Rageshift

**Author's note**

Alright, due to...recent events involving a certain critic that I will not get into, I've decided to put this new heads up before the chapter begins. Now I don't want anyone passing off my OC as a black coated Gary-Stu so mysterious he--quote--"craps shadows" right away when they read this chapter. The fact is he is explained and the air of mystery surrounding him is quickly evaporated for the most part, apart from some of the more major secrets about him, all in chapter 2. I once considered combining the two chapters into one to avoid this misconception, but then the first chapter would be over 7000 words, and I don't want that since the rest of the chapters won't get that big. Just read chapter 2 if you're overcritical of the first okay?

***

Chapter 1

The Black Stallion

Rarity was on her way to a classy social gathering in Canterlot. An art show specifically. She was wearing her favorite yellow sunhat and nothing more. While she did enjoy dressing up fancy she also believed that “It’s nice just to go out as if it were just a casual visit sometimes”. She was in uptown Canterlot heading to the castle when she saw something in the shadow of the alley out of the corner of her eye. It seemed like a moving shadow at first, but it had orange eyes.

A pony?

She watched the near invisible pony as he/she slowly crept up on a young mare-no older than Rarity herself. Suddenly he/she grabbed her purse and disappeared down the alley.

While the mare hadn’t yet noticed Rarity wasn’t going to let him/her get away with that! She took off down the alley barely making out the thief as he/she turned a corner—one that Rarity knew was a dead end. She lit up her horn and startled the thief, who turned to face her. It was a grown unicorn stallion. His coat was as black as a previous menace, his hooves a dark red, and his messy short unkempt mane and longer fuller tail were a dark maroon and a deep purple.

“Give back what you have stolen, you ruffian!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that,” he said. The stallion spoke with a soft and remorseful, yet strong, voice. “I just got back, so I have nothing. I need this money for food.”

“Listen to me,” she said carefully. “I know the ruler of Equestria. I’m sure I can get you some kind of employment.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. While I appreciate the gesture I won’t be here long enough to get a first paycheck.”

“No matter; I’m sure Princess Celestia can spare some of the royal funds to help you.”

“Celestia? Who is this ‘Princess Celestia’?”

Rarity stood stunned by his question. How could this stallion not know who the monarch of the land was? She had ruled for over 1000 years. How was it possible to not know of her? “Surely you’re jesting, right?”

“No,” he said flatly. “Who is…Celestia, did you say? The king’s daughter perhaps?”

“Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for over a thousand years! You must be joking!”

“One thousand years! It couldn’t have been that long!”

“You…you must be delusional; maybe you hit your head,” Rarity said thoughtfully, “Come with me. I’m sure the Princess can help you regain any memory you’ve lost.”

“No, I-I’m fine,” he quickly insisted, “I haven’t lost my memory, and I’m not going to the authorities. There’s no time for that. I need to avoid making a panic.”

“No time?” Rarity asked in concern

“I have to stop it.”

“Come with me.”

“NO!” he suddenly bellowed.

This wasn’t the time to play it nice any longer. “If you have information of a threat against Equestria I will bring you in by force if necessary.” The black stallion was stunned by her threat, but not intimidated.

“Get out my way,” he spoke with a demanding, but remorseful tone.

“I shall not!”

The stallion slowly walked up to her, and she finally realized he was even bigger than Applejack’s brother Big Macintosh. He spoke again with the same tone.

“Get out of my way, Rarity,” he demanded again.

“How do you know my name?!” she gasped.

“I said move. I’m not going to ask again.”

Rarity stood tall trying to make herself look bigger. Something the tiny mare failed at, as she was less than half the stallion’s size. She spoke with a shaky, but confident voice, “I shall not move!”

“…So be it, but please forgive me.” The black stallion raised a hoof and struck the side of her head hard, knocking her out cold.

***

When she awoke it was nighttime, and the black stallion was nowhere to be found. After trying to stop the ringing in her ears she realized, “Oh my stars! I’m late for the art show!”

She rushed off to the castle with her mind clouded with thoughts. Who was that powerful stallion? He knocked me out with one blow! As she thought of it her head started to ache. I should have Nurse Redheart check to make sure that I don’t have a serious concussion. No matter. Fluttershy is most likely worried sick! I need to let her know I’m all right. Her aching head said otherwise though. When she arrived a frightened Fluttershy greeted her. She tackled Rarity, crying hysterically.

