The Watchers Orginsby zyhendersonChaptersThis Is WarThe Demon WithinThe PrinceThis Is WarHumans. They were mysterious beings that showed up in Equestria around 1000 years ago. Adopted as refugees, the strange band of two-legged creatures joined the ponies of Equestria, working together as a whole to take down a common enemy. Soon after discord, the self-proclaimed king of chaos, was defeated, the humans and ponies, led by two regal sisters, came together to form the city of Canterlot. Peace was on the horizons. But the Peace was not to last. The humans grew steadily more violent, turning on the ponies they once worked with. They began to attack towns, steal food and supplies designed to help rebuild the country. They made life harder for the ponies, destroying their ways of life, turning from welcomed refugees into an outlawed force of destruction. There were three clans. The council of chaos, a select group of humans who fought in the name of discord himself. Then there were two smaller tribes. These tribes became legends for their choice. They protected Equestria. They were known as the children of the night and the solar empire. These smaller tribes choose to fight for the princesses, Celestia and Luna. However there was one major difference between the two armies. The two clans disagreed on the rulers believing only one princess should rule instead of two. This disagreement led to a splintering of the human clans, resulting in the creation of another clan. The leader of this clan would become known as Jay, with many claiming him to be the strongest of his clan, leading his kind into exile in the name of peace. But then came Nightmare-Moon. The hatred inside the Princess of the Night, Luna boiled up, transforming her into the wicked mare of darkness. Once again the humans returned to protect their adoptive home. From the Children of the night came Eclipse. He was a ruthless warrior but was very protective of Luna, for whom he’d sworn to serve. His hatred of corruption carried the Children-of-the-Night into battle alongside the previously disliked Princess Celestia. That was the beginning of the human’s descent into extinction. This is where our story begins. (Insert Horizontal line here) The large, majestic double doors swung open, revealing the imposing figure standing in the doorway. Standing on two long legs, the figure was clad in black armor, covering almost every inch of the human’s body. As the Human strode into the throne room, the light filtering through the giant stained glass windows reflected off the dark metal, throwing the features of the armor into sharp detail. The armor was divided into plates, connecting sharply together, each piece marked with intricately woven symbols. The human’s long arms were covered in black-steel, each gauntlet covered in the intricate symbols. Covering the human’s shoulders were thick metal-plates, each with three sharp spikes. A similarly spiked helmet covered the human’s head, leaving two eye slits through which a pair of malevolent, red eyes stared out, full of hate. The armored human walked casually down the large hall, ignoring the stained-glass windows on either side of him, showing no reaction to the shaking of the castle walls, the thick clouds of dust falling from the stone ceiling or the muffled shouts of fighting that emanated from the outside of the dark castle. It had taken the warrior many weeks to get to this point, nothing would stop him now. His metal boots clanged on the marble floor as the warrior made his way towards the darkened throne at the end upon which…The warrior froze.Nightmare Moon awaited him. She had dark, navy blue fur, with a mane of glittering blue light, that seemed to flutter in a nonexistent breeze. A pair of turquoise eyes glared out at the warrior, the diamond-shaped pupils tightened in malice. A quartet of blue plates were secured over the Alicorns hooves, with navy-blue Armour clasped over the mare’s barrel and head. Her mouth was open in a predatory smile, each tooth sharpened to a point. As the warrior approached, the Alicorn ran a snake-like tongue over her teeth, a soft chuckle emanating from her dark-furred chest. The warrior stopped about a foot from the Alicorn staring up her. His armored fists balled with a great clinking of metal plates. Nightmare-moon chuckled again, watching the human with a lustful smile. The warriors eyes narrowed. “Nightmare-Moon…Tonight you will fall.” The figured growled out from the metal plate covering the humans mouth. Low and husky, tinged with anger.Nightmare-moon chuckled, standing up and jumping down from her throne. Despite the shouts and sounds of fighting from outside ,Nightmare moon had heard every word that the human had muttered.Nightmare moon advanced towards the warrior, spreading her large, blue-feathered wings. The warrior took a step back but Nightmare-Moon stopped, running her tongue across her lips. “Why do you hesitate you parasite?” Demanded the warrior, flexing his shoulders, so that the armored plates making up his outfit shifted as one, more like a living thing than a stack of metal. The Alicorn chuckled again, seemingly unconcerned about the warriors anger. “I have no need to worry Eclipse.” Nightmare-Moon replied, her velvety voice worming through the air. “I know you wouldn’t dare attack me and risk harming your Precious Princess Luna.” Eclipse’s eyes had narrowed to crimson streaks, heavy breathing rasping out from behind the armored plating. The Alicorn’ smile widened. “Your precious little mare-friend Luna.” Eclipse took a step forward, his hands once again balling into fists. Nightmare Moon laughed, the velvet quality vanishing immediately from her voice. “Temper, temper Eclipse.” The Alicorn chuckled , smiling another sharp-toothed smile. But now, the dark Alicorn could sense the anger, rolling off Eclipse in waves. Indeed, to Nightmare-Moons eyes, the anger was like red lava, rolling off the human, toxic to all who dared touch it. Even to her powers, the fire was dangerous. “You’ve made your choice Alicorn!” Shouted Eclipse. A bolt of red energy flew from the humans arms, striking the marble floor and splintering it with a resounding crash. But Nightmare-Moon had jumped into the air, flapping her mighty wings, laughing at the smoking crater Eclipse had made. The sharp horn atop her head began to glow. Turquoise energy began to billow around the Alicorn, currents of energy branching out, striking everything within reach. Windows shattered, the stone and marble cracked and the air itself began to sizzle and boil. Eclipse stood, shielded behind his red energy field. “My powers protect me from your paltry spells Parasite!” He shouted drawing the energy towards his body with sweeping motions of his hands. Nightmare-Moon gasped, unable to comprehend the sheer impossibility of what she was seeing. Six gems had risen through the ground, each glowing a different color. One was red, another