Shadows and Sunlight: Shady's Origin

Everyone made their way into the foyer of the castle, where Princess Luna stepped aside with Shady.

“The rest of them are going to head to the library room and begin setting up the mirror. I need to speak to you for a moment.”

He looked back at the others as they continued onward, then walked with her without question. They stopped in the middle of the foyer.

“Do you remember when you first arrived in Canterlot and we interrogated you in the throne room? That I used a spell to return you to this form?”

Shady nodded in agreement, though he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“I do remember that, yes, but I’m a bit lost as to why you’re bringing this up right before I’m about to embark on the journey back home.”

She got closer to him, which prompted him to sit on his rear end.

“Like we mentioned that night, non-native creatures are transformed into a pony that most suits them physically. That is, unless they possess the power to resist it. It happens without anypony doing anything about it. It’s a unique quirk of Equestria that scholars still do not understand.”

He stretched a paw out upside down, feeding more questions into her.

“Then why was I turned into a pegasi when I can perform magical feats that are alien to this world? Why were you able to undo it so easily?”

Luna got down to his level and magic glowed around her horn.

“Apparently your ability to fly with the wings you can manifest at your own disposal was considered more impressive. I’m not entirely sure of the factors that our kingdom weighs in the decision. As for me returning you to your normal appearance, I cast magic on you that made you resistant to the magic, and thus you resumed the form you’re using now.”

The glow around her horn intensified, and a beam of magic shot out next to him. In the absence of the magic explosion, he couldn’t believe that he saw Drop Shadow standing there. Though it appeared to be only an illusion, since the pegasus pony mimicked every movement he made down to his own breathing. Even when he spoke, the clone’s mouth moved in sync, but no vocalizations came from it. He did not turn his attention back to her, but she kept on talking to him.

“My goal was to teach you the spell that would allow you to take on the shape of Drop Shadow at any point. I remember clearly - right before I was banished to the moon - that Amaterasu could make use of abilities she referred to as karmic transformers that let her take on other shapes. I’m unsure how I could adapt the spell for use with her brush, though...”

A realization did come to him, which made his body turn to face her, along with the apparated Drop Shadow.

“Well, I use the mega stone on my necklace to make the transition between this form and mega form, as well as any shifts in stance. It was exposed to unicorn magic back when Twilight, Starlight and Sunset all hit it with magic against my word. It was the reason I transformed as well as all of you.”

The princess’ face brightened at the mention of that night. She placed a hoof under her chin. The apparition of Drop Shadow vanished as well.

“That’s right! I remember now. Tell me: have you attempted transforming into Drop Shadow since that night? Since it reacted to their magic in that way, perhaps it could be the catalyst that lets you become him? It already lets you change into that larger canine form, and you said you simply need to think about it and tap the stone to do so.”

In turn, Shady put a paw under his own chin.

“Actually, no. I haven’t considered it. I’ve been more concerned about trying to gather everypony and get back home to help Ammy.”

She stood back up straight and recomposed herself, looking at him with a serious, non-angry expression.

“Give it a try. Think about turning into Drop Shadow and touch the stone.”

Shady shut his eyes and concentrated on the shape of the pegasus pony that he became upon entering Equestria, and gently tapped on the mega stone with his paw. A veil of light covered him. Upon the dissolution of the veil, he found himself still standing there as a canine.

“I don’t think it worked. Although while smothered with the light, I did feel like my body was turned into an equine shape, albeit briefly. I know the connection is there. However, I don’t think the magic is quite there. What if... and hear me out... What if you channeled more magic into it? Sure, Twilight is an alicorn, and the other two are unicorns, but you’re a fully developed and wonderfully aged alicorn. Perhaps it needs your input?”

Luna narrowed her eyes slightly at him.

“You were trying to hint at my age. I’ll let that one slide since the recovery was smooth. However, are you absolutely sure it needs more? You mentioned that it began behaving erratically from their magic.”

Her expression had lightened up during the latter half of her question.

