A darkness is approaching Equestria and a stranger has arrived to bring the word and help stop the darkness in its tracks.
A darkness is approaching Equestria and a stranger has arrived to bring word and help stop the darkness in any way he can but, who is he? Where is he from? And how can he help Equestria? Well, Twilight Sparkle intends to find out.
The moon hung high over Equestria, it's dim glow brightening the otherwise dark nights in the peaceful land of Friendship and Harmony, all of its residents at rest from their busy days of work and play, that is all but two.
"Maintain your focus, Twilight," said Princess Celestia.
The lavender unicorn sat in front of the princess, eyes closed, beads of sweat trickling down the sides of her face, muzzle scrunched up in concentration and the sparking of magic at the tip of her horn getting brighter and brighter.
"That's it, keep your mind steady."
Twilight shifted uncomfortably under the pressure being triggered by the knowledge of her mentor's watchful gaze, her horn aglow with a bright purple light and with a flash, the spell in progress became less of a spell in progress and more a spell that went horribly wrong and exploded almost destroying the princesses' study.
"Ow..." Twilight groaned as she rose from the scorched spot on the floor, holding a hoof to her aching head as she surveyed the destruction caused by her less than successful spell. Much of the furniture was charred black and many pages from destroyed books were scattered around the study, some still in the air. Twilight watched a page float to the floor next to her mentor's hooves with a guilty look on her face. "I'm so sorry, Pri-"
Celestia held up a hoof to cut her off. "It's alright Twilight, furniture can be replaced but; what about your head?" She put a hoof to Twilight's chin, turning her head any which way looking for signs of damage. "When the spell backfired it looked rather painful, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I mean my head hurts a little, but other than that nothing major," Twilight said with a sheepish grin.
Celestia studied Twilight with a curious eye. "Regardless, get some rest, we will continue to practice tomorrow, hopefully without blowing up my study a second time."
Twilight looked up at the Princess, her face full of embarrassment.
Celestia simply smiled at her student with a forgiving smile. "Now run along to your quarters, I have some cleaning to do."
"Are you sure you don't want me to help? I could arrange your bookshelves or-"
The Princess cut her off with her hoof again. "Twilight, please go and rest, I don't want you straining yourself after an accident like that, it would only make your head worse."
Twilight hung her head in defeat and walked towards the door to the hallway, opening the door she turned her head to Celestia. "Goodnight Princess."
Celestia smiled softly back at her. "Goodnight, Twilight." the lavender mare returned the smile before closing the door behind her and trotting off to her quarters. Celestia looked around the room and sighed as her horn lit up with a bright magical aura.
Twilight slumped on her bed sighing deeply and resting her foreleg over her eyes, Maybe I should have studied more before I came to the Princess for advanced spell training... She thought to herself, a frown forming on her face as she felt a sudden throbbing pain in her head. Oh great, now it hurts to think... She moved her hoof to her forehead and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes in an attempt to ignore the pain and get some sleep.
A couple of hours later...
Twilight shifted about uncomfortably in her slumber, her mind plagued by images of ponies living on the streets and in broken homes, with shadow like creatures floating about infesting the minds of the ponies and turning them against their family and friends, their shadows morphing into twisted versions of their host, mentally blinking she found herself stood in the middle of a familiar street. "Is this... Ponyville?" She looked around spotting a hooded figure in the distance, stepping cautiously closer Twilight spoke, "Uh hello? Where am I?" Upon closer inspection, the figure was wearing a long, brown, tattered cloak with grey hooves exposed at the bottom and purple hair hanging out of the face of the hood.
"You might want to wake up soon, we wouldn't want him to get to you now would we?" The figure said without turning to her.
"Pardon? Wouldn't want who to get to me?" Twilight asked curiously raising an eyebrow.
A dark laugh resonated through the air around her followed by a voice. "When the stars fall, the reign of darkness will begin!"
Twilight turned on the spot searching for the source of the voice, she looked to the figure for answers only to find the spot where it stood empty. "Who are you?!" The voice laughed again, this time it sounded like it was next to Twilight’s ear. as she spun around her mind went black, except for a pair of large purple eyes that stared longingly into her soul as the laughter continued to echo through her head. "Stop it! Stop laughing! STOP!"
Twilight shot upright in her bed, panting heavily with her eyes wide open in fear. She held a hoof up to her still aching skull and laid back slowly onto her soft pillow. That spell really did a number on me, never had a spell give me nightmares before, first time for everything I suppose... She thought to herself, resting a hoof on her stomach.
Twilight closed her eyes yet again in hopes that she could sleep without her dreams being invaded by shadowy figures speaking dark prophetic nonsense. Her hopes were soon dashed by the chatter of a couple of guards stationed outside of her room. Lifting herself out of bed, Twilight shuffled lazily towards the door. Darn guards, don't they know somepony is trying to sleep in here?! She thought to herself as she brought her hoof up to the door handle.
"He's speaking with the Princess now," One guard said nervously.
This caught Twilight's interest. Not that she was one for eavesdropping on other pony's conversations, but she couldn't just ignore something involving the Princess, after all, it was these jerks that woke her up so it's their fault if she hears anything she shouldn't hear, right? Lowering her hoof from the handle, she pressed her ear against the door.
"What are you so worried about? You said he was just a messenger," The other guard said.
"I know, but everything about him just felt... Wrong. His presence made me feel so uneasy and it felt as though his very shadow was... Alive," The first guard said as he shivered.
Twilight's eyes widened slightly as she thought back to the dream she'd just had and how the guard's description sounded similar. There can't be a connection can there? Don't be silly Twilight, it was just side effect of the spell exploding in your face, that's all. She thought to herself, her eyes returning to their normal size as she listened on.
The first guard continued, "That cloak and hood didn't exactly make him look like a saint either."
Twilight's eyes widened once again this time a little wider than before, she slammed the door open causing both guard's to jump, grabbing the first guard's shoulders she asked, "What color was the hood and cloak?!"
Recoiling back a little from the sudden surprise the guard replied, "Uh brown I think, why? Is something wrong Miss Sparkle?"
"Was it a worn cloak?! Did it look tattered?! What color was his coat?!" She asked, desperation present in her voice.
