Shadow of Death

by Blackdust

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Random
Length: 4605

Sol died recently. But Death found his attitude unique and sent him back, and made it impossible for him to die at the same time. Now he goes around demon hunting.

Sol, a kind and protective unicorn with apricot fur, and charcoal black mane and tail with pearl white highlight, and a rose behind a shield for his cutiemark, dies trying to protect his special somepony. As he draws his last breath, he sees the monster that killed him tear her apart. Now, after a unique experience with Death, the king of souls, he stands at the border between life and death. Will he choose to forget his death and try to live life like it never happened? Or will he become a revenant, one of Deaths own hands in Equestria? Or will he forge his own destiny with his new un-life?

Published 2016-03-26 18:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-22 23:37:33 UTC

Prologue

Author's Note

Please bear with me. First time actually using Death and other fanmade demons like the Six Winged Serpent in a story... Ever...

Prologue

It was a nice cool night. Not cold enough to warrant a coat or even a scarf, but not warm enough to cause a pony that just finished exercising to pass out from heat stroke. But that perfect balance, that spot where it was comfortable for everypony, without it being unusual. And two ponies, one a unicorn with a rose behind a shield, apricot fur, and charcoal black mane and tail with pearl white highlights and brown eyes, and the other a pegasus with three silver colored feathers, tan fur, and sky blue mane and tail and pink eyes, were taking advantage of the weather and going for a late night stroll through the backwater town that they called home. Even though most of Equestria had forgotten. What they didn't know was that a shadow was following them...

Chapter 1

The encounter

"It's really nice out Sol..." said the pegasus to the unicorn, giving him a slight nudge and giggle.

"It is indeed, Aurana. But not as nice as you." Sol replied giving her a small magical nudge into him.

"Hey now! We aren't even close to the hotel yet!" Aurana said, giggling more.

"Yeah... But you fools chose the wrong night to go for a walk..." said a voice from behind them.

They both jumped and turned around, only to find there was nothing there. Nothing but a shadow under a streetlight. And as the shadow moved out from under the light, it started to have a... thing casting the shadow. It was too fluid to be called anything either of them knew, but it was too solid for it to be a conjuration spell done by a unicorn.

"What are you?!" Aurana shouted in fear at the thing.

"I'm going to be your deaths." the thing said before it opened it's mouth and a black globe launched itself at Aurana. Sol jumped in front of it.

"NO!!" Aurana cried out, grabbing her lovers body and trying to fly away, but the thing released another bolt that completely destroyed her right wing, causing her to fall the few feet she had gained and snap the other wing. "AGHH!!!"

"Don't try to run. It'll only make things... messier..." the thing said, before walking over to her, and pulling her from her lovers body and throwing her far enough for him to have a clear view.

The fact that he was still alive and wasn't bleeding out from the gaping hole in his chest amazed him. But he knew he wasn't breathing and his heart had to have been obliterated. So why was he still alive?

"Just noticing you're not dead yet? Good. It'll make killing her that much better." the thing said, turning enough to see him, but not enough to take its eyes off of Aurana.

"Please... Just leave me alone..." she sobbed.

"But where would the fun in that be?" it said, stepping closer and bit her outstretched hoof clean off.

"AHHH!!!!"

Where was the guard? Why weren't they here already? The guard can't hear or reach us. It's my power." the thing said while chewing on her hoof. "They couldn't reach us even if they wanted to."

Aurana tried to run with her three good hooves, but it pounced on her and started tearing her apart right before Sols eyes. Once it had finished tearing her apart, Sol finally breathed his last, and closed his eyes...

...I'm cold. was the first thought that entered Sols mind after he finally died. Why am I so cold?

"Wwwwhhhaaakkkeee uuuupppp..." said a ghostly voice from somewhere in front of him.

Sol opened his eyes and noticed two things. One, he was on his back. Two, there was a skeleton composed of many different species of creatures standing in front of his eyes. Death...

