//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22: Strategies and Nightmares 
// Story: The Guardian Shadow 
// by KnightBrony 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 22


Strategies and Nightmares



After a few hours, we all gathered back on the bridge to discuss our ideas for how to attack the diamond dog warren.

“Okay, we've all had a few hours to think, so let's see what we all came up with. Scarlet, would you mind starting?” I said. Scarlet smiled and stood.

“The way I see it, we have one option, a straight up frontal assault. With Shadow's strength and alchemy, we can bust through their defenses with ease. Nebula and I can provide covering fire with our arrows. Jade and Nova can infiltrate the warren and blow them straight to Tartarus” she turned to me “ how's that for a strategy Stripes?” she said. 

I had to admit, her strategy sounded fairly good. Everyone else was nodding their heads.

“Better than my plan. I was gonna say we should just blast em' with some dynamite and be done with it,” Nova said with a goofy grin. Nebula face-hoofed at her brother's stupidity.

“Nova's idiotic ideas aside, I like Scarlet's plan. I was thinking something similar, except we utilize the airship as well,” Nebula said. Scarlet and Nova both smiled.

“I like it. What about you Jade, what did you come up with?” Scarlet asked. Jade looked down and fidgeted in her seat.

“Jade couldn't think of plan. Best could come up with is digging holes,” she said dejectedly. Scarlet patted her on the back to comfort her and looked at me.

“What about you Stripes? You've been awful quiet this whole time. What's your idea?” she said. I got up from my seat and put my hooves on the table.

“You've all come up with good ideas, but unfortunately they're not going to work,” I said bluntly.

“What!?” they all said. Scarlet stared daggers at me.

“What makes you say that Stripes, and do choose your words carefully,” she said as she levitated an arrow. I cleared my throat and began pacing around the room.

“There are a few factors. To start, we number only six counting Lily, seven if you count Silver Thorn. That's barely enough for a stealth team, not a full assault. We'd need no less than a hundred soldiers to even attempt that. Secondly, apart from Lily's descriptions, we know next to nothing about their defenses. They could any manner of secret weapon lying in wait. Lastly, while I applaud you for thinking of ways to utilize everyone's skills, it's poorly thought out at best. We'd get captured or worse within minutes,” I said with finality. Scarlet tried to come up with a rebuttal, but in the end just sat in her seat dejected.

“Well then what in Celestia's name are we going to do?” she asked, everyone else nodding in agreement. 

“I was getting to that. Like I said, it could work, but we don't have the forces. That's why we're going to do something a little different,” I said.

“Well spit it out already! All this beating around the bush is getting annoying,” Nova said.

“Very well then. My idea is this: We infiltrate the warren posing as Iron Spear's new business associates. We get the leader to show us around the warren and where he's keeping the slaves. While we're doing that, I'll set up some transmutation circles that I can use to cause some explosions. Nova and Jade will help with setting up the circles. Nebula and Scarlet will act as my attendants when we meet with the leader. Once we've successfully infiltrated the warren, Jade and I will make a path to the surface so we can get the captives out. We can have Lily on standby with the ship to hold the captives and once that's done, we destroy the warren, and kill anyone who gets in our way,” I said. Everyone took a moment to consider my plan. I had to admit, it was risky even if it worked. The plan all hinged on if we could get the leader to trust us or not. If not, I'd have to go with Plan B, and I really didn't like Plan B.

After a while, Scarlet said “Shadow, this plan is dangerous. We'd be going deep into their territory. What if something goes wrong?”

I took a deep breath and said “You let me worry about that. Are you all prepared for this?”

They all nodded.

“No question,” Scarlet said

“I'll do whatever I can to help,” Nebula said.

“Jade want help captives. Not want others suffer,” she said. 

“I get to blow stuff up right?” Nova said.

“Alright guys. With all that done, let's get some rest. We've got a lot of work ahead of us,” I said as we all dispersed to our rooms. As I was about to leave, Scarlet tapped me on the shoulder.

“What's up Scarlet?” I said. She looked nervous and she was blushing.

“Well..um..there's something I wanted to talk to you about..in private,” she said. That's when it clicked. She wanted to talk about the kiss. I blushed at the memory.

