said in between intakes of breath.

“Well son...” I smiled wide, “Daddy’s gonna get a bit overpowered...”

Wubsy laid on his mother’s chest with a bored expression on his face. He grumbled lightly and his ear twitched slightly at the noises he heard coming from upstairs. Eventually, he let out a groan and looked up to look at Vinyl. “How long is Dad gonna be?”

“I don’t know... He has been up there an awful long time. Almost an hour now. Try and get some rest, sweetheart...”

“I can’t... That’s my problem.”

“Well, why can’t you go to sleep?”

“Pinkie...”

Vinyl facehoofed. “Oh, Celestia, what did she do now?”

“She gave me a taste of her Red Minotaur...”

“Ohhh, Lord. I’ll have a talk with her in the morning...” There was a loud THUMP tham came from upstairs and then some muffled shouts of Jace. Vinyl looked up at the ceiling and then to Wubsy. “Could you check on your father for me, sweetheart?”

“Yes, Mama...” Wubsy leaned up to put a kiss under Vinyl’s chin and squirmed out of her grasp. He started making his way up the stairs and to the room that Jace was located in, tapping his hoof against the door lightly. “Daddy? You alright?”

“Come on! Dammit!” I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I held my hand out in front of myself. I concentrated hard, trying to get the magic to flow into my hand.

“Come... On...” I narrowed my eyes and concentrated harder, until a spark jumped from my hand. “Yes...” Another spark. “Yeeess...” Another. “YES.” And then...

A little poof of magic.

“AGH, DAMMIT!” I threw my hands up in frustration and brought them back to my face, rubbing on it from the sweat that had accumulated in the process. “Just... Gotta calm down.” I reached next to me for my iPod. “Pick a song that can be gestured to with a beat...” I repeated, my words coming from the sessions of magic practice with Aksheal. “Use those gestures to make shapes of light... Then make them into something tangible...” My smile returned after I saw the song I had in my gaze.

I pressed 'play' and was instantly greeted with static. My eyes closed and I took in a deep breath as the music started to play in my ears. I made arm and hand movements to the beat of the song, opening my eyes a second later to make sure I could see what I was making.

I started off with a simple cube, moving my hands in the shape of a box and slowly a green seethrough box was formed in my hands. I moved my hands to float over the top and bottom of the cube and slowly pulled them away from each other, making it into a shape of a top.

I spun it, seeing the triangles in the pattern spin in the air as my hands started to move as if in instinct to make a shape of a ball and toss it in the air, only to catch it again with the same hand. I did the same with the other hand and slowly started to make them impale the two sharp ends of the top. I squished them on like a shish kebab and slowly turned the spinning top on its side.

I held out my hand and slowly wrapped my hand around it, and felt it smooth out and turn into a pole shape. I grabbed one of the balls on the end and smoothed it out to the same rod shape that I smoothed the top into.

I did this until it was quite long on each side and laid my hand on one end of the pole. I felt the familiar tingle of magic running through my hand and I smirked lightly. “Eclipse...” I slowly pulled my hand up from the pole and the blade of the scythe slowly started to rise from the pole.

“Ha-HAA!” When the blade was fully extended, I grabbed the shaft of Eclipse and rose to my feet, fast and swift. I swung the scythe around a bit, doing flourishes and spins with the blade, happy to have it back in my grasp.

I soon stopped after a while, striking a pose and smiling as I panted slightly. “I’m back, bitches...” Then, a rumbling could be heard from the bookcase next to me. I was currently in my study, a room that was completely unused by Vinyl for she never really read, but I found it to be a place of solitude when needed.

I pulled the earbuds from my ears and heard the sound was getting louder. “What the- Where the hell is that coming from?!” I scrambled around the bookcase, pulling books out and tossing them onto the floor, determined to find the source of the sound. “C’mon! This is driving me NUTS!” I pulled one book away from the shelf to see a box behind it, shaking and moving around violently. Wait... I know that box...

“YES!” I reached for it, grabbing hold and pulling it down from the shelf the box had golden patterns etched into the royal blue wood that coated most of the box. It was lined with gold on the sides and locked with a heavy duty padlock. “NO!”

I looked around the room, frantically, looking for something to open the box with. I turned and saw Eclipse still sitting on the table where I left it. “ECLIPSE! SICK THE LOCK, BOY!” I yelled, tossing the box on the ground.

Eclipse jumped up, and stood on the end of its stick, front of the blade looking around like a dog would when trying to find a noise. “Oh, FUCKIN’ SWEET.” Eclipse’s blade head moved down, and seemed to spy the lock on the rumbling box. A few revs of the razor sharp chain-blade later, and the lock was shattered.

“Good boy!” Eclipse revved up a couple times, seeming to acknowledge the attention and then hopped onto the table again, going back to looking like a non-living object. “That’s so freaking awesome..” I turned my attention back to the box, and picked it up. I opened the cover of the small chest-like box and inside was what I hid for so many years... The Calling Card.

It was pulsating red, and hot to the touch. At first, I dropped it on the floor and grabbed my arm, letting out a silent yell in the process. I looked back down at it and it hopped around on the floor before rolling away from me and standing up, the sand slowly trickling down into the bottom section of the hourglass.

When the sand ran out of top, I was greeted with a nice surprise.

A loud DING! rang out through the study as the top of the hourglass faded into a black void. It raised itself into the air, and flipped itself so the void was pointing down and the sound of yelling got louder and louder until...

THUMP!

“OW! My archmage behind! Agh...”

“Holy. Fucking. Shit. AKSHEAL?!”

VI - Melody Of An Orphan (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

VI - Melody Of An Orphan (Praxis)

“Z-Zeke!?” I exclaimed, jumping about a foot in the air. Trixie had a worse reaction that I did: Upon seeing the Grim Reaper sitting in one of my chairs, the showpony let out another deafening scream and vacated the premises as quickly as possible.

Thank heavens, too. The more she screamed, the more obnoxious and painful-to-the-brain it got. Zeke’s eye sockets seemed to narrow and his teeth gritted. I guess it was painful for him to hear. “Owww, my non-existent eardrums...” Yup.

“What are you doing here?” I asked the Reaper before me as he got more comfortable in his sofa. With a quick snap of his skeletal fingers, the dust that had been accumulated over the years had been eviscerated from every single surface of the house, almost like the dust was never there.

“What? An old friend can’t stop in and say hello?” He chuckled lightly. “I felt that something was awakened, and I grabbed my umbrella, thinking Discord was about and making chocolate rain again... But when I saw no chaos in the world, I knew who was awakened.” Zeke then flashed what would’ve been a smile in my direction.

I kinda felt flattered. Not everyone gets to be friends with Death himself.

Zeke’s gaze lowered to my right hand, and his eyes shot up wide. “Is... is that--?”

“Yes. It is.” I sat on the couch opposite Zeke and raised my hand to let him examine it better. The eye on top of my hand blinked at Zeke, who shivered in disgusted retaliation. “What’s with the reaction? You’re Death, you’ve handled much worse shit than this.”

“That’s not the point. That arm in general is just brimming with Black Magic. Black Magic that apparently only you can control,” Zeke explained. “Hell, that thing probably has more Black Magic then mysel-” He stopped mid sentence, his bony jaw hanging open. The sick popping of joints could be heard as his head twisted at an un-humanly degree and he used his hands to snap it back into position. “Ohhh, this could be bad.”

“Uhh... could you explain that for me?” I asked him, curious as to how ‘this could be bad.’

“As Obi Wan Kenobi would say, ‘I sense a disturbance in the force...’” Zeke looked all around the room, as if looking for whatever made him feel this ‘disturbance.’ “What magical beings have you last been in contact with?”

“Just the Princesses,” I answered honestly.

“Praxiiiiis... You can’t keep things away from Death...”

“Dude, I shit you not, Princesses Luna and Celestia are the only two powerful beings I’ve come in contact with. Trixie doesn’t count, because I could negate her magic with this hand.”

“What OTHER person do you know that has magic as powerful as the Princesses?”

“I want to say Discord... but I haven’t even seen that poor bastard... However... an incident happened at Black Gold and Nutmeg’s cafe in Canterlot... When I touched Nutmeg’s forehead with my hand... I had the strangest vision. It was more vivid than any fever dream I’ve had. But it wasn’t a vision: it was a memory from the past.”

“...That’s getting somewhere. But are you seriously this thick headed?”

“Oh, whatever do you mean?” I retorted sarcastically. “I SWEAR to you that I have not met anypony else. Period. Nopony other than the Canterlotians know I’m alive.”

“Exactly. Not when you WERE alive, and not some’pony’.”

“...What are you getting at?”

Zeke facepalmed and groaned. “JACE! JASON ROMERO, YOU DAFT BASTARD!”

“Guess what, shithead, I haven’t seen him either.”

“I didn’t say SEE. I said HAD CONTACT WITH.”

It dawned on me. “...Well, shit.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” Zeke got up and paced around the room. “If that large of a force disruption occurred... And he’s BACK. Then that means...” He looked down and scratched his bony chin, then turned around slowly. “Aksheal...”

“Aksheal’s back as well?” I ask curiously.

“Indeed. Only a portal to Markarth can create disruptions that large. It means that when Jace started to re-learn his magic, the magic activated the Calling Card and tried to call Jace into the tower... But it brought Aksheal out... But why?”

“I honestly have no idea. Being imprisoned in stone for four years does that to you: it screws with your mind,” I answer.

“The Card is only supposed to bring Aksheal when he’s in a state of danger... From what I know, neither Markarth OR Aksheal are in danger... Unless...”

“Unless?...”

“Unless it’s not just Markarth or Aksheal... It’s EVERYONE.”

“Alright, Sherlock Holmes, you can stop being smart now.”

Zeke responded with a bony middle finger. “So what have you been up so since you got out?”

“The usual: screwing around and annoying the masses. Same old, same old.” I waved a hand in boredom. “Although... I have something I gotta do first, and it’s of the utmost importance.”

“Before you go Praxis..” Zeke pulled his hood down to show his entire skull, and walked over to where I was sitting, resting a bony hand on my shoulder. “I just want you to know that Lyra is in the best place Heaven can offer...” One socket closed, a wink perhaps. “You can repay me later...”

“Yeah... thanks, man.”

Aaaand just like that, my mood is once again shot to shit.

I left the treehouse and made my way back to Ponyville. I didn’t know where in the world Trixie disappeared to, but I was sure it wasn’t pretty. Maybe she knew of the Everfree’s dangers, and she fled to town?

Either way, I just hoped that she was doing alright.

I didn’t want anypony in the town to realize I had returned. In lieu of this, I needed a disguise.

I looked back at my right hand. Despite looking dangerous and giving me Mr. Fantastic powers, what other things could Black Magic do....?

If I need a disguise... could Black Magic provide me with it?

After concentrating for several minutes right outside the town, a black ethereal flame swirled around me, shrouding my body again. I shuddered in disdain: it was like when I was a Weresatyr, and the pain I felt from the first time I turned over still haunted me even to this very day.

When the flames cleared, I saw that I was about two feet shorter, and I couldn’t exactly feel my arms. One of my horns felt like it had shrunk and had been centered onto my forehead, while the other felt like it had been painlessly ripped off. I looked down and saw that I was covered head to toe with dark-brown fur. When I turned my head, I saw a white tail, and an imprint of a draconian light-blue eye on the sides of my arse. After further inspections, I saw that I had four hooves rather than two, and that I also had a white mane that reached my shoulder.

Hang on: four hooves? White mane and tail? Tattoos on my asscheeks?

“Oh, shit, I’m a pony!” Albeit a faux-pony, but a pony nonetheless. I tried walking around the small field outside the town to get used to this quadruped thing. I honestly have no idea why fanfictions depicted that walking around as a pony was hard as they make it out to be. Granted, it took about a minute or two to actually master the art of walking on four legs, but still, it wasn’t that difficult.

In my new disguise, I finally entered the town. Trying to keep up with holding this mirage firm was not a problem, for Insanity’s Black Magic was infinite, now that I had control of it and could actually use it rather than having it use me.

“So far, so good,” I muttered to myself as I made it to Mane Street, where my Pagoda was. Yellow “Do Not Cross” tape was stretched across the entrances, and police officer ponies were investigating the scene around where I had broken free, scanning pieces of concrete and pressed grass from my hooves.

‘Pffffff.... stupid bastards,’ I thought cynically as I walked past the Pagoda. I looked around for any leads on my destination, but when I found none, I did what anyone else would do: ask for directions.

“Excuse me,” I asked one pony who, after a couple seconds of remembrance, I recognized as Cloud Chaser. “Do you know if there is an orphanage in this town?”

“Of course,” Cloud Chaser answered. “Just go down that road for a couple blocks and you’ll see a really big building.” She pointed a hoof to the north, down a long and slightly winding road. “That building is the orphanage.”

“Um, thanks, ma’am.”

“No problem... but what did you want to go to the orphanage for? From what I’ve seen, you’re new here.”

Oh shit! I can’t believe I didn’t think this far ahead.

“Well, I...” Aha! Alibi time, motherfuckers! “I lost my wife and child in a very terrible cart accident about several months ago. My family was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, but with them gone... I don’t know. I feel empty. Disassembled, even. I’m going to the orphanage so that I can start anew. Possibly pick up the pieces.”

“Oh my...” Cloud Chaser murmured, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “I’m sorry for what happened. I honestly hope you get better soon, Mister... erm-”

“Keen Eye,” I quickly said. “Call me Keen Eye.”

“Alright, then, Keen Eye. I’ll see you around!” Cloud Chaser said happily before walking away. I followed her direction and went north down the road. So far so good, now I just have to avoid running into--

“Hi-I’m-Pinkie-Pie!-Welcome-to-Ponyville!-Are-you-new-here?-Yeah-you’re-definitely-new-here-because-I-know-everypony-in-Ponyville-and-I-have-never-seen-you-before!-We-should-throw-a-welcome-party-for-you!-whadaya-think?!”

…GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT!

A blur of pink shot up in front of me, obscuring my vision with pink. Bright blue eyes burrowed into my soul, and a smile as large as a slice of watermelon is facing my direction. I backed away as quickly as possible, Pinkie Pie’s random appearance taking me by complete surprise.

“Um... hello,” I said nervously as I waved a hoof at her.

“Hi, how ya doin’?” Pinkie asked ecstatically and quickly. Dear God, this pony needs to lay off the sugar. “So I just wanted to invite you and everypony in town to Sugarcube Corner for your welcome party!”

A quick little recap: Pinkie Pie, the freakin’ patriarch of hardcore partying, has invited me to party with every single individual in town. Normally, I would say yes, but I was on a mission. Plus, I wasn’t exactly the best person around crowds: I usually kept to myself or I would only hang out with a select few people.

But how the hell do I get out of this hole that I dug myself into?

“Er... well, ya see... HOLY CELESTIA, A DISTRACTION!” I pointed my hoof to my right, down a branching street. Pinkie took the bait instantly.

“Ooh, where?!” She asked as she looked down the road and bolted down it. Without a moment’s hesitation, I cautiously gallop up the road towards my destination.

After a couple moments of intense jogging, I slowed down and looked behind me, making sure that the pink equine wasn’t following me and dragging me against my will to a party of what could possibly be apocalyptic proportions. I turned my head forward again and smiled, glad that I had reached my destination. It was like Cloud Chaser said: the building was a tall foundation, pastel-colored like every other building I saw. It probably stood at about twenty feet, with a width of about eighty feet; they gotta accommodate those kids, after all. Above the door was a solid yellow pony on a red shield, the pony rearing on its hind legs with a smile on its face. The actual sigil reminded me of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ capes.

Speaking of which, I might want to see what those three fillies are up to.

In the meantime, however, I must press on.

I walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped inside. I was standing in a large square room, with plastic chairs lined up against both the left and right walls. Two hallways, on the left and on the right, flank the desk that rests against the wall in front of me. Sitting behind the desk was a dusty red Unicorn mare with a red and pink mane, silver eyes, and half-moon spectacles. The mare was working intently on whatever paperwork had been placed in front of her.

I walked over to the desk and cleared my throat to signify my presence. The mare looked up and smiled at the sight of me.

“Hello, there!” She greeted. “How may I help you?”

“Hello. I’ve been wanting to adopt a child, that is alright with you,” I respond.

“Oh, certainly!” The mare reached into a cabinet and pulled out a piece of paper labeled ‘Adoption Form’. “Would you like to receive a boy or a girl?”

“A boy, please.”

“Very well.” The mare pointed her magically-levitating pencil to the hallway on my left. “Go down this hallway and choose the child you would wish to adopt. Then come back here and sign the form.”

“Alright, then. Thank you.” I smiled and walked down the aforementioned hall. On the left and on the right, I saw doors with several different names: Starfire, Wind Ripper, Sunny Skies, Shadow Breeze, etc. So many names of different colts, yet the rooms seem to be occupied. At the end of this long hallway was a window. My incredibly sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of children laughing. I walked over to the window and saw the colts and fillies of the orphanage playing and laughing. I scanned the crowd, yet I didn’t see my son. Though I saw something... Odd.

As the small army of children played, hollered, and enjoyed their camaraderie, I saw a tall black figure standing in the midst of it all. He was being paid no mind whatsoever. I almost mistook it for Slenderman, had it not been for the scythe in the figure’s skeletal hand. The figure turned his head to face me and fired a wink before disappearing into black mist and fleeing the scene.

For a fraction of a second, right when the wink was fired, my vision changed again. Instead of a large playground filled with pony children playing on green grass in the light of the sun, I witnessed a graveyard, with small tombs lined up in a systematic order, the green grass now brown and dying as a blood-red moon was raised past the horizon.

My eyes grew wide when everything changed. I backed from the window slightly and then looked back at the rooms, seeing the names on them were gone and now replaced with new names. The halls were different than before: they appeared decrepit, the walls’ taupe paint chipping off. The floorboards were slightly moldy, and they creaked with each step.

I shut my eyes tightly, praying to relieve myself of a nightmare that I thought would never end. Once a few seconds go by, I cracked open one of my eyes, and sighed in relief that everything returned to normal: the old names, the grass outside, the foals playing.

I can’t believe I saw that...

I shook my head, vainly trying to remove the images from that strange vision. I turned around and decided I would head back home... maybe Riku wasn’t here....

I’m almost halfway down the hall... until I hear it.

It was the sound of a lyre being played beautifully, starting off with a few flourishes of its strings, then proceeding on to quick, well-timed plucks, the sound being all too familiar for me.

I walked back down the hall until I reached the door where the music was coming from. I saw a plaque with the name “Riku Moradov” on the door. Amongst the strings being plucked angelically, I even hear someone HARMONIZING with the music, the voice rising and falling in pitch to keep with the tune. I quietly opened the door and stuck my head in.

The room was your basic idea of a room, sans the electronic technology. I saw a bed on the right side of the room, with a small chest of drawers at the foot of the bed. I also saw a small writing desk and a chair. On the floor was a soccer ball, heavily battered by the hooves of many who had kicked it. And on the bed was a little satyr boy, his eyes closed as he played a golden lyre, his chest rising and falling as he hummed with the music he created.

Koji Kondo would shit himself TWICE if he saw this.

The satyr seemed to have felt my presence, because he had stopped playing the lyre to look at me. When he opened his eyes, his brown irises met my magenta ones. He jumped back in surprise at the sight of me, but I sent a smile to reassure his fears. It did ease his qualms, yet only by a little bit. “W-who are you?” he asked shakily.

“Well... you really wanna know?” I responded. Riku nodded. I sighed, and tried to channel the Black Magic again. Like before, black flames started to encircle me once more. Riku screamed in shock and fear. As quickly as they had come, the flames vanished, returning me back into my satyr form.

“Remind you of anyone?” I asked him rhetorically, my arms akimbo. Riku slowly got up, his eyes slowly welling with tears.

“B...Baba?” He muttered. I nodded, and the boy came and tackled me full force in a massive hug and cried into my chest. I returned the hug and held him tightly. A few minutes pass by, and we finally separated from one another.

“Ready to go, kiddo?” I watched Riku grab a red suitcase from underneath his bed and quickly walk over to his chest of drawers. He opened both the suitcase and the three drawers, unloading the clothes and toys that the latter held and placing them in the suitcase, the clothes only consisting of shirts and hoodies. Once he finished with loading up the trunk with his personal belongings, I return back into my pony form, Riku restraining from screaming again. Once the flames vanished again, I crouched low and let Riku hop on my back, the handle of his suitcase extending.

“Oh!” The mare exclaimed when me and Riku both appear in the main room. “Riku, you must be a very lucky boy!”

“Thank you, Ms. Blossom!” Riku exclaimed. I walked over to the desk, and signed the adoption form with my mouth, for I had not learned how to use Unicorn magic just yet. It was a little challenging, yet I had finally done it. Riku signed his signature on the paper, and we turned to depart.

“Hang on!”

...Only to be stopped by Ms. Blossom.

GODDAMNIT!!!

“Yes?” I commenced, irritated by all these interruptions.

“How come you signed with your mouth and you didn’t use your magic? You’re a Unicorn, aren’t you?”

Shit! Cat’s outta the bag!

Think, Fluffy, think!

“Well... I had never learned how to properly use magic before: I was an orphan, and so I had nopony to teach me how to perform magic. Plus, I didn’t like the curriculum of the schools back in... Denfur. Teachers did less teaching and more doing; they didn’t guide us in our education.”

“Oh... I see now. Well, take care, Mr.... um-”

“Keen Eye,” I answered for her.

“Okay, then. Bye, Mr. Eye! Bye, Riku!” Ms. Blossom waved at us from behind her desk, and me and Riku returned her farewell.

We both head on back down the road towards my house, where Trixie might’ve returned by now. Luckily, no one bothered to stop and talk to me. I turned my head and saw Riku laying face-down on my back, his small tan body rising and falling as he fell asleep, the trunk’s handle barely being held on by his frail grasp.

D'AAAAAWWWWWW!!!!

“C’mon, buddy,” I whispered to him. “Let’s go home....”

VII - Reunion (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

VII - Reunion (Jace)

“HOLY. SHIT. AKSHEAL?!” The old wizard rose to his feet and brushed off his robes.

“Yes. Hello to you, too, Jason.” There was a faint knock at the door.

“Daddy? Are you alright?” Oh shit.

“Yeah, bud! I just... tripped. I’m fine though! Really!”

“O-Okay... If you say so...” I scrambled to the door, put my ear against it and listened as the sound of tiny hoofsteps moved away from the door and down the stairs.

“Alright. He’s gone.” I sighed lightly and made my way to the faux leather chair in the study before I sat down in it for a small breather. Aksheal leaned against a wall and chuckled lightly.

“What? Papa Aksheal doesn’t get to see his grandson?”

“Not at this very moment, anyways.” I looked over at the Calling Card. It was back to normal now, laying on its side on the ground. I lifted my hand and trained my focus on the hourglass, coating it in the red magic that I possessed and willed it over to me. When it got into my hand, I had a small headache, and was panting a bit. “I am way out of practice.”

“Yes, you are. You are a fool for giving up magic in the first place.”

“Yeah, like I wanted to dance around Stalliongrad, stomping the living hell out of anything in my way. That’s just asking to be shot and killed on sight.” I put the hourglass around my neck, tugging on the chain to test the strength. “It’s just something I didn’t need. But with YOU here, this’ll be easier to get back in the swing of magic.”

Aksheal chuckled. “Same, naive Jason Romero. You don’t know the severity of this, do you?” I shook my head. “Tch. Figures.”

“Well, smartass, do YOU have any idea what’s going on?” Aksheal blinked and then sighed, shaking his head. “Exactly. If it is something bad, then it hasn’t reared its ugly head yet.”

“But when it does you’ll be at your weakest.”

“Not with you back. Not with you in the Calling Card.”

“Well, as you can see the Card doesn’t exactly want me in anymore, now does it?”

“...Always a Negative Nancy... Cripes..” I stood and stretched before going to the door of the study.

“And where are you off too?”

“To see Prax...”

“Do you have any idea where he is?”

“No.” I smiled. “But I have a good idea where he might be... Wanna come along?”

Aksheal shook his head. “Noooo... I need to see my grandson! After all... I haven’t seen him in... Four years.”

“Righto! You have fun... And no, you don’t have permission to snuggle with Vinyl.”

“Who do you think I am? A dirty old man with cheap parlor tricks?!”

“Yes.”

Aksheal fired the middle finger my way. “You said you know where Praxis might be?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’ll be back soon, Aksheal.”

“Alright... see ya later, Jason.” I cringed again. What the hell is it with people and referring to me by my first name?

“Adios, man.” I walked out of the room and down the stairs, going right for the door. I’ll have Aksheal answer everything while I’m out looking for Praxis.

I silently opened the door and slipped out, walking out into the cold day. I wiped some dust off of my suit from the earlier book throwing and adjusted my tie, making myself look presentable as I fixed my hair somewhat. I really need to get it cut... It’s getting down to my shoulders at this point.

I started my trek down the dirt path to Ponyville, taking in everything around me as I walked. Then it hit me. I’m trying to re-learn magic... Why not use magical sprinting?! Oh but... My suit...

Fuckit. I’ll be getting to Rarity next week for the wedding. Magic is more important than some clothes right now.

I readied myself to start, limbering up a bit before starting off at a leisurely jog. Then a run. Then a sprint. Being in Stalliongrad taught me one thing: If you can’t kill it, run for your fucking life and never look back.

I kept pumping, running down the path as I approached the town. I could see ponies showing up and a few houses here and there and I just kept getting faster and faster with my running. I forced the magic I felt down to my legs to get me to go even faster, and it was working for the most part. The mental strain was getting to me though, and I was starting to get a headache.

‘Fuck that. That pain is weakness leaving your body! Gonna let a simple headache get you down?! You’ve been in an EMISSION. PUSH IT, ASSHOLE!’ I have a tactic when I would work out. Tough love. I would scream at myself, tell me I’m a worthless piece of shit and that made me angry. Angry enough to find strength in myself and then use it for energy and get a better workout.

So, I did just that. I pushed the pain out of my head with my thoughts and became angry, which in term made me think of things that would make me angry.

I didn’t know how fast I was going, nor did I care at this point. Not until I heard a giant BOOM around me that I know I had successfully broken the speed barrier going through the town, and heading right for the Everfree forest.

I was approaching Fluttershy’s cottage fast and turned to see the yellow timid mare playing with the animals. When she laid eyes on me, I could see her scream and run into the house to hide away from me.

I chuckled lightly, hopping into the air and turning onto my side, tilting slightly to dig the sides of my shoes into the ground. The result was my pushing up a lot dirt, digging a hole, and stopping myself from going supersonic.

My run ended when I almost hit a tree and fell on my side. I panted hard, feeling the pain in my legs after running the distance catch up with me. I rubbed them, but stood and started to limp my way into the forest. To give you an estimate of how fast I was going, if you’ve ever played Prototype 2 and get the speed upgrades maxed out, think of when Heller is sprinting, but faster.

“PRAXIS!” I yelled, hoping that the satyr would hear. “OI, FLUFFY!” Still, I didn’t receive an answer. “Goddamnit....” Regardless of this, I still continued on through the forest. “Where the fuck is he...?”

Coincidentally, right when I said this, I kicked a stray rock down the beaten path. The disturbed stone rolled forward, occasionally bouncing from the trajectory it was kicked at. The rock came to a halt right outside of a large yew tree with an archway in it, the archway being shrouded by grassy curtains. “Huh... That’s convenient.”

While Praxis is a bit of an idiot at times, I gotta hand it to him: the guy’s a master of camouflage, probably since he served in a revolution.

Uh-oh... incoming feels. ABORT, ABORT!

I walked over and pushed the curtains apart. Yep, it was Praxis’s apartment, alright: grassy rug in the middle of the first floor room, coffee table on that rug, a loveseat on each side of the table, and a few glassless windows. Surprisingly, it was cleared of all the dust from four years of being vacant and unused. I made my way over to the spiraling staircase, each stair jutting out of the wall in a circling fashion. Once I made my way up, I saw Praxis in his hammock, napping with a smile on his face..

But he wasn’t alone.

Trixie and the satyr’s son, Riku, were in the hammock with him. Trixie was sleeping next to him, huddling close to him for warmth, while Riku rested on top of him, his head rising and falling with his father’s breaths.

It took all of my power to refrain from going “D’AWWWWWWWW!” at the sight of it.

Then it hit me. Praxis was sleeping. Shit. I sighed and walked down the steps, going to the living area and sitting down on the couch, making myself comfortable.

Now all I do is wait...

…

…

Well, this got boring.

I dug into my pockets and pulled out my iPod, playing Dungeon Village to pass the time.

It was an hour later that I realized I’m trying to get back in the groove of magic usage. I scrolled through the songs on my iPod and stopped on a certain one I absolutely loved.

I cracked my fingers as the soft intro played in, and set my hands across my body to mimic myself holding a bass guitar. When the song started to play in, I let my fingers work their magic on the strings, willing the magic to flow to my hands and take shape. It was hard work, but eventually I could start hearing the bass outside of my music.

I closed my eyes and smiled as I played, just letting my body be taken in by the music. I mouthed the lyrics as I played, and then pantomimed myself playing a trumpet, playing the trumpet solo before going back to the bass.

I felt the grin spread across my face as I continued to play my magical guitar, eventually willing the sound of a distorted guitar in as I played the bass, and then the brass, and then the drums! I was literally a one man band at this point. The only thing missing... Was the vocals.

“Waaaaaaayyy dowwwnnn, won’t you lead us on our way dooown from heeere?... Waaaaaaaayyyy dooowwwwwnn, won’t you lead us on our waaaaaayyy doowwwn frooom heeeeere?” I swore, when I got done singing that part, I heard a group of men sing ‘Way down.’ Freaky.

I just let myself flow with the music, eventually standing, eyes still closed as the breakdown of the song played. I went back to playing the trumpet, in time with the group of brass instruments that I could hear all around me.

I pantomimed a guitar as I played the distorted chords, pulling the headphones out of my ears, not needing the song to lead me anymore.

“Waaaayyyy doowwwwwn, won’t you lead us on our waayyyy down from heeeere?... Waaaayyyy doowwwwwn, won’t you lead us on our waayyyy down from heeeere?” I willed all instruments around me to stop and I looked around, figures of skeletons appearing around me as we all sang. Each skeleton seemed ethereal, almost imaginary. “Way down. On our way down. On our waaaaaaaay dowwwnnn.... We are on ourr wwaaaayyyy dooooooooooowwwn.” The quasi-real skeletons faded into mist and I fell back in the chair, drained from the magic use.

Right as I sat back in the couch, I could hear hoofsteps coming down the stairs. I turned my head and saw--

“PRAXIIIIIIS!”

“JAAAAACE!” The satyr in question beamed like Pinkie Pie when she was presented with a plethora of sweets. Without a moment’s hesitation, he lept off of the stairs and charged me in a big hug. He practically lifted me off of my own feet from it.

Ah.... to be reunited with my best friend... it feels magnificent. It reminded me of Coal, in a way... But I was never really separated from Coal... in a way, he was still around.

“Glad to see that you’re back, bro,” I said as we both separated from our manly hug.

“I could say the same thing for you,” the other responded happily. “Let’s celebrate, shall we?”

Another celebration? Hot damn! “I’m game.”

“Baba, who’s down there?” Riku asked from upstairs. The teal satyr descended the spiraling staircase. “Uncle Jace!” he then exclaimed, jumping from off the stairs like his father and tackling me in a hug. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s good to see you, too, buddy... Sorry I haven’t been around in a long time, pal...” I used to visit Riku every day when he was at the orphanage, but then I had to leave for Stalliongrad. “It’s so good to see you with your father...” I looked up at Praxis and smiled before releasing Riku. “So... Celebration, huh?”

“Eeyup....” Praxis sighed. “Let’s get going, everyone, shall we?”

“Alright, Baba!” Riku finally released me and ran over to his father. Praxis placed the boy on his shoulders, his cargo grabbing hold of his horns to prevent from falling off.

“So... You like the song?” I asked with a sly grin. “Trying to re-learn magic... And I mean, all my magic. Battle magic, effect magic, augmentation magic... All of it.”

“...What?” I facepalmed at Praxis’ reaction. Right... he’d been asleep...

“Right...” I stepped out of the tree, holding my hand out and conjured a black flame. “This...” I threw the ball into the sky and made a fist with my hand, making a large explosion of black flame in the sky. “Is battle magic...” I turned, and snapped my fingers, my suit changing from it’s black, to a elegant white with a white fedora. “Effect magic. You can tell what that does... And for my favorite.” I chuckled and cracked my knuckles, letting my palms be engulfed in black. “This is a new thing I’m trying... Augmentation magic...” I walked over to the nearest tree and punched it, clearing a hole right through the trunk. I pulled my hand out and opened my fist, sawdust flying from my palm.

“So... Like Deus Ex?”

“Yes! Exactly! Ironically enough, the things you use to get more augmentations is called, Praxis.” He raised his brows and smiled, showing his sharp teeth.

“I’m impressed.”

“Praxis?” A voice called from inside the house. “Riku? Where are you two?”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “I take it that’s--?”

“Yes, it is,” Praxis deadpanned.

“You do realize when she sees me she’s gonna-”

“YOU... FLESHY CRETIN!”

I facepalmed for a second time. “Yyyyyup.”

Must I say it? I must say it.

SHIT JUST GOT REAL.

“Forget it, you hack. That was five years ago, get over it...” I said simply, sitting back down on a thick, fallen tree.

“Tri- I mean, I will not forget that! You made me the laughing stock of the entire to-”

Oh, fucking, JUST.

“I’M SORRY!” I yelled, looking over at the showpony who was standing at the doorway.

“W-What did you say?”

“I’m sorry, alright?! I’m sorry I got you banished! I never meant for that to happen... I just wanted you to stop picking on my friends... I’m... Sorry.”

Praxis let out a low whistle. “Wow... I got my hopes up for a fight for nothing.”

“Yeah, this could’ve gone better than expected,” Riku complained. They only shut their traps when both me and Trixie simultaneously fired a glare that was colder than an ice cube in the center of Tartarus.

“Okay, we’ll shut up now,” Praxis muttered quickly.

“Seconded!” Riku grabs his father’s horns even tighter than before.

“That’s right... You better...” I stood and adjusted my tie. “Right. Let’s get going then.”

IX - Dancing With Royalty (Jace)

Craimer’s Note: Hey guys! Haven’t seen one of these in a while, eh? I just wanted to say, sorry for so many songs in this one, I wanted to have the effect of a large party and make it good for everypony to have fun at, and so this called for three songs. Hope you enjoy!

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

IX - Dancing With Royalty(Jace)

I looked up from the deck to see Luna and Celestia both making their way through the crowd. My jaw went a bit slack, my eyes becoming as large as dinner plates. Praxis dawned the same look as me and turned to me. He pointed at the Princesses and I read his face, ‘HOW DID THEY KNOW?!’

I shrugged and he extended both arms towards the approaching royalty, having a mini fit all the while as if saying, ‘HOOOOOOOOWWW?!’

“How did you all know, anyways!?” I asked loudly as the ponies in the room bowed before the princesses.

“Rise, my loyal subjects,” Celestia ordered calmly; the ponies did as she asked and stood at attention. “Well, Pinkie Pie does throw the most tremendous parties, doesn’t she?”

“Plus, we wish to celebrate the return of the both of you!” Luna declared, pointing her hoof at both me and Praxis.

The satyr shook his head in incredulity and muttered a swear in Arabic, his curtains of snow-white hair flopping back and forth as he scratched the back of his head with his all-black right hand. I shuddered at the cerulean draconic eye on his hand that seemed to look around. When it spotted me, it blinked twice, and I just stared more, my gaze becoming fiery. I swear I saw that thing do a double take of me and never look back.

“Saw that,” Praxis muttered. I looked at him in shock. Wait... he can see out of that thing as well?! “Judging by the look on your face, you’re probably wondering if I can see out of the eye.” I nodded when he flexed his hand, creeped out by how he knew that. “I’ll tell you later, probably tomorrow morning.”

“Er... alright,” Vinyl Scratch said. “Let’s just have fun.” Me and Fluffy both nodded in earnest.

“‘Ey, Prax? Ya know how to dance?” I asked my furry companion.

“I haven’t danced since I was a kid, so it’s been awhile,” Praxis admitted, shrugging. “But why not? I might get my mojo back if I work into it.”

