Welcome To My Life(Scarlet)
Chapter 1-Welcome to My Life (Scarlet)
“Are we ready yet?!” A large black stallion paced impatiently in front of a large glass cylinder that was in the middle of a room filled with computers and other technology.
“Easy Dark Soul.” A cream colored unicorn was tapping a few buttons on the monitor, watching the readings. “Where’s Shimmer?”
Dark Soul sighed. “I have no idea. Are you sure that she should be in here for this Buttercup?”
Buttercup nodded. “Yes, and you know why. She’s the strongest dark magic unicorn we have. If something bad happens, she’ll be able to fix it.”
“It’s kind of sad that we have to fall back on a foal in case something goes wrong.” Dark Soul huffed.
“She’s thirteen.” Buttercup said. “Also, she is very responsible for her age.”
“True.” Dark Soul walked over and put his hoof on the cylinder in the middle, quiet for a moment. Then he turned back to Buttercup. “Are we ready now?”
Buttercup glanced over her screen and hit a button. “Just a minute…Yep! Shimmer’s on her way now!”
“Finally.” Dark Soul turned as the lab door slid open, revealing a pink unicorn with a black mane. “Are you ready, Shimmer?”
The little unicorn nodded. “Of course! We’ve only been waiting for this for years!”
Dark Soul nodded to Shimmer and turned towards Buttercup. “It’s time. Let’s change the world, shall we?”
Buttercup tapped two buttons and the sides on the cylinder slid up. “Remember Shimmer. Carefully.”
Shimmer nodded then adopted a serious face. Her horn light up, a black aura around it. Buttercup hit one more button then lit her own horn up. Two sides opened on each opposite wall. Buttercup stepped backward as she continued to cast a spell. A large sphere of pure light drifted out from the wall on her side. On the other side, Shimmer groaned as a large sphere of pure darkness drifted out.
The two unicorns slowly maneuvered the spheres towards the cylinder. Dark Soul knew how dangerous this process was. If either one of the spheres broke, pure magic would be forcibly released. And that much magic in a small room would rip everything in a twenty mile radius apart.
Finally, Buttercup placed the sphere of light into the cylinder as Shimmer struggled with hers. “Shimmer? Are you okay?”
“F-fine.” Shimmer gasped out. “Don’t t-touch it.” She raised her head, lifting the sphere into the cylinder. As soon as she released her magic from it, Dark Soul slammed his hoof on the console and locked the spheres inside.
All three took a moment to relax and catch their breath. “Alright. Time for the final step.” Buttercup said. She stepped over to the console and raised her hoof but she hesitated. “Dark Soul, you are our leader. Would you like to have the honor?”
The black unicorn stepped over to the console. As Buttercup moved back, Dark Soul opened his mouth. “You two are going to be the first to witness a miracle. Not only are we going to create life, but we are also creating death. I thank you both for everything you’ve contributed to this project. And now…” He raised his hoof over the green button. “Now it is time for our work to finally pay off.”
Without a second thought, he slammed his hoof on the button. Instantly all of the lights in the room flickered. The three ponies glanced around the room before movement from the cylinder drew their attention.
The two spheres of light rattled around in the tube. Light and darkness rotated around and around, sometimes slamming into each other. As they spun faster and faster, they ceased to look like spheres, instead looking like streams of black and white.
“Quick!” Buttercup yelled. “The feather!”
Shimmer ran up to the shaking tube and pulled a pegasus feather from her mane. She inserted it into the machine as Buttercup sent a steady stream of magic into a hole on the other side.
“Great job you two.” Dark Soul muttered. “Keep it up…”
In a flash of light the machine pulsed, sending a shockwave that sent the two unicorns flying backwards. Dark Soul caught Shimmer as Buttercup slammed into the console. “What’s going on?” He yelled.
“I don’t know!” Buttercup yelled back. “Just stay low!”
At that, the machine pulsed again. Every light in the room shattered, forcing the ponies to duck and cover their heads. The machine was shaking so hard that Dark Soul was afraid that it was going to come unhinged from the ground and start flying around the room.
With another flash of light, the tube in the middle of the machine exploded. Dark Soul shot a burst of wind magic at Buttercup, moving her behind her computer. He leapt behind on with Shimmer as glass flew around the entire room.
The three ponies stayed crouched behind the computer desks, coughing as smoke filled the room. “Are you two okay?!” Buttercup shrieked.
“Yeah!” Dark Soul choked out. “Let me clear the smoke!” He raised his head and created a small tornado. The tornado sucked up the smoke, clearing the room in just a few seconds. Dark Soul moved the cylinder over to the corner and dropped the spell.
“Oh…wow…” He heard Shimmer say.
“I can’t believe it…” Buttercup said.
