This is the first of Shadow Volt's adventures as he finds a way back home and helps Pinkie Pie free herself from Pinkamena once and for all
This is the first of Shadow Volt's adventures as he tries to find a way back home, he also tries to help Pinkie free herself from Pinkamena's control once and for all, but can he succeed, and will he find a way to return home? Only time will tell, and Shadow doesn't plan on giving up anytime soon.
Also special thanks to my friend Pinkie on Twitter for helping me come up with the idea while we were Role Playing.
"W-where am I?", Shadow Volt asked as he opens his eyes, "Ugh, it feels like I was hit by a train."
Shadow rubbed the side of his head as he looked around, what he saw is a familiar view of Ponyville but something seemed off about it.
"I wonder how I got here, last time I checked I was on the opposite side of town, well I guess I better head in to town and see how everypony is" he said.
Shadow headed for town still feeling as something is out of place but can't quite put his hoof on it.
As he gets closer and closer to town he notices that not many ponies are out on such a lovely day.
"Huh, they must have better things to do than enjoy such a beautiful day", he says as he enters town.
Looking around he sees a familiar pink friend of his and decides to call her over.
"Hey Pinkie," he calls.
When she turns to look at him he waves her over, as she gets near him he continues to speak.
"Hi Pinkie, where is everypony?", he asks.
Pinkie looks at him confused.
"They're around but who are you," she asked.
He returns her look of confusion with his own.
"Pinkie, it's me Shadow Volt" he said, only for Pinkie to look even more confused.
"Shadow Volt? I've never met you before and I know everypony in Ponyville", said Pinkie.
"But thats impossible, we fought alongside each other against Shadow Stryker just yesterday, and before that I've lived in Ponyville for most of my life," he said.
"Who's Shadow Stryker? And you've lived here for most of your life," she asked even more confused.
Shadow was completely stunned.
"Where's Twilight maybe she knows what's go-," he stopped when he saw the look of pain and sadness in her eyes, "Pinkie, where's Twilight," he said with deep concern in his voice.
"S-she's......she's gone," Pinkie said as her eyes started to tear up.
Shadow sensing she didn't mean that his cousin was just out of town was starting to worry, "What about the other's, where are they," he asked.
Pinkie, barely managing to speak, "T-they're all dead."
Shadow was completely horrified.
"How did they die," Shadow asked.
Pinkie now one the brink of tears only said, "I-I killed them."
Shadow, was taken aback.
"What are y-...," he started to say.
Shadow then quickly thought back to what happened after the fight against Shadow Stryker and about the light that blinded him after the fight.
"That light, I thought it teleported me to just outside Ponyville, it may have sent me to another world instead," he thought to himself.
"Pinkie, why did you kill them," he asked.
"To make cupcakes," she said.
Shadow, now not only shocked but also starting to get angry, looked at Pinkie.
"What's the real reason you killed them," he asked.
Pinkie's ears dropped as she spoke, "Why does it matter anyway, you'd never believe me if I told you."
"Why did you need to kill them to make cupcakes," he asked.
She looked at him, eyes now showing fear instead of pain and sadness.
"C-cause it's the rules," she said.
He stared at here, looking into her eyes, he knew that she couldn't have killed them like she said she did, there had to be something else going on, but what was it.
He took a deep breathe, "Who made the rules?"
Pinkie now even more scared, but felt as though she could trust Shadow, when she looked into his eyes she knew that he could protect her.
She decided to tell him why, "I-it was Pinkamena, she's the one that made the rules."
Shadow became even more confused.
"P-pinkamena?! I thought you and Pinkamena were the same person," he said.
Pinkie once again looking Shadow in the eyes replied, "We were, that is, until she got her own body, I don't know how she did it but I woke up one day with her standing over my bed, and she's the one that made me kill everypony to make those stupid cupcakes."
Shadow, now realizing that Pinkie never wanted to hurt anypony and was only doing it for fear of her life, put his arms around her.
"Then lets go stop her, I know you're scared of her, and that you don't think you're strong enough, but I'll be there every step of the way," he said.
Pinkie simply replied, "But then I'll be all alone."
Shadow began to hug her tighter, "I'll never let you be alone, I may not be from this reality but when it's over I want you to come back with me, your friends will be there."
Pinkie was now crying her heart out.
"Y-you promise,"she said sobbing.
"I Pinkie promise, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," he said letting her go and standing up, "Let's go free you from her once and for all."
Pinkie was still crying her heart out when Shadow put his forelegs around her and hugged her tighter than he had before.
They sat there for what seemed like hours but was merely a few minutes, Shadow decided that confronting Pinkamena could wait, for first came mending Pinkie's broken heart.
They sat there for a few hours, Pinkie still crying.
"I think we should stay at the Treebrary tonight, I can't let you go back to Pinkamena alone, and there's something I want to check on first," Shadow said.
Pinkie nodded and wiped away her tears.
