The Warlock

Chapters

And the Escape from Imprisonment.
And the Order of the Princesses.
And the Tale of the Past. (Sad/Dark)
And Settling In.
And the Guardians of Darkness
And Finishing an Experiment.
And the Warlock Hunters.
And the Daring Adventure.
And the Masquerade Machinations.
And the Evening of Exquisiteness.

And the Escape from Imprisonment.

Hearts Shadow studied the wall closely. Not because it was a particularly interesting wall, or because it had something on it. It was just rock. Slightly curved as it around the room, which was actually more of a cavern than a room but that's what you get when you utilize a cave system for a lair.

What the dark blue stallion was really looking at was the magical lattice-work that was imbued into the wall. He was studying the magic because it was keeping him in the room and has been for a very long time. Long enough he wasn't quite sure how long he had been in there. Luckily he was immortal, and ageless, or he would only exist as a pile of bones.

His emerald-coloured eyes perked up as the magic was affected by something. He was barely able to detect what caused it. A wave of entropic energy. It was very brief, but he was quite sure that it was temporal based. Which is extremely odd as that meant someone was trying to alter time, and in a big way. Course if someone was changing it one way, it was likely someone else was trying to stop them.

Thinking quickly he got up and walked over to the wall. Placing his ebony black horn against the wall and began weaving another spell into the thaumaturgical lattice. He was able to complete the spell and walked back to the part of his bed that had gotted blasted into the cave along with him.

It wasn't much of a bed, only about a third of what it was, and only had one bedpost, the rest of it was encased in the wall. Hanging on the sole bedpost was a skull. The oddly shaped as the back of it was similar to a ponies, but from the eye forward it was more akin to a griffon. The skull was also miniature, and would easily fit on the end of a hoof. It was tightly wrapped in leather strips to prevent it from moving, but the small red dots in the eye sockets track Hearts Shadow as he moved.

The stallion climbed onto the bed and went to sleep and hoping to get some rest before the spell he cast did it's job.

Hearts Shadow woke with a start as he felt arcane energies flood into him. His plan worked, the magic the two princesses cast to imprison him have been broken. He slid out of the bed and trotted over to the wall. Channeling the magic through his horn he blasted a hole in the wall back to his lair. Going over to the half of a dresser that was stuck in with him he emptied it out and began moving things out. Looping the end of the leather straps that are holding the skull off the bedpost he went out into his main room.

Taking a look around he was glad he was lazy enough to just cast some basic housecleaning spells on a permanent basis keeping everything clean and dust-free. Though there were a couple things missing, he wasn't sure if that was due to looting or just him forgetting if something was supposed to be there or not.

Course the first thing he needed to do was get some food as there wasn't any in the cave. Heading down the path to the exit he noticed that it had been caved in and spells cast over it to keep people out. He stopped well before the rocks and opened a hidden door in the side of the hallway. Going down his secret entrance he emerged in a forest. Shaking his dark red hair (with yellow-ish streaks) he proceeded to the nearest bush and started eating.

As he ate the magic that was sustaining him began converting the mass of the plants directly into physical mass for him. Slowly he stopped being literally nothing but skin and bones as the mass was converted into organs, than into muscle and nerves. After several hours of grazing and a stop at a stream to guzzle a few gallons of water Hearts Shadow looked like a very underfed pony and was no longer relying on magic to actually live.

Heading back inside he first undid the leather on the skull.

"Double Freedom!" It screeched out the moment it could. "Never thought we'd be out of there and be released upon the world once more."(*)

"Now Beaky, the plan right now is just to see how long it's been and how much has changed." Said the stallion in a nice baritone.

Hearts Shadow than began sorting and arranging things so that he could leave his lair. He was also able to take inventory and noticed that a couple of his books, one of his skulls, a lovely piece of taxidermy, and a really nice brooch (which had the shape of a bat with little diamonds on it to imitate the stars in the night sky) had been taken, likely as trophies.

He walked over to a cabinet and moved a small object from the nearby bookcase and placed in on the top of the cabinet. Shifting it about lightly allowed a small section of the wall to open up and reveal a hidden nook. Taking the tomes from inside he gently placed them on top of the pile before removing everything else from the room and sorting it.

Going back outside he looked at several of the trees before blasting several of them down.

A couple days later from Hearts Shadow with Beaky on his head, just behind his horn, as he levitated the last of his things into a small covered wagon. He was working himself into the harness while Beaky was talking up a storm as he admired to scenery.

Taking a look about they headed off towards where he hoped a town would be.

Shortly he came to a trail which quickly opened up to a well traveled path. He was able to move much quicker and was out of the forest before the end of the day. There he saw a sign which told him that there was a town close enough that if he kept moving he'd be there before noon the next day.

Coming up on the town, the dark blue stallion marched slowly into town to stop at an antique store. Getting out of the harness and walking around to the back of the wagon he removed a couple of his trinkets to sell at the store.

"Greetings and Welcome to Alder's Antiques." Said a cheery mare behind a counter.

"Greetings, I was wondering if you are interested in buying a couple things." Said Hearts Shadow as he trotted over to the counter.

"Well, if they're antiques I can give them a looksee and check to see if we can work out a deal." She replied as she gave him a once over and noted how underfed he seemed.

He gently placed the two items on the counter for the mare to examine. As she started to look them over her eyes widened quite a bit.

"These are pre-Discordian. Just where did you get them, I've never seen anything from that era in such great shape."

"I was kinda living in a cave and a wall collapsed and these were in a room on the other side. There seems to be a preservation spell on them so that would probably explain the condition."

"Living in a cave huh?" She placed a sizable bag of coins on the counter. "These are worth quite a bit, should probably be in a museum even, as such I'm willing to give you a very nice deal on them."

"Thanks." Hearts Shadow said as he took the offer and started to leave. "Have a lovely day."

"Have a nice day yourself sir."

Hearts Shadow sat down at a restaurant on the other side of town and looked over the menu quickly. He added up the cost of the items and was pondering if all that food would be worth it.

"Hi, welcome to Earl's Eatery. Would you like something to drink or an appetizer to get you started?" Asked a young pegasus mare with a serving tray cutie mark.

"Yes, I was wondering what the current sales tax is?"

"It's about 9%."

"Excellent. I'll take one of everything." Hearts Shadow stated as he heaped a pile of bits onto the table. Followed shortly after by another, albeit smaller pile. "Can't forget the tip."

The mare's wings slumped by her sides as she stared at the pile of coins. She shook her head and collected herself before scooping both piles into a bag and walked off to the register to hand them off to the cashier before going back to the kitchens.

It wasn't long before plate after plate of food was stacked before the hungry stallion, who devolved it all with a quiet dignity only slightly slower than it was being given to him.

A couple hours later found a well fleshed out stallion leaving the building with a bulging belly. He then hooked himself back up to his wagon before heading off to the local library. He had some history to brush up on.

Taking a good look at it's sign he noticed that it was open all night. Which was very beneficial as he wouldn't need to hide himself at closing time. Going over to the history section he began taking book after book and utilized a speed reading spell to catch up on everything since the last major event that had happened before his imprisonment, which in of itself wasn't significant enough to have earned an entry in the annals of history.

A couple days later he left the library, leaving both an excellent impression on the librarian due to his manners, as well as rumours of ghosts and other small incidents due to aftereffects of some of the spells he had used once he noticed just how many books and newspapers needed to be read to be fully caught up on present day information.

He stopped at a small store and bought a card welcoming a pony back from having been taken over by the dark forces, which was an odd thing to have a card for even if the slogan of the company who made it was "A card for every occasion." The card itself showed a sad pony on the cover surrounded by darkness with the text "Dark power may have drawn you in", while the inside had another pony embracing the first with both being happy. A small line of text stated "but your loved ones will always be there for when you return to the light."

Hearts Shadow added a bit of text saying "Glad you were reunited with your sister." before signing the card, melting some wax onto it and pressing a small piece of metal to the wax leaving a signet indented in it. Casting a quick drying spell on the wax to set it, he put the card into it's envelope, and filling out the address on the card. Putting a stamp on it, he gave it a look to check and see if it was clear enough who it was destined for. Princess Luna, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot. Feeling that that would suffice he put it in the mailbox and left as a smile formed on his face.

Author's Note

* If you are not reading Beaky's lines in the voice of Gilbert Gottfried... for shame, shame on you.

I also don't know how to do superscripts apparently... Bah, I'll just cheat and make it small.

And the Order of the Princesses.

Princess Celestia was sitting in the throne room enjoying a brief respite from from day court. She lifted her tea cup and took a drink to wash down her afternoon snack of finger sandwiches.

"Tia. Look at this." Luna burst into the room waving a card in the air. When she got over to her sister the glow around the card switched colours and Celestia brought it over to get a look at it.

"'Glad you were reunited with you sister.' They really do make cards for every occasion, so what about it has gotten you up in a dander?" She said.

"It's not the card, it's the signet seal." Luna replied as she swung a book around. "It looked familiar to me so I looked it up."

Celestia leafed through the book before finding the signet.

"Hearts Shadow. Rings a bell. Wait, was he that warlock we fought 12 to 13 hundred years ago?"

"Yeah. The Warlock of the High Order. The Duke of Darkness." Luna started.

"The Baron of Blight." Celestia finished. "You scramble the guards to search for him. I'll send for Twilight."

Twilight rushed into the conference room for her meeting with both princesses. She had teleported to Canterlot to save as much time.

"So whats the emergency you sent me for? Chrysalis come back? Encroaching army? Did I fail a test?" She stammered out as quickly as she could.

"No, No, and No. A very powerful warlock has escaped his prison. We have the guard searching for him but it took both Luna and me to defeat him. We barely managed to imprison him." Celestia said.

"We want you to do recon for us. My sister and I have gotten stronger over the years, and we want to know if he has gotten any stronger." Luna continued.

"Okay, but what makes him so much of a threat?" Twilight asked?

"He created and released the blight. He is a very strong user of Dark magic. If you were to compare Nightmare Moon's skill in it to his, it would be like comparing you to Celestia."

"What do you mean by the blight?"

"Take the worst drought, pestilence, and famine you've ever heard about and roll them into one. The blight spread mercilessly killing all the plants wherever it was, and because of it's effect on the land any earth pony that was in the area got sick as well. It had affected a few towns by the time we were able to find a way to halt it's spreading. We were able to track it to the source which lead us to Hearts Shadow." Celestia explained.

"Twas a glorious battle. Though the research afterwards to find a way to counteract the blight was a bit dull in comparison. For the matter at hand, he needs to be found and dealt with before he can release it once more. Who knows what evil he is up to at this moment."

Not at this moment, but earlier in the day.

