//------------------------------// // Just a Warning // Story: The Dragon's Abyss // by DarklordAxel20 //------------------------------// Inside Twilight's Castle, A Day has Passed Early in the morning, inside her throne room, Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends sat chatting, going about their daily routine, as if the incident from yesterday had never happened. " I'm just glad to be back home in the safety of my own castle, " Twilight let out a sigh of relief. After yesterdays events took place, she had felt safer than ever inside of her home, " It felt good to be able to sleep in my bed again, " her friends let out giggles in response to what she had said. " Easy there sugar cube, we were only gone a day, you act like we've been gone fer weeks ," Applejack replied with a small chuckle. A slight blush formed on Twilight's face, " Sorry, it's just, it really does feel that way though, I mean, don't you girls feel that way in the slightest, I can't be the only one can I? " " Um well.. " Fluttershy started, getting her friend's attentions, " I uh, kinda feel that way, I um, mean, it was really scary, getting captured like that, and watching Shade fight that awful thing...it feels very nice to be back in a safe place.." she shyly hid her face in her hair. Her friends kept looking at her for a moment, before smiling at their shy friend, that was until Rainbow Dash spoke up, " Hey speaking of Shade, where is he, I wanted to race him today, you gotta admit, it was pretty wicked watching him flying yesterday! " Applejack let out a small chuckle before leaning towards Twilight and whispering, " Ya might wanna watch out Twilight, I think Rainbow's a little smitten with yer new coltfriend " . Twilight simply giggled at the thought, " Oh Applejack, it's just Rainbow Dash so I have nothing to worry about " . " Whatever yah say sugar cube, but yeah like Rainbow said before turning all fanpony, where is Shade at, shouldn't he have woken up with ya?" Applejack asked. More blush came to Twilight's face at Applejack's question, " I..I don't know, Shade and I have separate beds, I sleep in my room, and he sleeps in the guest room down the hall ," sweat dripped down her face, she still wasn't used to being in a relationship such as this one just yet. " Ahem" she started, catching her composure just before speaking up again, " Anyways girls, now for the real reason I called you here, Princess Celstia's festival, last night before going to bed, I got a letter from the princess, saying that my brother, and Cadence will be accompanying to my castle, where we will all plan the festival, which takes place tomorrow night ". " OOOOOO!! That sounds super fantistical!!! " Pinkie Pie exclaimed, " We're all gonna make the biggest bestest super dooperist festival EVER!!!! " she shouted as she shot from her seat, straight into the ceiling. " Heh, seems someponies excited, " Applejack chuckled. "Well I for one, am looking forward to putting my artistic skills to work on making the festival look stupendous ," Rarity stated with pride in her voice. " Heeeeey? what's all this talk about a festival ," Spike came walking into the room, rubbing his eyes with one hand, and holding his bandaged up side with his other. " Spike, good your awake," Twilight smiled as she looked at her assistant, " Come here please, we need to prepare for the arrival of princess Celestia, my brother, and Cadence, do you think you can manage that? " she asked him. Spike put a weak smile on his face, obviously sore from yesterday, but he could never turn down an important request from Twilight, You can ngh! count on me Twilight , " he might've been in pain, but that wouldn't stop him from being the best assistant in all of Equestria, however before heading off the start the preparations, he turned to look at Twilight, " Oh yeah, my dad took off this morning, something about finding a nice quiet spot for the day, I wasn't sure what he meant but I didn't want to bother him," having said what he wanted to say, he happily went about to attend to his duties. Twilight was slightly disappointed to learn that Shade wasn't in the castle at the moment, but she didn't want to worry her friends by looking sad, so she hid the feeling. " Well there goes my heavy lifter, Rainbow Dash, Rarity," Twilight got her two friend's attentions, " Do you girls think you could go look for Shade for me, you don't have to bring him back, just tell him that I need his help later on, can you do that for me? " Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other before looking back at Twilight and nodding, " Of course we can darling, besides if hes anything like Spike when he wanders off, I'm sure to find a few rare gems, " Rarity said eagerly. " And you can definitely count on me going, this might be the best chance to challenge him to a race! " she flew from her seat feeling greatly excited by the thought. * if you don't mind me sugar cube, " Applejack started while looking at Twilight, " I'll tag along with em' if it's peace an quiet Shade's after, then he probably went into the woods, an these two will get lost fer sure if I don't go with em' ". Twilight gave a smile and a nod in response