Prologue: A Kingdom of Times Past
A large stone castle stood its ground at the edge of a town that it overlooked. It seemed that it hung dangerously close to the edge of a great chasm. Some parts of the tall structure leaned over the edge ever so slightly; holding on for dear life and trying not to fall. The night was cold and clouds heavy with moisture sat low above the dark and almost lifeless castle town. They had not started their watery assault on the homes and shops down below, but one could tell just by looking that it was inevitable that it would rain no matter what.
At the top of the castle sat a room the overlooked the landscape, with giant bay windows made of massive transparent glass panes. At the foot of the room stood a young colt at the top of winding staircase; a staircase that one could only imagine the length of. His body heaved from running and sweat glistened on his fur turquoise coat. His white mane kept falling in front of his eyes, and he kept having to push it up and out of his face with a puff of air from his snout.
“Mother, Father! The castle guards have fallen to his vile hoof. We have to leave now and retreat to Gnosis!” exclaimed Aeon, looking towards the foot of the paned windows.
Standing below the colorful collection of windows were a white mare and a ocean blue stallion. They stood side by side and looking out through the rows and columns of windows. The mare turned to see the young colt; her eyes were clearly filled with tears.
“No Aeon. This is part of our destiny; yours on the other hoof is something completely different. You are the only one that can save Gnosis from him. We have done everything we can to protect you from him, and now the touch must be passed on. We have called forth the guardians to take you to our sister city, for we have nothing to stop him from taking it from its people. You are the last hope for the future.” said the mare, through her tears of sadness.
The stallion turned to his son, and looked into his deep turquoise eyes. “You must listen to you mother, you are the only one that has the ability to stop him from turning everypony into stone. For that you must leave and save my brother and his kingdom. I have already sent word and he will be waiting near the entrance of Gnosis. As your mother has said, our guardian gems, the Crystals of Wisdom will be here soon. Once that arrive you must make haste and meet my brother King Jariath and convey the word that Metis has fallen. Please Aeon you must trust us and live on, remember what we have taught you. Your cousins will be there too, and they will help teach you what you will need to know to be a true king.” said Aeon’s father in his commanding voice.
“Even though you have planned out my future, I am the one that will decide my destiny. My choice is to stay here and protect both of you no matter the cost. If I were to leave what will become of you two? To be turned to stone is not what I want to see my parents as, I just can’t leave. Mother, Father I will never abandon you; if I did, then our kingdom is doomed to fall into darkness. I believe that I have what is takes to stop him from world dominance, and I will stand tall and defend what I know and love.” responded Aeon, courage in his young voice.
Suddenly a deep chuckling broke their conversation and a shadowy figure appeared behind the mare and her stallion. The stallion darts with speed the of a trained soldier in front of his wife to protect her from the sudden intruder. “It is too late for anyone to be saved, for I have now arrived. Your guards were nothing to my overwhelming power of darkness, and now your time has come. You, this kingdom and its entire population will be doomed for eternity.” the figure said to the family.
The figure laughed at the family with a deep mocking below; echoing through the dark night and a sudden thunder bolt could suddenly be seen through the window panes. It etched across the sky; like an fissure splitting the ground.
The sound of thunder was heard shortly afterwards; breaking the silence in the room. As if having a conscious of its own; the rain started to fall. It was a heavy, fast rain that splattered against the stained glass panes. “You will all become stone relics for all to see, witness my power and bow to me.”
“You have defeated the guards, curse you Shadow Buck. Their lives and memories will not go unforgotten, and they will be avenged. I would guess you and I are were destined to fight, let us fight and see who is the better stallion. ” yelled the stallion, as he stands his ground and grits his teeth.
The figure laughed at stallion, mocking him and his words of aggression. “Even though that is tempting and an interesting offer, I am not here for you King Daris. I am here for your son. He is the last of a sacred bloodline. One that will make my truly invincible, and one I think you and Queen Maria are very well aware of. So without further disruption...” Shadow Buck trailed off, looking towards the young colt. His eyes filled with nothing more than a single red dot for a pupil; encompassed by swirling darkness and shadows.
“You will dare not touch him, and I do not know of this bloodline you speak. Even so he is still my son!” exclaimed King Daris.
“Is that so? The bloodline that courses through his very body; one that is more powerful than any bloodline known in history. One that your wife’s ancestors had within them. Oh! I guess you are shocked that I have learned of such a thing so quickly? I can tell by the look on your faces, the look of shock and horror. It is the expression of one that is show right before one parishes at my hoof. I have seen that look before, for many of your guards shown the same look as I turned their very bodies to stone. The fear for their families-”
“Enough! Stop this chatter Shadow Buck and take my challenge. Let us see who is really stronger between the two of us.” yelled Daris, cutting Shadow Buck off mid sentence, his face showing disgust from how well Shadow Buck described the last moments of his castle guard; many of whom were his best friends.
“Fine, I will take on the great King Daris and defeat him before his own family. Making him look weak and shameful to his own son, and wife.” said Shadow Buck, laughing afterwards to prove his point.
Shadow Buck and Daris galloped at each other, and soon sparks filled the air as their horns met. They clashed for several minutes, displaying what could only be described as mesmerizing dance-like ritual. The two traded glancing blows to each other every so often. Each blow was just enough to cause each of them to wince in pain, but not enough to prevent one another to stop battling.
This dance between the two ended and the two of them drew back. Though only Daris was hard of breathing; Shadow Buck had barely been fazed by the confrontation.
“You are old and unfit to be King; Daris. You will not last much longer and I will win. In the end I will be the supreme ruler of this land.” calming said Shadow Buck, showing his godlike courage to Daris.