“‘Tis the spirit, Praxis!” Luna hollered.

“Ahh... Dancing... I remember when I was actually able to dance well... But that was back in my sophomore year of high school.” I picked up a bottle and looked at the label. “The hell is this?”

“Vod-” Before Vinyl could finish, I had downed the whole bottle in a matter of seconds. “...Damn.” Praxis and I chuckled at her flat words.

“Ready, bro?” I asked Praxis.

“Well, as ready as I can be,” he answered back.

“Vi, can you handle this by yourself?” I told Vinyl as I gave her my iPod Touch and watched as she hooked it up to the turntable.

“Hell yeah!” Vinyl said with a grin, her red eyes glinting behind her cog-glasses. She pressed the play button on one song, and without warning, me and Praxis started to dance.

However, we didn’t expect Celestia and Luna to join in as well.

“What’s this?” I said. “Royalty dancing with mere peons?”

“This I gotta see,” Praxis commented.

As the music started up, I struck up a pose and Praxis tossed me my fedora. I put it on and went from side to side, clapping my hands to the beat of the song.

The result of my little warm up, was Vinyl trotting over to Praxis and staring at me. “...Jace can dance?”

“Apparently so...” He was as shocked as her from the earlier display of skill that I possessed still.

“Alright, let's get this started. Just follow my lead.” The Princesses nodded as I spun into the start of my dancing. Ponies cheered as my feet skillfully moved across the stage as I danced.

Taking a quick peek at the Princesses, I could see that they were lost and in a trance with my dancing. Before long, I saw Praxis partake in the dancing as well, his movements practically symmetrical with my own.

“INCOMIIING!” A bubbly and familiar voice cried. With a leap and a spectacular landing, Pinkie Pie landed cleaning in between both me and Praxis and matched our dancing movements so perfectly that we can’t help but be a little flabbergasted at her moves.

Then again, it IS Pinkie Pie. What was to be expected?

A few moments slipped by as the dancing went on. Before the lyrics started, I hopped back next to Vinyl Scratch’s side and slipped on my headphones, with the off-white unicorn mare by my side. She winked at me behind her cog-shades as I tossed Pinkie Pie my fedora, which she caught on her head and adjusted. I grabbed the microphone and started to sing as the satyr, pink pony, and two princesses danced.

I used to put my faith in worship,

But then my chance to get to Heaven sli-i-pped

I used to worry about the future

But then I threw my caution to the wind.

I had no reason to be care free

No no no, until I took a trip to the other side of town

Yeah yeah yeah, you know I heard that boogie rhythm

Hey- I had no choice but to get down down down down.

Dance, nothing left for me to do but dance,

All these bad times I'm going through just dance

Got canned heat in my heels tonight, big beth

I feel the thunder see the lightning

I know this anger's heaven sent.

So I've got to hang out all my hang-ups

Because of the boogie I feel so hell bent

It's just an instant gut reaction, that I got

I know I never ever felt like this before,

I don't know what to do

But then thats nothing new,

Stuck between hell and high water

I need a cure to make it through.

All the nasty things that people say,

but I'm gonna make it anyway...

Yeah! Got canned heat in my heels tonight big beth!

You know I've got canned heat in my heels!

The lyrics died out. I looked up to see Praxis and Pinkie still dancing, but with a light sheen of sweat on their faces. Celestia and Luna had long since retired, panting heavily from the energy they had just sacrificed to dance like the satyr and party pony. I smiled at the two, slyly reaching for my iPod to change the song. I slid down the list and smiled when I hit the song I wanted, letting the other song play out before I changed it.

“Oi, Vinyl! Can you dance?” I asked over the roar of cheering and stomping for the dancing of all of us.

“Well, duh!” Vinyl retorted. “Can’t talk the talk if I couldn’t walk the walk, now could I?”

“That’s the spirit,” Praxis hollered as me and him walked up to the stage and reached underneath the turntable for-

“A guitar?” I asked. “What’s that for?”

“You’ll see,” he only answered as he hooked up the guitar and selected one of my songs from the iPod. Damn it, Goat-Boy, stop being vague! And stop touching my stuff!

When the song commenced, I heard a few seconds of ambiance. Ah... Daft Punk.

I cleared my throat and began making the electronic guitar-like noises upon the dashboard of the turntable. A few seconds in, I licked my lips, put the autotuning microphone close to my face, and started to sing.

Last night, I had a dream about you

In this dream, I'm dancing right beside you

And it looked like everyone was having fun

The kind of feeling I've waited so long

Don't stop; come a little closer

As we jam, the rhythm gets stronger

There's nothing wrong with just a little little fun

We were dancing all night long

The time is right to put my arms around you

You're feeling right

You wrap your arms around too

But suddenly I feel the shining sun

Before I knew it this dream was all gone

Oh... I don't know what to do

About this dream and you

I wish this dream comes true

Oh... I don't know what to do

About this dream and you

We'll this dream come true

The notes from my dashboard started up again. A few seconds later, it cut out, and ambiance rained over the crowd again. Another moment later, and Praxis began to strum the guitar in his hands, doing his best to hit the strings and synchronize them with my dashboard-fiddling. For a first timer with the guitar, he wasn’t too bad. As the seconds transgressed and Praxis stopped the guitar to welcome more ambiance, the ponies everywhere started dancing and grooving with one another, be it friend, family, or lover.

However, the only one I saw who wasn’t with anypony... was Trixie.

She was sitting by herself at the punch bowl, a sad look on her face. None of the ponies passed by to talk to her, or anything of the sort. She was just... alone.

“‘Ey! Praxis!” I shouted over the sound. The satyr’s sensitive hearing caught my voice, and he turned to face me. I pointed at Trixie who was all alone and winked at him with a smile. He got the message about a second later. He smiled and handed me the guitar before walking over to Trixie, who smiled and gladly accepted his hand. Vinyl, who was by herself, came up and took control of the dashboard. She fired me a wink, and I resumed my singing.

Why don’t you play the game?

I strummed the guitar to the pitch of the six words.

Why don’t you play the game?

I strummed the guitar again, but at a higher pitch, before I busted out the guitar solo to the song. My fingers practically flew across the strings. I glanced over at Praxis and Trixie and couldn’t help but grin; the former had helped the latter in enjoying herself at the party. I’d actually never seen Trixie so happy before. Pinkie and Braeburn, Applejack’s cousin from Appleoosa, were dancing with each other as well, so was Twilight Sparkle with Big Macintosh, Rarity with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash with Riku (as a form of a better apology, I think), and Applejack and some other random stallion; maybe Doctor Whooves?

I quit playing the guitar and recommence a few seconds later, working my fingers to the bone to perform the second solo. I saw a figure rise into the air, and descend. When I looked back, I saw Trixie in Praxis’s arms; apparently, he had tossed her into the air and caught her on her fall. He put her back on her hooves and started spinning, the biggest smile plastered onto Trixie’s face as the two whirled across the dance floor.

I set down the guitar, and walked back behind the booth, letting a soft beat play as my fingers lightly slid across the plastic keys of a keyboard that Vinyl used. I changed the tone and started to press the keys down, making a harmony. I put my mouth close to the mic, “This is a slower song for you lovers out there. If you have no lover, dance with a friend... Only time will tell...” I smirked as I started to sing softly.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand

I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am

Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes

So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been

It's all been a pack of lies

At this point, I looked over at the other mic, and saw Praxis standing by it, smiling at me as he cradled Trixie in his arms as he sang with me. I also saw a group of griffons come up onto the stage and go to their respected instruments on the stage.

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord....

Well I remember, I remember, don't worry, how could I ever forget

It's the first time, the last time we ever met

But I know the reason why you keep your silence UP, oh no you don't fool me

Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows

It's no stranger to you and me.

The drums hit their notes spot on as I continued to play my harmony on the keyboard. It was powerful, it made my body shake with each pound on the drums. I started to sing louder and more powerful with each verse I sang.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

Well been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord.

The song slowly faded to a stop and the crowd whistled, stamped, whinnied, cheered, shouted, and all things in between for me. I smiled wide as I made my way to Praxis and hugged him tight. “Missed ‘ya, Fluffs.”

“Missed you, too, Jace.” He patted my back. “I missed ya, too.”

~End of Chapter IX~

X - Black Magic 101 (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

X - Black Magic 101 (Praxis)

The party ended much faster than any of us could’ve expected.

It had started off at about... sundown, I reckon, which was around... what, eighteen hundred hours? The sky had been so many shades of fire, ranging from red to yellow on a gradient scale. Now it’s a little bit before midnight. The moon shone high up in Luna’s impeccable night sky, the lunar sphere pouring its indigo blood into the environment, the radiance from the moon being like a lighthouse and giving off enough light upon the town to allow other ponies to see where they trek off to.

“Some party, eh?” Jace asked me, nudging me in the ribs a bit. He and Vinyl were heading to their bed in their brilliant mansion at the edge of the village; me, Trixie and Riku were heading to my treehouse in the forest, with the latter on my shoulder in a fireman hold, for he had been fast asleep.

Speaking of sleeping, I still need to buy beds for Trixie and Riku...

“Too right. I haven’t had fun in quite a while,” I commented, adjusting my grip of the sleeping child that was on my shoulder.

“Because you were a garden trinket for about four years,” Trixie chuckled, with a round of laughter coming from everyone, even me.

“True, true...” I stifled a yawn and shook my head, trying to keep awake. Right now, I envy my son for being able to sleep as heavily as he does.

The time seems to fly once again, faster than an eagle diving for its prey. Before I can even begin to comprehend how quickly the sands of time had poured, we had already reached Ponyville’s outskirts, at Jace’s and Vinyl’s mansion.

“See ya in the mornin’, Prax,” Jace yawned before he and Vinyl walked past the gates and onto their property.

“Hold on, Trixie,” I said before I grabbed the azure mare and slung her over my shoulder as well.

“Hey! Put Trix - I mean, me - down this instant!” Trixie admonished.

“Ehh, shut up,” I grumbled before I started running again. It was at a rather slow jog, but enough for me to travel at a fast, brisk pace.

It only took about a minute before I reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. I ventured inside and found my tree-house in a matter of seconds. After, I went inside, I placed Trixie down on one couch, and Riku on the other, before tossing a blanket over each of them and walking upstairs. “G’night, Trixie,” I yawned.

“Good night,” the illusionist replied. I jumped into my hammock and started swinging on it from the momentum I had given it from my landing.

I waited awhile to let rocking motions lul me off to sleep.

"Er... Praxis?" I jerked awake to see Trixie again.

"Yeah?" I said tiredly.

"I just wanted to say... thank you. For having fun with me tonight... and taking me in." She smiled warmly, and embraced me. I was a bit taken by surprise, but I smiled and hugged her in return, patting her back.

"Don't mention it." Trixie pulled away. "Now, why don't you get some shut-eye, huh?"

"Alright. Good night, Praxis..." she said again, going back downstairs and leaving me in peace.

I awoke the next morning, the sun in my eyes being the source to my arousal.

I’m getting real tired of your bullshit, Celestia. REEEAAAL tired.

I walked downstairs, and shook Trixie and Riku awake.

“Guys, get up. Wake up, y’all.”

“Mmm...” Trixie grumbled.

“What do you guys wanna do today?” I asked the two.

“Food. Trix - er, I - require food.”

“Okaaaay...” I looked over to my son. “Riku? What about you? Ya wanna hang out with Wubsy and Vinyl and Jace?” I suggested

“OH SHOOT!” Riku screamed abruptly, his brown eyes wide in shock as he was up and about the living room of the treehouse with a start. “I can’t believe I forgot!”

“What do you mean?”

“Auntie Vinyl kept telling me that when Uncle Jace came back, she and him would get married!” Without warning, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me out the door. “We GOTTA head to Ms. Rarity’s right now!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I exclaimed before yanking my arm out of my son’s grip. “Shouldn’t we at least have breakfast first, kiddo?”

Riku sighed in frustration. “Okay...” he groaned. Me and Trixie chuckled lightly.

“I’m gonna go rustle up some grub,” I said, looking around for something to carry our elusive breakfast in. “Trixie, do you mind giving me your hat?”

“My hat?!” Trixie swiped her hat off of her head and held it close to her torso like it was a newborn foal. “Trix - er, I - shall do no such thing!”

“Please, Trixie?” I asked politely, my hand extended to grab her hat. A few seconds transcended before Trixie finally gave up the hat with an “oh, fine....” in defeat. I grasped it with a smile and a small “thank you” before leaving the house. I turn to the large macintosh apple tree next to my house. The fruits were still large, green, and ripe, the skin shining in the light of the sun.

I had planted that fruit tree when... well, when Big Macintosh had died. It had happened so suddenly; one minute, he was fine, and the next... he was laying on the floor of his family’s barn, coughing up blood as a support beam came crashing down on him, rupturing his lungs and breaking his ribs.

I had to venture to Tartarus to bring the stallion back to life. Ezekiel, or Zeke the Grim Reaper, had given me a vial of golden glowing sand, an incredibly rare grain collected from the black beaches of Tartarus. The golden sands are capable of granting one wish, but only if you concentrated very hard on what you want to come true.

I couldn’t stand to see Applejack’s, Granny Smith’s, and Applebloom’s sorrow at the passing of their family member, no matter how well they tried to hide hat sorrow. So... instead of wishing for all the money and women in the world, or immortality... I wished for Big Macintosh to come back to life.

I can honestly say it was a good thing to do.

With a sigh, I grabbed a few apples off of the tree and put them in the hat before venturing deeper into the Everfree Forest.

The trek takes about a few minutes at most, but at last, I find a plethora of bushes, each with a different assortment of berries dotting them here and there. Boysenberries, blackberries, blueberries, et cetera. With a little smirk, I walked over and started to pluck the berries from the bushes and into the hat.

I consumed about a minute of plucking before the hat was full. I turned to leave... but I stopped cold in my tracks when my sensitive hearing picked up the sound of growling.

I slowly turned around and saw a manticore staring at me from across the clearing. I gulped in worry. Sure, I had handled a manticore before, but... this didn’t look pretty.

I put down the magician’s cap full of fruit and sighed heavily. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight you. I just came to get breakfast. Now kick rocks,” I told the beast. When the manticore didn’t comply, I raised my fists up in a defensive martial arts stance, despite not knowing any martial arts. “Did I not make myself clear? Beat it!”

The beast growled louder and advanced slowly. Something felt off... the manticore’s eyes were pitch black, rather than having any white vitreous fluid. I felt my right hand tingling a bit, with me not noticing it until now due to how transfixed my gaze was upon the manticore and its eye problem. I glanced at my hand and went wide-eyed again at whatever transformation it was undergoing. The fingers on my hand elongated to about two-and-a-half feet long, the undersides of each finger appearing as sharp as dragon scales. The cerulean eye on my hand was now a glowing malevolent red.

“Last time, damn it...” I warned. “Get lost!”

The manticore only roared, before charging me violently. I rolled out of the way to avoid the attack before it could trample me. The manticore whirled around and whipped his scorpion tail at me, the tip ready to pierce the flesh and pump me full of venom. I sidestep to evade the jab, but just by a few inches. The tail lodged deep into the trunk of a tree that was behind me and stayed there, regardless of how hard the beast tried to free itself. Instinctively, I swung my right hand down upon the tail before it could relinquish its stinger from the tree. The fingers sliced through the armored tail like a heated knife through warm melting butter.

The manticore roared in agony now that his tail has been removed, stepping back as green toxins sprayed out from the severed end like someone had violently shook a can of soda and opened it afterwards. The monster leered at me again before charging once more. I bent my legs and jumped over the stampeding monster, landing behind him. The manticore whipped around again and slashed at me with his claws. I hadn’t been quick enough to dodge the attack, however, so the claws sliced through my torso, leaving a quartet of parallel gashes upon my body.

The cuts weren’t deep. But the pain... it felt unreal. Like the claws were not only sharp, but as hot as fire.

“AAAAAAGH!” I exclaimed, watching as the blood poured from the wounds and raced down the front of my body into my fur, staining the brown hairs red. “You dirty bastard!”

Without thinking, I charged at the monster, finger-blades poised at the ready. The beast slashed again, but I sidestep again. I swung my hand down, slicing off its paw. The limb plopped onto the floor with a thump, and the manticore screeched even louder as blood paints the green grass crimson. Without hesitation, I jabbed my hand into its mouth, the fingers stabbing into its throat and out of the back of its head. I felt anguish race through my arm when I see the fangs of the manticore had buried into my forearm. Ignoring the excruciation as best as I could, I angled my hand so that the fingers were pointing down, yet my arm was still straight. With a flick of my wrist, I ripped off the head of the manticore, gore splashing out in rivers out of the creature’s neck wound.

I backed away from the decapitated carcass of the monster, its head still weighing down my arm. I gingerly removed the fangs from out of my arm, almost yelling from the pain. The head landed the ground with a thump, but I gritted my teeth from the pain that surges through my arm like electricity.

I tumbled on my arse, exhausted from the attack and pain I was enduring. I heard a sizzling sound coming from my arm, and I chanced a look at it. The holes where the fangs had pierced the limbs were sizzling and smoking, each artificial orifice slowly closing up. Four or five seconds transpire before the holes disappear, like they had never even been there in the first place.

While my arm was now perfectly fine, with the fingers now returning to their original length and appearance and the red eye now back to being cerulean, the same couldn’t really be said for my chest. I looked down, and I saw nothing other than my wounded torso and my flute.

My flute...

Hold on...!

It’s been four years since I’ve done bioharmonic magic, the magic of creating, improving, and enhancing life through music. And since satyrs can perform this kind of magic through woodwind-playing...

I lifted my flute up to my lips, happy to feel the swirling engravings on the silver instrument’s surface. I started playing a tune from my childhood.

My memory of flute-playing started to come back to me as my fingers flew from hole to hole, plugging each one in the appropriate tune. Slowly, but surely, I felt a tingling sensation on my body as magic poured itself onto the wounds. I looked down and, sure enough, the slashes were gradually sealing themselves shut, first the flesh, and then the skin. After I had finished playing, It didn’t even look like I had even been injured at all.

Good God, Nintendo 64. You know how much I love you right now, correct?

I got back up again, but I had to grab onto a tree to keep myself from losing my balance and falling onto the ground from how lightheaded I was, from both the blood loss and the performance of magic... especially on a sentient and sapient being such as me.

“Urgh... I think my magic is reserved for plantlife only, I guess,” I groaned as I walked over to Trixie’s hat full of fruit. Shockingly, the fruit and the hat had all remained untarnished from the bloodshed. I grabbed the hat and carried it back towards my house, the journey taking a bit longer than I was accustomed too.

I entered the house and tossed the hat of fruit on Trixie’s lap. She caught the hat, smiling at the food inside, but she saw me and her eyes became fraught with worry. “Praxis, are you alright?”

“Y-yeah,” I answered dishonestly. “I’m fine.” I sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table in the center of the room, with Trixie sitting on one of the couches. I stared at the ceiling and enjoyed the quiet of the room. “Where’s Riku?” I turned to face Trixie, and I think the look on my face was enough to scare her.

“He, um... he had to go to the Carousel Boutique,” Trixie said far too quickly. "Yeah. He wanted to get our clothes for the wedding, is all." I narrowed my eyes, scanning her face for any emotions that would betray her answer.

Nervousness.

Anxiety.

And a smattering of fear.

Jackpot.

“What a load of shit,” I spat. “Trixie. Where. Is. My. Son?” I gritted my teeth again, flashing the sharp points at her. Trixie buckled under the pressure.

“He went deeper into the forest to look for you, you had been gone for too long!” Trixie quickly screamed. I felt my heart stop and plummet into my stomach, my hearing suddenly failing me, like a flashbang had gone off.

Riku... is in the forest?!

No....

“SHIT!” I suddenly hollered, running outside, my eyes scanning frantically for the little boy, my ears taking in every audible detail around me until I heard-

“HELP!”

“RIKU!” I screamed, rushing northbound into the forest where I had heard him. My outrageous speed helped me reach his location within a matter of seconds, but I stopped at what I saw.

My son was treed up a tall sycamore, cowering violently as a half a dozen timber wolves were looking up at him hungrily, maws dripping out a weird secretion, like saliva. Their eyes, however, weren’t a glowing yellow... but instead, an empty black.

“Baba!” Riku cried, tears pouring from his eyes and landing on both the ground and the timber wolves below him. “Help me! Please!”

“Hang on, Riku! I’m coming!” I roared before facing the timber wolves, who also turned around at my voice. “Hey! Twiggy bitches! Get away from him!”

Hey, it’s decrepit and immoral of me to swear in front of my offspring, but if it gets those wooden freaks away from my son, then I could care less right now.

The wolves advanced, and the fingers on my right hand started to become blades again, with the draconic eye becoming red once more. I gritted my teeth in anger at the six wolves that encircled me. Two wolves lunged at me, their claws and fangs sharpened and poised to hit me. I stepped back, letting the two collide with one another, a sickening crack ringing out from the impact. Without mercy, I whipped my right hand upon their necks, decapitating the two cleanly as tree sap, their version of gore, spilled out from their throats.

A third wolf leapt and tried to swipe at my chest, but I sidestepped and launched my fist at him, the black limb stretching and socking him in the cheekbone. The struck wolf skidded a few feet in the dirt, yet came back at me in full force. He jumped, and I slashed at him, cutting him in half from his wooden nose to his tail, the tree sap splashing down my arm.

The last three wolves simultaneously charged at me, and I just barely evaded it. I sliced again, cutting off the fourth’s head, and scarring the fifth, the sixth being out of reach from the attack. The two remaining wolves were persistent; I’ll give them that. But it’ll do them no good.

The fifth and sixth timber wolves Zerg Rushed me, but I saw it coming. In one jab, my arm shot out and skewered the fifth wolf, killing him in mid-air.

Unfortunately, the sixth wolf manages to land on me and starts slashing at my body.

Once again, agony crashed into me like tsunami waves, almost crippling me and causing me to writhe in the excruciation.

“BABAAA!” Riku cried from up on his tree. Before the wolf could bite my neck and rip out my jugular vein, I pulled my arm out from the dead timberwolf’s body and grabbed my attacker’s head with both hands. With as much exertion as I could summon, I violently turn the wolf’s head 120 degrees, snapping his neck.

Gingerly removing the wolf’s carcass off of me, I got up off the ground. With my right hand now back to appearing normal, I pressed its palm to my re-slashed torso in the hopes that it would heal the wounds like it had with Jace’s broken leg. Sadly, the vein-like tentacles did not appear and heal the injuries. I put my flute to my lips and played the Lost Woods tune again, magic pouring from my body... into my body. The multiple slashes closed up after twenty seconds of playing. I let the flute fall and dangle off of its strong rope necklace, more lightheaded than before. I tried to jump up the sycamore tree and land on the branch, next to Riku, but my energy reserves were severely drained. I threw my right arm at the branch Riku was still on, my arm stretching to reach it. I grab the bough and held tight. “Come on and climb down, Riku.” The boy started climbing down my arm precariously, until he finally reached me. I slung him over my shoulder. “Let’s go.” I started walking away from the corpses of the timber wolves.

That’s so bizarre. I’ve been living in the Everfree Forest of a long time. Many of the monsters, like the manticores, cockatrices, and timber wolves, haven’t bothered to disturb me at all. Now, since I came back, they’re just... enraged.

Those black eyes of theirs... I saw nothing but hatred and violence in them.

I reached my treehouse about half a minute later. I glanced behind me to check for any monsters that were following us. When I saw none at all, I sighed in relief.

“Riku,” I said when we entered the house. “You’re grounded for a month.”

“What?! Why?” Riku demanded.

“Because you went out into the forest without a guide! What would have happened if I hadn’t heard you? You could’ve gotten lost, or killed!”

“You get to go into the forest without a guide! Why can't I?!”

“First and foremost, don’t talk back to your father. Second, I can go in there because I can defend myself, and I’m old enough!” I turned to Trixie, who shrivelled at my glare. “And you, Trixie: why the hell did you not stop him from going out there? Or at least go with him and keep him safe?”

“I... I don’t know...” Trixie said dumbly. “I thought that you were close by... so I just... I just don’t know, Praxis, alright?”

I inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, calming my nerves slightly. “Look. I’m not doing this to any of you because I hate you or I want to make you miserable. I care about you two... and I don’t want to see any of you get hurt, alright? I couldn’t live with myself if something had happened.”

“But can I at least be at the wedding today?” Riku begged, his brown eyes looking up at me in a form of pleading.

Damn. Out of one of my many weaknesses, it’s the begging puppy-dog look.

I sigh once more. “Fine.” The boy smiled widely. “But after today, you’re grounded.”

“D’OH!” Me and Trixie snickered at the boy’s exclamation before we set out for Rarity’s Carousel Boutique.

Weirdly enough, I saw neither Jace nor Vinyl Scratch.

Perfect: that means I could think in peace.

What was up with my arm, back in the Everfree Forest? I mean... it’s as if it went into attack mode whenever I sense danger, or an enemy.

Maybe I need to look into it more...

But for now, we should get our attire for Jace’s and Vinyl Scratch’s wedding. What I don’t get is why the hell it has to be so sudden...

~End of Chapter X~

XII - Signs (Praxis)

Shadow & Craimer: Welp, here's another chapter. And I'm liking the statistics of this fic. 33/3, folks? That's marvelous! Thanks for sticking around with me, despite my constant bullshit. You're the best!

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XII - Signs (Praxis)

It wasn’t easy rounding up everypony off of both the makeshift train me and Big Macintosh had to lug, and the Friendship Express. I was never good at herding a single sheep, let alone an enormous quantity of ponies. Fortunately for me, Big Mac was still there to facilitate the situation. With the both of us working together, we all got the four hundred ponies of Ponyville, as well as “a few” invites from Canterlot, into the Royal Palace.

Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking: ‘Oh, the magic of teamwork gets the job done; great job, Praxis and Mac; get on with the stor-’

...is that a tin can on the floor?

*OM NOM NOM NOM NOM*

Ah... so it is. Boy, these things are good.

Anyways, what was I saying?

Ah, yes: the events.

As Me and Big Mac successfully herded the ponies inside the castle, a voice calling my name caught my attention. I turned around and went breathless and speechless at the speaker.

Luxurious white dress with frills and ruffles added to the right spots, a white veil turned up upon her royal-blue mane streaked with sky blue, azure lipstick upon her mouth, thin blue eyeshadow upon her crimson eyes, which were void of their usual dark purple sunglasses. Her hooves were clad in sky blue gildings to protect what I assumed was her very articulate and well-performed hooficure.

“Well?” Vinyl Scratch asked of me. I tried speaking, but it was like my tongue had just vacated my mouth and my brain coagulated into goo. I couldn’t get the words out, no matter how hard I tried to get them out. “How do I look?” She pressed on.

“You’re... you’re gorgeous,” I finally stuttered, my heart beating at the most ludicrous of rates. Vinyl blushed hard at the compliment before trotting over and pecking me on the cheek.

Dear God, my face has never gone so red before.

“Thanks, Praxis,” she giggled before giving me a hug and making her way to the castle. “I hope you have fun today!”

“Sure! What could possibly go wro-?” I stopped myself.

Thank heavens I remembered Murphy’s Law: if it can go wrong, it will. Provoking that law by challenging it would not fare well today. Besides, today was supposed to be a celebration.

With a sigh of relief, I resumed my task of getting the invitees inside the Royal Palace. Once the job is completed in about three or four minutes, I donned my tuxedo and accessories, which Jace had the “courtesy” of casting aside on the side of the front car of the makeshift train. Once clothed, I walked towards the Castle. I wiped off the blue lipstick from off my cheek before I went in, to avoid more embarrassment - and perhaps even a scandalous rumour - between me and Vinyl.

I walked amongst the ponyfolk into the Royal Entrance Hall, taking care not to bump into them. The sea of equines was a huge one, almost bowling me over from their strength as I tried to move against the crowd, like the way a cell’s transport protein performs active transport with a substance that’s latched onto it.

...I can’t believe I still remember my biology lessons, even after six years of not being in school.

Anyways.

I finally barreled my way through the herd of nobleponies until I reached the Ballroom, smiling when I made it across. It was like four years ago, during the Grand Galloping Gala, the most prestigious, frivolous, and well-known event of the year. I think another one had passed, since they usually hold the Gala every year and a half at either the dead of September, or the end of spring. The room was heavily sprinkled with creatures of all race, gender, age, and origin.

Each pony in the room had on something white and light blue. Whether it be a white suit jacket, blue suit jacket, white shirt, what have you. Everypony matched, and that was all that mattered. Even the balloons all around the castle were white and light blue. It was a beautiful sight to see, really. The whole room looked like a brilliant ocean in the sunlight, shining so impeccably that you can’t help but stop and stare in shock and awe from how... beautiful it was. The extravagant halls and rooms of the castle being decorated for the same special occasion: The human of Equestria being married.

“Yo! Fluffy!” An all-too familiar voice called through the hustle and bustle of the ponies in the room. I looked to see Jace flying high above the crowd with his magic, the crimson aura cocooning his entire being. He floated over and landed in front of me, with several hundred cheers blaring throughout the ballroom.

Wait... he can fly now?

‘Hello, faggot police? Yeah, OP is on the loose again.’

‘Shut it, Brain. Now’s not the time for criticism.'

“C’mon, man! You gotta be there for the toast!” Jace grabbed my arm and started levitating us over the ponies towards the Main Room, where I believe the celebration was beginning.

It felt weird to be ensnared by magic. For instance, this unexplainable sort of chill just starts running through your body. You don’t feel as massive and heavy as you did before you were affected by the greedy, grabbing hands of telekinesis.

“Sorry,” I quickly apologized. “I haven’t been invited to a wedding, so I don’t know what goes on.”

“Really?” I nodded. “That must’ve been a bit awful.”

“Eh, wasn’t too bad,” I countered. “The last wedding my family went to? The groom didn’t know there was, shockingly, a stripper in the cake; so he started cutting it with this really expensive sabre he received from Libya as a gift, and... well, you know the rest.”

“Good God,” Jace said, with a hint of shock in his undertone. Seconds after, he started laughing so hard that he almost dropped the two of us. “Well, it’s a good thing Berry Punch isn’t around for cakes, I’ll tell you that much.” He wiped a tear of mirth from his right eye, yet I was still confused by the statement.

“I thought she was the town drunk, not the town whore,” I deadpanned.

“You never know, she could be both... All those fics about her being the town slut are...” He shivered a little. “Disturbing... So... Graphic.”

“Change the subject. Change the subject now!” I demanded desperately as the two of us finally arrived at the Main Room. The many ponies that sat inside stomped and cheered in earnest and joy when we entered. “Hello, everypony!” I cried at them all. “How’re you all doing today!”

‘Please don’t throw panties, please don’t throw panties, please don’t throw panties.’

In the middle of my hopeful wishing, I felt an elbow in my side and Jace glaring at me. “This is my wedding, not a damn concert...” He whispered to me.

“I know that, but still: when you least expect it, it will-”

*FUMPF!*

“...always happen,” I finished in disgust as a pair of pink lacy undergarments slapped my face. I removed the pink article of skimpy clothing and threw it over my shoulder. “Case in point.”

“Those were mine!” A bubbly voice I recognized screeched happily, like she had just built an exact scale model of the Eiffel Tower (Is it Hooffel Tower in this world?) or something of the sort. The ponies backed away from the speaker, revealing her to be-

“Pinkie Pie?!” Me and Jace yelled in incredulous unison.

“Yyyepper pepper!” She said as she bounced merrily over to the two of us. She picked up her lacy underwear and re-equipped it in a flash.

Dude... not cool.

“That’s vulgar, girl,” Jace commented; "and at my wedding nonetheless." He pinched the bridge of his nose when Pinkie Pie only giggled at his response. He sighed before going back to a proper pose. "Right! Well, I want to thank you all for coming to me and Vinyl's wedding! Enjoy the refreshments, and the toast will be after the ceremony, which will start in..." He pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch. "...Ten minutes! If you’d like, you can go into the throne room now to seat yourselves." He smiled and turned for the door, walking through the waves of ponies.

And so, the crowd dispersed again. With a swivel or two of my ears, I picked up the sound of chatting amongst one another, be it salutations, gossip, or bets on which flier will win in the next Wonderbolts Derby. Having very sensitive hearing was both grand and terrible, mainly because loud music temporarily impaired my hearing afterwards. But on the positive side, I could practically hear a butterfly’s wing flapping from... what, a mile or two away?

So instead of being a total creep and eavesdropping on everyone in proximity (which was literally everyone), I figured I should do what the others are doing: mingle.

I walked around and struck conversations with others. There were just so many! Ponies, Diamond Dogs, griffins, zebras; it was all a fantastic, magnificent collision of all things sapient and conscious going on in this building.

I used to hate being in gargantuan parties like this one, but now... I dunno, they don’t seem that bad anymore.

The whole time, I just socialized with the folks of Equestria. We talked about simple stuff: the economy, the weather, the ceremony, how splitting two very narrow Hoofgos (after asking them what in the blueberry fuckwaffles that is, I learned that it’s like a ponified version of Legos) is harder than splitting an atom.

...

Okay, so maybe we didn’t discuss that last part, but hey, as long as I have a way of keeping you here, I gotta do what I gotta do.

I walked to the window of the room, and looked outside to check the time. Judging by the sun’s very slight change of position in the sky, along with the shadow I casted upon the floor, my ten minutes were almost up.

Looking around for any place where I can start the toast, I witnessed, out of the corner of my eye, a pedestal bearing a speaker’s podium smack-dab at the front of the room. I would’ve walked over to the podium had it not been for the crowd of ponies blocking my path from the back corner of this room to the front.

This was just criminal: Why does it have to be, like, thirty meters away?!

With a sigh and a cocked-back right arm, I launched my arm at the podium, my hand whizzing above the heads of the ponies. Once my hand latched onto the podium like the Clawshot from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, I leaned back and grinned. “Gomu gomu no....” I leaned back a bit farther, the audience gasping in shock and awe at the sudden length of my arm.

‘It’s show time!’

“ROKETTO!” I leaped forward, covering the distance between me and the podium I was grabbing. I zipped over the heads of the ponies and landed right next to the podium, hanging onto it still in case I had overdone my leap.

‘Yeeeaaah... One Piece...’

I got behind the podium and cleared my throat. A butler pony tried offering me a glass of Chardonneigh, yet I declined the offer. I never drank to begin with. I clapped my hands twice at a powerful level to obtain the attention of everyone in the room, and it seemed to work. The ponies, Dogs, griffins, and zebras all turned to face me.

“Hello, everyone. I’d like to make a toast to my friend, Jason Romero.” Sounds of applause rang out at his name. “He’s been one of my best friends ever since we met four years back. Loyal, kind, honest, generous, and hilarious: he’s practically the very embodiment of the Elements of Harmony. Without him, I probably wouldn’t even be here.” I took another breath to fill up my lungs. “This also goes out to my friend Vinyl Scratch.” More applause once more. “She’s been sweet, incredible, and a very swell pony to be around...” I gulped. “Sorry, I’m not really good with words, guys.”

“Say something wise!” A griffin shouted from the group.

“Yeah! Be wise already!” A voice - one that I recognized as Rainbow Dash - agreed.

“Alright.... Beauty and love will forever be in the eyes of the beholder. The flames of these two’s love will burn on until the end of time, always flaring brightly for all to see, expanding and swallowing all that try to stop it. So may these two forever be blessed by their marriage, and the happiness they use to fuel their fire of love and life.”

More applause blared from the group, loud enough to temporarily deafen my hearing.

“So cheers to the two lovebirds! May they be blessed with love, happiness and... all that jazz!”

“CHEERS!” The whole crowd launched up any available drinks into the air as a way of celebration. Soon, they chugged down their Chardonneigh. I closed my eyes and sighed in content at the joy poisoning the air.

When I opened them, I almost fell backwards.

I didn’t see a crowd of ponyfolk. There was no sunshine. There was... no life. Instead, a blood-red moon shone against a black sky, tainting the area with crimson. The ponyfolk were nothing but rotting corpses littering the ground. The walls and floor were painted red with gore. Judging by the black smoke that swirled around the room, something was burning inside the castle, and the rancid smell of roasted flesh told me it was more bodies.

...what? What’s happening?

This is familiar.. this is the second time I underwent something like this.