to her friend's request, " I don't mind Applejack, in fact knowing that you're going makes me feel a whole lot better, " she gave her friend a hug and whispered into her ear, " If you could could you make sure he's not hurt or anything while you're out there ". With a small chuckle and a nod, Applejack got up from her seat and looked at Rainbow Dash and Rarity, " Alright you two, let's get goin, otherwise we might not be able to find him at all, " and with that, the three of them were off to find Shade, they only hoped that they could find him before he moved on from wherever he was. Deep in the Woods, Later into the Day Deep in the woods, although, not too far from civilization, all is quiet, no birds singing, no ambiance from within the forested area, only the sound of a roaring, yet calming waterfall. Standing atop a large jagged rock, Shade meditates, attempting to calm his mind, having been plagued by visions ever since he had awoken this morning. The sound of the roaring water crashing down was in a way, peaceful to Shade, it helped calm his nerves as he tried finding inner peace to rid himself of the outlandish visions. Not far from Shade's location, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash made way towards him, having trekked for a good portion of the day. Applejack's ears twitched as the sound of running water resonated towards them, " Ya'll hear that? sounds like a waterfall, " this got both Rainbow's and Rarity's attention. Rarity clapped her hooves together out of pure joy, " A waterfall?! Absolutely splendid! " she exclaimed, " We've been walking for hours now and I could use a rest, and a waterfall sounds just perfect ". Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof into the air, " Hey, waterfalls are really high up right? maybe I can fly up and get a better lay of the land, there's no possible way I could't spot Shade from that high up, " she spoke as if she were bragging about it. " You know Rainbow, " Applejack started, " that actually ain't a bad idea, the moment we reach that water, go take a look, and for corns sake, don't go dilly dallying with any fancy stunts while yer up there, we're here to find shade, not for you to practice yer flyin skills, " Applejack replied, practically scolding her for something she knew Rainbow Dash would attempt. " Girls, " Rarity said, tapping both of them to get their attention, " I don't think we'll have to look far for Shade, " she pointed towards the figure standing atop the jagged rocks at the base of the nearby waterfall. Applejack took her hat off her head and wiped the sweat off her brow, " Well I'll be, it took a few hours of hikin, but he weren't that hard to find after all, " they started sprinting towards him, all excited that they had found him. However, resting on one of the cliff sides next to the waterfall, something sinister laid in wait, watching them with a large sinister eye which rested amidst it's black amorphous body, " There you are, brother " Back in Ponyville, Insides Twilight's Castle Twilight waited with anticipation for her brother and sister-in-law, to arrive at her castles gate, she had managed to spot the train they were arriving in through the use of her telescope. She was practically bouncing in place out of sheer excitement, " Oh I can't wait for them to get here, we'll have so much fun, just like their last visit, " she clapped her hooves together at just the thought of it. " Sheesh Twilight, " Spike said, taking a slight step away from her, " You act like you've never seen them before, there's no need to get so giddy, I mean for a moment I couldn't tell if I was standing next to you, or Pinkie Pie ". " Why can't you stand next to both of us silly-billy, " Pinkie said out of nowhere, standing right behind Spike as if she had just appeared there. Spike jumped straight into the air, latching onto the chandelier, practically shaking and chattering teeth, " D..d..don;t do that Pinkie! " he exclaimed whilst shaking rapidly. " Oops, my bad, " Pinkie only smiled as she looked at Spike, who was hanging from the chandelier like a pinata. Twilight could only place her hoof on her face and slowly shake her head in disapproval, " Would you two knock it off, their gonna be here any min- " Twilight was suddenly cut off by a feeling of dread running down her spine, a cold, dark feeling. Both Spike and Pinkie became very confused at the sight of their friends eyes growing to the size of dinner plates, but her pupils shrinking the size of a period. After managing to get himself down, Spike went to Spike and began shaking her slightly, " Hey Twilight, snap out of it, what's got you so spooked? " She shook her hair, regaining her composure, but kept a slightly horrified look on her face, "..I just..felt something...like something terrible was about to happen somewhere ". Pinkie looked at Spike and then at Twilight, " That's odd, my Pinkie senses didn't go off, hmm, " she stopped herself with a loud gasp, " What if Twilight has developed a Twilight sense and it's something only she can sense!! " Spike smacked himself with his claw, " Pinkie Pie that's ridiculous, Twilight probably just got a cold chill, " it was then that there