Once a Shadow

I did not sleep well at all. Having that nightmare definitely ruined my night, even though I dreamed of something different when I went back to sleep. I looked across the room and saw that Ni was still asleep. I heard commotion coming from the main area of the suite, and got out of bed to investigate. I opened my door and saw Soarin and Barry chatting idly.

Barry turned to me. "Hey, sleep well?"

"No, not really."

"Oh, well is Ni awake?"

"Nope."

Soarin grinned. "Good."

Barry gave Soarin a confused look. "Why exactly is that good?"

"Because we're going to prank him, obviously."

"That got my attention. What do you have in mind?" I said.

"I'm thinking of a classic. Are there any eggs in the fridge left over from last night Barry?"

"Why would there be eggs in the fridge?" I asked.

"Because Barry and I couldn't sleep for a while so we just decided to go pick up a few things to cook with. We thought it better to get it over with."

"That's...a little weird, but okay."

"We're good. There's eight eggs left." Barry said.

"Good. Now bring me an egg."

Barry did as he was told and brought Soarin an egg.

"You gonna smash it across his face?" I asked.

"I would to any other pony, but this is a special case. Ni sleeps a lot in our meetings, and after enough time passed, I noticed he breathes only through his nose when he sleeps."

"So?" I said.

"So watch this." Soarin said before trotting in mine and Ni's room.

Barry and I snuck in behind him so we didn't wake Ni up. Soarin was hovering above Ni with the egg at this point. Soarin cracked open the egg, and the yolk fell right on top of Ni's nose. Suddenly, on his next inhale, he breathed in the entire yolk through his nose!

His eyes shot wide and he started panicking. "AHHH! WHAT WAS THAT?! What the hay did you just do to...oh Celestia...I'm gonna-"

"Go to the bathroom if you want to puke." I said quickly.

He zoomed to the bathroom and we heard the sounds of his heaving. We were in tears by the time he exited.

"What. The. Hell." Ni said.

That only made us laugh more.

When we calmed down, Soarin wiped a tear from his eye and spoke. "I'm sorry, but there was no way I could resist. I cracked open an egg above your nose, and you inhaled it."

"Is that what that was?! That's disgusting! It mixed with my mucus and some of it got in my mouth!"

That caused us to bust out laughing again. He just groaned and trotted out of the bedroom.

When we calmed down, we trotted out to meet up with Ni. He was sound asleep on one of the couches.

"We'll let him enjoy this one. Shadow, can you cook?" Soarin said.

"Depends what you want me to make."

"Just some eggs and hay bacon."

I grinned "That's my specialty."

I trotted to the cabinets and pulled out a pan. I turned the stove on and busted open some eggs. When they were done, I laid down some strips of hay bacon. (This is your weekly hay bacon moment mother f(*squee*)ker. So relax and enjoy it...alright, hay bacon moment over.) When everything was ready, I let everypony get themselves a plate of food. Ni was awake by now and dug in.

I was just relaxing on the couch when Barry trotted over. "What? You're not hungry?"

"Meh, I don't have much of an appetite."

He shrugged. "More for us."

When everypony finished eating, we all sat down on the couches.

"So what are we doing today Shadow?" Ni asked.

"It's a pretty big city, and we've got all day today and tomorrow. I guess we could go to Applewood and check out that place today."

"Sure, that sounds good."

"Let's get moving then." I said before heading to the door.

I opened the door, and everypony followed me out. I made sure to close the door and keep a key with me. When we got downstairs, we trotted outside of the hotel.

"Alright Soarin, you've been here before, so lead the way to Applewood I guess." I said.

He nodded and got in front of us.

Ni must have noticed something by the expression of my face and got closer for a private talk. "Hey Shadow, are you okay? You look troubled."

"Was it that obvious?"

"There's been a look of seriousness mixed with confusion on your face. Those are emotions I rarely see coming from you. Mind telling me what's up?"

"I don't wanna bum you out. We're on vacation, just forget about it."

"Shadow, I'm your friend. You can talk to me."

I sighed. "Alright. Last night I had a dream, or maybe it was closer to a vision. Anyway, it was my wedding. We were at Canterlot, and I was just about to say 'I do' to Rainbow. Right before I did, a bloody guard barged in and died. We took action immediately and flew outside to find the threat. Well, it was the necromancers. Skeletons were popping out of the ground, and Spitfire said they were the necromancers from over a hundred years ago that were killed and burried where they were found. There were screams from inside the palace, and when I ran inside to see what was wrong, Rainbow..."