I gasped in shock and shut my eyes tight, shaking my head back and forth to empty my brain of the images that bombarded my eyes. “No, no, no, no, no!” I shouted.

I felt something grab my shoulders from behind and shake me. I turned around and yelled in fright. The something was this... bizarre monster. He wasn’t like the old banished god Insanity, but he gave me disgusting chills like Insanity did. Red glowing pupils on a black background, bones tarnished and dirtied with age and dirt and debris, teeth so sharp and grotesque that even looking at them hurts me.

“PrAxIs?” the thing asked in a guttural, deep voice. “ArE yOu OkAy? SnAp OuT oF iT!”

*SLAP!*

The bony monstrosity slapped me across the face. I shut my eyes briefly at the stinging pain, but reopened them a moment later. I gasped again.

The monster was gone; in its place, however, was Jace, a worried look in his eyes. “Bro, are you alright?”

I looked around, to make sure that this wasn’t a dream. Nope; ponyfolk were alive and well, the red moon and pitch-black skies were replaced by Celestia’s lovely sun and blue skies. No fires, no deaths, nothing.

...well, except for most of the wedding guests staring at me in both concern and curiosity.

“Yeah, I think I’m fine,” I said at last.

“You think?” Trixie, who I didn’t notice was there, sounded skeptical. “Praxis, you’re not fine! I mean, your eyes! They just went... black! Both of them! Moreover, you started flipping out in public, and screaming at nothing! We’re worried about you, Praxis. What’s going on?”

I sighed. “I’ll tell you guys at a later date.”

“No, you’re telling us now.” Jace said as he dragged me offstage. Where, I have no idea.

“Ba-a-ah!” I bleated in fear. I then clapped my hand to my mouth in embarrassment. Trixie giggled at my mortification, but for only two seconds, since the situation was rather severe.

Soon, the three of us end up underneath the staircase of the Ballroom, where Twilight and Princess Celestia stood to greet the attendees of the Gala back at the season one finale. Jace started looking at me with a bit of frustration. “Now. Tell. Me.”

I gulped before beginning to tell the two what I saw. It took about a minute or two of explanation, especially since this is the second time something horrifying of this magnitude had happened to me.

“...Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen again and we can get on with the wedding.”

“Y-yeah,” I stuttered. “I hope so.”

“So what’s going on?” Trixie asked.

“We are dealing with some high level magic...” Jace started pacing back and forth at a slow speed. “Future magic, is what you saw. From something that wants to do that to this world.”

“I know. Even worse, something happened in the Everfree Forest this morning. I went into the Forest to get us some food for breakfast, and I saw another manticore. But this one was different. Its eyes were all black. After I killed it, I came back to the house, and Trixie told me that Riku had gone off into the Everfree to look for me. When I found him, he was pinned up a tree by a pack of timberwolves. Their eyes were also black. I almost lost my life on both occasions.”

“How did you survive?” Jace inquired as he stopped his pacing.

I dug my hand underneath my tuxedo and removed my flute, the silver swirl-engraved surface gleaming in the light.. “This thing isn’t just for plant life. I can use my bioharmonic magic on animals as well.”

“Well, whatever it was, the black eyes mean something.” He sighed and looked to the ceiling, crossing his arms. “Black eyes... Black eyes... Where have I heard of this before?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.” I answer honestly.

“Nor I,” Trixie concurred. I scanned Jace’s face for any emotions that he’s exposing. Usually, he’s just this endless swirling whirlpool of emotions, and while I was good at reading emotions like children’s books, his emotions were rather annoying and difficult to decipher and make sense of.

Now, however, the reading of his emotions were more facilitated for some unknown reason. I detected worry about me and my earlier behavior, anger about what was going on in Equestria, fear that someone could get hurt.

“Of course you wouldn’t, because you haven’t studied in the Tower like I had to...” He left the underside of the Ballroom’s staircase and walked out of the room we were in, back into the Main Room.

“See you in the hall, Praxis,” Trixie said, before briefly hugging me and turning tail towards the room. “Hope you get better,”

I smiled, the smell of the azure mare’s mane smelling like... fragrant oils, like what one would get from fruits, lingering on my nostrils. It wasn’t strong enough to make me wrinkle my nose in slight disgust, nor was it too faint that it left immediately. It was... inebriating. I liked it. So very much, actually.

...

Er, moving on.

I also moved to leave the room, ready to rejoin the group and recommence the party.

I was about to, at least... before I saw something out of the corner of my eye in the shadows of the staircase. It was odd. It was a figure of a human... but with four arms, wicked claws at the end of each finger, a strong build, three horns on its head, and a tall figure. It reminded me of what Slenderman’s black cousin would look like. Its yellow eyes glared at me before it just... vanished. Melted into the shadows, hopefully to never return.

It also said something to me. Normal people - or ponies - wouldn’t be able to hear what it said, and would pass it off as just indiscernible nonsense. I, however, did hear it. And I can tell you this... that what it said wasn’t nonsense.

“SoOn...”

I shuddered again. Not because that meme is so overused that “cliche” doesn’t begin to cover it, but by its voice - it was high, clear, and cold. Who was it?

What did it mean “soon”?

What would happen soon?

...Does this have to do with the weird future magic I’m suffering?

And if so... is death knocking on our door?

~End of Chapter XII~

XIII - Umbra (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XIII - Umbra (Jace)

“Black eyes... Black eyes... Where the fuck have I heard that?!” I was sitting down on a bench in a part of the castle that guests were not allowed, though I was. I was part of the council, as well as Praxis, so I was allowed pretty much anywhere.

I rubbed my face a bit and let out a groan, rubbing my tired eyes. “I know I’ve heard this before, but what the fuck is it?! This shit is going to annoy me to no end all day..” I said aloud, resting my head in my hands. “Nnng... I need a stiff drink after this.”

I stood and took a deep breath before walking out of the room and going into the main area. The main ceremony was to start in about three minutes... Don’t wanna be late for my own wedding.

I made my way through the waves of ponies, getting into the main hall with some difficulty. I saw Celestia standing on the highest step leading up to her throne and I saw her smile at me as I approached. “Jason, I’d just like to say, congratulations.”

“Thank you Celestia... Thank you for doing this for us. Me and Vinyl wouldn’t have anypony else be the one to wed us...” Hold up. Why am I thinking that I’m forgetting something... I have my whole suit, my corsage... Wait... “Oh... Shit.”

Celestia reared back a little. “Something wrong, Jason?”

“I forgot my vows. Sweet Lord, I am so fucked.” I ran a hand through my slicked back hair and looked around at the ponies in the room, quickly turning back to Celestia. “This is really not good... I didn’t even do them! I was so caught up with my studies and my magic I completely forgot...”

Celestia raised her head, and looked around at the ponies. “Excuse me, everypony. I had forgotten about something... I’ll be back in just a second!” Celestia trotted off of the steps to the throne and went through a series of doors to get to her tower.

I was a wreck. I was starting to sweat and I was getting a bit fidgety just standing there. I turned a little so my side was facing the crowd, and I turned my head slowly, trying to keep the best poker face on me as I could muster. ‘What was Celestia planning?’ I thought to myself, standing up straight, my hands folded in front of me. ‘Hopefully she does it fast...’ I made my way to a door in the throne room and opened it, going inside, away from the crowd.

Once inside, I picked up a quill, dragged the parchment towards me, and tried to find something that would serve as inspiration. Sadly, with the room being such a lackluster, listless area, creativity was extremely limited. Books lined the shelves, each tome holding all knowledge of magic in their pages. But what of the knowledge of love? Where does that come in?

Hang on...

Ah, I think I’ve got something.

With a sudden spark for the fire of a great idea, I began writing as legibly and quickly as my hands would allow me. Minutes were spent creating the correct words to be spoken on a occasion such as this wedding. Sweat and tears were practically lost in the making, but at last, I had the right vows to say to my wife-to-be.

“Jace?” Praxis’s voice called from on the other side of the door to the room I was in.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” The door opened, and the satyr walked in. However, there was no usual carefree look about him: the expression he had made him look like he was just slapped across the face.

“My friend, we have a problem,” he said.

“What? How?!” I shouted, both angrily and nervously. He then begins to tell me of this weird entity he saw in the shadows of the castle, how it was all black, tri-horned, four-armed, and terrifying.

“...Even worse, it said ‘Soon’, in this really cold voice,” continued Praxis. “Like it was planning on doing something to us all. This obviously correlates to the weird future magic I’m assaulted by.”

I sat down again, my head in my hands. God damnit... now? Of all times, it had to be now?! “Damn it!” I slammed my fist into the table in agitation and fury. “What can we do?”

“It’s a shadowy figure, innit?” Praxis began.

“Yeah? And?” I moved my hand in a circular motion to make him keep talking.

“Shadows hate the light: we just need to ward off this thing with a light source or something.”

"...Obviously you know nothing of shadow creatures. They don't hate light. They DISAPPEAR in the light. Take your shadow for example. Where does it go when light hits it?"

“It disappears...” he deadpanned. “Regardless, if it can keep this... thing away, then let’s tell the Princesses or somepony with a high amount of power; maybe they can handle the situation?”

"If we tell the Princesses, then everypony out there will be panicked. We don't want that. We want to have this played stealthily." I paced around the room a bit and then met Praxis' eyes. "Tell the guards to keep a close eye on things. Don't let them say anything to Celestia or Luna. Or if you wanna go after it with a candlestick and pretend it's a sword, be my guest.."

“No thanks on that latter idea. I’m in no mood to make a fool of myself on an important day. I’ll warn the guards, but this shadow monster just sounds like too much for them to handle. So unless I order them to carry lanterns around like freaks of nature to ward off this thing, I only have one more suggestion: just have it take place outside, while it’s still light out.”

"Too bad we're already setup for the entire ceremony on the inside."

“Damn...” He sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll go warn the guards... but I wasn’t serious about that lantern business.” He left the room and closed the door, leaving me to my own devices.

"Black eyes...Shadowy figure... Future magic.. No. It can't be." I ran for a bookcase in the room, and tore through it, trying to find the book that was hopefully there. "C'mon. Please have it..." After a while of tearing through the books, I found it. ‘Creatures of Tartarus: Book 1’

With voracious fervor, I opened the book, skimming through the pages. “Page... three-hundred ninety-four.” Once I stopped at the aforementioned page, I read as much as I could of it, devouring the knowledge it help.

‘The eyes of the Shadow Demon, also referred to as Black Stare is a sign of things to come. The Black Demon takes its form as a shadow in the overworld, and can manifest shadow creatures ten times more powerful than their real counterpart. It is said that the Black Demon was once a powerful Order Reaper and was banished when he went mad with power. In the old days, they used to call him..’

"...Umbra." I breathed, my eyes leaving the page. I looked up at the door and saw it was charred and burned. “Not. Good.”

I jumped to my feet and kicked open the door, only for it to resist my kick. I rebound off of it like a basketball was tossed at it, my leg feeling like jelly suddenly. I tried again, this time with a magical surge in my foot. This time the magical charge blasted the pathetic slab of wood off its hinges and down the stairs.

“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll save-”

Wait... why is nothing burning? All the ponies are looking at me weirdly... well, the ponies that weren’t bludgeoned by that rogue door. Those ones were staring daggers at me.

Oh, shit.

“Ah... Save you from... The... Uhh... Shortage of celery sticks!” I smiled at them all. “Heh, waiter, more celery please!” I let out a nervous chuckle and wiped my suit off, walking down the steps. ‘Celery... Smoooooth.’ I thought to myself as I made my way to the altar, vows in hand.

‘Am I losing my mind? Is future magic plaguing me as well?’ I mulled these thoughts in my head, my brain hurting as it tried to make sense of all this.

Apparently, the sound travelled throughout the castle, because Praxis and Trixie came over to me in a panic. “We just heard the crash, what happened?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, just me. Freaking out about the celery shortage! You know how I get...” I gave a fake smile and turned my gaze to behind the altar. I hope that the two would get the message. I continued to look behind the altar and then moved my head a little. “Get the hint you thick fucks!” I then whispered angrily.

Whoops. Talk about a Freudian slip.

Before I know it, Praxis grabbed my ear with his RIGHT HAND and pinched it as hard as he could. Now, I’m rather resistant to pain, but hot damn, those fingers of his are sharp! He walked into the room I left, with Trixie following him and me in agonizing tow. “Ow! Let go!”

“Dude!” he barked after he tossed me aside like a piece of trash. “I’m thick-headed, daft, pathetic, and lame, sure. You can call me that, and I’ll still smile; but don’t throw Trixie under the bus, man. Show some respect, please?”

“I will not show any fucking respect!” I whispered angrily. I pushed him away from me and dragged him behind the altar. “We have a fucking problem, and it’s a big one. That shadow?” I pulled the book out and pointed at the passage. “Read that, motherfucker.”

Praxis, with a furious glare, snatched the book and read the passage, muttering a few key words. “Shadow Demon, da da da, Black Stare, yadda yadda, Black Demon, blah blah blah, once a powerful Order Reaper, banished when he went mad with power, they used to call him..’

“Umbra...” I seethed, my stare not changing from Praxis. “Now don’t you get fucking snappy with me, Prax. This. Is. Serious. And now you know why I’m like this right now. I’m a bit on the fucking edge.”

“I understand,” he said, “but try and hold your tongue to people. Sure, you’re mad, but what good does it do to lash out at others with your anger?” He patted my shoulder. “Besides, we defeated a mad god from destroying the world. You make it seem like you can’t handle this.” He turned and leaved the room.

“Praxis! You don’t understand!” I ran for him, my hand grabbing his shoulder. “Umbra is not like Insanity. This... Thing is so much more powerful... You have no idea what we’re dealing with...”

“Expect the unexpected. I’m not saying that to be foolish, or because I’m ignorant. You have every right to be on your toes... God, I miss toes... and pants....” He looked at the ground, but shook his head at his ridiculous notion. “Regardless, I told the Royal Guard, they’re keeping their guard up. If shit goes down, there’s us. If we go down, the Princesses are up next.”

“The Royal Guard is just a fly that Umbra can swat away without anyone knowing. He can make perfect shadow clones of them, and they look EXACTLY like them.”

“O ye of little faith.” He sighed. “Just have hope. It’s all we have left. We’ll pull through; we always do.” This time, he actually left the room, with Trixie following him and leaving me alone once more.

I sat back down with a sigh and my head in my hands again. “Great... that goat’s an idiot,” I whispered.

“I heard that!” He hollered back.

“...Good!” I yelled back, my leg shaking. I needed something to calm my nerves... Like a smoke or something. Unfortunately, cigarettes are rather rare in Equestria, and I’m sure none of them exist here in Canterlot. So, basically, I’m fucked until after the wedding until I can go out and find them.

But that’s not the point... The point is. We’re fucked. Royally. If this gets through the castle, there is no stopping this... Let’s just hope this asshole has the common courtesy of letting a man be married.

Just... have hope? What was he thinking? How could he say something like that at a time like this? That satyr is fucking insane if he thinks that I can calm down right now.

I sighed again. I might as well at least try to calm down. Besides, the dude’s still my friend, after all.

“Damn it...” I got up and made my way around the room.

Something caught my eye, and I quickly turned my head to see-

...nothing.

“Shit... I’m losing it!” I whispered.

I swear I saw something. It was shadowy... and seemed to just drip with evil....

Time to hunt it down, I guess.

~End of Chapter XIII~

XIV - The Age of Shadow (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XIV - The Age of Shadow (Praxis)

‘He’s not looking any better...’ I thought as I looked at Jace before walking into the halls. “It takes a lot to scare Jace... And if something scares Jace, I should be scared....”

I walked around the room, my ears trained to pick up the slightest irregularity, my eyes sharpened well enough to try and catch anything that would betray the frivolous and exuberant environment of the wedding party. In the end, I spotted nothing. I walked up to a nearby luncheon table set up outside and sat down in it, sighing heavily as I placed my chin in my hands. “Ah, hello! Bonjour! What may I serve ze lovely couple?” said the unicorn waiter with the fakest of French accents as Trixie sat down across from me; Riku was off with Vinyl, Wubsy, and the Cake twins (who have grown exponentially after my four years of inactivity).

“W-We’re not a couple,” stammered Trixie.

“And please, drop the faux pas,” I groaned. This dude’s accent was faker than Snooki’s boob job, that’s for sure. “Your accent isn’t even good.”

“Oh, alright,” the stallion said irritatedly, this time with his regular accent - a Manehattanite one. “What can I get youze two?”

“Light salad with extra tomatoes and croutons, as well as a dash of Parmesan cheese and some ranch dressing,” I said as I examined my nails boredly.

“Trix- er, I will have what he’s having,” Trixie said.

“Anythin’ else?” The waiter’s khaki horn was encased in a light green aura as a pencil jotted down our order on a notepad.

“May I get a glass of water, and a glass of your finest wine for the lady?” I finished. Trixie was about to retort, but smiled in the end.

I smiled back at her and watched the pony make the salads and pour our drinks. It gave me a bit of time to think as I watched him do a seemingly mindless task. What exactly... are we dealing with...? Jace told me it was a reaper gone mad with power... and being a reaper, Jace took down Insanity, and he was fairly new to the whole ‘reaper’ thing.

I sighed. A minute later, the salads were prepared and the drinks were poured. I ate it, but slowly, crunching the meal with my sharp teeth. The taste was satisfactory, the ranch dressing giving it an extra kick. “How is it?” I asked.

“Good... thank you,” she responded.

“Don’t mention it,” I said once I finished eating (my plate of salad wasn’t exactly abundant), waving a hand to dismiss the matter. “It was nothing.”

“No, I mean it. Thank you, for everything; showing me mercy, giving me a place to stay, food to eat.” Leaving her plate of half-eaten salad and emptied wine goblet, Trixie got out of her seat and walked over to me. She got on her back hooves and wrapped her forelegs around me in a warm embrace. “And thank you... for being my first friend.”

“First friend?” Was she serious? She... didn’t have friends?

“Yes. My first friend in my whole life.” She relinquished her hold on me, to my slight disappointment. “Could we talk about this somewhere private?” I nodded. I downed my water in one go, the chill of it soothing my slightly cracked throat. We walk out of the area of where the wedding is bustling and towards the gardens; last I checked, that area was the least occupied. Perhaps it was still less occupied.

As we passed by, I looked around the room and spied Jace on the far side. He tapped on his watch and raised both hands, with each finger extended. “We got ten before the wedding actually starts....” he seemed to tell me nonverbally; just a glance and hand motions.

That’s the thing about the male species. So much could be said in only a mere second of glancing. The thoughts of the two men that make eye contact flow consistently and smoothly, and are easily deciphered with just a simple second or two of eye contact.

I am getting too caught up on this subject, and I am starting to creep myself out... Moving on!

I put my hand over my eyes and move my head to and fro: “Did you find Umbra yet?”

Jace shook his head, then raised a brow. “Did you?” I shook my head in retortion.

Jace facepalmed, and I thought of what he was thinking next... and no, it wasn’t intercourse with Vinyl Scratch. “Fuck... Keep looking,I’m trying to get Zeke here to stalk around. Sound like a plan?”

I nod. “Got it.” I looked back forward and was shocked that Trixie was still going on; Hell I’m surprised she didn’t realise I wasn’t following her. With a small spasm of speed, I crossed the slightly vast distance and caught up with her.

“Are you alright? You were falling behind a bit...” She said, curious as to why I was pretty much ten metres away before catching up to her.

“Jace wanted to talk to me about something.”

“...I didn’t hear you two talking.”

“Males don’t need to speak to convey words; besides, Jace can use telepathic magic.”

“Oh, that explains it,” she finally concluded. We entered the gardens and walked around, observing its botanical beauty. We eventually stopped by a bonsai tree; a mammoth one, at that. It was about fifteen meters high, with... pink leaves. The rosy foliage provides us a large, cooling shade that protects from the sun’s warmth and bright rays.

I remember this tree all too well: when Jace was taken by Insanity, to this “Graveyard of Dreams”, the latter threw the former into the sky back over where we are right now. When I heard Jace screaming (like a girl) from the sky, I had quickly formulated a plot. When I spotted the bonsai tree, I played the flute as quickly and as best as I could. Sure enough, the small shrub became a massive and proud tree within a matter of seconds.

And here it still stands... Four years later, and it still looks the same it did. I took some time to walk around the tree, and saw some markings carved into the trunk. I took a closer look and realized it was a heart carved into the tree with the markings ‘J + V 4 EVER.’ Hmm, looks like it was something Vinyl made after Jace left... Or before he left they had their last date here.

“Is this good enough?” I said. Trixie nodded. “So what do you mean, ‘First friend’?”

Trixie sighed, cleared her throat, and began to talk. “Back when I was a filly, I was constantly teased for being.... inept at magic. I was horrible at it; I couldn’t even do the simplest levitation spell. They all called me even worse names: ‘loser’, ‘failure’, ‘nitwit’; any and all that you can think of. Because of my ineptitude at magic, I couldn’t have admirers or friends. I eventually got sick of all the teasing and bullying, and so I asked my parents if I could be homeschooled.

“That wasn’t any better, either. My parents were severely harsh on me in terms of studies. Every single hour I was awake, I devoted myself to magic. Slowly, but surely, I got better at it. Eventually, it earned me my Cutie Mark in magic; illusion magic, to be precise.

“But still, I was trained, tested, and pushed into learning magic: my father wanted me to be the best. Soon, I cracked when he pushed me too hard in one lesson; I almost lost my life during it. He scolded me, talked down to me, called me pathetic and unable to be half as good as him. So I ran away....”

I wiped a tear that was falling down her cheek as she was speaking. “Now that I was basically homeless, I traveled abroad, trying to show off my magic to others. But no one cared for a showpony, especially a terrible one like me. I was losing money, and was reduced to nothing but my carriage and the clothes I wore.

“So I started lying to try and heighten my popularity and welth. Once I lied to everyone about vanquishing an Ursa Major, my name was spoken everywhere almost immediately! The fame, the fortune, the popularity; it all went to my head. I had dug myself into a hole I couldn’t get out of. Soon, my own hubris controlled me. I had evolved from a meek and pathetic filly to a powerful and mighty mare... or so I’d like to believe.

“It stopped, however, when Twilight Sparkle... humiliated me!” Trixie went to punch the bonsai tree, but I stuck out my hand, her azure hoof instead plowing into my black palm. While I was used to this pain, it still hurt a bit. I shook my head, silently telling her that violence isn’t the right way to deal with it. Trixie calmed down shortly after. “Everywhere I went, for the past two years, I was humiliated and ostracised for being a fraud. I even had to work on a rock farm to keep myself from going in debt!” She ‘grabbed’ me by my shoulders and shook me as she said, “A bucking rock farm!”

“Calm down,” I said, putting my hands on her hooves and removing them from my shoulder. “Now, please continue.”

“Okay. So on a dark and rainy night, I visited a shop that held ancient magic artifacts. One such artifact, the Alicorn Amulet, caught my eye, and when I had purchased it, I swore I would take vengeance on the pony who did this to me: Twilight Sparkle.

“So I returned to Ponyville, challenged Twilight to a magic duel, and beat her at it, with the help of the Alicorn Amulet. Soon, she was banished off into exile due to the terms of my victory. However, she made a comeback while I was busy controlling her one-horse town.” Trixie growled low, then shook her head and sighed. “She returend with an amulet from the Everfree Forest that she claimed was more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet. So because of my hubris, I accepted the rematch she wanted.

“However, despite my efforts, she managed to beat me! Me, the Great and Powerful-”

“Ahem.” I looked at her and raised a brow, my arms crossed. Trixie stopped mid-sentence and giggled nervously. “Ehehe, sorry. Anyways, as I was saying, with her power and magic of friendship, she managed to beat me at the rematch.

“But instead of being a sore loser about it, I took this loss with dignity; I even helped make fireworks for Twilight’s performance for the delegates of Saddle Arabia.” I refrained from chuckling at the play on words. “And while it felt nice to help her out, I was once again poor, since the Alicorn Amulet was confiscated from me. Sure enough, I was poor again. I had to resort to living in the streets once more; I couldn’t stand that rock farm I was working at.

“And it’s been like that for a long time. I hopped from town to town in the hopes of work, but found none that I neither liked nor believed payed me well. So... once more, I was a bum.” Trixie shied away from me. Her emotions screamed ‘sorrow’, ‘pain’, ‘unhappiness’... maybe even ‘suicidal’. “I’m sure you see me in a worse light than before....”

I looked at her with a raised brow and a confused look. “Now why would you be sure of that?”

“Huh?” A few of her saturnine emotions start dissipating.

“I don’t dislike you. Not in the slightest.” I offered her my hand as I stood up. “There’s no need to be so sad about it. It’s over, and you’re living in the here and now, right? If you dwell too much on the past, then what’s the point of living long enough to create your future?”

Trixie’s last depressing emotions slowly melt away like ice in the presence of a warm fire. Soon, her face broke into a large smile as she took my hand with a hoof and stood up. “Right,” she said. “Thank you for taking the time to listen to me.”

“Don’t mention it,” I responded. I was going to say more, but something stopped me. In the very far distance, I could hear something. It was soft... Like some beating of some sort.

*clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop-*

It sounded familiar... Like I heard it before.

*clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop-*

Wait... That sounds like...

*CLIP-A-CLOP, CLIP-A-CLOP, CLIP-A-CLOP, CLIP-A-CLOP-*

“INCOMING!” I yelled, diving to the ground as the sound got super close. I heard a scream from Trixie, and then silence. I was afraid to lift my head, but I had to do it.

I lifted my head in the direction of the sound and saw two pink hooves. Looking up the legs, I saw the familiar face of Pinkie Pie and the skull masked face of Zeke riding atop the pony. “I got here as soon as I heard there was trouble.” His voice was stern, not like his laid back gay-toned voice. “Hello, Praxis.”

“Hello, Ezekiel,” I said as I got up and shook his hand. Zeke returned the gesture, and shockingly, I didn’t suffer the Touch of Death.

Then I realised: I shook Zeke’s hand with my right hand. Won’t my Black Magic arm sap his magic away?

"Black Magic arm... Seems you have it under control though. It doesn't matter where the source is, it flows through the whole body. But it didn’t hurt me; shows you are in control." He looked to Trixie and nodded, but she was too shaken up to acknowledge his greeting. He turned back to me, and removed the mask on his face, showing the true skeletal face of Death. "And it's your arm that took my Death Touch and absorbed it. It's trying to kill the magic, but it's not going to. Look at the eye."

I looked down at the cerulean eye. It was flashing a sort of dim glow at a pulsating rate, like a heartbeat. It was also looking around frantically, and the veins in the eye were slowing turning bright red. It was being overworked bigtime.

The eye seemed to water, and tears of black started to pour out of it. After a while, the light stopped and the eye spazzed out more. Then, it closed, and a shockwave of pain went through my body, like a thousand needles in each square inch of my flesh were pressed in at the exact same time. The pain took me to my knees.

“The magic of the Grim Reaper is much, MUCH more powerful than the arm is used too...”

“Didn’t need to demonstrate it,” I groaned. “You could’ve just told me.” Trixie helped me get back to my hooves while I flexed and relaxed my arm in the attempt to let it, as well as my body, remove any pain that still lingered: after all, if I’m technically laced with Black Magic, maybe it’ll heal me shortly.

“Are you alright, Praxis?” Trixie asked.

Sure enough, in about half a minute, I was feeling better. “So Jace briefed you on the situation?”

“Yes; why else am I here?” Zeke responded. “and by what Jace tells me, you don’t take this problem as a big deal...” Zeke shook his head and then looked at me as he donned the mask again. Why he wears a mask is a mystery; maybe it’s to hide his terrifying face. “You pray that your soul is saved...” He said, digging his bony heels into Pinkie’s sides. “Onwards, Pinkie!”

With a giggle and a realistic horse whinny, Pinkie Pie galloped off. “Sure thing, Mr. Zeke!” she giggled as the two started getting smaller and smaller.

“Praxis?” Trixie began. “Who was that?”

“Just a friend of me and Jace’s.”

Then the thing I never wanted to hear. The thing that will always haunt me, to this very day.

A scream. From inside the castle.

“What the hell?!” I ran for the doors at high speeds and kicked them open to get inside. I ran in, going from corridor to corridor until I got to the throne room. Apparently, the wedding had already started, but up on the throne, shocked me.

There was the dark figure again, holding Celestia’s neck with a knife to her throat. He was shrouded with darkness, and the aura around him was spewing evil auras, and blackness. It drifted down from the throne and had the effect of a fog machine, the black fog rolling down into the crowd of scared ponies. I saw Jace standing there, with Vinyl right behind him, his scythe drawn and he was ready to strike.

“UMBRA!” I heard Jace yell, and then saw him lunge for the dark creature. He took a swing, but Umbra just swatted the scythe out of his hand with a simple backhand and then trapped him in a magical hold. He brought him close to his face, and I could hear the wails of Vinyl as he did.

“The time of reckoning...” The shadow began, then turned to face me. I couldn’t move, I was too in shock to move my legs. He stared right at me, the two glowing purple eyes boring into my very soul. “Starts... Now...” In one swift movement, he threw Jace at me and we collided, both of us being bowled out of the room, the large doors being slammed behind us.

The sounds of screaming echoed through the halls as ponies scattered and banged on the doors to get out.There were more screams that followed, and then a laugh that made me shake with fear. Then, there was silence. No sound at all.

I scrambled to my feet and banged on the doors, trying to get inside, but the magical locks held fast.

“Dammit! No! NO!”

This was the beginning... of the Age of Shadow.

~End of Chapter XIV~

XV - I Pronounce You, Doomed (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XV - I Pronounce You, Doomed(Jace)

“Ahh, where in the fuck is Praxis?” I looked around the castle for him, but didn’t see a trace of him anywhere. “Ah, forget it!” The wedding was starting. I had no time to go around the entire castle and look for him.

I ran back to the throne room and pushed through the ponies who were going to their seats. I ascended the steps and took my place on the right of the throne. Celestia had returned, and was standing to the left of me. I turned to see the crowd and smiled a little, then turned to Celestia.

“You seem calm...” She said, looking into my face.

“Yeah, well... Years of practice.” I said, turning to the doors. I took in a deep breath and turned my entire body to face the doors, my hands folded and in front of my body.

“Where’s Praxis?”

“Don’t care. If he wants to go off and be with that little demon, fine by me.” I still hated Trixie. Her arrogance was the thing that kept me hating her all this time. You don’t just change personalities overnight, that’s not how it works.

“Well.. That’s a bit harsh.. But as you wish.”

The organ started playing, starting out with progressive chords and then went to the traditional wedding song that you always hear as the bride walks down the aisle. I stood there, my eyes locked on the door where Vinyl would be walking.

The doors slowly opened and my eyes widened at the sight. Vinyl, in her beautiful white wedding gown. She seemed to have this aura of beauty around her as she slowly made her way down the aisle, up to the throne.

Everypony in the crowd stood to honor the bride as she walked. Many had a smile on their face, and some chatted a little as she went by.

Everything was perfect. Everything. Vinyl, myself, the crowd, the music... Everything. Nothing could ruin this wedding, not one thing.

Then my mind reeled back to Praxis’ discovery of Umbra in the castle. I tried to shake the thought, and throw it in the back of my head, but it still gnawed away at me like an angry manticore.

Nothing would ruin this day. Not when I’m around.

Vinyl took her spot next to me and looked up at my face. I smiled wide, and so did she. I knew that face. That was happiness and bliss on her face. I experienced that face the first time when I proposed to her, all those weeks ago.

“Dearly beloved,” Celestia began, “we are gathered together here in the sight of Princess Celestia and Luna, and in the face of this company, to join together this Man and this Mare in holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate, instituted of Celestia, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Celestia and her Castle: which holy estate Celestia adorned and beautified with his presence and first miracle that he wrought in Cana of Galilee, and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among all men: and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of Celestia. Into this holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined. If anypony can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let them now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold their peace...”

“I object to this marriage...” What? No! NO! Not now!

In the crowd, ponies looked for the source of this voice, and one let out a high pitched scream that could be heard throughout Canterlot.

In the chairs, a large figure rose from sitting, and more ponies started screaming and backed away from the figure as quickly as they could. The figure held his hands up, and most of the ponies calmed down, except for the few mares that had broken down crying.

“I object to this marriage in the form of the princess being the one to wed these two together.” I moved to my left, and got in front of Vinyl, who stayed behind me. “Instead, I wish to be the one to do the honors of wedding this... Human... With the mare.” The figure moved from the pew he was sitting in and made his way up the steps, the shroud he was wearing made him have the illusion of floating, but was actually walking underneath the robes.

He approached Celestia and stared her in the eyes, his own glowing purple ones never blinking. “If you will be so kind as to step aside, Princess.” Celestia looked over at me with a burning anger in her eyes, and I nodded to her, my eyes never leaving Umbra. She stepped aside for Umbra to take the place of the priest in the middle, and looked over at me. “Please, take your spot to the left of the Priest..”

I glared at him as I slowly moved from Vinyl and went to the opposite side. The ponies in the room were all still sitting, waiting for something to happen. Umbra’s hand slowly extended from the large shroud, the single cloth robe giving away and making a sleeve for his arm. The black robes wisped with shadow and some the wisps slowly made it to his hand and formed a black book, a Bible.

“Ahhh, there we are. A PROPER,” Umbra looked over at me, his eyes full of hate and malice. “wedding... Is needed for this man..” He flipped through the pages and put his finger to a scripture.

“I REQUIRE and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in Matrimony, ye do now confess it. For be ye well assured, that if any persons are joined together other than as God's Word doth allow, their marriage is not lawful.

“Jason,” I locked eyes with Umbra for a second and then looked back into Vinyl’s eyes. “wilt thou have this Woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live...”

“...I will.” Vinyl had jumped up onto her hind hooves to get to a better height. I was holding her front hooves, rubbing them lightly with my thumb to try and calm her down, just the slightest bit.

“Vinyl,” I saw her eyes leave mine and she looked up slightly to meet Umbra's eyes for a quick second. She took in a shaky breath as she saw all the hatred in his eyes, then quickly looked back into my eyes. “Wilt thou have this Man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honour, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”

It took Vinyl a few seconds, but she swallowed hard and nodded. “I will..” Her voice was shaky, and I could see tears forming in her eyes at this point.

“Who giveth this Woman to be married to this Man?” There was a little commotion in the crowd, and then one pony, with a top hat, monocle, and suit stood. He slowly made his way to the throne, and went up the steps, going to stand next to Vinyl.

“Her father shall.” The stallion said in a tough voice. I looked over at him and he looked back at me, his expression stony.

Vinyl’s grip tightened a bit, and she looked into my eyes. I took a deep breath and looked to Umbra who nodded.

“I, Jason, take thee, Vinyl, to my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.” Umbra guided me through the speech and I kept my gaze with Vinyl. My expression never changed, it was always staying the same. No expression at all.

“I Vinyl take thee Jason to my wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth.” Again, Umbra lead her through the speech, and he closed his Bible.

“Will someone please bring the rings forward..” Scootaloo timidly stepped out of one of the pews and slowly made her way up the steps, the pillow with the rings carefully balanced on her back. Umbra kneeled down and took both rings, and patted Scootaloo on the head. “Thank you.”

He held the two rings in his hand and looked between both of them, then looked at both of us. He held up one ring, the one I was to give to Vinyl. “With this Ring I thee wed: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

He slowly placed the ring in my hand, as he said the following: “Bless, O Lord, this Ring, that he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in thy peace, and continue in they favour, unto their life's end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

I took the ring in my hand, and then looked to Vinyl. I held the ring between my index finger and thumb and slowly moved my hand forward, sliding the ring easily on her horn.

Again Umbra blessed the other ring, and Vinyl took it in her magical grasp. I held out my hand and she easily slid it on my fourth finger. It was a perfect fit for me.

“The Bride and the Groom shall now give their vows.”

I took in a deep breath and held Vinyl’s hooves tighter. “Vinyl... You mean the world to me. From the first week of being in Equestria, you were there, and were always there. You were one of the few that didn’t judge me for my looks, ask many questions, or criticised me for my species.

“The first day we met, I knew right then and there, you were the one for me. No other girl on Earth could bring me the joy that you have given to me throughout these years... I want to spend my life with you. I want to have you until the day that I die.” There was a little chuckle from next to me and I shot my look over to Umbra who cleared his throat.

