[A few weeks before Ivy and Matt arrived in Equestria]

“Why? Why can’t I feel anything anymore?”

Silence.

“I used to be able to sense their love, burden their sadness, face their anger. But now? Nothing. After the Storm King invaded… they were able to take care of themselves, right?”

Nick had found himself shrouded in a fog since that catastrophe. The last moment he witnessed was one of Tempest’s grenades flying towards Twilight. After that, he was blocked from his view to their world.

Time didn’t seem to flow here, despite the fact that he had been able to watch how the world he saved fare without him. How much had changed, how much had grown. The mares he left behind suffered a rift torn between them because of his selfishness. Poor Luna, turned to bitterness because of his actions. He was helpless to stop it.

Then there was Twilight, so dedicated to him it broke his heart. While he was touched to see her loyalty to what they had, he still wanted her to be happy, to move on and find someone better.

“This, is my purgatory,” he sighed, laying down and allowing the fog to sweep over him. “No matter what good I did down there, I still caused harm." He paused, his self doubt that he thought he lost when he died was too soon to come back. He had questioned a lot of his decisions now that he could see the impacts they made. While he would have perhaps been more reluctant to accept the Tree of Harmony's prophecy, he would do it over again in a heartbeat. He partially regretted falling in love with Luna and Twilight, seeing how he was right at the devastation his death caused. Everything was completely rushed, and not just his death. Maybe he should have waited for their relationship to develop more and then come clean with them. Perhaps there was another way.

"I was supposed to have brought hope but instead, I dashed it into pieces.”

The fog then thickened after this confession, something that was rather surprising for the wolf. He looked around and raised an eyebrow. Ever since he arrived here, the fog was always persistent and low lying, allowing him to see a mile away, and covering whatever ground he walked on. He had tested said “ground” to make sure nothing was hidden, and it seemed to be one of the flattest, smoothest surfaces he’d ever walked on.

He got up, deciding to investigate the source, if there even was one. He just assumed the fog was always here before he arrived, but now that it was building up, it seemed to have some meaning. As he walked through the now tip of his nose visibility, he could feel the air temperature drop, like a big cold front had just blown in. Then he felt a chill down his spine, not from the cold but something more sinister.

Looking up, he barely had enough time to react and move out of the way as a giant, black hoof squashed the ground he was just on.

Tumbling on his side, Nick looked up to see if he could spot the owner of the hoof. Whoever it was was a giant. The only thing that he saw that could even come close was…

A pair of bright, white eyes that shone through the fog, followed by a head whose color rivaled his own fur in darkness. He then remembered why this creature looked so familiar.

“So, you finally made it here, Pony of Shadows.”

A sinister laugh rang out as the creature stepped through the fog, its power enough to dissipate it by pure contact.

“And who are you, little wolf? Banished here to Limbo by those pesky Elements too?!?”

“I have nothing to say to you, vile one,” Nick sized up his opponent. How long had it been since he had done battle? More than a few months at least. Did he even have the powers he gained during his time on Equestria?

“It matters not,” the villain smirked, sensing that the wolf before him had gone through quite a journey before arriving here. He could even sense raw power from within. “Quite interesting, I sense darkness within you as well as light. An anomaly in the least I must say.”

“Shut up,” the wolf narrowed his eyes at the large pony. It would be suicide to take on such a large and magically skilled foe, but then again what else could he do? It wasn’t like he was able to kill a god or anything back on Equestria.

He adopted a fighting stance, lowering himself to the ground, keeping his eyes locked onto the neck of his adversary.

The Pony of Shadows chuckled in amusement at the wolf’s boldness. Once he had knocked the resistance out of this host, he’d be free to use his body for his own means. “If it is a fight you want wolf,” he grinned, his horn glowing with dark magic. “A battle you shall get.”