Hearts Shadow walked down the street admiring the architecture of Las Pegasus. He was wearing one of the very few pieces of clothes he had due to his dresser having been stuck in a rock wall. It was a very stately long coat, going from his neck with a fair length collar all the way back and covering his cutie mark. The buttons on it were done up to resemble roses and the colour scheme was a lovely dark blue, darker than his coat so as to help accentuate it.

"OH Darling. That is just a wonderful coat you have. Has a bit of that olde tyme flair to it." A dazzling white unicorn with a perfectly coifed purple mane stated as she practically materialized next to him.

"I have a taste for the old styles. The name is Hearts Shadow, might I be granted the pleasure of knowing yours?"

"I'm Rarity. So nice to meet a gentlecolt such as yourself. I do have to ask. I don't quite get the idea behind the little skull-shaped accessory on your head." She said with the hint of a question.

"I ain't no accessory too-" Beaky started before a dark yellow glow wrapped around his beak silencing him.

"I beg pardon for him. He usually doesn't speak to others so his manners are a bit rusty, especially in regards to ladies."

"It talks." Rarity stated, taken aback at the sight she just bore witness to.

"Yes, I used a variation on a golem creation spell. Have you ever found yourself 3 days into a 2 hour job, and caught you talking to yourself? I don't mean just thinking out loud, but holding an actual conversation?"

"Well, maybe once or twice when I have gotten so taken by the muses."

"I made Beaky here so I would have someone else to talk to. Solely so I wouldn't stray too far down the path of insanity during those moments. The skull itself was merely representative of the first, and so far only, success I've had with a rather difficult ongoing project." He said.

"Huh, well be careful. You never can know what the nobility over in Canterlot will take to as the next fad. Speaking of fashion, I passed by this lovely little store that might have something you can modernize your look with, and keep to the olde tyme style you like." She said turning around to lead the way. Giggling a little as she imagined the noble walking around with decorative skulls on their heads.

Hearts Shadow quickly caught up to her side so as to act as her escort.

A short time later found him trying on several different jackets while chatting politely with Rarity about various topics. During one of the pauses as they checked the look of a jacket she brought up the question of his cuite mark.

"Ah yes, it's an old glyph that stands for 'Dark.'" He said.

"Oh, so I have here a Tall, Handsome, and 'Dark' stallion. Maybe I can get you to escort me to the fashion show tonight."

"While spending an evening with you would be enchanting, I must sadly proffer a rain check. It's been ages since I've been out this way and I only have a short time to take in the changes to the sights before I must move on. So I shall owe you one evening of elegance sometime in the hopefully near future." Hearts Shadow said, bowing low.

"I will definitely hold you to that. Ahah! Try this jacket on." She said producing an almost black dark blue, with silver buttons and a trim of dark green.

Changing into the coat showed that it followed near the same cut as his original jacket but had the modern seams that gave it a whole new look.

"This is absolutely perfect, and I give you my word on that evening." He said as he produced the bits to pay for his new look. Even Beaky looked impressed at it, though the ribbon that had been tied around him prevented any actual comment. "I wish you enjoyment of you event tonight." He continued as they left the store, holding up his hoof towards Rarity.

"I most certainly will, even if I don't have a gentlecolt such as you with me." She said placing her hoof on his, giggling a little as he proceed to plant a small farewell kiss on it. She also admired the fit of his new jacket as he walked away prior to heading off to do some shopping.

"Okay. I think I might be able to use a spell in conjunction with the cutie map to trace any major dark magic surges. That should let me track him whenever he uses it. You said his cutie mark was a glyph?" Twilight said, holding up a notepad jotting down notes and magical notations.

"It looked like this" Luna said, using on hoof to draw a vertical line in the air, her other hoof then drew a bowl shaped line intersecting the first, then she used both hooves to put a pair of dots just below the bowl. "It stands for 'Dark' and signifies his talent in dark magic."

"It might take a couple days for me to fine tune the spells but we'll find him and put a stop to any nefarious plans he has." Twilight stated before getting up to leave and head back to Ponyville.

A week later.

Hearts Shadow was walking along pulling his wagon behind him. A travel cloak covered his body and a hood pulled up help keep the sun out of his eyes. Beaky was sitting on top of the wagon.

"Hey, why can't I have a hood? Or at least ride inside the wagon, the sun'll bleach me if I don't get out of it soon."

"You should have thought about that before making that comment and spooking the nice young filly. She was merely curious about what kind of creature you used to be. There was no need to be rude."

"She called me a chicken hawk. She was rude first!"

Hearts Shadow sighed, knowing that trying to teach Beaky some sort of manners was a battle of attrition he just would not win. He had to try anyways, even if it was pointless.

"We've got company incoming." Beaky said causing him to look up and see the six figures up ahead.

Once he got closer to them the one in the lead position called out.

"Warlock, cease! We're here to put an end to your malicious scheme." A purple alicorn, likely the Princess Twilight he read about in the papers, said with authority.

"And what, pray tell, is the scheme your stopping?" He said calmly.

"Yer planning on releasing that blight of yours once more. We're here ta stop you." Said one of the others.

"How exactly are you planning on stopping me?"

"By kicking your flank and throwing you back in your prison." Said a rainbow-maned blue pegasus, just before she shot towards him to make words into action.

A light sigh escaped him as he sent a gust of wind to alter her course enough to avoid the attack. Then having to greatly increase the strength when she was able to handle the first sudden gust. The stronger one managed to send her crashing into the grass along side his wagon.

Noticing Twilight power up her horn and sending a blast of magic at him, a black field surrounded his horn and a similarly coloured streak appeared in the air. The streak intercepted the blast and diverted it straight into the ground.

"You're going to need power far greater than that to match me. I fought off both Celestia and Luna."

"Come on girls, lets hit him with the power of harmony." Twilight called out, before the mares were enveloped by a rainbow coloured power. The power itself cause Hearts Shadow to raise an eyebrow, before he noticed that it was coalescing into a beam headed his way.

A smirk showed up on his face as the black magic covered his horn once more.

After a few seconds of firing the beam at the warlock, Twilight and her friends let up on the power. As it dissipated they noticed two things. First was a long trench dug into the ground by the beam, that ended at the second thing. A giant black shield which vanished shortly after the beam. Then they saw that the warlock was gone.

Scanning the area Twilight was able to detect the remnants of a teleport spell, but was unable to trace it.

Her friends having headed back to Ponyville to watch the map to see if they could find him that way, Twilight headed to Canterlot to report on the attack to Celestia.

"That was why we only wanted to observe him. He obviously has gotten more powerful as well. It'll probably take all three of us, though we should bring in Cadance as well just to have a fourth, to be able to beat him." The Solar Diarch said once her student had finished explaining about the brief battle.

She looked over to her sister, who was catching a quick nap due to having been woken once the warlock had been found. Before she could say much more a soft knock on the door drew their attention.

"Come in."

"Your highness, we have a report on the whereabouts of the warlock." The guard who poked his head in the door said, not letting a hint of the nervousness he was feeling show on his face or in his voice.

"Very good, where is he?" Celestia said, glancing at Twilight to keep her student from trying to run off for a rematch while deciding if she should prod her sister awake or not.

"He's um... he was seen at the city gates. He'll be at the castle entrance shortly and he's requesting an audience with you and your sister." He stated, looking at the sleeping form of the Lunar Diarch.

The two awake princesses stood still momentarily. Twilight was sorting through defense plans and strategies while Celestia was thinking about what tea would suit the situation best. It didn't even take a full second.

"Let the guards know to let him in. Have him escorted to the Mountain Falls Tearoom and let the Royal Tea Stewardess know that I would like a Yerba Mate tea to be prepared." Celestia said, cutting off her students thoughts on a full out attack.

She then walked over and gently lifted her sister up in her magical field. The guard left to go about his orders, ignoring the sudden splash and yelp of one of the rooms occupants with a practiced skill.

Hearts Shadow opened the door to the room he was lead to. Entering it gave him the sight of three princesses sitting before him. Two of them sitting just as regally as they would at a parade, or in court, while the third tried to hide the glower she was giving him. Looking about the room saw a beautiful mural of a mountain scene with a waterfall along one edge that was both paint and actual.

Sitting at the table he said "It's lovely to be able to be face to face with a princess without a barrage of spells inbetwixt us."

"Yes well, a formal request for an audience is a much better way to arrange a meeting than causing an Equestria wide disaster." Tittered Celestia. "Though I felt a more informal setting would be more apropos."

"To put some issues at ease, I am not here to give some list of demands or anything of such. I am merely here to request my families title and estate. Although the original land belonging to them is being put to use by a lovely little group of poines, I would be willing to accept a land grant so that they might continue to operate without any major upheavals."

"What do you mean family title?" Twilight asked.

"I am the sole heir to the Earl of Bridle Valley." Hearts Shadow stated as he pulled out his signet and showing it to them.

"That would be one of the heirless estates the Department of Royal Regalia keeps track of. How can you prove you are the rightful heir?"

"A simple lineage tracking spell would prove so."

"So you're not planning on releasing your blight again?" Twilight asked, rather bluntly. Earning a tiny side-glance from her mentor.

"I never intended to release it the first time. I was in the middle of an experiment on a plant when it became very aggressive, carnivorous, with a lightning quick growth. I was forced to used the blight to contain it. My work on the plant was due to having hit a wall in my research into a counter agent for the blight. My containment spell for it ended up suffering a cascade failure which allowed it to spread." Hearts Shadow explained.

"So what, your just a misunderstood researcher?"

"By no means. I am a master of the dark arts. There just no reason I have to be evil to be such. I'm no teenager rebelling against their parents or a psychopath bent on world domination or total destruction. Quite the opposite as my primary goal is to actually create a whole new species. Thought that is for another discussion."

"Well, I am wondering how you managed to block the harmony blast Twilight and her friends launched at you." Celestia stated, and then questioned.

"It's was a void shield. Takes the raw magical energy hitting it, absorbs it and uses it to strengthen itself. The stronger the magical attack, the stronger the shield, and it would always be exactly as strong at the attack. Very useful, very tricky to get right. A slight error in the casting can make the shield to weak, or to strong. A weak shield would break, and a strong shield would suck in the energy in a more direct manner, and if not dispelled, it would quickly become a thaumaturgical black hole. That was actually the first time I got to really test it."

"Okay, why don't you tell me about yourself. It'll take some time to get the lineage spell ready and for it to do it's job. I do recall your parents, both earth ponies. I believe the died defending their town during a war." Celestia started, writing down a list of things and sending it off to her steward.

Author's Note

I need a bit of work on chapter titles.