blue, another orange, a fourth was pink and the fifth was green and finally the sixth one, a small purple pointed star. Lines of multi-colored light spread from the six gems forming the image of a six-pointed star on the ground. Nightmare-Moon howled in fury, attempting to power up another attack spell. But her magic wouldn’t come. Instead, her body seemed to be seizing up, stiffening as though some-pony had used a freezing spell against her. Slowly, Nightmare moon began to descend to the floor as though pulled down by a mysterious force. “You see Nightmare-moon,” Eclipse said, his own red energy field vanishing into the light as the human strode into the formation of light. “I too can use the elements of Harmony. A last resort if you will.” Eclipse sighed bitterly as he stared at the struggling form of the dark Alicorn. “I can’t separate you from Luna yet…but I can banish you for a few years.” Eclipse shook his armor covered head, before bringing his hands together almost as though in a gesture of prayer. “I’ll weave an aging spell into the formation so I’ll be there to watch over you.” Eclipse tensed, his muscles bending the metal plates of his armor. “I…wish this could’ve ended differently Luna.” He whispered quietly as a single tear slid out from under the helmet and slid down to the floor. “Goodbye…” Eclipse separated his hands, then brought them smashing down upon the floor. The Lights converged, bright enough to burn out Eclipses eyes. And as the light converged upon both him and the still struggling Alicorn, Eclipse felt it. All the fight was draining out of him. It was like his essence was being drained out. He was losing everything about himself. He felt a brief pang of guilt that was quickly washed away. Was this what was happening to Luna…No…Nightmare-Moon? But it was all being taken from him. Eclipse just had time to make out the image of Nightmare-Moon, shrieking at him, words that were impossible to hear, each most likely dripping with poison, before his vision faded and silence took hold. The Demon Withinshadow smiled as he walked through the streets of Canterlot. A young unicorn, he was a black colour with blackish, reddish hair at the end of his mane. He smiled wider, his bright, sapphire blue eyes staring up into the sky, watching the clouds roll by, tossing and turning in the windy, midday air. Life was good. The young Unicorn felt elation coursing through his veins. He’d just returned from the doctors. It was common for Unicorns to get a check-up to test his or her magic. The Doctor had told him that he would be just fine. In fact, too his parent’s utter delight, the Doctors had also told him that his powers were surprisingly well-developed, even at this young age. Shadow smiled, imagining himself levitating objects, making them fly through the air in majestic arcs. It was a rather pleasing thought for the young foal. "Shadow? Shadow, where are you?!" The pony calling was his mother, Sunset. She had a dark blue coat with a bluish, red mane wrapped in a ponytail-like fashion. Her Violet eyes shone with a caring glow as she continued walking down the street. Shadow smiled a little sheepishly. In his happiness, the younger Unicorn had been increasingly speeding up, leaving his parents behind. His Mother smiled as she finally caught up to her son. “What’s on your mind Honey?” She asked, gently dragging her hoof through Shadow’s mane, making her son giggle, embarrassed. "C'mon," Sunset cooed teasingly, patting her son on the head again. "A mother knows you're hiding something from me," she whispered. . . She whispered, planting a kiss on her sons head, just under the horn. Shadow giggled again, blushing as his mother kissed him. He was really glad that blushes couldn’t be seen through his dark fur. “Mom, I wanna go over to Twilight’s. Can I please Mom?” The older Unicorn frowned; gazing down into her son’s rapidly widening blue orbs. “Pleasssssse?” Asked Shadow again, his eyes widening in the most heart-warming fashion he could muster. Sunset shook her head, laughing as Shadow’s look increasingly resembled the look of a sad puppy, begging for scraps. As a Mother, Sunset was no stranger to the begging look that children could use. Though to her credit, Sunset was a lot more resistant to the charms of that look. It made her heart melt at the sight, making her chuckle. There was that name again. Twilight-Sparkle. A Unicorn filly, who lived a few streets away from them. Normally, Sunset wouldn’t pry into her sons affairs….but…. “Shadow,” Sunset said thoughtfully, gazing down at her son with a thoughtful expression on her face. “You hang around a lot with Twilight don’t you?” Shadow nodded excitedly, pleased that his mother might be considering letting him go. “I mean, ever since you met her in Magic-Kindergarten, you’ve done nothing but talk about her. I mean you practically hang out with her non-stop. I doubt you’d come home if I didn’t make you. Is there something you’re not telling me mister?” This time Shadow did blush, the red stripes burning through his black fur to shine for all to see. Sunset bit her lip, then abandoned the restraint all together and burst out laughing. Shadow pouted in the way only a little kid could turning his head to hide his bush. “Aw, I’m sorry Honey.” His mother chuckled, turning her sons head back gently. “Moooom!” Shadow whined, knowing full well that he’d been tricked by his mother. “Twilight is not my Mare-friend. We’re just friends, that’s all.” His mother continued to smile in that annoying way. Shadow felt his temper spike slightly, but forced himself to calm down. Being rude to your mother was a sure-fire way to get grounded and he didn’t want to get grounded on a beautiful day like this. “C’mon Mom.” He added pleadingly staring up his mother, the trusty water-works coming on. “Can’t I go? Please?” He added a drooping lip and widened his eyes for added effect. Although he didn’t look it, Shadow was quite a devious foal, as his father told him during their games of hide-and-seek. He knew from experience that his sad face could not be resisted, despite their efforts to do so. His mother’s stern-expression softened and she sighed in a defeated sort of way. “Alright Sweetie, you can go.” Sunset said smiling at her son. “But I want you back at the house by the time its dark-out. Oh and one more thing…” She added sternly fixing her son with a hard glare. Then she smiled widely. “And say hi to your sweet mare-friend for me.” She smiled, watching as her son stalked off, pouting once again, a bright red blush burning through his black fur. Sunset smiled widely. She supposed it was the gift of every mother to be proud of their children. “I’ll always love you Shadow.” Sunset smiled, turning back and starting on the path back down to her house. Horizontal line here Twilights POV: I smiled to myself as I made my way to school, my thoughts drifting back to…him. My friends always teased me about