The Curse Of Chrysalis

Chapter 27

“Oh man, oh man, oh man.” Kris said worriedly as he paced back and forth just outside a room located within the medical ward of the hive. “This is finally happening.”

“You can do this my queen. Deep breaths and push.” A doctor said as he stood by Chrysalis’s side.

“I AM PUSHING!” Chrysalis roared as she struggled while taking deep breaths.

Cory sat at her side, holding her hand as she pushed with all her might. He would have spoken to try and give support, but he was focusing on his magic to prevent the demonic godly strength of Chrysalis from turning his hand into a mixture of paste and bone dust.

Kris would be in the room as well but he had a bit of a weak stomach when it came to childbirth. He couldn’t really stand the sight of a small body being forced through a small hole in the female he loved with said hole being spread open to such ridiculousness.

Chrysalis continued breathing heavily while pushing. It was a LOT of hard work for the poor queen but eventually, after several hours, she had given birth to six healthy baby changelings. Three girls and three boys. Once that was over, Kris came in then to see the babies. Chrysalis, looking exhausted, as she should be, held the sextuplets in her arms. “You okay my queen?” Kris asked.

“I feel completely exhausted but...I’m fine.” Chrysalis replied.

Cory rubbed his hand now that it was free, but smiled as he looked at the infants. “They’re beautiful.”

“So cute.” Kris commented. “I can’t believe we’re actually fathers now.”

“So have you come up with names for them yet?” The doctor asked.

Chrysalis smiled as she looked at her husbands. “Well?”

Cory smiled widely as he held one of the boys. This one was showing to be the strongest right off the bat with how he fought for first feeding before. “I think Vader would be a good name for this one.” The infant, despite being the same as his mother, had a black carapace similar to the old changelings, with crimson eyes.

Kris took one of the baby girls in his arms and smiled upon her. She smiled back and reached her arms to him. “How about we name this one Shimmer?” Her carapace was a light velvet with a shimmer in her eyes which were light blue.

Cory nodded before reaching out and petted the head of another boy. “This one reminds me of my father actually. So patient and waiting to be fed last. So, I think Clayton, in honor of my father.”

“That seems like a fine name.” Chrysalis said.

Kris looked over the others and focused on another of the boys. “How about we name that one…” He said as he placed his hand on the infant he was referring to who smiled with a light giggle. “Scarab.” The infant had a blue carapace with gold eyes which reminded Kris of pictures of beatles from Egyptian art works.

Cory grinned. “That sounds perfect.” He then noticed one of the girls trying to climb from Chrysalis’ arms. “Heheh, we got ourselves a spider impersonator here. Huh, that’s an idea. Arachne. Her name is Arachne.” He then looked at Chrysalis. “Well, I think if anything, you should get to name at least one.”

Chrysalis looked at the third girl. She had a light pink carapace with green eyes. She giggled as she gazed at her mother. “How about...Cherry.”

“Cute name.” Kris replied.

Cory nodded. “So then, Vader, Scarab, Clayton, Shimmer, Arachne, and Cherry.”

“Wonderful names.” Chrysalis commented.

“Understood. We’ll get their names written and information out right away.” The doctor said. “Now, we’ll take the babies so you can rest.”

“Thank you.” Chrysalis said before a couple nurses began collecting the infants.

Once the nurses and doctor left, Cory looked to Chrysalis. “You get some rest love. You’ve certainly earned it.”

“More than earned it I’d say.” Kris added.

“Thank you. I love you both.” Chrysalis said before laying her head down and closed her eyes, practically passing out immediately.

The two men left the room to let their queen have her sleep. “Wow...can’t believe we’re really dads now.” Kris commented silently.

Cory nodded. “Yeah, never thought this would happen. Always thought I’d be the uncle to your kids, never having my own. But now…..just wow.”

“I know. Now I’m concerned I might not be a good father.” Kris stated, growing worried. “What if our kids turn out messed up? What if they start acting like rebels and cause all kinds of mischief….what if they start a gang!?” His worries and mental images began spiraling from there.

Cory sighed before slapping Kris, snapping him out of his spiral. “You back to reality?”

“Yeah….yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. This whole dad thing has me rather nervous.” Kris replied.

“Look, I’m worried too, but there’s a few things you need to remember.” Cory said.

“And what might that be?”

Cory raised a hand before counting off fingers. “First, we’re not alone in this. There are several ponies and changelings who would be more than happy to help out to not only take the load off of us, but also guide us. Second, you and I are the head of the Changeling forces, we’ve handled stressful times in the past. We can handle six growing babies. Third, we can train them when they’re old enough to help instill proper discipline and moral ethics. And fourth, and most importantly, we have a Pinkie Pie.”

“By jove you’re right.” Kris said, placing a fist in the palm of his hand. “We CAN do this. As long as we have love in our hearts and friends to help, our new babies will grow up just fine.”