"It's okay Shadow. Calm down, it didn't really happen."

"But everything felt so real. My wounds felt real, my devastation seeing Rainbow die...was real. Dreams aren't like that."

Ni seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. "Alright. When we get back, I'll let Spitfire know about this. If what you're saying is true, then there could be a very real threat. If there is any attempt on Canterlot, we'll be prepared."

"Thanks Ni."

"No problem. Now relax will you? This is your party, so have some fun."

"You have no idea how much I want to right now."

"Here we are, Applewood." Soarin said, thankfully pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked up a little and saw the sign 'APPLEWOOD' in the distance.

"How about we hit up the walk of fame first?" Barry suggested.

"Sure, right this way." Soarin replied.

We started walking along, passing up the various buildings that had been built over the years.

"Psst! You right there!" A voice whispered from one of the alleys.

I stopped and looked around. The others didn't seem to hear it and continued walking without me.

"Yes, you. Come here."

This isn't a trap at all. Ah fuck it.

I walked into the alley and looked for the source of the voice. There was a shuffle behind a dumpster and a pegasus dressed like a ninja stumbled out.

"I finally got you right where I want you Shadow Flash!"

"Um, do I know you?" I asked.

"You will after you feel the wrath of my blade! Take this!" He said before charging at me with a katana.

He must have not seen the banana peel in front of him because he stepped on it and slipped, sending him into the wall.

"Are um...are you okay?"

He quickly got up. "Don't feign sympathy with me you monster!"

"Right...well I guess I should go now. Nice meeting you I guess." I said before turning to the exit of the alley.

"Oh no you don't! You won't escape that easily!" He yelled before once again charging me. This time his legs got tangled together and he face planted.

It looked like that one knocked him out. That was a little weird. I guess I should get back to the guys now.

I left the alley after taking one last look at the guy that attacked me, or tried to attack me anyway. After a few minutes, I caught up to the guys.

"Where were you?" Barry asked.

"I thought I saw someone familiar."

"Who the hell would you recognize here?"

"You're right, I guess I didn't recognize anyone." I said before we continued along.

"Idiot...wait, did I just get mind-fucked?"

I held back a chuckle. I'm a little rusty, but it's been a while since I've mind-fucked someone. Feels good.

A few hours later after taking in some of the sights, we decided to hit up a close-by bar called The Motherland. (Yes, I'm a terrible person for continuing to stereotype good drinkers. Maybe it can be a German next, but hey, at least it isn't negative. Well, I don't think it is anyway.)

Once inside, we saw that it looked more like a local joint than a big place. There were maybe ten other ponies in here, all of them pretty tough-looking. The walls were decorated with various pieces of interesting things, such as bear claws and hunting equipment. I didn't think ponies hunted. Guess this guy's different from the rest.

We trotted up to the large brown earth pony behind the bar and he greeted us. "Welcome my friends to The Motherland. What can I get for you?"

"What would you recommend?" Soarin asked.

He smiled and reached under the bar to pull out a large bottle. "This my friends, is what I call the Bottle of."

"Bottle of...?"

"That's it. Just Bottle of."

"Why's that?"

"Because after the first sip, you'll forget what you were saying you were taking a drink of."

Soarin smiled. "Sounds good to me!"

"Excellent! You three will want some as well. This first round is on the house."

I pulled up a stool. "Thanks, it's appreciated."

"Anytime my friend."

"Shadow Flash." I said, holding my hoof out.

He shook it. "You can just call me Hammer. I run this bar with my brother Sickle." (See what I did there?)

"Is your brother here?"

"He went out on a few errands. He will be back shortly I trust." He said before pouring us our drink.

I looked at my glass for a moment before taking the shot. "Whoa, now that's a powerful kick."

"Powerful kick indeed." Ni said after taking his.

Hammer smiled. "There's plenty more where that came from." He said before pouring us another.

"So are you from Equestria?" I asked.

"No, I come from land far away from here. My brother and I named this bar The Motherland to remind us of our old home."

"Do you like it here?"