Shadow. Moon-dancer, Lemon-Hearts, even Minuet. They all teased me about him. Trying to introduce Shadow to the girls would be next to impossible, since he would only talk to me whenever there was a group of ponies around us. It didn’t stop ponies from trying to befriend him. He was just so…likeable. Even Spike, the baby dragon I’d hatched a few weeks before had taken to him. Though I wish he’d back off a bit. I’m starting as Celestia’s personal student today and I can’t learn anything with Shadow breathing down my neck. For some-pony claiming to be just a friend, he acts protective…Way more protective than he really should be. I don’t know what he’s worried about, but I hope to find out. Horizontal Line “The breed of Ponies known as The Alicorns is a rare genetic occurrence. This breed is typically associated with royalty and for centuries it was assumed that Alicorns were a breed specifically bred within the royal family.” Twilight-Sparkle smiled to herself as she finished the chapter. The big heavy book Princess Celestia had provided her with lots of interesting facts about the Princess’s breed. The purple filly smiled to herself as she continued reading. The first lesson ever and she had passed through it with flying colours. Celestia had started off with something simple, growing spells. A small withered plant had been a small potted tree by the time Twilight had finished with it. Celestia had congratulated her heartily then given her homework. To any-pony else, it might’ve seemed under-hoofed but to a workaholic like Twilight, it was pure heaven. The filly stopped suddenly, as she heard a snort of laughter from behind her seat. Pushing herself off the seat and pushing her short purple mane out of her eyes, Twilight frowned. The school bullies had chosen that moment to arrive. The one in the middle had grey fur and brown eyes with a bluish mane, the one the right was a blue unicorn with a purple mane tied in a ponytail fashion and the one on the left had mint-green fur and an orange mane. Their names were Greystorm, Lightfoot and Moonchaser. “Well, well. Look who we have here every-pony.” Greystorm said coolly, eyeing the smaller filly with distaste. Possibly due to a heavy case of jealousy, the three bullies seemed to have a personal grudge against Twilight. The other two bullies chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying the cruel game. True to bullies form, the three always stuck together and only ever attacked a weaker pony when together. “If it isn’t the spoiled princess. What’s wrong little baby Princess, scared?” Lightfoot asked, a grim smile widening on his face. All three Unicorns sniggered heartily. Twilight sighed, closing the book with a loud thump. A big cloud of dust rose up, making the three taller Unicorns cough slightly. Twilight knew the best way to deal with bullies was to ignore them. She glared up at them, trying to ignore the fact that she was picking a fight with three Unicorns all taller than her. “I am not a princess, nor a baby.” The filly huffed coldly, turning to leave. “You know Celestia doesn’t like fighting between Students.” Moonchaser chuckled, swiftly stepping around the filly and barring the doorway. Twilight stopped, backing away. Moonchaser had stopped smiling now. There was an ugly grimace on the Unicorns face. Twilight knew that grimace. It was when the bullies got serious. “Celestia…” Twilight began. “Celestia isn’t here little baby.” Moonchaser growled coldly, advancing on the younger filly. “Now give us that book.” Twilight stopped. The book…of course. That was the reason they’d stalked her here. Another attempt to sabotage the other students. “C’mon baby Twilight.” Moonchaser growled, already charging up a spell to pull the book from Twilight’s grasp. 2Just give us the book and you won’t get hurt.” Twilight continued to back away, until she hit something. Lightfoot had stepped up behind her and was also grinning down at her, showing yellowed teeth. “Give us that book you little baby!” Moonchaser yelled, losing his patience. Twilight whirled as the spell flew at her, intending to rip the book from her grasp and probably deal her serious damage. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the spell to hit. But it didn’t. There was another rush of air, a loud banging noise and a cry of shock. Twilight cracked one eye open shakily. Shadow had appeared out of nowhere, right in front of her. A wall of red energy had appeared in front of the pair, shielding them from the spell Moonchaser had used. Twilight was frozen, dumbstruck at the sight in front of her. Shadow had never used this type of shield magic before at least…she’d never seen him use that sort of magic. Shadow turned to her, an angry look on his face. “Twilight, go, just go! I’ll sort these bullies out!” Twilight stood, completely frozen. Shadow growled, his angry expression intensifying slightly. “GO!” he shouted. Twilight took several steps back, horrified as Shadow’s eyes flashed. Just for a second, Shadow’s eyes had changed from their usual sky-blue to a crimson-red. Shadow, apparently satisfied that Twilight had moved out of the danger zone, turned back to the bullies a small smile spreading across his face. Then he started laughing. A long, maniacal laugh that echoed around the bookcases. The three bully’s smiles had faded. Each one took a step back as Shadow began to walk forwards. As the Unicorn moved forward, the energy wall moved forward too. “You fools,” The voice coming out of Shadow’s mouth was no longer his. It was deeper, slightly older than Shadows. “Did you think you could defeat me? There is much about me you do not know!” Twilight and the three bullies gasped. A scythe had appeared out of thin air, floating above Shadow’s head. The blade was long and curved, with a serrated edge and the pole was long, made of black metal. Shadow smiled, his smile widening to almost impossible length. “I am Obsidian.” The Unicorn said coldly, taking the fearful expressions on the bullies faces. “FEAR ME!” The shout was so loud that the three bullies, losing all control, keeled over, their eyes rolling backwards into their skulls. But something was wrong. Shadow’s vision was fading fast and the Unicorn was finding it hard to keep standing up. Finally his legs gave out and Shadow fell forwards, into Darkness. The Princeshadow groaned as he finally came to. What the hay had he been doing before the blackness? Something involving fighting? He couldn’t be sure what he’d been doing. It was all a blurry haze. His head hurt and his body felt heavy, almost as though "almost as though his body was made of lead," holding him pinned to…the soft bed he was lying upon? Shadow tensed, trying to focus through the aching heaviness to find out where he was. His eyesight wasn’t helping since opening them revealed nothing except a bright, white haze. Instead, the young colt felt around, using hooves. A soft, springy something