"O-okay, but what about Spike? If he knows about what happened then he might throw us out or not even let us in to begin with," she said.
Shadow frowned, for he had forgot about that detail, if he really was in a different reality than the one he called home then Spike wouldn't know him, and probably wouldn't believe him, and why would he, Shadow would be a stranger to him, but Shadow knew he had to try, and that's exactly what he planned to do.
He let go of Pinkie and wiped away her remaining tears, "Let's get going before it gets too dark."
Pinkie nodded and started to walk beside him, "Are you going to tell Spike if he doesn't know?"
Shadow nodded, "He needs to know, and if he's like the Spike I know from my world then he should understand."
Pinkie looked at Shadow confused.
"Your world," she asked.
Shadow nodded his head again, "Yes, it would seem that, somehow, I have been sent to a different reality than my own, at first I thought I was just teleported to the opposite side of Ponyville that I was on, but when you said you didn't know me or Shadow Stryker, that's when I realised that this has to be a different world considering everything you've told me, I don't know how it happened but I must have been sent here to help you."
Shadow stopped and looked into Pinkie's eyes.
"And I will help you, and when this is all over we'll go back together just as I promised," he said.
With those words all of the pain and sorrow in Pinkie's eyes was replaced with hope, hope that she could once again be reunited with her friends.
"Pinkie when we were talking earlier, I thought that you were doing what Pinkamena said out of fear of your own life, but I know that can't be true, you would rather sacrifice yourself than harm your friends," he took a moment to take a breathe, "I think its because your trying to protect somepony, like the Cake family, or more specifically, their newborn foals Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake."
Pinkie was stunned that he knew about the Cakes newborn foals before she remembered that he was from a different world.
She nodded her head, "Pinkamena threatened to hurt them if I didn't do what she said."
"Well we can't let that happen now can we," Shadow smiled and started walking again, "They'll never be in danger again."
Pinkie nodded and started walking next to Shadow once again.
"What if Pinkamena gets suspicious because I don't return tonight? What if she decides to hurt them while I'm away," she asked.
Shadow smiled for he had already thought of that and had came up with a plan.
"That's why I'm going to teleport them to the Treebrary where it's safe," he said smiling.
Pinkie looked at him before letting out a relieved sigh.
After a few more minutes of walking in silence they had reached the Treebrary and walked in, Shadow then called for Spike, who came downstairs wondering who the black unicorn standing next to Pinkie was.
Shadow began to explain everything, Spike was sceptical at first until Shadow proved he was telling the truth by telling him how he knew of Spike's crush on Rarity, Spike knew Pinkie couldn't have said anything without breaking her Pinkie promise so he knew that Shadow was speaking the truth.
When Shadow got to the part about what Pinkamena did to Twilight and the others and how Pinkie was involved, Spike looked as though he was about to attack Pinkie, but when Shadow told Spike that Pinkie was also a victim and was only doing what Pinkamena told her to in order to protect the Cake family and their newborn foals, Spike's look of anger was almost instantly replaced by guilt, guilt that he had wanted to hurt Pinkie.
After explaining, Shadow took a few minutes to catch his breathe to conpose himself, "I was wondering if Pinkie and I could stay here tonight."
Spike nodded, "Pinkie can sleep upstairs in Twilight's bed and I can set up a bed down here for you."
Shadow nodded, "Also can you find a place for the Cake family to sleep tonight?"
Spike looked at him confused, "The Cakes?"
Shadow nodded again, "I'm going to teleport them here where it's safe."
Spiked nodded and went to set up a bed for Shadow and get the Cakes a bed ready downstairs.
Shadow then began to focus on teleporting the Cakes to the Treebrary, after a few moments his horn began to shine brightly then let out a flash of light, when the light faded it revealed Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their newborns standing there stunned.
Mr. Cake was about to speak when Shadow cut him off and began to explain everything without leaving out a single detail.
After he finished he let Mr. Cake speak, "I-I see, we understand and we'll stay here until its safe."
Shadow nodded as Spike returned.
"Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake your bed is ready for you downstairs," Spike said.
The Cakes nodded and went downstairs.
Pinkie decided to break the silence once they were gone, "I'm gonna go to bed as well, if you two don't mind that is."
Both Shadow and Spike nodded in unison.
Once Pinkie was upstairs, Shadow turned to Spike.
"Spike, if you don't mind, I need your help researching some stuff," Shadow said.
Spike was about to nod but stopped himself, "Only on one condition."
Shadow looked at him, "Name it."
Spike began to look at Shadow with a pleading look.
"I want you to take me with you and Pinkie when its over with," Spike said.
Shadow began to laugh, which caught Spike off guard, after a few minutes Shadow managed to stop his laughter.
"Ofcoarse you can, all you had to do was ask, and can you carry some books by fireblowing them," Shadow said.
Spike nodded, "Yeah, just let me know which ones and I'll fireblow them for later use."
Shadow took off his sunglasses, which he had been wearing the entire time, revealing his deep blue eyes and then took off his blue vest revealing that not only did he have wings but he was infact an Alicorn.
