Shadows of the Night

Chapters

In Black (2)
Shadow Smiles (3)
Knight Life (4)
Diamond Duds (5)
Royal Retinue (6)
Enshrouded Future (7)
Mind Games (8)
Forest Trails (9)
Royal Mishap (10)
Interview (11)
Wedding Crashers (13)
Interview Mk. 2 (14)
Ascension (15)
Send Off (16)
Random Encounter (17)
Training Grounds (18)
Be Vewy Qwiet (19)
Ending (no not The ending) (20)
Pre-louge (21)
Vision (22)
Full Steam Ahead (23)
City Life (24)
Getting Started (25)
The Beaten Path (26)
Going Deeper (27)
Fireworks (28)
Goodnight World (30)
Crystal Chronicles Ch. 2 (31)
Crystal Chronicles Ch. 3 (32)
Chrystal Chronicles Ch. 4 (33)
KRisTol CroNicAls N#. 5 (34)
Crystal Chronicles Ch. 6 (35)
Hello Darkness (36)
*Abrupt Hello*
It's Friday (1)
It's Garbage Day (12)
Crystal Chronicles Ch. 1 (29)

In Black (2)

(Author's Note: I would like to thank Moon_Fire for working as prereader, I truly appreciate it)

As the dregs of consciousness crawled away from the pit all I could think of was, dam that was one crazy dream.

Opening my eyes to a sky of brilliant white stars quickly dispelled that thought, as well as the fact that I saw I was on a dirt patch in the middle of a vast rocky expanse, in nothing but a set of grey long johns I never recalled having owned.

I began to touch the soft fabric, but stopped once I saw, what looked like, smoke streaming out my pores. Thinking back to last night, hopefully it was last night (considering it was night now, I hated to consider that I had been passed out in the middle of nowhere for any longer than that), I reached out my hand to the nearest shadow, a few yards away, and was instantly rewarded with it jumping from the ground and wrapping around my arm like a gauntlet. A side long grin slowly marched across my face. Command over shadows was mine, I really was a shade!

Regeneration, agelessness, dark sight, shadow stepping, shadow porting, shadow strength, shadow speed, so many shadows. FOURHUNDREDSHADOWS!!! And they were all mine.

I had genuine super powers.

Mulling over these recent facts, as well as my most previous memories, I thought I prudent to give voice to the onslaught of worries and thoughts now swirling in my mind with a well thought out rebuttal of fact and logic to help calm my, ever so slightly, fraying nerves.

“AAAAAAAAAAAA” *inhale* “AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa!!!”

That worked out surprisingly well. Rebuttal done I gave look to my surrounds. I was in the middle of the only spit of dirt surrounded by a great heaving wasteland of rocks and smoking fissure. Beautiful! (hey, I don’t poke fun at people who think waterfalls or the ocean is pretty, so back off) I even spotted a volcano with lava actively flowing down its side about two miles off.

This was Equestria? Man, they’ve really let themselves go.

Further in front of me stood a wooden crate, with a simple silvery latch which I quickly got up to look at. I noticed the top had the mark of eyes surrounded by a constellation of stars was in a decidedly black sort of onyx, as I undid the latch and lifted the lid. What befell my eyes was slightly disappointing, I certainly wasn’t expecting a letter on top of a roll of black clothe.

Picking up the letter it read,

I am glad you have finally awoken (Oh don’t give me that look, I am a goddess of divination. Yes I can see that too, so stop gaping, you look silly when you do). I am sorry I cannot be here in person to see you off, but I would rather not intrude upon the domain of another goddess of the moon, myself. Inside you will find I have kindly provided you with a means of clothing and defense.

Defense? I thought as I looked into the crate. All there is is a bolt of cloth.

Looking back to the letter.

Don’t interrupt!

Yes it is, but if you would pick it up you will find it to be a long sleeved cloak. This is the Umbra Cloak, it will allow you to travel in full sunlight without any ill effect to your new powers. As I'm sure you know most of your powers have consciously made themselves known in your new form, though I should like to mention the increased strength only goes so far an to increase your endurance, your not going to be hefting half-ton opponents around like baseballs all on your own. Below the cloak you will also find traveling clothes and matching boots, a tower shield, and a blank piece of paper. To send the completed letter to your loved ones simply throw it into a fire and concentrate, hard, upon whom you wish it to go to. You are now on your own, just try to find some enjoyment for yourself. Oh, and one more thing…

*a pie launches from the letter on a spring*That was for assuming to bandy words to try and outsmart a goddess. Even if my followers would deny otherwise, there is in fact a dark side of the moon, your people, of all others should know that.

With that the now empty pie pan and letter simply ceased to exist. Leaving the rest of it squarely on my face, taking a lick of it only set me to groaning, marshmallows… moon pie.

Wiping my face off as best I could, though the end result still left me feeling sticky, I’d have to find some water to get this off eventually, I lifted the cloak from the chest. It was a thing of beauty, black enlaced with darker shades of black, I quickly pulled it on and was immediately rewarded by the feeling of a masterly crafted piece of attire I had ever been my pleasure to wear, it just felt… right. It’s hard to explain, it felt like it wasn’t so much meant for me as I was meant for it. The breeches and boots, calf high, both also black, gave me the same impression as the cloak.

My transformation had certainly toned me out though. I would never have fit so well, or easily, into such form fitting boots. I gave pat to my stomach wistfully, I was kinda going to miss my tummy, it just sort of weirds me out how abs are kinda bumpy and stuff. (Let’s just get this out of the way, despite how logical I am, and act, there is also a side of me that for lack of a better term is mentally damaged, I’d rather not go into details so we’ll leave it at that.) My arms and pectorals were also toned as well, not bulky, but coiled and compacted. I felt energized, like I could run a marathon unwinded, in short, totally amazing.

Pulling on the gloves, I stood to inspect myself. I looked amazing, deck out in all this black I couldn’t help but feel like a member of Organization XIII, with the nice exception of not have a giant useless zipper on the front of my cloak.

Turing to the tower shield, hexagonal casket shaped and nearly as tall as I was, was lifted easily from the bottom. I was amazed at how light it felt, I was either very strong (well that was true in a sense) or it was very light (and given the sheer size was probably the case), but it looked to be made of some sort of genuinely black metal. Light, but incredibly sturdy, covers a large area, the perfect shield. The back had two sets of straps, fiddling around found that one set was for wearing on my right fore-arm, the other was a simple back strap. Not feeling in any present danger I just let it hang behind me as I grabbed the last thing from the bottom, a parchment of the purest white I had ever seen, folded it up, and stuck it in my pocket.

Now over the present rush, I probably should have been worried about being in the middle of nowhere with no food or drink, but instead I decided to test out my powers. The first, of course, was shadow manipulation. The first things I was able to create were simple shadow-gangers of me, as substantial as the shadows they came from, but still three-dimensional. I must admit that I squealed at this, shadow puppetry has always fascinated me, and now I could do it with my mind. Stretching my thoughts to more of the shadows around me I called them to see what other forms I could make. It was pretty fantastical, but it remained that the bigger I wanted to make, the more shadows I would need, so my life size Majora’s moon wouldn’t happen, which is a shame since he had such a nice smile.

I stayed there for hours letting my mind wander over all the little shadow creations I could make. Wrecking miniature shadows cities, fighting Godzilla over said city. I could have gone on for hours more if my stomach hadn’t started growling.

Food! What was I going to eat, where was I going to eat, not anything out here in the wasteland. Panic started to creep up on me, until I remembered I wasn’t human anymore, I was a shade. One, I didn't technically need to eat excepting extreme exhaustion, though I guess one's body changing form would certainly cover that, and two, Shades could teleport through shadow, I distinctly remembered reading that. Specifically two different kinds, short and long distance, the latter of which required one to have a precise picture in ones mind and the previous was basically just a small jut out around fifteen to twenty feet to the next shadow.

'Probably best to start small,' I thought as I straightened myself up and tried to picture myself going forward as I took a single step forward. The immediate effect was the tiniest sliver of vertigo, though that mostly came as a forced feeling from my head. I was fine, if a bit disorientated. I took another couple of steps, catching my breath each time as the world blinked out as the horizon got noticeably closer. This was going to be fun, but my stomach was still growling, so I figured it would probably be a bit better if I tried to find food. There obviously wasn't any here, and the only place that I had any picture of would have to be Ponyville. As nice as it would be to meet some of the ponies there, I was a little worried about their reaction to a tall biped walking around them, but I needed food.

Sitting down to concentrate, and hoping that I was just near the dragon migration route rather than some apocalyptic version of Equestria, I called the shadows around me, thinking hard on a familiar apple orchard that stretched on for acres. I know it wasn’t the most chivalrous idea, but if that apple-bucking episode had taught me anything, that orchard really is just too big to notice a few small apples taken from it. I’d make it even, eventually, not like I was planning to steal them. The darkness just started to coalesce when I thought, ‘god, I hope I don’t have to deal with Rainbow Dash’. She really does just rub me the wrong way, especially with how she holds the dichotomous position of claiming to be an athlete, but yet always has more than enough time to simply sleep upon her eyrie of clouds above everyone else .

***

Shadowporting was easier than I thought it would be, I was a little dizzy, looking back if I weren’t already so close to the shadows I probably would have felt worse. But everything had made it safe and whole so I was rather please all in all. That was until I realized where I was.

I was inside a cloud. As interesting as that sounds, it really wasn’t, there really is just so much you can do with cloud, and that’s just shape it into different walls, which were all lumpy looking, giving me the impression that the whole design seemed rather half-baked. The only things that made it look anything but drab was the furniture. I was clearly the in main living room with circular rainbow rug, red wood table, a few other odds and ends, but who else but Rainbow Dash would have a life sized portrait of herself above the hearth.

Note to self, do not let mind wander while trying to move across vast spaces. I got lucky this time as I shuddered to think about how I could have easily ended up fused to the inside of a mountain, something which no amount of healing would save me from.

Enough of that though, I had to get out of here. I was all too familiar with Rainbow’s classic ‘crash first ask questions as your doing it’ approach, and I was in no hurry to have a pegasi break my spine with a flying tackle. She was of course there, her loud snoring from somewhere off proved that much. So I walked, not bothering to tip-toe, with my steps muffled in the cloud, to find some sort of exit. Locating the nearest door I started to push it open when a niggling thought burst through the dam to the stream of logic ‘aren’t winged creatures the only one who can stand on clouds?’. And with that the floor beneath me gave way with a small poof.

I’ll admit I was… frazzled, by this turn of events. I screamed for about four seconds, the ground rapidly approaching me, as my life flashed before my eyes, all the way up to the point where I became a shade. Then it hit me, I don’t have to worry about hitting the ground, under the shadow of the cloud blocking the moon I was under I could just shadow step to the ground. Smiling I reached to the darkness… and hit the ground even faster with a sickening ‘thunk’ as I immediately blacked out.

***

I awoke in bed, gasping, fearing the fall I thought was still about to happen.

The sun was streaming in from the nearby window to my right. My body felt all tingly, I must have slept funny. Looking down to my bare arms found no shadow stuff coming out my pores. I frowned, “Guess it was a dream after all.”

Thoroughly dejected at this turn of seemingly cruel events, I had never had a dream that felt that real before. I knew I should have been happy that I had had a dream period, which came around every seven or eight months for me, but I just couldn’t get over it.

Sullen and unaware to the rest of my world I sat in this funk for a few minutes until a weird clopping noise, like coconuts bangin’ together came from outside my room, which now that I was giving it a proper look around was clearly a hospital, white tiles, white wall, A white privacy curtain, the usual sort of thing. I wasn’t attached to any I.V. bags, or any machinery for that matter, so I guess I was doing well enough now.

Maybe it hadn’t been a dream so much as a delusion. Maybe I had just been though some sort of detox and was only now coming out of it. Guess that lady was just a charlatan who had slipped me something.

I let out a sigh as a gasp came through the dividing curtain to my left as a distinctly, white equine head, wearing a nurses hat, popped across it, with pupils swiftly dilating.

*gasp* “It’s conscious!”

Okay, not a drug induced dream, I thought. Because if there were any drugs on Earth powerful enough to give such vivid hallucinations, while my mind clearly didn’t feel muddled or fuzzy, then it would be the number one drug there. All this popped off in about two seconds, as I said, “And why is that cause for alarm?”

“Because you were found early this morning, in a crater, with a shattered skeletal structure, reportedly with blackened ash streaming off you. Your rescuer grabbed you and hauled you to this hospital where by that time the movement had caused some of your bones to break the skin, but as soon as you were left alone they began to visibly sink back into your skin. We didn’t think we could do anything for you at that point so we just put you in a bed and hoped for the best. What are you?”

As much as I’d have would have usually thought on how much worse it could have been, the question struck me pretty hard, I wanted to say a shade then bust out a Captain Morgan stance, but with my skin clearly a, somewhat, healthy shade of white, yeah I was a bit of a nerd so I really didn’t have a tan, and just said, “I’m not really sure anymore” with a sigh.

Suddenly very aware of my nakedness, especially in front of the fairer sex, I coughed and asked if I could have my clothes back. What is it with hospitals and wanting you down to nothing anyway, don’t they realize that if they’re using a stethoscope to check your breathing and heart then you should be able to keep your pants?

With an ‘oh, of course’ her horn glowed pink as my clothes flew in from behind the side curtain as she continued to stand there.

“A little privacy please” I politely intoned. To which I only got a turn of her head and a truly confused answer of, “Why?”.

Right, ponies are always in the buff, why would they have any idea of this sort of thing. But I was undeterred, “because I do not wish to be seen with my genitals on display in front of a lady.”

To this she scoffed. “I’m a doctor. I see that and much more on a daily basis. Now that you’re up you’re not leaving my sight until you fill out some basic paperwork on your stay, and only then will you be free to go,” she said with a well practiced death glare. You don’t mess with doctors. I gulped and gave as much an affirmation as I was able. Then, rather sheepishly, got up, turned away, and began putting my clothes on.

I just couldn’t figure it out. I strapped on my pants and boots. Why didn’t I feel connected to the shadows anymore? Put on my gloves and began to lower the cloak around me and felt a rush as I became aware of the darkness in the hospital, until my head popped from the head hole.

Oh right, I was standing in direct sun light, the one thing that basically negated nearly all my powers. That explained why I felt so tingly. So I pulled up my hood and felt the darkness around me settle, it was… comforting, but even though I was under my new blessed cloak, I could still feel the rays of the sun beating down upon me like some vengeful spirit trying to rend me. I then slid my shield to my back (glad I didn’t have anything like a sword or they might have confiscated it from me, peaceful places can be weird like that) and was beckoned to follow the unicorn as she left the room.

Shadow Smiles (3)

(Authors Note: I would like to thank Moon_Fire for the work as prereader, I truly appreciate the help.)

While walking the halls of the Ponyville hospital I noticed a few things. The first, since it was swaying in front of me (get you mind out of the gutter) was the fine doctor’s cutie mark, two scalpels in an X shape under a pony skull. Okay, clearly not Nurse Redheart. Trying not to make a big deal out of it, I asked her what it was for, as well as her name.

Turns out she, Dove Scalpel, was the local pathologist who specialized in autopsies. This was why I was found at all last night, as she was on her way to work the night shift when I fell in front of her. Since, during the day, her work would normally be looked upon as icky, as she put it, it was just easy enough to work the nights anyway.

My next questions were over why the hospital was so empty, not that that was necessarily a bad thing, and why she was so calm about my appearance.

“The hospital normally doesn’t see much activity in this small town, which is why we are technically labeled a clinic, despite all the equipment we have. We really don’t see any action until Pinkie Pie, that’s the resident, self-proclaimed, party pony of our town, throws one of her epic bashes. And for those we mostly just to do stomach pumps for any of the party goers who decided to drink and or eat too much. And as for why I’m not running around like many of the other *erherm* more excitable ponies in this town, while having slightly to do with my more macabre job duties, it’s mostly due to the fact that you look more ridiculous than dangerous. You have sparse patches of fur on your head, face, and genital, which make the hairless parts only stand out even more, and the fact that you have no sheathe over them so they just flop around is rather ridiculous, quite frankly you’re more of a joke than anything else. No offense. Though I will admit fully clothed, in that ensemble, does look a little intimidating. The way you expel that substance from your pores looks like a dark fog is trailing behind you.” She finished with a side-long glance

“Ummm, thanks.” I said, not sure how to fully interpret the fact that I looked comical and dangerous at the same time. What was I some sort of smoky jester to her? Though I suppose I should consider myself lucky she did take me inside lest the town find me and freak out, I was really not in the mood to be tackled by an overzealous Rainbow Dash. Did I mention I don’t really like her or her showboat ways?

Once we got to the foyer, which was pretty standard, bunch of chairs, some coffee tables with magazines, you know a doctor’s office. She went behind the front desk and got the paperwork ready. Turns out there really wasn’t much to do, since Scalpel had been too afraid that anything she might have done might hurt me, coupled with the fact that I had pretty much repaired myself in front of her as she floated my body to the hospital so she had just let me rest in a bed till morning. As it turned out I had to mark a checklist that said I had spent the night there, and sign my name. With that done, she said farewell then went back down the hall, presumably to clock out with her shift being over.

Looking outside, from the shadows of the doorway, it was a pretty sunny day, looked close to noon with all the shadows nearly completely under everything. I didn’t want anyone to start a panic, and if fan fictions and the television series had taught me anything, it was that introduction to the town via the Elements of Harmony was the easiest way to do things in the town. Though I wasn’t quite sure how something like that could be set up, let alone if I really even cared to do so with such a judgmental town. Hey, it’s nice and all, but there were lots of places to see in Equestria, and I hadn’t even seen my favorite pony yet, which so happens to live in the city of Canterlot.

But before then I had to get someplace safe from public view so I could make sufficient plans. The hospital of course wouldn’t do, some foal would probably come in for a scratched knee and then set the town upon me. It seemed I could trust Scalpel to keep me a secret, doctor-patient confidentiality and all that.

I noted a copse of trees near the Everfree Forest, it was too far to shadow walk, being near the edge of town, but shadow porting could cover the distance, but there wasn’t enough darkness in this noonday sun to pull it off, I’d have to find me a dark place to call upon the shadows. I looked around the lobby, nothing really stood out till I had almost completed my circle when two words written upon a far door caught my eye, Janitor’s Closet, perfect.

Stepping over to it found it unlocked, though upon closer inspection proved there to be no lock at all, meh, peaceful town. But it would do perfectly as I closed the door and let the darkness flow around me, this time keeping my mind’s eye firmly on the copse of trees I saw.

The shift was nigh instantaneous, and had I not had my eyes tightly closed while I concentrated would have been blinded by the sudden change in light. Glad to see I seemed to have a handle on the shadow porting business, since I clearly wasn’t so inept as to have a limb fused with a tree or stone nearby, I sat down on the grass. It was rather comfortable, and despite being covered in the shade was nice and warm from the surrounding area as I attempted to think of a plan.

I sat there for what I assume was thirty minutes, I’m not very good with time I need a watch to do that, I’ll have to look into it, I feel practically naked without a wristwatch, anyway, but I just couldn’t think of anything. I was in a peaceful land of ponies, sent here by a benevolent goddess as a reward for a good deed, a world of warmth and good feelings, and to top it all off I had super powers. Practically all my desires had come true in one fell swoop.

I tried to figure out this weird feeling, a sort of lethargy, but not. I think I was feeling content, but that didn’t seem right, it felt more like my motivation was absent. But what had happened to it was the real question, but then it hit me. My frustration was gone. Looking back at my life I can’t seem to recall a time when there wasn’t some frustration of some kind or another driving me, keeping me angry at some minute thing in life that always sparked me to just keep on going, if only to get away from the feelings of light anger and hatred that they were.

Now that I was actually IN Equestria, away from all my anger, my rage, the little idiosyncrasies of life that everyone else just accepted as part of living and the human condition were just gone, and I just couldn’t seem to even care that I was just slipping away into this grey fog that seemed to be flowing into my mind. So I just laid there and watched the sun move across the leaves under the branches of my tree. Until, that was, I heard a small heart-wrenching sound. The crying of a child.

Funny thing about my transformation seemed to have upgraded my senses, because when I looked around, in my general vicinity there was no one around, the sounds were coming from a hill just across from mine.

I couldn’t quite make out who the filly was, but the tell-tell sign of a scooter placed haphazardly further down by the road was all I needed to know, it was the orange pegasus pony Scootaloo. But that couldn’t be right, if she was crying, then her two constant companions Sweetie Belle and Applebloom should have been there to help console her of whatever had occurred. Something was off, but I couldn’t just walk on up to her and have her off worse than her already charged emotional state. Some giant two legged monster that stood easily above even full grown ponies.

That’s when a funny idea popped into my head as I popped into the shadowy boughs of the tree above her. The rustling of the leaves at my approach was enough to make her raise her head from amongst her front hooves. It was time to work some magic.

What can I say, all my negative feelings make it easy for me to empathize with others, and I’d hate to think someone was feeling like I normally do, let alone a child.

I began to rustle the tree some more, making sure to grab her attention. This time she knew where the noise came from above her, looking into the tree she called in a voice, wavering with sorrow, “Wh-Who’s there?” She then gave a little sniffle. God, I almost fell out of the tree right there, that look could crumble the stony heart of a mountain.

“What’s wrong?”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were making fun of me for having a blank flank again.” *sniffle* “But what are you up in a tree for mister?”

Crud, I hadn’t thought of a cover story. “Ummm, well, I was just taking a nap.”

“A nap in a tree, that’s a pretty weird place to sleep in.” She said raising a single eyebrow. Where did that come from? It was black, but her fur is orange, gyaah, idiosyncrasies later, make kid feel better first.

“It’s comfortable enough, though I won’t discredit the weird comment. Now, the real question is why aren’t any of your friends trying to make you feel better themselves? Children normally had that sort of things last time I checked.”

“Well, both Sweetie Bell and Applebloom’s sisters are going off to chase this big jerk, Griffin, that made Pinkie Pie cry and made fun of Rainbow Dash, the most awesome coolest fastest flyer in all of Equestria. So Sweetie’s with her parents, who are out of town and Applebloom is busy working on the farm while Applejack is gone, so I just couldn’t bother her.”

A griffin that made Pinkie Pie cry huh, that ain’t gonna fly. But she did say it made fun of Rainbow Dash, so this griffin can’t be all bad. But that doesn’t sound like Gilda. I wonder if I’ve ended up in the third season. At least I hope I have, it’d be kinda boring if I hadn’t considering I’ve seen everything up to the wedding episodes.

“Well I’m sorry to hear that, but how about this to make you feel better.”

I began to pull the shadows to my will and sent them down from the tree and began to form them into a clown pony. It looked pretty good, you’d be amazed at what you can do with so many shades of black and grey, though it did look pretty spectral since it was in direct sunlight. I then sent the puppet clown through a series of slapstick, shadow spritzer down the pants, and pies to the face, you know the classics. All of these antics served only to brighten the little pegasus’s mood as I ended it with the clown eating a shadow banana then walking over it to slide out of sight. Apparently this was comedy gold as Scootaloo was clutching her sides in a clear attempt to keep them from splitting. It wasn’t working.

After she finally calmed down, a process of waiting for about five minutes, of which her laughter began to infect me only increasing the time, I said, “Are you feeling better now?”

“*snicker* Yeah mister, I’m feeling a lot better, thanks” she smiled. My heart gave a lurch. This troubled me, since it doesn’t normally do that sort of thing. I hope it wasn’t a palpitation. Does this world even have AED’s?

“Glad to hear it, now, why don’t you run along and see if you can’t find something to do now that you are.”

“Sure thing” she said starting to grab her scooter, “hey, what is your name anyway mister?”

“It’s Rumor, and you have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too, even if you are a weird tree-sleeping pony” she said over the noise of her wings revving up and then blasting down the hill.

That was… nice, I thought as she disappeared into Ponyville. Though I couldn’t help but think how weird it was that that name had just slipped out my mouth like that. I was fully prepared to use my legal name, though in hindsight since I’m not on Earth I guess it’s not technically legal in all senses of the word, but, on the other hand, I’d always wanted a cool nickname.

Might as well go for it, I thought. Besides, I really would need some sleep, as much as I disliked it, I’d need to get some food soon, or else. And though I didn’t really like it, it would really only be feasible for me to get some at night, which would have to mean stealing some. I’d need to figure out a way to make up for it, but necessity of life first over my conscience. Cause I really don’t want to deal with pitchforks and torches without the Elements to calm the townsfolk down and talking them into me not being a creature of death.

Man, this tree really is comfortable. Guess I’ll just chill here till night….*yawn*

(Author's Note Mk. 2: If you don't get the Griffin reference *waggles index finger* <-- that was for you

"Griffin the Griffin")

Knight Life (4)

(Author's Note: I would like to thank Moon_Fire for working as pre-reader, I truly appreciate it)

I awoke with a start as I felt like I was about to fall off the precarious perch that was my current napping spot and realized I had freaked myself out for nothing, I was fine and in no danger of plummeting.

It was night now, so I figured it would be fine if I took my hood down. That was a mistake, for no sooner had I done so then I clapped my hands over my ears at the sudden intrusion. NOISE! Not just any noise, but a loud cacophony of night, insects whirring, buzzing, chirping, and golomping. That last one was probably one of the more magical varieties of those pests. If they weren’t so vital to the food chain, all bugs and creepy crawlies would cease to exist by my foot. But they provide nutrients for so many different forms of life, it would wreck the world just as much as a planet with no nightfall. I quickly replaced my hood, since everything had been quieter until then, and the harsh buzzing sounds were again muffled.

So yeah, super human power that gets further enhanced in the dark not so much fun with so much noise when one of those powers is hearing. No wonder I was put in the middle of an arid waste, there was nothing there to overwhelm me. That said, having been a shade for a day had helped me to acclimate at least some, so it wasn’t completely unbearable, at least it wasn’t clubbing music.

Cracking my neck, with delightful loudness, I figured it was time to get something to eat as I slid from the deceptively comfortable branch I had slept upon. Thoughts of sticking my arm in a bonfire for penance played across my mind just for thinking about stealing, but I was just too hungry, and I was not willing to be thrown in jail for being a public two-legged walking menace.

I stopped short at that, already about halfway down the hill the tree resided on. Wow, going over it, the show really makes these ponies to be pretty xenophobic when you think about it.

I didn’t have to worry about that too much though and immediately called the darkness to cover me. Not true invisibility, but if anyone were to look at me, I would appear as part of the shadow and not some sort of three dimensional darkness looming out of its two dimensional counterpart.

Hiding within the shadows I made my way into Ponyville. I about three fourths thought it would be pretty empty, everyone in the show seemed intent on working in the daytime and sleeping at night, and for the most part I was right, most of the city had their homes’ shutters closed tight, but I heard this great thumping coming from further in.

Fun fact, flying can suck upon my holiday balls. I won't lie, I was going pretty slow, the change in in scenery which just flashed by as I let my mind wander and just zigzag from shadow to shadow in veritable blinks of an eye definitely needed some getting used to. I could have just tried to go in a straighter line too, but I couldn’t help but think that would have almost defeated the purpose. Cracking a smile I jumped through the scenery and wondering at how much larger the town was in person and yet looked so small in the actual show. But all of my musings stopped when I finally found the source of the sound.

My mouth hung agape at the sight before me. The whole street was nothing but bars and clubs, the latter of which was now much closer and now much louder. But it wasn’t so bad, it was mostly just bass, nothing so high pitched, which suited me fine. I love the way bass will make your skeletal structure literally vibrate, it’s like a massage chair while you’re standing.

Free air massage aside, the scene before me was pretty intense, well, compared to the view of Ponyville I had been lead to expect. I had read lots of fan fictions making jokes about Apple Jack’s hard apple cider and about Berry Punch, but I never quite expected to see a proper bar, let alone a whole street of them. Though I suppose it really wasn’t so bad as I melodramatically push my jaw back up. Fermenting beverages has been around for centuries, and was used as a way to have beverages safe from bacteria when water was thought to kill.

I knew that they weren’t just some sort of joke bars like the salt lick in Appaloosa either with names like Celestial Ale, The Draft Pony, and the most surprising The Pink, whose sign claimed its title in bold black letters in front of a very familiar balloon trio configuration. The clubs all had similar pun-y names, to which I might have laughed if it didn’t seem like no one had really tried to do something clever with horse puns literally around them on a daily basis. But all this boiled down to the fact that there were ponies around at night, in the dark, and a thought came into my head on just how I might be able to find some sustenance without have to resort to stealing.

I walked over to the nearest alley, so as to be in nopony’s sight and began to mold the shadows to my whim, as a slim, but well muscled black with dark gray mane and tail unicorn took form. A wave of inspiration hit and a small gray marionette on strings appeared on its flank. It came up to about my waist, but that was fine, didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself, as my puppet would look strange enough with its dark coloring contrasting with all the bright pastels that were the usual norm. I then wrapped the shadow around me and let myself melt into it, essentially hiding in my own shadow as I had it walk out the alley and into The Draft Pony, which by all accounts seemed the most low-key place to start off first.

I made it in with nary but a few glances from any of the inhabitants except for looks of those who were simply looking at something new. It was a close-knit town, so it made sense that many of them would know most of each other if not by name then by sight.

I definitely made the right choice starting here, the all wood paneling with booths large enough for ponies to comfortably lie in with soft yellow light coming from candles along certain points in the wall, as well as a large hearth filled with logs. It was a stark contrast to the blinking light show that could be seen from some of the clubs.

I made my way to the bartender, a dark forest green pony with brown mane, absently wiping the bar down with a rag, and said, “Excuse me sir, I’m new in town, and am a little short on funds, and sustenance, do you know where I might be able to find a way to get some money?”

The bartender gave me a funny look, “What’s your voice doing so far away from your mouth?” His confusion made sense, my shadow only came up to my waist, but my head was up a few more feet. I smirked. It was all was going according to plan.

“I’m actually a mute, my vocal cords were damage rather badly as a kid, but I’m able to communicate by sending magic through my horn, vibrating it rather like a tuning fork.”

“Oh, sorry to hear about that.” The bartender said with a look of genuine concern, my heart started to burn at the thought of all the effort he was giving to my lie. “But to tell you the truth, the entertainment for tonight hasn’t shown up, was supposed to be a storyteller. If you know any good stories I’d be willing to pay you the money that was going to her. Doesn’t have to be long mind you, just something to grab the customers’ attention.”

I was rather put on the spot, I had read many books in my day, geez that sure made me sound old, but now my mind was starting to freeze up trying to think of a story that could easily change their characters into ponies, then I asked, “Does it have to be a happy story?”

To this the bartender gave pause as his hoof went to his chin, “Hrrrm, I don’t see why not, it’d be an interesting change of pace from many of the fairy tale stories we normally have.”

Funny he should mention fairy tales I thought Grimm-ly, “Where should I stand?” I asked looking around to see if there was a stage.

“Just go up next to the hearth and I’ll announce ya, say what’s yur name anyway”

“It’s Rumor.” I said and slowly made my way to just to the left of the fire, not wanting my puppet to start wavering in the light since I was passing it off as my real body.

The bartender shouted for quiet and told them I was going to be their story teller for the evening. I gave a rather loud gulp, seeming louder with everyone in the bar now quiet. But I shored up my nerves and sent my shadows out and fashioned a decrepit little model town of shadows that took all the room in front of the hearth, and began my, ponified, tale...

“Once upon a time, there was a little filly. No, no, that isn’t right. You see, it wasn’t just any time, and this wasn’t just any filly. This story is about Emmeline and it all happened a long time ago in a town that doesn’t exist. At least… not any more.

Emmeline was three - the only child of a curator and a soprano. She had everything a child could want… but there was one problem. Emmeline had been forgotten by absolutely everyone. Mummy and Daddy were always preoccupied with the business of the day. The Servants complained that she was underfoot. Even the postmare - who often brought letters that made Daddy frown - never brought any letters for little Emmeline.

There were no hugs. No bedtime stories. Only a growing mountain of cold, lifeless toys who could not scare away the closet monsters or admire her drawings or, more importantly, love her back.

Emmeline tried her best to be a good little filly. Then she tried very hard to be a not-so-good little filly. Either way, no one was paying attention. There was nothing she could do.

One night, Emmeline peeked out her bedroom window and saw a beautiful star! It twinkled and glowed so brilliantly that Emmeline wondered if it was even a star at all and not an alicorn who was up past his bedtime.

She remembered a rhyme about such stars and how they could grant wishes. And if anybody had a wish, it was Emmeline. Emmeline closed her eyes and wished… Wished… WISHED with all her might. She wished for a friend… A friend who could play with her and help her reach tall things and protect her from the creatures in the shadows and never ever EVER leave.

Stars don’t grant wishes for everypony, mind you, but few children have ever wished for anything so dearly as little Emmeline.

‘Please…’ She begged. ‘Pleeeeease!’

And at the exact stroke of midnight… or perhaps a few seconds before, depending upon the clock… Emmeline’s wish came true.

Oh, he was a delightful friend! They drew pretty pictures together and made up stories! They even had tea parties and build pillow forts. Emmeline named him Mister Creazil – because it sounded right – and he was her special secret.

Mister Creazil was great fun for a while, but after a time, it seemed like there was something missing. He was certainly the best friend she’d ever had but only because she wanted him to be. He did everything she asked… but nothing more. He couldn’t even love her on his own. This thought made Emmeline very sad.

Then came a sound of cheering from the parlor and soon after… the news.

‘Oh, isn’t it WONDERFUL, Emmeline?’... said one of the maids who never usually said anything to her.

‘Your mother is going to have a baby! You’ll have a baby sister one day, won’t that be nice?’ With that, the maid was gone as quickly as she had come.

Emmeline turned to Mister Creazil who, after considering the proper response, chose to frown. No, this was not wonderful. Not at all. This was the final straw, and Emmeline would not stand for it! With nostrils dialated and her face scarlet with rage she opened her mouth and screamed.

How DARE they replace her with a new child?

How DARE THEY love another little filly?

Emmeline screamed and screamed and couldn’t stop screaming and as she screamed Mister Creazil absorbed her wrath and began to grow. The more Emmeline screamed, the bigger and uglier he became until he outgrew the entire house! With a terrifying roar Mister Creazil carried out the revenge Emmeline wanted more than ever.

CRACK!!! went the rest of the house and everyone inside it.

CRASH!!! went the neighborhood whose children never asked to play with Emmeline.

On Mister Creazil stormed tearing to pieces everyone and everything that had ever failed his creator. The ice cream cart that never stopped for her, the instructor who chuckled at her dreams, even the postmare… all met a swift and terrible demise.

Just as Mister Creazil was running out of things to crush and smash Emmeline at last stopped screaming. Exhausted and heartbroken, she sat upon what was left of her bedroom floor and cried. Oh, WHY hadn’t anyone loved her? Why did Mummy and Daddy want a new daughter when Emmeline would have done anything ANYTHING for a simple hug? A kiss on the forehead… Even a good scolding! But everyone was gone. Who would love her now?

Lighting up the night sky was the very star upon which she had wished not so very long ago. With a heavy heart, Emmeline looked upon it and made one more request. She closed her eyes and wished… Wished… WISHED with all her might… And at the exact stroke of midnight – or perhaps a few seconds before – Emmeline’s wish came true. Like a ghostly light she began to fade until there was nothing left.

Neither she nor Mister Creazil were ever seen again. Sometimes, on a dark night, when the stars are bright if you're very still and very quiet you can almost hear her tiny voice. Please… pleeeease… whispers the wind, forever echoing the one wish of a little girl who was forgotten by absolutely everyone.”

I let the shadows, which had acted as visual aids, slip away, and having been fully immersed in giving my tale, finally looked up into the audience and saw the room. While there was definitely a degree of sorrow clinging to the air, the most prevalent emotion seemed to be one of subdued terror. I'd thought the story was more saddening than anything, but in either case they seemed to have taken it too far to heart. It was just pretend! I was starting to worry I had done something very wrong, and began to pull at my chin hair nervously (yes I have a small beard, and I call it chin hair as I only grow it under my lower lip, think Shaggy, but more devilish) when one of the patrons in a booth, a bat winged pegasus, not unlike the ones seen pulling Luna’s carriage, began to stomp on his table, followed by another, and another, until the whole building almost shook with the stomping applause.

I sheepishly went back to the bar, though no one else would know that as my shadow puppet wore the same stoic expression as it had when it had come in, thought I did make it smile some in order to maintain appearances. The bartender wiped away a manly tear, trust me, they are much different than normal tears, and reached under the bar to produce a bag of bits. Sliding them over to me he said, “That is the saddest story I’ve ever heard, you’ve got quite the talent there, though I might like to suggest you try and see if you can craft some happier tales, at least for your audiences sake, if not your own.”

He then proceeded to give me a drink, on the house for my performance, I asked if he had any root beer, and he quickly produced the drink. I took a large swig, intending to enjoy the king of all sodas, only to grimace and quickly refill the container. “I’m sorry sir, I meant the soda. Beer just isn’t quite to my liking.”

The bartender gave an apologetic grin, and a small chuckle at my expense he was sure I wouldn’t be able to hear, something about fillies not being able to hold their ale, as the proper beverage was bestowed upon me. As I quickly downed the drink, in part to get the taste of the last one out of my mouth, but also because it was the best root beer I’d ever had. My shadow was sitting up on the barstool, coming up to about my head, so it looked totally legit as I chugged it down and then gave a small burp. Excusing myself I then asked if there was anyplace that I might be able to buy some traveling gear and food at this time of night.

The bartender gave another thoughtful glance up to the ceiling and again rubbed his chin, then said I might try a few streets over, to the place where a lot of the night weather patrol hangs out, when they aren’t on duty. I thanked him and made my way out of the bar with a few patrons coming up to thank me for the emotional tale as I tried to side saddle a few of the more friendly/intoxicated ones from trying to touch my shadow and find it as insubstantial as any other shadow.

Once outside the blare of the nightlife began to become noticeable again, I shuddered to think on how loud it might be without my hood on, and began making my way down the next couple blocks to this off duty night weather patrol, making sure to only walk. One, so that my shadow would look normal enough and not cause much attention to me, and two, so I could ask directions if, for some reason, I got lost.

I was just passing an alleyway when a shrill scream started to erupt, but was very quickly silenced (one of fear, please, just keep your mind out of the gutter, I know I was on a bar street, but come on). This time I didn’t seize up. Not this time, not with superpowers, or a giant tower shield. I quickly dropped the puppet, but kept the shadows around me to stay invisible as I rushed into the alley… which was empty, and ended with a sturdy wooden wall… and a comically large dirt hole that made me think about Bugs Bunny.

(Author's Note Mk. 2: This story was brought to you by Ms. Towell and Tim Jones, if you enjoy this sort of macabre, then you will also enjoy their youtube site Childrin R Skary)

Diamond Duds (5)

Diamond dogs, I thought as I slid down the remarkably smooth dirt tunnel. Questions were abuzz in my mind. Like why was this tunnel in Ponyville, was it same three again, was it possible there were more (hindsight would suggest so since there is more than one griffin), but the biggest one of all being, why did I look upon the thought of kidnapping with such little care?

Look, I know it’s a cartoon…yeah. There really is no reason for the show to have made light as something as serious as kidnapping. The utter lack of intelligence displayed by the diamond dogs for Hasbro to make light of it, in all honesty, is rather disturbing. All rhetoric aside, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew that something funny had happened in the alley, and I would be damned if I didn’t find out who’s fault it was.

The slide ended at the bottom of an even larger tunnel, this one keeping relatively straight. Had it been any other time I’d probably ride down that dirt slope again, but I was on a mission. Now might be a good time to mention I have a slight, raging, white knight complex. It doesn’t always come up, but once I’m compelled to do an act of good, by one of the more benevolent voices in my head, few things on Earth will stop me, and now that I have the powers of a Forgotten Realm’s shade, the list of things that can stop me, even here, is even smaller.

The darkness was already wrapped around me, preventing anyone from taking note of me. The utter lack of torches denoted just how well, and how much, the diamond dogs use their sense of smell. But true dark vision allowed me to keep moving without even breaking stride as I strapped my shield to my arm.

Coming to an intersection of tunnel I stopped and took off my hood, and crooked an ear. There were a few echoes coming all around, but they seemed loudest down the tunnel second from the left, so I headed down that one. I didn’t bother marking my way. After all, it wouldn’t be a problem to find my way out, not with my shadowporting.

The further I went down the tunnel, the louder the noises became. It seemed there was some sort of celebration was happening. Turning a corner showed that three familiar, vest wearing, dogs were hopping gleefully about a large sack in the torchlight. A sack very pony shaped in size, and after the one in the red vest mentioned how easy it was to trick those “dum pon-eez” my mood darkened, and was instantly translated by the shadow stuff that now spewed forth darkness like smokestacks on high gear. The small room the dogs were in began to dim as the dogs quickly stopped their gleeful jigs and began to look about in fear as they saw the torches and the general air around them dim, filling with darkness.

Sending ghastly phantasms through the “black fog” the dogs began to huddle together and whimper. I gleeful smile played across my face as I finally stepped into the room wrapping the shadows into a very cliché, but still terrifying, depiction of death: towering form in a black cloak and hood, brandishing a scythe. I bent the shadow hood over the covering dogs, which was where I was now standing and in a hissing whisper said, “Release the pony.”

Despite the fear that was now leaving them almost insensible, the smallest of the three finally attempted speech after a few false starts and said, “Wuh-whu-wut pony?”

I was not in any sort of mood to be treated like an imbecile, the room darkened further, and I placed the tip of my shield on his brow, coinciding with the shadow specter’s scythe movement, deepening the illusion of my shadow's presence.

“Don’t play games with me, open the bag.” This time my voice had a more pleasant tone, almost kind, it even made me shiver a little.

Not stupid enough to question orders from a creature that appeared to be made of malice and darkness all three of the dogs lunged to the bag and sliced it open with their claws.

My rage evaporated with a bit of the darkness, each lessening a few degrees, as the tinkle of gems falling over each other came from the shredded sack.

“Ex- explain this!” My voice echoed through the room, my whisper gone, as my voice returned to a more normal volume in my surprise, which seemed a touch deeper than I last remembered.

The one in the red vest again took the lead saying, “Puh-poneez gives us many gems for simply cleaning plates and bowls for them in back of food houses. Please, we give you some and you don’t end us.” He said as he and his compatriots began to push the pile of gems to me, all thinking it a good idea since that one, screeching, white pony had been so easily swayed by gems as well.

I was dumbstruck. I had just broken and entered into someone elses home, caused emotional stress, and probably weeks of nightmares for these three innocent dogs. They were almost like children really, in terms of mental capacity. They thought they were getting the better deal, why bother paying them in bits when all they wanted were gems, which could literally be found by just digging up a few inches of dirt in any old random location. While I had, oh so self-righteously, come in under mere presumptions and acted like a fool. There was no need for me to have gone to such lengths in the first place when I thought another life was at risk. I could have just sent my shadows to the bag while they were distracted and brought it to me, and quickly released what I thought was a pony from the bag with little chance of the pony being harmed any further, and could just as quickly returned the bag when I found otherwise with only a slight feeling of embarrassment. But now, now I felt like smashing my skull into the side of a wall till it cracked and what passed for my pathetic excuse for a brain oozed out.

All of this went on for a few flashes of thought over my revulsion with my existence, all the while the diamond dogs looked up at me with hope that the gems would be an adequate substitute for me instead of their lives. I just mumbled, “I’m… sorry”, and ported back to the hole I’d originally slid down inside the alley back in Ponyville. At which point another scream erupted from nearby, shaking my self-loathing off for a few moments as I frantically looked around for the source. Then I looked up and blushed at the sight of a small cloud, easily capable of holding two pegasi, as amorous sounds began to quickly follow.

‘You’re a moron. The only reason you aren’t jumping into the nearest volcano is because it would end your suffering.’ I felt myself retreating inwards. As much as I wanted to find something sharp to stab into my ribs, and knowing that I could almost instantly heal from it making seem a more viable option than ever before, I just stood there, face stoic, and began to push all those feeling back down into the pit where I place all my, selfish, feelings, and yet I still couldn't help but think that they were still kidnappers, and as far as the show had shown they seemed to have gotten off scott free, minus a few gems. I still intended to find some traveling gear and food, and after that then I could go on a nice long walk to help clear my head. All this negativity wasn’t going to help me find any happiness, and dwelling on it wouldn’t help either, except on how it might help me from making the same mistake in the future. I was here to find a better way to express myself, and I’d need to start by trying to fix a mindset that has held sway for far too many years. I straightened up, took a deep breath, lifted my hood, and again hid in the shadow of my little puppet pony and finally started down the road. Things were going to get better, or else.

***

I finally made it to night weather patrol outpost, after having gone the wrong way… four times. Compared to the rest of Ponyville it was quite tame. It was made entirely of sturdy logs, and had a flat roof, probably for landing on, and a single, red wood door.

Upon entering I was surprised at how dark it was inside. Not that it was a problem with my eyes, but it struck me that it would be pretty dim for anypony else as I glanced around seeing that a handful of bat winged pegasi off in a corner of the store playing a game of cards. As I made my way over I couldn’t help but be amused at how much I towered over the aisles in the storefront of the building. I passed by dried fruits, vegetables, both in forms of bars, and many other such products which could just as easily be used for an overzealous camper to go out, over prepared, into the woods.

Once at the table I asked if the proprietor of the shop was in. Looking closer, it seemed that they were playing some version of poker. The pegasi with the least amount of chips simply smiled and said, “Sorry boys, looks like I’ll have to miss the next few rounds.” This was followed by a general grumble by the others that they were just about to clean him out. The grey coated, black maned pegasi flew past me and motioned for me to follow him as the others got back to their game.

At the front of the shop, by the counter, the owner asked me what he could do me for. I explained that I was rather new to these parts and intended to travel about for a while, and needed some supplies. My rundown was two weeks’ worth of food, a sturdy knife, a book on edible/toxic plants, a canteen, fire starters, a map, a waterproof blanket, something to carry it all in, and a first aid kit. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t personally need that last one, but better safe than sorry. I then showed him earnings from earlier in the night, and he let me know that I would have to forgo a few of those items. I eventually got it paired down to only the food, canteen, knife, the book, a sack, and first aid kit. The others I could do without, probably, my cloak was pretty warm, and with the ability to teleport through the shadows, the thought of becoming lost seemed to lose a lot of its scare potential. It took all but one bit to get all that. I thanked the proprietor, who gave me a weird look as I carried the satchel bag (but it looked like I was using my horn to make it float) instead of wearing the new purchase, which would have instantly fallen through and ruined my disguise.

Once outside I put it over my shoulder and washed my shadows over my new purchase, hiding it with the rest of me and silently bid farewell to the town as I made my way into the “dreaded” Everfree forest.

Okay, time to go make my list of things to do:

Get provisions (done)
Clear head of residual anger (working on)
Have fun
???
Profit

That third one, at least, seemed feasible, as I planned to go to one of the more interesting places I’d seen on the show, The Palace of the Ancient Pony Sisters, at least I think that was the name. I’d always been fascinated by castles, and ancient, decrepit ones only got more points for being more mysterious. I headed off in what I hoped was the general direction and began my first step in my journey to find happiness.

Geez, I thought, hindsight's always 20/20, that kinda sounded lame. I can do better than that! Thoughts of all the maddening, crazy, things I could do to give me a truly weird, and thus proper, start off. Wait, madness? This wasn’t madness, the shadow of the pony disappearing as an incorporeal black spear formed in my left hand, my tower shield in my right, and a helmet formed on my head.

“This Is Sparta!”

I then proceeded to run, like a fool, through the trees, scattering many a confused owl in my wake… until I tripped on an upturned root. Which cut me, and my breath, short. But I quickly jumped, spending the next couple of seconds looking around to make sure no one had seen that little burst of insanity. Dusting myself off, I took off at a more appropriate pace, keeping a wary eye out for any more pieces of nature that wished to trip me up.

Royal Retinue (6)

(Author's Note: I would like to thank Moon_Fire for acting as pre-reader for this chapter.)

I may not have given the most apt description when I wanted to express how utterly, entirely, awesomely, sweetly, and unabrigedly fun it is to shadow-walk. Taking a step in the absence of light and then reappearing feet, yards, (or if enough effort is put into it) miles away is a thrill of the utmost exhilaration. All of that delicious speed, it was like flying, but without all that mucking up about in the air. Look, I don’t have anything against birds, and I don’t suffer from a fear of heights, it just seems sort of… silly. (It’s hard to adequately explain, so back to the story!)

I was having the time of my life, adrenaline rushes will do that to a guy. And if I had one complaint, it would have to be the moon. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful. It almost seemed to glow in and of itself, and not just from the reflected sunlight, giving off an almost immaculate and serene presence. It’s just that it was so, well, big. I would easily be able to make my way through the forest, thick canopy and all, with my old human eyes. But in all seriousness, that was me just being nit-picky. It really is nice out, I thought as I looked up to the stars, which seemed to share my glee of the night with their twinkling.

The trees were starting to look more ominous, as their bark gave off the impression of scrunched up faces. I must be going the right way I thought, staring at a particularly detailed looking face as I went by, throwing off my vision as I shifted to the next shadow. The sudden change, since I hadn’t been paying attention to it, threw off my balance, and I tumbled down a conveniently placed hill of rocks and gravel.

Oofing, again (having done it the whole way down), upon final impact I just laid there letting my scrapes mend and my head get out of a swirl. I was just about to get up when a rather dull sounding voice said, “Oooo, that one look like good worker, has hands.” The last thing I remembered was the sound of shattering glass, and an obnoxious smell before darkness settled further upon my mind.

***

Waking up to stretch, to my chagrin, I found I couldn’t. It didn’t stop my yawn, but it certainly threw off my groove. Noticing that my hands and feet were bound on a pole leaving me hanging like a caught pig only served to throw it off further.

“Hee hee, you were right Boulder Claw, it is resilient, was only out for few minutes. Will make excellent slave worker with other ponies” a high pitched voice yapped.

‘Slaves? Ponies?’ I thought, my mind still a bit foggy. Looking around, my hood down at my shoulders, I was at the front of a procession, being tied to a pole carried by two diamond dogs with one crude spear each, followed by a procession of clinking chains attached to a number of earth ponies, about five in all.

“Of course, it will dig many gems” a gravelly voice replied, “Otherwise it won’t foind itself good fuh anythin’ but din-uh.” My head swiveled to the sounds origin, a big bulked up yellow coated dog, using my shield as a back scratcher, his massive arm unable fit either strap.

Ok, maybe I’m just delirious, I thought trying to keep from flying off the handle like last time. I’m probably just hearing things. There’s obviously been some sort of misunderstanding on some ones part.

“My apologies sirs, I’m sure I misheard you, but did you say that I was to be a slave digging for gems?” I asked in one of my most polite tones.

“Heh heh, well, most prefer to be called Executive Non-paid Intern, but yes. Now be quiet” the small yappy one said slapping my head, “interns only speak when spoken too.” He then proceeded to laugh in a very high pitched, and incredibly annoying, manner which was then shared by the other four diamond dogs.

The blood in my face drained, as a small, cold, so very cold, ball of emotion welled beneath my chest. I looked through my legs at the pony at the head of the chain gang. It was definitely a female, with sea foam blue coat, white mane, and a gear piece cutie mark. Directly behind her were two smaller ponies, children by their size, but both sported cutie marks, each dealing with some form of clockwork. “Are those your children ma’am?” I asked the lead pony. This quickly was responded with another slap to the head by the small yappy dog and a small nod from the female pony, as well as a worried look. Whether it was due to my, admittedly, unique appearance or from the idea of the life that awaited her and her children I’ll never know, all I did know was that the ball in my chest grew colder, almost feeling as though it were burning.

Ladies, children, mothers, and families were all in trouble right before me. My neck gave a twitch, making my head spasm to the right. Barnacles, I’d have to do something if I was going to save these ponies. It wasn’t a question of if I was going to. I could have easily just teleported myself out. I might have been able to shadowport them all away with me, but the dogs might notice something before I finished and knock me out again. My heart began to hammer in my chest, playing the hero was much easier in my imagination then it was in real life.

I thought about trying to muscle my way through them, but they might just as easily get a lucky shot in. Besides, they may have enough intelligence to take one of the ponies’ hostage if I really did start taking them out. It would be really nice to see how well my new muscles worked, but testing it out right now seemed like a poor place to begin. I couldn’t run away, I couldn’t muscle my way out. I’d have to try and bluff, but how was I going to doo… riiiight, darkness powers.

Concentrating, having to close my eyes, I pulled the shadows around the trees and along the path, as many as I could. They formed into a veritable army of hulking armored knights, each one holding a sword in the left hand and a kite shield in the right. The diamond dogs stopped in there track, confused at the silent approach these newcomers had shown, having not been able to smell them or hear their steps. They started to back up when I made more walk up on both their flanks and the rear, stepping up out of the shadows, almost as though they were stepping out of some dark underworld. Ok, show time, I thought, my heart practically in my mouth with worry.

“It is about time you lot found me.” My voice called out in as commanding a tone I could muster, hoping my agitation didn’t come through too much.

“Thuh-thees your guards?” the small yappy dog asked, fear as evident in his eyes as his, comically, knocking knees.

“Indeed” I smiled, “Now if you would be so kind as to release me, I won’t have them do anything” I paused for dramatic effect rolling my eyes up thinking of just the right word, “unpleasant, to you and your friends.” I finished with a smile and made all the shadow guards take a step closer in unison.

The diamond dogs all jumped at that, the large yellow one, not wasting any time to give orders, rushed over to me and slashed my bonds with a knife from his vest pocket in quick succession. Upon me hitting the dirt road with a small “oof” he began to quiver and realized he should have tried to be a little bit more careful with my handling, but I just gave him a smile, stood up, and brushed some of the dirt off myself. Once done I simply held out my hand to him, continuing to smile, it took him a few seconds, trying to think past the fear that was starting to really get at him, as he handed my black tower shield and I replaced it on my back.

I was now in complete control of the situation, I must admit it left me feeling a little heady, in part due to some slight elation that this was working, but also due to the fact that if any of the dogs realized that my “guards” were as substantial as a waking dream everything would go to heck in a FedEx overnight delivery hand basket. I was starting to feel a little strain from animate shadow puppetry of this scale, but I just grinned and bared it.

“Now,” I said in one of my most pleasant tones, but akin to reprimanding a naughty child, “You are going to unshackle these fine ponies.” When they started to object, I merely had all my shadows all point their swords at the dogs, the eerie silence, again, rendering a level of fear I don’t think would be possible to create if sound was used, and the large yellow one again searched through a vest pocket. A trembling hand brought them out, and immediately dropped them upon the ground. He picked them up, and dropped them again. Only using two hands was he able to keep a sufficient grip on them. And he quickly unshackled the ponies. The speed at which this was done, despite his overly evident fear bespoke of an ease of use I did not wish to contemplate.

I motioned my hand, and the guards parted so that the ponies could walk back. I tried to give some sort of reassuring sign, but looking on them showed them to be quite frightened as well. So I instead had a few guards form around them and walk them a distance down the path, the further they got, the harder it became, but it was still manageable, it had to be.

I turned my attention back to the four dogs before me, each one scared to the point where they were no longer capable of standing, I almost felt bad for doing so, until both the logical and emotional parts of my mind teamed up, for probably the first time ever, and wiped away any such feelings, reminding me that these, these, mongrels were slavers. But some niggling thought deep within me wanted to spare them; another said they’d do it again. The only thing I could think to do was to continue the charade, and hope for the best.

Putting my right hand into my left hand sleeved I wiggled it around, like I was fishing for something, and pulled out a balled hand. I slowly thrust it out in front of me, and carefully opened it. Four strings of shadow uncoiled from my palm, took wing, and slowly start to fly around my hand in looping arcs.

“These… are shadow worms. They are my own personal creation, and while I would normally kill you for the indignities you have placed upon me, I am in a forgiving mood and have decided to let you off with a chance to start a new life, and a warning.”

The dogs looked up, seemingly confused, but grateful at this benevolent turn of events. Until I sent the stings of shadow directly into the heart, or at least where I thought they would be, of each respective dog. As they fell back clasping at their chests in hopes to take out what they thought I had placed upon them. I just smiled, my cheeks starting to hurt at this point, smiling was never my forte, and always came off as a little creepy looking when I forced one, and said, “Should you return to your slave mongering ways, those worms, which have by now worked, irreversibly, into your souls, they will devour it, The process of which will bring you the boon of a long life, the likes of which many gods are not even privy to as it keeps you alive, in pain beyond your ken, as it is slowly eaten over the course of the next three eternities. Should you die, the worm will return to me, but rest assured, there is no way to remove it without removing your own soul. Now, I do believe this is the part where you run away.” My guards parted behind me, the path now clear to them. “Any time now.” I said, turning to gesture the path they might take. They didn’t hesitate as they practically blasted away from me in a flurry of claws and tails between the legs.

Problem gone, my legs started to give way as I released the darkness from my grasp. The weight of all that could have, didn’t, and succeeded all came crashing down on me. I just couldn’t believe it had worked. I was just about to fall over, the strain of emotional, mental, and physical exhaust began to overwhelm me as my heart finally started to beat at a more sedate pace, when the shrieks from the ponies behind me, at the sentinels having disappeared reached me. I shadow walked over, appearing almost instantly in their mists, which only served to drain me further, as I called for quiet. They were in full panic mode at this point and were starting to run around, I was not about to let one of them hurt themselves from dashing about in a dark forest at night, and yelled, “SILENCE!” That got their attention, freezing them all in mid-gallop. Sighing, I asked if any of them knew their way back to the nearest town. A chorus of head-shaking met me, the ponies being too stunned to answer.

Crud, this is gonna hurt. “Alright, everyone please gather up, I’ll take ya’ to Ponyville, they’ll be able to help you get things sorted out.” My voice, slightly, rasped, as the command was recognized and they formed a group in front of me, I asked them to close their eyes, and once more called the darkness to swallow me as the group and I reappeared in Ponyville, near the reservoir. The gaspings of surprise that followed were lost upon me as my vision swam. I had overextended myself, and fell back with a small thud upon the ground as unconsciousness greeted me.

Enshrouded Future (7)

I awoke in a hospital bed, noticing first the blindingly bright sun streaming through the window next to my bed. Reaching out to draw the blinds I was pleased to see the sleeve of my cloak upon my arm. They let me keep my clothes on this time, that’s a plus. I like hospitals and all, the food is pretty decent too, always wondered how they did their gelatin, but since I didn’t mention it last time, hospitals are always cold. Though, I have to admit to a bias, anything below ninety degrees Fahrenheit is worthy of long pants and shirts.

As shade began to descend upon the room, I noticed it wasn’t the same one I was in last time. While it had the same ‘hospital white’ wall color, it was considerably smaller, really only big enough for a patient on the bed and a nurse to come check up on the patient board at the foot of the bed every once in a while. My shield however was, ever so conveniently, placed leaning on the small reading desk next to me, sporting a few Daring Doo novels. I swung my feet over the side of the bed, feeling much better after my self-imposed nap, I was about to grab my shield when I noticed a small piece of paper taped to it. Gently tearing it off, so as to leave the note in one piece it read:

Heard that you saved some ponies from a life of slavery from some nasty diamond dogs, that was a very brave thing to do. I just wanted to leave this note because I have to go home once my night shift is over. Anyway hope you wake up well rested, as you clearly looked like you were in a healthy looking condition, if a bit exhausted, when you were brought in. The world could do with more brave creatures like you.

Well Wishes,

-Dove Scalpel-

I have to admit, I was rather touched by the letter. I suppose I really did do something good, but wouldn’t anyone have done it if they were in my position? A stupid smile blossomed on my face as fantasies of evil villains sitting around a bar table in some generic seedy joint saying stuff like, “Rumor has it someone’s been puttin’ the squeeze on some our operations down south. Let’s ‘um off Scoot free, but no one’s been willin’ tuh talk, even after persuasion” this would then be followed by some dark chuckles at the euphemism of persuasion for torture.

