> Oak The Shadow Dragon > by ShadowDragon6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Awoken > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Awaken, my child. "Who's there?" I asked. Rise and shine. "Mother?" Wake up. "WAKE UP!" A female voice shouted. "Mother?!" I yelled, waking up. "Naw." A surprised orange pony with a brown hat and green eyes said with an American voice. "A'm Applejack." "And A'm Apple Bloom!" A smaller yellow pony with a red mane said next to her. Her accent was even more American. I looked around in confusion, and saw a bunch of trees around me. This wasn't my home. "Oh." I said. I looked down, and saw myself. I was black, and had really long purple hair. I looked at my hand, but it was a hoof instead. "Oh." I said. "That's weird." "What is?" She asked. "I'm a pony." I admitted. And then I screamed a lot, but she punched me, and I snapped out of it. "Thank you." I said. "Anytime, partner." She said americanly. "Hey, if you don mand ma askin, wut's that Cyutie Mawrk maen?" Apple Bloom asked, pointing at my butt. Confused, I looked at my butt, and saw that my pony butt had three Sharingan on it, purple ones. I looked at their butts, and Applejack had a picture of three red apples on it, and Apple Bloom had a shield thingy. "What is that?" I asked. "A cutie mark. It's what adult ponies have that tells them their destiny, but... I don't know what those swirly things mean." Applejack said. "Me either." I admitted. "Wait, wot? How can you not know what your Cutie Mark means?" Applejack asked. "I don't know." I said. "Alright, what's your name?" Applejack asked. "I don't know." I said. "Wait, sis, I've red abat this!" Apple Bloom said. "It's called amnesia!" "It's called a load of Pegasus dung." Applejack said. "Sis, we can't just leave him here! It ain't safe for amnesia ponies to be on their own!" Apple Bloom said. "Well, whadya suppose we do?" Applejack asked. "Twaliagt'll know fur sure!" Apple Bloom said. "I don't like Twilight." I said, remembering something. "You remembered something!" Apple Bloom said happily, spinning. "Why the hay not?" Applejack asked. "I don't know... I just don't like it." I said. "Her." AJ said. "Huh? No, it's a thing I don't like. Is there a girl with the same name?" "What's a girl?" Applejack asked. "I don't know." I said. "Well... Whadya we call you?" Applejack asked. "I don't know. Can you name me?" Applejack looked at the tree closest to me. "Oak." She said, because it was an oak tree. "Apple Oak?" Apple Bloom asked. "NO." Applejack said angrily, her face getting bigger for a moment. Apple Bloom hid down, scared and shaking. "Are we going to Twilight now?" Oak asked. "Sure!" Applejack said, and we walked to Twilight's giant castle. "Woah, it's so big!" I gasped. "That's what she said." I added. "Who?" Applejack asked. "Nobody, it's just a dumb joke." I said. "HEY, I REMEMBERED SOMETHING! That joke!" "Yay!" Apple Bloom said. "All we have to do is keep making you look at stuff, and you'll have your memory back in no time!" "Awesome!" Oak yelled. Applejack knocked the door, and a beautiful purple pony with giant wings and a horn came down. As soon as Oak saw her, Oak knew he was in love. Big purple love-hearts appeared in his eyes, and he drooled a little. "Hey, everypony. Who's this?" Twilight asked, trying not to stare. "This is a pony that lost his memory, we're calling him Oak." Applejack said. "We're hopin yall could share some light on the situation." "Well, sure. What can you remember?" Twilight asked, going into her house and getting some books with her magic. "I can't remember anything. Except for a weird joke. And I can... See things." Oak admitted. "See things?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, like how far you can move, how strong your magic is, how you did that psychic thing..." Oak said, copying it, a purple glow forming around my eyes because I didn't have a horn. "What?!" Twilight shouted, confused. "That is not possible! How is that possible?!" "I don't know! Stop yelling at me!" I said, scared. "He has a weird Cutie Mark, too!" Apple Bloom said. "A weird Cutie Mark?" Twilight asked. "Can I see?" "Ok." Oak said, showing her his butt. It felt weird. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Twilight yelled when she saw his weird Cutie Mark. "Twalat?" Applejack asked. Twilight shot Oak with a purple beam from her horn, pushing him out of the castle and back through a house. "Twalaght, what's gotten into you?" Applejack asked. "Don't you recognize that symbol?!" Twilight asked. "No." Applejack said. "Ow!" Oak said, getting up. "That hurt!" "Wait... Why isn't he fighting back?" Twilight asked. "Why did you shoot me!" Oak shouted. "I read a book about monsters like that, with that symbol. They're not real ponies!" Twilight declared. "You're monsters, in disguise!" Her horn glowed, and a big ball of magic charged up on the tip of her horn, and then it became a big laser that shot me, scorching my skin. "Twilight, he's lost his memory!" Applejack said. "But... But he's evil! He's a monster!" Twilight yelled. "I'm... a monster?" I asked, surprised, as I got up. "Don't listen to her!" Applejack yelled. "Twalat, does this pony seem like a monster to you?" "YES!" Twilight shouted, flying closer to me and punching me in the face. I was thrown back, and she teleported and kicked me in the head, and then her horn glowed and her magic picked me up, and threw me into the floor again, and again, and again, and again. "Twilight, stop!" Applejack yelled as Oak started to cry. "No, he's a monster!" Twilight yelled, throwing him into the ground hard enough to crater it. Her horn glowed, and a big ball of magic formed on its tip. "I'm going to finish you off!" "No! Please stop hurting me!" Oak yelled. "Monster!" Twilight shouted, throwing her magic ball at me. Applejack punched her, and her magic stopped. "Twilight, he's lost his memory! He doesn't know who he is or what he is, and if he's a monster, that don't make him a bad pony! Don't you remember the Manticore?" "This isn't like the Manticore, Applejack! This is SERIOUS!" Twilight yelled. "So was the Manticore!" Applejack yelled. "This is EVEN MORE SERIOUS! That was just a Manticore, the worst that could do is poison us or hurt us. This is a Shadow Dragon! I thought they were just a myth, but Nightmare Moon was supposed to be one, too! And now there's one RIGHT HERE! We have to destroy it NOW, before it destroys all of Equestria!" Twilight yelled. "Shadow Dragon... is that my name?" Oak asked. "No, it's your species." Twilight said. "I like that name. It sounds cooler than Oak." Oak said. Applejack punched me. "Nothing's cooler than apple trees." She said. "I'm sorry!" Shadow Dragon said nervously. "Everypony, stop hurting him!" Apple Bloom yelled. "He's lost his memory! He's scared and confused and frightened, and he doesn't want to hurt anypony!" "She's right!" Oak shouted. "Hmmmmmmmm..." Twilight said, casting a truth spell on me. "You really have lost your memory, haven't you?" "Yes, Twilight." Oak said sadly. "You're not going to hurt anypony or destroy the town?" "No, Twilight." Oak said sadly. "Well... You can stay in town. BUT, I'll require CONSTANT CHECKUPS with you, and I'll need to do more experiments." Twilight said. "And you can't stay in the castle, that's too risky." "He can sleep in ma barn." Applejack offered. "I'd like that." Oak admitted. He liked Applejack. "Well, I guess there's a new pony in town." Applejack said happily. A pink pony came out of nowhere, and smiled. "Did somepony say there was a new pony in town?!" Oak screamed. > A New Pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkie Pie threw a huge party for Oak the Shadow Dragon, and he drank lots of punch, ate the glass punch bowl, and got a lampshade on his head. He played Pin The Tail On The Pony, and got it pinned to his forehead, and everypony laughed, but Pinkie said this was a good thing. Twilight took the tail pin out with her magic. And then he remembered something, and wanted to do a conga line, but everypony said no, because they didn't like the idea of something so powerful and evil living with them or even touching them, even though Twilight said it was being done for research and science. Oak tried to not let it bother him, but it kinda did. He was also bothered by how compared to everypony else's bright colours, his black scaled skin looked completely different. He felt sad. He spent most of the party alone, and then he remembered something he'd heard once, about how you should talk to girls when you're nervous. "Hey, it's me, Oak!" Oak the Shadow Dragon said to a cute pony, Fluttershy. "Um... hello." She said shyly. "I'm mmmmmm." "You're what?" Oak asked. "I'm mmmmmm." She said. "You're what?" Oak asked. "I'm Fluttershy." She said. "That's a nice name." He said. There was a really awkward silence. She didn't know what to say because she was really shy, and he didn't know what to say because he'd lost all his memories. "He's a Shadow Dragon!" Pinkie