Herald of Shadowsby kittygirl12345678ChaptersPrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreePrologueTwilight stared at her defeated princess. The return of Sombra had been a shock for everypony. The white alicorn princess had given her life to save Twilight. As Twilight stared a tear fell from her injured eyes. She bent down next to the princess to say goodbye one last time. As she lied down and closed her eyes, she was oblivious to the dark and ominous shadow surrounding her. Chapter One"Sleep," a quiet voice hissed into Twilight's ear. The moment she had been given the command she dropped to the ground and slept. The voice continued muttering quietly. The words were ancient and unknown by any living pony. As the whispers continued, the pitch-black shadow encased the weakened purple unicorn tightly. She was unaware of everything around her until that one fateful morning. * * * "Ah sure hope she'll be okay," said a southern voice. "Relax!" said Rainbow Dash as she tried to remain cool, "She'll be perfectly fine!" Nopony was fooled by her voice, because they could all see the pain and fear on her face. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie just stood huddled together crying for their friend. Rarity, wanting to stop the crying for fear of smearing her mascara, changed the subject slightly. "Remember when we first met Twilight?" Everypony nodded, but Spike just sat sadly next to Twilight on the bed as he remembered how unhappy she was that day. They all started talking together about their favorite memories with Twilight. "If it weren't for Twilight, there might still be a hurricane of me bouncing around!" Said Pinkie Pie. "Yes, and don't forget all the other times she saved us," said Rarity. Rainbow Dash decided to join in too, "Yeah, remember when she took down Nightmare Moon with us, and helped defeat Discord, and even released Cadence so that she could help Shining Armor and defeat Chrysalis!" They all nodded in agreement. As they continued talking, Twilight groaned and rolled over but it wasn't noticed by anypony. That is, anypony but Fluttershy. She rushed so suddenly over to Twilight's side that she knocked everypony else to the ground. "Twilight?" She whispered. Twilight opened her eyes slowly. Everypony gasped in horror. Twilight's eyes were red instead of purple, with green where white usually was. Her eyelashes were also dark purple. The only reason nopony noticed it before was because it looked black against her fur, but against the red and green..... "What's the matter?" Twilight asked innocently, "And where am I? Why do you all look as if you've seen a ghost?" Her friends couldn't speak, but Pinkie --feeling it would be rude to just stand and stare-- rushed over to her and, knocking Fluttershy out of the way, she swung her arms around Twilight's neck and burst into tears. Twilight was suddenly filled with rage as this show of kindness. She attempted to move Pinkie off with her magic, but got a nasty shock. Her magic flung Pinkie across the hospital room and caused Pinkie to make a crack in the light blue wall. Twilight's eyes were wide with shock as she tried to run to her friend. She was blocked immediately by a line of doctors and nurses forcing her back into bed. "Pinkie," Twilight whispered hoarsely. She hoped her pink friend wasn't gone forever. The last thing she saw before the familiar voice telling her to sleep was her friends glaring at her in shock. Chapter TwoDeep inside Twilight's mind she was walking a familiar path to meet up with her favorite teacher. She knocked three times on the wooden door when she reached the destination. "Enter," hissed a deep voice. Twilight walked in slowly. "Ah, Herald of Shadows, I see you have arrived," Twilight, or Herald as the voice called her, nodded and smiled with fanged teeth at the unicorn pony hidden in the shadows. "May we begin?" She asked calmly. He nodded, and they began their lesson. * * * Twilight woke up in her house smiling happily. Her lesson had gone very well, and her magical abilities were increasing incredibly! As Twilight got up she saw a messily written note stuck to the wall. It said: Twilight, I know you don't like to go outside much when it's sunny so I went instead. We were running a bit low on food and supplies. While I'm out, would you mind straightening up a bit, I bet there are some ponies who would like some books! -Spike 'Twilight' how she resented that awful name. It was like a scar on a perfectly beautiful pony! Almost ruins everything! No, her real name would never be Twilight Sparkle ever again. Her true name was The Herald of Shadows! That was her name she was given by her beloved teacher. That was the name she knew that powerful unicorn as. He never revealed his true name to Herald, so she called him Beloved Teacher. As she thought back, she realized what an awful teacher Celestia had been. She