And the Tale of the Past. (Sad/Dark)

Author's Note

This chapter will get a bit dark and sad. As it will just be this chapter I'm not tagging the whole story with those tags.

And the Tale of the Past. (Sad/Dark)

"Well my story begins with my birth." Hearts Shadow started, sipping at his tea.

"The birth of a unicorn to two earth ponies was a bit of a shock. After some arguing and not a little bit of accusation, the doctor used a parental match-up spell to show that they both were really the parents. They managed to talk the doctor into keeping the birth a secret, though he did still fill out the paperwork to be stashed away in a corner of the records room. Even if my parents never fully filled it out, leaving the name field blank.

"Once they got home they decided to see if they could do something about my horn. They tried to both burn it off as well as coating it in acid utilizing some of the acids that can be found in any well stocked janitorial closet. Neither of those methods worked, but it did permanently scorch my horn. Luckily they were to squeamish to just try to cut and sand it off." He continued, politely ignoring the rather horrified look on Twilight's face and the carefully controlled looks that adorned the sisters.

"After that they had a small office quickly fixed up to be a bedroom with an attached bathroom. They handed me off to a nursemaid to raise me with the instructions that I never leave the room, be talked to in anyway, and my existence never be mentioned to anypony, not even themselves. They acted as if I died shortly after childbirth.

"As I grew the nursemaid showed up less and less due to being able to be more self-sufficient. When I was 6 she really only showed up to drop food and drink off and clear dishes. I even learned how to change the sheets on the bed for when she would drop the linen off. During my 7th year was the first time I ever left my room. The town was under attack, my parents had rallied every adult to the defense. They had sent the children to the mansion for safety and left the oldest of the kids in charge."

A very long time ago, between 1300 and 1400 years to be a bit precise.

A nameless colt was playing with his ball, throwing it around his room letting it bounce off various places before catching it. He hoped that the other one would be back soon, he was out of food and running low on drinking. He looked to the small room and thought about the trouble he got when he drank from the water in there, but decided against it. Other one would be back soon, no need to do that again.

He jumped up onto the sleeptime place to throw the ball from a higher spot.

A young unicorn filly wandered the empty mansion. She had already checked the kitchen for some more food for her even younger charges and wanted to see if she could find anything else when she came across a door that had sounds of occupancy coming from the other side. Testing the door found it to be unlocked, so she carefully opened it to see who was in the mansion.

The not-wall moved. That meant the other one was here with food. However as it opened up enough to see past, the pony he could see was not the other one but somepony new. He was excited.

"Halluuu?" The new other one made noises. Noises the old other one never made. The colt moved to where they could see him.

"Ooooh. Hooo arr yew?" It made more noises. They waited and the colt figured they wanted him to make noises next.

"Haggle-phblt" He gurgled.

The filly stared at the young colt. She was unsure if what he just said was supposed to be his name, or what. She decided on a slightly different approach.

Pointing at herself she said "Giving Heart." before point at him.

The colt looked confused to a second before putting his hoof against his chest and saying "Guh eev ung Hu e hard."

He looked at her with a look in his eyes that oozed achievement. She realized that maybe this colt hasn't learned how to talk properly. Looking around the room he was in she noticed a couple things. The first was that it looked exactly like a young colt spent all his time in it. The second was that there was a bathroom attached. The third was that there were no windows. The fourth was that the door could only be locked and unlocked from the outside.

Stepping out of the doorway, Giving Heart gestured to the young colt to follow her out of the room.

New other one wanted him out of the room. Going up to the not-wall and tentatively stepping through it he walked up to her side. Looking around at the new place filled him with excitement. She started walking down the long room, pausing after a couple steps to make sure he was going to follow.

They walked through more and more rooms, each one furthering his excitement until he passed the first window. He nosed the curtain to the side and looked up and was awestruck at just big a room was surrounding them.

A gentle tug at his tail brought him away from the window. Looking at it, he saw that his tail was in a pink aura and that the other one was a little bit away. The head thing that she had too was also covered in pink.

"Ssstuaaaa buhack furoom ffaa weenndooess." She said.

Looking at the window he said "Wendoos."

A small smile crossed her face as he did that. Turning back down the long room her long dark blue tail signaled to him to start following again. He trotted up to her side quickly looking at her yellow side as compared to his blue coat. Her tail and mane only had the one colour to it, unlike his red with yellow stripe. Also unlike him, her horn matched the rest of her coat. She also had a heart on her flank.

They eventually entered a big room with lots of things in it. She walked over to where some food was and began pulling some out and gave it to him. He quickly fed himself until he felt his stomach was full. After that she moved food up onto her back and holding more in her pink aura. He moved to stand under some of it as well so she could put some on his back.

Giving Heart looked at the young colt before placing some of the food onto his back. She then guided him down to the basement where the other kids were waiting. She smirked a little at the thought of how happy he will be meeting them.

She wasn't disappointed. The colt started dancing in place upon seeing the other foals. She levitated the food off his back as he ran up to meet them.

As she placed the food where most of the foals wouldn't be able to easily get to, she hear them interacting with the new arrival.

"Why's your horn black?" She heard one of the fillies say a bit loudly.

"Huh oorn." He said, tapping his horn with his hoof.

"Yes, your horn, what happened to it."

"Hoornn?" This time his hoof was pointing to the head of one of the earth ponies.

"No horn." The earth colt replied.

"Wings!" Stated the sole pegasus filly in the group.

"Wha-eengs. Wings."

Giving Heart looked on as the introduction quickly devolved into a mixture of playing and teaching as they started helping him learn how to talk. As he bounded around learning things she noticed that he bore several resemblances to the Earl and his wife. In her mind 2 and 2 very obviously made 4. The only problem she saw was that everypony thought that they didn't have children. If they had kept him hidden that would explain the misconception of the town, but couldn't see why they would've hid him.

Her younger sister was trying to show him how to use his magic. Not having seen him use his magic yet made her think that might be why. That was quickly dismissed as he was able to wrap a yellow aura around his horn as he channeled magic, but wasn't able to do anything with it. Well at least whatever had badly scorched his horn did damage the magic pathways that ran through it.

A week later.

The nameless colt was getting along well with the other foals. Although when he was playing and learning from them, he was helping Giving Heart out.

She was concerned, it had been a long time since she had heard anything from any of the adults. They were starting to get low on the food she had brought down with her when she had found the colt so she decided to try to see if she could get more.

The colt had followed her, which was nice as they could carry a little bit more, plus he had even started to figure out how to control his magic enough to levitate a little bit of weight.

Passing by a window let her hear some noises outside. Looking out of it carefully she saw people moving throughout the town. All she could tell was that they weren't townsfolk. She quickly lead the colt back down to the basement and set about helping all the foals to hide.

It didn't take long before they heard the barricaded front door get knocked open. Giving Heart did was she could to keep the foals calm as the house was being searched.

Several miniature eternities which added up to about a half-hour later, they heard hooves coming down the stairs to the basement. Staying hidden as best she could she watched as an armoured pony walked into the room. His horn lit up and she could feel magic sweep past her as he scanned the room.

"Okay. I know there are a bunch of ponies hiding in here. I take it you are the children of the townsfolk. I would like to let you know we are merely here to scout the town. Whoever conquered the town did so several days ago and moved on. If you all would come out from hiding we can make sure you are well taken care of." The soldier said with an authoritarian voice.

After a couple minutes of debating with herself, Giving Heart stepped out where the pony could see her.

"Good. Now get the rest of the hiding foals out here and we can head upstairs for some food."

A short time later had all the foals upstairs eating fresh cooked food. The soldiers laid out a plan to fully scout the area for the next couple of days using the mansion as a base. Then they would take the children out to find them new homes.

Another interesting thing occurred was that the soldiers decided to name the colt. Due to him not leaving her side they named him Hearts Shadow.

It didn't take too long for the soldiers to finish scouting the town and load up their wagons. They rounded up all the foals into one and set off.

Two weeks later.

Giving Heart was starting to get concerned again. This time it was over the intentions of the soldiers. She knew geography well enough to know they should've been able to reach some large town by now, but it seemed more like they were specifically avoiding any town. Deciding to keep a watch out for now to see if her fears have any foundation.

It wasn't long before she found out the truth, but not by her own means. Shadow had been up one night, watching the night sky and wandering around the camp. His dark coat let him sneak around without really meaning to so sometimes the soldiers wouldn't notice him sitting somewhere before they started talking.

Usually the conversations weren't much but tonight was different. They were talking about the foals and their destination. His grasp of the language had gotten better but they used many words he hadn't heard before. As such he was curious about what they were talking about so he went to find Giving Heart.

"Heart, what does slavery mean?" He said quietly once he found her.

"Where did you hear that? It means for one pony to own another, like a pony might own a ball." She replied, he suspicions rising rapidly.

"A couple of the soldiers were talking about how they were going to put us into it once we reach the destination."

"I see. Shadow, why don't you try to get some sleep. I've got some things to do." She said as she got up and left the tent.

"Hold up. Are you saying equestrian soldiers were trying to sell foals into slavery!?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Not exactly. I never said they were equestrian soldiers. They were soldiers for hire." Hearts Shadow stated.

"Why would mercenaries be scouting the town then?"

"My dear student, sometimes a ruler can't send the army proper to investigate something. The time in which this story is taking place was just before a rather nasty war. Tensions were high and if the army had marched right into that area it would have ignited the war much sooner. The mercenaries allowed the rulers to find out what had happened without risking starting the war themselves." Celestia said, her horn alight with her golden aura as she operated an ongoing spell.

"It was highly unlikely that the three races council was aware that they had hired slavers. I learned later that the report they had sent in about the town had neglected to mention the finding of almost a dozen young fillies and colts. It's also as if they didn't get their comeuppance, which I am getting to next in my story."

A few hours after Giving Heart had left the tent, Hearts Shadow sneaked out. Trying to find her lead him to a grouping of the soldiers near the edge of the camp.

"Too bad we had to start her training early. She shouldn't be able to move right now, so go prep the cages. Looks like we might have to use the more standard methods of transporting our merchandise." Said one of the more sinister sounding ponies.

As several of them left, Shadow could see the form of Giving Heart laying on the ground. He snuck up closer before being able to see the bruises, blood, and that one of her legs bent wrong.

The next thing Hearts Shadow could properly remember, all the soldiers were dead. Most of their bodies made a rather gruesome sight. He also had a cutie mark. A vertical line with a bowl shaped one that was perpendicular to it and was bisected by it at the halfway point. There were also a pair of dots underneath the bowl, one on each side of the vertical line. His own sense of it said that it was a glyph that meant "Dark."