Vinyl’s makeup was slowly being ruined by the tears that were falling from her eyes. “Jason... You are the single most amazing person I have ever met. You’re the only person I’ve ever met. The ponies that tried to get me to be with them, had never been so kind and gentle to me as you have. You’re always looking out for me, protecting me, and loving me. I want to be with you, safe and secure until I breath my last breath.” I wiped away the wetness on her face and gave her a gentle smile.

“With the rings donned, and the vows complete... I know pronounce you both... Husband and wife.” He looked over at me. “You may kiss the bride...”

I took a knee to get down to Vinyl’s eyes level and slowly leaned in, her doing the same. We both locked our lips together in a gentle kiss, and in my kiss, I gave her a little something extra. I let some of my magic flow from me to her, so I could activate it at any time I wanted. A safety precaution.

Umbra looked over the crowd of ponies who were still silent and moved forward a little. “CLAP!” His voice boomed throughout the room and slowly one by one, ponies started to stomp their hooves on the ground.

I pulled from Vinyl and wiped more of her tears away, hugging her close. Her grip on my neck was like she was holding onto her life. In a way, she was.

“And now, I cut the cake..” Umbra stated, moving towards Celestia. “Or in this case...” The wisps of darkness floating around him all came together and formed a knife. He quickly and smoothly grabbed Celestia’s neck and put the blade to her neck. “The Princess...” There was a high pitched scream from one pony and many rushed for the doors, but they shut under Umbra’s influence.

I backed away, Vinyl running behind me to stay safe. I held my hands out a black flame encased both of them, and then grew longer, connecting the gap of my hands and extended further, then extinguished to show the sagewood handle of Eclipse. The blade ejected from the staff and I held it up in an offensive stance.

I was pissed. More than the time I fought Insanity. This fucker had come in and almost ruined my perfect day...

I heard the doors being forcefully opened next to me and I spied Praxis for a quick second, but paid no attention. “UMBRA!” I screamed, and then lunged at him with my scythe, attacking him head on.

But when I swung, Umbra’s hand connected with the blade, and the force knocked Eclipse right out of hands. It flew and stuck into the wall of the castle. I felt myself be surrounded with a magical barrier and was lifted towards him. I struggled to get out, but his magic was too powerful.’

He brought me close to his face, his purple eyes staring into me. “The time of Reckoning starts...” His gaze shifted from me out into the open, possibly looking at Praxis. “Now..” I felt myself be thrown, and I knew exactly where I was going. I quickly snapped my fingers, and activated the magic in Vinyl, giving her a very strong aura that would repel all and any evil. A spell that you can only use once in your life.

I felt my back connect with another, guessing Praxis, and we both tumbled out of the ball room. When I made contact with the floor, I smashed my head on the ground, and blacked out.

~End of Chapter XVI~

XVI - A Bad Distraction (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XVII - A Bad Distraction (Praxis)

"Dammit! No!" I kept pounding at the door, trying to open it still. What had happened?! Did he kill everypony?! Did he make them vanish?! What happened?!

I started to cock back my arm at the door furiously, trying to get it to open. I landed a right straight punch at the door, the Black Magic’s power making a good sized hole. I kneeled down to the hole and peeked through, and what I saw shocked me. Umbra had left, but not until he left his mark. Everywhere on the ground was black, pitch black. To the point where you would think you would fall through the floor.

I tried to look everywhere, and I saw ponies scattered about, some crying, some passed out from fear. I could see that some were weeping over crumpled up forms on the ground, possibly the dead.

"Motherfucker..." I whipped my head around to see Jace slowly rising to his feet, the side of his head caked with blood. "I'll rip him apart limb from fucking LIMB!" He ran at the door at full speed, and I dodged quickly enough to get out of the way before his magically charged leg made contact with the door, and turned it into toothpicks.

The crowd screamed with fear, but when they saw Jace's face, they just stared. Jace paid no attention to any of them, and walked down the aisle to the throne. He walked up the steps, and went behind the throne, and then came back into view holding Vinyl in his arms. She was shaking in his arms, face buried in his neck. He made his way back to the doors and then turned to the crowd.

“Everypony, I am truly sorry for all of this. I didn't plan for this to happen, I did not set this up, I am not responsible. Umbra has come to Equestria to exact revenge on the two who ruined his life, one of these two being myself. I don't know if I'm strong enough to defeat him.. But I'll try..." He looked around and then bowed his head. "I pray that your dead are in Heaven, going through the gates by God's hand. You are each worthy of a place there... That much I can promise." With that, he turned back to face me.

"Find Wubsy and the other little ones. Bring them home. We're gonna have a little talk when you get to the mansion." The look in his eyes were like fire. I didn’t need to read his emotions to see that Jace was obviously beside himself, but still: who was his anger directed? Me? Umbra?

He made his way down the corridor, still holding onto Vinyl tightly. He was soon out of view when he turned the corner and all I could do was stand there and watch him go. I gulped and stepped inside the room, ignoring the pitch-black floors that seemed to be endless. Shockingly, I didn’t fall through. “Everypony!” I hollered. “Please, follow me! We’ll get you somewhere safe!”

Again, since my herding and rustling skills aren’t exactly top-notch, it took me some time to wrangle everyone together. But eventually, I did just that: stallions, mares, and all children were gathered. “Baba, I’m scared!” Riku cried as he held onto my leg. I lifted him onto my shoulders and instructed him to grab my horns.

“Don’t worry: it’ll be okay,” I reassured him, patting his back at an awkward angle as he buried his face into my hair. I felt a wetness on his face: he was crying.

...What kind of a father am I, that I can’t be able to keep my own son safe?

“Uncle Praxis? Auntie Trixie? Where’s Daddy?” Wubsy whimpered as Trixie came over to comfort him with a one-legged hug.

“Jace went inside,” Trixie said as she used her magic to levitate Wubsy onto her back.

“Praxis Moradov...”

That voice... That voice I so despised. It sent chills down my spine, but it sent my rage ablaze. I turn around and see the figure from earlier: the tri-horned, four-armed monster whose disgusting black hands bear the onus of much suffering and misery.

“Umbra,” I growled in a low voice. I looked down at Trixie on my right. “Take the adults and children to the train; I’ll handle tall, dark, and gruesome while you make the getaway,” I mouthed.

“But Praxis!” Trixie silently exclaimed. “He’ll kill you if you try to beat him!”

“Relax: I’m gonna fight long enough for you guys to escape. I’ll catch up once the train’s gone.”

“But-”

I cut across her statement by placing a finger on her mouth. Just then, I felt a warm feeling creep into my cheeks when I examine Trixie more clearly. What... what was going on? My mind cries ‘stop’... but my heart and my instincts shout ‘proceed’. My legs, strong and durable as they are, were shaking like jelly under her concerned, even slightly tearful gaze. My breathing felt rather ragged. I removed my finger from her lips, but with... reluctance?

Was I... falling for her?

What? No way... I was far too out of her league.

Regardless, I must return to pressing matters... like dealing with Umbra while Trixie and the others make a getaway.

“You be good,” I said as I lifted Riku off my back and placed him onto Trixie’s. I knelt down, took Trixie’s chin in my hand and looked at all three of them: her, my son Riku, and my technical nephew Wubsy.

Damn it, Praxis! Don’t be a coward. Say it now, while you still can!

“....I love you.” I leaned forward, lips slightly parted, and placed them in between Trixie’s eyes. Her cheeks immediately flushed and rosy at the contact. I tussled Riku and Wubsy’s hairs in a fatherly manner before I too placed a peck on the tops of their heads. “Now go!” I barked, my caring manner vanishing instantly.

They didn’t hesitate in leaving as quickly as possible. Trixie looked back at me for a last second with shining eyes before taking off again. With the entire room now vacated of anypony alive, it was just me and Umbra.

“They can’t run forever.” Umbra walked towards me and stopped a few feet short. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll come for them.”

“What have you done with the princesses?” I ask, my voice calm and collected.

“Oh, fret not about them: they are kept safe in the dungeons. To make sure they don’t use magic to break themselves out, I placed Shadow Collars on them, negating their magic.”

“Pretty smart, I’ll give you that.” I stood at attention. “But the Elements of Harmony will stop you."

"Those? Hah! I took away the Elements: besides, what would the magic of friendship do to someone of my caliber?"

I smirked. "Regardless, that doesn’t mean I can’t stall you.”

“Are you challenging me to a fight?”

“If it means keeping them safe, then yes.” I bowed low, and Umbra did likewise. “May the best monster win?”

“Indeed.” He held out one of his hands and I heard a sound that was like a whirring helicopter blade. I turned behind me and then quickly jumped up, Eclipse flying underneath me.

“Whoa!” The handle was caught by Umbra, and it slowly faded to black. The blade of the scythe, the beautiful silver was tinted to a dark violet color, looking black if you tilted it to the light just right.

“What? You thought I was going to be fighting fair?” Umbra chuckled darkly, showing his white teeth. The appearance made him look like the lovechild of both Slenderman’s black cousin and an orthodontist.

“I gotta admit, no, no you weren't.” My fingers lengthened and sharpened into blades again, the eye glowing red once more. “But that doesn't matter.”

Umbra charged at me, with Jace’s scythe in hand. He was moving so quickly, I wouldn't be able to dodge in time. All I could do was raise my arm in defence, but instead of the scythe slicing through, the Black Magic arm... protected me from the attack. I buckled under the strength of the blow, but still held strong. Even when Umbra started to operate Eclipse’s chainsaw method, I was still defending myself. I kicked Umbra off of me so that I could get some breathing room. I glanced at the eye, which was glowing brightly, hardening itself into something like a titanium alloy so that I don't get diced.

When I looked at him to see the effects of my kick, the only thing he did was float across the ground, like it didn't even do anything. “I’ll give you this, that arm is a work of art.” Umbra’s teeth showed again in his wicked smile. “But so am I...” Umbra’s form seemed to change before me, as he melted into the ground. Only problem was, the ground was pitch black, and he himself was also pitch black...

Damn it... he was trying a sneak attack. I’m gonna have to use a sense other than sight to get him.

I closed my eyes and tried quieting my breathing. It was hard work, what with my heart drumming like crazy and my mind on the fritz, but soon, the sound of my breath seemed to vanish entirely. My ears swiveled this way and that, listening for anything that would betray Umbra’s location. All was quiet as I listened patiently.

*WHOOSH*

Almost at once, I heard the sound of something soaring through the air, about two metres behind me. I whipped around to face the sound, which was Umbra raising Eclipse to strike another blow. I backflipped just in time, but not before he could shear off a hair or two from my legs.

“I’m going to destroy you, Moradov! Then I’ll destroy that brat, Romero!” He lunged for another attack, but I blocked with my arm again. He reeled around for another, yet when I tried to move just in time, I ran right into Umbra’s sweep attack with his legs. The blow knocked me off my hooves, sending me into the air. Quickly acting, I landed on my hands, descended onto the area between my shoulder blades, and spun my hooves in a clockwise motion, a kick from the windmill technique hitting him in the chest and sending him back a metre or so.

“You’ll have to try harder than that.” I wiped my brow of the light sweat that had accumulated.

“Grr... not a bad form.” Umbra rubbed the spot on his chest where I kicked him.

“What? You thought I spent the last four years trying to be the world’s best garden gnome?” I asked.

*WOOT-WOOOOOOOT!*

The sound of the train’s whistle going off blared loudly in my ears. “Excellent point, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to hold that thought. I’ve got a train to catch!” He started flying quickly towards the exit, the malice and wanton bloodlust made apparent by the look in his eyes.

NO!

“Come back here!” I threw my right arm at him, the appendage elongating at the right length to grab Umbra by the throat. I cocked my legs, turned around, jumped up about five meters, and brought my arm in front of me, slamming Umbra down into the ground. “I’m not done with you yet!”

“Oh, but I will be with you!” Umbra landed a punch into my chest. The pain... it was so intense. I watch crimson blood expel itself from my mouth like a busted can of spray paint. It felt like a wrecking ball had just slammed into me, or like Applejack had bucked me with deadly precision and shocking accuracy. Umbra opened his palm and slashed, the claws slicing my flesh from my right shoulder to the left side of my waist. More anguish ravaged through, like a broken dam in the middle of a monsoon. I bellowed in agony from it all as I fell off him. I had to act quickly, or I was done for.

I can’t think right... I’m starting to lose too much blood.

Blood...

Blood! I think I have a solution.

With as much speed as I could summon in my damaged state, I quickly swiped my thumb over my slash marks, wincing from the immense pain it caused me. I hurriedly swabbed a crescent moon and a star upon Umbra’s torso: the Islamic Crest.

Here goes everything....

“What? What are you doing?!” I didn’t answer the foe before me. In as fast a voice as I could, I placed my palms on the symbol and muttered in Arabic:

((In the name of God who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; the Most Gracious, the most Merciful. Prevent this wretched demon from leaving this place. For those who stray from the path of righteousness, may they neither leave nor enter here. Amen.))

Please let this work, please let this work, please let this work!

Instead of the crest working in some form or another... it just sputters pathetically, like a fire in a downpour.

“What the fu-!” Instantly, Umbra punched me in the face, blasting me away several yards, through a window until I landed on the ground, hard. I looked at the train out in the distance vanishing past the mountains and hills to another town... Ponyville, maybe? I think so, since the train came back from Whinnyapolis. If so, I hope the others made it safely.

I would’ve smiled.... if I wasn’t in serious pain. “Ow...” I groaned, my face feeling worse than a fish with its brain dashed on a rock. Regardless, I shook off the pain and faced Umbra again.

“Hmph... Pathetic. ‘The Heroes of Equestria..’. More like the fools that get lucky...” He said, turning from the window. He snapped a pair of his fingers and the glass from the broken window repaired itself, changing its glass colour to black and red. The symbol on it was a skull with a stake through the length of it, his mark. “Let the games begin...”

The sky, rather than being clear and blue, turned a dark, tainted scarlet. The white clouds became as black as shadows. The sun was almost completely shrouded by the thick armour of black clouds, letting out only so little sunlight. “Shit... not good.”

“Consider yourself lucky I’m letting you live, boy,” Umbra’s voice rang. I looked back to the castle to see it slowly be enveloped with shadow, Umbra’s eyes shining from the top of the castle. “Don’t worry... I’ll finish off you, and Romero soon enough.” With that, the eyes disappeared, and a eerie laugh rang throughout the air. A large black hand erupted from the shadows and grabbed me in a vice-like grip, angering my wounds and squeezing the oxygen from my lungs. The hand cocked back and threw me beyond the red horizon like some horrible caricature of a catapult.

“SHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-!” I wailed as I was flung through the air. Hopefully Jace and Vinyl got out in time. The wind in my eyes stung them till they were watering like rivers. I’m pretty sure I would’ve made a twinkle sound if Umbra was looking at me zoom off against my own will.

*SPLOOSH*

With the force of a raging Spaniard bull, I plow right into a deep pond.

Wait... deep pond?!

Oh, no!

Quick, Praxis! Get outta there!

I kick my legs as much as I can, flailing out of the water that washed away my wounds and drenched my tattered clothes. Once I’m on land, I removed the clothes and discarded them on the grass; sure, Rarity would be after my blood, but I’d rather go with that than die of being a hydrophobic ninny.

Oh, right... I guess I never told you. When I was a boy, my mother decided to take me out to a zoo/aquarium on my eighth birthday, and she brought everyone in our family along with her. On that day, when I went to go exploring the aquarium section, I saw my brother Osama sneak into a personnel-only room next to the mako shark tank. I knew he was up to no good, so when I followed him, I found this massive room where all three mako sharks - one female, two males - were swimming in. I told Osama that it wasn’t safe to be in there, but instead of listening to me, he...

You guessed it. He pushed me into the tank.

The common shortfin mako shark, or isurus oxyrinchus, feeds mainly upon cephalopods like squids and octopi, or bony fishes such as mackerels, tunas, bonitos, and swordfish. However, it may also eat other sharks, porpoises, sea turtles, and seabirds. Like all sharks, they go in a frenzy when they smell blood, which they can do from a mile away. But, I was newly eight at the time, so I thought all sharks were big, scary, and had a hunger for all things fleshy and fattening. I was already a bad swimmer, so to be knocked into a tank full of huge, sharp-toothed shark would've loosened my bowels and cause me to shit myself.... twice.

Thankfully, I clambered onto the edge of the tank and floundered aboard, dry-heaving and crying from the experience. The zoo and aquarium had terrible staff, so they didn’t catch Osama. However, when they saw me with wet clothes, I was the one who was punished, by both the management and my mother. Not only did I get my family fined for “disturbing the peace” of the makos, but my mom whooped my ass in public. Dear God, it was horrible.

Ever since that day, I had been afraid of any body of water higher than my chest. It was also why I was so scared and panicky when I was sucking into that pool/scrying glass that Lyra had created a while back.

...Ahem... moving on.

Once I had been fully dried and my heart stopped pounding, I ripped up the tuxedo and used the shreds to bandage the wounds on my torso. It was amateur, but it’ll have to do. I sighed and walked towards the highest and nearest hill. Scanning the horizon, I spotted the blip-sized town of Ponyville about three and a half kilometres away.

I was far too wiped out to run there. Instead, I took a deep breath and walked there.

This was gonna be a long trip....

~End of Chapter XVII~

Author's Note

Shadow: Criminy, Craimer. Every time I try to get to writing my stories, you INSIST that I write this one. I'm tired of keeping my fellow readers waiting!

Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. Several ideas (most of them were mine) were scrapped in order to prevent loopholes in this.

XVII - Arguments (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XVIII - Arguments (Jace)

I walked through the doors of our lustrous mansion, having ran from Canterlot all the way to Ponyville. I honestly couldn't care less for Praxis right now. He’s probably on the train, coming home. But I swear, if that idiot tries to fight Umbra, I wouldn’t mourn his idiotic death. If he wants to get torn limb from limb, fine by me.

I walked up the stairs and to the bedroom, Vinyl in my arms. She had fallen asleep during the run home, and I wanted to get her to bed so she could sleep better. I walked into the bedroom, and laid her down onto the bed, covering her up. I sat at the edge of the bed and just looked at her and her peaceful sleeping form.

“...I’m sorry...” I whispered. “I’m sorry that our perfect day was ruined...” I sighed and kissed her forehead before walking out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

I went to the foyer of the mansion, pulled out a book, and started reading a book off the shelf, the fire crackling in the fireplace to my right. The warmth washed over me in the plush chair I was sitting in, the book getting more and more interesting.

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

The sound of the door being rapped upon caused me to get out of my stupor of laziness. “Damnit...” I groaned in frustration as I got up and shuffled to the door. Once I opened it, I saw Wubsy and Riku on the back of Trixie, who was covered in a light sheen of sweat. My brow twitched in agitation at seeing her again. Still... it’d be rude if I slammed the door in her face. “Trixie. Come in.” I stepped back in reluctance to allow her entry.

“Thank you,” she panted, nodding her head in respect before cleaning her hooves on the welcome mat.

“Daddy!” Wubsy cried in joy. My bad mood faded away the second my son jumped into my arms and hugged me. I looked back at Trixie, my view on her slowly changing for the better.

“Thank you for bringing him back,” I said. I noticed Riku holding Trixie around the neck, his head in her mane. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m scared,” he mumbled. “Trixie, is Baba gonna be okay?”

“He’ll be fine: he’s been in sticky situations and he’s always pulled through.” Trixie used her magic to put Riku on the ground in front of her. She patted him on the head. “I’m sure your Baba is gonna be just fine.”

I scoffed. “Yeah... sure....”

“What’s with you?” Trixie asked me.

“If you ask me, that idiot must’ve gotten killed by Umbra.” Riku gasped, and got teary-eyed.

“Trixie! That’s not true, is it?” he begged. “Please tell me that isn’t true!”

“Jace! Why are you acting this way? You’re scaring the pants off of Riku!” Trixie stamped her hoof on the ground.

“So?! I couldn’t give a shit about that fucking goat! I’m pretty sure he thought he could take Umbra on all by himself! Thought he could be a tough guy and save the day, didn’t he?!”

*SLAP!*

The next thing I knew, my left cheek was smarting in the most painful way. Trixie glared at me with the angriest of eyes, her hoof raised in the air. “You...” Another backhoof, this time across the right cheek. “...imbecile! He didn’t do it because he thought he could save the day! He didn’t think he could be a hero! He did it because if he didn’t do it, I would’ve died! Riku would’ve died! Even your own son Wubsy would’ve died! Be grateful that he didn’t decide to do it, otherwise nopony would’ve slapped some bucking sense into you!”

I sat back down, her words cutting through me like swords. So... that’s what happened?

“He cared, okay? He cared about you, about Vinyl, about his son; about everypony! It’d take a monster to think badly of him for what’s he’s trying to do,” Trixie finished.

*KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK...*

The knocking sound was a different pitch and occurred at a slower rate. “Wonder who could that be....” I said in anger. I don’t care for what Trixie said: Praxis was a moron for taking this lightly.

I opened the door and, speak of the Devil, Praxis was standing there, clutching his side, which were bandaged with shreds of... his own tuxedo? Moreover, the shreds were bloody all along the front. Rarity will kill him... and I’ll be watching.

“H... hey...” He said weakly. “Glad to see... you’re okay.” He fell to his knees and thudded pathetically and promptly on the ground, out cold.

“Hey! Stop bleeding on my floor.” I nudged him with a foot.

“Baba!” Riku ran over to his father’s body and shook it. “Baba, please wake up!”

I kneeled down and draped his arm over my shoulders. I stood him up and walked off into the mansion, going for a bedroom to put him in. "Idiot..." I scoffed under my breath.

I eventually got him into bed and then walked out, not paying any attention to the others. "Daddy?" I turned and looked down at Wubsy, who stared at me with big eyes. "Why are you mad at Uncle Praxis?" I sighed.

"...Because he could've been killed... Very easily." I turned for the stairs and went up them. "I'm not losing another friend... Not after Coal. I will not, shall not, lose Praxis." I turned to face Wubsy. "...Even if it means me who dies."

I continued my walk upstairs and carefully opened the bedroom door, peeking through to see Vinyl still asleep. I made my way through the room and grabbed the Calling Card, and put the chain around my neck and let the hourglass hang around my neck.

Next thing I did was change out of this tuxedo. I changed into a pair of robes that Lyniv, Aksheal's wife, had given to me before leaving for Stalliongrad. They still fit me.

From next to me, I heard covers rustling. I turned to the bed and saw Vinyl sit up in the bed and look right at me. I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, and reach over to hold onto her hoof. "...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault... At least he wed us, properly." She scooted forward and leaned against me. "Well... What now?"

"We fight... Again." I looked over at her. "Hey..." She looked up at me with her big crimson eyes. "How about you and me take a vacation after this? It'll be our honeymoon."

She smiled up at me and nodded, leaning in slowly. I followed her lead and met her halfway, meeting her lips softly in a gentle kiss. "Just... Be safe... Alright?"

"I will..." I nodded and hugged her tight, not wanting to let go of her. This mare has been in my life for the longest time, since the first week of me being in Equestria. "Don't worry... I'll win.. I swear it." I slowly moved away from her and stood, walking for the door.

As I opened the door, I felt something grab my robes and I turned, seeing Vinyl holding a bundle of my robes. "...Promise me that you won't leave me again." She looked up at me, tears brimming her eyes. "Promise me Jason... That I never have to wait years and years just for my son's father to see him.. That his wife doesn't have to wait to see him again!"

I kneeled down to her eye level, seeing the tears well in her eyes. I wiped the escaping tears and pulled her into a hug. “I can’t promise that.” I could feel her grip tighten. “What I can promise is that I’ll keep you and Wubsy safe.. No matter what.”

I stayed like that for a long time before moving away from Vinyl. I gave her a sweet kiss before standing and walking out of the room.

I pulled the Calling Card off my neck and made my way down the steps, my magic being pushed into the hourglass. It was a way of contacting Aksheal. Last time he was here, he taught me this little trick. The waves of energy made the sky light up in Markarth. Even though the world was in my head, the Calling Card still has some magical residue from when Aksheal was inside the hourglass.

I made my way back into Praxis’ room and right on cue, a fog expelled itself from the Calling Card, filling the whole room like some volatile toxic gas. The fog soon started swirling, coalescing into a small area. Eventually, the fog turned blood red and took the form of a man. Sure enough, the fog lit up like a floodlight, and after shielding my eyes from the brightness of it, there stood Aksheal.

Aksheal stretched out and held his staff in his hands, scratching his back with it. “Nnng... You wake me up from my nap for... what reason exactly, Jason?” The old mage looked at me with his deep blue eyes and I made a gesture towards Praxis who was laying on the bed. He looked over and went wide eyed, instantly getting on his knees to inspect the wound. “Ohhh, that does not look good...”

“Ya don’t say.” I walked around, going to the other side of the bed.

“What’s this from?”

“Umbra...” Aksheal looked me in the eyes, the fear apparent.

“He’s back..?” He looked down at Praxis and waved his hand over the wound. The Markarth god winced when he saw a mark rise from the bloody mess. “...A Silence spell infused with a Detainment spell...” He sighed. “He can’t use his magic or over exert himself in any way, or else it’ll drain his life essence...” He looked over at me and stood. “Where’s Eclipse?”

“With Umbra...” I felt the burn of a smack on my face, and the force was enough to make he fall over.

“WHAT?! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Aksheal screamed. He picked me up by the collar and shoved me against a wall, his hood going dark, blue glowing eyes staring at me. “THAT SCYTHE WAS TO BE ONLY USED BY YOU, AND YOU LOST IT?!”

“I DIDN’T KNOW I WOULD LOSE IT!”

“DON’T GIVE ME THAT!” He smacked me again. “WITH THAT SCYTHE, HE IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD NOW! POSSIBLE THE UNIVERSE!”

“What’s the big deal?! It’s just a scythe!”

“JUST A SCYTHE!? THAT WAS UMBRA’S SCYTHE, YOU MORON, AND NOW THAT HE HAS IT, WE’RE ALL FUCKED!” He released his grip on me and started to pace around the room, holding his head. “Fuck.. Fuck... Fuck! This is not good, not good at all Jace! You fucked up bi-” I got sick of his shit real fast.

I kicked him as hard as I could in the back of the head with a magical charge in my foot and he face planted into the floor, leaving a dent. He recovered quickly and stared right at me. I stared right back, my gaze stony and expressionless. “Wanna hit me again, fucker?”

Aksheal took in a deep breath and then turned back to Praxis, poking at the seal. “I need time to get this dispelled. In the meantime, go to Markarth. Get some new weapons... You need to train.”

I nodded in understanding and focused all my energy on the Card. Hopefully, it would tug me in and let me choose where I wanted to go.

I just hope that this pays off....

~End of Chapter XVIII~

XVIII - Rejection (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XVIII - Rejection (Praxis)

Never in my life have I felt a mind-boggling miasma tarnish me like this one.

I know not the knowledge of where my sudden plan might’ve gone awry, but... I do know just this:

What’s wrong with me?

I wasn’t losing my edge when I decided to fight Umbra so that Trixie and the others may escape: I knew that I was facing something that would rival even the ecclesiastic, almighty abilities of God. But... still... why did I have to go and say that to her? Trixie, I mean. I mean... really... I know that I’ve been developing this sort of... strange connection for her. Every time she would enter the same room as me, I felt whatever miasma of melancholy plaguing me just vanish. Every time she smiled, I felt my heart just... hammering against my ribcage, screaming and begging to burst out. Whenever she felt down, I would comfort her, trying not to stumble into the same depression as she.

I had to face it. I liked Trixie. Like... like like her.

Actually... that terminology is only for those who would talk about silly primary and secondary school crushes.

I... loved Trixie.

It was as simple as that. Any positive emotion or mood that I read from her made me feel so... euphoric and glorious. Anything negative had me... what’s the term? Oh, down in the dumps.

“But... how will I tell her?” I weakly whispered.

Would I simply go to her and ask her to be in a relationship? To settle down and love me back in the same way I love her? No... that’s reminiscent of Twilight, and... well, let’s just say that I want nothing to do with that atrocity.

But hang on... what if she declines? What if she simply tells me no, that she doesn’t want to accept me? What would I do then? I’d lose it!

Damn it... I need to make up my mind.... Tell her? Or keep it from her?

I hate making decisions. I felt like Pinkie Pie when she went to the Mirror Pool and cloned herself several times so that she could have all the fun in Equestria.

...What? You’re saying I wasn’t there? Bullcrap! I was there: she practically almost reawakened Discord from all the nonsensical pandemonium that she shat upon this poor town! Not to mention the tomfoolery she committed in my pagoda!

Oh, man... I couldn’t unsee what I saw back there.

...Ahem. Moving on.

I arose from the bed, my chest furiously burning as if someone had branded several thousand times over, like some sort of disgusting livestock. I rubbed my temples, trying to ease the qualming headache that’s terrorising my brain. I laid back on my bed, took a deep breath, and rose up once more, the second attempt at getting up being successful. I had to take it slow...

Take it slow.... and see what in the fuck is in the corner, because it was scaring the shit outta me.

“Hello, Praxis.” Aksheal’s tone bordered on both the sultry and the horrifying.

OH GOD, NO. I tried getting out of bed in a hurry, but no go: my legs wouldn’t move. BRAIN, GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HERE.

I CAN’T LET YOU DO THAT, STARFOX.

AND WHY THE BLOODY HELL NOT?!

ALMOST ALL SYSTEMS ARE DOWN, EL JEFE. CAN’T MOVE JACK SHIT. ANYTHING BELOW THE WAIST IS INCAPACITATED FOR A WHILE.

...So I’m like the satyr Joe Swanson?

Pretty much, yes.

....Damn it to hell!

“So how are you doin’?” Aksheal still had that creepy tone in his voice.

NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE-

“...Nope, I’m outta here.” I got out of the bed, and fell onto the carpet with a painful thump. “Ouch!”

“Yeah, good luck with that, asshole.” Aksheal leaned against the wall and stared right at me. “I had to stop your movement for a while. You were twisting and turning and it was pissing me off when I was trying to inspect that wound of yours.”

...I saw the look in his face. It was incomprehensibly difficult to read his myriad of emotions. So many, both positive and negative, I can’t read them... It’s like a book being chained and locked up. Like... a sort of impenetrable mask was slapped onto his face. It was so... plain.

“Thanks, Aksheal.” I struggled so hard to get my legs out of entropy again.

“Mmm, but you’re gonna hate me when I tell you what I learned about the wound.” He walked around the room a bit and then stared at me. “It appears to be a combination of an Essence Drain and a Silencing Spell... The punch was the thing that set it in your body. Some physical contact is needed, and this is why your spell failed. He hit you before in that fight, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did.” I wracked my brains together and thought of what Umbra could’ve done to cast both an Essence Drain and a Silencing Spell. “The punch to the chest was the Silencing Spell, and the slash marks were the Essence Drain?”

A nod from the god of Markarth. “The reason why your enchantment didn’t work is because of that Spell. How do I know of the Spell? I know all magic that goes through our worlds.”

“So you regulate the magic of both worlds.” Another nod. “So how long will this Essence Drain take effect?” I asked.

“About... nine months. Rather lucky of you, if ask me.”

“How so?”

“Because satyrs age half as quickly as humans: normal mortals would perish in no time at all. But the Essence Drain is ever-so-slowly coursing its way through you, weakening your magical and physical prowess. When nine months pass, the Essence Drain will be complete, and your magical and physical state will be that of a newborn foal.”

After all the hard work and exertion of getting me to stand to my hooves, I still fell to my knees. “Damn it...”

“Don’t worry: I've worked out a solution. Two, actually.”

I looked up, my eyes wide with hope. “Really?”

Aksheal nods once more. “Yes. One: get the person who casted the Drain on you to lift it.” I scoffed, and judging by the grin, the Markarth deity shared my thoughts on the likelihood of Umbra removing the Essence Drain from me. “Yes, I know: fat chance of that happening. But that’s where the second option comes in: if you cannot get the person who cursed you with the Essence Drain to remove it, you must kill him.”

“So... it’s more or less similar to fixing the cure for werewolves.”

Another nod. “But since it’s Umbra, you’re all screwed.”

“I know: I heard you slapping the shit out of Jace for losing his scythe to Umbra.”

“But you were unconscious! How did-” I pointed at my ears. “Oh, nevermind, then.”

“So... what now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll return to Markarth.” Aksheal stopped with his insistent walking. “Once I’ve been able to figure out how to deal with Umbra properly, then I guess we’ll deal with him.. You’re welcome to come along, if you wish. Jason is in there already, training.”

I held up a hand and shook my head. “While I do appreciate the kindness of your gesture, I have something I must do first....” I slowly got up again, but the second time was much harder than prior. Aksheal, sensing my feebleness, helped me up on my hooves.

“I shall leave a small enchantment on the floor. Just step on it when you want to go into the Card.” He said, placing his hands gingerly on the floor. He left a red seal as he slowly pulled his hands away and let the heavy mist of the Card surround him, then it all was sucked back inside and he was gone.

I sighed, applying pressure on my legs to get blood flowing through them and the feeling in them to return. Once my legs are able to withstand my weight without too much of a complication, I made my way to the hallway and down the stairs, my hoofsteps slow and heavy, as if they were encased in cement blocks.

I entered the den, and saw Riku, Trixie, and Vinyl sitting by the fireplace, trying to keep warm: since the sun was blotted out by Umbra and his darkness, Equestria - nay, all of Equis itself - is unable to receive warmth and light from Celestia’s fiery cosmic sphere. “Baba!” my son cried as he galloped at me and hugged me. The sudden collision reawakened any pain in my body, forcing me to wince. Regardless, I return his embrace without hesitation. “Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“I could say the same for you guys,” I said, putting Riku down and sitting cross-legged on the thick carpet of Jace’s living room. “Did everyone make it out alright?”

“Physically... Yes..” Vinyl said softly as she slowly looked up, shaking from crying. “Mentally... Barely.” Trixie came over to comfort her, patting her on the back.

“Where’s Wubsy?” I asked, looking around the room for Jace’s and Vinyl’s son. “I haven’t seen him at all...”

“He’s with Octavia... In his room... She’s trying to get him to sleep. He doesn’t need to be subjected to this.” Vinyl sniffed and looked down again. It pained my heart to see her like this. She used to be uncaring, always looking for a good time and rambunctious. Now... Just as things got bad after this serious point in her life... She’s just like anyone else. Not a care-free DJ... But a loving wife and mother, like everypony else.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my head facing down. Be it out of pure genuine sorrow, or because I was that pathetic and impulsive to apologise for everything, I didn’t know. “For whatever I did - be it fighting Umbra when I wasn’t supposed to, or for getting any of you in trouble or angry - I really hope that you can forgive me.”

I sighed once more. That’s all I seemed to be doing lately, huh? Great Scott, I needed help. “What do you have to apologise for?” Vinyl asked of me.

“Eh?” I brought my head up.

“You heard me... What do you have to apologise for..? You did nothing wrong. you were just trying to save us. I should be mad at Jace but... I’m not. Because he gave a confession, and I can’t stay mad at him after that.”

“Hmph. That’s not what I heard.” Came Trixie’s voice, a hint of hatred in her tone. “He told me he didn’t care about poor Praxis! That he would be glad to have him out of his way!”

“He said that?! After everything we’ve been through?! BASTARD!”

Oh, crap. What was the saying for this? Ah: Shit has struck the fan... with the force of a speeding truck, I may add.

“Now, now, I’m sure he’s just joking!” I said nervously in his defence, raising my hands up. “He wouldn’t wish that upon anyone that didn’t deserve it, right?”

“No... He wasn’t serious about it.” Vinyl shot Trixie a dirty look. “Stop making my husband look bad... Witch...” She looked back at me, her eyes set. “He told me that he was mad that you actually were dumb enough to risk your life for us. He wouldn’t have gone on if you were dead. He was angry that you might’ve died, Praxis. That he would lose his only friend.”

“Actually, Missus Scratch... or is it Romero?” Riku began.

“...Hmm... I guess I could keep my last name. So yes, Missus Scratch, little buddy.” Vinyl looked at Riku with a smile.

“Okay. Missus Scratch, when Baba came home and passed out on the floor, Uncle Jace, he... he kicked Baba and told him to stop bleeding on his floor.”

