Chapters "Stop!!" The police officer shouted as a hooded robber ran away with a bag of money in one hand and in the other a gun. The cop chased the robber through streets and alleys as the robber tried to escape. The robber ran through a dark alley and the cop behind him, as he met a brick wall stopping his escape and he realized he was trapped.
"Freeze!!" The cop pointed his gun as the robber was stuck with his back to the wall. "Drop the gun and the bag and put your hands behind your head!" The cop demanded, and the robber did as he was told. The robber dropped his gun and the bag of cash on the ground and put one hand behind his head and one hand in the pocket of his blue jeans. "Put your hands behind your head" the cop emphasized. The robber slowly took his hand from the pocket as he held a small rock with weird curves on it. The small rock glew in green as the cop felt a weakness within his body. The police officer's heart beated slower and slower with each breath he took, his lungs burned like fire and his legs, they could not hold the weight of his body. The cop fell on his knees as a green energy drained every drop of life from the poor man's body, leaving nothing but skeleton wearing his skin.
"Works every time" The robber smiled as he put the rock back in his pocket and took the bag of money and his gun. The robber passed the corpse of the cop and went home with his stolen money, unware of a figure in the rooftop, watching him. As the robber was about to leave the alley, he heard the sound of crushing bones and he turned around to see the body of the cop he killed, smashed and above it, a shadowy figure wearing black robes, a hood that coverd his head and a mask coverd his mouth. His eyes were white with no pupils. It was like looking into the eyes of death. "Who the hell are you?!" The robber asked with his gun pointed at the ghostly figure.
"The stone. Now!" the figure demanded in a horrifing voice that would give the bravest of men chills.
"Over my dead body" The robber said as he shot 10 bullets at the figure who started to walk towards him. The bullets didn't bother the figure at all. The robber paniced and took the stone, but before he could use it, the figure's black hand grabbed him by the neck. As one hand strangled the robber,a black sword came out the figure's other hand and his black fingers held tight the sword's hilt .
"If you insist" The figure said as he raised his sword to the air and swung it to the robber's neck.
Sunset woke up early today. Before the cloack could wake her, Sunset was her kitchen making breakfast as the phone rang. Sunset answered the phone and on the other side of the line was Twilight. "Sup' Twi" Sunset held her phone close the her ear as she turned off the stove and put scramble eggs on her plate next to a toast and a glass of milk.
"Turn on the tv" Twilight said and Sunset could hear horror in her friend's voice. Sunset turned on the tv as Twilight said and watched the news. On the news, Sunset saw a purple woman with green hair holding a microphone and behind her was an alley covered with cops and reporters.
"The police found another body of the thief today. The body was found next to the corpse of officer Johnson of the CPD. The police are refusing to give any more details about the murder." Sunset turned off the tv.
"Tell the girls to meet us at the school yard" Sunset told Twilight. Sunset knew it wasn't a regular attack. It involved Equestrian magic.
The main 7 met at the school as Sunset explained the situation. After she finished, the girls were confused. After a moment of silence, Rainbow Dash was the first to talk. "So you think that the murders are the results of Equestrian magic? It doesn't make sense."
"I know it sound's crazy" Sunset said "But I have a bad feeling about the murders, something feel unnatural. I think the one who killing the criminals is targeting them."
"So what do we do?" Twilight asked and the girls are with her. Sunsed smiled to see her friends want to help.
"Okay first thing, we need to see the crime scene."
At the crime scene, the police left the area and the alley where the murder happened was covered in yellow ribbons. The girls entered the crime scene and what they saw was like an image from a nightmare. There was blood on the walls, four black webs were on the ground, and on them were the arms and the legs of the criminal. In in the middle was the body of the criminal, impaled on a black stalagmite and the head was sliced in two.
"I think I'll stay outside to guard" Fluttershy said with a a shy and scared smile and went out of the alley.
"I think I'll join her" Rainbow added and followed Fluttershy. The rest of the group searched for clues. Twilight put her bag on the ground and took a strange device.
"This will help us to find any Equestrian magic" Twilight said and scan the webs and the stalagmite with the device. The device made strange noises and Twilight turned it off. "Whatever the webs and the stalagmite are, it is definitely from Equestria." Sunset took a camera from her bag and took a pictures of the webs and the stalagmite.