“I’m pretty sure. It took your magic to remove the transformation in the first place. I imagine that if the girls were able to do it when they fired magic at my stone, I would’ve transformed into a pony rather than the mega form. That’s a part of me, while the pegasus pony is something completely different.”

The princess had to think over it for several seconds before finally submitting to his demand, still a bit nervous about giving the stone more magic.

“Alright, if you’re certain that’s what it needs, I’ll do it. Just know that I bear no responsibility for any ill side effects. You did say it behaved oddly before. Step closer.”

The dog took a few steps closer to the horse, and she tilted her head downward so that her horn was within a few inches of his necklace. Magic began emanating from her horn and was infusing into the mega stone. Throughout the minute-long process, the spike in energy was having an effect on Shady’s body, lifting him slightly above the ground and sending shockwaves through his tail and hair, making them flow like the wind.

She gradually ramped up the intensity until it glowed with the color of her magic, letting off abruptly. Shady landed back on his feet and had to shake his head to gather his bearings. He looked down and noticed the glowing.

“Well, it's glowing. It’s not vibrating erratically like before, so I guess that’s a good sign, right?”

The princess shrugged, not giving any clear motions afterward. With the slightest bit of hesitation and anxiety, he shut his eyes again and gave immense concentration. The stone was touched by his paw, and the veil of light appeared once more. Unlike the prior attempt, the ending dissolution of the light revealed a much more equine version of himself. He had successfully turned himself back into the pony he came here as! Given the surprise and dopamine from it working out, he fluffed his wings out and did a cute little happy trot in place. The princess seemed happy for him as well, a genuine smile across her face.

“I guess you were right! The amount of magic given by the girls must not have been enough. Glad to see it worked out!”

He trotted over to her and gave her a hug, to which she initially recoiled slightly.

“Thank you, Princess Luna! You didn’t have to do this, but I’m so happy you did.”

They both exited the hug and she lowered her face down to his own, speaking softer.

“Absolutely, young one. Now let's head up to her library. You have a mission to complete, Drop Shadow.”

He smiled as they made their way up the stairs and around the bend. The library was a straight shot from the stairway, the first room on the second floor. The commotion could be heard from the outside, and it didn’t sound pleasant. Opening the two doors, things appeared to be in minor disarray. Starlight was downright lost, with both Sunset and Twilight skimming through any and all books they could find in search of any clues or secrets they might’ve missed. Celestia, too, was not quite in a good mood about it either. She turned her head to see the newcomers, and gazed at them with folded back ears.

“Dear sister, perhaps you could possibly provide some insight. We seem to be... stuck, for lack of a better, more profane word.”

The mention of newcomers drew Sunset’s attention away from the book she was frantically skimming through. Her mouth opened slightly. If you looked really, and I mean really close, you could see that there was a slight blush behind those cheeks.

“Shad- wait, Drop Shadow?? But how did you turn back into a pony??”

He gestured to the mega stone hanging from the necklace, then gazing up at Luna as he made his response.

“With Princess Luna’s generous help, she infused the stone with developed alicorn magic, which now grants me the ability to become Drop Shadow as easily as the mega form, should I ever need it.”

Before he could notice the happy trot she did, he watched as Luna made her way over to the mirror. Her gaze was locked onto it before focusing on Starlight.

“This may sound rather silly, but it’s the first step in problem solving: are you absolutely sure you’re performing the spell correctly? Even one wrong incantation will make sure nothing happens.”

The pink unicorn scoffed at her to show her annoyance, holding the spell book up with magic.

“Yes! I went over the wording and details multiple times before you and Drop Shadow entered the room! I’m casting it to a T and nothing is happening!”

The princess acknowledged what the mare was saying with a mumble, and took the book into her grasp. She read over the pages that Starlight had written, finding nothing seemingly out of place or that she had been missing. The book was returned to her.

“Let me give it a try. Perhaps it needs a more focused mind in order to work correctly.”