"Yes it was rather tattered in fact and I believe his coat was grey."
Twilight's jaw dropped so fast she was sure it hit the floor, letting go of his shoulders she stepped back. This can't be right, it's just a coincidence, right? It's gotta be, it has to be! She thought, her mind running wild.
"Miss Sparkle, are you alright?" The guard asked stepping closer.
She simply shook her head slowly and darted in the direction of the Princesses' study as fast as her hooves could carry her. The memories of that dream playing over and over in her head. That pony... That voice... All of those shadowy apparitions... Oh Princess I hope you're okay! Soon enough she found herself outside of the study, taking a deep breath she barged in. "Princess!" The study was neat and tidy again, just the way it was before the incident with spell.
The Princess was seated beside a small coffee table with a teacup held in her magical grasp. "Twilight? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I uh-" Twilight glanced over to the other side of the table to see a grey stallion with a purple mane, deep purple eyes and the same tattered brown cloak from her dream draped over his back. He was staring at her with a surprised look on his face. "-I couldn't sleep..."
"Well then, come sit with us my student, we have much to discuss." The Princess patted the pillow next to her with a hoof, gesturing her over.
Twilight walked cautiously over to the spot next to the Princess, the whole time keeping eye contact with the strange pony from her dream. "Who's our guest?" Twilight asked with a serious tone.
"This is Shade, a messenger from a distant land, he has brought me urgent news of which we were discussing before you 'walked' in." Celestia gestured a hoof over at him.
Standing up Shade stuck out a hoof to Twilight and grinned widely. "Hi, I don't believe we've met."
Shade picked up his cup filled with the hot, herbal tea, recently poured by the Princess and took a sip, setting it down he looked over to Twilight, who was glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "You've been staring at me for ten minutes now, Is there a problem?"
She continued to stare as she grasped her own cup of tea in her magical aura, wincing slightly from her still aching head. "You're the problem, why were you in my dream?" Taking a sip of her tea, she set her cup down again and continued to stare at him, this time with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about; I think maybe that spell frazzled your brain," He said with a snarky grin.
Twilight's eyes shot open wide with surprise for a second before her face scrunched into a scowl. "How do you know about that?" She muttered.
"Oh you know, it's kind of hard to miss a bright flash of purple light shining off of the mountain side, in the dark of the night might I add. when I arrived, I asked the Princess here what had happened and she told me of your little... 'accident'," He teased, his grin only growing wider.
Twilight's face drooped as she turned to Celestia, "You told him?! A stranger?!"
Celestia simply looked curiously at her. "You expected me to lie, Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight looked down at her hooves, an annoyed look pasted on her face. "No Princess..."
Shade chuckled under his breath. "Can we please get back to what I came here to discuss?"
Celestia looked to him and nodded. "You were explaining how you got here?"
He took a small, golden, shield-shaped clasp off of his cloak and placed it on the table. "This was given to me by my father a long time ago, he said it would allow me to traverse the barrier you set in place around my land, he wanted me to use it and get out of there before things got worse... Of course, I didn't listen; I stayed there and helped protect my people until the barrier started fading, that's when I left to come seek your aid."
Twilight looked over to Shade with a raised eyebrow yet again. "Barrier? What barrier?" She looked back and forth between the two ponies for an answer.
Shade threw a hoof to his face. "Were you not listening earlier? Oh wait, of course, too busy staring at my handsome visage, am I right?" He said as he ran a hoof down the side of his face while wearing a cheesy grin.
She scrunched her muzzle and was about to speak before Celestia interjected, "I placed a barrier over part of Equestria a long time ago, to prevent the shadows from invading the majority, needless to say I’m not proud of my actions but, as ruler I had to make that choice..."
Twilight thought back to her dream or should she call it a nightmare, Shadows? It has to be linked somehow... Maybe it was the spell... She shook her head free of her thoughts and spoke. "Where did these 'shadows' come from?"
Shade took another sip of his tea before answering, "A place called the Echo, it sits on the very edge of Equestria and nopony knows where it came from, one day it just popped up and the shadows or the Vaash as we call them, started pouring out nonstop, ever since then we've been sealed off due to the barrier and we've had to defend ourselves from oncoming attacks and to make matters worse, some of the ponies saw it as an opportunity to prey on the weak, forming gangs and terrorizing the poor..." He placed his cup down and stood up. "I've come here with the simple request that you strengthen the barrier, Princess, I believe I know how to stop the shadows, I just need more time. If I can stop them we won't need to be sealed off from the rest of Equestria anymore and my people can finally live in peace..."
Celestia nodded a sincere look on her face, "I can give you more time, but, you have to understand that I've kept a watchful eye on that barrier since the day I put it in place, I give it a regular surge of magic to strengthen it. However I am afraid to say that each time I do, it only gets weakened faster..."
Shade took an anxious step towards her. "How long can you give me?"
"If my observations of the barrier's degradation periods are accurate, about a year..."
"Damn. That might not be enough..." He slumped onto his hind legs and hung his head in defeat. "I'll have to take some serious risks to get by with that kind of a deadline."
Twilight watched him with pity, maybe she had him all wrong, he just wants to protect his land and even hers for some reason, he was going out of his own way for everypony else's sake, she could relate to that. "What if you had help? I'd love to explore a new part of Equestria, take notes of the local flora and fauna and perhaps learn something about these Vaash."
Shade's ears pricked up, "Why would you help me? Is it something to do with this dream of yours again?" He said whilst he rolled his eyes.
"No, you're going out of your way to help others, I like that, i'd be happy to assist you any way I can."
"Oh gee, thanks, i'm so glad I have your approval but, where I’m from you won’t last a second little miss teacher's pet," He shook his hoof at her sarcastically, a small frown stuck on his face.
Twilight fumed with frustration and stood up. "I'm just trying to help! Why do you have to act like an immature foal?!"
Standing up and storming over to her, his face painted with the same look of frustration. "I don't need YOUR help!"
"Enough!" Celestia shouted at the top of her lungs, "Arguing like foals will not fix the problem. Twilight I will not allow you to venture into a land as dangerous as Shade's, I have seen the evils at work there and they are some of the darkest..."
"But Princess, I-"
"No buts, you will return to your quarters until Shade has taken his leave."
