Afraid Of My Shadow

by Deyeaz

VIII - Celebration (Praxis)

Afraid Of My Shadow

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

VIII - Celebration (Praxis)

There’s nothing more calming than the cooling darkness of the Everfree Forest.

It wasn’t as terrifying as the show constantly portrayed. Instead, birds fluttered around, strange flowers blossomed and flourished, and the trees’ large shadows cast a slight coolness on us as we trekked through the forest. The only thing that disturbed me was how The Everfree just seemed so ... calm. Serene. Heavenly, even.

But that might be because I have always appreciated nature, and that my being a satyr only helped me to be more in touch and attuned to nature.

As we trudged through the forest, doing our best to avoid any Poison Joke, I heard the sounds of leaves being plucked from their branches. I glanced up to see Riku stretching out towards the trees, plucking out the flowers they bore and giving them a quick whiff. I smiled at his actions.

I also heard a sound of whooshing coming from what seemed like right next to me. I turned to see Jace, waving his hands around like a conductor of an orchestra, and his hands leaving a red magical residue in the air. “What’re you doing?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Effect magic.... I’m trying to enhance it.” Honestly, I still don’t understand the types of magic he uses. It’s all mumbo-jumbo to me. Black Magic, while still unknown to me, seems to be a mix of all three of the magic Jace performed.

“May I ask why?”

“Because when we have a ‘oh shit’ moment, Effect magic is the kind of magic that leaves less strain on my mind and body when using it. It’s a counter measure.”

“...What could you possibly do that would make us have the upper hand in an ‘oh shit’ moment?” Jace raised his hand and snapped his fingers, his hand becoming invisible. “...Alright that’s pretty badass.”

“I need to enhance this, though. So far, I can only keep my hand totally invisible without getting a massive headache.” His hand slowly faded back, and he moved his fingers. “That, and I can do a doppelganger spell that works wonders with invisibility. Make the doppelganger run one way, and be invisible and run the other way.”

“...I’m starting to like this ‘effect magic’ more and more....” I raised my right hand and flexed the fingers, the claws seeming to slice the wind before me. It felt both mysterious and common for me. Who knew that a simple movement of one’s phalanges would feel incredibly strange?

The darkness that swarmed us begins to let up as we exited the forest. The sun was about... more than halfway across the sky. I examined both the sun’s position and the shadows we casted, and I concluded that it was about one o’clock in the afternoon. “Last one there is a rotten Scootaloo egg?” Jace suggested.

We all nodded. Riku gripped my horns and I scooped up Trixie under one arm. “Ready.”

“Five...” I tensed my legs.

“Four...” I licked my lips in anticipation.

“...HOLY SHIT, A DISTRACTION!” Jace pointed behind me. Me and my burdens craned our heads towards the direction he pointed at, only to see nothing. When we turned our heads back forward, Jace was nowhere to be found.

“Goddamnit!” I grunted before blasting off after him. Despite Riku and Trixie weighing me down a bit, I finally catch up with Jace, who was laughing uproariously at how easily fooled we were.

“Suckers!” He taunted as we neared the town. I tried picking up more speed, but alas, it was all to no avail. Jace gets to the entrance a split second before I do, the human skidding across the dirt path... “SHIT!” I tried to do the same thing and came to a complete halt. I looked over at Jace, but what I saw scared me. Jace’s foot flipped around the other way and he tripped, falling onto his face and slid down the path, leaving a trench in his wake. I deposited Riku and Trixie on the ground and ran over to him.

“Jace! Oh, fuck! JACE!” I inspected the damage done to him. “Jace, you moron, wake up!”

“Baba! I think he’s hurt!” Riku cried as he ran over and tried shaking the human awake.

NO, I THOUGHT HE WAS NAPPING.

“Uncle Jace! Wake up!”

I watched as Jace’s foot twitched slightly. Then his hands. He ever-so-slowly raised himself into a sitting position and viciously rubbed his eyes of any dirt that got in it. Multiple ponies gathered around to witness the sight, and they all gasped at the sight of me. Before I knew it, I was caught in a huge swarm of ponies ogling at us.