He turned to the broken machine and his eyes widened. He then ran towards it, skidding to a stop when he reached it. “Girls, I think we succeeded.” He said as the two mares ran up next to him.
Lying in the middle of the broken tube was a green pony, a colt to be exact. He had a red mane and tail. What was unique was that in his mane was a black stripe and in his tail was a white stripe. Both stripes went right down the middle of the mane and tail and were rather narrow. Also, he had beautiful red wings. On a hunch, Dark Soul reached down and brushed at his mane.
“Oh wow!” Shimmer said. “He’s an alicorn!”
“He’s also a foal.” Buttercup said. “He looks to be about your age Shimmer.”
Dark Soul frowned as he heard that. He glanced downward and saw a long cut on the alicorn’s side. “Look, see that? Blood. He must have been cut when the tube exploded.”
Shimmer glanced at his side. “He healed himself where he was unconscious?”
Buttercup decided to get things moving. “Come on you two. Let’s see if he’s even alive.”
Dark Soul lit his horn and levitated the alicorn onto his back. “If not, then we truly have failed.”
. . .
Patchwork was less then pleased when his leader brought him a comatose alicorn. “Honestly, you couldn’t have waited until I was there?!” he snapped as he inspected the alicorn. “You all could have died in there!”
“We didn’t.” Dark Soul said. “So stop focusing on that and focus on this alicorn.”
“Dark Soul.” Patchwork said. “I’ve been focusing on him, and I must say. He is a very interesting pony.”
Dark Soul tilted his head. “How so?”
Patchwork brushed his sandy colored mane out of his eyes. “For starters, because of how he…came to be, his body structure is different from normal ponies.”
“We knew that would take place Patch.” Dark Soul said.
“That’s not the point.” Patchwork said. “This alicorn is made completely of light and darkness. He breaths, he has bones, he’ll even bleed like ponies but the point is that he is made of magic.”
Dark Soul sighed. “And your point is…”
“My point is this.” Patchwork pulled out a sheet that detailed some findings he had seen when examining the alicorn. “Do you see the stripes in his mane and tail? That symbolizes his power. Now this is just a rough guess, but I believe that this alicorn has to control light and darkness to become fully whole.”
“Fully whole?” Dark Soul asked, confused.
Patchwork read the file again. “You created half of a pony, for the most part. His body structure is very strange. Because he sort of runs on magic that it’s very possible that he could become a very strong spell caster. There’s something that seems off though…”
“Mos t ponies don’t have enough energy to cast many spells though.” Dark Soul said. “But this pony…when he’s ready, will he be able to cast spells that the princesses can?”
“It’s very possible.” Patchwork set the paper down and sighed. “We shouldn’t have done this.”
Dark Soul shook his head. “You know that this was our goal, Patch.”
Patchwork looked away. “I know, I know. We still shouldn’t have done it.” He waved at the alicorn. “He should wake up soon.”
“Watch him for a second. I need to talk with Shimmer.” Dark Soul said and left the room.
. . .
“Me?!” Shimmer said in amazement. “But, I’m only a filly! I can’t take care of him!”
“Yes, you can.” Dark Soul said calmly. “Besides, he needs to learn about light and dark magic, and you’re the strongest dark magic caster in the tribe.”
Shimmer calmed down a small bit. “Alright. Is he right in there?” she asked, pointing at the door that led to Patchwork’s office.
“Yes.” Dark Soul said. “And don’t worry, it’ll be perfectly fine. Now, I need to run and update the tribe on our progress.” He nuzzled the unicorn and walked off.
Nervously, Shimmer pushed the door open and walked inside. She went over the table where the alicorn colt laid. “So, what are you like?” She softly said. “And, are you going to do what they say?”
Before she was able to say anything else, the colt stirred. Shimmer gasped and jumped backwards. She saw a sparkle on the alicorn’s flank and as she moved to take a closer look, it flashed in her face. She stumbled backwards again as the alicorn rolled over onto his chest.
As she watched, the alicorn slowly opened his eyes. Shimmer noticed that his eyes were yellow, sort of like honey. He moved his head calmly, trying to take in the surrounding. Then when his eyes fell on Shimmer, the little unicorn couldn’t move a muscle. She glanced around for Patchwork, but the Pegasus was in the other room.
“What…where…?” The alicorn struggled to talk.
Forgetting her nervousness, Shimmer jumped forward and rested her hoof on the frightened alicorn’s head. “Shh, it’s okay. You’re safe.”
The alicorn tried to speak again but dissolved into a fit of coughing. Shimmer lightly patted his back until he stopped. When he tried to speak again he said in a soft voice, “Where…am I?”
“You are at our home.” Shimmer said, not wanting to hit him with a lot of information. “My name is Shimmer. I don’t suppose you have a name?”
