The hatred of the shadow

Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat in the dining room of Twilights castle. Rising and Bright greeted them as they entered the room.

Rising smiled as he saw that Rainbow really came to help them. "Thank you for coming Rainbow. You don't know how much we need help!"

Rainbow nodded with a determined smile. "He taught me how to fight and now I will help him."

Rising thought about this for a moment before he got a idea. "That maybe could be really helpful now. You are probably, besides Bright and Twilight, the pony who spent the most time with him."

Rainbow Dash jumped from her seat. "Then let's go. What are we going to do?"

Bright smiled at her enthusiasm. "I thought that we could simply start by talking with him a bit to see how he reacts to you before we do anything else."

They stood up to and walked towards the exit of the castle as Spike stopped them. "Twilight you got a letter from princess Luna!"

Twilight took the letter and read it. Her eyes scanned the complete scroll from the beginning to the end and as she was finished she had a smile on her face. "I think I have a idea."

The other looked at her and she began to tell them her idea.

Malonex was creating a new potion as he heard a group of ponies entering the room. The guard didn't look away for a second while he heard the group walking into the hallway so Malonex had no chance to use his magic to see who was coming. As they came closer Malonex could hear some talking but he couldn't understand what exactly they talked about.

After a while he saw the three mares and Rising enter the prison together with four guards. Malonex raised an eyebrow as he saw that the guards were carrying their spears and one of them held a horn blocker, a heavy metal ring with runes that prevent a unicorn from using magic.

By looking at the equipment of the guards he came to a simple conclusion. "So, I see it right and Celestia has decided to execute me in public after all?"

They were all a bit surprised by this and Twilight hectically shook her head. "No, we are not going to execute you. We thought that you maybe want to walk around the town a bit and talk with a few of your old friends."

"Ignoring the fact that I don't have any 'old friends', I don't have time for that kind of thing. I have work to do." He turned around and began to work on his potions again.

Rainbow leaned over to Twilight and whispered to her. "I don't think he has changed that much."

Twilight kicked against Rainbows leg and turned back to Malonex. "That wasn't a question. You weren't outside for two years. "

He ignored them and went on with his experiments. Twilight nodded to the guards.

The four guards opened the door to Malonex cell and walked inside. Three of them waited at the door and watched Malonex while the one with the magic blocker walked to Malonex.

The guard grabbed Malonex horn and put the blocker around it. Malonex gave the guard a deadly glare but didn't object in any way.

Now Rising entered Malonex room and walked towards the end of it. The others watched him from the other side of the transparent wall. Rising stopped in front of the light crystal Malonex was bound to and deactivated the security spell. He opened the showcase and took the light crystal.

Rising walked to the door and the guards left the room. Rising stopped as he saw that Malonex didn't moved a bit. "Are you coming with us or do we have to drag you?"

Malonex growled as answer but followed Rising. Twilight sighed in relive as she saw that they didn't had to force him outside.

Rainbow flew ahead and shouted. "Come on, let's go!"

Twilight was the first who followed her, behind her walked Bright and Rising. Malonex walked slowly after them and was followed four guards who were holding their spears ready.

As they were outside Twilight turned to the guards. "Thank you, but you can leave now."

"I am sorry your highness, but we can't go. The order is that as long as it is day at least one guard has to watch the prisoner and since he is outside now it was ordered that at least four of us should watch him!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Who ordered this?"

The guard immediately answered. "The general of the Ponyville guard."

Twilight rubbed her forehead and said. "Then go and tell your general that I want to talk with him."

The guard ran to the barracks to get the general and Twilight began to look around. She saw a few ponies curiously looking why there were so many guards but as soon as they saw Malonex they looked away. A few of them even ran away.

Malonex noticed these ponies and began to smile at their fear.

Twilight sighed as she finally saw the general walking towards them. The only difference between him and the other guards was that he had a small emblem on the right side of his chest, a small sun.

He walked towards Twilight and bowed before her. "Your highness, you ordered for me?"

Twilight nodded and indicated him to stand up. "Yes I did. I want to know why you changed the orders I gave to the guards!"

The general was a bit surprised and tried to explain himself. "I am sorry princess if I did anything wrong princess, I just followed the orders princess Celestia and princess Luna gave me."

Twilight noticed that the general seemed very sure that he did the right thing. "But that doesn't mean you have to sent four guards, who could be useful elsewhere, to follow us a whole day!"

"I just did what I thought was needed to keep this monster under control."

Twilight was getting impatient. "Then I am telling you now that there is no need for the guards, now sent them away."