Spike was shocked and barely managed to speak, "Y-your an Alicorn?!!"
Shadow nodded, "Yeah, but I like to keep my wings hidden under my vest since I'm not used to being an Alicorn yet."
Spike was about to ask what he meant but decided that it was best not to ask.
Shadow stretched out his wings and refurled them, "Okay Spike, let's get down to work, I need all the books about alternate realities, how to travel between mutliple realities and anything about sealing spells."
Spike nodded and quickly gathered up all the books Shadow requested.
"Here they are Shadow, is that everything you need," Spike asked.
Shadow nodded and opened up the first of the books, "Thanks Spike, you can go to bed if you want to, I can take it from here."
Spike shook his head and sat down next to Shadow.
"I'll stay up just incase you need any help," Spike said.
Despite saying that, however, Spike was sound a sleep an hour later, Shadow gave a small laugh and went back to reading, he was determined to not only stop Pinkamena, but to also take Spike and Pinkie with him when it was over.
Shadow sat there studying every aspect of each book, he was intent on learning every last detail, he laughed a little when he realized how much he was like his cousin Twilight.
He glanced up at the clocked and noted that it was only twelve past one in the morning and as his eyes went back from the clock to the book he was reading he caught site of the calender, he looked at the date June 8th, 2014 before looking back at the book.
He was about to start reading again when looked back at the calender in horror.
"June 8th, 2014?!! It's been a whole bucking year since the fight against Shadow Stryker," he shouted without realizing it.
Spike woke up from Shadow suddenly shouting, he stretched out looking at Shadow wondering what was wrong.
"What's wrong Shadow, why are you shouting," he asked.
Shadow looked at him trying his best to regain his composer.
"I-it's been a year since I was last in the reality that I'm from, it should only be June 8th, 2013 not 2014," Shadow said as he pointed to the calender, "I not only got sent to another reality but I also got sent forward in time by a whole year."
Spike looked at him confused before he realised what Shadow was saying, "A whole year? How is that possible?"
Shadow shook his head because he was just as confused as Spike.
"I don't know but I'm more worried as to what's happened in the past year, anyway, go back to sleep, sorry for waking you," he said with an apologetic smile.
Spike yawned and laid back down and drifted back into sleep as Shadow sat there wondering how it happened and decided to look in his vest pocket to see if a little gadget of his was still there.
He opened the pocket and used his magic to levitate its contents out, before giving a relieved sigh.
"Thank Celestia I still have my Beacons, let's see I have fifty in total it seems," he said.
He sat one down on the table and put the rest back in the pocket, "I'm glad I added that magical gem into my sword and made these Beacons, they really came in....handy? Hoofy? Nevermind."
He then pressed a button on the Beacon which then began to change into a pyramid.
"Ok let's see what message should I send," he pondered for a moment, "Oh, I know."
Shadow pressed his hoof against the gem at the top and spoke.
Just outside Ponyville sat a large sword stabbed into the ground surrounded by flowers, it had been raining all day and wasn't going to let up any time soon, six mares were also standing in front of the sword, which was now more of a grave marker than a weapon, each of the mares was holding a rose, the first to speak was the purple mare.
"It's hard to believe its been a year," she said as she sat the rose down in front of the grave, "I can't believe he's gone."
The blue mare was next to speak, "He not only fought for us but also saved us and we couldn't do anything to save him when he needed saving," she said sitting down her rose in front of the grave.
The pink mare was next, "He really was a tr-."
She was cut off by thehe sword starting to vibrate as though it was alive, the magical gem inside it was starting to glow brighter and brighter.
The pink mare looked at the purple one, "Twilight what do you think it means?"
Twilight moved closer and carefully touched the magical gem, it reacted to her touch and started to play its message.
"Twilight if you can hear me, its me Shadow Volt, I'm stuck in an alternate reality but I will find a way back," he went on to tell about Pinkie and Pinkamena and what had happened.
"Twilight if you get this please send me a message using the Beacon I gave you," with that the message ended and the gem stopped glowing.
Twilight quickly looked at her friends and back at the sword.
"He's alive," she shouted tears starting to flow freely, "I can't believe it, he's alive."
Twilight then got a serious look on her face and looked at each of her friends, "You heard him, lets get back to the Treebrary and send him a message,"
With that they all began galloping back to the Treebrary.
Shadow sat there wondering if his message got through, he was about to give up hope when the gem started to glow, indicating he had a message, he pressed it and the message started to play.
"Shadow, its me Twilight, everypony else is here also, we got your message, is everything alright, where have you been for the past bucking year," the message ended.
Having regained his hope he sent another one, "Yeah I'm alright, it's only been a day for me since the fight with Shadow Stryker, I don't know how but I got sent forward a year in time, but it feels as though I was meant to come here and save this world's Pinkie from Pinkamena, I plan to bring her and this world's Spike with me when I return, I want to know if any of you have any objections to that."