said, jumping out of nowhere, scaring both of them. "A dragon?!" Fluttershy asked in fear. "Even better, he's a Shadow Dragon! One of the ten mythical beasts said to destroy the universe when they wake up!" Pinkie said. "They must be really cranky at the mornings!" Fluttershy screamed and flew away. "Pinkie Pie! Why'd you do that?" Oak asked angrily. "I... I just thought everypony should know!" Pinkie said, scared. "And it's fun to be scared!" Oak hugged her tightly. "Don't be scared! I was just angry she ran away. Everypony treats me like I'm a monster." "Well, you kinda are one." Pinkie said happily. "I know." Oak said sadly. "Hey, turn that frown upside down! We helped Luna with this problem, and we can help you, too!" Pinkie said, frowning and then smiling. "Being a monster?" Oak asked. "No, Luna isn't a monster! We helped ponies realise she ISN'T one." Pinkie said. "Oh." Oak said. And then Rainbow Dash flew over. "Why is Fluttershy scared of you?" She asked angrily. "What did you do to her?" "Nothing! Pinkie told her I was a Shadow Dragon, and she got scared and flew away, honest!" Oak said, looking so scared he might pee himself. "Yeah, that sounds like her." Rainbow said. "You're not going to hurt me?" Oak said, surprised. "Of course not!" Rainbow yelled. "But you're angry. ...Right?" Oak said, not understanding. "Yeah, but I'm not gonna throw a tantrum and hurt you. I'm not a foal." Rainbow said. "Ok. Pinkie? Didn't you say you helped someone- somepony with my problem before? How did you fix it back then?" Oak asked. "I don't know. Twilight did all of that." Pinkie said. "I think Twilight would rather cut me open and examine me." Oak said sadly. "Ew!" Pinkie said. "Yeah. She keeps running tests on me, too. I don't know what she'll do to me when she runs out of stuff to test." Oak said sadly. "Oh. Well... At least Applejack likes you." Pinkie said happily. "Wait, she does?" "Well, DUH! She took you in, didn't she? She seems to think of you as her new kid brother." Pinkie said happily. "What's that?" Oak asked. "A pony younger than her." Pinkie said. "I'm about as old as her... I think." Oak said. Everypony started to leave, because the party was over. "She doesn't care. HEEEEYYYY, wanna go eat Ice Cream?" She asked. "What's that?" Oak asked. "Come on, I'll show you!" Pinkie said. "Bye, everypony!" Pinkie yelled as they left. They rushed over to Sugarcube Corner, and when they got there... "Mrs Cake, it's an emergency!" Pinkie shouted. "What kind of emergency?" Mrs Cake asked. "A food emergency! This Dragon's lost his memories, and he's never had ice cream before!" Pinkie yelled. "Wait, Dragon? He looks like an ordinary pony to me." Mrs Cake said. "I'm a Shadow Dragon, shapeshifting is one of our powers." Oak explained. "Of course it is." Mr Cake said sarcastically. "Here's proof!" Oak said, his eyes glowing purple. He grew a Unicorn horn and giant Dragon wings, and they turned back into purple magic after a few seconds of showing off. "Woah!" Mrs Cake said, scared. "Isn't it cool?" Pinkie asked happily. "Nice wings!" Rainbow Dash said happily. "Wait, you two aren't scared?" Oak asked, surprised. "No! I think it's cool." Rainbow said. "Me too!" Pinkie said. "So, Mrs Cake, do we have any ice cream? I'll pay for it with my wages." "You don't have to do that, dear. This one's on the house." Mrs Cake said, going back and getting a bowl of vanilla ice cream. She gave it to Shadow Dragon, and he started to happily eat it. "Sure, you give HIM a treat." Mr Cake said sadly. "Hush, he's new in town." Mrs Cake said angrily. "Just the way you like them." Mr Cake muttered. "What did you say?" She asked. "Nothing." He lied. Oak frowned, and felt something inside him activate. His eyes glowed, and hearts appeared in Mr and Mrs Cake's eyes, and above their heads. They rubbed their heads together, and then he kissed her on the cheek. And then, for some reason, Oak felt much better. "Wait, you can do love magic?" Rainbow asked, surprised. "I... think so." Oak said, surprised. "Looking at you, that's the last spell I'd expect you to know." Rainbow said. "What would you expect me to know?" Oak asked. "Black magic, because you're black." Rainbow said. "Oh." Oak said sadly. He kept eating the ice cream, and he felt much better. "I love Ice Cream!" He yelled. "Me too!" Pinkie Pie said happily. "And me." Rainbow Dash said. The three of them stayed together in Pinkie's house for the day, eating desserts and having fun, talking about Equestria. Rainbow Dash talked about the Wonderbolts and how awesome they are, and Pinkie Pie talked about all the amazing parties she had, and both talked about the adventures they'd been on and all the fun they'd had with their friends. When it was night, Oak kissed Rainbow Dash, who was surprised. Her lips tasted like blueberries. Her eyes shrunk, and she pushed him away, her wings spread out. "What was that?!" She asked angrily. "I don't know! I saw Mrs Cake do it to Mrs Cake, and she seemed to like it." He said, scared. "We've just met!" Rainbow yelled angrily, her eyes becoming normal again. "You only do that stuff if we're in a relationship! And we're not!" "What's a relationship? Is it something you eat?" Oak asked. Rainbow groaned angrily. "It's when two ponies like each other a lot." She said. "Or more than two ponies!" Pinkie said happily. "Yeah, yeah." Rainbow said. "Oh. Well... I like you two a lot. Does that count?" Oak asked shyly, a red blush appearing on his face. "Maybe, but not right now! They develop slowly, over time." Rainbow said. "Oh. How long does that take?" Oak asked. "I don't know, it's different depending on the couple. My parents got together after their first tour." Rainbow said. "My parents knew each other their whole lives, they grew up in the same town, and they were an arranged marriage." Pinkie admitted. "What's that?" Oak asked. "It's when your parents decide who you're going to marry, not you." Rainbow said. "What's marriage. Is it something you eat?" Oak asked. "Not everything in life is for eating!" Rainbow yelled. "But I like eating stuff." Oak said sadly. "Would you eat us?" Rainbow asked. "No!" Oak yelled. "See? Not everything is for eating. Marriage is when ponies decide to be together their whole lives, and they make it official with a ring and a big party called a wedding ceremony where a bunch of ponies watch to prove that yes, they really are married." Rainbow said. "It's kinda dumb, but also kinda cool." "Oh. What are parents?" Oak asked. "They're... the ponies that gave birth to you. But... Wait, do you have parents? Or were you just sorta there the whole time, like Princess Celestia was?" Rainbow asked. "I don't know. I can't remember anything." Oak said sadly. "I don't like not remembering stuff. I could have been through so much stuff, but I wouldn't know, because I can't remember it. I don't know who my parents are... or if I had any... I don't know if I had any brothers or sisters, and I don't know who I am." "Well, now you get to make lots of new memories, and you can be whoever you want!" Pinkie said happily. "And if your old memories were with monsters like the Shadow Dragons, they probably weren't very good memories." Rainbow said. "Yeah..." Oak said. He wondered why he always felt a little sad when he thought about his home, wherever that was. Did he have friends, back there? Were they like him? "Hey, it's getting pretty late. Applejack will probably want you home with her." Rainbow said. "Oh. Hey, Pinkie Pie? I kissed Rainbow Dash because I like her, but... I like you, too. Can I kiss you?" Oak asked, blushing. "Sure, go ahead!" Pinkie said happily, pointing her head forwards. He kissed her, and her lips tasted like strawberries. He kissed her for a little longer than Rainbow Dash, and then they moved away. "That was nice." Oak said, blushing. "Did you like it, too?" "It was okay, for your first kiss." Pinkie said happily. "Meeeh, I've had better." Rainbow said, looking away. "I was wondering... Why do you two sound normal, but Applejack sounds American?" Oak asked. "I don't sound normal." Pinkie said. "What's American?" Rainbow asked. "I don't know." Oak said sadly. "It sounds funny." Pinkie said. "Yeah." Oak agreed with her. "Applejack is an Apple Pony, they talk like that." Rainbow said. "I thought Twilight said she was an Earth pony." Oak said, confused. "She is." Rainbow Dash explained. "Me and Fluttershy are Pegasi, Pinkie and Applejack are Earth Ponies, Twilight's an Alicorn, and Rarity is a Unicorn." "Who?" Oak asked. "She wasn't at the party, she was super busy with clothes." Pinkie said. "Wait... This world has clothes? Why are we naked?" Oak asked. "Because it's Ponyville, duh." Rainbow said. "That means I've been naked this whole time!" Oak said, shocked. "Duh." Pinkie said. "Man, the guys back home aren't gonna believe this!" Oak said happily. "What guys?" Rainbow asked. "I... I don't remember." Oak said sadly. "But what's an Apple Pony?" "A pony in the Apple Family. They're a big family Applejack's