"Most of the time, yes. The ponies here are usually very nice, with the exception of a few."

Just then the door to the bar opened, and a black pegasus with an eyepatch trotted in. His cutie mark was an iron maiden. That's not creepy at all.

Hammer got a serious look on his face. "What do you want Umbra?"

"I've just come to inform you that you are once again late on your payment. This time we've decided to hold onto your brother until you pay us as a little...motivation."

Hammer slammed his hoof on the counter. "You bastard give me my brother back now!"

"Now now, there's no need to get upset. Just remember this could have been avoided if you kept up your payments. If there is no money by tomorrow, then I'm not sure if your brother will make it out in one piece."

"Get out of my bar."

The pony gave an evil looking grin and nodded before leaving.

Once he was gone, Hammer let out a long sigh. "I apologize my friends, I did not mean for you to see that."

"Care to explain what that was all about?" Soarin asked.

"I suppose there is no harm in it. Many years ago, when my brother and I arrived here, we were very poor. One day we hear of some ponies that will loan money as long as you pay it back on time. Being foolish enough, we borrowed enough money to start up this bar."

"And you can't afford to pay them back?" I said.

"Oh no. We paid them back everything plus accumulated interest. Now they charge 'protection fees' to us. I couldn't afford it last time, and now they've taken my brother. I'm going to have to sell the bar to get him back now."

I looked at Soarin, Barry, and Ni, and we nodded.

"We'll get your brother back."

"I appreciate the offer my friends but Umbra, the leader of that operation, has well over thirty ponies in his hideout. There is no way the four of you would stand a chance."

"Who says all four of us need to go? Only one of us needs to go." I said.

"You think you can take on all of those men by yourself?"

I smiled. "Lets just say I'm special forces and leave it at that."

"You're not going in there by yourself Shadow." Soarin said.

"I'll be fine, and besides, it's the best thing for my plan to work. Hammer will take me to their hideout and say that I'm the one holding the money. When they open up, I get as deep into their place as I can and take out their leader. I'm betting they would never open up for more than two ponies. That sound like a plan to you, Hammer?"

"How will you be able to take on all of those ponies? I can fight, but I don't think I can take down over thirty guards, even with the help of another."

"Trust me, I can fight. All you need to do is get me inside."

"I will not put the entire burden on another kind enough to help my brother. I will fight with you comrade."

"If you really want to, that's fine with me."

He nodded. "Very good. I will fill my saddlebag with some bits, at least enough to make it seem like I'm paying them anyways."

I turned to my three friends. "I want you three to wait at the hotel, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Soarin asked.

"I'm sure. Like I said, I'll be fine."

"...Alright, just don't get too carried away out there."

"I won't kill anypony, relax."

"You may not have a choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. We'll go to the hotel now. See you soon." Soarin said before walking off with the others.

"Spitfire still hasn't told him?" Ni whispered to Soarin.

"No, and he doesn't need to know, not yet anyway."

I heard a few whispers coming from Ni and Soarin, but decided to ignore it. Probably something about me being reckless.

I turned to Hammer. "Alright, lead the way, and I'll help you get your brother back."

"One moment, I'm going to grab those bits." He said before trotting through a doorway.

A few moments later, he returned with a saddlebag. "Take this bag."

I nodded and took the bag. He led me out of the bar and down the street. It's starting to get dark now.

We trotted to a downtown area, and found what looked like an abandoned building. It had a steel door guarded by two ponies.

"Looks like you're not as stupid as we thought you were after all Hammer." The guard on the right said.

"Hey who's the one beside you?!" The other demanded.

"He is holding the money. None of you get it until I have my brother back."

The guard on the left laughed. "Alright. I doubt he'll be able to do much if the boss decides to kill you anyway. Go on through." He said before knocking on the steel door.

You could hear the noise on the other side from removal of all of the locks and latches in place on the door. It opened and revealed a white earth pony with a green mane and tail.

He motioned for us to follow him and turned around. We followed him to a cellar door and he opened it for us, revealing a set of stairs. We followed him down the stairs, and when we reached the bottom, there was a tunnel waiting for us lit by torches.

"All the way down the tunnel on the left." The pony said before trotting back upstairs.

