The Legend of "The Darkside of the Moon"by GamingWolfChaptersA Book A MissionA Legend, Part TwoA JumpA Visitor (or Five)A(n) ExplanationA Waiting Game (Explicit)A LegendA Book A Book Diamond Dancer lays on her bed. She stares at the curtains where small beams of light stream in from the gaps of the curtain. She groans. Sleep keeps itself out of her grasp. A book teetering on the edge of her bedside table catches her attention. Big brother Bradigan had brought it to her to read earlier. She huffs and reluctantly rolls over to grab the book. The arduous task of reaching the book makes Diamond even more irritable. Her condition did not want to cooperate with her today. After slamming her head on the table to activate her night vision, she reads the cover of the red book, "The Darkside of the Moon: Fact or Fiction? New Evidence!" A curious hum vibrates her lips. She has heard of the titular pony before, everypony has in the Servants of Shadow. "The Darkside of the Moon" is the highest rank in the SS, and only the first one has ever reached that rank and honor. Diamond opens the book with a splotchy black hoof and begins to read. "Princess Luna." A sigh escaped the princess as she set her black, starry crown on the vanity. Her teal eyes stared back at her in the mirror. Already ponies spend more time in her sister's day than her night. She walked away from the vanity and stoped. She looked behind her at her forlorn crown. Her magic picked it up and she placed it on her head. At least she could enjoy the solace of her night. A cool breeze towed Luna as she sat comfortably on a cloud. She smiled at the bats that flew by and at the dazzling stars in the sky. A magical disturbance on the ground made her roll off her back and look toward the sleeping city below. A shadowy figure crept against the city wall along the southern edge. The figure ran from the wall and to the nearby woods. Luna had to investigate. After Luna followed the cloaked figure for an hour over head, the figure stopped their galloping as they approached a cabin. The cabin was relatively big for one pony and had stone walls while a thatch roof topped the building. The figure entered the, well, cottage would be a better word for the dwelling, cottage and Luna landed quietly ten feet away from the cottage. She could hear a voice from inside the cottage as she snuck closer to a dark window. The voice sounded like a mare. "Lessons went as well as any other night," the mare spoke. Who else was inside? Luna dared not to uses any magic lest she reveal herself. "Starswirl still has his secrets and I still have mine," the voice continued. "Which irritates him and makes him fun to watch. He wants to know everything and not knowing anything about me and my species drives him mad!" the voice laughed. So the mare knows Starswirl the Bearded? And from the sound of things is a student of his. What kind "species" is she? Luna wished to know and dared to peek through the dark window. A blast of crimson magic made her duck her head. Before she could turn and run a pony teleported in front of Luna with glowing red horns. Horns? The pony dissipated the magic in her horns and cocked a curious brow at Luna. "Princess Luna?" the white pony said. "Thou. . . thou haveth three horns. . ." Princess Luna spoke. The white pony with long black and crimson hair stared at the princess with glowing yellow eyes. "What race of pony art thou?" Luna questioned. "The kind that does not like it when others spy on her," the pony growled. "We apologize. We were only curious," Princess Luna bowed. "Most ponies sleep through Our nights, so when We saw one awake, We wanted to see why and whom." The white mare lowered her guard. "Well. . . now you have seen me; now, you can go," the pony said as she walked past the princess to the front door of the cottage. "We wish to further converse!" Luna exclaimed as the pony enters the cottage and slammed the door behind her. "'We' wish to be left alone!" "Can We at least meet the other pony with whom you were " The wooden door opens and a pair of serpentine eyes stare through the crack, "You heard me?" "Yes?" "I. . . there is nopony else here," is the pony's disheartened reply. Luna's eyes flashed with revelation. "You can leave now," the pony said behind a closed door. "We also have nopony to talk with," Princess Luna shared. A long silence fell. Crickets sang and the hoot of an owl echoed. "Sounds like a personal problem," the mare finally spoke. Lightning flashed above and thunder clapped and boomed. Rain started to fall and drenched the princess. "We. . . I. . . just wanted to be friends. . ." Princess Luna whispered. As she was about to teleport home, the door swung open. "Come in before you get sick," the mare said behind the door. It is said that the Darkside of the Moon is from a distant, unknown land. About the same time as rumors of a new race of pony is found does the Darkside of the Moon pop up. Perhaps Princess Luna employed a foreigner to have an edge over others? All the notes Starswirl the Bearded had about the new pony have mysteriously disappeared and this author does not believe in coincidence. Diamond Dancer slides a bookmark in the book with a yawn. Maybe when she wakes up she can start on the second chapter. Princess Celestia slams the safe close. She ignites her horn to locate the missing object and fails to detect it. "How could it have been stolen from under my nose?" She lights up her horn and teleports to her sister's room. The regal blue alicorn sleeps soundly in her bed. Celestia reluctantly stirs her sister awake. After several nudges, Princess Luna opens her drowsy eyes. "Tia?" she mumbles. "The orb is gone," Celestia states. Luna sits up in bed, wide awake, "WHAT?!" "Somepony managed to steal the orb without triggering the alarms or wards. I don't even know when it could have happened. It is not in Equestria, sister," Celestia explains. "I'll assemble the Servants," Luna says as she climbs out of bed. "And I'll ring the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation," Celestia nods. "The power of the Orb of Chaos must not be released. Especially since that time of year is approaching." A MissionDiamond Dancer lurches up in bed. She pants heavily and her eyes bulge from their sockets. She swallows the lump in her throat. She can still feel the monster breathing down her neck. Then she remembers: she is unable to feel anything. Her disease grants her invulnerability in exchange for a short life and no sense of touch. She gulps down the glass of water on the beside table and looks at the clock. Mid afternoon. With no work and nothing planned, she picks up the book to continue reading where she left off. "You will rue the day you were---!" Tirek's threat was cut short by an ivory hoof to the cheek. A pair of rear hooves kick him in his gut. "I will make you into rue!" the ivory tricorn snarled as she body slams the centaur, twice her size, to the ground. Tirek roared and fired a blast of magic at the insolent pony. The pony absorbs the blast with her right hoof and smirked at Tirek. A hoof to the face wiped off his smile. He levitated into the air by crimson magic and all his limbs are snapped in half. The pony crushed his face into the dirt. "Beg for mercy," she hissed in his ear. "Enough!" a voice shouted behind her. The tricorn rolled her pale yellow eyes and punched the centaur one last time to knock him out. "He is defeated, leave him alone," Princess Celestia said. "He yet draws breath," the pony countered coldly. "He will be tried and sentenced," Princess Luna input as she walked next to her friend. "No, he will be sent to Tarturus," Princess Celestia stated. "What?" Princess Luna walked up to her sister, "After everything he has done? He needs to be executed! The ponies will demand it!" "For his crimes, he will be sent to Tarturus. There he will not be any danger to--" Crunch. The sisters turned their heads to the sickening sound. "For his crimes-- death," the ivory tricorn said as she stepped over the centaur's body. Princess Celestia gaped at Tirek's crushed neck and glowered at the pony walking away, "How dare you!" She jumped and landed in front of the pony. "Killing him was not your decision!" The ivory tricorn's nostrils flared in anger. "You are right. It is Luna and your decision. You are always ignoring her and doing things your way!" "I know what is best for my little ponies!" Celestia declared. "The buck you do!" the pony shouted and lunged at the white alicorn "ENOUGH!" Luna yelled and held the fiery tricorn with blue magic. "It is done," she said to her friend. She turned to her sister and said, "They are my ponies, too." Celestia's anger dissipated and she frowned, "Luna, I didn't mean--" Luna cut her sister off, "We will send Tirek's body to his family along with our apologies." As the midnight alicorn and ivory tricorn walked away to leave Celestia alone with the centaur corpse, the tricorn looked back and narrowed her eyes at the alabaster alicorn. The defeat of Tirek is the first time the Darkside of the Moon was publicly seen and mentioned by eyewitnesses. Witnesses only claim to see a white unicorn with the Princesses but I can safely assume that unicorn is the Darkside of the Moon. Why? Because Princess Luna would not have allowed any other pony fight with her against Tirek. No documents exist say who killed Tirek but I for one am thankful that he is not around anymore. "Whoa. Tirek was bad bizness," Diamond Dancer squeaks. A knock on the door interrupts her thoughts. She throws herself off the bed, accidentally, and scrambles to her hooves. A couple minutes later and she is downstairs at the front door. "Who is it?" Diamond shouts at the door. "Mailmare!" Ditzy announces. "Got an important message for you!" Diamond fumbles with the locks on the door and opens the door a smidge to see the light gray Pegasus. Ditzy Doo reaches into a mailbag to retrieve a letter. She passes the letter to the filly, who accepts the letter with her mouth. "Thanks," Diamond squeaks with the letter between her teeth. "No problem!" Ditzy replies and flies off. Diamond quickly returns inside the house and locks the door behind her. She trots over to the kitchen to read the letter and prepare a bowl of cereal for breakfast. The letter has a royal seal which is quickly broken. The letter had only a time and place written. Ten. Night Court. Gee, now her curiosity is piqued. Waiting is going to kill her. Princess Luna keeps weighing the idea over in her head. Her sister is naturally against the idea and Luna. . . was above anxious and nervous. The decision can wait later, her Servants had waited patiently long enough. "My loyal Servants," she begins and the four ponies go to attention, "a grave situation is at hoof. An object of a powerful and dangerous nature has been stolen. The EBI has concluded that the object has been taken to the Human world." Virga, the Night Champion, a dark blue pegasus, shifts on his hooves and a quiet sigh leaves him. Diamond notices his odd behavior and dozens of questions buzz in her head. "The artifact that has been stolen is called the Orb of Chaos. As its name implies, the Orb of Chaos contains chaos magic and if unleashed or harnessed, I fear for the lives of Humans and ponies. The Human world works much differently than our world. Although, recent exposure to Equestrian magic has begun to fill their world with magic which makes Humans even more dangerous and why they would seek the orb." "Your Majesty," Nettleglum, the Night Steward, a purple earth pony, begins, "if some pony went directly to the orb from the Human world then that would mean they had prior knowledge of the orb." "Precisely," Princess Luna affirms and nods. "Tonight you will learn about the Human world and their customs and tomorrow you four will be going." Princess Twilight enters through a side door and trots over to the group, beaming from ear to ear, "Study time!" Dinky uses all her restraint to keep from jumping with joy. Diamond groans inwardly and feels sleep already calling her. A Legend, Part TwoNight envelops the three ponies as they walk in silence to the castle. The castle banners flap lazily in the warm southern breeze. Diamond decides now is as good as time as any to ask the thousands of questions on her mind. "So," she timidly begins, "You tha Darkside of tha Moon, right?" "Affirmative," Shade nods. "So. . . did ya kill Tirek?" "Without hesitation." "And ya ain't from Equestria, right?" "Nope." "What are ya?" "Tricorn. Female." "Your eyes are pretty cool." "They serve their purpose better than most." "Whadda ya mean?" "Night vision, thermal vision, and great farsight," Shade elaborates. "How come ya flank is blank?" "Why are you looking at my flank?" "Because it's blank. . ." is Diamond's flat reply. "I guess killing is not my calling in life, even though I am great at it," Shade responds whimsically. "Why--" Shade cuts the filly short with her own question, "What about you? Tell me about