“It’s Praxis!”

“Oh, Celestia! What happened to Jace?”

“Praxis Moradov is back!”

“Somepony get a doctor!”

“What the buck happened to Goat-Boy’s arm?”

Really, random background pony? You’re worried about my ARM and not my friend?

Jace looked down at his leg and poked it, cringing and sucking in breath through his teeth. “NNNNG! Sweet Lord...” He lifted the legging of his pants and the ponies gasped, some turning away from the sight. The speed that Jace slid at had broken the bone and it was sticking out in his ankle. “Ohhh, that’s not good...”

I shuddered in disgust. “Relax, man, you’re gonna be fine.” Tentatively, I heaved Jace in a classic “Prince-saves-the-princess” hold, my right hand gripping his ankle. Almost at once, the eye on my hand glowed a bright blue. I could feel something, no... several somethings, snaking out from my palm and wrapping themselves around Jace’s broken ankle. They looked like black, vein-like tendrils, the way they throbbed sickeningly, like they were pumping blood into his leg. Jace gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly as the tendrils performed their strange work. I tried pulling my hand away, but it wouldn’t budge in the slightest. All the while, the draconic eye pulsated a glow every other second.

I looked at Jace’s face, his eyes were looking up, away from the scene. “I don’t want to know what’s happening to my leg... Because I’m afraid I’m going to get Hentai’d.”

The tendrils removed themselves from Jace’s ankle, and I looked at what happened. My jaw dropped in shock at the result of that little episode. Jace’s ankle had been fully healed. No broken bones were jutting out of his leg, nor did it look incredibly painful and disgusting.

“Err... Jace?” I called to him. “Ya might wanna take a look at this.”

He looked down and raised a brow, then back to my hand seeing the tendrils slither back in. “Huh... Yeah, I’m definitely taking a shower after this... That’s just... Not right. Nice medic magic though... I don’t do that stuff... I’m just combat oriented.”

“Dude, I didn’t even know I was capable of that.... shall we proceed, my good friend?” I asked Jace as I set him down on his feet. He seemed reluctant to stand, but when he applied pressure and didn’t feel pain, he smiled.

“Kick... Freaking... Ass...” Jace hopped around a bit and got into a fighting pose. “Yeah, that feels good...”

“Thank me later, man. ‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna celebrate.” The crowd cleared the way when Jace, Trixie, Riku, and I made our way to Sugarcube Corner, perhaps to warn Pinkie Pie of my arrival.

Then, Jace just seemed to... Stop. Dead in his tracks. “Jace?” I asked, walking over to him and waving a hand in his face. “Jace?”

“...I need to get Vinyl... It’s not a party without her!” Aaaaaaaaaand, he’s gone.

I sighed. I guess Jace’s logic was rather sound: Vinyl did stand as a paragon for partygoers and ravers alike, so it would make sense that she would attend. Plus, I’d get my ass kicked for not inviting her.

Also... remember what I said about warning Pinkie Pie about my arrival? There was no need to...

“OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-OMIGOSH-YOU’RE-BACK-YOU’RE-BACK-YOU’RE-BACK-THIS-IS-SO-EXCITING-WE-HAVE-TO-THROW-YOU-A-PARTY-RIGHT-AWAY-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!”

...for she had not only materialized right in front of me, but she also wailed as loud as she could in glee. I fell on my arse and bleated loudly in shock, trying to back away from her. But it was no good, for she had tackled me in a full-on hug, trying to bury herself deeper into the hair on my chest. “It’s SOOOO good to see you again, Praxis!” she exclaimed.

“It’s good to see you, too, Pinkie,” I said as I returned her massive hug in full force. We separated after just a few seconds of hugging, and Pinkie backflipped off of me onto the dirt, landing perfectly on four hooves.

“Listen, I need to go get your super-duper-special party ready, so I’ll be riiiiiight back!” I nodded and without a second’s hesitation, she blasted off towards Sugarcube Corner, undoubtedly to prepare the party that awaited us. I dug my pinky into my ear, trying to readjust the hearing that had just been impaired by Pinkie’s loud volume.