"Yyyyeeesss..." it said in it's ghostly voice. If he still had a spine the voice would send shivers down it.

"What are you?" Sol asked, not a care in the world if he died again.

"Iiii aaaammmmm Deeeaaattthhh..." it said.

Sol flipped himself over and stood up so he could look it in where the eyes should be. "So what? Are you here to take me to the place I died for some kind of acknowledgement that I'm dead? I just saw a thing kill-no. Kill is to gentle a word. That thing fucking tore her apart! So what kind of fucking acknowledgement to I need that I'm dead?" Sol yelled at it in pain filled fury

"Yyyooouuu dooonnnn'ttt wwwaaannnttt tttooo gggooo bbbaaaaccckkk...?" Death said, amazement clear in it's ghostly voice.

Sol stopped and thought for a second. "No. I have nothing to return to. My family all died in a fire, or of old age, and the love of my life just got torn apart in front of my eyes. I have nothing to return to." And with that, Sol flopped on his haunches and hung his head in quiet sorrow.

Death took all this in and decided to give him a 'second chance'. "Ggggoooo aaannnddd kkkiiilll tttthhhhaaaatttt rrreeeevvvveeeennnaaannnttt..." Death said.

Sol looked up quick enough to see Deaths scythe coming down in cutting right into his head...

...And wake up back where he died. The hole in his chest gone. Almost like it never happened.

"There's a survivor!" somepony shouted from somewhere farther down the street.

Sol got on his stomach. Then stood and placed a hoof over where the hole was... And felt his heart beat against his hoof.

"What the tartarus..." he said to himself. "Why do I have a heartbeat...? I shouldn't have one after..."

By this time the earth pony that noticed he was... alive? Had gotten to him. "Hey, you ok there?" the stallion in gold and blue armor asked.

Sol felt his whole body pulse as the guard touched him, making sure he was alright. This caused Sol to jump back and away from the guard. "What are you!" he shouted at the guard.

The guard stared at him, then laughed darkly as his eyes turned pure black. No iris, no whites, all black. "So Death was foolish enough to send you back? Well, no matter. I'll just kill you again later. But for right now, you need to get over the shock of your first visit to the underworld, mortal, because it wont' be your last." And with that the guard, no. The thing from last night hit him hard enough to knock him out... Barehoofed.

To be contiued...

Chapter 2

The hunt begins

When Sol came to, he was being carried away by two medical ponies. One had a syringe with pegasus wings tied around it. Made sense since that one was a male pegasus. The other was a earth pony with a pair of bandages in a X on her flank, and a red and blue pill in the middle.

"Aurana..." Sol said, though he didn't know why.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" asked the pegasus.

"That bloodied and dismembered corpse was named Aurana. We were going on a date..." Sol felt a tear roll down his cheek bone and onto his neck, but he didn't care. He was shedding the tears that she couldn't now.

"Can you tell us what happened to the town? Incidents like this cover this town like a blanket, you're the only survivor of whatever attacked this settlement." said the earth pony.

"A... thing is the best I can describe it, attacked us. I think it thought I was dead after it hit me with a parking meter it had." Sol said, then thought to himself, No point telling them I died last night...

"A... thing? What was it? A pony with a disguise spell? Or a conjuration spell that went haywire?" asked the earth pony, curious now.

Shit! How can I play the fact that it was a demon or revenant or whatever the heck it was that Death called it without getting more attention?! "I... I don't know. It was to solid to be a conjuration spell, plus if it went haywire, as you put it, then it would kill the pony that conjured it and that would be all. And it was too strong and fast to be a disguise spell. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a pony." Sol sighed inwardly.

"Well that's about as helpful as a armadillo in the Sahara." said an earth policepony, the cutiemark they had was a pair of hoofcuffs in both the foreground and background of a gun. "You sure you ain't hiding nothin'?"