The alicorn pressed a hoof to his head as he thought. “My…name?” he said. “I…don’t have a name. I don’t know…who I am.”
Shimmer was about to run and find Patchwork, but she didn’t want to leave the alicorn by himself. “Well, what if I gave you a name? Would that be okay?”
The colt turned to Shimmer. “Why would you do that for me?”
Shimmer didn’t truly know why she had said that, but she wasn’t going to go back on what she said. “Because you’re scared and I want to help you.” She took a deep breath. “I know that you probably don’t trust me and that you’re confused, but I would never do anything to hurt you.”
The alicorn stared into her eyes for a few minutes. “How can I know that?”
Shimmer stared right back. “I promise with all of my magic that I will never hurt you, or let you be hurt.” With those words, her horn lit up with a dark glow.
The alicorn was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded. “Okay. I accept your promise.” His horn lit also, and a brief flash sparked between the two ponies. As the alicorn rubbed his head again, Shimmer realized that she had just promised to be his guardian.
“So.” The alicorn spoke up. “About that whole name thing, what were you thinking?”
“Oh! Well…” Shimmer looked over his body, noting the red on his tail and mane. She saw the long scar across his side. She also did a double-take when she noticed his cutie mark, a star that was half white and half black. “Are you really sure that you want me to give you a name?”
The colt shrugged. “I suspect that I’m going to be assaulted with information soon, which I’m going to need. Might as well be called by a name.”
Shimmer thought hard for a few seconds, and then her eyes lit up. “How about Scarlet? It signifies your red in your mane and tail and the scars you have.”
The alicorn was quiet, his eyes closed. As he was thinking, Patchwork came in from the other room. Seeing the alicorn awake he was about to speak, but Shimmer shook her head. “Sure, I like it.” The alicorn said. “It fits me. Thank you.”
Shimmer let go of a breath that she wasn’t aware she was holding. “You’re very welcome. I’m glad that I made the right choice.”
Scarlet chuckled then yawned. “Before whoever brought me here explains all of this to me, I think I’m going to catch some more sleep.” Before Shimmer could utter a word, Scarlet laid back down on the table and fell fast asleep.
“Well.” Patchwork whispered crossing over to where Shimmer was standing. “Run along and tell Dark Soul that he seems to be stable.”
Shimmer hesitated. “Make sure he’s okay, please?”
Patchwork understood how she felt. “I won’t take an eye off of him.” Reassured, the little unicorn dashed to find her leader.
Sighing heavily, Patchwork turned to Scarlet’s sleeping body. “You poor thing.” He softly said. “I am so sorry that you were brought into this world, because I sense a lot of pain for you.”
. . .
In the middle of the underground home, the town hall was stationed. In the town hall, Dark Soul and Buttercup were sitting in a conference room with three other ponies. Their names were Lemon Rain, Risen Tide and Orange Drop.
“I still cannot believe that you went ahead with the experiment without us present.” Lemon Rain said, showing that he was upset by ruffling his wings.
Dark Soul sighed, “I told you that we needed to do it today! All of the conditions were ideal!”
“You could have waited!” Risen Tide snapped.
“Enough.” Orange Drop rose. He was the only earth pony in the group, but was by far the most intimidating. “Yelling at each other is not going to solve anything.” As he spoke, he began to walk around the table. He pointed at Dark Soul. “Lemon Rain is correct. It was very brash of you to proceed with the experiment without any of us present.” Dark Soul lowered his head as the earth pony continued. “Either way, what can you tell us about what took place in the lab?”
Dark Soul raised his head. “It appears that the merging of light and darkness was successful but…”
“But?” Orange Drop said calmly.
“But, we didn’t get the result that we needed.” Dark Soul murmured.
Risen Tide raised his voice. “Oh, isn’t that just perfect!”
“Quiet.” Orange Drop glared at the pony until he looked away. He walked next to Dark Soul and rested a hoof on his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
Dark Soul took a breath. “We assumed that the merging would create a grown pony that had the powers of light and darkness. What we got was a young colt that as far as we know, does not possess the ability to fully use light and darkness.”
“Well, that isn’t your fault.” Lemon Rain said. “For the most part, you didn’t have control over what would happen. We should be glad that we even created something and didn’t just blow the whole place up.”
“If I might say something?” Buttercup softly said, walking up to the table.
Orange Drop nodded. “Of course you can.”
“It appears that the colt doesn’t know light and darkness yet, but he can be trained too.” She said. “I suggest that we should let Shimmer train him in dark magic.”
“Shimmer…” Orange Drop began.
Risen Tide jumped in. “You do realize that she is just a filly?”
“She is the strongest dark magic caster in our tribe.” Buttercup said. “And besides, this could be good for her. I believe that she can do it.”