“Well, that escalated quickly.” I stand up and dust myself off.

“Did somepony say PARTY?! EEEEYEEEEAAAAHHH!” OK. SERIOUSLY. WHY DOES EVERYPONY KEEP YELLING?

I turned to see Vinyl Scratch and Jace standing next to me, and I backed off a bit. “Whoa! That was fast...”

“Yup! Getting a bit better at the sprinting,” Jace said a bit cockily.

“I heard party, I’m all in!” Vinyl Scratch shot a wide grin up at me as she pushed her goggles up, revealing her red eyes. “This is gonna be RAD!” She wailed as she pulled me into a hug.

“Wait. Where’s Wubsy?” I asked, looking between the two.

“At home with Octavia.” Vinyl Scratch said, pushing past me. “He doesn’t need to be around for this one. I got something planned for mister gruff and handsome over here~” She let out a sultry growl towards Jace, who blushed lightly.

Trixie looked over at me. “Is that really how they act all the time?” I sighed and nodded.

“Girl, you have no idea,” I answered. “But I guess we should get you something nice to wear for the party.” I turned to Riku and knelt down to his eye level. “Buddy, wanna go with Jace and Vinyl? That way, you can hang out with Wubsy for a little bit.”

“But Baba... I wanna go with you!” Riku looks at me with puppy-dog eyes.

DAMN IT. MY ONE WEAKNESS. MUST... RESIST... THE CUTENESS!

“Sorry, bud. You and Wubsy will hit it off great. Besides, Pinkie is probably getting permission from the Cakes to bring Pumpkin and Pound over--”

“PRAXIIIIS~!” GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT!

I whipped around and witnessed five other mares who I recognize as clear as daylight. Rainbow Dash had been the one to tackle me first, given as she was the fastest out of them. The techni-colored speed demon pulled me into the most massive hug anyone could ever ask for. Soon followed Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle, each and every one of them squeezing me out of glee.

“IT’S SO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!” Twilight Sparkle wailed as she hugged me tighter.

“Y’ALL’VE BEEN GONE TOO LONG, SUGARCUBE!” Applejack hollered happily.

“HE’S BACK! HE’S REALLY BACK!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“IT’S BEEN SOOOOO LONG, DARLING!!!!” Rarity cooed audibly.

“..yay!” Fluttershy said plainly.

I turned to look for Jace, but saw him standing next to a cart that seemed to just pull in, filled with their DJ equipment.

“Gotta get set up for the party, bro!” He exclaimed before dashing off, with Vinyl Scratch hollering in delight as she sat atop the gear.

“Wait. Wait! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD! I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!” I cried desperately.

“SUCKS TO BE YOU, MAN!” Jace retorted.

“OH, COME ON!” I bellowed weakly as the mares continued to violently hug me. I could feel the air getting squeezed out of me, yet my cries are now too weak to reach the ponies’ ears.

Fluttershy was the one to break it up by saying, “Girls, you’re crushing him! Please let him go... I mean... if that’s alright with you....” At her words, the others extricated themselves from me. I took several deep breaths before my breathing became regulated.

“Please warn me the next time you do that,” I choked out as the five ponies separated themselves from me. I stood on my cloven hooves and dusted myself off once more. The mares smiled innocently as I turned to look at Riku, who still remained behind, and Trixie, who was also still with me.

Half of the Element bearers turned to look at Trixie, and Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity scowled menacingly at her; maybe because of the last time Trixie was in Ponyville, it didn’t go well. “Well, looky what the dog threw up on th’ carpet,” Applejack said snidely.

“What’re you doing here?” Rainbow Dash said snarkily. “Where’s that Ursa Minor of yours, eh? It seemed real friendly when it came and destroyed half the town!”

“Puh-lease, darling,” Rarity scoffed. “I do not think that she’s ‘Great and Powerful’ enough to even lift a teaspoon!”

The trio of ponies continued to taunt Trixie, laughing heartlessly at each insult they launched at her. Fluttershy tried consoling the ponies, but her words only fell on deaf ears. Twilight Sparkle was only backing away, not wanting to take any part in this. Trixie took it all in stride, yet her eyes grew more and more moist with each insult they threw at her. Eventually, the dams broke loose, and she started weeping, her tears pouring into the earth.