Cory nodded before snarling. ‘And if so much as a single speck of an injury is ever intentionally placed upon them, they will know such suffering that they will beg for the release of death.”

“Oh, definitely.” Kris said with a similar threatening look. “Like hell I’m going to show any mercy to anyone that threatens our babies.” He began letting off an aura of magic as just the thought of someone hurting his new children got him riled up. LIke dad mode was coming naturally already.

“Nice to see it took having kids to place some steel in that spine.”

“Don’t get used to it. That’s probably the ONLY time I’ll be shown to be this fierce. I still intend on being the light hearted jokester I try to be.” Kris stated with a smile.

Cory shrugged. “Hey, as long as you’re prepared to do what needs to be done when the time comes.”

“Trust me. I will.”

Not long after that, Twilight and her friends were summoned by the magic map in Twilight’s castle to a town far out of the middle of nowhere. There they met Starlight Glimmer who was using magic to remove cutie marks making the ponies think it was okay. They learned of her true intentions and managed to foil her plans but she got away. After that, more time passed and she tried another attempt, this time trying to alter time to ruin Twilight’s friendships. This led to Twilight getting to see different versions of Equestria if it weren’t for Twilight and her friends there defending it. Strangely, none of the timelines had the humans in them, but that might be because Chrysalis never thought to bring them in during those timelines. Each time she tried to stop Starlight from stopping filly Rainbow Dash from performing her sonic rainboom which helped them all find their special talents and brought them together, she failed. Eventually, she managed to show Starlight an Equestria that was pretty much dead. Finally, this led to Starlight telling why she was doing this and finally accepting Twilight’s help.

As it turns out. Starlight was doing all this because she had a friend when she was a filly but lost him when he got his cutie mark. As in he was sent away and she never heard from him again. This left her bitter. Finally, she accepted friendship and started living with Twilight to learn about friendship.

Soon after, a great new threat was emerging. The Pony of Shadows. A monstrous creature of pure darkness was making a comeback. This was at the same time Twilight and her friends brought back Starswirl and five other ponies with him. As it turned out, Starswirl and the five ponies had sacrificed themselves to seal away the pony of shadows in a sort of time pocket dimension meant to hold him for all eternity, trapping all of them in there. Twilight however managed to free them all.

Now Starswirl and his group was back in the world along with the Pony of Shadows. The Pony of Shadows was a threat to ALL of Equestria. Twilight believed they would need extra help and so teleported herself, her friends, and Starswirl and his companions to the hive. As the ancient ponies had not seen the new changelings yet, they had no idea about them yet. Cory and Kris were the first ones to meet them and Twilight explained what happened. “HOW COULD YOU UNLEASH A DARK EVIL ONTO THE WORLD LIKE THIS!?” Kris roared at Twilight, said mare flinching and shrinking at the shout. “I thought you were smarter than that! And all just to find your precious Starswirl!”

“And just who exactly are you supposed to be?” Starswirl asked with a raised brow and a dismissive attitude.

“Let me guess, you’re the famous Starswirl the bearded?” Kris asked with an equally unamused look on his face.

“Of course I am, and you still have not answered me.” Starswirl all but demanded.

Kris gave a light glare to the unicorn. “Look pal, I’m not exactly in the best mood right now, so I’d stow the high and mighty act if I were you.” He replied. “And my name is Kris, I’m a human and co king of the changeling hive.”

Starswirl’s eyes snapped wide open at this. He glared and was about to shout before a hand grabbed his face in an iron grip. The hand belonged to Cory who’s glare could melt iron. “First off, keep that trap shut, you’re already on thin ice. Second, when this is all over, we will have ‘words’ with you. And third, who we are kings of is of no matter, this threat is our prime concern.”

As this discussion was going on, they were in the throne room before Chrysalis who was sitting on her throne watching them.

Twilight cut in to try and calm things down. “You guys, please! Settle down! Arguing like this isn’t going to solve anything.”

Cory growled. “I don’t know, I’d say it’d solve my anger pretty damn quick.”

“Besides, I don’t think you have room to talk considering this is your fault.” Kris added to Twilight with a glare.

Twilight shrank back looking ready to cry. “What do you want me to say? I’m sorry! Well I am! How was I supposed to know bringing back Starswirl and the pillars would unleash the pony of shadows!?” Twilight retorted.

“Usually when things are locked away, they are done so for a reason.” Cory countered. He then sighed before pushing Starswirl back. “But fine. We’ll settle things AFTER this threat is dealt with.” The old unicorn glared at the humans.

Twilight turned her head away feeling ashamed.

“All right, so first things first. What do we know about this Pony of Shadows?” Kris asked.

“The pony of Shadows feeds on darkness. He will most likely go someplace that is dark and easy for him to hide so he can regain his strength.” Somnambula suggested.