Vinyl let out a low growl. “Seriously?” Trixie and Riku nodded. “Alright... I’m gonna have a talk with him when I see him. Where is he now, Praxis?”

I sighed, once again. Seriously, I ought to seek counseling to get rid of this sighing problem. I looked over at Trixie, and pondered what had mulled around in my mind earlier. “Say, Trixie... may I speak to you for a second?” My throat felt as if it was lined with sandpaper, my tongue swelling up like a balloon... and it wasn’t allergies. I was incredulously nervous. How was I to go about this?

“Er... sure.” Trixie vacated her seat and followed me. “What do you wanna talk about, anyways?” I returned upstairs, with an azure unicorn in tow. I returned to my temporary room, sat down on the bed and gestured for her to have a seat, which she obliged to.

“I wanted to tell you something... something rather important.” My brain was, once again, becoming a thick goo, thus rendering me unable to say anything right. “Well, i-it’s that... I... Well, the thing is - y-y’know....”

Crap... I wasn’t good with girls. What do?!

Damn it, Boss! Out with it!

I’m trying, I’m trying!

TRY HARDER!

“Well... the thing is-”

“You were wondering about what you said back at the palace, right?” Trixie leaned forward a little bit. Call it a trick of the light, but... do I see a very faint blush? “You know, before we left?”

“Y-Yeah... That. Well, I was wondering... would...” Once again, my tongue seized up, failing to get my words out. My brain, rather than being goo, just evaporated entirely, leaving me hollow-headed.

COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!

“It’s okay. I know what you want to say.” She looked up and met my eyes. “You’re very sweet, and that’s what’s so great about you. Especially since you risked your life for us.” She left her seat and walked over to me. “I can already tell, right off the bat, that you are the greatest friend I’ve ever had.” Is she-

Wait... no...

Snake? What’s wrong? Snake?! SNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

A friend, eh? That’s all?

Welcome to the Friend Zone, Boss. Population: you and so many other poor souls.

“Y-yeah!” I said nervously, scratching the back of my head. What... what am I saying?! No! “Sure!” No way in hell! “I-I’m glad that we can be friends.” No, I’m not! Why am I lying?!

“I’m glad that we can stay friends. I really am.” She gave me a light peck on the cheek and trotted off back to the living room, leaving me in solitude.

That’s when my mask of joy was removed, revealing the ugly face of sorrow that was hidden by it.

I didn’t sigh. I didn’t shout out in protest. I didn’t ball up on the ground and cry. I did... nothing. My heart felt like it was slowing down. My hearing was dulled, like a concussion grenade went off. My mind was just... blank. Empty... as if a vacuum was crammed into my head and used to suck up everything in proximity. I got up, ran and hand through my hair before going back to my room to go to Markarth. Hopefully it’ll be more fun there, then it will be here.

~End of Chapter XIV~

XIX - Plans (Jace)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XIX - Plans (Jace)

"Alright, Aflatoon..." I stood in front of Praxis' dream personality and stared into his eyes. "You ready?" The satyr nodded and held out his hand, a blue glow surrounding it.

I did the same and instead of blue, red encased my hand and I pushed the Reaper Soul that I possessed out through my hand and held it there. It took concentration on a whole nother level, but I got it held into my magical bounds.

I let it sit for a while and felt my face start burning. Not with strain, but anger. I thought angry thoughts. When a Reaper experiences anger, their power is increased by three times their normal power.

I looked over at Aflatoon and nodded. We both join hands and the power surged around us, blanketing us in a magical aura that was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

I could feel the weaker power of Aflatoon slowly feed into me, and I could feel our minds become one. It could think his thoughts, feel his feelings. I gripped onto that, and pulled him in, my body forming to match traits of Aflatoon and myself.

It felt like minutes , but it was seconds that went by as we joined together, and the aura exploded outwards, a shockwave of energy rippling out into the air.

When everything settled, I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I walked for a mirror and stared at the satyr staring back at me. I felt the long curled horns that I now possessed and stared right into my red eyes as I did so. "Perfect..." I said softly, my voice a mixture of my own and Aflatoon’s.

My skin was white as snow, and on my chest was a seal. A mixture of the chaos reaper seal, and a possible Arabic seal, showing who was who in the body.

But I could feel the power quickly fading, and it settled after a while. Apparently, the magic is strong at the beginning of the transformation, and gets slowly weaker as time goes on. I give it five minutes before the power totally leaves and we split... But in that time, I’m still powerful than my natural form.

Hmmm... Maybe I can use a Chaos Reaper form to make me stronger... Only problem is... Umbra has my scythe.

"Aksheal..." I said simply, and the Markarth God appeared next to me. "I need a weapon. Something fast.."

"Sword? Knives? Dagger?"

"Knives and a dagger."

Aksheal nodded and walked to the other edge, opening a case of weapons and walked back to me, tossing a dagger to me. I checked it out, a snake wrapped around the hilt. It had a red ruby eye and on the other side was a black diamond, or cut tungsten ore.

The blade had an imprint of fire on it, and it was carved from bone. Where the flame came from, was a skull that was carved into the top of the hilt. I gripped it tight and Aksheal tossed me two blades.

They looked like backbones on the hilts and the blades were made of what appeared to be tempered steel, painted black. The hilts were held together with a chain, with bone for the material made for the chains. It appeared like some gorey rendition of a kusari-gama, or chain sickle.

“Incredible....” The blades altogether felt so light, almost nonexistent due to their weight, or lack thereof. I swung the weapon at the air, and the sharp edges cleave the air, almost rendering it and evolving it into blades of wind themselves. “Dang, Aksheal... these are great.”

((Glad you like them,)) Aflatoon says, through my mouth.. ((Made them myself.))

“Really?”

((Yes. I had nothing to do after four years of my other side being inactive, so I made weapons to kill time.))

"Well I like them... Do they have Chaos Gems in them?"

((Not Chaos gems... But Chaos Cores.))

"...That sounds dangerous as hell, but I'll go with it."

((It holds more souls than the Chaos Gems, and will allow you to go in and out of Chaos form anytime you wish..))

“Where the fuck were these when I was fighting Insanity?!”

((I just finished those things like... An hour ago. Stop complaining.))

*Whoosh*

“AAAAAAH-”

*THUMP*

“Ow.” I looked over to see the satyr Praxis slumped on the ground, still not used to travelling to Markarth. While I would sympathise with him and help him up, I laughed at his misfortune. Aflatoon looked at me like I had punched his grandmother: with absolute anger and frustration.

“Would ya stop looking at me like that?” I said to him as he helped up Praxis. “I found it funny!”

((Well, last I heard, you were still getting used to getting here anyways,)) Aflatoon retorted, leaving me slightly dumbstruck. The only people who know about my messy landings on getting here are me, Vinyl, and-

...

“Aksheal, I thought you promised not to tell anyone,” I murmured almost silently, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“And Hitler promised not to invade Czechoslovakia.” Praxis patted my shoulder before flashing a slightly cruel smile. “Welcome to the real world.” I leered at him, wishing that he’d burst into flames for his snide remark. ((Hey, Aflatoon?))

((Yes?))

((I need to make a few weapons. Could you show me the forge?))

((Er, certainly. When do you want them to be finished?)) Aflatoon raised a brow.

Without even so much as a warning, Praxis gripped his own horns and gave them an almighty yank, breaking them off cleanly from his head. I cringed at the sound of breaking bones and his snarl of pain. Praxis then grabbed Aflatoon’s horns and ripped those off as well, eliciting a shriek of agony from the satyr’s Dream Personality. ((Right now, actually,)) he said.

((YOU RAT BASTARD!)) Aflatoon screamed, grasping the broken snubs of his obsidian horns as Praxis measured the length of each one. ((WHY?!))

“Praxis, what the hell are you doing?!” I demanded as Aflatoon mourned the loss of his horns.

“Listen: legend has it that weapons forged from the horns of satyrs, minotaurs, and other horned creatures have some sort of... enchantment on them. They all remain sharp enough to render wind, and always return to you.” Praxis finished scanning and analysing the horns and handed two of them to Aflatoon, who seemed visibly upset about that brief misfortune.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I crossed my arms at how foolish that sounded.

((Actually, that’s correct.)) Sniffling from the loss of what I assumed was his pride, Aflatoon grabbed his broken horns, a little sadness coursing through his face, until the face of one who experiences a eureka moment strikes him like lightning. ((Each horn is black and about 46 centimeters, or 18 inches, in length. Let’s get started on two 36-inch (91-centimeter) katanas. Stat.))

((Yes, sir!)) With that, the two satyr goombas trudged off for the forge. ((Maybe I can make some guns as well!))

((Well, we can only hope!)) I facepalmed and smiled as the two bozos shared a chuckle. I decided to follow them, making sure they didn’t screw up on this whole katana-and-gun business.

“...I have a better idea...” I smirked. All my years of playing video games are now gonna pay off! “A butterfly knife and revolver similar to the Spy’s weapons in TF2... A sword similar to Rebellion from Devil May Cry...” I smirked, “and two knives to dual wield like Call of Duty ballistics knives...” I looked down at the knives connected by a chain and pulled the chain taught under me. I jumped, and snapped the chain off the bottoms of the knife hilts.

“Don’t need that chain anymore...” I flipped the knives around in my hands, going from offensive to a defensive holding style. “Smooth as silk...” I sheathed them, and then walked to the armory. “Aksheal!”

“What?” Called the Markarth God as he walked into the room.

“I need to borrow your Magus Gauntlets.”

“...For what?”

“Forging.” I watched as Aksheal slipped his large gauntlet off and tossed it to me. I caught it, and it was surprisingly heavy.

“Ruin it and you’re dead.”

“Way ahead of you..” I retorted slipping the gauntlet onto my arm. I felt a surge of magical energy flow through me and I let out a sigh. “This thing is incredible...”

“Designed by myself... Outer ring is filled with all types of magical runes, and in the middle of the palm is a glyph that enhances your magic by tenfold. The back of the hand is another mana pool that you can draw your energy from if you are low on it.”

“Genius...” I said softly, flexing my fingers. “Well... I’m going to forge now. Don’t wait up.” I smirked and ran off down the tower.

“Ponies...” Umbra said out loud, one of his four arms colliding with his hidden face. “Nnn, Jason... Why pick a place like THIS?!” He sighed and turned from gazing out of his window, and walked to the black and red ornate throne in the throne room of the castle. He sat down and tapped two sets of fingers on the arm of the chair. “Hmmm... Guess it’ll have to do for now... With Hell at my heels, I’ll have to make up my army quickly...”

Umbra strode around the throne room, pacing hither and thither. “Hmm... These ponies in the armor seem to be the strongest one’s so far... Elite guards it seems like... That one.. What was his name? Yes, Paskov... He seemed very courageous for one so small.” Umbra reared his head back. “PASKOOOOV!” bellowed the entity, his bone-chilling voice sending shivers all down the spines of any and all of those in its proximity, the decibels rattling the area in a minor tremor.

At his bellowing call, a unicorn trotted up, pupils contracted to the size of pinholes out of apprehension and utter fear.

“Paskov, dear boy, fetch me a glass of... Hmm... What did they call them again? Ah, yes!” He chuckled. “Diamond Dog blood... I’m feeling quite parched. There are samples in the dungeon. Be a good boy and do this for me, so my shadows don’t have to overthrow you...”

“W-w-why should I?!” Paskov argued, his tone filled with malice; however, his eyes still betrayed him, as they were undoubtedly rank with fear. “All you’ve done was ruin somepony’s wedding and almost kill somepony else! And why does this place have blood in the dungeons?!” Umbra extended his hand to him and pulled the stallion towards him via levitation. Paskov resisted and kicked mightily in the attempt to free himself; but try as he might, Paskov could not disrupt or destroy the magical grip that was keeping him incapacitated.

“Because if you don’t, then all you’ll be reduced too is a husk with no brain... Is that something you want? Because I can arrange that to be done for you...” Umbra raised a hand and purple mists flew from under his cloaks, swirling around Paskov’s body and held him in place. He placed a long spindly finger on Paskov’s forehead, right at the tip of his horn. Paskov gasped, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as his face contorted into a silent scream of anguish. The sclera of his eyes soon darkened to a bottomless cold black, the eyes appearing like bottomless abysses. The fur and hair on Paskov’s body dulled slightly, like pristine diamonds that were sullied by dirt and grime.

“Now... get me that blood, will you... slave?”

“Yes, sir...” Paskov’s voice became hollow and dead... as if a zombie, a lifeless and pathetic husk, had taken his place. Umbra relinquished his grip on Paskov’s body, the empty shell of a pony getting up from his slumped position on the floor and sojourning to the dungeons to retrieve the blood. The doors behind the demented and possessed stallion walked towards the door to the hall that lead to the dungeons, pushed past the large doors, and exited the room.

“Send my regards to the Princesses whilst you’re down there, Paskov!” Receiving another monotonous “yes, sir” in response, Umbra watched him closely, then sighed. He knew that Paskov would do so, since he was now under his control. “I wished it didn’t come to that... Why can’t they just be loyal?” He shook his head, laid back in his newly claimed throne and let out a deep and seemingly-endless sigh, a strange and ominous black mist flowing out from his maw and spilling forth across the room, dispersing through the castle. “No matter. I’ll just have to enslave these ponies... Have them all be my workers to sustain my army...” He chuckled and stood, walking to the window again. He place his hand on the glass and it corrupted, the glass turning black. “Let’s get started....”

*Drip*

*Drip*

*Drip*

The repeated sound of water droplets leaking from the water pipes and crashing into the stone floor below kept reverberating inside Princesses Celestia’s and Luna’s heads, their complex and infinitely-knowledgeable brains failing to compute a method of escaping the dungeon they were forced in like wild panthers into a cage. The two mighty ex-princesses sat in despair on their cots, the aforementioned prison beds being far less comfortable than their regal and cosy mattresses above. Their majestic horns were bound in anti-magical shackles, complete with dirty brown sleeves and a powerful energy charm, the mortifying encasings preventing them from even forming and creating the simplest and most demure of magical sparks for fear of severe electrocution.

“T-T-Tia, w-will we ever get l-loose from this horrid p-place?” Luna asked from her fetal position on her cot. Tears were cascading down from her eyes and into her forest of navy indigo fur, her aquamarine eyes bloodshot and swollen from her crying. Celestia peered at her sister in upset shock: she had not heard Luna weeping immensely due to her intense brainstorming. The sister of the moon was usually so bold and brave when presented with even the most difficult and mind-shattering of challenges. Now, Celestia could only be crestfallen as she saw her sister cry, disappointed in herself that she could be of no help.

“I...” For once, the alabaster mare could not find anything to say to her dark indigo counterpart, unable to execute the right words. “I don’t know.” She sighed in defeat, her head hung low.

*Clop clip clop clip clop clip-*

Both sisters’ ears swiveled and twitched at the sound of hooves slapping the stone floor. They lifted their heads, leapt off of their beds, and made their way to the iron bar impediment before them to peer down the hallway to see who could be coming this way. Their eyes lit up temporarily at the sight of ensign Paskov trotting their way. However, their moods dampened horrendously as they saw the look he had in his eyes. “The Master sends his regards...” He says softly as he walked past their cells, slowly trotting off into the room where screams could be heard echoing throughout the dungeon.

Celestia sluggishly sat back down on her cot, head hung low once more. Luna did likewise, eyes welling up again and preparing to cry. “Oh, sweet mother Faust...” the two prayed in their heads simultaneously. “Oh, please... save us. Help us somehow....”

~End of Chapter XIX~

XX - Inglourious Blaze, Unlucky Days (Praxis)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XX - Inglourious Blaze, Unlucky Days (Praxis)

“Well... that was kinda fun,” I commented, examining my finely-crafted sword with an expertise eye... well, with expertise being used in its loosest definition. But alas, I could still tell right off of the bat that it was still a wonderful weapon.

It had actually been a month since Jace and I had reentered the world of Markarth that the Calling Card opened up for us. It was almost the dead of October: Nightmare Night, a festivity of candy, costumes, and practical jokes. Me and Aflatoon had made my katana in about... two days. Just like me, Aflatoon also had a fickle mind: he changed his ideas of the creation from having it be a katana, to being a scythe, to being an axe, to even being a pair of tonfa.

Whilst all those other options were nice-sounding, the latter rather ruined it for me, since I couldn’t spin tonfas to save my life.

In the end, we finally just decided to go back to our original katana idea. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough material from our horns to just make a second one, and finding and/or ammunition for the would-be guns was a bust. So with several moments of thinking, Aflatoon got an idea to add some more... kick to the already-crafted blade. With the leftover ore, as well as some durable tungsten, Aflatoon had tricked the katana to have a chain extension.

I’d say the overall result was pleasing to the eye.

I held the katana in my hand at eye level and looked back at my reflection in the blade. A 36-inch long dark-grey katana made of an amalgamation of satyr horn and steel, the blade sharp enough to even cut wind. The blade was broken into nine four-inch pieces, all connected via a tungsten chain. A pressure pad - a button, if you will - was installed into the blue silk-wrapped handle, just below the golden hilt, where my thumb should reside when it is held. Pressing down on the button would cause the blade pieces to separate, connected only by the razor-sharp chain, thus allowing me to do massive crowd-control damage. Releasing my thumb from the button would cause the pieces to rejoin again to make a whole katana. It more or less behaved like a roll of measuring tape.

Yet, in production of this weapon, Aflatoon’s prayer clock went off when prayer time was announced over those days. Several times....

“Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar....”

((Afternoon prayer.)) At the sound of the prayer clock going off, Aflatoon looked up from his bent-over position like he was a deer in headlights, his hammer freezing in mid-swing.

((Agreed. Let’s go.)) I removed my goggles from off my head. We dropped our crafting tools on the counter and rushed after Aflatoon to the restrooms to make ablution for prayer.

“Oh, come on, don’t leave me here!” Jace shouted, his hands still working with the hot ingot of the blade, his gauntlet slipping and marring the molten blade. Me and Aflatoon winced like we’d seen someone get stabbed.

((Watch it!)) Aflatoon bellowed. ((You’re lucky we’re testing it on steel and not the horns!))

“Sorry, man...” I checked the clock. “3 o’clock. Time to pray. No matter what.”

“Aww, shit..” He shook his head and cooled off the unfinished blade, throwing it away. “Fine, just go... I’ll stay here... I need to make this perfect...” He rubbed his face with his gauntlet-clad hand and sighed, going to work again. “And don’t criticise me on my blacksmithing! I’m actually trying to land a job for the smith in town, so this is good practise!”

While the making of the blade was impressive, the only flaw about it at first was that the blade’s length of chain. Aflatoon made it so that the chain’s length was at its conceivable limit, making it even more unpredictable and difficult to wield than normal. What I mean by that is that the magic from the satyr horns that is imbued in the chain doesn’t really give the chain a set limit in length. It took weeks to figure out how to master it without decapitating/bringing excruciating pain upon myself or anyone in the vicinity. I had this sort of... on-and-off relationship... with the blade: one day I was eager to use it, the next day I was wishing that someone would just destroy the damn thing so I couldn't even look at it.

Yes, I get that bipolarity from my mother. It runs in the family.

I think it was because it reminded me so much of my first scythe, Daggertail. That poor thing... it was destroyed in the battle with Insanity, when he stripped me of my powers. But after learning to use the weapon properly was out of the way, Jace had told me to name it “Chain Blade”, but I thought it too generic a name. I had to spend a few moments wondering what to name it. I gave up hope every now and again, particularly since I found it a bit odd that people named their weapons; although I shouldn’t be one to talk, since I did it before.

Eventually, my inspiration came to me when I looked out one of the windows into the gardens of Aksheal’s castle.

Oh... I guess I never told you about the gardens. Imagine the Canterlot Gardens times ten in terms of size. The garden was filled with several bizarre and fascinating plants from places I had never even heard of. Hydrangeas, lilacs, roses, begonias, carnations, lilies, petunias; the gardens of Aksheal’s castle were absolutely fecund with all the flowers of different kinds, colours, and smells that bloomed there.

Anyways, back to what inspired the name for the sword. When stepping into the garden, I watched the cherry blossoms bloom in the trees outside. However, when I tried to smell it... nothing came to me. I recognised every other flower in that garden, but not the blossoms.

Odd...

“Hey, Praxis!” With a yelp, I jumped about half a foot in the air at the sudden voice and the hard clap on my shoulder. I turned my head and sighed with relief when I saw that it was only Aksheal, chuckling heartily at my reaction. “Jeez, boy, relax! No need to be so damn... jumpy.”

I had to wait a moment for my heart rate to slow down erst I could speak again. “Don’t do that again, please,” I said weakly.

“Oh, fine... trying to spoil my fun... you were trying to sniff those flowers, I take it?” I nodded at the question after he pointed at the blossoms. “Don’t try. It’s pointless.”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t know?” Aksheal raised a brow. “Those are known by Jace and I as “Tsubaki” - the cherry blossoms with no fragrance.”

“No fragrance?” I was puzzled. Surely every flower had to own a scent - even the ones that smelled like total ass.

“Yep. Although... they are really beautiful.” With another pat on the shoulder, Aksheal went back into the hallway of his citadel and down it, whistling a jaunty tune.

“Tsubaki...” I muttered, the word blaring in my subconscious as if it were a siren. “...Tsubaki... I like that name.” A small little smile on my face, I placed the sword in a scabbard painted plain white, treated with many special oils so that it would not burn nor splinter. I was thinking of having somepony paint decals onto it... or I could do it myself, once I had black paint and a thin brush....

Actually... there might be some in my messenger bag back at home....

With Jace's assistance, we departed from Markarth via the Calling Card, informing me that October was almost over, with five days remaining until Nightmare Night. I bundled up in my black vest and blue-and-gold scarf, a gift that Aksheal and Lyniv had given me before I left. While it was kind of them... would it have killed them to at least consider giving me a damn sweater? I mean, really now.

Ahem... regardless, I digress too much.

I looked up at the sky once I had exited Jace’s abode, leaving the owner, his wife, and his son to themselves. The once-blue atmosphere was still tainted with darkness, as if God above had knocked over their inkwell upon His sky of a table. The weather was rather chilly, and while I understand that that was logical due to it being October, I could swear that it was late afternoon, when I last looked at the clock in Jace’s home. It should at least be warm in the middle of the day when autumn is visiting. The sun... there was almost none. It was blotted by this eternal pit of blackness, with infinitesimal rays of light just barely breaking through the clouds of pitch.

I missed the sun. Being in this perpetual dark was giving me some newfound nyctophobia.

With a deep sigh, my sword Tsubaki at my hip, and my horns almost fully regrown after a month of waiting, I walked to the sundries store, shrugging off the weather’s chilly bite, and bought myself a small bottle of black paint and a brush with a thin tip for three Bits, a purchase to be used for the scabbard of the sword. I pulled out the money from one of the leg pouches that Aksheal had given me as well and, satisfied with my purchase, I exited the store and resumed with my walk, heading in the direction of home; however, I started cursing myself for not also buying a sweater whilst at the sundries shop.

Once again, my one-track mind failed me yet again.

“Oof!” I almost fall to the floor. That curse Umbra put on my body was a parasite, ever-so-gradually draining my stamina and energy by the day, so I almost stumble onto my hindquarters. I looked down at what I had collided with, and saw two Royal Guards of Canterlot, golden armours donned and white coats slightly shining in the lights of the streetlamps.

“Watch it, livestock,” the guard I bumped into hissed. Rude... I hate pulling this card, but does he know who he’s talking to? One of the the two guys who he should be grovelling for forgiveness, otherwise he wouldn’t even have a bed to piss himself in.

“That’s rude....”

“Eh, save it, Lambchop. You’re Romero’s friend, right? We’re trying to look for that scumbag, where is he?” The other guard was also forceful, malice clouding his voice. I got a good look at him now, his eyes were pitch black and his body seemed a few shades darker: he was possessed by Umbra’s power.

“...Dead.” I lied simply. The guards raised their brows. “I was getting sick of him, trying to constantly make me second-best when I deserve some praise... So I killed him myself.”

“...Right. Whatever.” The guards trotted off, going back to their patrolling of the city.

“That was close,” I mouthed to myself. I felt bad for telling a lie - and a terrible one, too, since Jace respawns like crazy - but if it’s to delay Umbra from killing him, I’ll just have to pull a few strings and bend a few rules. Jace can thank me later.

However, upon sensitively-hearing the conversation that the two shared, my goose was undoubtedly cooked. “Did you believe that crazy goat when he said that Romero snuffed it?”

“No way in Tartarus. The boss told us that the Romero kid can resurrect. So can Lambchop back there. We’ll have to do something about it....” With that, they stalked off and turned the corner into another street.

“Shit....” I swore under my breath. They knew.

Without hesitation, I swiftly make my way down the road back home: it’s safe there, since the Everfree was not for the average pony. I hadn’t talked to Riku or Trixie in a month: It wasn’t right for a father figure like me to leave the former by himself, particularly since he’s almost five in November; and even though I was... still sore about the latter turning me down when I attempted to make a move on her, I still wanted to talk to her.

And I still had to talk to... her... it’s been too long. Maybe I’ll buy or pick some flowers for her....

What was it called, my romantic feelings for that azure unicorn, only for our relationship to be platonic, while loving someone who has departed? Desperation? Despondency? Ah... miserable yearning. That was it.

“Yoo-hoo!” cried the all-too familiar voice of a certain fashionista, snapping me out of another funk I was in. “Praxis, over here!” The call of Rarity snapped me out of my disposition. With a quick smile, I wave and say hello as she walked up to me. “It’s been awhile since we last caught up!” Around her neck was a thick pink cashmere scarf, presumably to keep her warm in this unusually cold weather, and on her hooves were boots. With a gasp, she scanned my clothes with a distasteful eye. “Augh?! What is that... ghastly outfit?!”

“Ghastly? That’s kind of cruel, is it not?”

“Regardless, I simply cannot stand by and watch you parade around in such thin clothing in this horrific weather like some sort of... oblivious hussy!” Hussy?! Okay, now I think she’s going too far. She grabbed me by the hand and started taking me to her boutique.

“Honestly, Rarity, I’m fine.”

“Nonsense! Let Rarity help you with your dilemma.” I rolled my eyes in distaste. Oh joy, she’s referring to herself in the third-person....

We entered the Carousel Boutique, which was still running like a well-oiled machine and looked just like it always did. “Here, just... get up on that pedestal.” I do as she asked and stand atop the pedestal in front of the myriad of mirrors.

“Now, I just need you to take off your clothes, please.”

I whipped around, eyes wide and face slightly red. “Beg your pardon?”

“Your clothes. They look like they’ll skew the measurements.” Rarity’s horn was glowing, with a roll of measuring tape and a notepad and pencil in her levitational grasp. “Could you be a dear and please remove them?”

“Uh...” Part of me didn’t want to... while the other part, the lusty satyric version of myself, reeeally wanted to know what happened next. “...Fine.” I began tossing off my articles of clothing, ending when the vest finally hit the floor. “Should the bandages stay on?” I indicated the white bandages wrapped around my body.

“Oh, no, those should go as well.” I quickly untie the bandage and let them fall to the floor, revealing my marred, bare chest. The scars that Umbra had carved into me were black and jagged. Rarity shuddered in disgust, but swallowed down whatever form of sick that was trying to rush up her throat. The measuring tape, almost at once, unfurled and flattened itself along my bare upper body, with Rarity furiously writing in her notepad the measurements she recorded.

“Tell me, how is it that you’re in such good shape?” The tape measure begins to run along my thick arms.

“Eh?”

“How is it that you still remain... muscular?” Rarity punctuated the last word with a very subtle hint of attraction as she measures my waistline and abdomen.

“I honestly have no clue. Do people in stone gain or lose weight?”

“I believe not, darling. I guess being in stone means your body stays the same as it was when it was first encased in it.”

“Interesting... then I guess I got this figure during... that incident.” It wasn’t fun to relive that moment. Hell, it wasn’t fun to even think about it.

“Ah... yes.. the incident...” Rarity stops her measuring and her scribbling. "Well, I’ll have an ensemble ready for you within an hour,” Rarity announced, a smile of pride on her face as she trotted upstairs. “I shall be right back.”

That hour was the longest I had ever spent. Every now and again, I would either look out the window and see possessed Royal Guards pacing the streets, or I’d have to read the crappy magazines that littered the table next to the door. I’m sorry, but if I have to see another Pony or Cosmarepolitan magazine, I may be tempted into poking my own eyes out.

Luckily, I had gotten around to painting my white scabbard so that I wouldn’t have to keep boring myself out of my mind with black blossoms, like the name of the sword it beared. I actually quite liked it.

At long last, the hour of mind-killing tedium expired, and Rarity returned downstairs, a navy blue turtleneck sweater and black blazer in her magical grip. She magicked the clothes at me, and I caught them. Upon inspection, the material is very nice to the touch, not irritable to the skin, and... overall, rather stylish. “Well, would you like to give them a try?” She asked of me.

“Oh!” I got up from my seat next to the magazine table of Tartarus and donned the sweater and blazer. It was a little hard to get my horns through the head hole, but I managed it in the end without tearing it, but I managed in the end.

“Oh, you look absolutely handsome!” The white mare said in delight, her sapphire eyes wide with joy. I smiled at the compliment and reached for my leg pouch for more Bits. “Oh, there’s no need to worry about the pay!” She said, stopping me mid-extraction.

“Er, what?” I asked. “No, I’m sorry, I have to pay. You did this to me last time, remember?”

“Nonsense!” Oh, not again!

“I don’t like having debts, no matter what form the debt is in. I don’t like having them, and I don’t like it when someone is indebted to me.”

“Nope. You can just put your money away, mister.”

“...Say, I think I hear Opal upstairs shredding your fabrics,” I lied hurriedly. At once, Rarity’s face just screamed fear and shame as she whirled around and darted back upstairs.

“Opal!” She whined as she ascended. “Mummy said ‘no’!”

With her gone, I made a mad dash to wherever she kept her cash register. Swearing under my breath upon realisation that she most likely doesn’t have one, I took off my leg pouches, entered the kitchen, and located any miscellaneous jar in the vicinity. Once I spotted a cookie jar, I bolted for it, opened it, dumped all of my Bits into the half-empty jar, and resealed it before sprinting back to the main room. “Damn, Praxis,” I muttered to myself. “You are-”

“Not. Slick.” I gulped nervously as I saw Rarity with a look of disappointment etched into her pretty white face. With a sapphire-blue glow of her horn, she grabbed the cookie jar from the kitchen, took the mound of Bits I had stashed in her jar, and stowed them back in my leg pouches. “Now, just take your money and please go home! No payment is necessary!”

“But-!”

“Praxis. If you don’t leave with your money and your clothes in the next ten seconds, I will sic Opal on you.” I gulped again as Rarity tossed me my old clothes. Winona, Owlowiscious and Tank are the animals I could totally chill with. Gummy’s a little bizarre, but he’s alright. Angel can drive any man up the walls with his rudeness, yet I can manage him as long as he’s given a carrot or two. But Opal?

“Fuc- er, buck that, I’m out.” I threw my hands up in surrenderance: I had a very good reason for leaving hurriedly, now that Rarity gave me that threatening tidbit. I mean, honestly, that cat was always nitpicky about every single little detail. It drove me to the edge of madness every time I visited the boutique and that feline spawn of Lucifer just sat there and glared coldly at me and/or hissed at me with her heavily-mascaraed green eyes. Which is why I’m a dog person, despite what my religion says about dogs. “Bye.”

“Farewell.” With a giggle, Rarity waved as the door closed behind her. I take my scarf and wrap it securely around my neck as I charged off for my house, hooves slamming into the dirt road. The trek took a little more time than originally planned: damn my being cursed... again.

However, the trip was worth it. Rarity’s clothes kept me from getting frostbite, and I could most likely get Trixie to duplicate them and change their colours for me... well, maybe at the cost of something like a cookie or a few Bits. A near-black spire of smoke rose from the forest, though... maybe Riku and Trixie decided to light a campfire.

If that’s was the case though... that spire would be so dark and thick.

“Oh crap.” I pressed myself to run faster, sweat already pouring down my head. An orange glow, one far too large and bright for a modest campfire. Sure enough, once I reached the spot, my heart felt like it was clogging my throat.

My house was on fire.

Around the burning tree house were about 5 different-racial ponies, a smattering of both mares and stallions, each one with a torch, and one of the stallions with a small gallon of kerosene in his mouth, the noxious fumes somehow not fazing him in the slightest.

“What are you doing?!?!” I screamed, their attention brought to me as the inglorious blaze before me devoured my home voraciously, like my treehome was its most bountiful supper. “This is my house, you idiots!”

“Ah, finally, the half-breed shows his dirty face!” A peach-coloured mare turned around and glared at me furiously. She seemed familiar... Junebug was her name, I remember. “Glad you could make it for our little bonfire.” Her carnies laughed alongside her. Something seemed off... I talked to Junebug before: she was a nice pony, judging by our conversations... now she was a pyromaniacal psychopath.

It only took a second to see what was off about her and her clique: coats that were lacklustre, black eyes, wrathful behavior: more of Umbra’s work.

But how? He wasn’t anywhere near Ponyville. Maybe... maybe the guards did this?

“Alright, what the hell is going on?!” I demand. “Why are you-?!” I stopped in midsentence, my words failing me as I heard something horrifying.

“BABAAAA!”

No...

“Riku!” I wailed, rushing to the fiery entrance of my infernal home. However, somepony’s hoof blocked me from going any further.

“Where do you think you’re going?” A stallion with a khaki coat and a white mane and tail rhetorically asked me. “You ain’t gotta ruin a nice little barbeque like this!” Before I knew it, he launched his hoof in my face, cracking me in the cheek. I went down like a bag of wet cement, and the stallion got atop me and started beating me, typically striking me in the stomach and the face.

“Get... off!” I grabbed one of his hooves and threw him aside like a ragdoll, causing him to crash into a nearby tree. More came to try and restrain me, but I ripped Tsubaki out from the scabbard and pointed at them. “Nobody fucking move!” I roar, blood trickling out of my nose. One of the stallions still charged for me despite my warning, but I kicked him in the mouth and pushed him away before rushing into my blazing home. He screamed bloody murder behind me as I blew past the curtains. Ash and smoke swirled around me, almost threatening to poison my lungs. I coughed horribly into the crook of my elbow as I walked around the burning wreckage and debris. The couches, the rugs, the table... everything was burning vigorously.

“Riku! Where are you?!”

“Baba! We’re up here!” The voice of my son’s wails ring true over the sound of flames licking wood. “Hurry!” We... He was upstairs with Trixie as well.

“I’m coming!” I sprinted upstairs and see nothing. “Where are you?!”

“We’re in here, Praxis!” Trixie’s voice blares out from the closed closet. With haste, I tore open the doors of the closet and saw the ash-painted faces Riku and Trixie huddled in the corner of the closet. I scooped them up into my arms and tried to exit down the staircase; unfortunately, said staircase had been wasted away by the orange inferno.

"Damn!" I squeezed tightly on the hilt’s button with my thumb, and I take several swings at the wall. The ultra-sharp blade pieces and chain gashed the wood’s weakened flesh, and I stopped swinging long enough to kick the damaged section of wood. The timbre bursted out from the newly-made hole I created, and I jumped out, the flames behind me flaring out of the hole.

“Hang on!” I warned as we descended for the ground as the two withheld their screams. Strange... June and her goons were gone....

*Thump!*

...Ow. That landing was a little higher than last examined... just a little. Aw well, at least I didn’t break anything on impact. “Hospital... gotta get you to the hospital.”

“No, Praxis, we’re fi-” Trixie stopped her refusal to hack vehemently into her hoof, the ash apparently getting to her.

“No way.” I adjusted my grip on them and started shaking my legs of the numb feeling that blasted through them from the landing. “Let’s go.”

As quick as I could, I begin dashing for the Ponyville General, the two would-be patients slung over my shoulders in fireman holds. I looked behind me at my burning house, the gold and crimson tongues of Hell roasting it to the ground. With a sigh of remorse, I turn my head forward and continue on for the next few minutes as I entered.

To my surprise, I saw Octavia at the Ponyville General as I walked in. I set down Trixie and Riku on a couple of seats and walked over to the grey mare. “Octavia? What are you doing here?” I could see that she had been crying, hard.

“Y-You didn’t k-know?”

“Know? Know what?! What happened?!”