He sent the message and waited for a reply, after what seemed like forever, it was however only a few minutes, he get a reply.
"It's good to hear that you're alright, we understand and want to help in any way we can, as for Pinkie and Spike, we have no objections, just tell us what you need us to do," the message ended.
Shadow thought for a moment, what did he need them to do, after a few moments he came up with a plan.
He pressed the gem and said his message, "I need you to create more beacons like I showed you and place them at several places across Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Crystal Empire, hopefully this will create a large enough point for me to lock onto with my magic and teleport back to."
He was about to send his message when he pressed the gem again and added more to his message, "The beacons need to also be placed near large sources of magic in order to increase their power."
He then sent the message and waited for a reply.
After about thirty minutes he saw that he had a new message, he pressed the gem and played the message, "We're on it, and stay safe Shadow."
After listening to the last message Shadow decided to quickly finish the book he had been opened up another pocket of his vest and took out two small magical gems, then opened another pocket and took out some necklaces he had incase of an emergency, he then got to work turning the gems and necklaces into charm necklaces with protection spells placed on them.
After he was finished he placed them inside another pocket on his vest and decided that it was time to call it a night.
It was eight in the morning when Shadow woke up, he looked around and noticed that Spike had gotten up already and could be heard in the kitchen.
Shadow decided to go upstairs and check on Pinkie after putting his vest back on.
As he got to the top he could see Pinkie was still sound asleep so he decided to let her sleep, but not before he made sure that she was okay, he used his magic to scan her and after a few quick passes he decided to double check the room by scanning it.
After scanning the entire room and he headed back downstairs, he was glad that nothing was out of place.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs he noticed that Spike was waiting for him.
"Morning Spike, what do you need," he asked.
Spike looked over at him.
"Did you find what you were looking for last night," he asked as Shadow came over to him.
Shadow nodded, "Yeah, thanks for the help."
Spike looked back at the strange pyramid on the table.
"So what is that thing anyway," he asked.
Shadow looked over at the Beacon he had placed there.
"It's called a Beacon," he began, "they hold a magical gem with a high level messaging spell on them at the top that I can use them to send messages to my sword, which also has a magical gem inside it, and to other beacons, and as I found out last night, the messages can also be sent across different realities."
Spike took a moment to register this new information.
"So did you send a message last night," he asked.
Shadow nodded.
"Who did you send the message to," Spike asked.
Shadow turned and looked at him before replying, "I sent it to Twilight and the others."
Spike looked at Shadow completely dumfounded before realising Shadow was talking about the Twilight from his reality.
"I see, and what did you talk about," he asked.
Shadow thought back for a moment, "I told them that I was alright and about everything that's happened, I also mentioned that I'm bringing you and Pinkie back with me and asked if they had any objections to that."
Spike looked at him a little worried as to what their answer was.
Shadow noticed that Spike was worried and smiled, "And they said that they had no objections what so ever, even if they did I would still have taken you and Pinkie with me, they also wanted to know what I needed them to do to help and I had told them to construct more beacons and place them across Ponyville, Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and anywhere else that has a strong source of magic."
Spike smiled and nodded before noticing the pink mare that was standing at the foot of the stairs.
Shadow turned and looked at her and by the look on her face he could tell she was standing there the entire time he was talking about having spoken with Twilight and the others.
The look on her face, even though she was crying, was a look of joy and happiness.
He smiled when he saw her face, "Well good morning sleepy hea-."
Pinkie tackled him before he could finish his sentence and was hugging him as tight as she could.
"P-Pinkie.........can't.........breathe," he barely managed to say.
Pinkie let him go and then nuzzled him, "I can't believe it, you were telling the truth Shadow, you were really telling the truth."
After Shadow had sat back up Pinkie nuzzled him again causing him to giggle and to also blush but thankfully it was concealed by his black fur coat.
"Ofcoarse I was telling the truth, I would never lie to my friends," he said.
Shadow sat there for a moment and sniffed the air before turning to Spike.
"Uhm, is something burning," he asked.
Spike thought for a moment before his eyes went wide and he ran into the kitchen.
Shadow and Pinkie giggled.
"I'm gonna go downstairs and see if the Cakes want breakfast, you go ahead and get a seat," he said.
Pinkie nodded and went into the kitchen.
Shadow went downstairs and after he reached the bottom turned and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Cake.
"Breakfast is ready if you're hungry," he told them.
They nodded and followed him back up.
Shadow took a seat next to Pinkie and Spike while Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake, Pound Cake, and Pumpkin Cake sat on the other side, they all sat there eating in silence except when Pinkie would nuzzle Shadow causing him to giggle.
After they had all eaten Mr. Cake asked if he could speak to Shadow in private, Shadow nodded and followed him out of the kitchen and out of hearing range of the others.
"Are you and Pinkie dating," he asked.
Shadow was shocked by the question.