“Then we should split up into teams and try to find him.” Rockhoof, a particularly large earth pony stated.

“And just what would you do if one team does find him?” Cory asked with a raised brow. “Try and fight to hold out for the others to arrive? Leave and find the others and potentially lose him? Please, I’m all ears.”

“Um...er….well…” Rockhoof stuttered at the questions, unsure how to answer.

“If we’re going to find this Shadow pony, we need to do it together, no splitting up. That’s how bad things can happen.” Kris stated.

“This is why I hate civilians. No thought for planning for the worst case. Do any of you actually have any training that can allow you to stand a chance against this Pony of Shadows?” Cory demanded as he crossed his arms.

“Well, maybe we can just trap him again like before.” Sage Meadowbrook suggested.

“As if he would allow that to happen again. And even if you succeed, what, just wait for someone else to come along and do the same thing Twilight did? I think not.” Kris stated. “We need a way to stop this thing for good here and now.”

“That means your normal methods aren’t going to cut it. This Pony of Shadows, how did he come to be?” Cory asked. “Every villain has an origin. This should be no different.”

Mistmane stepped forward to answer. “Well, we believe it has to do with a pony we once knew, Stygian. He was a friend of ours yet one day, he showed up covered in darkness and attacked us. Thus he became the Pony of Shadows.”

“Stygian? If he was a friend, then why would he do such a thing?” Kris asked.

Starswirl shook his head. “I know not, but he tried to steal our power as the Pillars before we stopped him. After that, he became the Pony of Shadows.”

Cory narrowed his eyes. Something didn’t fit with this puzzle and he had a feeling Starswirl, like always, was the cause of it. But that would be looked into later. “So he was able to gain this power. “That means there’s a source. We find that, we cut it off, and he’s back to being a normal pony.”

“So do any of you have any idea where this source might be?” Kris asked.

“Well...we may have an idea. There’s an ancient long abandoned and forgotten village in Equestria that might hold the key.” Flash stated.

“Long abandoned by your standards or by today’s standards?” Cory asked.

“Uh...both?” Flash replied with confusion. “Back in our time we do know it had been abandoned for a long time.”

“So by your standards then.” Kris clarified.

“With the amount of time passed, there’s gonna be nothing left of that village. And maps would have changed a LOT in that time frame. Unless you have a map from your time to compare with a map from today, I don’t think we’re gonna find that place anytime soon.” Cory said with a sigh.

“I think I know what might help. The map back in my castle.” Twilight suggested.

“Right, the living map. Still weirds me out.” Cory muttered.

“Doesn’t that send you out to where there’s ‘friendship’ problems though?” Kris asked.

“Well….maybe this could be considered a friendship problem considering Stygian was a friend of theirs.” Twilight suggested.

“Not so sure about that.” Kris muttered.

“Highly unlikely. Stygian stopped being our friend the moment he betrayed us.” Starswirl spat out with a near growl.

Cory shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s still a map and that’s what we need.” He then looked at Chrysalis. “Sorry love, we’ll be gone for a while. This threat must be stopped before it reaches the hive and endangers our children.”

“And our home.” Kris said.

“I understand.” Chrysalis said as she rose from her throne and approached the two. “And I know you are strong and will come back, still…..be careful.” She kissed Cory on the cheek, then Kris. “Be safe. You have children to look after now. So I’d say that’s even more of a reason to come back safe.”

“Of course, my queen.” Kris said with a smile.

“We’ll be back before you know it.” Cory smiled as well.

Daisy had entered the throne room at that moment. “I am ready to go with you.”

Cory shook his head while Starswirl stared in shock and horror at Daisy. “No, you stay here and ensure Chrysalis and our children are safe.”

Daisy bowed her head. “As you wish.”

Cory then noticed Starswirl. “What, never seen a rabbit before?”

Starswirl glared death at Cory. “Do you have any idea what that thing is?!”

Cory raised a brow. “I should, given that I summoned her.”

“YOU WHAT!?!?”

“Look horn head. We don’t have alot of time for this. Yes, Cory summoned her. She’s only a threat though to those that threaten us, Chrysalis, or our children. We know what she is, we are fine with her and you need to shut your face or I’m going to shut it for you! Don’t forget while we’re here, your magic is useless. And even if it wasn’t, I’d still manage to wipe the floor with you. Now I’ve had enough of both your attitude and insults. So shut up and let’s get moving already.” Kris said glaring death at the old unicorn looking ready to kill.

Starswirl glared back before Cory used his magic to help them all teleport back to Twilight’s castle and into the map room.

“Well, here we are. And this is the map.” Twilight said, hoping to impress her beloved mentor as the map glimmered showing all of Equestria and parts beyond. “Impressive isn’t it?”