a part of." Pinkie said. "And I might be one, too!" "What's a family?" Oak asked sadly. The word made him feel sad. "It's the group of your brothers, sisters, cousins, and parents." Rainbow said. "What are-" Oak said. "We should get you back to Applejack, you can ask Twilight all this stuff during tomorrow's tests." Rainbow said. "She'll probably have a bunch of books you can read." "Ok..." Oak said sadly. Oak followed them to Sweet Apple Acres, and they took him to Applejack. "There you are!" Applejack said happily. "I saw you leave with those two, I just wasn't sure what time you'd be back. Tell me next time, ok?" "Ok." Oak said. "Bye!" Rainbow and Pinkie said, leaving. "So, let me show you your new home." Applejack said, taking him to the barn. She pointed at a pile of hay bales, and he looked at it. "That's where you sleep..." And then she pointed at a pile of hay in the corner, and he looked at it. "And that's where you do your business." She put her hoof on the ground, and he looked at her. "If you need anything, just shout, but don't come inside. Knock the house's door, and I'll come down to see you. Big Mac doesn't like it when new ponies show up on the farm, so stay in the barn until he warms up to you." "Ok." Oak said, getting onto his hay bale bed and pulling some hay covers onto himself. "Applejack?" "Yeah?" She asked. "Today was the best day of my life." Oak said. "Sure, it sucked when Twilight shot me, but I got to meet you, and Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. I'm their friend now, too. It's nice. Also, I found out I have love powers! And I got my first kiss, AND my second one!" "Hold up, who kissed you?" Applejack asked. "I kissed Rainbow. She was surprised and angry, but it turned out ok. And then I kissed Pinkie, because I like her too and I already kissed Rainbow." "Oh. Well, don't go around kissing every mare you see, alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Okay." Oak said, and she almost left the barn. "Applejack?" Oak asked. "Yeah?" Applejack asked. "Rainbow's mane is so pretty... and Pinkie Pie is, too. And you are. How come I'm not colourful like you?" Oak asked. "Well... We're ponies, and you're a Shadow Dragon." "Oh. What's family?" Oak asked. "A'll... Tell you tomorrow." Applejack said. "Goodnight, Oak." "Goodnight, Applejack." Oak said, going to sleep. For a moment, Applejack stayed in the doorway, watching him sleep. Even though he was bigger than her, he was just like a little foal. Her own little brother. She shook her head, leaving the barn. He wasn't an Apple Pony like her. He didn't even look like one! Granny Smith wouldn't like it, and neither would Big Mac. Besides, if Twilight's research was right... He wouldn't be here long. MEANWHILE, IN TWILIGHT'S HOUSE... Spike burped and got a new letter. He read it, and got confused. "Twilight?" Spike asked. "Yes, Spike?" Twilight asked. "I've got a weird letter for you." Spike said. "Burn it like the rest." Twilight sighed. Being a princess sucked sometimes. "But this one is-" Spike said. "Burn it like the rest!" Twilight yelled. "But Twilight, it's made of really fancy gold paper, with red ink made from crushed gems and some other stuff. I can smell rubies. It looks fancy! Maybe it's from somepony important, like a Prince of another country!" Twilight was surprised. "What does it say?" She asked. "It just says 'To my brother', and then there's a picture of a butt." Spike said, confused. Twilight groaned. "Is that all? What kind of immature foal sends a butt letter these days?" "Yeah. Hey, do you recognize this Cutie Mark?" Spike asked. Twilight looked at the butt, and saw a black butt with three red Sharingan. And she could smell what the red ink was made of, besides crushed rubies. She screamed. > All Of The Other Ponies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oak The Shadow Dragon woke up when a brick was thrown through the wooden wall, and it hit his head. He looked around and heard loud noises and screaming, and saw a bottle on fire tied to the brick. It exploded, and he felt the fire burn him and the barn, which was now burning. He got off his burning hay bale, his back hurting from the night, and rolled onto the floor, his head hitting the floor. "Owwww... my head..." Oak moaned, shaking his head. His mane and tail was on fire, he sat on his tail and rubbed his head on the dirt floor to put them out. He went outside and saw a bunch of angry ponies with signs booing him and throwing things. One sign said GET OUT OF HERE and another said ARE YOU NIGHTMARE MOONS DAUGHTER TOO?!. A third sign said CELESTIA HATES YOU, GET OUT OF OUR TOWN and the fourth said GET OUT BLACKS. A fifth said DIE MONSTER DIE and a sixth said GET A BRAIN MORANS. "Huh?" Oak asked. That sign wasn't spelled right. "There he is!" Colgate yelled. "You suck!" Berry Punch yelled. "Kill yourself!" Rumble yelled. "You look like a mare! An UGLY mare!" Bon-Bon yelled. "I'll play sad songs for you at your funeral!" Octavia yelled. "Get out of Ponyville!" Diamond Tiara yelled. "Let's get him!" Roseluck shouted. The angry mob chased after him, and he ran away, scared and confused. He ran out of Sweet Apple Acres and into Ponyville, but a bunch of ponies were camped outside Twilight's house, which had a purple magic shield around it. He ran to Sugarcube corner, but Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were busy fighting against a bunch of angry ponies. Rainbow Dash was flying in the air and hitting flying ponies and keeping them away from Pinkie Pie, and whoever she hit stayed the buck down. Pinkie Pie was kicking ponies and hitting them with her butt and party cannon, which she also shot at ponies whenever it could fire again, blasting them with chewing gum and forks that pinned them to the walls and floors. And Gummy was eating Silver Spoon, who was running around and screaming. "Help!" Oak shouted, running past. "We're too busy here!" Rainbow Dash yelled, punching Cheerilee in the face over and over, and then throwing her into Mayor Mare. Thunderlane flew up to grab her from behind and caught her, and Sparkler charged a beam, which she shot at Rainbow Dash. It was a purple beam with yellow beams spinning around it, but Rainbow Dash grabbed Thunderlane and got out of his hold, getting out of the way just as the beam shot through him. And then she flew down and kicked Sparkler in the head so hard her horn broke. Cloud Kicker flew at her head first, but she jumped out of the way again, and Pinkie Pie shot her. Oak ran away, seeing more and more ponies running towards all three. "Come get me, you jerks!" Oak shouted. "I'm the one you wanted, right?" Most of the ponies chased after the running away Oak, which was now what he wanted. Even though he was scared, he didn't want his friends getting hurt. He zigzagged through the town, and then he started to jump up onto the buildings, seeing that the Earth Ponies couldn't get up. He was safe for a moment, but then the Unicorns started throwing the Earth Ponies and each other up, and others started to climb up the houses or set them on fire. Oak had to run across and jump to another building, but Colgate set it on fire with her magic, and he had to keep running. More ponies started to climb up the other buildings, and Colgate set the house he stood on on fire, and there was no other option left. He jumped to a different buildign and fought the pony on top, Raindrops, but she punched him in the face hard enough to knock him into the air. "This'll take the Super Shadow out of you!" She said, and punched him between the legs hard enough to knock him off the building. Oak screamed while flying through the air, and he stopped screaming when he hit the ground, neck breaking with a loud crack. The ponies around him flew down or jumped down from the building as they crowded around Oak, his eyes wide open, a confused and scared and hurt look on his face. "What's the matter, you ugly shadow mare?" Lyra asked as she went over to him, picking his head up and shaking him. "Are you asleep? Did baby go to sleep?" Lyra threw him on the ground and spat in his eye. "He's down." She said. The crowd crowded around him and started to punch and kick him, and one pony peed on him like a dog. The others laughed, but Oak didn't. Oak stayed still, his neck broken, his eyes wide open, as they kept hurting him and hurting him and hurting him. "Why?" He thought. "Didn't everypony say this place was nice? These are supposed to be nice ponies. Why does everypony hate me?" His purple Cutie Mark started to glow slightly. "Kill them..." A low and scary voice inside his head whispered. "Unleash your power and kill them all!" "No!" Oak's thinking shouted at the mark as the ponies kept hitting and kicking him. "I'm not a monster!" Neon Lights used a magic laser to tie some rope around a tree and slowly bring Oak's body up to the rope, tying it around his neck and throwing the other end of the rope to the other ponies. "They're going to kill you unless you kill them! This is the