She lowered her head down and the familiar glow appeared around her horn. A magical beam shot out and struck the symbol of a horse on the top of the mirror like a bullseye. The magic was held for several seconds before she let off, giving it a moment to see what would happen. Unsurprisingly, nothing did.

“...This is quite peculiar. You and I both performed the spell as it was written.”

Luna continued to stare up at the horse symbol on the mirror, and did not stop. Being bored at the lack of anything interesting happening, Rainbow flew down to the journal and picked it up herself. She went through the pages that were duplicated by Starlight, eyes widening slightly.

“Uh, guys? You know I’m not one to normally know much about magic, but beyond the last page is another whole paragraph of instructions.”

In surprise, Starlight jumped up from the ground and snatched the journal from Dash’s hooves.

“What?! Gimme that!”

Looking through the book again, she, too, noticed the additional page.

“I... didn’t see this portion when I copied the text. There’s no way it was in the original book.”

“You’re right, darling! I don’t recall seeing that either! Where in the world did that come from?”

Rarity had to chime in as well, gasping lightly. She tried making sense of the new page, but ultimately came up blank.

“Shadow, dear, perhaps you can make sense of it? I may be a unicorn and all, but not even I have the slightest clue what those markings mean. They look downright alien!”

The stallion grabbed the book and held it open, reading through the last page as he flew in place slightly above the floor. Things were making sense, you could figuratively see the gears turning in his head.

“...and that looks like Sunrise... but wait... oh, yeah... my word... okay that’s pretty clever...”

He had been thinking aloud, and that’s when the last piece of the puzzle finally clicked into place.

“It all makes sense now! Assuming I’m reading this correctly, the mirror can take you to other destinations, but only if you can include part of that world’s magic in the spell you cast! I have to perform one of Ammy’s brush techniques when one of you casts the spell!”

His statement had everypony shocked, though Celestia was a bit worried, admittedly.

“That’s a great observation, Drop Shadow, but I don’t recall that being a part of the spell we wrote over a millennia ago. That’s something I would expect to remember...”

He got in her face and grabbed it with his front hooves, an ecstatic expression almost breaking free.

“Who cares?! This has to work!”

On cue, Sunset stepped forward and stood confidently. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity took their places next to and behind her, horns pointed through the horse symbol.

“Ready, girls?”

Shimmer called out in a leading tone of voice. All together, they announced such, and the goldenrod pony charged up magic.

“Alright, follow my lead!”

She fired magic at the symbol, with the other three doing so a split second afterward. The combined strength of their magic made the horse symbol on top of the mirror glow a sky blue color. With the glow achieved, the stallion made his move, drawing a circle of ink around the symbol with his tail. The ink transmuted into a red circle, which exhibited rays of light from the outer edge. The room was filled with bright light, and everypony shielded their eyes. Once the light levels normalized, the room was filled with pony jaws on the floor. Twilight bounced up and down happily, quite similarly to how Pinkie would. The crystal mirror was active, and the portal was seemingly textured from cherry blossom leaves. They had done it.

“We did it! We opened the portal to Shady’s home!”

The princess of friendship exclaimed with the bounce in her step. The celebrations were cut off short with the sudden opening of the doors to the library. Everypony snapped around to see who could’ve possibly slipped past Gallus. It happened to be a pegasus pony, gray in color with quite the curly mane. One eye was green and the other blood red. And his wings... well they were something else entirely. Very mystical, if there had to be a descriptor for them. He didn’t look friendly, which was unfortunate.

“Stop right there!! I cannot allow you to pass through the mirror!”

Drop Shadow stood his ground, getting between the intruder and the other mares.

“And just who do you think you are? This is the private business of Princess Twilight and her friends! I highly suggest you leave before I make you leave!!”

The gray pegasi flew up into the air and held his position.

“My identity is of no concern to you. I come from a place that removes the impurities from creatures such as yourself so that the world can live in harmony!”

Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance and made an outburst.

“Oh for the love of- how many ponies are going to tell me I have THAT much darkness in- screw it, ENGARDE!”