Starswirl raised a brow at this. “I suppose it’s not too terrible. It’s not mobile like a normal map, but we can’t be beggars.”

Twilight’s face fell slightly at her mentor’s words.

“All right, so where’s this old town you mentioned that might hold where our old shadow pony is hiding?” Kris asked.

The pillars scanned the map. Just then, the cutie marks of all the ponies suddenly appeared hovering over the map and floated from Twilight’s castle to a dark part of the map where what looked like a run down abandoned village rested in the shadow of a mountain.

“That must be it.” Starlight pointed out from the side.

“Then that’s where we’re going.” Twilight replied.

Cory nodded. “Make sure everypony is ready. No telling what might happen there.”

“I think we’re as ready as we’re gonna be.” Rainbow replied.

“Then let’s move out. The sooner we deal with the Pony of Shadows, the better.” Starswirl said gruffly before he headed for the exit.

“Do you even know how to get there?” Cory asked with a raised brow.

“Of course I do.”

“So you can teleport there?” Starswirl paused before he sweated a bit. Cory shook his head. “Idiot.” He muttered to himself before looking at Twilight. “What’s the fastest way to that location?”

“I could get us there fast.” Kris said, cutting in.

“You could?” Twilight asked.

“Not by teleportation but still fast.” Kris added. He formed a large translucent bubble. “Everyone in!”

“What is that?” Applejack asked.

“Your ride.” Kris said with a bow.

Cory didn’t hesitate as he walked right into the bubble and waited for the others.

Once Cory stepped in, he became weightless. Hesitantly, the others stepped in, all starting to float. “WEE! This is fun!” Pinkie cheered.

“My goodness!” Rarity gasped.

“You too Starlight.” Kris said noticing the unicorn mare was hesitating.

“Me? Are you sure? I’m not even really one of the elements of harmony, or the pillars. Plus, it wasn’t showing my cutie mark.” Starlight argued.

“You’re still part of our team Starlight.” Twilight said with a smile.

“You heard her. Get in.” Kris said again.

Starlight soon stepped into the bubble and joined the others.

“All right, here we go.” Kris placed his hand on the bubble and in it. He then faced forward and took off like a shot. The world passed by them in a blur as Kris ran at super sonic speeds. Within seconds, they reached their destination and Kris came to a stop. “ALL ASHORE THAT'S GOING ASHORE!” He then shouted.

Starswirl and the other Pillars stepped out, rather dizzy from the trip and having a hard time staying on their hooves. Cory on the other hand was rather fine as he merely stretched out.

It was the same for the main six and company as with the pillars. They all stepped out with dizzying steps. “Sweet sassafras. What in tarnation?” Applejack complained.

“Goodness. That...certainly was quick. We didn’t even get to see the sights.” Rarity stated.

“This wasn’t a sightseeing tour.” Kris stated.

“I….think I’m...gonna be sick.” Starlight said looking a little green.

“Take a few deep breaths, hold them in, and let them out. Think pleasant thoughts.” Cory advised Starlight.

Starlight did as told and seemed to start feeling a little better. “That….helped. Thank you.” She said with a small smile.

“We’re wasting time. The Pony of Shadows is close and we can finally put an end to this.” Starswirl cut in with a mild glare.

Kris glared back. “Try having a little compassion for your fellow pony old timer.” He then started walking, taking the lead to the town.

The village was indeed old and abandoned. The buildings and houses were practically falling apart, some were already. “Now if I were a pony of Shadows, where would I hide?” Rainbow asked herself.

“Mayhaps the well.” Stronghoof suggested.

“It’s the best place to start as any other.” Starswirl said as they all made their way to the town well.

Cory looked about the dead village. “I don’t understand.”

“What is it?” Kris asked.

Cory looked at Kris and then at the others, making sure nopony was listening, before speaking softly to Kris. “The Pillars said this place was abandoned long before they were sealed. That was easily more than a thousand years ago if the books I’ve read are to be believed.”

“Why do things seem to always happen a thousand years later in this country?” Kris cut in.

Cory glared at Kris. “My point is, there shouldn’t be anything left of this village. The wood rotted or eaten away, the stone moved, destroyed, or eroded down to nothing. In fact, this dead village looks more like a few decades old than over a millennium. Something isn’t right here and I don’t like it.”

“Well, I can think of several possibilities. One, the ponies back then must have used some kind of magic to slow the aging and decaying of materials so their houses would last longer, thus the village still in the state it’s currently in. Two, decay probaby works differently in this world than it does back on earth. Three...the dark force that’s residing here is probably responsible for the village not being completely and utterly gone and how it should really be.” Kris suggested.

“The third is most likely. I doubt the first was possible since I’ve yet to see or hear of such a spell today. And the second isn’t right either as I’ve checked with a few unfortunate accidents back at the hive. But then that leaves the question...WHY?” Cory said. “Why keep the village like this, or better yet, keep the village at all?”