Sunset looked at her friends "I need to see the princess. She need to see the pictures." The girls nodded and walked away from the alley. As Twilight look behind her she saw two white eyes without pupils looking at her. Twilight shook her head and when she looked again, the eyes disappeared. Twilight thought it was just her mind messing with her, but the eyes were real.
The legend of Darkness and Light
The elements of harmony have returned from another quest of friendship. As the 6 ponies entered Twilight's crystal castle, they saw Starlight talked with an orange unicorn with a yellow and red mane and a half red half yellow sun as a cutie mark. The other five ponies didn't recognize the guest, but Twilight ran towards her and hugged her. As the new pony tried to be released from Twilight's chocking hug, Applejack walked towards Starlight.
"Starlight?" Applejack asked, "Who is that?"
Starlight answered as she released the mare from Twilight and took her to meet the rest of the group, "This is Sunset Shimmer." The group except Twilight gasped.
"Why are you here?" Twilight asked, and after hearing what she just said she blushed, "Not that it's not fun to see you." Sunset sighed and took out from her bag five pictures and gave them to Twilight. Twilight and the rest saw the pictures and were terrified by them. The last picture looked familiar to them. The webs that were in the crime scene looked familiar.
"Our Twilight used an Equestrian magic scan and she found the webs to have some kind of magic. Do you have any idea what are those?" Twilight looked at Sunset with horror.
"Those webs... are belong to the Pony of Shadows."
Twilight, Sunset, Starlight and the rest went to Twilight's library. "Twilight," Sunset approached Twilight, "It can't be the Pony of Shadows, he is just a legend."
"Actually," Pinkie pulled Sunset from Twilight, "The pony of shadows is real. We and the Pillars separated him from the darkness and sent the darkness to limbo." Sunset's jaw fell. Twilight took a book from the lower shelfs. The book was blue and the cover featured two figures. One figure was a small grey unicorn with a small green mane and the other was a big black alicorn with white eyes and jaws. The title of the book was 'Me and my shadow'.
"But we didn't banish him to limbo as we thought," Twilight corrected her friend, "But send him to Sunset's world." Twilight opened the book and read it loud.
After my friends banished me with no justice, I searched for a way to get my revenge. As I searched for power, strong enough to destroy the pillars, I remembered a legend mother used to tell me. It was a story about the darkness and the light. Once upon a time, Equestria was ruled by two figures, Life and his daughter the light. The Light was in love with a sinister demon. The demon tried to learn from her about her father's weakness, but she didn't tell him anything and the demon killed her. Once Life found out what happened, he created a prison to banish the demon, an identical place to our realm, but didn't have any sort of magic. The demon came to take the throne and a battle between the demon and Life begun. Life was thrown into the prison he himself created, but before that he destroyed the demon, leaving him no more than a shadow. I remembered the place of the battle in the legend and I went there to summon the shadow. The darkness there understood my pain and he told me that together we will bring the destruction of those who made us suffer and we will share our pain with all the realms.
"So the darkness came into my world and me and my friends have to destroy him," Sunset smiled "It will be easy."
"I'm afraid it will not be as easy as you think," Twilight told Sunset, "We needed, the Pillars, Starlight and Sunburst to banish the darkness. The Pillars are in a mission, so they can't help us. But I think we can help you." Twilight and Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Starlight.
"Are sure about that Twi?" Sunset asked, "I don't know how the high school will react to double trouble of students."
"I'm afraid we have no choice, we have to stop the darkness from whatever he going to. If not, people and ponies might be in danger." Twilight turned to the group. "Soo, do you want to c-" Twilight was stopped by the cheering of her friends. "I guess it's a yes."
The Dazzling had the worst of their lives. After their powers were destroyed by the Rainbooms, they could not control anyone, and that means they have to do things by themselves. As the three girls walked down the street, looking again for a place to spend the night, a shadowy figure stalked them. Adagio noticed him and left her two sisters to confront him. The figure was entirely black. He wore black robes and black hood and he covered his mouth with a black mask. Sonata and Aria were afraid, but Adagio wasn't.