yourself." "Not much to tell, really," Diamond shrugs. "Luna just picks a random filly to become a Servant of Shadow then? Does the order not have the prestige it once held?" Shade directs the question towards Luna. "The ranks of the SS are. . . lacking," Luna answers honestly. "I chose the six ponies I have now because they reached feats thought unreachable by pony standards." "And Diamond's was flying? That is why she has Icarus Syndrome?" Shade concludes. "How'd ya know?" Diamond wonders aloud. "I named the disease after I found evidence of it in the ruins of Trot. I have several--" "No," Luna states. "Just because the twelve tests subjects before died does not mean she will," is Shade's weak defense. "Twelve?!" Shade purses her lips, "Ah, did only tell you two died, huh?" "You. . . lied to me?" Shade sees the heartbreak and betrayal in Luna's eyes. "Science requires sacrifices." "Not the sacrifice of my ponies!" Luna storms off and teleports away. Shade sighs and turns her attention to the filly, who had noticeably distanced herself from Shade, "I gave them quick and painless deaths. Each one answered questions and brought others to light. Their sacrifices were not in vain. I personally supported the twelve families when the experiments failed." Diamond thinks that she does not want to be alone with such a dangerous pony but at the same time, she can sense Shade's honesty. "Ya think ya can cure me?" "Anything is possible," Shade smiles. Celestia sits up in her bed. A nightmare of fire and smoke wakes her up. She breathes heavy and tries to collect her breath. A strong magical presence radiates outside. A presence she did not want to feel. A presence that had happened to be the source of her nightmare. She trots to the window overlooking the garden and sees the ivory tricorn sparkling in the moonlight as she walks to the castle. She swallows hard. The tricorn locks onto Celestia with narrow, glowing eyes. Twilight enjoys teaching, that goes without saying. Twilight had thought that a prestigious group such as the Servants of Shadow would be more than what she had been given. She has one Servant, Dinky Doo the Night's Student, paying absolute attention while the pegasus, Virga, is asleep with his eyes open, the earth mare is talking to spiders in the corner, and the last Servant is missing! A sudden magical surge distracts her. The power is equal to that of Discord. That can not be right, Discord is in Tartarus and if there is danger Princess Celestia will be here. Poof! "Princess Celestia!" Twilight announces. The Servants of Shadow go to attention. They notice Princess Celestia's distraught disposition as does Twilight. Princess Celestia watches the library door. "And then I was like WHAM BAM!" Diamond Dancer's exclamations muffle behind the oak door. Crimson magic illuminates the door and it opens to reveal the silver, black splotch pegasus filly and a white pony with three horns. The pony enters the room behind the filly, not taking her eyes off of the princess. Tension builds and the ponies back away from the two alabaster ponies in the middle of the room. Shade slowly smiles, revealing her canines, "Princess." Shade bows. Celestia swallows her surprise, "Darkside of the Moon." "No need to be so formal, Tia," Shade speaks as she circles the princess, "We are practically sisters. I dare say, we have spent more time together than you have with Luna." "Luna believes your help is needed for this mission?" Celestia questions, ignoring Shade's banter. "She did not send for me. I felt her. . . sense of urgency," Shade speaks slowly as she circles Celestia like prey. "I see no reason why you should not go." "And I see no reason why you should be here," Shade's voice turns sharp, her patience at an end. She stands behind the princess, "Gather your strength for the portal. You, Luna, and Miss Starbutt over there will have to power it to send us where the orb is." "You already have a plan?" Celestia inquires. "Of course I do. I knew you would bucking lose it sooner or later." "I have one request." "No," Shade declines instantly. "Take my student, Princess Twilight Sparkle, with you," Celestia continues. Shade huffs, "If she is your student then that is a definite no." "Miss Darkside of the Moon," Twilight speaks up, earning the direct ire of the tricorn. She gulps and continues, "I have been to the Human world and know plenty about it." Shade sucks her teeth, "I have been in the Human world for the past millennium. You are not required for the mission." Celestia steps closer to Shade. "You what?" she asks in disbelief. Shade furrows her brow and steps up to Celestia, taking Celestia's movement as a challenge. Celestia backs away. "I did not petrify myself. I left to the Human world to keep myself from killing you and razing the whole planet to ash." Princess Luna enters the library and walks over to Shade. "You were in the Human world for the last thousand years?" Shade grins devilishly, "Humans are such a destructive race. I love their wars and conflicts. They are such a powder keg of a species." "Shade, please focus on the mission while you are over there. The retrieval of the orb takes precedent," Luna states. "I kinda want to see them destroy themselves. Let them have the orb." "I am giving you an order, Shade: retrieve the orb and do not let the Humans harm themselves," Luna says sternly. Shade stares at Luna for a long time with a neutral expression. Her muzzle splits into a smile and she bows before Luna, "As the Darkside of the Moon, I will carry out your order, your Majesty. I will keep the Servants of Shadow as safe as possible, acquire the Orb of Chaos, and come back home." "That is all I ask for," Luna smiles. "As Shade," the tricorn stands up and frowns at Luna, "I still want those apes dead," "It is a good thing that what you want does not matter," Luna replies stiffly and leaves the library. A JumpTink! The last piece of the machine is in place. Shade marvels at her quick construction of the Gateway, a better version of the Mirror. Granted, Shade will have preferred the Mirror to be here and not in the Crystal Kingdom, another of Celestia's dumb decisions, but she had made something better. She smiles at the crystal she had just placed on a pedestal and wipes her brow. Twilight, while not talking and wanting to help, did not annoy Shade as much as she had thought she would. The young princess is beyond intelligent and did help by bouncing around ideas. Shade also senses Twilight's untapped power and potential. "Why did Celestia call you her 'student' instead of her 'daughter'? Did she think I would not find out?" Shade asks the lavender pony while tuning the last crystal. "Because Princess Celestia is not my mother," Twilight answers after looking up from the parchment she is writing notes on. Shade turns around and stares at the mare. "As long as you believe that," she finally scoffs and returns her attention to the crystal. "And besides, Princess Celestia has never been married." Shade raspberries and laughs. She falls to the ground, holding her sides, laughing out loud. Twilight watches with confusion on her face. Shade finishes her fit of laughter, gets to her hooves, heaves a sigh, and returns to channeling her magic to the crystal. "What was that all about?" Twilight inquires. "What was what about?" Shade replies, feigning ignorance. "The whole rolling on the floor laughing." "Oh." Shade chuckles, "Just at how naïve you are." Twilight scowls at Shade. "Celestia never was as chaste as Luna." Shade taps her chin in thought, "I always wondered about that. It's not like Luna did not have suitors." "Do you have children?" Shade chortles. "You have such a great sense of humor!" Twilight rolls her eyes and returns to writing notes. Shade removes her eyes off Twilight and heaves a heavy sigh. "Have you ever thought about children, Shade?" Shade sat up in bed and cocked an eyebrow at the mare beside her, "No. That would make me a pedophile, Sangria." The cream vampony punched Shade's arm, "Not like that! I meant, have you ever thought about having children?" Shade ran a hoof through her marefriend's electric blue mane, "No. Besides, one of us is lacking the second component required to produce a child." "Aren't there spells for that?" Shade laughed and kissed Sangria, "Not that I know of, babe." Sangria's smile began to turn south. "I. . . I think about it from time to time," she shared. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Shade input, "We could always adopt. . ." Sangria smiled, "I would–" Shade threw herself on top of Sangria and raised a crimson bubble just as the room around them exploded. "What the BUCK!" Sangria exclaimed. Shade snarled and jumped out of the bed to run to the edge of the destroyed apartment. What she saw made her gnash her teeth. Sangria rushed over to Shade's side and gasped in horror. "What the buck is that thing?!" The monster was the size of the Castle of the Two Sisters and was an amalgam of different creatures. Its red eyes focus on Shade. "Whatever that thing is, it will regret pissing me off," Shade sneered. "Shade," Sangria's voice echoed, "Shade!" "Shade!" Luna calls. "What?" Shade shakes her head and blinks her eyes. She notices a Luna who had not been in front of her a second ago. "Is everything ready?" Luna asks. Shade examines the Gateway and all the components. "What's wrong?" concern carries on Luna's words. "Nothing," Shade snips. "When your sister gets here we can begin the jump." And just like that. . . Poof! "Get your sunbutt over to the yellow crystal. Luna yours is the blue crystal and Twilight you are in charge of the red crystal," Shade barks orders. The princesses go to their assigned crystals and await further instructions. "Channel as much of your magic to the generator to activate the Gateway." Moments later, three beams of magic are firing at the generator beside the two arms of the Gateway. Within seconds, a blue portal appears between the two metal arms. "Alright," Shade speaks and the princesses stop channeling their magic. Shade steps in front of the portal and ignites her horn to search for the orb. Five minutes pass by and she is still using her magic on the machine. "What are you doing?" Twilight inquires. "Trying to locate the orb throughout the multiverse is not as easy as," Shade strains. "Ah-ha!" she interjects. "Found it!" She then focuses her magic on the three crystals. She wipes her brow and huffs, "Now, you three keep using your power on the crystal when we enter for about five minutes. That should give us enough time to materialize on the other side." "How will you get back?" Luna questions. "The same way the thieves got here," Shade answers. "Alright troops, front and center," she orders the Servants of Shadow. Dinky is the first to stand beside Shade, she barely can contain her enthusiasm. Diamond is next, equally as enthusiastic. Virga and Nettleglum make their way and stand ready. "Do you know what's on the other side?" Twilight wonders. "Not precisely. I have run through countless probabilities and different scenarios and have solutions for everyone of them." Shade informs. "Let's get this show on the road!" Diamond exclaims, jumping into the air with flittering wings. "No time like the present," Dinky adds. "One small step for us," Shade begins to walk to the portal and disappears in the blue energy. One Hell of a surprise for Mankind, Shade thinks to herself. Beeping and yellow flashing lights sound throughout the laboratory. Scientists run around frantically and soldiers run to their positions. A stone faced, white haired scientist storms down the hallway. Research Room 18 doors hiss open in front of him. He walks inside and sees his colleagues running amuck. "Settle down, everyone!" his voice booms. People stop and look at the lead researcher as he descends the stairs. He crosses the concrete floor and heads to a console where a crimson haired woman taps wildly on the keyboard. "What's the situation, Bloom?" the man asks gruffly. "I don't know! The relic turned on somehow and it appears to be some kind of portal!" Doctor Bloom replies, still tapping on keys. "Turn these damn—!" the man shouts and the alarms shut off. "Thank you," he sighs and rubs his temples. The portal begins to expand and glow white. All the lights and computers turn off. Everyone watches and waits with baited breath the portal. The portal disappears in a blinding light. Then, someone jumps out of the portal and rolls to their feet. A second person jumps out of the white ball that the portal turns into, then a third and fourth! Everyone stays silent. A Visitor (or Five)Shade rolls out of the portal and slowly stands to her feet. Right before her is… a wall. Well that is kind of anticlimactic. She hears grunts behind her and turns around. "Ugh. My head," Diamond groans. She tries to stand up on her hooves and stumbles. When she opens her eyes, she sees a tall… being in front of her with black and crimson long hair. If she squints