"W-what?! N-no ofcoarse not we're just friends, and besides I doubt she even likes me that way," Shadow finally managed to say while blushing.
Mr. Cake looked at him for a moment and gave out a little laugh.
"Well from were I was sitting it looked like she liked you as more than just friends," Mr. Cake said.
Shadow nearly fell backwards at hearing those words, he began to blush even more and it was now visible even through his black coat.
"A-are you sure," Shadow asked.
Mr. Cake nodded and then pointed at the kitchen door, "Well what are you waiting for? Go get her."
Shadow looked at the door and back at Mr. Cake, nodded and then went over to the door.
As Shadow entered the kitchen he looked over to where Pinkie was sitting and then moved over to her, and before she could say anything to him, he kissed her.
They sat there kissing for what seemed like forever to them, and they wished it could last forever, after about five minutes they finally pulled away from each other, both other their faces where bright red.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake had watched the whole thing smiling.
Mrs. Cake then nudged her husband with her elbow, "Helped him out a little bit didn't you," she asked giggling.
Mr. Cake blushed a little and then nodded his head, "Just a little."
After Pinkie had regained her composer she began to speak, "Does this me-."
He stopped her before she could finish by putting his hoof on her lips, nodded his head, moved his hoof away, and kissed her again.
Pinkie melted into the second kiss, feeling as though the world around her had washed away in the few seconds Shadow had been kissing her, when Shadow finally released her from the kiss, she was completely out of breathe.
After finally catching her breathe she looked up into Shadow's eyes.
"Oh, you silly filly, you're making my legs feel like jelly," Pinkie then giggle snorted, "It's been a long time since I've felt happy let alone this happy."
Shadow nuzzled her, "When I first saw you yesterday, your color was darker than normal, but now when I look at you, your color is a completely new shade and completely different than it once was."
Pinkie giggled, "Well that's because I'm even better than I used to be, because I have you now."
Shadow smiled and nuzzled her again, "Good to know."
Shadow then used his magic to reach into his vest pocket and removed one of the charm necklaces.
"Pinkie I want you to take this, its a charm necklace that I placed a high level protection spell on," he said holding out the necklace with his magic.
Pinkie took it and placed around her neck, "Okay, I won't take it off."
Shadow smiled, "When we confront Pinkamena I want you to promise that if it becomes dangerous that you'll get behind me where it's safe."
Pinkie nodded her head, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said while making all the appropriate actions.
Shadow turned to look at Spike and the Cakes, "I want you five to remain here where its safe until we return."
He then took out the other charm necklace and used his magic on it, creating a barrier around the entire Treebrary.
"Only Pinkie and I will be able to pass through the barrier that I have constructed around the Treebrary," he said.
Spike, Mr., and Mrs. Cake all nodded in unison.
Shadow and Pinkie then left the Treebrary and made their way for Sugarcube Corner.
As they were walking Shadow looked over at Pinkie.
"Are you okay," he asked.
"Yeah, just a little nervous," she answered.
Shadow nodded and nuzzled her one last time before they reached Sugarcube Corner.
Shadow opened the door and walked in first to make sure it was safe, after checking the room he waved at Pinkie to let her know it was safe she ented the store.
Shadow was looking around the room.
"Do you know where she is," he asked looking at Pinkie.
Pinkie nodded and pointed to the counter, "She's down in the basement, the door is over there behind the counter."
Shadow nodded back and moved over to behind the counter.
"Let's hurry before she gets too suspicious," he said.
Pinkie nodded and moved over beside Shadow.
Shadow then opened the door and went downstairs with Pinkie following slowly behind him, as Shadow reached the bottom of the stairs the foul stench in the air met his nose and made him gag.
He looked around for a moment and after deciding that it was too dark, used his magic to create an illumination sphere in the air which then lit up the entire basement.
It didn't take long for him to spot Pinkamena across the room with her back turned to him, she looked exactly like Pinkie, except her hair was straight and darker, and she was covered in blood.
Shadow glared at her for a moment, "So you must be Pinkamena," Shadow said even though he knew exactly who she was.
Pinkamena turned around and looked at him just as Pinkie got to the basement floor.
"That is correct, I am Pinkamena," she said letting out a maniacle laugh.
"So you've came to volunteer to be dissected huh?" she asked.
Shadow smirked, "Sure, that is, if you think you have the galls to try."
Pinkamena gave him an amused look.
"Have it your way, Pinkie grab him and strap him to the table," she said looking at Pinkie.
"I refuse," Pinkie said without any hesitation.
Pinkamena was taken aback, "W-what did you say," she asked.
Shadow gave a short laugh, "She's free from you, Pinkamena, you will never hurt her again, not as long as I'm alive."
Pinkamena's face started to show her anger.
"How is that possible," she yelled.
Pinkie gave her a blank look, "It's quite simple actually."
Pinkie took in a deep breathe and shouted at the top of her lungs,"NOPONY! HURTS! MY! FRIENDS!"
