Shadowfall

by GreysonWest

Chapter 1

On the whole, we ponies are a fairly peaceful race. Sure, we've had our share of problems here and there, occasionally with each other, and sometimes with other creatures that seem to want something of ours, but normally we go our own way, and have a fairly general "live and let live" policy. That's why, about a thousand years ago, it was such a huge shock when one of the royal pony sisters lost herself to darkness and chaos, and let evil into her heart. It took bitterness, jealously and despair that had built over an entire lifetime to bring about Equestria's first ever attempted sororicide, as Princess Luna, or as she was then known, Nightmare Moon, tried to pop the first metaphorical cap in her sister, Celestia.

As I looked through the small window at my brother's withered, babbling, deranged form, I suddenly felt a huge bout of sympathy and empathic understanding... for freaking Nightmare Moon. To say I hated my brother would be putting too kind a spin on things. I loathed him. I loathed him with every bit of me that was capable of actually feeling loathing. Because of my brother's lies, I'd helped him shred our younger sister White Squall's psyche, when I had thought we were protecting her. Because of his manipulations, I believed that our mother, who had gone crazy and become a Shadowborne herself, was going to attempt to assassinate a few key political figures to throw everything into chaos. The only difference between the two incidents is that my younger sister is still alive.

Oh, a Shadowborne is a pony that has given themselves over to darkness, and let chaos and evil into their hearts. Kind of like Nightmare Moon, but on a less epic and terrifying scale, since most Shadowborne are Earth Ponies and Pegasi, with a sprinkling of Unicorns thrown in. Generally speaking, they're stronger, faster, have more powerful magic, and are tougher, to boot. Only downside it that the darkness itself makes thinking difficult, and I should know.

Yes, I'm a Shadowborne as well. The only difference between me and the others is that when the darkness was taking over my mind, I was brought back from the edge of the cliffs of no return by my father, Whopper. I can still feel it, like some sort of cold weight in the pit of my stomach, waiting to uncoil and strike as soon as I let my guard down. Hell, it already had a way in; and that was my emotions. The very same emotions I use to fuel my magic, the darkness uses to fuel itself.

Well, maybe fuel itself isn't really the right wording here. It's more like, the stronger the emotions I'm having, the stronger it becomes. It uses that strength to try to take over my mind and manifest. It has its own ideas about revenge. When it took hold the last time, it put my brother into the state he’s in now. Once it was done with him, it made me feel like it would be a really good idea to kill my own father, and my best friend, Ink Flash.

I turned my head away from the window, not wanting to actually look at Stormbreaker anymore. The sight of him was enough to make me feel like ripping him apart, and the moment; I could feel a cold power seeping up through me along with the anger and hatred. It was enough to make me feel a little ill, so I took another deep breath and tried to calm down. It’s hard to do that in hospitals, you know. Calm down, I mean. Well, it is for me, anyway. I hate hospitals. They have this sort of drab, quiet desperation about them that, when combined with the smell of cleaning supplies and the cold white sterile quality to everything, just comes across as really, really creepy.

I heard hoof beats approaching me from the left, and instinctively knew who it was. His strong, baritone voice and slightly limping gait were a dead giveaway. “Hey, hoss.”

“Hello again, dad.” I couldn’t help but let a bit of my frustration seep into my voice. But then I looked over at him, and had to catch my breath. He was already different. When I’d seen him, only earlier this morning, hooked up to a life support machine and on the brink of death, he’d looked he was on the brink of death. His mane had been wispy and white, and patches of his dark brown coat were starting to come off. His eyes had been milky white, and he looked nearly blind, in addition to being skinny enough to qualify for some kind of severe eating disorder.

The stallion in front of me now, only marginally resembled the one from earlier. He looked a bit less thin, as though the muscle had spontaneously begun growing on his bones. His eyes were once again that deep ocean blue I remembered from my youth, and his mane was already darkening back to the charcoal black it had once been. I could even see hair starting to grow back in over the missing patches.

“W…wow. You look, a lot better, father.” I got ahold of myself. It wouldn’t do to have him see me looking so shocked, so I did what came naturally. I hid behind smartflankery. “What’s your secret? Yoga? Pilates? Billy Flanks’ tae bo?”

The grin he gave me was nearly luminous. “Actually, my secret is you. Once you raised that greater circle around ‘Breaker in there…” He motioned loosely to the room behind me with a hoof. “The curse he’d had on me got broke. He was doin’ more than puttin’ a squeeze on my heart, hoss. He was keepin’ me too weak to fight back. But,” he let out a small sigh. “That’s not why I’m here. I got some… unfortunate news for you.”

“Somehow bad news doesn’t feel all that surprising. After today I’ll be lucky if I’m allowed to set foot in Canterlot ever again after earlier.”

“Funny you should say that, hoss. Turns out the Princess caught wind of what you did in the park. Not too happy about it, neither. You're, uh... actually not, allowed back in Canterlot ever again. She's told the guard to give you until mornin'."

Even though the words were spoken calmly, they felt like a physical blow. I wasn't surprised. We had pretty much destroyed Canterlot's Central Gardens. That greater circle I'd created while under the effects of that cold power had removed the very essence of life from everything within. That had included my brother. My father's words snapped me out of it before the circle killed him, but the plant life, the flowers and the grass, may take months, even possibly years to recover. My brother, even longer.

I sighed and looked back at my brother's withered form through the window again. I fought down a surge of anger and loathing as I looked at him. In a way, his plan to ruin my life had worked. I couldn't stay in Canterlot with my father while he recovered. I couldn't go back to Ponyville, and risk seeing my friends. Or rather, my friend. My best friend. My closest friend, Ink. I couldn't go to my cabin for more than a few minutes, because the memories there were too strong, the emotions tied to them just as powerful.

The shadow would use that to take over. I couldn't let that happen around Ponyville. I couldn't let that happen around Ink. I just... couldn't let it happen, period. I needed to go somewhere else. Somewhere I knew nopony. Somewhere I could get lost in a crowd and be unnoticed.

I laughed a bit at that thought. I was a freakishly tall unicorn, standing a bit more than a head taller than anypony else I'd met. I had a scar across my left eye, as well as a scar over my heart. It really wouldn't matter where I went, I was bound to stick out like a sore thumb.

But, maybe not. Maybe there was one place I could go. Somewhere I could get lost in a crowd, and nopony would give me a second look. Somewhere I could blend in with everypony because nopony cared about much of anything other than what they were doing. I could set up shop as a P.I. there. Get an office. Stay in the shadows and do my job. Live a life helping people without getting involved.

I knew where I would go. I smiled, both bitterly and wryly. My father must have seen the look on my face, because I felt his hoof on my shoulder. I looked over at him, and he offered me a small, pained smile. "Where ya gonna go, hoss?"

I glanced back through the window one more time, then turned and started down the hall. "Manehattan."