“Th-The guards... They... They took Jace...” My heart skipped a beat, and I stared at her wide eyed. “T-They beat Vinyl... And sh-she’s here...”

“What about Wubsy?!” I swear, if they did anything to that innocent little colt...

“V-Vinyl hid him in the p-pantry... She couldn’t risk him being hurt...”

~End of Chapter XX~

XXI - Of Men and Rainbows (Jace)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXI - Of Men and Rainbows (Jace)

I awoke to darkness... My vision did not help me in any way possible as I tried to look around and see where I was exactly. It was looking through a big pot of tar, nothing to see at all.

It took me awhile to figure out that my eyes were blindfolded, and that was the culprit for the darkness. I tried to reach for my face, but soon figured out that my hands were bound by chains, my arms outstretched and pulled taught by chains on the walls.

“Hey, pretty boy’s waking up..” I could hear voices from in the room... Gruff, deep, and evil. I decided to stay quiet, I didn’t want them to get jollies out of me trying to smack talk them. This was no place to be bitching at people. “Let’s take off the blindfold... I wanna see him flip out.”

I felt the hardness of a hoof on my face as I felt the blindfold give way, and some light penetrated my eyes, but not much. “Welcome to the dungeon of the Factory, mutt.” I looked over and saw one of Umbra’s goons; a shadow guard that was twelve shades darker in the coat, and his eyes were the same as his coat. It was scary, they blended into his body and he looked like a reverse Slenderman.

I tried my best to stay quiet as I stared at the guard, who narrowed his eyes. I saw them change color, from the black to a dark violet. “What? Not gonna say anything, tough guy?”

“I have no reason to speak in the presence of a fuck-face.” My words were defiant, I didn’t even bat an eyes when I uttered those words. “Why should I give you the permission to hear me speak, whelp?”

“Ohhh, a tough guy!” I saw him crack his neck and chuckle. “I love a tough guy... Makes it fun to break them...” He reared back a punch aimed for my face, and when he swung I simply dodged it. “W-What the?! Stay still you dog!”

Again and again he tried to hit me, but I was too fast. He missed every punch that he threw, and eventually got tired. “What’s the matter? Getting tired?” I smirked, trying to provoke the guard.

“No... I'm just... Taking a bit of a breather..” He went at it again, this time less hearted, and it was easier than last time to dodge him, and when he got angry enough, he tried to throw a big punch at me. It made him go off balance and I threw my head forward, headbutting him in the skull. “AHH! You, bucking piece of shit!” He yelled, backing away a bit.

“Aww, I’m sorry... Did I hurt the big tough pony?” I asked in a mocking tone, my eyebrow raised.

“Aw, can it.” The guard walked off, closing a cell door behind him. It was at this time, I noticed that I was in a prison cell, apparently in the basement of a factory of some sort.

“Where have I heard that before? ‘The Factory?’ What the hell is going on here...? If it’s what I’m thinking, then I’m either fucked royally, or fucked Celestially.” I sighed and looked down at the ground. “I’m thinking the latter...” I shook my head and sighed. How the hell did this even happen?!

“Aksheal! I’m gonna go!” I yelled as I walked down the steps of Aksheal’s Tower. “It’s dinner time..” I tossed his gauntlets on his desk and ran a hand through my hair. The only good I did on my blade today was make the blade itself.

It was made of platinum, titanium, silver, and gold. The gold of course was mixed with the silver to make it nice and hard. A few things magical thrown in there, such as a few crushed up shards that make a wonderful magical glass when melted down. The glass is almost impossible to shatter, and will hold an edge for all of eternity.

The blade itself is long, like a longsword, used with one hand. I have an idea for the other hand as well... I just need to get some parts made to be able to make the thing...

Anyway, the middle of the blade has gold and silver decorations melted into it. Each of them holding a different power that unlocks after killing a set number of creatures. A few enhancements from Aksheal’s books helped greatly with that.

The blade right now is a dark grey, but will be a shining white when it’s finished. When I get time, I’ll etch out parts in the blade with a flame to be able and put tungsten in there to add a bit of flare.

All in all, the blade came out swimmingly. The only thing I’m worried about is the hilt, where the three Cores are supposed to be set. Those cores don’t really seem all that stable... I’ll make my own adjustments later.

Aksheal turned to me from his window and smiled. “Ah, same for me. Lyniv is supposed to be cooking tonight... She’s an excellent cook! Something I cannot say for myself..” He chuckled a little.

“Well, we are complete opposites after all... Vinyl couldn’t cook to save her life, but I taught her how to make some stuff and she’s improving quickly.” Aksheal smiled and walked next to me, walking to the teleportation tower connected to the side of the main structure.

“This is true... Well, farewell my friend. I hope everything is alright when you return. I’d hate to see... Well... Myself caught up in anything horrible...” Aksheal smiled at me and bowed, backing away as I stepped onto the alchemical glyph on the ground, being whisked away back into Equis from the Calling Card.

This time, I stuck my landing as I fell, and checked to see if the hourglass was still around my neck, which it was. I smiled and made my way to the steps of my mansion, walking down them as I looked out the windows around the front door, seeing the sky in it’s inky blackness. “It’s gotten worse..” I say to myself as I sigh and make my way to the kitchen.

“Vinyl!” I yell, trying to find out where my wife was. “Vi! You in the kit-” I froze in my tracks when I walked into the kitchen. It was a mess. Food everywhere, knives thrown into the walls, tables and chairs thrown around, pots and pans scattered across the floor. I looked around, and then remembered that I had no weapon. “Hmm...”

I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to recall the spell that Aksheal taught me when I was unarmed and my scythe was nowhere near. I thought hard, and then the words came to me.

“Sathra, chira, marka...”

My hand swirled with black aura as it formed a simple dagger, one that would be good for emergencies. I carefully made my way through the chaos in the kitchen, and pressed myself up against another doorway, looking around the corner to the hall. Nothing.

A sound caught me off guard though, something from the pantry. It sounded like things falling. I quickly but carefully made my way over, and pushed open the pantry door, lunging in, my dagger at the ready. But, what I saw, I instantly regretted my decision of bursting in. My son, weeping.

I dropped my dagger, and fell to my knees to pick him up. “Wubsy! It’s alright, bud... Daddy’s here...” I cradled him in my arms and he cried into my chest. I stroked his golden mane softly and got him to calm down. “What happened, son?”

“T-T-The shadow men! T-They c-came in l-looking for you!” Umbra’s goonies? What would they want with me?! They know damn well this is a foolish move to come into my home where I have the advantage of territory. “T-T-They took M-Mommy!” I went wide eyed, and cradled Wubsy more as he started to weep again.

“Shhh, pal... Daddy will fix this... Alright? Now, you just stay in the pantry, and hide behind the sacks of potatoes, alright? They won’t see you there.” Wubsy nodded and slowly crawled out of my arms, going to the sacks and pulled them around him so he couldn’t be seen. “Perfect, bud... Whatever you hear, do not come out, alright?”

“A-Alright...” I slowly started to close the door to the pantry.

“I love you, son...”

“I-I love you too Daddy...” I closed the door all the way and sighed, holding the dagger in my hand. I looked at the blade and saw my eyes. The green emeralds that I was born with. I could see them slowly brighten, and I saw the red wash in, making a flood of crimson over the white, black, and green of my eyes.

“Daddy’ll slaughter each and every one of them...” I said softly, gripping the hilt of the dagger tight. “Daddy’ll make them pay...” I stood, and started to walk, my senses now increased with my anger level rising. The demon side of me was starting to awaken, and my sight was ten times better, my hearing was as sensitive as a dog’s, and my nose could sniff out blood miles away. But, I could smell blood just a few feet away...

I pinpointed the smell, and my hearing confirmed it. Struggling, muffled cries.

The guest room

I ran off as fast as I could, my shoulder connecting with the door, making it splinter like a twig, and what I saw, made my anger turn into a burning fury.

They were... Violating her... Raping, that poor innocent soul that was my wife.

To say the least... I lost it.

My eyes shown brightly as my body was covered from head to toe in blackness, and black cloaks were made from the darkness surrounding me. The hood covered my face, and my white fanged teeth, stood out from all the blackness. My eyes were two piercing lights that shined fear into enemies eyes.

“GET OFF MY WIFE!” I yelled, my voice demonic and edgy. The guards that were violating her, jumped off, and came at me, but they were too predictable. Two swipes with the dagger, and that was two slit necks for them.

There were more of them in the room. It was like a sick frat party they were having in here, and they were all taking turns with her.

I threw my dagger at one that was charging straight for me, and the weapon disappeared. It didn’t bother me one bit. I tried something else, something that was very risky, but hopefully it would work.

I quickly clapped my hands together and slammed them onto the ground, and slowly made them rise, a scythe with one... No... Two blades emerging from the depths. I grabbed the weapon as it started to float above the ground and I spun it round and round, doing flourishes as I did. Eventually, I stopped, and grabbed the scythe with my hand, holding it behind my back as I stared at the guards. “Come and get me...” I said darkly, and got ready for the onslaught.

“GET HIM!” One yelled, the herd of guards charging me all at once. It was foolish, and it was quick disposal as I spun the blades round and round, one blade facing one way on the staff and the other facing the other way. I alternated between the two, slicing and dicing through the headstrong guards that stood in the way of me and Vinyl.

It didn’t take much time at all to thin out the herd, but eventually, the scythe I was using recognized me as not being it’s handler, and shocked me with a great pulse of energy. I fell to my knees it was so great, and the scythe rolled out of my hands, sinking back into the ground where it once came from.

The surge had drained all my power as well, and I was reduced down to my human form, the cloak wisping away into nothing. The only demonic part about me now, was my eyes. Pure red still.

The remaining guards chuckled at my misfortune and ganged up around me. “Well, well, the mighty Gatekeeper falls...”

“You’re lucky you’re not in my court, asswipe...” The guard wailed me in the face, and I did nothing to stop it.

“Shut it, Romero... We’re done with your little whor-” I snapped again, and my hand was as fast as lighting as I lunged at his neck, grabbing right at his jugular.

“CALL MY WIFE A WHORE ONE MORE TIME, MOTHERFUCKER! I DARE YOU! NO, I DOUBLE DARE YOU!”

The guard struggled, but looked me defiantly in my face. “Your wife is a dirty, dirty little WHO-” He didn’t have enough time to finish the sentence before I choked his cocky ass out. The other guards weren’t too happy and they restrained me quickly. Not like I could fight back. That snap was the last of my energy.

And now I sit here... In this cold, dank, disgusting dungeon. Chained up like a dog, and awaiting my fate. All for just being... Me.

Can this day get any worse?

~End of Chapter XXI~

Author's Note

Two updates in one? Christ, that's spectacular. Anywho, CraimerX wrote this chapter, not I, since I had an essay to do for World Literature. So, please notify me of any mistakes when you see one.

XXII - Breaking and Entering (Praxis)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXII - Breaking and Entering (Praxis)

Octavia relayed the whole story to me as the doctors carted away Trixie and Riku to one of the emergency rooms. I could only sit and listen in horror at what had happened. Jace was kidnapped... Vinyl was violated... and poor Wubsy was to be traumatised for what I presumed would be the rest of his life...

...And it was all due to the filthy pigs that Umbra kept on long leashes.

“Oh, God.” My heart was clogging my throat, my mind muddied and torn asunder with what happened. Why? What good would come of it? “This is terrible....”

“I know.” Octavia inspected my clothes, which were smeared with ash and slightly scorched in places. She wiped her eyes, the sclera peppered with bloodshot cracks due to the weeping she’d been doing. “What happened? Your attire looks filthy, and Riku and Trixie looked like they were covered in ash and soot.”

I gulped and slouched in my chair, head hung low. “...I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice, barely a mumble, was still heard by her keen pony ears.

“You can tell me, Praxis.” Something hard to the touch was placed on my shoulder. I looked to see Octavia’s charcoal hoof on my shoulder. “It’s okay.”

I raised my head to look into her violet irises. “The same guys who are slaving away for Umbra? They burned my house down, with my son and Trixie inside.”

Octavia gasped, her emotions being a blend of shock, which soon metastasised into sadness. “I’m so sorry for what happened. How long will they be in the hospital?”

“A few days or so, until they manage to get rid of all the ash they inhaled.”

“Oh....” She scratched the back of her head bashfully. “Listen, do you need a place to stay? Since Vinyl moved out of our duplex in the town to live with Jace, I’ve just lived alone there for a while. There’s a second room for you and Trixie, and Riku can bunk with me.”

At the mention of me and Trixie sharing the same room — sleeping in the same bed, mind you — heat blazed throughout my cheeks like a fire was lit in my mouth, and my ears slumped down and pointed to the white laminate tile flooring. “Praxis, is something the matter?” Octavia inquired.

“What?” I shook my head. “Oh. No, I’m okay.”

“Are you certain. You started blushing particularly hard when I mentioned you and Tri–” As quick as a lightning bolt, she gasped again, eyes wider than saucers and flooding with excitement. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Oh, Goddamnit,” I grumbled in defeat.

Octavia’s smile never faltered, teeth like diamonds in the fluorescent light, as she said, “You do like her! Of course, I should’ve noticed the signs: you had been awfully sweet to her since you met her.” I tilt my ears further down and try to ignore Octavia’s words, yet they still jackhammered into my skull, the cartilage of my ears failing to deaden the noise. “So, have you proposed to her?”

“...” My cheeks burn even harder than prior the question.Yeah, I proposed to her, alright. And it was an utter bust....

“What seems to be the issue now?”

“I did ask her out, yes.”

“Did she say yes?” Octavia was still as happy as a clam. Only when she witnessed more silence from me did the smile soon evaporate. Another gasp was elicited from Octavia. “She didn’t say no, did she?”

“She did.”

"Oh, Praxis..." Octavia frowned. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll probably come around eventually.”

“Sure” → “probably” → “eventually”. What is this I don’t even....

“Well, right now, we got some bigger problems than love. Where are Wubsy and Jace?”

“Well... Wubsy’s still in the mansion… I-I don’t know where they took Jace…”

“I’ll take some wild guesses then.” I stood and took in a deep breath, walking for the doors.

I started to think to myself then. Where are they holding him? Not in the castle dungeon, that’d be too obvious... Somewhere that’s discreet, that’s so well hidden... I can’t think right now, too much shit on the mind....

“I’ll go see if Wubsy knows,” I said, standing up and knocking my hooves on the tile floors to remove any dirt that had been collected from my run here. “Maybe he’ll know–”

“I-I’ll come with you!” Octavia hopped off of her chair and stood at my side, orchid eyes looking determined.

“Well, come along,” I responded, crouching low for her to hop onto my back. Octavia clambered on, and we both left the hospital as fast as my legs could take us: a relatively fast speed and an even shorter time reaching Jace’s estate, yet I was still tired from Umbra’s Essence Drain, panting lightly at both the speed and distance I travelled. The door was already open when we got there, leaving us both curious and paranoid over what went down at the scene of the crime. I pushed it open wide, and we went slack-jawed at the sight.

The inside was positively ravaged: papers & books strewn across the floor, furniture turned over violently; I think I even saw a scarlet liquid that looked horrendously like blood, splattered on the walls like some macabre painting. ((Holy shit,)) I swore in Arabic, heliotrope eyes scanning the entire grotesque clutter. My ears picked up the sound of crying coming from the kitchen: it was muffled, meaning whoever was crying was hiding behind something. “Stay close to me, Octavia.” A grunt of agreement confirmed that Octavia would perform as she was asked, huddling next to me.

We both trudged through the wreckage, getting closer to the source of the crying. “That’s Wubsy, alright,” Octavia murmured as we entered the kitchen. Swiveling my ears to track down where the crying was coming from, I found that Wubsy was hidden away inside the pantry under the sink. Sure enough, I opened the pantry doors to discover the white, gold-maned colt weeping viciously into his hooves. At the sight of us, he tackled Octavia in a huge bear-hug, almost squeezing the very life out of her.

“Aunty Taviiiii-i-i-iii...!” He wailed into her chest, sniffling and hiccuping as he cried. “T-They took Daddy! The-They took Daddyyyy-y-y-yyyy!”

“Shhh... it’s okay, darling,” Octavia reassured the blubbering colt, who was sobbing into the mare as hard as he could.

“Wubsy...” I crouched down low to meet Wubsy’s eye level. “Look, I’m going to need to do something. This won’t hurt a bit, and when I’m done, we can go and get your father back, alright?”

Wubsy sniffled as he looked at me with bloodshot, puffy eyes. “Ok-okay,” he whimpered. Octavia let him down to face me, and I slowly went to place my hand on his forehead.

“Praxis, what are you–”

“Not now, Tavi,” I said to her. “Now, Wubsy, could you please concentrate on what happened?” Wubsy, despite the reluctance that betrayed his face, nodded, and shut his eyes to make the reminiscing easier. I lowered my palm onto the colt’s forehead, and the eye on the back started glowing it’s bright cerulean hue. From my point of view, it felt like I was traversing at millions of miles per second, the way black tunnels formulated around my eyes as my vision faltered and died. In an instant, though, my eyesight returned; however, I was at a much shorter height than earlier, and in a different location, indicating that I was gazing through Wubsy’s point of view during Jace’s abduction.

I was peering through an infinitesimal crack in between the pantry doors. Off in the distance, I can hear crying, from a female: undoubtedly Vinyl. I watched through Wubsy’s eyes as two large, hulking black ponies started to drag Jace off toward the door. “Wow, this fucker’s heavy,” one of them muttered.

“Don’t worry: once we get him to the Factory, it’ll all be worth it…” The other readjusted his faltering grip on the human body before taking him out the door. The crack between the pantry doors closed shut, leaving a shaking and sobbing Wubsy inside to mourn in the dark what had went wrong.

Even though the pitch darkness was unpierceable, I sensed my vision becoming black once more, as well as my subconscious travelling at light speeds like before: the memory was coming to a conclusion. Sure enough, I was back to looking at life through my own eyes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t standing up like I was earlier: instead, both me and Wubsy seemed to have spilled over, lying the ground.

“...Why the hell am I on the floor?” I said in confusion, until I remembered what happened at Nutmeg’s cafe back in Canterlot, when I met Trixie.

“Well, both of you–”

“–Went glowy-eyed, hovered a few feet of the floor, and I was talking in a strange language?” I finished for Octavia, who was dumbstruck by my answer.

“Well... yes. How’d you know that?”

“It’s happened to me before.”

“Ah.” Octavia helped both me and Wubsy get to our hooves, the latter still shaken up from having to bring up such an awful memory. “So, what did you see, Praxis?”

“I saw them taking Jace somewhere — a factory, they said.” Octavia’s eyes contracted to pinpoints at the word “factory”, and her lip quivered like quicksilver. Her face had dread written all over it. “Octi... you know exactly what I mean, don’t you?” I said, suspicion creeping into my voice.

“Th-they took Jace to... the Rainbow Factory,” she confessed. I knew what she was talking about. So, the Rainbow Factory — a horrid facility where Pegasi who failed their Cloudsdale flight exams would be grounded up in the machines of the factory and became part of the rainbows that flourished today.

Umm... allow me to explain. According to the actual fanfiction by AuroraDawn, a thousand years ago, when Celestia banished Luna from Equestria and sent her to the moon, she was charged with three tasks. She originally was in charge of raising the sun, and showering the land with rainbows. But, with the moon being an additional task, she had to hand down the responsibility of rainbows. Celestia entrusted the Pegasi of Cloudsdale to make the rainbows for her, from them on. For the first dozen years, the Pegasi of Cloudsdale were given powerful unicorns to help create Spectra, the pure pigment or colour that exists in all things, but cannot be harvested because of the impossibility of separating colour from objects.

But then Cloudsdale’s top engineers made a breakthrough: they discovered a way to extract pigment, and it was so easy even a simple machine could do it; however, it couldn’t be done with just anything. The conditions had to be right. So, they decided to harvest the Pegasi that had failed their flight exams.

“Quick, Tavi.” My heart was racing in my chest, pounding against my ribs like a hammer to nails. “We need Pegasistance.”

“Really? Pegasistance?” Octavia scoffed.

“Shut up, I’m having an internal conflict going on right here.” I was worried sick to my stomach about what was happening, and I couldn’t help but worry: that memory could have been constructed several minutes or even hours ago. Just the thought of seeing a peach-coloured rainbow constructed from Jace’s flesh gave me a full-blown case of the heebee-jeebees. “But how can we get to Cloudsdale? Last I checked, none of us could can walk on clouds like Pegasi and griffins can.”

“And Cloudsdale is just an hour’s jog away to the northwest!” Octavia was the one worrying now. “How can we get there in time?”

“We?” I reiterated. “You’re not coming: I don’t want another friend in harm’s way. And an hour away to the northwest is just a cakewalk, even with this Essence Drain I’m under.” I tapped the three dark scars on my body to show Octavia what I was talking about.

“But–”

“No ‘buts’. If you get injured because of me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

“Fine... as for getting in there, you can just ask some unicorn for a charm to walk on clouds,” Octavia suggested.

At that moment — as if a lightbulb turned on over my head — I had the answer to our problems. “And I know just the unicorn....”

Only a few moments later....

It had taken a few moments of persuasion to get Twilight Sparkle, the most talented unicorn I know, to perform the Walk On Clouds Charm on me so that I can get into Cloudsdale without failure. At first, Twilight had been extremely skeptical, saying it was dangerous and that I could get killed. Lies were told, strings were pulled, and bribes were made, but I had finally been given the spell.

Still, I was gonna regret getting up at the asscrack of dawn to do all of Twilight and Spike’s errands after this blew over....

“Okay... let’s do this...” I muttered to myself, jumping out of the hot-air balloon I had nicked from Twilight while I was at it. I landed on the cumulonimbi of Cloudsdale with a soft, muffled flump, as if I had just stepped on a mountain of pillows. This would make sneaking in pretty easy....

“Hey!” A slightly scratchy voice called, making me jump.

“Rainbow Dash!” I hissed as I turned around to face her, her loud entry quite possibly almost blowing my cover. “What are you doing here?”

“I followed you here, dude.”

“Why? You know what I’m about to do is dangerous.”

“I-I know, but... Look, I just wanted to make sure you get here in one piece, is all.”

“...Alright. Well, thanks, RD. That means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it, P,” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly. It felt odd, saying goodbye to a character who is actually the manager of the factory I’m trying to break into. It’s slightly paradoxical, since she should be in there and not out here, according to how the Rainbow Factory fiction should work.

Before I could leave, however, I heard her clear her throat, and as I turned around, I see her stick out her hoof. I thought she was expecting a handshake, but the angle it was at, the way the leg was out straight....

It was official: I had just given Rainbow Dash a brohoof that she requested, something that I’ve been longing to do since I discovered My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a quick hug. “Just... be careful in there, Fluffy,” she said worriedly, rubbing my back. Okay, now I felt my brain coagulate from how incredible this was. She smelled like the sky before the brewing of a rainstorm.

“Relax, Skittles,” I told her, pulling away. “I’ve got this under control.” I watched her snicker at the stupid nickname and fly back to Ponyville. I turned to face the factory, took a deep breath, cracked my joints, and made my way towards the wall to the left of the gates. While breaking and entering wasn’t really my thing, I didn’t have a choice right now. “Let’s do this....”

I unsheathed Tsubaki and cut a few eye holes into the cloud wall, peering around for any guards. Only four were patrolling the perimeter, and the balcony that led to the inside wasn’t that far of a leap for me. Once the holes were covered back up, I extended my magic arm onto the wall’s lip. I lowered myself, letting my arm grow taut like a rubber band before catapulting myself through the air, high above the head of the patrols. Even though I was out of range of the balcony, I slung my magic arm to the rim of the balcony and pulled myself up, checking behind me to see if I alerted any guards. Nope, they were still clueless.

Phase 1 complete.

As quietly as I could, I snaked inside the factory and around the guards watchful gazes, the shadows blessing me with invisibility. Minutes snailed by as I navigated through the factory, looking for my friend, and I watched as the Suits worked the conveyor belts, sawing apart the colour-depleted bodies of the failed Pegasi as they fall into a grinding pit. ‘Jace, can you hear me?’ I thought in the vain hopes that he wasn’t cut off from his magic as I continued sneaking around.

‘Yeah... I can hear you... But I want you to do one thing for me, Praxis...’

‘What is it?’

‘...Run.’

~End of Chapter XXII~

XXIII - Friends In High Places (Jace)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXIII - Friends In High Places (Jace)

"Move, Romero!" The guard shoved me into a room, my hands bound behind my back by a heavy chain. My eyes were blindfolded once again, so I couldn't see anything. I slowly crouched down and sat on the floor, my legs crossed.

I looked down to the floor, the blackness of my blindfold keeping out any sight of it. Then, I heard the sound of a door opening in front of me. I looked up so I wouldn't look weak in the presence of whatever was coming for me. "Well, look at you, Romero..." Wait... That voice! That fucking voice!

"...Insanity..."

"A smart boy you are..." I felt the blindfold being pulled away and I opened my closed eyes, looking right up at... Myself?! "Hello, Romero... Long time no see..."

The voice was Insanity's, but the body was mine... He was very... Dapper for a villain. With a black suit, black pants, and shoes, and a tie. He looked more like a businessman then the owner of a crazed factory. Though it's fitting he'd be in charge of the place.

"...How are you me? What is this?! Some kind of sick joke?!"

"Hush. It's the only form I could take that I thought worthy... After you so rudely banished me to Hell all those years ago.." Insanity walked around me, looking me over, and then kneeled down beside me. "I don't wish to share this likeliness with you, Romero."

"Then don't... You have that much power to do at least that, don't you? Or did Umbra take most of your powers so you wouldn't overthrow him?"

"The latter..." Insanity narrowed his eyes and stood, walking to his door. "Guards. Leave us. I shall be in my office with our guest here..." The guards did what they were told and trotted off, as Insanity stared at me. "Stand, Romero, and follow me." He made his way into the office and I followed, albeit slower in my current state.

When I entered, I was greeted by a room that was more modern than anything. Bookcases lined the walls, a maple desk sat in the middle of the room, and a large window in the back of the room oversaw all of the activities in the Factory.

"...You need to leave, Romero." Insanity made his way to the desk and opened a drawer, pulling a key out. "You need to stop this..."

Now, I was as shocked as you were at this point. Insanity, the one who threatened to burn the world and enslave all those who stood in the way, is actually turning good?!

"...What the fuck is this? One of your tricks?" Insanity chuckled lightly and walked behind me, undoing the locks to my handcuffs.

"No tricks. No games. Only truth." Insanity walked around to face me and I rubbed my wrists, the handcuffs had made them raw and they stung. "I'm trying to help.. Umbra is more corrupt than anyone you have faced, even myself. You need all the help you can get..." Insanity flashed a sharp toothed grin at me. "And the reason for my appearance is simple... I am your insanity, Jason..."

"...I call bullshit."

"And I call fact." Insanity walked over to his bookshelf and started to look through the books. "I've been around here since you first came... Coal's Insanity is still here as well... Somewhere. I lost track of him a while ago." He pulled out a book and started to flip through the pages. "When beings from another world enter Equestria, they lose their Insanity in some way shape or form. It happens when you have your first traumatic event here in Equestria. It's to balance yourself out."

“Well... At least I know how Insanity came into the world now...” I walked around the office, then to the windows, staring at the ponies that have their colors washed away and turn grey, then fall into the conveyor belt below to be grinded up. “...Why do you run this factory if you hate Umbra so much?”

“Simple.” Insanity walked up beside me and stared out into the Factory. “Trust... Umbra trusts me, but not fully. He doesn’t like that I’m your Insanity... There’s cause for treason..” He turned towards me and I met his gaze, staring into his purple eyes. “Which is exactly what’s going on right now. He’ll figure out sooner or later that he will fall from the inside...”

“So, what do we do?”

“Not what I do, dear boy... What you do. I’ll put on a little show as you take down the factory bit by bit...” He handed me the book he had been reading and I looked at the page he was on, and I raised a brow.

“‘Magic School of Destruction?’” I read the title of the page and then to Insanity. He smiled his wicked smile at me and chuckled. I grew the same grin, and continued to read. “I never thought this School was around anymore... Not even Aksheal has books like this...”

“Because Aksheal is more passive than anything. He has a world to rule, and his subjects look up to him as an icon of peace... He already knows every magic to learn, he’s an Archmage, so of course he’d know. He doesn’t use it because he doesn’t want to scare his people...”

“That makes sense...”

“Indeed it does.”

“So... now what?” I was worried out of my mind. My heart was the hammer of a blacksmith, slamming into the ingot ribs in vain hopes to align them in its image. “How can I get out of here?”

“Believe me when I say that help is on the way.” He reached into his pocket and tossed me a metal case, branded with my initials. I opened it, and saw it lined with long cigarettes, each having a small ‘J’ on the end of the butt. I looked up, and Insanity melted away into the shadows. I attempted to look for him, but I could see nothing other than the spot where he dissipated. Great... I’m left here, just praying for a rescue, and all I get is a “help will be here in no time” excuse? Come on!

‘Jace, can you hear me?’ That voice... it’s Praxis!

‘Yeah... I can hear you... But I want you to do one thing for me, Praxis...’

‘What is it?’

‘...Run.’

I waited, bided my time in the hopes that Praxis had listened to me and had fled. As much as he was a good friend... he was borderline worthless against these guys, especially in his cursed state.

I turned towards the glass and cracked my neck as I grabbed the book that Insanity had gotten out, and raised a hand to the window overseeing the factory. I saw my hand slowly be encased in a black fireball, and I threw it at the glass, and it stuck to it and blinked. I ran and took cover behind a wall as the fireball exploded, crashing the glass and setting the factory into high alert.

I observed the blaze... watched it slowly engulf all.

~End of Chapter XXIII~

XXIV - Evacuation (Praxis)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXIV - Evacuation (Praxis)

It was unexpected.

Nay, it was completely out of the blue, flat-out ludicrously unforeseen.

One minute, I’m attempting to rescue the one who’d been my best friend for four years and counting; the next, I can only watch as black flames, spawned mysteriously from a window overlooking the compound, began to swallow the facility, the greedy obsidian blaze licking the walls and ceilings of the factory.

Shit! Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!

The alarms screamed into the late evening sky, red lights darting around me as though I was swarmed with as the warning sirens blasted barrage after merciless barrage of noise. I whipped out Tsubaki, the black chain-katana whirling through the air before reconnecting into one piece just as the Suits spotted me. The mechanical sadist machines raised their hammers and saws high in the air, the steel tools glinting maliciously in the scarlet light of the alarm. “Jace, you idiot, what did you do?!”

I had other things to worry about than some small-fry tin cans.

I launched my magic arm at the window where the blast came from. The flames swirled around my hand, but the magic I was giving off with it was shielding me from harm. I crouched down low and leapt for the window. Once through, I looked for Jace, panic coursing through every nerve and vein in my body.

I gasped at what I saw, much to my misfortune due to the soot I had inhaled.

Jace was standing in the middle of the fires, his hand swirling with magic as he looked around the blazing fires. He turned to me, and chuckled, his eyes red with demonic energy. He jumped through the window he had blown out, and hopped on the large machine for extracting the color from ponies. “ALL PRISONERS NEED TO EVACUATE THE FACTORY!” He yelled, jumping down to a catwalk and looked around at the advancing guards.

“WHAT?! ATTACK ROMERO! STOP HIM!”

My ears perked up at the wall of Suits that were coming for Jace and the escaping prisoners. “JACE!” I hollered over the din. “GET THESE GUYS OUT! I’LL BUY YOU SOME TIME!” Jace didn’t hesitate in nodding.

“Everypony, follow me!” Jace informed the prisoners as he led them towards the exit. I held Tsubaki aloft as I faced the armada of malicious machines. There were about forty-five, maybe fifty of these guys. I gritted my teeth and gripped the sword tighter as the Suits advanced towards me. A quick slash to the neck of one – he’s dead. A hack to the legs and stab into the head of another – he’s dead. A slice down the middle of a third – he’s dead.

But they still kept coming.

I could see Jace moving for the door with a flood of prisoners following behind him. I saw him get grabbed by a large metal claw, and he hung onto a nearby pole to keep himself from getting dragged away. “Fucking piece of shit!” He yelled as he tried to kick at it. “Let go, fuckface!”

I could see the red in his eyes glow brighter, and saw his teeth get slowly sharper. I stared at it for as long as I could before going back into combat with the Suits, which were easy enough to take down. A quick press button and a hard swing ensured that a particular Suit was wrapped in the blades and chain. I spun on my hooves, using the ensnared machine as a wrecking ball against his own kind, toppling many of the offending Suits like bowling balls.

“Jace! I gotcha, bro!” I say, pulling hard and severing the still-ensnared Suit into a mess of scrap metal.

“Stay back!” Jace yelled, still focusing on the metal arm. “This is gonna get messy!” He chuckled slightly and I saw him wink at me as he let go of the pole, and was quickly dragged off the catwalk. He had managed to get ahold of a pole from the guardrail, and was being taken to the large industrial grinder where all the colorless ponies go.

I looked over the rail, and got a clear view of Jace being dangled over the large crushing wheels of the grinder. I heard a dark cold laugh, that made me freeze in my hoofsteps. I turned slowly to who was making the laughter, and bleated in surprise when I saw Insanity. But he was... Jace!

“Heads up, Fuzzybutt!” He hollered at me. I saw the remaining ten or fifteen Suits getting closer. With Tsubaki and my now-elongated finger blades, I dived in the middle of them. Once I landed, I shifted precariously onto the top of my spine and started twisting clockwise, kicking my legs fervently like helicopter propellers. My long magic arm, alongside my chain blade, whirled faster and faster with me to match my speed. I was a top twirling on my own accord, blade and arm working side by side to slice and dice the surrounding Suits. One by one, they dropped like flies underneath the sheer force of my continuous swings, metal cogs, springs, and oil spewing from every lopped-off piece of their cold hard bodies.

I stopped spinning, severely dizzy for the minutes that I had been twisting. I shake my head and clear off the dizzyness, brain slowly regaining its coordination with each jaunt. The Suits are all but broken, bits of cogs, metal limbs, and broken machinery littering the floor, oil tainting the steel floors a dark slick hue, giving the entire area the atmosphere of an abandoned junkyard. I looked over the rail again, and Jace was struggling to get a hold on the large metal arm. He kicked at it, and then looked up at me. “Get out of here, Praxis! I got this!”

“30 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATES... 30 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATES.”

...Sadly, the same really can’t be said for me.

The sirens blared even louder than before. Deafened was my hearing as the volume intensified. “Aw, Sugar Honey Ice Tea!” I wailed, looking for an exit out of the Rainbow Factory. Not finding one that wasn’t littered in Suit scrap and flames, I made a crude one with my own bare hands.

Rushing towards one of the adjacent walls, I slash endlessly at it with both claws and Tsubaki until I had carved a decent-sized hole in its surface. I jumped through the hole, made my way to the wall straight ahead, and roused up another hole. Wash, rinse, repeat.

“10 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATES... 10 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATES.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

I finally burst out from the confinements of the factory after drilling mercilessly through three walls without pause, trepidation of failure poisoning every iota of me as I tread over the clouds at breakneck speeds, as fast as my legs could carry me under Umbra’s parasitic curse. “THREE... TWO... ONE...” I bent my knees, and kicked off the ledge of nimbus clouds.

*KRAKABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

I initially saw neither the explosion nor where I was going. All I could witness was the intense speed the explosion of the factory had accelerated me to. Wind was stinging my eyes as I tumbled outrageously through the air, blitzing through several layers of clouds like a meteor comprised of flames, fur, and flesh, whizzing through the air faster than a bullet train. The blaze that had been licking and greedily devouring the fur on my legs had been extinguished by the air that blasted me endlessly, yet the pain of the actual paroxysm of the Rainbow Factory still plagued my being, indescribable and unfathomable anguish roaring inside me.

I can barely see, through wind-walloped eyes, the silhouette of a town as I speed towards it. As the town immediately arrives into a more discernable view, I can barely distinguish what town is it—Ponyville, presumably?—before smashing into the ground with a sickening thud, the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh ringing in my ears. I barrel through several small houses and landmark buildings like a train gone rampant, the rubble of stone and the splintering of wood left behind in an unnatural trail, as they were smattered with my blood. I finally feel my decrepit body thud horrendously with the windmill before it came to a full halt.