pressed down under his hooves, only slightly resisting his push. Definitely a mattress. Something warm and heavy was covering him, almost like…a blanket? Where the hay was he? “You’re awake then?” Asked a light-hearted voice. Shadow blinked, attempting to clear the haziness. With a small sigh of relief, the Unicorn watched the haziness clear. He was lying in what appeared to be a large infirmary. Stretching across the rectangular room were several beds, set across the walls in groups of three. Each bed was covered with a thick quilt and two pillows. Warm, orange light was filtering through the long windows on one wall. Shadow frowned. This wasn’t his house but it also wasn’t his house. Where was he? “Hey kid, this way.” Shadow’s head whipped round as the voice spoke again….and nearly jumped out of his fur as the bipedal creature sat down next to him, flashing the Unicorn a cheery smile, showing pearly white teeth. The creature sat next to him had, chocolate, brown skin and light brown eyes, full of a playful light. "A mop of short, spiky black hair sat atop its head." framing the eyes that watched Shadow with that quiet, yet playful light. A pair of long arms swung lightly, ending in a pair of long fingered hands, which folded themselves on the side of Shadow’s bed. Covering the bipedal creature’s upper body was what looked like a leather jerkin, though the left sleeve had been rolled back, revealing a muscled arm with a large, bloodstained bandage wrapped tightly about it. A pair of thick, navy blue trousers covered the creature’s legs, the feet of which were covered in a pair of thick leather boots which ended at the creatures knees. Shadow knew immediately who this creature must be. The resident human, Zyon. Every young colt and filly that lived in Canterlot had been told of the mysterious creature that lived inside the castle. A bipedal, dark-skinned creature, the rumour had flown around the city that Many months ago, Celestia had announced to the entire city that she had indeed taken in a human boy, though the purpose of his presence was unknown.". Many of the youngsters had written off the story as laughable, since humans mostly resided in fairy-tales or night-time tales. But this time, the rumors had been right. Many months ago, Celestia had announced to the entire city that she had indeed adopted a human boy, though what his position was had never been revealed. Many ponies had questioned Celestia’s decision and many had attempted to gain access to the castle, simply to see the strange resident. Only Celestia seemed privy to the humans audience. Until…Shadow blinked. So Twilight had been telling the truth. Since she’d become Celestia’s student, Twilight-Sparkle had bragged about knowing the strange human that lived in the Castle. She’d bragged about knowing Celestia’s secret brother and that they’d become close friends during the few weeks that the studious young mare had been studying with the Alicorn. Up until this point, Shadow had never believed her, thinking it had just been one of those teenage bids for attention. But now, here the human was, sitting beside the bed-ridden Unicorn with a small smile on his face, scrutinizing Shadow as though the young Unicorn was something of great personal interest to him. “So you’ve finally woken up Shadow?” Asked Zyon, winking at the young Unicorn. He reached up and gently pushed Shadow back. The Unicorn had attempted to rise out of the bed, succeeding only in drawing a sharp stab of pain through his skull. Zyon smiled. “Twily told me you’d used the fire-wall spell but I never believed…” The human sighed, pulling the blanket higher over Shadow’s body. “Such a young Unicorn should’ve never been able to cast that spell. But if Twilight said you did….” Zyon smiled as Shadow frowned questionably at him. “Yeah, I know Miss-Twilight Sparkle.” He chuckled, waving away the unsaid question. “But I’m just a friend of hers. You’re the stallion she talks about so much huh?” Shadow blushed, turning his head away. Zyon chuckled again, standing up and pacing over to one of the large windows. “Did…Twilight come to see me?” Asked Shadow, attempting to sit up again. Part of Shadow was worried that whatever he’d been doing before he’d blacked out had hurt Twilight. If he had hurt her... Zyon turned round, so that his body was framed by the evening light. “Oh…Are my parents okay? They’re not worried about me are they?” Asked Shadow fearfully. The last thing the young Unicorn wanted was to make his parents worry. Zyon smiled, pulling a small, golden envelope from his pocket and moved back over to the bedside. Shadow could see his name, written across the front of the envelope in a loopy, black-inked scrawl. “What’s this for?” He asked, feeling slightly annoyed that the human hadn’t answered his questions. “Well, Twiley’s been busy with the Lunar Eclipse ceremony,” Zyon smiled, tossing the envelope over to Shadow, who caught it between his hooves. “That’s your invitation to the royal celebration I think.” Zyon said. Shadow started. Of course…The Lunar Eclipse. How He’d forgotten about the Celebration, Shadow had no idea. It was such an important Celebration after all. The Lunar Eclipse was a special celebration, though not too many ponies knew what it actually was about. The story was that when Nightmare-Moon, the Wicked Mare of Darkness had attempted to overthrow Celestia and bring about the eternal night, a single warrior, a human warrior no less, by the name of Eclipse had stepped in to defend Celestia. Alongside a brave army, Eclipse had battled the terrible Mare of the Night, sacrificing his own life to seal away Nightmare-Moon. “So that’s my invitation huh?” Asked Shadow, smiling as he slit open the envelope with his hoof. He smiled at the small square of pink parchment. Twilight had beaten him to the punch. The young Unicorn had been planning to take the studious Unicorn to the Celebration for a few weeks but he’d always chickened out at the last minute. Looked like Twilight had gotten the hint however and taken charge of the situation. “So…um…Zyon?” The human smiled indulgently but did not speak. “I’m not in any danger of losing Twilight am I?” Zyon froze, his faced fixed in an expression of half-surprise. Then the human began to shake. Then a loud, bubbly laugh erupted from between the human’s lips and he tumbled over the chair, holding his stomach from laughing so hard. “What’d I say?” demanded Shadow, leaning over the side of the bed to watch the human rolling around on the floor. “Really Zyon?” Asked a refined voice. Shadow looked up as Zyon, still struggling to hold in his laughter, scrambled to his knees. A large, White furred Alicorn had appeared in the doorway to the infirmary, dressed in a large golden dress that covered most of her snow-white fur. Princess Celestia smiled as she looked down upon the sniggering human, then back up at Shadow. “Greetings Young Unicorn.” Celestia said, blinking good-naturedly at the young Unicorn.
