//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Where Darkness Reigns… // Story: Court Magician // by Moonlit Novel //------------------------------// Author's Notes: Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit MERRY CHRISTMAS! Happy Heathwarming! And Happy Holidays! Chapter Two: Where Darkness Reigns… ~ ~ ~ “Darkness is all that is in a Tenebrosus Magus’ heart, they know not of love, for it is a weakness to them. They will say they love you, even play the part, but they will never be able to love you…” ~The Tenebrosus Magus: What Drives Them, By Royal Script, Royal Researcher ~ ~ ~ Clever Ploy threw the two males in separate cells knowing that the last thing they needed was one of them killing the other, it would not help anypony. The mare sat across from the mare that was supposedly one of the darkest Tenebrosus Magus to exist since Sombra, Everything she remembered reading about those kinds of ponies didn’t seem to fit the mare, she obviously knew mercy, albeit only towards certain ponies, and she wasn’t pretending when she got here that she loved Rich Quick, or that she had some lingering feelings for agent Silver Hoof… But what was most disturbing was that those lingering feelings seem to have… Broken the poor mare, she did as asked for the most part, which caused a stir among the ponies there. Could that age old book be wrong? From what the agent that had let Silver Hoof in, Shadow Eyes had blasted towards him but never directly at him. She had been trying to scare him off… And he kept… ‘Damn him…’ thought Clever as she watched the mare in front of her mutter wordlessly as the white alicorn stepped in followed closely by her sister and Clever Ploy frowned, the last thing this poor mare needed was- “Is she alright, Clev-” There was an explosion of magical energy coming from Shadow Eyes as her emotionless visage disappeared replaced by a look of pure unadulterated fury. “I’LL BUCKING KILL HIM!” shouted the mare as the magical energy burning off of her seemed enough to melt the chair and part of the table as she shot up to her hooves. “I’ll bucking kill that son of a bitch! I told him to move on, I told him to find another mare, and he uses my heart to nearly break me?!” snarled the furious mare as she moved towards the door before she popped out of existence, or rather she teleported straight through the anti-teleportation wards that were in place, sirens going off as Clever Ploy sighed and started walking towards the door. “Well? Going to come enjoy the show? She gave him a chance to walk away and he pushed her until she just about broke, I am surprised though, she seemed broken a few minutes ago…” “What is going on? Clever, it’s not like you to just be willing to let any pony kill another pony” said Celestia clearly worried and Clever shrugged as she walked down the hall. “Truly sister, we are worried if thy top agent is this heartless” “You and me both sister.” - - - Shadow Eyes slammed Silver Hoof against the back of his cell a look of pure rage on her face. “You think that by trying to break me you love me?” snarled Shadow Eyes as she slammed him again, the stallion was already having trouble breathing the first slam most likely breaking a few bones. “I-I’m sorry! I-I thought we could-” “You thought we could continue where we left off? Sure, maybe a year ago! But I have moved on since then! And then you use what feelings I had left for you against me! Do you know what that is like? Of course you don’t, why don’t I show you!” said the mare as she suddenly channeled a dark magic spell allowing the torment she felt when he was confronting her earlier to pass onto him and he started panicking before he suddenly just stopped, unlike before, his eyes showed no life, but when she let him go he didn’t collapse into a pile of flesh and bones, he sat there, himself a broken shell of himself. the agents outside of the cell seemed scared, if she could do that to a pony she supposedly loved, then what could she do to them? - - - Rich Quick tried to teleport out of the cell a few times, only for the spell to fizzle out before he could get a hold of the magic all the way, so imagine his surprise when his marefriend appeared in front of him. “What’re-” “Cuddle now, talk later” she said nuzzling him and he got the message and wrapped his hooves around her, just as Clever Ploy walked into the room, followed closely by Celestia and Luna. Clever Ploy nodded to herself as the princess looked confused, they had heard the reports by the agents, Shadow Eyes had tortured Silver Hoof, but here she was being comforted by her coltfriend. “Have you come to finish me off? Maybe ask why didn't just kill the agent while I had the chance? He doesn't deserve any mercy, I was at his mercy, if Rich hadn't-” “Maybe you should take a deep breath, Bright Star,” said Celestia and Shadow Eyes flinched at the name, she knew it was possible that they knew who she was, but to get confirmation like that was unnerving, “yes, I know your name, the stallion, you just dealt with,” she said saying the last two words as though they left a bad taste in her mouth, “told me who you were he knew who you were the moment you showed up as Shadow Eyes” “Bright Star died that day” said Shadow Eyes tears welling up in her eyes, “and that is what it should say about me, Shadow Eyes’ first victim was the bright unicorn, Bright Star” said the unicorn mare angrily as tears spilled down her face. “My sister believes thou can be saved, that thou fell down this dark path because thou felt we could not protect you from something you did not need to protect yourself from. T’is was a good kill that night, no pony should force themselves upon another.” Said Princess Luna and Shadow Eyes laughed darkly. “They do though, I learned a lot in my years on the run, but after I showed ponies I wouldn't be taken advantage of, they never forced themselves on me again” said Shadow Eyes as she pulled away from her coltfriend as if to keep away from something dirty… ‘or to keep something dirty away from him?’ Noted Celestia as he tried reaching for her only for Shadow Eyes to pull away and hold on to herself. “So tell me, princess, can I be saved, a broken mare like me? A murderer like me? I am able to put the past behind me, after all this is just the body of a killer, it doesn't deserve any respect” said the unicorn mare as she glared towards the princesses. “But you wouldn't know what it is like, being on the street, where the only thing ponies respect is power. Power I had in spades, as long as I was willing to use it” Princess Luna moved to speak against this slander but Celestia held up a wing with a sad look on her face. “Your family was always one of the most loved of Canterlot, you could have seen me if you were scared Bright Star” “SHADOW EYES! BRIGHT STAR IS DEAD!” shouted the now crying Shadow Eyes, “I killed her, I had to, if I didn’t I would have been an easy target!” she cried gripping herself tighter pulling away every time that Rich attempted to pull her into a comforting hug. “Do you know what it is like to know that no matter where I go, I will always darken the world with my presence?!” she shrieked as Rich had enough and pulled her bodily into him and held her tightly. “Shhh… Calm down baby, you brighten my day every day, and the ponies here in Manehatten would say the same, all you have done to protect them. All the gangs you have shattered, all the guards you saved. Love, you brighten every pony that lives in this city’s life” said Rich Quick as he held her even as she tried to get away. “And what about you princess?” she suddenly said turning towards Princess Luna finally breaking free of Rich Quick. “We Tenebrosus Magus followed your shining example and you would punish us? How many did you kill when you delved into the dark arts? Hundreds? Thousands? Do you think by hunting us down you can ease that pain on your soul? Like I did? I’ve got news for you princess, it never goes away, the stains on your hooves remain there even as you scrub them so hard that they bleed themselves! I’VE TRIED!” yelled the younger mare as she stalked towards Luna only for Rich Quick to tackle her and hold her tightly. “That’s enough baby, I won’t let them hurt you” said Rich Quick honestly scared, he never knew she held so much back from him. “And you, Rich Quick, what do you intend to get out of a relationship with me? You should know by now I am nothing but a broken mare. Sure I put on a strong front, but by now you should also know I have nothing to offer you. Nothing but pain and death if you stay, that is what always happens when I open my heart to somepony” said Shadow Eyes tears running down her face as she gave the pony that she called her lover a way out that, in her current grief, was perfectly reasonable.