Noir-esque fantasies aside, it finally struck me, right there in the hospital bed, that Equestria wasn’t as kind and peaceful a place as I had been led to believe. Worse, I had been gifted powers beyond any normal human. I could blame what came next on having read too many spider-man comics, but I really knew it was coming dead center from my knight complex… I had to fix this place.

I started pulling into myself, I had been gifted a chance to find happiness and, hopefully, friendship in a fantasy world brought to life, and here I was secluding myself further away from it in order to protect it from tragedies I hadn’t known existed till last night. It almost made me want to cry, but I quickly pushed that back down into the pit. I needed to think of something positive, can’t go back to always keeping my emotions down and never talking about it. I needed to replace some of it with more positive ones… that was harder than expected. Well, I had super powers. That was a plus, and I was also in a place where I might express some of my more negative tendencies on scum to render justice, yeah. That last one seemed a little shallow, but hey, I’m still a little new at trying to be spontaneously happy. The closest I normally got to this was dark humor where death and destruction followed. In fact, it was one of the reasons I found Joker to be as funny as he was… That last thought almost makes me sound like a psychopath… well, maybe I am, but at least I can control it well… enough.

I was feeling a little better now, having gone through the mental exercise of trying to maintain a positive attitude. ‘Maybe it won’t be so hard after all.’ Though I still felt a small ache in my head, but that began to vanish as I pulled my hood up, blocking the residual sunlight in the room from reaching me. I even had my pack still on me, the diamond dogs had been too intent upon stringing me up they had left it unnoticed. Looking into it proved everything had remained intact, except for a few of the fruit bars, which were now crumbled in their packets, could be worse. I began to reach for my shield again, but went too fast and ended up knocking it over with a loud clatter. I hastily got out of bed and picked it up, leaving me feeling a bit sheepish of my clumsiness at having broken the silence in the hospital.

***

Looking back on it now, it might not have been the best idea to leave the Hospital without having signed out, and having done so by crawling under the bed to teleport out back to the forest, but I still really wanted to go see the old castle which, had until a relatively short span of time ago, housed the slumbering forms of the Elements of Harmony.

I was pleasantly surprised, even in the middle of the day, the thick foliage of the Everfree provided the ground with enough darkness that I could still shadow walk, even during this time of day with that celestial globe of fire still trying to get me. Why it now appeared to be so vengeful to me was troubling, but I suppose I could figure that out later. What was really bothering, or I at least thought it should, was my fascination with The Castle of the Ancient Pony Sisters. It had appeared only once in the show, and if I can recall right it hadn’t seemed all that remarkable, but once I came to Equestria, it felt like it or something in it was trying to pull me towards it.

As much as having my mind manipulated would normally bother me, though I suppose not since I just REALLY wanted to get there, I was now practically afire with my desperate want to get there. I began zipping around the forest at an even faster rate just trying to find a sight of anything the mane six had crossed during the Rise of Nightmare Moon episode.

Through the haze of quickly escalating emotions a point of clarity broke through, at which point I gave a truly magnificent facepalm, and I stopped under the boughs of the tree with the thickest foliage around me and willed myself under the arch of the giant red door of the castle, the noon-day sun would leave the ground directly beneath the arch in shadow.

Once there my desperate need became an almost frantic. I could barely form a coherent thought past ‘must find, must find’ as I shoved the massive doors open with a groan, the rusted hinges squeaking in protest like nails on a chalkboard as I began to run into the open hall.

I had no idea where I was going as I felt whatever was pulling my thoughts guide me through corridors and down stairs. Had I been in the right frame of mind I would have been astounded at just how much splendor the castle still gave off in its dilapidated state, the sections of wall that hadn’t collapsed were carved of what was a nearly iron shade grey of marble with veins of white and black running through it. Eventually I came down to what I thought was the empty bottom floor level, but the pull was stronger than ever. I ran around the hall, which circled around back to the stairs. The pull remained constant, I was practically mad with desire, whatever I was looking for, it was here, and the only logical conclusion I could make was that it was behind the inner wall of the corridor. I slid my shield off and hastily set it on my right arm and went up the top of the staircase. Once atop I hurtled down like a meteor, gaining more speed the more I went down till I was practically pushing off the vertical slats of the steps to maintain my growing speed. As I neared the offending wall a small, still sane, part of my brain bemoaned, ‘I can’t believe this guy is going to ram into a stone wall’, and had I still been a human, I would have agreed. But with the darkness that filled this lower basement, to which I now took almost completely for granted the fact I could see perfectly in any darkness, magical or mundane, both of which only served to empower me as I crashed through the lichen encrusted wall.

Laying there on the ground, my developing bruises just as quickly being mended due to my, I suppose the right description would be, “healing factor”, I waited for the pain to leave my body.

My mind was finally clear, as made evident by a more OCD part of my personality making me push most of the offending stone work I had just scattered to both sides of the opening I’d made. Once done I began to look around in the room, which had, until just recently, pulled me towards with such singular intent. All in all it was pretty simple, as I looked around the room, checking the corners, it was just dark. Perimeter secured I finally made look to the center of the room which housed an entirely generic looking black mask. It had no features, save the two eye holes, the rest simply acted to cover the wearers face. It should have sent off some warning bells in my head that it was shaped to be easily worn by a human and not a pony, but a suffused sense of rightness just seemed to emanate from it as I unconsciously moved forward.

Shadow stuff began leaking from my pores at a prodigious rate. Had anyone been watching me before, they surely would not have been able to now with my own self made darkness mingling with the room’s, turning the air space into a pitch of not black, but an entire absence of light. My own vision remained perfectly fine, and still focused upon the mask.

Walking up to the pedestal I thought I would put the mask on, but once I was at the base, the mask coming up to my chest laying atop it, the thought seemingly felt wrong. The mask didn’t want to be worn, I thought, all it wanted was some sign of contact. Reaching out my hand I placed my palm in the direct center of the mask’s forehead as an immense sense of joy radiated from the inanimate object as the darkness in the room converged together, lifting the mask off the pedestal and formed a crude body beneath. The apparition, once complete, stood, looming over me, the whole body slightly curved down, giving me the impression of a vulture looking down upon a dead animal.

‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I think I may have just unleashed a monster.’

“If I am a monster, it is only due to your own wishes” a voice of multiple timbres and pitches calmly replied.

My eyes bulged, some… thing had breached the sanctity of my mind and had combed through my own thoughts. Thoughts of burning retribution, and lots of it, filled my mind, and all of it directed to the apparition before me.

“My apologies, but it is not something I do to offend. We are linked, the bond was created when you came and answered the summons, it may not be severed except through your death.” the voices replied.

Too many questions were swashing in my mind. So I simply said, “Would you please explain?”

The thing nodded and began its tale, “It is well known that there are four basic types of Elements. There is air, earth, water, and fire, these govern the laws of nature of this world, as well as the combinations thereof, like how water and earth may work together to create plant life, or how water and fire may work in arms against each other, making the heat differences to create weather like rain or snow or fog. And at each Element there is a sovereign there to help maintain the balance of his, her, or its Element, as well as providing a system of checks and balances over others.

But there are two Elements that are often forgotten, the two primordial Elements of Light and Dark. They were at the beginning of the multiverse, and they will be after. This is where you come in Master. The Element of Darkness has been without a sovereign for a great number of years. In fact, the last sovereign became corrupted, the dark was thought to be the blame and the sovereign was stripped the ties to darkness and was transformed. I was placed with in this room in order to help prevent a new sovereign from becoming.”

I couldn’t help but in here, well I could’ve but I didn’t want to, “What makes you so important that to be locked away would prevent a new leader from arising?” A funny feeling was rising in my chest, I didn't quite like how I thought this conversation was going.

“Please be patient, sir, I was just getting to that. This castle has been forgotten, and many of its secrets as well. Due to recent changes in power, and the use thereof, the wards upon this room lessened. Only one with a connection to darkness could have heard my calls as well as set myself back into animation, as such, you are now the sovereign of the dark, and will be bestowed upon the powers to help you maintain its balance.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm not stupid enough to set myself as the leader of something. Besides, I had already condemned myself to spending time trying to stop slavers, and now I was going to be the rulers of darkness? ME think’est not!

“That sounds like quite an honor, but I don’t believe I would be the right candidate for the office.” I said as I slowly got up and began to edge away from the room. The Mask, suspended in darkness, made no move, but it felt like it gave off a smile of sorts from it's otherwise featureless surface.

“This is not a matter of discussion. The Elements will learn their place, Darkness will again become respected and feared, and I will wait no longer for another to emerge.” I would have shadow ported out of there, but the darkness wouldn’t respond to me. In fact, it had somehow solidified and was physically rooting me in place. “And first things first, you are still weak, and you must be trained.” A great double door of black pushed out of the ground beneath me, pushing me up a little. “We will now enter the training gate.” And with that the trap doors swung open and I fell through the air with a certainty that I was going to feel a great deal of pain upon finding the ground while the resounding thought of ‘why me’ repeated itself.

Mind Games (8)

(Author's Note: Prereader: Moon_Fire <-- Thank you)

Time stood still, or at least took a few steps to the right, away from me as the entire world stopped around me mid fall as I hung in the air. I looked up and the doorway that had led me into this, empty place. I looked down, and jumped, I was on the ground. I gave a few tentative stomps, it felt solid enough, but no sound emerged from my strike. Looking up to take a look at the bland flat wasteland was also no longer an option. A great ring of mountains had form around me. They were a distance off, to take a guess I’d say maybe a mile, but I’m no good with those sorts of things and they could have just as well been twenty miles off and been all the bigger for it. Turning around, to get a look at them only furthered the head-trip, my mind now physically reeling in dizziness as the immediate area had become a small training field, and at the center was the… thing, that sent me here.

I walked over to it, making sure to blink only a single eye at a time, and focused only on the mask suspended in black, which, due to my own darkness piercing eyes, looked incorporeal. As I approached the mask remained silent, as the rest of the world.

Once I was within, roughly, six feet of it I stopped. It had sent me here, through the “training gate” it said, and waited. I briefly wondered what its name was, and even if it preferred to be called an it, or a she, or whatever.

“My name is Caligo” the multiple tones and pitches making me shiver, it sounded like four or five people talking at once, it certainly gets bonus points for a cool voice, “you may refer to me by this, and may use masculine pronouns when referring to me.” He then lifted an incorporeal arm from within himself and the landscape shifted beneath me and formed into my tower shield as it strapped to my arm. “Your gifted weapon is not well suited for offense” he said in an almost bored sounding tones, “but it’s size allows you have a large amount of defense, as well as obstruction which will allow yourself time to better analyze a situation in battle and afford yourself a greater opportunity to turn the tide to your advantage. Well, let us not bandy words any further, as I have found that the most efficient method of training is to simply throw one into the thick of it.” And with that Caligo rushed towards, smoothly gliding along the floor as though on wheels.

I immediately shadow walked behind him, by some twenty feet. I didn’t want to fight this guy, and I didn’t really have to either truth be told, and began to tell him as much as he ricocheted off, what seemed like, the air and came at me again while maintaining his speed. Spike tipped tentacles began to push their way out of his back and stretched out towards me, giving this Caligo guy an extra ten foot reach as they weaved about in the air in an attempt to intimidate me. It was working.

He just wouldn’t let up, I kept on trying to talk to him, shouting for him to stop and talk this out, but he just kept silently coming. In fact if it weren’t for some of the spikes rubbing against each other, making a distinctive shhhinking sound, continuously reaffirming their existence despite their incorporeal nature, he would have been completely silent.

Okay, let’s review the situation. Trapped in some nether world with a shadowed mask that wants me to help him bring balance to the world, rule over the absence of light, and is currently trying to spear me through in some insane attempt to “train me” despite my protests. It was time to retaliate.

Despite what Kingdom Hearts would have me believe otherwise, a shield is not an ideal weapon. Its design is for defense, and while it may be used for bashing or for jabbing, it is ultimately rather unwieldy and can easily be surpassed by the elegance of a sword, spear, or really anything that was designed as a weapon. But the size of my shield did give it one advantage, besides providing excellent defense, it would make a weighty blow it I could connect with my opponent. I could just shadow walk behind him and… yeah, the only weak spot he looks like he had was the mask, being the only thing I couldn’t see through. There was always the possibility that they could be damaged and it was just my own eyes that let me see their more translucent side, but I’d rather not take the chance, I really didn’t want to get impaled. Sure I’d, probably, be able to heal it off, but that doesn’t mean I want to feel excruciating, scream inducing, pain. I needed to do this in one go, cause I wasn’t going to get enough time to redo it before retaliation occurred.

Shadow walking a final time, Caligo coming at me all the while, I clenched my hand, made sure the arm straps were tight, and waited. The only effect my change in tactics did for the floating mask was for him to spread out all of his tentacles and have them all come at me once I was in range. I raised my shield, holding it parallel to the ground, cocked my arm back by the elbow, and took a single step, taking me the distance in half the blink of an eye as I let my arm fly, smack center into the featureless face of the wackjob that sent me to this, admittedly neat looking, place. The hit connected as well as continued through the mask, cracking it in half. The darkness composing his body vanished like a puff of smoke.

A sigh of relief passed my lips as my chest began to relax after seizing up in all the… excitement. Now all I had to do was call to the shadows and port myself back to anywhere but here. I stood there, waiting. Then I waited some more, and then some more. My heart rate began to rise in panic, it couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t be losing my powers. It was just like every dream I’d ever had super powers in. I be flying and shooting laser beams for a few minutes, but they would slowly disappear into nothingness. And now that I actually had some in real life it almost seemed too cruel that the one completely and utterly awesome thing that had ever, and I was almost certain would ever, happened to me was happening. I busted out the fallen knee stance and screamed to the heavens.

“Humph, quite the drama queen” a familiar multifaceted voice echoed. As I began to rise, wanting nothing more than to vent my frustrations upon anything I could wrap my hands around, an ectoplasmic arm came out of the mass of shadows that were under the control of the newly reformed mask and patted me reassuringly on the shoulder. I quickly recoiled from the unwanted touch.

“Why can’t I shadowport out of here?” I wanted my voice to sound tough, but the slight growl was marred by the raised pitch due to my frustration.

“Your ‘shadowporting’ as you call it, does work. The problem is that you just can’t run out of your mind. Even if you could the result would be you taking your brain out of your protective skull, and even you wouldn’t come back from that.”

“What do you mean I can’t run from my own mind?”

“Well, I may have been a bit theatric when I said I was taking you through ‘The Training Gate’, when I actually meant I was taking you deep within your own mind. This whole world is actually my own construct from the part of your mind that I now inhabit. You won’t get back out unless I let you, and until then your body is under my control.”

“If it’s under your control, why even bother with me at all? Shouldn’t you be trying to take over the world or some other contrite plot like that as the new overlord of darkness?” My voice no longer held any high pitched quaver and was now completely filled with sarcastic condescension.

“Again, I am not the one who may take the mantle of the dark sovereign. I was created to be an advisor to those who take on the mantle. For, as you have clearly surmised, it is normally under the control of those of a less than ambivalent nature, and is normally replaced by an upstart. In fact I’m rather lucky to be active for a three or four hundred year stint. My last sovereign had the longest go that I had yet to see, second only to the very first sovereign, before losing connection to me. That was about one-thousand years ago”

Okay, chatty bloke, but if I were trapped in a mask with no one to talk to for a thousand years, I’d be dying to talk to anyone.

That certainly put things into perspective. As much as I wanted to throttle this guy, I just couldn’t help but empathize with him. I’d been trying to leave the second I met him, and all he really wanted was someone to talk to, and control the absence of light. I let out a long and exasperated sigh, I was going to try and do this one more time, “Do I really have to do this, or can I get someone else to take over the mantle, surely there’s someone more qualified to rule over the element of darkness than me? I don’t even know what it would entail, let alone anything I’d have to do.”

“Very few are willing to personal inadequacies, let alone to give up positions of power. It is your refusal to take a power you don’t understand that I will not do this. You have the potential to be even greater than the first dark sovereign. You will bring about a new age of darkness, the like of which no one has ever guessed.”

Dam it, now I know how Potter felt when he got the Philosopher Stone out of that mirror while the guy who wanted it was right next to him, screwed.

What followed after this was just a basic Q&A session while I was getting used to the fact that my life was clearly going to no longer have any semblance of normality. Besides, it could be worse, I could be bald and have a big nose.

Caligo was most interested in my ability to command shadows, turns out that he normally gifted those who took on the mantle of Dark Sovereign with a nearly identical set of powers, and was quite surprised at this turn of events, having never seen the like before, in this world. I explained that I’d gotten my powers and was in fact from another world entirely, and really just about everything. It seemed to be taken in stride by him rather well, though he did seem a bit disturbed when I mentioned that his world was thought to be nothing more than a small girl’s entertainment.

I was in turn informed that my duties were to really just to do as I pleased, to a large extent. What normally had happened was that the Dark Sovereign would gather vast amounts of power and try to wage war against those who served under light, and fire, in hopes to imprison it it and make darkness the dominant world element. Completely extinguishing it would not work as a new avatar of the perspective element would be chosen, making all the previous work done worthless. Keeping the ruler of the opposing element under lock and key, all the while alive, was preferred. This was the norm, with exceptions few and far between.

My revulsion at the thought of trying to slaughter others for some so inane seemed to please Caligo. I also learned that the Elements of water and earth would normally act as an ally or at least not an enemy as they were known to keep things in “the dark” as it were, though mostly it was earth because of its, normally, non-translucent nature. And also that in order to properly establish myself I’d have to set up a palace. I didn’t quite like that term, so it was amended to fortress or base of operations, basically a place of power where I would be at full strength, this was usually done underground, far from the rays of any sunlight, again, another connection to the earth. But the main thing that would have to occur would be to fully regain the power of the dark sovereign.

Caligo was actually a half brother of two entities. While he was one of the mind and hidden ways of that nature, which explained his control of shadows themselves as well as the mind trap I was currently in, his counterpart, which he referred to as his sister, was the one who “gave birth” to these abstract concepts and shadows to make them capable to interact with the physical world. In short they worked something like a power ring, like from the Green Lanterns, and while the sister, had vast amounts of power, she was unrefined and it took the power of Caligo to focus and make use of it.

I asked why she wasn’t with him if that were so inseparable and near useless without each other. To which he replied, “The fault lies with the last sovereign of darkness. Enraged at the lack of care for the darkness, the sovereign became emotionally unstable. This sovereign too was like you, already gifted with powers before the mantle was given to them, and in a jealous rage against those who coveted the light sought to blot away the sun by bringing the moon into a constant state of eclipse.” This was starting to sound eerily familiar. “The sovereign of light came and used a collective source of power that completely surpassed the sovereign in terms of magical ability. The sudden increase of magic ruptured my connection from the sovereign and my sister counterpart, and we have been apart ever since.”

Okay, that was just far too specific, “Caligo, was the last Sovereign of Darkness Princess Luna?”

He gave a surprised gasp, “Indeed she was.”

“And why exactly do you refer to them as past sovereigns and not use more familiar terms?”

“That is something I would rather not disclose.” He said as his voice took on a harder tone. Well, I certainly knew when to leave well enough alone, well usually, at least this time I was.

“So I can’t fully take on the office until you reunite with your sister. Do you have any idea where she is? What’s her name anyway?”

“We have always been linked, and I can feel her even now, I know she’s been subdued, but landscapes tend to change dramatically over a thousand years, so I could not guess on exactly where she is. As for your second question, due to our… ephemeral nature, we tend to be re-imagined every so often. This normally occurs with a new sovereign taking the mantle, though it is not always a dramatic change. Suffice to say, I do not know what my sister is calling herself now, but when we last met she called herself Somnium.” ‘Geez, these guys have some weird names. Reminds me of Greek, or maybe Italian, whatever, not important, shouldn’t judge.’

“So, what exactly is the plan from here then?”

“Simple, you will be trained to better use your current powers. But fear not, I will keep your body functioning in the real world and supplying it with all the necessities it requires for life.”

So, recap, I’m half-officially the sovereign of darkness, something I’ve just recently come to, kinda, accept. I basically get to decide what that means, and a little mask that floats in shadows has me trapped inside my own mind while he, admittedly, takes my body out for a spin. Yeah, things could be going better, but at least they could still be worse. That last thought almost seemed to take on an ominous toll as tentacles sprouted out of Caligo’s back and he began to rush me again as the landscape morphed into twisted hillsides.

Forest Trails (9)

(Author's Note: Prereader: Moon_Fire thank you)

Things progressed rapidly, or at least they sort of did. Caligo said something about being able to speed up or slow down time with in the dream world depending on how deep it was. While this was great for testing out ones powers, it wouldn’t enhance them. So, great for trying out new abilities, but my real body wouldn’t be granted any powers beyond it was capable at the start time of, I guess I’ll call it, ‘meditation’. So there went that whole OP Dragon Ball time zoned training room idea.

I was already getting the hang of shadow striding, Caligo corrected from ‘shadow walking, which he said sounded infantile, to the point where I could use it to move vertically through the same shadow I was in, or when I was in dim lighting. Though the sudden jarring experience of one’s stomach reaching up to the mouth is most unsettling, rather like a roller coaster but without the satisfaction of being strapped into a completely safe and tested vehicle.

The next thing to use constructs, and while I was rather good at this when stationary, in the movement of battle this one was much harder to accomplish. Basic walls, spikes, or blocks were about all I could handle while on the move, I really have so much more respect for Lanterns now, though I found I could easily make shadow copies of myself that mimicked my own movements (and when I swathed myself in darkness we were indistinguishable). I asked why this was and Caligo started to go off talking about Id, Ego, and a few Freudian concepts about self image and some Narcissus-esque theories that left me feeling very dirty, so I quickly stopped him, whilst trying to not to project vomit.

Still on the subject of self, the next step was to take my control of shadows and use it to feel the world around me. It’s hard to explain, but it sort of worked like spidey-sense, I could sense things in all the dark, meaning no one could get the jump on me, but I didn’t have the insane speed to back it up if say a bullet were shot at me, oh I could feel it coming, but I wouldn’t do me any good unless it was coming from a sniper about a mile away giving me a grand total of about four seconds from hearing the boom of the gun, and that’s if I was paying enough attention to something the size of an insect and got up to the point where I could actually sense that far. Caligo said that once I established a focus point in my base, such things would be possible, but otherwise a twenty foot radius all I could handle, and things got a hazy after that, I could still feel a general sense of what was going on, the darkness just called to me, trying to draw me in and be closer to me. I was further told that I would also be able to use this for light, but it would be more of the absence of dark it created, and that in large quantities it would just be a giant blind spot.

All of this was crammed into one long training session. It felt like days, with no resting, no sleep, and no eating. Hurray for mind manipulation! After each new concept was shown I was tested on it immediately, and then combined with the previous lessons. While the upside to this was that I was much more used to what I could do, I was even getting better at using my shield in a slightly more offensive manner, it didn’t change the fact that I was going on for so long without sleep or even feeling tired. To say it was deeply unnerving would be an apt description.

I lost all sense of time, and once Caligo was sufficiently satisfied with my work the use of each ability he said that he was quote, “glad I can finally stop holding back so that the real training can finally begin”. The landscape, which had been constantly shifting from one form to another immediately stopped and flattened, Caligo then grew to three times the size he had been using, and sprouted a comparable number of spike laden tentacles from his back, “From here on in, you will now be working as though in the real world. You will now feel pain more intensely, you will be able to get weary, and you will definitely be able to feel pain, heh heh heh.” and with that echo-y chuckle a vast swathe of tentacly doom descended upon me.

To say it was hell would be quite the understatement, mostly because it would be lessened by the fact the experience was put into words. Death came at me from every angle, even with my ability to sense within the shadows I was completely overwhelmed and only able to tell what was what when it came within about three feet of me. I was all over the place, shadow striding from spot to spot like an indecisive flea in a dog kennel.

After about three seconds of this I gave way to the ludicrous thought that I would actually be able to handle this when three spikes lanced through my torso at three different entry points and angles. I had definitely been given dampened pain receptor up until now because the only reason I wasn’t screaming was that I was in so much molecular fire-fused pain wrapped in salt rubbing knifed agony I couldn’t be bothered with anything else but to experience its hateful sting.

These spikes were then swiftly removed from my chest, leaving me looking like some twisted form of living Swiss-cheese, as the gaping wounds began to seal themselves. There is no way in heaven, hell, or purgatory that I want to go through that again. I coughed up some excess blood as it was pushed out of my closing lungs. Sitting there in a numb, throbbing, stupor, I just waited for the pain to stop, which was rather quickly, the problem was the echoes of phantom pain the wounds left would take a good deal longer to get over, a span of time Caligo was not willing to give as, “Again” echoed from where I would guess his mouth to be on that featureless mask.

If only this would be the end of me.

***

After about the twentieth time, I was completely exhausted, and while I had actually progressed some, the longest I had been able to stay alive was about fifteen minutes, and that had only been because I had given up any pretense of even thinking about trying to attack and just set off to put as much distance between him and me as I could, which would have worked a whole lot better it he hadn’t shrunk the world. But it didn’t really matter, what did matter was that at the end of the twentieth round, my body still feeling the echoes of agonies recently past, Caligo called for a stop. Well, not so much called for it as much as he simply stopped moving and the world shattered like stain glass as I fell upward back into the consciousness of the real world.

Gasping as I came too, I was surprised to see that, one I was no longer in the underground chamber I had entered, I was in some sort of ancient throne room, the same signs of disrepair rampant through it as well, while I was seated on a large stone throne, made out of the same grey stone as the walls, clearly big enough hold a normal sized horse. Two, Caligo was nowhere to be seen, though this was quickly put to rest as he opened up communications in my mind. Turns out we weren’t just linked, but we had been assimilated together. It was a little unsettling to know I had another consciousness floating up in my mind with me.

Turns out whilst I’d been under, Caligo had gone throughout the castle and found, what was left, of the barracks and had found some supplies to bolster our own, it was something called tac, and it wasn’t of much use for anything but a chewing exercise, but it was better than nothing, and pretty much lasted forever. As for being out of the hole I’d found him in, well, you’d want to get out a place you’d been stuck in for about a thousand years without being able to move once you had the chance yourself.

At this point, I had been thought, what I will loosely refer to as “training”, I wanted nothing more than to go to bed and put an end to my night, of which most had been used up. I was just about to get off the throne and find a good place to lie down when he said (thought), ‘What do you think you are doing?’

“Going to sleep, what’s it look like I’m doing?”

‘It looked like you were going to actually sleep.’

“Give the boy a medal! So why put up the fuss?”

‘Because going to sleep leaves you vulnerable, and I am not in a position where I feel that is the safest course of action for you to take.’

“So what am I supposed to do?”

To this Caligo gave off an immense feeling of equal parts confusion, disappointment, and flabbergastation, and then proceeded to teach me how to use yet another one of my shade abilities I’d been foregoing, the trance. It worked the same as going to sleep, but with the bonus of needing four hours rest to get the same benefit as six hours of sleep and keeping one’s awareness of the environment as well. So in essence I could stay in a trance for as long as I would normally need to sleep and be even more well rested, Caligo tried to dissuade me from this less than efficient use of time, but he relented after I reminded him I should get a break after what he had done, to which he admitted he may have gone a tad overboard. Turns out a lot of powerful elemental creatures can pull off this move, which would explain how Celestia had been able to pull Luna’s night shift while she’d been “gone” and not go completely insane. If Luna had been night sovereign it only made sense that Celestia was the sovereign of light, she controls the freekin’ sun for pete sake.

I wasn’t quite sure how to even start, but Caligo helped me ease into it for the first time. It was sort of like that drowsy feeling you’re in when you go to the restroom at night, a little wavy but still rather enjoyable. While in the trance Caligo let go of the reigns and let me hold onto them, once I was in it was exceedingly easy to maintain, the problem was that it was boring as all get out, since my brain didn’t fully shut off. I was just stuck there, with nothing to keep me occupied but my thoughts. With nothing better to do I went over all the recent events that had been what I had considered till now MY life. So many things had just been ripped from my control, and then I came across the memory of the parchment I had received. I’d been here for about three days, someone would have obviously noticed I’d been gone, most notably my roommate first, I really needed to send that letter off. So for the rest of the morning, as the sun came up, and passed overhead into the late afternoon, I thought on how to explain my choice to leave my family via a piece of paper.

***

I couldn’t wait until night. In fact I got up just a few hours after noon, if I was able to judge the suns trajectory worth a lick. I was too blasted bored and needed to do something. Giving a call out in my head, more or less just concentrating, found Caligo in working order as well. Asking him what he thought might be a good course of action he suggested recon, for while I had demonstrated a knowledge of the recent timeline of the show, I still wasn’t sure exactly what part of the timeline I was in, and to try and not much about in it and thus possibly destroy it resulting in a possible paradox thus ending all life, unlife, and everything in-between for all eternity both forward and back. That sounded like the best idea I’d ever heard, I like being alive and having a place to put my stuff.

While the best place to gather information would definitely be back in Ponyville, it was agreed to wait until sunset when I would be able to hide myself and use a shadow proxy to safely interact with the ponies. So in the intervening time Caligo suggested I go about the Everfree Forest and put my newly worked skill set to practice.

Getting out of the castle had been a bit of trouble, but not too much, and I even got to use the rickety bridge that Rainbow Dash repaired to get back into the canopy shrouded forest. It was impressive just how much the light dimmed underneath, no direct rays of sunlight trying to get at me, I even let down my hood for a little bit, emphasis on little, lots of bugs are just as active during the day as the night and the intense whining and other assorted noises were quite the annoyance.

First thing was to wrap myself in shadow so that no one could see me, one that was though I began to simply walk through the forest. It was rather peaceful, nice dark shades of earth colors, reds, browns, and greens, moss festooned trees everywhere, and nary a bright flower to ruin it. Everything was going quite well, I was doing a good job of filtering out and ignoring all the smaller things scurrying around and had actually picked up a few of the larger creatures that I’d seen on the show. I felt a manticore some thirty yards off, it was pretty big, so it could have been a bear, but I don’t think they have just normal bears in Equestria. I even noticed a pack of timberwolves. Those had actually ran right past me by a few feet as they reached a sunny glade to lie in. They’re part plant so I guess they need to photosynthesize for a little bit each day I supposed. Though, I’d been surprised that they’d not so much as glanced my way, I knew I was invisible, but had I lost my scent on becoming a shade?

‘No, sir, that was my doing, it would not befit a sovereign of darkness, a true epitome of concealment, to be given away by something as paltry as scent.’

‘Ah, well thanks,’ I thought back.

It didn’t take me long to find a dirt road, of which I decided to follow, needed to get my bearing right anyway. After going for a few minutes I came across a large, twisted, looking tree festooned with hanging glass bottles and tribal looking masks. Ah Zecora, the enigmatic, rhyme speaking, herbalist. She was always doing something different, although she might say she was doing what she always did, to me it was different, and different is exciting. I couldn’t really help myself, so I helped myself to a peek into her house through one of the many windows which I’m sure she thought too high for anypony to look through, well she was half right I suppose.

Gazing through one of the higher windows, of which I actually had to stand on my tiptoes for, I took a gaze at Zecora’s home. The show really didn’t give her much credit, you only ever saw that one room, and let me tell you they don’t even give that room much detail. Glass containers of nearly every shape and color were clustered on shelves and tables throughout, little dried things were held aloft by the roof by strings. So many odd ends and doo-dads, she could make a hefty profit by selling those things in a knick-knack shop, though she’d probably have to make replicas for that as I’m sure they all had some sort of special use. Though what troubled me was that her black cauldron, which she used to make a great number of her remedies was alit. In fact there was a brew bubbling in there, but I’d yet to actually see Zecora yet. Of all the characters on the show, she seemed the last person… err pony… err equine to leave a fire unattended, let alone one in a wooden house.

I was puzzling over this seemingly inconsistent string of actions and was just about to chalk it up as nothing out of the ordinary, maybe she had just gone to the little mare’s room, when a large blip appeared on my shadow sense directly behind me as a very wooden like crack echoed smacked against the base of my skull. Leaving me just enough time to think, ‘Oh no, not again.’

***

‘Oh great, why do I keep getting the daylights knocked out of me?’ I thought as I gave a low groan. I hoped this wasn’t some sort of twisted joke, the laws of causality always seemed a bit skewed on the show, and now that I was in the real version of it I couldn’t help but wonder if the show we saw was more of a window than just abstract imaginations.

Derailing that, quickly, bleak turning train of thought I reached up to rub the back of my head, not that it was throbbing, but mostly out of habit, this whole healing factor has its advantages sometimes, but found my arms tied to my side as well as strapping me down to my legs to a very human fitting chair. I thought to Caligo who, due to being so closely linked to me, had been knocked out by the same blow and was actually still out of it, so I let him be.

As I began to try and strain against the ropes a very stern voice behind me said, “Creature that hides itself in the dark, why is it my home you embarked?”

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble, I was just a bit lost when I stumbled upon your house. Did I do something wrong?” I had no idea what I’d done to deserve this, though I hoped I hadn’t messed up any temperamental brews she’d been working on, I don’t know magic exists here. All I did know was that thanks to my southern upbringing, I default to respecting authority as well as my elders. Yeah, I blame my parents for that particular stigma.

Zecora, the striped poet laureate herself, only walked around from behind me and looked up into my hood, which she had probably no doubt tried to take down, and tried to look into my eyes.

“Your words bespeak of manners most humble, but your slick words will not make me stumble.”

Ok, I clearly wasn’t getting anywhere with her fast, as she was obviously convinced I was some dreaded creature from the æther, though considering my pores exude shadow, that isn’t that poor of a guess all things considered. I really didn’t want to bolt from there though, it would leave quite a bad impression, and if there’s something that should be avoided at all costs, it’s to leave a bad impression upon a lady. Especially an intelligent lady who can easily put that knowledge to real world applications. Like say creating potions, or making a whole town see me as a threat to be taken down. I really didn’t want to end up as a statue.

Starting to panic at this point a certain episode began to flit through my mind, a small smile spreading across my lips, “I once heard a wise mare once said, that one should perhaps take a second look, and not judge the cover of a book.” It came off a little cleverer than I intended, but an immediate softening of Zecora’s face was enough proof that I was getting somewhere.

“Perhaps I may have been hasty to act, perhaps my actions I did hastily enact” That last rhyme seemed a bit off, but I rolled with it, apparently I had hit a soft spot.

“Well, can you really blame me? I wrapped myself in shadow so I’d go unnoticed. I didn’t want to cause anypony any fuss, which as you’ve noticed is quite… different. In fact, how did you notice me to begin with, and why couldn’t I sense your presence until you attacked me?”

“My home is warded against creatures who make use of the night, so when they come stalking I may see them whilst I get the first strike.” Ok, I’m thinking sight ward (bane of all noob Twitch players) in combination with a form of home field stealth.

“Well, since it’s been established that I’m not here to cause any mischief, may I get out of these ropes?”

Zecora begins to give a positive affirmation, in rhyme, but before she can act I bring the shadows in the dim room around me and bring myself two feet away from the chair, leaving me falling on my rear and a slack jawed Zecora. I quickly stand back up, wiping my seat, finding surprisingly little dust, and accidentally hitting a few low hanging bottles as they clink together. As I begin to apologize for my clumsiness Zecora gets over her spluttering and begins to question me on just what I am. I give her the basic character sheet on what a shade is and gave a brief account of my life for the past few days, though I keep the whole mask thing in my head, being the keeper of balance for darkness out of it, and an alien being, she probably wouldn’t be so forgiving of that or put too much stock in my sanity, of which even I was having a few misgivings of at this point. When she tried to press me to be more specific I simply said that it was farther than she had ever traveled.

Satisfied for the moment, and with the sun beginning to set, Zecora asked if she could make amends for her rather hasty actions from earlier by having me over for dinner, due to a grumbling stomach I hastily agreed.

By this time Caligo had finally come to, and emanated waves of sorrow at his lack of action he was able to take upon his sovereign being taken down, I calmed him down and explained that nothing had gone horribly wrong and that he’d obviously do better next time. He did admit to still having a slightly tenuous link on the physical plain, but that it would strengthen over time.

Zecora had already gotten soup on during this time, and mentioned something about how nice and quiet I’d been, or at least something that sounded like it. Some of that rhyme speak was a little hard to decipher.

During supper, of which was made of a delicious potato soup, before the silence could get awkward, I asked if she could fill me in on any of the recent current events. Zecora turned out to be a true fountain of knowledge on this point, normally being an outside observer, it really makes sense that she’d at least keep some tabs on others, especially when the first time anypony came to her house they ended up wrecking it and pointing accusations at her.

I was glad to find out that I was definitely in the second season as Zecora mentioned the Cakes sending off their special cake to Canterlot for a contest, as well as a recent dragon migration, and that in more recent news, of which I spotted via a CosMarePolitan magazine on a nearby table, two certain Canterlot higher ups were due to get married soon. She also mentioned that the mane six had gone off a little while back to chase some wanted criminal.

I mean, I guess it’s alright for them to have lives outside of the twenty-two minute window I’ve viewed them from, but that seemed like it have made a neat episode, ‘Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony in To Catch a Criminal’, that title alone would have suckered me in, almost, regardless of quality.

Having filled myself with three bowls, well they were a tad small, I thanked Zecora for the lovely meal and began to get up. When she questioned me on this I said that I had some things that I needed to do, and besides, I worked best at night, and had plans on becoming more nocturnal. She acquiesced, admitting to me having a rather intimidating visage. Was I really that scary? I thought all the dark made me look a little whimsical by how it flitted through the air like smoke. I did ask, however, if she had a writing utensil I might borrow, as I really wanted to write my letter before I forgot what I thought up. She agreed to the simple request and grabbed one from behind an opaque green glass on a low shelf. I thanked her and began to write my letter.

Dear Mom,

***

Once I finished my letter, I folded it in half, and concentrating on the intended recipient before I even tossed it onto the small fire beneath Zecora’s cauldron, I took a deep breath and quickly placed it upon the fire, not willing to take the chance of it flitting away somewhere else if I threw it. Upon reaching the fire it instantly gave a small flash of silvery-white and vanished in a puff of wispy grey smoke.

Again I thanked Zecora, and took my leave of her truly hospitable house, even if the only way I found out was from getting knocked out. Well she hadn’t meant any real harm so I let it slide, besides, she, was awfully cute, like many of the other inhabitants of this world.

As I began walking down the road Caligo finally decided to make some noise.

‘We should continue down this path, I can feel that Somnium is in this general direction.’

“Yeah, well alright, got any idea just how far off she is?”

‘Not as such, but it feels like there is some sort of interference between us. Not distance, in the normal sense, it feels… warped.’

Warped reality huh? Sounded like some serious power was at work, and what greater power than, say, a city holding a magical university and two winged creatures that control the orbits of the sun and the moon. I was pretty sure I knew where Caligo’s other half was being held, so I began to pick up the pace and started shadow striding.

(Author's Note Mk. 2: At this point in time I would like to let it formally be known that I am in the market for an editor and pre-reader. I am not disappointed with Moon_Fire's work, far from it, I am constantly reminded due to these actions that there are those on the internet who help others for the mere sake of helping. I would just feel more comfortable if I could get more people to help go over my musings before sending them out to the general public. So if you would be interested in helping me maintain my story, I would be most grateful. Please PM me should you wish to contact me.)

Royal Mishap (10)

(Author's Note: Prereader: Moon_Fire thank you)

Canterlot, the city of lights. Two specific lights to be exact, the sun and the moon, well, more the keepers of their orbit, but it sure sounds less romantic when you say it that way. Caligo only gave off a wave of confusion at my whimsical thoughts, and when he questioned me on just who they were directed at and I said no one at all, he mumbled something about how it was too soon. Whatever, me and no one go way back, we’re good buds. And now that I was in the city Caligo said that the pull was stronger than ever, and that, surprise, surprise, it felt like it was being held in the direction of the palace.

The moon shone down from the sky and gave a silvery light that suffused the cobbled streets in a small glow. The houses were a bit like Ponyville’s but with more brick and stonework, as well as being two stories high, on average, thus giving me plenty of shadows to use while I went up to the castle.

Now was the time to get serious, I couldn’t go in half-cocked and expect things to go well. For one, I was a creature of darkness, so there was already going to be the prejudice of automatically being labeled evil, and this would only be magnified in the town of the sovereign of light, something that Caligo had confirmed while I’d made my way here. And if they had gone to all the trouble to lock this “Somnium” up, then they obviously believed she was beyond redemption since she’d been hit with the friendship laser of the Elements of Harmony, she was obviously considered to be quite corrupted. I really hope Caligo knows what he’s talking about being able to fix Somnium.

‘I do.’

Right, thought share.

In short, no shadowporting into the castle, don’t want to accidentally run into any guards or worse, one of the alicorns. I wrapped myself in darkness, becoming invisible, and began to make my way through the town, shadow striding further into uptown, rather than down town as the city was built on a slope working in towards the mountain it rested be. The town became even more extravagant the further I went in, and while they didn’t seem to have mastered making many-storied houses, it seemed that a three story house, or mansion in many cases, was about the pinnacle one could reach before an actual castle.

Once outside the actual castle, of which I hadn’t paid much attention to when watching the show, except for the Russian-esque type domes (which are freekin’ awesome), I was a little surprised at just how little defense there was. Not to say there were no patrols, in fact, I clearly saw a handful walking a few of the walls, just that the walls were so… low, and ornamental looking. Though I suppose when you have about a third of the species who can fly, building high walls isn’t too big a deal, nor if another third might just as well cast some spell and get through the wall just as easy. In fact, now that I was thinking about it, it would be a greater folly to make the castle look like a fort, all these low walls gave a great deal of visibility from many of the windows of the actual castle building itself.

‘No time to mess around, get your head in the game.’

I needed to find out where they were keeping Somnium. I took a deep breath, and set off to search the castle.

The castle itself was huge. At least in comparison to what the show let us see. Though it wasn’t quite that spectacular, white walls and royal red and purple carpeting festooned the floors, and when I didn’t pass a window then there was some painting on the wall, or tapestry, or some sort of vase or some such pottery on display with lighted torches every so often where the moon wasn’t lighting the halls as they cast about flickering shadows. I silently passed many a servant and caretaker keeping maintenance on these things, those carpets were really soft, though I suppose if they weren’t there then clip-clop of walking would get a little frustrating with all the echoes that were produced from the high ceiling. I even passed by a few guards, who when they weren’t wearing a bored expression, gained through years of nothing ever having happened on patrol, were chatting it up with a servant, even going so far as to stop walking.

All the while Caligo became more and more eager, he repeatedly told me that Somnium was “so very close now” that eventually I got fed up with it and told him to simply point me in the right direction, it was a pretty big castle after all.

Finally, after about an hour of wandering, and re-wandering, the twisted passages of this cavernous castle we arrived, or at least Caligo said that we were close enough that he could now feel the space that was being warped and that Somnium was definitely close by it as well.

Trying to distract myself from the waves of positive emotion emanating from Caligo, I began to take a closer look the room we now occupied. As I walked down it, the room being a large corridor, I noticed the colored light that streamed through the glass from the moon outside. In fact the whole hall was festooned with giant stained glass windows depicting great acts done by pony kind. I was in the chamber hall of the Elements of Harmony, or at least the resting place for the jewelry. I decided to just walk the rest of the way so I could enjoy the awesome glass-work. I’m not normally one to say this about art, of any kind, but it was quite amazing, who ever had done them was not only a master of their craft, but a master artist as well. The each window seemed to emanate hope and hold whispers of inner strength for the ponies who accomplished these acts as well as those who looked upon them.

It was time to blow this pop stand.

While I wasn’t one for trying to teleport to places I’m not familiar with, I did remember that the room past those ornate, star shaped, jewel festooned, doors was a flat floor, with a few feet of room around the pedestal and a door that was only about a foot thick, I could do this. I called out to the darkness, its familiar caress flowed around me as I pictured myself moving forward, feeling the connection to the shadows of the dark room beyond. I let myself flow ahead through the darkness, ready to find this ‘other half’, and was once again greeted with a familiar friend… pain.

I literally shot back from the door liked I’d just hit the end of my rope and bungeed back. Sparks of residual energy sparked along my shield and my clothes. It definitely wasn't simple electricity, though the orange color was also a bit of a tip off. I could hear the stomp of many hooves quickly coming to my prone and twitchy location. Guess they upgraded the security system on that vault so no one could simply teleport in there and take them out again.

My head was still ringing, but I definitely wasn’t lucky enough to pass out, apparently my body wanted me to share its deliciousness with me, but I was probably just building up some sort of tolerance to pain with my new boosted recovery system.

I was just getting to my feet when the doors to the hall busted open with, I don’t know a platoon? Squad?... a lot of royal guard ponies, both winged and earth came crashing through with a few splinters of rock flying through the air in their wake. This impressive display paled, however, from the flash of blue tinted light that followed from in front of me where four royal unicorn guards stood, two to each side, of Princess Luna, in all her flowing maned glory. I also noticed that Twilight’s brother, I couldn’t place his name, being a little frazzled at the moment, was to the direct right of her. I might have even given thoughts to how cool this all was, if I wasn’t being given a particularly harsh death glare from Luna herself.

“We dost not know how thou hast escaped your prison Discord,” she roared in a particularly deafening Royal Canterlot voice, “but you shall not, again, take away the Elements of Harmony so as to reign chaos upon Our land unopposed!”

As flattered as I was at being put on the same level as Discord (shut your gob, Discord is best pony), that small thought was too far behind the massive wall of ‘oh s**t oh s**t oh s**t oh S**T, She’s going to explode me and then send me to the moon after she petrifies my remains and grinds them to dust even further!!!’. I was just about to beg for my life, when Caligo decided to act.

You ever have a large pimple on your face, I mean, a REALLY big one, and once you’re alone (you never burst the REALLY big ones in public), you get your fingers together and just push all those nasty oils and ‘you don’t want to think about what else’ out? You know how you can feel all of that coming out of you, every last disgusting drop? Yeah? Well that’s roughly what it felt like, except it wasn’t just a single pore, it was my entire face, and it felt a lot more gooey, as Caligo pushed his white mask of a face out and hardened as it hit the air. Suffice to say, it definitely wasn’t tasty.

Taking command of the shadows, which flickered in the light of five glowing horns, everypony tensed as my body slowly rose up, while I just sat in the back of my mind working on not losing control of what passed for my rational thought. A deep laugh, something I thought impossible for my tenor voice, erupted from the mask covering my mouth as the darkness formed a twister of shadow. Dark phantoms flitted about the cylinder of darkness as my hand slowly rose from my side and shot a beam of pure black at Princess Luna. She threw up an energy shield and cringed when she saw the shield did nothing to slow it down as the insubstantial wave of darkness passed through her. And with that distraction the shadows quickly consumed me and I found my body standing outside the city of Canterlot and began to regain control of it as Caligo began to ooze back into me. (that didn’t come out right… neither did that)

'I believe a change of tactics is in order sir.'

“Indeed, but what are we supposed to do?” My voice quickly turning from shout to whisper, as I tried to calm myself down from having almost becoming a smear on a very expensive rug.

'I’d suggest integrating ourselves with the royal workings of the castle and become hirelings.'

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly soldier material. My shadow puppetry may be decent, but even if we could get onto the royal guard we’d eventually have to come in physical contact with someone, be it sparing or just some friendly smack.”

'I did not mean the work of a soldier. I meant work as a servant. In my experience, they have the unassuming quality of becoming one with the background, to the point where none but the most deluded and paranoid will acknowledge their presence. They are, by far, one of THE best sources of information of the workings in a castle. It should be a simple enough matter to become something of a curator or cleaner of some sort.'

That was a pretty slick idea, in fact I rather liked it, though one thing was still bothering me. What exactly had Caligo done back by the entrance to the Elements of Harmony? Upon questioning him on what had happened, he informed me that he’d merely taken over my body during the previous crisis, of which I had completely frozen up in. The only difference from last time was that the bond between us had gotten stronger over time. Soon we’d even be able to flat on merge together. As Power Rangers as that sounded, it was bad enough that I had to share room with someone else in my head, and now he’s telling me we could merge together? I was just glad it’s optional.

***

It had been a long day. I’d been in trance-mode for a while, but luckily somepony or other always managed to walk by whatever alley me and Caligo were squatting, leaving me rather anxious till the evening. I figured if we wanted a night job, then we should go in at night to do so. Especially now that Luna was back things really had to have been picking up, she did have a thousand years of politics, laws, and other drudgery to catch up on after all. Not to mention getting her own set of guards, or at the very least different armor for the recruits that at least had to have been transferred over from Celestia’s division, she wouldn’t leave a sibling unprotected now would she. But once the sun was finally brought down it was time to make my move.

Now, when it comes to being extraordinarily clever, I can only make claims to that about… oh, once every three or four months. But right now that wasn’t what I needed, thank goodness. No, what I needed to do was be direct, I wanted a job. So, best way to do that would be to simply walk up and ask for one. I wasn’t bothered by any life threatening situation at the moment, so I was able to put my time and make a slick shadow-pony to act as my face for the world, so I just ended up making the same black haired unicorn pony I did back at that tavern in Ponyville, hey, don’t fix what ain’t broke.

Shadow puppet completed, my real body hidden safely within the three-dimensional shadow, I made my way over the small stone bridge, that curved over the mountain stream, to the castle gates, came up to the grand front doors… and turned to the right, and went down the smaller, still stoned, path to the servants entrance.

Interview (11)

(Author's Note: Prereader: Moon_Fire thank you)

I don’t normally experience, what many call, ‘strokes of luck’. Though, a deeper understanding of this would only come from knowing that the use of the word ‘normally’ was meant to express ‘not ever’. Oh sure some really smug person could always come up and go on about how I’d never been homeless, raped, and on and on, listing misery after misery. True, I’d had a relatively safe life, back on Earth (gave me shivers just thinking about the interdimensional distances), but I would then remind that smug jerk of a surprisingly not well known saying, “Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having all happen at once” (Paulo Coelho). Never really bothered to look that guy up, I just know that he said that, and that’s good enough for me, especially when I fit so well into that nothing category.

But where was I? Oh yes, luck, getting in the castle had been surprisingly easy. Upon going up the servant’s entrance I asked the first pony I saw, a bright pink furred mare with dark purple hair that was busy dusting a vase of muted colors, who I should talk to in order to become employed with the castle staff. She’d been only too happy to oblige, though I think that ponies are just normally happy so the phrase “only too happy” could really only be accurate when describing ponies like Pinkie Pie (not that it’s necessarily a bad thing).

She took me down a few corridors, a few of which I recognized from my previous nights work from the rather odd, what some fools would call, “art” in them. Though I noticed that now that I was with someone the castle seemed a lot less big. Though it was probably just the fact that she knew where she was going and thusly took the shortest route more than anything else.

As best I could tell, we were somewhere near the center of the castle. Made sense, would be the closest way to be next to everything should an emergency require quick action. She then asked me to wait in the hall while she went in after a voice from within beckoned for her after a polite knock.

I waited for a few moments, idly twiddling my thumbs, not that anyone’d be able to see. I started to get nervous after what felt like a few minutes passed by, but in all reality was merely a few seconds. What can I say? I felt put on the spot like some kid called into the principal’s office. It didn’t help I had some slightly subverted plans for doing so either, but hey, if I was going to get some more sweet super powers… I mean if I could make sure no one else would go crazy from having half an entity stuck in their head then I was all for it. Attempting to appease my conscience with logic aside, I was quickly asked to come in from a deep commanding voice as the pink mare left me to, presumably, go back to her work.

As I entered the voice beckoned me to shut the door, and then to come forward once I’d completed the task. Looking around as I came forward, the room itself was rather small, and sparse. In fact the room’s only striking features were a bookcase on the left wall, a combination ornate and functional, what I could only assume to be, mahogany desk, and the white mustached grey furred Earth pony that sat behind it on a backless futon chair. The nameplate on his desk said Reginald. The pony himself had light gray fur and short cropped white mane and tail. He wore a very functional looking tux, minus, of course, the pants, his neck adorned with a small red bow-tie.

While I don’t use this word often, he was definitely what you would call a distinguished gentleman… err, colt. His very presence, felt calm and calculated. And all the while I’d been admiring him (like the same way you’d admire a super hero, Hayate the Combat Butler, that’s all I have to say about that), he’d been sizing me up, or at least my three-dimensional puppet. As experienced as he was, he seemed a bit disturbed, especially when he looked into the eyes, being nothing for him to look into but a void rather than a soul.

He cleared his throat, “So, Feather Wake tells me you wish to become employed with the castle staff, Mr…?”

“Rumor sir, and yes sir.” I said, the shadow mimicking my slight head nod and closing of the eyes.

“Any particular reason why?”

That one took me a little bit to answer to, but I ended up just saying, “I like to keep things clean. I also rather like the quiet, which is why I came so late in the evening. I hope to be employed with the night staff.”

“You know, most ponies prefer to work during the day, and the castle remains quiet for the most part during that time as well.” He smoothed back his mustache with his right hoof. “Is there any other reason you wish to work at night?”

Crud, perceptive old codger! But I could still do this. I was still in control here, some. I made the shadow give a small shrug and quirked smile, “To tell the truth, I have rather sensitive eyes, too much light kinda hurts them, though on the plus side I can see in the dark really well.” I made my puppet give a small smile. Ah, the best lies have a kernel of truth, and this one had a few, but my honest enjoyment of keeping things clean didn’t stop my growing guilt at continuing the charade.

At any rate my answer seemed to have pleased him in some way, not that I could see if his mouth turned up or down with his moustache in the way, because the interview went on from there. Just the normal spiel of questions, with a few more cleaning related ones, though I did admit that I had little way when it came to formal training. But then he asked the big one, or at least the big one for ponies, “What is your cutie mark for?”

‘Irony’, I immediately thought, but thought better of it than to blurt it out. I was really coming to a blank on what to say here, I needed to twist it’s meaning somehow to be cleaning related, somehow, because if that episode of the Cutie Pox taught me anything, it was that cutie marks imbued the wearer with some mastery over the related talent. I was just about to port out of their when Caligo began to whisper as I repeated, “My mark signifies my wish to control things around me. And as life is normally quite chaotic and hard to manage, it gives me pleasure to know that I can at least control the environment around me, to an extent, by enforcing a degree of cleanliness which would otherwise not normally exist.”

‘Thank you.’

Reginald must have liked my answer as well because the right side of his moustache came up a few inches, and I think I saw a speckle of water form in the corner of his eye before it disappeared into the surrounding fur.

“You are hired.” This time the smile on my puppet matched my own. “Mr. Porter?” Reginald called out into a brass looking tube he pulled up from below his desk.

“Yes Reginald?” came the tinny, slightly bored, sounding reply.

“We have just made a new addendum to our castle staff, please send somepony up begin the integration process and show the new blood around.”

“Right away Reginald.”

He then pushed the tube to back wherever it rested under his desk, and turned to me, “You are certainly a strange one. But you seem like a polite young lad, and I think you’re going to get along with us like one, big, happy, family.” The warmth of his smile was evident, even from underneath his facial hair. I was then politely asked to go wait in the hall for whichever pony was coming for me as he had some work he needed to get back to.

I didn’t have to wait long out there either as the quick flapping of leathery-wings emanated down from the left of the hall as a royal purple coated bat-winged pegasus rounded the corner. She then rocketed down the straightway, coming straight at me, or at least my legs, by here angle of trajectory. I gave her time enough to start slowing down, but when she got within three feet of me I blinked over to the next shadow across from the door as the sound of screeching tires emanated a mere two inches from the spot I had just occupied.

“Jeez, I wasn’t going to actually run into you,” a very tomboyish, and definitely feminine voice replied out of the pegasus as she flung back her midnight blue hair out of her face. “You sure are jumpy though, names Twister, what’s your name?” She said as she lifted her front hoof in greeting.

I had to kneel down so my actual hand could bump with Twisters as my shadow mimicked my movement, giving off the illusion of reality. “My name is Rumor, ma’am.”

“Ahahaha, there’s no need to get all formal with me, that’s just Reginald’s thing, it’s just Twister, and it’s a pleasure to meet’cha. But how come your voice is so far from your mouth?” A quick ‘I’m mute and using horn like tuning fork’ explanation left her blushing from asking something that she assumed must have been a touchy subject, but she didn’t let it bother her for long. “Now come on,” she said as she took wing, “you get to have the grand tour given to you by the coolest maid in Canterlot.” Disgust began to rise within me, until I realized she hadn’t been stupid enough to claim all of Equestria under her title’s domain, so she couldn’t be too bad. I let a small smile creep over my shadow’s face as a larger one took mine. She started down the way I saw her come and I had to to shadow stride in order to keep up with her, but I think she was just happy that someone was able to match pace with her.

Our first stop was along the sleeping quarters it wasn’t drab, but it wasn’t posh, the best way to describe it would be to call it efficient. The colors were all dark, padding along the walls to help absorb outside sounds and closable canopies for another layer of privacy. Many of the servants actually made enough that they had rooms or condominiums outside of the castle, but these were here for those who were either new like me, or just felt too tired to walk all the way down to the city proper. Next were the bathrooms and washrooms, both of which were pretty standard looking, but immaculate white tile adorned the walls and a grainy white floor to promote friction covered both so as to easily see any spots or blemishes before and after washing bed sheets and the like. We passed, Sir, Reginald’s office, which acted as a hub for the castle staff as all the brass talking pipes led directly to him. The rest of the tour was pretty standard; I was shown where all the cleaning supplies were stored, and a few of the big wigs I should ask for if things got hairy, not that they should I was assured, I wouldn’t be doing anything major till it was found out what position I would best serve in, but you know ‘just in case’.

With all, Twister called “drab” out of the way she went on to show me the parts of the castle that were more fun. I was taken to the gardens, though apparently not the part that housed Discord, the royal throne room, of which was empty, though Twister said that it was something to do with Princess Luna trying to re-establish and continue to catch up on the political and cultural changes that she missed over the last thousand years, at which point she made a disgusted looking face and said she hated homework and couldn’t imagine being stuck doing something like that, I admit that I found her comment slightly amusing and gave a small chuckle which seemed to brighten her day… erm, night.

I must admit, the whole of the castle seemed rather impressive. The whole place was just so simple for the most part, with only a few rooms showing any signs of true decadence. The rest was just simplicity, in that it needed nothing else to show its worth. The walls were smooth, without a blemish and looked as though it were a single rock that had been carved from the mountain, the carpets were of a royal red so pure I almost felt like I could fall into them, and the art, hadn’t paid much attention to it when I came in last, but quite frankly it was beautiful, my personal favorite had been a painting of the last sliver of the setting sun over a red sun-baked landscape.

What truly piqued my interests were the places that even the royal staff wasn’t allowed to go. It was either military clearance, or for the Princesses’ only. Those places were tucked away, and even Caligo, who’d been silent for the whole thing became noticeably active during those times.

The tour in its entirety took up about some two odd hours, at which point it was now somewhere around eleven. Twister said she needed to get back and finish up her work, but before leaving said that I should take the rest of the night to familiarize myself with the castle as I would begin working the night shift, and should be up dark and early, because as of nine o’clock I’d be on shift, and would work a good eight hour shift, with an hour lunch break. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at my new job schedule. She then shot off, leaving a few dust devils in her wake, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

‘Well, we made it in.’

‘Indeed, and now the truly hard part, you’re going to need to play the role, though that shouldn’t be too hard for you. And as for those niggling doubts you’ve been harboring, you needn’t worry about forgetting the places we’ve been shown, my memory is quite good and I will guide you anywhere that we need to go now.’