“Um..sure Scarlet,” I said as we walked toward my quarters.


The ship had mostly barracks for soldiers, but there were a few private rooms. Plus, their was the captain's room, which used to belong to Iron Spear. I had cleared out pretty much everything except for the bed and desk.

Scarlet and I entered the room, the awkward present in the air. To be perfectly honest, the kiss was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I was originally gonna go with a hug, but then I just went with a kiss instead. Given how Scarlet didn't slap me afterward, I assumed she was okay with it. Now I wasn't so sure. This was the first she had spoken about it in two days, so needless to say I was nervous about what she had to say. 

As I closed the door, Scarlet turned around and looked at me.

“Listen, Shadow..about that kiss the other day,” she said. I freaking knew it.

“Scarlet, if I made you uncomfortable I'm sorry, I just...” I was cut off as she suddenly kissed me. My eyes went wide before I slowly melted into the kiss. After a while we broke the kiss and she looked at me shyly.

“I'm..not very good at this lovey dovey stuff okay. I've tried before, but I was always too shy,” she said as her blush became more apparent.

“Scarlet, I..”

“When I met you, I thought you were just some crazy stallion”

“Gee, thanks,” I quipped. 

“But as I got to know you, I saw something. Something I've never seen in a stallion before. You were kind, gentle, strong, smart, caring.....well you get the point. I thought I could just be happy as your friend, but not anymore. When I saw you die, I finally realized that...I...I..” it was my turn to kiss her. She melted into the kiss as if we'd done this a million times before. 

When we broke the kiss, I smiled at her and said “You don't have to say it Scarlet. To be honest, I've never been good with romance either. I thought making attachments here would be a bad idea, but I guess that idea's been scrapped. Now, I can't imagine my life without you or the others. For once, I have a real family,” I gave Scarlet a hug “And I'm not gonna lose you guys”. Scarlet hugged me back, and I wished it could've lasted forever. Eventually we broke the hug and smiled at each other.

Scarlet blushed and said “Well, I..guess I should be going now. Sweet dreams Shadow,” She stuttered.

I smiled and said “Sweet dreams Scarlet”. 

After Scarlet had left, I slung Silver Thorn off my back and flopped down on the bed in exhaustion. It had been a long day. Making plans to attack a small army, confessions of love. Definitely a full day. But through it all, I still had a smile on my face.

“Well, someone's pleased with himself,” Silver Thorn spoke in my mind.

I turned to him and said “You know, I would try and come up with something clever right now, but I'm too damn happy. So go ahead, make your jokes”. Silver Thorn chuckled at this.

“ I jest Shadow. I am happy you have found someone to love. 'Tis a feat not many are fortunate enough to accomplish,” he said in that “Wise Old Mentor” sort of way.

“Thanks Silver. Have a good night,” I said as sleep took hold of me.



I really hate dreams sometimes. Sometimes you'll get a really awesome dream or a really peaceful dream. Other times, you'll find yourself in a nightmare or reliving old memories. I found myself in a mix of a memory and a nightmare.

I was back on Earth in a snowy forest. I was dressed in tattered winter gear with a walking stick in my hand. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I turned and saw a huge mountain with a resort on top. My eyes turned to pin pricks and my body shook with fear.

“N-no..not here. Anywhere but here!” I yelled as I ran away from the mountain. I ran through the forest, not really watching where I was going. Branches scratched my face as I felt blood run down my face. Suddenly, I tripped over something and fell over. I looked to see what I had tripped over and saw a sight straight out of a horror movie. 

Rising from the snow was a blue, frostbitten hand. After a few moments, a body began rising form the snow. It was dressed in similar clothing to my own except it was completely frozen. It looked at me with glassy eyes that glowed a sickly shade of green. From its mouth spewed greens smoke.

“You....didn't....save...us..” it said in a ghostly, raspy voice. As it spoke, more bodies began to rise from the snow. They were all dressed in winter attire and some carried skis and snowboards. I could feel my bloody chill in fear. I tried to move away, but my legs refused to move.

“You..said..you'd..bring help,” one of them said.