At that moment, I knew that Trixie was just like me... she had suffered my pain, and had taken so many proverbial whips to the back, it’s a miracle that she had managed to refrain from lashing out. She took it all and bit back her tongue, refusing to speak out against the injustice...

...just like me.

“Awww, what’s the matter? Is the Gweat and Powewful Twixie gonna cwy?” Rainbow Dash teased in a cruel baby voice. The three attackers gave another heartless laugh. Without warning, Trixie charged into me, crying into my chest. I patted her back and tried to soothe what was ailing her, but to no avail: Trixie wouldn’t stop shedding her tears. I looked at the culprits angrily, gritting my sharp teeth.

“ENOUGH!”

That wasn’t my voice... and obviously, it wasn’t Jace’s, either.

“What is WRONG with all of you?!” Riku shouted, his pupils going to slits like mine did whenever I got angry. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash started backing away slowly at Riku’s verbal assault on them. “You’re supposed to be the Elements of Harmony, for pony’s sake! And you’re insulting and teasing a fellow pony!?”

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts!” The little satyr interrupted Rainbow Dash. “Now say sorry!”

“S-sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack said, scratching the back of her neck with her hoof. “Ah feel awful ‘bout that....”

“I apologize as well, darling,” Rarity admitted, slowly walking over to Trixie and me in the hopes that she could make amends. The blue mare in my arms turned her head and weakly smiled, her amethyst eyes shining weakly in the light of the orange, descending sun. “It was utterly wrong of me to insult you.”

“It’s okay...” Trixie muttered feebly.

“This is horse apples!” Rainbow Dash hollered, breaking all of us out of our trance. “A little twerp can’t tell me what to do!” Riku recoiled at her harsh words, offended by what she said.

“Rainbow,” I said coldly. The pegasus whirled around and gulped at the look of disappointment and frustration on my face. I read fear, guilt, and nervousness swimming in her face, like koi fish in a pond. Good: that’s what I wanted. “Don’t you dare insult my son... now apologize, please.”

A second’s hesitation went by before Rainbow Dash buckled under my glare. “S...Sorry, Riku...”

“And?” I adjusted Trixie in my arms, subtly telling Rainbow Dash who else to beg forgiveness

“And sorry, Trixie...”

“Thank you.” I stood up and placed Trixie on her hooves on the ground. “Shall we head to the party, then, guys?” I asked.

The ponies and satyr nodded. With that out of the way, we began walking towards Sugarcube Corner. I looked over at Rainbow Dash, who stilled appeared to be guilty of her past actions. “Hey.” She looked over at me. “Don’t feel so bad. You just let your anger get the best of you.”

“But that’s the thing: I never meant to,” admitted Rainbow Dash. “I never meant to simply act like that... it’s not right, and it’s just plain mean.”

“As long as you apologized, that’s fine,” I told her. The walk took a bit of time, with ponies frantically and excitedly greeting me. But after two or three minutes of walking, we all reached Sugarcube Corner. I smiled happily. In the four years that had fluttered by, it hadn’t changed a bit: it still looked like an incredibly large and edible-looking gingerbread house, much like something out of Hansel and Gretel.

As soon as we all stepped inside, however, the interior of the store was dark. Despite the light that streamed in through the windows, I couldn’t see a darn thing, like a black smokescreen was thrown over the whole area.

“Hello?” I called into the blackness. Almost at once, the lights flickered on, and I was almost swept off of my feet by the huge verbal wave of ponies shouting in joy at my arrival.

“BREAK OUT THE CUPCAKES AND CRANK UP THE MUSIC, EVERYPONY!!!” I looked around to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but couldn’t really. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere! “Because we gonna celebrate till we drop! The heroes Jace Romero and Praxis Moradov are BACK IN ACTION!”

I twisted my head as far back as it could go behind me and then had my body turn and smiled to see Pinkie on top of the DJ booth, holding a mic in her hoof. “And now, stamp your hooves for the musical talent of DJ-P0N3 and Jace Rome-” A hand pulled Pinkie under the booth and hushed voices could be heard from under the table. She soon returned to her position and continued. “The musical talent of DJ-P0N3 and DJ Tick-Tock!”