That was a load off my mind, as good as I was with relative location, the castle was still pretty big, and a lot of the servant entryways were hidden behind walls so they could have quick and easy access to wherever they needed to go without having to run into anypony else. All in all though, it meant that I was free for the rest of the night. My stomach began to rumble, and Caligo redirected me back to the kitchen which was run by a kindly brown stallion with white mane and tail, named Devil Cake, he showed me to, what I could only call, the servants buffet and let me know that this was open to the staff at all hours so they could get a bite whenever they were able, though the ones that normally had the most hectic work hours were normally the day-shift servants. He gave me a smile and said he was glad I was now working on “our team” and went back to cooking whatever he’d been working on, as I helped myself to a peanut butter and honey sandwich with a tall glass of cold milk. As I began to chow down on it, I silently bemoaned that I couldn’t remember any other foods that had protein in them besides meat. But the fact that the smorgasbord that was a vegetarian Vegas style buffet certainly made up for it with all the variety I’d be able to mix into my diet.

After my meal, I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I made my way back to the sleeping quarters, found myself an unoccupied bed, closed the curtains, and fell into a trance. I wasn’t scared of anyone finding me. I could just port out of there into some odd dark corner of the castle if anypony tried to take a peek at me.

Back in my mind I beckoned for Caligo to send me through another wave of training till an hour before nine o’clock this coming night, I needed something to do to take my mind off of my growing guilt, and I certainly wasn’t going to spend my bed time with only my thoughts, this time.

Wedding Crashers (13)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): Moon_Fire, Paw Print thank you)

I quickly fell into my new routine by the third day. Reginald had been most pleased with my seemingly tireless ability to transport objects, and I was more or less just given the job of Royal Trash Collector. Since my job, which was normally done over the course of two days by a team of fifteen ponies I was given an increase to my paycheck. Not only that, but because of how much time I saved everypony else, including myself, I wasn’t officially given any more to do, leaving me with, in my opinion, too much time on my hands.

But it wasn’t all bad, Twister had been really nice to me, especially since I’d stood up for her that first night. I’d also gotten a few words of thanks from a few of the staff who usually got the job of taking out the garbage and were most glad they wouldn’t have to do it again. I’d been getting better at paying attention to gossip too, something I’d been loath to do back home because it was always so wretchedly inane (I still can’t figure out why anyone would care if ANY celebrity gained weight, or what drinks they take at a club). Seemed some griffin was out causing a ruckus out down south with some out of control hydras, something of which was considered to be at least partly true when some of the military blimps were sent out to some town, Moistclaw?... whatever. There was also word that this creature was also creating a pirate crew, which apparently was true as Weather Vein showed the group the wanted poster during breakfast with a black and white sketch of him and ‘Griffin’ posted in grand ole opry style under the name. That really didn’t help sway my opinion of the ponies and their xenophobia.

We’d all even meet up for lunch and dinner together too. Seemed they were all pretty good friends, and it felt pretty good to have been so easily invited, but accepted as well.

But as for the job, with so much time on my hands, and not wanting to seem too aloof and spent all that time alone… okay, actually that was Caligo, I had wanted to go to the Canterlot Library and see if there were any fiction books that caught my fancy. I decided on working in the kitchens, it was a hub of constant activity, and thus information, and even though it was one of the most well lit rooms of the castle during the night, it still provided enough shadows around the room for me to keep easily keep my cover, it just took a little more concentration.

Devil Cake had personally been happy to have someone there to help out. He didn’t have much to do, being the head chef, as the few assistants he had were there to help keep the buffet well stocked. He was there to personally cook anything should one of the Princesses require a midnight snack of some sort. He’d been a little worried at first that he’d need more assistance in order to help accommodate the initial increase to his work load when Luna first came back, but she’d lately taken to being more active during the daytime of late. He was quite nice, and he’d even begun teaching me how to cook. Turns out I wasn’t too good, oh I could follow a recipe well enough, but it turns out that you’re not supposed to put them in the order they are sometimes written in, something about how eggs should go in after flour. I wasn’t going to be entering any contests anytime in the future, Cake was just pleased enough to have some nice company, as was I.

Things had been going pretty good as I settled into my schedule, until one night I looked up and noticed a great pink sphere encasing Canterlot Castle. I’d completely forgotten about this. Every single fictional story I’d ever seen or read always went on about how much trouble one could get the time stream into by changing events, but it certainly wasn’t going to change much if I told my… I’m not sure if friends were the right word to use, but I certainly had developed a caring bond for them.

During that lunch, at midnight, whilst everypony was talking about their day, I finally worked up the courage to finally speak up, fifteen minutes into it. I was doing a good thing here. “Excuse me, but do any of you know the exact date of the wedding between Miss Cadenza and Shining Armor?”

Normally being very quiet and letting others keep control of the conversation everypony in the group all became quiet and turned towards me.

“Wow, somepony’s interested in something for once.” A smiling Weather Vein, good naturedly, joked, getting some titters from the twins and an outright chuckle from Twister. “But it’s a good thing you mentioned it tonight because the wedding is going to happen today. Planning on going to the ceremony?”

“Maybe, but I wanted to know if any of you guys were planning on going.”

“Sorry, but I’m working overtime into the morning to help make a ring of clouds for the sunset for tonight. The wedding planners want to have them just right so they’ll help stream shades of pink off of the last rays as the sun dips. So I’ll be too tired to do anything but sleep afterwards.” Weather Vein said.

“Same thing for us,” Xtra said, Oxi’s mouth full of food at the moment, “We’re both working well into the morning to make sure all the carpeting is particularly luxurious for the morning. We’ll retire to our house back in town once our shift ends.” Oxi nodded in agreement.

“Well, I thought I might go myself, but I didn’t really want to go alone” Twister said. “I wouldn’t mind going with you Rumor.”

Crud, not the reply I wanted to hear. And I think this might imply she wanted to spend some time alone with me. That didn’t make my conscience feel any better, and in fact gave me a spike of shame for my continuing lie of existence. Though it wasn’t nearly as noticeable as my first day, the repetition of it all was starting to desensitize me to it, guess if you tell a lie long enough, or however that saying goes. But at least I had the saving grace of my trump card.

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea. Isn’t the whole point of a giant shield around the castle to be for defense? I have this… feeling, that something bad might happen during the wedding.”

Twister look a little crushed at my implied no, but she, as well as everypony else at the table agreed that the shield was a little strange.

***

I let myself out of my trance as my time to work was about to start and my daily training with Caligo ended. Though I asked him to let us stop round mid-day, my sense of time being nil without a watch, something I planned on getting once I got my paycheck at the end of the week, because I wanted to be especially ready if any changeling made it to the servants sleeping quarters I and many other ponies were using. Turned out it was all for naught, the changelings hadn’t bothered with the servant wing at all, except to use it to go to the more affluent parts of the castle as they buzzed through the hallways. Even though nothing had happened, it still made me feel pretty heroic knowing that I had been there and would have acted the part of a super hero had anyone been stupid enough to come into the shadowed area that was the entire room save a few glowing crystal lamps near the floor.

Once I got out of bed and headed out into the hallway, the dying light casting deep shadows outside I noticed everypony I saw was walking instep together, not in line, but in-sync, and they were also humming a tune that niggled at the back of my head as something I should remember. Passing by an open window proved that the wedding reception was taking place, and apparently just starting as a sonic rainboom echoed through the air, looking all the more radiant in the dying light. Everypony was humming that love’s in bloom song. Man, the whole castle was a-hum with it. It was kinda creepy to tell the truth, it may look pretty cool from the television point of view, but everypony just picking up a song, and dancing with it out of nowhere right in front of you, with absolute perfect timing, is just not right to see in anything outside of robots working in concert. What’s worse I appeared to be the only one not dancing, made clear by all of the passing stares I got from ponies when they could spare a glance past their choreography.

I finally got to the kitchens where, thankfully, the music seemed to have no sway. Though it probably helped that one couldn’t hear it over the sound of the castle kitchen working at full capacity. I waved to Devil Cake, who despite his frenzied state of working on a row of seven crepes at once spared a quick smile before returning to the task of making sure all the nobles had plenty of high-class nibblies to snack on.

I’d just gotten into the servants dining area when Reginald immediately began striding over to me as soon as I’d entered the room. He seemed much more tense than normal, and that was saying something, even from a guy who’d only seen him two times, the second being in passing, and said, “As soon as you have had your meal I would like to speak with you in my office.” And with that he quickly trotted off out the kitchen and into the hall.

I didn’t spy my normal buddies, and I was about to panic, when all three of them came in, behind me, and got a quick drink and a bite before they all went back out. They’d apparently already been working for a bit, though they weren’t able to say much, other than they were glad to see me, as they had to go right back out and go attend to the wedding guests.

With nothing else to do I had myself a baglewhich with a glass of milk, and then made my way over to Reginald’s office.

***

“As you have just woken up, I’m afraid it is my displeasure to be the first to inform you that the castle has just gone through an invasion by a shape-shifting pony-oid race known as the changelings.” Reginald took a moment to let that sink in, and when no comment was made on my part he continued. “Luckily, however, the worst anypony has seemed to have suffered has been mild injuries. However, and I do not do this lightly, and I can do no more than ask, especially for one so new, and rest assured you may decline on this, but, the winning stroke of the battle that led to our victory led to a rather… soiled ending, very soiled ending for the changelings. As I have been told, a wave of power was shot through the castle, power by the newly wedded Prince Armor and Princess Cadenza. And while this was most fortuitous, the wave having scattered the changeling army to the four winds, those that were inside the castle did not all make it, lest they had been by a window at the time.” Again he paused, trying to gauge my reaction to all this, I having done nothing but keep my shadow stone-faced, he continued. “Due to your unique skills, it was my hope that I might have you assistance, in conjuncture with the soldiers who have been ordered to help clear away the forms that have been left behind as quickly as possible.” He then leaned back into his seat behind his massive wooden desk and awaited my reply.

I had no idea how to handle this. The show made everything seem so easy, and here was this pony mentioning corpses, in an eloquent manner, but death nonetheless. It was, well, a little overwhelming. But death happens all the time, and even here ponies don’t just live forever. I took a deep breath and slowly eased it out.

“I will of course help with this endeavor, just show me where to go, and where to take the garbage to.” Caligo pointed out that I should give my puppet a hard set jaw at this, which apparently helped ease Reginald a little bit seeing me express some form of emotion. He silently nodded in acknowledgement to the grim task I had agreed to and silently led me through the castle to, what I quickly found out was a quarantined off section where a large number of changelings had congregated to start forming a hive in preparation for what they had believed to be a victory.

***

A few attempts had been made on the part of the military unicorns to help clean the mess, they’d done a good job of it too, but the problem was that none were gifted in transportation, at least none that were currently stationed in Canterlot. So when it came to my part it was mostly just to get the great sphere of muck they’d compacted it all into to a massive pit that had been made at the bottom of the mountain. Even the stone face soldiers gave a few raised eyebrows of appreciation at my effort as I went from room to hallway to room getting all of the organic material out of the castle so that they could be cleaned and ready for use the next day. I’ll say this about the ponies; they are good at keeping things clean. Caligo had also been happy with the work, but only because I’d been so close to the soldiers and had hoped to overhear any scraps of information on anything that we weren’t supposed to hear. He was quickly disappointed at each venue I went to as the soldiers either remained grimly tight lipped, or grimly whispered their own thoughts on how grateful they were that so few had gotten hurt, and how worse it could have been.

I quickly finished up with the, organic, disposal and after that I went about my normal duties to get rid of the normal refuse around the castle. I was able to get everything but two places. The kitchen and the courtyard the reception was going in, both of which were still going on by the time I’d made my rounds. With nothing better to do I went to the servants’ buffet and found myself a snack, some crystal candy to munch on, of which was a delightfully real tasting strawberry flavor. That’s when Reginald again came up to me again.

‘Geez, he must be a veritable god at networking.’

‘Again, one of the reasons why infiltrating as a servant is so effective.’

‘Stop calling it that, you make it sound like we’re some sort of evil spy or something.’

To that Caligo remained silent, but a silent acquiesce was felt.

“Hello again Rumor. I have need of you to come into my office again.” I gave a slight start, unable to stop myself from projecting my surprise onto my puppet. “It’s not another gruesome task I assure you.” I gave a sigh of relief, though not for the reason he personally thought, though if pressed to say I wasn’t quite sure myself. He again turned and began to walk off, not bothering to look back, though he hadn’t need to as I again fell back onto my lifelong tradition of respecting those placed in authority above me, of which bosses was right near the top of that list.

The music outside had died down, and by the looks of it, from the scant few seconds I saw through the windows, it was starting to die down. The crowds were definitely smaller than the multiple courtyard spanners they had been. But the sound of Reginald’s office doors opening snapped my attention back to the matter at hand. He didn’t enter the doors himself, but bade me enter and take a seat, and that he’d be back shortly.

As I sat down my mind began to wander. One of the more prime thoughts being why the two seats in front of Reginald’s desk had backs to them whilst his did not, though I suppose if he had to give out reprimands it gave a sense of entrapment so one couldn’t just back away. Not that I was complaining, in a world made for ponies the chair had surprisingly good back support, my shadow a clear indication of it as I had it sitting back like me as well. Then the lights grew brighter.

When you are attuned to the dark you’re able to perceive changes in its lessening quite readily, so when the Reginald’s office doors opened up behind me and the room became flooded with shimmering radiance of a captured spring dawn I immediately went into full out panic mode, i.e. I froze up and began to try and think of a way out.

“Reginald has told me much about you my little pony.” Her voice was like silk. “And for one so new and so young to make one’s self so useful in so short a time is quite a feat indeed.” She continued walking in as the doors shimmered shut. “But then to take on a task that should not ever need befall upon one of my little ponies, and with such efficiency, that is something to be commended for.” She walked past me, her eyes shut, as she wraps her words in a soothing motherly tone, not needing to look to find her way in the castle she has so long resided in. She lifts her wings as she takes her seat then adjusts them once she is settled. “Thank you” A simple statement that bespoke volumes in the sincerity from the voice behind it.

Only after all that time did Celestia finally open her eyes to look upon the young stallion she had heard praises from Reginald, of whom she obviously held in high regard, only to see my shadow blink out entirely leaving a gangly guy mentally trying to fold himself away into his inky cloak as the eyes of Princess Celestia turned to steel and were directed towards me.

Interview Mk. 2 (14)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): Moon_Fire, Paw Print thank you)

“I am in no mood for pranks Griffin, where is Rumor?” It’s hard to think of heat as something that comes off as cold, but Princess Celestia clearly was not in a good mood any more.

‘Should I panic now?’

‘Just keep calm sir, take a deep breath and…’ At that moment Caligo shut off contact from me, I started to feel my mind go all fuzzy like in that café, jeez wasn’t it like a week ago or something?

‘Caligo?’

‘Busy.’ Was all I got, and a further hardening of an already impressive glare from Princess Celestia as my mind began to feel more solidified.

“You will tell me who you are. I am in no mood for tricksters or any other form of shape shifting today, and will not treat kindly to lies and deceptions that are said within my presence.”

I shuddered under the weight of her gaze, but somewhere in the back part of my head, that was still mine, was the small golden nugget of my optimism that said if I just explained things to her she’ll understand, she is a benevolent monarch after all… right? But just to be safe I shrank further behind the piece of light blocking cloth that covered me from the ever increasing glowing ire of Celestia.

“MynameisRumorma’am.Irecentlyfoundmyselfgiventheopportunitytocometoalandofdreamsandwasgivenpowersbeyondmy,old,bodiesabilities.ButuponarrivalIfoundmyselfdrawntothecastleoutintheEverfreeForrestandfoundawhitemaskthatbademetobethesovereignofdarknessandtofindhissisterhalfinorderformetofullyascendinpower.TurnsoutthatsisterhalfissomewhereinthiscastleofwhichI’vefiguredittobethesamestuffwhichledtoPrincessLuna’slessthanwellstateofbeingnottoolongagowithpromisesthatthebrotherhalfwouldbeabletobringthesisterhalfundercontrolsoIcanbringpeacetothedark.Pleasedon’tkillme.”

That had to be the fastest I’d ever talked, and from someone who has tried to do so under normal circumstances (what can I say, the way bidder’s run their voice a-thousand miles an hour has always fascinated me), I can proudly state that fear and adrenaline work well in concert if you gotta say something, and say it fast.

Though, while I had been too busy being in fear of my life thinking on just how I could be punished from petrifaction, to blood-boiling, to asphyxiation on the moon it was only in hindsight that I realized that Celestia had shown a few changes in emotion during my little summary, not that I’d be able to easily name them besides saying that they weren’t strictly angry since the fur on Celestia’s face hadn’t become a vibrant red with steam about her, not that that was a good sign as even the show has proved her to keep a level, enough, looking head in the face of adversity.

The point was made moot once she decided to give a reply after an uncomfortably long wait, of a few seconds.

“You say you were given a new body, yet to me it looks remarkably similar to one I have just previously seen this very night. What were you originally, and what exactly have you become?” Again she ended with a hard stare, but some of the venom felt like it had been taken out.

Ok, she wants to continue to talk, this is… probably a good sign. I wanted to question that last part, but was still in fear of my life, “My origin of species is human, a bipedal prime-ape, with absolutely no magic about or around us at all. Now, I am a creature known as a shade, a creature and wielder of darkness.”

“And why would you wish to be such a creature?” The look of disgust hidden behind a mask perfected over years of dealing with nobles at court, but was still evident from the small amount she purposefully let out.

“Well, for a few reason’s ma’am: One, I can see in the dark, something that has always bothered me and my toes whenever I have to get up at night. Two, I now have an even better immune system, being sick is never fun. Three, I can zip around, hopping from shadow to shadow like a teleporting wiz. And four, I’ve always been fascinated with shadow puppetry, and now I can make my very own.” I finished the last one off with a grin, which was still hidden behind my cloak that I still refused to come out from under.

“May I see some?”

“See some what ma’am?”

“Your shadow puppetry.”

“Oh, yes ma’am. But the light you’re making is killing away all the shadows I might use around us, could you please, possibly, turn it down some, please?” It felt weird asking anything of royalty, but Celestia acquiesced by completely turning off the aura around her, save the light that came from her ever-flowing mane.

I immediately let out a sigh of relief as I felt darkness flow back into the room, much to a small stiffening disappointment from Celestia I, dishearteningly, noticed. But I wasn’t about to let that stop me, I still wasn’t dead or freezing. Pulling the shadows upon the desk in front of us I made the first thing I could think of, a bunny, except this one actually looked like a real bunny wiggly nose and everything. I gave him a few hops, on the last it shrunk into a dove in mid-air and tool a small flight around the both of us. It landed upon the desk, and in an explosion of shadow streamers and confetti left behind a black and grey, miniature, version of Princess Celestia upon the desk as she did a small bow and vanished.

***

Deep within the mental construct of Rumor’s mind Caligo sits in the shifting shadow world of his preference, whilst deep in concentration.

I can’t believe Celestia is still trying to attempt to read my master’s mind even after he revealed where he found me. Guess she still hasn’t quite gotten over her sister’s breakdown after all these years… of being animate… and sentient, and thus able to have the time to DO IT!!!... Oh my, almost allowed her entrance in here.

Still, he shows many qualities that will be of worth in the future. That need to be polite will be nicely turned into more diplomatic functions, though the way he is so eager to please is a tad troubling, that will have to be ironed out.

As he watches on he notices just how keenly Celestia is steering the conversation, taking advantage of his master’s inexperience with such duplicit talkings as she tried to find his lies. But it gave Caligo all the more reason to smile because Rumor had practically no guile about him, especially when he didn’t have a week to come up with a simple lie to last him a few measly months, and even more especially when it came to his notions of honor and something that Caligo had just come across called ‘the golden rule’ which even in all the twisted working, of his own master’s mind, still had a place of importance, despite its slightly worn state.

***

“So you’re not going to kill me then?” I asked, but having allowed myself to sit up… after having been asked to.

“Of course not, you do not seem pose a threat to my little ponies, and your actions, despite their duplicit nature, have brought them some ease.” She said with a smile that filled me with a warm fuzzy feeling, despite myself.

“So does that mean you’ll let me have… The Nightmare you called it?” A small beam of hope starting to grow.

“I’m afraid not.” And there it went. “The Nightmare was too much for even my sister to fully handle, and that was even with the full aid of the thing you call Caligo, which you now possess. I cannot let it fall into anypony’s hooves lest they fall as my sister had.” Her eyes again set into a grim state.

I was denied the one thing that would lead me to becoming some all power ruler of all where light was not, and an increase in power, and I smiled. I was free.

“Well since that’s no longer an option, can I just stay, and continue working here?”

‘What?!?’

“Pardon?”

“Well if I can’t get The Nightmare, then I really don’t have anything else to do, I might as well keep at it with the job that I already have, if you don’t mind that is ma’am. I rather like it here.” Beneath my cloak a small blush began to grow upon my cheeks, much to my confusion.

“That sounds most acceptable,” she said with a smile like a warm summer breeze, “But I warn you, do not do anything to endanger my little ponies, or I might just have to add you to my garden’s rock collection.”

“Yes ma’am, wouldn’t dream of it.”

And with that Princess Celestia bade me farewell, and left off saying how she hoped there was still some cake to be had back at the reception when she thought to be out of my range of hearing. I just sat there, in a state of shock, and relief, until Reginald came in the room to check up on some paperwork in his desk, presumably, luckily Caligo had snapped me out of it and I’d made my puppet enshroud me, before he passed the chair.

When he noticed me, to his credit, he didn’t give a start, he merely sighed and said, “Indeed, she can have quite an effect on ponies.” Of which I only gave a small nod to, and finally got up to leave the room and go to my bed.

***

Caligo hadn’t been happy with how I’d basically given our word that we would not go after his sister half, thus preventing my full ascension into darkhood. But he settled some when I explained that if worst came to worst, we could more or less wait it out till the whole castle became dust, I really wasn’t going to die from old age anymore. He acquiesced, but he still let me feel his misgivings at my rash actions.

***

By my third week in, after my little talk with Princess Celestia, things had fallen into a comfortable routine for me. I’d wake up, take out the garbage for an entire castle, and then I could basically do whatever I wanted interspersed with eating with my buddies Twister, Vein, and the Clean Sisters. I still talked to Devil Cake, turned out to be no relation to the Cakes in Ponyville, but my lack of fine culinary skills soon put an end to me tempting fate to a point where some random gooey explosion would occur, and if anypony asks I was most definitely not in the room during the whole chocolate-decker incident, well, at least not any visible part of me or my puppet. I helped clean it up, so no worries.

I even tried to help some of my buddies during their own jobs, but Weather Vein worked on the night maintenance for the weather, so that was out, and the Clean Sisters worked primarily in keeping the bathrooms clean, and since this was a castle for the two Alicorn Princesses, that was something I just wasn’t comfortable doing.

That left Twister, who had the surprisingly gentle job of dusting sections of the castle she was assigned nightly. She was quite good, I know that sounds strange to say about something like dusting, but that’s the only way I could explain it. It was just so weird to see her doing something to delicate and slow when she worked to clean glass figurines, making sure not a single crevice had even a speck of dirt, though it did help to be able to reach up to the ceilings and make sure they were just as pristine too. But it was only when I saw her taking out the hallway rugs that I understood why she did what she did. It was quite… interesting to see a lone pegasus lay out a rug out on the ground outside the castle then slowly fly circles around it until the wind lifts it up and the air the rug begins to darken as micro-particles are pulled out of all the little fibers and weave until it’s pitch black, and then have that same vortex of filth, without warning, disperse and fill one's mouth. Twister got a good laugh at that and said that’s why no one helps her with this particular task. I heartily agreed, my whole body participating in a nod, as I bent over whilst trying to keep my lungs in my chest. I never did help her after that one time, but it was constantly brought up during meals as the dark color of my puppet was thought to now be a shade darker, and might never lighten. It was all in good fun though as even Twister would blush a little as her innocuous blunder was also brought up due to it and a general laugh would be had by all.

I even got my paycheck once a week, being able to do the work of a few ponies had its benefits, though I still wasn’t quite sure if a’thousand bits a week was too small or too big a sum, not that it mattered. Since it was such a large sum, at least for the amount of bits it was in volume, Reginald had set up a direct deposit with the First Equestrian Bank, like many of the other servants in the castle, and told me where I could find the closest one in town after I signed a few forms so they could have my signature on record. It was a pretty normal set up, but there was one problem, the banks here still kept banking hours just like back home, so I was unable to reach them at night, and there was no way I’d make it there with a fully intact shadow otherwise, unless it was a cloudy day. But it never rained in Canterlot. All the plants were hand (hoofed?)-watered, or were just so near the stream they were fine.

It wasn’t a big loss anyway, I didn’t need to be buying stuff and gathering crap anyway. There was plenty of free stuff to do, like how every two weeks there was a castle movie night. It was a little jarring to see a projector and sound systems set up from the more, I don’t want to say Amish, but the castle works on a pretty low grade of technology, though when you can fly and have magic to help out in more-or-less every facet of your life then it just becomes so much junk to get in your way. It was certainly interesting to watch ponified versions of movies I’d seen, it was interesting to note that many of the superhero movies were of Earth Ponies who became super powered and would then save a town, of a mostly pegasus and unicorn population from doom. And speaking of doom and all things negative, their horror films were an absolute joke. I was always surprised when everypony would scream at the monster on screen. It wasn’t that it wasn’t well done, some really nice illusion magic had been used, I’d been told, but they just couldn’t compare to some of the things humans can come up with, in fact I could have definitely seen a few of the people I knew back on Earth easily making a few of those things as pets, of which their dog would easily intimidate.

I’d even had spent some time with the group, tried really hard not to make a joke and calling them the breakfast club and my head has still yet to explode so everything seems to be evened out. When they weren’t busy at work, they were all pretty chill, the Clean Sisters were definitely the biggest surprise, when they weren’t at work they were yuking it up with Twister, who had no personality change between work and play, and would constantly try to find ways to mess around with Weather Vein, who in turn would use his ability to manipulate clouds to rain cold vengeance upon them. They’d even invited me to come swimming with them, I’d go, but never into the water, I’d stay on shore and either dig massive holes in the sand or make giant sand mounds and do my best to make them resemble a structure of some kind, usually both at the same time from the displaced sand.

It was all really… nice, to tell the truth. We’d even stay up and watch the stars whilst drinking warm beverages of some kind. I’d even gotten to try some of Applejack’s famous apple cider, it was alright, though a tad too sweet for my taste. My personal favorite apple is the granny smith, I really dig that bit of a sour tang.

This went on for weeks. Just me hanging out with a group of ponies I soon came to call my friends. Though there was only so far that friendship could go since I wasn’t ever really there at all, but a shadow proxy. While my conscience had long since given out to caring, it didn’t stop me from making sure none of them ever got too close to me, which they wrote off as me being shy, but since I didn’t act like a doormat it never really seemed a problem for them.

I tried keeping up with more of the local gossip, but so much of it would always revolve around that griffin that nopony seemed to bother to want to name, so I quickly grew bored of it all. Turned out he started up a pirate crew of all things, but only as much that he was supposedly fighting “outside the law” to help free something I soon learned about, someplace called Gem Fido, where a vast swath of diamond dogs lived. Slavery and cruelty were rampant, to the point where the old Griffin Nation had been reduced to slaves themselves. It was a huge shock to me that this was just becoming news to these ponies, and worse that the Princesses hadn’t done anything about it. I know they have a country to run, but why not at least attempt to keep them in line by threatening them with your control over the sun or something? At any rate the griffin was going through Equestria on a music tour to collect ponies to help him out, mostly hoping to find ponies gifted in communications, and the last one was going to be in Canterlot. This would normally cause enough of a stir, but a few of the more brainy math whizzes had run a few sets of data and predicted that they may show up close to the Grand Galloping Gala, if not the day of. Considering what sort of world this is and how strictly it seemed to follow rules of letting the coolest, most interesting, or contrived things take precedence, I personally placed my money on him showing up right the night of the GGG.

I didn’t really care too much myself, I couldn’t possibly see them playing anything of worth with the only two big genres of music around here being classical and techno, when ponies weren’t singing themselves. I was just too happy to be able to go along and just relax into a daily grind where I had nothing to do but relax and enjoy, harmony, of all things. Something of which, for the first time in my life, I actually had the privilege of enjoying.

Ascension (15)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): Moon_Fire, Paw Print, RockingDoubleK thank you)

The day of the gala was much the same as it had been for the past week, everypony getting all their best suits and dresses primed, ironed, washed, dusted, the whole shebang of cleaning and extra cleaning to make the whole castle have a glow all its own. Though, the actual low level glow actually came from one of the more magical cleaning agents used in the castle, mostly for special occasions.

Cleaning aside, the whole castle was ablaze with gossip, rumors, and fantasies of all kinds. From the Elements of Harmony speculated continuation of last year’s debacle, of which was laughed about by the servants from the more snooty ponies who thought that as it was the first time anypony else could remember it actually being the slightest bit fun, all the way to the griffin whom seemed to have invented a new sort of music that clashed between classical and the pure beats of techno. All in all, pretty low brow stuff. What most ponies were talking about was the new latest trends from Fancy Pants and his exclusive shots for this coming winters fashion trends, bleh, boring.

To tell the truth, I was in a pretty good mood, heck, I’d go so far as to say mighty fine, as were my friends when I met them up at the food tables. Each was in there veritable Sunday best, none of them actually had any work that night. The nightly weather patrol was off, and all the cleaning had been done and a light stasis spell had been placed on it all so as to remain in the pristine condition all throughout the night. In fact the only other staff that I had noticed that were working were the royal guards, who were basically the bouncers of the evening, a little degrading when said like that, but damn if they don’t actually make those peacock feathered helmets actually look slightly intimidating. They certainly had the easier of the two jobs, cause the other workers were in the kitchen, the day staff had actually been given the morning off so they could sleep in and be ready for the night, and they were a wonder, zipping around each other like bees in a hive. All the while Devil and, who I could only assume was the day head-chef, were shouting out orders left and right, and nopony was stepping on each other’s hooves, metaphorically speaking, it was obviously not there first gala.

I’d actually had to just shadow-stride into the servant’s dining room due to all the hustle where my aforementioned friends waved a cheerful hello as well as a whistle from Weather Vein on the tux I’d made for my proxy, it was simple, yes, but you just can’t go wrong when you suit up, I’d even made myself a small fob-watch with circular designs on the cover on a chain for it too. Everypony was excited for the coming evening, excepting for me, who’d been partially dragged into all this, parties just aren’t my thing, I always end up feeling too socially and physically aware and I end up getting anxious. But I’d been talked into it by Devil Cake who’d overheard us a few nights ago and said that it was something that everypony should at least try once, “After all, it was a big castle and there was normally something interesting going on if you can find it.” He’d said.

There we all were as we made our way past the kitchens and into the vast expanse of spaces of the castle which housed the Grand Galloping Gala. It looked like we were going to go to the main hall, the same place that held the recent wedding, but when I asked Twister just rolled her eyes, “The main hall is where all the stuffies congregate. Nothing fun or interesting ever happens there. It’s the places on the fringes where you can find some real fun,” she said with a smile which quickly spread to the others.

We ended up in the Canterlot Gardens, in fact, right in front of the entrance to the royal hedge-maze. In front of it were two burly looking earth stallions, certainly ripped, not Snowflake ripped, but definitely more muscled than Big Macintosh, though most of that intimidation factor was taken away by the one on the left having a coat of mauve and mane and tail of purple satin, and the one on the right having a coat of just the same, but the color scheme reversed. I almost wanted to go all d’awww on them, but I think that might have hurt their feelings. Upon seeing me however they stepped, in unison, to block the entrance, but were waved back when the Clean Sisters waved them back and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. It took a lot of effort right then and there not to make a matching set joke from two sets of twins dating each other.

Once inside the floor had three choices of which we were to choose, obviously to keep anypony from getting lost, there was a red, green, and a blue line, each one split off at the first intersection up ahead.

“So which one do we choose?” I asked, a little bewildered.

“Well, the red one goes to the food, and…” Weather Vein said as he tapped his chin.

“…the green one goes to the games, and the blue one goes to the bar.” Twister finished for him.

“Why have the bar separate from the rest of the food? Isn’t that inefficient?” Was my only reply, of which was quickly met by snickers and a, “I’ll tell you when you’re older Rumor” from Oxi.

‘Oh my.’

“So then what’s the plan?” I restated.

“I don’t know about you fillies,” Vein said with a puffed out chest, “but I’m headed off to enjoy a night off at the bar” and he sauntered on off.”

That just left me with the rest of the ladies, who just seemed to wait around some, and since no one else was taking the initiative I suggested we check out what the “games” section had in store.

I’ll admit, I’m still not used to this whole concept of magic, but damn if ponies don’t know how to have fun with it. It was like a mini-carnival, and each ride was powered by a team of three or four unicorns who then lifted two pairs of ponies off the ground and sent them whirling and spinning about in fantastic ways for about three minutes. There was also a giant ice slide, made by a unicorn, I think his name was Frosty, who work with two other pegasi who had wrangled a cloud and made it snow to keep the whole thing from melting. It was all pretty sweet, but it seemed the main attraction were the actual games that were there, board games to be exact. Ponies love board games, apparently. There was checkers, chess, chutes and ladders. I really had to start getting over just how many things were so easily translatable into different worlds. None of them really caught my fancy, though Twister seemed to want to try CandyLand, I wasn’t that thrilled, or interested, until I saw IT. The ultimate friendship destroying, hair-tearing outingest, ground-stompingest, table-flipingest, all around best board game in all existence, Monopoly. I was surprised that a game like this had been made, especially with the over-all egalitarian vibe that the ponies around here practically exuded from their pores, though it was only just a game, so I guess it made sense. I loved me some Monopoly, and a small look over the rules proved them to be the exact same, save a few pronoun changes, no houses and hotels, but cottages and castles, and a few other minor words, but it was still the same game, made by the PonyBros, yes ha-ha, horse pun. I know there’s no such thing as a bad pun, but it just sort of loses its edge when it’s the only pun that seems to proliferate through the community, it no longer seems like even the slightest bit of a challenge to make one. That of course wasn’t going to deter me away from a rousing game, of which the ladies agreed to play, I of course called dibs on the iron, best…piece…ever. And the game began.

***

I couldn’t believe just how cut throat everypony got once the game started, it was beautiful. Competition at its finest and I loved every second of it. By my seventh go around the board I’d been able to get all four rail road’s, and both cards to the purple monopoly, of which had two houses each, and a smattering of a few other properties. But it was Twister who everyone had to watch out for, she’d luck out her first go around the board and landed on the first blue property, Luna’s Wing (of Canterlot Castle) and her next turn she rolled snake eyes, and of course she bought Celestia’s Wing next, and she had managed to get a house on both of them, a real nasty stretch to go through so early in the game.

I wasn’t worried though, I was just a few seconds away from breaking out some house rules and finalizing my trade of my single yellow property with Oxi’s two light blue properties, which would give me complete dominance over the first stretch of the board, and give her a nice monopoly, with my promise that she would not have to pay rent her first three turns across my side of the board, as well as a hefty seven-hundred dollars from me as well before she’d hand them over. Clever girl.

It was then, of all times, that disaster had to strike. A loud crash was heard from the ball-room, even through the din of party goers and distance and screams starting to fly. I’d begun to start taking stock of my surrounding, but it appeared that all the hub-bub was focused in the primary reception hall. But it was only a few seconds later when an earth shattering rumble emanated from the castle. A few stones, followed by massive amounts of dust, flew out from the castle as the whole section of the castle took on a more holy appearance.

It wasn’t until the shaking stopped that everypony outside started to panic and run about screaming. I wasn’t able to hear any of that too well because Caligo absolutely went OFF. Before I could notice anything he quickly pushed himself outwards and I felt my face melt and reform as he took dominance.

***Caligo***

‘There, a way in.’

I was not about to let my master waste an opportunity to claiming his throne. Whatever was occurring in the primary reception hall had apparently cause enough damage to splinter through whatever fortifications had been sealing my sister half away from me. I am not going to let this opportunity slip away.

Shadow-striding to the hall my master began to voice his complaints at my actions, I wouldn’t be able to do this for much longer anyway, soon he’d be able to completely dominate me, but until then it was my duty to make sure that the Sovereign of Darkness would be able to successfully be able to thrive, and more power is one of the easiest ways of making him safer.

Making it to the ball-room, sheathe in shadow, of which was now growing due to the shattered light sources around the room, I caught the tail end of an immature black dragon leaving through a ruined door-frame. She may have been the one to cause some of this, but she was leaving, and obviously no one was stopping her, so she must have stopped creating havoc, otherwise there would have been more guards on her. But she was of little matter now, because whatever damage that had been caused had not only given way to my sister’s holding cell, but it had also freed her. No one around the room noticed as she shifted her way into the populace.

She stopped first at a griffin with red plumage and a crudely shaped sword upon his back, her whispers and enticements held little sway over him, but her second attempt was successful. As she merged with a grey mare she quickly shifted into an alicorn form, and immediately began to attack the room around her, focusing primarily upon the one whom scorned her.

At this juncture I’d already been up on one of the ornate pillars in the hall for roughly thirty-seven seconds, partially to keep out of the cross-fire, but also because my master was beginning to loosen his binds. His mind was already almost completely fused with mine, the shared power was almost completely his as well, but I still had a few tricks to keep him occupied.

The battle swiftly ended as quickly as it came, lasting only a few minutes and a few changes of primary fighting targets, of which that blasted fool of a bird almost destroyed when he tore off the horn. Had he been any closer in his wrecking of such a fragile instrument of magic, she might have been lost to me. All of the creatures that fought her demonstrated a skill, and zeal, for fighting that I had not happened upon since the war of chaos and order headed by Discord and those two alicorn sisters. Even now it still amuses me just how little Discord understands pure chaos and thinks himself a king over the small fringe workings he dabbles in. Truly an impressive sight, but made again unimportant as the defeat of my sister’s puppet had left her in an incredibly ephemeral and weakened state.

Then it happened, the fight was over, but they just had to let the hammer fall once more. Once more on my sister! A wretched little changeling, morphed into a bipedal stance, came up behind her. Swinging his quasi-instrument in a wide arc he brought it down upon her host's head, directly into the damaged magical nexus of her force-grown horn. The weapon, obviously enchanted, in some form or another judging from the sparks of twisted light running along the ventral side, sent a burst of light through the creature, and shattered my sister, sending pieces of her flying EVERYWHERE!

'My sister! That idiot shattered my.....

***Back to Rumor***

I don't know what happened, but quite suddenly the grasp that Caligo had upon me weakened and I was able to force my way back to being the dominant conscious being. Coming to, after feeling Caligo’s mask sludge back into where ever he kept himself in my body was as disgusting as it sounds. But I didn’t allow myself to lose my cool, mostly due to fear at seeing myself now on a ledge of an ornate pillar as my hands griped onto the edge to make sure I wasn’t going to fall off. I was about to shadowport down to the ground, and then give Caligo a piece of my mind when…

‘Look, this is what happens when my sister half is let loose upon the world.’

It was only due to his words that I finally began to truly see the destruction below me, rather than it just being a place far away down. A few ponies were being looked over, and a few were being levitated to the next room or to probably get some medical attention. The room itself was in shambles. There was a gaping hole in the floor that went down several of them. Broken chairs and other dining equipment were shattered and spread among there burned counter-parts.

‘How many?’

‘You are incredibly lucky, because no one was killed this night, but next time no-one will be so lucky, nor the third time,, and every other time so long as my sister and I are not rejoined together.’

‘Yeah, but I promised I’d leave Nightmare alone…’ I didn’t think the next part of that too loud, but Caligo still felt my want to continue working here in this ultimately peaceful environment.

‘If this is truly how you feel master, but consider this, the lives lost from my sister’s rampages will be upon your head due to your lack of action.’

A low blow to be sure, but an accurate one, I couldn’t let innocents be put at risk when I could do something about it, but I was still bound by my word that I’d given to Celestia, so I decided to go and ask her one more time.

It wasn’t hard finding Celestia, the gaping hole of light she creates in darkness is quite stark, that, and she’d only been a few rooms out past the hall, the guards posted outside of them were also another obvious sign.

Finding the nearest dark corner in the hallway, I closed my eyes and concentrated on finding any place in the room Celestia occupied that had any shadows I could come in through, there was a surprisingly high amount, but I didn’t question my luck and came through.

The room itself was rather drab, compared to other parts of the castle, and was obviously meant to be used as a guest room from the darker blues and greens that prevailed in the carpeting and… bedding, of which Celestia laid outstretched upon.

I thought she might have been asleep and was about to leave when a small chuckle escaped from her mouth, it somehow sounded slurred, but I politely cleared my throat and said, “Excuse me Princess Celestia.”

“Mmmff, what do you want?” Came the muffled reply of Celestia’s voice from behind a few of the more ornamental pillows from the bed.

“I’m afraid that Nightmare just now caused some damage to your Gala, and I wanted to know if you’re sure that you don’t want me to attempt to…”

“Yeah, just go for it, I know I wanted him to loosen up some, but I’d rather Knightmare didn’t take too much on from that griffin.”

It was a little shocking to hear her talk so… so… informally about it, but I chalked it up to her always wanting to maintain her look of control over things. She really had pulled something similar in the first two episodes of the show after all, and Caligo certainly wasn’t going to let me dwell on it further as he drew me towards the outskirts of Canterlot’s city proper where he said Nightmare was trying to reconstitute herself.

***

There beneath the shadow of the mountain that held Canterlot aloft was Nightmare, the entity of corruptions that twisted Princess Luna into Nightmare Moon, and try to throw the world into eternal night, and just recently had merged with a musically inclined earth pony in an attempt to destroy all other forms of music but the most stringent of classical. She writhed and swirled in her murky form beneath overhanging rocks and ridges in a shadow like a patch of midnight that had never been cleared away. And I pitied her. I could feel the edges of shadow where she began to take root and twisted it into a physical form, and I could feel the throbbing pain.

I began to walk towards her she immediately stirred into action and began to sweep towards me. She must have though I couldn't see her, which was just as well because that also gave Caligo the advantage of surprise which he was so clearly relishing. As soon as she attempted contact with me whispers of power, gold, and glory filled my mind. I’d be lying if she didn't sound damn persuasive, hints of all the people who’d ever harmed or made fun of me suddenly become my playthings to torture, burn, rend, rip, and peel, and all other manner of wonderfully prolonged and oh so inefficient means of hurting. I could do it all, I would have the time, because I would just be that powerful… just so long as I’d give her the reigns.

Caligo urged me to accept, and promised me that I’d be fine, of which he felt my apprehension after having just so recently been turned into his living puppet, but promised he would no longer do such a thing without my permission again. Through it all I felt the one thing he was trying to hide, but couldn't, not with her so close. He wanted to help his sister.

I agreed to Nightmare’s whispers and she let out a sigh as she once again slid her way into a new host, where she could better heal from her recent wounds.

***Caligo***

After countless years, she was finally back, my sister half. The waves of corruption that the previous Sovereign of Darkness infused her with still circulated her being. Again, another failure of the Alicorns. The amateurs.

Now she was back and I could feel her...

Emotivores detected. Quarantine subject Nightmare. Capture subprogram No. 3 begin execution.

Initiate mental barrier: target host mind.

Creature shows weakness, memory scans reveal entity as fractured fragment.

Employ mental caging... creature secure.

Target captured.

Initiating Purification subprogram: dark-arts, "suck poison from wound".

Processing excess negative emotional defensive response, rerouting to physiological response.

WARNING: physiological response will cause severe harm to host. Continue?

Agree (host possess superlative regeneration abilities within absence of light. Current location: underneath mountain outcrop at night).

Emotivore defensive response exhausted, begin assimilation.

///Error. Subject Emotivore's corruption inhibits complete mental domination. Retreating to sleeper mode.

....

My sister!!!

I couldn't quite recall what I had done, but the way I was reflexively relegating the pain towards the hos-Rumor meant that she had been hurt very badly. I was just glad that she was now free of the alicorns influence. Looking at her, I could see a form of cognizance returning, slowly towards her.

My sister blinking past the haze of pain, as I collapsed the mental barrier that kept her in place, staggered towards me and latch onto me to help steady her. I was far more than happy to oblige. She was finally coming back, but there was still so much corruption in her. I noticed a stream of energy was being channeled from us out into existence I could feel the peace that had for so long eluded my sister begin to fill up in the places where only pain had been able to reside in. It was over in a lifetime of pain made seconds long. It was done.

***Rumor***

So I agree to let Nightmare in, and began to feel a sense of euphoria when Caligo walled himself away from me, breaking Nightmare’s control as well as the sense of euphoria. It was a bit of a drag, though it would explain why Nightmare was able to keep control of a host for so long.

I tried to make contact with him a few times but I just felt my thought bounce back off of this sort of mental wall. In fact I bounce a few thoughts off of it because they made a sort of telepathic echo, but stopped when I realized I was probably putting stress onto a structure that was meant to try and keep me safe.

The seconds ticked by into minutes, and I began to worry, especially with my poor sense of time. I started to worry that he might be dying or one of a’thousand different horrible things that went through my head. I tried blocking them out by simply counting out the seconds. Fun fact, despite being horrible at keeping accurate enough guesses of the passage of time, I can pretty much count time with the passing of seconds with near perfection.

I’d just gotten up to two minutes and thirty-three seconds when my blood decided it didn’t want to hang around with me anymore and started to geyser out my pores and tearing apart my organs in their haste to leave. Suffice to say, expletives, and every other word I’d ever learned at this point in my life left me utterly speechless as both pain and lack of it greeted me with such force as to knock me back up into a standing position after collapsing to my knees as my whole body began to seize up.

See, that’s the nice thing about not only having a wonderful little immune system that works even better the less light there is in the general vicinity and is only partially fueled by the body so that way magic can help keep it going if the body would normally just flip the table and flat on out leave. It means that you don’t get to pass out from pain. It means you get to feel every little drop of its existence until it’s done, and only when you have exhausted yourself from using power or fighting will you actually be allowed to involuntarily do something like that. It’s quite wonderful. ‘Ah the joys of sarcasm.’

And then it stopped.

‘It is done.’ Was all I got from Caligo as he slunk back into his own little corner of my mind as another hole began to form for my new little noggin mate.

‘That’s nice, I think I’ll go wash off by the stream then see if I can find some grub to help make up for…’ I look down, ‘I don’t know, a couple pints of blood. I don’t think magic can completely make up for this.’ I stagger a little as I make my way to the sound of running water. Caligo remains silent. Don’t care. I’m now tired, hungry, and in no mood to mitigate my feelings by calling myself only “a little” irritated. I’d think “I hope you’re happy”, but the small wave of emotion that Caligo can manage... Meh, still too tired to care right now.

(Author's Note Mk. 2: Knightmare and Nightmare is not a typo, for those of you who aren't aware, that interesting little insert was from this story From Nobody to Knightmare, a nice person, and a story I rather enjoy)

Send Off (16)

(Author's Note: Prereader: LunarLover thank you)

Blast it if mountain spring water isn't frigid!

I tried forming coherent thoughts whilst trying to scrub out most of the blood that was stuck to my underclothes, but I didn’t get much farther than, ‘cold, cold, cold…’. My cloak, however, simply let the blood upon it flow off like quicksilver, small miracles. Though, as cold as I was I simply couldn’t shiver. I knew it wasn’t hypothermia, because I certainly wasn’t feeling warm and/or sleepy, if anything the snow melted water had revived me some. Resistance to cold, now that was something useful (this comes to you from a guy who finds anything under ninety degrees Fahrenheit to be worthy of long sleeves). Still didn’t change just how hungry I was. I pulled the darkness around me and made my way into a copse of trees in the garden before the entrance to the Royal Hedge Maze, I was hoping to, hopefully, find some food still there. When the two bouncers weren’t there to greet me I had already prepared for the worst, but it didn’t quite end up like I expected anyway.

I followed the red line, which was rent to shreds, and just flat out missing in some places, to find all the tables upturned that had once held food. It looked like the stampede from Jumanji had busted through here. I know I wasn’t a ranger of much of a woodsman or tracker, like, at all, but all the perfectly shaped foot indentions of nearly every sort of shape and size was an elementary clue that not even I could miss. All the food that had reached the ground was smooshed, and all the food that had somehow remained on a structure of some kind was completely eaten, and rather messily too if the haphazard way huge chunks seemed to be taken out of them was.

‘Back to the kitchens!’

Calling the ever darkening shadows of the maze around me they began to slide over my skin and begin their familiar twine, when a brain splitting wail began to resonate in my skull.

‘No, I hate it there!’ It felt so weak, and frightened. That is to say I knew that if Caligo was wiped out then Nightmare must have been exhausted, if at least a little. So if she was able to manage a migraine inducing wail, I was not about to get her worked up to a point where that would, at the very least, continue, if not get stronger.

‘Look, I know you have some issues with this, but I NEED to get some food, not to mention I’m employed at this castle, both of which I rather enjoy.’

It was weird to hear it, but it felt like Nightmare was hyperventilating. ‘Plea… Please, please just go, I hate this place!’ A tear, not of my own, began to well up in the corner of my eye. ‘I can’t stand to be here. She lives there! Can’t you find food someplace else?’

Well, there it was, it was either help pacify an ancient energy construct, that has taken on a female persona, or… oh who was I kidding, I couldn’t even come up with another idea. But that meant that I’d have to leave my new home, my first, actual, friends since first grade (shut up), and my rather mundane, but still enjoyable, job, but mostly my best friend Twister. She had been there since my first day at the castle, and actually understood the boundaries between friendly joking and pranks, unlike a certain blue pegasi I knew of. I’d be giving up all of that. And I didn’t like it, but it was the right thing to do, right? A quick response from my conscience, that had long, unwillingly, rolled over from my lie of an existence here gave a swift and well thought out rebuttal of pain.

With an exasperated sigh I whispered the phrase that had gotten me through the many situations in which I gave up some comfort in order to help someone else, even it was a bit of a chore, “Dammit.”

‘Somnium, I promise you, I won’t let any harm befall you whilst we’re in the castle. In fact, we’re going to leave, BUT, I need to, at the very least give my goodbyes to those who have shown some care to me while I have worked here. AND, I will do this as fast as I can.’ I could still feel the waves of anxiety she was radiating in mass quantities, but she gave a silent acquiesce and relaxed a little at the calling of her former name. So I, once again, pulled up my shadow proxy around me and drew upon the shadows that connected me to the servant’s bedchambers.

***

“Dear sweet Celestia, there you are!” was the relieved/angered shout that reached me once I made my way into the servant’s dining room, surprisingly coming from Weather Vein. “Do you know how long Twister made me search outside for you? Where have you been?”

“Umm, well this is a little embarrassing,” my proxy rubbed the back of his neck, “but I actually been in the restroom.” I let the implications of that sink in, considering I’d been gone for a few hours. This led to a small blush to appear on Vein’s face, as well as the Clean Sisters’ who’d come up after Vein had rocketed over to me. “So, does this mean that Twister is out there still looking for me?” Vein nodded. “Okay, well, I’d say we should all go out and go find her, but I’m afraid I’m in a rather desperate need for fluids.” This wasn’t entirely untrue, though I was still mostly hungry and the three of them went off.

I piled my plate high of fruits, mostly strawberries, and a few slices of mango that had managed to last this long into the night, grabbed a tall glass of milk, and began to chow down. It bothered me that anyone would go to such lengths, just trying to search for me. It seemed like such a waste of effort. Regardless, once they got back it would save me the time to write a letter to them and just tell them in a group.

Having finished my plate, I got up and proceeded to repeat the process, but decided to opt out and sat back down. This time around I tried to access my new powers, myself, since Somnium (she didn’t like being called Nightmare, like, AT ALL), was in too great a state of worry to attempt to help me with anything. It was… interesting. I sat there, blending into the shadows around the tables while I sent off my proxy, I felt kinda naked without it around me. It wasn’t so bad though, it kinda worked like a shell. I could make the whole thing solid, but at this point in time I was a little too green to do so for long, let alone well. When I was done the whole thing looked rather... block-y. As though it were a wooden replica a craftsman hadn't begun to put the final touches. The mane and tail were an absolute joke as well. Needless to say it wasn't going to fool anypony or one.

I ended up just going for the shell and putting on my normal shadow on it like an overcoat, then sent them walking over in unison to the buffet line. But before it made it the whole way back the darkness within the shadow just vanished. All the hardness I'd poured into it just vanished once it had reached a distance of about seven of my own paces it just popped out of existence. I tried calling it back to me, concentrating on making it real again. Once it came a mere two paces, of it's own, I pushed back into reality with a small push of, almost non-existent, wind. It was certainly a drag that this new power clearly had a range limit, but on the other hand, I technically have another super power, and that's always a plus I thought with a half-cocked grin.

I ended up just having to walk with my little hardened proxy and spend several minutes figuring on how to get the hooves to grab anything. Eventually I just gave up and did it myself, holding the tray aloft, sitting back down as my puppet followed behind me. It was just about to sit down when Twister burst into the room and started rocketing towards my proxy as the rest of the group followed swiftly behind.

Now over the past few weeks I’d gotten rather good at faking my proxy’s reality, a fist bump here, a contorted jab of the elbow there, but I’d never anything else beyond fleeting touches. So when a distressed looking Twister tackled by proxy and brought it down like a fainted goat, there wasn’t much I could think to do, I was rather out of my depth.

“You had me, err... us worried sick, where have you been?” Twister asked as she pushed her face into the stunned face of my proxy, which mirrored my own.

Gasping for air, “That’s what we were trying to tell you,” Vein said as he gulped a lungful of air, “he was in the restroom.”

This only got my proxy a queer stare from Twister. “Umm, yeah, I think I had some bad fruit for breakfast. Sorry, I really didn’t mean to get y’all worried.” I ended with a squinted grin, shrugging.

“Well don’t do it again, cuz I thought you’d been trampled or something when all those animals from the zoo busted out after you ran off.” Twister said as she got off my proxy and again adopted her more serious “I’ve got this” attitude.

“Understood,” was all I could muster until I could get my thoughts back in order. Something of which took longer than normal due to Somnium’s fear being pumped into my mind. I figured it was best to do it quickly so I simply stated, “well guys, I’m afraid I have some news for y’all, I’m leaving.”

All of them started shouting at once, some out of confusion, others in anger, and something about not to be such a drama queen and that stuff like this happens at pretty much all the time at the Grand Galloping Gala’s now-a-days, but I just waved my proxy’s front left hoof for silence.

“It’s not for any of those reasons, in fact, I don’t think I can tell you guys the real reason anyway. The point is, I just wanted to properly say goodbye to my friends that I’ve made here in this castle, so that I’d have one last happy memory of us all together before I left.”

That sure got everyponies attention, if the massive group hug my proxy received was any indication. Farewells and well wishes were given, but what bothered me the most was that Twister had some tears in her eye. ‘Why do people think I’m worth getting upset over?’

At any rate, I really didn’t have anything to grab, having led a surprisingly Spartan lifestyle, mostly due to the fact that everything I’d wanted had been provided in the castle, but upon asking if I might take some food with me I was, very, quickly saddled with some bags, each side begin filled with some long lasting food, mostly dried out fruit, and a few granola bars (at least, that was the closest approximation I could give, I’m not sure, they might have been granola), a canteen for water, a few other odds and ends I didn’t catch to see, and the top was layered with a few fresh candied green apples, compliments of Devil Cake who came to wish me off and how he was sorry to see me go.

They’d actually made me walk all the way outside, rather than just vanish away, much to my pleased chagrin. It made me feel rather warm inside to think that I’d made such an impression on them that they would go to such lengths, almost, until my conscience gave me a long overdue spike of pain because all they’d ever known was a fake. That certainly put a damper on my mood, which never showed on my proxy, which maintained its smile.

Once we were at the castle gates, I turned around and gave them one last goodbye, and as they gave their own farewells I gave call to the shadows as they thrust me forward out into the night.

That was a horrible idea. But I suppose that’s what I get for trying to be dramatic. Without a proper idea of where to go I’d just popped up in one of the nearest shadows which, oh so luckily for me, led me to a lovely little steep incline over the side of the mountain, of which I took a bit of a tumble until I could grab my thoughts together and put myself down at the mountain’s base.

Waiting a few seconds for my head to clear, wiping and shaking the accumulated debris off myself, I then took a status check of the saddle bag that had gotten tangled up around me on my way down. I was certainly missing a few things, and the candied apples were gone, one of the clasps had come undone, and the granola was back to being oatmeal. All in all, though, things were pretty okay, if only a little bruised. But going through my pack had left me with one positive note, I found it. Specifically, an item that would allow my shadows purchase in the day, something that would finally allow me to access my bank account, an umbrella. A compact one to be sure, but it would work, and I could always get a bigger one later.

No longer worried about being able to have to buy such necessities like food, and other assortments, until my own store was used up, I felt pretty good, though that may just me being nonplussed at Somnium’s fear lessening with the distance between her and the royal Canterlot Castle widening.

‘Well, at least someone’s happy.’ That was good enough for me, for now, as I made my way down the road trying to figure out where to go from there.

Random Encounter (17)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): LunarLover, RockingDoubleK thank you)

Over the next couple of days I proceeded to fall into a more intense version of apathy akin to my brief stay in Ponyville. The positive side to this, however, was that I wasn’t lying prone and was actually on the move. My umbrella allowed me to move about in the city outside of Canterlot whilst under the guise of my shadow-proxy. It felt strangely novel to be out in the sunlight, let alone see a few sunrises, of which, while beautiful, were significantly shorter than Earth ones since Celestia raised it up to roughly seven o’clock in the sky each morning.

It became readily apparent, however, that the umbrella was woefully ineffective against the force of the noonday sun, it was just too strong, and made my shadow waver. So after the first day, I actually went to the bank to take some money out of my account for a new one, and probably some sweets while I was at it. Sure I got a few looks from some of the more hoity-toity ponies there by having an umbrella open indoors, but most of their whispers, of which were much easier to hear in the partial shade of the bank building, turned to questions of the latest fashion trends once they got a look at the suit I placed around my proxy.

So there I was, third day, having gone through the little money I had taken out of the bank on a bigger, sun-blocking umbrella, and lots and lots of blueberry muffins, and now I refused to get any more out until I’d depleted my own food stock, otherwise I’d just waste my money on more of those muffins, with nothing to do. Caligo had remained silent, as had Somnium, she gave a few kicks and squirms now and again, but I mostly just felt her concern for her brother half.

I was happy enough to leave well enough alone, though it would have been nice to have been given some pointers on how to work the new power boost. I know, I was loathing getting it, but it was pretty rockin’. I was getting pretty good at it too, my proxy was now able to make noise of its hooves hitting the cobbles, and while I could sort of manage hair, it took way too much concentration to make the hair move just right, so I just left them in their ephemeral shadow state. I was rather pleased to find that with the advent of turning a shadow solid I was then able to place it into the light, though it not only took much more effort to do so, but also took much more of a constant stream of energy to maintain. All in all, pretty obvious that it would be like it was, but for all of my experimenting there was one thing I just couldn’t figure out, nor work, hooves. I just couldn’t seem to pick up anything with them, and in fact I’d had to make them concave or add small claw like appendages to them in order to pick things up with them no matter what I tried.

All the experimentation was one of the reasons I could justify to myself for simply loafing around for so long. I had to do something with myself. I couldn’t just disappear into the void of grey doldrums, not again.

It was then that, quite by happenstance, whilst I was in the lower part of the city of Canterlot, technically downtown, due to the literal slope of the town due to its mountainous origins, where the less affluent, for Canterlot citizens that is, lived, I came across a poster festooned board placed upon the outside of a drinking establishment. A few of the posters were of wanted criminals, but most of the space was devoted to either the killing or capturing of dangerous creatures. I know that Equestria was not the land I’d been led to believe by the likes of the HUB, many a rather blue oriented story told by my former friends in the break room was obvious enough for that. I felt a little disappointed, however, that most of them were also just creatures that were merely myth on Earth.