“SO MY PRISON THAT ONCE HELD ME COULD BE FOUND BY A FOOLISH PONY TO SET ME FREE WHO IS SEEKING REVENGE!” A dark booming voice answered surrounding the village.

The ponis cringed and all clumped together around the two humans.

Cory looked about, keeping his eyes peeled. “So, you are the Pony of Shadows. Mind showing yourself so we can have a proper introduction?”

“HA HA HA HA HA!” The Pony of Shadows laughed before the ground crumbled under them and gave way, causing them all to fall. Most of the ponies screamed as they fell into the pit of darkness.

It wasn’t a long fall as they all hit hard ground on landing, with the humans landing on their feet. Green torches began lighting up the room. The group found themselves in what could only be described as an old temple with stone walls, floors, pillars, and a ceiling. Before them was what looked like an altar with a depiction of a dark shadowy figure being fought off by magic by a group of other ponies. “WELCOME TO MY LAIR.”

Cory looked about before nodding. “Huh, kinda homey.”

“A couple throw pillows, some curtains, this place could clean up nicely.” Kris added.

“Uh...guys.” Fluttershy pointed out shakily as a dark shadowy vortex formed on the wall before them. Soon, a massive pony like figure emerged.

“AH HA HA HA HA! FOOLS! DID YOU TRULY THINK YOU COULD FACE ME IN MY VERY HOME!?” The Pony of Shadows laughed.

“Y...You don’t scare us!” Rainbow said, trying to sound brave.

Starswirl glared and stepped forward. “We stopped you once Stygian, we can do so again!!”

“AH HA HA HAHA! STYGIAN!? THAT PATHETIC FOOL WHO WANTED REVENGE! HE IS NOTHING BUT A PUPPET OF MINE NOW! YOU CANNOT HOPE TO STOP ME!”

“Revenge? Why?” Twilight asked.

“IT MATTERS NOT! THIS IS THE END OF YOU ALL!” The shadow Pony exclaimed before launching a series of shadow tendrils at the group.

Kris quickly put up a large barrier and blocked the tendrils.

Cory glared at the Pony of Shadows before glaring at Starswirl. “Something you want to tell us?”

“He’s merely lying. Nothing more than a trickster wanting to cause chaos.” Starswirl replied.

“But he said Stygian wanted revenge. Why would that be so?” Twilight asked. “Please Starswirl, if there’s something your not telling us, now would be a good time!”

“Not to rush you guys or anything, but I’m actually struggling a little here.” Kris stated.

The shadow pony began pounding on Kris’s shield.

Cory looked back to the Shadow Pony. “Kris, when I tell you to, open the shield just enough to let me through.”

“Whatever you say boss. I think we’ll need the girls to use the elements of harmony here.” Kris replied.

“We can get ready. And I think the pillars of strength can help here too.” Twilight said. “We can combine our power and banish the darkness.”

“Indeed, we can finally end this once and for all.” Starswirl added.

“Cory, can you buy us time to gather our strength?” Twilight asked.

Cory cracked his neck. “I can do more than that. Kris, let me out.” He said before he sprinted.

Kris opened a hole in the shield to let Cory out. As soon as he was, he closed the hole.

“FOOL! YOU THINK TO FIGHT ME YOURSELF!? I AM DARKNESS INCARNATE! YOU CANNOT HOPE TO BEAT ME!” The Pony of Shadows bellowed before launching a large fist at Cory.

The human soldier slid under the fist before skidding to a stop. “So tell me something, you chose Stygian because of his need for revenge. So what, are you drawn to those whose inner darkness appeals to you or something?”

“FOOL! HE WAS MERELY THE ONLY ONE TO SEEK ME OUT AND FREE ME FROM MY PRISON! NOW I AM FREE FROM THAT ACCURSED TIME POCKET THE PILLARS SEALED US IN, I WILL SOON NO LONGER NEED HIM OR ANYONE!” The Pony of Shadows launched another series of tendrils at Cory.

As this was going on, Twilight and her friends gathered together and were focusing their power to use the elements of harmony. Starswirl and the pillars were doing the same.

“But you do grow stronger from darkness right? Is that literal darkness like shadows, or inner darkness of the heart?” Cory asked again even as he dodged the tendrils. He had a plan and he knew it was something this being wouldn’t be able to refuse, especially if the darkness of the heart part was true.

“I FEED ON BOTH! THE DEEPER THE DARKNESS! THE GREATER MY STRENGTH AND INFLUENCE GROWS! I SHALL SHROWD ALL OF EQUESTRIA IN THE DEEPEST DARKNESS FROM WHICH I WILL RULE ALL!”

Cory smirked before he spread his arms out. “Well, in that case, why don’t you try me on for size? If you think Stygian has darkness, he might as well be the sun compared to me.”

