The Taint of Equestria: The Double Shadow

~~~POV: Third Person: TheInvertedShadow~~~
~~~Location: Vanhoover, City Limits~~~
~~~Time: 6:39 (about an hour and a half after he climbed out of Galloping Gorge)~~~

On the edge of the city limits of Vanhoover, nearby a 'Welcome to Vanhoover!' sign, Shadow was resting on the cool grass under the shade of a tree, panting.

"I... swear to... all that is... holy," he stated, exhausted, "that... my luck... is terrible."

When he started walking from the gorge, he walked through the nearby forest to quickly get to civilization, only to encounter a Manticore den, ran as fast as he could, found a path that might lead to a town, and did not encounter any other travelers, let alone any travelers with a carriage.

So the trip to Vanhoover took around one and a half hours because he had to get there primarily by fo- er... hoof.

"I'm just... going to... rest here for... a moment," he said, as he tried to calm his, painfully, beating heart.

Suddenly, he felt... something... enter, what he could only describe as possibly being his soul.

Shadow, then felt... rejuvenated, like he could run another mile and wouldn't be exhausted, he also felt... some sort-of power within him now, something that wasn't there before, yet it is somehow... familiar and... comforting.

Hello, said a voice, obviously, also familiar yet, alien to Shadow.

Shadow practically jumped when he heard that and looked around quickly only to find no one else around.

Well, you aren't going to find me that way, stated the voice, I'm, more or less, in your head at the moment, and I have a limited time so listen up.

Slowly and hesitantly, Shadow nodded.

You have just been given the powers of Taint, he started, something that I'm pretty sure you are familiar with considering what you were about to do before you landed here.

"Wait," Shadow said, piecing things together, "are you saying you-"

Yes, he answered abruptly, also, you don't have to speak out loud, just thinking the words will do.

'Like this?' Shadow thought, seeing if he did it properly.

Exactly, he stated, you are a fast learner. That's good, now I will teach some other things you will need to do in order to use some of the abilities in the body of a pony...

~~~Timeskip: 2 hours later~~~
~~~POV Switch: Third Person: Omniscient~~~

Vanhoover, a peaceful town on the west coast of Equestria, port town, not many odd things happen around here. Some of the locals had woken up earlier to start their day, some are just getting up, and the rest are either still working late-night to early-morning jobs or are just getting home from work.

Suddenly, across the entire city, a feeling of dread made its way into the heart of every citizen, which made them look in the direction of the source of this feeling.

Looking towards the hills further inland, they notice that some of the land is darkening from green grass and clear sky into dried up grass missing patches here and there with a blood red sky and ominous dark clouds.

Something appeared at the crest of one of the hills, none could make it out clearly, for the figure was to far away, but one thing most could tell, was that it had wings and... something on its head. Lightning struck behind it and left everyone - pony or otherwise - on edge.

It started to approach the city, and so did the destruction of the ground around it, while most were shocked by this, others noticed one other thing... the destruction was growing slowly in circumference around this being. A large crowd formed along the edge of the city

When it stopped approaching, everyone was able to get a good look at the being: a male pegasus pony with a black coat, a red mane, a strange, blood red hat, and an unusual , very bright blue cutie mark.

Then there was his expression, he had a grin that only a madpony would wear, yet his eyes told of a intelligent and in fact a quite sane pony.

Then he spoke, his grin turned serious, with a voice that demanded attention, yet will not tolerate much annoyance.

"Everyone!" he announced, "I am Inverted Shadow, if you all surrender now, then I will spare you from my corrupting presence, if you resist however... well... I guess that really depends."

"Depends on what?" demanded a young unicorn colt from the crowd.

Then 'Shadow' smiled again, "It depends on your age, if you are too young, too old, or just... perfect.," he answered disturbingly, quietly, yet somehow, still loud enough for the crowd to hear, sending shivers up their spines.

Some were downright terrified and they showed it, others were hiding their fear, and the last were either really brave or too dumb to realize their opponent.

The crowd did a larger version of a huddle, since their were hundreds of them, there was a lot of whispering, arguments, and agreements.

Suddenly, all was quiet, and one of them, an adult male earth pony, walked up to Shadow.

He stopped just at the edge of the circumference of destruction, looking at the ground affected by the pony in front of him nervously, then to the pegasus.

"W-w-we have come t-to a c-c-conclusion," he stuttered.

"Aaaaannnnd?" Shadow asked impatiently, his smile gone.

"We s-surrender," he said, losing his strength speaking those words.

Shadow gave a small, friendly smile, and said, "Now that wasn't so tough, was it?"

He looked to the city and blanched, "Euck!" he shouted in disgust, "too many bright colors..."

Then began his 'little stroll' through the city, changing the colors and shapes of each building, decoration, or other miscellaneous items that were in his path, occasionally changing creatures such as birds or dogs within the city. When he passed by the citizens, the only thing that changed about them were any cloths they might've been wearing and their coats, manes, & tales became a few shades darker, yet they didn't acknowledge it or seem to care at all.

Vanhoover Captured!
+1000

Taint Level: Disgusting
+630

Casualties: 0
Enemies: 0
Allies: 0
+1000

Health: 100%
+500

Enemies Left: 0
+500

Bonus:
Creatures Turned: 1013
Sentient: 1000
Animals: 13
+6065

Overall Score: 9695
Score Rank: A