Hammer and I continued trotting through the tunnel and eventually came across two paths; one to the left, and one to the right. As directed, we took the left path and soon reached a wooden door. We trotted through the door and found Umbra relaxing in a wooden chair surrounded by over twenty guards. In the corner of the room there was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail in a cage who I assumed to be Hammer's brother, Sickle.

"You shouldn't have come here, Hammer!" Sickle yelled.

"Shut up Sickle, I came here to help you, not listen to you complain. Now Umbra, you will give me my brother back, or I will hurt you."

I wonder how long it took for Umbra to nail that evil laugh, because it was beatiful. And by beautiful, I mean perfect. "Those are some very big words Hammer, but that's enough of that. Give me the money, and your brother can live."

"No. I will no longer be threatened by you. Now give me my brother back, or face my friend here."

I took that as my cue and stepped up.

Umbra laughed a little more. "This one pony is your ace in the hole Hammer? I must say, I'm disappointed. Oh well, kill them both."

Four of the guards rushed us with knives. I effortlessly flew from one to the other and snapped their hind legs in half.

Umbra looked awestruck, and the same could be said for Hammer and Sickle, as well as the other guards.

"D-don't just stand there! Get them!" Umbra screamed.

The rest of the guards charged us, and I got ready to take them down. All of the sudden, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I started screaming. I didn't even notice the dozens of ponies beating me relentlessly. In addition to the pain in my chest, it felt as if my head was splitting in two. I let out one more scream then blacked out.

I shot out of my bed, sweat pouring down my face.

"Relax Shadow, you're okay." A familiar voice said.

I looked at Soarin. "What happened?"

"You blacked out."

"What?"

"Hammer said right before you were swarmed, you started screaming and blacked out. Thankfully, I didn't go back to the hotel and decided to go down there myself."

"Hammer's okay then?"

He nodded. "His brother too."

"Good...what about those gang ponies?"

"...Arrested. I took them down and then alerted the guards."

I looked around, we were in the hotel suite. "What's wrong with me?" I asked.

"...Nothing. It's a common side effect from the immortality potion. Sometimes it's possible to experience severe headaches and heart pain. While that does sound serious, it's nothing that will kill you."

"That's good I guess. I still feel like shit though."

He laughed. "Not surprising. I'll leave you alone for a while. When you're feeling up to it, meet the rest of us in the living room, or go to sleep."

I nodded, and he left the my room, closing the door behind him.

Severe headache and heart pain eh? That about sums it up. That friggin sucked. Good thing Soarin followed me, or else I would've been done for.

After about thirty minutes of thinking to myself, I started to doze off. Right before I did however, there was a noise coming from the window. I watched it slide open, and a familiar ninja dressed pony stumbled through. I didn't notice earlier, but in my room's light, I could see he had a steel colored coat, and a bright green mane and tail with black streaks going through them.

"You may have escaped earlier Shadow Flash, but now you've nowhere to go!" He said.

"Oh, it's just you. I was worried there for a second."

"Hey! Do not mock me! I am the great Nesral!"

"It wasn't my intention to mock you, sorry. I'm just not in the best of moods right now."

"I will forgive you this once, but only because I respect a man that stares death in the face so easily." He finished before unsheathing his katana.

I let out a yawn. This guy says he wants to kill me, but I just can't seem to take him seriously. Normally this guy would be out the window with that katana up his ass, but for some reason I don't have it in me to beat this guy up. "So your name's Nesral is it?"

"That is correct."

I reached on the nightstand next to me, and grabbed a bottle of Applejack Daniels that Soarin had left for me and took a swig. I looked at Nesral. "Want some?"

"Grr...why don't you take me seriously?! I'm about to end your life and you are so calm!"

His face was starting to get red, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He then passed out on the floor next to my bed.

I poked him to make sure he was still alive. He must have gotten dizzy and passed out. I feel bad for this guy. I guess I can help him out a bit.

I got out of bed and lifted him onto Soarin's bed, then got back on my bed.

A few minutes later, he woke up and looked around in a panic. "What have you done to me? Where am I?!"

"Relax, you passed out so I just put you on a bed right there."

"You're foolish. You could have seized that rare opportunity and assassinated me right there, but you chose to spare me."

I didn't say anything, I just offered him the bottle of Applejack Daniels. He eyed it curiously.

"It's not poisoned, if I wanted to kill you, like you said, I could have done it when you passed out."