He flew up to match the height of the mysterious foe, and the gray pony sped toward him almost as fast as Rainbow Dash. Almost. The purple stallion reacted with a quick flick of his tail in a straight, horizontal line. The end result was the highest level of Power Slash, which somehow became imbued with fire. It landed a direct hit on his target, which exploded in a cloud of smoke. A scream very much like a certain conspiracy theorist smoker from a Texas anime emitted from the spot where he had been. Everypony left in the smoke coughed their lungs out, until the cloud vanished not long after.

“What in the hay was that all about?! And why did he just explode into smoke?? That scream didn’t quite sound like him either...”

Applejack asked out of confusion, still going through a couple coughs.

“I haven’t the slightest clue who or what that was, AJ, but I think it’s best we go on in before he comes back.”

“As much as we want to follow along and help out, somepony has to watch over Equestria in Twilight’s absence. We’ll be staying behind and providing any support that we can.”

“Why can’t someone like, oh, Spike do it? Or even maybe Gallus? We could really use you two over there.”

Fluttershy asked both sisters, trying her hardest to have as many ponies on board with going. The current ruler herself answered that one.

“Not that I don’t trust Spike as my advisor and loyal assistant, but the last time he took the matter of royal decisions into his claws, my own reputation was nearly tarnished... I’d rather not go through that if possible. As for Gallus, he’s very much capable of standing up for himself, but ruling all of Equestria? He is NOT conditioned for that.”

The shy pony’s ears went back and she looked mighty disappointed.

“We won’t have Princess Celestia or Luna over there to help us, but we have a total of nine of us! If you then include Amaterasu once we get there, that’s five times the firepower compared to before!”

Despite her analysis being mathematically correct and it giving everypony a bit more hope, they would all be lying if they said that they weren’t nervous. Celestia placed a hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder and smiled warmly, while Luna did the same for Drop Shadow. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at them.

“We’re going to get through this. Do you trust me?”

The eight mares nodded in unison, signaling their trust in his plan.

“Alright! We jump in on three! ... ONE TWO THREE!!”

He leapt into the mirror, with the rest of the mares following a few seconds after. Both princesses stood there, looking at the mirror’s open vortex.

“Best of luck to you, little one. Please make sure Twilight and her friends make it back in one piece...”

Celestia spoke quietly, anxious about the whole endeavor having been kicked off. Inside the vortex, everything appeared to be vibrantly rainbow in color. Everypony was being visibly stretched out as they swirled toward the center, much like a black hole, but without the horrible agonizing death. The only words uttered were screams as they proceeded toward the singularity.

At the center of the vortex, the colors ended as quickly as they appeared, and their bodies were overloaded with the sensation of suddenly being underwater. The pressure hit them, and they all scrambled to swim upward. This was unlike your standard traditional water. The fluidity said it was water, however the clarity left much to be desired.

The feeling of this liquid felt somewhat familiar to Shadow. Following what felt like the longest swim of their lives, everypony breached the surface and gasped for air while treading water. Still not entirely aware of his surroundings, he paddled over to the stone lip and held on to catch his breath.

“Sweet Celestia... is... is everypony alright?”

All the girls had paddled their way over to the lip as well, doing the exact thing he was.

“I’ve been through... the mirror many times before... but... this was a new experience...”

Sunset mentioned, her mane flopping over one eye from being soaked with water.

“A swimming trip was the last thing on my mind for today... my mane is... is ruined...”

Everypony rolled their eyes at Rarity’s comment, and lightly chuckled.

“What was that... even about?? Something was holding us... back! The pool isn’t even deep!”

A soaked Rainbow Dash outburst, agitated at the length they felt like they swam. In reality, the water was only up to their abdomens. Drop Shadow then looked down at the liquid they were currently standing in, and his face lit up.

“Wait... stardust?!”