“Hmm.” Orange Drop rubbed his chin. “What do you think Dark Soul? She is under your orders.”
Dark Soul smiled. “She was successfully able to maneuver darkness itself. Personally, I believe that she has what it takes.”
Orange Drop exchanged glances with Risen Tide and Lemon Rain. After a few seconds, all three of them nodded. “Alright Dark Soul, we will give training of the alicorn to Shimmer. Make sure to stay with them whenever they are training. I would rather that nothing bad happens to either of them.”
“Certainly.” As Dark Soul and Buttercup turned to leave, Orange Drop stopped them. “By the way, what is the alicorn’s name?”
“Scarlet.” Buttercup said. “His name is Scarlet.”
. . .
6 months later
“Scarlet! Wake up!” A voice sliced though my dream and jolted me awake. Annoyed, I grabbed my pillow and slammed it over my head. “Wake up!”
“No, I don’t wanna.” I moaned. “Besides, we have to rock shift today and I need all of my rest.”
I sensed a tingle of magic and the pillow and covers were yanked off of my body. “Get up!”
I rolled over and forced my eyes open to see Shimmer standing next to my bed, angry. “Geez, Shimmer. What’s your deal today?”
When she saw that I had actually woken up, her face relaxed a little bit. “Hey, your mane’s gotten darker.” She said.
I pawed at it without really thinking. When I had started training with Shimmer, my mane had lost most of its red color and was replaced by black. Our leader Dark Soul had said that it was because I was getting closer to mastering dark magic. Personally, I didn’t understand why I needed to learn it so much.
I also had severe amnesia about my birth. The earliest thing that I could remember was waking up in Doc Patchwork’s office. Nopony would tell me about my past.
Shimmer snapped me out of my memories. “Come on Scarlet. We need to get moving.”
“Alright.” I rolled out of bed, landing on my hooves. I levitated a comb over to me and briskly combed out my messy mane and tail. “We have got to figure out a way for me to learn light magic.”
Shimmer nervously smiled. “If anypony asks, we’re going to train a little bit.”
“At four in the morning?” I asked in shock. “Besides, didn’t Dark Soul explain that there wasn’t anything else for me to learn in dark magic?”
Shimmer ignored my question, instead motioning for me to hurry. I ran the comb though my tail one more time then set the brush on my dresser. I saw that Shimmer was nervously fiddling her star necklace. “Geez Shimmer. Relax a bit.”
Seeing me ready, she pushed the door open. “Ready? Follow me and be very quiet.”
The living quarters were on the second floor to the top. They consisted of about three long hallways on each side. One side was for stallions, the other for mares. Shimmer and I had many a game of tag in these hallways. The only way to get above or below any floors in the building was to use your talent. Unicorns cast a spell on the elevator doors, pegasi would fan the doors and earth ponies would smack the door with their hind legs. Naturally, I could do all three, but I stuck to using my horn.
When we reached the elevator doors, Shimmer cast a spell to open the doors but nothing happened. “Great. They’re locked.”
“Hmm.” I said, walking up. Shimmer stepped back as I shut my eyes. The doors were lock with a special magical spell that I assumed Dark Soul had cast. I lit my horn and concentrated not on the lock, but the magic itself. With a snap, I broke the spell on the doors and they opened.
“Nice.” Shimmer said as we slipped in the elevator. “Spell breaking. Not an easy one.”
“It should have been stronger.” I said. I wasn’t trying to boast, but something was off about how easy I broke the spell. “Dark Soul himself cast that spell.”
Shimmer just shrugged and hit the “up” button. The elevator jerked then headed up. “Shimmer.” I said. “What’s going on?”
“We have a little time…” Shimmer quietly said, and then she turned to me. “Scarlet, do you remember your lessons about the Princesses of Equestria?”
“Sure!” I said. “Princess Celestia is the ruler of the sun and Princess Luna is the ruler of the moon. Oh, and Luna is currently trapped on the moon.”
Shimmer nodded but out of nowhere she started crying. I moved over and gave her a hug. “What’s wrong?”
“I should have told you.” She said, weeping. “I should have told you from the start.”
“Shimmer,” I said, looking into her eyes. “What is the matter?”
She looked away. “Have you ever wondered about yourself Scarlet?” She said. “Why Dark Soul wants you to learn light and dark magic, why you’ve never been able to leave the building, why you can’t remember your past?”
“Well, yeah.” I said. “I’ve been the main attraction for the last six months.”
“Scarlet, you weren’t born like I was.” Shimmer took a breath, and then continued on. “You were “created”. Dark Soul and the rest of our leaders took the pure essences of light and darkness and put them together to create their ultimate weapon…you.” I sat down in a state of shock, which prompted Shimmer into talking more. “The reason that you’re so strong in dark and eventually light magic is because you’re SUPPOSED to be.”