Going up to Giving Heart's side he could tell she was having trouble breathing. She looked up at him and tried to say something, only to have blood pour out of her mouth. He laid his head against her neck and cried until he could no longer hear her heartbeat.

The other kids found him like this, Giving Heart's sister joined him. After the sun had climbed up into the sky a ways, and their stomachs demanding food, Shadow rounded up the kids to get some food. One of them found a map, which they tried to use to figure out where to go.

Shadow took down one of the tents to wrap Giving Heart's body. Another tent was used to hold as much of the food as they could. They also saw that the soldiers had looted the town, with a couple kids claiming something that had been taken from their own houses.

When the sun had passed it's noon-position they headed towards where they thought would've been the mostly likely town.

When they eventually reached a town, Shadow got the town to give Giving Heart a proper burial. He then helped the other kids to an orphanage.

"After that I went off to study my own magic. I wasn't sure if the power I drew upon was something dangerous or if I could control it. Eventually I started being called a Warlock. I kept in contact with a couple of the other, specifically Giving Heart's sister. Then one day I figured out a means to make myself immortal. I met with a couple other powerful warlocks who wanted to see who was the most powerful. After a couple days of watching them fight, I got all 4 of us to sit down for some food. We talked and decided that fighting each other isn't really a good way to determine who's better.

"We became the Warlocks of the High Order. The rules we laid out were there to keep warlock from trying to do things like conquer or destroy all of Equestria. Mess with time travel, though one of the others did make a couple good spells for viewing the past. Of course the ruling that for someone to become a Warlock of the High Order required the unanimous decision by all living High Order Warlocks was my idea.

"At that point a normal lifetime had passed, I would hand out near impossible tasks to warlock applying to the High Order and had been keeping track of Giving Heart's sister and her descendants. Then the whole blight incident happened. I fought the Sisters of the Sun and Moon for 4 days straight before they blasted me into the wall and imprisoned me.

"Luckily and unfortunately I was immortal or I would've suffocated once the air in the room went bad, or dehydrated from lack of water. Was really bored for a long time until somepony cast a time spell. I'm guessing they went back in time, made a change that affected major events and created alternate timelines. Somepony else chased them to undo it. I felt the temporal entropy caused by the change or changes as they fought.

"I had enough power in me to tie a spell into the magical matrix that was imprisoning me to link it to that entropic energy. Made it so that the prison would collapse once the timeline was set right. After that you pretty much know what I've been doing." Heart Shadow finished.

"You really care for Giving Heart didn't you?" Asked Luna.

"In the few weeks I knew her, she cared more for me than both the nursemaid and my parents combined."

The glow around Celestia's horn subsided as she placed her teacup down on the table. "The lineage spell checks out. You are the Heir to the Earldom of Bridle Valley. Instead of you ancestral lands, I will agree to a land grant of equivalent size. Luckily you're from so long ago. I wouldn't cast this spell on any pony alive today, to great a generational difference." She said, with just a hint of sadness to her voice.

"You said you tracked the descendants of Giving Heart's sister? Are any alive today?" Twilight said, with a small voice.

"Several, technically. Though of the two most direct, one runs a lovely little bakery where she bakes the most delectable doughnuts. The other is a fashionista extraordinaire."

"Wait, you mean Rarity?"

"Yes. Though I wasn't aware of that fact when she helped me pick out a new coat." Heart's Shadow stated with a small laugh in his voice.

And Settling In.

Twilight looked across the table at the unicorn stallion who had just been discussing his life story with her and the two princesses. Now he was just chatting with the alicorn diarchs about times long passed. She considered his tale and the manner in which he had acted so far, including the anecdote of Rarity's about meeting him not too long ago.

Eventually the conversation turned to interesting tales they had experienced. Celestia having the most due to not having been sealed away from the world for any tremendous length of time.

"There was the time I helped raised the moon." Began Hearts Shadow just before putting one of the small sandwiches.

"What?" Asked Twilight.

"Well, it was back when a team of unicorns handled the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon. They were always looking for strong unicorns for their reserves. I turned in a dissertation on the biology of chimera's and won a spot helping them. I was a great honour, though my talents lay elsewhere."

It wasn't long before the tea had been finished, Hearts Shadow had been granted one of the guest rooms by Princess Celestia for the time being until a more permanent arrangement could be made, and Luna had gone off to get some real sleep before needing to raise the moon. Twilight followed the warlock out to his wagon wanting to ask some questions regarding his magic.

"How much do you understand of entropy's role in the universe?" He asked when she finally got around to voicing her question. "It plays a major role in a lot of dark magic. There are some other aspects in which entropy has no real part, such as demonology. I have a couple books I can copy for you which can give you a greater understanding so that we might discuss on a more equal level."

The unicorn then partially climbed into the back of his wagon followed by the sounds of a variety of things being sorted through before a flash of magic happened. He then exited the wagon holding 2 freshly copied books, one looking more like a tome than the other. Floating the books over to Twilight who then took them in her own magic field.

Gesturing to the smaller of the two Hearts Shadow explained "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts. Good content, covers the general aspects and details what the common pony and the more educated scholars knew of it. It also covers some of the surges in number of dark magic users. I've added some of my own thoughts on it in there.

"The tome is my own thoughts and research into the nature of dark magic. I like to call it 'On the Nature of Dark Magic and Entropy's Thaumaturgical Role' reading that should give you all you need to know, but I do tend towards technical explanations."

Twilight nodded, moving the books to float behind her. "Thanks for the books." She said cheerfully before heading down to the train station to go home.

A couple days later found Hearts Shadow negotiating a room in the castle to be allocated as a temporary workshop for him. Heading down to a small dining room for lunch, he bumped into a particularly pompous pony. The white unicorn stallion, who looked to spend more time tending his appearance than paying attention on whats in his way. He looked over the more colourful stallion with contempt at first, his mouth open slightly as if about to say some scathing remark before realization struck him.

"You're that new Earl that Auntie Celestia granted one of the heiress estates, correct." He said, posing his question as far more statement than inquiry.

"Correct. You must be Prince Blueblood. Your reputation precedes you." Shadow responded, letting a tinge into his voice that such a thing wasn't ideal.

"If I recall, you were granted a land grant. Such a thing hasn't happened in quite some time. Most nobility really only have their mansion here in Canterlot. Even I only have some lands holding here and there as vacation homes." Blueblood said.

"I was about to take a light lunch. You are free to join me, though I am sure a stallion of your rank has far more important matters to tend to. As such I wish you luck and bid you adieu." Shadow stated as he moved around the younger unicorn and returned on his path to the dining room.

"Now, wait a moment. Do you know who you are talking to? I routinely speak to Princess Celestia. Apologize or I can make your life extremely difficult." He ranted.

"You might be her nephew, but I've been around longer than you. I met both alicorn sisters before they even had their cutie marks. I spent a year living amoungst cannibals so I could become an hounorary member. You don't scare me. Even if you live a full century, I shall outlive you and anything you try to do against will eventually be rendered as nothing more than a drop of rain during a hurricane." Shadow said, giving a stare at the Prince which brought about memories of similar stares he had seen Celestia give.

Hearts Shadow walked away leaving Blueblood to stammer wordlessly in the hallway until such time he could regain his composure.

It took another day to finish negotiating a room to become his workshop. Hearts Shadow had retired for the night to rest up for all the spells he needed to set up to ensure that the laboratory would be safe. The craving for a midnight snack lead him out and towards a kitchen. Along the way he encountered one of the Lunar Guard, the sight of which gave him pause.

Looking over the bat pony carefully he noted several aspects that were obviously drawn from the ancient threstal species. The guard took the inspection in stride, not moving a millimeter from his post.

"Interesting. I have words for Princess Luna." Hearts Shadow said to himself, before looking up at the guard. "Carry on, and have a nice night."

And the Guardians of Darkness

"Yes, I did base my nocturne off of the long extinct Thestral race." Luna said, enjoying a quick snack break alongside Hearts Shadow.

"The resemblance is close. Were you able to study one for you transformation spell?" he asked, sipping on some hot chocolate.

"Sadly no. By the time I started working on the spell their race had fully passed on and I was unable to find a skeleton to study. I had to work off of my memory of the very few times me and Celestia had met a representative of their Grand Colony." She stated just before biting into a grilled cheese sandwich.

"Ah. You did excellent work then if you were able to get so close with so little information. Though all this gives me a desire to swing by their city to see how it's all held up; it would also give me a chance to copy a few books from their library." Shadow said, popping a couple cheese curds into his mouth.

"You know where the Grand Colony is located at?" Luna asked, staring at her dining partner in surprise.

"I've been there a couple of times to help them with some of their defensive enchantments. Still have a few things to set up for my lab so it'll be couple weeks before I can head over there." He finished.

They spent the rest of the light meal chatting about their day before heading off to tend to the rest of their schedules.

A little over two weeks later saw Twilight trotting down the hallways of the castle towards the room that had been given to the warlock as a laboratory. Knocking on the door once she arrived brought out a voice inviting her in.

Entering she could see just how much he had changed the room. Minding the tape line on the floor marking out the edge for the safety spells, Twilight moved over to Hearts Shadow.

"I heard you had plans on going to see the lost library of the ancient Thestrals. Do you need another pair of hoofs to help out?" She rather excitedly asked.

Hearts Shadow turned to look at the young alicorn prancing in place. Finishing placing the last of the equipment he had brought in he said, "I just have to place some more safety wards and then grab my saddlebags. Should be less than an hour."

A short time later found the two at the train station. Boarding the train set them off on their journey.

An overnight train trip later brought them to a canyon. Twilight and Shadow then proceeded to follow the canyon off for some time before having to cut across a river and through a forest. They walked for a half day, filling the journey with general talk largely focusing on various magical theories and past experiments, before sitting down for lunch.

"So how much further is the Grand Colony?" Twilight asked, enjoying the daisy sandwich Spike had packed for her.

Hearts Shadow gestured to the other side of the canyon, where a small mountain lay. "We're here, just need to cross."

Twilight paused as she processed that information. "Wait, the hidden capitol of the Threstals has been a half days walk from a tourist destination the whole time?"

"Well not the whole time. A thousand years ago we would've need to traverse a deadly swamp, pass through a cave filled with horrors, and a couple other trying places. Nowadays modern transportation has made grand adventures a little less grand." He said chewing on some celery.

Twilight moved to the edge of the canyon before getting buffeted by the wind. Moving back to where Hearts Shadow was sitting.

"Odd the wind shouldn't be that strong given time of day, atmospheric conditions and the formation of the canyon." She said.

"The have a couple wendigos enspelled to protect the canyon. I believe the reminder goes

On the night of the hidden mood,
When time between the sun is equal,
Winds shall be calm and entry granted.