Sols heart pulsed. Is he a demon? I'll have to get him to touch me... This won't be fun... With a flash Sol was on his hooves and running at the cop. When he touched him, he felt a different sensation from when the demon possessed guard touched him.

As the two fell to the ground, they looked at each other. "You..." the cop started trying to say before the medical ponies pulled Sol off of him. "Stop! He's an old friend of mine. I didn't recognize you at first. You've changed old friend."

Is he giving me a bone? Better roll with it. "That is has. But you haven't changed one bit." Sol replied.

To this the medical ponies let Sol go and nodded slightly. "Sorry Officer Bluemane... We were just taken by surprise when he did that, that we thought-" the earth pony started saying before being cut off by the Officer.

"Just thought what? That he went insane and killed an entire village in one night and decided to hang around one of the kills and take a nap? It was his special somepony for crying out loud!" Officer Bluemane yelled at them. "I'll take care of him. He likes things a certain way, and I don't think you fools would be able to notice if something was wrong with him mentally."

Sol took the chance to cause a distraction in the medical van that was off to his right. Luckily they were to ashamed by what they had done to notice his horn glowing. All they knew was that something important suddenly burst and set off several alarms in the vehicle. It got their attention and sent them running towards it and let Sol and Officer Bluemane to themselves.

"Good call. Now let's hurry and get the hell outta here before they notice something." Officer Bluemane said before running away n the opposite direction of where the medical ponies were. Sol followed, having nothing to lose, and realizing the the cop was the only one that might be able tell him what he was going to hunt, fight, and kill.

"So what the tartarus are you?" Sol asked Bluemane, after catching up with him and turning enough corners to be near the forest that surrounded the village.

"I'm a Spark. A pony chosen by the essence of life long ago. You're a Shadow. A pony cursed by the essence of death. Whether recent or predetermined, you're now one of the undying. Something tells me you had a run-in with a shadow last night." Bluemane says, as if it's common knowledge.

"Spark? Shadow? What the tartarus are you talking about!" Sol said, stopping in his tracks, refusing to continue without a better more reasonable explanation.

This, of course, causes Bluemane to stop and turn to face Sol. "Look, if you want to know more, then you need to come with me. The Shadow that I was tracking went through here and killed everything in this town. Even the pets. And something tells me, you. If you want to know more, then you need to come with me to the House of Balance. Trust, me. If I had wanted to kill you, then you'd be dead by now." As Bluemane said those last words his eyes started to glow. The exact opposite of what the guards eyes did. Where Bluemane's eyes were now glowing, the guard's eyes were a bottomless pit of darkness.

"Wha... What are you..." Sol asked again, though he knew the answer in the core of his being. Dangerous. Life threatening.

To be contiued...

Chapter 3

The House

Sol just stood there. Shocked both by what he was seeing and by the fact that he could accept it as being natural. Despite his own conciseness saying that it should be impossible.

"H... How are you doing that? One of the guards-" Sol started to say before Bluemane cut him off.

"That guard is the one that killed you. The House of Balance is the place all of the Sparks and Shadows congregate to discuss land possession and to settle conflicts. The Shadow that attacked this village went rogue centuries ago. He was supposed to be my counterweight. Now I see he was my teacher's counterweight."

"Counterweight? For what?" Sol asked, genuinely curious. "And can you stop it with the eyes? It's freaking me out."

"Sorry." Bluemane said before ending the light show coming out of his eyes. "So, are you going to come with me to the House, or will you wait and let the rogue Shadow find and kill you?"

"I'll come with you." Sol said in as cold a voice as he could manage, finally deciding to avenge, not just the love of his life, but his entire village. He couldn't care less about the costs to himself. As long as he avenged his village, he would follow Bluemanes orders.

"Good choice. But keep the killers voice to a minimum. You'll need to blend in if you want to get close to him again." Bluemane said before turning around and galloping straight into the woods.