Twilight recoiled slightly at the Princesses' response, flattening her ears against her head in defeat, she walked slowly across the candle lit study to the door. Without looking back, she spoke in a hushed tone, "Good luck saving your people Shade."
Shade was taken aback by her comment. "Uhm, thank you..." With that Twilight left the room, leaving only him and the Princess.
"So, shall we return to our discussion?" Celestia asked, pouring a fresh cup of tea for him.
Breaking free of his gaze on the door, he turned his head back to the Princess. "Ah yes-" His ears twitched as he heard a slight shuffle against the door, with a smile he said, "Now that I think about it, a year should be just enough time."
Shade breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he took in the cold night air, his business in Canterlot finished but his mission was far from over, as he left through the gates of the city and onto the steep rocky path that led down to the mountain side to the grassy plains below.
"A year to clean up this mess? I thought that Princess was supposed to be powerful, you would have thought she could hold the barrier for longer than a year," Said a dark, twisted voice.
Shade sighed as he opened his eyes. "She's held that barrier up for almost a thousand years, let's give her a break." Starting his walk down the mountain, he pulled up the hood on his cloak.
"A year will not be enough Shade, you said it yourself."
"We have to to at least try..." He thought about how Twilight had offered him her help, regardless of how dangerous he and the Princess had told her it was, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the voice agian.
"The purple one is trailing us."
"Is that so?" He said raising an eyebrow, with a smirk he purposely spoke aloud so that the offending mare could hear, "Well then, I suppose we'll have to stop her before we go much further, we wouldn't want the Princess finding out about this now would we?"
"No no no! Please don't tell the Princess!" Twilight shouted as she stumbled out from behind a large craggy boulder.
Shade turned to face her and pulled his hood back down, his eyebrow still raised as he slowly walked towards her. "What difference does it make? If you're intention was to follow me until it was too late to turn back, she would find out eventually and on your return you would be punished accordingly, I thought you were smart, Twilight Sparkle?"
She backed away slightly as he reached her, looking up and tapping a hoof to her chin she shrugged. "I thought I’d figure that out somewhere down the line."
"There isn't going to be a 'down the line', you aren't coming with me," He said, turning and walking away.
"Please!" Twilight shouted, running to his side and matching his pace. "Shade, I only want to help. And even though you might not want it, I could see back in the study that you clearly need it..."
Shade sighed as he stopped to look at her. “Twilight if you get hurt or worse I’ll have the goddess of the sun bearing down on my flank, that’s something I really don’t think I could handle.”
“I can handle myself just fine, I've been in plenty of world saving situations already, what makes this one any different from the others?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.
“There is literally no getting through to you, is there?”
“Nope.” She said grinning.
Shade shook his head and smiled. "Fine, you heard the Princess, one year... Let’s get a move on."
"Wait, you mean I can come?!" Her eyes sparkling with joy and her mouth open with surprise.
Shade looked ahead, his smile growing wider, "You're going out of your way to help others, I like that," He said with a big, cheesy grin.
Twilight looked at him with through narrowed eyes and smiled. "Oh har har! You are so funny," She said sarcastically, chuckling under her breath. "Before we leave Equestria can we visit my friends? I'd like to see them before we leave."
Shade's smile faded. "I'm sorry, Twilight, we can't stop for anything."
She looked down at her hooves, a frown forming on her face. "I understand, we're on a tight deadline." She lifted her head back up and looked to Shade. "So who were you talking to before you called me out?"
The moon hung high in the night sky, it's eerie glow shining down on the grassy plains below, where Twilight and Shade sat around a small campfire telling stories about times that had passed.
“That’s when my friends and I swooped in and used the elements to lock Discord in his stone prison once again!” Twilight exclaimed as she held out her hooves for warmth from the blazing campfire.
“Sounds like you and your friends have been through a lot together,” Shade said, poking the fire with a stick to keep it burning. "Got anymore stories to tell?"
"I have yes," She nodded. "But, I want to hear more about you. What kind of adventures have you been on?"
"Sorry, haven't got any to share with ya," He said, lying on his back and pulling his hood up to cover his eyes.
Twilight frowned and trotted over to Shade's side to take a seat. "You must have some I mean, you traveled all the way to Canterlot from some far off land and you haven't a single story to share?"
Putting his fore hooves behind his head to use as a pillow, he replied. "Nope."
"You must have met some interesting ponies?"
"Nope."
"Encountered some dangerous creatures?"
"Nope."
"You're telling me NOTHING interesting happened to you on your way to Canterlot?"
Shade pulled his hood from over his eyes and looked at her. "Yup."
Twilight huffed in frustration and trotted over to a space she had cleared near the fire. She laid down, resting her head on her saddle bags, she stared at the flames in thought, the reflection of the dancing embers visible in her pupils. Snapping out of her trance, she glanced over to Shade. "What's your homeland like?"
Shade sat up and pulled his hood down slowly, his hair messy and a somber look on his face. "The skies are always grey, the grass is brown and the trees have little to no leaves on them. The ponies are poor and weak, the houses have deteriorated and the roads have become worn and disheveled. Ever since the Vaash showed up it's been nothing but miserable and dangerous and I won't stand for it anymore. I'm tired of just defending, I want to do something about it for once," he stated boldly. "I won't stand idly by while the Vaash escape the shield Celestia placed over the land and destroy the lives of the ponies here!"
Twilight blinked in disbelief at his reply, not expecting such a speech. She knew Shade was passionate about saving his people from his story back in the princesses' study but, this was a whole new level. "And i'm willing to help you in anyway I can!" She exclaimed, motivated by Shade's speech.
"It's nice to see you have my back," he smiled. "Now get some sleep, we have a long way to go."
Twilight nodded before laying her head on her fore legs and closing her eyes. "Goodnight Shade."
"Goodnight," he replied, lying down again.
"Shade?"
"Yeah?"
"What's your homeland called?"
"Tanarfal"
Seven hours later...
Twilight lay asleep next to the now extinguished fire, while Shade sat staring at the seemingly endless darkness that surrounded the dim glow of the embers. Shifting his gaze over to the sleeping unicorn, he wondered what she'd think if he told her what lies inside of him.