Or something like that, been a long time since I heard it." Shadow explained.

"So we would have to wait until the new moon to be able to cross the canyon? Could we just teleport across instead?" Twilight asked.

"Magical wards prevent teleportation. I plan on just walking across with telekinesis, though I would advise a strong wind shield." He answered.

Finishing up lunch they moved to the edge of the canyon. Both of them put up a shield before Hearts Shadow stepped over the edge, placing a telekinetic platform beneath his hoof and Twilight took to the air to fly across. As the reached a quarter of the way Twilight's wing stated getting frosted over.

As her flight began to deteriorate Shadow grabbed her with his telekinesis and brought her into his shield.

"I mentioned the wendigos. I know I did. You forgot to account for the chill of their wind." He scolded.

Twilight mumbled as she fixed her shield and followed his example in using telekinesis to walk across the canyon.

The wind grew stronger as they walked, requiring them to strengthen their shields a few times however they managed to finish crossing without further incident.

Twilight followed Shadow on the other side as he walked to a crevasse in the mountain and proceeded to a large and decorated door. She studied the door as Shadow moved to one side to a mural along the wall. He touched a few spots, triggering a small magical surge opening the door.

Entering a passageway with several large and impressive statues, Twilight hurried about, studying and examining everything as Shadow just calmly walked down it. The passage ended on a shelf overlooking a large city, the magnificent architecture clear despite the ravages of time.

"You know for a forgotten city I was kinda expecting more traps to protect against treasure seekers." Twilight mentioned.

"You've been reading too many fictional stories. They lived here, why bother trapping it. The city's location has been secret until now and the wendigos prevent anyone from just stumbling into finding the location. The real security lies in the library and vaults beyond." Shadow explained, leading the way towards an area that seemed to be filled with monuments.

"If I saw the city correctly it doesn't seem like we are headed to the library currently." She stated.

"I have a small errand first. A friend to whom I need to pay respects." He said solemnly.

Twilight nodded her head understandingly.

They arrived at a place filled with statues of warriors and scholars with tombs and graves surrounds them. Hearts Shadow moved down the hallway, going past some of the more relatively recent tombs. He stopped at a statue and stared at it for a short time reading the name and inscription on it as well as the mural showing the deeds of the entombed.

Shadow used his magic to open a small portal next to him before floating out a skull unlike any other pony skull Twilight had seen during her studies. He placed the skull at the feet of the statue and said words in a language not spoken since the last of the Thestrals perished. He then hung his head in mourning for a brief moment.

Shadow gently opened the doors to the library, being mindful of the security spells on it. He and Twilight entered into the foyer where a couple desks were sitting.

"Now before we enter the library proper there are 2 things I should mention. The Thestrals were the guardians against darkness. They protected the world and the other races against evil spirits. They are imprisoned here, usually in the form of books. Not every spirit is content to stay in the vaults where they are supposed to. Some slip out into the normal books shelves. If you feel yourself being drawn to look at a book shrouded in darkness, look away. There are some spirits here that would make Nightmare Moon seem like an uneven stone beneath your hoof." Shadow stated, looking Twilight in the eye. He then floated Beaky over to her head, removing the tape from around his beak.

"Finally, so annoying not to be allowed to talk. Don't worry Shady, I'll keep Star-flanks here from getting absorbed by the dark spirits." Beaky said.

"You might also stumble into an area where light literally will avoid. Do not enter the darkness it is avoiding. The stronger the spirit, the more shrouded it is in darkness. The vaults are kept behind a hidden door, but it would likely be notable by the area of darkness the spirits within generate.

The other thing is there are books here that date back to before unicorns even learned to use their magic. Be very careful when handling any book. Books next to spirit books are specially made to help contain them so be mindful about that." Shadow finished explaining.

"Don't look at the dark books, be careful with the at minimum thousand year old books. Gotcha." Twilight said.

They entered the library proper, Twilight gasped. The sheer volume of knowledge contained therein awed her, especially when she thought about how much of it is from over a millennium ago.

Shadow trotted off down the aisles as she came to terms with what she was seeing, and could decide just where to start.

Beaky nipped Twilight's ear yet again. "Hey, I've told you, let me look at what books might be near the dark spirit ones."

Twilight grumbled having been started being drawn in by the third dark spirit book so far. She picked up a book covering the rise and fall of the Gryphon Sovereignty.

Shadow came by later to ensure they eat dinner. Both of them were ensorcelled by books on various subjects.

The next day Twilight was moving past a shelf along the wall when her light spell warped at the edge. Taking a couple more steps she watched as the light seemed to do it's best to not shine upon a length of the shelf roughly equal to her own length. Remembering the warning about such an area she carefully walked backwards away from it and continued to peruse the books.

Shadow walked up to her later that day carrying several freshly made copies of books. "So Twilight, I assume you have found a couple books you would like to make a copy of to take home."

Twilight looked at him, "I was just planning on taking the books with me, why do we need to take the copy?" She asked.

Floating one of the copies next to the book she was holding. "Look at the spine." He said drawing her attention to the runes intricately carved on the normal book but are absent on the copy. She then looked at the bookshelf nearby seeing the runes on every book it held.

"I hadn't really noticed those before. Just kinda thought they were aesthetic." She said.

"Now look at the floor."

Twilight glanced at the floor, seeing countless lines forming numerous patterns. Looking up the same lines were on the ceiling and the walls.

"Everything about this library is designed to contain the dark spirits. Taking a book from here would risk releasing them. It might be a bit of exaggeration but the threat disrupting the runes is very real." Shadow stated sternly.

"I do have one other task to perform, so make any copies of books you want to take home." He said before trotting off towards an area Twilight had passed by earlier. Following him she saw him stop at the edge of the darkness zone.

Hearts Shadow closed his eyes and focused on spellcasting for a moment. His normal magic combined with his dark magic swirled around his horn before sweeping across his body leaving runes over it. When the spell reached his hooves a surge passed from the room to him chaning the colour of the runes on his body.

Opening his eyes he casually strolled into the darkness. Twilight heard the sound of a door being opened and then closed, letting her know that he had entered into the vaults. She sat down to make the copies of the hoofful of books she wanted to take home, expecting to be able to make return trips to get copies of the rest.

Some time went by before she heard the door open once more. She didn't hear it close after what she figured would be enough time to get through the door. Shadow's trip out of the darkness seemed to be taking longer than his trip in. She saw his hoof first, several lengths of darkness seemed to be grabbing it. His head appeared nest, something looking like a hand seemed to be trying to pull him back in by his horn.

A second later he pushed against the spirits pulling at him letting the front half of his body leave the darkness, many of the smaller limbs trying to pull at him let go and snapped back away from the light. Small scratches appeared on him as they did, the runes glowing as brightly as the could trying to repel the ones still holding onto him.

The hand pulling at his horn was forced to let go as he managed to pull his hindquarters out of the darkness, the runes of the library pulsed causing the darkness to shrink marginally before the door was closed.

Taking a good look at Hearts Shadow allowed Twilight to see the book on his back, as well as notice the magic residual of a copy spell on it marking it as freshly made.

Shadow let the runes on his body fade. Twilight started to power up a low level healing spell before noticing the small wounds over his body just sealed over immediately.

"Well that was worth the risk." Shadow said with a hint of humour as he floated the book into his saddlebags on the floor.

"Exactly what did you rick that for Soot-horn?" Beaky asked.

"Something old. Now Twilight lets make our way out." Shadow said as he proceeded towards the entrance.

Having ensured that the library was properly closed as well as the door leading into the Grand Colony itself the duo carefully walked across the canyon.

Making their way back to the train station and then to Canterlot they discussed the books they read while in the library and which ones they ended up bringing back with the exception of what the book from the vault was.

On their return Celestia and Luna met with both to discuss the trip.

A quick recap of their trip followed over tea, including exactly where the Grand Colony was located at. Hearts Shadow made sure to let them know that if they should go there to take some sort of guards with them for the sole purpose of keeping them from safe from the dark spirit books.

"I also brought back something of a gift." Shadow said, bringing out the vault book. Making another copy of it, he set the new copy down on the table for the three princesses to examine. The lack of a title caused Celestia to lift it up and open it, gasping in shock as she realized what it was.

The book was quickly passed to Luna and then to Twilight, who remakred "It's a spell book. Though the spells in it are extremely simple, I mean the very first spell isn't really, just the manner in which a unicorn channels power into their horn." Looking up at her mentor she continued "Not exactly some dangerous hot to on evil so why was it locked away?"

"Twilight, that book is the first book written by a unicorn on magic. It was locked away due to it's inherit value. That is just a copy and it'd be worth a medium sized fortune. The real thing... a pony could buy out the equestrian throne theoretically." Celestia answered. "It's simple because when it was written, they were still working out how to cast the more complex spells that we learn in foalhood today."

Twilight looked at the book with renewed awe. Shadow grinned as he put his copy back into his saddlebags to be later added to his personal bookshelves.

Author's Note

I procrastinated for a couple weeks on this. Reading the Winningverse kinda let me keep going with that longer than I really should've let myself procrastinate.

And Finishing an Experiment.

Hearts Shadow allowed a grin to spread across his face as he finished checking over his calculations. Everything seemed to match up so it was time to set up the small scale test. Looking over to his desk he saw Beaky reading a book about modern jokes and comedy styles.

The dark blue stallion shook his head and began making a mental list of what he would need. The hardest part will probably be some volunteers so He tackled those first.

"Okay. Thanks for volunteering. I will now explain the procedure that we will but using for this test." Stated the odd skull sitting on a desk along one side of the room.

The earth pony and unicorn who had agreed to assist the warlock in his experiment examined the room they were waiting in. There were lines drawn on the floor warning them to stay on one side of the protective barrier they bordered. The interior of said barrier was filled with several different types of magical equipment to aid in research.

"So to start Hearts Shadow is going to set up a secondary barrier to prevent the experiment from going out of control. Once done we will infect the flora in the planter." Beaky started, the attention of the ponies being drawn to the stallion setting up poles around a wide planter filled with grass and a small clump of flowers.

"With the plants affected, Nettlekiss will charge the spell we practiced and channel it into Grassy Fields, who will mix it into his earth magic and pour it into the dirt in the planter." The skull finished.

The two ponies looked at each other. They had already tested the process but were wary about doing it for real. As they prepared themselves mentally Hearts Shadow finished setting up his barrier.

He gestured for them to join him inside it. After they got into place he floated a thermos over and checked with them to make sure that his assistants were ready.

Opening the thermos caused magical runes covering it to deactivate. Tipping it over the planter caused a small blob to fall out of it and land in the middle of the flowers.