"I'll hurt anypony I want, and besides all your friends are dead already," Pinkamena shouted
Pinkie, however, seemed unphased though the words did hurt her but she had faith in Shadow's words.
Shadow closed his eyes, "That's true, they are dead..........in this reality," he then opened his eyes, "But whoever said I was from this reality, or that Pinkie had to stay here, infact after we deal with you, I'll be taking her with me back to my reality."
Pinkamena's anger was boiling, "How about you two never leave here alive," she shouted as she ran towards Shadow with a butcher knife covered in blood.
Shadow smirked as he easily dodged her weak attack, "Go buck yourself, or better yet, here let me buck you instead," he said as he bucked her in the side as hard as he could.
The force not only broke several of her ribs but also sent her flying into the wall.
"The way I see it, Pinkamena, you have two choices, the first is to surrender and let us seal you away for good, or you can continue to fight and be destroyed," Shadow said.
Pinkamena got to her hooves, turned and glared right at Shadow, before giving a smirk.
"I take option number three," she said and then dived at Pinkie with the full intent of killing her.
Just as her blade was mere inches from Pinkie's neck, the necklace lit up with a blinding light, and sent Pinkamena crashing into the wall across the room.
Shadow looked at her and shook his head, "You didn't think we wouldn't come prepared now did you," he asked.
Pinkamena once again got to her hooves, and once again glared up at him, "I'll kill you," she said as she lunged at him.
Shadow once again dodged but this time the blade had managed to catch him as he did, it barely left a scratch but it had cut through his vest, which was now only hanging onto him.
He removed his vest to ensure it didn't get in his way, and flared his wings, both Pinkie and Pinkamena were surprised that he wasn't a unicorn but infact an Alicorn.
Pinkamena smirked, "So you're an Alicorn, big whoop, I killed both Celestia and Luna."
Shadow shook his head and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I'm stronger than both of them," he said completely serious.
Pinkamena couldn't contain her laughter at what Shadow had just said.
"You? I highly doubt you're stronger than they were," she said.
She pointed the blade at Shadow right before he disappeared.
Shadow didn't really disappear even though it appeared that he had, he was simply moving so fast that Pinkamena couldn't see his movements.
He had moved above her and used the force from pushing off the ceiling to send a very powerful punch at her.
Pinkamena barely managed to dodge his attack, causing his hoof to collide with the concrete floor causing it to shatter and leave a small crater.
Moving at such a high speed in such a cramp space meant he wouldn't be able to move that fast again for awhile, he turned to look at Pinkamena just as the blade pierced through his chest.
he looked down seeing it was all the way in to the handle and looked up to see Pinkamena grinning ear to ear, she then pulled the blade out causing a lot of Shadow's blood to come gushing out, Shadow could have sworn he saw the entire room turn completely white for a second, he then collapsed to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Pinkamena was laughing when she saw the look of heartbreak on Pinkie's face, Pinkamena turned and kicked Shadow's body, since Shadow didn't make a sound nor did he react to being kicked Pinkamena knew he had to be dead.
"Awh, looks like your coltfriend is dead, now I can take my time killing you," she said as she moved closer to Pinkie.
"I'm going to enjoy this," she said.
She was about to swipe the necklace off of Pinkie's neck when a large beam of magic slammed into her from the side sending her into the wall once again.
"I told you not to underestimate me," he said.
The wound in his chest was still bleeding so he quicly used some of his magic to heal it.
"You won't catch me off guard like that again," he said looking over to where Pinkamena had landed and noticed that the blood she was covered in was now mostly her own.
Pinkie let out a relieved sigh thankful that Shadow was okay, she noticed how he stood there looking at Pinkamena, it was how a hero would stand when facing their greatest enemy.
"I'll say it again," Shadow began, "Are you going to fight and die, or surrender and let us seal you away," he asked.
Pinkamena finally got to her hooves and lunged at Shadow.
"I'd rather die," she shouted.
Shadow let out a sigh, glanced over at Pinkie, who gave a nod, and then sent out a larger beam of magic than before.
After a few seconds the beam died away revealing that there was nothing left of Pinkamena.
Shadow let out a relieved sigh, picked up his vest, mendind the damage with his magic, and put it back on.
"She will no longer hurt anypony ever again," he said.
Pinkie nodded and started up the stairs with Shadow right behind her, when they reached the top Shadow closed the door and permanently sealed it with his magic.
"Lets go get Spike and head home," he said nuzzling Pinkie.
Pinkie nuzzled him back before nodding.
When they finally got back to the Treebrary, Shadow told the Cakes it was safe to return to Sugarcube Corner and that he permanently sealed the basement.
They nodded and left, Shadow then turned to Spike.
"Okay Spike, I need you to fireblow the books from last night and all the spell books here, also see if you can find a book called , 'The Legend of the two Shadows'," he said.
Spike nodded and quickly gathered up all the requested books and then fireblew them into his hoard dimension.
"Okay that's all of them including that last book you mentioned, is that everything," Spike asked.