"Thinking of telling her about me are you?" A sinister voice said, interrupting Shade's thoughts.
Shade stood up and walked away from the camp quietly. "I have to tell her, she already suspects something and it won't take long for her to figure it out," he looked back at the camp. "She's a smart girl."
"Intelligence won't get her far back home," the voice cackled.
"It'll help us fight the Vaash, we could use her brains," Shade retorted, continuing his walk along the edge of the plains where a dense forest began.
"She is weak Shade, you know she will not last long."
"Please shut up," Shade snapped.
"Ooh, getting attached are we?" the voice queried.
"No but, we are going to need her if we're to win the fight back home," Shade answered.
The voice let out a laugh. "You ponies are so interesting."
"You say that all the time," Shade sighed. Just then a rustle could be heard from the forest and a foul smell lingered in the air. "Did you hear that?"
"My attention is more towards the smell," the voice said. "Interesting, there appear to be wolves made of wood skulking in the shadows."
"Wooden wolves? Seriously?" Shade looked to the treeline, where four sets of yellow eyes pierced the pitch black darkness that surrounded the trees. "A pack of em too," the wolves crept out from the shadows, each letting out a low growl as they circled him, preventing any escape. Shade sighed, standing on his hind legs and holding out his right fore leg to his side. "Shall we get this over with?"
"I thought you'd never ask," the voice cackled.
A dark aura swirled around Shade's extended fore leg, entirely enveloping it in shadow, claws like that of a Dragon's forming at his hoof. Pointing his claws at one of the wolves, Shade made a taunting gesture, ushering the wolf to attack, the wolf growled deeply and immediately leapt at him. Shade swiftly dodged to the left grabbing the wolf's head with his claw and slamming it to the ground, shattering it into tiny splinters. Undeterred by Shade's display of strength, two of the three remaining wolves ran at him, one going for his legs and the other leaping for his neck. Shade smirked at the futility of the wolves attack before shifting to the side to avoid the leaping wolf, grabbing its leg and swinging it into its partner, smashing both of their bodies to pieces. The remaining wolf whimpered as Shade turned towards it, cowering in fear. "Get out of here," Shade growled, the shadowy aura slowly faded as the wolf retreated into the trees.
"That was fun," the voice said.
"Yeah whatever, lets just get back to camp, the suns coming up and I don't want to leave Twilight alone to long with these things around."
"Definitely getting attached."
"Will you please just keep quiet."
The silence lasted the whole walk back to the camp, the sun just over the horizon as Shade woke Twilight. "Come on, get up," he ordered, as he poked Twilight's side.
Twilight's eyelids struggled to open against the light of the sun, she lifted her fore hoof up above her head to block it. "What time is it?" She groaned.
"I don't know, all I know is it's morning and we need to move," Shade said.
"What's the big rush?" Twilight asked, standing up and rubbing her eyes. Shade merely looked at her, a disappointed look plastered on his face, Twilight blinked a couple of times before realising what she had said. "Oh yes, the whole... End of the world thing..." She mumbled, levitating her saddlebags onto her back, wincing in pain slightly and holding hoof to her head.
Shade looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Is it still hurting you to use magic?"
Twilight nodded. "I don't understand, usually after a nice long sleep things like this heal."
"I know somepony who can help, we'll go see him as soon as we reach Tanarfal," Shade said, putting his saddle bags over his back.
"That'd be great," Twilight approved, rubbing her head in pain. Looking over to Shade she noticed something in his mane. "Is that wood in your mane?"
Shade lifted his hoof up to grab it, ruffling his mane in the process. "Yeah, that's wood."
It was Twilight's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"
"We've been walking for days, how much farther do we have to go?" Twilight huffed, dragging her hooves along the dirt path, lagging a good distance behind her travelling companion.
Shade stopped and got a map out of his saddlebags. "A long way yet," he shouted back at her. "But there is a town we can rest at a few miles from here, Manehattan."
"Oh, we could actually get some real beds for the night instead of solid ground," Twilight said, feeling an ache in her side as she thought of all the hard night sleeps she'd had recently. "And I wouldn't mind having a look around either, there are so many sights in Manehattan I'd love to see."
"We go, we rest, we leave, we can't afford to wander aimlessly about looking at tourist attractions." Shade snapped, putting away the map and carrying on.
"What do you mean? We have a whole year, that's a pretty lenient time limit don't you think?" Twilight queried, running to Shade's side, struggling slightly due to her exhaustion. "For the whole trip so far you've been uptight and all you care about is getting back and stopping the Vaash, which I can understand but, you have to relax once in a while otherwise-"
Shade stopped immediately, turning to Twilight and cutting her off causing her to fall on her haunches in surprise."We are not tourists! We need to get to Tanarfal as soon as possible, got it?!" He shouted, breathing heavily.
Twilight just stared at him with wide eyes. "I understand... Sorry Shade...."
Shade rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit guilty for shouting at her like that. "Uhh It's ok Twi, sorry for snapping at you like that," he held out a hoof to help her up and they continued to walk.
"Wait did you call me Twi?" Twilight asked as she smiled.
Shade rubbed the back of his head again. "I guess I did, sorry."
"No no it's fine you can call me that if you want, Shay."
"Don't ever call me that."
The streets of Manehattan were bustling with ponies going about their daily lives, whether they be taxi carriage drivers, food cart chefs or simply just tourists. Shade and Twilight walked among the crowds, Twilight peeking in shop windows every now and then and Shade staring in awe at the sheer size of the skyscrapers.
"Ah this looks like a nice place to stay for the night, what do you think?" Twilight asked, turning to Shade to see him staring with his jaw dropped at almost every building. "Um Shade?"
Snapping out of his trance Shade replied. "Huh? Oh yeah, looks nice."
The two walked into the lobby and up to the reception desk, Twilight grabbed a sack of bits out of her saddlebags, trying not to use her magic until her head was fixed. "We'd like to stay for one ni-"
"Two nights please," Shade interjected, throwing a small sack of bits on the desk.
The receptionist took the two sacks of bits from the desk and handed Shade a key. "Room 409, fourth floor, 5th door on your right and have a nice stay."
"Thank you," both said in unison.