thought the name in disgust. To think, the great Herald of Shadows had ever looked up to that pathetic pony. And she was supposed to be royalty?!? No, soon there would be no more princesses. Only two powerful unicorns ruling over Equestria. When she was ready, that is. A sudden tap tap tap interrupted Herald's thoughts. "What is it this time?" She grumbled. If it were another pony asking for a book....Herald shuddered. She didn't want to lose her temper before she was ready. Her Beloved Teacher had forbidden it. Nopony was ready to know of her strength yet! Herald opened the door to see her little dragon assistant. He looked a bit distracted. "Well," said Herald, "bring in what you bought." Spike stood in terror as he stuttered, "T-T-Twilight?" Herald's eyes released a bit of purple shadow as she got angry and snapped at the trembling baby dragon, "DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME!!!! My name is the Herald of Shadows!" Spike looked down as if he couldn't look her in the eyes without suffering terrible pain. "Sorry Herald of Shadows," he muttered, "but you have some.......visitors." She just glared at him, then thundered, "What have I told you about guests?!? Send them away!" Spike tried to protest, "BUT TWILIGHT! IT'S YOUR FRIENDS! THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" For one moment the red left Twilight's eyes and she looked about to cry. Spike's hope lifted, then was crushed a moment later as Twilight's eyes returned to their previous color. "I have no friends!" She hissed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to my beloved teacher." Spike confusion was obvious. Was there something Twilight wasn't telling him? "T-Twi?" He said cautiously, "Princess Celestia is dead. How are you going to speak with her?" Herald glared at the little dragon, "I hate that awful excuse for a pony!" Nothing but that could have hurt Spike more. That is until Twilight said the thing Spike had dreaded she would say weeks ago. "And," said Herald, "I hate you! Get out of my house!" With that Herald threw Spike out with her magic and slammed the door in his face before he could walk back in. Outside the library was horrible. As Spike and the other ponies cried, the clouds covered the sun. It had started to storm. "Was Twilight doing this?" Spike wondered to himself. "I'm sorry girls," Spike said to the surrounding ponies. It was, however, the pink, usually bright and happy one he spoke to specifically. Pinkie Pie burst into tears at the loss of her friend. Together the small group walked away from the overgrown treehouse.... Chapter Three"What are we going to do?" asked Fluttershy. The five ponies and dragon had been gathered together trying to comfort each other. RainbowDash spoke up "I may be the element of loyalty, but I say we leave her to her business and continue our lives on our own! After all, she's not living up to her element. Why should we? I'm out of here!" with that being said, Rainbow flew away so fast she almost caused a sonic rainboom. There was only one difference. The color wasn't there, it was just gray. Pinkie just stared at the ground. She was never going to plan another party for her entire life! AHHHHH! A piercing scream was heard. Rarity was standing there stammering worse than anypony ever had before. "P-P-P-Pinkie! Y-Y-Y-Your c-cutie mark! It's gone!" Pinkie looked at her blank flank and shrugged. "No surprise really. I'm not going to throw anymore parties, so poof. No more mark." Applejack just stared at her in shock. "No more parties?!? Really Pinks? Are ya'll sure?" Pinkie nodded, blew her flat mane out of her face, and walked away. "What's happening to us?" whispered Fluttershy to herself. Applejack and Rarity both walked away after a few moments too. All Fluttershy wanted to do was lie down and cry, but she couldn't do that. Not now, her friends needed her! With that thought, Fluttershy took off flying toward Twilight's library. * * * Herald was pacing back and forth in the library. "What to do, what to do," she kept whispering. There was only one thing she could think of. She had to talk to her teacher. Herald let out a big sigh, and closed her eyes. Soon she was on the familiar path that she loved so much. Herald was almost shaking with fear. Her teacher had forbidden visits if it weren't for lessons. Much sooner than she had wanted, she had reached the door. Knock Knock "Beloved Teacher?" Herald began, "I am so very sorry for this interruption, but it's important." There was no answer. Cautiously, Herald opened the door, and prepared for the worst. It didn't come. Looking around, Herald saw nopony in the room. She knew she should leave before she got into trouble, but curiosity got the better of her. Herald examined her surroundings carefully, so she didn't leave any clues to her being there. Then she found it. The one thing that broke her heart.