He reached in and picked some up with a hoof, before erratically checking the surrounding area. Surrounding the pool was a grove of bamboo, with a nice fountain leading water into it. The path ahead was lined with carved bamboo stalks and a cobblestone pathway, paper lanterns lighting it up. Above, the sky was gray and grim, thunder coming in periodic bursts. No lightning as of yet. His head turned back to face the mares.

“We’re in the Pool of the Heavens... That means we’re on the Celestial Plain. But... Why did it spit us out here? Ammy never mentioned this place having that kind of significance.”

He continued staring out from the pool, while a voice broke his concentration from behind.

“As good as this here stuff feels on my body, what even is this, sugarcube? It may be normal to you, but from everything I’ve seen in my life, this ain’t natural. I’m going to assume it’s safe since you ain’t panicking, but...”

Applejack looked over his way, her hat resting on the edge of the pool. Her expression was confusion and worry.

“The stuff we’re currently wading in is pure stardust. It has the fluidity and feel of water, but is most certainly not. According to her, if any impure creature, such as the demons she’s fought in the past, were to make contact with it, it would burn them past the point of the third degree. To us, it’s harmless.”

That gave her some reassurance. Her face released the tension it held. Just as she did so, Pinkie sprang up from below the surface, blowing stardust out of her mouth and loathing the taste it left behind.

“BLEGH!! This stuff looks like cotton candy, but don’t try to eat it!!”

Every one of them laughed a bit before Shadow made his way out of the pool, the mares following his lead. Twilight looked at him, then back to the pool and then to the surrounding area.

“Under better circumstances, this would be the perfect opportunity to study the physical laws of an adjacent dimension...”

The goldenrod pony came up behind her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Come on, Twi. We’ll have plenty of time to write all sorts of reports about this AFTER we help Shadow’s mom.”

She nodded in response to Celestia’s former student. The stallion stood facing the path with the wind ruffling his mane. He spoke without turning his head, and began going forward.

“Everypony, follow me. Ammy’s cottage isn’t far from here. I’d show you the sights, but time isn’t on our side.”

The rest followed his lead, matching his pacing and taking mental notes of the place they were now inhabiting. As they approached the cottage, in front of it stood Amaterasu’s giant guardian sapling: withered to nothing but the branches. The cherry blossom leaves all sat on the ground at the roots, doing nothing but being moved around by the gradually increasing wind. Drop Shadow looked up at the tree and touched the trunk with a hoof, a tear coming to his eye as he did so.

“This is not good, girls. This tree only withers if something awful has happened. We need to get in there NOW.”

The sudden raise in his voice made all the girls flinch, but they followed him without question, even at a gallop. On the way over, a voice shouted to him.

“She’s going to be okay, Shadow! We’ve got your back!”

It was Sunset who attempted the reassuring words. Though he heard them, he didn’t say anything back. The conclusion of her sentence made her aware that the dark aura had manifested around him, despite being a pony.

At the door, he threw it open and shut it behind all the mares, catching his breath from the lengthy gallop. It was then that she spoke up about it.

“Hey... Drop Shadow? I hope you don’t feel like I’m intruding, but do you know that your-”

She was interrupted by his voice, which rang out coldly.

“Yes, Sunset Shimmer. I’m aware that it’s showing. My emotions aren’t under control right now, and that’s my least concern. I’m still thinking rationally. But thanks for noticing.”

Her face went into a panic, but it quickly tapered off, showing how she was down.

“I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just... on edge. It’s a bit too quiet for my liking. I want you all to stay here. I’m going to search the house to see if she’s here.”

It was then that he touched the mega stone with a hoof and then stood in front of them as an anthropomorphic canine mega evolution, cherry blossoms falling to the floor.

“Or anyone else.”

He added on, the dark aura intensifying suddenly. With deep breath, he braced himself for the worst, heading through the curtain to the adjacent room. Cautiously he went from room to room with shadow energy covering his entire body, extremely alert to anything in the immediate vicinity. He was not finding anything suspicious or seemingly out of place. Nothing upstairs, nor the basement, or even the kitchen.