law of nature, kill or be killed!" The mark shouted, slowly starting to spin. "No! This is civilized society, we don't have to kill any more!" Oak said. "Fool! If they're so civilized, why do they hate you for being different? Why do they hate for not looking like them? This place is a jungle, this world is a jungle, and you're either at the top of the food chain, or the bottom. KILL THEM." It shouted, spinning faster and faster until it started to look like a circle. "No!" Oak yelled as a pony threw a rock into his eye, which swelled up. "No, that's not true! I'm not a monster!" The mark slowed down, and his body stopped healing himself. "Then you will have none of your power." The mark said. The pain Oak was feeling got worse and worse, and the pegasi just kept hitting and kicking him, the Unicorns shooting magic lasers and the Earth Ponies pulling the rope that pulled Oak higher and higher into the air like a piniata. A purple blast of magic burned Oak's mane and blasted everypony away. Oak still couldn't move, but he could see Twilight's lower body as she flew down and stood protectively over him. "Twilight!" Oak wanted to yell happily. He didn't care how much her experiments had hurt him so far, he was just glad somepony else was finally not hurting him. "Princess!" Everypony shouted, surprised. "What is wrong with you?!" Twilight yelled. "Uhhhhh... Nothing!" Colgate lied unconvincingly. "We're just having fun!" Shadow Dragon could only angrily scream muffledly, because his neck was broken. "Oh reeeeally." Twilight said, eyes tightening. "Why do your signs say things like "DIE MONSTER DIE" and "GET OUT OF HERE"?" "Um... It's german?" Berry Punch said. "Explain the "GET OUT OF HERE" one." Twilight said. "It... was....... a surprise party?" Colgate asked. "Lies!" Pinkie shouted, jumping out of her mouth. "My teef!" Colgate yelled, having no teeth left. Rainbow Dash flew down, punching Strawberry Sunrise down. "They tried to kill Oak!" She yelled. "Huh? Why!?" Twilight yelled. "We have to kill the monster!" Berry Punch yelled, throwing another bottle on fire at Oak. Spike jumped up and grabbed the bottle, and he scratched her face while pulling her mouth open to shove the bottle inside her throat and close her mouth. And when he landed, he scratched Colgate's face, too. The bottle exploded, Berry Punch got fat for a moment, and then she burped out black smoke, turning to normal size and fainting. Twilight pretended to not see that, and healed Oak with magic. His neck and the rest of him fixed itself, and his eye healed, too. "Don't worry, bro." Spike said to me. "Bro?" Oak asked, confused. "You're the only other dragon in town, and apart from Big Mac, the only guy, too." Spike said, hugging me. "What about me?" Thunderlane asked. "YOU DON'T COUNT!" Spike yelled. "Any Drag- Any male who'd hurt a Dragon this much is not a real male!" "I am too a real male! I've kissed more mares than you!" Thunderlane said. "Oh yeah? Well I've kissed RARITY!" Spike shouted. "So has everypony else in town." Roseluck said. Spike's eyes became lines and he jumped at her head and knocked her down, and she screamed while Spike roared and burned her. Oak watched in surprise. He was strong! And then I realised that I would have to be strong, too, to have jumped from building to building like that. But then why did I get beat up? "You were too afraid, too weak to unleash your power." His cutie mark whispered to him. Oak was about to reply, but then he realized he was in public and people would hear. "She's right, we have. If anypony here isn't a real male, it's that black thing." Thunderlane said, pointing at Oak. "It has eyelashes!" "So? Plenty of males have eyelashes." Twilight pointed out. "And most male Dragons don't have them either, but I'd be happy to tell all of them you don't think they're male." "Wait! Uh... that's not the only reason! He also has a purple mane, just like you!" Twilight blinked, and then shot a magic beam at his knee. "You have a problem with purple manes?" "No!" Thunderlane said, afraid, and he fell to the ground. "I bet he's never even kissed a mare!" Carrot Top laughed. "He's kissed me." Rainbow growled. "And me!" Pinkie said happily. "And me." Twilight added, kissing Oak on the cheek. He stiffened and blushed, his tail also stiffening as he fell to the side like a goat or rabbit, and Twilight glared at Carrot Top. "And now, he's kissed a Princess of Equestria. Have YOU kissed a Princess of Equestria?" "N-No." Carrot Top said sadly. "I'm amazed this Princess kissed him, of all ponies." Thunderlane said. "I thought you'd never kissed anypony!" "I have kissed ponies!" Twilight said angrily. "Your brother, your parents, and Princess Cadence doesn't count!" Thunderlane said, making the crowd laugh. Spike was about to scratch him, but then Twilight used her magic and made him a mare. But not just any mare, a small filly that looked like she was a few years younger than Apple Bloom, who was running over to Oak, while her sister and Big Mac pushed through the leftover angry mob crowd, bucking them through walls and into trees. The crowd screamed. "Oak!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Who the hay's been tryin' to hurt Oak?" Applejack yelled, her tail grabbing and choking Sugar Grape when she tried to dive kick her. "Eeeyup!" Big Mac yelled, punching Lily through eight trees. "What took you ponies so long?" Oak asked angrily when they got to him. "We were busy beating up the main group! You fought the smaller group that DIDN'T come in through the main gate!" "There are MORE of you ponies?!" Twilight gasped. "Yeah! And if you promise to not send me to the moon, I'll give you the names of everypony in the mob!" Lyra shouted. "That's it. By royal decree, all of you ponies in this mob will now have to work on Applejack's farm, without pay, for a whole year." Twilight said, making the crowd gasp. "Maybe getting forced to work together will help you be more Equestrian. "WHAT?!" Filly Thunderlane squeaked. "And Applejack and Bog Mac and the other Apple Ponies - And Oak The Shadow Dragon - and are allowed to do WHATEVER THEY WANT to ponies that seem to be slacking off." The crowd gasped again. "Hoooweeee, A reckon Braeburn's gonna lak that most of all!" Applejack said happily. "A think All invite him over some time! Big Mac, do you like this?" Big Mac grinned. "Eeeeyup." "No! Please!" Lily said, afraid, fainting. "The horror! The horror!" Daisy said, fainting. "...Wait, where's the third one?" Lily asked, looking up. "Our pose is off balance with just us!" Daisy cried. "Now, all of you... GET TO THE FARM!" Twilight shouted. "You heard her!" Applejack shouted, shoving ponies to the farm. Big Mac helped her, but Apple Bloom stayed. "Go on, git!" Apple Bloom looked up and hugged Oak. "Am glad yure ok." She said. "I'm glad I'm ok, too." Oak said, hugging her back. Rainbow Dash laughed. "You're supposed to say "Me too" silly!" "Me too." Oak said, hugging her. "Well, that's done. Can we go for today's tests now?" Twilight asked. I want to do some tests on your skin." "Okay." Oak said, following her. She walked to her Castle, and he spent the rest of the day watching her do test after test on his scales, after her attempt at getting a small cotton-swab skin sample caused him to grow black scales on his skin. When it was done, he went home to Applejack's barn, because it was late at night. He got onto his hay bed, and was about to sleep, but Applejack was there, waiting for him. "Applejack? Why don't those ponies like me?" Oak asked sadly as he was tucked into bed. "Well... You're kinda like a black sheep around here. Literally! But just the black part. You're a pony, through and through, Shadow Dragon blackness or not." Applejack said, stroking his head. "Oh. What does Black sheep mean?" Oak asked. "It means you're... different. You look different from us. But I don't care about that, even if a bunch of other dumb ponies do." Applejack said, kissing him goodnight and leaving. "Goodnight, big sis!" Oak said, going to sleep. "Goodni- Wait, what did you just call me?" Applejack asked. "Big sis. It felt right." Applejack didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Goodnight, Oak." She said, leaving the room. Oak felt like he'd done something wrong, and felt sad about it. But he was also really tired, and his body was finally starting to heal, his powers back, making him sleepier. He went to sleep. > A Leak > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oak was fighting a red metal monster with big claws and eyebrows part of its pointy head, and steel eyes. All of his friends were down, and it was up to him. He ran up to it and punched it, but it became an apple, and apples fell on him, because he was being woken up and the dream was collapsing. "Good morning, Oak!" Applejack said happily. "Good morning, Applejack!" Oak said happily. "Look at this!" He grabbed some hay from his bed with magic, eyes glowing purple, and turned the hay into two purple bands, and then he