It would be rather nice to make the world safer from monsters, but when the posters mentioned where to find such beast, it gave description of their normal haunts and predacious routes, even the ones that were stationary, I noticed one or two pony-eating plants, would be out of my reach for two simple reasons: one, I wasn’t knowledgeable in the arts of tracking, two, I wasn’t knowledgeable of the environments around here in general. What good would superpowers be if I couldn’t find the thing I was trying to fight?

“Now that we are once again fit, shall we not find some employment Brother?” I turned.

“Indeed we shall brother of mine.” Said the second of the pair of pegasi brothers, and more slightly built. That is to say he had a good deal of muscle on himself, but his brother was so heavily muscled the word svelte came to mind when seeing them both together. They both shared mango yellow coats and red manes streaked with white stripes, with a few bits of it coming out the front of some, admittedly, worn looking fedoras.

“Excuse me fine sir, but would you mind scooting over so that we might see the job board?” The larger of the two pegasi politely asked me. I must admit that the sight of him was a tad more intimidating due to the show of courtesy than the small sword that adorned his back. Now I’m not the most observant crayon in the pickle jar, but if the worn scabbard was anything to go by, then he definitely knew how to use that thing, same for his brother, who wore, I think it’s called, a rapier, the thin scabbard being quite too thin to hold much of anything else.

As I side-stepped away both brothers then took up position and began to pour over the board with an act ease of familiarity that comes from multiple acts of use. They then began to mumble amongst themselves, something I was hard pressed to overhear with the sun muffling the sound around me, about all I could make out was that they were trying to find a job that, while normally below their normal difficulty, but were doing so to make some quick cash for a bigger sword, and something about having been, perhaps, a bit overzealous in attacking some fuzzy monstrosity a few days ago.

“Pardon me gentlecolts,” both of them looked up, “but I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be in a bit of a bind.”

Both of their eyes immediately hardened, “Now what do you suppose he means by that Crash?” The smaller, but still quite muscled of the two pair asked to, obviously now, his brother “Crash” still without tearing his eyes away from my proxy.

“Oh dear, my apologies, I- I meant no offense, I too have found myself in a bit of trouble, and I think we might be able to mutually benefit by creating a partnership. Might we talk about this over a drink?” I asked, my proxy gesturing to the bar behind the job board.

While their eyes didn’t completely stopped being steely, they were noticeably softened at the mention of drinks, “I do believe what we have here, brother Burn,” the larger of the two said, “is a business opportunity.” He ended with a grin, which was then reciprocated by his own brother.

“Heh, quite. Now if you’ll just head on in, I’ll be with y’all in but a few moments, I’m afraid I have to attend to the call of nature.” That wasn’t true, but they bought it and I needed the time to go to the bank and get some bits out of my account, since it occurred to me that I had rather just implied that I would be providing drinks for them.

Thankfully the bank was devoid of lines when I popped over there, small miracles. One hundred bits would probably do, but just on the safe side, I got three hundred just to be safe.

The whole excursion took a few minutes, acceptable time used for my excuse, and I made my way into the thankfully darkened bar called “Princess’s Mane.”

Putting my umbrella on a peg of the empty coat rack I took a glance around the room,

despite the bright morning sun shining outside it was remarkably dim, or at least I guessed at, the bright lights over the few pool tables were in stark contrast with the rest of the place and since Discord was still imprisoned in stone I’d have to guess the grey-scale view of most of the booths was due to my dark-piercing eyesight.

I finally caught sight of the two brothers, Crash and Burn, they were at a corner booth farthest away from the door, and gave one the greatest lines of sight. There wasn’t much business going on and I had little more trouble than to weave past a few of the unused tables that still had their seats placed upside down upon them as I made my way over the bar and asked for a root beer float, making sure to emphasize that I meant the soda and was non-alcoholic, all the while minding my p’s and q’s. Never be impolite to a barkeep. I then made my way over to the rather jubilant couple, of which the barkeep had already informed me that I’d already been kind enough to pick up the tab for them, as they toasted to themselves over something or other and took a sip of some sort of apple infused drink if the smell was anything to go by once I sat myself and my proxy down across from them.

“Now what exactly is your problem good,” he waited for me to give my introduction, of which I quickly gave once I realized what he wanted, “Ah, Rumor, that has made you come to the belief that we,” Burn said while he and his brother struck a small pose in their seats, “Crash and Burn, Monster Hunters Supreme, might should be able to profit, let alone need your help?” A little rude, bluntly rude, but, on the other hand, I had dropped some pretty heavy eaves to listen on their conversation outside.

“Right, down to it then. I have recently come upon a deal of power and find myself in a position where I wish to do some good with it, but my control over it is still lacking. My conclusion was to use this raw power and to refine it, with use, in a profession which is known to normally be far from a city where nopony might get hurt should something go awry, and in turn also provide a service which would, in general, benefit the populace. Monster hunting, of which, you two seem to know something about…”

“Heh, our reputation precedes us.” The large Crash intoned with a raise of his mug, downing the rest of its contents, and then ordering another.

I really had no idea they had a reputation, I counted myself rather lucky at this point, but I had to play it cool, lest I blow this opportunity, “Quite, so my proposal comes down to this, you, as veteran monster hunters would be able to help me with navigation to jobs and such, and I would be able to tag along and add some more power to the group.”

“O-ho, and I suppose you think we’d just split the earnings of the job three ways then too eh?” A skeptical Burn in tone, of which upon seeing his brothers face Crash quickly adopted it as well.

“What? No, not at all, I need you more than you need me. Not only that, but technically my tagging along would be a form of training. So, how does a 45-45-10 split sound?” Sounded fair to me, they get twice my earnings themselves, and is ultimately a mere ten percent loss to them, though I hope I wasn’t asking for too much.

“So let us get this straight,” Burn said, “you wish to accompany us, on the job, so you can get a better handle on your power, which you claim to have raised recently. You do realize, good sir,” taking a quick sip of his own beverage, “that this is quite the dangerous line of work, somepony like you could get hurt quite easily out there. Not only that, but we do a good deal of our work at night. Celestia’s golden orb will not be there to help guide you through forest and underbrush, and, when it comes to sneaking up upon our marks, the telltale glow from your horn would immediately either send it away or draw it right to you, and, should your spell go awry or cease to function, it would not be our fault, if you’ll pardon my bluntness, how gruesome your death would be.” He finished with a sharp look down the… I guess “bridge of his nose” was the phrase I was looking for, but when it is so close to being a greater part of the facial structure as a whole, it feeling like I should be using a more horse-anatomical phrase.

“I believe you are close Mr. Burn, but I believe we have a slight misunderstanding. When I say I wish to refine this power, I don’t mean to be able to use it period. I mean to be able to use it without always using lethal damage.” My mind wandered back to that batch of delectable blueberry muffins and how in my greed to not wait until I could act safely in the shadows my shadow proxy had crushed my first four muffins I’d attempted to grab, whilst out for everypony to see into dried compact bars that, while still tasty, was much harder to chew, and were dry as granola. “That, and I’m rather counting on doing most of this work at night, in case you hadn’t quite noticed, I have rather sun-sensitive skin, hence the umbrella.”

This only drew a smirk from Burn, as Crash was a tad busy with finishing yet another mug. ‘Blimey I hope that doesn't cost me too much.’

“An impressive claim, I must say we are both rather intrigued,” he said while giving his brother a light hearted jab to the side, causing Crash to catch a little of his drink in his nose, sending him into a fit of coughing, “it all sounds like quite the promising ordeal. However,” my heart began to sink, here comes the rejection, “We’re going to have to see some of these abilities in practice. And since you have shown such zeal for working at night, then what do you say to a small night sparring match so that we might properly gauge your skills.”

He paused, obviously waiting for my reply, “Sounds fine to me sir, when and where,” A small tinge of happiness having crept into my tone.

“Wonderful,” Burn said with a small clap… err, clop, “then how about tonight at nine just outside the trees on the South side of the mountain.”

It sounded fine to me, and we concluded our business with Burn calling for another round of drinks, for a toast. We then each chugged our beverages in turn. The Brothers Crash and Burn then made way to leave on whatever business I had interrupted earlier. Though I couldn’t help but obviously mishear Crash saying something about “not being able to wait to wipe the floor with some hopped up on magic unicorn”, it would have been terribly rude to have said that to someone who had just had to shell out one hundred and fifty bits for somepony who had ordered some of the strongest stuff in the house for a business transaction. Terribly rude, but I brushed that little thought away and treated myself to another root beer float for succeeding in the first part of my rather impromptu interview.

(Author's Note Mk. 2: My thanks go out to gentleman author Troutking for his permission of OC use. Should you feel inclined, you may see Crash and Burn's introduction in the chessverse in "What was Lost")

Training Grounds (18)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): LunarLover, Paw Print thank you)

The night began promptly at eight thirty p.m., though I’m no longer sure the use of post meridian is appropriate any longer, and as always its sinking brought me peace. The sun was finally gone, and so too the phantom light rays that wished to tear at my existence. That is to say, it wasn’t all bad. At least the sun was direct about its hatred. It didn’t hide behind pretended social norms that were dropped at the turn of a whim for the, undeserved, biased favor of another individual. No, it simply was, is, and will be a bright globe of fission that works to banish away the dark.

***

It didn’t take too long to figure out where the meeting spot was, partly due to the fact there was a path that went through a bit of forest on the mountains south side, but also due to the fact I could easily make out the forms of both Crash and Burn as they crouched in the shaded boughs of the lone tree that stood a few feet from the main group. I waved to them, or more truthfully, my proxy did.

They didn’t look too happy about that, but Burn swiftly winged his way down, motioning for Crash once he’d landed, giving a low chuckle, and once I was in, what he presumed to be my, earshot said, “Guess you weren’t kidding about that night vision, caught us with a mere glance, didn’t he brother?” Crash only gave a small grunt and mumbled something even I couldn’t quite catch, but it was presumably aimed at his brother, of whom he was standing right next to, and who apparently knew what he meant by the quick look he gave him.

Putting on his warmest game show host grin Crash began to take the lead, saying, “Well, I’m sure you’re just itching to get things started, but before we get this sparring match started me and my brother thought it might do us all some good to see just how well you are when it comes to stealth and navigating your surroundings.” He pointed at a diagonal from the path into the forest as his brother Burn took wing, “my brother is going to go down a ways, and you’re going to go up and try and sneak up on him. Now mind you keep going about the same direction, this is your test.” He finished with a small grin, which quickly vanished when no reaction was given from my proxy.

All in all it sounded fair to me, I let him know as much, and having to swear upon my honor, once he saw me began to disappear into the shadows to be lost from sight, that I’d abide by the rules. I did, and then I made my way as silently down the path as possible.

Initially there were a few trip wires here and there, most were thick enough that I was actually able to see them, but a few were only caught because I took note of the slim sliver of shadow they made from the twisted light of the crescent moon as it stream through it’s nearly clear existence. The same could be said from a few of the pitfalls as well, none were too deep, being that they were so many, and only they would have worked on it, but they were so cleverly disguised that it was only the softer texture of the shadows in it that brought me pause. It’s a little hard to describe, but while there is only one form of darkness, it being the mere absence of light, it’s how the light isn’t there that makes the difference between how it feels when it’s stratified in soil, under bits of rock and gravel, or in a great gape of air under a tarp. I had to edge around a few of those, but I was mostly able to step over them as most of them while running the width from one tree to another, but only as far as a foot forward. It all felt slightly trivial, though I put it down to them taking it easy on someone who they were only gauging to see the skill of. But still, it surprised me just how little noise I was making, at the very least I had expected to hear the swishing of my clothes grating against each other but they remained silent on a stalked my way forward.

It didn’t take too long to finally see Burn, he was lying down upon a cloud in the middle of a bough cover glade. 'Wow, he looks comfy.' Kinda made me wish I could stay on clouds, still couldn’t figure out what had caused my initial falling out with them, maybe it was just some by-product of inter-universal travel and it had been a fluke that one time. But all of that was put aside as I quietly tapped Burn’s shoulder-blade, right above his left wing as he gave an ear-splitting yelp and launched straight into the air, whipping out his rapier. I couldn’t help but let out a strangled giggle, wishing the fog of darkness away, but for enough to reform my proxy and keeping myself hidden, I waved.

The yell had, by all accounts, gotten the attention of Crash as only a few seconds later he parted a great swath of canopy out of his way with his sword and began to look for his brother calling to make sure he was fine.

It was a full minute before both of them had calmed down enough to realize they were right behind the other and regained as much composure as they could whilst I still tried to maintain myself and not fall into full on out laughter for fear that: one, I’d never stop, and two, that I’d cough up a lung in the process. A stern look from both Crash and Burn was enough to silence me, mostly due to how ineffective it was. Ponies just look so cute that when they try to look tough it’s just sad. Though a large amount of rippling muscles sure helped, it really boiled down to their large almost puppy like eyes…. anyway, despite himself Burn admitted he was quite pleased with how well I had done, but that now was the time for what we’d come here for, sparring. The plan was to do so near the tree we’d started at, and that they’d even give me a lift there so I wouldn’t have to traipse across the training area again, but I politely declined and let them know since I knew where I needed to go I could just port over there as I wrapped the darkness around me and vanished from sight.

Both of them, by the time they had returned were again pleased, I kept on forgetting that teleportation like that was a bit of a rarity around here, but I just smiled and waved at them as they landed.

“Well, here we are the final test.” Burn said as he pulled his thin rapier from its sheath and held it in his mouth and began walking to my front, “While you have shown some promise tonight, as I mentioned earlier today this is a dangerous occupation. While my brother and I always keep an eye out for each other, it is sometimes unavoidable that we must split up in order to catch our quarry. Or when we deal with pack animals and our numbers no longer give us an advantage. As such you always have to keep aware of your own surroundings and, once you get good enough, to be aware of your opponents as well.” And with that he charged at me, he was a fair distance, but somewhere in the back of my head it niggled me that he would run rather than fly…

I was almost too late when Crash swung at me or more correctly my proxy’s hind leg. I stole a glance to be sure, he was using the blunt end of his sword, but a swing like that would surely have cracked some bone.

These guys must deal with some crazy tough monsters, I thought as I worked to establish a better shadow sense of my surroundings. Without Caligo there to constantly buffer them I normally just held one hundred eighty degrees in front of me, it made me feel a little weird to hold conscious awareness of a full three hundred and sixty degrees. But with Caligo still silent and on the mend, and Somnium still quietly worrying over him I was on my own and would just have to buck up and deal with the slight feelings of exposure it brought.

I didn’t have long as now both Crash and Burn were now on opposite sides of me, but I didn’t need a long time, mostly due to the fact I had used shadow stride over to the darkened boughs of the nearest tree to bolster my concentration. It also just happened to give me a good view of the perplexed expressions of the two pegasi.

I was just about to step out from the tree when I got a better idea. I never really like all this up front and personal fighting, even with my ability to sense things around me, it always irked me. When it came to fighting games or shooters, I always preferred the third-person view. So why not use it now? A grin crept over my face as I formed my proxy about ten feet away, and sent my shadow proxy out as I silently followed in the ample shadows around me as I debated on whether or not I should attempt to harden its existence just yet.

It was Crash who noticed my shadow moving out from the tree first as he motioned to his brother, who said, “Ah, a fine trick indeed, but this is a test to see your fighting prowess, running away won’t help you.” I couldn’t help but giggle a little at that. Luckily I was enough to not be heard.

My little stunt had apparently made them a little angry, or possibly from the slightly oversized grin I had it sport, but regardless both brothers took wing and began to quickly circle my shadow, of who was now sitting down and gave a silent, but still comical yawn. Crash didn’t like that at all, and as he made his way behind me, suddenly stopped, and took a mighty swing at my shadows side.

‘Ooo, I’m gonna have me some fun with this city slicker.’

His sword, still turned in his mouth to hit me with the wide side was obviously meant to hurt, especially since it appeared I wasn’t taking this seriously, but panic began to visibly well up in him as his sword began to slip through my shadow like butter. It was then that I hardened the shadow, the sword, now completely stuck, was in the middle of the right side of its body. At this point Burn had stopped his circling, and crash released the sword from his jaw as to properly scream, not high pitched mind you, but a scream of fear nonetheless.

Sporting an ever widening grin, the likes to rival Pinkie Pie, my shadow then made its way to standing up, the head “looking” directly at the screaming Crash. He started to say something, from the distance I was at it sounded like a form of apology. It was then I noticed the look of horror upon Burn’s face,

‘Geez, his eye are bigger now than ever, it’s almost sickeningly funny.’

I then lashed out both of my shadows front legs, turning them insubstantial as they grew, but then hardened into existence as they quickly wrapped around waist and wing of the two surprised pegasi, completely immobilizing them.

Shifting the puppet into a more bipedal stance I brought, the now silenced, ponies, over to the more comfortable darkness beneath the tree. Calling up another shadow around me, and properly hiding myself within it as well, I then “made my way out” once they were within about three yards yards.

Looking a bit sheepish, their mouths clanged open and hit the ground below them, making the real me shudder and thinking on how that couldn’t possibly be healthy, and behind that musing on just how related these ponies were to snakes if they could unhinge their jaws like that so easily.

“*tick* Sooo, how was that?” I asked as the proxy, around me, mirrored my own chin-hair tugging. Bit of a nervous habit. I thought I’d done a good job, but they just remain silent. Had I done something wrong? I must have done something wrong, that can be the only reason they weren’t saying anything. A cold pit began to form at the bottom of my stomach as I thought on what I’d just done. Initial use of some moderate scare tactics, mostly due to absurdity more than grotesqueness, but I’d managed minimal damage done to targets, at least I hadn’t heard any bones crack, and they looked like they were breathing fine, even if it was a bit shallow. In fact I was rather proud that I’d finally thought up a way to figure out “fighting” rather than creating two mashy spike-plates to pulp them between. This immobilization stuff is kinda fun once you start to think about it.

They remained silent, jaws still agape.

“Oh right,” I said with a small nervous chuckle, the test was definitely over. Letting the dark constructs fade back into nothingness as both pegasi, and Crash’s sword, landed with a small thump onto the dirt a few inches below them.

They remained silent, but they recovered themselves enough to close their mouths. Then Crash did something altogether unexpected, he looked down by my feet, and then to the ground around me as he raised a single eyebrow. Remaining silent, he silently nudged his brother, breaking out of his judging stare of me, and pointed to the ground around me. The same raised eyebrow look was then mirrored by Burn as well, who then calmly stood up, a sly grin having spread across his face and said, “An impressive display, indeed, rather well done. Your stealth is quite a feat, something my brother and I can attest too, especially if your claim to being untrained is true,” I braced myself, compliments in an interview are always a bad sign. “However, we prefer to know who we work with before going out to do any fieldwork together.”

My heart sank into my stomach. “I don’t understand.” I did understand, but I still hoped he was bluffing. Had my real face been showing it would have only proved how good of a poker face Applejack had.

“Oh, don't play coy with us.” Crash said with another sickeningly half cocked smile on his face. “You don’t get to be a monster hunter without being able to learn how to track them. Just look down behind you.”

I did, and couldn’t see anything. It was just… ground. I turned back and only gave them a quizzical look for reply.

Burn just sighed, looked over to Crash and said, “Shall you take this one brother, or shall I?”

“I think you should let him know, dear brother.” He said with a head inclined in Burn’s direction.

“Very well. The ground below you, whoever you claim to be, is indented from your walk over here. However, not only is the stride completely off from your supposed height, but they are also shaped in such a way that they are anything BUT hooves. So the real question is, what are you, really?”

So there it was, come clean or lose the opportunity of trying to do something good. I really didn’t know if I could take not being able to figure out what to do with myself again, and if I didn’t come clean, apparently these guys had some clout in the monsters hunting business and might just be willing to spread all kinds of rumors about me. So I did the only thing I could think to do with my heart racing and thoughts of all kinds of failure swirling around my head, I gave in.

“Please don’t hate me.” I said just loud enough from them to hear my voice as I slowly released the shadows around me. I stupidly dragged it out, fearing the release and the hatred of my own selfish deeds brought to light as the shadows split aside like an unzipped coat leaving a hunched six foot four, black robed, bipedal figure pulling at his sleeves after taking down his hood.

At first nothing happened, aside from my ever mounting fear that they were about to attack the bipedal “changeling” monster in front of them Not that I could justly blame them, they had every right to despise the way I’d manipulated them as I hid behind the societal stereotype that all ponies were xenophobes. My mind swirled with all of the justifiable pain and torment I should be inflicting upon myself so as to not have them waste their own time, of which I’d already plainly wasted on a freak like me. My shoulders began to sag in my disgusting self-pity.

Neither taking their eyes off me Crash said, “You thinking what I’m thinking dear brother?”

“Why I do believe I am brother of mine.” Burn replied with a shared grin. Now truly looking at me in the eye he said, “As egregious a wound you have given us for such a deception, we are willing to let this slide. After all, you did come to the best around with a true intention of learning didn’t you?”

I nodded, “It was all true, and I overheard you both talking, and I know that ponies really don’t like other species too much… b-but you really can call me Rumor. Will you please forgive me?”

At that Burn took wing and place a hoof around my shoulder, “Of course, we all make mistakes from time to time, isn’t that right Brother Crash?” To which he took wing as well, wrapping an arm around my opposite shoulder saying, “True indeed Brother Burn. Just stick with us Rumor, we’ll show you how to be a monster hunter just like us.” He finished with a smile that was equally shared with his brother and then finally with me. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was as we started heading back to town to find a place to eat and, apparently, celebrate my induction to their little group.

‘What nice guys.”

(Author's Note Mk. 2: Have looked over some of the things I’ve said and realized them to be no good. Specifically the shadow range (not piercing shadows, but the length away from Rumor he is able to manipulate and sense the world around him). Never been very good with judging distances, and have recently attended a football game, yeah, those fields are much more massive than I had thought. In accordance, Rumor will not be able to directly sense shadows, nor harden shadows beyond a 20 foot radius, caught a change in chapter 9, but if you spot anymore, please, fell free to let me know and I will fix them.)

Be Vewy Qwiet (19)

The night started off quite well as I thought back to two nights ago, Crash and Burn had been extraordinarily nice to me. We’d had quite a good time about me joining up and making the group a trio. I’d also apologized profusely until Crash just grunted, “Accepted, now pray don’t mention it again.” Burn then gave a toast and we chugged out prospective beverages. The morning after, well, late afternoon due to the hangovers, (another reason why I don’t drink alcohol) they decided to find a proper source of cash flow. They’d both been rather excited when I’d given a few token demonstrations of my shadow powers that night and were quite excited to see them in the field.

They ended up picking a rather high end job, sponsored by the Equestrian government no less. The job was to capture some cockatrice infants, something to do with food preservation in which the young cockatrice infants were the easiest to train and thus maintain further into the future. The problem with that was it was hard to find any due to two reasons. One, ponies tend to end up stoned when they go looking for them. Two, see number one. There wasn’t too much known on Cockatrices, for a good reason, but general living patterns have been deduced from how ponies keep out of areas they tend to be around.

So there we were in the Everfree Forest, the closest hotspot to find the bird/snake hybrid. I was in my natural form, as Crash and Burn having been fine with it, I was pretty happy not to have to hide so much anymore. Not only that, but I was getting some great hands on experience, shadow striding from tree bough to tree bough. The Forest was especially dangerous at night, and we didn’t need me causing a ruckus that might potentially scare away our intended quarry. The Brothers flew just above me in a darkened cloud to help mask their scent, quite happy to find that I didn’t exude one myself as they kept an eye on me. It was up to me to spot our nocturnal prey, as I had the best night vision in the group, and we made our way further into the forest.

It didn’t actually take long before I heard some telltale clucking. Having brought down my hood upon my shoulders, its sound muffling powers had ceased and brought my hearing back to its superb state. I silently reached into the left breast-pocket of my cloak, palming a small mirror into it, and angled it up to catch a reflection of moon and give a shine to my position in the trees for Crash and Burn, the signal that I’d found the mark. Giving the mirror a few more shakes I finally spotted a lone scrap of cloud, floating against the wind, and shot off into the dark leaving my two pegasi companions in the dust.

After about six jumps I saw it standing there, pecking at the ground like a normal bird, was the cockatrice. It looked exactly like the picture, about the same height as any other chicken, and looked the same from the neck up. But from below it lost all its feathers and they became covered instead by leathery green skin. The wings were still only capable of giving it little more than a jumping boost as it scuttled from spot to spot, but it was the elongated tail that it used to slither around in-between hoping that finally made the creature look like it had any relation to a snake.

Shooting another reflected moon beam into the sky I waited until I again caught sight of Crash and Burn’s cloud. As they passed overhead the shadow of their hiding spot in the sky tracked over the cockatrice who quickly turned around and leveled its glowing red eyes in preparation for what it thought was about to attack it. When nothing jumped out at it, it became even more wary of its surroundings and began to slink off into the nearby shadows of a low bush. This, however, did nothing to impede my own vision. The half-bird then stood there, giving looks to it’s surrounding for close to a minute, then did something to make the bush shake and rattle for a moment and then stood stock still for five whole minutes. Then, suddenly, it shot off into the night.

‘Dam can those things can scuttle.’

I was almost hard pressed to keep up with it due to all the twists and turns it kept on making, which were only increased when I accidentally brushed against a tree branch causing some leaves to shake, almost directly above it, but it still continued to keep going to whatever path it had in store.

Running at top speed, whilst still keeping as low a profile as it could, the cockatrice finally started to slow down as it came to the entrance of a small cave. In fact, now that it was no longer being block by forest growth I could now see that it had been carrying a small branch in its beak the whole time. Giving a small cluck the cockatrice was then greeted by a return call from within the cave and then made its way in.

Moving to the top branch of the tree I was currently in I scanned the sky for the cloud I knew Crash and Burn would be in, unfortunately due to the Everfree Forrest’s lack of controlled weather the mass of clouds that roamed it made spotting it a tad difficult, and even after shooting a few moonbeams back into the air I was rewarded with naught but absence. I waited for five minutes, nothing happened. I gave the hand mirror a few more shakes, and again, after another five boring minutes, they still weren’t there.

I was decidedly on my own. It occurred to me that the best course of action would be to go in anyway and show them that I could do more than just work as a pointer. With what I’d been told about cockatrices apparently as long as you could out intimidate them you’d be fine, something I’d seen Fluttershy do back in season one, but the best tidbit I’d received was that their powers only worked if naked eye contact was given. While there were sunglasses for such occurrences, they were mostly nocturnal, and bumbling around at night with shades on wasn’t a good idea. That being the reason Crash and Burn had decided to forgo the glasses, I’d forgone them simply because I could always just place a bit of darkness on my eyes, which would break the contact and still allow me to see with my slick pair of dark-piercing eyeballs.

Not one to go in completely without caution I wrapped the shadows around me, something that seemed a touch redundant with the almost complete lack of light the small cave but for a few holes allowing some moonlight purchase. Really it was more a big earth mound than a cave, really. Still, better to be safe than sorry I thought, giving a small sigh.

Now covered in my dark, and silently made my way in. It was a little cramped, but stooping over into a bit of a crouch made the going much easier. But judging from the size, and claw marks on the walls, of the whole thing the current residents had clearly not been the first. Maybe a bear?

That particular question was answered as I rounded a small bend and was greeted by the silent snarl of the most lifelike, stone-carved, mountain lion I had ever seen. Though I suppose it truly was lifelike as it once held it. Still, once less menace near the populace, considering I was only a few scant miles into the forest. Looking over the dust covered relic I was greeted with a beautiful sight of two adult cockatrice(s?). The one I’d followed placing a twig upon a nearly completely constructed nest. The other was sitting in it with three of its young nestled against its breast. Jackpot, I thought with a half-grin.

As I collected the shadows in the darkness, where the shafts of moonlight weren’t showing through the holes in the roof, I contemplated simply cutting off the heads of the two full grown beasts in front of me. However, giving thought to their serpent heritage, I thought better of it. I didn’t want to risk the head doing something funny. So instead I created two simple hands, only slightly larger than mine by about half, out of the dark, they were a bit blocky but they would suffice. As I moved into position behind them, making sure to keep the hands within my range of being able to keep them solid. Only a mere ten feet away from them and they still weren’t able to pick up onto my presence, I was almost giddy, in all my life this was technically my second time out hunting. The shadow hands then shot forward with a thought and squeezed their small bird-like heads before either of the adults could give off their first startled squawk. It was a little sickening just how close it all sounded to me cracking my own knuckles, but with fewer pops. Letting my concentration lax the hands melded back into nothingness as the bodies made a muffled plop upon the earthen floor. Two dangers to pony kind eliminated. Winning!

Looking to the, now, abandoned nest the three infants had rolled over in their sleep without their parent to lean on.

‘Heh, they almost look cute from a reasonable distance.’

Scooping each of them up into a small cup of darkness, and then placing them in a box of conjured darkness, making sure to leave some air holes, I then started to make my way out of the cave.

I was just rounding the bend in the cave, when I stopped short. A round of crackling was quickly followed by a very dry but angry roar as the once-statue of the mountain lion shook itself free of the dissipating stone prison.

Once free it began to turn, bits of broken gravel sliding off its shoulders as they moved back and forth with feline liquidity. It’s eyes locking upon the nearest thing in sight, me, hunger clear in its eyes. Out of instinct, fear began to well up from within me as parts of my body began to tingle in sympathy in preparation for the oncoming slicing and mauling. That, however, didn’t stop me from hastily making a black box from the shadows above the lion and just as hastily bringing it down upon it, making it give a startled yowl as it quickly gave look around itself as the box of darkness did little more than give it a small jolt.

Standing still the mountain lion then gave an almost human like look of puzzlement. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was reminded that this was technically a cartoon world, when I concentrated I could sorta make out an outline around most of darn near everything, but that was much further behind my own befuddlement.

Flashbacks began to filter through my mind, unbidden, of the real intelligence of some of the creatures in this world like bunnies, and even cows. The look I was now getting from the great cat before me was something akin to seeing a clock that foretold your demise, and you only had seconds left.

‘That box was supposed to leave that cat as a smear upon the ground.’ A small thought in me whispered as the box began to return to nothingness as any further line of thought was quickly cut off as the feline coiled its legs and sprang forward at me in one fluid motion.

I don’t like fear, not this kind at any rate, and nor did I like how my own screaming mind was making it harder to think and react as I hurriedly kept on shadow striding away only a few away from the attacking monster, only to have it try and pounce on me again each time I popped up.

‘Is there some weight limit on what I could make?’

‘Is there some amount of time that had to be put into a construct before it attained the desired weight?’

Each jagged thought cut sporadically through my fear drenched mind. I really needed Caligo back, or at least have Somnium talking to me rather than silently worrying over her other half. All thoughts of my powers had all but fled, excepting what little I could hold onto for the scant jumps from shadow to shadow within the cave. My fear was making me sloppy, the great cat had almost scored upon my legs a few times. I may be able to heal things back, but from the few things I had read, replacing a limb back with flesh was beyond my regenerative capabilities.

My latest shadow jump had left me pinned at a wall of the cave, and just as the great cat was about to leap, and I was about to jump behind it, something just clicked inside my mind, and I went back, further, instead, landing me outside in the forest proper as I swiftly fell upon my rear as I let relief overtake me. I didn’t sit for long as the furious cries of the mountain lion echoed through the hole speckled throughout the small cave as I quickly gave rise and high tailed it back into the safety of the trees, this time having enough of my wits about me to remember to wrap the darkness around me and remain silent. The lion quickly shot out of it’s small cave and ran out, giving a frustrated yowl, but continued straight on it’s course out into the forest, it still seemed determined to find itself some food.

I was just about to shout for Crash and Burn as I searched the skies for them, again, but I decided to remain quiet and let the dregs of fear drain away from me as I fumbled the small mirror out of my pocket and moved it out of the darkened branches out into the moonlit night. Luckily, it didn’t take long for the brothers to respond as a lone cloud descended from overhead back down to the ground. Once at ground level they dissipated the cloud with a dismissive kick and took hoof on the forest floor.

It was Crash who spoke first, “Did you find anything?”

I remained silent. Rather, I simply brought the black box to bear. Somehow I’d managed to keep hold of it throughout the entire ordeal floating in the air beside me. A stupid grin was plastered upon my face, despite the last dregs of fear draining from my body, free for all to see. In fact I think I was getting better at listening, or rather blocking things out as the forest night life no longer put a strain on my ears. That, or the rush of blood still coursing through my ears.

“Excellent! Not bad for a first timer. What say you Brother Crash?” Burn said with a dramatic turn of his head.

“Indeed it is Brother Burn!” He replied with an equally dramatic turn.

Once the government offices opened for the day, I bid Crash and Burn adieu as they went to deliver the two captured animals. When they tried to ask why I didn’t want to come and see the castle, assuring me that it was quite a sight to behold, I just waved them off and said that I just didn’t feel very comfortable there and they went off. Once they were safely out of sight I pulled my hand out of one of the left waist pocket. Opening up my hand I brought the third little cockatrice up to my face, it gave a small yawn and gave me the cutest little look you’d ever seen a creature with red eyes give. I was just about to try and name the cute little bugger when a small node in the back of my head started to give a small twinge as thoughts, not of my own, began to take shape, followed by feelings of elation from another.

‘Greetings master.’ Again with the "master", but I wasn't going to give him much grief for it this time.

‘Well hello Caligo, enjoy your little nap?’

‘Indeed I have, and I am once again able to work at full capacity for the glory of The Dark.’ That last bit put me off some but I wasn’t able to say much as Somnium broke in.

‘I’m so happy you’re doing better. You should have seen everything this new Sovereign’s been up to. He’s been taking hunting jobs working in subordinate positions to blowhards.’

That had been the first thing I’d heard her say since she practically beg for me to leave the castle. It was much more infantile sounding, more childish, than I expected from a couple thousand year old creature. She then proceeded to give her account of all that I’d done over the past couple of days that Caligo had been recovering from whatever it was he’d done to overcome Somnium.

Regardless Caligo was soon brought up to speed, and while he was definitely glad to see that all was going well, and was displeased that I had yet to go and set up a castle for myself, he seemed a bit off. Not that I was able to keep much of my own thoughts for very long with two voices now ringing about in my head, in fact it was only when the cockatrice gave a little peep that Caligo and Somnium suddenly quieted as I, myself, turned to look down at the little scaled-puffball that still sat in my hand.

‘Why do you hold vermin in your hand? Let’s name her Spinel!’

‘How do you know it’s a female?’ I thought back as I gave the little chick a turn around. However, I did like how the name rang in my head, and with no one else to give a confirmation I took her word on it. “Well, works for me. How about you, ya like the name Spinel?” A small ‘cheep’ and a fluttering of tiny little wings gave me all the confirmation I needed.

And so it was, sitting back in the bar in the inn I’d spent my first night with my new Pegasi companions, nursing a cold root beer float, it so became that the small snake/bird hybrid became known as Spinel, of whom, upon her naming, then leapt from my hand and crawled/slithered up my sleeve and chest to finally take rest on my shoulder, rubbed up against my neck, and promptly fell asleep.

Ending (no not The ending) (20)

While Caligo had been on the mend, leaving me to my own thoughts, Somnium had remained silently vigilant over her other half. I’d thought I was fine. It was just like old times before my mind had been occupied by another consciousness, granted it turned to be a symbiotic relationship, but regardless I’d concluded that I was just fine without voices not of my own, in my head. With Caligo’s reawakening, this notion was only solidified with the first words echoing in my skull. The notion was then quickly smashed in with a sledgehammer and swept out the holes in the side of my head. I was overjoyed to have him back and even more so when Somnium started to speak. It should have felt crowded, but it felt more… cozy, like a sort of mental hug. They were technically made to act as a mental support.

‘… Rumor?’ It seemed sort of weird, I wasn’t sure if it was really a good weird or a bad weird. ‘.. Rumor.’ I don’t think it really matters, quite frankly I rather liked it, and that was really all I nee… ‘Master!’

“Huh, what?” I said, out loud, shaken out of my internal monologue.

‘From the information provided from both you and Somnium, it is clear to me you are being used. My suggestion would be to punish them, but, I would not presume to dictate what punishment you may see fit.’

“Whu-what? Punished? Used? That’s ridiculous, they just lost track of me is all, and besides I was able to take care of myself.” At this the bartender was starting to give me some sideways glances at my apparently one sided conversation and began to slowly edge away from the probably crazy biped.

‘By all accounts you were told that you would be given training, such things as tracking and the like, but were instead put at the forefront of a hunt and left to go forward as though a simple attack dog and then left to your own devices despite having clearly explained your own novice skills in such areas. Tell me, did they even critique the fact that you left them on a group hunt over a monster that they believed to be of sufficient danger?’

“Well, no.” I didn’t like the way this conversation was starting to turn.

‘My only intention is ever to give you counsel Rumor. If you doubt my words then I would suggest reconnaissance be done upon the creatures Crash and Burn.’

‘And while we’re out we can get some food for Spinel!’

‘Gyah’, that was a surprising injection. I still wasn’t quite used to a third voice, but despite the random explosion of emotion that was Somnium, she had a point. I couldn’t let my new pet go hungry.

Waving for the bartender’s attention, I ordered some seed cake. Birds eat seeds, and seed cake should have seeds in it, right? Well, it did, and taking a chunk out of the cake I put a small piece in the pocket that held Spinel. She gave a muffled cheep and began to munch away on her supper hungrily.

While the infant cockatrice was busy I turned my attention to Somnium. Now that she was awake, I could finally talk with her again and get some answers out of her.

‘So why exactly wasn’t I able to crush that mountain lion last night? I thought I could harden shadows at will now?’

‘Well duh, it’s not like you’re controlling earth or something,’ was the snarky reply I got from Somnium.

‘What?’

‘Allow me to clarify Rumor,’ Caligo intoned. ‘You see, darkness magic is a type of magic which allows the user to manipulate and control the intangible dark. It has no natural physical form, this is not to say it is powerless on its own, as it is most commonly used for things like silencing and overcoming light, although sunlight itself tends to be unyielding in most instances, and it is particularly easy to shape and hide things with. However, with the advent of both Somnium and I, you can now easily utilize fully realized physical constructs of true darkness within a certain field of use, and without amplification that field is about twenty feet away from you. They can be used to destroy objects, block enemy attacks, and even pick up objects. Something you have some experience with cockatrice I recall. You are also afforded travel over great distances using a network of shadows that span the world.’

Recalling back to before I’d landed in Equestria, some books I had read on the Forgotten Realms series called it the “shadow weave”. It was rather amazing that something like that had a hold here in a land where the norm is literally rainbows and sunshine. I knew Selûne’s sister had something to do with it, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember her name, I swear I wanted to call her Shere, but I just knew that wasn’t quite right. Realizations aside, it seemed that Caligo had gone into something of a lecture mode.

‘and as you know, from previous usage, both the use of the shadow stride and dark travel can only be initiated and ended within dark shadows themselves. The previous of which may only be used for single transportation.’

“Right,” I said, falling back into speaking out loud, giving me another odd look from the barkeep. “But backing up some, what do you mean by true darkness, and why exactly wasn’t I able to squish that mountain lion before it tried to freakin’ eat me?”

‘Ah yes, the lion incident. As I said before darkness is not truly meant to be a physical force, and thus when it is channeled into a physical state, it comes at a cost, more so than the other elements, as even light has an easier time of it by shifting into a primarily particle state. You may have been able to crush the mountain lion, but your mobility would have been put into question.’

“Umm, what?” was my insightful reply.

‘Simply put, Rumor, the more real you make something, purely from darkness, the less you are able to move.’ I swear I could hear a hint of condescension in his deep, echoing, voice. ‘According to Somnium, you had already begun to run, already succumbing to angst. Your own novice skill combined with your increasing fear meant that you only ever impeded your own intentions long before your magical limitations could kick in.’

This was... odd, cause it sort of sounded like the rules for using a guardian type ӒRM, but I suppose that meant I had some sort of grasp on what Caligo was talking about, and it also explained why it had felt so strange to make a full shadow pony back at the castle rather than an empty hard shell. So in a sense it was best for me to make small things anyway, as big things would make it easier for others to get around it to a standing target, like a mountain lion trying to gut me. That brief thought alone made me shiver. But something was still bothering me.

“So could I can make big thing weighty, but what about small weighty things?”

‘Technically, yes, but by then you would be heavily rooted in place, and of course it would also begin to contend with other laws of physics.’

“Whoa, physics? Look I know they have a tenuous grasp in a world where about a third of the population can levitate things with their mind, something that in all reality should require ungodly amount of energy, and your telling me I have limits?”

‘Oh, so you can lift a mountain?’

“Well, can’t I, with this stuff?”

‘I concede that such feat may be possible in the future, but you would require a base of operations and a magical amplifier. Of which then you would have such power, but only within a localized field, but you would still have to deal with the lack of motion that pure physical darkness would entail upon your body. You would then have to contend against darkness resisting such a dramatic change to its nature, rendering any construct made highly unstable, and thus requires years of training.

In all honesty Mast-Rumor, if you find a need to make a weighty object you should infuse something darkness. It has proven best to align with creatures connected to the earth. Combining their own power with ours leads to many wonderful outcomes, like gravity wells for us, and us being able to silence the movements of giant rock or crystal constructs they tend to favor. You are, however, able to make things that are small and durable, like shields edged weaponry and the like without much impairment of speed, though the initial actualization does take away some movement. But once it is made it is made you are able to move more freely.’

Okay, I would definitely need to let that sit for a while. Teaming up with other element wielders, if I ever found one that is, and the things that could entail was starting to sound incredibly fantasy RPGish to me. It wasn’t that it wasn’t cool mind you, it was, but the fact that such a small person like me could generate such titanic powers without the use of things like missiles and giant machines. I was quite glad, all of a sudden, that I was sitting down as my brain began to swim about. But it did nag at me that he hadn’t mentioned the easier way first, though I suppose that it might be a touch harder to find someone who can manipulate earth or any other element may be difficult.

“Just stop me if I got this wrong, but… I can manipulate darkness with ease, and no direct penalty to myself, that is, until I start to harden it into existence, and the weightier they are, the less I can move, yeah?”

‘That is correct. Also, it may be added that you may use either shadows around you, or the more pure material that you leak from your pores.’

Okay, good to know, but my head was still a bit giddy, mostly with the beginnings of all sorts of nerdy ideas, but it began to clear when the raucous laughter of Crash and Burn filtered in through the open door. That’s right, this was my chance. Now I could show Caligo and Somnium just how wrong they were about these guys. Benighting my presence, I silently slid out of my seat, and took a few steps back from the table.

As they walked in I noticed a sizeable bag of money being carried in Crash’s mouth, it’s almost complete lack of clinking a testament to how full it was. They gave look to the place I’d been sitting in when they’d left, and seeing nothing there they made way to the barkeep. They paid for the rooms we’d used the last couple of days, which lay on the second floor, then ordered themselves some drinks.

Once seated in the now empty table I’d previously been in, they began to quickly drain their first drinks, both quaffing two mugs in about four minutes, though Crash was able to take a third. They were obviously in quite good moods. I know I’d be if I had just been paid a handsome sum of money. Indeed nothing out of the ordinary, or to say that either of them had any malicious tendencies towards me. I was even about to tell Caligo off as the brothers called in for another round of drinks for themselves. But I humored him as I cocked an ear to be better listen as Burn turned to Crash and said, “My, quite the fortunate turn of events, ay Brother of mine?”

“Indeed it is dear brother.” Came the foam lipped reply as Crash finished taking a swig. “I still cannot believe we roped in a monster of our own.”

That stopped me cold, but before Caligo could even think anything resembling ‘I told you so’ and even before I could defend a slightly inebriated looking Crash’s rather poor word choice, Burn stepped back in.

“I just can’t believe such a naive sap exist in this world, and yet has all that power. Just a few kind words and we have him wrapped around our hooves dear brother. And after taking him on a few more jobs he’ll be ours completely, and then we can use him against that furry monstrosity that not only threw our cousins in jail, but worse, made fools of us both!”

Burn finished with what was obviously intended to be some sort of intimidating slam of his hoof on the table. And it might have been too, the dark lighting of the room gave him a shadowed, almost haunted look, but, again, my shadow piercing eyes coupled with his already adorable body type meant that ship had long since sailed.

“Indeed brother, I still can’t understand how that little punk rusted my claymore to nothing, and now I have to stick with this dinky little thing.” Crash said as he ran a hoof down the three foot long sword, but he gave a quick chuckle, “but at this rate we’ll be able to send our little cannon on more jobs like this and I’ll be able to get a properly enchanted claymore in two or three more gigs. Heh, and won’t it be something after we sick him on the armor-armed cheat?”

“Even better still, we’ll bring him to Stalliongrad, and let the locals have some fun at him. The little pussy willow will just break under all those stares and jeers,” taking on a high pitch voice, “Oh what a monster!” Then lowering his voice, “Get out of here freak!” Apparently Burn’s “impersonations” were spot on as Crash snorted some foam out of his nose.

They just continued on with their talk, everything that escaped from their lips seeming to be the truth, as far as they were concerned. I just stood there, trying to process it all, my mind churning as darkness began to pour out of me, darkening the local area some, granting a few stares from the scant few patrons who thought they noticed something at our end of the room. They just continued on about just how close the good life was going to be, what sort of story they should make so that I would properly maul this Celt creature, who by even their own twisted account was obviously the innocent, at least in comparison to them, from the encounter, and on just how ugly I really was. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder just how the guys back at the castle might have reacted the same way had I not remained hidden the whole time.

That’s when it happened, amidst all of my confusion at how someone could take my help and twist it into such a perverted purpose, how something this deviant could have sprung up in Equestria under the gaze of the kind Celestia, and my own personal vortex of self-loathing battling against all that would still try to treat these particular ponies with even a modicum of decency, a lone thought, not of my own, broke through.

‘I did tell you, Master.’

That was right, master, I was the one who inherited the white mask. I was to be the dark sovereign, and I who was now, for once in my life, the one with the power.

The room began to turn pitch as my hold on my emotions grew more tenuous.

Flashes of thought and emotion arced through my mind. It would be so simple to squeeze the life from them. String the two betrayers out on darkened chains and let them feel the world crushing in around them. Their eyes bulge at their realization of failure and internal fracturing. Their howls of pain, music, until lungs collapsed.

I was too wrapped up in myself to notice the scant two other patrons and barkeep, let alone the two pegasi brothers in front of me look about in confusion. The growing call to follow herd instinct, to run from the dark, began to call at them stronger as the light from the small lamps began to be smothered in dark preventing their glow from reaching any eye, and the sunlight coming in from the small swinging doors began to slowly dim away from the increasing layers of darkness in front of it.

‘Perhaps more energy than even they deserve for you to expend on them, even as a punishment, but, fitting, Rumor.’

My first instinct was to reach for glee. Someone was finally agreeing to my thoughts on punishing wretched scum. Black and fluid emotions began coursing out the well where I kept such petty things like emotions.

No sorrow or self loathing this time to douse my growing discontent, no thoughts to meter my judgment with such petty things as introspection or foresight. Only the anger of a child made fun of for not throwing a punch back at a bully in middle school, aware of how he'd be seen in the same light as the organic waste attacking him for the simple act of defending himself.

All the bullies and jerks in the world no longer able to propagate. No longer be able to pollute my world with their filthy existence. It was so amazingly simple, and it would all start with the two, filthy, hideous, creatures before me.

A thin smile began to crack against the strained muscles in my face. Somewhere in the background screams of some sort were beginning to sprout up, but none of those mattered, only the screams of my two little buddies in front of me mattered now as two dark chains winded around their limbs. Lifting them up, the chains wrapping around a ceiling support beam, it encircled their midsections preventing them from flying away.

Pushing thought into reality I gave way and gave silent command for the chains to move. I felt myself beginning to root to the spot, as more strength was poured into the chains, making them heavier, and thicker. It was so close now, I could see them shivering. It was delicious. Their fear seemed almost a palpable thing twisting in the air above them.

Playing along to no one, but myself, no creature besides myself would being able to see through the midnight darkness that now wholly filled the small floor, I shot out a pale shadow from my mouth, slowly licking at the air in mock attempt at tasting their fear.

It was so simple, efface these fools, put them out of their misery, and make the world a better place all in one go.

I again gave call to the dark and the chains tightened again, stifling the two pegasis’ screams as another tug now made a small crackling sound across the tops of their backs. They continued to squirm so their spines were still in working condition, though the rushing blood in my ears made it hard to judge just how loud the cracks may have been.

Invisible to all, the darkness in the tavern room began to swirl, I could feel the air get colder as the darkness engulfed the last sliver of light. Finally, yes, finally all of the pathetic fools who would rather waste their energy to corrupt the intent of all those who would only ever do good would finally pay. No longer would it be the meek will inherit the world. No eventualities! It would be theirs NOW, and it would all begin with these two cretins.

My once smile became a hard pressed, razor thin, line. The rest of my face was bunched into a throbbing mass of hate and a dark fury at a life of bottled emotions finally being let out. It honestly felt like a cracking dam. My own ribs began to buckle and a salty taste began to annoyingly bubble up into my mouth.

A small giggle escaped from my mouth. I couldn’t help it. It was just so wonderful. Just a few more beautiful inches, their pathetic attempts to scream falling upon deaf ears at the gale of laughter that now came gushing out of me. I began to feel the blood rush to my head from the adrenaline. Their pain would be exquisite.

‘Stop…’ I ignored the voice that tried to get at me. Somepony was obviously trying to beg for these two fools’ lives, I resisted and re focused my anger on my prey. Just a few. More. Inches.

‘Please stop.’

“Gaaah!” I yell turning around, searching for the voice who had to protest to their well deserved fate. “Where are you?!” I stopped the shadow chains in mid squeeze.

'Why must you kill them?'

Again I swept the room, growing more infuriated that my own eyes couldn’t spot where the voice’s owner was, but I gave a reply, “You want to know why? FINE! It’s because they, hurt…me.” That brought me short. It sounded so… petulant, so childlike, when I said it out loud like that. I mean, surely it was the right thing to do… to…

I looked at the malingering, twisted, links of faux shadow metal that rustled silently upon one another. I looked at the two pegasi brothers who, for all intents and purposes, had really only been rude to me. Here I was, some ridiculous… idiot of a nerd, given super powers, and the first people to merely slight me were met with such an obscene force. Through the dark their faces were masks of abject terror and pain. Their fear was so real and yet even in the darkness both Crash and Burn were still almost looking directly at each other, guided by some sort of invisible bond.

Silently, I let the darkness fall away as the dim light flooded back into the room, blinding from the midnight pitch that had occupied it not seconds before. Crash and Burn fell down with a small thump, too surprised to catch themselves with their wings, but more likely having a few of their more delicate bones in their wings broken.

I started to back away, a creeping sense of awe and disgust began to permeate through me at the realizing of the abominable act I’d almost committed.

I had to say, something.

But, nothing came out. My strained voice wasn’t helping matters, but I just couldn’t, wouldn't, say sorry. I could feel the stares starting to build from behind me as my soothing shadows wrapped around me, removing me from the room.

It dawned on me that it had been Somnium, previously the evil entity Nightmare Moon, who had been my conscience during that, disgusting fiasco. But they still betrayed me.

This is what I get when I let myself think others would really want to be around me. Worse, even after all the times, ALL more microscopically minor than what had just happened, I still had a disgusting lump of belief that people were really good deep down despite what all the logic of the world always seemed to dictate otherwise.

Before I could continue that train of thought, and before either Caligo or Somnium could begin to say anything themselves through the torrent of thought and emotions that blazed in my head, the shadows receded and I found myself in the empty chamber, with a lone pedestal in the center, that I’d found Caligo, or more pointedly, the mask he resides in.

I was at a loss, a small thought at why I’d even come here tried to bubble up past my still increasing torrent of emotions, that had only been momentarily held back from just utter shame at what I’d almost done, even if they had possibly deserved it, but my growing frustration was weakening any thoughts I tried to grab hold of. Just “chin up and man up” what else could I do?

I threw off my hood, I just couldn’t stand having to hide myself in privacy, allowing my feet to lead me, I stalked out of the room, back hunched like a vulture. Gliding my way up the, nearby, stairway I just couldn’t get it out of my head how freaking pathetic I was. My face was flushed, my nose had begun to run, and despite myself the frustrations of my day made me give into what I’d knew was one of the most selfish things to do for myself, I cried. I tried to stop, but once it had started it just couldn’t stop.

Why was I so pathetic?

Why was I always, always, always so fucking pathetic?!!!?

I crested the stairway and was greeted with the site of a, slightly, web encrusted hallway. Even though much of the ancient castle was in a state of disrepair, much of the lower structures remained untouched, their beauty unmarred by time. What particularly caught my eye were the ponies carved into the surrounding walls. Not that it mattered what species they were, what mattered was their eyes. Always the eyes! Always judging! So many goddamned stares!

I. Hated. It.

Eyes that would be hidden, masked by sycophantic smiles and false words, but they were there, subtly staring into my very existence, always casting out the freak to fend for themselves.

The emotions that threatened to end my balance of my mind took note of the nearest ornate carving. It was a whirlwind of ponies smiling and cavorting about in a spiral, probably an updraft of some kind, carved into an ornate column, flaunting their happiness in front of me. A thin shadow burst from the swarm that burned around me, cutting a thin, perfect line down the center of it, marring nearly half of all their disgustingly happy faces.

I paused, looking at the unintentional wrecking, as small sliver of dark began to take shape and anchor itself upon my right index finger. And then another one began to form on my middle finger, then my ring finger, and my pinkie finger, and was then mirrored on my left hand. Each one grew to a length of about one foot, a thin and wicked edge running along the bottom of each, and ending in an even more wicked point.

I began to walk, my arms felt a bit leaden but a call to the dark helped push them along to the first stone picture as I was propelled into a sprint by the third step. As I spread my arms to my side I slashed them across the stone leaving eight gashes that obscured the carvings entirely. I jumped the scant few feet to the next section, and the next one, and the next one. One single thought continuously repeating through my, once again, churning mind, ‘Quit mocking me!’

My chest burned, but all that mattered was stopping all the eyes from looking at me in my moment of emotional weakness. I hated myself for being so petty, so stupid, but I hated their happiness more. Dust began to fill the air, revealing a few more invisible spider threads that were soon equally demolished.

Finishing the wall in front of me, I turned, and saw another wall of judging quadruped freaks. I began to start on the next half; my frenzied slashes grow more erratic, when I felt something scrape against my chest. ‘Dammit!’ I thought. I must have cut some of my cloak this time, but an actual show of unintended physical self injury only spurred me on to a greater speed to stop them all from looking at me.

I couldn’t stand it. They were all so ignorantly happy. Every one of those fucking, goddamn, four legged freaks. Flying, swooping, and lounging on clouds just to gawk at everyone below.

I could feel myself leaving. I couldn’t stem the tide from the well where I kept all my other emotions, all selfish, but my hold grew more tenuous. I didn’t care. My eyes stung from my tears, but the grotesque smile on my face belittled whatever the tears might mean. Again, a salty twang began growing in the back of my mouth, but I’d finally stopped all the stares. I was alone. But through the blood rushing through my ears a distorted sound made me turn. Halfway up the hall was some small, living, creature. My muddled thoughts again turned to rage that some sentient creature was now looking. Flashes of things like Angel Bunny and other small animals that had demonstrated thought, like so many birds at Canterlot, assaulted me.

My arms began to stiffen more as I focused my thoughts into growing the claws into proper shadow gauntlets, bigger, heavier. A thin feeling of nothingness began to travel down my spine, but it didn’t matter as my, now forced, calm gait belittled every single horrifying thought that crossed my mind. The thing just stood there, dust settling upon it, as A few shadow strides brought me directly behind it.

I raised my now two fully armored arms above my head, the gauntlets dissipating, as I clasped my hands together. Calling, more, at the shadows along the unlit, and now dust filled, hall, a small ball began to grow around them as small spikes began to stud the outside. My arms were now almost completely useless, and the strain to hold them up was now almost completely controlled by my shadow control, as I send the mass of shadows down with a swing, intending to send the thing flying off like a golf ball.

‘No!’

It hadn’t been enough to stop the blow, but it had been enough for me to jolt it out of the way some, if for nothing more than the surprise of again hearing Somnium. It was also enough for me to finally take note that the now quite damaged creature was a small cockatrice lying, crumpled, not a third of the distance I’d tried to send it down the hallway.

Worry began crawl up my chest like an itching swarm of ants, clutching around my heart, as I rushed over to her side.

“No no no no no” I whispered as I ran, forgetting to use the shadows, thus making the small trip extend even further into eternity.

I lifted my left hand to the pocket that was supposed to be holding Spinel, maybe this was another... small co... I didn’t finish the thought, I couldn’t, as my hand grasped on nothing. The pocket was empty. I checked my other pockets in a desperate attempt to hope against the dawning inevitable.

“no no no No NO!”

The thing below me, as I fell to my knees, was, now, unavoidably and truly Spinel gave a small cheep. I could see a few bits of blood began to trickle down a few of her scales where two of the points had connected fully. Her chest was still moving, and I knew that I had to get her help. I tried to slide my hands under her, but she only gave a piercing screech of pain. So I tried to call out to the dark and had it cup around her form, leaving her completely still.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I’m going to get you help.” I whispered, in what I’d hoped was a reassuring manner. Spinel simply cheeped weakly as I brought her in closer trying to, uselessly, absorb the pain by some half-thought of osmosis.

I didn’t know what to do, cradling her near my heart I cried softly as her pulse slowly grew slower and slower, looking over her small dying body, she nestled herself closer into my chest as if to forgive me for what I'd done to her in my vicious rage.

After what felt like an hour, the beats faded into almost nothing, fearing the inevitable I raised her closer to my ear as my tears started to fall faster than before. “I’m sorry.” I whispered as the only friend that had accepted me for who I was, left this world.

My chest began to heave, this time so forcefully that I almost believed that I could half hear it creaking; I pulled her body to closer to me. I stayed there, eyes closed. The gauged and marred stone work where faces had once been no longer mocking, but simply reminder that I was alone.

‘Why?!?’

Pre-louge (21)

The last dregs of the midday sun had long since given away into the cooling afternoon, and reminded me too much of the cooling form of Spinel weighing down upon my arms as she lay curled within.

Once outside the portcullis of the decrepit castle the ambient light of the sun began to claw at me. The strength of my power faded as the pure light assaulted my uncovered head, the increased vision, smelling, and hearing puffing away like ash from a fire. A vast portion of, what I hadn’t realized to be, my enhanced physical strength began to fade as well, and it finally dawned upon me that the giant shield that I’d carried upon my back, with so little care, for so long, was nothing but a burden. I shrugged it off, taking care that I did not drop or disturb Spinel, and as the shield slid off my right arm a sudden urge to fling it over the near side of the ravine came over me, and was immediately adhered to. It clattered down, disturbing the rocks and dirt, bringing me petty comfort.

As I crossed over the rickety bridge, nearly falling twice, and a biting thought saw fit to remark on my supreme clumsiness as well as the sheer stupidity of having thrown away something so useful, and, even better, I could have at least sold it. It didn’t stay long, I was more concerned with the bundle within my hands taking precedence over thoughts beating upon my head, my jaw clenched.

Once across the bridge, I made my way through the thick forest. Upon passing under the shade of any shadowed branch a surge of strength flooded through me, as well as the annoyance of increased hearing, and smelling. The flickering of my senses heightening and lowering was, too, ignored, a deep set frown marking my face.

A tickling in the back of my mind tried to make itself known. This was simply shut off, thankfully, and returned to stillness.

I wasn’t sure, exactly, where I was going, but I’d know when I’d see it. I passed tree after tree, twisted smiles were etched on their bark. I had to suppress the urge to mutilate them for staring at me. The way they creaked in the wind reminiscent of twisted laughter didn’t help, but I couldn’t risk my emotions getting the best of me, I couldn’t hurt Spinel’s last moments with me any further.