As they walked to their room, Twilight looked to Shade with a raised eyebrow. "Two Nights? What about your people? And you wanting to get back to Tanarfal?"
Shade sighed. "My people have suffered for a thousand years and sure I don't want their suffering to continue but, if I'm all tense and worn out from travelling all the time, I won't have any chance of saving them."
"Hmm I see," Twilight said, rubbing her chin. "You know, I don't think I'll ever understand the way you work."
"You've got a year, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually," Shade said.
They arrived at their room and opened the door, the room was a fair size with a table against the far wall with all the essentials for making tea placed neatly atop it and an elegant looking sofa positioned next to it with smaller coffee tables at either side.
Shade stuck his head into the on-suite bathroom. "Finally, I can get a decent shower for once," he sighed with relief.
Twilight cringed when she saw the most notable feature of the room, the double bed. "That's a little bit awkward..."
Pulling his head out of the bathroom, Shade looked at the bed with curiosity. "What are those little white things on the pilllows?" He asked pointing at them with a hoof.
Twilight followed his hoof to where the mints were. "Oh they're mints, most hotels do it as a welcome of sorts," she informed.
Shade smiled. "Sweet, free mints."
"It's not free if you pay to access it," Twilight sighed.
Shade narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't ruin my pleasure with your logic."
Twilight rolled her eyes and set down her saddlebags on the sofa. "We've still got a bit of the day left, might as well go out on the town, so what do you want to go and see first?"
Shade shrugged. "Dunno, whatever you wanna see," his speech slightly slurred while he sucked on the mint.
Twilight tapped her chin. "We can decide as we walk, I picked up a tourist map at the reception desk with all the sites marked so it should be easy enough to find them. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She giggled, clapping her hooves together.
"Are you gonna eat your mint?" Shade slurped.
The Museum of Equestrian History, a place where ponies can go to learn about the vast history of the land, an archive of writings and artefacts made by ponies in Equestria centuries ago. "Look! Its the armour of Commander Hurricane! Perfectly Preserved too!" Twilight pointed out excitedly.
Shade shuffled along behind her. "Urgh I know, we've looked at it five times now..." He groaned.
"Fine grumpy pants, which exhibit do YOU want to go and see?" Twilight huffed.
Shade turned to the conveniently placed museum map board next to him. "Hmm, how about 'Ancient Weaponry'? That seems more my style."
Twilight shrugged. "Sure, learning about weapons is still learning I guess."
As they reached the exhibit Shade got an uneasy feeling. "Something's not right here..." He murmured to himself.
"Did you say something?" Twilight asked.
"No, nothing," he said, faking a smile at her. That's a Vaash presence... Here?
"Look, a tour guide," Twilight pointed to a large group with a single pony speaking at the front. "Lets go join them, you might actually learn something!"
The two walked over and joined the crowd. "So as you can see, the halberd was much to heavy to wield and the royal guard stopped using them until 40 years ago when they developed a much lighter version," the guide explained, pointing to a large glass cabinet housing a collection of pole weapons.
Shade examined it closely. "Well of course its heavy that's ebony wood, you need hickory or ash, they're much lighter and strong on top of that."
The group turned to Shade and stared at him blankly, Twilight simply face hoofed. "Sorry, please do go on," she said, smiling awkwardly.
The guide cleared his throat. "Moving on," he led the group to a smaller cabinet that contained two small daggers, etched with a peculiar mark on the blades. "These were found in the north near the coast shortly before the banishment of Princess Luna, no one knows where they came from but, there are tales that a the pony who found them had to battle a creature of shadow to acquire them," the guide explained.
Shade's stared with wide eyes at the daggers, as he heard a whisper emanate from them. "Master?" The etchings began to glow a deep purple while the surrounding ponies watched in awe.
"What's happening?" Twilight asked worriedly as she saw the expression on Shade's face.
Shade turned to her. "Those are Vaash weapons... And the Vaash is still inside them! Everypony get back!" He shouted.
The guide looked to Shade. "Excuse me sir but, if you blurt out once more I-"
His speech was interrupted by the sound of smashing glass behind him and the screams of the entire group as a shadowy figure with two legs and two arms took shape in front of them. "Master?!" It screamed.
"Aw crap..." Shade muttered, standing on his hind legs and flinging both his forelegs out to his sides as shadow surrounded them in the shape of claws. "Everpony move!" He commanded as he dashed towards the creature.
Twilight watched on in shock as the other ponies fled. "Shade... What IS that?! What are you?!"
"Not now Twi!" Shade shouted as he grappled with the vaash. Shifting his weight he managed to throw his opponent across the room causing it to stumble but, not for long, it quickly steadied itself before charging Shade into the large cabinet holding the pole weapons, shattering the glass and toppling the cabinet on top of him.
Twilight gasped. "Shade!" The vaash snapped around to look at her, slowly creeping towards her and grabbing its daggers on the way over, as it got to her it raised its blades while Twilight desperately tried to cast a protection spell with little success. The vaash let out a shrill cry as it drove the daggers downwards, closing her eyes Twilight screamed. All went silent, at first she thought she might have died, opening her eyes, Twilight looked up, the vaash stood frozen with what looked like the head of a halberd piercing its chest.
The creature fell in front of Twilight revealing Shade stood behind it panting. "The guide was right, that thing was heavy," he stated as the vaash at his hooves began to dissipate and his claws faded. "Are you okay Twi?"
Twilight stormed towards Shade, anger pasted across her face. "You have a LOT of explaining to do!" She shouted.
Shade pulled his head back as Twilight rushed towards him. "I'll explain later but, right now we-"
Twilight cut him off. "No! You always say you'll explain things later and then never get around to it! Tell me now!"
Putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, Shade looked her in the eyes. "Twilight, I promise you I'll tell you everything when we get back to the hotel but, right now we need to get out of here."
Twilight stared at him for a short while, the anger on her face slowly fading. "Okay..."
Walking away from the smashed exhibit, Shade put a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "You know I won't let you get hurt right?"
Twilight looked down at her hooves. "I know."
The hotel room was quiet aside from Shade preparing tea. "So, what do you want to know first?" He asked, pouring tea into two cups and passing one to Twilight who was sat on the sofa.
Twilight took a sip of her tea. "What was that and how was it in the museum?"