Almost immediately the plants began to wilt. Hearts Shadow gave it several seconds before using his magic to place the blob back in the thermos and reactivated the runes as he sealed it.

Once it was closed and placed to one side he nodded at Nettlekiss. She wrapped magic around her horn as she started to weave magic into shape. When it was fulled crafted she placed her strongly glowing horn against her earth pony counterpart.

Grassy Fields felt the spell enter his body and focused on channeling it through himself while mixing it into the earth pony's natural magic. Reaching a point he felt it was ready he placed his forehooves into the planter as the blight finished infecting it.

Hearts Shadow watch with interest as the two ponies focused on their tasks. Checking on the planter he detected the blight being purged from it shortly before the damage done was reversed starting from Grassy Field's hooves.

When the planter was fully healthy again he called the experiment to an end. Running a disinfectant spell over all three of them as well as the thermos containing the blight he brought the barrier down. Once the blight was secured in a safe, the three ponies left to get some food to celebrate their success.

A few weeks later found Twilight and Celestia wandering out to the royal gardens. While she had previously allowed the warlock to set up an experiment, it had slipped her mind due to a rather aggravating dispute amoungst the nobles until her assistant informed her of a gathering happening.

They arrived to find Hearts Shadow meticulously placing tall rods about the gardens in a large ring. An inner ring had already been setup and a small thermos was sitting just inside it.

"Hearts Shadow. I hope this day find you well." Celestia greeted as she walked up to the warlock.

He held up a hoof to prevent her from crossing the invisible line between the already set up poles. Digging a hole into the ground he was at he carefully placed another pole into it. Checking the height of the top as compared to the others, he nodded before nudging it slightly so it sat at an angle.

"The day is good. Just putting the last few touches on my safety measures." He finally replied before moving off to place another pole, taking careful steps to ensure they were equidistant.

Celestia looked around and saw several of her royal gardeners sitting around in pairs, one earth pony to one unicorn. She sat down next to Twilight who was carefully examining one of the poles. She watch as Hearts Shadow finished placing the poles before giving each on a final check.

He then walked over to the inner ring and gestured at the waiting ponies to get into position. When they had placed themselves loosely around the area between the inner and outer rings the warlock turned to the thermos.

Floating it up he opened it and poured out the blob once more. Celestia stiffened as she recognized the blight as it affected the ground inside the inner ring. Hearts Shadow waited for a minute for the blight to fully infect the ground before securing the blob back in the thermos.

After several more minutes the blight had spread throughout the small area it was secured in. Glancing at the pony pairs he removed one of the poles.

The blight spread quickly passing underneath a couple of the ponies before Hearts Shadow gave the signal to use the counter spell.

Celestia and Twilight watch enraptured as the unicorns cast a spell and channeled it into the earth ponies. The alicorn then noticed the earth ponies mixing the unicorn magic with their own before pouring it into the ground.

The effect slowed the blight down before stopping it completely. After a moment it began being pushed back slowly while the ponies who were surrounded by it created small cured spots around themselves.

It didn't take too long before the blight started being cleared faster and faster while the edge started being revived. Watching the plants go from dead to healthy was exciting to those watching leading to a cheer when all the blight had been cleared and the field was entirely healthy again.

Hearts Shadow walked around making sure the blight was fully taken care of before smiling. Taking down one of the outer poles he thanked all the ponies who helped him with the full scale test.

"And that concludes one of my more tenacious experiments. I'll leave it to some other pony to study my spell and find more practical applications." The warlock said as he joined Celestia and Twilight.

"Yes, that spell will do wonders for famines and droughts. How about we get a cake to celebrate your triumph." Celestia stated, rising from her haunches.

And the Warlock Hunters.

Celestia was walking through the castle halls, using a chance between duties to stretch her legs. As she listened politely to her steward as he discussed some of the information that had been dug up about some of issues brought to her attention, she heard very odd noises. The noises themselves weren't odd, but there shouldn't be ponies engaging in combat inside the palace.

Her eyes tightened slightly as she shifted her course to take her towards the fighting. As she got closer the sounds became clear enough that her steward noticed them.

Arriving at the room, one of the empty multipurpose rooms that the staff tend to use to take breaks in or just hide from superiors looking for those taking breaks, Celestia cast an illusion over the door to see what was going on before stepping in to handle it.

Hearts Shadow was enjoying his book, turning a page as he sat in the middle of a large and empty room. Even the guards trying to hurt him were nothing more than a pleasant challenge.

He threw up a small shield to block a few daggers flying at him from on side before pushing on of the shields into the air to divert the pegasus guard.

Grabbing one of the knives he moved it to take a blast launched by an unicorn. The guards took a moment to catch their breath while the warlock just casually read his book, though only one other pony noticed when his eyes flicked to the door before returning to the page.

Celestia smirked as she dropped her spell on the door. She waited a moment when the sounds started up again and opened the door.

The guards fell over themselves as the snapped to attention.

"So would somepony like to inform me of the purpose of this... sparring session." The Solar Diarch questioned, with a little more than command in her voice.

"Sorry, your highness. I was talking to Hearts Shadow about our anti-warlock techniques and we ended up discussing possible improvements. He wanted to check out our current methods and this squad was more than eager to volunteer, once they got back from their leave in Las Pegasus." Answered an older pony whose uniform denoted a rank of captain.

"The reason you chose one of the rooms in my castle rather than the sparring grounds?"

"Well, we had to go searching for a couple of the soldiers, and when we had herded them all together I came up with the idea of a more real-world training scenario." The captain said, his voice indicating he was willing to take full responsibility for the fight.

Celestia hmmed at him, then turned to the warlock. "Well, what do you think of the guards?" She asked.

"Their techniques are good, if in need of a little more polishing. I would still need to check on some of the other aspects of dark magic, and have a couple ideas for them, but mostly, the armour needs to be upgraded. With your permission, I can forge a... prototype of sorts to present to you." Hearts Shadow stated, looking over the guards who had been fighting with him.

"Granted. I look forwarded to examining your work." She said to him, before addressing the gaurds and captain. "As for you, I believe the groundscrew always need help checking for weeds and leveling out the sparring grounds at the end of the day."

They all saluted as she turned to leave the room.

After a harrowing death-defying journey, to see the quartermaster so as to requisition the materials he needed. It took a couple weeks before everything had arrived, but once it did Hearts Shadow headed down to the royal armourer.

Knocking on the door a rather stocky unicorn opened it.

"You ain't a guard." He stated after looking over his visitor breifly.

"And you are the royal armourer." The warlock replied. "I would like your assistance with a project." He continued tapping one of the boxes he had brought with him.

Looking at the boxes, one of them caught the armourer's eye.

"Cold iron. What do you plan on doing with that?" He asked.

"Incorporate it into the armour I will be making. I have a couple other things I want to experiment with, and any techniques we figure out you can keep to upgrade the normal guard armour." Hearts Shadow said.

"Well, lets see what you've got planned before I make a decision. Names Burning Forge." Stated the unicorn as he stepped aside.

"Hearts Shadow." The warlock stated.

He then moved to boxes right next to the one containing cold iron and used the pressure of them against it to lift all three. Picking up the remaining boxes he carefully floated them all in to the large room where the forges were and placed them in an empty area off to one side.

Walking over to one he opened the top and pulled out several pieces of paper and handed them over to the smith. Forge looked them over noticing several differences than how the guard armour is normally made.

Some time passed, as well as lunch being some forge fried grilled cheese with tomato soup, before the smith finished looking over the plans.

"Why don't you explain some of these ideas to me. Specially how you plan on integrating the cold iron." He asked of the warlock.

"Well, the silver will be made into small disks that the enchantments will be applied to. That will keep the actual effects of them from being warped by the cold iron. The armour will be made in two parts, an outer and inner which the cold iron will be added into the armour as scales in between. Then the two parts will carefully welded together. Don't want the heat to ruin the effect of the metal. Other than that, runes will be included to help boost defenses." Hearts Shadow explained.

The smith nodded and moved over to the crates to examine their contents. Then the two started pulling out the silver to began their work.

The earth pony guard stood in front of several superior officers including both diarchs and Princess Twilight. The latter was darting about him and even hovering as she examined the new armour he was wearing. The armourer and warlock standing off to one side watch with amusement as the guard stood still under the scrutiny.

"I have included multiple new protections specifically designed to block dark magics. For example, Twilight stand away for the demonstrations." Hearts Shadow talked, pausing while Twilight sheepishly returned to Celestia's side.

He powered up his horn and tossed a few simple spells, which diffused harmlessly against the armour.

"Beyond the basic magical enchantments, the cold iron embedded into the armour helps weaken stronger magical attacks so that the defenses can better handle them." He said, following up with a much stronger blast, which caused the guard to take a sharp breath just before being struck.

The spell dissipated against the armour and the guard sighed in relief.

"The helmet has protections against mental attacks. Both normal spells and against mind control." The warlock powered his horn tossing confusion and sleep spells at the guard.

The spells washed over the helmet with no effect, and Hearts Shadow powered his horn to attack directly at the guards mind. He did hold back his power to that of what most warlocks would be able to do.

"The helmet can also be used to aid others. Forge if you'd be willing." He said to the smith, who nodded.

The warlock then dove into the unicorns mind and took control. Seeing this the various officers and alicorns watched carefully.

"Please remove your helmet and place is on Forge's head." He asked of the guard.

The earth pony removed the helmet, leaving the leather cap underneath on his own head. The cap had plenty of runes carved into it. As the guard placed the helmet on the smith's head, it shifted shape to accommodate the slightly large head and the horn upon it. Once it was on the smith mind was cleared of the warlock's control.

"As you can see, the leather cap includes the same protections, which will work with the rest of the armour to provide similar defense as the helmet alone. This combination will allow your guards to free enthralled ponies and help get them to safety. Of course, extraodinary powerful warlocks can still get past the various defenses, but it should require a stronger one than the previous armour." Hearts Shadow finished.

"Very interesting demonstration. I will let the Royal Guard check it out some more and experiment on the limits of it, but I think it will pass inspection." Celestia said. "Now I take it you have the methods to be able to make more of it?" She asked of the smith.

"Yes, your highness. I can go over the techniques with you one day, but I have been asked to keep them a trade secret." Forge replied.

"Excellent. I think I might even have you make some for myself." Luna stated, examining the armour herself.

And the Daring Adventure.

Hearts Shadow leisurely walked through a forest. He was on his way to an old temple. There was a wellspring of magical energy which occurs there once every 300 years that he had need of. Well, 283 years but it's just easier to round to 300.

As he made his way through the thick undergrowth a sound caught his attention. Putting up a shield in time stopped a pegasus with a gray-scale mane from jumping him.

Once she landed and got a look at him she paused.