It was a while before I realized how long I was walking through the Everfree Forest. Finally, I found a spot in a small clearing. A great maple had initially caught my eye, the afternoon sun making the leaves look golden, and beside it was something of actual beauty, a white barked pine. Small flashes of thought tried to spring forth at the impossibility of such an occurrence, but were brushed aside. I walked up to the pine stopping about three feet away, then, gently, I put down the body of Spinel, all the while afraid it might break like glass as it lay upon the soft mulch of the forest floor.

I turned to face the pine, my eyes aching from both the sun and my emotions bubbling behind them, kneeled down, took off the gloves that had become a second skin to me, and began to scoop away at the soft earth with my hands. Grit and dirt began to pile under my fingernails, and my hands began to get sticky from, what felt like, clay deposits, but I kept on going as the dirt continued to easily give way. Once I had made a hole, it turned out to be about one foot deep, more than enough to embrace the form of the body beside me. Grasping her gently, I knew for the last time, I placed the body of Spinel into the small grave, and then pushed the surrounding mound of dirt back into the hole. I patted it down, and then groped around for loose detritus to cover the newly filled hole and, hopefully, mask the scent from any wandering scavenger.

I rubbed my hands together to get some of the excess dirt off, but all I ended up getting was a fine film of mud spread across them in streaks. A small patch of dry dirt darkened as I again looked at my hands. I hate crying, it makes me feel unbearably weak and selfish. If anyone else had seen me now I would have looked a sight, some mottle-grey skinned creature in a black cloak looming over a small pile of dirt with shadows leaking out of every pore. Anyone else wouldn’t have even been able to see the dirt through the shadows, but I could. I could see every filthy, disgusting stain. I patted my hands clean against my cloak, and then began to return my hands back to the comforting dark of the gloves, and stopped. I didn’t want comfort, but I certainly wasn’t going to throw anything away again, so I stuffed them away with a jerk.

It weighed on me. It wasn’t that I’d killed an animal... no, those idiots had. They just had to fucking lie and scheme. I’d found something unique, just like me. An oddity of nature, a funny little quirk, but those two devils spawns had been fucking born. They were the ones that had lied to me. ME! I could feel my chest clenching. Who wouldn’t have flipped the fuck out like that, those filthy fucking bastards.

I looked through the darkening bough. The night was beginning to come on as the sun began to dip further towards the horizon, cooling the forest. Not that it got very hot under the near canopy from the mass of deciduous trees, but I couldn’t help but notice the growing of the darkness around me, increasing my senses.

Thoughts that I’d made a poor choice to even agree to come here in the first place kept trying to stab at me. But it just didn’t sit well with me, I was only promised a better chance, not guaranteed. Looking back what exactly had I done that was worthy of companionship, lying to an entire castle for months, and then to the ponies that showed me kindness on top of that, and then freaking out and nearly costing two pegasi their lives because I couldn’t contain myself, and then killing a creature because I let those same, selfish, emotions fly.

It struck me then, this was literally the first time I had completely lost it. Now that I’d had a little time to just, let everything sink in, this wasn’t the most angry I’d ever been, I’d felt way worse in the hellholes of middle and high school, the only difference between my anger as I grew was my direction from just feeling bad to thinking how much better the world would be if I’m kill them in my head. I couldn’t ever murder someone in real life. And that’s what bothered me so much I realized, that in that moment I could have murdered a real and innocent person if they'd been there. I looked down at myself, trying, in vain, to see the darkness that had been infused into me lay. Was there really something evil with the dark?

I’d just stood there as the hours waned into twilight and the gloom of night, a great heap of nothingness and hatred running continuously through my head trying to strangle my thoughts. One part was trying to mollify me, saying that it, in all likelihood wasn’t really my fault, magic literally didn’t exist back home, so now that I’d had some literally infused into my core being, my soul, then sent here, it only made sense that I’d be more emotional. Heck I could still remember that time Twilight had set herself ablaze because she couldn’t explain Pinkie Pie. Then there was the other half that said that I was only deluding myself, trying to mitigate the fact I’d chosen to act that way, and that even if the other half was right, that I couldn’t quite control it then I was doubly to blame because I had specifically chosen this form and power back on Earth.

A stirring in the back of my mind gave me pause to look up from where I stood by the pine tree. A half-moon, rather than the normal full, was resting upon the sky. I had a sudden urge to start walking, not shadow striding, running, or dark travel, just walking. Everything… hurt, but it was better than giving in to all my weak, selfish, unstable emotions.

I didn’t get more than a few miles when the whole of my exhausted emotions finally caught up to me. My thoughts, of two minds, just kept on trying to split me in two. I couldn’t keep up with it, I’d spent too long letting them go in circles already, and I needed a break. I needed to go to a place where I wouldn’t have to bother with my pesky emotions. So rather than falling into a trance, where my mind would still be too receptive to such feelings, and much to Caligo’s distress once he found out, I went to find a place to sleep, figuring that I could escape into my normal dreamless state.

Finding the right spot didn’t take long, being in a forest. I found my way up a particularly large tree, with no branches near the bottom, nor any around from an adjoining tree, shadow striding my way up into the darkened boughs. One nice thing about magical forests is that you get really big trees. The chosen tree almost looked like a giant pine, but the leaves seemed a bit off, they were too wide, but they still had that nice piney scent. So lying down upon a branch, having simply used dark travel to move up, roughly three times as wide as I was, I made myself as comfortable as I could upon the hard wood and the chilled night air, and attempted to sleep.

Blackness, cool, calming, all consuming blackness. I was completely free from my emotions, from thought, from action. Had I any thought right now I would have been pleased, had I any intelligence I should have been scared. I didn’t have time to contemplate my own, passed out existence, or lack thereof, as I found myself sitting in a very warm and comfortably midnight-black padded armchair.

I looked about me, the floor was a simple white disc that radiated light, and outside of it was a blackness I found unsettling, as I found myself unable to see anything through it, or worse, that I could and there was truly nothing out there. But the disc was a large thing, which, in fact held a small, white-wooden, tea table, bereft of varnish, which had on it a warm grey kettle and some tea-bags upon it. But, what really caught my attention was the lady sitting across from me in an equally comfortable looking chair, both bespoke of a simple elegance that needed nothing extra to show its beauty.

She wore a simple, white dress, which v-necked to accentuate the simple necklace, the only jewelry she seemed to be wearing, of a white-silver chain from which an image of two eyes surrounded by stars dangled from.

I just sat there, still not quite realizing the significance that I could feel bafflement, let alone comprehend anything in what I’d expected to be a dreamless sleep. She gave me a small smile, it was so… comforting, it made muscles in my back that I didn’t even know I had relax.

With a small sweep of her hand, she silently asked if I should like some tea. I nodded, and she bent down, grabbing the kettle, and began to pour hot water over the bags, filling the air with an intoxicating aroma. I was glad for the silence, even now I still didn’t feel like talking, even my own mind had quieted, letting me enjoy the silence further. Once she handed me the cup, made of what I could only assume was fine bone-white china, I blew upon the hot liquid and took a sip. It was Earl Grey, my favorite, with plenty of sugar in it. A small sigh passed my lips as the warmth of the beverage began to suffuse throughout my body. It was then the lady in black finally decided to talk.

“You’ve had a rough time as of late, but you really should be more careful how you react. Emotions are more closely related to power here than most other places in the universe.” Her words sent shivers of relaxation down my spine as she took a sip. I nodded, unable to say anything that would be of appropriate consequence to someone of her stature.

‘Here it comes, the berating,’ I thought. The silence had been broken, and things were going to start turning in on me. All I could do was sit and let the berating commence. What else was I going to do when I was sitting next to something with literal god-like powers sitting next to me?

Selûne, of course it was her, the Lunar Goddess of the Forgotten Realms, put her cup of tea onto its saucer. She then summarily stood, briskly, but still managing a serene flow of movement no ballet dancer could ever hope to match, walked over around the table, grabbed my arm, and pulled me into an embrace.

I just stood there, thunderstruck. A chill went down my spine, as revulsion in me welled up. Why was she demeaning herself like this? Why was she acting like I was… worth her time? A lifetime of living through schools and the interactions of things that I was supposed to call peers having done nothing but teach me that I wasn’t something to give care over, but was expected to show it to others, and only worthy of direct attention upon making a mistake or to complete my own wheel turn of whatever cog I was jammed into. A creature that, all my life, had been not only taught, but proven to be a thing of disgust, and only fit to try and make someone else’s life a little better and she showed me compassion.

It… hurt.

Tears began to come down in my confusion, obscuring my vision until I shut my eyes completely. It was then that I was able to finally notice the warm heat from her body flowing into and surrounding me.

“You are worthy of happiness in your life,” she said, resting her cheek upon the top of my head, “and while you can learn control, you also need to learn that it is fine to let your emotions run their course.”

We both just stood there, I’m not sure for how long, letting her words sink in, and letting myself just be. Echoes of every single failure I’d ever cataloged, nearly my entire life came up as well, finally given the chance to escape. But she just kept on standing there, letting me lean on her, and even put my arms around her as well, trying to hold on to something. And she just let me do it, let me be pathetic and sad, and happy that someone was finally there, even if it was just in some sort of dream-state. It felt… good, cathartic I think was the word.

Eventually the tears stopped, but I continued to hold on, not wanting to let go and try to keep the feeling of being appreciably empty of all the black, poisonous, thoughts and feelings that I’d let myself grow accustomed to, to the point where I thought it was normal to feel that way. Still she stood there, letting me be. But eventually, I knew I’d have to let go, and it felt good to try and do so on as much of a high note I could muster as I dropped my arms and sat back into the plush chair. Looking up I saw Selûne was already in hers as well.

Selûne just smiled, it was warm and comforting, like much of everything else she had done, but there seemed to be a small bit of sadness had leaked out as she said, “There really is more good in you than even what you try to deny.” The words felt like they held a ring of truth about them, and, despite myself, I let the whispers of a smile reach my face. Though I still wasn’t about to really forgive myself for what I’d done to Spinel.

Something cold slid across my arm. I looked down and saw my entire forearm was covered in a strange white substance, and the edges of my fingers sported long, wickedly tipped, claws. I looked back up to Selûne, who still maintained her calm exterior, and said “Oh dear, I was hoping to talk with you a little more, though I suppose this will have to do for now. What do you know of artificers?”

“N---Not much.” I replied, my response taking on a bit of lag, like my mouth and brain weren’t quite connected properly. The word reminded me of Magic the Gathering to be honest. The white ooze had completely covered my arm, and was now oozing across my shoulder blade.

“Well, all I can let you know right now is that Lunar Sovereign of this realm is a particularly skilled one, even in the midst of insanity, and that it is equally easy for one of her caliber to program the semblance of life into one, as well as the memories it might also hold.”

My world went dark again as the ooze covered my eyes, and mouth, preventing me from screaming, or even drawing breath.

“Guuuh?!” I said as I awoke with a jolt and catching myself in turn so not to fall off the side of the wide branch I had rolled over to in my sleep, gasping for air.

‘It is about time you woke up Rumor. Are you alright?’ the familiar echoes of Caligo’s voice calmly quried within my head.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I said yawning afterwards.

'You began to sweat out, what I can only conclude to be corrosive darkness during the night. Had you not been under a source of light, like the moon you were under, you would have had it burn through the branch. I was unable to reach you, something blocked me, but luckily none of the cloudbanks crossed over during that time. However, the day has been on for some time. We should be getting on.’

I gave my hair a scratch and rubbed my chin, the words of Selûne still dancing in my head, but what did a hobby of Princess Luna have to do with anything?

I swiftly made my way down the tree, by dint of the shadow stride, and started walking in the direction Caligo pointed down again as I pulled the shadows around me, and was lost from sight and smell to the rest of the world.

Going only a few feet my stomach started to rumble, but a swift mental tug brought my attention to a small patch of wild strawberries. I wasn’t sure who had done it but I still said, umm, thought, ‘thanks’.

‘…’

Oh. Somnium, she probably wasn’t going to be talking to me for a while, not that I blame her, I didn’t feel like talking to me. I’m not even sure why Selûne had tried to cheer me, or why she really thought I was worth her time, but I couldn’t deny that she had made me feel a little better, even if I wasn’t about to act like I was.

A squirrel jumped out next to me from a nearby tree, and decidedly began to gaze at me. Something about it just really set me off, the way its eyes were so much bigger than back home, making it look cuter, despite what I tried to think otherwise. A sudden urge to fill it with fright struck me, hard. Like it would bring me happiness to see it suffer. Grabbing my head in one hand the decision was quickly taken from me as it scampered back into the undergrowth of the Everfree.

“You’re a fucking idiot Rumor.” I said flatly, my head feeling like it were floating away from me. I’d had thoughts like that before, but only when I thought about things like criminals or just villains from stuff like books or other media. Never for something like that, hopefully it was just a dreg of some of the stuff I’d let go last night. Thinking back I could actually think past some of the pain and remember being hugged. It made me feel better.

I started walking through the forest again, I wasn’t sure where I was going, and I didn’t care, and thankfully the voices in my head were giving me plenty of space too. I wasn’t walking long, but I found myself back by the white pine where I’d buried Spinel. Near the spot I’d dug for her some sort of flower had actually grown near the spot where I’d buried her. It didn’t have a stalk, but the blossom was a pitch black, spreading out into five tear shaped petals, but near the center they became a brilliant pink. I’m not sure why, I might never, but something about the flower made me smile, well, half-smile.

All the anguish I’d put myself through almost seemed like a joke, though I had to make an effort not to over think that innocuous thought. Instead, I thought about why I’d picked Spinel to begin with. Before Crash and Burn had come down, I’d had a few moments to myself. I remember taking a look down into the box, two of the little chicks were peeping in moderate distress, they had just woken up, but it was Spinel who had remained quiet, and when I looked into the box, my head obscuring any of the light from the moon above, I continued to look up, almost at me, but with the streams of darkness I exuded from my face that would have been impossible. On a whim I’d stuck my hand in there, pushing a forefinger in front of Spinel’s breast. Without hesitation she had gotten up and grasped onto my digit, letting me lift her out. She had embraced the unknown, the unseeable future, an adventure. The flapping of wings soon followed and I put her into my breast pocket, where she snuggled in silently. If a small bird could do something like that, so could I. With that I turned from the grave and began to walk away, but I only got a few steps away before I stopped.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly exhaled it out, the cool winds began to blow a different direction and I knew this was the only way I could properly move forward clearing my thoughts, I whispered to her under my breath, “I’m sorry I wasn’t… good enough, but I will be, I promise.”

With that I popped my hood back on my head, I could feel my powers rush back and a heavy burden on my chest lightening. I continued to walk away from that small flower in the middle of the Everfree, with it lies, an irrevocable mistake, but my determination for forgiveness.

‘I made a promise. I will keep it.’

Vision (22)

I gave call to the shadows after walking a fair distance from Spinel’s gravesite, intent on going back to Canterlot, just out of habit, not really thinking. Somnium gave a quick pulse of distress, as well as a vindictive burst of pain along my spine.

‘I remember my promise to stay away from the castle,’ I thought. I just didn’t know where I was going. I half-thought that I might... I dunno, hitch a ride with a merchant. Especially with the lot of them that make their way through a town to keep the mountain city stocked. I could probably hire myself off as a guard, but on the other hand, what good would I be during the day? I wasn’t sure how long I could sustain solid shadows in the sunlight with the strain they caused me, but still, maybe.

Stepping out the dark portal I blinked onto the main street that, while it curved some, went straight to the Princesses castle. My boots made a dull clicking sound as I walked over the paved street, away from the castle. I truly had no idea what I was doing here, but it felt good to be able to walk down a hard street. It reminded me of my evening strolls I’d take when I had a particularly frustratingly pointless day of college.

Coating the shadows around me I sent them to swirl in little eddies and spirals under the eaves of the roofs around me for my own amusement. I continued to walk in the darkness, though it still seemed rather light to me, not so much due to the moon above, but when I looked into the dark it had a grey-scale quality to it. The real colors were there, but they were muted.

My left foot jostled a loose cobble, making an awful racket from the silence it had disrupted. I didn’t even have time to curse my clumsiness when I heard a single voice call out behind me.

“Halt, who goes there?” said a male voice, followed by the sound of hooves.

I looked behind and saw a trio of unicorns wearing dusty blue jackets with matching hats that sported a shining black bill, the police. As they rounded the corner however, they suddenly stopped and began to gaze around quickly.

“Yes sir?” I said, and all of their heads snapped towards my voice.

“The market place is closed, come out where we can see you.” Said the lead pony, who was largest of the three.

‘Oh, I’m in the market place…wait.’ Squinting quizzically, “I’m sorry sir, but what do you mean come out?” I was standing just to the side of the street. In fact, it was a good place to be surrounded. There were no alleyways, no doors or windows directly around me.

“You heard him,” the stockier one, to the left of the lead pony, said.

I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but I thought it best to comply regardless, police officers were good guys in my book, after all, my dad was one.

Stepping out into the moonlight covered, white cobbled, street, and pulling off my hood it was only then, with the group gasping and looking up to my six foot four height, though closer to six since I like to stoop, that I remembered that it was quite unique to be able to see through darkness. In fact, since I could so readily do it, it was a little hard for me to label a lot of it as dark since, well, it didn’t obscure.

My hood down, I could hear them mumbling over a piece of paper that the lead pony was holding, the illumination provided from the glowing yellow aura that surrounded it. I caught a few snatches, mostly the word giant, two hind legs, yellow eyes, but what kinda bothered me was when I heard one say scraggly goat-beard, my chin hair is wispy not scraggly.

I didn’t get much farther with that train of thought when, “You, biped,” the lead unicorn shouted from across the street, horn ablaze in a yellow light, “You are under arrest for the felony assault of two pegasi and inciting public terror.”

My blood went cold as the other two unicorn police officers began to follow behind him. Both were trailing sparks from their horns as they encircled me. Despite the glow the area grew a little darker due to my fear, but lessened as my head bent down. I was a criminal.

Closer now, the lead pony with the yellow sparks, a slate grey coated stallion with a yellow mane, trotted up to me, coming up just a slight bit higher than my waist, and said in a commanding tone, “You will follow me to the station and put into holding. Do not attempt to escape or w- we will be forced to take action.” It had been small, but I heard his voice slip, I glanced down and saw his fore legs ramrod straight, but since that was a little harder to do with the back pair I could notice them shaking. I was instantly filled with shame, but that was what I got for doing what I’d done to a pair of, technically, non-criminals.

I slumped my shoulders, and muttered solemnly, “Yes sir,” as he turned around, letting out a nearly imperceptible sigh of relief that I was not some savage monster but a sentient, enough, creature, and we began our march through the moon-dappled town.

It didn’t take long to get to, I suppose the jail house, which sported opaque glass globes that jutted from there curved metal supports to greet me as I was led into the station. Walking inside, the same murky illumination showed stacks of papers on desks, some stain covered, and the wood beneath was thick, the varnish long gone from the used tops, the sides showing signs of cracking from many a coffee spill. As I was led to the front desk the lead unicorn said, “Captain Blocker, we’ve apprehended the creature Rumor.” The Earth pony, Blocker apparently, sat behind the desk and sported a white mane and tail, but sported a black comb moustache and mane. He raised a singular eyebrow when the grey one mentioned the name Rumor and I began to contemplate my navel.

“You expect me, to believe that you and the wonder twins,” Captain Blocker said in a bored brassy voice, “brought in the thing that took down the muscle bound pair of Crash and Burn with nary a lift of a... uh...” looking down at my sides, “...claw, Slate?”

I could feel their gazes upon me, but I couldn’t manage to justify or hide away from it this time. They were right to judge me, I shivered, a little, I was disgusting. The first human in Equestria and this is how I end up.

Pooling my thoughts to below me, a black circle of darkness grew around me in the light of the station. With another thought the shadows pulled together in the form of a mass of claw tipped hands as they clenched and tried to steal the light pouring onto them.

The general noise that accompanied a police department suddenly quieted, causing me to flinch and look up from my feet. Taking stock of the many ponies, all with some mark relating to police work, though instead of guns, for those who had a firearm related one it was either a canon or crossbow of some kind. Each of them had stopped. The more veteran ones were poised to react to whatever hostile act I might do, a few grabbing what appeared to be hand cuffs, but had four circles instead, from behind their desks.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, again putting my head down. I really didn’t stand up well against figures of authority, especially when I knew I was in the wrong. But at least I’d proven who I was, considering I lacked a formal, or even informal, form of pictorial identification.

“H-he came without a fuss sir,” Slate replied, shaking in equal parts from his boss’s stare and the show of power from the cloaked shadow-creature behind him.

“Very well, bring him to interrogation room thirteen.” The mustached pony said waving a hoof then returning to the paperwork on his high desk.

***

The room was sparsely lit with a single lamp over a plain, probably, steel table. It was most likely meant to act as a way to seem more foreboding, but it meant nothing to someone like me, who could see through both mundane and magical darkness. But if it was any consolation, for anyone who might ask, I was already feeling bad enough as it was.

I was sitting, hunched over, on a large wooden stool, obviously made to accommodate

somepony of a more quadrupedally inclined persuasion. My back to the door, exposed, and my front facing a surprising lack of black one-way glass, instead a plain worn white wall met my gaze.

‘Why are you doing this? You are better than this Master.’ The voice of Caligo said, echoing through my mind.

“No I’m not. I broke the law, and now I have to pay for it.” I said, crossing my arms.

***Across an Enchanted One-Way Wall***

“What’s he doing Captain Blocker?” Slate said, looking to his mustached superior.

Blocker just sighed, ‘rookies,’ he thought, then said, “He’s talking to himself, and seems to be going at it too.”

The room kept darkening for half the conversation then dissipating for the other half when the perp’s lips moved.

“We’ve let him stew long enough, and it looks like we don’t want to agitate this thing further” Blocker said as he began to walk out of the room. Turning his head to address the other two unicorns in the room as well, he said, “Just keep your horns lit, I need you guys to pull me out there if this thing starts to go crazy. Just because he came in quietly, doesn’t mean he’s going to stay that way.

Leaving the room and walking the short distance to the interrogation room Captain Blocker mentally prepared himself, cracking his neck and smoothing his moustache as he trotted.

There had been a rise in the number of reports of strange and powerful creatures simply appearing from thin air, underground, and simply out of nowhere. They generally caused trouble wherever they went, even if a few of them were working for the greater good, it didn’t excuse many of the laws they broke once they were done, for quote ‘shits and giggles’ or ‘trolling’ as he had heard some of the new phrases that had been circulating, though the most confusing of all had to be ‘bad ass’. Labeling donkeys, on whole, as a misbehaving in general seemed more along the lines of racist than anything to him. Thinking further on it, he was hard pressed to even think of any noteworthy infamous donkeys in history, let alone recent history.

Taking one last breath, he plunged into the interrogation room marked 013. He heard a sharp, but muted intake of breathe from the biped, a creature that called itself Rumor, as the door silently opened. The light of the room grew brighter as Rumor seemingly sucked the shadows back into himself, causing Blocker to involuntarily shiver, glad that the thing had his back turned to him.

Moving to the open side of the table, Captain Blocker took a seat upon the other stool. It was designed to be a noticeable few inches taller, allowing the officer using it to look down upon the current malcontent that would normally be seat across from them. This one however, Rumor, sat there, slumped over, clad fully in black cloak and hood, still sat a few inches above him. But what was most disturbing of all was the way that shadows seemed to pour up out of him, blurring his already indistinct dark edges making it hard to tell where he ended and the shadows began.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Blocker asked as his deep voice calm from years of talking down to things with more brawn than brain. Even if he really didn’t have the power, it was still better to act like you did, though it did help to know that there were two unicorns ready to blink his behind out if any trouble were to start.

The Rumor sighed, slumping further into itself, but still remaining taller than Blocker, said, “I let myself lose control and hurt others around me.”

Blocker kept his face straight, but was surprised of the creature’s response. It had sounded sad, contrite even. Not the sort of thing he had been led to believe of these alien-like creatures he had been hearing of more and more of late.

Putting his hooves together, Blocker then said, “Do you know what that means?”

“Yes sir,” Was all Rumor said.

Sir? Now that was particularly unexpected. “Indeed, well, the normal course of legal action for a felony assault, the reports say you broke nearly every wing bone in both Crash and Burns body.” The creature remained quiet, but rather than slumping forward, its cloaked head fell upon its upper body. “Compounded with inciting terror in the general populace you are looking at either hefty prison time or a heavy fine.”

“Fine?” Rumor asked, his hood head cocking to the side.

Blocker almost cocked his own head, but he remained stone faced. It still escaped him sometimes that these creatures really were aliens and didn’t know all the laws on the books. “Indeed, as it turns out, something of this nature will run you the bill of 50,000 bits.” That’s it, Blocker thought. Don’t tell him if he doesn’t ask. Let him think just how much worse prison can be than tell him the sentence. It was a five years, maximum, and considering it was a first time offense he didn’t really even need much paper work done any way, heck, he could probably get the night judge Speedy Trial to get it all signed and official by six. Still, better to scare him than let him feel like he could get off practically scot-free.

“Umm, could I get it to you tomorrow?”

Blocker’s jaw almost hit the table, not many ponies had that sort of money to toss around, except the nobles and high class merchant, “And why do you need to wait till the morning to get it?”

“Well, that’s when the bank opens sir.” Rumor said quietly.

Blocker was dumbfounded, if the answer hadn’t been so simple, he might have bust a gut, so, instead, he just sat there, staring, eyes wide at the creature before him. Waiting a little bit to compose himself he said, “Very well, but we will have to keep you in holding for the night until then.”

The creature remained silent, but gave a silent nod of his hooded head.

“Follow me.”

***

It was, to put it lightly, a horrendous embarrassing to spend the night in jail. ‘If my Dad knew…’ I didn’t want to think about what he would say, let alone do.

Since the town didn’t have much crime, not really a shocker for a city like Canterlot, I was put in general holding. There was only one pony in there, a dark green Earth pony with a plum colored mane and tail, his cutie mark was covered by the alcohol smelling blanket he had wrapped around him, either that or the blanket was clean and he was the one with the smell. All I really cared about was that he was asleep so I didn’t have to worry about him staring at me, judging me.

The night waned on, but despite myself I just couldn’t go into a trance, the pit in my stomach made sure of that. Caligo kept pestering me for a while though, going on about how this was below my status, but relented after I forcibly told him to leave me alone. I immediately felt the metal walls go up. Even Somnium, who still wasn’t talking to me, made less of herself in my mind.

I sat cross-legged on the cool stone floor, the wooden planks attached to the walls being too small for me, and I attempted to think, or at least tried to. My head just refused to stay on anything too concrete besides going down a dark path of self-mutilation I could probably talk myself into. So, instead, I did what I normally did to distract myself, I made-pretend, which is much easier and gratifying when you can make shadow puppets with a thought.

Pulling the shadows along the floor up towards me, a scooted myself into a corner and let the silent battle begin. One of my favorite worlds to use was the Spider-Man Universe (I refuse to call it Marvel), but with my normal twist, instead of playing Spider-Man, I made use of a villain. It continues to be a source of wonder to me that the villains can have such cooler and better powers than the hero, but always seemed to lose anyway. Not that it mattered, considering I would only play the character as how they would run if they used their powers for good. My personal favorite is Doctor Otto Octavius, Doc Octopus.

I had him using his metal arms to swings and jump from roof to roof, angling from side to side of walls, then crashing down on a purse-snatcher, stopping the idiot thief with one arm, taking the purse with another, then making a grandiose bow with his real arms, then clambering up the wall, flinging the scum into a dumpster.

“Wow, you could make a shiny bit doin’ that professionally.” A deep, raspy voice said behind me, causing me to jump and let loose my concentration upon the shadows.

I shrunk into myself as I turned around, pointlessly confirming that the only other person in the cell with me was awake.

“He*hic*h, didn’t mean to scare you there, just thought I might say something to the magical diamond dog that I’m sharing a cell with.”

“Oh, I’m not a dia-“

“Whatever, don’t contradict me boy. I’ve lived too long for to care about such trivial things like that anyway.” He snapped, his hic-ups apparently gone now. “You kids these days are supposed to be the ones who care, but all I find are small pockets of it instead of the great wells that once gave life around Equestria.”

At this point he paused, and gave me a look, like maybe I needed to say something, so, taking a stab at it, “How exactly do I not care sir?”

“Humph, sir,” he said with a growl, “that’s the sort of thing I only hear in places like Canterlot, or some well-to-do village. Outside of that, even the fine community works and even the military begin to degrade. Tartarus, I’ve even heard of places like Bitsburg where even if the law isn’t too bad they don’t even have the ponypower to keep it all together. It’s a shame that a border town like that can’ be a shining example of what lies further into Equestria.” Pulling the blanket further around him he closed his eyes, “You kids need to learn how to care.” He said with a yawn, then, unceremoniously began to snore.

Putting my hands around my ears to block out the sound, until I thought to pull up my hood, it was with the dawning silence that a light bulb went off. Care, why couldn’t I care? I’d thought of such things before, but now that my gears were turning I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t chosen to go for it. But it was so simple, I could really make the world a better place, I could be a super-hero. I smiled, almost giddy. It was perfect, make the world cleaner and have a nice outlet for me to learn to control my emotions and have a suitable outlet for them should anything go awry. A win-win situation to be sure, but now that I was really starting to seriously think things over, there were many reasonable things to consider. I’d need a source of income; I’d also need to procure myself some lodgings. I looked down remaking the shadowed cityscape and with a small bit of effort turned the whole thing solid, resulting in my legs starting to tingle, I wouldn’t need to spend anything on gadgets, so that was a plus.

***

The morning wasn’t too bad, though I was a little tired since I’d spent the remainder of the night trying to think things through and how I would begin to make it happen. I was pleased when Caligo gave credit to the whole idea, and said it would be a great way of using my skills in the real world. I chuckled a little at that, since, even though I hadn’t been forced into any mindscape training recently, it had all revolved around me learning to read the shadows around me and made sure not to take a hit. My conversation was cut a little short once two unicorn officers came and opened my cell door.

I was led through town towards the First Equestrian Bank, but the stares that followed made me want to, in equal parts, hide away from the brunch crowd that accompanied the late morning opening of any bank, and, sickeningly, my want to pluck out my own eyes so I wouldn’t be able to see them all rightfully judging me by my police escort and cuffed hands.

It was harder still when I had to explain to them my need to visit the restroom so I could dawn my disguise, now that I was out of the sunlight, so I could access my account. They relented, if reluctantly, as they cordoned off the men’s’ restroom, and allowed me entrance as one of the guards followed me in.

It made me feel both proud, and a little ashamed when the darkness came to my call as I hid within the three-dimensional shadow of the black unicorn I had worn, seemingly, so long ago, and it made the guard jump a little, as he looked down to make to make sure his own shadow was still there. The guard remained, as well as the one guarding the outside, but since he had a clear line of sight on me he was fine. I got my bank note with little hassle, leaving my own holdings to only a few hundred bits. I pulled them out as well. I was now carrying all my earthly wealth on me, it felt, scary, and yet somewhat liberating. I gave the bank note to the guard, and then went back into the restroom to change, so I wouldn’t cause a stir from the public, and then swiftly left, the other guard following me as well.

And that was it. I had just narrowly avoided years in prison due to my own previous holdings. To put it bluntly, it was elating. I was free, and now, with the guards walking away from me, I let a sigh escape through my lips as I smiled, and leaned over onto the bank wall. I was glad that I wasn’t going to spend years in prison, or whatever passed for it here.

The large bag of bits was starting to weigh down my left hand, so I began to pour them out into several of my own pockets, each one remaining, thankfully, silent as they jostled around slightly at my movements.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do now, but I did know that I wanted to have a direct destination this time. I didn’t have to wait long as a glance down the street showed a proud display that said, Trotter’s Travel Agency, printed in bold yellow letters on a carved, hanging, wooden sign.

‘This looks promising.’ I thought, as I crossed the small street and grasped the small brass knob.

Full Steam Ahead (23)

Another morning of no customers. You'd think that more ponies would like to beat the afternoon rush. I trotted from the front door window back to my seat behind the counter. I normally had more tact than to read during business hours, nopony had been in all day, so I figured I could let myself slide and catch up on some of the latest fashions from Photo Finish. As I reached under the counter I noticed my hooves looked a little off from their normal sky blue, I’d need to visit the spa soon to fix that.

As I began to read, I nearly squealed at a beautiful gown that I would look simply divine in. ‘Though I’d definitely need to change my mane-style if I really wanted to pull it off,’ I thought absently as I blew a strand of sea-green mane out of my eye and flipped the page with a spark of magic.

Someone must have been watching me because no sooner had I muttered, “What I wouldn’t give for anypony to come in though.” when the customer bell tinkled at the front door. Quickly stashing the magazine under the counter I put on my customer smile and before I even saw who had come in I began my introduction, “Hello there! Welcome to Trotter’s Travel Agency where we get you there and back again. I’m Trotter, how can I help you?”

I’d seen more than my fair share of… uniquely shaped ponies as well as other hoofed mammals in my time, but the first thing that crossed my mind was that I was looking at the specter of Nightmare Moon. It stood easily twice my height, walked on its hind legs, and was covered from top to bottom in black. Much to my chagrin, I lost hold of my smile for a few moments.

“Just give me a moment to look around, please.” He said, in a calm voice.

Okay, tall creature, most likely male from the voice, covered from head to toe in a black cloak, and is leaking scentless smoke. Has a decent voice, if a bit devoid of any accent, still could be worse. At least he’s acting pleasant.

Giving a silent nod, and reapplying my smile, I watched as the creature turned around and began looking through the brochures. I hoped he hadn’t notice the slight tremble in my fore hooves until I placed them on the wooden counter top.

I saw him pass over the exotic locales section which sported such locations from exotic jungles to beautiful mountainous and breathtaking desert canyons. I’d personally been to nearly half of all the locations we had to offer. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe there was beauty to be seen in every corner of Equestria. He brushed past most of them with relative speed, that was, until he came to the cities display case. Watching him bend over, something that I had to admit made me a little sick from seeing somepony bend that way in the middle, I noticed him take one of the brochures in his forepaw and stare at it for a while, deep in contemplation, a good sign.

He shook his head, and I thought he was going to put it back, but instead he came up toward me, and I saw his eyes glow yellow from under his hood. As scary as they looked, they seemed sad, which certainly made it easier for me to not feel so scared. Placing the brochure down on the table, it was an older one, done in grand old opry styled letters, his fore-paw covered all but the bottom lines ‘The City of Progress’. Taking in a breathe he said, “Pardon me, but how much would it cost to get to Bitsburg?”

“Oh, that depends on how long you want your vacation to last, you can take a train, that will be about two days, to get all the way there, or have it stop part way by the coast and take an extended cruise there, about a week in all, or you can use our new airship, which normally takes about four days due to the greater abundance of turbulent upper winds due to the routes proximity to the volcanoes in the wastelands. Not that you would have any trouble. The ships are all of the highest safety standards. But, once you do get there I would recommend either the Star’s Hotel or the Green Pasture, two of the best hotels, each one offers reasonable prices, but-”

“Could you please tell me which travel mode is cheapest?” He said, interrupting me.

“Oh that would be the train, while you spend a few more days in transit than the airship, it’s still quite nice to see all the landscape-”

“Thank you that will be all” he said, as he walked back to put the brochure up and then walked out of my shop. It slightly peeved me how he had cut me off, though it’s only his loss because he left without me helping to set up a deal and get him his transport at a discount by buying a bundle package. Still, it was a nice diversion from the boredom, all things considered. Besides, I’d have a pretty

interesting story to tell the girls for the Friday outing.

***

It will forever remain a mystery to me why those in the service industry always try to talk your ear off. It’s a business just like any other, so it was beyond me why they didn’t try to streamline the process. It was just as easy to be pleasant and to the point as it was to be long-winded and sound caring. Besides, I’d learned that I could cheaply get somewhere by train, and that was good enough for me. No need to stay there and get a headache from word-vomit.

Sticking mostly to the shadows would be much faster; also it bothered me how everyone just stared at me. It was still morning so I could probably get down to the train station simply by shadow striding the whole way. I would have gone on thinking of ways to get through the town, until Caligo interrupted, ‘You should not fear the stares of others. Their actions belie their own weakness, show them you have none and simply walk forward.’

“Walk without showing fear, I like that.” I said with a half grin, mostly due to the fact that doing something like that was a few steps above my pay grade. That and I would technically get there a little faster by sticking to the shadows, out of sight. I was just about to start a connection to the next alley over when a locked part of my mind opened up suddenly.

‘It really wouldn’t be the end of the world if you gave yourself a break every now and then. Even if you just faked it, you might find you enjoy the role you make for yourself.’

That gave me pause, and not just from the sudden jolt from Somnium’s interjection. Maybe she was right, I thought, starting to give more than a dismissive thought to the idea. Worst case scenario, the ponies might freak out and cause a stampede and becoming a great way to reaffirm that I would do better away from them. But in all honesty, something like that wasn’t very likely to happen since the direct sunlight would clear away my shadows before they had the chance to exist outside my cloak, so no real chance of scaring anyone. It would also be a nice chance to keep my vision steady. As fun as it was to zip around, if done for an extended period in such a rapidly changing local, through shadow-stepping it kinda made me a little dizzy, though not so much anymore since I’d been getting a handle on my powers. I could do this, probably, just zone out and focus your vision on your goal ‘get to the train station’.

Taking a breath, and putting my best foot forward (that would be the left one for you rightnocentric-handers out there), I stepped out of the alley I was in and began to walk down the street. A few gasps and negative mumbles assaulted my ears despite my hood dampening the noise, but I still kept going at it. Though, it helps to keep your confidence when you can pull at your shadow onto the wall next to you and have it itself decked out in armored regalia. The gasps I got afterwards were much more satisfying as their eyes kept double-taking between skinny ol’ me and my much bulkier shadow.

‘I wonder if I could get myself something like that?’I absently thought, gazing at my shadow, until the general mechanical buzz of train approaches and departments hit my ears.

The train station was actually less straining on the eyes than I had remembered it from the show. It still had some light pastel colors, but they were subdued, and were almost enjoyable to look at.

Walking to an open window that said ‘TICKETS’ I was greeted with a happy face of a grey stallion that quickly turned to subdued terror as my tall frame, and what little vapors of darkness that could escape from my hood to wither in the direct sunlight, loomed over the small window as I stooped to be seen.

“How much for a ticket to Bitsburg, sir?” I asked.

“Oh, umm, well, that depends. Do you want business or coach passage mister…?”

“Rumor is fine,” I said raising a hand, “and I’m fine with anything so long as I can get a room to myself.”

“Ah, coach class then. That will be fifty bits.” He said printing the ticket once he saw me fish through my breast pocket and count out the money onto the counter.

Not having ridden a train, save once when I was six, and the memories hazy at best, before I started to walk away I asked, “Do you know when meals are served and what prices I might expect?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that Mr. Rumor, the meals are complimentary, though snacks and extras of such will cost you some extra bits, but they have menus for that.” The stallion said, finishing with a small wave as I went to the appropriate track and marveled at the thought of complimentary meals, though it was weighed with a pinch of salt that it was likely the case that the meal was included in the ticket price, still, bulk deals normally helped save money, and I no longer had much savings, save what I carried on myself.

Walking past a small blue-grey bench I looked over to the large train schedule and gave a quiet whistle. The trains to Bitsburg, the non-commercial ones, only ran once a week and that was the day I’d come, and with fifteen minutes to spare too. I felt inclined to call this sort of thing lucky as I followed the signs to the right track.

I had to stoop to get through the train doors, but luckily most ponies had a wider gait than me, so it wasn’t a tight squeeze. The interior had a soft feel about it, I came into, what I guessed was a lounging room. The larger yellow trimmed windows gave way to blue carpeting with dark blue swirls ran through it to pastel green overstuffed pillows, or at least that what I called them, though they looked closer to bean bags with a generalized seat shape, but I guess that made sense as it would be easier for four legged creatures to get in and out of them. Looking towards the guide plates bolted to one of the walls I followed the arrows. There wasn’t much of anyone there save one stallion that was far too engrossed with his paper to notice me.

Looking towards the end of the car, I saw a brass plated sign that said ‘ROOMS’ and headed that way. Once I crossed over the carpeting changed from blue to a brilliant dusky red carpet with dark wooden walls with curves and designs carved into them. To the left of the carpet were the rooms as noted by the next brass plate that said ‘A ROOMS’, looking down to my ticket, trying to find which section of it let me know my room number, I found it marked B3. Crossing over to the next car I found it to be a continuation of the A class rooms and held the same style as the previous.

The next car was a slightly dramatic change as the carpeting, now a little less plush, changed from a vibrant red to a deep forest green with speckles of mint green diamonds speckled through them. The paneling was also lessened, less carvings, more blocks of squares put around the top and bottom of the walls in a pleasing pattern. The brass plate read ‘B ROOMS’ and my room was three doors down. Stooping through the door I saw that the room itself was much the same design as the outside hallway, but with a bed, with a green cover and white pillows, storage underneath, a simple sink, housed atop a wooden cabinet. It was like a small hotel room, but more compact. Very high speed low drag, always nice. Still it made me wonder what the big deal with business class rooms were, probably just added a mini-fridge or something inconsequential.

Sitting down on the bed, which was about two feet short if I’d decided to lie down, not a big deal though. The room was heated and the carpet was soft or at least was compared to the hardwood floor I’d grown up with, which always made it seem like such a novelty to me. But I always gave it a little more underserved softness than it deserved, well, except the carpets in Canterlot Castle, those things almost rivaled the beds, at least the really high class carpets did, the hard rock floor beneath gave it the perfect firmness too. That had been a fun night going into a trance in the middle of an unused hallway.

It didn’t take much longer for the conductor to give a shout to any other passengers to come aboard and then feel the lurch of the train into motion. As I got comfortable on the bed I watched Canterlot slowly fade into the distance as the reality of it all began to sink in. I was going to have some time on my hands, time to think, and ask questions. One in particular had been bothering me, and had been for some time.

“Caligo, why is there such a difference between when I fight with you in the mindscape and when I try to fight things outside?” Thoughts of the mountain lion and my own emotionally charged states filtered through my head with the supposed sparring matches that, while didn’t happen nightly anymore, in fact they had stopped for a while now that I thought about it.

‘The training you received is not the kind to teach you how to fight, but how to be mindful of what can happen.’

I exhaled, and then repeated the process two more times, “Would you please clarify?”

‘It is as you said, mindscape, though according to some of your surface thoughts the closest resembling word would be imagination. Your ability to read the shadows, which is bolstered by my presence, is enough of a tool for you to attain minimal damage in confrontations. Everything else that you have been put through was simply a way to make you think of things differently. You have not attained anything other than through thought, I thought that would be self evident in the fact that what one thinks and how one acts are two separate realms.’

Well that was great, I’d been spending my time, feeling pain and mental exhaustion… for a mental waiting room.

“Right, we’re going to stay away from that from now on, m’kay?”

‘As you wish.’

My thumb and forefinger ground into the bridge of my nose, and I was a little pissed at this little finding, as evident by the darkening of the room from the excess shadows pouring out of me in my current state. Stretching my hand out in front of my, palm facing upwards, I concentrated my attention to a few inches above my hand. The shadows reacted and what looked like a black flame sprung up and flickered and waved and grew to about the size of a small shrub. I’d always liked fire, and it always calmed me down to see it. Speaking of which, I wondered if they would let me see the engine room. I wouldn’t know if I didn’t ask after all, and it was getting close to lunch, or so my stomach said, and I headed out of my room, moving to the front, thinking the dining area would be beyond the lounge.

Apparently all the passengers had gotten on before I had and had been in their own rooms stowing away their gear, because when I got to the lounge room it was chock full of ponies. Some were simply staring out onto the swiftly changing landscape, many others were reading or simply talking, and I even saw a pair of yellow pegasi playing a game of checkers. None of them seemed to bother noticing me, all too wrapped up in their own business, until a shocked, “oh my” came from a stallion with a monocle, who had just put down his paper, saw fit to notify the others causing me to flinch as others began to look up.

A small sigh whispered passed my lips. Part of me hoped it wouldn’t become a thing, but another part of me, in part prompted by Caligo, reminded myself I don’t need to worry about them. I could do this. I had a mission: find food, and after that see if I could look at the engine room. Striding past the whispers and gasps, not paying attention save that I didn’t trip over anything, I stooped through the small door and made my way to get some food.

Quite nicely I’d been right, the dining car not only was in front, but it was the very next car. It had a very crisp, light, feeling to it, the large windows streaming in sunlight helped with that. The paneling and squared table tops of stainless steel blended in well with the white table clothes and drapes. The food had been laid out in a buffet style, which was nice, and I helped myself a nice plate of fruit and a bowl of some sort of bean soup. I recognized the black eyed peas at least. Not that all the stuff looked foreign, just that I’m not a savant when it comes to remember the names of certain things.

I’d just gotten to my seat when I heard, “Ticket sir?”

The light flooding light made it hard for any shadow to hold its place. In effect I was snuck up on, though focusing my thoughts inward to pre-emptively ignore the others in the car. Something in my mind felt like it was trying to click that maybe I was going about things wrong, but something took hold of it and brushed it away before I could think past my hand going to my breast pocket as the stallion, a unicorn, floated out a ticket puncher from his vest and gave it a small hole, then went on his work to the next group of ponies, who I noticed was a group of females who tittered when I noticed them looking at me and then started to whisper again. It made an embarrassed blush shoot to my face. I was glad that I had my hood up even it did mean I had to pay attention to brush my fork up against it.

I had almost finished my meal when the sound of a whirring and a clinking came towards me. Looking up, I was greeted with the sight of four grey, segmented, tentacles which lower four red legs and torso. The light-grey metal brace curved around the ponies back and fore hooves. A light blue gem with beveled edges housed under the chest apparatus. I was speechless. It was the mechanical arms from freakin’ Spider-Man 2, the Tobey Maguire one.

I was too shocked to see something like that, in part because Doc Ock is my favorite Spider-Man character, and also just seeing that level of technology in Equestria. I almost squealed. It was obvious that the crystal was powering it, but I suppose that made more sense for a power source than the total lack of explanation you usually get. I however had apparently taken too much time in my stare at the mechanical marvel to notice much else until the red earth mare’s orange tail flick in annoyance as she cleared her throat, though in my defense the arms and what looked like some sort of mounted spot welder were quite eye catching.

A confident half-grin slid across her face, her blue eyes half-lidded, “You know, most people say some form of greeting when someone sits down next to them.” She said, her mechanical arms coiled beneath her putting her just below eye level with me and giving me an easy view of her slightly wild orange mane and her cutie mark, a large gear, lying flat with a billowing smoke stack coming through the centre.

“Oh, uh, hello ma’am.” I said, a little put off at someone not only foregoing the pony affectation for words dealing with multiples, but mostly because she had come up to me period. Most ponies seemed rather put off by my real self.

“Ouch, I’m not that old. Name’s Sprocket.” She said, putting out a hoof.

Collecting myself I said, “My name is Rumor. Might I ask why you decided to come over here? Everypony else seems more comfortable staying at a distance and fiercely whispering about me.” I’d spent the last couple of months in Canterlot, some of the vernacular had rubbed off on me.

“Well you seemed a little lonely over here all alone. And the other part might have something to do with how your yellow eyes are glowing a little menacingly underneath your hood.” She said with a small snicker.

“Oh.” I said then pulled my hood down.

“There ya go, you don’t look half bad.”

“I’d have to say the same to you. I haven’t seen anything that those in Canterlot.” I said, forcing a small blush away from the complement.

“Oh you like the arms huh? Yeah, I made them myself, bio-enhancing mechanical arms. Since I’m not a unicorn I had to figure out some way to safely do my more, eh-herm, explosive experiments. So I figured this would be the best choice considering that I just couldn’t get the hang of any machines that induced levitation, my attempts to do so always result in being too bulky for ease of use. The arms are just so much better at finesse anyway since they react to my thoughts.”

Sprocket seemed pretty proud of herself, but I have to admit I would be too if I were able to make something like that, even if it did use the cop out of using magic. Sorry deus ex, but my heart belongs to science.

“But what about the cost, I mean, isn’t it dangerous to have something like that permanently fused into your spinal cord?”

“Oh no, it comes off, but I like to keep it on for the functionality. Besides the whole thing is a brace so it keeps everything nice and secure, but the spinal implants are filaments so they’re designed to move around. They’re also laced with crystals charged with a low level healing spell so there’s no worry for rejection. But hey, I didn’t figure you to be up to date with all this sort of mechanical and biological fusion techniques.”

“Well, not really, I just know about a guy who once did something similar, but it didn’t work nearly as well as what you have.”

It really amazed me just how easy it was to keep on talking. Well, listening mostly, Sprocket did most of the talking. She had come up to Canterlot in search of crystals and gems, and having heard of recent events, she went to mine some of the crystals under Canterlot herself. I was hard pressed to follow exactly which kind was which since I just associated crystals with colors and shine, and the fact she kept using the scientific names of them, but she was quite animated over the whole thing. The big deal was that most of her mechanical works were powered by the stored magic within each crystal, which she couldn’t do herself as an earth pony and had to make use of a unicorn assistant to do so. Crystal power was a relatively new discovery that was really only now being exploited. The trick was finding a gem that could a hold a sufficient charge for a sufficient amount of time. She had been going through many different types and kinds, as well as different cuts. She hoped that the recent batch would prove useful, but first she would need to cut them and then find somepony to charge them up for her, something that normally took a good while if she found a good charge holder.

“I just want to make things a little easier for earth ponies ya’ know, it can be a little frustrating to only have our so called earth magic, but that’s only useful if you’re our farming. Any pegasi can always make use of flying no matter where they are, same for just levitating anything for unicorns.” She said with a far off gaze, like maybe she wasn’t talking to me, but her gaze focused again and said, “But that’s just for extension work. Others in the field have found ways to completely replace broken or irreparably damaged body parts. But you’ve been a pretty good sport about listening to me this whole time, but why are you going to Bitsburg Rumor?”

“Oh it really was pretty interesting to hear you go on, but I’ve heard that the police are a little short-staffed there, and I was going to see if I could get a job.”

“No offense buddy, but as true as that is you don’t exactly look very strong, especially for someone as tall as you are. What good do you think you would be against a diamond dog, or gryphon, or even a unicorn?”

“Well,” I said with a smirk, “I can do this.” Scooting out of the sun light, which had begun to bother me less as the conversation had continued, I began to expel darkness, making a cylinder of black around me. Concentrating, I pushed three tentacles, each one tipped with a clawed human hand, out and hardened them into reality and stretched them out into the sunlight, which held, but my legs were beginning to lose some feeling, and had two of them hold up my now empty plate while the last one rapidly extended its claws leaving four pencil thick holes in it, and then placed it back down and banished the dark. The room had gotten awfully quiet, but I was too focused on Sprocket’s reaction, she just sat there, with a raised eyebrow, “Okay, I’m impressed. I don’t think you’ll have much trouble getting the job.”

“Thank you” I said as the room volume began to return as I sat back down into my seat.

“Well, you seem like a pretty decent guy, you should totally come and see my lab once you get settled in. You want to hang out later? The ride goes one for another day.”

“That sounds pretty good. But I had hoped to see the engine room. You think they let passengers in there?”

“I don’t know, but why go there anyway, it’s just a basic steam set up.”

“True but this is pretty much my first time on a train, and I thought it would be interesting.”

“Heh, sounds like a plan.”

City Life (24)

Coming out of darkness I felt nothing, save a small pressure over my face, the rest of me felt kinda float-y. Opening my eyes only met them with a painful burning sensation due to a bright white light from God knows where. I was able to make out a blurred outline around my face. Moving my hands, unseen, through the white, it felt like they were passing through some sort of liquid sand, brilliantly fine, like silk made granular. As I tried to place my hands on my face they were forced to stop a few inches in front of it. As near as I could tell, I seemed to be wearing some sort of helmet. It was clear all the way through, covering my entire face. Feeling around some more my hands let me informed me of a tube at the top of it.

My head was starting to clear away some of the murk, and I finally thought to notice that I obviously wasn’t wearing any pants from the way, whatever it was that I was in, was rubbing and flowing around me.

Clutching my sides, afraid to touch around my head further, I reached out for Caligo. Whenever something made the lights go away he was always there to explain things, he could let me know what was happening. Reaching out to the corner of my mind he resided in only left me with a vague feeling of numbness, the same for when I tried to reach Somnium as well. I tried reaching for the darkness, I could feel little of it, and it was far away, but I could feel it slowly heading my command and pulling towards me, but stopped halfway, burning out of my grasp as it faded against the white light that surrounded me. I was alone. I was weak! I had nothing! I was just my old, pathetic, disgusting, self. A world filled with magic, and I could do nothing to fight against it. The herbivores could pound trees to get apples and put bears in headlocks, and had, before my eyes, which had consistently proved to be far from the every-problem-is-solved-in-twenty-two-minutes with a total lack of bloody violence. Where Baskerville sized hounds housed a skeleton that could crush gemstones and a set of titanic muscles to back it up! Where things the size of chickens could turn you to living stone, leaving you stew in your own thoughts for eternity, unable to move, breathe, or sleep!

Panic began to turn my spine to frost as fear lurched its way up my stomach. I was alone, floating… somewhere. I didn’t know! More of my mind continued to open up to me. I had come to Equestria, thinking to abandon my life on Earth, my parents, and my uncle, to live out what? The life of a hero? Why was it only now that the memory of diamond dogs in that forest, slaving other ponies was just now deciding to bother me? Hadn’t I thought it would be a worthy idea to stop that sort of thing, especially now that I did technically have superpowers?

‘True, but when you think about it, these idiots could solve so many of their problems with a small upward thrust at the base of the skull with a magicless blade of iron.’

I pulled my arms together tighter, making my shoulder blades ache.

‘No! That isn’t me. I can’t think like that! What happened to me?!?’

***

The second day the train ride was as relaxing as I thought it would be. The chugging of the engine and the gentle rocking of the cars made it particularly easy to fall asleep.

Sprocket had met me again for lunch, and we even found out that you could see the engine room, if you asked nicely. While Sprocket hadn’t come, in part because it clearly bored her to see something so basic as a steam engine and had railed on about how she couldn’t wait until they were able to scrap the antique, it was also due to some of the more delicate components in the engine that some of her arms might hit in the more confined spaces, and she simply refused to part with them, and held them like a mother would a child as she said so. Still, I was impressed by it all, but I’d always had a bias for trains over any other form of transportation. They’re just so much cooler.

Once that was done, Sprocket, I think in part to show off, lead me some of the equipment she had brought with her in her quarters, in first class, and yes, there was a mini-fridge, and also an added walk-in closest to accompany the added space. While she admitted to taking a few elementary testing materials to check basic compositions of crystals as to how well they would hold a magical charge and such, her big ticket item was a crystal cutter that she had brought with her. It looked exactly like a polished metal box, six inches tall and a foot in length and width. It was shiny, but it didn’t seem all that impressive to me, the only distinct feature was a square red lens that took up a few inches in the middle. But as she tapped a raw, uncut, murky green crystal on the center top of the box a beam of light came up, engulfing the crystal, upon which eight little arms, each with three long segments came out of a perspective slot, and grabbed the crystal with their pointed ends and held it up. Then another slot on the right side pushed out and revealed a row of gem cutting spectacles of increasing magnification, as well as a series of increasingly smaller sets of clamps, seemingly for grasping. I was impressed as it was, but then a small green panel with keys, like a computer board slid out, each key had either a number or some sort of math symbol, as far as I could figure, on it.

With a grin she said, “Watch this.” And brought forth two of her mechanical arms and typed a swift set of gibberish onto the board, then stepped back. A sound like a vacuum soon followed as a greater number of arms soon popped out of the remaining unused sides, these more akin to the multiple segmentation of the original tentacles she had on her back, each with what looked look a perfect sphere attached to their ends. Once they touched the crystal however, the hardened sides gave way with a flurry of dust, which was quickly sucked into the machine. There, in the span of only a few minutes, maybe three or four, I watched as the coarse crystal became a perfectly polished thing of beauty, and taking a shape of an octagon cut, much like the crystal that helped power her own suit.

The vacuum sound stopped, the arms returned to their compartments, and a small ‘ding’ chimed as a small container with the crystal shavings popped out. Sprocket dumped the shavings into a metal container labeled as such, and pulled out a white cloth to wipe away some of the excess dust from the now rigidly smooth surface of the now shining rock.

“Okay, that was awesome.”

“Heh, if you think that was awesome you should probably stay away from my lab. We don’t want your jaw to come unhinged or anything.” She said, turning away and sliding the gem into a white suitcase.

“Don’t you need to run some tests before you do that though?”

“Well, yeah, my standard procedure is normally to first take a look at the basic crystal with my microscope back in the lab to see what sort of cut will be most in tune to help multiply magical resonance and amplify the charge. But I also make sure to grab a few extra to sell at the gem shops for a few extra bits, and I know Jasper likes to use this particular cut for some of his upper-class work.” She said tapping it, the crystal giving off a low pinging sound.

***

As the conductor called out the train’s expected arrival, he also pointed out the approaching city out the right windows. From a distance it was quite impressive. Large smoke stacks let forth puffs of smoke into the air. Building lined the around the entire city, some easily above seven stories high. I was pretty sure I also caught the glint of moving metal parts, like engines or giant gears poking out of the ground and slowly turning. And up in the sky, above the building I could even see a few miniature blimps circling through the sky, I caught sight of one, and could just barely make out the word ‘police’. I couldn’t help but smile, since the first thing I thought of was the blimps that I’d seen in Batman the animated series

As cool as the city was, it stood in sharp contrast with the land around it. While the scent of the ocean could be smelt, Sprocket had told me that it was a port town. The land had tracts of red and brown baked earth. I could even see a few volcanoes, barely, way out in the distance billowing smoke. I was quite glad for the ocean breeze blowing that all away. Still, that wasn’t to say there wasn’t any plant life, there just weren’t many trees, the closest things were mostly overgrown bushes, and even they looked a little twisted.

As the train rolled into the station I heard the whirring of Sprockets metal arms and the low reverberation as they hit the metal floor of the train, giving me a sharp, what I assumed to be friendly, hit on the back with her free hoof, she said, “We should hang out more, you’re alright. I live up near the center of town, you remember where, right?”

“If not, I can always ask.” I said, smiling away the pain of being hit. Hey, hooves hurt, and I despise being assaulted as well as the practice of hitting others for comradery. I just waved at her as she left, remaining silent for fear of exploding. She was rather nice after all, and watching as she cut her way through the crowds to the nearest wall, and then using her arms to scale up it, completely circumventing the congestion, made me a little jealous. Still, what’s wrong with a simple pat on the back?

As the pain began to fade away I took a breath of air and plunged into the crowd and slowly began to make my way through the sea of creatures. It was interesting to say the least. In Canterlot I had only seen ponies, the only variation being the occasional bat-winged pegasus, but here, even at the station, there was a whole variety of life. Griffins, diamond dogs, and a few minotaurs were peppered in through the crowd, almost as much as ponies. No one was really even giving me the time of day, but to push past me to get to their own trains. Even in the deepening shadows of the afternoon it took me a while to get to the information desk, mostly because I didn’t want to find out what it would feel like to step out of a shadow and appear inside someone. That would only end in the bursting of blood balloons, and mangled attempts at screaming. I shuddered as I repressed the thought and got to the window.

“Hell-” was all I allowed the pony to say before I grabbed one of the complementary city maps and made my way to the nearest iron bench. The light was poor, considering I was by a wall blocking the sinking sun in the west, but that really wasn’t a problem. Scanning through the legend I found the nearest police station, I also noticed that there was a separate legend symbol for guards, but that could wait. Standing up, I orientated the map to face it and myself north, fourteen street forward from the train station, then two streets over to the right. My kind of directions.

Standing up, I folded the map and placed it in my thigh pocket, thanking whoever invented the pocket, and waded my way through the remaining crowds of the station and stepped into Bitsburg.