"I don't know who you are," Adagio shouted at the figure who just stood there "But you can't just follow people lik-" Adagio stopped talking as she saw the figure's eyes. The eyes were entirely white. It was like the eyes of a ghost. The figure grabbed Adagio by her neck, choking her as he took a small rock from his robes. The rock glowed in green and drained Adagio from every magic that was left inside of her. After the rock stopped, the figure threw what was left from Adagio to the girls. Sonata screamed in terror as the figure walked towards her and Aria as the rock glowed again.
It was late at night, Wallflower Blush just finished to plant a new plant with her gardening club, it was a small group but it didn't matter to Wallflower. She put her gardening tools in her bag and was ready to leave the garden, but before she left she looked again at her and her friends beautiful achievement and she saw another figure looking at the garden. Wallflower saw only his back, but it was enough to give her chills. The figure was wearing black robes and his hair if he had any was covered in a black hood. It was looking at some kind of an ancient warrior or a demon.
"Hello," Wallflower called the figure. As every step she took towards him, Wallflower felt cold and her heart beat loud. The figure didn't move, he just stood there, looking at the flowers.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" The figure asked in a horrifying voice, that send shivers down Wallflower's spine. "She always loved flowers, she told me she wants to cover the world with flowers," the figure turned his head to Wallflower. The face was unclear, all black with two white eyes with no pupils and the mouth was covered under a mask. "You used magic. It doesn't flow through your body, but it is within you."
"How did you know?" Wallflower asked in fear as the figure walked towards her as his left fist was glowing in green.
"I am sorry, you don't deserve it."
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were at the schoolyard, waiting for Sunset. It has been two hours since Sunset left and the girls started to worry. "What takes her so long?" Twilight asked in a panic, "Maybe the ponies are in danger, or maybe the creature who killed the criminal have friends in Equestria, or-," the anxiety for her friend stopped as she saw Sunset walked out of the statue. The group ran towards Sunset and hugged her.
"Girls I have bad news and good news," Sunset told her friends, "The bad news is that the killer is a demon shadow who is possessing someone and he is trying to cast a shadow upon all the realms." The girls stood in silence, all of them didn't know how to react to this.
"And the good news?" Fluttershy asked. Before Sunset could answer, two girls walked out of the statue. One was a light purple girl with purple long hair. The girl wore green shirt with a black vest and she wore a pink hat. The other girl was purple with deep purple hair and a pink line. The girl wore a blue shirt and a purple skirt. The main 7 recognized the two girls and hugged them as well.
"Princess Twilight, Starlight, it so good to see you again," Twilight smiled to them and turned to Sunset, "I don't think that even with Princess Twilight and Starlight, we'll be able to defeat the shadow demon." Before Sunset could assure her friend, another girl went through the portal. The girl was blue with rainbow colored hair. The girl wore the exact same clothes as Rainbow Dash. The girl fell on the floor as she was panicked by her hands and her eyes locked with Rainbow Dash. It was uncanny. Two Rainbow Dash
"This.." The girl said as her jaw fell to the floor. Her voice was identical to Rainbow's
"Is.." Rainbow walked toward her doppelganger and helped her to stand.
"AWESOME!!" the two girls said at the same time.
The girls could not believe their eyes. In front of them were themselves. Princess Twilight and Starlight helped their pony friends and showed them how to walk on back legs. It took some time, but the ponies finally understood that espcially Pinkie, it was like she did it before.
"That is so weird," Pony Applejack said as she and her double walked around each other, trying to spot any difference, but there was no difference. It was looking into a mirror.
"You get used to it," Twilight said as she and Princess Twilight smiled. The two Pinkies weren't so shocked to see each other. It looked like they already knew each other. Pony Rarity wasn't so terrified and more excited about the idea of two of her was too fun. The two designers talked about each world fashion. The two Fluttershys just stood in front of each other, both too shy to start to talk.
"So.." Sunset talked with Starlight, "How did you defeat the pony of shadows?"
"We talked to the darkness' host, Stygian, and we found out all the rage was about misunderstanding from the pillars."
Sunset laughed, "You telling me that Starswirl the bearded was wrong?" The thought was funny and Starlight understood the joke. The two laughed and the two groups had a good time. Until a scream shuttered the happy moment.
"It came out of the garden!" Sunset shouted and the 14 girls ran after her. The 14 girls arrived to see a green girl with a green long hair lying on the ground, fight to keep her heart beating. Sunset ran towards the girl and helped her to lean against a tree. " Wallflower, are you ok? Who did this to you?" Sunset asked as Wallflower coughed to her fist and blood came out of her mouth.