her eyes she can kind of see. "Shade?" she hears Virga say beside her. Diamond sees another strange being beside her with dark blue hair. "What happened to us?" the creature says with Virga's voice. Diamond examines herself and she discovers that she looks like the one standing up only smaller with not as big of lumps on her chest. Dinky shrieks. "Relax," Shade says. Dinky scrambles over to Shade and hides behind her calf. Diamond looks the way Dinky is staring at and sees more creatures in white lab coats standing a short distance away. She sees one creature walk towards them. "What an unexpected outcome," Shade voices. "How can we be Humans?" Nettleglum says out loud. Shade watches the woman walking towards them. There is something familiar about her. Shade smiles at the woman. The woman points a quivering finger at Shade, "You. Me? Naked?" She stammers. "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?" Shade cracks. "Maybe a mirror?" Virga comments. The woman faints and crumples to the floor. "I always knew I was a knockout," Shade chuckles. "Um, why are there so many of them?!" Dinky cries. Diamond shakily stands to her "feet" and holds onto Nettleglum. "Instead of gawking how about you get us clothes," Shade demands. Several scientists take off their lab coats and throw them at the naked strangers. Shade steps off the platform and picks up five lab coats and walks back to the others. "Here," she tosses two to Virga, one to Nettleglum, and kneels to dress Dinky. The others watch and copy Shade. Virga helps Diamond first before dressing himself. Movement catches the corner of Shade's eye and she eyes the balding, short, portly man walk up to them. Shade did not like the looks of this place. All the consoles and scientists means this place is one of two things: a military base or laboratory. Maybe she is extra lucky and had teleported everyone to a military laboratory. "Who are you?" the old man asks. "We are the new interns," Shade quips. The old man narrows his eyes. "This is a government facility. One, you all do not have the clearance to be here and two, you all appear from a strange phenomenon." "One, I need to speak with the head of state and two," Shade steps closer to man and stares into his blue eyes, "You do not want me as your enemy." Before the man can speak, Shade adds, "I am a foreign emissary from an alternate universe on a mission to retrieve an item stolen from our realm. My team and I will wait here until I meet with your leader." Shade looks around the man at her doppelgänger in the floor, "You should probably check on her." "As long as you all stay right there we will not have any problems," the man says and begins to walk away. He barks at one scientists to check on Doctor Bloom. The scientist, a man in his late twenties, rushes to the woman's side. He looks at her and at Shade. His green eyes register confusion. He gently picks up Doctor Bloom in his arms and carries her away. "I had hoped for a better outcome," Shade grumbles. "What do we do now?" Virga asks as he stands next to Shade to watch the Humans. "Just let me handle the talking," she replies. She walks over to Nettleglum and Diamond, waving Virga and Dinky over. She crouches and speaks low, "We need their cooperation if we are to successfully find and retrieve the orb. I do not know if we are in the same Human world I was previously in. I do know that I am unable to cast spells right now." "They keep staring at us," Dinky whispers. "They will live, for now," Nettleglum comments. "I knew I was going to like you," Shade smiles. "What are we suppose to do now?" Diamond squeaks. "Wait," Shade says. Bweep bweep! Bweep bweep! Yawn. Click clack. "What?" "Madame Secretary, sorry for disturbing your sleep. My name is Doctor Corduroy. I am the Director of Science at the Manehattan Institute of Technology." "What is so important that you could not wait until the morning, Doctor?" "I believe Equestrian individuals have teleported into the laboratory, Madame Secretary." A long pause and silence. He thinks the secretary had gone back to sleep. "M—" "I will be there in a couple hours," the Secretary states, the sleep in her voice nonexistent. Shade chuckles. "That is a cute little dance you are doing, Dinky. "For your information, I need to go use the restroom!" Dinky hisses. Shade lips form an "O" of understanding. She stands up and notices the guards shoulder their guns. "She needs to use the restroom," Shade says, crossing her arms. "Um, Shade?" Diamond tugs on Shade's lab coat. Shade sighs. "We all need to use the restroom. Would you be so kind as to show us where the nearest one is?" "Doctor Corduroy gave us explicit details to not let you leave," the guard closes to them informs. Shade scowls at the man. "If you do not take us to the restroom, I will fucking go over there and shit—!" Virga clamps a hand over Shade's mouth. "We would ever be so indebted if you would allows us not to embarrass ourselves any further," Nettleglum speaks up. "Please." Virga releases Shade before she throws him across the room. Shade snorts aggressively and glares at the guard. "Right this way," the guard finally says and leads the four strangers to the restroom. A(n) ExplanationOne thing one her mind during the trip to the laboratory, "Is Twilight back after so long?" The black government SUV barely had stopped when Secretary of Defence Sunset Shimmer steps out and speed walks to the door. A heavy set, balding man with a white lab coat is waiting at the door with two armed guards with him. Sunset Shimmer does away with niceties and asks, "What are their names?" "We don't know," Doctor Corduroy answers while lowering his hand back to his side. "Let's get going then," Sunset urges impatiently. "Right this way, Madame Secretary." "You, uhm," Virga coughs and clears his throat, "really didn't need to show me how to use the restroom, Shade." "Says the guy who was going to piss in the sink," Shade huffs. "BORED!" Diamond exclaims, throwing her arms in the air and flinging herself to the ground. "Does Miss Shade need to put you to sleep like she put Miss Dinky to sleep?" Nettleglum says to Diamond. Diamond looks over at the unconscious blonde haired girl a few feet away from her then turns her head to see a grinning Shade. "Maybe next time," Diamond sighs. Virga takes up studying the obelisk in the middle of the metal platform to pass the time. He is far from being a scholar by any means but the pictures on it resemble Ancient Equestrian. He glances to the side as Shade examines the obelisk. "What do you make of it?" Virga questions after a moment of silence. "It is sufficiently obelisk shape," Shade nods her head. Virga, after the ten hours of being with Shade, waits patiently for Shade to answer his question. Shade smirks, "It is Egyptian." Shade kneels next to the obelisk and licks the monument. She savors the flavor and stands up. "White limestone. Ten thousand years Before Common Era. That would place it around the time the first pyramid of Giza was first constructed. It reads, 'To honor the Gods'… no, 'For the honor of the Gods. They blessed us with their mercy, wisdom, and compassion. For that, we are eternally grateful.'" "What 'Gods?'" Shade walks around to the other side of the obelisk and continues translating the hieroglyphs, "'We give the highest praise and honor to,'" Shade scrunched her face, "I've never seen half of these glyphs. But considering where we came from, the 'Gods' must have been ancients from Equus." "That brings up many more questions," Nettleglum inputs as she walks over to Shade to inspect the obelisk. Shade points to a hieroglyph that resembles a rainbow surrounded by darkness. "I have seen that cutie mark before," Shade comments and points to a second glyph that is a black shield with a white seven point star, "This one, as well." "I have never seen them," Nettleglum admits. "I would be surprised if you had. They belonged to the first Tricorns: Aurora Borealis and Gallant Night, respectively." "Intriguing," Nettleglum hums. Doctor Bloom sighs. She stares into the mirror with vacant honey eyes. The sink faucet runs. Knocks on the bathroom door snap her out of her stupor. "You alright, Nightshade?" Nightshade turns off the faucet and runs her hands through her long red hair. She slaps her cheeks before answering, "I'll be out soon." She opens the door and Morning Highlight is there to greet her with a smile and bright green eyes. "What are you still doing here?" Nightshade asks and walks around him to her bed to retrieve her lab coat. Morning Highlight chuckles, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." "I'm fine. Thank you." She puts on her lab coat and tries to add authority to her meek voice, "Now, please leave, Doctor Highlight." "If that's what you want." He waits for her to say something back but she walks over to her bedside table and turns to look at him sternly. "Director Corduroy invited the Secretary of Defense. She should be here shortly," he informs his colleague as he leaves out the door. Nightshade releases her breath she had held subconsciously. She picks up the communicator from the table and speaks into the mouthpiece, "Call: Father." Sunset Shimmer hears her rapid footsteps echo off the walls of the hallway. She takes to following the guards and leaves the wheezing Director behind. She has no time to waste; she wants answers and she wants them now. A door opens and the guards stop to raise their guns. Doctor Bloom squeaks and holds her hands up. The guards lower their weapons and continue forward. Sunset pays no attention to the pale woman. Nightshade follows after the guards. A few minutes later and the guards stop at laboratory eighteen doors. Nightshade excuses herself through the group to use her ID to open the twin sliding doors. The commotion at the door draws Shade's attention. She walks from behind the obelisk to see guards, an important looking woman, and her twin walking down the steps toward the platform. She descends down the five steps of the platform and waits for the entourage. Sunset Shimmer stops in front of the woman with a lab coat and turns around to look at the similar woman behind her. "You are from Equestria, right?" Sunset asks the black haired woman before her. Shade leans forward and sniffs the flame haired woman. "As are you," Shade says. "Why are you here?" "You are not the President," Shade stares while crossing her arms across her chest. "The President's job is not to deal with beings from an alternate universe," Sunset replies. "No. It would be the Secretary of State's job. You seem more like a Secretary of War or Science." "I am the Secretary of Defense Sunset Shimmer. Who are you and why are you here?" Sunset demands. "I am the Darkside of the Moon. Maybe you have heard of me?" Shade raised a brow. "'The Darkside of the Moon' is nothing but an old pony's tail," Sunset scoffs. Shade glares into the green eyes of Sunset. "I will play nice— for now. Officially, I am Nightshade Toxin, Commander of the Servants of Shadow. I am an envoy of Princess Luna on a mission to secure a stolen artifact." "Which artifact was stolen?" "A dangerous one. That is all you need to know." "If it is so dangerous, why was it not secured properly?" "Because Princess Luna's lard ass of a sunbutt sister thought she could protect it best—under her bed," Shade huffs. Sunset cracks a smile. "She is pretty arrogant. Do you at least have any leads on the artifact?" "Somewhere in the Perseus Veil." Sunset's smile disappears, "That is not good." "Of course not. Why would this be easy?" Shade throws her hands up and let them smack her sides. A loud long yawn makes them turn their heads to see Diamond yawning, "I'm hungry!" "That is Corporal Dancer. The guy is Captain Virga, the woman is Adjutant Nettleglum, and the sleeping teenager is Corporal Doo," Shade introduces her squad to Sunset. "Let me get you all better accommodations and some food," Sunset nods. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?" A Waiting Game (Explicit)"I am a God!" Snap! Shade removes her hoof from Discord's neck. Blood dripped down her nose and she breathed heavily. Groaning made her ears swivel behind her and she limped slowly to the battered body of Luna. Shade wipes her fetlock across her nose, staining her coat orange. She nudges Luna gently. "Luna," Shade coughed. Luna cracked her bruised eye open, "Is he—" "Yes," Shade smirked. "My… body…" Luna groaned. "Luna?" Celestia called out. Shade turned around and saw the alicorn rise to her shaky hooves slowly. Celestia stepped over the Elements of Harmony and made her way to her sister. "Thank you, Shade," Celestia smiled faintly. Shade huffed, "Some artifacts the Elements of Harmony turned out to be. They only petrified his lower body." "He was extremely powerful," Celestia said. "He is gone now," Luna voiced. Cracking sounds made the mares turn to Discord's giant body. The rest of his body began to turn into stone. After his body was stone solid, it exploded into chunks of rock. Shade used the rest of her magic to shield everypony. Shade fell to her knees. "What is that?" Celestia questioned aloud and walked over to the rubble of Discord. A small black ball of crystal laid in the middle. Celestia picked it up and it was like a marble in her frog. "Curious," she hummed. Shade got to her hooves and labored to help Luna stand. They walked over to Celestia who paid them no mind. "The same thing happened to Tirek," Luna spoke. "Something bigger is behind all of them. Something is powering them and controlling them." Shade added. "Then we need to get to the bottom of this," Celestia stated and tucked the marble under her wing. "For once, I agree with you," Shade remarked. The three mares limped away into the sunset. Shade opens her eyes and stares at the digital clock on the desk. Two hours had passed since she fell asleep. She sits up in bed and throws the covers off her as she swings her legs over the side of the bed. She runs her fingers through her long, wavy hair. Shade hates to wait. Shade hates having to trust someone else. Shade knows trouble will hound her every step she takes to retrieve the orb, if the past provides any insight. She grabs the glass of water on the night stand and quenches her thirst. Sunset Shimmer. Now, there is a woman who takes shit from no one and is straightforward. Shade can admire that—she also notes to stay away from Sunset as much as possible, lest complications arise. She quickly shakes her head to dismis the thought of Sangria. "To Hell with her," Shade grumbles and gets up out of bed. Shade opens the door to her room and discovers her doppelgänger standing in front of her. Nightshade swallows audibly. "I-I w-wasn't doing… um… hello…" she stammers. "What do you want?" Nightshade tucks a strand of white hair behind her ear and adjusts her black glasses, "I wanted to get to know more about you…" "You bring vodka?" "No?" "No vodka. No talk," Shade says and pushes past Nightshade. "Wine?" Shade stops in her tracks. "I'm going to need a lot of it," she sighs. Nightshade jogs to catch up to Shade. She motions to Shade to follow her. "Why do you have so much wine?" Shade slurs as she takes a large gulp of wine from her fourth bottle. "Papa always sends me it as a gift for my anniversary being employed here," Nightshade answers then takes a sip from her first glass of wine. "So, he's alive over here…" Shade mumbles. She rests her arms on the back of the swivel chair and lays her head on her arms to stare at Nightshade. Nightshade, thinking Shade is sufficiently drunk enough to talk about personal things, tests the waters. "Your father is dead?" "Quite." "How did he die?" "No! My turn to be asking question," Shade says in a Russian accent on par with Nightshade's. "Why are you so…" Shade motions a circle around all of Nughtshade with her free hand, "so you?" "What do you mean?" "Why do you act like…" Shade stops and sits up to stare into Nightshade's eyes, "You were raped, too?" Nightshade flinches and turns away from Shade. She fiddles with the pillows on her bed before whispering, "Yes." She chugs her glass and sighs, "I was given up for adoption at the age of three. Papa says he had to give me up so I could be safe. My adoptive parents were nice. Rick… he would touch me when I was ten and when I was twelve he… raped me. Laura hated me. She knew about it and did nothing about it. "One night, Rick came to my room and took advantage of me and… I… wanted it to end—wanted him to stop. The next morning I woke up in the hospital. Police told me that my parents were murdered and that I was covered in their blood." Nightshade looks back at Shade with wide eyes, "I don't know what happened. I would have dreams of them dying, afterwards. Then a Voice began to talk to me. She told me she would protect me. Two years later, I'm a freshman in high school, people had avoided me because they thought I was cursed an 'Omen'. So when the star running back of the football team invited me to a party I felt happy." "Stop." Shade says, "I can figure out the rest of the cliché from here." Shade empties the bottle of wine and tosses it on the floor with the others. "I refused to let those bastards have control over my mind. I made them pay. I didn't curl up and sob and wish for them to go away. I made sure they died. I made sure to avenge my father's death. Nightshade moves to the edge of the bed and whispers, "The Voice, she's real. She manifested herself somehow and began to kill the players who raped me. She spread videos on the Internet showing her killing one, then two, the the videos became live streams, and then she hacked into news programs to broadcast their deaths. After the fourteenth guy died, she introduced herself as 'Justinia' the 'only just and true judge who will rid the world of injustice'. Her cult became a religion in weeks." "Uh-huh…" Shade grunts and bites the cork off a fifth bottle. "Aren't you full of surprises." "People still avoid me and I avoid everyone, especially males," Nightshade concludes. "I don't trust anyone—male or female. Males broke my body and females broke my heart. Fuck them!" Shade smashes the bottle of wine on the ground, "I don't need anyone!" Shade passes out and slumps out of the chair to hit the ground. Luckily, she misses the broken glass. Nightshade sighs and gets up. She arduously heaves Shade up and struggles to drag her to the bed. Once Shade is in bed, Nightshade covers her twin with a blanket. She cleans up the room before drifting off to sleep herself. Shade pants and glares at the brown stallion in front of her. "How could your father think we would not do anything? He is going against the Hierarchy. And now you know what we do to ponies who go against the Hierarchy's wishes," the stallion said. Shade's heart sank to her stomach. Grey Vulcan hung from the ceiling off the warehouse with his limbs severed and meat hooks held him. His eyes were red with tears and shame. He witnessed all the atrocities done to her and the bastards tortured him. "I. Will. Kill. You. All." Shade vowed with gnashed teeth. "That is adorable," the stallion mocked and slaps the filly's cheek. Shade screams in agony as a rods penetrated and sodomized her. Her limbs are encased in blue magic and snap in half. The pain made her vision go white and she saw a red stallion open up her father's belly with a rusty meat hook before she went into shock. "Fucking monsters…" Shade murmurs in her sleep. Nightshade wraps her arms around her twin and holds her close. "Shhhh…" she comforts Shade while petting the top of her head. "Monsters… all of them…" Shade whimpers as tears roll down her cheeks. A LegendDiamond Dancer can only stay awake during lessons for so long. At first, learning about Humans did hold her attention but after there were no more pictures things got boring. She makes her way outside and finds herself in the castle gardens. She spies Princess Luna and decides to follow her. A short time later, Diamond sees Princess Luna stops at a glass building. As the little filly approaches the building, she can see blue flowers blooming inside as blue as her Princess' coat. Diamond Dancer," Princess Luna speaks and stops the filly in her tracks. She looks down and smiles at the filly, "Want to come inside?" "Yes, Your Majesty," Diamond Dancer bows. Princess Luna disengages the wards and locks on the outside and they proceed to a small room with another set of locks. The first door closes and locks behind them Why so much security for a flower building? DD thinks to herself. "These are highly toxic flowers which I am the only pony immune to," the Mistress of the Night explains as she cast a shielding spell on her charge. The door opens after locks disengage and they step inside the greenhouse. The blue flowers sparkle in the moonlight. DD can see stars dancing on the petals of the flowers. "Solanum lunaris, 'Luna's Nightshade,'" Princess Luna sighs contently as she exhales a deep breath. Diamond takes her eyes off the flowers and focuses on the large statue in the middle. The statue is about the size of her mistress but had two extra horns on her forehead and no wings. Diamond gazed up at her mistress as the princess stands in front of the statue. The filly can see the longing in the teal eyes of Luna. Luna reaches out to touch the cheek of the statue. "That! Is! It!" Shade roared. Her horns ignited and teleported Princess Celestia away. Princess Celestia found herself at the southern part of the Everfree Forest. The Darkside of the Moon materialized before her. "I had no choice!" Celestia defended herself. The Darkside of the Moon blast a torrent of crimson magic at Celestia. The Solar Princess took flight to avoid the blast. She evaded the volley of crimson magic launched at her. She stayed on the defensive as she flew around and dodged attacks. Princess Celestia knew she needed to attack if she wanted to live. She fires beams of light at the ivory tricorn who raised a shield to block the assault. Red lightning struck the Princess out of the sky. She put up a shield to absorb the fall and blasts of crimson magic. The ivory tricorn launched herself at the pink shield and drummed on the barrier. Celestia shattered the shield and her magic hits the tricorn's chest. Celestia cautiously approached the smoldering mare on the ground. The mare sat up and Celestia picked up the mare to slam her on the ground repeatedly. Celestia panted and swallowed the lump in her throat. Did she go too far? The mare labored to her hooves and Celestia stood her ground. The mare ignited her horns and released crimson magic at Celestia. Celestia shot her magic to meet the crimson magic. They both funnel all their magic at each other. Celestia began to win and the tricorn is blasted with Celestia's full power. Magic surrounded the mare and she levitated in the air. Celestia stepped back in horror. She raised a shield when the glowing ball of energy exploded. Her shield broke and she found herself on the ground. Her pink eyes opened and locked onto a new mare before her. This mare was the size of Celestia, armed with three, three foot long horns, her mane and tail resembled black flames, had the wings and tail of a dragon, the cloven hooves like a centaur, a slightly reddish pink coat which match her draconic parts ,and finally, a fiery crown of flames rested between her horns. She reared back her head with a mass of flaming magic. Celestia closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Seconds go by and Celestia opened her eyes. The Darkside of the Moon eyes burned with black flames and she turned around and released the magic she held. Everything was destroyed for two hundred miles and the forest burned around the canyon created. The mare panted heavily and returned to her natural size. She glares at Celestia and said, "Luna would not want you dead." Then, she started to turn into stone. Celestia watched in awe of the mares power and restraint. Luna steps away from the statue as the vision leaves her mind. "Your Majesty?" DD squeaks with worry and places a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder. "I'm--" Crack. Luna sees a large crack open along the side of the statue. Crack! More cracks spider web across the statue. A big grin splits Luna's muzzle. The statue explodes and Luna raises a blue shield around her and the filly. A groan in the center of the rubble makes Luna drop the barrier. "Luna?" a raspy voice calls out. "Shade!" Luna rushes over to the crumpled ivory pony. Diamond Dancer is completely flabbergasted. Did that pony come out of the statue or was she the statue? Luna hugs her dearest friend. "Can't. Breath." Shade wheezes. Luna releases Shade, "I'm just so happy to see you!" "So, the thousand years are up?" "To be honest, it has been a thousand and five years," Luna chuckles. Shade stares at Luna. "You waited five years to awaken me?" "She could have waited hundreds!" DD pipes. Shade looks at the little filly and Luna. "Luna. . ." "Diamond Dancer is a Servant of Shadows, not my daughter!" Luna quickly explains. "That's a shame," Shade remarks and ruffles the filly's light blue mane. "So, who needs to die?" Luna's joyful expression darkens. "The Orb of Chaos has been stolen." "So, who needs to die?" Shade reiterates. "It is somewhere in the Human Universe." Shade furrows her brow. "I told you to destroy that damn mirror. This is why I look like the bad guy, because I get shit done." "We have to--" "'We?' You speaking fancy now? Tell me what I need to do," Shade says. Luna sighs and turns to exit the greenhouse, "You have a lot to catch up on." Before Shade can follow Luna, a small hoof stops her. "Are you the 'Darkside of the Moon?'" DD inquires. Shade smiles at the silvery pegasus filly, "Yeah. Quite the antiphrasis, right?" "What?" "They call me the Darkside of the Moon yet I'm as white as the driven snow," Shade chuckles. "Yeah," DD giggles, "that is pretty funny. Let's go so you can meet tha other Servants!"