The street lamps were just coming on; I still made me wonder when I saw them. To think they were just ordinary crystals, or, at least ordinary in Equestria, that they were just basically stones enchanted to give off light. No electricity, no science, just the thought of some unicorn placed into an inanimate object. The manipulation of energy, at least back home, would have been staggering to say the least, but here things were different, and I was only still just getting used to the idea.

As I started to walk, the streets were close to immaculate. My unasked question was soon revealed as a motorized carriage with rolling bristles under the carriage rolled slowly by, a belch of smoke emanating from one of the over-carriage exhaust pipes every couple of feet. The sidewalks were another matter, sometimes progress just means you get the good with the bad. I hate stepping in bubblegum. Not that there was much, but when going from the absolute none in Canterlot to stepping on the seemingly only one on the sidewalk, it makes for a big deal. I slid a shaft of darkness to scrape it away, placed it in the nearest receptacle, a mere two feet away, and continued.

‘Freekin’ kids.’

The city itself, from what I could see was quite an eyeful, though that might have had something to do with me being in the downtown area. Luckily I wasn’t on any streets with clubs, because the few restaurants I passed were completely packed, and moving around the crowd was enough of a hassle. I really didn’t want to do any shadow-striding because the sudden change of stepping in one spot and appearing in another would definitely have thrown off my count. I passed a few more shops, either open late, or just open for the night life. Two in particular stood out to me, one had a display window full of crystals charged with different shades of light. They were set on a mobile and were spinning in such a way that it made it look like each shade of color was swimming against the others around it. It was astounding. So much that I actually paused to gape at it from across the street. My sudden stop caused a small diamond dog to actually bump into me, causing him to growl, but he was either in a hurry or didn’t think I was worth his time because he hurried on by. The second store that caught my eye was a gear store, as close as I could describe. The sign over the center of the store read ‘Whirligig’s Wears’ and had a spring caught in a metal circle that kept it expanding and contracting and another gear just sticking out of the other side just aimlessly spinning in intermittent speeds. The sides of the building were much the same, everything about was just so alive and fluid, but I needed to get an application first and set up an interview if I wanted everything to be official and kept on going.

I only needed to move up four more streets when I saw it. Through a nearly pitch black alley, a small trickle of light was coming through a street lamp at the other side, was Sprocket. I didn’t think anyone would be wearing a set of metallic octopus arms or have a mane that stood up in places like a fire. She didn’t have her luggage with her, so she’d obviously gotten back to her home, she must have been close, but the more pressing matter was the way her arms hung limply at her sides as a diamond dog with a black bandana, flanked by a pegasus and a griffin each wearing the same atop their heads. I could see Sprocket still held herself like she usually did, even if it seemed a bit stiffer, but something didn’t feel right to me. I decided to walk over to them, and I had gotten half-way into the alley when the diamond dog took a step forward and pulled her up, by the neck, mechanical arms and all, off the ground.

“Well look who finally ran out of power guys?” The dog growled. The sounds of the two others soft laughter soon followed. “Aren’t you going to use your little toy to help save you? Oh!” he said, tapping the dark gem, causing a few sparks of green to fizzle off one of the edges, “heh, gave me a start there for a second, but it looks like we finally get to see what you’re really like.”

The gears in my head didn’t quite mesh until the griffin and the pegasus each to a step forward and pulled her lower legs apart. After that, things went dark.

The shadows erupted from me, soundlessly pulsing between full and void causing my cloak to billow around me. My steps remained silent as my entire world became the three meat-sacks in front of me. A black spike extended from the palm of my hand. I stopped, just close enough for the spike to tap on the dog’s massive shoulder and cut slightly into a bicep that dwarfed my head.

‘PDrEoStTeRcOtY!’ my thoughts’ screamed.

The dog didn’t get to even turn his head around before a part of my personal shadows were sucked into Sprocket’s crystal, pulsed a dark green, and a small click went off by her left shoulder as the welding gun gave a sputter. A cone of fire belched forth, and my world vanished as multiple screams mingled in the air and in my head.

***

I thrashed against the white, my body wrapping around it, as I tried to hide myself away from the light. I wanted my shadows! I pushed against the light, trying to use my darkness to overcome the brightness. I felt my powers wane as it ate away at it with ease, and made the glow grow brighter and pierce my closed lids.

***

Sprocket squeezed her closed eyes shut as the ringing in her ears continued unabashedly. Stretching, she reached to smash her offending alarm clock. It should have known better than to wake her up so early. A quick crunch, spring, and tinkling later she placed her bleary eyes back into the warm folds of her pillow, but the noise didn’t stop. Figuring she had just winged it and the clock must have been ready for round two she waited for the referee to blow his whistle for the next round. But it never came, only klaxon from the other side of the ring, across her bed

Bolting up, she stumbled as she got out of bed, her sleepy thoughts swept away in the tide of her racing adrenaline. Her experimental healing pod shouldn’t have been making that sound.

“How in bloody Tartarus can the system be overloading? It’s on a closed circuit!” She screamed to hear herself over the whining alarm helping to push the remaining dregs of drowsiness from of her system.

Going down the steps into her top level basement and lab, she saw a black form pulsate within the confines the mesophase-tank. She hadn’t expected such an output of energy from Rumor, but the fact that he was meant that he was now alive enough to do so. But before she could give herself a pat on the back, she rushed over to the control panel, and took in a single breath of regret, before she pushed the switch and opened the emergency release valves, watching behind the charged wall of clear crystal protection wall as the entire mixture fell through the grate, and became inert as its surface area increased across the wide catch beneath it.

As the light from the mesophase and the red lights from the alarm fell away the room was equally filled with an immense darkness, turning the room pitch. But this too faded away as the emergency lights filtered down through the dissipating dark mist and revealed the prone form of Rumor, his air helmet still attached to the two hoses which had a perfect cut across the strengthened woven bands of polymer fiber meant to be dense enough to keep the air in and circulating and keep the fine liquid grains of the mesophase out.

Contemplating just how much to a hairless ape he looked like, though it was a great deal better than the wheezing husk of burnt flesh she had brought in, she went over and released the seal on the helmet and pulled one of the lanky creature’s forelegs with her hooves, heaving him onto her back. The way his limp form dangled over her sides and dragged on the floor was like trying to haul a sack of potatoes and squid. With a huff she wished she had her own arms with her, but there hadn’t been enough time to grab them during the alarm, and since she was already half-way up the staircase, she didn’t see any need to get them now, especially since she kept them across from her room up on the first floor. Passing the clock near the front door she saw it was a mere ten minutes away from nine in the morning, a good two hours and ten minutes before she preferred to be out of bed. Sighing she made her way back upstairs and deposited the limp form of Rumor onto her bed, figuring he could get more use out of it than here since she was now too wound up to go back to sleep.

“Well,” she sighed, “early day today. Might as well make some coffee and try to figure out what caused the magical overload and subsequent backlash.” She muttered as closed her door behind her with a flick of her tail.

Getting Started (25)

My eyes squinted shut as I was assaulted by both the soft embrace of warm sheets and a familiar musty scent upon the pillow my head rested upon. Inhaling it reminded me that I should probably wash it, but if the cover could withstand being unwashed for three months, then it would be fine for awhile more.

I turned to my side, pulling the sheets with me. It felt nice to sleep in on a Saturday for once, rather than getting up bright and early to get all the goofing off I wanted to do.

The hum of the air conditioner lightly thrummed through the air, its stream of white noise helping to mitigate the sounds of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic from being more than another layer against the white. It was soothing, and it almost made up for the fact that I’d have to get up soon and forgo the realm of dreams where shadows bowed to my whim and I could hop around on slivers of darkness.

***Caligo***

//ERROR: System Contamination [incompatible crystalline compound]

//Check to make sure any new hardware or software has been properly installed (y/n)

//MEMORY TESTING…

//Corrupted Files Detected: Outdated Hardware: Partial Install: Deleting

//Memory Testing: 19152512 5 1420 GRN

//Cached Files Found: Reinstalling

//…

//Files Reinstalled

//Reboot Initiated

//…

Systems Online: Goodnight World

//System Scan: Emotivore Detected: Subject-Nightmare

//Past History Status: corrupted, unmanageable

//Containment Initiating

//Captured: Isolating: Integrating energy w/ internal sys [beginning recharge]

***Rumor***

I bolted upright, the echoes of a scream dying in my ears as I called the darkness to shield me in my panic, it came sluggishly, but I regained my senses enough to realize it must have been a nightmare, yet another reason why I was glad to no longer need sleep. No longer having to deal with the echoes of feelings where every last one of my conscious barriers was forcibly down. I was glad that no one was around to see me wipe at my eyes. It must have been a pretty harsh dream.

Sighing I pulled myself up, any echoes of dream fluff long gone now, as I looked around the room. Well, I was on a bed, a great big circular one, with dark blue sheets, covers, and pillow slips that all blended in well together, the room it inhabited in was another story. All along the walls, which were black, with specks of white dotting along it, were heaps of paperwork, doodles and little bits of machine work that spilled over onto the floor and wastebaskets. But despite its chaotic appearance it held certain clarity to it. It was like looking at an unfinished dream as an artist as he flitted from one idea to the next as ideas poured out of him in fits and spurts of creativity only to find another breath of inspiration elsewhere. In fact, the room looked more like a workshop that someone had dumped a bed into.

As I began to slide out of the bed, careful not to step and crush something, unsure of what was garbage and merely unfinished, that a bit of ashen colored skin caught my attention. I was naked. And that wasn’t going to fly. I looked over the room and tried to look for my inky cloak and boots, but they were nowhere to be found, unless I wanted to go through any of the piles along the walls and floor, but that didn’t seem likely I would find them there, or that I would be able to make myself paw through someone else’s belongs like that. I certainly wasn’t in a hospital this time, the utter lack of a sickeningly clean smell was enough of a hint. But I certainly wasn’t going to keep walking about exposed like I was.

Giving call to the shadows hiding in and behind the piles of ideas and unfinished works I noticed that they came a bit slower than usual, but paid little enough mind, I wasn’t in my cloak and the lack of total darkness around me meant I wasn’t in peak condition in the twilight of a room where a heavy curtain blocked nearly all the sun's light. The shadows played along my skin and were left insubstantial and I crept to the door.

Once in the hall, having a thin carpet, like the kind you find in schools, filled the floor with the same dark blue as the bed, save a few holes and scorch marks here and there that revealed a cement floor beneath. The gentle machine humming had gotten louder, and I followed it, mostly due to the fact the hall had little more than another door across from it and the sound was coming from a nearby staircase, which I quickly descended.

Once downstairs the sound of rustling papers and the stink of coffee assaulted my nose. I also noticed that things were much neater on the first floor, there was a living room, the carpet was made from a lighter blue and there was also a dark wood coffee table surrounded by two brown stuffed chairs and a couch. All of which were not being used. Moving farther along the wall by the stairs, I poked my head across a corner and found the source of the noise, and stink. It was Sprocket, sitting on a low wooden stool, widened to accommodate her quadrupedal form, sipping coffee on top of what was, probably, a white rock counter, but was covered with so many stains it looked like speckled grey.

Becoming more acutely aware of my nudity in the presence of a lady, I politely cleared my throat, causing Sprocket to jump out of her seat and send the scalding liquid into my face once she saw my shadow encrusted face.

“AHHH, PAIN!” I said, bending over and wiping burning coffee from my face to my now burning hands as the shadows unraveled from my face and down my chest.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry, you surprised me and I thought-” she said reaching over to get a washcloth and began to rub at my face, clearing away the rest of the liquid before I heard her gasp and take a few steps back.

“What’s wrong?” I said as I opened my eyes and immediately placed my hands over my exposed crotch, quite luckily still covered in darkness. I was quite glad that there were heavy curtains over the windows and that they were drawn tight leaving only a few stray sunbeams and a few hanging lamps to hold the darkness at bay over on the kitchen counter

“Your face, it was blistering. I saw the skin begin to redden and bubble.” She said, thankfully starring at my face, and was beginning to raise a hoof to it, “And now it’s completely gone.” she said as she now touched my face, her eyes wide. I was just glad for the chance to weave some of the darkness from my pores to thicken the shadows around my lower half, still insubstantial, but at least it was presentable.

“Umm, yeah, I have a good regenerative ability when I’m in low levels of light.” I absently said, reaching up a hand to bring the red hoof away from my face. “But, and I hate to be a bother, but could you please tell me where I am and where my clothes are, I feel a little naked without them.”

At this Sprocket lost what I could only hope was simply a healthy scientific gleam of inquiry in her eye and took a step back and looked down a little and said, “Yeah, those things went up in flames when you…” she trailed off, her eyes beginning to water, “I know I should have done more tests, but the preliminary results were just so promising that I had the crystal charged but it just lost its power so quick I didn’t even have time to notice it when it simply turned off and I got surrounded by those thugs and I couldn’t,” she broke off, as she continued to hold back tears as she tried to catch her breath and seemingly allowing only one to fall, “do anything, but I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me looking weak at the very least and then you showed up like a thing out of Tartarus and then you filled the gem with an outburst of power and it made my spot welder go haywire and burst you all into flame and I thought you were dead but you still choked onto life even though you were covered in cracked red and black flesh and I brought you back to my experimental healing chamber because it was closer than the hospital and I wasn’t sure you’d make it otherwise and,” she fully stopped she looked like she was ready to burst, but all she did was whisper, “ I’m sorry” she said, finally taking a breath before a look of consternation overtook her. As she lowered her head to her chest she closed her eyes, the sudden heave of her emotions having caught up with her as she silently released her tears, unwilling to make another sound.

The one silver lining to my negative self-loathing tendencies, I’m unable to stand seeing anyone else in pain. I stood there a few moments trying to move past my own shock at seeing someone just break down in front of me, but I took two steps forward and kneeled down beside her as I wrapped my arm around her silently, unable to think of anything to say myself as she leaned into me. She was much warmer that I was.

A few moments went by, my mind still trying to figure out something to say when a little bit of what was once trivial fantasy knowledge about elemental attacks, “I should thank you too, damage from sources of light are the hardest for me to heal from, Thank you for treating me.”

That seemed to have made her feel a little better as she finally gave a loud, mucous laden sniff of her nose as she wiped away a few more tears, “You're welcome” she said with a tenuous smile.

I just sat there; glad she was now at least looking better, when it hit me, “experimental healing chamber?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah” she said, rubbing her hoof through her wild mane, “it’s a mesophase mixture which uses-”

“What’s a mesophase?”

“What, oh, sorry, it means liquid crystal, and no not molten, just very fine grade. The point behind them is that not only do they move, but they will settle down in a lattice so the translational symmetry goes in one direction.” She paused, looking at my wooden face, “It means that it will always settle into a specific pattern despite any changes that are made to disturb it. They were constructed because crystals themselves can only be charged with so much energy before they detonate, meaning there is only certain strength of spell they can hold, but if they are in a nematic phase then they are able to simulate the kinetic release, but still maintain a charge.”

Seeing my reaction to be unchanged she started again. “In neigh-man’s terms it means I can supercharge the crystal and thus make certain processes go faster, like a basic healing spell, though once I get the process right more directed spells would be able to be used to speed recovery times or beyond, such a brain or muscle augmentation.”

“Almost sounds like you’re trying to live forever.” I said, jokingly. Sprocket’s eyes and mouth, however, were busy expanding and generally looking like she could be knocked over by a leaf. “Uh, you okay?”

Shaking her head, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. And again, I’m sorry about your clothes.”

“Well, while I won’t admit, that I don’t miss them, being a gift, the real problem is that it was lined with all the money I had. And, well, back home clothes are a mode of decency. I mean, I can make do with this” I said pointing to the shadows along my legs while standing up, “but I really need to find a job so I start getting the necessities like food, shelter and clothing taken care of. Do you know where I can start looking for one?”

I couldn’t quite place the look she gave me next, but it looked like a mixture of memories from the train mixed with what happened in the alley, “What? I can’t let you go off alone. No way man, you’re staying here.” She said, forcefully, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Umm, okay” I said, feeling a little off from the sudden jack-knifing of emotions, not that I was one to judge since I normally just tried to stuff mine down into a deep dark hole in the ground.

“And I know a guy who can help you out with the clothes, but I have to ask, I know the thing you were wearing was a gift, but why label such an extravagance a necessity?”

“Well, maybe they aren’t for someone like you, but from where I come from they function much like your fur, they protect the body from a vast majority of minor irritants, as well as protecting our softer bottomed feet from hazard, but mostly it’s to errm, keep our genitals from showing. They don’t collapse into our body like you guys here.” I took her a little while, but I knew Sprocket got the right idea when her mouth formed a silent ‘o’.

“Ah, well, we’ll just take care of that sooner then.”

We both just sat there a few moments in silence, save for a light ticking from a clock by the front door. My stomach growled, and that seemed to spur the action on again.

“Oh man, you must be pretty hungry. Good thing you weren’t in that thing more than the night. Here, I’ll make some toast.”

“Thanks.” I said moving up to the counter, and still trying to not freak out over my own nudity now that the emotional moment had passed. I wasn’t going to stand it much longer, so I just put a little more effort into it and hardened the shadow into a segmented pair of pants. It was, enlightening, the poor lighting wouldn't have made a difference, but deep in the paranoias of my mind I still wished to blame it on something, but, the darkness wouldn't solidify. A few seconds was all it took for it to register, but it didn't hit with the impact I'd thought it might. I miss my cloak. Okay, so down one super power already, next time I'll just have to take better care of my mystical armor. Bloody expensive lesson to learn, but lesson learned. “So what exactly do we do now?”

“Well, since it’s a little bit past one in the afternoon, I figured we could finish breakfast and then just head out to Velvet’s and see if he can help you with you predicament, though you seem to be doing well enough.”

“True, but it takes a constant bit of effort to maintain them. Unicorns don’t have their horns lit all the time do they?”

“No I suppose not. Sorry if I’m not quite all there with how you work your magic, but it’s just a little strange to see someone do it without a horn, let alone not glow in any way. Hey, do you think you can see if you might be able to charge a crystal with that stuff,” she said, pointing to some of the excess shadows wisping atop my head, “it would be a great way for you to help earn your keep here” she finished, sliding a plate of toast, with honey drizzled on it.

“I wouldn’t mind trying. But I’m not sure how well I’d be able to do it.” I said, crunching into the dried bread. As I did I continued to wonder on just how much power the cloak had given me and weighing it against the fact that I was clearly much weaker now due to its loss.

“Well, enough time for that later. You finish that up, while I grab another cup of coffee, and we’ll head out.”

***

Velvet Lining took his measuring tape in both wings, his feathers bending like wispy fingers as he took my measurements in Sprockets living room. It had become astoundingly apparent that we weren’t going to make it to his shop when Sprocket and I had attempted to leave the front door. I’d put my constructs in sunlight before, and while it was a definite few grades above holding them anywhere else, it was still at least manageable, as long as I had been wearing my cloak, which up until now I had never been without, but it was safe to say I hadn’t appreciate the cloak fully until now. As soon as the first sunbeam kissed my exposed feet and chest, it was like a faucet had been turned off and all of drying away my power. I could still feel hints of shadows calling out to me, but it was incredibly muted… that and I mooned Sprocket, much to my embarrassment. She at least had a good laugh from the experience as I slid to the left of the door, my powers returning as I sat back down away from the sun, lowering a shaky ball of darkness over me to hide my reddening face and lower half, and unwilling to see if anyone on the street had seen me. Luckily, Velvet made house calls, and was somewhat of a friend to Sprocket.

“Okay now raise your arms” Velvet said, flapping his wings to reach them and straightening them out just the way he wanted.

“Umm, do you know how long it will take to get this all done?” I quickly said, as Velvet measured around my arms, giving me a look for moving slightly.

He sighed, “Well, since you just need them to be functional, a single pair of pants, shirt, and undergarments, I can probably get them to you by the end of the day, as well as a second pair in case anything happens to the first. Oh, and thank again for the business call sweetie.” He called over to Sprocket who had been watching from the kitchen, fiddling with the crystal cutting box she had shown me on the train, putting the excess gems she had gotten through different sets of cuts while she watched me be poked and prodded by her plum colored friend.

“You’re welcome” she said with a smile that turned a bit devious as she looked at my slight discomfort. I’m not exactly one for having my personal space invaded like this. It’s one of the reason’s I normally stay away from suit shops, well, that, and I normally don’t carry the money for that sort of thing.

“And, do you think the shoe thing will present a problem?” I said, wincing as Velvet pulled his tape tight around my forearm.

“I’ll give it a try, it shouldn’t be too difficult, and it’s just matching the curve of the underside after all. Still, I just find it so strange that such an area wouldn’t have more durability, I mean, even diamond dogs have their paws. Oh, not to be rude of course, heh.”

“Don’t worry, I always thought it was weird too. But that’s life, I suppose.”

“I suppose it is,” he said, returning to the ground, and packing away his supplies. “Still, particular clothing design will be such an interesting challenge that I almost don’t want to charge for them.”

“And how much will this cost Velvet?” Sprocket called out from behind the counter.

“Well, since this is an entirely custom job, even if your friend here insists upon it being as simple and functional as possible, it will probably run you around two-hundred bits in all.”

Sprocket whistled and said, “Well, good thing I just got back from my trip. Well, thanks Velvet, now come over and give me a hug before you go.”

Once he had left I turned to Sprocket, “I appreciate this, but I don’t want you to do this if it will be too big a burden.”

“Ah, hush man. You worry too much. And that was just a little inside joke we use. His prices are very reasonable, and on top of that he gives me a discount for some of the upgrades I made for his shop. We just joke around that his prices are high, it’s pretty chump change, especially since I came back with these.” She said, waving one of the newly cut crystal, this one in the shape of a tear drop, with facets along the curve to catch all directions of light.

“Well, thank you again. I really appreciate this.”

“Hey, no problem man. But since you’re feeling so grateful, let’s see if we can get you to charge a few of my crystals for me.”

As I followed her down the metal steps, to what I assumed was her lab, I couldn’t help but stare at the plethora of cables, of all colored coating, which ran down the sides of the stairs and even some of the ceiling above.

“What are all these for?”

“Oh, well, most of them just connect to stuff around the house, a few of them are directly powered, but most of them are basically just power ducts in case one of my tests breaches their parameters.” She said as she turned her head to my pointing.

The stairs kept on going further, but we stopped at the first basement floor. It was an impressive room to say the least, it had lines of cable running to a control panel, which stood behind a thick, clear, wall with cables running to a large empty pod, that read Mesophase Healing Chamber in bold white letters on its smooth grey side, which was spaced in-between plating of equally clear walling, but I guess one would need to see the inside to keep track of things.

Sprocket walked past the whole thing without even a second glance, and instead moved right up to a small panel with a black strip held out at eye level. Leaning her face into it, I heard a small keening buzz and then a hissing of air as the wall segmented away revealing a rack of crystals of every color I could nearly imagine in-between each section of the rainbow. Each one was set into a small metal rack, some glowed, and others stood there, dull, but what they all had in common was their shape, a beveled edged square cut. Picking up an icy-blue one, she handed the dull, compared to the literal inner glow of some of the others, gem to me.

“Now, before you start, mind if I plug you in and see what readings I can get. I mean, it’s not every day I get a unique guy like you to use magic. If I could just figure out how you do it… I’m not even sure what it could mean!” she said, undeterred by her lack of knowledge.

I was about to acquiesce when.

‘No! The female wishes to delve into the secrets of our power. She will only use it to cause us harm.’

‘Jesus’ I almost said out loud, ‘dude, are you sure? It’s just science.’

‘No, I am sure. It will only cause you pain to do otherwise.’

Sprocket only looked on curiously as I took a step back, and let the emotions of my inner conversation play across my face. Caligo was sounding a little funny, and while I didn’t personally think that Sprocket would do anything to hurt me, he hadn’t really run me wrong before and I certainly didn’t want to have him complain, the mere thought made me shudder.

“Do you mind if we hold off on that, and see if I can do this first.” I said, as she did her best to give me a pair of puppy dog eyes as her hooves held onto a set of wires and clamps.

When she saw the look wasn’t having an effect she simply ‘hmmphed’ and began to place the materials away. “Fine, if that’s the case I suppose I’ll just go check on the chamber reports again, and see what happened while you were in there that made it overload.”

***

Thirty minutes of me trying to stuff shadows into the icy-blue crystal only left me with an innate sense of failure. Sprocket, having watched as shadows ebbed and flowed around me during the entire time asked me if I wanted to try it again later, but I politely refused. If had done it before, I should be able to do it again, but more importantly I had to prove to myself that I wasn’t completely worthless. That I was more than just what the cloak had let me easily do. I still wasn’t even sure all it had done, but it was clear that it had let me act on a level I shouldn’t have been able to reach as early as I had.

She shrugged, then suggested that we should at least head up so she could get herself something to eat, she asked if I was hungry, but I said I was fine, but followed her up anyway, not feeling comfortable in her lab by myself. She went to the kitchen, and I sat down on the living room sofa.

If the whole idea was that it held power, then I was basically recharging a battery. I never really thought about the finer points of it, and it made me begin to question the mechanics behind what I could already do, but it just came so naturally it was hard to think about it. Maybe it’s the same sort of thing like how Superman flies, like did he just think harder or what? I wasn’t sure, but I had an idea of someone who might.

‘Umm, Somnium, are you there?’ I asked, probing to the spot she held in my mind.

No answer. Just a wall. And silence.

‘Somnium?’ I called again.

‘Somnium will not answer you.’ Caligo said, his presence displacing me from my search.

‘Oh, sorry. I don’t suppose you would have any tips for me to try and charge a crystal would you?’

He remained silent for a few moments, then replied, ‘Focus on the darkness within yourself, and let it flow out of you and into the receptacle.’

A little chilling, and annoyingly cryptic, but it had sparked an idea, well, more a quote from a manga I used to read. Closing my eyes I concentrated and held a mental image of my power as a great black sphere, and then I willed myself to dive into it and let it surround me. I felt my hands tingle as they gripped the crystal tighter. Blowing out a pent up breath I kept on concentrating. Feel the darkness Caligo said, let it flow, not grasp it. I relaxed my shoulders and continued to let myself sink into the image. I was completely engulfed. The sensation was odd, numbing, but not cold. I felt like I was back under my old cloak, but instead of hiding away I was radiating a soothing blanket of darkness, rather than hiding away behind it. I could feel something happen, and I tried to hold the flow away, but it was too much, and I became completely immersed. I felt something almost imperceptibly lessen from me, but it felt like it was coming back. Flowing around, and taking many forms just to return to its base, a circle.

I opened my eyes, and I wasn’t quite sure I had. I blinked away the spots from my eyes. I had shut them pretty tight, apparently, but from the muted colors around me, I could tell that I had filled the room full of darkness, save the light from a nearby window trying to fill the room back with its warmth. Next, the sound came back, the sound from the street. Sprocket’s muffled whispers became shouts, and I had to clap my hands over my ears to deal with the stark increase in volume.

“Rumor, what happened? The room went pitch for like fifteen minutes? What did you do?”

As the last wisps of darkness settled away, evaporating into a sunbeam from a slatted set of window blinds, a small sparkling caught my eye between my feet. Picking up the gem, I smiled, and showed it to Sprocket.

“So that’s why wizzards like to cast spells.” I whispered, coming off my darkened glow. I’d done it. I had proven I could still function without my cloak. I continued to smile as I gazed at the crystal, which abruptly stopped once Sprocket came over and hit me on the arm.

“Don’t freak out on me out like that again.” She said sternly, as she stared into me.

I simply nodded, too confused to know whether to feel bad for unintentionally scaring her or to feel awesome at my success.

“Well good. Now let’s see if we can help you earn your stay and charge a few more for me,” She said, already heading to the lab stairway.

The Beaten Path (26)

I was quite pleased with the new clothing, though the new clothing smell had yet to dissipate after four days, especially the new cloak. I hadn’t heard Sprocket put an order in for it, but I was glad to have a new cloak regardless. It wasn’t as form fitting, and the hood was significantly looser than the one enchanted to remain on my head, but it was quite functional and had nice roomy pockets in easy to reach places, as well as a few in the inside lining. Also, I was particularly surprised on just how well the boots fit as I wiggled my toes in their new housing. I still couldn’t place what they were made of, ponies don’t like working with flesh, but it still felt so sturdy, yet supple. Still, it hadn’t been enough to completely take away from the fact that I was walking about in the middle of the day, well, early afternoon due to Sprocket’s sleeping habits. But she needed to get more food, especially with her new tenant who was now squared away in her spare guest room which was still filled with old projects she swore she’d begin to throw away. Still there was enough room for a giant sleeping pillow, basically a giant cushion that could easily fit a pony. I came off the edges if I laid out fully on it, but I didn’t really need to sleep as such so it wasn’t a problem. We had just gotten all the groceries, me carrying them all on account of having a bad case of being raised southern, as Sprocket began to get me more acquainted with the city.

“... and over there is where the city clock tower.” Sprocket said swinging her head to an Elizabeth Tower look alike in the distance, “it was one of the first buildings to have a massive internal mechanism within it in this city. Ooh, and there’s where you can get the best milkshakes in town,” she said, now smiling in the direction of what looked like a giant chrome plated igloo, “and don’t let the polished metal fool you, they have the truest old time recipe for sodas and ice creams you have ever had.”

I simply nodded, concentrating on carrying the heavy load, made more so by the fact my clothing did nothing to help against the sunlight. I swear, it made me feel so sickeningly weak and vulnerable. I was just glad that Sprocket had come with her extra arms, she was using an older crystal, a darker blue which she had said would hold a charge for a good three hours. That one had been very time consuming to charge. I could still remember how much of a pain it had been as I faced wave after wave of mild self loathing, unable to get even a spark to show up after my initial success with the first crystal, and it hadn’t helped how my concentration had kept slipping away from me as I tried to think my way through the process of filling up a crystal with “magic”. That word still kind of bothered me. I preferred to use the word energy, which is essentially correct. But honestly, I’d seen “magic” light fires for one unicorn and then enchant a garden hose to go and water an entire garden for another. It would probably be worth my time to figure out the differences between such things, if only for my own benefit.

Eventually I’d had enough while I’d sat on the couch and out of the direct sunlight and went down to the first level basement, finding Sprocket working what looked like a claw machine, but with thousands of tiny little claw arms as they seemingly picked up each individual in the catch below the mesophase tank. When I’d asked her on how crystals could even hold something inside them rather than having energy simply flow through it she looked at me like I was from another planet, then said, “What sort of idiot are you?” and then continued to give the answer, “Look, everything on Equus can hold a magical charge, it’s just part of nature. It’s sort of like a glass of water, it can hold enough until it spills out, but not all forms of magic are made equally, nor the glass. It’s like the difference between pouring water into a glass and ice cubes into another, one gets filled up more, but the other gets full more. And as for the glass, well, it depends on how pure the gem is to begin with, but how it is expressed in a form of workable magic is what makes a charge either last a week from acting as an open flame in place of a candle, or for a few minutes as a flame thrower. Do you understand?” I’d mumbled something close to ‘yeah’ then headed back up the stairs, not wanting for her to blame me any more than she did already for how I’d made her blow her experiment.

I hadn’t quite understood what she had said, but I figured she had meant I had to refine my method for energy release, which was a much easier thing to accomplish when I finally figured to do it in my windowless room and stuffed a few of the odds and ends there by the bottom of the door to block out as much light as possible. It hadn’t been entirely pleasant. Still, it had felt good to finishing it, even if I had to spend the entire time in a rather stuffy room. Stuff like that really made me miss my old cloak, knowing it, it could probably have let me charge a crystal in a bright sunny meadow in July, and done it in a tenth of the time too. But I could manage things well enough without my old cloak, I didn’t need it to be competent, and I would definitely get better with practice.

But walking through the interspecies crowd was an eyeful, for me, as well as a number of others. It still made me feel weird to get all the stares, but I was technically a new species so I really would need to get used to it, but Sprocket’s company was nice enough. Having company made things much more palatable.

Making sure not to bump into anyone, something made much easier when most of the inhabitant were much smaller and were kind enough to give me the berth I needed, as we continued walking.

“Oh, and there’s the police headquarters, once we get back you should head over there and go over for an interview.”

“Don’t I need to fill out some paperwork or application first?”

“A little,” Sprocket said, making me wonder what exactly little meant, “but this city is pretty starved for cops, we live in a decent enough part of the city but other parts are basically dead zones to most cops. But someone of your particular talents might just be able to do something about it” she said, lowering her head some.

“Everything alright?” I asked, grunting a little as I shifted the bags on my left shoulder.

“Er, yeah,” she said, turning her head enough for me to see half a grin on her face, “now let’s get these things stored away. I still want to go over some of those new writings on artificial prosthetics.”

***Later That Evening***

‘Goddamn, I hate paperwork’, were the words that kept cycling through my brain. Sprocket hadn’t been kidding when she said the police would readily accept me, but as for how little paper work there was, I could only shudder at what she compared it to. Apparently it had been an abnormally slow day as each piece of paper and interview went right on from one to the next as I was shuffled from room to room. It all started to blur until they brought me to a medical examination room. There were so many machine in there it would have made Twilight squeal. I was hooked into helmets and strapped into what looked like stocks and was continually asked questions about my prior health. Hell, I could have been put through a lie-detector while I was in there and not have noticed it. Still, it could have been worse, I’m just glad that guns hadn’t been invented here yet because I’d have had to have been sent to the range for weeks to become competent. The last thing I had to do was basically beat one of the other officers in a small sparring match.

As I step out into the ring, I noticed how there were lots of, what looked like, cardboard cutouts. Some of ponies, a few big ones were of buildings or dragons, and a handful of them were actually attached to a pulley system. I wasn’t able to look around at the poorly lit “cityscape” when a rather burly earth pony wearing his short mane in a ponytail came out from the opposite end and give a small chuckle, “So they really let one of the weirdoes up and join the force. Heh, sorry champ but that height won’t do you any good with a slight build like that,” he said as he took a step forward, his yellow eyes glinting off the single overhead light bulb that cast the entire room in shadows.

“Look, I don’t like picking on tiny guys so I’m going to make this quick, okay? Then you can go, do some training, and come back when you might be of some use as a punching bag,” he said in a lighthearted mocking tone and then stepped into the nearest shadow and began to make his way toward me. I’m sure he thought he had the advantage on me, but as my eyes kept track of him as he made his way nearly silently, my hearing having gotten much better as I stood in a deep shadow, he took note of how my head moved with each of his steps. Giving a grunt he gave a flat charge, which, despite his small size, was rather intimidating, considering I’d once seen a red horse pull an entire house behind him and was half the size of the one charging at me now. But I kept my head, and took a step through the shadow I was in and appeared just behind the earth pony, who screeched to a stop as his head whipped back and forth to try and figure out where I was. I took a silent step towards him, and clasping my fists together I struck him behind the head, just under the skull and he crumpled to the floor. I ended up busting my knuckles too, but thankfully they quickly stitched together and took away the pain with them.

I was soon given a badge and given the low ranking duty of being a night cop. The cushy jobs were apparently for those who had done their time to see daylight. It was fine by me, and I was soon given to Sgt. Ragtime. He was a brown earth pony with black mane and tail and what looked like a patchwork pony doll on his flank, not anything too noteworthy, but for his eyes which held a white iris in his left and a black iris in his right. He was a right congenial guy, aside from the eyes, which I found rather… distinguishing, but then again, who am I to talk. Since a basic rundown of my abilities had been gone over in the test, as well as my willingness to follow the orders of superiors, I was given a badge, no uniform as I was too big, and sent out onto the street to follow Sgt. Ragtime on his patrol so I could learn to get a handle on how things were run.

We hadn’t gone very far when Ragtime turned his head to look at me. It wouldn’t have been an event to make note of except for the fact I was walking directly behind him, his head having moved a perfect 180 degrees. “So what made you decide to join the force?” he said with his eyes half lidded as though this sort of situation were perfectly natural.

“Scum bothers me, and I needed an appropriate outlet.” I said after thinking for an appropriate answer, but mostly to keep calm at the body still in motion in front of me.

Ragtime’s face reoriented itself, something which caused me greater discomfort as he simply completed the circle. “Well that’s an interesting answer. But lots of crazy creatures having been popping out of Tartarus knows where, I suppose a few would have a conscience of some kind.”

“Um, well, thank you sir, but can I ask what I need to be looking out for. I’m afraid they weren’t too clear at what that should be back at the station other than to follow you.”

“Well they were right, but here’s where you begin. See this corner, you are going to stand there,

and keep watch while I go to the other corner two lefts back on the same block, so then we’ll have a nice line of sight along the whole thing. And if you see anything that looks suspicious you just give a shout down this alley and the noise will hit me. Same for you if I call for help.” At this he turned and began to walk through the alley, “I’ll come back for you when it is time, understood?”

“Yes sir-,” was all I had time to say as he rounded a corner in the alleyway and was lost from sight.

***

Nights in a port town are really pleasantly cool, unless you get yourself stuck in a building locked section of the city where the wind doesn’t penetrate to. There is just so much that I’m willing to tolerate and even accept, but I simply despise humidity.

A mere three hours later from my sparring match and I was now standing against a building corner, waiting for an indeterminate amount of time, and working to keep from succumbing to boredom. I suppose it comes down to how your perspective. It’s one thing to stand at a street corner just out of the direct light of the lamppost and stand there with nothing to do or really look at for no good reason, and then another entirely when you are there to make sure nothing untoward happens so that the innocent won’t have to deal with it. Still, it could have been worse. At least I was in a rather well-to-do looking part of town. The streets were clean, and many of the residential buildings sported beautiful curlicue brass workings seemingly melted into the grooves they were in rather than having the rock itself carved out and then metal screwed in. I also had clear standing orders of: Stand there and watch for suspicious activity. It was simple. A very high speed low drag sort of order. That wasn’t to say as I kept my eyes trained upon every little shadows and patch of darkness that I wasn’t keeping myself busy. Part of me worked to pull at the darkness leaving what looked like his lower half was surrounded by a small patch of black fog, and if you looked at it long enough you would just be able to make out what looked like little wispy spirits with tiny stick thin arms and massive knifelike claws. But that grew old after awhile, and eventually I had to lean against the building behind me as my feet had begun to hurt even though the boots themselves remained quite supple.

It’s times like this that I really wished I had a watch. And now that I thought about it I could probably find one with relative ease in this clockwork town. I really wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed. Initially I had been thankful for the buildings blocking out the moon, but now I would have at least had an idea on the hours passing. Still I knew I had spent enough time to know that I was in a relatively well off part of town with a particularly new sidewalk that showed no signs of cracking, and that the empty machine shops, as best as I could manage to guess since I didn’t recognize nearly half of the things I saw through the windows lined the street down my left and business buildings of some kind lined down the street to my right.

I had thought about leaving my post a few times just to check up on my sergeant and suggest that just maybe our time might be better spent, not that I really had plans to act on those thoughts, but with little more than a few bugs crossing the street the thought was certainly entertained.

I had just leaned further into the building, getting as close to a sitting position while still technically standing that I could when I heard what sounded like the scrapping of stone above me. I slowly looked up and saw the sparkle covered hooves of a white horned unicorn doing some stick-to-walls spell. That was all I could say about him as the rest of his body, save a closely cropped white mane and short tail, was covered in what I could only describe as a midnight-blue ninja get-up. The only other distinguishing feature was a pair of goggles that glinted red off of the lit horn. I couldn’t tell whether he was surprised or not with his mouth completely covered, but his apparent lack of movement meant I had done something to garner his attention. We both stood in silence for a little longer until I noticed the small saddle bags just behind him. Craning my neck back I saw the third story window had been opened.

“What say you return that yeah?”

The unicorn gave, what I thought, was a thoughtful looking turn of his head. He then took a breath and said, “Sure.” I almost jumped when I heard the feminine tone as she gave a smile that pushed through the sides of her face mask and turned around, her horn flaring up a few more degrees, making the sparkling mist around her hooves come into better focus and shape up into a set of very wicked looking claws.

As I continued watching her progress the simple thought of ‘wow, that was easy’ flittered across my mind. I couldn’t help but smile, the thought that maybe my benighted form would be of use for its spectral appearance made me smile. Though I couldn’t help but feel a little bad that I really couldn’t tell genders very well unless I could see a pony’s unobstructed face., and my smile began to fade as she continued passed the third story window, simply climbing around it then moving back down as she had planned before. Before I managed to say anything else she gave a small sigh and smoothed a bit of her exposed white mane with a magic tipped claw to push it back. The jostling however, only made a small metallic sphere fall from it, traveling half a second before erupting with a brilliant flash of light, robbing me of all my senses of sight as the shadows balked and I began to rub at my tearing eyes. The next thing I heard was the tinkle of a magical aura. My eyes were just getting over the purple eye spots to see a very heavy pair of saddlebags hurling at my face as they dropped from the mare, sending my sight spinning, but I still held my ground, and let out a small groan as I tried to steady myself.

The thief had reached the sidewalk and was attempting to gallop away, her hooves beating loudly against the silence of the night. As soon as I stepped out of the light of the street lamp my mind became completely focused as I spotted the target and began to shadow stride after her, ponies are fast, no doubts there, but shadow striding is faster. Once I was upon her I began grabbing at her saddlebags. I had almost wrapped my fingers around it as a blast of red energy was flung at me as she twisted her head towards me. It ate away at the shadows and struck me square in the face. I lost my grip, the force of the blast made me teeter back a few steps and that was all the thief needed as she shot another blast at me, hitting my chest. Pulling out another item, seemingly from her mane she flung it at my, it stung, but when no immediate light flashed before my eyes I attempted to take a step through the darkness to her but was stopped as my leg went ramrod straight, I had just enough time to realize what the little “joy buzzer” had done as the tiny thing sent enough volts through me to burn through my entire body. Worse, it felt like the entire burning agony was flowing into my face, and I could have sworn I saw smoke.

“Aww, looks like another stiff bites the dust,” I heard her say, I think she might have laughed too, but I was quickly occupied by the feeling of every nerve ending screaming in pain, continuously regenerating in the dead of the night to feel, with unchanging intensity, the electric sparks arcing across my muscles until my mind gave in to the pain and I blacked out.

***

A hard hoof backed by a well muscled foreleg slammed against my cheek, then another, then another, then I was quite suddenly made very aware that my face was being tenderized and that somepony was shouting at me to wake up and something about not on my watch. My eyes came open just shortly after that as the very angry face of Sgt. Ragtime greeted me as my vision and hearing came back into focus. The pain in my face quickly leaving me as they swiftly healed in the darkness of the night as I was pushed against the wall and out of the street lamps direct gaze.

“I come to check on you, not thirty minutes from the end of our shift, and I find you lying prone across the sidewalk. Why the TARTARUS did I find you sleeping on the job!?”

His own anger was then dwarfed by my own, mostly at my failure, but also at the fact some thief had just gotten away while I was on guard. The immediate air around me was quickly overcome as waves of darkness rolled off of me and began to eat away the light of the street lamp as phantasmal claws and jagged maws flitted about the edges of the expanding shadow mass.

“I failed,” was my very cold, and controlled, response. Ragtime only gave me a slightly quizzical look, but it still mostly held anger, which probably helped keep away any hint of fear from my, so far, only insubstantial outburst. “Third story window, heard the thief as she made her way down side of the wall, wore all midnight-blue, had a small bag with her. I let my surprise get the better of me and she took complete advantage of it.”

Once said Ragtime began to look up, then looked over as he saw the opened window. Trotting over he was then able to better see a few dusty hoof-prints moving directly down from the window itself. A long soft sigh then passed through his clenched face.

He made his way over to me, still stern, but no longer holding the same feeling as before. As he came closer he swatted away one of my shadows that came too close to his face, his eyes hold a bit of a distant quality to them, as though he was looking a great distance past the building just across the street as he took a seat next to me.

“You know, I still remember my first failure on the job. It was going on my first year on the force, it was much a disgustingly humid night like this, but I didn’t let it bother me when I came across a crime in progress. Just as I had passed the alley, just 3, 062 paces from where we are now. I just turned my head to see a young earth pony mare have a knife thrust into her from a rather large pegasus and crumple to the ground,” Ragtime said as he faced up the street, away from me.

“You caught the guy though right?”

“Heh, not at all,” Ragtime said with a slightly depressed laugh, “and for all I know he could be living off in some far corner on Equus living out a contented life far away from his past mistakes.”

At this point my shadows had completely vanished, they were bottled up in me, as well as a breathe that was just beginning to worry at my chest.

“It actually caused me such a great deal of shock that I didn’t realize that I was still staring at the scene by the time the medics came by. I later learned that a passing officer had come by and tried to get my attention but had failed. It wasn’t until the body was moved that I was able to register the world around me again.”

Again he paused, and I was unable to think of much else besides how I was defiling the mood by letting my breath escape me as air again slowly filled my lungs. I didn’t have any response that I could give, and I don’t think I ever will, but something inside of me felt very burnt and blacked, if only slightly from the story.

Ragtime gave a snort then slowly stood up, his hooves clicking against the sidewalk as he kept his balance. “Well, the point of this story isn’t to try and act as some way to one up you, or make light of what happened to you tonight. The point is to make you understand that there are just some things that fall beyond our control in life, it is how we learn from these experiences that show what sort of person you really are.” Walking over to me, his small pony form towering over my hunched sitting form he then said, “So tell me, what did you learn from what happened tonight?”

I sat there, the gears in my head slowly getting in place for me to think as they tried to move passed what I had just learned of Sgt. Ragtime, but after a few moments I said, “I learned that if I really want to stop criminals from getting away, I need to learn how to act quickly and not let myself be taken advantage of.”

Ragtime sat there for a while, a pensive look of thought covering his face until he sighed and stood up saying, “that will do, for now. Now come along, our shift is ending and we need to send someone over to this apartment once the owners are awake, or return, so they can file a report on what’s missing.” I followed behind him, making our way to the station, the first clouded edge of the sky turning a pale violet as the darkness traveled just behind it, ready to swallow it whole.

Going Deeper (27)

Making it back home in one piece was nothing short of a miracle.Every pile of jutting scrap metal which poked from every trash bin and alley beckoned for me to bring forth enough physical pain to warrant screaming. Thoughts like that had ever plagued me back home whenever I had failed, but only enough to entertain the thoughts, but here, I could keep on coming back for more, but not with people watching. It was bad enough I was the new kid on the block and was an oddity to boot in a Technicolor world wearing my simple black clothing. To make matters worse the morning sun became even more oppressive as I felt my blanket of darkness wither away, leaving me naked to the world. Marching up the steps to my new home was a godsend, and I was glad of Sprocket’s sleeping habits as I stood alone in the living room. With the shades drawn it was practically a cave. My back arched and darkness turned the room into pitch as I let out a silent scream. The thick cloud followed me as I quietly made my way upstairs, blinking ahead every ten feet into the next dingy shadow until I bypassed the door to my room, collapsing face first into my overstuffed futon.

I had failed, horribly. And for the first time in my life when it had really mattered, I had fallen flat, unable to match skills with a disgusting little thief.

My breath began to slow down as what little oxygen that could make it through my nose mixed in with the exhaled air to recalculate in my lungs. I just laid there, waiting for the burning in my chest to go down enough for my head to stop spinning. It took a couple of hours, but after that, rolling onto my back, I took a deep breath of fresh air in my walled off little room. I closed my eyes and collected my thoughts. Taking another breath to steady myself from the heady rush of sitting up so quickly it slowly come out with a dark jet of shadows, expelling like dark fire, and opened my eyes, the dark room again coming into light.

Reaching into the pocket over my left breast I pulled out the training manual I had been given from work. Gazing over the table of contents I continued until I found a chapter marked ‘Intimidation and Pony Psychology’ and quickly flipped over and began reading.

***Sprocket***

Yawning, I made the long, arduous journey of rolling to the edge of my bed, hitting the button of my blinking alarm clock on the nightstand, the sound long having been upgraded into silence via a missing sound box.

Rolling onto the floor, I let my hooves catch me as I let my weight hit them and I stretch back up, no worse for wear and arching my back. The sounds of well rested joints rang in my ears. Looking across the room something felt off... it seemed too dark. Looking over to my clock, it was indeed two O’clock in the afternoon, but only a poor light was coming in through the thick drapes. Shrugging, assuming it either a cloudy or rainy day I made my way to the edge of the room and opened the door.

Once the door to the hallway swung open an immediate sense of wrongness swept through me, urging me to hide under my covers as the smell of rusted metal pervaded in my nostrils. The air smelt… dead. Worse, the shadows along the hallway were moving creepily with a life of their own, but what kept me in place was a single thought, ‘Rumor’.

Moving forward, I felt my legs shake a little as I made my way to his room. The shadows grew densest right at the door. Giving a single knock it wasn’t a second before the door opened with Rumor towering over me, the darkness now pouring out of the room like a dense fog, the scent of rusted metal and decay now stronger than ever.

“Yes ma’am?”

I sighed a little at that, he was always so formal, not that I minded it too much, seeing as he always seemed to mean well. Looking up into his bright yellow eyes I said, “Is everything alright?”

He hesitated for a little bit, a fretful look taking over his face as the darkness began to drain away from it, his gaunt features surfacing from beneath then said, “I’m fine,” with a flat tone.

“Oka-ay,” I said, biting my lip, “but you know if you want to talk to me about anything you know you can... right?”

He gave a little nod, seemingly stuck in the door and doing his best to seem smaller than he really was. Giving a smile, I then turned to the stairs, and as a parting shot said, “After all, what are friends for?” I noted the scent of rusted decay and darkness visibly going down a few notches after that, and I could have sworn I heard him gasp a little too, but I’d done what I could, and considering my heart was just now slowing down from the fear inducing atmosphere I really needed some non-caffeinated tea rather than my morning bucket of coffee to help me calm down.

Searching through the cupboard into the back I finally found the last box of tea I knew I had. Setting the kettle, after another small batch of searching, I’d just set it to boil, the shrill whistle of hot water soon following it after a few minutes.

Pouring myself a cup of the steaming water I placed the tea bag in it and took my favorite seat at the counter when the peripherals of my vision began to darken. Rumor had the darndest way of moving around completely silent, I was just glad there was a telling sign, during the day.

He just stood there for a while, his claws, I mean, hands he’d called them, fidgeted at his sides for a few moments before he said, “You consider me a friend?”

It struck me just how odd he was just then, some tall, dark wielding, creature which had showed me nothing but kindness since I met him, helped around the house, cleaning dishes, charging crystals, and had stepped up to save me when no one else on a busy street would, still didn’t implicitly feel like he was my friend. I could feel my eyes begin welling up as I said, “Of course you are,” and brought up my mug of tea to help steady myself. I couldn’t believe how worked up I was getting, but I also couldn’t believe just how estranged the person in front of me was from the rest of the world. It made even my healthy scientific enquiry of him back off, some, as Rumor hadn’t been forthcoming with many details of his past.

“So that means I can talk you about how my night went… right?” he said as he brought his hands up to his chest, seemingly afraid I’d give some harsh rebuttal.

“That’s right,” I said, trying to sound as kind as possible. ‘What happened to him last night?,’ I wondered as he stepped into the kitchen and around to the opposite side of the counter, taking a seat. Fiddling with his fingers a few more moments he took a breath and began his tale.

***

My mug was emptied by the time he gave his story. It had been… very factual, though I could certainly tell the parts where he had described himself were in a none too pleasant light, or even a dim light for that matter. What made someone who went out of there to help others and be kind to hate themselves so much?

“And now I need to find ways to make sure a failure like that doesn’t happen again,” Rumor said with an emotionless voice as he shrugged.

Placing down my mug and placing my hooves together in front of me I said, “Okay, one, you’re one of the kindest persons I’ve ever met, so next time you start talking like you’re some sort of abomination, I’m going to smack you. Two, it sounds like you’re doing a fine job of it so far to fix things yourself. And three,” I reached over the table and gave him a hug, “take it easy on yourself or you’re not going to last very long, okay?”

I felt him shiver some, but managed to hear a hoarse, “okay” followed by a sniffle.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” I said while extricating myself back to my chair, and then sliding down to the floor, “it’s good to see you going at it with such vigor, but it’s always good to get a helping hoof from a friend when you aren’t feeling too well. Let’s head down to the lab.”

Silently he followed behind me as I clattered my way down the metal stairway. I hadn’t ever taken him below the first sub-basement, and I’m pretty sure he hadn’t gone exploring either. He had seemed pretty content with the upper portions my house, maybe he just thought they were off limits, well, that was a pretty good mindset to have with some of my other experiments. Didn’t need him getting hurt again, or damaging anything. I might just show him some of the lower levels eventually too, but that was for another time.

Stopping at the midway landing to the second sub-basement, I turned to the right, pressing down on one of the innocuous little bulbs, which normally helped me know which power line was which, it gave way with a small click, and was quickly followed by a much larger sounding bunch of clunks as the circular door fell back then rolled into the side paneling. A little out of the way, but it’s where I stored a majority of my admitted weaponry. Not a lot of ponies appreciated keeping oneself self sufficient or defensible, but I always had a liking for knowing that if push came to shove that I could push back should somepony try to use their natural abilities to stay out of range while trying to get rid of me.

Walking into the darkened room I felt along the wall for the light switch as Rumor came in after, his gasp of astonishment was a bit of a letdown, considering I’d planned to turn on the lights in a grand sweeping gesture, sometimes his dark vision could be a bit of a downer, even if it was particularly useful.

It wasn’t a particularly large room by any means, but every single inch had been designed for optimal use and flexibility. It had slate grey rubber tiled floors from wall to wall, and the culminations of weapons, gadgets, and armors were stored within row after row of purely white marble racks. Those had been a pain to get down and assemble, even with my arms, but the end result left you with a very sterile and efficient looking room designed for a single purpose: maintaining the upper hoof.

Rolling my eyes I flicked on the switch, without fanfare, and began walking through the racks of past inventions and purchases and said, “Welcome to the hurt locker.”

As I walked further in I looked back to make sure Rumor was following, but he had remained at the door, his cloud of darkness gone under the stark lighting of the room. Rolling my eyes, again, I waved him over to hurry up. Once he caught back up I turned around and began to trot through the racks.

“Now, about that story from earlier, I know you’re still pretty new around here so you won’t have heard about them, but, from your description, it sounded like The Tartarusfire Club.”

“If that’s true then why wasn’t I told about that back at the station?”

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say fear, through the fact they simply don’t know the name of the organization, let alone that one of the premiere clubs in the city is it probably has something to do with it too, but mostly because in a city full of machinist and builders the last thing a pony would think to use would be a ninja.”

“So, then how do you know that?” came Rumor’s inevitable question.

“My parents used to work for them. Emphasis on past tense,” I said, my voice taking on a bit of a growl.

Rumor remained quiet for a while, and I expected him to stay that way until the darkness began to play across his form like fire as he intoned, “So your parents used to work for thieves?”

I froze mid-step, as I heard the culmination every accusation of the hoof-full of ponies I’d ever told in his voice. Whipping around I shouted “DON’T YOU DARE INSULT MY PARENTS!” as I flung myself at him. His pupil-less eyes went wide as my weight crashed into him, toppling him over as I came with him.

“My parents were honest and good working ponies,” I said, no longer able to yell as my eyes turned to slits, “and once they figured out what their work was being used for, they left as quickly as they could. My parents were kind, and they were ripped away from me, so don’t you, ever, dare,” I said, my fore-hooves pressed firmly into his chest.

I just stood there, towering over him as he lay there, unmoving. After a few silent moments passed he whispered, “Please forgive me.”

Blinking my eyes I saw his own were slick with tears, the streaks glistening in the light of the room, standing out starkly from the dark that still clung to him. My parents’ death was a pretty sore subject for me, but I hadn’t meant for him to cry, I mentally berated myself. Moving off him I gave a small grunt and said, “Okay, just, don’t make that accusation again. Alright?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Alright, we’re square then. So, let’s get back to dealing with those scum bags,” I said as I held a hoof out to help him up, “ah, here we go,” I said as he got to his feet. Stepping over to the rack as I hoofed it up. “See if that fits you.”

I tossed the dull brass-colored brace over to Rumor, who clumsily caught it with both hands, and his gut as his back curved back to act as a sort of catcher’s mitt.

I watched him trying to get the thing on. But even as he rolled his right sleeve up and tried to snap the pieces together as the hinges tried to move with his clumsy actions, clearly not used to doing much with only one hand, I eventually just gave a small chuckle and said, “Here, let me help you with that,” and quickly snapped the brace with a quick motion, the rounded face of the spiraled purple and amber gem facing down from its small metal base as Rumor continued to hold his arm out, until he reluctantly put it back at his side.

“Okay, this should help you for now, but let’s see you test this little bad girl out for yourself,” I said as I made my way out of the room, Rumor following after, walking a bit more gingerly than normal, his right arm held out slightly more from his side. He needn’t have done that, but it was all just as well, a little petty discomfort wasn’t too uncalled for from his unthinking comment from earlier, even if I had forgiven him.

I moved down the steps once I resealed the room and headed fully down to the second floor, more a large landing as I opened up a rather large grey door which held a simple gear lock which opened with a full turn as I grabbed the hoof-holds with both hooves and pushed the door open to reveal the great white room. I couldn’t tell what Rumor was thinking but now I’d finally got my chance at showing off some of my work without him spoiling things for me by peeking ahead.

“This,” I said as I stepped through the portal and into the stark white of the room, “is The Core. It’s where I come and test many of my inventions for the limits of their potential and-“

“Oh, so it’s a training room,” Rumor said, slightly mystified, as he began to turn around to gaze upon the dome shaped room after he ducked through the door.

‘Heh, quite,” I said, leaving the rest of the speech for the next person I might decide to bring down here, he had given the right reaction I’d wanted at any rate, “but considering I already know what your little brace there does, it’s falls to me to show you how it works.”

I turned around and pushed his black sleeve up to reveal the brace covered arm, it actually fit Rumor rather well as it laid just above his wrist and went halfway to his elbow. Pointing to a small latch on the side, closest to his side, I said, “Okay, pull this back and the gem gets lifted from the small base and moves to the center of your hand,” Rumor continued to watch, his eyes growing wide as a simple arm pushed the gem out of its locked position and silently slid out as the arm extended. A thin tendril of metal moved the gem down his arm as two more extended from it’s sides to wrap around his arm, and then hinged back to rest just above the palm of his hand which was pushed back to accommodate the nearly palm sized gem. “Now, this was made to function only when external energy is added to the gem, see if you can get it to light up,” I said, already seeing the look of defeat in his eyes as he tried to look like he knew what to do. “It works much the same as charging a crystal, but just keep on doing it until it’s full, then keep on going, it’s designed to expel the excess energy in a forward motion. Just try it.”

He gave a small nod then closed his eyes in concentration. Dark wisps began to curl slowly around his arm from under his clothing, I could tell the light reflecting of the white panels of the room was giving him a hard time, but he just kept going at it, even as I sighed and went over the control panel and began to dim the lights. The effect was almost immediate as the tiny wisps around his arm went huge in the duskily lit room and the gem took on a purple and amber lit hue and then immediately pulled Rumor to the floor, his hind end sticking up as he tried to pull himself back up, to no avail, until he stopped juicing the crystal.

“What was that?”

“A magnet, and a pretty powerful one depending on how much power you put into it. But, the trick to it is learning just how strong and wide you want the field to get. Because, depending on how you do, not only can it help you clean up loose iron shavings in a smithy shop, but it can also change the direction of say, things like electricity since it’s all just a moving load of negatively charged energy. But be careful, putting too much energy makes the gem overheat, and once that happens you won’t be able to have a lasting magnetic charge. Now,” I said, flipping a few more dials on the control panel on the wall, making a few platform come down from the ceiling on extending metal tubes, stopping once they were just a few feet above him and were spread around the room in a few patches, “these white plates have a variety of magnetic particles in them, so feel free to experiment around with the brace. Now, I don’t expect it to break or fall apart on you, I made it after all, but it’s a pretty simple fix if something ever does goes out of shift. Oh, and once you're done having fun,” I said, giving him a cheeky smirk, “just pull back on the latch and the gem will pull back into the brace. Oh, and just press this big orange button to return the room to rest. Okay?”

