//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Darkened Sky 
// by GreysonWest 
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The lightning crashed down and gathered on my horn. The surging power was almost overwhelming, and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it for very long, but that was fine since I wasn't going to be holding it for more than half a second anyway. I lowered my head and looked straight at the timber wolf that had just savaged my back, and let the bolt fly. Since the poor wooden creature was less than five feet away, it had no chance to dodge the arc of power and it shattered, bits of wooden debris flying everywhere. Holy crap, I hadn't just destroyed it, I'd darn near vaporised it.

My vision swam for a moment as my horn's glow subsided, a side effect of redirecting that much raw power. What I'd done wasn't really an evocation per se; evocations draw upon your own power to create an effect, whereas all I'd done was call down the lightning and redirect the power. I think my mother had called it kinetomancy or something.

My attention was brought back to the forefront as the two remaining timber wolves began shifting towards me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to take both of them, and from the angles they were approaching, tossing a lightning bolt at one would simply leave my already-bloodied back open for another attack, so I did the only thing I could think of. I ran.

Now, I'd rather not refer to it as running away like a little filly. I prefer to think of it as a tactical retreat to a more strategically beneficial position. Yeah... that's what it was. And as for the tree I was hiding behind, it was a clever camouflage point. Hey, if you can come up with a better idea in the heat of battle, you let me know.

I gathered up my more prickly emotions; I had a lot of those at the moment; and packed them into a tight little ball, then imagined that ball being channeled into my horn. It immediately started glowing a bright silver and electricity arced from it to everything around me... the grass, the tree, my mane, and the puddle I was standing in. I jumped back quickly as the small jolt hit me, then held my breath and jumped out from behind the tree. One of the timber wolves was there, less than an inch from my face, growling and slobbering some sap-like liquid in the rain. "Hiya, handsome," I said with the most charming smile I could manage, before letting the arc of electricity fly at point-blank range.

I've said it before. I'm no evocator. This, wasn't kinetomancy. These two things together conspired to make my attack do little more than singe the branches forming the creature's face. I stared at it dumbfounded for a moment before a heavy, jarring impact struck me in the side and I went skidding away in the mud. I could feel the wound on my back tearing open a little wider and it burned wildly. My arc hadn't worked on the beast. The wood just wasn't conductive enough for my electric attacks to ground out the magic animating it, even wet. I was in too much pain to bring up the concentration I'd need to throw out another pulse of electricity, and my bell had been rung to hard to risk channelling another bolt of lightning, I might just as easily fry my own face off as redirect it.

My brother's mocking laughter floated down from the low-hanging cloud. He knew what I was going through, he knew I was basically beaten. I looked around frantically and didn't see anything that might help... until I saw the scraps of the downed timber wolf. I looked back to the other two and they were slowly advancing on me. The gears were turning in my head and I formed one of my trademark cunning plans. And by that, I mean I had a crazy idea that I had no clue would work.

I started laughing. I stood up, and just laughed. I think it took the timber wolves by surprise, because they halted in place for a moment and glanced up at my brother. I took that opportunity to call down a freaking tornado, right into the heart of Canterlot's central gardens. I swept it across the debris of the fallen tree, and across the debris of the destroyed timber wolf, and then swept it towards the remaining beasts. They did what any intelligent predator would do in a situation like that. They ran.

It didn't really matter how fast they ran, though, because you can't outrun the speed of thought. I blasted the whirlwind, filled with shrapnel and debris, right over their backs. One of them exploded instantly, and added to the pile, but the other... well the other one seemed to have been scared stiff. It sat in the center of the whirlwind not moving, just jerking its head around frantically looking for an escape.  I manipulated the whirlwind's base to open out, keeping a sheer wall of wind and wood between us, and walked up to the wall. I laughed again, this time heartily, as I slowed the tornado to a stop, leaving a perfect circle of wood on the ground. While the remaining timber wolf looked at me with fear in its fiery eyes, I knelt down and touched my horn to the circle and made a minor effort of magic.

I immediately felt the circle snap to life with a nearly-audible popping sound, even over the rain. I'd just cut off everything within the circle from external magic. The timber wolf was a semi-conscious construct of magic, and without the energy flow keeping it going, it simply fell apart. I really, truly wanted to join it.  I was beat.

Well, it would be more accurate to say I was exhausted. I'd taken two nasty hits and had my bell run pretty hard. My back burned and the falling rain, while keeping the wound clean, stung like heck. I chanced a glance back up at my brother, but he wasn't up there anymore. I panicked for a moment, but it didn't last long, as a terribly loud crashing sound happened at the same time that something which felt like a pillow, being swung by a giant, smashed into me and flung me against a tree. I simply collapsed, the wind knocked out of me not only by the blast of thunder, but the impact. I was pretty sure all of the ribs on the right side of my body were broken, and my rear leg, too. I did my best to stand up, trying to catch my breath, but I felt a hoof on my throat, and it crushed me back down to the ground.