put them on his mane, making his purple mane and tail look exactly like Applejack's while tying it. "Do you like it?" Oak asked. Applejack was surprised. His mane looking like hers was a little creepy, but also sweet and endearing, like a little brother trying to be like their bigger brother. "Yeah. But How are you using magic without a horn?" Applejack asked. "Oh, I saw Twilight do it. So now I can do it, too." Oak said. "But... You need a horn to do magic." Applejack said, confused. "I don't." Oak shrugged. "Maybe it's a Shadow Dragon thing." "Huh. Well, let's get you on the farm. We're apple bucking today." Applejack said. "What's that?" Oak asked. MEANWHILE IN TWILIGHT'S CASTLE "Twilight?" Spike asked. "You were really worried about that letter with the red mark, right?" "Yes." Twilight said. "What was it?" "I... didn't check." Twilight said, her eyes shrinking. "Oh. That's stu-" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She screamed in panic, grabbed herself and looked psychotic, and then she ran outisde to find Oak. BACK ON SWEET APPLE ACRES Oak kicked a tree, and all of the apples fell down. "Woah, you're good at that!" Applejack said, kicking a tree. Most of the apples fell down. "Am I better at this than you?" Oak asked. "Nah. It's not just about the apples, it's about the speed, too." Applejack said. "You've still got a lot to learn if you want to beat me!" "Ok." Oak said. And then he noticed something. "Hey, Applejack... I have to pee." Oak said. "So? Just do it." Applejack said. "What? No! You're standing right there, and you're watching! I can't do it with you around!" Oak said, blushing a lot. "Why the hay not?" Applejack asked, confused. "I don't know, it just feels really wrong. Maybe the rules about peeing are different where I'm from." Oak said. "Peeing rules?" Applejack asked, and laughed. "That sounds dumb. Around these parts, there ain't no rules. It's rude to pee in somepony else's house and on trains and cart rides, but apart from that, we could do it in the streets if we wanted. There are rules in places like Dodge Junction and Canterlot, but not here in Ponyville." "Ew!" Oak yelled. "All the earth pony magic in this town makes it seep into the ground fast, so nopony's going to step in it or anything. So what's the big deal?" Applejack asked. "Why did you tell me to use the hay in the barn, if we can just pee anywhere?" Oak asked, confused. "Big Mac doesn't like ponies sneaking around on the farms at night, we've been having trouble with thieves lately. He might think you're one of them, and kick first, and ask questions later. "Oh." Oak said sadly. "Sorry, but I need to go, now." Applejack laughed. "Ain't nothing to it! You can pee here. Heck, I'm doing that now!" "What?" He asked, and saw that she was wetting herself, smiling and not caring at all. "Ewww!" He looked away, surprised and confused, and the pony pheremones made him feel dizzy and sleepy. "No, this is wrong, I... I have to pee even more now, but I can't do it in front of you!" "Alright, finish your work here, and then you can go." Applejack sighed. "You're like Rarity, she freaks out about ponies seeing her pee too." "Ok!" Oak said, and then he rushed off, as quickly as Rainbow Dash, kicking the trees and making all the apples fall down from every tree nearby each time. "Woah, nellie!" Applejack said, surprised. "I need to go now!" He yelled, and ran off. Applejack looked at all the apples, and started to put them in buckets. "Dang fast dang pony." She said. Twilight got there. "Applejack, where's Oak?" She asked, scared. "I don't know, he ran off, saying he needed to pee somewhere private." "He's lying, and he's really summoning the Shadow Dragons!" Twilight said, scared. "Now hold up. That don't make no dang sense." Applejack said. "He looked like he was in real dang pain." "He's faking it! He really IS an evil monster!" Twilight said. Applejack got angry. "Don't talk like that about Oak." "I'm sorry, Applejack. But this pony might not even realize he's doing it." "Then we have to find him." Applejack said. "After I pick up these app-" Twilight used her magic to pick up all the apples and put them in Applejack's buckets. And then she flew off at Rainbow Dash speed. "llls." Applejack said sadly. She sadly walked over to Ponyville. Oak ran into town and went to Pinkie Pie's house. He saw Mr Cake, and he looked sad. "Mr Cake! I need to use your bathroom!" Oak said. "Sorry, we have a rule against that. Only paying customers can use our bathroom." Mr Cake said. "Then I'll buy something! What can I afford?" Oak asked. "Nothing, you don't have any money." Mr Cake said. "But Pinkie did buy a drink for you." He got out a huge glass, and it was filled with pink liquid. "It's a mix of all our milkshakes, she thought you'd like it." He drank some, and liked it, so he drank it all. "Alright, the bathroom's upstairs. Last door on the left." Mr Cake said. "Thank you!" Oak said. Oak ran upstairs, opening a bunch of doors, but only one was the right door, the last one on the left. He finally got into the bathroom, but the toilet was completely broken. It was a pile of rubble, with water spraying out. "What happened to the toilet?" Oak asked. "Sorry, Mrs Cake broke it again. It must be all those cakes she eats." Mr Cake said sadly. "Oh no! Now where will I pee?" Oak asked, getting worried. "You wanted to pee in our toilet? Why? Just go in the bushes, if you're worried about it." Mr Cake said. "Great idea!" Oak said happily, running out of the store. He ran out of the store, looking around, and he saw ponies all around. He quickly ducked into a bush, and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders there. He ran away, and went into a different bush. He looked around, and saw he was alone. He sighed, and a wet noise was heard. "Hi!" Pinkie Pie said, appearing out of his mane. He screamed and ran away, and she fell out. "Gottapeegottapeegottapeegottapeegottapeegottapeeeee!" He said to himself, running through town, purple fire behind him. "How are you that fast?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying down beside him. He screamed and tripped, and wet himself a little. Rainbow laughed, and once he'd stopped, he got back up, getting out of the puddle. "Are you ok?" Rainbow Dash asked. "No! I have to pee real bad!" Oak said sadly. Rainbow laughed. "What's the big deal? It's just pee." "I don't want anypony to see! I'm... shy." Rainbow sighed. "It's alright, Fluttershy has this problem sometimes. Wait here." She flew off, and he bounced on his hooves while trying to grab his body, even though he had hooves, it just felt right. After what felt like a long time, Rainbow flew down with a fluffy white cloud. "We're supposed to have a sorta-cloudy day today, but we can spare a cloud. Pee in it, Pegasi do it all the time and nopony notices or cares, along as it's not used for rain. Go ahead, I fluffed it up enough for you to use it without having to be a Pegasus." "Yay!" Oak said happily, climbing onto the floating cloud and peeing into it loudly. Rainbow blushed and looked away, trying to look cool anyway. Oak sighed with relief, closing his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he was there for, but way too soon, Rainbow Dash said "STOP!" He gasped and stopped, and looked down to see that the entire cloud had turned yellow, fat, and it had sunk to the floor. "Ewww!" He said as he shuffled off it, and rolled on the floor to dry himself. "Woah, how long have you been holding that in?" Rainbow said, surprised. "Twilight said we Shadow Dragons have been sleeping for thousands of years, so... a really long time." "Wow. Next time I go cider-drinking, you're coming with me." Rainbow said. "Thanks, but can I have another cloud? I still need to go." Oak said. "Sorry, I can't. I'll already get in trouble if somepony notices one cloud missing, I can't lose a second one." She said sadly. "It's okay." He said, kissing her on the cheek. "Stop doing that!" She said, cutely angry, wings sticking out. "We're not dating yet!" "Ok. Sorry, gotta go, bye!" He said, running off. He went for Twilight's house, knowing she'd have a crystal bathroom. It wouldn't be very comfortable, but right now, he'd go anywhere. "Hi!" Spike said. "Hi! I need to use your bathroom!" Oak said, potty dancing like a foal. "You can do that later. Right now, she needs some tests." Spike said. Oak went into the castle with him, and they went to a big olympic swimming pool. "Twilight needs to know how many laps you can do in ten minutes. "Water?" Oak gasped. He moaned in pain as he got in the pool, and started to swim, his whole body hurting. He started to leak a little as he peed, thinking nopony would notice, but a big pink cloud started to form thanks to a chemical in the pool after finishing fifty laps in two minutes. "This water is connected to the main pipes! If you pee in it too much, it'll contaminate everypony's drinking water!" Spike said, lying. "Serves him right for peeing in my pool" He thought. Oak didn't