was a knock at the front gate. Spike looked at the gate and walked towards it, " Relax Twilight, besides, your brother and Cadence are here, what would they say if they saw you all pale in the face just cause of a weird feeling you got ". Deep in the Woods The three ponies who had gone out to find Shade, eagerly ran up to him, joyous expressions on all three of them. " There ya are sugarcube, I was worried we'd never find ya, " Applejack said happily. Shade opened his eyes and looked down upon them, " You came all the way out here to..find me? " he asked with a puzzled look on his face, " What for, I told Spike to tell you all that I wanted peace and quiet, " he seemed slightly upset but at the same time understanding. Rainbow Dash flew up towards him, reaching his eye level, " Listen Shade, Twilight is having her brother and his wife over, she'd really like it if you attended, so can you just come back with us already ". Shade closed his eyes and lowered his head, thinking over what he was just told, but suddenly, his eyes shot wide opened, he quickly turned to see a large purple magical blast flying towards them. Using his quick reflexes, Shade managed to shove the three ponies out of the way a forcefield, and fly out of the way of the projectile, which then collided with the rock spire he was standing atop, blowing it to piece on contact, and leaving a crater in it's place. " Who dares!!! " Shade bared his teeth and clenched his claw together hard enough to draw his own blood, his eyes scanned the cliff sides for a culprit, but before he could get a good view of them, the culprit came hurtling towards him at rapid speeds, appearing as only a moving ink blot, which he barely managed to dodge, " What the devil?! " The amorphous black blob made contact with the ground, splattering all over, creating a large black puddle where it made contact with. The four of them watched as a large bloodshot eye rose to the surface of the goo, and as it lifted itself up, creating a body of sorts. It remained where it had risen for a few moments, only staring and occasionally blinking at Shade. " Good heavens!! " Rarity exclaimed, what is that hideous thing! " she sounded appalled, the sight of such a creature nearly made her sick. Shade growled furiously at whatever he was looking at, " Whatever it is, it's done for!!! " he took in a deep breath and began spewing a sea of flames onto the amorphous creature. However, when the flames died down, the four were shocked to see it still standing there, just, staring, "..Th...that's impossible...there should be nothing...what...what are you!? " Shade stared back, eyes widened with shock. " That's no way to treat your own brother now, is it...Shade? " it's voice was cold and vile, enough to chill even Shades bones. " Br..brother?! No, you lie! I have no siblings, " Shade began growling again, reading himself to lunge at the unknown creature before him. " Your choice is a poor one, I did not come here to fight you, but if I must, I shall put you in your place, " several tendrils began growing from the gelatinous pool that the eye had risen from, all pointed directly at Shade. " Put me in my place huh, I'd like to see you try, " and without warning, Shade rocketed towards the eye, magical blade extended form his horn, but before he could make contact, the creature quickly evaded, latching itself onto the nearby cliff side, " No way?! " It slowly shook it's eye back and forth, disapproving of his undisciplined attacks, " You are just too slow brother, no matter how strong, or how fast you are, " it was almost as if it were taunting him. Shade's eyes began glowing red, he had already had enough of the living sludge's nonexistent mouth, " Shut up!!!!! " he rocketed towards it once more, slamming into it, smashing it into the cliff. " Whose slow now!!! " he began repeatedly stamping it into the cliff side, but he was in such a rage, he didn't notice the tendrils rising up behind him. " Foolish brother, brute force means nothing if you are unable to inhibit properly, " it's tendrils suddenly wrapped themselves around Shade, extending themselves out, where it began swinging him back and forth, slamming him into both cliffs repeatedly, hitting the cliff sides hard enough to leave deep craters each time. " Do you see now brother, I have no muscles and even now I am overpowering you, " it quickly whipped him into the air, before hurling him down towards the ground, creating another crater upon impact. Shade coughed up blood as he attempted to regain his composure, " Why can't I hurt it, " he did his best to pick himself up out of the hole he had made upon being tossed into the ground. The amorphous puddle slithered in front of him, the sinister eye continuing to stare at him, " Perhaps you would prefer I give you a handicap, " without warning, it latched onto Shade and began enveloping him inside of it's body, only to spit him out a short moment afterwards. " Maybe this will be slightly easier on you, " the puddle began shrinking as it began forming a ball, but it didn't stay as a ball for long, it quickly began growing, and growing, taking on an all to familiar shape, causing everypony's eyes to