The Dragon's Abyss

by DarklordAxel20

The Chance

Somewhere Inside of a Deep Dark Abyss

Shade floated aimlessly inside the darkness, time never seemed to flow, but he didn't ask where he was, he knew exactly where he was, the pitch black abyss around him was the inside of his mind. "..W..what happened....why am I here again, what reason have i been dragged to this infernal abyss...,". He began scanning the area around him, there was nothing but emptiness as far as the eye could see, just a pitch black fog that covered his mind. However, something caught his eye in the darkness, a dim light off in the distance, " That's new...,".

He slowly approached the dim light, watching as the closer he got the less dim it became " Come closer, chosen child of the ancient crystal ," said an almost angelic voice. Upon approaching the light, he found nopony there, but instead a floating ethereal light, but the same voice he heard before, was soon heard again, coming from the light. " Forgive me for intruding in your mind O, chosen child, I have been searching for you for a long time ,".

" Searching for me? ," he asked in a rather curious tone.

" Yes, for you see, it was I who helped awaken you from your ancient slumber, I awoke you and your five siblings ,".

A confused look formed on his face, " Siblings?, preposterous, I am an only child, what nonsense do you speak of," he was growing annoyed rather quickly.

The ethereal spirit let out a slight chuckle, " You may not have any siblings you know of through your birth mother or father, but these are your spiritual siblings, one of which you destroyed tonight ," the spirit's tone became somber as she continued to speak. " You see, long ago, there was an evil being that reigned over the land that would be what you now know as Equestria, now mind you this was before any alicorns ever reigned over this place ," she came to a slight pause before watching Shade give a slight nod to show that he was listening. " As I was saying, this was before alicorns ever took they're place as the rulers of the land, the evil being ruled the world using fear and immense power, until one day, a group of ponies that would become the first alicorns took a stand, they discovered that despite the fact they could not defeat it, they could seal it using enchanted crystals, but the crystals would not work unless they had a living host to provide the power, so six ponies made a sacrifice, and after ensnaring the dark being within the crystal trap, they had managed to imprison him deep within the planet, where it could never harm another being again, at the cost of their comrades being stuck inside of the crystals ," the spirit took another pause, she knew Shade had been absorbing every word that she spoke, but that was not the reason she paused. " You see, for the longest time the crystals held the dark being in, but as the years went by, he slowly manipulated the crystals to do his bidding, eventually turning the host into the first children of the ancient crystal, and by freeing them, he freed himself but not all at the same time, first his children had to reek havoc across the land, which was now ruled by the second alicorn king, he made short work of the first children, but only because of the lack of power they had, however this did not stop the evil one from being freed, he became enraged at the death of his creations and begun his second reign over the world, which was brought to a halt, as the knowledge of how he was sealed away was used once again, this time the king himself sealed himself in order to make sure he stayed shut away ,".

Shade had a quizzical expression on his face ," I'm just going to take a guess it didn't work, just because of how things ended up now,". He let out his own chuckle at the situation, the spirit however just remained silent, which was enough of a yes rather than having a verbal answer.

" You guessed correctly.....the king didn't count on the evil one from turning him into his own minion, you see, after the spell is casted, the host of the crystal become and stay linked to the evil one as long as they are in the crystal, this time it was the next king that ruled Equestria before the ones you know as Celestia and Luna that defeated the children of the ancient crystal and used himself to seal the dark one away believing that his will would persevere, but unlike the others who used other ponies to seal away the dark being, he used assorted beast, including the golem you fought, yet he could only ever get five if he included himself, and yet, it seemed to be enough, but in order to catch these rather powerful beast, he used a magical chain, a chain that would subdue even the mightiest of creatures, draining them of their power as long as it remained around them ," she stopped as soon as she heard Shade utter a very low growl. " You know exactly what he used, after catching four beast and sealing them and himself in the crystals, the evil one went into a sort of slumber, years after that the princesses were born, then you, then it comes to how you are apart of this, the princesses had discovered note in their fathers old journal, discovering both the spell that sealed the beast away and the very chain he used, they were unaware of anything else, you see, I have been spending the last five thousand years trying to free all of you before he could corrupt you, and it seems that you are the only one who I was able to save ,".