The last place he hadn’t checked was the backside balcony. His heart was starting to race at this point, but he sucked it up and forced the bamboo-wood doors open to find Ammy on her back, pregnant belly sticking up high, fur tattered and messy, and a few cuts and bruises scattered across her body. Shady’s eyes shrunk and his hair stood on end until he realized that she was indeed still breathing. Immediately he kneeled down and grabbed one of her hands, shaking it vigorously.

“Mom! MOM!! MOM WAKE UP!! IT’S ME, SHADY!! PLEASE!!”

It took several seconds but her ears twitched from registering a sound and her eyes slowly opened to see him.

“S…Shady…? Is that you…? Oh thank heavens you’re alright…”

He was still gripping her hand tightly, with tears now in his eyes.

“I’M SORRY I WASN’T THERE TO HELP YOU! I TRIED COMING BACK AS SOON AS I COULD BECAUSE I KNEW YOU WERE IN DANGER AND I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN T-T-T-”

She managed to stand up on her own, albeit slowly, just in time for him to fall forward and hug her tightly. He was crying like never before. Even the tough guys have their breaking points, and that’s okay.

“It’s alright, honey. Take your time. I’m sure you’ve been through quite the same amount of hell that I’ve been through in the last few days.”

She took the two of them back into the house, navigating the dark, unlit rooms until they reached the main room where the mares were. They had heard some of the noise coming from the balcony and were admittedly curious. By then, Shady was essentially finished with his waterworks. They entered the room and the ponies had a surprised/worried look on their faces. Ammy was unphased, laying herself down on the bed while Shady sat down next to her, still gripping a hand. Rainbow Dash was the only one who remained on the bed, and she sat on her plot. The whole room was quiet for an uncomfortably long time, with all eyes focused on Ammy.

“So this is Amaterasu? She looks… way different than I imagined. Definitely, uh, rounder… too…”

Twilight pulled a hoof back in confusion and uncomfort at the sight of her body, you could see it in her eyes: she wasn’t prepared for something like this. Rainbow looked at Shady with her ears drooped down and genuine concern in her expression.

“Is she going to be alright? She looks like she barely survived an Ursa Minor attack!”

He looked back over at her with the same look she gave him.

“I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine, Rainbow. Though, I’ve never seen her so battered and bruised, so I really can’t say… It was no doubt the toilings of my dad...”

In the following hour, it was apparent that she must’ve fallen asleep, since her body was relaxed and chest was rising and falling normally. Dash proceeded to go around Shady and approached the goddess with both caution and curiosity. She slowly stretched a hoof out in an attempt to touch the belly, but her focus was broken by a distraught AJ, who tried to yell but also keep her voice down at the same time.

“Rainbow Dash!! You don’t touch someone’s stomach without permission!! That’s rude!”

She quickly retracted her hoof and stepped back, looking down at the country girl with an annoyed face.

“Come on, AJ! I just wanted to know what it felt like!”

Shady got between both of them and became the quiet, dominant voice.

“GIRLS! Please keep it down, would ya?? She’s trying to sleep after a hard fought fight!”

The goddess began to stir, eventually waking up from the ruckus. Guess Shady needed to be quiet too. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and getting accustomed to the light in the room. Looking around, she quickly noticed Shady sitting on the bed, along with eight not so familiar faces. They all said fright in their expressions. From her perspective, a blue pony was poking out from behind Shady, along with the other seven sitting on their plots, a bit of fright in their copy-paste expressions. Rather than be upset with being woken up, seeing them all there brought a smile to her face.

“Oh! My apologies for simply collapsing on the bed earlier and not noticing you girls. I was so exhausted from the encounter with his father that I could hardly move... Looks like Celestia finally came through and lent me a hand.”

Shady’s face immediately switched to surprise. Things were starting to make sense. He didn’t utter a word, letting her continue.

“Over the course of the last millennium, I’ve given her and her kingdom aid when they needed it, but not once have I actually needed it in return. Everything up until this point wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle on my own. Once I knew that Kai was proving to be a real threat - more so once he turned into Hisuian form - I sent a letter in desperation, hoping to finally get some back.”