know he was lying, and he got nervous. He kept swimming, slower, in pain. On the last minute, he sped up a lot more, and finally got out. "Now can I go to the bathroom?" Oak asked. "I need to pee." "I noticed." Spike said flatly. "Please can I go?" Oak asked. "Ok, it's upstairs." Spike said. Oak rushed around the ground floor until he found the stairs up, and then he rushed into each room until he found the toilet... but it was a weird one. It was a white plastic hole in the floor, with a bent hole, like a real toilet, but it had a bowl, too. Was he supposed to stand over it? That was just like going outside, only inside, but still standing up, which was still weird! Oak yelled "Nope!" a lot as he rushed outside, and looked around. "Well that was quick." Spike said. "Spike! Where's Oak?" Twilight asked, getting to the castle too late. "You missed him." "Oh no!" Twilight yelled, and then ran out. He rushed to Fluttershy's house, finding a nice stream and pond along the way. He wouldn't normally do this, but he was desperate... He ran over to the lake, and started to pee in it. He sighed, tail rising in happiness. And then he got tackled by Fluttershy halfway through, her landing on his stomach, pinning down his hooves. "Don't pee in that lake! Fish live there, and so do beavers!" Fluttershy yelled. And then she noticed something. "You're peeing on me!" She said angrily. "I'm sorry! I can't stop!" Oak said sadly. Fluttershy used the stare on him, and his bladder froze up, and seemed to shrink, hurting even more. He moaned in pain, knowing he'd need to pee now or he'd explode. "I'm... sorry..." He whispered. "I can... fix... this..." He waddled to the lake and used his magic, sucking the pee back into him, including the pee on Fluttershy, and then he ran off. She stared in surprise, wondering what just happened. He kept running and ended up in the Everfree Forest, where he found a manticore. He hid in nearby bushes, and watched it mark its territory on a big oak tree. He whimpered and leaked a little. It heard him, and turned around and roared, blowing away the bush. The Manticore pounced on Oak, who rolled to the side and headbutted the manticore, knocking its head back. The manticore jabbed its scorpion tail into Oak's back, but its tip broke off. He punched it in the gut, but the Manticore barely felt it. Oak's tail wrapped around the Manticore's tail and tore it off, and it felt that. It screamed, and Oak smiled. Oak thought about pulling its tail off again, but it had already had its tailed pulled off and it was its only tail. So he headbutted the Manticore hard enough to knock its head into the ground, and then it threw him into a tree, the same tree it had marked earlier. Oak got angry, ran up to the Manticore, and punched it in the face with both hooves, knocking it through a tree. He jumped after it and punched its face four times, but it got up and threw him at a tree. He jumped off the tree, spun around, and bucked the manticore just like Applejack had trained him, knocking it through ten trees and at a bigger tree, bouncing off and making a cloud of dust. Finally, it was over. Unable to hold it any more, he ran up to the bigger tree, and let it all go on it. He sighed and lifted his tail, letting it all out. Steam rose high in the air like smoke, and some got onto the manticore, but he didn't care. He'd won the fight, and now, this just felt right. Maybe it was the Shadow Dragon blood in him... but it felt right. Twilight was watching the whole time, she'd been hiding in a different bush, and she wondered why he didn't use any of the amazing powers her books said Shadow Dragons had, except for copying her magic, a basic parlour trick any of them could do. She wondered if those books could have been wrong... > An Arrival! Fight! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm... Nah." Twilight said, deciding her books weren't wrong after all. She rushed over to Oak, who was happily skipping back home like Pinkie Pie, feeling a ton lighter. A black meteor fell down on Manehattan, right in the downtown area. Pegasi flew out of the way to dodge it, and when it hit the ground, there was a mighty crash as it made itself a crater. Clouds of dust were in the air, and the surprised crowd of ponies looked down to see the black meteor open up, revealing a circular pod inside. It had a circular roof with three red Sharingan on it, held tight by black zigzags. One pony got out of the pod, a massive, bulky black stallion that would come up to Celestia's chin. He was a darker black than Oak, and his red mane went up and back. He looked so tough, if a train crashed into him, the train would trip over and crash, and he'd just be annoyed. His Cutie Mark was a symbol, three Sharingan, blood-red ones. A twitchy and hyperactive white Pegasus scientist with orange eyes and a blue mane flew to him and filled his whole field of vision. His Cutie Mark was a telescope surrounded by three stars. "Hi! You came from space! Space. What was space like! Did you like Space? What was it like, being in Space? Space. Can I go to space? I wanna go to space. SPACE!" The black stallion punched a hoof into his face, sending him flying back through skyscraper after skyscraper after skyscraper. "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." He shouted, his voice fading away as he disappeared and became a ding on the horizon. "Well, that wasn't very nice!" A fat blue Earth Pony said, waddling over to him. "Alpha And Omega Beam!" The black stallion shouted. He opened his mouth and shot a black beam of energy from his mouth, engulfing and destroying her. Ponies around him started to panic, and he grinned cruelly. "Haaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!" The black stallion yelled, building power. "Darkness Bomber!" The black stallion yelled, turning up his chin. There was a huge black explosion that could be seen from space, and when it faded, he was the last one alive in a crater that took up half of Manehattan. He'd just killed Babs Seed, Aunt and Uncle Orange, Coco Pommel, and over four hundred other ponies. The black stallion became surrounded with a dark red energy, and he floated up into the air. "This planet is still teeming with life." He said, his voice raspy and evil. "Nixhilus..." He said, looking off into the distance, right at Ponyville. "...I knew we should have sent Entropash." "Oak!" Twilight yelled. "Yeah?" Oak asked. "I got a letter!" Twilight said, showing him the letter. "Wow!" He said, looking at it. "This is... uh... Twilight, I can't read." "What?" Twilight asked, casting a truth-only spell. "I can't read." Oak said sadly. "Because you lost your memories?" Twilight asked. "Maybe. Or maybe I never learned to read at all." Oak said. "That's stupid." She said, patting him on the back. "Don't worry. When we get home, I'll teach you how to read." "Thanks, Twilight." Oak said, kissing her on the nose. "Bwaaagh!" Twilight yelled, backing away and falling over, her tail falling on her body, blushing as she landed in mud. "What was that for?!" She yelled, blushing. "I saw Apple Bloom kiss Applejack. I know Rainbow Dash said I should only kiss a mare if they're one of my marefriends, but I saw Apple Bloom kiss Applejack, but she didn't kiss her mouth. She kissed her forehead, and Applejack laughed, so it seemed ok to kiss mares, as long as it isn't the mouth." Twilight sighed and got up, casting a cleaning spell on herself while still blushing. "I really need to give you a book on relationships and kissing. Even if it did give me nightmares when I broke into my mom and dad's room and read it as a filly." Oak hugged her. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked. "You said you had nightmares. That's bad." Oak said. "Come on, let me go." Twilight said, smiling. "No." Oak said. "Let go." "No!" Oak said, kissing her cheek. "Stop that!" Twilight yelled, trying to shake him off, and hide how good it felt to be touched. She'd gone without it for so long... He licked her face, and she blushed. "My Twilight." Oak said, smiling. She neighed and bucked, and he laughed and sat on her back. "Hi ho, Twilight! Away!" Oak said, laughing. She teleported away, and he watched in surprise, and then he fell on the floor. "Oak, I need to tell you something important! I got a letter, and it's from another Shadow Dragon." Twilight said. "Another Shadow Dragon?" Oak asked, surprised. He smiled. "Do you think he's friendly?" "Smell this." Twilight said, giving him the letter. He smelled it. "Rubies, and... something else. I don't know what it is, but the Shadow Dragon blood in me loves it." Oak admitted. "Is it sugar? I ate a bag of sugar at Sugarcube Corner when Pinkie Pie wasn't looking and the Shadow Dragon blood in me loved that." "Maybe because you took it without asking?" Twilight guessed. "Oh." Oak said sadly. He didn't like being reminded that the Shadow Dragon inside him was evil. "Listen, there's another Shadow Dragon coming here! Do you have any idea who it could be?" Twilight asked. "No." Oak said sadly. "Come on, think!" Twilight yelled. "I sensed a powerful energy in Manehattan today, ten times stronger than Tirek! Do you have any idea who that could be?" "No!" Oak said, grabbing his head, which started to hurt. "I need to know this, so we can prepare! TELL ME WHO IT IS!" "I! DON'T! KNOW!" Oak yelled, his purple mark glowing as black energy exploded from his body, rising up. It stopped after a few seconds, and he gasped. "I... I feel stronger. What was that?" "You just... generated energy. Evil energy. Like Dark Magic, but worse. This is one of the abilities my books said your kind has!" He did it again, but when he forced it, it was purple instead. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He said, and skipped around Twilight like Pinkie Pie, jumping much higher than before. "That feels good!" He said happily. "Yes, your power level is growing. It's... quite impressive. And it isn't evil any more!" Twilight said, blushing and looking away. Her horn got a bit bigger. "I can tell!" Oak said happily, tail poking her horn. She yelled in surprise, and he pulled his tail away. "Don't touch that!" She yelled, her whole face blushing. "Sorry." Oak said, not understanding. "And don't say that about a Unicorn's horn." Twilight said, looking away. "It's made of bone, it's always pointy." "Yeah, but... It got b-" Oak said. "Don't say that about a Unicorn's horn!" Twilight yelled. "Sorry." Oak said, looking down. He wondered if that was normal, or if his powers did that to her. "So... You really can't remember anything about which Shadow Dragon would send this letter?" Twilight asked. "No. Sorry." Oak said sadly. "Fine." Twilight said determinedly, her horn returning to normal. "By the way, somebody had better pick up that phone." "Huh?" Oak asked. "What pho-" "BECAUSE I CALLED IT! We'll wait until the monster gets here, and-" They heard a huge explosion in Ponyville, and they knew they were too late. Twilight grabbed him and flew them both to Ponyville at Rainbow Dash speeds, making a cone around them. They arrived in a burning Ponyville, and they saw Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash fighting the black stallion. Pinkie fired a party cannon at his head, but he dodged, and a bunch of metal forks stuck into a house's wall. Rainbow dash flew down and kicked his head, but he didn't even flinch, as if she'd kicked a tree that was too strong for her. He jumped up and punched her, she blocked in the air, and she was pushed back into a tree, which broke. But before the tree could fall on her, Pinkie Pie threw a present that pushed the tree away, making it fall next to her. And then Pinkie threw a bunch of presents at the black stallion, and he dodged them all. "Is that all?" He asked when she seemed to run out of stuff to throw. She threw a sink at his head, and it clanged loudly, moving his head a little. "Not bad... Here's MINE!" The black stallion shouted, opening his mouth and firing a black laser. "ALPHA AND OMEGA BEAM!" Rainbow Dash saved Pinkie and pulled her away before she got shot, and she flew high into the air with Pinkie on her back. The black stallion started to fire black balls of energy out of his mouth, and Rainbow dodged them all by flying really fast. "Wheeeeeee!" Pinkie said happily, as if this was a rollercoaster ride to her. Twilight shot a huge laser beam at the black stallion, who smirked as black energy burned around him, the spell's energy washing around him. Oak couldn't take it any more. He didn't want his friends getting hurt! He rushed forwards, and punched the black stallion in the face, sending it back a few feet. "That one actually hurt. Well, if it isn't Nixhilus!" The black stallion said, grinning nastily. "How are you, you old son of a Dragon?" "Who?" Oak asked. "Nixhilus, don't play dumb with me. Even if it is the only thing you're good at." The black stallion sneered. "I am Ashmodeus, and you are Nixhilus." "No, I'm Oak." Oak said, confused. "You... hit your head again, didn't you?" Ashmodeus sighed. "Huh? No, I just woke up. I woke up on Applejack's farm-" Oak said. "A FARM?! You were stupid enough to sleep for a thousand years under FARMABLE LAND?!" Ashmodeus asked, and he laughed. "What's wrong with that?" Oak asked angrily. "You FOOL! We Shadow Dragons have great power, and it comes from evil!" Ashmodeus explained. "We sleep for millenia to regain our power and allow the omniverse to regrow once we destroy it. And we sleep where there will be great wars, blood shed, horrific crimes carried out in the name of hatred! But the creatures on this planet that call themselves Ponies are filled with Positive Energy. We are beings of Negative Energy, Nixhilus. If you've really spent all that time underground with Earth Ponies shoving their Earth Pony magic into the soil you slept inside... I'm amazed you can still stand! I think you might have purged almost all the evil from your body!" "Good!" Oak shouted. "No, not good! You were always weak, Nixhilus, but now? You're the weakest thing I've ever seen... Not counting these things that call themselves ponies. Your power level is barely ten million!" Ashmodeus laughed. "I've killed stronger flies." "That's enough!" Oak yelled. "Who are you, and how do you know me?" "Isn't it obvious, Nixhilus?" Ashmodeus asked, smirking. "I'm your brother." Oak gasped. "My... Brother?!" He asked. "I... have... a brother?" "What a twist!" Pinkie shouted, shocked. "Now... I think carrying out some evil acts should reawaken the evil sleeping within you." Ashmodeus said. "Does stealing a bag of sugar from a bakery and eating it count?" Oak asked. "No, it has to be something much more evil. Hm... I KNOW!" Ashmodeus said, floating into the air as red energy burned around him. "Prove your loyalty to me and the Shadow Dragon cause, and I'll spare this world my wrath... for now. You have until this planet's sun sets to kill one hundred ponies. Pile their bodies up nice and high for me! And if you don't... I'll kill you, I'll kill your friends, and I'll kill every single living thing on this planet!" "No!!!" Oak shouted, but it was too late. Ashmodeus flew away, leaving the young Oak, or rather, Nixhilus, with a choice between becoming evil again and killing a hundred ponies, and never being able to see his friends again... and letting his friends and the world he'd come to love get destroyed. "Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow... What do I do?" Oak asked sadly, his face showing absolute defeat and hopelessness. TO BE CONTINUED. > A Brilliant Plan! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAST TIME ON OAK THE SHADOW DRAGON "KA-BEEEEEEWWWWWM!" Ashmodeus yelled, exploding half of Manehattan. Oak kissed Twilight, who blushed. An explosion happened, and ponyville was on fire. "I left the oven on!" Twilight yelled, scared. "DOOOODGE!" Pinkie yelled as Rainbow dodged Ashmodeus's attacks. Pinkie threw a sink at Ashmodeus. "You're an idiot." Ashmodeus told Oak. "You suck!" Oak said to Ashmodeus. "I'm your brother!" Ashmodeus told Oak, who gasped. "Audible gasp!" Pinkie yelled. "I'll destroy this planet, unless you kill one hundred ponies before this planet's sun sets!" Ashmodeus shouted, flying off. "One hundred?" Pinkie gasped. "One hundred!" Oak yelled. "That's as many as ten tens!" Twilight shouted. "And that's terrible!" Oak yelled. "What do I do now?" AND NOW, ON OAK THE SHADOW DRAGON "What do I do?" Oak asked Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash. "Not kill a hundred ponies." Rainbow said. "But then he'll kill everyone!" Oak said, scared. "Not if we stop him first!" Rainbow said fearlessly. "But he's too strong, even for me!" Oak said sadly. "But he isn't too strong for our main mare, Twilight, right?" Rainbow asked, petting Twilight. "Actually... When I blasted him at full power..." Twilight said. 00 The black stallion started to fire black balls of energy out of his mouth, and Rainbow dodged them all by flying really fast. "Wheeeeeee!" Pinkie said happily, as if this was a rollercoaster ride to her. Twilight shot a huge laser beam at the black stallion, who smirked as black energy burned around him, the spell's energy washing around him. "That black stallion, Ashmodeus... he didn't seem bothered at all." Twilight said. "That black energy of his... it's stronger than my magic." "As long as he can do that thing with the energy, you can't hurt him." Oak agreed. "So, let's beat him up until he can't do it any more! Then Twilight finishes him off with a laser to the face." Rainbow decided. "Can we really do that?" Oak asked, loving how confident and beautiful she was. "Of course! By the way, I can understand you looking like a pony because you woke up here, but... Why does that jackass-modeus look like a pony?" Rainbow asked. Pinkie gasped. "I meant jackass as in donkey." Rainbow said, and Pinkie ungasped. "I can explain that. These Shadow Dragons take the form of whatever being is the dominant species of this universe. Their true forms are