“Oh Rarity, I was so worried about you,” the pegasus said, “When you didn’t show up, I thought somepony had kidnapped you, or worse!”

“Fluttershy, darling, you’re starting to hurt me.” The deceptively strong pegasus crawled of her friend.

“Oh I’m so sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

“It’s quite all right, darling,” she said, climbing to her hooves. “Honestly, I expected you to do something like that. You’re always concerned for your friends’ safety.”

“Oh, well, I just care,” the pegasus said modestly.

“I know, but, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine,” Rarity insisted.

“That bruise doesn’t look fine.” Rarity hadn’t considered that she might have a bruise. “What happened to you?” Fluttershy asked with heavy concern.

“I’d rather not discuss it until we get back to Ponyville,” Rarity dodged the question, “This is something I wish to discuss with Twilight especially.”

“Oh…um, okay. Did you want to leave now?”

“Oh heavens no! I’ve just arrived, and I have to maintain my social connections here in Canterlot,” the white mare reminded her timid friend, “We don’t need to stay long, but there are several important ponies I need to ‘mingle’ with.”

“Oh, okay then. Whenever you’re ready, Rarity.”

The two stayed for about another hour, and whenever somepony asked about Rarity’s bruise she replied by saying, “I was running and somepony opened a door in front of me. I didn’t wake up for half an hour, and I’m not defending a coltfriend. I don’t have one.” Some ponies were satisfied with her answer the first time, but most others needed Fluttershy to confirm Rarity’s story. She wasn’t comfortable with it, but as it turned out Fluttershy was a better liar that Rarity had assumed she’d be. When they left they headed up to the room Celestia had the guards prepared for them. Rarity was exhausted from her ordeal and collapsed on the bed.

***

The next morning the two of them returned to Ponyville. They rushed to Twilight’s library, but it was early and the sun had just risen. A very groggy Spike answered the door, and became hysterical seeing Rarity hurt. He put on his most macho act, swearing vengeance in her name instantly.

“Spike, sweetheart, calm down,” Rarity took a motherly tone, “You wouldn’t be able to do anything if you found him, and I’m here to talk to Twilight about it. Could you go wake her for me?”

“Alright!” Spike said before dashing up the stairs at a speed that would impress even Rainbow Dash.

“He really needs to get over me,” Rarity sighed.

“Don’t be mean, Rarity,” Fluttershy chided.

“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that…well…” she trailed off nervously not wanting to say the obvious.

“Well what?” the butterscotch mare pried.

“He is a dragon after all. I’m not going to live nearly as long as he will. It would never work even if I was interested.”

“Oh, well I guess that’s a good point,” Fluttershy conceded understandingly, “Just don’t break his little heart.”

“Oh Fluttershy you know I don’t have the heart to do that,” Rarity smiled softly.

“Do what?” Twilight asked as she walked down the stairs.

“Oh nothing important. I’m here to talk to you about this bruise.” Rarity pointed to it. Twilight went wide-eyed at the sight of it.

“Yikes! What the hay happened?” Twilight asked.

Before she could get an answer, Applejack barged through the door. “I need yer help, Twi,” she said urgently.

“Applejack, I’m a little busy,” Twilight said, a bit annoyed.

“Too busy to help me catch a thief?”

“A thief?” Twilight and Rarity asked simultaneously.

“Yeah, I only caught a glimpse of him. He was a black stallion with red hooves and a maroon and purple mane.” Rarity gasped upon hearing the description. “Does that mean somethin’ to ya, Sugarcube,” Applejack asked suspiciously.

“That’s the same stallion that gave me this,” the white unicorn explained, gesturing to the bruise on her face.

“Oh dear. You don’t think it’s the same pony, do you?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m certain,” Rarity replied.

“Wait, just a cotton-pickin’ moment. What the hay happened to yer face?” Applejack asked firmly, but with concern for her wounded friend.

“Just give me a few minutes to explain.” Rarity started, “Well yesterday I was headed to an art show where Fluttershy was waiting for me. I was of course going to meet with Fancy Pants and discuss business, but Fluttershy wanted to come with and who was I to say she couldn’t go? Besides, the two of us haven’t gotten to spend much time together outside of our weekly spa visits so—”

“Got to the point Sugarcube,” Applejack interrupted in deadpan annoyance.