She looked over at her son, with a hand on her belly.

“Without getting a response back, I sent Shady through my cherry blossom portal. And given that you mares are here, I assume he actually made it there.”

Twilight decided to speak up following the goddess’ exposition on the matter.

“Yes, your… royalness? Uh, divineness? Um… yes ma’am, he made it to Canterlot and spoke to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Although it didn’t go as smoothly as anypony would’ve liked. You see, I was initially skeptical of him, given that black magic stemmed from my horn upon his arrival in my library. That’s generally a sign of incoming dark magic...”

Ammy was thrown a curveball. She did not expect to hear that was their reaction.

“I should know better than anyone else that he carries darkness. Though compared to things I’ve fought off in the past, it's rather minute. Are you quite sure it was from him? That doesn’t sound right.”

She added onto her last statement, not quite finished with her dreary explanation.

“They did not return after the initial burst, no. He had the better word of Fluttershy here at the time, so I suggested that we meet with both the princesses in Canterlot to get their opinion on the matter. From there, he gave us proof that he was indeed your son. From there... It was an interesting night. I should probably let him explain the rest.”

The goddess changed her sitting position slightly, letting him take the spotlight.

“We spent the rest of that evening in Canterlot Castle, recalling the events of the day while I went over the backstory behind all of this that’s going on. Princess Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, and Starlight Glimmer all got curious about the mega stone you made for me. They took a look at it up close, and despite what I told them, infused it with magic.”

“Ughhhh! I told them not to mess with it, darling! But they didn’t listen.”

The fashionista-mare outburst suddenly, Twilight giving her a glaring gaze before refocusing on Shady and Ammy. The mention of it being exposed to new magic definitely got her attention.

“It glowed brightly and vibrated uncomfortably. I put it back onto the necklace, and I mega evolved without my own consent. A chain reaction occurred, causing all eight of these ponies - and Celestia and Luna, who were on the other side of the castle - to rainbowify. Normally, that could only be done with the Elements...”

“It was so awesome!! I never thought I’d feel that powerful again!”

An ecstatic Rainbow Dash exclaimed, putting her front hooves onto her face. It finally made Ammy spit a question towards them.

“How peculiar... Even with my limited knowledge of mega evolution stones, the one concrete fact is that they only change a specific type of user. Yours should only change you or Kea. Allowing the ponies to change forms is a unique discovery. Was this a one-off thing, or were you able to replicate it?”

The former protege of Twilight took over, having the most detailed record of the day that followed.

“The day that followed was the most hectic. We were going over the plan to help Shady while here, when the black magic appeared around Princess Luna’s horn. She was under an awful amount of stress, and before we knew it, a hole in the backside of the throne room was blown open, shaking the entire building. Out of the smoke came a snow-white canine creature like him, with markings similar to yours, Amaterasu. She said that she stole your abilities, and proved to almost send Shady to the pony upstairs... Nevertheless, he did pull us through by transforming us again.”

Starlight’s voice had trailed off toward the end, not wanting to recall the events due to the traumatic experience it gave them all. Ammy’s eyes shut with a sigh, before demonstrating that she couldn’t even perform a simple Sunrise, which is her own specialty technique.

“...You met her, then. Cyra was her name. As you saw from my inability to even perform Sunrise, she took my celestial brush powers from me, and now uses them for her own misdeeds. I have no clue where she came from, but I know she’s tangled up with Shady’s father, Kai. That much she told me. I’m only here right now because I was able to send her skyward with one last Whirlwind technique before the powers fully left me.”

Shady leaned in and gave her a ginormous hug. That’s when the goldenrod unicorn stepped in to cover more details.

“I may be able to shed more light on who she is. This only comes from what she explained on her own volition, but she mentioned being “the same kind of creature that Shady is, a ruthless killing machine, who stepped up to take his dad’s place when he went missing over twenty years ago.” The phrase just gives me the chills... who would be proud of being a killer?! She even exhibited the same dark aura that Shady himself can...”