PrologueTwilight stared at her defeated princess. The return of Sombra had been a shock for everypony. The white alicorn princess had given her life to save Twilight. As Twilight stared a tear fell from her injured eyes. She bent down next to the princess to say goodbye one last time. As she lied down and closed her eyes, she was oblivious to the dark and ominous shadow surrounding her.
Chapter One"Sleep," a quiet voice hissed into Twilight's ear. The moment she had been given the command she dropped to the ground and slept. The voice continued muttering quietly. The words were ancient and unknown by any living pony. As the whispers continued, the pitch-black shadow encased the weakened purple unicorn tightly. She was unaware of everything around her until that one fateful morning. * * * "Ah sure hope she'll be okay," said a southern voice. "Relax!" said Rainbow Dash as she tried to remain cool, "She'll be perfectly fine!" Nopony was fooled by her voice, because they could all see the pain and fear on her face. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie just stood huddled together crying for their friend. Rarity, wanting to stop the crying for fear of smearing her mascara, changed the subject slightly. "Remember when we first met Twilight?" Everypony nodded, but Spike just sat sadly next to Twilight on the bed as he remembered how unhappy she was that day. They all started talking together about their favorite memories with Twilight. "If it weren't for Twilight, there might still be a hurricane of me bouncing around!" Said Pinkie Pie. "Yes, and don't forget all the other times she saved us," said Rarity. Rainbow Dash decided to join in too, "Yeah, remember when she took down Nightmare Moon with us, and helped defeat Discord, and even released Cadence so that she could help Shining Armor and defeat Chrysalis!" They all nodded in agreement. As they continued talking, Twilight groaned and rolled over but it wasn't noticed by anypony. That is, anypony but Fluttershy. She rushed so suddenly over to Twilight's side that she knocked everypony else to the ground. "Twilight?" She whispered. Twilight opened her eyes slowly. Everypony gasped in horror. Twilight's eyes were red instead of purple, with green where white usually was. Her eyelashes were also dark purple. The only reason nopony noticed it before was because it looked black against her fur, but against the red and green..... "What's the matter?" Twilight asked innocently, "And where am I? Why do you all look as if you've seen a ghost?" Her friends couldn't speak, but Pinkie --feeling it would be rude to just stand and stare-- rushed over to her and, knocking Fluttershy out of the way, she swung her arms around Twilight's neck and burst into tears. Twilight was suddenly filled with rage as this show of kindness. She attempted to move Pinkie off with her magic, but got a nasty shock. Her magic flung Pinkie across the hospital room and caused Pinkie to make a crack in the light blue wall. Twilight's eyes were wide with shock as she tried to run to her friend. She was blocked immediately by a line of doctors and nurses forcing her back into bed. "Pinkie," Twilight whispered hoarsely. She hoped her pink friend wasn't gone forever. The last thing she saw before the familiar voice telling her to sleep was her friends glaring at her in shock.
Chapter TwoDeep inside Twilight's mind she was walking a familiar path to meet up with her favorite teacher. She knocked three times on the wooden door when she reached the destination. "Enter," hissed a deep voice. Twilight walked in slowly. "Ah, Herald of Shadows, I see you have arrived," Twilight, or Herald as the voice called her, nodded and smiled with fanged teeth at the unicorn pony hidden in the shadows. "May we begin?" She asked calmly. He nodded, and they began their lesson. * * * Twilight woke up in her house smiling happily. Her lesson had gone very well, and her magical abilities were increasing incredibly! As Twilight got up she saw a messily written note stuck to the wall. It said: Twilight, I know you don't like to go outside much when it's sunny so I went instead. We were running a bit low on food and supplies. While I'm out, would you mind straightening up a bit, I bet there are some ponies who would like some books! -Spike 'Twilight' how she resented that awful name. It was like a scar on a perfectly beautiful pony! Almost ruins everything! No, her real name would never be Twilight Sparkle ever again. Her true name was The Herald of Shadows! That was her name she was given by her beloved teacher. That was the name she knew that powerful unicorn as. He never revealed his true name to Herald, so she called him Beloved Teacher. As she thought back, she realized what an awful teacher Celestia had been. She thought the name in disgust. To think, the great