"Sorry, I thought you were somepony else." She said.

"That's all right. Probably not too many ponies out here. I am Hearts Shadow." He stated.

"Daring Do, and just what are you doing out here?" She asked.

"There's a temple..." The warlock paused briefly before pointing in a direction he was roughly heading towards, "that way that I need to visit for a project I am working on. How about yourself?"

"Actually I'm heading to that temple as well. So are you an archaeologist?" The mare questioned.

"Thaumaturgical researcher. My studies have shown that the temple channels some energy surge every so often and I would like to study it." He answered.

"Well, maybe you could help me. Ahuizotl, a creature I have defeated before plans on using the temple for some sort of ritual. I plan to stop him." Daring Do stated.

"As long as it doesn't interfere with my project, I'll gladly offer what assistance I can." The warlock said, nodding at the mare.

They moved off together heading towards the temple.

A fairly uneventful hike later brought them to the entrance of the temple. They studied the door to figure out the trick to enter.

"These symbols here symbolize the phases of the moon, while the ones on the other side represent the constellations. So, we need to rotate the center plate to be able to open the door." Daring said, staring at the plate to figure out which pattern would be needed.

Hearts Shadow stared at the door for a moment before using his magic to take the plate. The dark yellow glow around the plate caused it to spin so that the door match proper night sky.

The door slowly opened once the plate had been set. The mare gave him a look.

"There were only so many ways to move it, and that was the only pattern that matched the night sky." He stated.

She rolled her eyes and moved into the temple. They moved down the main passageway until they got to a branching path. However, looking down one of them it was clear that it had collapsed so they proceeded down the intact hallway.

After moving a ways down it Daring stopped short of a change in the tiling on the floor. Staring at it suspiciously, she grabbed a stone and tossed it down the hallway. When it landed several darts shot out of the wall from hidden traps.

"We'll need to be careful. Don't want to end up as pincushions." She said, crouching down to look at the tiles to figure out a safe path.

She jumped when Hearts Shadow walked past her. As she went to stop him a shield appeared around both of them.

"Hurry along, unless you really want to waste time figuring out the trap." He said a bit smugly as multiple darts hit his shield and fell harmlessly to the ground.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the well chamber. As they entered a bunch of cats jumped them. Daring Do fought off several while the warlock hit others with stun spells.

Noticing that the cats were more focused on Daring and that a creature was standing off to one side commanding them, he decided to slip away from combat himself.

"You won't be able to stop me this time Daring." The creature shouted before laughing evilly.

Hearts Shadow determined that this was likely Ahuizotl. He blasted a few more cats with stun spells to help Daring get away so she can face off with her foe.

Once they were both distracted he moved over to the well and floated his saddlebags off his back. He began taking out several candles, comparing them before choosing the ones he would use.

When he had 8 good ones, the warlock began placing them around the well in specific places, though not equidistant.

"Hey, Hearts Shadow. Little help over here." Daring Do shouted as he placed the fifth candle.

"Wait... did you just call him Hearts Shadow." Ahuizotl said, surprised.

The warlock had placed the sixth and was moving to place the seventh.

"Yes." She said tentatively as her foe had stepped back.

"As in the Warlock of the High Order. He whose name is spoken in fear by denizens of the lower planes?" The dog-like creature said, fear beginning to creep into his voice.

"Yup, that's me." Hearts Shadow stated, nudging the seventh candle minutely.

"Wait, you're a warlock?! What do you plan on doing here?" Daring asked, taking a fighting stance.

"Well, there's this really powerful demon who was sealed a few thousand years ago." He started, moving around to place the final candle.

"You aren't going to release it on my watch." She stated, launching into the air.

"Not exactly." The warlock said, setting the eighth candle down, then igniting all of them.

As the flames sprung to life, a surge of magic cause multiple circles to appear over the well.

"I'm actually using the energy of the wellspring during the surge to strengthen the prison. You see, it would've been able to free itself a few hundred years ago. However, during my time, a group of warlocks wanted to use this place to free it. I stopped them and reversed their spell. Added a few centuries to the sentence." Hearts Shadow explained.

"Now, by my guess, we probably have another 180 years before the demon would be able to free itself, but with this it should hold for another 500. After the next surge I should only have to do this every other time." He finished.

Ahuizotl Looked between the two ponies. "Well, my plan was foiled. Curse you Daring Do, I'll get you next time." He said before fleeing.

"So what now?" Daring asked, hovering in the air.

"We could study the architecture of this temple. I have nothing to do for the rest of the day." Hearts Shadow offered.

"Sure." She said, landing on the ground.

And the Masquerade Machinations.

Hearts Shadow was enjoying a light snack in his laboratory when he heard a pony knocking on his door. Considering where on the door it was coming from it was a foal.

As he got up to answer the door he heard some mumbling followed by a slightly familiar, if higher pitched, voice yell "I AM THE SUN!" at whoever they were argueing with.

His interest piqued the warlock opened the door to find a filly Celestia standing in front of it.

"Discord." She stated in answer to the obvious question. "Can I look over some of you notes? I want to figure out all my options for retaliation are."

"Sure." He replied, stepping to one side so she can enter.

As the filly princess trotted over to the desk he returned to his snack. She glared at the height of the furniture before moving a stool over. Jumping up on the stool only brought her to eye level with the surface requiring her to rear up and place her forehooves on the edge of the desk.

Looking over all that was on it she noticed a small card sitting half on the edge, teetering over a trash can. Floating it up in her magic she saw that it was a party invite from Blueblood for a masquerade ball on Nightmare Night. Raising an eyebrow she placed it back where it was before returning to her original task.

Some time later as she poured through book after book, a noise drew her attention. Hearts Shadow had been fiddling with some potions when he had remembered something.

"There's a kind of rock that is supposed to absorb magic, if you attuned it right, you could put him in a cage for a while. Though that would take a lot of material." He said, turning toward the youthened Celestia.

"If I shrunk him down first, but a cage would be too much. Maybe a bracer then. Yeah that would work. Thanks for the help." She said jumping down and running over to the door. Opening it with her magic she darted off to another place in the castle to plan her vengeance.

A proper sized and aged Celestia met Hearts Shadow for tea a couple days later. A diminutive Discord was serving them as they chatted. When the conversation turned to their plans the invite she had seen was brought up.

"Normally I get invites to all the parties that the nobles throw, but when I talked to my steward he wasn't aware of Blueblood's. Odd that he of all the ponies wouldn't send one to me." Celestia remarked.

"Likely he plans on trying to humiliate me. I don't like dealing with stuffed wig nobles, so my attitude towards him has put him off on me. Granted, my own actions aren't exactly subtle, but he has imagined slights on a few of the times we have met. Like my little adventure with Twilight, our frequent tea-times, and my occasional discussions with Luna making it seem like you all prefer me over him." The warlock said, sipping his tea.

"I'm rather tempted to put on a disguise and go to that party. Luna would be at Ponyville for her usual antics so I have some time to spare before we meet up and enjoy the night as sisters." She stated.

"Hmmm. I wasn't planning on going, but it might be fun to bring you along actually. Would be fun to see his plan fall flat in his face, then get lectured by you on proper behavior and whatnot." He mused.

They continued to scheme for the rest of the snack, with one or two quick quips from Discord before he offered to transform Celestia for the duration of the party, if she took off the bracer keeping him small.

Nightmare Night came around and Hearts Shadow had finished getting into his outfit. While the invitation stated to wear a costume, he had wisely reached out to some of the other ponies going and confirmed that a formal outfit and mask was what theirs had said. Of course Celstia, temporary turned into a pegasus named Sunny Skies, was wearing a dress as part of her fairy queen costume.

Their plan was for him to be the proper noble while she was a commoner playing at being proper. Her wearing a costume instead of a more formal outfit helped sell that image.

The warlock left his quarters and walked over to Celestia's to pick up Sunny for the party. She met with him promptly and they began their way to Blueblood's mansion.

After being let into the house the pair were heralded as "Hearts Shadow, Earl of Equestria and Warlock of the High Order, and his date."

Moving down the stairs they joined the ponies milling about waiting for the party to officially start. As they meandered about most of the nobles gave them a slight berth signalling disinterest in chatting with the pair.

The warlock and Sunny were just fine with that, chatting with each other to fill in the time. Eventually even the fashionably late ponies had begun arriving.

Hearts Shadow noticed Blueblood off to one side, whispering something to a servant. A few minutes later a couple ponies began weaving through the crowd, trying to keep their destination from being obvious. They set themselves apart from the drink servers by having trays of finger food with them and most of the nobles they walked by ignored them.

When the servers got around to him it was clear that the point was for him to take the food early as they actually offered the contents of the trays to him instead of just walking past. As he was about to pretend not to notice them, Sunny Spoke up.

"Oh, that looks scrumptious." She stated, moving a wing to take some of the small food items.

"Allow me dear, don't want your lovely dress to be ruined." Shadow offered, floating a couple of the appetizers off the tray and over to her.

"Thanks." She said, before taking a bite.

"My this is wonderful. Though I have to ask why no one else is having any." Sunny remarked once having eaten the first of the items.

"Well, normally one would wait til after the host had officially greeted and started the party. No idea why they started the appetizers so early." Hearts Shadow said loud enough for the nobles slyly watching him to hear.

The servers quickly moved off before hoping to avoid any ire, however they did return to the kitchen with empty trays.

As Sunny ate the food Shadow held for her in his magic, they were finally approached by some of the other guests.

"I have heard about you Mr. Shadow, but you do seem far more civilized than what rumour has to say. Your date for the evening is quite the sight as well." Stated the somewhat elderly unicorn stallion, bowing to Sunny.

"Most do tend to associate Warlock with some sort of vile pony bent on evil doings." The warlock replied.

"Thank you for the compliment. Shadow here offered to bring me here when he ran into me sulking about the castle due to my niece being sick. I was going to take her around town for candy." Sunny said with a wistful tone to her voice.

"I hope she gets better. Tis a shame for a young filly to be unable to enjoy a holiday. Make sure to pick her up some-" The unicorn said, before being interrupted by Blueblood.

Standing on a landing of the stairs the host said loudly, "Hello. Welcome to my modest home. I hope that you all enjoy tonight's festivities."

As he moved down to join the guests the servers returned with the appetizers. When they passed Hearts Shadow he snagged a few more for him and Sunny.

Now that the music kicked up to something more than just light background noise the nobles were more willing to enjoy each other company.

"This is a lovely dance tune. Come on Shadow." Sunny stated before dragging the warlock out on the dance floor.

Some time and several dances later they were in conversation with another couple.

"Is that the mark of the royal tailor on your dress?" Stated a mare joining the group.