The rotund goddess crossed her arms.

“That part, I guessed immediately. Anyone who mingles with Kai is usually one of those Pokemon... Plus the dark aura wasn’t hiding anything. Through defiance of his hardcoded nature, Shady proved that you can control that.”

It was once again Shady’s turn with the imaginary talking stick. His ears rolled back and he grabbed her face lightly with both hands.

“The catching up is great to do and all, but... Why. Isn’t. Kai. Here?? WHERE IS HE?! Aren’t we supposed to be in the middle of a harsh battle right now?? Isn’t that why you sent me to find these fillies?? I swear to Arceus if this was all for not…!”

Flames grew in his slightly agape snarling mouth. She put his arms down and looked back, unamused and annoyed.

“Hun, please. I may not have my abilities right now, but I’ve endured far worse than your flamethrower. You aren’t intimidating anyone. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll explain why everything’s calm around here.”

He let the flames die off and she calmly explained what had happened before he arrived back on the Plain.

“So yes, I was fighting off Kai for the last two days, in case my cuts and bruises weren’t enough evidence of that already. He proved to be too much for me to handle. My power isn’t at its peak since I’m pregnant, you know. He only managed to break the barrier I conjured at the very end, but strangely… he left after shattering it. I was already winded at that point and understandably confused. But of course, him leaving immediately was probably just so that Cyra could get in.”

Though she had finished speaking, she had not been sly about peeking at his mega stone. It looked a bit different compared to when she gave it to Shady. The outside of it looked like the shape of a prancing pegasi pony was etched into it. Not really noticeable unless you looked close. Not even Shady noticed it. Being cheeky and sticking a hand out, she gripped the stone and watched her son get covered in a veil of light. After it diminished, the familiar Drop Shadow appeared, sitting on his plot on the bed next to her. Looking at himself, he wasn’t happy about being transformed without his consent. Seeing the new, smaller shape he took on made her positively giddy. She put her hands onto her own face, a wide eyed smile almost breaking off.

“OH MY GOD YOU’RE ADORABLE AS A PONY, HUN!!”

She grabbed him and held him much like a cat, reveling in his undeniable cuteness. He outburst at her due to sheer embarrassment.

“MOM! THIS IS NOT THE TIME!! Not in front of Sunset...”

The aforementioned bacon unicorn laughed along with the rest of the mares. Drop Shadow was the only one not having a good time. He was pouting considerably. She got mostly serious.

“We’ll need to form a plan of counter-attack. Possibly scope out their base of operations and flank them from there. It’s our only hope.”

The tone shifted as Rainbow Dash fell out of flight and crashed on the bed next to Ammy, who had released her son. He once again sat on his plot, with all eyes on the blue pegasi.

“That’s definitely on the todo list, but we seem to have some downtime... I think some chillaxing is in order.”

“Agreed. After the kind of few days we’ve all had, I could definitely go do some chillaxing, Rainbow, dear.”

Rarity responded, laying down on the bed on her stomach, looking like she had already mastered the art of it.

“Sounds good to me!”

Little miss pink earth pony made some noise finally, laying back against a pillow that was on the floor.

“I could go for a nap...”

Sunset exclaimed, curling up on the bed.

“Way ahead of you, Sunset.”

He curled up on the bed next to her, her hooves cuddling him. He just felt... so calm around her. Not to mention that they had fallen asleep on each other on the train, so what’s the harm? Everyone else chuckled as they got into relaxing positions. The entire room was silent for a while, before Starlight broke it. She looked up from her position and gazed at everypony in the room.

“No, seriously. How long do we chillax for?”

“At this point, Starlight, as long as we need to. We could use it.”

Her former teacher told her, looking up at her before shutting her eyes once again. Not a single peep came from any of them following that moment. The weather outside had begun to worsen, with the lightning finally coming through the clouds and moderate rain soaking the environment outside. For now, it wasn’t anypony’s problem.