Moments after stygian is pulled from the pony of shadows, and the pony is pushed back into limbo.

Underneath a bridge somewhere in Equestria, lay an orphan colt dozing, covered by discarded newspapers and cardboard. He had a brilliant white coat with teal stripes, that had been dampened by constant exposure to dust and grime. His horn matched his coat, once white, but now a dull gray. The ghost of a smile adorned his face.

The shadow pony awoke surrounded by whiteness. It looked around his impossibly large confines. All was white, as far as the eye could see. It felt small, only a fraction of its former self. This doesn’t feel like limbo. “Who are you?” a small yet curios voice behind it asked. The whirling mass of shade spun around to look at the intruder. A small white colt eyed it with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He had a Cyan mane, tail and muzzle, which clashed heavily with his ruby red eyes.

The shadow adjusted its form to mimic the young unicorn facing it. Its sudden transformation caused the skittish foal to jump back a foot or two. “Fear not, young one, it is not my intention to cause you harm,” the Shadow pony said, its voice oozing sincerity. His words calmed the foal down, and he approached it once more. “This is clearly not limbo. Tell me, little pony, do you know where we are?” it asked.

“Yeppers,” the colt responded, with disingenuous lightheartedness.

The shadow shot an expectant look at its meek companion.

“I-I’m pretty sure this is my mind,” the colt stammered, still eyeing the pony of shadows warily.

“Why is it so empty?”

“I didn’t know it had to be full of anything, I haven’t been poking around other people’s brains,” the colt accused, masking his uncertainty under a facade of assertiveness.

“Where are all your memories?” the shadow pony continued, keeping its voice calm, allowing a touch of confusion into its tone to appease the small one. If it had noticed the foal’s feeble attempt at deception, it gave no indication of knowing or caring.

“I don’t remember,” giggled the colt. “But seeing as how I live my life on a day to day basis, I probably don’t need to commit much to memory.” His surprise guest seemed just as confused by its predicament as he was, and that calmed him –at least enough for him to try cracking a bad joke. The shadow pony didn’t so much as smile at the terrible pun, looking instead at the colt with subtle intrigue.

“Have you genuinely no hopes, dreams or aspirations?”

“Don’t you think I’m a little young to be worrying about that kind of stuff?” the colt deflected, eyes narrowing.

Then the shadow pony realized exactly what was happening. The laugh began deep in its belly, and rumbled forth as a deep malevolent chortle.

“You’ve developed quite the coping mechanism, haven’t you, you pitiful pony. You’ve stopped wanting anything. If you expect nothing from the world around you, you can never be disappointed or hurt. You’ve practically simulated limbo, except less chaotic, in your own mind. Must be incredibly boring, right?”

The colt didn’t grace his question with a response, choosing instead to focus on a particularly interesting part of the reflective white floor.

“ANSWER ME!” the shadow pony bellowed, rising up on its hind legs. Its sudden outburst sent the foal into a hasty retreat, causing him to trip over himself in a frantic attempt to avoid a strike that never came.

“How does it feel? Knowing that if you continue to live like this, you’ll die having amounted to nothing, and if you change your ways you’ll get hurt again and again?” the shadow growled.

The colt wouldn’t even look at it.

“I can help you, you know,” it said, as soothingly as it could manage, its voice practically dripping charisma.

The pair of red eyes focused on it again.

“I’ve forgot more about this world than you will ever know, if I shared my knowledge with you, you might find some purpose in it,” it offered, extending a hoof. “All I ask is that I can remain sheltered in your head for a bit.”

The colt eyed it suspiciously before meeting the shadow’s hoof with his own. “Deal,” he sighed.

Millions of magical screens appeared around the room floating slowly downward and sinking through the floor, sending out ripples as they passed through it. Thousands of images flickered in behind the colts eyes as he began to understand. Images of Discord, Twilight and her friends, the Pillars, and limbo where interspersed in a flow of information that lasted a small eternity. Then, finally, the two were alone in the white room once more. The colt’s expression had changed. He stared at the shadow who was laughing maniacally. Its laughter was cut short as he began to sink through the floor.

“What’s this? What are you doing?” screamed the shadow pony in outrage.

“You should have been more selective when you showed me your mind, the deal’s off, I’m kicking you out.”

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS, WE HAD A DEAL,” it raged.

“Yes I can,” the colt replied calmly. “This is my mind.”

“Plus you’re only a shadow of what you once were,” he added, chuckling at his own pun.

The room was empty again, whiteness stretching out to infinity in all directions.

He gazed down at his reflection on the floor, and what he saw shocked him. His eyes had been transformed. His pupils had narrowed and elongated into slits, and his irises swollen. His eyes looked like those of a great snake. Then his reflection addressed him. “Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily,” it taunted.

“Apparently, I can’t,” he responded, a look of mild annoyance. Then, he was gone.

When the colt awoke he quickly shuffled over to the steam adjuring his makeshift bed, signing in relief as he saw his reflection, eyes unaltered. All of a sudden, weightlessness overtook him. A ball of light lifted him off the ground, gently smothering him in a warm embrace. After a few seconds the warmth faded and he was returned to terra. It was only when he made his way out from under his shelter did a ray of light illuminate the addition to his flank. There was a mark that hadn’t existed there before. A black orb marred the dull, messy, grimy white fur on his flank.

“Seriously!” he screamed. “I got a DOT?” He had waited his whole life to be special. He had hoped that finally getting his cutie mark would give him a direction. But instead of something like a zipline or a lightning bolt he got this. I mean what does this even mean? My special talent is to get my mind invaded by an evil pony? He forcefully exhaled, and, with a mixture of rage and desperation, kicked a nearby pebble as hard as he could. The unruly rock bounced off the underside of the bridge and impacted the colt’s nose with a dull smack. “ARGHHHHH” he screamed, and sent the rock sailing into the stream next to him.

Author's Note

this is probably the most serious chapter of the fic. All upbeat from here.