Sol followed as best as he could, using the beating in his chest to get a very, very, rough estimation of how far away he was from Bluemane.

Does he want to try and lose me in this underbrush? Sol thought as he realized he couldn't see or smell Bluemane anymore, as the growth of the forests bushes and ferns started making it hard to continue. Suddenly, his heart started beating wildly.

"So he was able to follow you using his 'heart'?" said a stallions voice from somewhere above Sol.

"It would appear so. He learns quicker than I had thought." Bluemane said from somewhere off to his left.

That's not right... I can sense him to my right... Sol thought, turning to the right.

"Amazing... Not even my illusions can trick his 'heart'..." said a mares voice from underneath him. But Sol knew that the three that were sending his heart wild were off to his right.

"Alright. This is proof enough. Stop the illusion, Brightwill." Bluemane said.

"Oh fine. But are you sure he's only a few hours into his Unlife?" said the mares voice. Then the ferns and undergrowth slowly started to shrink and disappear to reveal a path.

"What the tartarus...?" Sol asked in both shock and amazement.

"You stand in front of the House of Balance." said a light-gray mare unicorn with pale blue eyes, opal colored mane and tail, and a black starburst for her cutiemark.

"Well... What's left of it since we had that rogue Shadow attack us in our sleep." said a brown stallion pegasus with almost black eyes, ash colored mane and tail, and a black cloud with what he guessed was ash coming out the bottom for his cutiemark.

"Silence Ashtail. The less he knows of your past, the better." Bluemane said.

So the unicorn was the one he called Brightwill... Sol thought as the two stallions started to quarrel.

"Don't mind them newcomer. Tell me, what is your name?" said Brightwill, stepping closer so that the stallions argument wouldn't be interrupted by their talking.

"Sol..."

"No. Your new name. The name Death gave you when he sent you back." Brightwill said, shaking her head slightly.

"What do you mean? He didn't-" Sol started to say, before he felt his mind shatter...

...And suddenly reform in front of Death again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Sol shouted at him, once he could speak again.

"Yyyyyooouuu dddooonnn'ttt hhhaaavvveee aaa nnnaaammmeee sssuuuiiittteeeddd fffooorrr yyyooouuurrr nnneeewww llliiifffeee..." Death said in his usual ghostly voice.

"Alright, cut it with the ghost voice. It ain't scaring me anymore." Sol said, more pissed than the last time he was there.

"Fine. But know that you'll regret making me speak like this." Death said.

"Yeah right... So what the tartarus is my name then if it's not Sol." he spat at Death.

"Your new, and proper name, shall be Reaper. But for the purposes of blending into the masses, your name is Roseshield." Death said.

"And to the monster I plan on killing?"

"Death."

Roseshield smiled at that. Being allowed to take the name death by Death himself is rare enough. Then Death used his scythe and cut off Roseshields head...

...Which sent him back again.

Roseshield gasped and sat straight up. He was in a strange bed in a dark room of a stranger house.

"Glad to see you're finally back here." said Brightwill from a corner of the almost pitch black room.

"Can't say the same Brightwill." Other corner. Roseshield turned to face the direction that he sensed her.

"Damn... You really are good with your 'heart', you know that? None of the other Sparks or Shadows are able to even start to discern the direction I'm in unless I want them to." she said, dropping the illusion instantly. The sudden feedback from the illusion left Roseshield stunned for a second.

"Roseshield..." he said, after a few seconds.

"That's your new pony name? What's your hunting name."

"Reaper. And to the thing I plan to kill, Death."

"Hey, don't kid about that kind of thing. Death doesn't let others use his name freely when it's a title..." said a voice from back and to the left of him. Roseshield turned to see Bluemane in the door. "Either way, it's time to start training."

To be continued...

Chapter 4

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6

Author's Note

Welp. Three or so more in my gen arc. Hope I get some demon requests soon! And sorry for the short chapter again... I think I'm running out of ideas...