Despite being rusty in his combat technique, Nick charged head on towards the towering stallion, watching the beam of magic burst out at him. It was almost like riding a bicycle, his body getting into the muscle memory he developed during his time in Equestria. He dodged it, albeit rather clumsily and tried to use magic of his own. However, he found himself just straining, not even a spark flew off from his body. His face fell at the loss of such an important asset in his arsenal, meaning he was reduced to close, physical combat.

He would have been fine with this except the problem was, while watching Twilight simply enter the creature during her battle with it meant that physical damage couldn’t be inflicted. So instead he’d have to be on the defensive for now till he found a work around or weakness.

“I can sense your pain and suffering,” the dark stallion chuckled, throwing shadowy tendrils at Nick. Despite his lack of magic, this wolf was quick on his paws, avoiding their grasp. “Submit now and I can help you!”

“If only I had a thousand bits for every time I heard that offer,” Nick grunted as a tendril nearly sliced his side right open. If one thing showed, it was how out of shape he had gotten in his complacency. He was also growing tired and not once had he been on the offensive.

He considered his options. If he tried to attack the shadow straight on he could just get sucked in and it would attach like a leech. If he didn’t, well he wasn’t sure how long he could out run this thing, and when he did finally wear out, the con of the first option would be default.

“You’re slowing down,” the Pony of Shadows commented, slapping Nick around as a taunt. This was too easy and he didn’t want to damage his future host too much, it was just beating him down to make the possession that much easier. “My offer must be sounding better now.”

On a particularly rough slap that sent him flying, Nick landed on the ground with a loud “smack”. However, just like how he hadn’t felt anything physically like hunger or tiredness for the longest time, any bones broken or organs crushed were oblivious to him. He got up without much pause, although he was winded from all the dodging. Whatever this place was, “Limbo” he assumed according to the Pony of Shadows being re-sent here, was messing with him.

Feeling that he had won, the menacing stallion let down his guard. “What is your name wolf? You have been quite a decent adversary despite your lack of magic.”

Deciding playing along was his best choice at the moment, Nick caught his breath. “The name is Nick, ex Element of Hope. I have to say Pony of Shadows, with how easily Twilight and her friends beat you, I’m surprised how much of a fight you put up.”

The stallion, upon hearing the crucial words “Element” and “Twilight” stopped smirking and instead felt a wave of anger and annoyance flow through him.

“So you’re one of them, are you?” he growled, more tendrils shooting out of his body, ready to strike. “If so, why are you here? That darkness inside you, that was nothing I felt in those pathetic ponies!!”

Seeing as he had gotten under the shadow pony's nerves, Nick smiled to himself. “Let’s just say I’m an outlier.” With that and steeling himself for the worst, Nick charged the shadow once again, determined that if this was the end, he’d go out fighting. What he didn’t notice though, was that as he ran towards his opponent, the gem that he once wore, along with the golden necklace that held it, began to materialize around his neck.

He leapt at the last second as a wave of tendrils struck out at him. Time seemed to slow down while he was in the air. As he was about to make contact with the Pony of Shadows, everything turned white.

Author's Note

Yep that's right guys. Nick is gone. Boom, absorbed by the Pony of Shadows and stuck in Limbo forever. There's no coming back for him, despite what the cover art says. The story is complete and you can all move on with your lives now.

I also suck at April Fools and you can probably read me just like these stories. Hope you guys enjoy the little bit of action. Didn't want to expose too much this time, that has already been done before.

If you didn't catch my blog post, this story will be updated hopefully every two weeks now instead of just the once a month deal. Don't want to lose too many of you when the show finally comes to a close.

It's almost like bringing your old pet to the doctor to have them put down. You know that it will ease its suffering, but, at least for me, a pet is family and it's always hard to see them go. That's how I feel about the show. Glad that it's being put out of it's misery but will miss it. At least I can rewatch episodes or the movie.

This ... took a rather dark turn. Just know that this story, when it does conclude will have-well I'll let you know I think you'll enjoy the outcome.