I could only hear the sound of hooves beating frantically upon the durable earth beneath me. All sense of feeling was all but gone: I couldn’t receive a response from any of my limbs, despite how persistent I was in getting them to move. All my mind could uneasily scream, over and over as though a broken record was playing on a malfunctioning phonograph, was ‘Where was Jace?’

‘Where was my friend?’

~End of Chapter XXIV~

Author's Note

"Guess who's back, fagets?"

huehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehuehue

Some of you guys honestly thought I cancelled this, eh? Nope.avi. I'm just slow to updating this fanfiction, because for some unfathomable explanation, I get the feeling I'm beating the crap out of a dead horse with every update.

So, to commemorate this bad chapter, and Leather-Winged Oddity somewhat tanking (9 likes, 9 dislikes from the latest update, yet still getting front page), I'm gonna go out and enjoy the current upside-down encompassment of Libya during the Islamic month of fasting known as Ramadan - Everyone's asleep in the daytime and the shops are all closed, but when it's night, everybody comes out and stays awake until dawn. :3

Ciao, suckas. c:<

XXV- The Deal (Jace)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXV - The Deal (Jace)

Well. This day just keeps getting better and better. First, my wife is brutally taken advantage of by some jacked up and horned out guards... Then I get captured and thrown into a fucking factory, and now I'm watching the fucker explode as I fall from the cloud that it sat on.

I was weakened from the fighting with the claw, but I came out victorious with a fireball stuck firmly to the arm portion of the claw, and a fireball thrown into the grinder. The result: the grinder was destroyed, and left a hole in the ground and it exposed the clouds underneath. When I fell after the arm exploded, I fell through the hole, and threw a few more fireballs up into the hole to finish off the factory for good.

Everything was going to plan. The only problem...

I can't fly. I forgot how to in my four years of no magic usage, and it hasn't crossed my mind until the last second that I was on a cloud.

Welp... This is going to hurt... Like a bitch.

No, not like a bitch... This is going to hurt like falling 100 miles per hour and slamming straight into the hard ground below with no way of slowing down... Yeah, it's gonna hurt like that.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I was trapped in a free-fall that, if I hit the ground, would make my form as is right now, obsolete. If I couldn't land safely, that means another week of Markarth time inside of the Calling Card's essence, that will change me into an immortal form of bone and magic. The magic keeps you alive, and the bone is mostly a way of showing that immortals don't require mortal organs and such to live. The body is stripped of all the weak organs and flesh that a human or pony possesses. They are then hit with a large amount of magic that allows them to live through the process, and the soul is bound to the bones by way of ritual. It is painful, and time consuming for the one inside of the Card. A week in Markarth translates to roughly two days in Equis time.

But back to the matter at hand... Falling. To the rough and hard ground below of the world that I called home.

How would the others think of a new form? Would they think me a monster, like in my Chaos form? Or will I be treated the same?

How would my family think of me..? My friends? How would my son take it..? What do you tell a child? That I'm dead? That his father was killed in action trying to save the world he has come to love and live in?

No... That won't happen. Not today.

I straightened myself out falling, and was now in a free-fall style position. I pushed all the magic in my body to my legs and my hands and concentrated hard, closing my eyes to see that pulse of red magic inside me get brighter, and brighter. I pushed out the sounds of rushing air past my ears, and concentrated on the aura of magic. It pulsated, and grew brighter and brighter, until I could see the sigil of the Gatekeeper glow black inside the round aura.

I opened my eyes, and I could feel the burning of the glow in them. I had the power. I wouldn't let this be the end of me.

“Spread your wings... And soar like a Gryphon...” I said with a smirk as I released the magic in my legs and hands, and, like Tony Stark, I blasted off and barrel rolled, looking at the path in front of me.

“Vinyl...” I said softly, and thought the best place to go first was the hospital. I changed my course and set off at high speeds towards where they held my wife, hopefully alive and well.

Maybe I should tap in and see if Praxis got out alive...

'Praxis... Praxis are you there?!' I asked through telepathy, grabbing onto his wavelengths like it was my life.

'Jace?! Where the hell are you?! What's going on?!'

'Well, long story short, I blew the everlasting shit out of the factory. I'm going to the hospital, get those prisoners back to Ponyville as fast as you can... You remember the shelter we had when we were fighting Insanity?'

'Of course...'

'Get everypony in Ponyville there, quickly. When you hear me in your thoughts, let me in. It's time we start a revolution.'

'I'll get on it right away... And Jace?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't forget to bring your guns.'

'Heh... Don't forget your blade.'

I smirked and saw the hospital in the distance. I slowed my magical thrusters and landed roughly on the roof of the hospital. After the years in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. initiative, my agility took a large increase.

I hopped down off the roof and entered, getting many gasps and shocked looks at my beaten and bruised body. I ran for the desk and slammed my hands on the table. “Vinyl Scratch... What room?!”

“W-Well... She's in...” The nurse checked a clipboard. “Room 9.”

I took off for the room, running passed nurses and doctors alike until I burst through the door. I saw Vinyl, sitting up in her bed, and startled as she saw me enter the room. I stared into her eyes and she stared at mine...

“...Vinyl.” I got up to the bed and fell to my knees as I stared at her. Her hoof touched my cheek and I grabbed a hold of it with my hand, and stroked it softly with my thumb. “I'm so sorry...” I said softly, feeling my eyes water and well with tears. The very rare occurrence where a Reaper cried real tears. Remorse. Sadness. All these things still could bring out the human inside of me.

“Jason..” She said softly. I could see the tears in her red eyes start and I pulled her into a tight hug. I cried silent tears into her neck and mane, and held her close as she sobbed.

“I'm so sorry, honey... This is all my fault... I knew the consequences of all this, but I blew it off like an idiot! Now Umbra has the world in his hands... But I promise you, I'll make this right. For you. For everyone in Equis! I swear!”

“You do the best you can...” She sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking into mine. She smiled softly, “I don't blame you for this, honey... You've always done the best you can in this world, and I'm happy to be your wife... I have no regrets...” She leaned in and our lips met in a kiss. I melted into it, and was putty in her hooves.

The kiss lasted a while and we hugged tight. “I'm going to take you somewhere safe so you can recover...”

“What about Wubsy and Riku?” I stopped and looked at her.

“...Where are they...?”

“In the room next to me.”

I looked over and pulled out the IV in her foreleg, and picked her up. I got a good look at her now. Her body was bandaged in spots where she had been abused. I sighed at the sight and carried her out of the room and went to the next one over, and gasped softly at a soot covered Riku wearing a respirator and Wubsy sitting in a chair next to him, tears rolling down his face.

I slowly walked into the room, and Wubsy looked up. “DADDY!” He ran over and clung to my leg. “Riku's not waking up Daddy... I'm scared...” He buried his face in my leg and bawled.

I looked over at the bed, and I could see the weak rising and falling of Riku's chest. I took a few steps up to the bed and again the tears started to pour out of my eyes. Quick as can be, I stride over to the foot of the bed and read the diagnostics that were scrawled onto the clipboard.

"Unstable condition. Excess of ash lining the throat and lungs. Breathing difficulties occurred already. Possibility of cancer and asphyxiation due to too much ash in system."

I looked up. I could see his vitals with my own eyes...

He wasn't going to make it...

“Can I get a doctor in here?!” I yelled, setting Vinyl down on the ground. She sat on her haunches and a doctor stepped inside. “Take this mare and foal out of here. Go to the shelter from the Insanity crisis... MOVE!” The doctor nodded and was flustered, as he ran out of the room and started to get paramedics to grab a stretcher.

I knelt down and looked at Wubsy, and pulled his close. “Son... Daddy has to work his magic... It's hard but... I don't think Riku's going to make it...” His eyes water and tears streamed down his face. I pulled him close and kissed the top of his head. “I know bud... He's going to get the best place in Heaven... I promise you that, son...” I cradled him in my arms and held him as the paramedics got Vinyl onto a stretcher. “Go with your mother, son... I'll be right behind you guys..” The doctors came by and lead Wubsy out of the hospital with Vinyl.

I looked over at Riku and slowly moved over to him. I sat down in a chair and reached up to slowly caress his head. I saw the shaky breaths he took, and it hurt me on the inside. A child would die just to get rid of us... And there was nothing that I could do...

“It's a shame, really...” I heard a voice behind me. A familiar voice. I turned and saw the cloak clad Zeke standing in the doorway, hand on his scythe and his hood drawn over his skull. Blackness shrouded his looks and two red eyes were gleaming at me from the blackness of the hood. “I wish there was something we could do, that didn't mean giving your soul to Satan...” Zeke walked up to the bed and sighed. “Riku... Why is it that the most innocent have to die young?”

“He doesn't have to die, Zeke...”

“Says you. The Reaper code is a hard one to uphold, I know. But there is nothing that we could do... Unless you wish to have your soul be forever thrown into the fires of damnation...” I turned to him, and looked him straight in his eyes.

“That's a risk I'm willing to take...” I said, my eyes shining their Reaper red.

“...Very well.” Zeke reached into his cloak and pulled out a large scroll, and unrolled it. “This is the infamous, Deal with the Devil. You may have anything you want, for your soul...” He held it out in front of me, and a black fireball flashed, leaving a black quill and inkwell. “All you have to do, is sign what you want, and then your name...”

I took the quill and dipped it into the ink, and I stared at the dotted line. I started to slowly write my wish.

The life of Riku Moradov to be spared.

Now for my name... I started writing, slow.

'Jason'

My hands were trembling. After this, my soul will be given to the devil. No eternal life. No do overs.

'Eclissi'

Sweat poured from my brow as I wrote, my breathing became erratic. One more word... Once I die, it's game over, good game, no extra lives, no resets. Just one life...

'Romero.'

And then...

Darkness.

Prologue: Part I - Home Again (Jace)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Prologue: Part I - Home Again (Jace)

On the right, the sun.
On the left, the moon.
Ahead,
The stars.

~Old Stalliongradish Poem

...Four years. Long time to keep a girl waiting for that day... The day you get married. It’s not his fault he’s a good fighter by nature, just an inconvenience is all... But sometimes I wish he never had gained Death’s trust. I wish he never had these ‘powers.’ I wish he was a normal human at times but... Where would the fun be if he was just ‘normal?’

Stalliongrad... Fucking Stalliongrad is where he went. That irradiated trap of a country! That’s where he went... Alone... Without any weapons... Sworn to his word that he was not going to use any sort of magic at all in his travels. He left with the clothes on his back, a backpack, and a book.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it was magic. When I said ‘no magic’ I didn’t really think of the book since I use it on a daily basis... What, do you think I read it? Ha! Joke’s on you! Cause it’s blank! Well, some of it is blank.

It’s a journal more or less. He told me that it was a way to communicate with him over those years. All those years of worry... Drama... Victory... Happiness... Sadness...

These past four years have been a roller coaster for my emotions. Half the time I didn’t know if he was lying just to make me feel better or because he was legitimately fine at certain points. The years haven’t been all that good to Wubsy either...

The little guy took it hard when he heard his father would be leaving for a long time.. I couldn’t get him to stop crying for the next three days after he left. He’s been sleeping with me almost every night after he left. He would always wake up with nightmares of something bad happening to his father and have to come running into the room for me...

Oh yeah, by the way, name’s Vinyl Scratch. Engaged to Equestria’s only human... Jason Romero.

~<-FRIENDSHIP EXPRESS, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH->~

My eyes slowly opened as the light from the Sun washed over my face. “Nnng... go away, Sun...” I pulled the covers over my head and closed my eyes again, trying to get back those precious moments of rest that I so needed. Five days of no sleep? Yeah, not good for the head.

I let out a deep breath and slowly let the blackness of sleep take over my body... But not for long.

“Wake up, lenivyĭ (lazy)!” I let out an unsatisfied groan as the light washed over my body once again and my eyes opened once more to see a smiling beige unicorn in my face. “Well, he is alive! I thought all that radiation was getting to you!”

“Oh, ha-ha, Paskov. Very funny. Why did you wake me up now, anyway? It’s not even noon!” I rubbed my green eyes and tried to get the sleep out of them. My hair, now long and disheveled, was promptly flattened with a few quick rubs from my hands.

“That’s not of importance, Jace,” Paskov told me. I got up and stretched, my popping of my joints sounding like music to my ears. Once finished with this process, I sat up in my bed and stifled a massive yawn coming my way. “What’s important is that... we’re almost home!”

Those words snapped me out of my sleep-induced trance. My eyes shot open, and I stood upright in an instant. I walked over to the window across from me and, sure enough, I see the great city of Canterlot, capital of Equestria.

We are almost home.

I had to tell Vinyl the news. I rummaged into my backpack for something of the utmost importance. After a few seconds, I pulled out a leather bound book with the name Jason Romero on the front. I opened it and flipped through the many pages I had scrawled through during my time as a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in Stalliongrad.

Flipping through the pages, I stumbled upon many entries that me and Vinyl had wrote back and forth. One in particular standing out. I remember that day well, actually... Not a fun one to be honest.

~FLASHBACK~

“Jace! JACE! Stop writing in your damn book and get over here to help me!!” I looked over at Paskov, who was holding his pistol with his telekinetic grip. I wrote a little last bit into the book before closing it and setting it down next to me. I reached for the sniper that was laying on the ground and checked the bolt to see if it was loaded.

“Draw their fire!” I yelled over the gunfire coming from the plains. Currently, we were staked out in a house near an Anomalies area. We heard it was infested with zomponies and we had to go here to take them out.

That was my main goal in the Zone: to thin the herd from the Insanity incident all those years ago. He had his Shadowlings possess many zomponies that were located here in the Zone, and being the fighter that I am, I volunteered to go in and take out as many as I could in a four-year time period.

But as of now, I find myself staring down my sniper scope aimed directly at a Monolith soldier’s head. I pushed out anything else in the area that would mess up my shot: sounds, my heartbeat, shaking of objects and the like. I controlled my breathing and just like all those years ago, everything slowed down as my adrenaline kicked in.

“Ten seconds flat...” I smirked as my finger held down the trigger, the attachments I had made to my sniper working like a charm as I felt barely any recoil and I smiled wickedly when I heard the sound of a machine gun going off near me. That machine gun, was my sniper. A fully automatic recoil reduced Dragunov sniper that was modified to shoot .50 caliber rounds.

Now, I know fully auto seems a bit strange, but it works for me. My reason being is that when I have my adrenaline coursing through my body, I’m a dead eye shot. I can move over to the next target and pop a hole in his head before he can say, ‘retreat.’

As I was mowing down the Monolith in the area, Paskov was watching behind us so he could take care of any soldiers that were cheeky enough to come and try to flank us in the middle of our rampage. At this point, I would’ve moved up and used my pistol to take care of any other stragglers, but we were in the middle of an Anomalies area. No way am I getting my leg eaten by acid!

The gunfire didn’t last more than nine to ten seconds at the most. I stopped after the final bullet was deeply embedded in the head of the last soldier. Even when these bullets didn’t hit the head, they would still either take off an arm or leg at the most. It’s hilarious when I hit them right in the Cutie Marks; they start dragging their ass on the ground like a dog because of their legs being rendered useless.

Just for you math types, Bullet + Cutie Mark = Out the other Cutie Mark.

Did I mention that I special ordered these bullets? No? Well, I do. They’re a special FMJ round that is supposed to go through armor and fully destroy the area that they go into. When coming out, a hole the size of a softball in torn into them. Imagine a hole like a golfball in one side of the head, then you go over to the other side and seeing a softball sized hole. Yeah, these things are powerful.

I stopped firing when I saw the last body fall and blew on the end of the gun to cool it down. “I helped. Now... If you’ll excuse me, I have writing to get back too.” I threw the sniper to the side and walked back to where I had been sitting and pulled the book back into my lap. I got my quill out and flipped through the pages again to read over the conversation once more:

Jace, what’s going on? Are you alright?

Yeah, I’m getting somewhat pissed off though...

Why?

These damn zombies aren’t thinning out! I’ve been here for two years now an-...

...Jace? Jace are you alright?

Shit, hold on. I need to take care of something.

Ummm, alright then...

Jace? Honey, I’m getting worried. Are you alright?

JACE?!

Quickly I started to write as I started to see more words appear on the page.

Honey! Honey! I’m fine!

Oh, thank Celestia! I thought you got hurt or something...

Heh, nope but I did hurt others...

That’s what I like to hear! Give ‘em hell, babe!

~END OF FLASHBACK~

I flipped past the entries and got to the second to last page in the journal. I grabbed the quill on the bedside desk next to me and started to write in the book.

Honey? Vinyl, are you awake, dear?

I set the quill down on the table next to me again, rubbing my eyes once again to get more of the sleep out. I set the open book on the bed and looked over at the other side of it, seeing it thoroughly messed up. “Uhh, Paskov... Did you sleep with me last night?”

“Yeah, I did. You got a problem with that? Not like I would rape you or anything.” Point taken. I shuddered at Paskov’s words.

“Gross....”

“The one thing I will say though is that you’re really cuddly... I can see why Vinyl misses you~” I blushed lightly and it only fueled the fire for Paskov. “Oh sorry, too much info?~”

“Oh, shut it. I’m in no mood for ridicule this morn-” I found myself being cut off by a loud rumbling coming from stomach. I looked down at my belly and clutched it lightly. “Erm, is there any breakfast?” Paskov chuckled lightly and nodded.

“There is. Just go to the third cart up and you can get some food. Better than the stale bread we had to eat on a daily basis, I’ll tell you that much.” At this point, dirt would be better than what I had to eat on a daily basis. The one thing that kept me going in the Zone... was MEAT. They had MEAT! Not processed, this was the stuff right from the animal! If it wasn’t all messed up from the radiation in the area, I’d gladly eat it! It was the first meat I’d eaten in a good four years!

Oh, but it was a taste that I’ll savor forever. Maybe I should ask Fluttershy if she can get some of the dead animals she gets and have me cook them up. But now, it’s time for some waffles and strawberries. Oh Celestia, fresh food. It’s going to be a thing that I will savor for the rest of my life after Stalliongrad.

Once me and Paskov finish wolfing down our breakfasts, we eagerly wait for Canterlot to roll in, our anticipation reaching a boiling point. “Wait, we’re going to be wanted by the Princesses, won’t we? Aww, buck.” My eagerness faded as the realization sunk in that we were more than likely going to have to see them to tell the tales of the Zone. “Fan-freaking-tastic.”

“Dude, it could be worse,” Paskov said with a slight chuckle. “Hell, this train could be hijacked or we could all crash and die.”

“Eh... true.” Paskov DID have a point. The seconds crawled by at the slowest of rates. But at long last, we finally reached Canterlot Castle, right when the morning sun was almost at the peak of its orbit.

Oh, and yes: this planet doesn’t revolve around the sun: it’s vice versa.

But I digress.

When the train made a complete stop at the station in Canterlot, me and Paskov get off of it. As we make our way to the Castle, most of the ponies recognize us and throw us a handful of cheers and hurrahs. The snooty ponies?

“Out of my way, rapscallion!”

Not so much.

Once the stallion that insulted me has passed, I turned around and gave him double middle fingers.

...HAHAH! THE “SCREW YOU”S HAVE BEEN DOUBLED!

…I went off on a tangent again, didn’t I?

Anyways, aside from the occasional rich jerk bags that live here, the way to Canterlot Castle wasn’t all that bad. When we finally reach the castle, the two Royal Guards that flank the doors of the Castle crossed their spears in an “X” formation, barring us from entering.

“State your business!” The one on the right said.

“I am Jace Romero and my companion at my side is Paskov,” I began. “The Princesses have requested an audience with us once we return from the Zone in Stalliongrad.”

“Wait... you’re a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?” The one on the left asked. I resisted the urge to facepalm at his stupidity.

“No, I’m a goddamn girl scout selling cookies...OF COURSE I’M A FUCKING S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!” The two Guards were taken by surprise by my outcry, so they relinquished their spears from their crossed formation.

“Sorry... go right ahead, you two,” they said in unison. They used their Unicorn magic to open the gates for us, and we gladly stepped inside.

“Hey! Jace!” A familiar voice called. Me and Paskov both turned around to see Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadance walking over to me, the latter with a sky blue filly baby with a white mane and tail on her back. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, Shining. Hi, Cadance,” I greeted. “It’s good, we just got back to the Zone, and we were going to tell the Princesses about it.” I spotted the filly and smiled. “Is this your kid?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm,” Cadance answered. “Her name is Gold Heart.”

“Awww.... she’s so cute...” I commented. I reached in to tickle her chin. The foal smiled and started giggling at the gesture.

Like the old meme goes, my heart exploded twice.

“I see you let yourself go there, Jace.” Shining chuckled lightly as he pointed out the goatee adorned on my face. “What, they not have anything to shave with?”

I chuckled lightly and rubbed my beard. “Nah, I just decided to grow it out. I was experimenting because when I first came here, the goatee I had originally just went away! It was really weird... But I ended up growing it out again. Took me a good two years to fully grow it out.”

Shining nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I want one as well but it takes a while for ponies to grow facial hair. Looks good on you, though! Adventurous and rugged!”

“That’s what I was in Stalliongrad! Don’t worry, I left everything that I used back in Stalliongrad. My armor, weapons, everything. I just brought back my belongings I originally came there in.” He turned to show the backpack slung over his shoulder. “The clothes on my back, a backpack, and my journal.”

“Ah, I see. Well, that’s very good to hear! Let’s hope you don’t have to resort back to the weapon you used all those years ago...” Oh, man. Eclipse. You know when you have to give up a pet because you’re moving away or just can’t afford to take care of it anymore? That’s how it felt when I had to give up Eclipse to Zeke while I was on my tour in Stalliongrad.

“Y-Yeah... Let’s hope I don’t have to use him again...” Shining raised a brow at my words.

“Him? Jace, it’s a weapon, not a living being.”

I chuckled lightly. “There are a lot of things you wouldn’t understand about Eclipse, Shining. Maybe one day I’ll tell you.” I smiled warmly and looked to Paskov. “C’mon Kov, we gotta get to the princesses.” I looked back at Shining and Cadence. “I’ll be sticking around for a while, so come and visit sometime! We’re always welcoming guests!”

“Will do!” Shining turned tail and continued his walk to the training grounds with Cadence and Gold Heart in tow. I watched as the couple walked away and smiling lightly.

“Good to see those two are happy together...” We set off to the throne room once again and Paskov couldn’t stop looking around.

“This place is so BIG! I’ve heard stories about the castle but... I never knew it was like this.” I chuckled as Paskov’s eyes went wide as we rounded the corner to the throne room. The doors were gigantic. They were almost as tall as the castle itself, as thick as a large log, and the width took up the entire hall we were standing in.

“Ohhh, yeah. This place is pretty amazing.” We approached the throne room doors to be stopped by another two guards.

“State your business.”

“Jason Romero, Paskov Lennit.” The guards looked at each other with amazement in their eyes.

“Jason Romero? THE Jason Romero?!”

“How many humans do you see going around Equestria, bub? Yes, I’m THE Jason Romero.” I saw the look in their eyes. I sighed and dug in my bag to get my pen out. “I know what you’re going to ask, just hand over the paper.” The guard on the right let out a squee as he magicked a piece of paper into my face. Yes. A Royal Guard squee’d because he saw me... Now I’ve seen everything.

I signed the paper and handed it back to the guard who let out a squeal of enjoyment. “Alright, fanstallion, open the doors.”

“O-Of course Mr. Romero!” The stallions both encased the doors in their blue auras and opened them to reveal the grand throne room. I walked past the two as the doors started to open into the room and I heard Paskov gasp as Celestia came into view sitting atop her throne.

“Jason! What a pleasant surprise! How was your time in Stalliongrad?” Celestia smiled warmly at me.

“Eh, I wanna say easy... But being away for four years isn’t exactly easy when you have a marefriend and a foal to get back to.” I looked over at Paskov, who was wide eyed and slack jawed. “Oh yes, this is Paskov the one who originally warned you about the zompony infestation in the Zone.”

“Ah, so you’re the great Paskov I’ve heard about!”

Paskov’s eyes got wider and his jaw went down further. “G-Great?”

“Yes! You’re fabled in Stalliongrad as one of the best S.T.A.L.K.E.R.S. stationed in the Zone! You’ve cleared out many of the abominations the radiation in that area has made, and for that, I thank you for your services.”

“Princess Celestia... Thanked me...” Paskov looked down and then smiled wide at this. He cleared his throat and stood at attention. “It was my pleasure, Princess, anything for Equestria.”

Celestia smiled and floated down to the two of us. “Well, in that case, if you’re done serving time in the Zone, I’d like to appoint you as one of my elite guards.” I swear I heard that pony let off a squee at this.

“I get to join the ranks of your elites?! B-But I’m just a simple unicorn, ma’am! I’m trained to fight with weapons and the like! Can’t really use magic against mutants, since it’s basically a bath for them!” Celestia chuckled lightly.

“So I see,” she said. “Well, I wish you safe travels, Jason. Paskov?” The unicorn in question looked in Celestia’s direction. “Come along with me, please... we need to get you some armor....”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEE~!” Paskov squealed. I simply chuckled at my friend’s excitement.

“The Great and Noble Paskov, everypony!” I mocked, looking around the throne room at the invisible audience.

“Oh, ha-ha,” Paskov said sardonically. He held out a hoof to me. “So long, Jace. I enjoyed working with you in Stalliongrad, and I can only hope that you have safe travels back to Ponyville.”

“Thanks, Paskov,” I said, shaking his hoof with my hand for what would be the last time. “And I can honestly hope that you and I can cross paths in the future.” Paskov nodded, and with that, he followed Celestia to a room on the left of the Royal Palace Foyer, leaving me in my lonesome.

I turned around and jogged back to the Friendship Express, which, luckily, had not yet departed. I hopped back onto the train and made my way back to the suite train cart, settling down on my bed again as sleep came over me once more.

“Sir? Sir. Wake up...” I felt something shake me in my sleep and I let out a loud groan. “Sir, please wake up. Your ticket was on top priority and we need to make sure you get off here...” I cracked my eyes open to see the train conductor standing next to the bed. He wore a dark blue suit and wore black boots on his front and back hooves. He wore a blue train conductor hat and had a thick curly blue moustache. His eyes were a piercing blue that just stared into my eyes as I opened them fully. “Please, sir, you need to leave now. This is your stop.” His voice was deep and gravelly and had a slight Stalliongradish accent thrown in.

I sat up in the bed, looking around the cart and then to the conductor. I waved my hand at him, and he got the message right away, walking out of my cart. I stretched out and rolled off the bed, walking to the trench coat hanging on the coat rack near the entrance of the cart. I put it on and grabbed the fedora that was on one of the spikes and donned it. I pushed some of my hair to the sides of my head and brushed my hand over my goatee to straighten out the whiskers.

I looked myself over in a mirror and smiled to myself. Black tux pinstriped with thin red stripes with matching black pants, a pair of black dress shoes, red undershirt, black silk tie, black trench coat, and black trilby fedora with the same red pinstripes as the tuxedo and pants.

Needless to say, I looked damn fine.

I backed away from the mirror to get a better look at myself, then blinked as my image got fuzzy and I couldn’t quite see myself that well. I rubbed my eyes and opened them again, blinking rapidly. Again, no change in my vision. “Well fuck, seems staring at those Emissions weren’t the best choice...” I groaned lightly and made a mental note of going to see Rarity afterwards and see if she can whip up a pair of glasses for me.

I walked back to my bed and grabbed the journal, flipping to the last page and seeing the response I got from Vinyl;

Yup! I’m up. It’s about noon for me right now, and I’m just cooking food for Wubsy. How’s your day going so far?

I smiled and grabbed the quill on the desk, dipping it and ink and beginning to write;

Going great! I got a little surprise for you though, just wait till you see it! It’s a big one!

I chuckled lightly, hoping that the gears in her head won’t try and process that information too quickly.

Grabbing my bag, I put the journal inside it and slung it around my shoulder, turning to the door and I ook a deep breath.

Well, this is it. Time to go see everypony again! I smiled as I made my way to the door and slid it open, making the trek to the top cart. Apparently, I held up the train for five minutes. “Very sorry, sir! I’ll be getting out of your mane now.” I tipped my hat lightly to the conductor and he chuckled.

“Don’t think anything of it, Mr. Romero. I would’ve waited hours for you to awake if needed. But it says here from the princess that you have to be dropped off at Ponyville at all costs, no exceptions!”

“I can see why. Doesn’t want me getting into any trouble if I go off course.” I turned to the train entrance then stopped, looking back. “Spaseebo balshoye (thank you very much.)” The conductor smiled warmly.

“Nezachto (Don’t mention it)!”

Hearing the response I was looking for, I put my hand on the door handle and opened it up to see the town of Ponyville in front of me. I smiled wide and took a step out into the cold air, feeling the rays of Celestia’s Sun hit my face. My smile grew when I saw ponies all around doing their jobs and going about their business.

‘I’m home...’ I thought to myself, walking down the cobblestone path of the train station. ‘I’m really ho-’

“OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH OHMIGOSH!!! IT’S REALLY YOU! YOU’RE REALLY BACK!” I was assaulted by Pinkie Pie as soon as I stepped foot into the town’s limits. “OHMIGOSH YOU’RE BACK! I GOTTA TELL EVERYPONY THAT YOU’RE HERE AND PLAN A BIG PARTY, AND TELL VINYL THAT YOU’RE HOME, AND WE’LL ALL HAVE FUN, AND YOU’LL BE TOGETHER AGAI-” I stopped her incessant rambling with my hand clamping onto her mouth.

“Pinkie! It’s good to see you again but, please speak of my return to nopony, and I mean NOPONY. I want to keep myself a secret from the girls and Vinyl... Can you please do that for me? I want to surprise them...” I pulled my hand away from her mouth and she smiled at me.

“Of course I will, Jacey wacey! You can count on me to keep this whole thing a secret!” She smiled wide and I patted her puffy mane.

“Good girl! I knew I could trust you! How about, I go find Vinyl, and when you see me come back into town with her, you round up the girls telling them that you have a surprise for them! Say exactly that, ‘C’mon! I have a surprise for you all!’ Think you can do that?” The pink mare nodded vigorously. “Good! Hop to it!”

“Okie Dokey Lokey!” She literally started hopping down the dirt road again, leaving me alone along the outskirts of Ponyville. I brushed off my coat from the hug and continued my trek into the main town square.

I got many ponies welcoming me back to the town as I made my way through, even got myself a hug from Derpy!

Let me tell you, this is great! I got ponies welcoming me back, I’m getting hugs, and everything is dandy! Glad to see that I left this place looking like I left it! Aside from some burned down houses I’ve seen, nothing was too bad. I saw a new building in town square that I never saw before, and I saw ponies working on building an apartment complex!

Aside from my tangents, I had traversed almost all of Ponyville and I saw my goal right in front of me, the mansion.

It looked exactly how I left it. It’s scary to think this place never changed in the four years I’ve been gone.

I made my way up the steps and knocked on the door a few times. I leaned against a post on the porch and heard the soft taps of hooves walking up to the door. “Coming!,” came the response from inside.

I watched as the door slowly opened and a mare with a grey coat and charcoal black mane turn and stare right at me.

Octavia’s eyes went wide and her jaw went slack as she laid eyes on me. I smiled lightly and waved at her. She cautiously walked out the door and closed it behind her, just staring at me. “I-Is it really you?”

“As me as I’ll ever be, Tavi...” I smiled wide and held out my arms, still propped against the post. “Come and feel for yourself!”

She was hesitant at first, but then eventually ran full speed at me in a big hug. She buried her face into my belly and cried tears of joy as I wrapped my arms around her. “Shhh, it’s alright, Tavi...”

“Octavia? Who’re you talking too? Who’s outsi-...” The door was pushed open again and a white mare with electric blue mane went wide eyed. She stared, wide-eyed, as Octavia dropped down from the hug and trotted back into the house, smiling and crying all the way.

I stood there, looking down at her. “Surprise...” I smiled wide and got on one knee as I saw her taking tentative steps towards me. When I got down on my knee, she sprinted full trot at me and wrapped her hooves around my neck, hugging me hard. I could feel the wetness of her tears on the crook of my neck as she hugged me.

I rubbed her back and kissed on her cheek, trying to calm her down. “Vinyl... Shhh, it’s alright honey. Please, calm do-HMM!” I felt her lips pressed onto mine as and cut me off mid sentence and drew me into a passionate kiss. I pulled from her afterwards, and went back to hugging her.

“You’re back... I can’t believe you’re back...Four years Jason, four years!”

“I know, I know baby... But I’m home now, and I’m here to stay. That’s a fact.” There it is. The smile I’ve been waiting to see for four years.

She kissed me lightly again before moving from my embrace. “C’mon, I think your son would like to see you...” My son. My four year old son. I finally get to see him after all these years.

I just hope he remembers his Daddy...

Prologue: Part II - Lament Of A Satyr (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

~Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver~

Prologue: Part II - Lament Of A Satyr (Praxis)

Four years.

Four... long... Goddamned years.

That’s how long I’ve waited in this stone prison of mine. The concrete walls of this impossibly small cage I’m locked inside of seem to just... close in around me, like the claustrophobia I have suddenly intensified over this near-half of a decade.

I just wish that... time would be kind to me. Just let me free someday soon and let me bask in the oxygen I miss so much.

But alas, time is not on my side. Nor has she ever been for the last twenty-one years of my life existing.

Oh. I’m terribly sorry. In lieu of wanting to tell you my story, I’ve never even bothered with introducing myself.

My name is Praxis Moradov. I believe you’ve heard of me as being the first satyr to ever walk upon Equestria, the means of which is through a portal that my possible-marefriend Lyra Heartstrings conjured up, which I assume is something she uses when she wants to study up on humans.

Four years prior to this poor lament of mine, Lyra unintentionally sent me here to Equestria, where I was instantly looked upon as an outcast and a monster by all the other ponies. Insanity, the very being that I had created from all the hate and sadness that I held with me, had turned me into a horrible caricature of myself: the Weresatyr, a horrible monster that makes itself known whenever the Sun goes down and the Moon is in the sky. Along the way, I have met three people who I would trust for the rest of my life: Jason Romero, a Chaos Reaper who was sent here many months before me by Twilight Sparkle; Vinyl Scratch, the DJ of Equestria and wife of Jason; and Ezekiel, or Zeke, the Grim Reaper who had given his trust to Jace.

But how I got like this, to be imprisoned as a statue for what I think will be forever?

Me and the Chaos Reaper battled the mad god, Insanity, before he could eviscerate the world with the Moon of Destruction, the very moon of Princess Luna that he had mutilated and bastardized. However, in the process, my arm was... lost. Lopped clean off by Insanity's sword, Dementia, the very cause of my abilities to become a Weresatyr in the first place. But right before Jace would be locked in a battle with Insanity for what would possibly be eons, I decided to end it, by tricking Insanity into overshadowing me, letting him believe that his possessing my body would mean immortality and limitless power.

And while my arm may have grown back because of this overshadowing, the process itself was terrible.

Do you know what it's like to be overshadowed?

It's more along the lines of simply being possessed, yet worse. You lose whatever self-control you have, making you act like a mindless monster. Any chance of resistance would be practically futile. I had only been successful for briefly fighting against the possession because my body had made Insanity so weak, due to being stripped of both my Weresatyr abilities and my place as a Reaper, a society of male individuals that gather souls and judge the condemned, determining whether the accused are blessed with Heaven or banished to Hell. Had I not asked my friends to do what they had done, I would've slaughtered every single man, woman, and child in my proximity.

Thankfully, the others knew what to do.

Once Jace and Vinyl had encased me in their magical hold and preventing both my and Insanity’s escapes, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, fired the Harmony Cannon at me, encasing my body in stone for what would be centuries to come.

While I am eternally grateful for what they've done, I don’t want to wait for freedom. I want it NOW.

I want to see my friends. I want to see my ...marefriend, Lyra, and my child, who I expect is already born.... I want to see Jace and Vinyl, even if it would be for the last time.

Oh, well... we can’t have everything that we want. No matter how hard we fight, kick, punch, bite, and scream for it...

There's nothing I can do about being free, at this point... but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

VIII - Celebration (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

VIII - Celebration (Praxis)

There’s nothing more calming than the cooling darkness of the Everfree Forest.