"A shadow," Wallflower started to talk as she stopped to cough, "A shadow, green stone, he is aware of who is using magic." With these words, Wallflower fell to the ground and her eyes were shut down.
" Call an ambulance!!"
The 14 girls waited at the hospital for the doctor to return with some news. Fear filled their heart, fear for their friend who was lying between life and death. After a horrifying hour of waiting the nurse finally came. "Will she be fine?" Sunset asked, her body shacked and her heart beat, waiting to some answer from the nurse.
"She will be fine." Those words were like a warm hugs to Sunset's ears. Sunset and the others sighed in relief as the nurse was confused to see so many twins in the same place at the same time. "But she is in a coma." The relief was gone and sorrow filled the air. The nurse led the girls to the room where they saw the green haired girl sleeping, as machines were connected to her body, keeping her alive. Sunset went closer to her friend. Tears fell from Sunset's eyes and landed on Wallflower's hand.
"I am sorry," Sunset told the unconscious girl, "It's all my fault. If I wasn't so mean, you would not use the stone. If not me, this demon would not track you and you will-" Princess Twilight and her 'twin' took Sunset aside as the others stayed in the room.
"It's not your fault," Twilight told Sunset as she held her hand and cleared the tears from her eyes, "If I didn't open the portals, maybe the demon never came. If it's anyone's fault, it mine."
"No," Princess Twilight "If it's anyone's fault, it is mine. I am the one who banishes the demon to your world, I am the one who brought magic to your world." Sunset and the Twilights hugged each other as they shared the pain and the fault. "Well, now we cannot blame ourselves. We must find a way to stop it from continue." As the three girls went and rejoined the others in the room as a shadowy figure looked at them.
The girls decided that everyone will take the counterpart of each other, so there will be no confusion from the families. Rarity took Pony Fluttershy, Applejack took Pony Rainbow Dash, Pinkie took Princess Twilight, Fluttershy took Pony Rarity, Rainbow Dash took Pony Applejack, Twilight took Pony Pinkie and Sunset took Starlight to her house and in the morning, they will meet at Twilight's house.
It was 7:00 am in the morning. Celestia didn't drink her coffee yet and she had a lot to do. Parents meeting, test schedules and now this, double of her top students. Celestia wasn't shocked at all to see this and the girls were confused. "Well, what happened? New monsters, a hole in our world?" Celestia asked in a calm tone.
"This time," Sunset said as she sat on the table and her face fell in sorrow "It's could be the end of the world."
Princess Twilight nodded and explained all to Celestia, "You see, a demon from our world has somehow arrived at your world and he is sharing a body with someone, so we have to know who is the host so we could separate him from the demon and then we will destroy it."
"Very well," Celestia took a file from her desk and gave it to Princess Twilight, "take this and go to the guidance counselor, but I have to ask for each of you to stay with your double. If this demon is possessing a student, he will be aware of it and we will be aware of his presence." The 14 girls nodded and left the office.
"Well if we have to stay in double trouble mode," Rarity giggled to her joke and Pony Rarity joined her, "Then we must find a way to tell us apart."
Pony Rarity agreed and smiled to her double in excitement, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Shopping time!!!" The two Raritys jumped in the air while they held hands. It was like looking in the mirror, but the noise of the girls excitement of buying clothes was so loud, it was hard to think it was a mirror.
"Very well," Princess Twilight raised a thumb and smiled, "In the meantime, Sunset and Starlight you will take the file to the guidance counselor and we will try to give ourselves attention and watch for something weird." The two groups nodded and put their hands in the middle like a soccer group will do before an important game and split away.
Twilight and Princess Twilight walked down the hall and Princess Twilight told her about some of her adventures. As the two laughed about the time Princess Twilight created a food monster because she didn't know what to buy for Pinkie Pie, a yellow boy with spiked blue hair and a leather jacket bumped into her.
"Twilight?" The blue haired boy asked as he helped Princess Twilight to get up of the floor, "What are you doing here?"
"Flash!!" Princess Twilight's cheeks blushed as she played with her hair " I am.. That's mean... I mean hi."
"She is helping me with psychological research about twins in society." Twilight smiled nervously.
"Oh cool." Flash smiled.