Tick-Tock? Really, Jace? Is that what you went with?

Yes, now quit ‘cho bitchin’ and enjoy the music! I jumped when I heard the voice in my head, and then blushed in embarrassment. Yeah, I can only do this for like, thirty seconds at max now, soooo... yeah.

Ah, yes, I remember: Jace could use his magic to be able to read the minds of whoever was being targeted. Not only that, he could also mentally respond to the target as well.

Like I said, four years of doing absolutely nothing had addled my memory a bit.

Jace and Vinyl stood up and made themselves seen by the crowd. “Before we get started, I want to say a bit of an announcement.” Everypony’s attention was set directly on Jace now. “Me, and Vinyl, have decided to finally get married...” A collection of ‘awww’s’ and ‘dawwwws’ came from the crowd at the mention of the marriage. “It will be tomorrow, at noon. There will be food and a reception party afterwards, over at the Canterlot Castle. Everyone in Ponyville should have gotten an invitation to the wedding, and if you didn’t, you’re more than welcome to come on by!”

The applause that followed was tremendous. My sensitive ears were ringing from the loudness of the stomping and whistling of the ponies. I clapped my hands fervently with the crowd, until the applause finally died down.

“Praxis?” Jace called. I looked and gave him my full attention. “Get on up here, goat boy!” With a smirk, I slowly made my way through the crowd. When I finally reached the human and his equine fiance, Jace clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“And for the wedding... I would be honored if you would be my best man!” He then said. I did a double-take, taken aback pleasantly by the announcement. Me? A best man at a wedding? What have I ever done to earn this? This is... exhilarating! I can’t say no now!

Without hesitation, I nodded violently. Jace beamed widely and pulled me into a massive hug, with Vinyl soon tackling me in one as well. “Thanks, man,” they both say in unison.

“Don’t mention it,” I said. I looked at the table, and spotted two pieces of eyewear and two hats. One piece of eyewear was a pair of orange pointy sunglasses. The other was a pair of red-tinted steampunk goggles. One hat was a black fedora with a cyan band, and the other hat was a black beret. I picked up the goggles and looked at the tinted glass, seeing my face reflect in the shiny glass.

“Oi. Don’t touch the shades, bro...” Jace plucked the steampunk goggles from my hands and put them on his face, putting the fedora on. “Piece one of the full set. Rarity was kind enough to make a full suit for me when doing this. These goggles, are prescription as well, so they are very, VERY, nice...”

“Fine by me, man,” I told him, donning the orange pointy shades. “Besides, these shades make me look like Kamina, a bit.” I felt a tapping on the small of my back, and turned to see Vinyl Scratch wearing a pair of cogs with purple tinted glass in the holes.

“Sup, Fluffs?” She smiled wide at me before taking her position next to Jace. I let out a low whistle at how nice she looked. I slapped on the beret, making sure not to stab it with my horns. “Guys?”

“Yeah?”

I leaned against the speaker of the sound system. “...Shall we spin this shit?”

The smirk on Jace’s and Vinyl Scratch’s face, was almost scary to see. Jace looking like a mad scientist and Vinyl being his assistant. As they were about to press buttons, there was a yell. “WAIT!” Jace looked up first, looking out into the crowd to see who yelled.

“WHO DAREST THOU STARTETH A PARTY WITHOUT US!”

Comments

[bocaj518]

500 bits say it's Luna!

[dragenfire68]

LUNA FTW

[Rhulain]

who dares you start a party without us? Jeez, get your Olde Eqwestrian right.

[the other sans]

I looked over at Rainbow Dash, who stilled appeared to be guilty of her past actions

1. Still.

... In before Trixie marries Praxis, leaving Jake (the married man... or soon to be) in the dust.

[lolz anonymous]

damn straight! luna FTW!

[Lunason]

LETS SPIN THIS SHIT!!!!!! HELL YEAH . . . . . . LUNA!

[Pencil Lead]