Screams of fear, shouts of battle, and zaps of magical weapons fill the air of the small desert town as I stare down the bitch. She's some kind of dog-like thing that possesses scary, magical, powers that really hurt my friends during our battle. I swallow as I wait for the right moment to strike from the shadows. As she finishes her spell work and pummels my friends with her twisted magic I see the perfect opportunity to strike. I dive into the shadows with my small leathery wings spread, the world becomes shadowy as I warp from the shadow I'm in, to the bitch's shadow.
Her tan coat is matted with sweat from the exertion of combat and her magic, and from my vantage, inside her shadow, I can see an opening to attack her neck. I slip out of her shadow and up to her neck so fast she can't even see me. My fangs sink into her and her blood pools from the punctures, instinct takes over and I begin drinking from her. The magical power in her blood is overwhelming. I can feel it pouring into my veins, into my soul, and then I hear her. Her voice is old, sweet but with a weight to it like mountains of steel.
"Take me away from here." She commands, and my body obeys.
I quickly stuff her into my shadow pouch before flying as high as I can, as quickly as I can to spot a shadow a long distance away to jump to. As soon as I have my target, I drop like a rock, diving into my own shadow and vanishing from the fight.
Moments later I appear again, very far from the battle, my body—still following orders—tosses her out of my shadow. As she stands before me, I bow low to the ground. Her attention shifts to me and a dark grin spreads across her face. She drags a claw through my mane, down my cheek and to my chin, lifting my head and forcing me to look at her.
"I have never seen such a bold pony as you, let alone a foal barely old enough to survive in the world." Her voice echoes as she speaks aloud and into my head. "What is your name, child?"
"Red Shade." I reply as I stare up into her baleful purple eyes.
"Well, Red Shade, you have my thanks for rescuing me from that battle." She smiles down at me with a toothy grin. "But you still took something from me without asking. You belong to me now."
"M-m-my F-fri-friends." I struggle out my will fighting against her magic as hard as it can.
"Oh, I won't be taking you with me. But you have my blood, my magic flowing through your veins." She responds as if reading my mind. "When I am near, you will obey me, you will fight for me, but you will not be without your boons."
Her claws dig into my chin and her magic washes over me. My body shakes and shivers as her magic floods me and changes me to fit her design. Suddenly I know how to cast a shield spell, every form of it. Other parts of me change and a creeping rage settles into my mind.
"There we are, a blessing befitting your wildness. Never again shall you be swayed by the downsides of what you mortals call drugs. Nor shall the poison of creatures harm you again." Her claws leave my jaw, my blood dripping from them. "You shall be able to cast a great shield in times of need, that shall allow you to better protect me in the future. And finally you shall rage against my enemies."
"No!" I shout loudly. "I will not harm my friends!"
"Fine, so long as you are not at peak health you will not rage." She says, moving her claws back to my jaw and digging in again. Her magic changes something inside of me again and I can feel the rage lessening. "But I expect you to be prepared and ready for when we meet again."
Her magic reasserts itself over my will and I bow again as she pulls her claws away from my chin, "Yes Mistress."
She says nothing else as she turns and walks away. It feels like forever before she teleports away. As she goes I feel one last command to return to my friends, but it is subtle. I don't feel the push to go instantly and simply stay there, in the bowed position, as tears run down my cheeks. My body is so tense I can't stop bowing even as I break down. Fear wars with rage as my mind struggles to think of a way to resist the boiling rage inside of me.
Slowly fear and rage loose to the growing power of my desire to return to my friends and the command to do so. Taking to the sky, I realized that I had made multiple jumps through the shadows, not just one. Slowly I start making my way back, taking it one jump at a time as my mind works the problem over. So far my desire to stay sane, to not hurt my friends, is winning but that's a gamble and not a solution. Even when I arrive back and get told off for what I did, my mind still works on the problem.
The rest of the day, and most of the next pass in a blur as my mind works on the problem. That night I sat under the moon, looking up at the stars as I thought the problem over. As I think about what started this mess an idea comes to me. I remove my fang extenders, which in a way have almost become a part of me, and a small badge that glows with magical power. Setting them to the side I bite my foreleg. It's painful and my leg begins to bleed, forcing me to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding, but the madness and the fog lifts from my mind.
The rage is gone, and I realize what the bitch meant. Tears roll down my cheek as I realize what this means. Every day for the rest of my life, I will have to hurt myself to stop myself from becoming a monster. After a couple minutes I'm able to stop my tears as I also realize that this is not about my suffering, but about protecting my friends, and that isn't so bad. Drying my eyes I move back to the group and settle down for the night, finding peace at last.