“IF YOU THINK I WOULD BE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BE TRICKED BY THE LIKES OF YOU, YOU ARE A BIGGER FOOL THAN I THOUGHT!” The shadow pony slammed his fists around trying to hit Cory.

The girls and pillars were now ready to launch their power at the Pony of Shadows. “NOW!” Twilight shouted.

Kris dropped his shield and two rainbow beams shot forth, hitting the shadow pony in the chest.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” The shadow pony shouted as a portal opened up behind him and started pulling him in. “I REFUSE TO BE BANISHED AGAIN!”

His grip on Stygian seemed to weaken as well as said pony was seen struggling to try and break free. “STYGIAN!” Twilight shouted before Stygian was pulled back in.

Cory saw this before he rushed and jumped into the Shadow pony after Stygian.

Darkness surrounded Cory. If he called out, all he would hear is an echo. However, slowly, a lone skinny unicorn appeared in a small spot of light before him. Grey with a dark grey mane.

Cory frowned at this before he approached. “So, you are Stygian.” He said before he stopped not too far. “So, how did it happen? I’m going to assume it was Starswirl’s fault.”

“Go away. You shouldn’t be here.” The unicorn replied, keeping his back turned.

“No can do. I’m a soldier, and a good soldier never leaves anyone behind.”

“I’m nobody now though. I’m nothing. It’s because of me the Pony of Shadows got loose again. All because I wanted revenge against the pillars.” Stygian said with a slight growl in his tone.

“Tell me about that. I would like to hear your side. Starswirl said you tried to steal their power, but that old fart’s words are about as worthwhile to me as a pile of dung.” Cory said with a shrug.

“I…..I just wanted to be recognized. To be seen as a hero like them. It wasn’t really revenge I was after. I wanted power. I wanted to borrow their items that held their power to see if I could harness some of it for myself. It was because of me the pillars even got together. It was my strategies and planning that made them heroes. They got all the recognition and praise...while I got nothing. Left on the sidelines as nothing more than a weak lackey incapable of anything.”

“So, you wanted someone to notice you, to have the power to help your friends. To be more than what fate seemed to label you as.” Cory stated, unaware their conversation was being heard by the ponies outside of the Pony of Shadows.

The pillars, while keeping their power going to keep the pony of Shadows from getting away, frowned hearing this.

Starswirl actually looked ashamed as he remembered how he was the one that actually accused Stygian of trying to steal their powers without really giving him a chance.

“The others, they did seem to care. But that Starswirl, he was too proud to admit the ideas they used were mine.” Stygian added. He turned to face Cory. “I made the plans, I brought them together. The pillars wouldn’t even be if it weren’t for me!” His eyes started turning pure black as his rage started to grow. “I just wanted to be recognized! BUT NO! I WAS IGNORED! TOSSED ASIDE! TREATED LIKE I WAS NOTHING!” He then cringed as he seemed to try and fight back the darkness.

Cory didn’t even flinch at this before placing a hand on Stygian’s shoulder. “Then come join the changelings. Chrysalis would value you highly for your mind. Such a thinker shouldn’t be wasted playing the villain.”

“The changelings? Those wretched love stealing vermin? Why would I join them? Why would you suggest such a thing?”

Cory smiled before he chuckled. “It’s been a very long time since you met them, and I bet even longer since they first became changelings. They’ve changed, and for the better. They no longer need to feed on love. Myself and my brother in all but blood Kris are married to Chrysalis, their queen. We even have sons and daughters with her. They’ve made peace with the ponies. And as for why I suggest such a thing and why you should join them? Because both their queen and soldiers know the value of a strategist. I’m the only one among them, with several as my students, but another would only be happily accepted. You would be given a high position, as my second, and truly be recognized.”

“Even if I wanted to, I cannot leave.” As he said this, dark tendrils began wrapping around him.

“IF I AM TO BE BANISHED! HE IS COMING WITH ME!” The pony of Shadows roared.

“You must leave if you do not wish to be banished as well. I can feel him weakening. He will soon lose his grip and fall into the void.” Stygian warned.

“Sorry, not gonna happen.” Cory said before grabbing Stygian and began pulling.

“Wait! What are you doing!?” Stygian questioned. The dark tendrils held tight as Cory pulled but were slowly giving way as more of the shadow pony’s strength was waning. They soon popped out and jumped free of the shadow pony.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” It roared as it lost its host.

“We almost got it now!” Twilight shouted.

Cory shook his head before looking at the Pony of Shadows. He thought about what he was about to do and shook his head. “I must be insane.” He said before he jumped back into the Pony of Shadows.

“CORY!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Kris exclaimed.

“CORY NO!” The girls cried out.