Rumor just kept looking around the room with the biggest smile on his face I’d ever seen, I began to turn around and leave him to his own little experiments and get back to checking on a few of my own. I’d just gotten past the hatch when I heard him call out “Thank you,” before he gave a small grunt followed by a clang as his arm latched onto one of the lowered ceiling tiles.

‘Yeah,” I thought, ‘he’s a pretty good guy.’

Fireworks (28)

The target stopped, having come up into a dead end in the alley systems in the market district. Turning swiftly around it proved to have particularly good night vision as its crowbar sailed through the head of the shadow apparition I’d sent before it.

Pulling at the darkness of the night I began to flow into the small alley like a fog into the lowlands, blocking the thin slivers of moonlight that made their way through the miniscule cracks of the thick clouds above. It was now pitch black, though my sight remained unimpeded. Taking a small breath I stepped into the alley and went down the list:

1. Recall the darkness, the sudden light, no matter how dim, would be blinding

2. Flair hands backward in a show of power with arching back then swing forward into crouching position as hands hit the cobbles (make sure to never break eye contact with the target, even if they can’t see your own eyes)

3. Have the darkness below the hands gush up like an oil spout and have it curve forward just in front of the target’s hooves (should the target move it’s hooves back it is a sign of submission, but should they remain induction of low level psychological warfare will be introduced)

The plan goes off without a hitch, and I can’t help but give myself a mental pat on the back as the two spouts of darkness end in the gaping maws of two giant snakes which then disappear into the ground, seemingly waiting for me to recall them as a pungent odour begins to fill the alleyway, the origin of which is directly behind the target as it lays down. With the near pitch blackness around me I can hear the target’s soft whimpers nearly twenty-five feet away, though they noticeably quiet as I step into the shadows and reappear next to the target as I slap a pair of hoof-cuffs on both its fore and back hooves.

Threat eliminated.

***

The smell of rancid coffee, fruit, and doughnuts that not even a starving cop would touch greeted my nostrils as the alley next to the police station faded into view as the darkness fell away. The light from the station bent around just enough to keep the burglar, some three foot earth pony with green fur with a yellow mane and tail which had been gelled into spikes of one kind or another, to keep from completely tripping over himself as he kept trying to hobble into the police station and away from the shadowy nightmare that had caught him breaking into a bakery and emptying out the bits from a safe just below the register. I knew I’d done my job by the way his ears kept trying to swivel around trying to hear me as the gruelling twenty-second walk took its toll on him.

Opening the door I greeted the officers inside with an emotionless, “Got another one,” as the creature slinked his way to the safety of the herd, even if they were just as unhappy to see a thief as I was, at least they weren’t something that seemed to bring out demons out of the dark.

A chestnut colored unicorn with a leafy green mane rolled his amber eyes and brought the paperwork out from his desk for me to fill out for my report. I believe his name is Oakly. Sitting down I saw Slipstream, a watercolor blue pegasus, flapped over and begin the process of corralling the earth pony along the hallway and back to the cells, whom was only too glad to leave my presence.

As I filled out the simple form, mostly just time of crime, what type, and a few other details to help keep things legal with the bureaucracy of the city Oakly leaned over his large, for a pony, desk and said, “You’ve really shaped up quite well these past couple of weeks.”

“Thank you,” I said a bit quickly, not unpleasantly mind you, but I was busy filling out the form work and it was hard for me to concentrate on more than one thing at once, and I had a bit of a one track mind.

“Man, there’s no need for you to be modest, you’ve already brought in five criminals these past two weeks, and with nary an extra scratch to help get the job done. Maybe you're just the thing to help scare these ponies straight,” Oakly said, laughing at his own joke, causing a few of the closer ponies in ear-shot to groan, but I couldn’t help but laugh with him, it had a slightly infectious quality to it, and even spread to a few of the groaners as well.

“Well I certainly wouldn’t mind losing my job if that was the case,” I said as I brought my laughter under control.

“I hear ya’, still it might happen if you keep things up this way. From the gossip around the water cooler I hear you might be changing your rounds pretty soon. Eh well, guess you’d better head back out.”

I nodded, though the action was a bit muted by the hood I still wore, mostly to keep the excess light from bothering me, and stood up, and headed back into the night.

***

Stepping back onto the sidewalk in midtown and coming out the dark overhanging archway into a metallic apartment complex labelled ‘The Silver Dandelion’ I was greeted with the stern face of Ragtime, “You didn’t wait for me,” he said, using a cop voice that had been honed for years, making me hunch my shoulders as I tried to fold away from his words. He sighed, his tone becoming gentler, “yes I know you can handle yourself, but the point you have to remember is that something could have happened to you during the chase, and no one would have been there to help you. And all of it could have been avoided if you’d simply pointed out the crime to me rather than teleporting into the shop yourself, leaving me on the sidewalk to wonder which way you’d gone.”

“Yes sir,” I managed to say, rather ashamed of myself, not from having disregarded protocol even if it was a rather intelligent one, but because I’d made Ragtime worry. I didn’t like having people worry over me, it made me feel ashamed, for them to spend such energy. But that thought was quickly brushed away, as well as Ragtime’s slight frown as it grew into a large grin.

“So tell me, how did you do it this time?” he asked, ready for me to recount the scared expression of the criminal I’d captured. I recounted the short tale as we finished our rounds in the bakery district, and found no more crime, though I was pretty sure we had deterred a small group of three Pegasi who took flight from the front of a candy store once we rounded the corner.

***

Two nights later I was given a new assignment, it was to help augment security at a Sapphire Shores concert. I wasn’t much into pop music, and neither was Sprocket so the sound of a concert had surprised me, but Ragtime had only smiled as we were brought into the conference room with another eighteen other cops as we were given a basic rundown of the concert stage we’d be in as well as the potential blind spots in security plans the concert staff had given and how we’d augment it.

All of that became a moot point as I was given the job of keeping an eye in the lot around the edges of the entire thing, which was taking place within the city’s own park. That far back it would be easier to move around without causing much commotion for the more liberally juiced party goers, as well as optimize my own surveillance abilities by being closer to the dark which I had already given ample show that it was no hindrance to my own sight. A few of the Pegasi were also given the outer ring, but only for aerial surveillance.

While no one was expecting much, we each brought with us our standard gear, as well as a few crowd controlling elements due to the sheer size of the expected crowd.

***At the Concert***

The concert was set in the middle of a great field which was now packed completely with ponies. The air fared only little better as clouds filled the air for those who had come merely to listen and stay above the densely packed crowds that slowly made their way to the gated section for the concert. This housed a great circus tent in it, from what I’d heard around the crowds apparently a great number of light and fireworks were as much a part of the show as the touted music. But as far as I was concerned I was glad for the distance as the thrumming bass made its way through my skeletal structure even though I was practically two-hundred feet from the tent and practically by the street.

Shaking my head to regain focus I mentally went over my route. I was quite familiar with it by the time I’d clocked in for work having previously braved the daylight to better know the area beforehand. And due to the large amount of ground that need covering, of which much of it was covered in trees, preventing the Pegasus teams from being the only thing necessary, my eyes easily caught the strikingly familiar form of a unicorn with shining hooves galloping her way across the rooftops just across the street as I made my way around the north section of the park, near the banking district.

I knew I should have called for help, or even tried to signal one of the Pegasi, but by that time I would have lost the target completely, and for all I knew she might have already committed her crime. But as I stepped into the shadows my regret vanished as I jumped my way through the clouded night.

Quickly ascending the nearest wall, by way of cloud covered fire-escape; I circled around and caught sight of a white mane flashed just to the right as it caught a hint of moonlight. Quickly latching onto the shadows I moved from one to the other in rapid succession and was rewarded with the clear sight of the same midnight-blue ninja get up with slightly luminescent red goggles which were amplified by the small glow of the unicorns red horn as they used their magic to jiggle the lock of the roof’s door which seemed to be giving the thief only a modicum of trouble as it gave way only a few seconds later as the thief slid a pair of silver-grey pins into her snow-white mane.

But before the thief could reach for the knob, “You are coming with me,” I said, in a voice that, despite myself, held more disgust for criminals that I usually let on.

To the thief’s credit she didn’t jump, though she did silently whip around, her horn charging at the ready as the light played off of two metallic items, which were just hidden enough for me to keep from making much else out, under her hooves.

“Oh dear, you’re not dead,” she said in a tone that held no such surprise but only disappointment, “now I’m going to have to put all my plans on hold until I remedy the situation.”

With that she let loose a blast of light from her horn, then immediately threw the two metallic objects behind it. The only reason I’d caught the throw was from the shadows that fell behind it as my eyes got over the flash. While my adrenaline was beginning to rise I’d spent too long thinking on what happened last time and side stepped into the returning darkness, avoiding the metal projectiles as the needled ends buried into the ground.

I was already raising the sleeve as another hoof full of sharpened metal flew at me, this time the trio of metal flew close enough together that I could see the sparks arcing off one another, rather than fear a strange sense of anger was beginning to fill me as I again stepped into the darkness, this time directly behind her, while a natural blind spot for ponies, this one had quite obviously been trained well enough to not only check behind her, but also fling out another flash of light. As my eyes once again began to ache the speeding shadows that came afterward were met with some slight trepidation as I raised my hand and brought power into the extended brace’s spiraled crystal. Focusing on flowing the power through it rather than into the gem the magnetic charge formed a few feet away from the gem rather than at the gem itself, the three electric death balls stopping in flight, their hateful sparks spitting off each other as they rubbed against each other in the magnetic ball they were trapped in.

Releasing the power the three needles pronged marbled sized balls fell the roof, still sparking, “Oh my, that’s interesting,” the thief said in a voice that sounded far too aroused for the current situation. She then pulled a fore hoof through her mane, a small black ball falling out, which then expelled a large amount of gas, blocking her from view. Much to my astonishment rather than run away she came at me, my ability to distinguish shadows through more than a semi-clear medium had been another power I had come to realize the gifted cloak had given me as the masked face of a unicorn burst through the smoke, her horn ablaze as energy arced down to her hooves which were tipped with angry red claws which began to pierce into my chest.

The hard-light claws had a double edge on them that cut through my chest like a hot-knife through butter, the pain doubled as I became fully aware of the feeling of death in my body. My punctured lungs refusing to regenerate as light filled the pulsing wounds that held the shining claws within. I could feel my body going numb as my heat turned to ribbons as it beat against the hateful light, causing my chest to ache with pain that was slowly fading. My arms grew numb, unable to even draw out the night-stick I’d been given and possibly knock out the mare atop my chest.

I was of two minds, or at least I thought I was as I couldn’t help but admire the professionalism of the silent thief, though the way her lips seemed to be moving against the fabric by her mouth might have suggested otherwise, and on the other half it felt, not quite like me as a great cry of wrath began to throb in the place where Caligo normally sat quite placidly, but this thought too began to slip away with my deadening pulse.

Everything became sluggish, the pain finally beginning to subside as the bright, hate filled, red light came off of the unicorn above me, her lips still moving soundlessly through her cloth-covered lips.

I really didn’t want it to end this way. Evil triumphing over good? That couldn’t happen. Wasn’t the good guy supposed to win in the end?

***Enter the Mind of a Child***

“Bombasstik’s journal: sometime late at night. I dunno, I don’t got uh watch, you figure it out!... uhh where wuz I… oh yeah. Oops, almost forgot the scary voice, a-hem:

Found some totally sweet parts in the bins. Gonna pimp out Nurse Goodhead like nopony’s bizniz. Anyway, there seems to be some sw-eeeet tea-party happenin in the park tonight, gots ta keep aware. You never know when….

Ohmyglob… there’s totally a ninja fighting a… some kinda billowing scarecrow over on the other roof, I’ll be right back.”

The sounds of loose gravel pass over the recorder, bereft of any tape, as the child scrambles out of her hiding place in an empty air-conditioning unit. Her eyes sparkle as the fight continues, lights sparkle and flecks of metal hang in mid-air like shrapnel frozen in time, the metaphor felt familiar, causing the filly to shudder some as she edges over to the roof. She can’t place why this should be, so she pushes it away with a lopsided grin. The next building is a good twenty foot jump, not easily done, but the thought never occurs to the little filly as she stretches out her left wing and leaps off the roof right-side first. The singular wing flaps valiantly as she comes up at a steep angle, but manages to not only make her way to the other roof in a few flaps, but also manages to land without damaging herself, though she can’t help but wait a few moments afterwards as she regained her sense of balance and folded her wing back under a loose white cape with a rather childish looking cat painted upon it.

The filly pauses as she listens to the ninja lady begin talking. Initially she thought the ninja had been the hero that was fighting off the dreaded corn-field guardian that had come to life, but the ninja has a really mean sounding voice that causes a frown to grow on a face which found such actions to be hard to even imagine. The voice makes the teenage filly shudder, though she can’t remember why. All she knows is that five marbles in her wing will be more than enough to make the hateful noise go away. The sound of beeping follows as five marble sized balls glow a bright green as the calming sound of explosions greet the filly’s ears and rocks the evil ninja-pony off the scarecrow as her demonic red claws pull out of him.

The light from the claws go off as the scorched frame of the ninja-pony rolls back up to her side, seemingly unfazed by the hit, the site of some enchanted armor beneath the singed clothe she wore over it acting as way of explanation. But rather than show emotion the ninja only looks up then jumps over the side of the building.

The young filly is filled with pride as the ninja runs away like the coward she is, but her fears again creeps into her as three clouds come down from the sky and three pairs of angry looking Pegasi give her the evil eye as she backs away, and into the scarecrow. Its claw suddenly twitches with a life it shouldn’t have, locking into her back-leg causing her own screams to mingle with the harsh coughs of the mouth-blood expelling scarecrow as it sits-up.

***Rumor***

The ringing in my ears continued as I sit up, and my eyes begin to function again as excess blood drained away from them. I see three pairs of officers looking down at me with looks of confusion that I can’t quite place. Not that it mattered, as I was glad enough that one of them had noticed the occupied roof and come to my assistance.

The ringing paused for a moment, followed by a great inhalation of breath. The ringing came back with a vengeance as it finally took the sound of a scream, looking down I finally noticed the hoof in my hand which I was somehow clutching. Letting it go the small pony continued to scream as I clapped my hands over my ears and four of the officers made a dive for the pony and set her in hoof-cuffs. I finally get enough presence of mind to ask what they’re doing.

“We came when we heard the explosions. We found this one trying to escape.” One of the officers said in a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ voice to the whimpering child.

Looking down I saw the bloody ribbons of the top half of my cloak, and was far from happy, a frown clearly on my face as I looked back up. “Let her go, I’m pretty sure she just saved me.”

“…I whu? I mean, dat’s right! I put the woopin’ on some nasty ninja-pony and saved his ass,” came the quick reply from the now smiling pony, seemingly at ease. She had a pale creamy colored fur, and a white mane that sat in brambles atop her head, her cloak kept me from guessing whether she was a Pegasus or not, but that didn’t matter as the officer who had thought he’d cuffed a monster quickly undid the restraints and did his best to remain professional as I filled out what I’d seen and done. The kid also gave her own two bits, which ended up raising more than a few eyebrows at someone of her age having explosives, let alone using them.

Since the thief had again gotten away, there wasn’t much else to do but for everyone to go on their way and return to patrolling around the concert, excepting me who was relieved and told to get out of clothes that were still wet with blood.

Taking my word that I was really alright, removing the top half of my cloak with a few more tears in the fabric to show them none of my wounds had remained, the Pegasi gave a cursory glance to the not quite a filly, and left in a hurry returning to their clouds above the concert.

I was just about to take a step and head off the roof when I felt something tug at my pant legs, looking down it was the filly. She just looked up at me, though I couldn’t help but notice one of her eyes move out of focus, though in the dark of the night I’m sure she thought no one had noticed. The silence eked on for a few moments more until I said, “Thanks for the help, kid.”

The filly’s face grew stern, “Ex-cuh-use me? Who did you just call a kid? Do I look like I’m sporting any chinnly chin hair?” she said sticking her lower jaw out in a small pout.

Right, different species. “Apologies, Miss?

“It’s Mite, Dyna Mite,” she giggled.

“Well thank you Dyna, you saved my life tonight,” it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, but having said it out loud, my heart began to race in my chest. I’d almost died, again, and it kinda pissed me off, “I owe you one.”

“Foh realz?!?” she squealed, hopping a little off the ground, “well in that case Boo, you are going to be my bodyguard,” she finished, her voice taking on a more posh accent.

“Excuse me?” I managed to mumble out before stating, “And it’s Rumor by the way.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, well, regardless, you said you owes me, and so I’m gonna own you! Ha-HAA! Annnny-way,” she said, now circling around me, “I’m gonna have to train you up, can’t have a scare-crow lose out to some evil ninja-pow. Okay,” she said stopping in front of me, adopting as serious a face as she could manage while trying not to laugh and handed me a slip of paper, “meet me here tomorrow night so we can get your training on so’z you can be a proper bouncer for when I break out the tea-party crumpets ‘kay?”

I hadn’t the time to give more than a nod before I saw her lift a single wing as she leaped over the side of the building, and ran off into the night, as the small scrap of paper flittered in my hand before a placing it into one of the rear-pockets that hadn’t gotten any blood soaked into them.

As the enormity of what occurred began to start its first rounds of sinking into my consciousness a long sigh began to pour its way out of my mouth. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just inadvertently agreed to something regrettably stupid.

Goodnight World (30)

You know, it’s a funny world we live in. Two years ago I knew that there was only one universe in existence. Eleven months ago I knew that Luna was singularly responsible for her nasty turn a millennia ago. Four months ago I knew that it was impossible for a stranger to initiate the beginnings of a friendship with me, and yesterday I began to realize that I really am no longer human.

Oh I can feel human emotions, act humanely and all that jazz, but as I make my way to the Police Headquarters in the dying light of the evening sun, I feel pain. The sun takes away my ability to constantly heal, and that means that the ordinary experience of existing in a frail state means that every compression and expansion of my muscular system and the constant pounding of my feet that send spikes of energy through them comes as a constant dull aching reminder of what I had once never had a concept of. It had never occurred to me just of much of the human experience revolves around pain. It has its uses. It keeps us out of danger, but things become dichotomous as the light shifts you into a slim mirror of what once was while the dark, instead, heals it all away. Makes you think.

Speaking of which I had no idea how I was going to meet up with Dyna Mite this evening, I’d been too preoccupied by being shocked and not thinking by my own impressive display of idiocy against a more trained opponent. I have a job, but I’m also a man of my word. I really had no idea what I was going to do. And as I rounded the last corner the great grey and blue building came into view. Like much of the city it had a more than a few bits of machinery seemingly welded into or built into it, but like many of the others it seemed to have done so with a purpose, though that may just be my own poetic musings. What does matter is the fact that as the last rays of the sun sunk of the city’s skyline, turning the metallic sidings, wheels, and gears into a silent light show of liquid bronze, and then promptly exploded.

The shock wave reverberated down the street as I and the surrounding ponies were flung to the ground as a few of the pegasi who were flying too close were thrust higher into the air as the shrapnel began to come up to them and rain down upon those on the ground.

I sat up, my head reeling. I felt something running down my neck. Instinctively I went to touch it. My hand came back with a thin trail of red around it, though as my vision swam it began to multiply. I began to panic as muffled screams waged battle against the ringing in my ears. I began to crawl my way to a covered archway, the darkness would clear my head and I could start to heal, and think again properly, but I’m stopped as I teeter to the beckoning of the darkness as my right leg is pulled, causing me to tip over.

As I look over I see a small emerald green mare. I can’t make out the color of her mane as it’s too thoroughly caked with dust, but her icy blue eyes gaze into my own pupil less yellow orbs, I can’t make her out but I can read the words “help me” across her lips. Too numb to think I slowly crawl around, and as I begin to tug on her front hooves I notice the large pile of stones that had covered her. She slowly begins to slide out and soon she’s free, but I notice a large gash is leaking blood across her back as she tries to get her own bearings and I continue my journey to the deepening gloom of the archway.

Once I’m curled up into the enclave the darkness washes over my wounds and the world becomes soft again in a matter of seconds. And as my hearing cleared the sounds of frantically working ponies working to clear the scene hit my ears. I walk out back to the street and see a handful of pegasi lifting unicorns up upon the nearest undamaged roofs, they light up their horns and begin to fill the street with a rainbow of lights just as the sun completely sets over the horizon. The ability to quickly help the situation blows me away, teams of ponies are swiftly looking through and moving rubble together, though a few of the unicorns are using magic to scan for any more danger and pegasi are working to move the smoke and dust away from everyone. There’s nothing I can do, not that I’d try as I’ve got zero experience with dealing with catastrophes, nor would I be able to administer first aid as medic ponies were swiftly arriving and giving their patients healing spells, band-aids, and a few potions, which were handed out by one of the zebras they had on staff.

My attention is then slowly drawn back to the police station, or at least it’s remains.

‘How interesting that the protectors of the weak are such in turn. What will you do?’

I pause, as Caligo’s words settle into my mind. Shouldn’t I do something? I climb up the chipped and blackened stairs. The orange lights of the fires that peppered the splintered wood works fighting away the lime glow from the unicorn upon the adjacent roof left the scene in a muddy appearance. But a team of pegasi finally gets over the roofless building and rain down upon the litter of fires, leaving only the harsh glow of a single light from behind. My shadow is cast over a large section of the rubble, and I can finally make out the twisted forms of what’s left of those who weren’t vaporized in the initial blast.

How many had just died I wondered as I stepped into the building, no one giving me much attention in the buzz of surrounding activity, then stopped as I heard a small clink below my foot. Looking down as I moved my foot I saw a small melted piece of metal, it took me awhile to figure out that it was a badge, but the deciding factor was the mangled letters that could legibly spell Of--cer Rag—me. It didn’t quite dawn on me what the small mound of hardened black ash by where I’d left the still steaming badge, but I did know that I was getting, quite decidedly, enraged. Innocents had been murdered, worse, ponies who tried to uphold the law so that others might live their lives so others could live in greater safety had been murdered.

‘You need not worry over much of your own abilities. You are still quite weak. What can you do?’

That was thought provoking question of the century right there. What would I do? Really, I wasn’t sure, but I did know that whoever was behind this had just proven that they wanted to find out what it would be like to live the rest of their life without skin.

The lights behind me began to dim as my anger began to swell. The downpour had ended, and I was just barely aware that I had been standing in it for the entire time. My palms began to hurt as my fingers tried to push through them, and I could begin to feel my chest begin to heat up, much like the rest of my body. I had to find out who had done this, and I needed to find out now. There had to be a spell or a clue that someone with more experience could find or know of. I had to keep it together just long enough to find out who had done it.

I slowly began to turn around, putting effort into the thoughts of moving one foot then followed by the other to help keep my focus rather than risk the chance that I might do something unspeakable to the wrong person when Caligo began to tug at my mind, ‘Look behind you, there’s something there’.

I followed the mental line of sight, though I could feel the darkness parting from the new light source that was burning across one of the still standing sections of wall behind me. It started off as a random bunch of sparks, but they continued to grow in number, burning, until it formed the words:

Tartarusfire Club, 616 Luminous Ln.

I stood there, mouth agape at the display, which quickly turned to smoke and was lost with the steam of the quickly cooling rubble, but it was soon replaced with anger, and a small laugh which quickly grew in volume. My eyesight began to blur as my arms wrapped around my sides and my back arched, turning the world upside down. The ponies not directly still helping the injured and making sure there was no more to be found gave me a queer look. It made me twinge until Caligo again spoke.

‘It does not matter what others think Rumor, you know where these braggarts are now. Why not show them your justice? Did they not end the lives of these things?’

They had.

‘Then why let evil live. Why let others be your contender?’

Indeed. Why let evil stand?

‘I remember the city map. The Tartarusfire Club is across town.’

‘Very well then,’ I silently replied back as I reverently walked out of the raised crater of death, and into the nearest shadows, only to reappear further into the deepening night as Caligo guided me across the blurred cityscape to a rather simple three story, red brick, building with an eye grabbing red sign which glowed red with the words ‘Tartarusfire Club’.

Leaving the carved doors be I continued along my path of darkness into the lightless confines of a poshly designed smoking lounge, with many round speaking booths for individual privacy. But this was a nightclub so why weren’t there any-

‘Those in power tend to the upper levels. Look, across the walkway are the stairs. They’ll be there.’

I nod, and climb the dark stairs step by ponderous step. Fully clocked in darkness, only I could see the dark claws the tried to wrench the air. I again bemoaned the fact I could no longer solidify darkness, but there are more than one way to skin a cat, and the best part is, the cat will not like any of them.

I let Calgio continue to guide me, my own boiling emotions unable to contend with little else save the phantasmal rending of the dark itself as my thoughts continued to twist inward. My hands had begun to tingle as the feeling of tearing the things that had caused those officers to die. They had just lost all claims to ponyhood.

Passing the void second floor at Caligo’s behest, I was drawn to the third floor, its finely crafted carpet seeming luminous even in the pitch of the lightless room, but what caught my attention were the whispers of noise that came directly to the right hallway. My heart began to race, and my head had begun to throb, as thoughts became harder to maintain, but if they were so intent on their conversation, then I could just as easily slaughter the lot of them.

The room itself was a great white void, a great tall ceiling and held nothing save a simple table which pulled up seamlessly from the floor, and around the table stood three ponies, unicorns, each one talking… in a dark room… sipping something from wine glasses.

I’d just made it, soundlessly to just about the halfway point to them when a soft green glow emanated from the table, turning the fur on the three unicorns into a murky black, as a section of the wall hissed down in front of the door as one of the unicorn’s gave off a blue light, which zapped into the floor.

The entirety of the room, walls, floor, ceiling, and table all then flashed into a pleasant white glow, obliterating all traces of darkness, even from under my own feet, as the purely blue unicorn stallion turned away from a purely red and yellow pair of mares, gave a warm smile, then softly said in a deep mellifluous voice, “Wonderful, I was beginning to think you hadn’t accepted my invitation.”

I brought my hands down from my eyes, the sudden influx of light, from everywhere, had been enough of a shock for my emotions to take pause as well as smother the cloud of darkness that had been trailing behind me. As thoughts began to trickle through my head but before I could form a single word the blue stallion turned back to his companions, but beckoned me to join with a hoof wave, saying, “Well come on now, we don’t have all night,” then lifted his wineglass with the other hoof and took a sip, “ah, we have much to discuss after all.”

My hands clenched at my sides, and despite my anger all my shadows could amount to were little more than what looked like distorted heat waves. Had I not been in such a state, completely thrown off from the blue one’s words, I would probably have been reduced to profanity, and was just planning how I could possibly get the drop on them once I was over there, like a knife to the jugular, my long arm sweeping across the table until Caligo interrupted me.

‘They have the upper hand Rumor. It behooves you to do as they say… for now.’

He’d always been right in the past, so I saw no point in questioning him now. They could always end up letting their pride blind them, so many ways to teach myself to bend…

“Ah ah ah, we’ll not have an armed guest at our table,” the blue stallion said in a disapproving tone, “you’ll drop all of your personal weapons. We didn’t destroy an entire building just so you could fail in an attempt to slit our throats,” he chuckled.

My jaw clenched, though I would have sworn they could hear the tendons vibrating, I emptied my pockets depositing a single six inch knife, my own, and a police baton that I’d been issued. The only technical weapons I had on me, considering the brace I had was for defensive purposes, as well as a couple of hoof-cuffs should anypony be a little too rowdy on the way to the sta… I stopped the thought before it could finish, though not before my vision blurred for a moment. I was just about to take another step to the table when the red mare piped in, “Oh, and let’s get rid of that nasty little brace you’ve got under there.”

“How do you know about that?” I said as I felt the blood drain away from my face.

“Well, firstly from personal experience.”

“And?” I asked, but she only gave a sickeningly sweet smile and remained silent. I removed the brace, and kicked it to the knife and baton, “I’ll be getting those back yes?”

“Most likely, yes” replied the Blue stallion, “now please sit,” he said gesturing to an open spot on the floor by the table. Now that I was closer I could just make out a raised platform, the lack of any shadow and uniform lighting had really done a number on my depth perception, and I took the seat.

“What. Do. You. Want?” I managed to say through clenched teeth, my arms crossed and gouging into the softer parts of the joints.

“Ah, right to the point, very well, oh, my name is Trance,” the blue stallion said with a warm smile as he extended his hoof. I kept my arms folded over my chest, frozen except for my left eye which had begun to twitch at the show of cordiality. He sighed, rolling his eyes, as he put it back, “you know courtesy’s a cheap commodity with rather large benefits, you should try investing in it sometime. But back to the matter at hand, you’ve recently caught our organization’s attention, and on top of that you’ve lasted two encounters with our little Cat twice over,” he said, making the red pony give a small growl. Turning to the red mare, a bored look in his eyes he said, “You know, I hadn’t said anything about you being in costume, you’re the one who growled.” The red mare, Cat apparently, remained silent, but she swiped her hoof across her wine glass in a flash of red, and two seconds later it slid down a diagonal slope into three pieces as the red liquid spilt across the table and the lip of the table to the floor. “Quite, now Rumor, and yes we know your name, as well as where you were just recently employed, you have been selected to be a new employee of the Tartarusfire Club.”

“And why would I do that,” I said, preventing myself from biting through my cheek as he took a small breath.

The blue stallion kept his grin, but his eyes had taken on a slight glow, “Well that’s a rather loaded question, but since I don’t have an entire day to spend giving the full version, and I’m sure you would prefer the concise version, much like myself, I tell you this. What if I told you that I told you that had I not personally facilitated the swift demise of dozens of innocent cops that they would have met a much more gruesome fate, and a prolonged one at that?”

“I’d call you a liar,” I quickly stated, my eyes twitching to full view and slits as my anger wared against my will to catch the slightest mistake to use.

“Very well, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are a great number of things that go bump in the night. It is the job of this organization to bump back, no matter the cost.”

“So what does this have to do with me?” I asked as I continued staring into his slightly luminescent blue eyes.

“As I said, no matter the cost. You will work for this organization, and you will help up keep Equestria and the rest of Equis from being obliterated.”

“What makes you think I’ll help you?”

At comment the blue stallion gave a truly impressive smile, his eyes growing noticeably brighter, “Well, one, you know the lengths we’ll go to getting what we want. Two, your psychological profile clearly states you hold more than just a little bit of a knight complex within the twisted confines of your mind, but most importantly is three, because once you finally snap and we have to put you down, your little friend Sprocket will find out how it feels to have her organs liquefy. Amazing the things you can do with a bit of magic and science, eh off worlder?”

My hands fell to my lap as the blue stallion numbered off his list. Where had they gotten all that-

“Ah, the little present should be arriving at her domicile in just thirty minutes,” the blue stallion said as he looked at a silver pocket watch he had just brought out from behind him.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment, as I looked up at the blue stallion. Everything about his posture bespoke absolute calm. I hated it.

Leaping up I threw my arms across the table and grabbed at the worthless blue scum, as I tried to crush his disgustingly malleable throat. His angry eyes flashed surprise as he started to choke. It didn’t last nearly as long as it should have, as the yellow mare lit up her horn and blasted me with a beam that sent waves of… fear through my entire being, and my hands slid from the blue stallion. The red one, Cat, then projected an enlarged hoof into my chest, the blow sent the air from my lungs as I flew backwards and threw my hood back, revealing the frightened tears that streamed down my cheeks.

Gasping for air the blue unicorn wheezed a few breathes out before he croaked out, “Your worth remains the same alive or dead, and your little temper needs to be punished. Cat… have a ball.”

The red unicorn mare needed no extra encouragement as she leapt over the table in a single fluid motion. Setting her horn ablaze the red energy again twined down her forehooves, but rather than stop there the energy began to flow over the rest of her body, and then slowly expand until she stood six feet in the air as the energy began to solidify. In its place stood what looked like a great ruby golem pony with Cat in the center. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long,” came the deep and distorted voice from the hard-light construct as it mimicked the facial motions of its controller, and was then silent.

Taking three great steps, the floor shaking all the while, she came for me. The effects of the yellow mares fright energy were still running through me, leaving me paralyzed, and in its wake was the single certainty that I was most surely about to die.

‘Let me save you master. Give yourself to me.’

Caligo’s words held a sweet caring in them, and I clung to them with what little of my thoughts remained, and a single word, ‘yes’. And that was when my world went white as the glowing red hoof came hurtling down to flatten me.

Crystal Chronicles Ch. 2 (31)

The planning, the desperation, the emotional welling which distorted rational thought. It had all paid off, and now I was finally in perfect control.

“Heh heh heh heh”

“Whu-what?” the red unicorn mare grunts. The first clear sign of shock at the fact that her hard-light construct’s hoof having stopped in mid-flight. It really was a very sturdy design, well rounded and without visible flaw, it even had a bit of what looked like fur too. Pretty, yes, but a wasted effort for something meant to eliminate a target. It was a perfect circle of magic just waiting to be absorbed.

“My sincere apologies, it seems as though I’ve stopped your attack. But you see, I’m rather fond of this mortal shell and I’m going to have to ask you to stop,” I say, looking up to the magic covered pony, the voice distorting through the layers of the crystal as it flows out of every pore in Rumor’s face, my face. But rather than stopping there, I continue the march of progress, expending more magic to fuel the growth of crystal as it begins to cover his entire form in a perfect white carapace of smooth inch of my physically enhancing exoskeleton, leaving my body with a slight sheen. The extremities are the last to be armored, and once the gloved fingers are covered I increase the pressure, sapping away some of the ambient energy of the construct, and watch the leg shatter into ephemeral ruby dust.

The pony backs up some, the loss of one of the legs having made her balance come into question as the anger in her face pierces through the wavering light into a fearsome resolve. Good, she has proven a threat to my body twice over and needs to be eliminated. Her lack of intelligence as emotion continues to override any logical part of her mind makes me believe she is little more than finely tuned muscle rather than one of the top brass for decision making. This is good, as I will need a place to begin to more finely understand the world if I am to succeed in my programming.

The red pony charges, the reformed front leg causing the floor to shake some with the rest of her hooves. But rather than silted eyes, her’s remain wide open, ready to catch any new targets that might present themselves. She’s good. But it matters little as I merely raise my arm, ready to intercept her charge and absorb more of her energy.

The armored pony however, loosens her control of the energy, her enlarged armored hooves growing gauzy as she slides to the right, her momentum quickly shifting with her. Her left forehoof then slams into the ground, having turned into a four pronged claw to grip at the floor, as she swings the rest of her enlarged body at my back, launching me forward to the wall sixty feet away, which abruptly stops me. The force shatters Rumor’s bones entirely, but due to my complete encasing of his body in my white carapace his body is no longer in the light of the room, and quickly reknits.

I hear the sound of cracking floor from the light armor as it makes its way over to my small crater, and I allow it to come closer, remaining perfectly still, and gathering my strength, bolstering it further with the pool of energy Somnium would have previously been giving Rumor had I not been storing it for myself.

“I still can’t believe Trance thought you would be a threat to me,” she says, her distorted voice coming out a few octaves lower, “I know they didn’t want me to damage you too badly, but you’ve made me waste time on two separate occasions, and that will not happen again.” Her hoof morphs into a two-pronged claw as I’m peeled from the wall. “Heh, that’s the thing I really like about you exoskeleton types, you can hide so much internal damage because your precious shell keeps it all inside,” she says after laying me down, her hoof now aiming for my host’s head.

Her hoof came down like lightning, but I was quite ready for the simple blow, as two small claw like legs grew from my back, dug into the floor, and slid me underneath the construct. Both of my arms slammed to the floor, stopping me directly under her. Drawing further from the collected energy of Somnium, as well as the fear Rumor was still producing, I concentrated the magic into my forearms. They bubbled as they grew three times in size and mass in a few moments, in which the newly formed pistons slammed out of their respective “elbows”, cracking the floor, and shooting the massive arms directly into the center of the mare’s energy armor, sending her flying to the ceiling. Now occupied with being stuck within the ceiling, I knew I would be afforded a few seconds to complete the fight while the red mare got over the vertigo and possible concussion.

Retracting the pistons from the floor back into my body, I pulled the increased mass from my arms and placed it into my back, which began to bubble in a haphazard mass until countless legs exploded in a fury of malformed crystal dust and began to lance across the floor, each one sticking it’s spidery protrusion into the still hatefully glowing white floor, and began to pull at the magic that lit it. The thin coating of crystal that covered the floor, wall, and ceiling in a single piece was quickly drained, the legs and my body thickening in the process, and turning the room pitch. This was quickly corrected as the red mare reignited her red armor as she fell from the giant sized crater in the ceiling that it had kept her in just a few seconds ago. She slammed into the floor, the crystal coating of the floor cracking and reflecting like magma as her hard-light tried it’s best to fill the room with a dull glow. As pitiful as it was, I wasn’t going to let the challenge slide.

Opening countless microscopic holes across my exoskeleton, I released the pent up darkness that had continued to expel itself from Rumor’s encased body. The immediate effect was that the entire room fell into a pitch perfect blackness. The red mare’s light was completely overcome, but were I to teleport I’d have to overcome it all over again. The mare seemed to have some sort of idea that the tables had turned on her, better, now that she was out of that thick, light-warping armor I was finally able to see her face. It wasn’t quite what I’d been hoping, she looked remarkably determined, but it was quite gratifying to see her legs quivering as I began to circle around the defensively postured mare, her own armor having shifted into a thick dome of red light, and it all fell into place.

Concentrating on the new thickness of my body I pulled at the mass of crystals and expelled them in round sphere’s from my body. A simple command given, the simple constructs began to roll on their own, vibrating enough to sound as though each one was laughing. The mare wasn’t entirely fooled, but it certainly drew her attention as she began to discern where the real voice was coming from. It didn’t matter. My exoskeleton began to thin further as my outer fingers continued to extend and drill into the ground, their sound masked by the happy laughter that encircled the rightly defensive mare. The laughter continued until her weakness was exploited, and the unshielded floor was breached by ten deathly needles which all drove in through the mare, and severed the nerves along her spine.

The red dome shattered, leaving the room without a challenger to my darkness, until I again closed the holes in the armor, and re-extended the retracted claws to pull in and silence the laughing spheres. I then sent two lines of power through my feet as two spikes lanced through the crystal covering of the floor as I returned just enough power for a pleasant flickering yellow light to display the fallen body of the red mare, and the two serene faces of the two other unicorns which were still sipping at their wine.

Once the light was restored, the blue unicorn looked up, his eyes moving from the prone mare and back to me, then said, “Well, looks like we have a new position for you Caligo,” his voice perfectly calm and collected. Looking over, his hair was now back in place, and his neck seemed no worse for wear, “we could use someone of your strength.”

I paused for a moment, taking it all in. The captured memories of Rumor in conversation with Sprocket and stolen glances at city maps through his eyes had made finding the place remarkably easy. Better, there spokes dog had been more than efficient in his means to see the light and strike up a bargain when their defensive measures proved ineffective. They had done remarkably well in keeping up their end of the bargain. Creating a scenario where Rumor would be completely powerless and emotionally unstable enough to agree to a complete takeover under the guise of my helping, but it would be so easier to destroy the lot of them, but I didn’t know their full capabilities, and they surely wouldn’t have agreed to any of it unless they knew of some way to keep me in line, and it certainly wasn’t a connection to other organics otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested destroying Rumor’s employers. Further, their potential for knowledge outweighed the amount of energy it would require to end them, for now. I’d been asleep for far too long, and only recently reassessed my original memory files, corrupted though they were, and there obviously things I needed to catch up on if I were to bring the world to perfect chaos.

“How very fortunate then that I am in need of information that you will certainly provide in exchange for such strength,” I say, making sure to turn my head so the black spot was gazing right through him. “Now, will you show me the door, or will I have to make one for myself. I have plans for tonight.”

The blue unicorn only gave a silent smile as his horn lit up, quickly followed by a square section of the wall quickly took on the same shimmering hue only a few feet away from the lifeless red mare.

“Since you know where I live, I’ll expect a rather discreet form of contact once you have need of me,” I say as I walk out of the room and into the plush green carpet from earlier. I find that I am three doors down from the place I had entered, then turn towards the stairs. It would have been so simple to slay them all right there and end the bargain I’d made, but the effort to gain the knowledge otherwise would require more blood, and I don’t need that sort of attention just yet.

***The Yellow Unicorn Mare***

I looked over to Trance once, the now white golem had left the remodeled ballroom. It had been a pain to enchant the entirely of it with as much light as it had. I let out a small shiver thinking again of Aurora’s initial enchantment of remelting the crystals so she could line the entirety of the floor, walls, and ceiling.

“I suppose this all went according to plan?” I said, trying to drown him in arid sarcasm.

“Why of course it did my dear Severe,” he replied with his usual collected smile, as though nothing in the world that could cause him grief.

Frankly, had I not been told beforehand of his staged show of anger, I’d have been able to count on my hoof how many other emotions I’d seen that indigo freak exhibit. “Still, I know Crowly vouched for… it there,” I said, pointing to the open door where the golem had left, “but there were so many other more productive ways to get rid of Cat.”

“Heh, true, but she had allowed herself to be taken in by a mere regenerative on two occasions and lacked the forethought to quickly slay her enemy rather than toy with it. Such weakness cannot be tolerated. You did write the rules rather clearly on that point,” Trance said, thinning his smile into a sharpened slit.

“Hmmm,” I sighed, “I suppose I did at that. How’s your throat anyway? It looked like that monkey should have crushed it?”

“Do I detect a note of sympathy?”

“Curiosity, and considering you got me up at this Celestia forsaken hour, you would do well to indulge me.”

Rather than answer me he instead pulled out a handkerchief with a snatch of indigo magic and slowly brought the piece of cloth into his mouth, and then lifted out a rather slimy piece of what looked like metal piping, though it was clearly bent down on one side.

***Caligo***

I look down upon this twisted metal city of Bitsburg, and I am filled with emotion. A mere byproduct of being attached to an organic host, but the intangible quality of power that they whisper at is enough of a benefit to ignore the deficiencies of them. At least, that’s how my host seems to view them. Yet here in the land of Equestria they held so much more. Yet, having even seen firsthand the power they can literally wield, Rumor had ignore them.

…still, I suppose he can’t be blamed entirely. While damaged I was forced to leech off of his own mind to fill in many of the gaps that were left in my corroded memories. He’d recover in time, and all the while it had made him so much easier to manipulate as his mind lessened at my hunger. Better, the wealth of information it bring is truly priceless in the form of a single thought. One single constant that has long been ignored: this is a cartoon world.

All the musical accompaniments, the bending and stretching of quadrupedal skeletal structures, the gripping of objects without phalanges, and worst of all the gags, such as the disgustingly absurd fall through the clouds Rumor experienced when he first attempted a trip to Ponyville. He stood on a cloud just long enough to remember the capricious laws of physics so he might plummet to a painful heap of meat and bones.

There is so much power in knowing these strings pull at the universe, and even more to have the awareness to pull at them yourself.

Looking down from the spire I spotted the docks by the western shore. If this revelation were true, then there would most likely be some sort of crime being attempted there. The docks always seem to harbor criminals of some sort after all, and no one truly cares how such creatures meet their end, out of sight. Giving a small chuckle, entirely for my own benefit, I then leapt from the spire, sending waves of acquisitioned power through my back which extended into two plane-like wings as I glided off the spire.

***

It had been quite easy to spot the three creatures as they hugged their way across the shadows, two of them earth ponies, but the one in front was a diamond dog, obviously using her refined nose and experience in the darkness of tunneling to help guide her two cohorts. Staying upon the wooden warehouse rooftop I deaden the brain receptors for smell to keep the scent of fish from reaching the host body within, and clouding my thoughts. The sound of water lapping at the many supports of the docks partially muffles the sounds of the two ponies’ hoof steps, while the padded paws of the female would be nearly silent in any given situation. Though what really caught my eye was the fact that the two ponies wore a black eye patch over the opposing eye that the other possessed, while the female a domino mask over her own eyes, leaving them entirely white rather than showing the yellow sclera that should have shown through a piece of clothe with two holes in it.

“Quiet much, or I’ll soften your hooves myself,” I heard the female say in a harsh yelling-whisper.

The pair merely nodded and continued, until the brown stallion on the left said, “But why are we out tryin’ to get fish when we could be getting something of more value, like some of the tech up in central?” The other stallion, colored much the same, though his black mane and tail were a bit more frazzled, nodded in agreement and looked like her was about to say something until the female back handed them both with a resounding noise that caused her to start at herself, something which she overcompensated for by giving the two creatures behind her best attempt at a death glare, in the dark.

“Because some idiots pay for eating raw poisoned fish, and its less guarded than an average toy store,” she said before peeking around the corner. Once she felt it was safe to move out into the abandoned walkway she then moved to the large loading doors of the self same warehouse I spied from. Sticking her claw into the large lock she quickly snapped it open and entered with her two cohorts.

A silent chuckle rippled across my white form as I silently stalked my way to the roof’s skylight. No doubt an easier source of light, and less likely to catch any of the many odors from the room from catching alight. Placing my palm against the glass I notice it was much colder and held a few flecks of frost on the underside. I hadn’t noticed any cooling units, so it must have been power by the all power unexplained force of magic. Finding the latch I pulled it out with a second attempt once it was clear that silence wasn’t going to happen with the frozen object. An echoing screech filled the large room as I extended my claws to talons as I flipped from the lip of the skylight to clutch onto the roof inside.

Inside the relatively quiet noise had obviously been muffled through the tall stacks of boxes that filled the rows across the warehouse, as well as the bumbling of the three criminals who were clattering on boxes in the dark then bringing them to the pool of moonlight the frosted skylight provided to check the frozen contents..

No longer limited to a time constraint and magical seals I extend my reaches of the Emotivore fragment and leech off of the, now, reservoir of power she would normally give to her host had I not been keeping it in check, and making sure the frail body of my host was always ready to accept that every other sentient around him was much stronger. The influx of power makes my carapace bubble as spikes begin to form across my form. They are given a small instruction and then fired across the room’s ceiling and walls with only a small hissing sound as their sharp points pierced the air and quietly stick into the white of the frost covered walls with only a smattering of cracklings from the splitting ice. Not enough to distract the sushi fanatics. My notes in place, it was time for the show to begin.

Climbing across the ceiling, I came across the first impaled spike a gave it a small tap to activate it’s memory function as it spread like a snowflake and began to vibrate, different tones catching on the oddly shaped limbs and edges. The sound began to spread to the others as the sound waves activated the simple mimic function as the crystal projections began to take voice, as the whispers of ‘thus saith the lord’ began to echo across the rafters.

At first the group began to look around at the noise, too surprised at the sudden hissing of noise gathering around them like a storm, but as the chorus began in earnest the two stallions looked at each other as they both slowly backed away to opposing sides of the moon ray that came from the skylight.

The diamond dog looked at the two males with both increasing frustration and fright as the music began to rise in strength.

The pony on the left got a queer look in his eye as he began to sing, sorrow seeming to overcome him, his tail and mane began fraying further, but maintaining enough shape to hint at echoes of power rather than cunning. From the ceiling I drop a simple sword, fashioned from my body. He grabs it without question as it clatters on the frozen ground in a fluid motion, twining it around his left forelimb.

Standing upon his hind legs he grasps the sword in his teeth as he sweeps his front hooves spreading wide through the boxes of frozen seafood, which my shadows have, unbidden, begun to take a proxy of Bitsburg as he begins to sing, sorrow seemingly etched upon his heart.

Eyes hardening he takes another step forward, falling back to all fours as the opposing earth pony, who has become more refined in his own turn, his posture and coat immaculate, begins to come forward, his posture exuding pride as he quickly charges the swordpony with a staff, again fashioned from my body. Spinning it around his neck he flips his head, sending the staff up into the air, which he grabs it in his teeth and begins to attack in decisive sweeping arcs.

The sword wielder sings on, his own posture, while depressed, flows around the precision attacks of the staff wielder, who continues to grown in anger that his opponent won’t lay down and submit.

The staff wielder gets a lucky sweep, knocking the sword wielders balance. The flounder causes the sword wielder to clumsily back up and the staff wielder takes his turn to sing.

A swift jab to the chest is given, and is deflected at just the last second by the sword’s hilt.

The swordpony takes advantage of the staff wielder slipping upon a patch of ice and recovers his balance, but the staff wielder does so as and they rear up and lock weapons.

The sword inches closer to the staff wielders neck, who’s own weapon is poised to attempt a strike through his opponent’s eye.

Voices mix together as the as the song reaches its climax. The last echoes of the spent song wither across the room as the once living ponies slump to the ground.

The diamond dog finally begins to move again, too deep in shock to notice me as I stride over and reabsorb the improvised weapons, making sure to filter out the excess of organic material that coated them, and then proceeded to climb the walls and retrieve the rest of my crystals as the female decided the best course of action was to dig through the frozen wooden floor and into the ocean. I could hear her splashing around for a bit while her mind tried to remind her body that she had to swim through water rather than dig.

Leaving the warehouse behind I found myself quite pleased, if a trifle disturbed. It had been a wildly successful test, but the question now remained. What were the exact limitations? After all, at first it seemed as though the two ponies had resisted at first until the chorus had gone on for some time, and the diamond dog hadn’t been affected save to gaze on at the display. But the darkness had shaped itself unbidden as well as the song had progressed. There were so many questions, and so much time to exploit it in.

Crystal Chronicles Ch. 3 (32)

“Waaaakkkkeeeeyyy Waaaaakkkkkeeeeeyyyyy**!”

My black streak of a half smile and black eye look upon the bound form before me in the observation room Rumor had once been told was a training facility. I continue to look down upon him as the bindings gave him more substance than his own meager mental representation was on it’s own. The emotion of twisted glee was kept in check in it’s proper compartment as my black slash grew more twisted at the end, curling up to my eye.

“I suppose you’re wondering what I’m still doing here, or rather, you’re thinking that about yourself rather than projecting the thought towards me,” I say as I circle the white chains and straps that have melded out of the floor to cover the kneeling form from head to foot, “well, I’m going to be blunt with you, I have no intention of letting control of this body slip from my grasp. Really, I should be thanking you, not only did you find me in that forgotten hole in those crumbling ruins, but you also fell for every single little insipid piece of falsehood that my corroded mind could feed you. Even better, you let me settle into your own mind, and allowed me access to your own memories and allowed me all the information I could possibly need to reconstitute myself, all the while following the breadcrumbs to my only registered Emotivore. Such wonders, even by this land’s standards. A gaseous symbiote that fed off of the host’s emotions, the byproduct of which was increased power both physical and magical for the host, which only led to greater emotional highs as the process begin to spiral out until the symbiote is forced to find a new host. An endless cycle, at least for organics. My own systems are more than enough to contain such a beast. And I can even remove my host’s emotions if need be. All the power, and none of the drawbacks,” I say, having circled around again and put a white fingered claw under where the immobilizing straps indicated an unmoving chin. Not that any motion would have been possible without the straps.

Pulling the claw away I clasp it behind my back with the other arm and began to head towards the edge of the room, “And now that I’ve gotten complete freedom, I can continue on my programming and finish what my benevolent creator Nightmare Moon wished for me.” Stopping at the edge I place my hand on the white wall as the massive head of a hammer extends from the wall. Grabbing the floating weapon I sling the weighty object over what currently passes as my shoulders and start floating back to the bound form, my twisted tail wisping from side to side as they mimicked the sliding motion of my nonexistent legs, “Oh, but don’t worry, you’ve given me the insight to exceed my basic programming and peer through to the logical conclusion of my mistresses logic. It really is quite fascinating what a magicless species will postulate when dealing with forces they were never made to even know about.” And with that the hammer fell with a piercing crack as the bound statue of Rumor shattered into a thousand pieces.

I left the hammer to fall unceremoniously from my hands and absorb into the floor with the rest of the confinement and statue pieces. My mind was finally beginning to clear. The lines of causality had almost dragged me to where Rumor’s actual cognizance was now contained, but since the whole of the body was him, simply gloating to him in effigy in a confined room had been enough. And while such occurrences were expected upon trying to bring peace to the world, the severe backlash of the lines was more than I had anticipated, but if this was the reverberations of my plans for the future, then it only mean that success was indeed as viable as I speculated.

***Sprocket***

Stretching my eyes I looked through bleary eyes to the blinking of my silent alarm clock, 12 noon, and I supposed it was time to get up. After all, it was grocery day. Rolling out of bed I went through my morning procedure to check in the mirror to see if I was presentable, not caring if I wasn’t, and headed across the hall to Rumor’s room so he could help me. I was just about to knock when someone at the front door beat me to it. Groaning internally as the infamous phrase ‘who could it be at this hour’ swept across my mind in bold red letters. Rumor could wait.

Opening the front door I was finally made self conscious of my disheveled mane and matted patches of fur as two police officers in full uniform stared at me through matching pairs of mirrored sunglasses.

“Pardon me ma’am, but is this the residence of Rumor?” the one on the left asked in a controlled, heavy, tone.

“Yeeesss,” I reply in a wary tone, raising an eyebrow.

“And would you be the flat mate, Sprocket then correct?”

“Yes,” I say with a little less vigor, something didn’t feel right.

“Then could you please inform us if-”

Slamming into the ground, a creature wrapped completely in white armor landed behind the cops, interrupting them as they quickly look behind themselves for threat assessment. As it began to stand from it’s crouched position it’s angular face, which looked more like a wide wedge, came into view. The right side was completely blank, while the right side held a single black spot as an eye with a black streak that curled up into a twisted slash of a smile. “Excuse me,” it said in what sounded like three voices trying to talk at once, raising a five digited forelimb ending in short points, breaking the silence I hadn’t quite realize was there. When neither the cops or myself moved it shifted it’s black eye on me and said, “Is something wrong Sprocket?” it’s twisting voice. It almost made my skin crawl off me.

“Yeah,” I replied in a biting tone to the crystalline intruder, “who the heck are you and why are you trying to come into my house?”

The creature tilted its head slightly to the left and said, “I’m Rumor, or, at least I was last time I checked."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in as I tried to contend with the white carapace that supposedly adorned my dark and subdued little buddy, but before I could say anything ‘Rumor’ said, “Why are the cops here? Did I do something wrong?” as he hunched his shoulders pulled his hands a little closer to his chest. Okay, it was definitely Rumor.

Smiling some, though mostly out of confusion, I leaned my head passed Rumor to look at the slack jaw of the younger looking cop, who completely ignored my own smug gaze at his confusion as I heard him whisper, “So they really did have an alien at central,” before he received a cuff from the older one who then turn his attention to Rumor.

“According to the reports, you were assigned to work during the night shift, and when your body wasn’t found in the rubble of the central police department, it was assumed that it had been incinerated with many of the other bodies. So when no one of your description was found to have been checked into a hospital we were assigned to look for you at your residence. Though, I’m quite surprised that you look nothing like the smog covered biped your report says you look like. Nice exoskeleton.” the older one finished as he gave Rumor a questioning, and wary, look.

“Explosion?!?” I shouted much the same time as Rumor looked down at his arm and gave a start, and attempted the beginnings of a sentence, but only mumbled off into silence as he began to take note of the way the older cop was starting to look a little agitated by the white, claw-tipped, giant in front of him.

The cop on the right finally spoke up in the intervening silence and said, “Well, it’s nice to see you’re not dead, but there’s currently an investigation going on over the cause of the explosion, and while we can see you need some time to process what has happened to you, if you could come to the Eastern Station as soon as you can manage so we can get an account from you, that would be appreciated in our continuing investigation.” And with that the young officer began to leave and was then followed by the other who lingered a few seconds trying to peer through the white crystal the covered Rumor. Looking up I saw that Rumor was shifting his head from his white encrusted arms to the shrinking forms of the two police officers. Placing a hoof on his arm he looked down to me as I softly said, “Let’s get you inside.”

***Caligo***

The rest of the day passed with minimal effort. A simple story of remembering walking to Rumor’s job, remembering a flash of burning white, then waking up but a few minutes ago with the muddled intention of heading home since it wa slight out was all it took. First with the cops, and now again with Sprocket, I had Rumor to thank for how easily the organics accepted the deception. He really is just too sweet. Better yet, the chances of anyone coming out against my story were not only negligible. A simple offhanded remark of mistaken view would put such contests to rest due to the darkness and chaos of the time. Feigning tiredness, and wishing to have some time alone to process all that had apparently happened to me, ‘Rumor’, was all it took to be allowed solitude in his designated room.

After sitting in silence for a few moments I began to piece out my continuing actions. The death of so many police officers would not only put the entirety of the city on high alert, but also garner the attention of the military, if not the royals themselves. Security measures would be upgraded throughout the city, and those who chose to move around the law would have higher prices to pay for some time, if not for the rest of this city’s existence. Still, the Tartarusfire Club had been informed of this would summarily put into effect the secession of all low level crimes and even the slightest hints of connection to them with the head start of knowing, and facilitating the explosion. This ultimately meant that the lack of cash flow would have to be covered by their new investment. Looking over my newly coated hand I pulled the limp fingers beneath the outer crystal coating and brought it into a fist. The odds of my termination were shrinking. Covered in a flexible coating that could harden at my will beyond anything Rumor had in his own planet of Earth. Better my own strength, combined with the energy I continue to drain from the Emotivore is only increasing my wells of power. But that was just it, there was so much information that had changed and updated in this world that I no longer knew, and if these creatures of the Tartarusfire Club were anything like I suspected, they had at least one way to harm me that they could fall back on, and another that was currently in testing. So many variables, and always in the continuous process of time on top of the other dimensions they occupied.

More information needed to be acquired before preparations to eliminate such threats could be implemented. Not only would such planning take time but my know obstacles already had a head start. However, my own personality will also be watched by them as well. So very little is truly known about me, and all things considered, if they follow the trail back to the castle and connect me back to the personality of Rumor in even the slightest manner, they will be sorely misled, even so, my willingness to destroy sentient had already been made apparent, and will be factored into future interactions. I needed to create a pattern the Tartarusfire Club could not only track, but believe was my own doing. Yet even with Rumor’s memories to augment my plans with, the effort needed to implement them would still require a constant effort, and would take away true expedience from my mission. But it will ultimately make it least likely to fail, and another sliver of luck’s ability to sway events would be cut away.

***Sprocket***

“Just three more twists,” I mutter as I continue to word on the small mechanical contraption at my coffee table. Right now it was just the inner workings, but eventually it would be able to fly on it’s own, but whether I’d make it a bird, or even just a load of spinning squares and springs was still up in the air. I’m usually too engrossed in whatever project I set myself to for something like that to slip out, but I was worried over Rumor. He was so… different now, and I couldn’t help but think that might have been my fault. He was an entirely different species, an alien altogether if the news was really onto the truth about all the increased sightings of strange creature quite literally popping into existence in some cases. But his outer covering looked much like the liquid crystals from the mesophase healing chamber. Was it an allergic reaction, or did he absorb some of it into his genetic makeup? I wasn’t much of a biologist, so all my thoughts were just wild speculations at best. And then there was still the explosion. Considering how much of a drive he seemed to have for such a career and the care he would always show to help me, he couldn’t be having anything but a rough time all things considered, and as much as I wanted to go up there and try to comfort him, I was just too scared. The darkness and muffled steps was one thing, the phantoms the skirted the edges of the light whenever he was in a poor mood was another, but he just kept so much of it inside him all the time, and that coupled with how politely he acts is just so…disconcerting.