"I am sorry but it would be foolish to let this extremely dangerous prisoner alone with the princess and her friends."

Twilight sighed about this stubbornness. "Then you will be the guard for him today, and by that I mean the only guard!"

The general saw that there was no use of arguing and bowed his head. "Yes your highness I will do as you command."

The general turned to the four guards who were still starring at Malonex. "You four are dismissed!"

The guards bowed shortly and walked away.

After the guards were gone Malonex walked towards the general. "How does it come that I am now two years in this prison and never saw you general? Too much fear to face me?" He smiled and waited for a reaction.

Twilight saw the anger in the face of the general and stepped between them. She pushed the general a bit away and whispered to him. "Enough of this. General I would prefer if you just watch and don't talk with Malonex. This is already difficulty enough!"

"I am sorry your highness." He took a few steps away from Malonex.

Rainbow began to lose her patience. "Are you ready soon? I don't want to wait all day."

Bright and Rising agreed and Twilight implied with a simple nod that it was time to go. Twilight lead the way followed by Bright and Rainbow with Malonex walking reluctant between them. They were followed by Rising and the general who were talking about the latest news from the hunt of the dark mages.

On their way they met many different ponies who all turned away as they saw Malonex and Bright began to doubt that this was a good idea as she saw the reaction of the other ponies.

Meanwhile Malonex began to question the idea of going outside as well. "It is nice to see fear on the faces of ponies again but could you please tell me why exactly am I here walking around again?"

Rainbow one the other side was still convinced that this would work out well and smiled. "We are going to Sugar Cube Corner to get something to eat and to meet Pinkie Pie and after that we walk around a bit and visit a few other ponies."

"Great. More time of my life wasted for some worthless idiots." Malonex growled a bit. Everypony else decided to just ignore this statement and went on.

They arrived at Sugar Cube Corner after a few more minutes of walking, Malonex noticed that they weren't going the direct way and showed him a bit more around than needed.

They entered it and were surprised by Pinkie Pie who jumped at them exited. "Malonex! You are out of prison. That means you are nice again. Can I throw you a welcome-back-party? Or would it be a good-again-party?"

Twilight interrupted her. "He isn't out of prison. We just wanted to show him the town after two years and thought that we could get something to eat here."

The next second Pinkie Pie had muffins for everypony.

They all thanked Pinkie except for Malonex who just ignored his muffing. As the others told him that he needed to eat he reminded them that he needs way less food then they do and that one normal meal was enough for him.

After that they left Sugar Cube Corner to go to the next place. Their next goal was Sweet Apple Acres and they arrived after only a few minutes and walked up a hill. Everypony except Malonex sat down.

Malonex didn't understood the reason for their visit. "And what are we doing here now?"

Bright simply responded. "We thought you would appreciate the quiet beauty out here."

"How did you came to that idea?" Everypony just ignored him and were quietly watching the nature. Malonex began to walk a bit around but not too far away from Rising who still had the crystal in his hoof.

After a short while he took a stone from the ground and sat down too. He laid the stone in front of him in the grass and turned his crystal hoof into a dagger. With the dagger he began to engrave small lines into the stone.

A few minutes later Applejack came from the farm to the hill and greeted them. "Good day you all." Then she saw Malonex sitting on the ground with the stone. "What is Malonex doing here Twilight?"

Malonex answered before Twilight could open her mouth. "They try to change me by showing me what I can't have when I am in prison and I have to say that I am not really convinced."

They all just looked at him for a moment before Bright began to deny. "No we aren't trying anything. We just thought that it would be nice if you see other ponies and the sun again."

Malonex looked at her and raised an eyebrow in disbelief and turned to Applejack. "Tell yourself whatever you want. But now I have a question. As you can see I tried to use the time and created this." He showed Applejack the Stone with engraved runes. "I wanted to know If there is a tree on the farm that I could use to test it."

Applejack was a bit unsure. "I don't know. What does it do?"

Malonex grinned a bit but his expression looked more sinister than honest. "It is a surprise."

Applejack looked at Twilight and Twilight took the stone from Malonex. After she looked at it from every side she decided that it was probably harmless. "I don't exactly know what this rune will do but it has many similarities to a healing rune. I don't think it is dangerous."

Applejack wasn't completely convinced but agreed and led them to a tree at the edge of the farm.

They all watched as Malonex stepped to the tree and began to press the rune on the stone against it. They watched in shock as the leafs turned black and fell to the ground. The tree turned darker and darker and began to wither.

After the tree was completely withered it began to decay. Malonex took the stone away and watched the tree decay till nothing was left but a dark grey stump in the ground.