This Is WarHumans. They were mysterious beings that showed up in Equestria around 1000 years ago. Adopted as refugees, the strange band of two-legged creatures joined the ponies of Equestria, working together as a whole to take down a common enemy. Soon after discord, the self-proclaimed king of chaos, was defeated, the humans and ponies, led by two regal sisters, came together to form the city of Canterlot. Peace was on the horizons. But the Peace was not to last. The humans grew steadily more violent, turning on the ponies they once worked with. They began to attack towns, steal food and supplies designed to help rebuild the country. They made life harder for the ponies, destroying their ways of life, turning from welcomed refugees into an outlawed force of destruction. There were three clans. The council of chaos, a select group of humans who fought in the name of discord himself. Then there were two smaller tribes. These tribes became legends for their choice. They protected Equestria. They were known as the children of the night and the solar empire. These smaller tribes choose to fight for the princesses, Celestia and Luna. However there was one major difference between the two armies. The two clans disagreed on the rulers believing only one princess should rule instead of two. This disagreement led to a splintering of the human clans, resulting in the creation of another clan. The leader of this clan would become known as Jay, with many claiming him to be the strongest of his clan, leading his kind into exile in the name of peace. But then came Nightmare-Moon. The hatred inside the Princess of the Night, Luna boiled up, transforming her into the wicked mare of darkness. Once again the humans returned to protect their adoptive home. From the Children of the night came Eclipse. He was a ruthless warrior but was very protective of Luna, for whom he’d sworn to serve. His hatred of corruption carried the Children-of-the-Night into battle alongside the previously disliked Princess Celestia. That was the beginning of the human’s descent into extinction. This is where our story begins. (Insert Horizontal line here) The large, majestic double doors swung open, revealing the imposing figure standing in the doorway. Standing on two long legs, the figure was clad in black armor, covering almost every inch of the human’s body. As the Human strode into the throne room, the light filtering through the giant stained glass windows reflected off the dark metal, throwing the features of the armor into sharp detail. The armor was divided into plates, connecting sharply together, each piece marked with intricately woven symbols. The human’s long arms were covered in black-steel, each gauntlet covered in the intricate symbols. Covering the human’s shoulders were thick metal-plates, each with three sharp spikes. A similarly spiked helmet covered the human’s head, leaving two eye slits through which a pair of malevolent, red eyes stared out, full of hate. The armored human walked casually down the large hall, ignoring the stained-glass windows on either side of him, showing no reaction to the shaking of the castle walls, the thick clouds of dust falling from the stone ceiling or the muffled shouts of fighting that emanated from the outside of the dark castle. It had taken the warrior many weeks to get to this point, nothing would stop him now. His metal boots clanged on the marble floor as the warrior made his way towards the darkened throne at the end upon which…The warrior froze.Nightmare Moon awaited him. She had dark, navy blue fur, with a mane of glittering blue light, that seemed to flutter in a nonexistent breeze. A pair of turquoise eyes glared out at the warrior, the diamond-shaped pupils tightened in malice. A quartet of blue plates were secured over the Alicorns hooves, with navy-blue Armour clasped over the mare’s barrel and head. Her mouth was open in a predatory smile, each tooth sharpened to a point. As the warrior approached, the Alicorn ran a snake-like tongue over her teeth, a soft chuckle emanating from her dark-furred chest. The warrior stopped about a foot from the Alicorn staring up her. His armored fists balled with a great clinking of metal plates. Nightmare-moon chuckled again, watching the human with a lustful smile. The warriors eyes narrowed. “Nightmare-Moon…Tonight you will fall.” The figured growled out from the metal plate covering the humans mouth. Low and husky, tinged with anger.Nightmare-moon chuckled, standing up and jumping down from her throne. Despite the shouts and sounds of fighting from outside ,Nightmare moon had heard every word that the human had muttered.Nightmare moon advanced towards the warrior, spreading her large, blue-feathered wings. The warrior took a step back but Nightmare-Moon stopped, running her tongue across her lips. “Why do you hesitate you parasite?” Demanded the warrior, flexing his shoulders, so that the armored plates making up his outfit shifted as one, more like a living thing than a stack of metal. The Alicorn chuckled again, seemingly unconcerned about the warriors anger. “I have no need to worry Eclipse.” Nightmare-Moon replied, her velvety voice worming through the air. “I know you wouldn’t dare attack me and risk harming your Precious Princess Luna.” Eclipse’s eyes had narrowed to crimson streaks, heavy breathing rasping out from behind the armored plating. The Alicorn’ smile widened. “Your precious little mare-friend Luna.” Eclipse took a step forward, his hands once again balling into fists. Nightmare Moon laughed, the velvet quality vanishing immediately from her voice. “Temper, temper Eclipse.” The Alicorn chuckled , smiling another sharp-toothed smile. But now, the dark Alicorn could sense the anger, rolling off Eclipse in waves. Indeed, to Nightmare-Moons eyes, the anger was like red lava, rolling off the human, toxic to all who dared touch it. Even to her powers, the fire was dangerous. “You’ve made your choice Alicorn!” Shouted Eclipse. A bolt of red energy flew from the humans arms, striking the marble floor and splintering it with a resounding crash. But Nightmare-Moon had jumped into the air, flapping her mighty wings, laughing at the smoking crater Eclipse had made. The sharp horn atop her head began to glow. Turquoise energy began to billow around the Alicorn, currents of energy branching out, striking everything within reach. Windows shattered, the stone and marble cracked and the air itself began to sizzle and boil. Eclipse stood, shielded behind his red energy field. “My powers protect me from your paltry spells Parasite!” He shouted drawing the energy towards his body with sweeping motions of his hands. Nightmare-Moon gasped, unable to comprehend the sheer impossibility of what she was seeing. Six gems had risen through the ground, each glowing a different color. One was red, another blue, another orange, a fourth was pink