I couldn’t speak for a moment. “Why…why did they create me? Please, tell me.”
Tears formed in my friend’s eyes as she told me. “Scarlet. You were created to destroy the princesses.” Unable to look me in the eyes anymore she turned to the corner, tears flowing.
I felt utterly horrible. Nopony treated me like a pony; they were just preparing me to be their doomsday weapon! I felt tears of my own hit my eyes as the realization that my entire life was a lie hit me.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. With a new resolve, Shimmer pulled me out of the elevator. We were in the main waiting room, a place that I had only been once. I looked out of the windows that lined the ceiling and could see a faint trace of the sun.
“No more lies Scarlet.” Shimmer said. “That’s why I woke you up.”
“What’s your plan?” I asked as we ran towards the giant metal doors that separated us from the outside.
Shimmer gave me a determined look. “We’re leaving.”
A deep voice scared us just about out of our coats. “I don’t believe that is completely accurate.”
We turned as the second elevator opened up, revealing Dark Soul, Buttercup, Orange Drop and Lemon Rain. Orange Drop pointed at us. “You two know that being up here is not allowed.”
“Oh stuff it!” I snapped, feeling magic flow though me. “Why?! Why did you all do nothing but lie to me my entire life?!”
Dark Soul shifted nervously. “We couldn’t tell you the whole truth Scarlet. It was important that you learned magic.”
“That would have been fine, maybe if you had told me what it was for! That I’m nothing more than your tool! That I wasn’t even born no, I was created in a FUCKING LAB!” I saw all of them flinch at my cursing. Good.
Buttercup tried to fix the situation. “Scarlet, let’s just go back down and talk for a minute…”
“No!” I snapped at her. “No, I’m done. Done with this place, and done with you. Aside for Shimmer who actually told me the truth, everything that comes from you is a lie.” I felt a tear fall.
Lemon Rain stepped forward. “Scarlet, I’m afraid that you do not have that luxury.” I saw a barely perceptible nod of his head.
“Incoming!” I yelled. Shimmer ducked behind me as each unicorn besides Buttercup launched magic at us. Quick as a flash, I created a dark shield that blocked their attacks.
“Shimmer!” I gasped back to her, the strain of holding the shield showing in my voice. “Can you open the door?”
“Yeah! Just keep that up!” Shimmer knelt down by the metal doors. I saw a flash, and then heard the sound of heat hitting metal.
Meanwhile, I was being relentlessly hammered by the magical bolts that were being flung at me. “Just…cut it out!” I barked at them.
Orange Drop tried to reason with me. “Scarlet, just relax and nopony here needs to be hurt! We can talk about this like civilized ponies.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me six months ago?” I said, feeling my strength ebb lower. “I’d have listened then!” Orange Drop grew silent.
“Because we needed you to focus!” Dark Soul snapped at me. “Our goal to destroy the rules of Equestria is more important than worrying about how you came to be!”
“And just why do I need to destroy them?” I snapped. “WHY?!”
Dark Soul was about to say something, but I heard a loud snap from behind me. “I got it!” Shimmer excitably yelled.
“That’s go-“I started to say. One of the unicorns noticed my break in concentration and proceeded to fire a vicious blast at me. It broke through my shield and slammed into me, sending me though the door.
“Scarlet!” I heard Shimmer yell.
I bounced once and skidded to a stop. I turned and saw that we were on a cliff side. The tribe had built an entire home into the side of a cliff!
“Enough of this!” Dark Soul raged. I had never seen him this mad before. “You are going to learn to listen Scarlet! And so help me, I will MAKE YOU!” His horn started to glow red and he pointed it at me. I wasn’t going to have enough time to get out of the way. I knew that the magic wasn’t going to kill me, my body could handle it. It was going to incapacitate me to a point that Shimmer and I weren’t going to be able to escape.
“No! Scarlet!” Before I had a chance to move a hoof or cast any magic, the deadly bolt of magic struck Shimmer in the side. The force of the blow sent her slamming into me, sending the two of us off the cliff.
Instantly, I latched onto her as we fell, twisting around so that she wouldn’t hit the ground. I knew that a fall from this height would probably kill me. I used my magic to create a black bubble around the two of us. As we hit the ground, the bubble actually bounced. I chain-cast two spells together, one to slow us down and the other to make gravity work in our favor. Finally, we gently rested on the ground.
The bubble popped as I laid Shimmer down. “Shimmer! Shimmer, wake up!” I cried out.
My friend slowly opened her eyes. Looking into them, I saw that they were very dim. “Are…are we out?”
“Yes Shimmer.” I said. “Why did you step in front of that magic?”
Shimmer smiled at me. “Because…you have important things to do. Far more important than…then being their tool.”