Now it was Twilight's turn to ask Flash, "What are you doing here? The school isn't open until 8:00 am."
"Practice with the band. Well, I have to go" Flash walked away as he waved to the two Twilights and walked away. Princess Twilight just stood there and continued to wave as she blushed and her cheeks turned red.
"Isn't he dreamy Twi?" Princess Twilight asked as the two girls went outside the school and went to Twilight's house.
"We maybe identical but our taste is different," Twilight smirked. The identical pair laughed all the way home.
Sunset and Starlight walked down the hallways as Starlight started to give Sunset a list of characters that the darkness will be interested in. After a time Sunset wrote all the characters they need to match for suspects. "So we need, an outcast, someone who cannot stand up for himself, someone who is being bullied and wants revenge."
"Yeah, that sound right," Starlight said as the two arrived at the guidance counselor office and they were shocked. The two girls stood in front of the counselor door. It was a wooden door like the door of Celestia's office, but the name was what shocked them, at the door was written Professor Stygian, guidance counselor.
"So ya telling mah, that in your world, you are an apple farmer?" Applejack asked her counterpart as the other AJ nodded.
"Yeah, one the best farmers in all of Equestria!" Pony Applejack said with her arms crossed as she leaned on one of the lockers, "Impressive, ah?" To her surprise, Applejack didn't see that so impressive. Applejack shrugged as her counterpart raised an eyebrow, "So what do ya' think is more impressive than farming Apples.
"Ah like farming apples just like the next girl," Applejack admitted, "But it's not as fun as playing the bass. When we finish defeating the demon, ah must teach you." Applejack put her hand in front of her double, ready to shake as a symbol for a deal.
"Only if ah'll show ya' how farm apples." Pony Applejack said as she and her double held each other arm.
"It's a deal!" The twins said in unison as they shook hands. As Pony Applejack looked at her double, she noticed someone walking behind her, it was a female, she had blue hair, her skin was blue and she wore a pink shirt with a white collar with a moon in the middle. She looked familiar but Pony Applejack could not put her finger on it.
"Hey, Applejack?" Pony Applejack pointed over the woman and Applejack turned around, to see vice principal Luna.
"Now that's weird," Applejack scratched her chin, "Vice principal Luna usually doesn't arrive at school until 13:00 am."
"Wait a minute!" Pony Applejack pulled her doppelganger aside, "Did ya' just said Luna?"
"Yeah, Luna is our vice principal. Why?"
"Because, in Equestria, she was a villain until we reformed her. Please tell mah you reformed her!"
"No, she wasn't a villain." Applejack understood now what her counterpart was talking about, "So maybe, thanks to the darkness demon, she is now a villain!"
Horrified, the two girls walked closer to Luna's office and they heard Luna talking with someone. "You were right," Luna admitted with a sad sigh, "Tia didn't listen to me, again. Maybe I need to take a more aggressive approach, just like last time." The girls looked at each other at terror.
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Sunset asked as she knocked the office's door, "You said he was the pony of shadows in Equestria." Before Starlight could answer, the door was opened and in front of the girls stood a small man, half their size. The man was in the mid-'50s to his life, his hair was green and his skin was grey, the man wore a yellow tied shirt and a red tie. "Professor Stygian?" Sunset asked, surprised by the appearance of the man.
"How can I help you?" The man asked calmly. Professor Stygian let the girls in and returned to his chair. The office was a small room, really dark and there were a lot of old pictures. Starlight and Sunset sat in front of Professor Stygian. Starlight was calm, but Sunset was quite nervous, after all, he could be the shadow who attacked her friend.
"Principal Celestia sends us here with this file," Starlight said as she brought the file to Professor Stygian, "She believes you can help us with a problem." Stygian took the file and read it with great interest. His pupils went from left to right and his hands flipped the papers. It took the professor only 15 minutes to read the entire file.
"Very well," Stygian took a small piece of paper out of his desk. Stygian wrote something on the paper and gave it to Starlight, " This is the address to James Life, he is the great-grandson of Jeremiah Life, the founder of Canterlot city. He will help you in your research about the dark story of the city." The girls thanked Stygian as they shook hands. As the girls walked in the halls, Sunset got a text message.
"It's Twilight," Sunset told Starlight as she read the text, "She wants us to meet at her house."