"....I see," he tightly clenched his claw together, if he were in his real body and not his mind it would have surely drawn blood. Another thought came to him suddenly, " Spirit, tell me, what of the crystal that my body took inside of myself, what did it do me,".

There was a long silence before she responded to him, " The crystal...it was the heart of the golem, when your body absorbed it, you took an ability from the creature you destroyed, you can only do this to other children of the ancient crystal, as for what you claimed from your sibling, well...why not try it out for yourself,". As if on cue a pile of stones appeared out of nowhere next to the two, " Focus on the stones as if you were going to cast a spell form your horn,".

Shade didn't exactly trust the spirit, but she had revealed so much to him in such a little time, he had no reason to deny her command, for he too was curious as to what the crystal did. " Alright then," he turned his attention towards the pile of various stones that stood before him, he began focusing on it, feeling his magic well up inside him, and without warning the stones began to float. " What is this, I'm not lifting them," the stones began to circle Shade , going faster and faster, changing shape as they did until they appeared plate like. Each stone plate soon attached itself to Shades body, until there were no stones on the ground.

" Take a look for yourself O, chosen child ," a small puddle of water formed on the ground in front of Shade.

Upon looking at his reflection, Shade was stunned, the stones had attached themselves to him, creating armor, but it was unlike any armor he had seen, he could move in it without restraint, he could flap his wings with ease, and unlike other forms of armor it felt very light, especially for being made of stone. " Astounding, never in all my years could I have imagined such a thing, but it is stone, would steel not make a better form of protection?,".

The spirit let out a small giggle at his question, " Perhaps, but where are you going to find steel in situations where your body is vulnerable, especially when there is stone and gems in just about every corner of the world ,".

" Gemstones?, i can use this new magic to form armor out of gemstones?!," he sounded absolutely astounded by this.

She let another giggle out before replying, " Maybe, now there is one thing you should know, there is a crystal inside of you, a crystal heart so to speak it is what makes you as resistant to damage as you are, it's also what allows you to absorb the powers of your fallen brethren, which brings me to the last thing you must know, there is a reason you were freed without being corrupted, you possess a strong spirit, with a will that is stronger than any form of armor,despite not knowing it you fought off the evil one many times in your own mind, you can stop him once and for all by doing what was never attempted by any other child of the ancient crystal, you must find and vanquish all of your remaining siblings before the evil one can be freed, the next one you will find will be-,". The spirit abruptly stopped speaking before letting out a cry of unbearable pain, " Oh no!, hes...hes found me, hurry Shade hurry, don't let him do to your world what he did to mine, hurry!! AAAH!!,".

" What do you mean what he did to your world, what do you mean?!!," but there was no response, and soon everything around him began cracking, light was slowly slipping in through the darkness. " No I can't wake up now, I need to know what she meant!!," but it was too late.

In Twilight's Castle, A few Minute's Prior on the Outside world

" Princess, what are you saying exactly," said a still weak looking Twilight Sparkle.

Princess Celestia let out a deep sigh, " I'm saying I want to give him another chance, but..he's too dangerous even if he doesn't mean it,".

Rainbow Dash stood on her four legs quickly, despite still being winded from the fight with the golem, " So what if he's dangerous, he just saved all of our hides, and hay, he probably saved all of Equestria, if Twilight couldn't topple that big pile of rocks then, and no offense princess, then what could anypony else do,".

" I understand what your saying Rainbow Dash, but he isn't just a danger to everypony around him, hes a danger to himself, Shade is a force of nature in his own way, if he gets mad his magic goes out of control," Celestia's tone became softer as she spoke about him.

" Um...e..excuse me princess...," Fluttershy stepped towards the solar princess with her usual shy expression. " I..I know I don't know Shade as well as you or Twilight knows him...but he isn't so bad...he saved us...I think you should give him a chance...besides..maybe...maybe that's all hes ever wanted,".