A Book A Book Diamond Dancer lays on her bed. She stares at the curtains where small beams of light stream in from the gaps of the curtain. She groans. Sleep keeps itself out of her grasp. A book teetering on the edge of her bedside table catches her attention. Big brother Bradigan had brought it to her to read earlier. She huffs and reluctantly rolls over to grab the book. The arduous task of reaching the book makes Diamond even more irritable. Her condition did not want to cooperate with her today. After slamming her head on the table to activate her night vision, she reads the cover of the red book, "The Darkside of the Moon: Fact or Fiction? New Evidence!" A curious hum vibrates her lips. She has heard of the titular pony before, everypony has in the Servants of Shadow. "The Darkside of the Moon" is the highest rank in the SS, and only the first one has ever reached that rank and honor. Diamond opens the book with a splotchy black hoof and begins to read. "Princess Luna." A sigh escaped the princess as she set her black, starry crown on the vanity. Her teal eyes stared back at her in the mirror. Already ponies spend more time in her sister's day than her night. She walked away from the vanity and stoped. She looked behind her at her forlorn crown. Her magic picked it up and she placed it on her head. At least she could enjoy the solace of her night. A cool breeze towed Luna as she sat comfortably on a cloud. She smiled at the bats that flew by and at the dazzling stars in the sky. A magical disturbance on the ground made her roll off her back and look toward the sleeping city below. A shadowy figure crept against the city wall along the southern edge. The figure ran from the wall and to the nearby woods. Luna had to investigate. After Luna followed the cloaked figure for an hour over head, the figure stopped their galloping as they approached a cabin. The cabin was relatively big for one pony and had stone walls while a thatch roof topped the building. The figure entered the, well, cottage would be a better word for the dwelling, cottage and Luna landed quietly ten feet away from the cottage. She could hear a voice from inside the cottage as she snuck closer to a dark window. The voice sounded like a mare. "Lessons went as well as any other night," the mare spoke. Who else was inside? Luna dared not to uses any magic lest she reveal herself. "Starswirl still has his secrets and I still have mine," the voice continued. "Which irritates him and makes him fun to watch. He wants to know everything and not knowing anything about me and my species drives him mad!" the voice laughed. So the mare knows Starswirl the Bearded? And from the sound of things is a student of his. What kind "species" is she? Luna wished to know and dared to peek through the dark window. A blast of crimson magic made her duck her head. Before she could turn and run a pony teleported in front of Luna with glowing red horns. Horns? The pony dissipated the magic in her horns and cocked a curious brow at Luna. "Princess Luna?" the white pony said. "Thou. . . thou haveth three horns. . ." Princess Luna spoke. The white pony with long black and crimson hair stared at the princess with glowing yellow eyes. "What race of pony art thou?" Luna questioned. "The kind that does not like it when others spy on her," the pony growled. "We apologize. We were only curious," Princess Luna bowed. "Most ponies sleep through Our nights, so when We saw one awake, We wanted to see why and whom." The white mare lowered her guard. "Well. . . now you have seen me; now, you can go," the pony said as she walked past the princess to the front door of the cottage. "We wish to further converse!" Luna exclaimed as the pony enters the cottage and slammed the door behind her. "'We' wish to be left alone!" "Can We at least meet the other pony with whom you were " The wooden door opens and a pair of serpentine eyes stare through the crack, "You heard me?" "Yes?" "I. . . there is nopony else here," is the pony's disheartened reply. Luna's eyes flashed with revelation. "You can leave now," the pony said behind a closed door. "We also have nopony to talk with," Princess Luna shared. A long silence fell. Crickets sang and the hoot of an owl echoed. "Sounds like a personal problem," the mare finally spoke. Lightning flashed above and thunder clapped and boomed. Rain started to fall and drenched the princess. "We. . . I. . . just wanted to be friends. . ." Princess Luna whispered. As she was about to teleport home, the door swung open. "Come in before you get sick," the mare said behind the door. It is said that the Darkside of the Moon is from a distant, unknown land. About the same time as rumors of a new race of pony is found does the Darkside of the Moon pop up. Perhaps Princess Luna employed a foreigner to have an edge over others? All the notes Starswirl the Bearded had about the new pony have mysteriously disappeared and this author does not believe in coincidence. Diamond Dancer slides a bookmark in the book with a yawn. Maybe when she wakes up she can start on the second chapter. Princess Celestia slams the safe close. She ignites her horn to locate the missing object and fails to detect it. "How could it have been stolen from under my nose?" She lights up her horn and teleports to her sister's room. The regal blue alicorn sleeps soundly in her bed. Celestia reluctantly stirs her sister awake. After several nudges, Princess Luna opens her drowsy eyes. "Tia?" she mumbles. "The orb is gone," Celestia states. Luna sits up in bed, wide awake, "WHAT?!" "Somepony managed to steal the orb without triggering the alarms or wards. I don't even know when it could have happened. It is not in Equestria, sister," Celestia explains. "I'll assemble the Servants," Luna says as she climbs out of bed. "And I'll ring the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation," Celestia nods. "The power of the Orb of Chaos must not be released. Especially since that time of year is approaching."
A MissionDiamond Dancer lurches up in bed. She pants heavily and her eyes bulge from their sockets. She swallows the lump in her throat. She can still feel the monster breathing down her neck. Then she remembers: she is unable to feel anything. Her disease grants her invulnerability in exchange for a short life and no sense of touch. She gulps down the glass of water on the beside table and looks at the clock. Mid afternoon. With no work and nothing planned, she picks up the book to continue reading where she left off. "You will rue the day you were---!" Tirek's threat was cut short by an ivory hoof to the cheek. A pair of rear hooves kick him in his gut. "I will make you into rue!" the ivory tricorn snarled as she body slams the centaur, twice her size, to the ground. Tirek roared and fired a blast of magic at the insolent pony. The pony absorbs the blast with her right hoof and smirked at Tirek. A hoof to the face wiped off his smile. He levitated into the air by crimson magic and all his limbs are snapped in half. The pony crushed his face into the dirt. "Beg for mercy," she hissed in his ear. "Enough!" a voice shouted behind her. The tricorn rolled her pale yellow eyes and punched the centaur one last time to knock him out. "He is defeated, leave him alone," Princess Celestia said. "He yet draws breath," the pony countered coldly. "He will be tried and sentenced," Princess Luna input as she walked next to her friend. "No, he will be sent to Tarturus," Princess Celestia stated. "What?" Princess Luna walked up to her sister, "After everything he has done? He needs to be executed! The ponies will demand it!" "For his crimes, he will be sent to Tarturus. There he will not be any danger to--" Crunch. The sisters turned their heads to the sickening sound. "For his crimes-- death," the ivory tricorn said as she stepped over the centaur's body. Princess Celestia gaped at Tirek's crushed neck and glowered at the pony walking away, "How dare you!" She jumped and landed in front of the pony. "Killing him was not your decision!" The ivory tricorn's nostrils flared in anger. "You are right. It is Luna and your decision. You are always ignoring her and doing things your way!" "I know what is best for my little ponies!" Celestia declared. "The buck you do!" the pony shouted and lunged at the white alicorn "ENOUGH!" Luna yelled and held the fiery tricorn with blue magic. "It is done," she said to her friend. She turned to her sister and said, "They are my ponies, too." Celestia's anger dissipated and she frowned, "Luna, I didn't mean--" Luna cut her sister off, "We will send Tirek's body to his family along with our apologies." As the midnight alicorn and ivory tricorn walked away to leave Celestia alone with the centaur corpse, the tricorn looked back and narrowed her eyes at the alabaster alicorn. The defeat of Tirek is the first time the Darkside of the Moon was publicly seen and mentioned by eyewitnesses. Witnesses only claim to see a white unicorn with the Princesses but I can safely assume that unicorn is the Darkside of the Moon. Why? Because Princess Luna would not have allowed any other pony fight with her against Tirek. No documents exist say who killed Tirek but I for one am thankful that he is not around anymore. "Whoa. Tirek was bad bizness," Diamond Dancer squeaks. A knock on the door interrupts her thoughts. She throws herself off the bed, accidentally, and scrambles to her hooves. A couple minutes later and she is downstairs at the front door. "Who is it?" Diamond shouts at the door. "Mailmare!" Ditzy announces. "Got an important message for you!" Diamond fumbles with the locks on the door and opens the door a smidge to see the light gray Pegasus. Ditzy Doo reaches into a mailbag to retrieve a letter. She passes the letter to the filly, who accepts the letter with her mouth. "Thanks," Diamond squeaks with the letter between her teeth. "No problem!" Ditzy replies and flies off. Diamond quickly returns inside the house and locks the door behind her. She trots over to the kitchen to read the letter and prepare a bowl of cereal for breakfast. The letter has a royal seal which is quickly broken. The letter had only a time and place written. Ten. Night Court. Gee, now her curiosity is piqued. Waiting is going to kill her. Princess Luna keeps weighing the idea over in her head. Her sister is naturally against the idea and Luna. . . was above anxious and nervous. The decision can wait later, her Servants had waited patiently long enough. "My loyal Servants," she begins and the four ponies go to attention, "a grave situation is at hoof. An object of a powerful and dangerous nature has been stolen. The EBI has concluded that the object has been taken to the Human world." Virga, the Night Champion, a dark blue pegasus, shifts on his hooves and a quiet sigh leaves him. Diamond notices his odd behavior and dozens of questions buzz in her head. "The artifact that has been stolen is called the Orb of Chaos. As its name implies, the Orb of Chaos contains chaos magic and if unleashed or harnessed, I fear for the lives of Humans and ponies. The Human world works much differently than our world. Although, recent exposure to Equestrian magic has begun to fill their world with magic which makes Humans even more dangerous and why they would seek the orb." "Your Majesty," Nettleglum, the Night Steward, a purple earth pony, begins, "if some pony went directly to the orb from the Human world then that would mean they had prior knowledge of the orb." "Precisely," Princess Luna affirms and nods. "Tonight you will learn about the Human world and their customs and tomorrow you four will be going." Princess Twilight enters through a side door and trots over to the group, beaming from ear to ear, "Study time!" Dinky uses all her restraint to keep from jumping with joy. Diamond groans inwardly and feels sleep already calling her.