At Twilight's house, the group met with some news. Rarity and Pony Rarity gave the group a new set of clothes. The clothes were identical to the clothes every pair wore, but each one had a symbol in a different color, red and blue. To Rainbow Dashes it was a lightning bolt. To Fluttershys it was a butterfly, to Pinkies it was a balloon, to Raritys it was a diamond and to Twilights, it was a sparkle.
"Blue is for us, red is for our Equestian friends." Rarity said as the girls who came through the portal switched their clothes to those Rarity gave them.
"Good," Twilight said to Raritys as Applejack and Pony Applejack finally arrived.
"Luna is the shadow who attacked Wallflower!" The two said at the same time.
"Are you sure?" Princess Twilight asked, "have you seen her turned into a some kind of a shadow monster?"
"Ah telling ya', that's her!" Applejack told her friend. There was fear in her words, "We heard her talking about taking an aggressive approach against Celestia."
"Well," Twilight said as Rarity and Pony Rarity gave the Applejacks their clothes, "If what you say it's true, we still have no idea how to defeat her."
"It can't be her," Sunset protest against the idea, "There is also Stygian." The girls were confused. "The guidance counselor Celestia sent us is Stygian. And if the darkness took Stygian of Equestria, it could do the same here."
"It could be him or Luna," Starlight agreed, "But before we will act, we must go to visit the one who almost killed the darkness," Starlight took the paper Stygian gave her, "We must visit Life."
"Are you sure this is the address?" Twilight asked Starlight as the group stood in front of an old house. The house was rotten and brown, the windows were blocked by wooden boards, and the house was surrounded by a yellow field of dead grass and dead trees. There was no proof of life in this house.
"That is the address Professor Stygian gave me," Starlight said, unsure if she read the address right. After a discussion, the girls agreed to enter the house.
"Okay," Sunset, unwillingly, agreed, "But don't let your guard down, it could be a trap." The girls nodded, but no one had the courage to enter this house of terror. The girls just stood there and watched the house, no one wanted to come in. Fluttershy looked at her pony counterpart and the two nodded to each other.
"We will do it," The two shy girls said as they held hands. All the girls were surprised by the two's sudden courage.
"Are you sure about that?" Sunset asked, "It could be dangerous."
"I am sure," Fluttershy smiled to her friends as she and Pony Fluttershy went towards the abandoned house, as the two were nervous. Fluttershy knocked three times at the door, but no one responded. The two identical girls looked at their friends when suddenly, the door was opened, revealing a tall, blue man with, white beard and short white hair. The man wore white and green robes, tied by a golden belt and he leaned on a walking stick, curved in the shape of a rose.
"Took you long enough," The old man smirked as he returned to his house, leaving the door open. The group looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Finally, the group decided to follow the old man.
"It's a bad idea," Sunset warned her friends, but the girls still walked towards the house and she followed them unwillingly.
The girls could not believe their eyes. The house, that from outside looked disgusting and dreadful, now looked like a room of a castle. The walls were made of blue stones, the floor was so shining, that the girls could have seen their reflection in them. On the walls, there was a set of portraits next to the stairs. The girls took the stairs as they saw the portraits. Every picture told his own story, literally. One was a knight fighting a dragon, another was a wedding between a fairy and a centaur, and one was just a pictiure of two people. A king and his princess. Sunset stopped at the last picture and she looked at the princess. There was something familiar about her, as Sunset looked at the smiling women, she noticed that the girls' green eyes looked at something out of the paints and the direction she looked at was darker than the rest of the paint. As the girls arrived on the second floor, they found the man sitting in a brown chair and he was surrounded by 14 chairs.
"Sit please," The old man said and the girls did as they were told. "The house you saw from the outside, is just an illusion to keep robbers out." The old man waved his hand and a table grew out of the floor, full of cupcakes. "Be my guest." The girls ate from the cupcakes, Pony Pinkie and Pinkie even made a little eating competition, Princess Twilight was embarrassed by that, but the old man found it amusing.
"Mr. Life?" Starlight asked, "Professor Stygian gave us your address. He told me you can help us with a problem." The old man didn't answer, he just smiled at the mention of Stygian name.
" Please just Life, and what is the problem, that this old man could fix?" Mr. Life asked Starlight as Sunset frowned her look upon him.