widen. " He...he....he looks just like... " Applejack stammered. Shade, taken aback by the sudden transformation, stared at the once amorphous mass as it had taken on a new shape, "...Just like me.. " That it did, the black liquid mass had taken the shape of a much darker Shade, it's head hung limply as if it hadn't any bones to hold it up, it lacked eyes on it's head as well, making up for it though, the large sinister eye from before was rested upon it's chest, staring right into Shade's soul. " What's wrong brother, don't like my new look, I thought that perhaps you would feel more comfortable fighting against a familiar face, or should I say, lack of face, " he let out a wicked chuckle before suddenly lunging at Shade, magical blade adorned atop of it's horn. Having been unprepared for the sudden strike, Shade could just barely dodge, resulting in a cut across his chest. He cringed in pain as he landed a good distance from the mysterious foe, " Not bad, " he placed his claw on his chest where he had been cut, a shocked expression on his face as he saw the blood there, "..You...you actually hurt me... " he look completely befuddled as he looked at the red substance on his claw and chest. With another wicked chuckle, the false Shade slowly walked towards the real one, his head moving uncontrollably, " Correction, you actually hurt yourself, and you're about to do it again!! " once again, he lunged with the blade drawn, however this time, Shade was prepared, and successfully clashed his own magical blade against the imposters. " I don't know who, or what you are, and don't say my brother!! because I don't have any family!! but I will kill you!!! " Shade could feel his rage building, fueling him further. His own magical blade began overtaking his doppleganger's blade, " Nopony knows my body like I do!!! " with a quick slice to the exposed eye, and fierce push from his head, Shade knocked the fake into the air. With a broad grin, Shade took flight towards the seemingly defenseless foe, however before he could make contact, a thick tendril grew form the false Shade's back, and came hurtling right towards the real Shade, " What in the?! " Shade was caught off guard, only being able to barely dodge once again. The false Shade fell towards the ground, landing on it's feet, unphased by the previous clash, " I tire of this, I wanted to see the limits of your abilities, but all I see is a rage driven fool, " . It began to melt, but instead of it's previous puddle-like form, it now took the form of a floating sphere with it's large eye in the center. " I shall now end this pointless battle, " annoyance could easily be heard in it's voice, having had enough of Shade's futile attempt at fighting it. In a matter of moments it had begun growing hundreds upon hundreds of black tendrils, all waving about erratically, " Face my wrath!! " and without warning, every last tendril pointed itself right at Shade, and lunged at rapid speeds. Using what little reaction time he could, Shade took flight, flying at hyper speeds to avoid the oncoming tentacles, which came crashing down behind him, smashing the ground below with ease. Shade did his best dodging any of the tendrils that came down in front of him, but the more he dodged, the more that seemed to come down upon him, " There's too many of them!, gotta think fast...gotta think fa- " his eyes widened greatly as he spotted a tendril coming right down on top of him, " No way, there's no way it could catch up to me!! " he quickly went to speed up to evade it, but it was too late. The three ponies watched in horror as the tendril came crashing down on Shades back, impaling him through the lower torso, resulting him crashing down onto the ground, followed by several other tendrils stabbing down into Shade's body. " Shade, NO!!! " the three screamed in unison as they witnessed twelve more tendrils come crashing down onto his body. Shade let out a cry of immense pain as he felt himself lifted into the air by the tendrils which had pierced his body, he wanted with all of his strength to rip them out, but he could find no strength at all, "....H....how..." he coughed up blood as the tendrils moved further through his body. The floating mass stared at Shade as he writhed in pain, " I'm going to say this brother, I will not kill you, in fact, I only came here to give you a warning, it was you who made my visit more complicated ". Shade stared in horror as a much larger tendril emerged the orb, this one tipped with a scythe shaped blade, " As I stated before, I shall put you in your place, but first, I will tell you the error of your ways, you are like a wild fire, raw uncontrolled power, destroying everything in your path without rhyme or reason, you must learn to control that power, harness it, you could easily be the strongest of all five of us if it were not for this major flaw you possess ". Shade coughed up blood once more as he attempted to speak, "....W...why won't you die.......why... " talking didn't help, in fact it only seemed to make him hurt more. The eye gave another chuckle before answering his supposed sibling, " The same reason you won't die, our hearts, we both possess what is known as a