Shadow nodded and then focused his magic on the magical gem of the beacon, causing it to glow black.
"There that should make it easier to teleport home since it'll send out a wave of magic that'll keep me from locking onto this reality by accident," he said.
Shadow picked up his sunglasses from the table and put them on before looking at both Pinkie and Spike.
"Are you two ready," he asked.
Both Pinkie and Spike nodded in unison and Shadow made sure that they were all making physical contact and then began to focus his magic on the three of them.
"Here goes nothing," he said just as the room was filled with a blinding light, after a few seconds the light quickly dimmed away revealing that they were gone.
Shadow, Pinkie, and Spike were enveloped in the bright light, as it quickly faded Shadow found himself alone in a bright but familiar place.
Shadow looked around to see if he could spot Pinkie or Spike.
"Not again, just as things were going so well," he said.
Shadow looked around again but all he could see was the bright white space surrounding him.
"Do you know why I have brought you here again," said the disembodied but familiar voice.
"No, I don't know, Nightshade," Shadow began, "What does it have to do with me taking Pinkie and Spike with me?"
"You are still laying on the basement floor bleeding, but you only collapsed because I brought you here to speak with you so you don't have to worry about being in any danger from your wounds, as for showing you taking your friends with you, that was to show you what won't happen if you do not use your true strength against the evil before you, the one called Pinkamena was brought forth from her prison inside Pinkie Pie's mind by Strife, she is more dangerous than you think she is, you told her not to take you lightly but here you are taking her lightly," Nightshade said.
Shadow thought about this new information for a few moments.
"Wait you mean getting stabbed in the chest isn't something to worry about? And I thought we defeated Strife when he was reborn as Shadow Stryker and ended his threat," he asked.
"No, Shadow Stryker, it seems, was merely a pawn of Strife," Nightshade said, "And no that wound isn't something to worry about, being an immortal Alicorn means that somepony can only kill you from such a wound with either a magic blade or if somepony of equal magical strength or greater pierces your heart with their own magic, for ponies that aren't Alicorns or unicorns, such as Pinkamena, they would have to stab you several times for it to be fatal or completely cut all the veins and arteries connected to your heart, but fortunetly for you it seems like missed your heart."
Shadow nodded indicating he understood while making a mental note to be more careful.
"So why are we in a different reality than our own," Shadow asked.
Nightshade thought for a moment.
"I do not know, I think another force is sending us to parallel worlds to stop those that Strife has used to create horrors such as these, and it's our job to stop them from continuing," Nightshade answered.
"So why did you show me asking Spike for the book 'The Legend of the Two Shadows' before we left," Shadow asked.
"If you study that book you may learn something that I have overlooked, now show both Pinkamena and Strife why they should never underestimate us," Nightshade said.
Shadow nodded but before he could reply he felt a sharp pain in his side, jerking him from the all white world and back into the basement, where he found himself in a pool of his own blood.
Shadow kept quiet and didn't move until he was sure Pinkamena wasn't looking.
After he heard Pinkamena threatening Pinkie he looked over at Pinkamena who was stanging infront of a heartbroken Pinkie, ready to swipe the necklace off her neck.
"This is gonna be fun," Pinkamena said.
Without thinking Shadow got up and lunged at Pinkamena punching her in the side of the head with all his strength, the impact made a bone crunching sound before it sent Pinkamena head first into yet another concrete wall.
Having a moment to catch his breathe, Shadow completely healed his wounds and looked over at Pinkie giving her a reassuring smile that he was indeed alive and okay.
He then turned his attention back to Pinkamena who was now bleeding from several wounds.
"I told you not to underestimate me and here I was underestimating you instead," he shook his head, "I now know how you got your own body and that I'll need to fight with everything I have from now on to ensure you're defeat," he said.
Shadow's blue eyes turned red, his blue mane and tail also turned red and moved as though they were a flame, Shadow had Rage Shifted and was no longer holding back.
Pinkamena merely scoffed and lunged at him.
Shadow had anticipated the attack and countered with an uppercut which sent her throught the ceiling of the basement and into the store above.
Shadow quickly followed and bucked her through the wall and outside onto the street.
Pinkie quickly raced upstairs and outside as Shadow walked through the hole in the wall.
There was a small crowd of ponies watching, wondering not only why there were two Pinkies but why was one of them covered in blood and wielding a blood soaked butcher's knife and who was the Alicorn she was fighting.
Pinkamena had felt their eyes on her and quickly turned and lunged at the nearest pony, hoping to take them as a hostage that she could later turn into cupcakes.
Before she even got near the pony, she was caught in Shadow's magic and was slammed into the ground.
Shadow then told the crowd of ponies that it wasn't safe and for them to return home, most complied but some merely moved out of sight to continue watching.
Shadow moved closer to Pinkamena, who he was holding down with his magic, he stopped when he noticed that Pinkie had moved next to her and was glaring down at her, Pinkamena simply looked up at Pinkie and started to laugh maniacly.
