//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: A Lighter Shade Of Darkness // by veteranO'awesome //------------------------------// (A/N) This chapter will contain a lot of action and some descriptive violence. Enjoy "Are you ready?" Shade asked Vinyl. She was behind the mixing table with a huge grin on her face. "Hell yes, I am." "Alright. I'm gonna go up about a hundred feet and stay there till the good part. Sound alright?" Shade said, fiddling with his boots. "Yep, let's do this." "Good luck." Lyra was just as excited. Shade's mouth contorted into a twisted smirk as he put on his helmet. He slammed the heel of his boots on the ground and shot straight into the low-lit evening sky. Lyra walked out to the front of the stage and tapped the mic. "Ponies!" Lyra shouted, capturing the attention of the citizens around her. In the distance, two pegasi flew to the scene as more ponies gathered in front of the stage now shining moving spotlights everywhere. Meanwhile, Shade waited one hundred feet in the air for the signal from Lyra. "Attention, mares and stallions!" Lyra announced through a microphone as music began to play. "Today we have a special show put on by a very special guest for you all……he is…..the one……the only…… Shaaaaaaaaade!!!” For a few seconds, nothing happened...or at least right before the first climax of the song. A loud whirring sound could be heard, then the bass dropped. Shade slammed into the ground right on time, kicking up dust and dirt around him. He did a back flip onto the stage as Vinyl turned up the music. Shade slid around the stage, practically giving physics the finger. Lyra and Vinyl noticed that he was slowing down a bit, so they started dancing with him. His movements could only be described as magnificent. The ponies in front of the stage were astonished at the beauty of the Shade's choreography. One of the thoughts going through his head at the time was It looks like those Michael Jackson videos I scavenged back on Earth are paying off. The audience began to move with the beat as the bass dropped once again. Soon, everypony was dancing.They weren't caring if they looked stupid, because they were having fun. Even the rich, snobbish ponies just coming to see what all the commotion was about had been influenced by the rhythm and were now grooving. Class or popularity didn't matter right now, only happiness. The music eventually ended as Shade and all of the ponies settled down. For a few minutes, nopony said anything. The crowd erupted into a fit of cheers, whistles, and quite a few fillies screaming incoherent nonsense. He half expected to get a pair of panties flung at him, which made him chuckle. Elsewhere "Sir, we have an issue with our ship." "What is it?" "It seems the engine is in need of repair. It will add on another week of our expected arrival." "Fine with me. It will only make it all the more exciting when we arrive." Ponyville Shade, Vinyl, and Lyra all took a bow and retreated backstage behind the curtains. Shade took off his helmet, revealing a sweat covered face and bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the low lit atmosphere. "That was the most fun thing I've ever done!" Vinyl shouted after catching her breath. Meanwhile, Lyra said nothing which started to worry Shade. He knelt down right in front of her face, but she was still just staring off into space. Shade waved his hand in front of her face. Still no reply. He looked at Vinyl, who was for some reason trying to stifle a laugh. "Looks like she daydream-" "BOO!" Lyra suddenly shouted out. Shade launched into the air and landed on his ass, successful in looking like a total idiot. He remained on the floor of the stage and breathed heavily. Lyra walked to him and stopped at his feet. "You're scared pretty easily, you chicken." Before Shade could say anything, Lyra tripped and fell on him. He looked to his side only to see Vinyl grinning with her horn alight. Lyra was blushing profusely. "I-I'm sorry about that. I get kinda klutzy at times." "That's...OK." Shade spoke in a soft voice. They stared into each others' eyes as their faces got closer, inch by inch. Lyra's golden eyes looking into Shade's bright blue ones. Nopony or person said a word, including Vinyl, who was watching them. Being a good friend along with Bon-Bon, she had been trying to get Lyra a colt-friend for a while now so that she would lay off the human nonsense, but it would be pretty ironic should she actually get together with one. Shade's and Lyra's lips were now just a few centimeters apart. "That was wicked!" Rainbow Dash had flown in behind stage and was now shouting at Vinyl. She couldn't see the embarrassed pony and human a few feet away. Lyra and Shade stopped moving as Lyra back off and stood up. "Sorry about that." Lyra looked at the ground. "You don't have to be sorry." Shade replied, getting up and dusting himself off. He looked at Lyra and started blushing. "Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash suddenly said Shade and Lyra. Lyra was extremely nervous whereas Shade couldn't be more content. "What's up, Rainbow?" "Oh...um...nothing." Dash was still incredibly nervous about talking to Shade right now. "OK then...I guess I'll just go and-" Shade's sentence was interrupted by the screams of nearby ponies. Shade, Rainbow Dash, Lyra, and Vinyl ran out onto the stage only to see two tall jackal-headed creatures walking through the crowd and ponies scattering. One of them had some sort of object in their hands and was swinging it around, trying to hit any nearby ponies. Lyra, Dash, and Vinyl just sat there staring, but Shade was already on the ground running at the one that was in the midst of the ponies. It turned around and swung the glowing stick at him, flinging him back onto the stage. Shade growled as his eyes started to change color. They shifted from light blue to crimson red. He seemed to not notice this, so he was still in the game. He jumped back up and ran again at the thing. It turned around and again swung the stick at him, but Shade grabbed it and snapped the end of it off. Being at least two feet taller, the creature had an advantage over Shade, but he didn't think so. It swung its arms down but before they could make a deadly impact, Shade caught them. He jumped and put his feet to the thing's chest. He pulled until he heard two rather loud snaps, signalling that they had come out of their sockets. Shade jumped down from the creature as it roared in pain. It fell onto the ground and Shade lifted his leg above its head. He thrust it downwards with the force of a car falling from cliff. The creatures head exploded, leaving only a gooey mess. He heard another scream and looked over to the source. An orange, purple-maned pegasus filly was cowering on the ground with one of those things above her. It held a spear with a light purple tip and thrust it towards her. Right before it hit, Shade appeared in front of it and instantly grabbed it, snapped it in two, and shoved the sharp end in into the creature's stomach. Its head went up into the air as it howled. It tried to punch Shade but he dodged every attack. He turned sideways and kicked both of its kneecaps, shattering them to pieces. The creature fell on its knees as Shade grabbed his head with both hands. "YOU. WILL. NOT. HURT. AN. INNOCENT. CHILD." His arms became engulfed in fire as smoke came from the jackal-headed thing that was now burning from the inside-out. Its yellow eyes rolled back into its head and its skin turned from gray to charcoal black. The flesh on Shade's arms turned into pure flame as the creature actually melted. The fires could be seen channeling from his fingers into the side of the monster's head, boiling its brain and blood. He let it go as it fell to the ground. The fire on Shade died down and was only left on one hand. The ponies watching him, including the filly that was previously near death, cheered again. Shade turned his head towards them. His eyes changed back to blue and he held up his fiery hand to show to the ponies. The fire got larger as he bent it to his will. It twisted and turned and became small heated twister. "Well this is new."