crystal heart, " a cavity opened up on the pitch black orb, revealing a black crystalline organ, surrounded by blackish red veins which pumped out what could only be blood for this creature. Shade's eyes widened further as he stared at the organ, and again as his looked down at his own chest, his heart being the only place that had been left unscathed, "...No... ". " Yes, " it simply replied, so long as I leave your heart in tact, your body will regenerate, as with all of us, well, what's left of us, did you honestly think you could kill two of our siblings and go unnoticed by our master, I think not, and so I was sent here, not to kill you, but to teach you the error of your ways, now, before I go, my last lesson, humility, ". The eye's tendrils suddenly spread Shades body out in an X shape, some even left Shades body completely. Shade could only watch in horror as the large scythe shaped tendril rose up, pointing towards his exposed torso. For the first time in his life he felt as if he could die, as if this were his last breath he was about to take, "...N....no.... " but there were no words he could say to reverse this, the razor sharp tentacle came hurtling towards his body at rapid speeds, impaling him through his chest and lifting him further into the air, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head as the pain was too much. " Pathetic, and to think the master said you were the one to succeed him, " with a single flick of the tentacle, it had sent Shade flying towards the waterfall, crashing into the stone wall that lay behind it. " Do me a favor brother, try not to die, " it's eye began to glow for a short moment, only for it to fire a massive purple blast at Shades limp body. Using what strength he had left, Shade lifted his head up, only to see the destructive magic orb flying right at him , "...Tw...Twilight...forgive me... ". Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity watched in pure horror as Shades near lifeless body became enveloped into the blast, "..Sh..shade..." Applejack uttered, the others being completely speechless. They could do nothing as they watched this amorphous being beat Shade senseless, Shade, a pony who they had come to know as so powerful that anything they had faced before seemed like fillysplay compared to him, he was beaten, stabbed, and blown up with ease. "..Theres...just no way..." Rainbow Dash stared in disbelief as the floating eye suddenly vanished, leaving before the smoke even faded away, "..Th..that no good gooey piece of- " Rainbow Dash stared shouting, only to be stopped by Applejack. " Calm down Rainbow Dash! " even Applejack was thrown into a panic, " Wh..what are we gonna tell Twilight!! huh!! answer me that!! " While the two of them shouted at one another, Rarity had begun slowly making her way towards where Shade was, her eyes widened as she spotted, sticking out of a pile of stony rubble, a single black claw, " Shade?! " Without hesitation, Rarity began using her magic to lift the several heavy stones that covered his limp body, she kept doing this until finally she uncovered his body, " Girls!!! " she shouted to get her friend's attention. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash hastily made there way towards her, stopping in their tracks when their eyes laid upon Shade, "...Sweet Celestia... " was all Applejack could say upon seeing him. His body was in terrible condition, a large gash where he had been impaled by the scythe-like tentacle ran down the center of his chest, several smaller wounds ran all over his body from the smaller tendrils, his body was charred from the magical blast, they could only watch as he twitched where he laid, unsure if he was even still alive. "..Is....is he.." Rainbow Dash started, but before she could finish, Rarity shook her head, allowing her to let out a sigh of relief. " While he may be in the worst condition I've ever seen a pony in before.....he's alive...he has a pulse..barely... " Rarity was unsure if this was a good thing or not, from what she could tell he was in an unbearable amount of pain, if he were even conscious. " Well we aren't gonna wait for him to die then! " Applejack exclaimed, " Rarity, you use some of the stuff you brought with you to make bandages, we need to get him back to Ponyville before he....dies... " She watched as her friend nodded, and begun hastily taking some cloth out of her saddle bags, before turning her attention towards Rainbow Dash, " Rainbow, once, rarity get's him patched up, I need you to fly him back to Twilight's castle, otherwise he ain't gonna make it, please ya got to do this! " she practically pleaded. Rainbow Dash gave an assuring nod, " You can count on me Applejack, I'll get him there faster than you can count ". Half an Hour Later, Ponyville, Inside Twilight's Castle Laughter could be heard echoing through the halls of the castle, Twilight was greatly enjoying the visit form her brother and his wife, it was rare that she ever got to see them outside of visits to the Crystal Empire. " I don't know how many times I've said this now, but it's so wonderful having you both here! " Twilight exclaimed as she clapped her hooves together. Her older