“You..left us....to die,” another said.

I tried to cover my ears to block their voices, but they sounded in my mind louder than anything I've ever heard. I knew what they were talking about. It was the same thing the Ursa had talked about when Luna and I had entered my subconscious. The day of the accident, the day everything went wrong.  

“Please, I tried to help you all. I tried to get help. You have to believe me!” I yelled. The ghosts began to advance on me, all the while chanting “You didn't save us”.

I could feel my sanity slipping away. I tried to force myself to move, but I saw that my legs had been frozen to the ground. I tried to draw transmutation circles, but they just disappeared as soon as I drew them. I desperately tried to lock out their voices, but to no avail.

“I'm sorry!! I swear I didn't mean for it to happen!! You have to believe me!!! I'm sorry!!” I screamed, but they kept advancing. I tried to fight them off with my walking stick, but it shattered as soon as it made contact. 

I screamed apology after apology at the ghosts as they soon reached for me with their frozen hands. 

I was prepared for them to rip me apart, but then a blinding flash of blue light lit up the forest. The ghosts and I all looked toward the light. From the light stepped out the last person I expected to see, Princess Luna. Her horn glowed with magic as she bellowed “BEGONE EVIL CREATURES!!!!!” She blasted the ghosts with a ray of magic, which made them dissipate into dust. 

All was calm. Luna's horn stopped glowing as she walked up to me. The wind blew through the trees making an eerie sound. Luna stopped in front of me and extended a hoof.

“Are thou alright Shadow?” she said. I did what any person would do in that situation. I cried. I cried like a child who lost his mother in the supermarket. I cried like my world had been destroyed.

However, my crying was silenced as Luna wrapped me in a hug. A hug like a mother comforting her child.

“Calm thyself Shadow. Thou has only experienced a nightmare. A rather vivid one at that,” she said as she broke the hug. I wiped the tears from my face and stood up.

“Thanks Luna I needed that. But you're wrong, this isn't entirely a dream,” I said as I looked towards the mountain.

“What do you mean?” she asked. I bent down and picked up a few pieces of my broken walking stick. 

“The whole frozen ghosts thing was a dream yes, but this place is not. This place holds a very dark memory for me,” I said as I threw the broken walking stick into the snow.

“If we may be so bold, what dark memory does this place hold for thou Shadow?” Luna asked. I sighed and turned to look at the Princess.

“Fine, but can we go somewhere a little less freezing?” I asked. Luna nodded and her horn glowed as we were suddenly transported to the lodge at the top of the mountain. I sat down and motioned for her to do the same. I took a deep breath and began my story.

“Three years ago, I took a trip up here with a few friends and my brother,” I said.

“We were unaware thou had a brother?” Luna said. I looked down at the word 'had'.

“Anyway, it was just supposed to be a weekend of fun skiing and goofing around. However, one day while we were preparing to go skiing the officials told us a blizzard was gonna roll in and that it wouldn't be safe. Like idiots, we didn't listen and went out anyway,” I said, my body shaking in anger and sadness at the memory.

“We didn't think it was gonna be that bad. Go out for just a little while, have fun, then come back. But we were so wrong. The blizzard came faster than we expected. We couldn't get back up the mountain so we tried to make a shelter. We thought we could outlast the blizzard, but we were wrong. It lasted for almost four days. We managed to survive off of some snack we had on us and the snow, but we knew we weren't gonna last long. I volunteered to go try and brave the storm. They tried to stop me saying “Don't leave us here. What if you don't make it back?”

“Like an idiot, I went out anyway. It was difficult. The wind snapped against my face and ripped through my clothes like icy daggers. After a while, I had made it close to the lodge, but I passed out before I could make it”.

“When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. They told me they had found me lying in the snow after about five hours. They were amazed I had survived. I told them about my friends and brother and that they were still out there”.

“They must have sent out a dozen search parties to try and find them. When they finally did.....” I could feel the tears running down my face and my voice start to shake.

“Shadow..” Luna said.

“All they found were a bunch of frozen corpses!!” I said as I kicked my chair and fell to my knees.