It all clicked together. That bolt was meant for me for one reason. No other pony could live after being hit by that. “Shimmer…”
“Shh.” She said. She reached out and tugged on my mane, forcing my head closer to hers. “Listen to me. When you have…the ability too, promise me something.”
“Anything.” I said.
“Promise me that you will come back and…remember. Please.” I saw the urging in my friend’s eyes.
“I promise Shimmer.” I said, tears flowing unchecked.
Shimmer smiled at me, and then raised her head just a tiny bit. She kissed me on the cheek. I could have been wrong, but I thought that I sensed a little magic. “Then…accept my gift Scarlet. And, don’t hate them forever.” With that said she rested her head back and closed her eyes. Her chest went flat and all of her muscles went limp. And there was nothing that I could have done about it.
My friend was gone.
I heard hoofsteps from behind me. “Scarlet…I’m sorry.” I could hear the pain in Dark Soul’s voice. “I never meant…”
“You never meant?” I softly said, starting to shake. “You never meant to do what? Because it’s a little too late for that.” I was trying to keep my anger from taking over, but it was no use. Anger was dangerous for a dark magic user, because the magic could end up taking YOU over instead.
And I was downright pissed.
“You’ve done a lot to me, Dark Soul.” I said, standing. “You robbed me of a childhood, trained me for your own needs, and lied to me my entire life.” I turned around to see him and Orange Drop standing there. “Your biggest mistake? That was when you TOOK MY FRIEND FROM ME!”
I felt a rush of immense power flow though my body. My wings shot out and I could have sworn that I felt fangs grow in my mouth. The sky grew dark above us as I screamed in pain. The pain of losing my friend.
“Dark Soul…what have you done?” I heard Orange Drop whisper.
Dark Soul was shocked. “I…I don’t know.”
But I did. Shimmer had warned me about this many times. If you actually lost yourself to the darkness, it was possible that you would be forever controlled to it. And I had willingly let it take over. I was willing to kill these two ponies, and they knew it.
As I prepared to cast a spell to eradicate them from existence, I stopped. A sparkle of light was flowing from Shimmer’s body. As the three of us watched, the sparkle of light started to fly around my darkness covered body. As it did, the light from it started to grow, surrounding me until I couldn’t see anything but the light. I was starting to freak out, but I heard a voice.
Do you accept my gift, Scarlet?
Did I? Right now all I wanted to do was go out and obliterate those ponies. But as I was bathed in the light, I knew that wasn’t the answer.
I needed to find a different path, and I would. If not for me, then for Shimmer.
Yes, I accept it.
Then go, and return here another day.
The light grew brighter around me, until everything dissolved into darkness and I knew nothing else.
One hundred and ten years later
“Ahh!” I jolted awake in a dark alley. I know, not the ideal place to sleep but it works. I glanced around at the highly technical city that was around me.
“Is, is this my second chance?” I asked myself. “What am I supposed to do? Where am I? How am I supposed to take care of myself?”
Go, and return another day…
Maybe I just heard the voice, but I knew what I needed to do. I might not know where I was or what was going on, but I would do what I needed to preserve Shimmer’s memory. As I looked in a puddle as I stood, I saw that my mane was completely black. Did that mean that I had control over the darkness?
I stared for a moment, and then raised my head. I had things to do.
My name is Scarlet, and this is my story.
Scarlet awoke with a scream, bolting upright. He pawed at the ground, doing his best to regulate his breathing. A soft voice floated into his subconscious. “The same dream again, Scarlet?”
The colt looked up, sweating. “It-it was different this time, Shimmer.” He rubbed his head with a foreleg, trying to think.
Shimmer looked up from her bed, wincing. “How so?”
Scarlet crawled over to his injured friend. “Well...I dreamed that I wasn't a colt...but a stallion. And that magic didn't just hurt you...it actually killed you.”
The blue unicorn slowly lifted a hoof to rub Scarlet's mane. “Oh? Anything else?”
“Well...you were pink with a black mane. You sent me into the future and I had a cutie mark and...” Scarlet shook his head in frustration. “It's just so wrong!” At his scream, Scarlet's horn flashed, teleporting him across the room.
Shimmer sighed. “Scarlet...you need to relax. It gets worse whenever you are agitated.”
“I know...” Scarlet grumbled. “It's just...I was shot in the horn...you were cursed. I should have been cursed...”
Shimmer managed to smile from her bed. “Scarlet...you know they wouldn't have hurt you. I bet the Grand Master is kicking himself for shooting you in the horn.”
“Wish I could kick him.” Scarlet moved to the center of the cave, sparking the wood there. A light fire rose up, prompting Shimmer to smile.
“Very good, Scarlet.” She said. “Your Shadow magic is improving everyday.”
Scarlet ran a hoof through his mane. “That isn't going to matter if I can't figure out Light magic. And if I can't save...” His voice trailed off as he looked down.