"Oh yes. I deal with the bureaucrats at the castle and managed to weasel him some vacation time when his grandfoal was born. I called in my favour to get this dress done quickly." Sunny explained.

"I'm jealous. It's extremely rare for him to make anypony anything if they aren't an alicorn." The newcomer remarked before the conversation turned to fashion trends.

Hearts Shadow smirked at that and listened to the stallions he was standing next to talk about some of their businesses. When they eventually asked him about his going-ons he quickly had them enraptured with his tale about the temple he had visited to keep a demon sealed away.

When Blueblood's rounds of the party lead him to the pair's group Shadow was discussing the details of how his blight worked while Sunny had the mares talking about the foals in their families.

Keeping his face straight, with the exception of his eyebrows which showed his frown, Blueblood joined the group.

"So by feeding off the lifeforce of what it infects, the blight generates more power. So the larger the area it covers, the power needed to clear it increases by a factor of 3, unless there's a mountain in the area, then the exponent is a 4." The warlock said.

One of the unicorns whistled at that before saying "To push that much power through the ground you'd need pretty much every magus and archmagus in Equestria."

"Which is why you pair the unicorns with earth ponies. Their natural magics grant them a connection to the land which almost halves the amount of power you need to generate before channeling it." Shadow replied.

"Is that why you joined the cannibals then? To acquire you blight?" Blueblood asked.

As the other stallions balked at hearing the word Shadow just smiled. "No actually. I joined their tribe to gain access to some bones they held as sacred. While even I don't know the name of the creature, it resembled a turtle judging by the skeleton. The fact that even after ages of being dead the bones still had magic coursing through them intrigued me and was why I wanted to study them." He explained.

"So you became a cannibal to study a turtle?" Questioned the party's host.

"I became one so I could get a better sense of how other creatures are connected to the magic of our world. It was of an immense aid to my primary project." The warlock said.

"Wait, you actually are a cannibal? As in you ate another ponies flesh?" One of the other guests asked worriedly.

"I partook in their rituals so yes to both. Though I haven't since I left them as I found the taste to be... well distasteful." Hearts Shadow said with a reassuring smile.

Before much more could be said Sunny Skies dragged him off for more dancing. Blueblood walked off to mingle with other guests, smirking at how he figured the nobles would react to the warlock's words. This meant that he missed their actual reaction as they judged him more off of how he was while talking to them rather than actions taken over a thousand years ago. If they could accept Luna despite the actions of Nightmare Moon, they felt he deserved a chance as well.

As the night progressed Hearts Shadow avoided several other subtle attempts by Blueblood to have him humiliate himself. While Celestia relished the opportunity to have fun and find out what the nobles say when she wasn't around not caring how they viewed her. Her attitude causing several of the other nobles to have more fun themselves even leading to some triggering the tricks meant for the warlock.

As the night started to come to a close the host decided to try one more, less subtle attempt. He had brought in several illusionists to help him with this, knowing that if a bunch of demons were to show up and other nasty things were to happen, he could easily blame it on the warlock and ruin him.

Blueblood trotted back up to the landing and drew everypony's attention. "I do hope you all have been enjoying my party. I'm aware that several of you have other plans you might want to be getting to so lets wrap this up with the unmasking so you can -" He said before being interrupted by the light all going out.

Several large monsters burst forth from different areas of the room scaring the various nobles. Many mares screamed, as did several stallions who sounded just like the mares. This was followed up by some of the guests discovering they had been partially transformed as hooves and horns became tentacles and wings turned into legs.

As the nobles freaked out and trampled each other to try and reach safety, injuring one or two others, Sunny Skies sighed. Blueblood was waiting for the mayhem to reach maximum before blaming Hearts Shadow. Celestia turned her disguise off and used her magic not only to relight the room, but also dispel the illusions.

The chaos died down quickly and the nobles stared at their diarch standing next to the warlock. She locked eyes with the host before sighing with disappointment at him. Looking around she used her magic to help up the poines who had fallen over, healing the ones who had gotten hurt.

"Luckily it doesn't seem anypony got seriously injured. Blueblood, I would like to talk to you tomorrow in regards to this. I know it's Nightmare Night, so scaring pranks are a bit more okay, but this was taken too far. Hopefully none of your evening are too badly soured by this, I know my sister would be sad if everypony was unable to enjoy her night." Celestia said, her voice smoothly switching from reprimanding to reassuring.

Blueblood hung his head fearing the lecture he would get the next day as the guests all calmly left his mansion.

At the castle, after a brief stop at Donut Joe's to get something to drink and a post party snack, the pair ran into Princess Luna as she returned from Ponyville. She grabbed the cup that Princess Celestia ordered for her as well as some doughnuts.

"So how was the party you went to?" The Lunar Diarch asked.

And the Evening of Exquisiteness.

Hearts Shadow put away some equipment as he finished his current stage of his experiment. Leaving his lab he placed his security spells over it to keep people from entering and potentially causing problems. He proceeded down the hallway towards the room granted to him.

Upon arrival he noticed the little box next to the door had some mail in it. Floating it out let him see that it was the latest in his correspondence with Rarity. Shadow opened it to discover she had agreed on the date he set to make good on his promise of an elegant evening to her. A small smile spread on his face as he began to make plans for that day.

Hearts Shadow approached the train station knowing that the train was scheduled to arrive a few moments hence. He took a brief second to ensure his jacket was properly arranged. Shortly after doing so he heard the train's engine as it pulled ever closer to the station. A quick summary of his plans for the rest of the day occupied his mind until the train had come to s complete stop.

Rarity departed the train and made her way over to Shadow. "Hello there Darling." She said once she got close enough.

"Good day to you Rarity. I hope the trip over here was enjoyable." He replied, stepping to one side gesturing for her to accompany alongside him.

They began to walk away from the station. Rarity trotted along next to Shadow, letting her eyes roam over him, admiring the effort he had put in to manage his appearance. Though she felt his mane could've used a bit more work.

"I notice a lack of a certain accoutrement. How is Beaky doing?" Rarity inquired.

"He is doing well. Oddly Celestia seems to enjoy trading quips with him so he is keeping her company while she handles the paperwork that her station tends to generate." Shadow answered.

"So what all is on our agenda for our little date?" She asked.

"First we shall enjoy a stroll through the fashion district. There is a play tonight that I have tickets and I figured you might want an appropriate dress for the occasion. The duration of the play is such that the intermission includes a dinner." Shadow remarked with a smirk.

"Shopping and a show, you sure know how to give a mare a good time." Rarity said laughingly.

A casual stroll through Canterlot found them perusing the multiple dress shops as Rarity searched for a fitting outfit. They chatted over small things and Hearts Shadow ended up learning quite a bit about both modern fashion and what the current trends are. Once they entered the fourth store Rarity found a simple elegant dress that matched the simplicity of his jacket and complimented his colour scheme.

Shadow paid for the dress and as they walked through more of the shopping district to spend the time until the play is scheduled to start. They grabbed a light snack and headed towards the castle to place her purchases and get ready for the play.

"So Twilight mentioned that one of my ancestors has some connection to you." Rarity said as she floated her shopping bags along behind her.

"Yes. Giving Heart. She took care of me for a time whilst I was a foal. Sadly she died shortly thereafter though I did keep in touch with her sister and her descendants. I was even able to meet her grandchild, Giving Heart's grandniece prior to my imprisonment." Shadow explained.

"It's nice that you kept in touch, especially since it is letting me get a lovely evening out of it." Rarity replied.

Arriving at the castle they separated so as to tend to their appearances for the night.

Hearts Shadow escorted Rarity through the entrance to the theatre. The play's name was proudly displayed on the outside of the building.

"The Magic Flute. Quite an oldie of a play. I guess that makes sense since my escort is an oldie of a pony." Rarity giggled, giving Shadow a light bump to show the insincerity of her comment.

"As I was checking out some of the more, heh, modern plays out there I saw that this one was being performed. It happens to be one of my favorites as well. Plus the play will give us something to chat about over the dinner." Shadow said.

Rarity gave a small smile as they proceeded to the box where their seats awaited. Upon arrival she saw that the box was one of the closer ones, granting an easy and full view of the stage.

"Well I guess I don't need these to just see the stage." She joked, holding up a small pair of fancy binoculars.

Shadow grinned at her as they took their seats, and began chatting about the play. Rarity informing him about some of the actors and some of their prestigious roles in the past.

As they enjoyed dinner they enjoyed a discussion as well.

"I always do love a play with an intriguing villain." Rarity remarked.

"It is usually said that the villain should be one of the most interesting characters. Though I do like that you find myself intriguing." Shadow said, before taking a bit of the gourmet meal before him.

"So you are trying to claim that the villain is based off of you?" Rarity smirked.

Finishing his bite Shadow replied, "More than claiming. I was friends with the playwright. He did exaggerate some things though that is understandable. I even played the role in the first production of the play. That was definitely an experience."

"Right, for a moment there I forgot you are old enough that such a claim could easily be true." Rarity said, taking a close look at her dinner partner.

"Age is but a number. I'm sure that Celestia has countless characters based off of her, not even counting the ones that are directly based of her." Shadow stated.

They finished their meal, and started on dessert with Rarity listening to Shadow talk of the playwright and entertaining her with some of his adventures.

The moon and stars were beautiful as they walked through the city at night. A discussion on the second half of the play filled their walk. The guards at the castle let them enter as they approached. Shadow escorted Rarity all the way to her room.

"Tonight was most exquisite. I'm glad that you turned out to be every bit the gentlestallion I took you for when we first met. Was beside myself when Twilight informed me of a dreaded and feared warlock was loose and that you were he. Although I must say, you probably could've done more with your mane, but I do know that short manes don't have many stylistic choices." Rarity confessed.

"Well, I am glad to have lived up to your original expectations. I did what I could with my mane, but there is only so much I can easily do. Anymore than this and I would've risked having it all revert to how it was." He said.

"I know that sometimes manes can be difficult to get under control, but a good salon trip can usually fix most anything." She remarked.

"Ahh. 'Tis my nature that is the problem. I have restorative immortality. Any change to me is simply undone unless I use several spells. Good for injuries as my body would revert to the point before having suffered it, so if I want to do a permanent change I have to do more than just cut or lengthen my mane and tail. Luckily I keep to my own fashion rather than keep up with the trends that are ever in flux." Shadow explained.

"That seems dreadful. I think that is just too high a cost for immortality." She joked.

"Well I shall let you get some rest so that you can be refreshed for your journey home tomorrow." Shadow said, giving Rarity a quick hug before trotting off towards his own room.

Author's Note

Forgot to put something I really wanted to touch upon when I wrote this last night.