and the fifth was green and finally the sixth one, a small purple pointed star. Lines of multi-colored light spread from the six gems forming the image of a six-pointed star on the ground. Nightmare-Moon howled in fury, attempting to power up another attack spell. But her magic wouldn’t come. Instead, her body seemed to be seizing up, stiffening as though some-pony had used a freezing spell against her. Slowly, Nightmare moon began to descend to the floor as though pulled down by a mysterious force. “You see Nightmare-moon,” Eclipse said, his own red energy field vanishing into the light as the human strode into the formation of light. “I too can use the elements of Harmony. A last resort if you will.” Eclipse sighed bitterly as he stared at the struggling form of the dark Alicorn. “I can’t separate you from Luna yet…but I can banish you for a few years.” Eclipse shook his armor covered head, before bringing his hands together almost as though in a gesture of prayer. “I’ll weave an aging spell into the formation so I’ll be there to watch over you.” Eclipse tensed, his muscles bending the metal plates of his armor. “I…wish this could’ve ended differently Luna.” He whispered quietly as a single tear slid out from under the helmet and slid down to the floor. “Goodbye…” Eclipse separated his hands, then brought them smashing down upon the floor. The Lights converged, bright enough to burn out Eclipses eyes. And as the light converged upon both him and the still struggling Alicorn, Eclipse felt it. All the fight was draining out of him. It was like his essence was being drained out. He was losing everything about himself. He felt a brief pang of guilt that was quickly washed away. Was this what was happening to Luna…No…Nightmare-Moon? But it was all being taken from him. Eclipse just had time to make out the image of Nightmare-Moon, shrieking at him, words that were impossible to hear, each most likely dripping with poison, before his vision faded and silence took hold.
The Demon Withinshadow smiled as he walked through the streets of Canterlot. A young unicorn, he was a black colour with blackish, reddish hair at the end of his mane. He smiled wider, his bright, sapphire blue eyes staring up into the sky, watching the clouds roll by, tossing and turning in the windy, midday air. Life was good. The young Unicorn felt elation coursing through his veins. He’d just returned from the doctors. It was common for Unicorns to get a check-up to test his or her magic. The Doctor had told him that he would be just fine. In fact, too his parent’s utter delight, the Doctors had also told him that his powers were surprisingly well-developed, even at this young age. Shadow smiled, imagining himself levitating objects, making them fly through the air in majestic arcs. It was a rather pleasing thought for the young foal. "Shadow? Shadow, where are you?!" The pony calling was his mother, Sunset. She had a dark blue coat with a bluish, red mane wrapped in a ponytail-like fashion. Her Violet eyes shone with a caring glow as she continued walking down the street. Shadow smiled a little sheepishly. In his happiness, the younger Unicorn had been increasingly speeding up, leaving his parents behind. His Mother smiled as she finally caught up to her son. “What’s on your mind Honey?” She asked, gently dragging her hoof through Shadow’s mane, making her son giggle, embarrassed. "C'mon," Sunset cooed teasingly, patting her son on the head again. "A mother knows you're hiding something from me," she whispered. . . She whispered, planting a kiss on her sons head, just under the horn. Shadow giggled again, blushing as his mother kissed him. He was really glad that blushes couldn’t be seen through his dark fur. “Mom, I wanna go over to Twilight’s. Can I please Mom?” The older Unicorn frowned; gazing down into her son’s rapidly widening blue orbs. “Pleasssssse?” Asked Shadow again, his eyes widening in the most heart-warming fashion he could muster. Sunset shook her head, laughing as Shadow’s look increasingly resembled the look of a sad puppy, begging for scraps. As a Mother, Sunset was no stranger to the begging look that children could use. Though to her credit, Sunset was a lot more resistant to the charms of that look. It made her heart melt at the sight, making her chuckle. There was that name again. Twilight-Sparkle. A Unicorn filly, who lived a few streets away from them. Normally, Sunset wouldn’t pry into her sons affairs….but…. “Shadow,” Sunset said thoughtfully, gazing down at her son with a thoughtful expression on her face. “You hang around a lot with Twilight don’t you?” Shadow nodded excitedly, pleased that his mother might be considering letting him go. “I mean, ever since you met her in Magic-Kindergarten, you’ve done nothing but talk about her. I mean you practically hang out with her non-stop. I doubt you’d come home if I didn’t make you. Is there something you’re not telling me mister?” This time Shadow did blush, the red stripes burning through his black fur to shine for all to see. Sunset bit her lip, then abandoned the restraint all together and burst out laughing. Shadow pouted in the way only a little kid could turning his head to hide his bush. “Aw, I’m sorry Honey.” His mother chuckled, turning her sons head back gently. “Moooom!” Shadow whined, knowing full well that he’d been tricked by his mother. “Twilight is not my Mare-friend. We’re just friends, that’s all.” His mother continued to smile in that annoying way. Shadow felt his temper spike slightly, but forced himself to calm down. Being rude to your mother was a sure-fire way to get grounded and he didn’t want to get grounded on a beautiful day like this. “C’mon Mom.” He added pleadingly staring up his mother, the trusty water-works coming on. “Can’t I go? Please?” He added a drooping lip and widened his eyes for added effect. Although he didn’t look it, Shadow was quite a devious foal, as his father told him during their games of hide-and-seek. He knew from experience that his sad face could not be resisted, despite their efforts to do so. His mother’s stern-expression softened and she sighed in a defeated sort of way. “Alright Sweetie, you can go.” Sunset said smiling at her son. “But I want you back at the house by the time its dark-out. Oh and one more thing…” She added sternly fixing her son with a hard glare. Then she smiled widely. “And say hi to your sweet mare-friend for me.” She smiled, watching as her son stalked off, pouting once again, a bright red blush burning through his black fur. Sunset smiled widely. She supposed it was the gift of every mother to be proud of their children. “I’ll always love you Shadow.” Sunset smiled, turning back and starting on the path back down to her house. Horizontal line here Twilights POV: I smiled to myself as I made my way to school, my thoughts drifting back to…him. My friends always teased me about Shadow. Moon-dancer, Lemon-Hearts, even