A small smile appeared on Celestia's face as she listened to Fluttershy, " Perhaps..perhaps you are right Fluttershy, if i stay in the past forever...then what chance do I have of ever being able to move on, but I don't just want to give him a free chance..hes still dangerous..,". Celestia watched as a frown formed on the face of each member of the main six, " But..if he can past a test..then I shall accept him and...I will give him his place back in the royal advisory, as he was all those years ago...,".

Twilight shot right up upon hearing this, " A test!, that's perfect, Shade is incredibly smart, I'm sure he will pass,".

" I'm glad your so enthusiastic about this Twilight, because it's going to be because of you ponies, that he passes or fails, because, the test I'm giving him is a test on the magic that is friendship, something you are all so familiar on," Celestia sat down, after all that has taken place she was exhausted, not physically, but mentally.

Twilight however was awestruck, she had not expected her former teacher to think of something like this for somepony whom she supposedly hated, but at the same time she was excited, " Don't worry princess, all of us are going to help Shade, he'll understand the magic of friendship by the time of Hearths Warming Eve, which just so happens to be one month from now," she said with a big smile on her face.

" Is that so," everypony nearly jumped as a deep voice came from nowhere.

Fluttershy had hidden underneath Twilight's couch out of fear, " W..who said that,".

" It's Shade!!," Twilight said with an even bigger smile on her face. She pointed to the half breed who stood at the top of the steps, she then quickly trotted to him, going as fast as her weakened legs would take her, and upon reaching him she gave him a big hug, which he returned, although he only used one claw.

" So if I learn about this magic that is friendship, then you'll stop treating me like some freak of nature, is that right Celestia,". Although it was rather stiff, she gave a nod in response, " Heh...you've grown soft over the years, I accept,".

Celestia's jaw dropped, not even once did she think he would actually accept her offer, " V..very well Shade, starting tomorrow you are to spend the whole day with one of the former holders of the elements of harmony...those being Twilight and her friends..if you can show me you truly understand friendship by Hearth's Warming Eve....then I shall...publicly forgive you and give you your role as a royal adviser back..., is that fair,".

Shade placed his claw on his chin as he thought, " Hmmm...forget the royal adviser part and we have a deal...I'd rather live my own life than make choices for royalty any more," he put a big grin on his face before chuckling.

As surprising as i was. Celestia too smiled, perhaps she could finally find redemption for sealing him away all those years ago instead of helping him. As she looked around she saw that all of Twilight's friends, including Twilight herself, all shared a smile, it seems that even now no matter who he befriends he always puts a smile on their face, " I may not like this..but it's the right thing to do, Shade...please pass this ,".

Author's Note:

Hey there ladies and gentlecolts, I'm back, and again, I'm sorry for a short chapter compared to the rest, I've been working on multiple chapters to catch up on lost time so some might be short some might be long. Anyway the next one should include a little bit of action, I hope you guys and galls enjoyed, comment like, do whatever you feel like doing. I'll see you all later

Comments

[DT42]

Not bad, I don't mind it was short. Good overall.

[The A I]

shade will "disappear" to go hunt down the other crystals and return to find himself under attack from some random enemy of equestria. thats what i predict anyway.
more please!

[DarklordAxel20]

6397402
He might, he might not, or, the crystals will hunt him, anything is possible you know.

[Azrael the alicorn]

Beautiful story! I really like the character of Shade and I hope that he and Twilight get together by the end of this story .

[DarklordAxel20]

6616925 I'm glad you're enjoying the story, I haven't updated it in a while due to some personal troubles at home, but as of recently I've started back on the last chapter I worked on before this issue popped up, so it's safe to say the chapter should be out soon, probably today if i work hard enough. Also I won't spoil anything in the story, but Twilight is my favored ship for Shade, so just keep that in mind

[Azrael the alicorn]

6617351 Good to know. I'm sad about the death of your friend and proof reader .
I wish someone could make a drawing of Shade on Deviantart just so I can picture him better.

[DarklordAxel20]

6617960 I have actually been working on a picture of him but my drawing tablet is on the fritz. And thank you, I miss her very much but I will always remember her.

[DarklordAxel20]

6650332 He does when hes moving and reading, otherwise hes crouching on his hind legs