A Legend, Part TwoNight envelops the three ponies as they walk in silence to the castle. The castle banners flap lazily in the warm southern breeze. Diamond decides now is as good as time as any to ask the thousands of questions on her mind. "So," she timidly begins, "You tha Darkside of tha Moon, right?" "Affirmative," Shade nods. "So. . . did ya kill Tirek?" "Without hesitation." "And ya ain't from Equestria, right?" "Nope." "What are ya?" "Tricorn. Female." "Your eyes are pretty cool." "They serve their purpose better than most." "Whadda ya mean?" "Night vision, thermal vision, and great farsight," Shade elaborates. "How come ya flank is blank?" "Why are you looking at my flank?" "Because it's blank. . ." is Diamond's flat reply. "I guess killing is not my calling in life, even though I am great at it," Shade responds whimsically. "Why--" Shade cuts the filly short with her own question, "What about you? Tell me about yourself." "Not much to tell, really," Diamond shrugs. "Luna just picks a random filly to become a Servant of Shadow then? Does the order not have the prestige it once held?" Shade directs the question towards Luna. "The ranks of the SS are. . . lacking," Luna answers honestly. "I chose the six ponies I have now because they reached feats thought unreachable by pony standards." "And Diamond's was flying? That is why she has Icarus Syndrome?" Shade concludes. "How'd ya know?" Diamond wonders aloud. "I named the disease after I found evidence of it in the ruins of Trot. I have several--" "No," Luna states. "Just because the twelve tests subjects before died does not mean she will," is Shade's weak defense. "Twelve?!" Shade purses her lips, "Ah, did only tell you two died, huh?" "You. . . lied to me?" Shade sees the heartbreak and betrayal in Luna's eyes. "Science requires sacrifices." "Not the sacrifice of my ponies!" Luna storms off and teleports away. Shade sighs and turns her attention to the filly, who had noticeably distanced herself from Shade, "I gave them quick and painless deaths. Each one answered questions and brought others to light. Their sacrifices were not in vain. I personally supported the twelve families when the experiments failed." Diamond thinks that she does not want to be alone with such a dangerous pony but at the same time, she can sense Shade's honesty. "Ya think ya can cure me?" "Anything is possible," Shade smiles. Celestia sits up in her bed. A nightmare of fire and smoke wakes her up. She breathes heavy and tries to collect her breath. A strong magical presence radiates outside. A presence she did not want to feel. A presence that had happened to be the source of her nightmare. She trots to the window overlooking the garden and sees the ivory tricorn sparkling in the moonlight as she walks to the castle. She swallows hard. The tricorn locks onto Celestia with narrow, glowing eyes. Twilight enjoys teaching, that goes without saying. Twilight had thought that a prestigious group such as the Servants of Shadow would be more than what she had been given. She has one Servant, Dinky Doo the Night's Student, paying absolute attention while the pegasus, Virga, is asleep with his eyes open, the earth mare is talking to spiders in the corner, and the last Servant is missing! A sudden magical surge distracts her. The power is equal to that of Discord. That can not be right, Discord is in Tartarus and if there is danger Princess Celestia will be here. Poof! "Princess Celestia!" Twilight announces. The Servants of Shadow go to attention. They notice Princess Celestia's distraught disposition as does Twilight. Princess Celestia watches the library door. "And then I was like WHAM BAM!" Diamond Dancer's exclamations muffle behind the oak door. Crimson magic illuminates the door and it opens to reveal the silver, black splotch pegasus filly and a white pony with three horns. The pony enters the room behind the filly, not taking her eyes off of the princess. Tension builds and the ponies back away from the two alabaster ponies in the middle of the room. Shade slowly smiles, revealing her canines, "Princess." Shade bows. Celestia swallows her surprise, "Darkside of the Moon." "No need to be so formal, Tia," Shade speaks as she circles the princess, "We are practically sisters. I dare say, we have spent more time together than you have with Luna." "Luna believes your help is needed for this mission?" Celestia questions, ignoring Shade's banter. "She did not send for me. I felt her. . . sense of urgency," Shade speaks slowly as she circles Celestia like prey. "I see no reason why you should not go." "And I see no reason why you should be here," Shade's voice turns sharp, her patience at an end. She stands behind the princess, "Gather your strength for the portal. You, Luna, and Miss Starbutt over there will have to power it to send us where the orb is." "You already have a plan?" Celestia inquires. "Of course I do. I knew you would bucking lose it sooner or later." "I have one request." "No," Shade declines instantly. "Take my student, Princess Twilight Sparkle, with you," Celestia continues. Shade huffs, "If she is your student then that is a definite no." "Miss Darkside of the Moon," Twilight speaks up, earning the direct ire of the tricorn. She gulps and continues, "I have been to the Human world and know plenty about it." Shade sucks her teeth, "I have been in the Human world for the past millennium. You are not required for the mission." Celestia steps closer to Shade. "You what?" she asks in disbelief. Shade furrows her brow and steps up to Celestia, taking Celestia's movement as a challenge. Celestia backs away. "I did not petrify myself. I left to the Human world to keep myself from killing you and razing the whole planet to ash." Princess Luna enters the library and walks over to Shade. "You were in the Human world for the last thousand years?" Shade grins devilishly, "Humans are such a destructive race. I love their wars and conflicts. They are such a powder keg of a species." "Shade, please focus on the mission while you are over there. The retrieval of the orb takes precedent," Luna states. "I kinda want to see them destroy themselves. Let them have the orb." "I am giving you an order, Shade: retrieve the orb and do not let the Humans harm themselves," Luna says sternly. Shade stares at Luna for a long time with a neutral expression. Her muzzle splits into a smile and she bows before Luna, "As the Darkside of the Moon, I will carry out your order, your Majesty. I will keep the Servants of Shadow as safe as possible, acquire the Orb of Chaos, and come back home." "That is all I ask for," Luna smiles. "As Shade," the tricorn stands up and frowns at Luna, "I still want those apes dead," "It is a good thing that what you want does not matter," Luna replies stiffly and leaves the library.
A JumpTink! The last piece of the machine is in place. Shade marvels at her quick construction of the Gateway, a better version of the Mirror. Granted, Shade will have preferred the Mirror to be here and not in the Crystal Kingdom, another of Celestia's dumb decisions, but she had made something better. She smiles at the crystal she had just placed on a pedestal and wipes her brow. Twilight, while not talking and wanting to help, did not annoy Shade as much as she had thought she would. The young princess is beyond intelligent and did help by bouncing around ideas. Shade also senses Twilight's untapped power and potential. "Why did Celestia call you her 'student' instead of her 'daughter'? Did she think I would not find out?" Shade asks the lavender pony while tuning the last crystal. "Because Princess Celestia is not my mother," Twilight answers after looking up from the parchment she is writing notes on. Shade turns around and stares at the mare. "As long as you believe that," she finally scoffs and returns her attention to the crystal. "And besides, Princess Celestia has never been married." Shade raspberries and laughs. She falls to the ground, holding her sides, laughing out loud. Twilight watches with confusion on her face. Shade finishes her fit of laughter, gets to her hooves, heaves a sigh, and returns to channeling her magic to the crystal. "What was that all about?" Twilight inquires. "What was what about?" Shade replies, feigning ignorance. "The whole rolling on the floor laughing." "Oh." Shade chuckles, "Just at how naïve you are." Twilight scowls at Shade. "Celestia never was as chaste as Luna." Shade taps her chin in thought, "I always wondered about that. It's not like Luna did not have suitors." "Do you have children?" Shade chortles. "You have such a great sense of humor!" Twilight rolls her eyes and returns to writing notes. Shade removes her eyes off Twilight and heaves a heavy sigh. "Have you ever thought about children, Shade?" Shade sat up in bed and cocked an eyebrow at the mare beside her, "No. That would make me a pedophile, Sangria." The cream vampony punched Shade's arm, "Not like that! I meant, have you ever thought about having children?" Shade ran a hoof through her marefriend's electric blue mane, "No. Besides, one of us is lacking the second component required to produce a child." "Aren't there spells for that?" Shade laughed and kissed Sangria, "Not that I know of, babe." Sangria's smile began to turn south. "I. . . I think about it from time to time," she shared. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Shade input, "We could always adopt. . ." Sangria smiled, "I would–" Shade threw herself on top of Sangria and raised a crimson bubble just as the room around them exploded. "What the BUCK!" Sangria exclaimed. Shade snarled and jumped out of the bed to run to the edge of the destroyed apartment. What she saw made her gnash her teeth. Sangria rushed over to Shade's side and gasped in horror. "What the buck is that thing?!" The monster was the size of the Castle of the Two Sisters and was an amalgam of different creatures. Its red eyes focus on Shade. "Whatever that thing is, it will regret pissing me off," Shade sneered. "Shade," Sangria's voice echoed, "Shade!" "Shade!" Luna calls. "What?" Shade shakes her head and blinks her eyes. She notices a Luna who had not been in front of her a second ago. "Is everything ready?" Luna asks. Shade examines the Gateway and all the components. "What's wrong?" concern carries on Luna's words. "Nothing," Shade snips. "When your sister gets here we can begin the jump." And just like that. . . Poof! "Get your sunbutt over to the yellow crystal. Luna yours is the blue crystal and Twilight you are in charge of the red crystal," Shade barks orders. The princesses go to their assigned crystals and await further instructions. "Channel as much of your magic to the generator to activate the Gateway." Moments later, three beams of magic are firing at the generator beside the two arms of the Gateway. Within seconds, a blue portal appears between the two metal arms. "Alright," Shade speaks and the princesses stop channeling their magic. Shade steps in front of the portal and ignites her horn to search for the orb. Five minutes pass by and she is still using her magic on the machine. "What are you doing?" Twilight inquires. "Trying to locate the orb throughout the multiverse is not as easy as," Shade strains. "Ah-ha!" she interjects. "Found it!" She then focuses her magic on the three crystals. She wipes her brow and huffs, "Now, you three keep using your power on the crystal when we enter for about five minutes. That should give us enough time to materialize on the other side." "How will you get back?" Luna questions. "The same way the thieves got here," Shade answers. "Alright troops, front and center," she orders the Servants of Shadow. Dinky is the first to stand beside Shade, she barely can contain her enthusiasm. Diamond is next, equally as enthusiastic. Virga and Nettleglum make their way and stand ready. "Do you know what's on the other side?" Twilight wonders. "Not precisely. I have run through countless probabilities and different scenarios and have solutions for everyone of them." Shade informs. "Let's get this show on the road!" Diamond exclaims, jumping into the air with flittering wings. "No time like the present," Dinky adds. "One small step for us," Shade begins to walk to the portal and disappears in the blue energy. One Hell of a surprise for Mankind, Shade thinks to herself. Beeping and yellow flashing lights sound throughout the laboratory. Scientists run around frantically and soldiers run to their positions. A stone faced, white haired scientist storms down the hallway. Research Room 18 doors hiss open in front of him. He walks inside and sees his colleagues running amuck. "Settle down, everyone!" his voice booms. People stop and look at the lead researcher as he descends the stairs. He crosses the concrete floor and heads to a console where a crimson haired woman taps wildly on the keyboard. "What's the situation, Bloom?" the man asks gruffly. "I don't know! The relic turned on somehow and it appears to be some kind of portal!" Doctor Bloom replies, still tapping on keys. "Turn these damn—!" the man shouts and the alarms shut off. "Thank you," he sighs and rubs his temples. The portal begins to expand and glow white. All the lights and computers turn off. Everyone watches and waits with baited breath the portal. The portal disappears in a blinding light. Then, someone jumps out of the portal and rolls to their feet. A second person jumps out of the white ball that the portal turns into, then a third and fourth! Everyone stays silent.