Cory landed back in the darkness and then glared at it. “Alright Pony of Shadows, you better listen real damn good. I don’t know WHY I’m doing this, but here’s the deal. You don’t want to be banished again, and we don’t want you taking over the world. So, the way I see it, you have two choices. Either you bond with me and we work together on equal footing. OR you and I BOTH get sealed and I annoy the piss out of you until the end of existence.”

“NG...AND...WHY WOULD YOU RISK….BEING BANISHED….WITH ME….JUST FOR THIS?!”

“Because despite how others would see it, I know your power can be used for good. In fact, you can easily be one of the most powerful forces to exist. And I’d rather have that power for myself so I can protect those I love. Normally, I would have just let your misty ass get sealed away for good, but after some of the shit I’ve been through, I’m not taking any chances. So, what’s it gonna be? Be sealed, or have some form of freedom?”

“HEH HEH HEH...AND TELL ME, WHAT WOULD STOP ME FROM TAKING OVER YOUR MIND AND BODY AND MAKING A BETTER PLAN TO SHROUD THE WORLD IN DARKNESS?”

Cory, not knowing, or caring if the others outside still heard all this, merely spread his arms out. “Because when it comes to darkness, I’m what they have nightmares about.”

“HMMMM…..SHOW ME HOW DARK YOUR HEART AND MIND TRULY ARE. OPEN YOUR MIND TO ME.”

“Then have at it.” Cory said, opening himself completely to the Shadows.

The Pony of Shadows melded with Cory and the first few seconds of speed reading his life were fine, but then came Cory’s first kill and everything after went downhill. Cory wasn’t joking before. The darkness of Stygian really was more like a sun compared to the pure abyss of Cory’s heart, no, his very soul. So much death left in his wake. Yes, there were many good times, which became a lot more after meeting Kris, but in his time in the military, Cory easily became a force of nature.

The pony of Shadows had seen enough. “HMM...THE DARKNESS WITHIN YOU IS GREATER THAN WHAT I COULD HOPE TO GAIN FROM SHROUDING THE WORLD IN DARKNESS. IT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO SATE MY HUNGER FOR A LONG TIME. VERY WELL HUMAN. I WILL WORK WITH YOU. MY POWER WILL BE YOURS.”

With that, there was a massive burst of energy that knocked back the six mares and the pillars, Kris barely keeping on his feet, breaking them from their magic. The room was filled with pure darkness for a moment before it all swirled and condensed on Cory’s location who was floating in the middle of the room. A dark aura emanating from him. His eyes were pure black for a moment before the darkness swirled and shrank, sinking into his irises.

Soon Cory landed softly and held his hands up before flexing them into fists a few times. He then was covered in darkness before it hardened into a form of armor, covering everything except for his hair, the face mask having nothing to show a mouth while the eye lens were a hellish orange. His fingers ended in claws while his toes ended in talons.

The armor then faded into mist before he cracked his neck and looked at the others.

“Cory….what have you done?” Twilight asked as she slowly approached with concern on her face. “Are you….still Cory?”

“And how could I prove that I am? Would you believe anything I say?” Cory asked.

Twilight was unsure how to answer.

A shadow then emerged from Cory’s back in the form of a pony head with a horn. White eyes looking right at Twilight. “He is still himself. I am merely possessing him now.” The figure said. “Know this though human. It would be wise to keep your guard up from now on. For if it should falter, I may decide to take over your body and use it to bring my kingdom of darkness to fruition.”

Cory merely waved a hand. “Yeah yeah Kage. I get ya.”

“Kage?” A few of the ponies asked.

“What is this name you speak?” The shadow asked.

“Among one of the languages on my homeworld, it means Shadow. Figured I should give you a proper name seeing as saying ‘Pony of Shadows’ all the time is a bit of a mouthful. Besides, that’s more a title than a name, and Kage sounds cooler.” Cory said with a shrug.

The shadow’s form sharpened as if it were angered. “FOOLISH HUMAN! I am not some mere pet you can name for your amusement!”

“If I wanted to name you like a pet, I can do a LOT worse. Besides, Kage is often used to reference a class of warriors, ninjas, who are masters of stealth and using the shadows to their advantage.”

The shadow seemed to calm down. “Hmm...very well. If you must call me something else, I suppose that name will do.”

Cory nodded with a smile. “Good.” He then looked at the others before sighing. “Alright, go on all. I deserve it.”

“YOU IDIOT!” Applejack started. “AH can’t believe ya went an did such a fool hardy thing like that! Ya just couldn’t let us banish the darn thing could ya!? Had ta go and make some deal with it didn’t ya!? What if it decides ta swallow yer soul er something someday huh?! Did ya think o’ that?”

“Yes, yes I did. And it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“A risk that could backfire and do more damage than good than ya thought!” Applejack pointed out.

“And that’s where you all come in. He may gain strength from me, but he still has to get past my will to do anything major. In that time, I’d be willing to get sealed with him.” Cory said.