"It was a vaash and it was resting in the daggers, you see vaash can only exist if they are bound to something, it can be an item or a living thing it doesn't matter. It must have awoken when it detected the vaash inside of me, which I assume has explained another of your questions," Shade said.
"So those... Claws you had were a result of this vaash? And the one that came from the daggers called you Master, can you explain that?" Twilight asked narrowing her eyes.
Shade sighed. "It'd be a lot easier if I just started from the beginning," sipping at his tea he sat on the bed and faced Twilight. "It all started when I was younger..."
So... Where do I start? When I was just a colt I lived in a small town on the western edge of Tanarfal, it wasn't the best, but it was home. I lived there with my parents and my younger brother, Sweep, my mother was a housewife and my father was Princess Celestia's head wizard, a tough job, but someponys gotta do it.
We were a happy family, nothing bad between us except for the occasional scuffle, but then who doesn't fight with their siblings from time to time? My brother and I went to the same school, we were both bullied due to our father's occupation, why? I haven't the slightest clue... Jealousy? Maybe, dislike of the princess? Possible, I stuck up for us both regardless and got my flank kicked more than once while doing so...
The night the Vaash came was utter panic, ponies fleeing for their lives through the streets, buildings burning, foals left alone by their parents... You see, fear does that to ponies, makes them forget their morals and their ethics and places self-preservation as their top priority... Not my father though, he stayed to fend off the Vaash while me, my mother and my brother escaped, he said he'd meet us on the edge of the forest a couple of miles out of town.
While we were running away from the chaos, a couple of stray Vaash found and cornered us... My mother whispered to my brother and I and told us to run as she grabbed a burning piece of timber next to her as a defence, so we did... We ran and ran and ran till the town wasn't in sight any more, we were safe, but we never saw our mother again after that...
We waited for days on the edge of the forest with no sign of our father, we were both tired and hungry so I journeyed further into the dense mass of trees to find food, leaving my brother behind in case our father showed up. I barely managed to find anything that wasn't poisonous, I'd only accumulated a small hoof full of berries when I heard a scream that chilled my very bones, it was Sweep's...
I ran so fast I tripped over countless times, a strong feeling of panic had overtaken me. When I reached the scene I saw Sweep hopping on three legs away from the biggest bear I'd ever seen, his face soaked with tears, a deep gash on his right foreleg and three deep scratches across his left eye... I worked up my courage and sprinted to the bear, shouting a bucking it in the side as to get it's attention away from my brother, a quick side swipe from the bear and I was knocked against a tree and blacked out, hearing my brother scream ever louder as I drifted off.
I awoke on a bed in a small, dimly lit room, my head throbbing with pain. After a quick scan of the room, I saw I was the only pony there, I sat up on the bed and sat there for a while with my head down in thought, I'm not entirely sure how long I stayed like that. Eventually, somepony walked into the room, I lifted my head to see who it was, my father stood there right in front of me, a smile on his face and a tear in his eye, "Hello son..." Is all he could muster through that quivering lip of his, as he pulled me into a hug I asked where my brother was and with a despairing look on his face he led me out of the room.
After a short walk down a corridor, my father turned to open a set of double doors with misty glass windows and a sign above them that said "Medical Treatment". Walking through the doors we arrived in a large room with countless beds all lined up next to each other, each with ponies laying on them who all appeared to have serious injuries and nurses and doctors running between each bed, it was chaos... As my father led me through the room not once speaking a word, I looked to all the beds I passed, trying to quickly survey some of the injuries the ponies laying in them had, head injuries, deep wounds, you name it and somepony in that room had it.
"Here he is..." My father said quietly only just breaking me out of my trance, as I turned to wear he was looking I saw my brother... His Right foreleg had been amputated as the wounds on it were deep and infected and he was blind in his left eye with three deep scars across it, I immediately ran to his bedside crying out that it was all my fault and that I shouldn't have left him him there in the forest on his own and he turned away from me... He was truly blaming me for all that happened and rightly so... My father eventually pulled me away from the bed and led me away to the room I was in before.
When we arrived back at the room I asked my father where we were, he told me, "This is an underground rebel base, it was originally a bunker for innocent ponies to hide in while wars waged on up above, you'll be safe here." When I asked him what he mean by that he replied, "The shadowy beings that invaded our town have spread and are all over Tanarfal, if we don't find out how to stop them well... Don't worry son, everything is going to be alright," and with that he left... After that our time at the base was a blur.
Eventually my father ventured out to seek help from the rest of Equestria and upon discovering the barrier, he returned and began work on the clasp here on my cloak. After Sweep was out of the hospital section, a stallion by the name of Order taught us both how to fight, he used to be in the royal guard so he knew his stuff when it came to combat. He taught us everything he knew, from hoof-to-hoof combat to swordsmanship, both my brother and I took particular interest in the sword fighting side of things so we both continued to hone our skills in that department as the years went on, soon enough we joined the rebel guard...
My brother developed a very close relationship with Order as time went on, i'd even go as far as to say he saw him as his true brother after he'd practically cast me out of that spot in his life when I 'abandoned' him... Order was loyal, brave and strong, but, strength only gets you so far... The night my father finished the enchantment on the clasp that he had toiled over for 6 years, the Vaash found the base and all tartarus broke loose...
We managed to fend off the Vaash onslaught for a good few hours while all the mares and foals evacuated, after a while though we started to tire, we were picked off one by one.. Eventually the only ponies left were me, Sweep, Order and couple more stallions, I shouted for everypony to fall back but nopony listened... Sweep was eventually grabbed by one huge Vaash, Order leapt at it shouting, "Let him go!" and he... He was impaled by the claw of one of the smaller, agile Vaash and was killed instantly... My brother flailed uncontrollably, screaming Order's name at the top of his lungs with tears rolling down his cheeks in the shadowy claws of the large Vaash, as it carried him off...
Holding back my despair I retreated to my father's room to check whether he had evacuated, as I opened the door the only thing I was met with was the golden glow of the clasp against the light of a candle and a note, "Use this and be free my children..." was all that was written... I took the clasp in my hoof, placed it on my uniform and ran out of the door towards the evacuation point.