"The shadow," Twilight said and the old man's smile faded, "He attacked our friend, she told us he had a green stone and he could sense magic. We must stop him before it's too late."
"Aegon," The old man whispered and sighed, "Do you know what is this shadow, or what does he want?"
"We know," Princess Twilight answered, "We know he was a demon who used your daughter to learn about your weaknesses and when she didn't help him, he killed her. We know he wants to cast an eternal shadow upon the realms."
"Amazing" Life said, "Everything you just said, was completely wrong." Twilight was shocked by the old man's words. Life got up from his chair walked towards the paints on the wall. "The demon didn't want anything from what you said. He wanted only one thing, he wanted my light."
The one who become a shadow
It was a centuries ago. Then, the only creatures that lived in Equestria were me, my daughter, the kingdom I ruled and black demons.
A young girl, at the age of 10 was running across a green field. The girl had beautiful blond hair, shining like gold in the sun, and eyes, blue like the sea itself. The girl ran and danced with the wind as butterflies flow aside her, accompany her in the dance. The girl was Light, daughter of Life, king of Equestria and the embodiment the light in the world. Light ran through the green long grass and she laughed as her father chased her.
"You never catch me!" Light taunted her father as the old king chased her with a smile on his face.
"Challenge excepted, young one," Life answered his daughter as they played. The sun shined on the two as they played for hours. The father chased the daughter and the daughter ran, laughing at her old man and Life laughed back. As Light ran faster and faster in the field, her father could barely see her, she was far from him, so far from his protection. "Light!!" The king called for his daughter, but he couldn't hear her voice. The king ran faster and faster, calling for his daughter, and still, no one answered.
Hours flew by and the king finally found his daughter. "Light!!" The king ran to his daughter and hugged her tight, "Where have you been?" Before the daughter could answer, the king saw another figure standing next to them. It was a small boy, not older than Light. The boy was completely dark and black, with white eyes with no pupils. The king immediately took his sword from its sheaf and he pulled his daughter behind him. "Stand back demon!" The king shouted at the shadowy boy as he pointed the sword at him. The boy walked back as fear struck him and Light walked towards the boy.
"Father, stop this," Light cried as she stood between the boy and the glowing blade, "Aegon saved me!"
"He is a demon. Creatures like him do not care for people like us!"
"He saved me!"
King Life, with a glance of hatred, returned his sword back to the sheaf and he crossed his arms. "Very well," The king agreed to show mercy for the demon, "But I don't want to see you around my daughter again. Understood?"
"Yess...Yess, thank you, your grace," The demon said and he ran away with terror for his life.
"He saved my life father," Light protested against her father demands, "He is my friend!"
"He is a demon Light, he cares for nothing but himself." The King told his daughter took her back to the palace, "Promise me that you will never see him again."
"I promise."
If only that was true. No, Light kept seeing Aegon behind my back, they played together behind my back, they grow together behind my back and they fell in love behind my back. After 10 years, I discovered this, and my rage consumed me, blinded my mind. I, a father who locked his own daughter in her own house because she dares to love someone I didn't approve. Finally, Light decided that she could not live without Aegon and she decided to end this, once and for all. It was morning when I found her body, with her wrists opened.
"Then, what happened?" Sunset asked Light as he looked about the picture of the king and his daughter and tears escaped his eyes.
"Then-" Life sighed, and he looked back at the girls "-Then Aegon found out, he was mad at me, blaming me for what happened and who can blame him. As I tried to calm him down, he asked me if there is a way to bring her back and I told there was a way, but many could die. This kind of magic requires the life of people and it could cause the destruction of the world. You see, After Light died, I created an artifact, a stone that can contain souls and magic, this thing with enough magic, could bring her back, but it would cost the light of the entire world. I tried to explain this to Aegon, but he was destroyed without her, and he demanded the stone, and when I refused he left with rage. And after that.."
"After that, you turned him into a shadow and he threw you here," Princess Twilight continued Life and Life nodded.
"Life please," Sunset asked the old man, "Is there any way that we could find Aegon before it's too late?"
"Now, that he is just a shadow, Aegon could possess anyone he want's, man woman, even a dog. I'm afraid that there is no way to tell."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked but Before Light could answer, a cold wind flew inside the house and shivers climbed the girls and Life's spines. The girls didn't understand the source of the cold, but Life knew the source. Light ran towards the desk and gave the girls 14 green bracelets.