Herald of Shadows had ever looked up to that pathetic pony. And she was supposed to be royalty?!? No, soon there would be no more princesses. Only two powerful unicorns ruling over Equestria. When she was ready, that is. A sudden tap tap tap interrupted Herald's thoughts. "What is it this time?" She grumbled. If it were another pony asking for a book....Herald shuddered. She didn't want to lose her temper before she was ready. Her Beloved Teacher had forbidden it. Nopony was ready to know of her strength yet! Herald opened the door to see her little dragon assistant. He looked a bit distracted. "Well," said Herald, "bring in what you bought." Spike stood in terror as he stuttered, "T-T-Twilight?" Herald's eyes released a bit of purple shadow as she got angry and snapped at the trembling baby dragon, "DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME!!!! My name is the Herald of Shadows!" Spike looked down as if he couldn't look her in the eyes without suffering terrible pain. "Sorry Herald of Shadows," he muttered, "but you have some.......visitors." She just glared at him, then thundered, "What have I told you about guests?!? Send them away!" Spike tried to protest, "BUT TWILIGHT! IT'S YOUR FRIENDS! THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" For one moment the red left Twilight's eyes and she looked about to cry. Spike's hope lifted, then was crushed a moment later as Twilight's eyes returned to their previous color. "I have no friends!" She hissed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to my beloved teacher." Spike confusion was obvious. Was there something Twilight wasn't telling him? "T-Twi?" He said cautiously, "Princess Celestia is dead. How are you going to speak with her?" Herald glared at the little dragon, "I hate that awful excuse for a pony!" Nothing but that could have hurt Spike more. That is until Twilight said the thing Spike had dreaded she would say weeks ago. "And," said Herald, "I hate you! Get out of my house!" With that Herald threw Spike out with her magic and slammed the door in his face before he could walk back in. Outside the library was horrible. As Spike and the other ponies cried, the clouds covered the sun. It had started to storm. "Was Twilight doing this?" Spike wondered to himself. "I'm sorry girls," Spike said to the surrounding ponies. It was, however, the pink, usually bright and happy one he spoke to specifically. Pinkie Pie burst into tears at the loss of her friend. Together the small group walked away from the overgrown treehouse....
Chapter Three"What are we going to do?" asked Fluttershy. The five ponies and dragon had been gathered together trying to comfort each other. RainbowDash spoke up "I may be the element of loyalty, but I say we leave her to her business and continue our lives on our own! After all, she's not living up to her element. Why should we? I'm out of here!" with that being said, Rainbow flew away so fast she almost caused a sonic rainboom. There was only one difference. The color wasn't there, it was just gray. Pinkie just stared at the ground. She was never going to plan another party for her entire life! AHHHHH! A piercing scream was heard. Rarity was standing there stammering worse than anypony ever had before. "P-P-P-Pinkie! Y-Y-Y-Your c-cutie mark! It's gone!" Pinkie looked at her blank flank and shrugged. "No surprise really. I'm not going to throw anymore parties, so poof. No more mark." Applejack just stared at her in shock. "No more parties?!? Really Pinks? Are ya'll sure?" Pinkie nodded, blew her flat mane out of her face, and walked away. "What's happening to us?" whispered Fluttershy to herself. Applejack and Rarity both walked away after a few moments too. All Fluttershy wanted to do was lie down and cry, but she couldn't do that. Not now, her friends needed her! With that thought, Fluttershy took off flying toward Twilight's library. * * * Herald was pacing back and forth in the library. "What to do, what to do," she kept whispering. There was only one thing she could think of. She had to talk to her teacher. Herald let out a big sigh, and closed her eyes. Soon she was on the familiar path that she loved so much. Herald was almost shaking with fear. Her teacher had forbidden visits if it weren't for lessons. Much sooner than she had wanted, she had reached the door. Knock Knock "Beloved Teacher?" Herald began, "I am so very sorry for this interruption, but it's important." There was no answer. Cautiously, Herald opened the door, and prepared for the worst. It didn't come. Looking around, Herald saw nopony in the room. She knew she should leave before she got into trouble, but curiosity got the better of her. Herald examined her surroundings carefully, so she didn't leave any clues to her being there. Then she found it. The one thing that broke her heart.