What I arrived to was nothing short of a slaughter, guard's and refugee's corpses strewn about the halls with large claw shaped holes and cuts along various parts of their bodies... I stood staring at the massacre with wide eyes, I scanned for my father's body praying to Celestia that he wasn't there, I stood there for a long time, too long... I was cornered by the Vaash in the halls and captured, all I could think about as I was carried off was Sweep and my father, I hoped they were ok...
I awoke on a table in a large chamber with braziers placed all around the room giving off the faintest light, I tried to move but was held back by chains, I struggled till my legs tired from the strain and eventually I just gave up. I laid there for hours and nopony came, I tried to think about why I was there but my head was clouded, whenever I closed my eyes to think about something all I could think of was, well, nothing! Then out of nowhere a voice said, "My you are a tough one, i'm surprised you aren't dead yet," it cackled. I whipped my head around the room looking for the source of the voice but nothing came of it.
I asked the voice who they were and they replied, "I am Umbrex and you are my host, this is the inner sanctum of the Dark Citadel, you are here because you were captured by my kind and had me implanted into you for the sole purpose of joining the ranks of the Umbral Vanguard," the thing actually read my mind and answered all my questions for me... I told it I would never join the Vaash's conquest, "I can't blame you, I don't like taking orders from anything either," it laughed, "Listen kid, I'll help you escape if you promise to help me," I refused of course.
I can't remember how many days passed in that chamber, all I remember is that for some reason I couldn't sleep, I didn't feel hungry or thirsty and that Umbrex wasn't giving up on trying to convince me that he was genuinely not a bad Vaash and I on several occasions reminded him i'd never met a good one, first time for everything I suppose... "I know where your brother is," those were the words that convinced me. He said that if I trusted him he could help me escape and rescue my brother and in exchange I take him to the Echo and release him from my body, that is our deal...
Umbrex imbued my body with shadowy energies and it gave me this unreal strength, I broke free of my shackles and ran in whichever direction he told me to. I ran through corridor after corridor, destroying any vaash that stood in my way with my new found power until we reached the room where my brother was supposed to be held, bursting through the door I was met with nothing but a large empty room with a stone slab in the middle, much like the one I was held in, "Hmm, they must have moved him..." If I could I would have strangled Umbrex right there and then.
We escaped the citadel with our deal still in place and it still is to this day, rescue my brother and release Umbrex. Shortly after our escape, Umbrex told me of all the things that the vaash have been doing with ponies, put vaash inside of them to try and create soldiers that have full functionality in the day and night, but it turned out that when the vaash fused with pony bodies they either killed the ponies instantly or it greatly enhanced the vaash's power, with the ability to augment body parts and morph their body shapes to be stronger or faster and since the vaash don't get hungry and thirsty and don't age, the merging of the pony and the vaash made the ponies have the same traits, but, the success rate was so minimal it was made into a special unit called the Umbral Vanguard.
Umbrex has helped me take down thousands of vaash and ponies alike that prey on the weak, we've taken down units of the Vanguard and destroyed vaash outpost all across Tanarfal, most in search of my brother and some just out of the kindness of our hearts, not that vaash have hearts... When we saw the barrier weakening we knew it was time to enact a plan to destroy the vaash once and for all and finally find my brother if he's still out there...
So Twilight, here's how it is, my name is Shade, I am 1012 years old, I come from the town of Westshire, my mother died protecting me, my father disappeared and my brother was captured by the vaash, my mission is to destroy the vaash, unite Equestria, find my brother and uphold my bargain to Umbrex. Now, if you have any objections to my goals and no longer wish to help then it's fine by me, but know this...
By the time Shade had finished his story, it was growing rather late outside, Twilight sat in silence, her jaw agape as she tried to put all the pieces of the tale together so she could take it in. "You're... 1000 years old...?" She asked shakily.
"1012 years old to be exact," Shade replied. "I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal for you since you know, you're the student of an immortal goddess of the sun."
"That's different! You're supposed to be mortal and it intrigues me how having a vaash within you changes that," She said eyeing Shade up curiously.
Shade met her look with narrowed eyes. "You aren't hooking me up to any science equipment missy..."
With a slight look of disappointment, Twilight rolled her eyes and got into bed. "As for the decision of whether I want to go with you or not, it's a lot to take in so I'm going to need to sleep on it... Goodnight Shade."
"Night Twi..." He said with a sigh.
A few hours later...
Shade hung his head, the hot stream of water from the shower trickling down his body. "I hope she comes with us, we going to need her when we get there," He said quietly.
"You shouldn't have been such a fool and told her everything!" Umbrex growled through what Shade could only imagine was gritted teeth.
"I couldn't just not say anything! I'd already delayed the answers to her questions one too many times and after the attack at the museum, she was bound to demand answers for that," Shade muttered.
"Either way we can't afford to let her go yet, you will keep her with us otherwise forget about saving your brother!" Umbrex shouted.
"Keep it down!" Shade whispered angrily. "You'll wake her up, besides, you can throw your empty threats around all you like, they won't help you gain your freedom."
The bathroom door creaked open catching Shade's attention, there stood Twilight, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Shade? What was the -yawn- noise about..." After her vision had cleared, a deep red swept across her cheeks as she whipped her gaze away from the showering stallion. "Oh! Sorry I didn't-"
"Didn't what?" Shade said tilting his head and turning the shower off.
Twilight threw a towel in the general direction of the shower. "I didn't know you where in the shower I mean I've only just woken up so I'm a bit disoriented! Sorry!" After a short duration she asked. "Are you covered up...?"
Shade raised his eyebrow in confusion. "But..." He let out a heavy sigh and placed the towel around him. "I swear I will never understand this place... Anyway, yes I'm covered up and sorry for waking you Twi."
Twilight turned hoping to see a covered stallion to avoid further embarrassment. "No it's okay, I've actually come to a decision."
Shade's ears pricked up. "Oh? Okay cool, so what's your decision?"
"Well after hearing the story of your hardships and deter-"
"Ugh give us the short version horn head," Umbrex interrupted.
Shade rolled his eyes. "Sorry Twi, please, go on."
Twilight huffed a little and continued. "Cutting my answer short, I'm going with you," she smiled.