He took the bottle and carefully took a sip, then a swig after realizing I didn't poison it. He handed it back to me, and I took a swig as well.

"This changes nothing between us Shadow Flash. Next time I see you, you are mine."

"Oh I'm sure, but for now, lets just enjoy this drink."

"Very well." He said before taking another swig and passing it back.

When the bottle was empty, he stumbled trying to get up.

"Are you good to fly?" I asked.

"I will be fine." He said before falling down and getting back up rapidly.

"See ya." I said before he flew out of the window.

I wonder why he wants to kill me, and why does he call me a monster? He doesn't seem like a bad guy, and he doesn't exactly make for the best assassin.

I guess I'll go to sleep now. Before me and the guys leave tomorrow, I'll drop by Hammer and Sickle's bar to check up on them. I pulled up the covers and went to sleep.

"Don't just stand there, get them!" Umbra yelled.

The guards swarmed Hammer and I. Right before they got to me, I felt a surging headache and heart pain.

"Stop struggling, you only delay the innevitable." A voice said.

I let out a scream and collapsed. The guards were watching me, wondering why I suddenly fell over. I suddenly got up, and laughed like a maniac. No, I wasn't laughing, something else was laughing in my body. I'm not in control of my body!

"What are you waiting for?! Kill him!" Umbra yelled.

The guards resumed their charge.

I smiled broadly, giving a crazed look. "So these are the first to die, excellent!"

I activated my hidden blades, and a split second later, a dozen bodies littered the room, some with their throats slit, some with their necks snapped, and others with no head at all. I stood covered in blood and licked the area around my mouth. "A little rusty, but that will pass soon. I just need to kill more! Yes! More!"

The guards gave a terrified look and began to back up. I shot toward one of them and punched a hole clean through his side. He gasped and collapsed. The others threw down their weapons and tried to run away. It was too late though, because whatever was controlling me picked them off one by one. I got to the last one besides Umbra, and this one was crying. He looked no older than sixteen.

"Please don't kill me! I just did this for the money!" He begged.

"You're greed sickens me, but...crack*...no longer." I finished as I dropped him after crushing his skull in my hooves.

I then slowly trotted to the cowering Umbra. He tried to crawl away, but I simply broke his legs one by one.

I gave another evil broad smile. "I wonder how much you can take before dying! Let's find out shall we?!"

"No! Stop!"

I ignored his screams as I tore off his right wing completely.

"AHHHH! STOP!"

"What's that?! I can't hear you over the sound of your other wing being ripped off!" I yelled before tearing his other wing off.

Blood was now everywhere, and it looked like he wouldn't be alive for much longer.

"Aww, giving up so soon? Very well." I said before picking him up.

His screams got louder and louder as I began to slowly pull him apart. His body eventually gave, and I tore him completely in half.

I then turned to Hammer, who was trying to free his brother. I slowly started to trot toward him.

"You may rest easy. My time of control is at its end for now. Quite the lucky ones you are." I said before collapsing. I lost consciousness just as the silhouette of a pegasus in a wonderbolt uniform was approaching.

I once again shot up in my bed. Two nightmares like that in a row? Now I'm worried. That one was a little different this time though. This time I wasn't controlling my actions, something else was. Is that what really happened? Did I really kill all of those ponies? What the fuck is wrong with me?!

Looks like something pretty fucked up is happening to Shadow. Keep an eye open for more. Also, no amount of sryz can be said for making you guys wait this long, so I'll only say it once; I'm sorry. Due to many circumstances, such as school, all these new games, a brief period of lack of interest for this story, and learning how to play guitar, I found little time to actually work on this. But I know you guys are glad I'm back, because I'm glad I'm back. Special thanks to Supahbrony300(from fanfiction) for the idea of the character Nasrel, our little failure of an assassin. Speaking of Supahbrony, for my story 'From War to War', I'm going to turn that into a collab with him, so expect some new things to be added. But wait there's moar! It's actually my birthday today, so if you don't wish me a happy birthday or give me a present, I'll give you AIDS ;D(No homo, if that's even possible.)

Chuck Norris fact of the day: The movie King Kong is loosely based on an incident in which Chuck Norris killed a 900-foot gorilla and had sex with the Coors Light twins on top of the Empire State Building.