"This thing will protect you from the stone. Take them and hide now!" The girls did as Life ordered them, but before they could find a hiding spot, a black figured appeared in front of them. It was a black warrior, wearing black robes and a black hood, his face were hidden in the darkness and his mouth was covered in a mask.
"Life," The shadowy figure spoke in a terrifying voice, "And the elements of harmony, good to see you again."
" The Pony of shadows, I wish it was mutual," Princess Twilight responded with a glance of anger.
"Formely Pony, now just Shadow."
"It's not about them, Aegon let them leave." Life demanded and he walked towards Shadow.
"I didn't come for them, I came for you," Shadow smiled behind his mask, "And after I finish with you, then I will take them."
"Go, now!!" Life told the girls and he raised his cane, and the cane transformed into a sword, "I will deal with him."
The girls nodded and the ran away, leaving the two enemies alone.
"Look how old youv'e become," Shadow mocked Life as a black sword grew out of his right hand.
"Something far worse has happened to you." Life responsed to the demon warrior.
"And who's fault is this Life? You locked her away because I loved her and she loved me, and when you made a solution to bring her, you were afraid she would come back to me. Who's the fault is that now Light is gone!!" Shadow ran towards the old man ready to strike him down, but Life blocked the attack.
"I Know it's my fault Aegon, but do you really think Light would want to live on another's expense?" Life moved his sword back and he dodged The shadows' attacks. It was an amazing fight, the swords clashed one against the other and the sound of the swords clashing, and they clashed and again. It was a battle of light vs darkness. The fight took a while, but at last, The Shadow won. The shadowy warrior impaled Life through the heart.
" You can die happy now, knowing that I will bring her back." Life fell on the floor and The Shadow took the stone and the green energy sucked the soul of the old man, leaving nothing but old bones and skin.
"Now elements I am coming for you."
“I can’t believe we left Life there,” Sunset said in sorrow as she held a cup of coffee in her arms.
“What could we do?” Twilight asked and her counterpart nodded, “If we tried to fight him, all of us would die.”
“She is right Sugarcube,” Applejack told Sunset and Pony Applejack agreed, “We must find the Shadow creep and stop him.” The girls agreed, and they sat for a while at the Sugar Cube corner, as thousands of eyes looked at them, "Why does everyone looking at us?"
"Maybe it's because they aren't used to see double of people they know," a familiar voice answered, and the 14 girls turned to see Flash Sentry walking toward them, "Where have you been, I didn't saw you at school today."
"Have you looked for us?" Princess Twilight asked, blushing at the thought of Flash looking for her and when Flash sat next to her, just made her blush even more. "So, would you be kind enough to tell me where have you been?"
"Do you know the house of Jeremiah Life?" Sunset asked Flash.
Flash took a deep thought about it and nodded, "Yes, the creepy old house that is 3 blocks away from my house, why?"
"Well, the owner of that house invited us today, and...." Sunset had a hard time to finish the sentence. Twilight saw that it's hard on her friend, and she put a hand on her shoulder.
"Anyway, did we miss something at school?" Twilight asked Flash, trying to change the subject of the conversation.
"Not something special," Flash shrugged.
"Did Vice-principal Luna was in school?" Applejack asked, intrigued to know the answer.
"No, why?" Flash asked.
"Oh nothing," Applejack smiled, and she looked at her friends with a smirk.
"What about Professor Stygian?" Sunset asked.
"Who?" Flash raised a confused eyebrow.
"The guidance counselor," Sunset answered.
"Well, I guess I don't know if he was at school."
"So we still have two suspects," Sunset told the group. "We need a plan, and I think I've got one." The group got up from their seats, leaving Flash and Princess Twilight alone. Before Princess Twilight left, Flash held her arm, and he noticed a green bracelet on it.
"What is that?" Flash asked as he looked at the bracelet.
"Oh nothing," Princess Twilight answered as her chicks grew red, "Just... A gift."
"Well, it does look interesting, perhaps we could discuss this interesting jewelry over a coffee?"
"It sounds..." Before Princess Twilight could answer, her counterpart took her away.
"She would love too," Twilight answered, and her double nodded in excitement.