“I failed them. They trusted me to get help and I failed them!” I yelled as I  punched the ground. Luna encased me in her magic and sat me in a chair.

“Calm thyself Shadow! The demise of thou's friends was not your fault,” she said. The tears streamed down my face as I struggled against Luna's magic.

“YES IT WAS!!! I was the one who went to get help!! I was the one who said we should go out despite the blizzard!!! It was my fault they died!!” I screamed. I sobbed as Luna's magic lessened it's hold. I assumed she had left, but I was surprised when she wrapped me in a hug.

“We know thy pain Shadow. We too have done unspeakable horrors in our past,” she looked me in the eye “But thou must not let the past define who you are. We are confident you can look past this and move on with you're life,” the Princess of the Night said. I returned Luna's hug and smiled.

'Thank you Princess, I appreciate it,” I said. Princess Luna smiled and said “We are always happy to help our loyal subjects, even if they are a strange creature from an alternate world”.

“Uh..thanks,” I said as I looked down.

“Is there something else Shadow?” she asked.

“Well, there's one thing that has always bothered me more than anything else about that day. When they found the bodies....my brother's wasn't among them,” I said. Luna looked at me with confusion.

“What?” she said.

“When I asked the rescuers if they had found my brother's body, they said that they hadn't. They had only found his clothes buried in the snow, as if he'd just disappeared. To this day I still don't know what  happened to him,” I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. Luna put her hoof to her chin in thought.

“What do you think it means Princess?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. Luna looked at me with a  serious look.

“I do not know Shadow. We know nothing of your world, but we do know that anypony disappearing out of nowhere is a troubling occurrence. We are sorry we could not be more help,” she said.

“It's alright Princess, I wouldn't expect you to know anyway,” I said dejectedly. 

“We are sorry we could not be of more help to you Shadow, but we are glad you have shared such a personal story with us,” she said. I smiled and bowed. My smile quickly turned into a serious expression.

“Princess, there is something else I must discuss with you,” I said.



I told Luna about Iron Spear's dealings and my plan to attack Crushing Stone. I left out the part where I had died, saving that for a later time. When I finished, Luna had a look of anger and sadness on her face.

“To think one of our kind was committing such villainous deeds. A member of the Royal Guard at that!” she yelled.

“My thoughts exactly. That's why I have to know if what Iron Spear said is the truth Princess. Will you help me in my assault on Crushing Stone?” I asked. Luna looked at me and sighed.

“As much as we hate to admit it, Iron Spear's words ring with truth. We cannot send troops to aid you. The Royal Guard was designed as Equestria's defense against invaders. They are an organization meant to protect Equestria and Equestria alone. Crushing Stone lies outside our borders, so we can do nothing. We have a group we could call on, but they are busy with their own responsibilities. We are truly sorry Shadow,” Luna said.

“You don't have to be sorry Princess. That was the answer I was expecting. Don't worry, my friends and I will handle this,” I said. Luna looked at me confused for a moment before smiling.

“We are confident in your abilities Shadow. We shall take our leave,” she said as my dream began to dissipate.

“One more thing Princess”.

“Yes?”

“When all this is over, I decide Iron Spear's fate. Are we clear?” I said. Luna smiled and said.

“Do as you will Shadow. Goodbye,” she said as my dream finally ended.



After a few days of getting the ship ready and fine tuning the attack plan, we set off for Crushing Stone. 

“You guys ready for this?” I asked as I stood at the helm of the ship. All of them smiled and nodded. I looked up at Lily at the controls.

“Lily, let's take off!” I yelled to our navigator.

“Aye captain!” she yelled as she started the ship's engines. The motors pushed us forward as the ship slowly rose into the sky.

I had to admit, it felt pretty awesome to actually be flying in an airship. The wind in my face, my friends by my side, the ever present fear that I might fall off the side. Loads of fun!

As we flew, my thoughts turned to the plan. I was confident it would work, but my mind also kept going to my back up plan. If this plan failed, I would have to use it. I shook the thought from my head.

	“This plan will work. It will work. For the sake of my friends and all those captives, I have to succeed,” I thought as we flew off to Crushing Stone.