“Yes, well. I suppose I did get sidetracked,” Rarity continued, begrudgingly suppressing the urge to scold Applejack for interrupting her, “As I said, I was on my way to the art show to meet Fluttershy, when I noticed what looked like a moving shadow with eyes. It wasn’t, of course; it was a stallion, and a thief at that!”

“You ran into a thief?” Twilight asked, “In Canterlot of all places?”

“Those were my thoughts exactly Twilight,” Rarity continued, “But I didn’t run into said thief, no, I ran after said thief. As soon as he stole that mare’s purse I pursued him with only justice in mind.”

“So ya’ weren’t worried about dirtying up yer mane?” Applejack mocked.

“Well since you ask, no, the thought didn’t cross my mind until now,” Rarity said with clear irritation, “Anywho, I pursued the thief into a nearby alleyway, which I knew to be a dead-end. As I rounded the corner and lit up my horn he was startled by my sudden presence. He said he had ‘just gotten back’ and that he didn’t want to steal but he simply believed he had no choice. Even stranger is that this stallion seemed not to know of Celestia’s rule—mentioning something about a king instead—and the fact she had ruled over a thousand years was met with…how did he put it? I believe he said ‘One thousand years! It couldn’t have been that long!’ At first I merely thought he was delusional from a concussion of some sort and may have lost some memory, but then something set me off.

“This stallion knows something that could be important. He said ‘I’m not going to the authorities either. There’s no time for that’. When I demanded he tell me of any threat to Equestria he refused to tell me anything. When I threatened to bring him in by force—I know Applejack,” Rarity veered off momentarily to stop another snide comment from Applejack, who clamped her open mouth shut, “He approached me finally and I realized how large he is. He was even taller and stronger than your brother Applejack.

“After I refused to let him leave he told me to get out of his way, calling me by my name, although I hadn’t introduced myself. After I continued to refuse he asked me to forgive him and, well, you can see what happened next,” Rarity gestured to her eye as she spoke, “This stallion is strong, dangerous, and possibly knows of a threat to Equestria. Even if he does not he is still a thief, and must be brought to justice. Thank you for withholding your questions.”

“So, he knew who you were, but not Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Now you know why I’m distraught,” Rarity concluded.

“Whoa Nelly,” Applejack said with shock. “You really mean ta tell me he’s bigger than Big Mac?!” Rarity nodded.

“The way you said it, it really sounded like he believed he had no choice,” Fluttershy added.

“I don’t quite understand it, but yes he did. We need to find him,” Rarity said with finality.

“I agree,” Twilight added. “Even if he’s just crazy, he did still hurt Rarity. We can’t let him get away with that.”

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst through the door. “Twilight! Oh, and everypony else, come quickly!” the energetic party pony said, “Rainbow Dash and I are chasing a thief that stole from Big Mac!” The three mares looked between each other and knew who it had to be. They quickly ran after Pinkie Pie as she led them to an alley.

“Last I saw them, Dash chased him down this alley, but it goes aaall over the place,” Pinkie informed them.

“We should split up, and send some kind of signal if you find him,” Twilight said; nopony argued with her. They ran down the alley and each took a separate path. Suddenly, Twilight heard voices.

***

Moments earlier Rainbow Dash had rounded a corner to catch the thief in the dead-end alleyway.

“Another dead-end? My luck is horrible today,” the thief stated to nopony in particular.

“You got that right!” Rainbow yelled, not concerned with hiding her presence in the least. The thief merely sighed in response.

“You’re not as subtle as your white-coated friend Rarity,” he deadpanned, “Ironic since white isn’t a good color for sneaking.”

“How do you know Rarity? Did you steal from her too!?” Rainbow demanded.

“No. She cornered me in a similar manner as you have, but she kept her presence hidden from me until I was cornered. Strange, I’m normally quicker to realize I’m being followed. That mare must be light on her hooves.” The stallion tapped his chin thoughtfully

“Well she is kinda frou-frou,” Rainbow said tapping her chin. Suddenly she snapped back saying, “HEY! Don’t change the subject!”