brother, Shining Armor, chuckled at his sisters filly-like behavior, " Easy there Twily, that makes twenty three times you've said that now, we're both glad to see you too ". He grinned sincerely at his sister, not minding the fact he was wearing a cast, he wouldn't let a simple injury hinder him form visiting his sister. The whole time they had been there however, Twilight had been eyeballing the cast, wondering how her brothers leg had gotten hurt, " Say Shining, I know you said you'd tell me later, but- " but before she could finish asking him, Spike popped up in front of them, a joyful expression on his face. " Hey Shining Armor! " he jumped up waving in front of him. " Well hey there Spike, It's nice seeing you, say have you gotten taller, " he rubbed the little dragon's head, always happy to see him as well. " Yeah I guess I have, oh wait that's now what I wanted to tell you, I found my dad! my very own dad that I never knew I had, but I found him! " he was practically bouncing at this moment. " Your dad?! " both Shining Armor and Cadence asked puzzled, they turned their attention towards Twilight and then back at Spike. " Yep, my dad!, and he's staying here in the castle until he finds a place of his own! " the baby dragon grinned form ear to ear. Cadence looked at Spike once more before looking at Twilight, " Twilight is this true, I haven't seen any other dragons here? " she said, even more puzzled than before. Twilight gave a small nod, " Uh huh, he lives here alright, but at the moment hes out, I was really hoping he'd be here, well because um.." Twilight was blushing at this point. " You see...he's not really all dragon...he's um..half..half pony.. " the more she spoke of Shade, the brighter red her faced turned. " Half pony?! " Shining Armor asked in a befuddled tone, " Is that even possible?! " Spike gave a confident nod, " Mmmhmm, hes got the body of a really tall pony, but he's got the features of a dragon, and hes suuuper tough ". Shining Armor smirked slightly and placed his hoof atop Spike's head, " Well if that's the case, then I see where you got your looks from Spike " the two of them began laughing at that point. While the two of them laughed, Cadence looked at Twilight with slight concern, she had noticed how red Twilight's face was getting, " Twilight, what's the matter? you look like you got a fever, " she placed her hoof on Twilight's forehead, resulting in the lavender princess to jump from surprise. Twilight had gotten lost in thought, thinking about if Shade were alright or not, " Oh uh, sorry about that..well you see it's...it's just... " she couldn't find it in herself to speak any more. " Oh, She's alright Cadence, " Shining claimed, she's probably just a little warm. However, Twilight had to tell them, " No....it's not that.." she began, getting both of their attentions, " It's just that...I'm..hes....Spikes father is my coltfriend! " she suddenly let out an outburst revealing what she was trying to say, but almost immediately she covered her mouth with her hooves. Shining Armor looked at Twilight, unsure of how to react, but cadence on the other hoof, looked ecstatic, " Oh Twilight!, you found a love of your own! that's wonderful!! " she shot right up and pulled her younger sister-in-law into a bear hug. " You really think so? I was worried you'd think wrong of me for being with a stallion much older than me, " she said, still slightly worried. " Twilight, " Cadence said, her voice, tender a ever, " You're family, you don't ever have to be ashamed of anything, isn't that right Shining ". Shining Armor could only smile and nod, still unsure of how to react to the situation, cadence however, looked just as happy, " You see Twilight, you don't need to hide things from us, now, I can't wait to meet him, I just hope hes treating you alright, you are a princess after all, " Twilight instantly began blushing again ," He treats me perfectly fine Cadence, " sweat poured down her face, " in fact, he treats me better than a princess, oh I can;t wait for him to get here, you'll love him, his name is Sh- " but before she could finish, a flurry of several loud knocks came from the front gate, " Pardon me one moment, I'll get that, Spike, you keep Shining Armor and Cadence company ". " Can do Twilight! " he gave her a thumbs up and a grin as she walked out of the room and towards the door. " I wonder who it could be, " she let it a tiny gasp at one thought, " Maybe it's Shade, maybe he came back early " she quickly made her way to the door with this thought in mind. But upon opening the door, her eyes came to meet a horrific sight, "..N...no.. " Rainbow Dash held in her hooves as best as she could, Shade, covered in blood soaked makeshift bandages, " Twilight....he needs help..please...or else hes gonna die.." her voice was hoarse, as if she had been screaming the whole way there. Twilight's eyes began welling up with tears, she could see him barely breathing, the numerous blood soaked bandages on his body barely holding together, "..Sh..Shade... ". A loud cry soon echoed through the castle, a loud, sorrow filled cry, " NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " but after that, all was quiet.