“At this point, I’m not surprised he pulled this.” Kris said in a monotone voice.

“So, there ya go thinkin bout yerself then. Didn’t think how the rest o’ us would fare if’n ya did end up gettin banished? If that shadow didn’t take yer offer, ya both would be in that void.” Applejack stated. “Didn’t even bother ta think how upset that would make us did ya!?”

“I don’t do things lightly. Don’t EVER assume I don’t care about that. But I’ve been raised half my life as a soldier. A soldier puts the needs of others before themselves. And having this power ensures that little to nothing is going to threaten my new home and loved ones.”

Starswirl stepped up with a glare. “Is that also the same reason you summoned that abomination?!”

Cory glared at Starswirl. “I’d watch my tone if I were you old one. I’m still itching to rip that horn off.”

“No, we’re bringing this up NOW! You humans are nothing but pure insanity!! You making a deal with such a being only proves my point! Add to the fact that you summoned a monstrosity like that and you put literally all of Equestria on a death clock!!”

“I’d like to think I’m the more sane one.” Kris stated, raising a hand slightly.

“The fact that you are alright with all this proves otherwise!!”

Cory rolled his eyes. “First off, shut up, or I shut you up. Second, the point is, what’s done is done and there’s nothing you can do to change it.”

“Can you two PLEASE stop arguing?!” Twilight cut in. “Yes, I think what Cory did was reckless and insane, but as he said, there’s no undoing it now. And even IF the Pony of Shadows DOES decide to take action, we can always combine our powers again to stop it. As for that ‘abomination’ as you call it, from what Cory told me, it’s meant to defend those that summoned it as well as those related to the summoner by blood. So it’s not a threat to anyone unless they threaten the summoner and relatives. Now can we please stop with the arguing?”

Starswirl glared at Cory. “This isn’t over.”

Cory snorted. “Likewise.”

Twilight frowned, saddened to see her mentor wasn’t at all what she expected.

“Never meet your heroes.” Kris said offering a comforting pat on the back. “Sorry your mentor turned out to be a total jerk.”

Twilight merely sighed in response.

Starswirl then looked at Stygian before sighing himself and made his way over to him. “Stygian.”

Stygian looked over his shoulder to Starswirl. “What do you want?”

Starswirl winced before breathing in and bowed. “I’m sorry.” He apologized. Never before had he done so out of nowhere like that.

Stygian turned half way with a look of surprise. “Wh...what?”

“You were right. I was blinded by my own pride. I took the lead in the battles and the victories got to my head, despite you being the one to plan those battles, only getting worse the more it went on. If it weren’t for you, Equestria would have fallen ten times over. It was my fault you felt the need to gain power. It was my fault that you were never given a chance to explain yourself. It was my fault you became the Pony of Shadows. There is nothing I can do or say that can make what I did to you right, my friend. All I can do is apologize and hope you can forgive me, even though I don’t deserve it.”

“I think we all need to apologize, for not giving you your due.” Mist Mane said.

“You were like the glue for us.” Somnambula added.

Stygian smiled as he looked ready to cry. “I...I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll stay with us, give us a second chance.” Stronghoof said.

“I….I think I will.” Stygian replied.

“Looks like there IS hope for that old unicorn.” Kris commented with a smirk next to Twilight who smiled watching the scene.

Cory merely snorted. “For this? Maybe, but anything else, I won’t hold my breath.”

“Maybe we just need to have a little sit down and talk things out to get to the root of what his issue with us is? Most likely it’s the crazy stuff you did. One, summoning the shoggoth, and two, bonding with a malevolent creature of pure darkness.”

“Ah, Kage isn’t that bad. At least he isn’t like the Darkness and constantly demanding I feed him the hearts of my enemies.” Cory said with a shrug.

“Why would I need hearts?” Kage asked.

“Back in our world, there is an entity known only as The Darkness. It is the literal darkness that existed before creation, where there was only void and the Darkness. It feeds on the literal hearts of those with evil in their souls and loves to cause death and destruction. Basically, you, but about twenty times more bloodthirsty and sadistic.”

Kage was silent a moment before responding. “.....I see. I am surprised there is a being more evil than myself. If this is something even you are not afraid of….perhaps I may have a hard time taking you over. Might be best if I just submit.”

Cory held back his surprise. He honestly was only talking about the entity from a video game Kris got for him, but if Kage thought it was a real thing, he wasn’t going to correct him. “Trust me, I’m not going to order you around. I’m looking for a partnership. We don’t have to be friends, but I would like to at least be allies.’

“Fair enough.” Kage said before shrinking back into Cory’s body.

“Well, I’d say this concludes another successful adventure. I say we go home, get some food and relax.” Kris suggested.

Starswirl nodded at this. “Yes, after all this, I think we all can enjoy that.”