“I suppose you want me to give back what I stole?” he asked simply.

“Right! Now hand them over nice and easy,” Rainbow demanded with a sneer.

“I already ate it,” he said flatly, “I didn’t take that many.”

“Nopony steals from my friends’ family! You’re coming with me.”

“You don’t want to do this. You’re friend tried it as well and it didn’t end well. She’s okay of course, but I don’t give love-taps to ponies who try to apprehend me.”

“What?! You hurt Rarity?! Now I’m definitely not letting you get away!” Twilight was somewhere close enough to hear at this point.

“Get out of my way, Rainbow!” the thief demanded.

“How the hay do you know my name?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“I said move. I’m not going to ask again,” he warned.

“I’m not gonna let you get away!”

“…So be it, but please forgive me.” Twilight rounded the corner just in time to see the black stallion knock out Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled out.

“So her last name is Dash…good to know,” the stallion thought aloud to himself. Twilight tried to tackle the stallion, but he merely sidestepped and let her fall to the ground.

“Who are you,” Twilight demanded, getting back to her hooves. “What threat do you know of?”

“I’m getting tired of this routine, Twilight,” he sighed.

“How do you…,” Twilight veered off as a thought occurred to her, and she decided to test just how much this stallion knew of them, “Do you know my last name?”

“No,” the stallion answered.

Twilight looked at him quizzically. “What are you looking for? Maybe I can help.”

“Perhaps. I’m looking for a pony right now,” he explained. “I can’t give any details since I don’t know any, other than the pony has a star shaped birthmark on their neck, just behind the left ear.” Twilight stood motionless, simply stunned with her jaw hanging open.

“Do you know anypony with that birthmark?” the thief asked. Twilight turned her head and moved her mane with one hoof, revealing a small, bright red, star-shaped birthmark. The stallion looked at her in disbelief. “You!? The wielder of Magic is of the Sparkle family?”

“Hold on a moment,” Twilight stopped him as a million questions suddenly flooded her mind, “What do you mean? It’s just a birthmark, and I thought you didn’t know my last name, and just what do you mean ‘wielder of magic’? You’re a unicorn too!”

“Twilight Sparkle,” he said absently. “What a beautiful name. That birthmark only appears once every 5 generations of your family, and I was referring to the Element of Magic. Because you wield the Elements of Harmony, that’s how I knew your name and your friends’ first names.”

“How do you know all that?” Twilight asked unconvinced of the reasons. “How can you know our names because of the Elements, and what do you know about the Elements for that matter?”

“I’ll explain later,” the stallion said as he picked up Rainbow Dash in his ash gray magic; setting her on his back, “We need to go somewhere private.”

“You can tell me here and now!” Twilight stood in his path defiantly, just as Rainbow and Rarity had done, but she knew this was different: he needed her for something.

“Twilight listen to me: you’re more powerful than you know,” he explained, keeping it as vague as he could for the moment.

“Princess Celestia told me she had never seen a filly with as much power as me, so I can guess how powerful I am,” she deadpanned.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Again with the Celestia. You’ll need to fill me in on what’s happened around Equestria while I was gone, but I digress,” he quickly drew himself back to the topic, “Celestia—whoever that is—only saw your magic power, and it wasn’t all of it. That much is obvious to me.”

“How is that obvious?” Twilight asked, again unconvinced.

“Equestria is still here isn’t it?” The stallion asked mockingly.

Twilight looked at him in shock. “Am I really that powerful?” she asked dumbly.

“That birthmark is proof enough, but it means more than just your magic power,” he explained sagely, “It also marks you as a member of your family that can perform the legendary ‘Rageshift’ technique. You might have used it once when you were infuriated over something.”

“Well…one time I was really mad, and my coat turned a bright-near white-orange, my eyes were completely red, and my mane and tail turned into fire,” Twilight recollected for him, “Is that the ‘Rageshift’ technique?”

“The look is different from the stallion I knew, but its appearance changes from colt to filly, more specifically for everypony that uses it. I can’t say for certain, as it only appears once every couple of centuries. I only knew one pony that could use it, and that might have been a few millennia ago.”

“Rarity told me you said you ‘just got back’ and that you didn’t know Celestia, but millennia ago…that’s just not possible.”