A Visitor (or Five)Shade rolls out of the portal and slowly stands to her feet. Right before her is… a wall. Well that is kind of anticlimactic. She hears grunts behind her and turns around. "Ugh. My head," Diamond groans. She tries to stand up on her hooves and stumbles. When she opens her eyes, she sees a tall… being in front of her with black and crimson long hair. If she squints her eyes she can kind of see. "Shade?" she hears Virga say beside her. Diamond sees another strange being beside her with dark blue hair. "What happened to us?" the creature says with Virga's voice. Diamond examines herself and she discovers that she looks like the one standing up only smaller with not as big of lumps on her chest. Dinky shrieks. "Relax," Shade says. Dinky scrambles over to Shade and hides behind her calf. Diamond looks the way Dinky is staring at and sees more creatures in white lab coats standing a short distance away. She sees one creature walk towards them. "What an unexpected outcome," Shade voices. "How can we be Humans?" Nettleglum says out loud. Shade watches the woman walking towards them. There is something familiar about her. Shade smiles at the woman. The woman points a quivering finger at Shade, "You. Me? Naked?" She stammers. "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?" Shade cracks. "Maybe a mirror?" Virga comments. The woman faints and crumples to the floor. "I always knew I was a knockout," Shade chuckles. "Um, why are there so many of them?!" Dinky cries. Diamond shakily stands to her "feet" and holds onto Nettleglum. "Instead of gawking how about you get us clothes," Shade demands. Several scientists take off their lab coats and throw them at the naked strangers. Shade steps off the platform and picks up five lab coats and walks back to the others. "Here," she tosses two to Virga, one to Nettleglum, and kneels to dress Dinky. The others watch and copy Shade. Virga helps Diamond first before dressing himself. Movement catches the corner of Shade's eye and she eyes the balding, short, portly man walk up to them. Shade did not like the looks of this place. All the consoles and scientists means this place is one of two things: a military base or laboratory. Maybe she is extra lucky and had teleported everyone to a military laboratory. "Who are you?" the old man asks. "We are the new interns," Shade quips. The old man narrows his eyes. "This is a government facility. One, you all do not have the clearance to be here and two, you all appear from a strange phenomenon." "One, I need to speak with the head of state and two," Shade steps closer to man and stares into his blue eyes, "You do not want me as your enemy." Before the man can speak, Shade adds, "I am a foreign emissary from an alternate universe on a mission to retrieve an item stolen from our realm. My team and I will wait here until I meet with your leader." Shade looks around the man at her doppelgänger in the floor, "You should probably check on her." "As long as you all stay right there we will not have any problems," the man says and begins to walk away. He barks at one scientists to check on Doctor Bloom. The scientist, a man in his late twenties, rushes to the woman's side. He looks at her and at Shade. His green eyes register confusion. He gently picks up Doctor Bloom in his arms and carries her away. "I had hoped for a better outcome," Shade grumbles. "What do we do now?" Virga asks as he stands next to Shade to watch the Humans. "Just let me handle the talking," she replies. She walks over to Nettleglum and Diamond, waving Virga and Dinky over. She crouches and speaks low, "We need their cooperation if we are to successfully find and retrieve the orb. I do not know if we are in the same Human world I was previously in. I do know that I am unable to cast spells right now." "They keep staring at us," Dinky whispers. "They will live, for now," Nettleglum comments. "I knew I was going to like you," Shade smiles. "What are we suppose to do now?" Diamond squeaks. "Wait," Shade says. Bweep bweep! Bweep bweep! Yawn. Click clack. "What?" "Madame Secretary, sorry for disturbing your sleep. My name is Doctor Corduroy. I am the Director of Science at the Manehattan Institute of Technology." "What is so important that you could not wait until the morning, Doctor?" "I believe Equestrian individuals have teleported into the laboratory, Madame Secretary." A long pause and silence. He thinks the secretary had gone back to sleep. "M—" "I will be there in a couple hours," the Secretary states, the sleep in her voice nonexistent. Shade chuckles. "That is a cute little dance you are doing, Dinky. "For your information, I need to go use the restroom!" Dinky hisses. Shade lips form an "O" of understanding. She stands up and notices the guards shoulder their guns. "She needs to use the restroom," Shade says, crossing her arms. "Um, Shade?" Diamond tugs on Shade's lab coat. Shade sighs. "We all need to use the restroom. Would you be so kind as to show us where the nearest one is?" "Doctor Corduroy gave us explicit details to not let you leave," the guard closes to them informs. Shade scowls at the man. "If you do not take us to the restroom, I will fucking go over there and shit—!" Virga clamps a hand over Shade's mouth. "We would ever be so indebted if you would allows us not to embarrass ourselves any further," Nettleglum speaks up. "Please." Virga releases Shade before she throws him across the room. Shade snorts aggressively and glares at the guard. "Right this way," the guard finally says and leads the four strangers to the restroom.
A(n) ExplanationOne thing one her mind during the trip to the laboratory, "Is Twilight back after so long?" The black government SUV barely had stopped when Secretary of Defence Sunset Shimmer steps out and speed walks to the door. A heavy set, balding man with a white lab coat is waiting at the door with two armed guards with him. Sunset Shimmer does away with niceties and asks, "What are their names?" "We don't know," Doctor Corduroy answers while lowering his hand back to his side. "Let's get going then," Sunset urges impatiently. "Right this way, Madame Secretary." "You, uhm," Virga coughs and clears his throat, "really didn't need to show me how to use the restroom, Shade." "Says the guy who was going to piss in the sink," Shade huffs. "BORED!" Diamond exclaims, throwing her arms in the air and flinging herself to the ground. "Does Miss Shade need to put you to sleep like she put Miss Dinky to sleep?" Nettleglum says to Diamond. Diamond looks over at the unconscious blonde haired girl a few feet away from her then turns her head to see a grinning Shade. "Maybe next time," Diamond sighs. Virga takes up studying the obelisk in the middle of the metal platform to pass the time. He is far from being a scholar by any means but the pictures on it resemble Ancient Equestrian. He glances to the side as Shade examines the obelisk. "What do you make of it?" Virga questions after a moment of silence. "It is sufficiently obelisk shape," Shade nods her head. Virga, after the ten hours of being with Shade, waits patiently for Shade to answer his question. Shade smirks, "It is Egyptian." Shade kneels next to the obelisk and licks the monument. She savors the flavor and stands up. "White limestone. Ten thousand years Before Common Era. That would place it around the time the first pyramid of Giza was first constructed. It reads, 'To honor the Gods'… no, 'For the honor of the Gods. They blessed us with their mercy, wisdom, and compassion. For that, we are eternally grateful.'" "What 'Gods?'" Shade walks around to the other side of the obelisk and continues translating the hieroglyphs, "'We give the highest praise and honor to,'" Shade scrunched her face, "I've never seen half of these glyphs. But considering where we came from, the 'Gods' must have been ancients from Equus." "That brings up many more questions," Nettleglum inputs as she walks over to Shade to inspect the obelisk. Shade points to a hieroglyph that resembles a rainbow surrounded by darkness. "I have seen that cutie mark before," Shade comments and points to a second glyph that is a black shield with a white seven point star, "This one, as well." "I have never seen them," Nettleglum admits. "I would be surprised if you had. They belonged to the first Tricorns: Aurora Borealis and Gallant Night, respectively." "Intriguing," Nettleglum hums. Doctor Bloom sighs. She stares into the mirror with vacant honey eyes. The sink faucet runs. Knocks on the bathroom door snap her out of her stupor. "You alright, Nightshade?" Nightshade turns off the faucet and runs her hands through her long red hair. She slaps her cheeks before answering, "I'll be out soon." She opens the door and Morning Highlight is there to greet her with a smile and bright green eyes. "What are you still doing here?" Nightshade asks and walks around him to her bed to retrieve her lab coat. Morning Highlight chuckles, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." "I'm fine. Thank you." She puts on her lab coat and tries to add authority to her meek voice, "Now, please leave, Doctor Highlight." "If that's what you want." He waits for her to say something back but she walks over to her bedside table and turns to look at him sternly. "Director Corduroy invited the Secretary of Defense. She should be here shortly," he informs his colleague as he leaves out the door. Nightshade releases her breath she had held subconsciously. She picks up the communicator from the table and speaks into the mouthpiece, "Call: Father." Sunset Shimmer hears her rapid footsteps echo off the walls of the hallway. She takes to following the guards and leaves the wheezing Director behind. She has no time to waste; she wants answers and she wants them now. A door opens and the guards stop to raise their guns. Doctor Bloom squeaks and holds her hands up. The guards lower their weapons and continue forward. Sunset pays no attention to the pale woman. Nightshade follows after the guards. A few minutes later and the guards stop at laboratory eighteen doors. Nightshade excuses herself through the group to use her ID to open the twin sliding doors. The commotion at the door draws Shade's attention. She walks from behind the obelisk to see guards, an important looking woman, and her twin walking down the steps toward the platform. She descends down the five steps of the platform and waits for the entourage. Sunset Shimmer stops in front of the woman with a lab coat and turns around to look at the similar woman behind her. "You are from Equestria, right?" Sunset asks the black haired woman before her. Shade leans forward and sniffs the flame haired woman. "As are you," Shade says. "Why are you here?" "You are not the President," Shade stares while crossing her arms across her chest. "The President's job is not to deal with beings from an alternate universe," Sunset replies. "No. It would be the Secretary of State's job. You seem more like a Secretary of War or Science." "I am the Secretary of Defense Sunset Shimmer. Who are you and why are you here?" Sunset demands. "I am the Darkside of the Moon. Maybe you have heard of me?" Shade raised a brow. "'The Darkside of the Moon' is nothing but an old pony's tail," Sunset scoffs. Shade glares into the green eyes of Sunset. "I will play nice— for now. Officially, I am Nightshade Toxin, Commander of the Servants of Shadow. I am an envoy of Princess Luna on a mission to secure a stolen artifact." "Which artifact was stolen?" "A dangerous one. That is all you need to know." "If it is so dangerous, why was it not secured properly?" "Because Princess Luna's lard ass of a sunbutt sister thought she could protect it best—under her bed," Shade huffs. Sunset cracks a smile. "She is pretty arrogant. Do you at least have any leads on the artifact?" "Somewhere in the Perseus Veil." Sunset's smile disappears, "That is not good." "Of course not. Why would this be easy?" Shade throws her hands up and let them smack her sides. A loud long yawn makes them turn their heads to see Diamond yawning, "I'm hungry!" "That is Corporal Dancer. The guy is Captain Virga, the woman is Adjutant Nettleglum, and the sleeping teenager is Corporal Doo," Shade introduces her squad to Sunset. "Let me get you all better accommodations and some food," Sunset nods. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?"