Chapter 6

Learning

Roseshield considered what Brightwill had taught him. If he didn't go with Ashtail, he would certainly be at a disadvantage to his foe. But if he did, then the rogue Shadow would get farther and farther away. "A double edged blade. But I will stay and learn. And then I want to see the library. I'll need more spells if I want to win this war."

This sudden and uncharacteristic change caused Brightwill to blink in shock and amazement. "Really? I thought you'd want to go out and kill the rogue as fast as possible?"

"I did and do. But I want the actual fight to be as quick and cause as little destruction as possible. So to do that, I need to study. I need to train. I need to get better," Roseshield said, determining that he wouldn't need to worry about the rogue for at least a week before he got anywhere with enough distance from his village to be able to slaughter the next town, city, or village again.

"Smart. But now, your training starts. Brightwill, I want you to tell him some spells under your breath while I try and tell him some of our better war stories, OK?" Ashtail said, starting to flap his wings impatiently.

"Very well," Brightwill said, still a little stunned by just how deeply her lesson had reached him, as well as how quickly he had mastered it. Most of the other students she had would have to wait weeks, if not months, to even start to become patient enough to even catch something.

"And then... we shall... teach him... adaptation... and... anticipation..." Bluemane said between breaths. Nopony even noticed that he had grew back to his regular size.

"Agreed. Now then. Lets get going," Ashtail said, then flew off.

"We better get going. When he took the patience test, it took him almost a century just to pass it." Brightwill said, walking away from a stunned Roseshield.

"...You guys really don't age, do you?" Roseshield finally asked when he recovered from the shock.

"Not like most... ponies would age..." Bluemane said, already sounding better.

"...So how old are you three?"

"I'm almost three centuries old. Brightwill is older than me by at least another 4. Ashtail is about the same age as me, give or take a decade."

"And the rogue?"

"We don't know. He's been a rogue since before I became a Spark. We fear he might be the oldest Shadow alive. Old enough to possess some form of magic that lets him cast without using unicorn, word, or hoof magic."

"What do you mean? How is that possible?"

"Weren't you supposed to go with them?" Bluemane countered, now that Brightwill and Ashtail were long gone.

"This is the test. The test of selection. It's the test you three use to select which one you'd rather listen to. Right?" Roseshield tossed back.

"Touche. And yes. The test of selection is the most important. Does this mean you'd-" Bluemane started before his eyes rolled up into his skull and he slumped over.

"Bluemane!" Roseshield shouted catching him.

"Gone... They're dead... He's here... Run..." Bluemane said while he could before fainting.

"No... They... How..." Roseshield said, starting to feel useless.

"I killed them," said a familiar voice, from the same direction that Brightwill and Ashtail went.

"You," Roseshield didn't even to see the rouge to know he was there. Even if he hadn't of spoken, Roseshield would've sensed him.

"Me," the rogue said, stepping around a corner that blended into the wallpaper, creating the illusion that the hallway ended at the turn.

"You'll die now, bastard," Roseshield said, feeling the fluttering not only in his chest, but in his head and, he guessed, his soul. Or where his soul would've been, had he not been dead.

"So you say," said the rogue, smiling.

"You will, here and now," Roseshield said, leaping at him.

To be continued...

Chapter 7

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8

The demons of Equestria

Weeks after the devastating war with the rogue Shadow, Roseshield was sitting, floating really, in the library of the House of Balance reading one of the lore books that Bluemane told him to read. It was an old book with marks and stains and a REALLY long title. The Old and New Demons of Equestrian Lore and Mythos. As he was reading he started thinking about how he could trap and seal them in his soulless body. Why he wanted to do that is so he could try and prevent or hold some of the demons back when and where they show up. He could already feel a demon in the distance. Though he couldn't pinpoint it for the life of him.

Author's Note

These two unread chapters are for anyone to take up this mantle. I would love to keep working on this, but... Eh. i don't rightly have enough inspiration for it.