"See you turned out exactly like me," she laughed again, "You're as twisted as me and you know it, look at you standing over me, ready to take my life with your own hooves!"
Pinkie simply shook her head.
"No, I will not kill you," she said.
Pinkie looked up at Shadow, "Can you release her, cause I didn't say anything about kicking her plot."
Shadow hesitantly nodded before releasing Pinkamena.
Pinkie then took off the necklace and tossed it to Shadow who caught it in his hoof.
Pinkamena almost imidiately shot up and tried to attack Pinkie, however, Pinkie was ready and uppercut Pinkamena with all her strength, despite her stature she was incredibly strong.
After several minutes of Pinkie beating Pinkamena all over the place she sent Pinkamena flying into the air with another uppercut.
Pinkie then brought her Party Cannon from out of no where and blasted Pinkamena with it as she fell sending her flying again, Pinkie then leapt above Pinkamena, did a front flip, and kicked Pinkamena in the back of the head as hard as she could.
Pinkamena was sent face first into the ground, Pinkie landed a few seconds later.
Pinkie walked over to Shadow, took back the necklace, and put it back on.
"Okay I'm done," she said as she walked back over to Sugarcube Corner and sat back down.
Shadow was shocked at how quickly she bested Pinkamena.
"Hell hath no fury like Pinkie Pie scorned," he thought to himself.
Shadow made a mental note not to get Pinkie angry at him, he thought about what Pinkie said about not being like she used to be and he had to agree, for she was stronger now than she ever was.
Shadow looked back at Pinkamena who was just beginning to pick herself back up, he sat there watching to see what she would do, when she finally managed to stand up she turned and glared at Pinkie.
"Just for that I'll turn those two little foals you're so fond of into cupcakes as you watch then force feed them to you," she shouted before turning her glare back to Shadow.
Shadow's anger was now at its peak from hearing those words and he had entered the second stage of Rage Shift, his eyes however started to glow red this time.
He returned her glare with a look in his eyes that even made Pinkamena feel true terror.
She felt as though she was looking at a demon from the pits of Tartarus itself.
"I won't let you," he said.
Pinkamena tried her best to hide the fact that she was terrified.
"A-and how do you plan to stop me if you're dead," she asked as she lunged at him again.
Shadow closed his eyes, took a deep breathe, and opened them again.
"By destroying you," he said as he sent out large beam of magical energy.
The beam was so bright that the sky seemed to go dark, the beam passed through Pinkamena leaving no trace of her behind.
Shadow knew she was no more, letting out a relieved sigh which caused him to almost immidiately exit his Rage Shift, and his eyes, mane, and tail all returned to normal.
He went back into the basement to retrieve his vest, which he also mended like he did in his vision and put it back on, and as he got back upstairs he turned, closed the basement door, and sealed it.
He looked at the hole in the floor and wall and quickly used his magic to completely fix both.
H decided he should also use his magic to get rid of the blood he was covered in and after a few moments joined Pinkie outside once again.
"Okay Pinkie," he said nuzzling her, "lets go get Spike and head home."
She nodded and nuzzled him back.
"Sounds good," she paused for a moment and punched him in the shoulder.
"And don't scare me like that again, you need to be more careful and not get hurt," she said staring at him.
"Noted, no more getting hurt without consulting you first," he said playfully, which got him another punch in the shoulder as a reward.
"What was that about 'Hell hath no fury like Pinkie Pie scorned'," she asked teasingly causing Shadow to gulp wondering how in the world she knew what he had thought to himself earlier.
"Okay lets get going, I bet Spike is worried," she said as the began to walk back to the Treebrary.
When they arrived back at the Treebrary, Shadow told the Cakes it was safe for them to return and they left.
Spike asked what Shadow needed him to fireblow for later use, Shadow nodded and began to list off the needed books.
"Okay I need all the books from last night," he began, "all the spell books, a book called 'The Legend of the Two Shadows', ink, quills, and paper."
After a few minutes Spike had gathered up everything and fireblew them into his storage.
Shadow thought back to the vision, Nightshade didn't show anything about the ink, quills, or paper but Shadow was going to use them to write down anything he discovered from the books.
Shadow then turned his attention on the charm necklace on the table, he used his magic to deactivate the barrier and then gave it to Spike who put it around his neck.
After Spike had secured the necklace around his neck, Shadow once again turned his attention to the table, picked up his sunglasses and put them on.
He then turned his attention to the Beacon, focusing his magic on it until the gem glowed black like it did in his vision.
"There, that should emit a magical pulse to keep me from teleporting us back into this reality by accident, are you two ready," he asked.
Pinkie and Spike each grabbed onto one of his sides and nodded.
Shadow then focused his magic around them.
"Here goes nothing," he said.
He tried his best to picture the Treebrary in his home reality and to also lock on to the signal the beacons were emitting, with a bright flash of light they were gone.
The world they appeared in next, however, was an all new adventure.