“Be quiet you fiend, speak only when spoken to. Let us finish this once and for all, you and me. Let me show you the power of a true king!” yelled Daris, his now booming voice; bouncing off the stone walls of the high perched castle room.
Shadow Buck curled his lips into a malevolent smile, showing that his intentions were not that of good. “Yes, let us finish this pointless battle. For no one will speaks down to me and lives to tell about it.” said Shadow Buck, through his evil grin.
It was just then that the guardian gems had chosen to appear before the group; gracing the room with their presence. Almost at the height of the rafters, they hung there. They spun slowly in a circular movement, as if holding invisible hooves and dancing a slow ritual to call forth a power of their own. Their light shined down for all to witness, and as they hovered there; King Daris made his move. He pointed his horn at Shadow Buck and focused all his power and essence into a final magical spell.
Shadow Buck was distracted by the rainbow crystals, mesmerized somehow by their luminescent hues; it was like the crystals were calling out to his very soul. He suddenly could hear the crackling of Daris’s magic spell. He looked at a massive ray of light was shot from the King’s horn and bolting towards the shadow stallion.
What had seemed to Daris as his victory had ultimately been his downfall, for Shadow Buck quickly dodged the final attack from the king. He was did not come out of it unscathed though, for he had in turn received a deep gash to his right front leg. It was deep gash, one that would seemingly never heal unless treated immediately. Though Shadow Buck had no time for such matters as he now realized the King Daris was one not to be trifled with and he would have to be defeated. Shadow Buck charged at the now wary king, and knocked him to the ground. The black stallion held his horn at the kings throat, pinning him to the ground.
“What are you waiting for you foul beast? Are even you too scared to take another pony’s life? Has your vile personality finally been stalled by moral standards?” mocked Daris, his neck almost punctured by his rivals horn.
“You mockery will be the end of you Daris! Feel the power of darkness as it courses through your body, and eventually turns you to cold stone.” said Shadow Buck, his face stricken with frustration.
“Father! No!” yelled Aeon, as he began to cry in grief and sadness.
It was now that the Crystals of Wisdom had seemingly come to a deciding point on what they would do. They sped towards the young colt as he panicked for his fathers life, and as they circled around his young body; he became confused to what they were doing.
“What is going on? Let me save my father!” the colt yelled at the crystals, but they did not respond to his plea.
Aeon tried to run past the hovering crystals but they had created a small bubble force field that only caused Aeon to bounce back into the center of the circling gems.
“No! Let me out. I have to do something to save him.” exclaimed Aeon, but it was no use. Even as Aeon banged and kicked at the bubble walls; it would not pop no matter the amount of force he put into his assaults.
“Perfect. You are too late, Shadow Buck and now Aeon will have the ability to warn Gnosis of our downfall; ensuring that they will be victorious against you.” said Daris, a smirk on his snout.
“You will pay for your treachery Daris. I will not allow the key to my rise in power to leave so easily. said Shadow Buck, leaving Daris breathing heavily on the floor as he dashed towards the colt now encased in a crystal like bubble.
The gems that had been seemly taking their time, but now they acted as Shadow Buck charged at them and threatened their existence. They carried Aeon off the ground; holding him in the bubble that surrounded him. Shadow Buck skidded to a halt, realizing that the colt was out of his physical grasp.
“I am not defeated that easily; I have magic abilities that will pop that protective little bubble.” said Shadow Buck, gritting his teeth.
Shadow Buck pointed his horn at the bubble and began to chant in an ancient language that no one in the room could understand. His horn began to glow and soon spouted a sphere of immense darkness. Within the sphere was what looked like a small lighting storm; bolts of white lighting could be seen within it.
As if on cue, the crystals increased their memorizing dance to a almost blinding speed. Their rainbow light quickly became a blur of colors, and caused Queen Maria and King Daris to close their eyes.
“Taste my power you stubborn gems! Shatter and be destroyed forever!” said the black stallion, releasing his magical spell.
The sphere of darkness sped towards the crystals, making Maria and Daris cringe and close their eyes. Concerned with their sons safe passage to the sister city. It was not till they heard the sound of a almost ear splitting boom that did they dare open their eyes. When they did though, they were greeted by small specks with the brightness of the stars floating in the air. They looked towards the place were their son had been just moment ago to see that he was gone. In his place was aurora of static that marked his departure, and above this phenomenon was a giant hole in the roof. From the hole the rain came crashing into the room, causing a pit pat pit pat sound to resonate through the currently quiet room.
Shadow Buck stood there, quietly contemplating his next act. Then, he slowly turned around and looked towards the stallion and his mare, and began to walk towards them. His eyes ablaze with anger and hatred, blackened vapors emitted from them. Parts of his face twitched from annoyance, and his walk had a slight limp from his injury inflicted by Daris.
“I commend you on your intelligence, and cunningness. You have outwitted me and have taken the key to me being whole once again. Even so, you both will fall and your kingdom will turn into shambles. Your people will starve and without a leader to guide them, there will be war. I care not though, for I will create a new land and kingdom of my own. One that I will rule over and will command everypony that lives within it, they will all live in the darkness of my shadow. Fearing my name, obeying my every comment and living out not knowing of the very essence that binds us all together. That essence being Magic.” said Shadow Buck, now standing over the two other ponies, grinning his despicable smile down upon them.
“Tonight marks a new era of this land, one where darkness and shadows rule all and everything that lives upon the land. Welcome to the age of the Shadow Reclamation.” said Shadow Buck, punctuating his statement with his malevolent laugh.
Author's Note
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