“It is if you’ve been trapped in time and space like I have,” he deadpanned, while Twilight’s jaw hit the floor.

“What!?” she screamed.

“I’ve been sealed away by a powerful spell that kept me frozen in time and space. Basically like when somepony is trapped by liquid nitrogen. I didn’t age, but I couldn’t go anywhere either. I’ve been trapped for so many years I lost count around 420, and that was only an estimation. Can we please go somewhere private now?” he pleaded suddenly, “Don’t you have a home we can go to?”

“Oh. Yes. I don’t live far from here either.”

“Good. Lead the way,” he requested.

“How do I know you won’t run off when I turn around?” she asked sternly.

“I need your help, remember?” he deadpanned.

“Right…what’s your name anyways?” Twilight asked with curiosity.

“Blacklight. My mother thought of my name while looking at my coat.”

“Fitting,” Twilight thought aloud, “All right, follow me.” Blacklight followed Twilight without question

***

It didn’t take long for the two of them run into the other wielders of Harmony. Each of them wanted to know what was happening, but Blacklight wasn’t talking. They all arrived at Twilights library, and Rainbow Dash had woken up shortly before they arrived, much quicker than Rarity had Blacklight noted aloud. He said she was clearly more accustomed to injury and had a greater recovery rate, which only seemed to aggravate both mares further.

When they did arrive they wanted Blacklight to answer some questions. He told them what he already told Twilight rather quickly, but what they wanted to know was if something was threatening Equestria.

“What the hay is wrong with you?” Rainbow demanded.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.”

“‘Sorry’ doesn’t cut it!” she snapped, “I probably have a concussion cuz of you!”

“To be fair I did warn you,” he said simply.

“What?! You think that makes it okay?”

“That’s not what I said,” he deadpanned.

“That’s what it sounds like,” she sneered.

“You’re not a calm pony by any means are you?” Blacklight cocked his head as he spoke.

“Heck no,” Applejack answered, “Aight now, what the hay are y’all up to Blacklight?”

“I have to stop something, but Twilight is the only one that can help. The rest of you should just steer clear,” Blacklight explained.

“But we have the Elements of Harmony when we’re together,” Fluttershy reminded him, “That should stop any threat to Equestria dead in its tracks, um, I think.”

“I know about the Elements, but they won’t help Equestria this time,” Blacklight said without hope.

“Please stop being so dramatic Blacklight, “Rarity said in her overdramatic manner, although this time it was intentionally meant to mock him, “The Elements of Harmony have never been stronger then when they were used by the six of us.”

“Yeah! Oh, but I sure do miss the chocolate rain!” Pinkie Pie said naïvely.

“I’m aware of that Rarity, but I—chocolate rain?” He looked at Pinkie with his head cocked in utter confusion.

“Please don’t ask,” Fluttershy whimpered, still trying to forget that time period. Blacklight nodded seemingly not wanting to know.

“Anyways,” he continued, “I know that they won’t work on him. He’s too powerful, “Blacklight explained, “Only a large, more natural magic can defeat him.”

“Hold on a minute, yer gettin’ ahead of us all. Who er’ y’all talkin’ about exactly?” Applejack asked. A loud roar answered Applejack’s question, as did the fact that Fluttershy hid under Twilight’s desk after looking out the window saying, “Oh no! Not that, anything but that!”

“Blacklight?” Twilight looked at him nervously.

“How angry can you get on a moments notice?” Blacklight asked.

“What? Why?”

“Rageshift. It’s the only way to bring out your full potential,” he explained quickly.

“But I only did it once, and that was after an entire day of Pinkie sense! And that still doesn’t make any sense!” She was officially freaking out.

“Pinkie sense?” He cocked his head again.

“Don’t ask,” Twilight responded with her own deadpan, quickly becoming frantic again afterwards, “but I can’t do it on a moments notice!”

“…Then we’re doomed,” Blacklight said hopelessly.

“It’s not over till we say it’s over,” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“It’s over,” Fluttershy said still trembling in fear.

“What’s out there anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked.

An answer she regrets getting, as the roof is torn off and the upper part of Twilight house thrown across town. A snarly voice says, “Hello Blacklight.” All of the wielders of Harmony look up in fear, as an enormous black dragon that dwarfs the others they’ve seen looks down upon them.

To be continued…