A Waiting Game (Explicit)"I am a God!" Snap! Shade removes her hoof from Discord's neck. Blood dripped down her nose and she breathed heavily. Groaning made her ears swivel behind her and she limped slowly to the battered body of Luna. Shade wipes her fetlock across her nose, staining her coat orange. She nudges Luna gently. "Luna," Shade coughed. Luna cracked her bruised eye open, "Is he—" "Yes," Shade smirked. "My… body…" Luna groaned. "Luna?" Celestia called out. Shade turned around and saw the alicorn rise to her shaky hooves slowly. Celestia stepped over the Elements of Harmony and made her way to her sister. "Thank you, Shade," Celestia smiled faintly. Shade huffed, "Some artifacts the Elements of Harmony turned out to be. They only petrified his lower body." "He was extremely powerful," Celestia said. "He is gone now," Luna voiced. Cracking sounds made the mares turn to Discord's giant body. The rest of his body began to turn into stone. After his body was stone solid, it exploded into chunks of rock. Shade used the rest of her magic to shield everypony. Shade fell to her knees. "What is that?" Celestia questioned aloud and walked over to the rubble of Discord. A small black ball of crystal laid in the middle. Celestia picked it up and it was like a marble in her frog. "Curious," she hummed. Shade got to her hooves and labored to help Luna stand. They walked over to Celestia who paid them no mind. "The same thing happened to Tirek," Luna spoke. "Something bigger is behind all of them. Something is powering them and controlling them." Shade added. "Then we need to get to the bottom of this," Celestia stated and tucked the marble under her wing. "For once, I agree with you," Shade remarked. The three mares limped away into the sunset. Shade opens her eyes and stares at the digital clock on the desk. Two hours had passed since she fell asleep. She sits up in bed and throws the covers off her as she swings her legs over the side of the bed. She runs her fingers through her long, wavy hair. Shade hates to wait. Shade hates having to trust someone else. Shade knows trouble will hound her every step she takes to retrieve the orb, if the past provides any insight. She grabs the glass of water on the night stand and quenches her thirst. Sunset Shimmer. Now, there is a woman who takes shit from no one and is straightforward. Shade can admire that—she also notes to stay away from Sunset as much as possible, lest complications arise. She quickly shakes her head to dismis the thought of Sangria. "To Hell with her," Shade grumbles and gets up out of bed. Shade opens the door to her room and discovers her doppelgänger standing in front of her. Nightshade swallows audibly. "I-I w-wasn't doing… um… hello…" she stammers. "What do you want?" Nightshade tucks a strand of white hair behind her ear and adjusts her black glasses, "I wanted to get to know more about you…" "You bring vodka?" "No?" "No vodka. No talk," Shade says and pushes past Nightshade. "Wine?" Shade stops in her tracks. "I'm going to need a lot of it," she sighs. Nightshade jogs to catch up to Shade. She motions to Shade to follow her. "Why do you have so much wine?" Shade slurs as she takes a large gulp of wine from her fourth bottle. "Papa always sends me it as a gift for my anniversary being employed here," Nightshade answers then takes a sip from her first glass of wine. "So, he's alive over here…" Shade mumbles. She rests her arms on the back of the swivel chair and lays her head on her arms to stare at Nightshade. Nightshade, thinking Shade is sufficiently drunk enough to talk about personal things, tests the waters. "Your father is dead?" "Quite." "How did he die?" "No! My turn to be asking question," Shade says in a Russian accent on par with Nightshade's. "Why are you so…" Shade motions a circle around all of Nughtshade with her free hand, "so you?" "What do you mean?" "Why do you act like…" Shade stops and sits up to stare into Nightshade's eyes, "You were raped, too?" Nightshade flinches and turns away from Shade. She fiddles with the pillows on her bed before whispering, "Yes." She chugs her glass and sighs, "I was given up for adoption at the age of three. Papa says he had to give me up so I could be safe. My adoptive parents were nice. Rick… he would touch me when I was ten and when I was twelve he… raped me. Laura hated me. She knew about it and did nothing about it. "One night, Rick came to my room and took advantage of me and… I… wanted it to end—wanted him to stop. The next morning I woke up in the hospital. Police told me that my parents were murdered and that I was covered in their blood." Nightshade looks back at Shade with wide eyes, "I don't know what happened. I would have dreams of them dying, afterwards. Then a Voice began to talk to me. She told me she would protect me. Two years later, I'm a freshman in high school, people had avoided me because they thought I was cursed an 'Omen'. So when the star running back of the football team invited me to a party I felt happy." "Stop." Shade says, "I can figure out the rest of the cliché from here." Shade empties the bottle of wine and tosses it on the floor with the others. "I refused to let those bastards have control over my mind. I made them pay. I didn't curl up and sob and wish for them to go away. I made sure they died. I made sure to avenge my father's death. Nightshade moves to the edge of the bed and whispers, "The Voice, she's real. She manifested herself somehow and began to kill the players who raped me. She spread videos on the Internet showing her killing one, then two, the the videos became live streams, and then she hacked into news programs to broadcast their deaths. After the fourteenth guy died, she introduced herself as 'Justinia' the 'only just and true judge who will rid the world of injustice'. Her cult became a religion in weeks." "Uh-huh…" Shade grunts and bites the cork off a fifth bottle. "Aren't you full of surprises." "People still avoid me and I avoid everyone, especially males," Nightshade concludes. "I don't trust anyone—male or female. Males broke my body and females broke my heart. Fuck them!" Shade smashes the bottle of wine on the ground, "I don't need anyone!" Shade passes out and slumps out of the chair to hit the ground. Luckily, she misses the broken glass. Nightshade sighs and gets up. She arduously heaves Shade up and struggles to drag her to the bed. Once Shade is in bed, Nightshade covers her twin with a blanket. She cleans up the room before drifting off to sleep herself. Shade pants and glares at the brown stallion in front of her. "How could your father think we would not do anything? He is going against the Hierarchy. And now you know what we do to ponies who go against the Hierarchy's wishes," the stallion said. Shade's heart sank to her stomach. Grey Vulcan hung from the ceiling off the warehouse with his limbs severed and meat hooks held him. His eyes were red with tears and shame. He witnessed all the atrocities done to her and the bastards tortured him. "I. Will. Kill. You. All." Shade vowed with gnashed teeth. "That is adorable," the stallion mocked and slaps the filly's cheek. Shade screams in agony as a rods penetrated and sodomized her. Her limbs are encased in blue magic and snap in half. The pain made her vision go white and she saw a red stallion open up her father's belly with a rusty meat hook before she went into shock. "Fucking monsters…" Shade murmurs in her sleep. Nightshade wraps her arms around her twin and holds her close. "Shhhh…" she comforts Shade while petting the top of her head. "Monsters… all of them…" Shade whimpers as tears roll down her cheeks.
A LegendDiamond Dancer can only stay awake during lessons for so long. At first, learning about Humans did hold her attention but after there were no more pictures things got boring. She makes her way outside and finds herself in the castle gardens. She spies Princess Luna and decides to follow her. A short time later, Diamond sees Princess Luna stops at a glass building. As the little filly approaches the building, she can see blue flowers blooming inside as blue as her Princess' coat. Diamond Dancer," Princess Luna speaks and stops the filly in her tracks. She looks down and smiles at the filly, "Want to come inside?" "Yes, Your Majesty," Diamond Dancer bows. Princess Luna disengages the wards and locks on the outside and they proceed to a small room with another set of locks. The first door closes and locks behind them Why so much security for a flower building? DD thinks to herself. "These are highly toxic flowers which I am the only pony immune to," the Mistress of the Night explains as she cast a shielding spell on her charge. The door opens after locks disengage and they step inside the greenhouse. The blue flowers sparkle in the moonlight. DD can see stars dancing on the petals of the flowers. "Solanum lunaris, 'Luna's Nightshade,'" Princess Luna sighs contently as she exhales a deep breath. Diamond takes her eyes off the flowers and focuses on the large statue in the middle. The statue is about the size of her mistress but had two extra horns on her forehead and no wings. Diamond gazed up at her mistress as the princess stands in front of the statue. The filly can see the longing in the teal eyes of Luna. Luna reaches out to touch the cheek of the statue. "That! Is! It!" Shade roared. Her horns ignited and teleported Princess Celestia away. Princess Celestia found herself at the southern part of the Everfree Forest. The Darkside of the Moon materialized before her. "I had no choice!" Celestia defended herself. The Darkside of the Moon blast a torrent of crimson magic at Celestia. The Solar Princess took flight to avoid the blast. She evaded the volley of crimson magic launched at her. She stayed on the defensive as she flew around and dodged attacks. Princess Celestia knew she needed to attack if she wanted to live. She fires beams of light at the ivory tricorn who raised a shield to block the assault. Red lightning struck the Princess out of the sky. She put up a shield to absorb the fall and blasts of crimson magic. The ivory tricorn launched herself at the pink shield and drummed on the barrier. Celestia shattered the shield and her magic hits the tricorn's chest. Celestia cautiously approached the smoldering mare on the ground. The mare sat up and Celestia picked up the mare to slam her on the ground repeatedly. Celestia panted and swallowed the lump in her throat. Did she go too far? The mare labored to her hooves and Celestia stood her ground. The mare ignited her horns and released crimson magic at Celestia. Celestia shot her magic to meet the crimson magic. They both funnel all their magic at each other. Celestia began to win and the tricorn is blasted with Celestia's full power. Magic surrounded the mare and she levitated in the air. Celestia stepped back in horror. She raised a shield when the glowing ball of energy exploded. Her shield broke and she found herself on the ground. Her pink eyes opened and locked onto a new mare before her. This mare was the size of Celestia, armed with three, three foot long horns, her mane and tail resembled black flames, had the wings and tail of a dragon, the cloven hooves like a centaur, a slightly reddish pink coat which match her draconic parts ,and finally, a fiery crown of flames rested between her horns. She reared back her head with a mass of flaming magic. Celestia closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Seconds go by and Celestia opened her eyes. The Darkside of the Moon eyes burned with black flames and she turned around and released the magic she held. Everything was destroyed for two hundred miles and the forest burned around the canyon created. The mare panted heavily and returned to her natural size. She glares at Celestia and said, "Luna would not want you dead." Then, she started to turn into stone. Celestia watched in awe of the mares power and restraint. Luna steps away from the statue as the vision leaves her mind. "Your Majesty?" DD squeaks with worry and places a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder. "I'm--" Crack. Luna sees a large crack open along the side of the statue. Crack! More cracks spider web across the statue. A big grin splits Luna's muzzle. The statue explodes and Luna raises a blue shield around her and the filly. A groan in the center of the rubble makes Luna drop the barrier. "Luna?" a raspy voice calls out. "Shade!" Luna rushes over to the crumpled ivory pony. Diamond Dancer is completely flabbergasted. Did that pony come out of the statue or was she the statue? Luna hugs her dearest friend. "Can't. Breath." Shade wheezes. Luna releases Shade, "I'm just so happy to see you!" "So, the thousand years are up?" "To be honest, it has been a thousand and five years," Luna chuckles. Shade stares at Luna. "You waited five years to awaken me?" "She could have waited hundreds!" DD pipes. Shade looks at the little filly and Luna. "Luna. . ." "Diamond Dancer is a Servant of Shadows, not my daughter!" Luna quickly explains. "That's a shame," Shade remarks and ruffles the filly's light blue mane. "So, who needs to die?" Luna's joyful expression darkens. "The Orb of Chaos has been stolen." "So, who needs to die?" Shade reiterates. "It is somewhere in the Human Universe." Shade furrows her brow. "I told you to destroy that damn mirror. This is why I look like the bad guy, because I get shit done." "We have to--" "'We?' You speaking fancy now? Tell me what I need to do," Shade says. Luna sighs and turns to exit the greenhouse, "You have a lot to catch up on." Before Shade can follow Luna, a small hoof stops her. "Are you the 'Darkside of the Moon?'" DD inquires. Shade smiles at the silvery pegasus filly, "Yeah. Quite the antiphrasis, right?" "What?" "They call me the Darkside of the Moon yet I'm as white as the driven snow," Shade chuckles. "Yeah," DD giggles, "that is pretty funny. Let's go so you can meet tha other Servants!"