Shade let a grin spread across his face. "That's great, glad to have you."
Twilight raised her eyebrow at him. "Really? Because it wasn't too long ago that you detested the thought of me coming along."
Shade rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah well, I've changed my mind," he said with an even wider grin.
"Well then, dry yourself off, we better get on our way!" Twilight said skipping out of the bathroom.
Shade narrowed his eyes. "But, we have the room for another day, I thought you wanted to catch some sights?"
"Seeing an entirely new land is a little more interesting to me, besides, we can just come and see all this when we get back!" She shouted to him.
"You won't say that when we get there..."
Later that morning...
"So, what's this place?" Shade asked as they arrived a big building with ponies streaming in and out of it constantly, most wearing suits.
"This is a train station, I looked over your maps yesterday and much to my distress I realised we could have just caught a train from Canterlot to the stop out in the Golden Hills, the only reason I didn't realise before is that your maps are old, really old, after your story last night I understand why..." Twilight informed.
"Ah ok cool, the faster we get there the better," Shade said following the mare into the big building. "So, what's a train?"
After a short wait on the platform, the duo boarded the train to the stop out in the Golden Hills. Getting comfortable and paying for their tickets, Twilight raises an eyebrow at Shade. "So you're telling me you have absolutely no idea what a train is?"
Shade sighed heavily. "No, can we just drop it now? I've told you already, we've been locked away in a forcefield for 1000 years so of course we aren't going to have the same technological advances as you," he said frustratedly.
"Ok ok calm down, huffy hooves," Twilight said with a childish pout.
Shade crossed his hooves across his chest with a displeased look. "I am not huffy..."
Twilight look at him in amusement. "1000 years old and you still act like a foal," she said with a laugh. "So, tell me about this Umbral Vanguard, who are they? What do they do?"
Shade uncrossed his hooves and leant them on the table in front of him. "They're the forefront of the entire vaash army, they keep the low rank vaash minions in line and command them all around Tanarfal," leaning back into his seat he continued. "There are seven of them in all, I'll start with the weakest, Talon, a vaash infested gryphon who was once the commander of a group of thieves who one day decided to start rescuing people instead of stealing from them, on one of their missions Talon was captured and implanted with a vaash that enchanted his talons and wings with shadowy power. His first order was to kill all of his former comrades which of course, he carried out with ease. Ever since then he's been on the Vanguard."
"That's... Awful... I would never think of hurting friends..." Twilight said with a sad look.
Shade continued. "Next is Sarissa, formerly captain of the Royal Guard a thousand years ago, she was visiting her family in Tanarfal when the vaash attacked and was trapped there due to the barrier. She joined a rebellion to keep her family safe and taught the rest of the rebels how to wield a spear, she was captured when she attacked a vaash outpost on her own. Obviously she was implanted with a vaash that enhanced her dexterity with her spear by augmenting her hooves with shadow, you can guess who she was sent to kill...."
Twilight grimaced at the thought of a pony killing their own family. "The vaash really do sound like they need to be stopped!"
Shade nodded in agreement and was about to go on until a pony with a food & drinks cart stopped by their seats, Twilight ordered tea for them both and gestured for Shade to continue. "The third and the fourth are kind of a double act, Dusk and Dawn, twin ponies with twin vaash inside of them. Their story is pretty simple, they joined the vaash of their own accord all for the sake of revenge, revenge on ponies that bullied them as children and for the last 800 hundred years I've been defending every rebel base they take a shot at, which has only fueled a deep hatred for me, their powers consist of extreme speed using shadowy augmentation on their hindlegs," he took a gulp of his tea and wiped his muzzle with his foreleg in a slovenly manner. "The fifth member is my replacement, as I said I was meant to be part of the vanguard but Umbrex didn't want to be bossed around and for some reason he couldn't seize full control over me. The only unicorn to grace the ranks of the vanguard, Vyka, she's the most powerful user of magic in the entirety of Tanarfal, using dark magic to bend ponies to her will and desolate anypony who stands in her way and to top it all off, she brags about it... A lot..."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "She sounds like somepony I know... But about this dark magic, it has severe repercussions when you use it and can cause some very serious damage to your body and even go as far as to kill you. How does she do it?"
"The vaash have some kind of natural attunement to it, so having one in a pony's body gives them that attunement," Shade explained. "Moving on, the sixth member was an experiment by the vaash 500 years ago, instead of throwing a vaash into a pony's body they put one in a dragon's... And it worked. The dragon, Gazra the Dark One, was the only dragon to be trapped under the barrier luckily for us, with the success presented from implanting a vaash in Gazra, they no doubt would have implanted more dragons. She is the second most powerful of the vanguard, able to destroy entire villages with her breath and crush armies with her claws, definitely a force to be reckoned with."
Twilight finished her tea and placed the cup aside. "So who's in charge?" She asked.
"The Vanguard's leader is-" Shade was interrupted by an announcement from the train driver that they had arrived at their destination. "-an explanation for another time."
After an hour of walking the duo stopped at the base of an enormous hill. "And here we are..." Shade said with a long sigh, dropping to his haunches for a rest.
Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? I can't see-" she waved her hoof in front of her. "-or feel a barrier."
Getting up, Shade tapped the clasp on his cloak. "Just watch," within a couple of steps he disappeared with a flash leaving Twilight in shock. A couple of seconds later he reappeared with the same bright light. "See, these so called 'Golden Hills' are nothing but an illusion, a solid illusion, they're a cover up what's really hidden here," he said, emphasizing it by standing on his hind legs and holding his forelegs out to either side.
Twilight walked across the boundaries of the barrier a couple of times to check she wasn't dreaming. "This is... Unbelievable, the illusion is so real, I can feel the grass beneath my hooves and everything! Princess Celestia must be exerting a ridiculous amount of her magical power to keep this barrier up..." she said with disbelief.
"So," Shade said, putting his hoof around Twilight's neck. "You ready, Twi?" She responded with a reluctant nod. "Alrighty then," he said stepping half into the barrier and holding his hoof out to her. "What are you waiting for? Adventure awaits!" Twilight took one last look at her surroundings knowing that it will be the last she sees of Equestria for a long time, before taking hold of Shade's hoof and taking her first steps into an unknown land.