It wasn’t as terrifying as the show constantly portrayed. Instead, birds fluttered around, strange flowers blossomed and flourished, and the trees’ large shadows cast a slight coolness on us as we trekked through the forest. The only thing that disturbed me was how The Everfree just seemed so ... calm. Serene. Heavenly, even.

But that might be because I have always appreciated nature, and that my being a satyr only helped me to be more in touch and attuned to nature.

As we trudged through the forest, doing our best to avoid any Poison Joke, I heard the sounds of leaves being plucked from their branches. I glanced up to see Riku stretching out towards the trees, plucking out the flowers they bore and giving them a quick whiff. I smiled at his actions.

I also heard a sound of whooshing coming from what seemed like right next to me. I turned to see Jace, waving his hands around like a conductor of an orchestra, and his hands leaving a red magical residue in the air. “What’re you doing?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Effect magic.... I’m trying to enhance it.” Honestly, I still don’t understand the types of magic he uses. It’s all mumbo-jumbo to me. Black Magic, while still unknown to me, seems to be a mix of all three of the magic Jace performed.

“May I ask why?”

“Because when we have a ‘oh shit’ moment, Effect magic is the kind of magic that leaves less strain on my mind and body when using it. It’s a counter measure.”

“...What could you possibly do that would make us have the upper hand in an ‘oh shit’ moment?” Jace raised his hand and snapped his fingers, his hand becoming invisible. “...Alright that’s pretty badass.”

“I need to enhance this, though. So far, I can only keep my hand totally invisible without getting a massive headache.” His hand slowly faded back, and he moved his fingers. “That, and I can do a doppelganger spell that works wonders with invisibility. Make the doppelganger run one way, and be invisible and run the other way.”

“...I’m starting to like this ‘effect magic’ more and more....” I raised my right hand and flexed the fingers, the claws seeming to slice the wind before me. It felt both mysterious and common for me. Who knew that a simple movement of one’s phalanges would feel incredibly strange?

The darkness that swarmed us begins to let up as we exited the forest. The sun was about... more than halfway across the sky. I examined both the sun’s position and the shadows we casted, and I concluded that it was about one o’clock in the afternoon. “Last one there is a rotten Scootaloo egg?” Jace suggested.

We all nodded. Riku gripped my horns and I scooped up Trixie under one arm. “Ready.”

“Five...” I tensed my legs.

“Four...” I licked my lips in anticipation.

“...HOLY SHIT, A DISTRACTION!” Jace pointed behind me. Me and my burdens craned our heads towards the direction he pointed at, only to see nothing. When we turned our heads back forward, Jace was nowhere to be found.

“Goddamnit!” I grunted before blasting off after him. Despite Riku and Trixie weighing me down a bit, I finally catch up with Jace, who was laughing uproariously at how easily fooled we were.

“Suckers!” He taunted as we neared the town. I tried picking up more speed, but alas, it was all to no avail. Jace gets to the entrance a split second before I do, the human skidding across the dirt path... “SHIT!” I tried to do the same thing and came to a complete halt. I looked over at Jace, but what I saw scared me. Jace’s foot flipped around the other way and he tripped, falling onto his face and slid down the path, leaving a trench in his wake. I deposited Riku and Trixie on the ground and ran over to him.

“Jace! Oh, fuck! JACE!” I inspected the damage done to him. “Jace, you moron, wake up!”

“Baba! I think he’s hurt!” Riku cried as he ran over and tried shaking the human awake.

NO, I THOUGHT HE WAS NAPPING.

“Uncle Jace! Wake up!”

I watched as Jace’s foot twitched slightly. Then his hands. He ever-so-slowly raised himself into a sitting position and viciously rubbed his eyes of any dirt that got in it. Multiple ponies gathered around to witness the sight, and they all gasped at the sight of me. Before I knew it, I was caught in a huge swarm of ponies ogling at us.

“It’s Praxis!”

“Oh, Celestia! What happened to Jace?”

“Praxis Moradov is back!”

“Somepony get a doctor!”

“What the buck happened to Goat-Boy’s arm?”

Really, random background pony? You’re worried about my ARM and not my friend?

Jace looked down at his leg and poked it, cringing and sucking in breath through his teeth. “NNNNG! Sweet Lord...” He lifted the legging of his pants and the ponies gasped, some turning away from the sight. The speed that Jace slid at had broken the bone and it was sticking out in his ankle. “Ohhh, that’s not good...”

I shuddered in disgust. “Relax, man, you’re gonna be fine.” Tentatively, I heaved Jace in a classic “Prince-saves-the-princess” hold, my right hand gripping his ankle. Almost at once, the eye on my hand glowed a bright blue. I could feel something, no... several somethings, snaking out from my palm and wrapping themselves around Jace’s broken ankle. They looked like black, vein-like tendrils, the way they throbbed sickeningly, like they were pumping blood into his leg. Jace gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly as the tendrils performed their strange work. I tried pulling my hand away, but it wouldn’t budge in the slightest. All the while, the draconic eye pulsated a glow every other second.

I looked at Jace’s face, his eyes were looking up, away from the scene. “I don’t want to know what’s happening to my leg... Because I’m afraid I’m going to get Hentai’d.”

The tendrils removed themselves from Jace’s ankle, and I looked at what happened. My jaw dropped in shock at the result of that little episode. Jace’s ankle had been fully healed. No broken bones were jutting out of his leg, nor did it look incredibly painful and disgusting.

“Err... Jace?” I called to him. “Ya might wanna take a look at this.”

He looked down and raised a brow, then back to my hand seeing the tendrils slither back in. “Huh... Yeah, I’m definitely taking a shower after this... That’s just... Not right. Nice medic magic though... I don’t do that stuff... I’m just combat oriented.”

“Dude, I didn’t even know I was capable of that.... shall we proceed, my good friend?” I asked Jace as I set him down on his feet. He seemed reluctant to stand, but when he applied pressure and didn’t feel pain, he smiled.

“Kick... Freaking... Ass...” Jace hopped around a bit and got into a fighting pose. “Yeah, that feels good...”

“Thank me later, man. ‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna celebrate.” The crowd cleared the way when Jace, Trixie, Riku, and I made our way to Sugarcube Corner, perhaps to warn Pinkie Pie of my arrival.

Then, Jace just seemed to... Stop. Dead in his tracks. “Jace?” I asked, walking over to him and waving a hand in his face. “Jace?”

“...I need to get Vinyl... It’s not a party without her!” Aaaaaaaaaand, he’s gone.

I sighed. I guess Jace’s logic was rather sound: Vinyl did stand as a paragon for partygoers and ravers alike, so it would make sense that she would attend. Plus, I’d get my ass kicked for not inviting her.

Also... remember what I said about warning Pinkie Pie about my arrival? There was no need to...

“OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-YOU’RE-BACK-YOU’RE-BACK-YOU’RE-BACK-THIS-IS-SO-EXCITING-WE-HAVE-TO-THROW-YOU-A-PARTY-RIGHT-AWAY-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!”

...for she had not only materialized right in front of me, but she also wailed as loud as she could in glee. I fell on my arse and bleated loudly in shock, trying to back away from her. But it was no good, for she had tackled me in a full-on hug, trying to bury herself deeper into the hair on my chest. “It’s SOOOO good to see you again, Praxis!” she exclaimed.

“It’s good to see you, too, Pinkie,” I said as I returned her massive hug in full force. We separated after just a few seconds of hugging, and Pinkie backflipped off of me onto the dirt, landing perfectly on four hooves.

“Listen, I need to go get your super-duper-special party ready, so I’ll be riiiiiight back!” I nodded and without a second’s hesitation, she blasted off towards Sugarcube Corner, undoubtedly to prepare the party that awaited us. I dug my pinky into my ear, trying to readjust the hearing that had just been impaired by Pinkie’s loud volume.

“Well, that escalated quickly.” I stand up and dust myself off.

“Did somepony say PARTY?! EEEEYEEEEAAAAHHH!” OK. SERIOUSLY. WHY DOES EVERYPONY KEEP YELLING?

I turned to see Vinyl Scratch and Jace standing next to me, and I backed off a bit. “Whoa! That was fast...”

“Yup! Getting a bit better at the sprinting,” Jace said a bit cockily.

“I heard party, I’m all in!” Vinyl Scratch shot a wide grin up at me as she pushed her goggles up, revealing her red eyes. “This is gonna be RAD!” She wailed as she pulled me into a hug.

“Wait. Where’s Wubsy?” I asked, looking between the two.

“At home with Octavia.” Vinyl Scratch said, pushing past me. “He doesn’t need to be around for this one. I got something planned for mister gruff and handsome over here~” She let out a sultry growl towards Jace, who blushed lightly.

Trixie looked over at me. “Is that really how they act all the time?” I sighed and nodded.

“Girl, you have no idea,” I answered. “But I guess we should get you something nice to wear for the party.” I turned to Riku and knelt down to his eye level. “Buddy, wanna go with Jace and Vinyl? That way, you can hang out with Wubsy for a little bit.”

“But Baba... I wanna go with you!” Riku looks at me with puppy-dog eyes.

DAMN IT. MY ONE WEAKNESS. MUST... RESIST... THE CUTENESS!

“Sorry, bud. You and Wubsy will hit it off great. Besides, Pinkie is probably getting permission from the Cakes to bring Pumpkin and Pound over--”

“PRAXIIIIS~!” GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT!

I whipped around and witnessed five other mares who I recognize as clear as daylight. Rainbow Dash had been the one to tackle me first, given as she was the fastest out of them. The techni-colored speed demon pulled me into the most massive hug anyone could ever ask for. Soon followed Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle, each and every one of them squeezing me out of glee.

“IT’S SO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” Twilight Sparkle wailed as she hugged me tighter.

“Y’ALL’VE BEEN GONE TOO LONG, SUGARCUBE!” Applejack hollered happily.

“HE’S BACK! HE’S REALLY BACK!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“IT’S BEEN SOOOOO LONG, DARLING!!!!” Rarity cooed audibly.

“..yay!” Fluttershy said plainly.

I turned to look for Jace, but saw him standing next to a cart that seemed to just pull in, filled with their DJ equipment.

“Gotta get set up for the party, bro!” He exclaimed before dashing off, with Vinyl Scratch hollering in delight as she sat atop the gear.

“Wait. Wait! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD! I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!” I cried desperately.

“SUCKS TO BE YOU, MAN!” Jace retorted.

“OH, COME ON!” I bellowed weakly as the mares continued to violently hug me. I could feel the air getting squeezed out of me, yet my cries are now too weak to reach the ponies’ ears.

Fluttershy was the one to break it up by saying, “Girls, you’re crushing him! Please let him go... I mean... if that’s alright with you....” At her words, the others extricated themselves from me. I took several deep breaths before my breathing became regulated.

“Please warn me the next time you do that,” I choked out as the five ponies separated themselves from me. I stood on my cloven hooves and dusted myself off once more. The mares smiled innocently as I turned to look at Riku, who still remained behind, and Trixie, who was also still with me.

Half of the Element bearers turned to look at Trixie, and Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity scowled menacingly at her; maybe because of the last time Trixie was in Ponyville, it didn’t go well. “Well, looky what the dog threw up on th’ carpet,” Applejack said snidely.

“What’re you doing here?” Rainbow Dash said snarkily. “Where’s that Ursa Minor of yours, eh? It seemed real friendly when it came and destroyed half the town!”

“Puh-lease, darling,” Rarity scoffed. “I do not think that she’s ‘Great and Powerful’ enough to even lift a teaspoon!”

The trio of ponies continued to taunt Trixie, laughing heartlessly at each insult they launched at her. Fluttershy tried consoling the ponies, but her words only fell on deaf ears. Twilight Sparkle was only backing away, not wanting to take any part in this. Trixie took it all in stride, yet her eyes grew more and more moist with each insult they threw at her. Eventually, the dams broke loose, and she started weeping, her tears pouring into the earth.

At that moment, I knew that Trixie was just like me... she had suffered my pain, and had taken so many proverbial whips to the back, it’s a miracle that she had managed to refrain from lashing out. She took it all and bit back her tongue, refusing to speak out against the injustice...

...just like me.

“Awww, what’s the matter? Is the Gweat and Powewful Twixie gonna cwy?” Rainbow Dash teased in a cruel baby voice. The three attackers gave another heartless laugh. Without warning, Trixie charged into me, crying into my chest. I patted her back and tried to soothe what was ailing her, but to no avail: Trixie wouldn’t stop shedding her tears. I looked at the culprits angrily, gritting my sharp teeth.

“ENOUGH!”

That wasn’t my voice... and obviously, it wasn’t Jace’s, either.

“What is WRONG with all of you?!” Riku shouted, his pupils going to slits like mine did whenever I got angry. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash started backing away slowly at Riku’s verbal assault on them. “You’re supposed to be the Elements of Harmony, for pony’s sake! And you’re insulting and teasing a fellow pony!?”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts!” The little satyr interrupted Rainbow Dash. “Now say sorry!”

“S-sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack said, scratching the back of her neck with her hoof. “Ah feel awful ‘bout that....”

“I apologize as well, darling,” Rarity admitted, slowly walking over to Trixie and me in the hopes that she could make amends. The blue mare in my arms turned her head and weakly smiled, her amethyst eyes shining weakly in the light of the orange, descending sun. “It was utterly wrong of me to insult you.”

“It’s okay...” Trixie muttered feebly.

“This is horse apples!” Rainbow Dash hollered, breaking all of us out of our trance. “A little twerp can’t tell me what to do!” Riku recoiled at her harsh words, offended by what she said.

“Rainbow,” I said coldly. The pegasus whirled around and gulped at the look of disappointment and frustration on my face. I read fear, guilt, and nervousness swimming in her face, like koi fish in a pond. Good: that’s what I wanted. “Don’t you dare insult my son... now apologize, please.”

A second’s hesitation went by before Rainbow Dash buckled under my glare. “S...Sorry, Riku...”

“And?” I adjusted Trixie in my arms, subtly telling Rainbow Dash who else to beg forgiveness

“And sorry, Trixie...”

“Thank you.” I stood up and placed Trixie on her hooves on the ground. “Shall we head to the party, then, guys?” I asked.

The ponies and satyr nodded. With that out of the way, we began walking towards Sugarcube Corner. I looked over at Rainbow Dash, who stilled appeared to be guilty of her past actions. “Hey.” She looked over at me. “Don’t feel so bad. You just let your anger get the best of you.”

“But that’s the thing: I never meant to,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “I never meant to simply act like that... it’s not right, and it’s just plain mean.”

“As long as you apologized, that’s fine,” I told her. The walk took a bit of time, with ponies frantically and excitedly greeting me. But after two or three minutes of walking, we all reached Sugarcube Corner. I smiled happily. In the four years that had fluttered by, it hadn’t changed a bit: it still looked like an incredibly large and edible-looking gingerbread house, much like something out of Hansel and Gretel.

As soon as we all stepped inside, however, the interior of the store was dark. Despite the light that streamed in through the windows, I couldn’t see a darn thing, like a black smokescreen was thrown over the whole area.

“Hello?” I called into the blackness. Almost at once, the lights flickered on, and I was almost swept off of my feet by the huge verbal wave of ponies shouting in joy at my arrival.

“BREAK OUT THE CUPCAKES AND CRANK UP THE MUSIC, EVERYPONY!!!” I looked around to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but couldn’t really. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere! “Because we gonna celebrate till we drop! The heroes Jace Romero and Praxis Moradov are BACK IN ACTION!”

I twisted my head as far back as it could go behind me and then had my body turn and smiled to see Pinkie on top of the DJ booth, holding a mic in her hoof. “And now, stamp your hooves for the musical talent of DJ-P0N3 and Jace Rome-” A hand pulled Pinkie under the booth and hushed voices could be heard from under the table. She soon returned to her position and continued. “The musical talent of DJ-P0N3 and DJ Tick-Tock!”

Tick-Tock? Really, Jace? Is that what you went with?

Yes, now quit ‘cho bitchin’ and enjoy the music! I jumped when I heard the voice in my head, and then blushed in embarrassment. Yeah, I can only do this for like, thirty seconds at max now, soooo... yeah.

Ah, yes, I remember: Jace could use his magic to be able to read the minds of whoever was being targeted. Not only that, he could also mentally respond to the target as well.

Like I said, four years of doing absolutely nothing had addled my memory a bit.

Jace and Vinyl stood up and made themselves seen by the crowd. “Before we get started, I want to say a bit of an announcement.” Everypony’s attention was set directly on Jace now. “Me, and Vinyl, have decided to finally get married...” A collection of ‘awww’s’ and ‘dawwwws’ came from the crowd at the mention of the marriage. “It will be tomorrow, at noon. There will be food and a reception party afterwards, over at the Canterlot Castle. Everyone in Ponyville should have gotten an invitation to the wedding, and if you didn’t, you’re more than welcome to come on by!”

The applause that followed was tremendous. My sensitive ears were ringing from the loudness of the stomping and whistling of the ponies. I clapped my hands fervently with the crowd, until the applause finally died down.

“Praxis?” Jace called. I looked and gave him my full attention. “Get on up here, goat boy!” With a smirk, I slowly made my way through the crowd. When I finally reached the human and his equine fiance, Jace clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“And for the wedding... I would be honored if you would be my best man!” He then said. I did a double-take, taken aback pleasantly by the announcement. Me? A best man at a wedding? What have I ever done to earn this? This is... exhilarating! I can’t say no now!

Without hesitation, I nodded violently. Jace beamed widely and pulled me into a massive hug, with Vinyl soon tackling me in one as well. “Thanks, man,” they both say in unison.

“Don’t mention it,” I said. I looked at the table, and spotted two pieces of eyewear and two hats. One piece of eyewear was a pair of orange pointy sunglasses. The other was a pair of red-tinted steampunk goggles. One hat was a black fedora with a cyan band, and the other hat was a black beret. I picked up the goggles and looked at the tinted glass, seeing my face reflect in the shiny glass.

“Oi. Don’t touch the shades, bro...” Jace plucked the steampunk goggles from my hands and put them on his face, putting the fedora on. “Piece one of the full set. Rarity was kind enough to make a full suit for me when doing this. These goggles, are prescription as well, so they are very, VERY, nice...”

“Fine by me, man,” I told him, donning the orange pointy shades. “Besides, these shades make me look like Kamina, a bit.” I felt a tapping on the small of my back, and turned to see Vinyl Scratch wearing a pair of cogs with purple tinted glass in the holes.

“Sup, Fluffs?” She smiled wide at me before taking her position next to Jace. I let out a low whistle at how nice she looked. I slapped on the beret, making sure not to stab it with my horns. “Guys?”

“Yeah?”

I leaned against the speaker of the sound system. “...Shall we spin this shit?”

The smirk on Jace’s and Vinyl Scratch’s face, was almost scary to see. Jace looking like a mad scientist and Vinyl being his assistant. As they were about to press buttons, there was a yell. “WAIT!” Jace looked up first, looking out into the crowd to see who yelled.

“WHO DAREST THOU STARTETH A PARTY WITHOUT US!”

XI - A Wedding We'll Never Forget (Jace)

Nemo(the onlyoneofmeisyou): Now with 20% more proofreader!

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofread by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XI - A Wedding We’ll Never Forget (Jace)

"Oh, dear Celestia... Kill me now." I groaned as I wiped my mouth from the puke that had just exited my mouth and into the toilet. I was far beyond nervous, sweating like a pig as I flushed the vomit down the drain. I sighed when it was all over, as I walked to the sink and turned on the water. I splashed some of the liquid into my face.

Where the hell is Praxis...?

I understand if he’s a bit late: he IS a little forgetful sometimes. But he couldn’t be late for my own wedding, could he? I mean, he IS the best man for the wedding.

“Honey?” Vinyl called through the door. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I called back to her. “I’m fine.”

“Hurry up, dear!” She hollered. The silence that ensued indicated that she had left the vicinity of the bathroom door.

I sighed again and shook my head, clearing my lightheadedness. I looked in the mirror to see if my tuxedo was still okay. Yup, the white tuxedo, sky blue bow-tie, with matching button-up shirt. The only thing missing was.. Hell, what was I missing? A corsage? No, that’s on the counter right next to me... What the hell was I missing?! Christ, this is why I puke... I opened the bathroom door to see Vinyl and Wubsy donned in their clothes.

Well, at least I saw Wubsy’s outfit -- a white tuxedo with an electric blue music note on the lapel, as well as a matching top hat with an electric blue music note on the top -- because Vinyl’s horn started glowing, and before I knew it, my eyelids were magically closed, leaving me unable to see anything.

“Jace!” She yelled. “You know it’s bad luck for the groom to see his bride in her dress before the ceremony!”

“...But you don’t normally wear clothes!” I retorted.

“It doesn’t matter!” Vinyl fired back. “Cadence wore a wedding dress for her ceremony, and Shining Armor didn’t see her in it until the actual ceremony itself!” And just like that, I feel my feet leave the ground: Vinyl was levitating me.

“Oh shit, what are you doing?!” I demanded.

“Taking you upstairs! At least until Praxis, Trixie, and Riku get here!”

“Aww....” I complained.

“Don’t worry, Daddy!” Wubsy’s voice brightened me up a little bit. “I’m sure Uncle Praxis, Aunt Trixie, and Riku will be here soon!”

“Alright...” I grumbled in resignation. Her magic carted me to the top of the stairs before it stopped effecting me. Sure enough, my eyelids opened up, and I could see again.

I walked into mine and Vinyl’s bedroom, closing the door on my way in and plopping down in one of the couches in the room. I grabbed a book off of a random shelf and started reading.

*knock-knock-knock*

“Who is it?” I called, as I had just started reading the prologue to the story, which looked like some sort of adventure story about a bat-winged freak with some cat-like thing who was madly in love with him. I dunno, the plot looked shitty and the author was an idiot for making it, alright?

“It’s Praxis!” A male voice with a slight Middle Eastern accent called through the door. Sure enough, Praxis opened the door, donned in a tuxedo that was a palette swap of my own. Rarity, I believe, had also given him a pair of white ring-like earrings, like what Link wore in the Legend of Zelda series. He also had on a pair of pince-nez like from four years back during the Grand Galloping Gala, but these ones were silver-rimmed and tinted blue rather than red-tinted and gold-rimmed. He was clean-shaven of his goatee, and a large white bandage was also wrapped around his right hand to hide its demonic appearance.

Following him was Trixie and Riku. Riku was wearing a tuxedo like his father, but it was cerulean, like Rainbow Dash’s coat. He also had on a little fedora that was cerulean as well, with a white feather in its band. The overall effect looked very cute.

Trixie was dressed in a flowing light blue dress, with a ribbon tying her hair back. Rarity also decided to add some lavender eyeshadow to Trixie’s eyes to accentuate those lilac irises of hers. She looked really adorable as well.

“Well, how are we going to go about this?” Praxis asked. I pondered on how to do this as well. I can’t go with Vinyl, obviously: she’d beat me to a pulp.

“How about the women go on one cart, and the men go on the cart next to that one?” I suggested.

“Hmm, good idea, EVEN THOUGH THE GUEST LIST HAS FUCKTUPLED TO ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED MARES AND STALLIONS.” Praxis loudly declared. My jaw dropped at the statement.

“Baba!” Riku admonished. “Don’t swear!”

“Oops... sorry.” Praxis apologized. “Anyways. how are gonna fit four hundred ponies on the Friendship Express? The most it could hold is about three hundred. So a hundred would have to be left behind.”

“Hmm...” I started contemplating the situation, trying to figure out a loophole in this little mathematical situation.

Sadly, Math, despite me being very good at it, had kicked my ass in this challenge.

“I got nuthin’,” I admitted in defeat.

Suddenly, Praxis looked up with a grin, like a little lightbulb went off in his head. “I got it!”

“What?” I asked in desperation.

“...Beaner-packing.”

“...What?!” We all exclaimed at the answer.

“It’s simple. Just stuff them into the train! It’s foolproof!”

“What about discomfort issues?”

I may be desperate, but I wasn’t desperate enough to cram about four hundred ponies into a three hundred-pony train. Think of how cramped and claustrophobic they’d all be!

“Jace, it’ll only be for thirty minutes, or something along those lines. You and I have dealt with worse before.”

“Yeah, but that’s because we’re hardened badasses; they’re ponies. They’re not used to the conditions we’ve been put in. Also, beaner-packing? Their called ‘latinos’ not ‘beaners.’”

“Eh, true... And, sorry about that.” Praxis shrugged. “Besides, how can we carry the other one hundred ponies and run to Canterlot?”

Wait a second....

DING! Lightbulb!

Riku and Trixie must have had the same epiphany as well, because all three of us looked at Praxis with devilish grins.

Praxis caught on and started shaking his head in declination. “Ohhh, no! I’m not doing it! You can’t make me!” We started to advance on him. “Shit! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

~20 MINUTES LATER~

“...I can’t believe you treacherous swines roped me into this,” Praxis grumbled angrily as we strapped a harness onto his chest, which was now bare to prevent sweat from getting onto his clothes. His pince-nez was also removed so that it wouldn’t fall and break on the way to Canterlot. Behind him were 20 carts, all donated to us by Sweet Apple Acres, tied together to make one long makeshift train, each cart holding 5 ponies...

And Praxis was the engine.

“Don’t worry, Praxis: Y’all got Big Macintosh here t’go along with ya!” Praxis brightened at Applejack’s words, for she was the one in the front cart to mush Big Mac and Praxis along.

“Eeyup,” Macintosh murmured stoically. All of the occupants were clad in white and sky blue, the uniform colours for tonight's event. The fake train just looked like some sort of river in the light, from all the movement going on.

“Wait, why don’t you wanna be on the train again?” I asked AJ.

“If it’s gonna be crammed with 300 ponies, I don’ wanna be there gettin’ all steamy from body heat. So, night air and a few ‘workers’ t’mush us along’ll do nicely for a chance.” I raised an eyebrow at the way she said “workers.”

“Agreed,” Trixie said; she was also in the front cart, with Riku, Granny Smith, and Applebloom. The latter had grown up to be an upstanding mare, her vermilion hair braided in a ponytail by two hot pink ribbons. Applebloom wore a white dress that meshed well with her mane, and Granny Smith wore a simple blue dress.

Apparently, Praxis and Big Mac had caught on, too, for the satyr said to Applejack, “You slave driver... how could you?”

“Eeyup,” gulped Big Mac. After a small chuckle-fest, I walked back to the train station, where Vinyl and Wubsy were waiting.

“Daddy! Over here!” Wubsy called. I turned and saw him and Octavia in the cart about two carts down from the front. Octavia was in an electric blue dress, with black treble clefs on the spots where her Cutie Marks would be. The dress accented her slim physique and hair quite well. She even had midnight-blue eyeshadow on.

“Glad you could join us, Jace,” Octavia remarked.

“Where’s Vinyl?” I asked out of curiosity.

“She’s on the Friendship Express. It’s obvious you two shouldn’t be within sight of one another,” she explained.

“Ah.” I got inside the cart they were in and sat down gingerly. Two other ponies trotted in: Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo, rather than being the little filly with the petite wings, was now fully grown, with a bit of muscle upon her legs and body. Her wings had also gotten larger, much larger than normal. She was wearing a white dress that was clashing with her orange coat, but surprisingly, in a good way. Her plum-coloured hair was also tied back in a ponytail as well.

Sweetie Belle, like her friends, had also grown up. Her horn had extended, ending in a fine point. Her lilac and light pink mane and tail were curled to resemble her sister Rarity’s mane and tail. She wore Islamic-green eyeshadow to accent her eyes, which were the same shape as Rarity’s eyes. She also wore a sapphire dress, the shape and style of it accenting her shape as well.

“Hi, Jace!” The two said in joy. “Nice to see you again!”

“Glad to see you girls, too!” I said as they hopped into our cart.

“Giddyup, Praxis!” Applejack hollered. The cracking sound of a whip ensued, shortly followed by a yelp.

“OW! MY ASS!” The satyr roared in pain as he tried to run away from the mare whipping him. That only resulted in him pulling the makeshift train to Canterlot due to the harness tying him down. Me and the other occupants within earshot started laughing heartily at the incident. Big Macintosh kept in pace with him, the two working together to get to the Canterlot train station.

*WOOT-WOOOOOOT!*

The sound of the train’s whistle resonated across the field, a low hollow sound that rang out like gunfire. I looked to the right side of the makeshift train, and saw the Friendship Express chugging alongside us. My brain kicked into overdrive, and in a few moments... I was freaking the fuck out.

“SHIT! QUICK! HIDE ME!” I looked around the area, panicking. What if Vinyl looked out the window and saw me?! Oh, this was not in the plan! I turned to my right and saw the Everfree Forest flying past us.

Oh, this isn’t going to be my best idea but... I gotta do something!

“It was nice while it lasted, but, I think I’m going for a bit of a jog!” I hopped onto the side of the cart and saluted the others before hopping off into the trees and bushes of the forest, hitting the ground hard and smashing my side against the side of a tree. At least it stopped me.

“Sweet prepubescent Jesus juggling flaming chainsaws... and having a baby with Lucas Arndona... That fucking hurt...”

I don’t know if Vinyl saw me or not, but I’m sure if she did, I would be feeling it right about now... In my balls.

I eventually picked myself up off the ground and let out a groan. I may have busted a bone or something on impact, but that’s not gonna stop me. I’ve been worse.

“A little jog my ass...” I muttered. “This is going to hurt like shit...” I took in a deep breath before starting off slow with my running, since I didn’t want to overdo it in the beginning. Eventually I started to speed up, running faster and faster as my legs could take me, not bothering to use magic starting off. In my years of being in the Zone and not using magic, I pushed my body to the extremes pretty much every day and had conditioned myself to run fast for long distances. A great little thing to pick up, seeing as though I always relied on magic.

I could feel myself becoming fatigued after a good while of running, and decided now was a good time to bust out the magic. I clenched my fists and let the magic flow down, getting a feel for it before I actually started to use it. I hadn’t practiced in a bit, so it was better to start off slow then possibly obliterating myself in a magical explosion of doom.

I willed the magical power to go to my legs, and I could feel myself speeding up and my tiredness fading away. I went faster and faster, and could see the makeshift train come into view. It would be better for me to just run alongside it then actually get in, in fear of Vinyl seeing me. I ran up to the right side of the carts and they acted as my shield from the train.

“Now what in tarnation are ya’ll doin’, Jace!?” Applejack hollered, a look of annoyance smattered upon her face.

“Hiding from my wife-to-be!” I roared back.

“Really, you coward?!” Praxis screamed at me. “Why?!”

“I’m hiding from her because if she see’s me, I’m pretty much DEAD. It’s bad luck to see your fiance before a wedding, and if my luck doesn’t kill me, I might as well kiss my ass goodbye, because she will! She told me this when we were leaving earlier!” I explained.

“What, that ‘Don’t-See-The-Bride-in-her-Wedding-Dress-Before-The-Ceremony’ thing? Dude, that’s just superstitious bullshit!”

“That’s what I said!” I continued to run, but eventually, I got bored of running so slow and right next to the train. “Everyone, I’ll see you at the castle!” I gave a little salute and let my magic power up, letting it explode out behind me and I shot forward in a giant red stream of magic.

The fields blurred past me, warping and contorting from the speeds I was going at. Before long, I had hit the wall of the mountain that Canterlot rested on.

I charged up my magic just a bit more, enough for me to gain traction on the mountainside. I swerved and avoided any rocks that were jutting out of the mountain’s face. The trip took about five to six minutes, but I successfully made it up to the top. I slowed down significantly until I was at a leisurely jog.

I made my way for the castle, and pulled back my sleeve to check my watch. I had a good while before the wedding actually started, which was a good thing. I rounded the corner of the castle walls and saw many wealthy ponies conversing in the courtyard. As I browsed the streets of the city, I found a small little cafe dubbed “The Coffee Bean”, in all capital letters and neon tubes, with the ‘ee’ in ‘Coffee’ shaped like a large coffee mug, steam rising out of it.

It would do me some good to get some coffee. Waking up super mega ultra early isn't my idea of a good morning. Maybe a mocha with cream... Or pumpkin spice... Ohhh, pumpkin spice coffee. How I love thee.

Actually... Come to think of it.. Who owns this place? I didn't see this place four years ago.

“Hey! It’s Jace!” A voice cried from inside the shop. I turned my head, and my jaw dropped at who I saw.

The individual was a tall purple dragon, who looked about my height. The wings on his back look newly developed, like he had gotten them just a few weeks ago. The emerald green spines on his head were angular and pointed, and his muzzle was more angular and elongated as well. Rather than being chubby, the dragon was rippling with muscles. He still had those green eyes and innocent demeanor, though, and that meant only one thing.

“Sp-Spike?!” I said in surprise.

“Aw yeah, you remember me!” Spike’s voice had also gotten deeper as well.

So lemme get this clear... Spike, the chubby little dragon who was a hopeless romantic and complete weirdo... is now a fully-fledged hunk with a life?!

...Dear God... my whole life has been a LIE.

“What are you doing here in Canterlot?” I asked in a surprised tone.

“What am I doing here? Wow, you’ve been away for a while... I moved to Canterlot about... what, two years ago? I didn’t want to hold Twilight down with me getting older.” So that explained why I never saw him at either Praxis’ welcoming party or my own. “So, I went out, and looked for a job. Luckily, I ran into Black Gold.”

I nodded and looked around the room, then shot my head back to him. “BLACK GOLD?!”

“Oi! What’s with all th’ noise?!” A Scoltish voice shouted. I turned and saw the large yellow pegasus behind me, pulling in some crates. “Whoevah’s shoutin’, I’m gonna have t’ ask you t’ lea-” When he turned, his eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “JACE?! IS THAT YOU BOYO?!”

“The one and only,” I said happily, despite the slight hypocrisy behind Black Gold’s would-be sentence when he shouted at the top of his lungs in surprise. “What’s up?”

“It’s been a long time, laddy!” Gold said joyously before calling into the cafe: “Oi! Nutmeg! Mocha! There’s somepony ya ought t’ meet!”

I leaned back in my chair as Spike hurriedly rushed back inside the cafe, muttering something about more orders. At that point, I watched Nutmeg exit the cafe with what looked like her daughter. The poor filly was weak in the knees at meeting someone new, but Nutmeg was as ecstatic as ever.

“Well, I’ll be!” She whooped. “It’s been a long time, Jason Romero!” A strange and unexplainable spasm rocketed through my spine at the mention of my full name, like something bad had gone down, or I had done something wrong. Regardless, I shrugged it off and listened more intently to Nutmeg with a smile. “So how’s Stalliongrad been for ya?”

“Eh, could’ve been a lot worse,” I responded. “My eyesight’s pretty wonky and bad from watching all those Emissions, so I may need to get some glasses, or contact lenses.”

"Aye' thought you had that before?"

“I don’t know. It’s been a long time,” I confessed.

*WOOT-WOOOOOOT!*

It was faint, but I definitely heard it. The sound of the Friendship Express coming.

“Well, that’s my cue,” I said before walking down to the Canterlot train station. A few of the ponies who recognized and knew me waved happily, a gesture that I returned with gusto. The walk to the station gobbled up a minute or two of my time, and I get there the second both the Friendship Express and Praxis’ ghetto train pull into the station.

I grinned as Praxis hastily undid his harness, clopped over to me, and fell over a few hoofsteps later in exhaustion. Big Macintosh soon followed suit, the two of them crashing by my feet. “Prax, Mac, you two alright?” I asked in genuine concern.

“I’ve never felt such pain!!!” the satyr wailed, breathing like his lungs were on fire.

“Ee... Eeyup,” huffed Macintosh. I rolled my eyes and helped them to their hooves.

“You guys just need more exercise...”

“‘Scuse me asshole, but I didn’t see YOU pulling the damn cart!”

“Because if I was pulling the cart, Vinyl might have seen me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some ponies to invite to my wedding. Get Vinyl to the castle safely.” I walked off from the train station, going for The Coffee Bean again.

“Actually... that’s not true. The train trolley holding Vinyl had the blinds drawn,” Praxis returned.

Wait... what?!

"Are you serious?" I asked of him.

"I shan't tell a lie." He smirked at my reddening face.

“Goddamnit!” The roars of laughter coming from the satyr almost deafened me from how loud they were.

I fired a middle finger his way before walking off towards the castle, while he and the others gathered all of the train-goers. I bet the princesses would be happy to see me again....

~End of Chapter XI~