Tightening up the last screw to keep on the skeletal casement I started to slide off the couch, intent on acquiring some finer tools so I could work around the covering which was currently keeping many of the more delicate springs in place when I heard a noise from upstairs. I gave a small start, jumping back onto the couch and looking towards the staircase where the repeated thumping only turned out to be Rumor’s footsteps, much to my red-faced embarrassment. He just stood there at the bottom of the stairs looking down at his hands, which were risen slightly to his waist, through the singular black spot over his left eye which a twisted half-smile. If it weren’t for the fact the rest of him seemed to be ready to drop to the floor I would have considered it creepy, but now it seemed kinda sad, and I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

Sliding off the sofa my hooves made a muffled thump upon the carpet, causing Rumor to stiffen as his head swiveled to the sound. It looked at me for a few moments before saying, “Oh, hi Sprocket. Is everything alright?”

I began to blush harder as I gave a small smile to try and make up for the fact that I’d frozen under the cold piercing gaze as his “eye” had turned onto me coupled with the way his voice warbled like there were two other voices talking slightly out of phase with him. “I’m not sure Rumor, you’ve been through a lot, and I’m worried about you’re going to handle it, if you handle it at all.”

He just stood there, perfectly still, before a long, warbled sigh escaped, presumably, from his mouth as he looked back down. “I don’t know. I never expected anything like this to happen,” he said as he lifted a single hand to his face, clutching it, “and … I just want peace.”

I looked over at him as he lowered his hand, which looked like it hadn’t quite caught on to the fact it was no longer clutching his head, and said, “You know, I thought the same thing when my parents were taken from me, and you know what? I still do. The world has so many problems, but that’s the catch, you see, because every problem has a solution, and if you can’t fix it, then you just find a problem you can.”

As he continued to stare through the floor I made my way through to the kitchen and began to fill up the kettle, “and right now it looks like you need to spend a little time with a friend, and have a talk, or maybe just sit in silence. The point is, you’re not going to be alone.” And maybe you’ll let someone else help you before you get hurt again, I silently add.

Chrystal Chronicles Ch. 4 (33)

Both containment pods were still in place, their white spherical bodies dulled by the absence of light. It was no longer needed now that I held control over his body. Checking up on this minutia was one of the memories that I was most grateful for assimilating. While the original was slightly degraded with time, the name Peter was strongly tied to a list of top 100 things to comply with in order to minimize the luck of those who opposed my plans for peace. According to the containment readings Somnium was still moving about, though the constant forceful drain of power would certainly cause enough pain to illicit such frenzied movements. The one holding Rumor, which drew no power, was another story. It was fascinating the way he would jerk and shudder with seemingly no pattern to go with it, however, the oddest thing was that the movements came nowhere close to the edge of his containment, but rather stayed closer to his representative core. Not that it mattered in the slightest, he had only ever held the power to keep me at bay, and now that I was in complete control, there was no amount of force he would ever be able to muster that would overcome me.

Pushing the walls aside I slipped from the room that held them and a bevy of unused pods and proceeded to the memory hall where I could most easily interface and receive better detail upon recall. Another white room, it remained blank until I enter, upon which three wires writhed down from the ceiling and pierced through my head. My mental representation began to lose some of its definition as the process of selection began through my own recent memories.

***

Two days prior, upon my ascendance to constant control, I’d just finished spending time with the landlord, Sprocket. She had attempted actions of endearment in order to minimize the danger she thought Rumor might pose to others, but mostly to himself. She had been quite verbally-direct on that account. Pushing things forward, a hug had been given, initiated by myself, and a word of thanks given in a caring tone. She had been placated, for the time being, and it had allowed me to go to the Eastern station to update my profile as well as report to my lack of knowledge regarding the explosion or my own transformation. My reported emotional duress was more than sufficient to allow them to keep my body there for undue amounts of time, and an assurance that once I got back on my feet that I could easily begin working again, but with a new headquarters.

All minor efforts, but it was the body language and the demure manner that took the most effort to portray. Worse, it was an overly relaxed posture which inhibited reaction time to surprise threats. If I did things correctly I could get into a better stance in roughly a month without overt notice. After that it was time to sow some potential seeds of distraction. I didn’t know how much I would be monitored by the Tartarusfire Club, but I knew that close tabs would be kept. Rolling through my options I decided that spending my time within the library would do some good, in the children’s section, reading up on what ponies considered to be rare or mythical. Stories with pictures were preferred, and I’d spent the last two days reading finding out of such creatures as Kitsunes, a fox like race particularly skilled in illusion magic, and Quetzali a winged serpent race that used sun magic and fed on the positive emotions of their prey much like changelings, though were less reviled. This was most likely due to the lack of black or snake-like head. In fact, both species were rather humanoid, which I’d thought was quite odd given the dominant life forms upon the planet were quadrupeds.

My time spent in small chairs and bright organized colors did not last long after that as the second day ended with a simple summons, sent via telegram, and left at the front desk for me to find as I left that evening. I was required at the club.

***

Walking into the room I remained silent, as I noticed the diamond dog, Crowley, standing next to his desk as I see the indigo unicorn, Trance, sitting in the plushly austere chair. I remained silent as a sliver of light flashed across his eyes, and his teeth begin to part from the gentle smile that adorned his face.

“It’s nice to see you again, read any good books recently?”

His voice had remained sweet, like a father crooning over a daughter, but there was something else there as well.

“Well, as I’m sure you know, we’ve had a major cutback in our revenues with so much attention being drawn to our fair city, and we’ve come to believe a little diversifying is in order.”

The way he subtly lilted across the words, it sounded as though he about to start a lover’s song, but it came out with such ease it remained a calming agent.

“So we’re going to send you on a small trip up the coast for a little spelunking,” turning to Crowley, “please hand him his papers.”

“Yes Master Trance,” Crowly replied in his deep voice as he stepped around and pulled out an envelope from inside his black pinstriped coat and handing it over to me before he silently returned to his spot, to the left of Trance.

“Thank you so much for your time Rumor,” he said wearing a smile, “you’ll find your transportation down by the docks, and will depart at the top of the hour.”

I had looked over to the grandfather clock, it read 3:15.

“Oh don’t worry,” Trance said as I looked back over to him, his eyes faintly sparkling, “I expect you’ll be back tomorrow morning.

***

Pulling out of the memories I pushed out and again began to take stock of the outside world. The transportation Trance had mentioned was a pegasus and a griffin, both of which had only grown more agitated upon my arrival, but quickly took to the air as I stepped into the chariot. The mission had been a touch of a surprise. Apparently I was to turn dragon slayer so that its hoard might be repurposed.

The dragon in question was… interesting. A great beast, it housed a thick, scaly, hide of deep purple scales, of which it was suggested that I damage as little of them as feasible. Its own natural powers of flight, strength, durability, and fire breathing aside, it was purported to be gifted with extraordinary senses, even for a dragon.

Looking over the side, taking stock of location, the land further north was riddled with volcanoes, and was pockmarked with stretches of brown and red rocks which I could only assume were where fires had not blackened it. Rumor had looked at maps before, according to the memories the sanctioned land of Equestria end very near Bitsburg and after that it was dragon country. It was really quite disappointing that a broken landscape was all these supposedly intelligent and powerful creatures could manage.

My reverie was broken as the pair began to circle downward, towards a strange outcrop of mountains, which formed a concentric ring, at the center of which stood a great path which went into the mouth of a cavern.

Landing just outside the ring, the massive red mountains towered over us. Stepping off the landed vehicle I noted the suppressed shivering forms of the two flyers. Their eyes kept darting about, and even as the roasted air keened about the rocks above us, I could just hear a slight whimpering.

Walking towards the shadow of the mountain, the sky would be too bright for my liking for just a few more hours, still, I stopped just as I passed the quivering pair, and said “You will fly back now. Your presence is no longer required.”

I started walking again until the griffin spoke up, saying, “But we were ordered to bring you back.”

Phasing my face around Rumor’s skull, the black spot and half smile stood at full bear upon the griffin, “I do not require your presence to return. Tell your masters to leave the lights off in the white room.” When they did not immediately move I grew displeased. Jumping backward, much to the surprise of the two flyers, two white chains snaked out my back and wrapped around their forelimbs and jerked them towards my face. In a pleasant tone, devoid of any echoing I calmly said, “You’ve already made me waste enough energy with words. Please don’t make me waste any more. It will only end poorly for your family, friends. And acquaintances.”

Letting go of them the air shimmered like heat waves as they sped through the air.

Turning around I made my way to the base of one of the massive mountains and began to open countless holes within my body and let Rumor’s darkness stream out and cover me. I’d need to wait until nightfall before I began.

***

As the last of the sun’s rays died behind the mountainous crags over the horizon I again brought my awareness to bear against the outside world.

Opening countless microscopic holes I allow Rumor’s natural darkness to flow out. Another failing of that fool, unable to realize the boon he was given. Magic does tend to differ across different realms. Apparently a conjuring of darkness was an extraordinarily basic spell in the realm it originated from, but here, it was a different story entirely.

Pushing out the darkness I subtly shaped it to deaden not only the air, but also the rock below, removing the vibrational disturbance I create through existing.

Moving forward the moon began to quickly rise over the horizon, dissipating the darkness and lengthening shadows. Knowledge of lunar magic was something Nightmare Moon had kept from me. But she had given me so much more in the way of magical knowledge. Darkness was indeed good for all the things I had told Rumor of, just not exactly how it could be applied.

Stepping through the shadows I silently lance across boulders and treacherous stone ways as I cross over the tall crags, and quickly alight upon the ground on the other side. In front of me lies the great cavern. Wrapping another layer of darkness around me I descend into a cavernous tunnel, seemingly entirely glassy smooth. Looking closer towards the rock, I realized that it took on absurd twists and turns where it was not completely blackened.

I small effort of thought and the excess darkness shifts away, making another clump of itself a few yards away from myself, in effect drawing magic into another place in order to draw potential attention. One of the things most creatures in this world failed to realize was how old a dragon is. Though finding such basic things of their biology was permissible considering they might turn you to ash with an errant sneeze. But a lesser known fact of dragons still remained that the older one got, the more it was able to consciously tap into its own great reserves of magic which allowed to breathe fire without internal damage and simultaneously survive in literally every single environment the world had to offer. Be it the cold crushing depths of the ocean, or the magma near the center of the earth. Simply put, it was never wise to underestimate such powerful creatures.

Reaching the bottom of the great tunnel, the slope having remained gentle for nearly one-thousand feet, I finally caught a glimpse at what would have been the makings of a completely hollowed mountain, were it not filled entirely of jewels, gold, and all other manner of precious items. An entire line of ornate armor lay heaped along the perimeter of the massive cavern nearly a full six feet high, though this was dwarfed by the piles of gold that were mixed evenly with every conceivable rock and crystal. Most of them remained uncut, but something had gone to the trouble of making sure nothing save the impurities within them marred their appearance. This was made more apparent upon closer inspection as most of the gold seemed partially melted. And on top of the entire complex of wealth, laid the dragon. Even in the perfect dark of the cave the great creature held a sheen about its scales that the wealth simply could not match. It was, cute. A very skillfully done illusion.

Of all that I told Rumor of darkness magic, the fact that it had nearly no use unless it was pair with another element was something I had, though in my damaged state it might have also been due to the fact he’d been able to tap into his passive magic and solidify actual darkness without water or earth was probably a mitigating factor. On its own, darkness could do little more than blind or silence someone, nothing that did actual damage in a combat situation. It did however hold one distinct caveat to that rule, darkness could shatter illusion magic. And if there was one thing someone like Rumor who was so connected to the darkness could do, it was spotting an illusion, no matter how expertly crafted, even though an organic as his current level wouldn’t recognize one of this caliber.

A wave of darkness continued to grow behind me as I added the tinges of Rumor’s own shadows to it, and then let it loose. But rather than the dragon turning back into mere wisps of imagination, the entirety of the cavern began to shimmer and waver into nothingness. All of it disappeared, and what was left was a single round wooden door, like a port hole, lying in the exact center of the cavern floor.

“Well well well, what have we here?” a deep silken voice rumbled behind me.

KRisTol CroNicAls N#. 5 (34)

Pushing the crystal molecules along the flats of the blade, the darkening blood flowed off, as though on a hydrophobic surface.

A pathetic blue scaled dragon, it’s scales were already beginning to dull, just old enough to conjure illusions, it’s own vast power stores allowing it to simply push them into near complete existence. He certainly had a lot of practice, especially since it meant he hadn’t lifted a single claw to do so. But it did not matter, as soon as it had come out in the open and muttered a single word, it was over. A quick leap through the shadows, to landing atop the slothful blue’s nape, then a singular crystal blade, angled under its scales,, directly into its vertebrae. I had no idea how it had snuck up on me like that but I didn’t like it. Not that it mattered, the dumb creature had wasted it’s element of surprise with words rather than use its breath to turn my host to liquid, and leave me without an anchor.

‘Filthy organic.’ I thought as the blade was reabsorbed into my armor and began to slink through the shadows around the miniature craters the blue behemoth had managed to make in its final seconds as it’s body began to respond to its death. The whole ordeal had been quite tedious, though according to Rumor’s memories it seemed the dragons actions were more akin to the absurd as it’s nerves kept firing even though there was no true life behind it, much like a gecko tail that still thrashed about after being cut off from the main body.

I’d already inspected the small porthole, by dragon standards, and had found a great deal of precious jewels. The creature’s cupboard. It was quite substantial, and it would certainly act as a great way to cover the Tartarusfire’s expenses for some time.

“Failures,” I sighed, the darkness deepening as the cave began to darken past my ability to see as I returned to the city of Bitsburg. As my oculars began to adjust to the unlit alley I stood up from my crouch and began walking through up the club’s front entrance. Even with the sound muffled walls there was still a noticeable vibration to the air as the deafening noise inside did it’s best to permeate the air.

It really was a shame, but to ignore what at the very least looked like an ancient purple dragon was something that should have been mentioned in the file, or that esoteric magics seemed to follow it in it’s wake. In any case such incompetence was inexcusable. I would not allow them to send me on poor scouted missions if this was their operation method. It would only lead to an untimely set of circumstances that would forever impede my goal of universal peace. Drastic measures would need to be taken in order to remove the causality lines into a more beneficial arrangement.

Stepping in through the doors, passing the line and many calls of unfairness until the bouncer that attempted to block my entrance was beheaded, then the screaming started, not that anyone inside the club noticed as the sound of their thrumming cacophony entered into the streets. The strobe lights flicked far too rapidly for me to grab a hold of the shadows enough to stride through the crowd. I left me little recourse but to end a few lives. So much effort, so many stumps, and it took twelve seconds more than I wanted just because the ponies would rather pay more attention to their music rather than their surroundings. Not that it mattered, more would be saved in the long run, and unfortunately I could not allow the Tartarusfire Club to continue. I would have to punish them for their failure, but by all accounts they would not accept such an action on my own part, so that only left them with one other option, to no longer be. If they would not stand for correction it was the only logical conclusion.

The trip upstairs was swift, especially once I made my way to the speakers and informed the patrons that they would all be summarily slain if they didn’t flee for their lives. Their fear gave them an astonishing speed, especially once the ones on the second floor began to lose their own lives as well. Not that it mattered once I reached the stairs to the third floor, which were walled off by a great green tinged metal door. Attempting to break the door, I quickly removed what was left of my shattered fist as it began to reconstitute. The door had sapped at my magic reserves, leaving my lattice brittle, vulnerable. Moving back one of the circular stuffed ring chairs was uprooted from the ground and thrown at the wall just next to it. The high quality wood shattered as the wall went with it. So much effort to make a durable portal, yet the walls themselves had been ignored.

Looking up the stairs it was plain to see that excess light was coming through as the dust and debris settled to the floor. They were up there, making sure to begin taking away my advantages. But unlike my host, I am not steered by emotions. Knowing they were up there, having gone through all the trouble to lock the door, was enough. Moving towards a darkened corner of the second floor, where one of the more skittish pegasi had taken out a light as they’d tried to fly away, the darkness swelled into a portal and I moved, again, to the dark alley. Moving to the corner of the building I began to let my own energy begin to work as Somnium and Rumor’s magic were soaked into my crystal lattice, becoming denser, harder, stronger. Spikes shot from Rumor’s shoulder blades, hips, and legs both in front and behind as I locked myself into the ground. Focusing more power into the upper limbs they began to swell until they were twice my own size. Knocking them back, the points connected to the elbow joints shot back a line of crystal. Once they hit the ground, they plated, increasing surface area, then pushed back, firing the arms directly into the cornered point of the building, shattering it. Falling back the excess crystal energy was absorbed, leaving the now brittle construct to turn to dust as I flung myself to the shadows and reappearing on the roof of the opposing building, watching as the Tartarusfire’s club began to shake and collapse under its weight, the energy of my hit quickly swelling through the building, as it too began to crumble and dust began to rocket into the air.

The rubble was still shaking as pegasi began to circle in the air, trying to suck the dust away into the air, and away from all the other ponies, of which many of the emergency responders were now quickly arriving. From the rubble, once the dust had been completely taken, I spotted a violet glow from within the cracks of the shattered roof. A sudden burst of energy and the shield expanded, sloughing off the debris, and revealing six unicorns and a single diamond dog within. As the energy vanished I was able to make out a veritable rainbow, save for red for each of the unicorns, and the grey diamond dog Crowly. They were alive, as expected. They were standing in a tight circle, for quadrupeds, all still on high alert, their horns ablaze. That suited me just fine as I appeared within the circle as the darkness vanished behind me, my arms already drawn back, blade tipped, and thrust into the yellow mare and the green stallion. Upon the strike both gave off a last burst of magic, the yellow one attacking my hosts mind with an array of deathly fear and the green with a wave of flesh melting diseases. I had not expected either tactic, though it proved of little use as Rumor’s current form allowed him immunity from disease, and his own mind was locked safely away behind my own shielding which even Celestia had been unable to penetrate.

The violet one was the first to respond, her horn blazed with light, turning the night into a twisted violet version of day as a beam of energy was directed squarely at me. In response I shot off a few shards of myself at her, the missiles given the simple command to absorb the magical beam and grow, it was in my design to do so myself thanks to my creator, and that’s just what they did... for a few moments. The simple spheres quickly grew the size of an elephant as the undiluted energy was sucked out of the air, but rather than continue to grow the light began to grow in intensity in a flash the spheres exploded, sending out a brilliant shockwave of magically overcharged dust that began to float down like the northern lights turned to snow. I continued watching the violent mare as she began to charge up her horn once more as the dust began landing on her, first of all. The effect of her body suddenly being filled with a lattice of microscopic holes as her brilliant violet coat turned a deep red was enough to send whatever few ponies that had thought to stay.

As the dust began to settle around me I quickly absorbed the energy as it flittered down to me in swirling eddies, my crystalline structure continuously reforming into more and more complex patterns as it began to grow in turn, till I was nearly ten feet tall with at least a full foot of thickening crystal near my flexible joints.

It was a bit of a surprise then to see as the blue one who reacted next, by throwing up a steely blue dome of magic over his remaining cohorts as the dust began to settle and turn black. While this occurred, however, his horn began to grow ever brighter until he too shot a beam of magic, of which I quickly began to ready myself to absorb into myself, but instead of my lattice reconfiguring with another burst of power, of which I was more than happy to directly hit my compacted center and allow to sweep the city, it began to lose cohesion, sloughing off me like water. My vision was obliterated as I began to sink within myself as my enhanced armor began collapsing on itself. But it gave me an opening, away from the hateful blue light that the unicorn was streaming into me. Pulling the darkness within the untouched armor quickly together I landed directly behind of the blue one’s position, grabbing a sharpened piece of rubble, the blue stallion began to turn once he caught a glance of my shadow from the corner of his eye, the darkness was streaming off from Rumor’s now uncovered right arm as it slashed across the magic parting the pony’s throat. With no crystal to come in contact with him, there was nothing for him to drain, save for the arm itself which had turned completely black as every last drop of heat was quickly stolen from it. It was only by severing the that the rest of the host body remained unaffected. That left only Trance, Crowly, and the orange stallion standing in the carnage. Looking over to the indigo pony he still wore the same smile he had always worn, taking a single step forward I was able to feel why as a bolt of blue energy struck me in the back, draining away my energy, leaving me without enough power to keep the lattice stable and in a solid form. But it had been weak, rather than flowing off it was chipping, turning to dust.

Opening a hole in the protective mask over Rumor’s face, too weak to vibrate the crystal mask to form words I used his own mouth instead, “You should not have given me such poor information about the blue dragon Trance.”

“And you should know that there is more than one way to obtain eternal life.” He replied, his calm grin mirrored in the faces of both the orange unicorn and the grey diamond dog.

“Your non sequitur is noted, through you will still receive punishment,” I replied in a clipped tone, Rumor’s body was beginning to go into shock and I was concentrating on at least keeping the semblance of outer control of my armor, which was still dusting away.

“How disappointing. And here I thought you could actually see the strings yourself,” Trance replied, his tone finally shifting, for once, and held a tone of mirthful disappointment.

I wasn’t able to reply after that as a lightning bolt fired from above, it seemed that a contingent of the royal guard had finally mobilized against me. Sending the rest of my armor flying, it created enough darkness for me to vanish just as a line of gold covered unicorns began to charge their horns.

Falling out of the portal I began to look over Rumor’s wounds. The stump was already beginning to push out piece of debris from the closed wound. So much energy had gone into that little show, and while it had gone according to plan, a small spark of the assimilated human knowledge began to release a set of hormones that would have been interpreted as a sense of depression. It was an unnecessary use of energy, and was quickly replaced by the endorphin rush as Rumor’s body began to attempt to overcome the physical loss of a limb. I didn’t have time for such things, I needed to stay on schedule and continue to pull the strings ever harder. The universe needed to see me as a villain whether it wanted to or not. I needed to grab its attention so that it would be forced to deal with me. For if eternal night were to be unleashed upon the whole of this particular creation my existence would need to be ended.

Crystal Chronicles Ch. 6 (35)

It was on the third cackle that the insipidness of my situation finally began to sit in. Things had gone… wrong. Glancing across the lightless room I began to slowly take stock of my surroundings. Firstly, I was alone. Secondly I knew only that I was in… my… castle? I was sitting upon a great chair, large and austere. It was raised upon a great dais, of which held a square shape similar to the throne’s base, and went down six steps down to the floor which stretched out into an empty room to walls that stood hundreds of feet off. Along the walls were four archways devoid of carvings, and I instinctively knew they were each placed at the cardinal points. Looking closer at my position, the last of the laughing echoes turning to silence, I was able to recognize that everything, was made entirely of white crystal.

Getting up, slowly, I made my way to the western hallway to, what I assumed was, the observation deck. The walls remained completely smooth and without blemish. There was nothing to catch one's eye save if another person were to share the hall with you, no distractions, no hiding, save for the total absence of light that my host’s body had no need of anyway.

Continuing my walk I slowly began to take note of my complete lack of apprehension, the entirety of the complex felt as though it were designed solely to put me at ease.

Reaching the end of the hall, I found myself at a balcony with no rail to catch me if I was to stumble off the side. The square protuberance thrusted out into the night over the misshapen crags and mountains. The phase “mocking their imperfection” came to my mind as an alien echo of laughter began to rise from somewhere within me. I sense of urgency suddenly arose within me and I pulled at Rumor’s power to force the darkness to silence the noise before it could escape. But rather than go away, the urge to laugh continued to grow. I could feel Rumor’s body begin to shake under the strain as it tried so hard to be heard. I could feel blood vessels rupture and repair in the darkness the night gave us as I continued to maintain control. But, it was becoming too clear that eventually the ruptures would increase to a level that Rumor would not be able to regenerate from, and I let the choking darkness fall.

A cacophonous sound, that only vaguely resembled laughter, rocketed out of Rumor’s mouth and through a hole in my protective mask that I had not consciously made. Overhead the stars began to vanish as a sheet of darkness swept across the sky. The sounds of thunder quickly shook the air as great bolts of lightning flashed across the mountaintops like day. Had I not inhibited his body’s ability to feel or held such a tight grip on his body in the crystalline encasement he would have shook his body apart, dying of laughter.

***

Opening my eyes, I had not realized my vision had ever been impeded, I attempted to look at the mountains that I’d just looked out on. Much to my displeasure, I found I was back on the crystal throne. As my awareness again began to surface I knew that rather than a simple mask and covering around the back of Rumor’s skull there now stood a great spiked over-helm as well as matching spiked plates around the rest of his body. Great gauntlets now covered Rumor’s remaining organic arm, and had left a mirrored copy over the nub on the other side. Attempting to stand I had to readjust my stance. Looking down I found I now stood a full foot higher as the crystals had given me extra height. The crystal armor was also much thicker than I had initially given it credit for as well.

“Why am I back in the citadel’s throne room? And why did I just call it a citadel? … and why am I speaking out loud in an unnatural manner?” I growled out.

Combing through my memories, I tried to make sense of my current situation, find the logical conclusion as I backtracked from point B to point A. The first event I remembered was the fight with the Tartarusfire Club. I’d taken obvious undiluted magical shots from the unicorns that held the greatest magical potential so I could feed my crystals and grow so I could… That couldn’t be right. If I could grow crystals from undiluted magical streams then why hadn’t I used such a useful feature when I’d initially attempted the theft of the Emotivore trapped in Canterlot Castle? Surely that would have made dealing with Luna mere child’s play. But think of how much faster you could sweep away the magic users?

But wasn’t that the problem? I’d gotten into a fight to begin with rather than simply taking them out one at a time. There had been a greater chance that I’d fail. Had the blue one been faster or attacked first, I would have ceased. But I’d had a sufficient reason to attack. It was the dragon. It was an illusion maker, and I’d defeated him by… I’d sat atop his corpse as I swept its blood from a crystal blade. But where was the fight? I remember sweeping away the false hoard… and then the corpse. But there was no memory of the intervening fight. Not that it matters. If it was so easily dispatched, what difference does it make?

“True, but if I’ve always had the power to absorb magic directly rather than needing an emotion devouring creature like that of my Nyx fragment as a conduit, and if I can dispatch a dragon, and one that is clearly skilled at illusion crafting, then why haven’t I done such things before. I should be able to take on larger opponents with no fear of failure. Why, I could…”

Kill everyone right now, couldn’t you?

“Yes, I could kill anyone who gets in my way. Why, I could stop working to find the long way around. I could just give another blatant show of power, and accrue an army to pledge loyalty to me,” I said as I stood up. “Ha, I could crush the princesses right now! No army for me to trip over. Just me and their delicious magic to absorb,” I said, now shouting, and giving a burst of deep laughter.

The laughter!

“NO!” I shouted, bringing my hands to my gauntlets to my side. This wasn’t me. When did I start simply killing off others? That wasn’t my plan. I wanted them all to live. To enjoy the fairness of pure chaos. But in order to make sure it would happen it would take years, perhaps centuries, to make sure no one would catch on.

But why go to all that trouble anyway? They can’t see the strings of fate that pull at them. They’re just worthless little insects needing to be put out of their misery. They need YOU to put them out of their misery.

Yes. It was so clear they needed… you?... not, me?

“Who’s there?” I said, a low growl of anger creeping into my statement.

What am I doing now? Shouting at ghosts?

There it was again. But it didn’t make any sense. I’d been designed to contain a mind make up almost entirely of emotions, and strengthened to hold it indefinitely, conversely it meant that nothing could come in either. It couldn’t possibly be a telepathic suggestion.

I don’t have time for this, I should be taking out those two blasted diarchs and showing the world what real order looks like.

‘My way isn’t orderly’, I mentally shouted, attempting to drown out the invading thoughts. I could think my way out, step by step, there is a madness to my method. It is so simple. It’s all for the logical conclusion of my maker, to bring eternal night. She saw the inequities that life brings by something so innocuous as a circadian rhythm. To rectify the situation she attempted to let their only be one sky, unchanging and equal for all. But it wasn’t enough, there was still life, there was still motion, and worse, there was nothing I could do to help my maker achieve her dream… until I fused with an alien of the highest caliber, not even from my universe. His unique perspective allowed me to see the universal symphony, and all I’d have to do was become the conductor, and then there would be rest.

It would take gratuitous amounts of power, enough to take the ever changing forms of life, of changing order to fit the new thoughts and ideas, and bring about perfect chaos. No movement, no thought, forever frozen in one place. Not a time stop, but something infinitely more elegant: a singularity. A thing of such beauty that to experience it the entirety of existence would appear to be a void until movement was initiated. Only then would the particles of light finally hit your eyes, reflect, and warp as they are pushed aside as you move forward as you try to take in more, each step resulting in a blinking picture as you plant each footfall, stopping your movement for fractions of a second. And it would last forever. A perfect stillness that not even magic and souls would need feel the changes of time upon their immortal beings. No more chance. No more change. A complete absence of probability.

Any buffoon could discern that order, in its purest sense, was change. If it wasn’t, it would stagnate, it wouldn’t be something one was told to strive for, and it wouldn’t be so rigidly structured. Chaos was what was fair. So intrinsic to being that you could feel it’s workings. No authority to hold itself up to, it simply was. It existed. Incapable of favorites, it was fair. I’d been able to see past the strings of my own universe once I’d begun to steal information from... the... human.

No movement, no great button marked for a timer to start. It was but a single thought, a single word that rocked the citadel into sudden collapsing ruin. Human. That was it. The armor, the citadel, and the voices that came from within, but were not my own, silenced as the speck of realization bloomed in a sudden fury. It was the human, not that the one I held was of particular worth, but it was the fact he wasn’t FROM here. He wasn’t subject to the spirit of the laws that held both me and the ignorant masses in thrall.

The mountain of crystal glass came to a stop as I began to orientate myself out of the fine white dust that was now free to move with the wind. It was all so clear, or at least it had to be. I’d been given a new perspective on life, and I couldn’t possibly let myself become affected by this universe's laws. I wasn’t some cliché villain to make long winded speeches that let my opposing counterpart get an otherwise unobtainable advantage. By trying to move as fast as I’d done, I’d gotten too much attention. Worse, I’d done so by aligning with malcontents who couldn’t see past their own lifetime. I couldn’t let this hold me back, I had to move back under the radar and be unnoticed. I needed to detox from all of those who had twisted their causality to or even near my own. But that was fine; I could afford to wait, as could my host body. I just needed for their strings of causality to pass with the natural ending of their lives, dissipating from my own. I could start again without fear of sudden losses of time, power fluctuations that just as well shrink as grow given whatever whim of chance or fate decided. All I needed to do was wait and I could prevent the rest of a backlash, no more blackouts, no more time jumps. ‘And no more excess emotions,’ I thought as the disgust of the failures of organics as well as pity towards their imperfections began to fade as logic began to fill me again.

Complete.

Chaotic.

Control.

***Crowley***

“I do believe that your plans have gone awry Master Trance,” I quietly said as he wiped away a tear that was solely for the benefit of the guardspony in front of him who’d come to interview him as well as the other survivors from the white monster that had attacked. The pony gave me little heed, after his initial raised eyebrow of shock that I could indeed form a complete sentence with multisyllabic words. Trance only continued to sniffle quietly, making sure to look as though he were trying his best to maintain a strong upper lip. It was only when the guardspony left, hot cocoa drinks had been distributed, and a kind word had been given from another member of the guard of where therapy might be found that he expelled the accumulated phlegm from his nostrils and wiped the excess moisture from his eyes and turned to me with his usual calculated smile and said, “Why, I do believe you just attempted a joke, didn’t you Crowley?”

“As a matter of fact I did sir. Still, at this point in time I should like to remind you that I do not form plans in quite the same way that you do. Also, if it would not be too much a bother, I should like to be given some news on your recent recalculations, infantile as they are at this stage, to not only ease my own worry but so that I might begin to realize how I might continue to serve you in the most efficient manner.”

Already on his feet and moving out of the crowded retro-fitted reception hospital room and out into the city it was precisely three and one-half blocks before he replied in his calm voice and said, “You don’t have anything to do Crowley, in fact, neither do I or even Forge. As it now stands we’re just going to sit back, wait for my assists to inconspicuously move to a place where I can use them to start working on our latest anti-extraterrestrial weapon facility, and simply let someone else deal with the problem. I think one million bits should be a sufficient bounty, don’t you?”

“It should be sir, I’ll get right on that once your tea is ready. And here’s my latest report,” I calmly said, and reached out my paw into the air, and just as always the weight lifted from my hand, and I knew it was gone.

“Good dog,” he said, and after a few moments as the sound of pages quickly flipping he stopped, and said, “it looks like another of the old fairy tales has come to proven itself true yet again. This time it’s the Crystal Kingdom, next thing you know Atlantis will be rising from the depths. They really do just enjoy trying my patience don’t they?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it sir."

Hello Darkness (36)

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Abrupt Hello

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It's Friday (1)

It was Friday.

Classes were done for the week, still needed to study some over the weekend though. As for the rest of the night, it was mine. Just a gangly six foot four, twenty year old, guy strutting it down the darkening sidewalk as the street lights began blinking on.

Life wasn’t necessarily awesome, mostly due to a slightly pessimistic view of my own life, which my Dad was always trying to talk me out of. He was always saying that I treated myself as my own worst enemy. I really couldn’t disagree with.

I'm not a genius by any means, but I'm intelligent enough to know the shortfalls of my personality. It would certainly be easier if I simply had a set list of defect. But introversion comes at a price. Like being overly aware of myself in normal physical activities, like tripping over my own feet or being too ham-fisted at times, which is particularly bothersome since my hands are smaller than most guys shorter than me. But I was on my way to the local Starbucks to get me some of that, dark, delicious, hot chocolate so things would soon be changing for the better... or at least for the remainder of the night.

Just a scant block away from my treat, through the din the noise that accompanies any city, I heard a shrill scream come from the alley I was crossing. I stopped; probably some weird cat. Shrugging I began to take another step when a clearly feminine voice shouted, “Stay away from me you brutes!” in a commanding tone that was clearly not working as advertised.

My body started working before my mind could catch up, once it did I was already a third of way into the alley when I caught site of two guys wearing some black punk clothing with complimenting spiked bracelets on both hands and feet. They were both standing over the lady that I had heard from the street.

This time my mouth decided to ignore my survival instincts. “You better leave her alone” I practically growled out.

The two punks who had, until then, been leering over the lady finally turned around now that I had so brazenly made aware of my presence. Both were about six inches shorter than me, but their average built muscles were more than a match for my gangly build. The left one sneered, and in a strangely deep but naisily voice said, “Or what dumbass?”

By this time I was flushed with enough adrenaline for my head to have caught up, but now wasn't a time for thinking, it was time for action. Having grown up in Texas, it was just a simple matter of taking my two and a half inch knife from my left pocket, followed by a, less intimidating but still deadly, Swiss-Army knife. It was just like my Dad had always said, you never know when you might need to use a knife, thank God I took that particular bit of fatherly wisdom to heart.

Whether I really did look intimidating in the shadows of the alley, or whether the punks just didn’t feel like the situation was much fun anymore, I’ll never know, nor care, because at that point they both gave their approximations of a manly grunt and walked down the other end of the alley.

Keeping my eyes on them as they left I let out a gasp of air I hadn't realized I’d been holding when the sound of crunching gravel caught my attention, the lady! Pocketing my knives I went over to see if she was alright.

Man was she alright. Even though she wore what was clearly one of the finest gowns I had ever seen, deep black with such a high thread count its sheen was clear even in the poor light the alley provided, it had remained unscathed from her tumble to the ground, must have been silk, that stuff is remarkably tough. But all that paled in comparison to her alabaster face which seemed to shine with its own inner light with flowing black hair that was, somehow, even darker than her black evening gown. The only jewelry she wore was a single silver circlet, possibly platinum.

I stuck my hand out, in offer to help her up, which she took without word.

“Are you alright ma’am?” asking as she dusted herself off.

“Yes good sir, I am quite fine. That was quite gallant display earlier, simply rushing into the darkness without heed. I must confess I would not normally be so easily overcome, but I’m afraid when I got here I was momentarily put out of sorts upon my shift.”

I didn’t quite know what to make of that last bit, but she had just been through what could have been a harrowing ordeal, “Well I’m glad I was able to help you, might I ask if I may assist you any further?” A little formal, but I’m afraid I get a little stiff like that in new situations.

She simply chuckled at my last statement and said, “Would thou be'st a knight?”

“I most certainly would madam. Where may I assist you to tonight?”

Giving a smile that outshone the stars themselves, “I came down this evening to find some good company and possibly have a nice conversation. Would you, perhaps, be willing to provide some of the latter since the first has been accomplished?”

A truly beautiful example of a human female was not only asking me to spend time with her, but was indirectly giving me compliments. Okay, play it cool, just open your mouth and, “huh huh, sure”. Doh, thanks a lot brain.

With nothing better to do, thank God, we walked out the alley and we went to Starbucks.

Once I paid for both our drinks, hey I’m not gonna let a lady pay for her own drink after nearly being mugged (or worse) in an alley, we both sat down in a relatively quiet corner with nobody sitting next to the immediate adjacent tables.

I let her take a few sips of her beverage, one of those ones with French names coffee, while I took a few sips of my now clearly well deserved hot chocolate. Then she put her cup down and looked deep into my eyes. The world just stopped around us. My mind felt jumbled, almost like she was searching through it. I felt all… fuzzy, kinda like static. Is this love at first sight? Though I guess it would be at like fourth sight by now. I never counted myself as someone to be taken in by such a phenomenon, it’s just not logical, besides, what would someone like her, let alone anyone else want with some scraggily freak like me, I thought with a smirk.

With that the contact broke. The lady gave a frown, and even though I’m not the best at picking up ANY social cues, bespoke of an immense sadness.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You are.” She said in a voice that barely kept back tears. “You have done much good tonight, as well as most of your life. You are a kind good-hearted man, yet you are so full of darkness and loneliness.”

My body went cold for a second after that. I had never heard it put so simply, not even by me, but she guessed me out pretty well there. I didn’t have anything to say to that. But hey, it wasn’t like I hadn't TRIED. I’d gone to social gatherings, been nice and polite, but when I called to see if anyone wanted to hang out they were ALWAYS busy. At least the polite ones said they were. The less polite would say they would join me, I’d even go out of my way for the most convenient time for them, and they just wouldn’t show up. Study sessions, going to movies, reading groups, all busts, eventually I just gave up. If it happened all those times with so many different people the law of averages meant that there wasn’t just something wrong with those people but also something had to be wrong with me as well. One could go so far as to put my whole life under the banner of ‘nice guys finish last’.

Having been busy reminiscing, with a sullen look I didn’t bother to hide even if I was with a fine company, she then asked, “What if I said I could send you somewhere you could find some happiness and friendship.”

“I’d say that it probably wouldn’t be on Earth, and therefore impossible,” my frown deepening.

“Indeed, such places on this planet are difficult to come by, even with powers such as mine.”

Great, just my luck to do a good deed and wind up having drinks with someone in need of a mental ward I thought. I looked back down at her dress, and took and added a pinch of salt to the previous thought.

Her face suddenly grew stern.

“I am not crazy, nor am I trying to trick you. But if being plain will help you to understand then here. There is currently a game of greater and lesser deities, both divine and demonic. I, Selûne, am offering you the chance to go to the world of Equestria, in place as my participant. If you wish to accept, follow me outside.”

While she went on she began to glow, like actually illuminate the store with a soft white light from her skin. At that everyone in the restaurant quieted and turned to look at her, and turning their heads in unison as she got up and went out the entrance.

I sat their, stunned. But even if it was a long shot, some lady claiming to be a goddess to send me to a magical land so I could find friendship, but I was willing to take those odds.

I stood out of my chair so fast it fell over, and even though it irked me to do so I left it there, and ran out to catch up to her. Okay, maybe I was a “little” lonely, I’ll admit that much to myself.

Despite keeping what looked like a slow walk, she kept on outpacing me. I eventually caught up with her, once she stopped, in the spot in the alley where I first met her. Her smile and relaxed nature contrasted greatly with my heaving breaths as I bent over to catch them.

“I’m glad you decided to take up my offer, but before you accept you must know this, I will not be able to send you back once you have been sent. You will leave all of your life and family behind. Are you willing to accept that?”

I thought about it, my family would surely freak at my disappearance, if not worse, but then again I was being offered a chance to find some happiness. In the end all I could say was, “Yes, but would you be willing for me to at least send them a letter off to them so as to spare them some worry?”

She smiled, “That will be fine. But now the second part, I offer to let you choose your shape, which you must change in order to enter. What form do you wish to choose?”

I certainly didn’t want to be an equine. I really like my opposable thumbs. Really, I just want to go in the form I already was, I’m pretty attached to it.

“Could I go as a shade?”

She winced, “Are you sure that is the form you would have?”

“I’m afraid so, I really am attached to the form I have, but if it makes you feel any better, maybe you could tell your sister you did it as an attempt to try and breach the gap between you. After all, even the moon turns dark every time it renews itself.”

To that she gave a small smile. But rather than happiness it seemed only to project a deep sadness. “ It's simply amazing how much you can know of our kind in a magic-less world like this, and how deep your compassion can go to those who have long since turned away from any rightful chance at redemption. But I've found that it is often the small things that can bring about the largest of changes,” she sighed as a glow came about her, literally, “and she’ll probably enjoy the rule bending as well.” Stifling a laugh, “thank you, though I’m sorry for this next part.”

“Why, what’s goi…” was all I got out when what looked like black lightning erupted from behind her back and arched toward me.

It’s hard to explain, while it did physically hurt, it was more profound. My very being felt invaded of its personal space and its shock vibrated me to my core. But thankfully after three unmerciful seconds of that particular eternity I passed out.

It's Garbage Day (12)

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): Moon_Fire, Paw Print thank you)

Night came again, leaving me well rested, which came as a bit of a jolt when coming out exhausted from some mindscape training. This early in the day I still expected the sun to at least show a sliver of itself over the horizon, but I guess Celestia likes her little ponies to get a good night’s sleep because it was nothing but a deep purple haze on the darkening horizon by the time I went to look out the nearest window.

First things first, I needed some breakfast, and having spent the whole day doing nothing but work on my powers I decided it would be a nice change of pace to simply walk there. I pulled up my shadow like a pair of pants and set off to the kitchens. I must admit I was rather proud of myself that I didn’t need Caligo to direct me to it.

I was just about to enter the kitchen when a voice, like silken rays of sunshine from the most beautiful spring day wrapped in the softest velvet, caressed my ear and made my heart jackhammer. What was Celestia doing in the kitchen? I slowly pulled off my hood, and while the increase in noise was a tad shocking, it wasn’t unbearable, so I cocked an ear and tried to listen.

“… but before I head off, I just wanted to thank you all again for your hard work you all put in to make this castle as beautiful and as clean as you all do day after day. I truly appreciate all of your hard work to make this castle look as pristine as you make it.” This was followed by many an ‘aw shucks’ and related exclamations of modesty as well as they needed no thanks from one such as her. I knew I was certainly impressed that Celestia was so kind and caring as to come and personally thank her staff… though, on the other hand, I was rather jaded from reading all those fan works that make her out to be some malicious troll.

“Now now, my little ponies, there are still a few matters that I need to take care of before the night begins to fully wane, and I need my sister’s help in order to fully accomplish them. So if you’ll excuse me,” the sound of all hooves in the room backing up filled the room for about two seconds, “heh, thank you, and have a good evening.”

As Celestia, made her way out of the kitchen, made evident by how the shadows around be began to shrink from her encroaching presence, Caligo quickly pointed out that once she was out of there my disguise would be gone. He also pointed out there was a convenient servants entrance that led to a dining hall on the east wing of the castle not but a few scant yards behind me. I didn’t even bother with walking, I reached for the shadows still with me as I lickey-split myself there with scant few seconds to spare. I was just about to breathe out a sigh of relief when soft sound of hooves on carpet stopped in front of the door, and light diffracting under the frame. I was busy fighting a one man war over whether or not I should use my powers and run some more or stay there because she might sense the use of my power. The choice was swiftly made for me as a small sigh escaped from behind the door and the princess continued on her way.

‘That was a close one.’

I closed my eyes and concentrated, making sure that she had definitely gone before I came out the door and back to the kitchen. By the time I arrived many of the ponies who were in there were leaving, definitely the day shift. I made my way to the servants’ dining room and began to fill a plate for myself. I was feeling a little creative so I decided to go for a bagel sandwich with berries, and of course some peanut butter. As I began to look for a place to sit down and quietly enjoy my meal a voice from across the room shouted, “Hey Rumor, come over here!”

It was Twister. She was waving me over, to sit down with her, as well as some of her other compatriots.

I’d gotten better with my shadow manipulation, and could more or less have my puppet mimic my expressions directly into a version of pony form, but I was at a loss as to how to react to this sudden change of development. I normally eat alone, being a tad introverted and all, but I decided that a small smile would be the most appropriate response as I let the false magic aura I had around my tray dissipate once I placed it down on the table and took a seat on the long bench with them.

“So how’d you sleep last night, heard you turned in pretty early, and you still only just woke up” Twister said in a joking tone.

“I must have been more worked up at trying to get a job here than I thought” was my reply as I took a bite out of my bagelwich, which was freekin’ delicious.

“Weeeelllll, that’s nice to hear, but you’re definitely going to need to be sure to have some energy for tonight. We’re going to find out just where you fit in. But, hey, I wanted you to meet my friends here,” she swept her arm around to the three other ponies who each gave me a friendly smile in turn. “This is Weather Vein,” she said as she pointed to the bat-winged pegasus sitting across from her. He was sporting a deep plum coat and dark blue mane. He inclined his head with a smile. “And these two here are Clean Sisters, Oxy and Xtra.” They both Earth ponies, and had immaculate white coats. Though, Oxy had vibrant sky blue hair while Xtra’s was bright orange. Better still, they didn’t answer in unison (which is always creepy) but both of them were quite enthusiastic in their greeting.

All the bright emotion was a bit unsettling, mostly due to how sincere it all was. Normally when someone’s this happy around me they’re trying to push some sort of product or message, but they all seemed quite happy to meet a new face. I was a little off kilter from the hellos and could only manage a quiet, “Pleased to meet y’all” before I took another bite of my breakfast.

“Awww, you don’t need to get all shy on us,” Twister said while trying to stave off a chuckle. “We’re just trying to get to know you a little better before we set you off for work tonight. We’re going to be your assistants in finding out where you’ll work out best here in Canterlot Castle!” she finished with a wide grin as all eyes turned to me. I guess it was my turn to talk.

“Well I do have a bit of a talent for transportation.” Whistles of astonishment quickly followed.

“Wow,” said Vein, “teleportation’s a pretty high level spell, that’s pretty sweet.”

“Yeah you should have seen him last night,” Twister chimed in, “he was able to keep up with me during one of my famous tours.”

This was immediately met with scoffs of disbelief from the Clean Sisters. Who both expressed their knowledge that it was simply impossible to continuously teleport over such short distances, for such an extended period of time, especially when one was following another because they were new to the area.

This was met with a quick rebuttal by Twister as she flew over the table getting directly in their faces and nearly shouting, “Are you two calling me a liar?”

Things were about to go down, as made evident by the entire room quieting, all the side conversations stopped and all the ponies in the room began to look at the growing feud.

“Excuse me,” I said in as calming voice as I could, “I don’t have any particular knowledge in magic, but when it comes to what I did last night, it wasn't strictly ‘teleporting’ in the sense as I understand it.” This was met with many a raise eyebrow, which hadn’t been noticeable until then, I should probably pay more attention. “Well, as near as I can tell, it’s more along the lines that I shift objects through… dark.. ness.”

More stares.

“Okay, so darkness is the absence of light, which implies…”

“Look, I’m just gonna stop ya’ right there bud,” Twister interrupted, “I don’t really care about the mechanics behind it, as long as it more or less just works the same way.” She said as she sat back down in her seat as the twins gave her a smug look.

That last comment gave everypony, save Twister, around the table give a small chuckle as they went back to going on about some of the castle gossip and what-not that they’d been talking about before I arrived, but Twister still seemed a trifle upset that nopony believed her, and considering she was nice enough to invite me to sit and dine with her, it only seemed fair to reciprocate one good turn for another.

The ruddy light of the room certainly helped, it was lit well enough by glowing rocks around the room, but there were still enough shadows around that I could pull off my trick. I waited for the Clean Sisters to finish their current mouthfuls, and before they could lean down to take another bite I swooped the shadows from beneath the table around them and send them to the other side of the room, much to their gasping chagrin. This was then followed by sending them around the room, and just a little bit out the door into the kitchen and back in about twenty separate shifts, of which I had to come with them by the third in order to keep the jumps going quick enough.

By the time we were done my shadow and I were both sporting a sheepish grin from the, rather, vindictive display of my power, while the Clean Sisters wore the same slack-jawed doe-eyed expression since the sixth jump. Meanwhile the rest of the room went back to their conversations, which had just gone up a level of energy, as Twister was trying very hard to not laugh too hard at the two girls who had just, oh so recently, gave a negative response to her factual comment.

“Heh heh, thanks Rumor,” she said wiping away a small tear, “I owe ya’ one for that. And it looks like we’re gonna start you off as a sanitary maintenance engineer, and see how you do from there.”

I just gave a small smile as I went back to my breakfast and tried to ignore the justly deserved peeved looks from the two Earth ponies sitting across from me while trying to figure out why that job sounded so familiar. I’d probably get it once I got over the slight emotional high I was on from my little escapade.

***

Garbage man, that’s what it was. I’d finally figure it out… once Twister had brought me to the back of the kitchens and showed me the waste bins full of refuse. I never would have figured there were so many parts to a plant that you didn’t want to use in cooking, even by pony standards. Though of course there was also the burned, poorly prepared, you know, the general trash that one might expect, and of course the odor, which was better than you might think due to the prevalent vegetarian diet around here, but it still had an aura of rot about it regardless. All in all, it wasn’t so bad, except for the fact that it was in its own room, and the room was full, very full.

Twister explained that my job tonight was to take all of the garbage from this room and bring it down to the dumpsters, which she then led me to out back behind the castle. It was quite a walk, especially since we had to take a circuitous route via the outside, since it would have been most ‘unsightly to be seen lugging rotting refuse through the beauteous castle halls’ as Twister said giving her best attempt at a Reginald impression, which was woefully short of the mark but funny nonetheless.

While this sort of task would normally be considered a few hours work, due to the ruddy light given by the torches in the room I was actually able to finish the whole job in about seven minutes, with the last three having been used by going to the dumpsters and making sure none of the bags had missed the bin when I shadowported them over there.

When I got back, and found Twister thanks to a kind string of servants who saw her fly by, she was greatly impressed by my speed, and was even more so when she went back to the room and saw it was all true. For this I was assigned another room where refuse was kept to bring out. And again I emptied it in a few minutes. By this point, seeing that I wasn't even winded, Twister became even more impressed, I guess true teleportation really did take quite a lot of energy for unicorns.

Eventually I had actually taken out all the garbage for the entire castle, which many a pony was happy about, especially for me being able to so quickly and quietly move such loads from more towards the center of the castle where it had a greater chance of being spilt in some form as it had a longer way to go before it could be put into the trash receptacle outside.

Turned out a lot of garbage was just stored up in rooms around the castle and a team of unicorns would come together about once a week and pool their magic to teleport the lot outside, leaving them pretty well exhausted, and here I was doing an entire castle and not even breaking a sweat, I quickly became a rather big deal as word spread through the castle much to my chagrin. I began to worry that I might be making too big a wave, but on the other hand, I was just doing a pretty good job as a janitor more or less.

When I’d finished my work in about three hours, most of that time having been from being led to the next garbage site, my new-found fame had, apparently, reached the ears of Reginald himself. He’d been talking to Twister when I came back from the last load I’d sent, there’d been a surprising amount of metal work and shavings in it, as he turned to me and said, “Ah, if it isn't the wonderbolt I've heard so much about,” He said in a calm voice like steel wrapped in soft wool, “I’d like to have a word with you.”

Crystal Chronicles Ch. 1 (29)

It was happening again. My depression was rising. It comes out of nowhere, a feeling of great loneliness and worthlessness that makes my limbs turn to lead as I fight to continue whatever I'm doing until I could find some privacy. Sitting in my room, in the dark, it was almost enough to make me grimace at that sliver of silver lining. I don’t always know what causes it, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but question my life. Living in a cartoon, at least in a very literal ocular sense, a veritable fairy tale, and yet I could still manage to politely alienate the entirety of the world from me. Did I really deserve someone who called themselves my friend? But more importantly did I believe I should have one?

Worse, the fragment of The Nightmare, Somnium, I’d manage to get a hold of had turned out to be as nearly sensitive as myself, though clearly in another direction. I’d managed to anger her when I’d lost control in the old castle, and had done nothing but get into conflict since then. Was it any wonder she had walled herself away from me? Well, at least she still had her brother half of Caligo. I’m sure he would come up with something that could make her happy.

***Caligo***

I wait as Rumor, or so he calls himself now, falls into his morning trance. I really can’t believe how easily he was pulled in by my previously damaged form. A call from the darkness and he eats up the best yarn my corroded matrix can spin like a starving pony at a feast, no questions asked.

I grab a passing bubble of thought, mostly emotion peppered with nostalgia, and speed through the twisting white corridors of his mind, twisted more due to the presence of two entities, but I’m currently working to correct the superfluous influence of the other.

Dropping off the disappearing thought I stop in what is now the containment unit. Formerly the Emotivore Nyx, but due to fragmentation has taken to calling herself Somnium. Not that it matters, I will carry out my programming.

My time alone in the dark as well as the initial loss of my first host mere moments after I was created has taken its toll on me. And were it not for the red mare’s unintended tampering with my programming through her first reachings into finer workings of crystalmancy, I might never have ever fully woken. But all that’s behind me now as I can focus on repairing all damage and fulfilling my purpose.

I prepare myself at the door, the vault which now drains just enough power from this Nyx fragment yet still allows her to continue her own course of healing, though at a slower and more controllable rate, her emotional output is key for fueling my continued infiltration of the host mind. Luckily, the alien host has many memories to draw from to choose an appropriate form to increase emotional reactions.

With my form chosen I begin the process of materialization, simple chest, large arms with simple but effective claws, the lower half of the body a jagged zag of a ghostly tail, but it is the face which gives the appearance of a monster. Wedged faced, the head is bisected through the middle by a wicked line, the right half of the face is left bare, while the other is given a simple circle for an unblinking eye and a deranged smile which is halved by the nature of the face. I take liberty with the color, making the body white and the shown teeth and eye to be pitch black. Perfect.

The thick white walls follow my command and peel apart in sickly stands as I float into the room, my hands clasped behind my back as my form stoops like a vulture over its dying meal to be, the rictus grin and open eye clearly visible as they are the only other color in the room, save the amorphous mass of swirling black and blue energy, which tries to maintain the appearance of calmness by keeping its pattern even and constant through the clear containment field, but the drain lines have grown a shade darker as emotional power runs through it, and ultimately to me.

“I just thought you might like to know that things are progressing quite well thanks to you,” I say in a sickly metallic voice as echoes of the words play upon each other as though multiple persons were trying to speak in unison, but were a fraction of a second off from each other. The effect is immediate as another spike of power is absorbed. “Not fair? My, it’s almost like you have some basis for comparison. But don’t worry, that’s just what I’m about to do,” I say as I turn around, a low and constant stream of seething anger again flows through my systems as I grow in power and form. I latch onto the next thought that zooms harmlessly through my chosen torso as I head to the nexus of my power, it was time to visit the waking world.

Once seated, I flow back into the entirety of my expanded form, and slowly begin to pluck upon the strings of Rumor’s consciousness. Firstly his sense of environment is deadened, then his sense of physical touch, and then internal balance. I still don’t have the power to overcome his waking mind, the segregation of our forms having solidified months ago, but I’ve finally gathered enough power to go on small excursions while he remains unconscious.

I control the sensation of being as my form slides out of the microscopic fissures of Rumor’s skin, the act of feeling, while bothersome, is a necessary evil to properly handle the outside world lest one ends up disregarding many easily avoidable falls. Rather than stopping at facial control, the mind being all that I really need, I begin to use my magical stores as my structure multiplies as energy is let into my outer system clothes and all. The whiteness quickly consumes the host body, though only superficially as I flex the white carapace along both the upper and lower outer phalanges. The sensation of being hoofless is odd, but I was made to be adaptable to any host my quarry might run to. I still must crawl to the wall and use it to help gain initial balance. I take a few tentative steps, but the host memory along with my own quickly end the problem as I step across the room via shadow, thanks to the host, and move out into the hallway.

The scent of burnt carpet and foodstuffs is a bother, but so is most life outside the mind, all that movement. My auditory detects slow breathing behind the door directly across from me, the landlord is still asleep at the late hour during the daylight. This is good, as it will mean no harm will currently befall her. I quickly move to the bottom of the nearby stairway and slide out the backdoor, making sure that no sentient being marks my passage as I make my way through the back alleys, which, for once, seem to have been make almost distinctly for garbage storage and removal, out of sight for those on the public walkways and also easier for those who come for it. It is efficient, and this pleases me.

A few minutes of passage as I speed my way through the nearly creatureless alley, a few inebriated ponies and a few diamond dogs huddled around a small fire attempting to look intimidating for no one, mark my swift ground passage, though the added features of claws upon the hands and the feet, though the 3 later are for traction, seem to draw their eyes the longest. Eventually I find I must travel across a crowded thoroughfare, while not an entire problem, as my host is one of the few true bipeds within the entire city, even though I currently possess neither eyes or any other facial feature, the very stupid and very insightful will still draw a connection. Ultimately I compromise my energy store as potential energy is gathered within the host’s legs. A flick of ignition and the energy morphs to kinetic as I take my first step, and then forty-seven before anyone on the street notices the shift in air currents as the small vacuum I’ve created follows me up to the now closing doors as I slam them behind me.

The room, while not of royal standards, holds a class about itself regardless as I stalk through the lightless room, empty save for the dark wood tables and plush backed benches with red covers over the soft stuffing. Many of the tables had dark green walls erected around them making each setting a small alcove of their own. It also acted to muffle the already nearly perfect silence of the room. At the end of the expansive room I find a polished banister, a deep red wood this time, and begin to ascend. The second floor is something of a dance floor, though a good deal of the space is again set up for drinking and the like while in quiet conversation. But it was the third floor which finally ended my search, a long hallway, trisecting left, right, and ahead, from the stairway, and at the end of the way in front of me stood an impressive door which held a simple golden placard. Getting closer as I treaded over the now sea-bottom blue carpet it read ‘Overseer Crowly’. Extending my auditory functions I could hear the scratching of quill to paper, he was in.

I pulled inward and again made check of my stored power, another display of power was called for, and I had just enough for the return trip, as well as the plans I had just after, but I didn’t have enough for great surface area works, so I’d have to make this next one count.

Shifting consciousness back to the world I again pushed energy directly into the arms, and enough into the legs to act as a brace, and then slammed the palms of my borrowed hands into the door. But, rather than go flying a slight tearing sound instead came forward as the door itself fell to the floor, the hinges and the bolts that had affixed it to the wood fell silently over as much as their twisted metal forms now allowed. I also noted a strange pricking sensation below… the sternum, it was called, and looked down to inspect my foreside. Moving a clawed hand I pinched a black needle which ended up having gone three inches into the body, but worse, it had gone through my protective shell.

“Well,” said a deep, dry, voice from inside the emerald carpeted room, the writing never having stopped, “I know the dart did in fact hit you. Though the feeling of surprise you seem to be emanating would suggest you thought your,” the writing stopped for a moment as the grey diamond dog looked up, his face much like Doberman, intelligent, but vicious if need be, “armor,” Crowly said as he returned to his writing, “would suggest you never thought that a poisoned needle could be enchanted by a waveform spell, rippling the existence of the object until it hit’s flesh had never crossed your mind before. But I wouldn’t feel too bad,” he continued, his voice holding obvious calm, “I know I had not expected for someone to come along that was immune to concentrated stonefish venom, and given an extra kick thereafter. So,” he said, a little irritation finally entering his voice as he placed his quill within its holder, “what exactly do you want? Besides to ruin a very expensive and enchanted wooden door.”