Minuet. They all teased me about him. Trying to introduce Shadow to the girls would be next to impossible, since he would only talk to me whenever there was a group of ponies around us. It didn’t stop ponies from trying to befriend him. He was just so…likeable. Even Spike, the baby dragon I’d hatched a few weeks before had taken to him. Though I wish he’d back off a bit. I’m starting as Celestia’s personal student today and I can’t learn anything with Shadow breathing down my neck. For some-pony claiming to be just a friend, he acts protective…Way more protective than he really should be. I don’t know what he’s worried about, but I hope to find out. Horizontal Line “The breed of Ponies known as The Alicorns is a rare genetic occurrence. This breed is typically associated with royalty and for centuries it was assumed that Alicorns were a breed specifically bred within the royal family.” Twilight-Sparkle smiled to herself as she finished the chapter. The big heavy book Princess Celestia had provided her with lots of interesting facts about the Princess’s breed. The purple filly smiled to herself as she continued reading. The first lesson ever and she had passed through it with flying colours. Celestia had started off with something simple, growing spells. A small withered plant had been a small potted tree by the time Twilight had finished with it. Celestia had congratulated her heartily then given her homework. To any-pony else, it might’ve seemed under-hoofed but to a workaholic like Twilight, it was pure heaven. The filly stopped suddenly, as she heard a snort of laughter from behind her seat. Pushing herself off the seat and pushing her short purple mane out of her eyes, Twilight frowned. The school bullies had chosen that moment to arrive. The one in the middle had grey fur and brown eyes with a bluish mane, the one the right was a blue unicorn with a purple mane tied in a ponytail fashion and the one on the left had mint-green fur and an orange mane. Their names were Greystorm, Lightfoot and Moonchaser. “Well, well. Look who we have here every-pony.” Greystorm said coolly, eyeing the smaller filly with distaste. Possibly due to a heavy case of jealousy, the three bullies seemed to have a personal grudge against Twilight. The other two bullies chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying the cruel game. True to bullies form, the three always stuck together and only ever attacked a weaker pony when together. “If it isn’t the spoiled princess. What’s wrong little baby Princess, scared?” Lightfoot asked, a grim smile widening on his face. All three Unicorns sniggered heartily. Twilight sighed, closing the book with a loud thump. A big cloud of dust rose up, making the three taller Unicorns cough slightly. Twilight knew the best way to deal with bullies was to ignore them. She glared up at them, trying to ignore the fact that she was picking a fight with three Unicorns all taller than her. “I am not a princess, nor a baby.” The filly huffed coldly, turning to leave. “You know Celestia doesn’t like fighting between Students.” Moonchaser chuckled, swiftly stepping around the filly and barring the doorway. Twilight stopped, backing away. Moonchaser had stopped smiling now. There was an ugly grimace on the Unicorns face. Twilight knew that grimace. It was when the bullies got serious. “Celestia…” Twilight began. “Celestia isn’t here little baby.” Moonchaser growled coldly, advancing on the younger filly. “Now give us that book.” Twilight stopped. The book…of course. That was the reason they’d stalked her here. Another attempt to sabotage the other students. “C’mon baby Twilight.” Moonchaser growled, already charging up a spell to pull the book from Twilight’s grasp. 2Just give us the book and you won’t get hurt.” Twilight continued to back away, until she hit something. Lightfoot had stepped up behind her and was also grinning down at her, showing yellowed teeth. “Give us that book you little baby!” Moonchaser yelled, losing his patience. Twilight whirled as the spell flew at her, intending to rip the book from her grasp and probably deal her serious damage. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the spell to hit. But it didn’t. There was another rush of air, a loud banging noise and a cry of shock. Twilight cracked one eye open shakily. Shadow had appeared out of nowhere, right in front of her. A wall of red energy had appeared in front of the pair, shielding them from the spell Moonchaser had used. Twilight was frozen, dumbstruck at the sight in front of her. Shadow had never used this type of shield magic before at least…she’d never seen him use that sort of magic. Shadow turned to her, an angry look on his face. “Twilight, go, just go! I’ll sort these bullies out!” Twilight stood, completely frozen. Shadow growled, his angry expression intensifying slightly. “GO!” he shouted. Twilight took several steps back, horrified as Shadow’s eyes flashed. Just for a second, Shadow’s eyes had changed from their usual sky-blue to a crimson-red. Shadow, apparently satisfied that Twilight had moved out of the danger zone, turned back to the bullies a small smile spreading across his face. Then he started laughing. A long, maniacal laugh that echoed around the bookcases. The three bully’s smiles had faded. Each one took a step back as Shadow began to walk forwards. As the Unicorn moved forward, the energy wall moved forward too. “You fools,” The voice coming out of Shadow’s mouth was no longer his. It was deeper, slightly older than Shadows. “Did you think you could defeat me? There is much about me you do not know!” Twilight and the three bullies gasped. A scythe had appeared out of thin air, floating above Shadow’s head. The blade was long and curved, with a serrated edge and the pole was long, made of black metal. Shadow smiled, his smile widening to almost impossible length. “I am Obsidian.” The Unicorn said coldly, taking the fearful expressions on the bullies faces. “FEAR ME!” The shout was so loud that the three bullies, losing all control, keeled over, their eyes rolling backwards into their skulls. But something was wrong. Shadow’s vision was fading fast and the Unicorn was finding it hard to keep standing up. Finally his legs gave out and Shadow fell forwards, into Darkness.