Spellbook

Luna Texentium- Moon beam
Solaris Inspiratone- Sun blast
Lux Sanitatum- Light healing
Umbra conspectu- Shadow sight
Lux ruptis- Light burst
Memoria extermina- Memory erase
Animalis lingua- Really? Logic it out.
Glacieum iaculat- Freeze shot
Murum flamma- Wall of flame
Arma cristallum- Arms of crystal
Mandabo arbores- Tree step. I know that ain't what it says, but buck it.
Gladio furori- Blade fury.
Nubes ambulate- Cloud walk
Percute gemina tirgride- Twin tiger strike
Draco choro- (Obvious) dance
Mare gradu serpentis- Sea serpent step
Meteoron clypeus- Meteor shield
Excresco- Grow
Terrae, aer, ignis, aqua. Ex quatuor elementis, et vocatis o diabole, quem habetis a corpore, et iter ad me interrogo, in quo signati estis in morte vadam ad dominum meum.- Earth, air, fire, water. From the four elements, I call ye oh demon, from the body of the one ye possess, and demand you to travel unto me, where upon ye shall be sealed away unto my death.
Terrae aer, ignis, aqua, obsecro mecum quatuor elementa.- Earth, Air, Fire, Water, I call upon the four elements to my side. Grant me your strengths and lend me your powers so I might defeat this foe of mine.

Author's Note

This is only a spellbook that Roseshield finds. It is filled with various word spells and a couple ritual type as well.

Chapter 5

Patience

"Good." Brightwill said, before turning and trotting a good distance away and then whispered something too quiet for any of them to hear. Then she started to grow... And grow... And grow. Until she was what Roseshield could only assume was her regular size.

"How did she do that?" Roseshield asked Ashtail since Bluemane was still too winded to really answer without taking all day.

"Hey, your lesson started the instant you agreed to listen. I am NOT about to make her mad by helping your impatience." Ashtail said backing away.

"What? I'm supposed to say some stupid words and wave my hooves around and I'll grow bigger?" Roseshield asked, slightly disbelieving that 'hoof and word' magic even existed.

"Only if you want to turn into a pile of ash. And it didn't look too painless when it happened to my study partner." Ashtail said before trotting off a good distance and turned his back to Roseshield. Ashtail then started to grow back to his normal size.

And then he caught it. The words to counter the spell. Excresco. He just had to be patient and listen. Just like she had told him to do. The wind carried the words over to his ears after he had started to think about how he had countered Bluemanes' enchantment.

"Excresco..." Roseshield whispered. In return he felt something in him flutter like a caged bird. Patience... Listen... Clear everything else and just listen...

Again, he felt something flutter inside his chest. "Excresco." Roseshield whispered again, but with his want of being big again.

"Congratulations. You passed the first part. Listening to the winds to find the knowledge you seek." Brightwill said from beside him.

"A clear mind helps. Thank you, sensei." Roseshield said, bowing before he realized what he was doing.

"Sensei? And what, pray tell, does that mean?" Brightwill asked, cocking one eyebrow.

"It's my villages term for one that teaches another the paths of combat and honor..." Roseshield said, moving only his mouth to answer. Luckily, he didn't need to breathe anymore.

"Well then. I guess I'm next then." Ashtail said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"And what would you teach him? How to fly? He's still too fresh. And he's a unicorn! What can you possibly teach him?" Brightwill said, degradingly.

"I can teach him something neither of you can. Ignoring things. Yes listening, patience, and endurance are important, but what if he can't ignore the background noise to hear what he wants? He'll miss something important." Ashtail said, cantering away. And called over his shoulder as he left, "So, will you bear with me, and follow me out to the forest?"

To be continued...

Author's Note

Here's the chapter with word magic! If you want to know, it's Latin. I'll post a 'spellbook' chapter if I hit 10 likes. And yeah... Sorry for it being so much shorter than the previous ones...