"Well, Stormbringer, I guess you lose after all. Don't worry, your death won't be a waste. I'm going to take all of your power first. Then I'll finish father off." He smiled coldly, and it didn't reach his eyes. "Then, once I'm done with him, the only next logical step... to go after your little friend... What was her name? Ink Flash?" My eyes went wide. It told him all he needed to know. "Yesss" he purred. "Her screams will echo for eternity through the lands of Equestria!"

I struggled against his hoof, trying to stand up, but I didn't have the strength. My back, my sides, my leg, all flared up at the same time, and the pain literally blinded me for a few seconds. When my vision focused, I looked back up at my brother, who had his head bowed, his horn pointed directly at my heart. Emotions welled up in me like a tidal surge. Hatred at my brother's malice. Fear for my friend. Outrage on my father's behalf. And finally, despair, because I knew that there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it. All of these feelings strained against my will and broken form like a dam.

I'm not entirely sure what happened. For just a brief instant, I felt nothing. No pain. No hatred. Just a cold, permeating, solid power running through me. Every part of my body that it touched became numbed. Then it touched the floodgate and all of my emotions were loosed at once. The power radiated out of me like a visible heat source. I made what felt like a minor effort of magic, and I swear to you, it felt like time slowed down for a few moments. I watched my brother get blasted back and away from me as though I'd poured every bit of the raging storm's energy into the spell. I stood up and stared at the sky, making another effort of will, and the sky turned black. No light whatsoever came through, and the park was then so dark that it was only lit by the intense light from my own horn. I walked over to my brother where he lay in the middle of the circle of wood.

I knelt down and poured some of my power into the circle, and felt it.. and... actually freaking SAW it pop into place. The circle, normally an invisible barrier impermeable only by magic, had become a physical barrier. It apparently had filtered out not only magic, but the rest of the physical world, as well. the energy of life was slowly pulled out of the construct. I watched as my brother's form withered. I felt nothing but hatred. I reveled in watching him die. It felt good. It felt REALLY good.

But it wasn't enough. I needed to erase him permanently. That meant undoing all of his plans. Robbing him of them. Leaving him with nowhere to turn. I thought about my father, and smiled darkly. I could kill him too, then 'Breaker's plan to torture him would be over. If I killed Ink first, he could never hurt her. It didn't matter that he would be dead, he should be left no legacy.

"Stormbringer." It was a simple thing, a name. Some would call it such a minor detail that it doesn't matter, but our names, or Names, capital N, have power. That power is mostly a psychological one, but if you put some of your will into the words they can act as a kind of beacon, or a summon. A way to get somepony's attention.

This, however, hadn't been a summons. There was no magic in it, it was just the deep, resonant baritone of my father.

"Stormbringer, what the hay are you doin? Stars and stones boy, you know better than this," he chided me.

I wanted to turn all of my power on him, but something stopped me. I felt a kind of energy stirring around him. It was a warm, gentle, bedrock-deep power. It wasn't magic, though. It was the power of Faith. He turned his serious blue eyes on me and called my name again. "Stormbringer." His voice dropped in volume by several degrees. "I don't know what's gotten into you, or why you're killin' your brother. I don't guess you got time to get into it right now." he shook his head. "But, this ain't right. Celestia save you, son."

Suddenly my mind snapped back into focus. The raw emotions drained away, taking the cold with them. The aches suddenly returned, but the fire in my side, and on my back, was gone. I looked over at the circle and quickly ran over and scuffed it. My brother was still alive, but barely. He looked worse off than my father had been.

I was suddenly very, very weary, and I tried to sit down, but I felt that cold power coming through again. I panicked and it got worse, spreading like wildfire. The panic turned to outright fear, and I could feel it growing even faster. I forced myself to take a deep breath, a calming exercise meant to rid me of any excess emotions, normally used when I'm about to perform a full-on ritual. I felt the cold drain out of me, and I heard my brother's rasping laugh. I looked down at him.

"You're... shadowborne now, brother. Your fate is sealed." He let out another rasping laugh before he lost consciousness. I looked up at the blackened sky and blinked. Had I done that? And that circle? It was mind-boggling. I was a Shadowborne now. Well, only in the technical sense. The darkness had gathered in me, and whenever my emotions welled up, it would fight for control.  When I was in control of my emotions, I was alright.

I closed my eyes and let the cold, heavy rain wash over me. Emotions. My friends. I wouldn't be able to see them anymore. It would bring up too many feelings, especially Ink, the closest friend I'd ever had. I wouldn't even be able to stay in Ponyville, because if I ran into her, everything would come welling up, and the darkness's urges to destroy her and unmake my brother would be too difficult to ignore. I would have to leave, and I wouldn't be able to tell her why.

I looked down at my brother's broken, wilted form. He'd been a monster, and in trying to stop him, I'd become one, too.