It took everpony a short time to understand what just happened and Applejack turned to Twilight. "I thought that the rune was harmless!"

Twilight couldn't understand what her mistake was. "It should have been harmless!"

Malonex smiled at their confusion. Then he showed them the stone. From the dozens of lines only a few glowed red. The glowing lines formed a completely different rune. "The rune I engraved would be completely harmless, that is true but you should have known that I need to give the rune energy somehow or it wouldn't work. Normally I would have created the rune with my magic which cause all lines to have magical energy."

Twilight took the stone in her hoof and the lines stopped glowing. She looked at Malonex and then at the rune again. Malonex saw the realization in her face and grinned a bit. "By creating the lines with a dagger they were powerless. As I hold it against the tree I used my crystal hoof to give a few lines energy but I made sure that not every line got powered. I have to admit that it takes a lot concentration to let only a few lines get the energy."

Malonex took the stone from Twilight and crushed it with his crystal hoof. The general raise an eyebrow at him. Malonex simply looked back at the general. "If I haven't done it you would have. Isn't that right?"

The general didn't respond to him and turned to Twilight. "Princess we didn't know he could power runes with his crystal hoof. Should we check the prison of runes?"

Twilight whispered back to him. "That wouldn't be needed. The walls of the prison are nearly magic immune and it is impossible to power runes that are engraved in it. Every other material in his room can't withstand the energy that is needed for a rune. Just make sure that he doesn't take any other materials with him."

He nodded. "I will make sure of it your highness."

Malonex looked at everpony and after nopony said anything he began to tap on the ground. "Have you anything else planned or can I go back to my prison and work potions?"

Rising nodded and began to walk. "I think it is time to go back." The others followed him.

They walked back to the prison but as they reached the arena Rainbow Dash got an idea. "How about we go into your arena Malonex?"

The others stopped and Malonex stepped forward with a raised eyebrow. "Why should I want to look at my arena?"

"To think about the thinks that happened to you in there." Nearly everypony was a bit confused about this idea except Rising who understood what Rainbows idea was. "I think that is a good idea!"

Rainbow and Rising walked to the arena and Malonex fallowed them without a word. The general looked like he wasn't pleased with this idea but Twilight and Bright just followed them too. The general just sighed and walked after them.

In the arena Rainbow flew a bit around to search for something while Malonex walked to one of the crystal tables. He looked over the different crystal weapons he created over two years ago.

As he looked up again he saw Rainbow Dash standing right in front of him. "Why are we here now?"

"I thought we could duel like in old times."

Twilight and Bright just stared at Rainbow Dash and Rising already made his way to the middle of the arena.

Malonex turned his hoof into a blade. "I accept your challenge."

The general stepped forward. "I think I can't allow that. He could try to really harm somepony."

Malonex looked at the general, in his face was a bit a anger. "If I would harm somepony you all could easily overwhelm me. I still have no magic and I am still bound to the crystal. Do you think I am an idiot?"

The general stepped closer with a smile. "I think you are the greatest fool I ever met."

Malonex stepped towards him too and his expression began to fill with hatred. "If I were a fool I wouldn't nearly have take over all of Equestria in one day."

"If you weren't a fool you wouldn't have failed and wouldn't have been taken in prison."

Rainbow Dash interrupted them and shouted. "Stop it you two! Come on we have a duel to fight!"

In one second all anger and hatred in Malonex face left and he turned away from the general. The general growled one last time and walked to Twilight and Bright who were now standing at the crystal wall of the arena.

Rising stepped in the middle of the arena. He took out the light crystal and impaled it in the ground. "To make sure that nopony has any advantages I will make extra limits for the fighting ground." He used his magic to create a circle around himself, Rainbow Dash and Malonex. "These lines are exactly the limits that Fallen can move freely in. If Rainbow Dash leaves the area Fallen wins."

Both of them nodded and Rising went on. "Since Fallen is the challenged one he got to choose weapons and extra rules."

Malonex lifted his crystal hoof blade. "I use my hoof. Rainbow Dash can use every weapon she wants. No other special rules."

Rising nodded and looked to Rainbow Dash. "Then choose your weapon."

As a respond she smiled and took out a spear from behind her back. "I want to use my spear."

Before Rising began to count down Malonex looked closer at the spear. "Didn't I told you to go to a blacksmith over two years ago. You should really follow my advice and not use a normal spear from the royal guard."

Rainbow Dash was a bit surprised that he recognized the spear as a guard spear . "I didn't thought about getting a spear from a blacksmith after what happened two years ago. This one is just borrowed from the guards to train with it."