“Come here, Scarlet.” Shimmer ordered. Scarlet did as he was told, sitting next to his friend. “Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be okay.”
“No, you aren't!” Scarlet retorted, tears springing to his eyes. “You're going to...going to...”
“Die, yes.” Shimmer sighed and gently pulled Scarlet into a hug. “That's the curse. Neither of us can change it...so let's do what we can, hmm?”
The young alicorn looked up at her. “What's that?”
“Well, I'm going to do all I can to make sure you're ready.” Shimmer smiled at him. “Now...do we have any food left?”
Scarlet shook his head. “No, we don't. We ate the rest of it last night.” Scarlet winced and clutched at his head as a blinding headache rushed through it. “I'll grab more after work...okay? Will you be okay until then? I could go snag something...”
“Scarlet...” Shimmer glared at the colt, causing him to buckle. “What did I say about stealing?”
“Only if I have to...” He mumbled.
Shimmer sighed. “No, I said 'not at all' You know how I feel about it.”
Scarlet looked up at her, a gleam in his eye. “If you're going to die, Shimmer, I'm taking care of you until it happens. Okay? Stealing or not.” The colt stands up, stretching his small wings and messing up his mane to partly hide his horn. “I'll be back soon, okay?”
“How safe are you going to be, Scarlet?” Shimmer asked, staring at him.
Scarlet smiled. “Safer then a dark shadow in the middle of the day.”
Shimmer's stern look gave way to a smile. “That's my colt. Go on, and I'll see you after work.”
Scarlet nodded to her, turning toward a giant rock behind him. Sparking his horn, he slowly covered the rock in a black aura. Straining, he managed to shift the rock to the side. When there was enough space for him to slip through, he waved to Shimmer and squeezed through the opening. Shimmer watched as the rock slowly closed.
The mare moved to lay back down when a flash of pain jolted her body. “Ahh!” Tears sprang to Shimmer's eyes for more reasons than just the pain. “Oh Scarlet...I'm not ready to leave you yet...and you're not ready to lose me.”
…
Scarlet dashed through the city of Manehatten, having used a concentrated spell to reach the city in a timely manner. It had taken a while for the colt to perfect the teleport, and that had only been with Shimmer's help. Scarlet was thankfully able to do it himself, and he wore that accomplishment well.
Scarlet continued to dash through the streets, aiming for the center of town. He used his agility to dodge past humans and ponies alike, not caring. “Remember...keep my hair in front of my horn...and I'll be okay.” He thought to himself as he ran.
It didn't take him very long before he reached his job, a massage parlor. Scarlet pushed the doors open and quickly sped into the back before anypony or human saw him. Once in the back room, he scouted around for a small uniform.
“Darn it, darn it, darn it...” Scarlet mumbled to himself as he opened his locker. “Phew, I did leave it here. Alright...” Scarlet shook his head to reveal his horn and slipped the coat on. The coat hid his wings, making it look like it was an ordinary unicorn. As he shook himself to make sure his wings were fully hidden, his boss walked into the room.
“Scarlet, there you are!” The large white pegasus yelled, strolling up to him. “On time as usual!”
“Thanks, Snowflake.” Scarlet replied. “What do I have today?”
Snowflake rubbed his chin. “That I know of...two humans, three earth ponies...a pegasus and two unicorns. And they both requested horn treatment.”
Scarlet groaned. “Aww, do I have to? I had to do six of those yesterday! Got really weird.”
“I know that you don't like them, but you are one of the best here, Scarlet.” Snowflake said. “And you are always paid well for them.”
Scarlet turned his head away, shutting his locker. “Doesn't make it any less weird...”
“Chin up.” Snowflake encouraged the young colt. “They're both rather good looking mares.”
“Snowflake. I'm seven.” Scarlet said with an exasperated look on his face. “I don't care.”
The large pegasus simply let out a guffaw of laughter. “Don't worry, buddy. You will eventually.” He placed a hoof on Scarlet's shoulder. “Now go on. If you do well, I'll let you off early today.”
“Wait, really?” Scarlet asked, his eyes lighting up. “I'll go right away!” Excited, the colt dashed out of the back room into the main massage parlor to begin his shift.
…
“Whoa!” Scarlet moved his head back as the unicorn's horn in front of him lit up, releasing mana. She sighed and leaned her head down.
“You did very well...” She purred at him. “Wish I could just take you home and keep you.”
Scarlet sighed inwardly, his face flushing. This hadn't been the first time to hear this, and it was the reason he didn't enjoy massaging horns. Flicking his ears, he decided on his programmed response, “Thank you, ma'am. Will there be anything else?”