The Princeshadow groaned as he finally came to. What the hay had he been doing before the blackness? Something involving fighting? He couldn’t be sure what he’d been doing. It was all a blurry haze. His head hurt and his body felt heavy, almost as though "almost as though his body was made of lead," holding him pinned to…the soft bed he was lying upon? Shadow tensed, trying to focus through the aching heaviness to find out where he was. His eyesight wasn’t helping since opening them revealed nothing except a bright, white haze. Instead, the young colt felt around, using hooves. A soft, springy something pressed down under his hooves, only slightly resisting his push. Definitely a mattress. Something warm and heavy was covering him, almost like…a blanket? Where the hay was he? “You’re awake then?” Asked a light-hearted voice. Shadow blinked, attempting to clear the haziness. With a small sigh of relief, the Unicorn watched the haziness clear. He was lying in what appeared to be a large infirmary. Stretching across the rectangular room were several beds, set across the walls in groups of three. Each bed was covered with a thick quilt and two pillows. Warm, orange light was filtering through the long windows on one wall. Shadow frowned. This wasn’t his house but it also wasn’t his house. Where was he? “Hey kid, this way.” Shadow’s head whipped round as the voice spoke again….and nearly jumped out of his fur as the bipedal creature sat down next to him, flashing the Unicorn a cheery smile, showing pearly white teeth. The creature sat next to him had, chocolate, brown skin and light brown eyes, full of a playful light. "A mop of short, spiky black hair sat atop its head." framing the eyes that watched Shadow with that quiet, yet playful light. A pair of long arms swung lightly, ending in a pair of long fingered hands, which folded themselves on the side of Shadow’s bed. Covering the bipedal creature’s upper body was what looked like a leather jerkin, though the left sleeve had been rolled back, revealing a muscled arm with a large, bloodstained bandage wrapped tightly about it. A pair of thick, navy blue trousers covered the creature’s legs, the feet of which were covered in a pair of thick leather boots which ended at the creatures knees. Shadow knew immediately who this creature must be. The resident human, Zyon. Every young colt and filly that lived in Canterlot had been told of the mysterious creature that lived inside the castle. A bipedal, dark-skinned creature, the rumour had flown around the city that Many months ago, Celestia had announced to the entire city that she had indeed taken in a human boy, though the purpose of his presence was unknown.". Many of the youngsters had written off the story as laughable, since humans mostly resided in fairy-tales or night-time tales. But this time, the rumors had been right. Many months ago, Celestia had announced to the entire city that she had indeed adopted a human boy, though what his position was had never been revealed. Many ponies had questioned Celestia’s decision and many had attempted to gain access to the castle, simply to see the strange resident. Only Celestia seemed privy to the humans audience. Until…Shadow blinked. So Twilight had been telling the truth. Since she’d become Celestia’s student, Twilight-Sparkle had bragged about knowing the strange human that lived in the Castle. She’d bragged about knowing Celestia’s secret brother and that they’d become close friends during the few weeks that the studious young mare had been studying with the Alicorn. Up until this point, Shadow had never believed her, thinking it had just been one of those teenage bids for attention. But now, here the human was, sitting beside the bed-ridden Unicorn with a small smile on his face, scrutinizing Shadow as though the young Unicorn was something of great personal interest to him. “So you’ve finally woken up Shadow?” Asked Zyon, winking at the young Unicorn. He reached up and gently pushed Shadow back. The Unicorn had attempted to rise out of the bed, succeeding only in drawing a sharp stab of pain through his skull. Zyon smiled. “Twily told me you’d used the fire-wall spell but I never believed…” The human sighed, pulling the blanket higher over Shadow’s body. “Such a young Unicorn should’ve never been able to cast that spell. But if Twilight said you did….” Zyon smiled as Shadow frowned questionably at him. “Yeah, I know Miss-Twilight Sparkle.” He chuckled, waving away the unsaid question. “But I’m just a friend of hers. You’re the stallion she talks about so much huh?” Shadow blushed, turning his head away. Zyon chuckled again, standing up and pacing over to one of the large windows. “Did…Twilight come to see me?” Asked Shadow, attempting to sit up again. Part of Shadow was worried that whatever he’d been doing before he’d blacked out had hurt Twilight. If he had hurt her... Zyon turned round, so that his body was framed by the evening light. “Oh…Are my parents okay? They’re not worried about me are they?” Asked Shadow fearfully. The last thing the young Unicorn wanted was to make his parents worry. Zyon smiled, pulling a small, golden envelope from his pocket and moved back over to the bedside. Shadow could see his name, written across the front of the envelope in a loopy, black-inked scrawl. “What’s this for?” He asked, feeling slightly annoyed that the human hadn’t answered his questions. “Well, Twiley’s been busy with the Lunar Eclipse ceremony,” Zyon smiled, tossing the envelope over to Shadow, who caught it between his hooves. “That’s your invitation to the royal celebration I think.” Zyon said. Shadow started. Of course…The Lunar Eclipse. How He’d forgotten about the Celebration, Shadow had no idea. It was such an important Celebration after all. The Lunar Eclipse was a special celebration, though not too many ponies knew what it actually was about. The story was that when Nightmare-Moon, the Wicked Mare of Darkness had attempted to overthrow Celestia and bring about the eternal night, a single warrior, a human warrior no less, by the name of Eclipse had stepped in to defend Celestia. Alongside a brave army, Eclipse had battled the terrible Mare of the Night, sacrificing his own life to seal away Nightmare-Moon. “So that’s my invitation huh?” Asked Shadow, smiling as he slit open the envelope with his hoof. He smiled at the small square of pink parchment. Twilight had beaten him to the punch. The young Unicorn had been planning to take the studious Unicorn to the Celebration for a few weeks but he’d always chickened out at the last minute. Looked like Twilight had gotten the hint however and taken charge of the situation. “So…um…Zyon?” The human smiled indulgently but did not speak. “I’m not in any danger of losing Twilight am I?” Zyon froze, his faced fixed in an expression of half-surprise. Then the human began to shake. Then a loud, bubbly laugh erupted from between the human’s lips and he tumbled over the chair, holding his stomach from laughing so hard. “What’d I say?” demanded Shadow, leaning over the side of the bed to watch the human rolling around on the floor. “Really Zyon?” Asked a refined voice. Shadow looked up as Zyon, still struggling to hold in his laughter, scrambled to his knees. A large, White furred Alicorn had appeared in the doorway to the infirmary, dressed in a large golden dress that covered most of her snow-white fur. Princess Celestia smiled as she looked down upon the sniggering human, then back up at Shadow. “Greetings Young Unicorn.” Celestia said, blinking good-naturedly at the young Unicorn.