He just nodded and got into fighting position. "Then let's see what you learned after two years."

Rising took a few steps back and began to count down. "Three. Two. One. Zero!"

Rainbow Dash immediately flew into the air and Malonex made himself ready for the attack. After she was high in the air she rushed down at him. He dogged the attack with a jump to the left and tired to hit her with his blade but he missed her.

Rainbow Dash tried this again and again but each time it ended the same way till Malonex decided to trick her.

As she dashed at him again he jumped to the right instead to the left and hit her with his normal hoof in the side. The impact stopped Rainbow from flying and she fell to the ground.

She got up as fast as she could but as she saw that Malonex ran at her with his blade first. She felt pain in her right wing. It was probably hurt from falling onto it or even broken. She realized that she couldn't get into air and instead ran towards Malonex with her spear in her hoofs.

Their weapons clashed between them as they reached each other. They tried to hit each other multiple times till Rainbow tired to block an attack form Malonex. She hold her spear as a shield but Malonex changed the shape of his blade to an hammer.

The hammer broke the spear and hit Rainbow in the chest. The impact sent her to the ground. Before she could get up Malonex stood above her and hold his now again blade-shaped crystal hoof at her throat.

Rising stopped the fight. "The fight is over. Fallen wins."

"My name is Malonex!" growled Malonex back at him.

Malonex stepped away from Rainbow Dash and she got up. "No matter how you are called, you still haven't forgotten anything about fighting."

Malonex looked at her disapproving. "While it seems like you do. This was the exact same trick I used against you over two years ago and you fell for it again."

Rainbow mumbled something to herself so Malonex couldn't hear her. "Even after all that time and you going full evil some things still don't change."

Malonex heard that she said something. "What did you say?"

Rainbow looked away from him and quickly answered. "Only that it was a good duel."

He raised an eyebrow not really believing her. "I thought I heard something else."

He stood there in silence for a moment before he turned away. "Well then. Seems like we are finished here. I would like to go back to the prison then. I want to at last finish one of the potions."

Rising nodded and took the light crystal and as he looked up again he saw that the sun was already lowering. Malonex walked out of the arena and Rising followed him.

As he walked by the others he talked to them. "I think it is better when you all go somewhere else. I want to talk with him a bit alone."

The others simply nodded and they all left the arena together. Rainbow Dash Twilight and Bright made their way back to the castle, while Rising and Malonex walked back to the prison followed by the general.

Rising stopped at the entrance of the prison and turned to the general. "I think it is fine if you leave us alone now. I will make sure he doesn't has anything with him."

The general thought for a moment but then nodded and left without a word.

They walked into the prison. The guards tired to not look nervous as Malonex walked past them. They reached the main room and Rising turned to the guard that was standing there to guard the prison. "You can go now. There is no more need for a guard today. Come back tonight to get the potions."

The guard nodded without a word and bowed. As the guard walked away Rising called after him. "And tell the other guards that they are dismissed for today too."

As Rising heard all the guard leaving the room he indicated Malonex to stop. "Did you take anything with you?"

For a short moment Malonex didn't answer till he simply said. "No."

Rising nodded at this answer believing him and opened that door to the cell. Malonex walked inside without a word and Rising followed him.

After the door closed behind him Rising made his way to put the crystal back to his place. While he did so Malonex already began to work on his potions.

As he placed the crystal in its place and activated the spell to lock it Malonex spoke up. "You know that this all was a complete waste of time."

Rising sighed and walked to Malonex. "I understand why you hate me but why the others?"

"They are my enemies and I will treat them as such. They are traitors, all of them." Malonex said the traitor with his full hate.

Rising grabbed the magic blocker that was still around Malonex horn and took it off. "But you know that it doesn't has to be that way. You can forgive them."

"Why should I? My darkness is my power and I don't need friends. I will go on where my father failed"

"But today you saw how it could be if you turn around. You could teach others and you could be a part of the council again. Why should you choose to serve a master who is dead and can't even keep an empire."

Malonex turned around and grabbed Rising at the throat. "Don't dare to speak of my king like this!"

Rising didn't respond and Malonex let go of him. Malonex calmed down again. "This prison won't hold me forever."

Rising ignored this statement but as attempted to leave the cell he stopped for a moment to say one last thing. "You know that you sister still loves you and your friends want you back too."

Malonex closed his eyes for a moment and as he opened them again they glowed with dark magic. "Then tell them that I will make sure to crush your hops with every breath I do and that I will wait to see them all slipping into despair."

Rising sighed and left the cell. He walked back to the castle, on the way he tired to think of a way they haven't tried jet.