The mare stood up, flicking her blond mane. “No, that's all dear. I'll make sure to put in a good word to your boss.” She rolled off of the bed, winking at Scarlet and walking towards the front.
Scarlet sighed and stretched his back, feeling tired. There had been more ponies than just the once that Snowflake had told him about that wanted his services, keeping the alicorn from being able to leave early. Scarlet used his entire body to massage, which is why he believed he was popular in the store. But when it came down to it, he only cared about earning money to take care of Shimmer.
Scarlet hopped onto the ground and trotted into the back room, seeing one of his coworkers back there. “Hey, Sleeping Giant.”
The purple mare in question glanced at him, nodding. “Hey, Scar. What's with the whole name thing today? Didn't we talk about that?”
“Sorry.” Scarlet walked to his locker, yawning. “Long day.”
Giant threw her uniform into her locker, nodding again. “Yeah, but you the most. What do you do to get all those customers?”
Scarlet shrugged. “I really don't know. I just do what I have to.”
“Mmm.” Giant shut her locker and glanced around the back room. “Ya know Scarlet, you're so...mysterious.”
“Huh?” Scarlet asked, a little shakily. “W-what are you talking about?”
“Well...you always disappear after work...you won't undress with others in the room...” She walked over to the exit, looking out it. “What's your secret, Scarlet?”
Scarlet shook his head, running a hoof through his mane. “No secrets here. Just your average colt doing what he's gotta do.”
“Still never gonna understand why he hired a colt...” Sleeping Giant shook her head. “Whatever. I'll see you later, Scarlet. Be safe, alright?”
“You know it.” Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief as she left the room. He quickly tore his uniform off, throwing it into the locker and slamming it shut. After he finished, he proceeded to hide his horn with his mane, leaving the room and the parlor itself.
“Alright...” Scarlet said to himself. “I'll grab some food really fast...gotta get back to the cave.” Without a second thought, Scarlet dashed down the road towards the store.
…
Shimmer quietly dozed in her bed, stirring as she heard a scraping sound. She turned her head just in time to see Scarlet squeeze himself into the cave.
“I'm back, Shimmer!” The colt happily said, struggling to close the small hole that he had created. “And I got some fruit for us!”
Shimmer smiled at him, ruffling his mane when he sat next to her. “We haven't had that in a while. What did you get this time?”
Scarlet beamed at her as he lifted the fruit out with magic. “I got...a banana...some strawberries, and my favorite...”
“Apples?” Shimmer guessed, hiding a light smirk.
Scarlet nodded, pulling out two green apples and placing them on the ground. “Yup!”
“Very nice, Scarlet.” Shimmer said. “Now, what do you want?”
Scarlet scratched his head. “Well, all I want is the apple, so you can have the rest. You need the food.”
“Scarlet...” Shimmer started, but was cut off as Scarlet pushed the fruit towards her, taking one of the apples for himself. Knowing that she wasn't going to convince him otherwise, Shimmer shook her head and started to eat.
“Mmm...” Scarlet hummed to himself as he chomped on his apple. “Yum!”
Shimmer chuckled to herself as she ate her own food. “Thank you, Scarlet.”
Scarlet nodded at her, yawning. “Phew...that was a day alright. I kinda feel like sleeping.”
“Do you have to work tomorrow?” Shimmer asked, wiping her mouth.
Scarlet shook his head, digging a hole and placing the remnants of their food inside. “Nope. I was given the day off. Lucky me, right?”
Shimmer nodded, wincing as a flash of pain rushed through her body. “They're getting more frequent...I don't have much time left.” She looked at her young friend busying himself by starting the fire and warming himself up.
“Something wrong, Shimmer?” Scarlet inquired, noticing the older mare staring at him.
Shimmer shook her head. “Oh, no. I'm sorry, Scarlet. I was just daydreaming.”
“You always daydream.” Scarlet said, trotting over and sitting down in front of her.
Shimmer slowly reached a leg out, ruffling Scarlet's mane. “There's not much I can do, silly. I'm stuck in here all day.”
The colt batted at Shimmer's hoof, smiling. “Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I'll get you moving again. Eventually.”
“Yes, eventually...” Shimmer's voice trailed off as another flash of pain jolted her body. Scarlet did not notice, waving his hooves around like a foal and smiling to himself. “Come on, Scarlet. I bet you're tired, huh?”
Scarlet yawned in spite of himself. “I guess so. I'll take a quick nap before I go scan the area.” He crawled over to Shimmer, curling up against her like she was his mother. “Night, Shimmer.”
Shimmer wrapped a leg around him, pulling him closer to herself. “Goodnight, Scarlet.” Scarlet shifted a few times before finally falling asleep. Shimmer laid her head down, sighing to herself. “I'll protect you...for as long as I'm alive.” Slowly closing her eyes, she also drifted into the land of dreams.