bigger than planets. They can get closer and closer to their true forms to boost their power, but they get tired afterwards." Twilight said. "That makes sense." Rainbow said. "So... what do we do?" Oak asked. "I bet Rarity has a punch of pony dolls we could dress up to look like dead ponies!" Pinkie said happily. "I don't think he's going to be fooled by that." Rainbow said. "Rarity's dolls are ugly." "Hold on, girls!" Twilight said, grinning. "I have a plan!" "In the name of nothingness! When will this day END?" Ashmodeus wondered, glaring up at the sun with absolute hatred while eating a chunk of purple meat. There were a bunch of pony corpses around him, and the body of Stephen Magnet in four small parts. He continued to glare up at the sun that... hadn't moved... all day... even a little. On a planet where a telekinetic powerful enough to move suns lived... and ruled the world with her easily-corruptable sister and her idiot cousin, and her favourite toy. Inside his head, there was an egg timer. It rang. "OH, THOSE SONS OF-" Ashmodeus yelled, black and red flames burning around him. Opening his mouth wide, he fired a huge flaming fire blast at Ponyville that could wipe out a third of the town with one move. But Twilight dropped down and blocked it with a magic shield, falling to the ground in exaustedness. "YOU!" Ashmodeus yelled. Oak dropped down and kicked Ashmodeus in the head. "ME!" Oak yelled happily, flipping over and following it up with a series of punches, before spinning and kicking like Applejack had trained him. He barely felt it. "Nixhilus... Would you really defy your own brother?" Ashmodeus asked, not caring about the hooves in his face. "I'll defy the whole world if I have to!" Oak yelled, punching him in the face over and over. "And MY NAME! IS! OAK!" A blast of red flames launched him back, and Ashmodeus got up, angry. "Oh, you lesser beings... You think you're so clever." Ashmodeus growled. "You've only stalled for time." "Yeah, well... You suck." Oak said. Ashmodeus growled and flew off, red and black energy around him. "We scared him off!" Oak said happily. Ashmodeus reappeared with a little pink filly in his hands. Berry Pinch, the daughter of the town drunk Berry Punch. She was terrified, and she squirmed in his hands to try and get out. Ashmodeus snapped her neck with a quick twist of his hooves, letting her body fall to the floor. And then he kicked it over to a horrified Twilight, Oak, Pinkie, and Rainbow, letting its empty, dead eyes stare up at them, face frozen in horror. Oak stared at Berry Pinch, tears forming in his eyes as he stared into the unmoving eyes of the dead foal. "You monster..." Twilight growled. "Oh?" Ashmodeus asked, smirking. "Got something to say, Pony?" "YOU MONSTER!" Twilight shouted, magic glowing as she tore up a big chunk of her crystal castle and slammed it into Ashmodeus's face, sending him back through the ground in a massive trench that crushed buildings and left a huge canyon in the ground. When it was far away enough, she used her magic, and pulled the crystal into the air, slamming it point-first on Ashmodeus's black-scaled skin, on his stomach, and spun it like a drill as he screamed, black scales flying everywhere. Twilight screamed, rearing up and going down as her magic slammed the crystal down so hard into Ashmodeus's skin that it started to crack and collapse in on itself like a tower, breaking completely. And when the crystal had completely collapsed into shards, Twilight shoved those shards into Ashmodeus's body through the mouth and eyes, tearing it apart from the inside out. And all Oak could do was stare at the dead foal, while some new, strange feeling overtook him. It didn't feel like anger. It didn't feel like anything he'd ever felt before. It was hate. Ashmodeus roared as black flames burned the crystal and her, and he flew up to punch her back down to the ground where the other fighters stood. He flew down at her as he made a sword out of black flames and prepared to attack, but some rope went around his neck and pulled tight, putting a hoof on her rope and throwing him to the ground, face-first, hard enough to make a giant crater. Oak looked to the side and saw Applejack there, rope in her hoof, and Big Mac, aiming for a buck as an apple fell towards his hooves. Ashmodeus got back up, really angry. "Applejack!" Oak yelled happily. Big Mac bucked an Apple into Ashmodeus's face, breaking the muzzle and getting apple stuff in his eyes. Oak jumped on the chance and rushed forwards to pin Ashmodeus down and punch him over and over and over again, and finally finish it with a backwards kick that knocked him away. And then he spun around and kicked air pressure at him, which hit the foe even though his black hooves didn't. "IMPOSSIBLE!" Ashmodeus yelled as he was pushed away, right into a house Twilight threw at him, and then she fired a huge laser beam that tore up the whole town while blasting him until he vanished. Twilight collapsed, exhausted. "That's it... That's all of my energy." Oak stood there, amazed. "It's... over." He said. "By the way, not dead." Ashmodeus said, suddenly appearing behind him and grabbing him, flying into the air. "KthxDIE." Ashmodeus slammed Oak head-first into the ground, breaking his neck. "OOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAK!" Applejack shouted. > Rainbow Breaks The Limit! Big Mac Shows His Strength! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ponies assembled looked at Oak's body sadly. "Oak..." Applejack said sadly, taking off her hat and hiding her face as she cried. "A... A was just startina like ya." Big Mac said sadly. "This is serious!" Twilight realized, still exhausted from her last laser attack. "Pinkie!" "Yep?" Pinkie asked. "Get Fluttershy and Rarity, we need to use Rainbow Power to defeat him!" Twilight yelled. "Okay!" Pinkie said happily, diving into a present box and disappearing. Ashmodeus laughed. "Oh, what a shame. Looks like I'll have to wait a few thousand years for him to reincarnate. I guess I'll just have some fun destroying this planet in the meantime. He liked this town... Maybe I'll just leave this town alive, so I can turn it into my own personal theatre to the beauty that is death. Maybe the sight of that will make Ashmodeus remember how to hate. Maybe his next form won't be a blasted po-" Rainbow Dash yelled in fury and flew, breaking the sound barrier three times and making a Sonic Rainboom each time, and she punched Ashmodeus in the face hard enough to send him through Canterlot mountain, collapsing half of it on top of him. He blasted the rubble away and flew up with a sword made of black fire in his hoof. "Black Blaze! One scratch with this, and nothing can put out the fires that'll burn you to nothingness!" Rainbow Dash flew at his arm, hitting it and letting her rainbow trail slice off both limbs. Ashmodeus screamed like a little girl, and then Rainbow flew past his head, punching it as she flew past. And then she flew back the other way, punching the face in slow motion. And then she punched his crotch with a flying kick in slow motion, followed by the side of her arm hitting his neck hard enough to crack it in slow motion. Ashmodeus was pushed back away, and Rainbow easily caught him, and kicked down into his crotch, sending him to the ground as his fires went out. "This'll take the Shadow Dragon out of you." Rainbow smirked. He gasped out a weak breath, the smugness finally gone from him. She overtook him going down and kicked him into the air hard enough to snap his spine, and the shock on his face was clear. "I can see what Twilight was saying when she said you things are older than the universe!" Rainbow shouted, kicking him to the side, then in the chin, then in the muzzle, then in the back, then kicking his crotch again and knocking him to the ground. "MY GRANDMA IS FASTER THAN YOOOOOOUUUUUU!" As he fell, Rainbow screamed in hate, flying downwards with all her might and pushing him faster and faster towards the ground, punching his crotch again and again as he screamed and they both went down, and then they both hit the ground, creating an enormous rainbow nuclear explosion that burned him and broke her arm. He screamed like a little mare as he was destroyed, and when it was over, Rainbow flew in the air above him, a rainbow fire burning on her horribly broken hoof that flapped limply in the air like a really badass cape. "Ow." Was all she said, too cool to say anything else. Big Mac's jaw dropped, but Applejack had barely noticed. She was too busy looking at Oak's body, and trying not to cry any more. Twilight was eating some grass on the floor to try and get back her strength, and once she'd gotten enough, she started using an energy-draining spell on the grass around her. The grass died and turned brown, and Big Mac noticed. "What're you doing?" Twilight hopped back up as more and more grass died. "Draining energy from the ground. It's an emergency." With her new power, she cast a healing spell on Oak, fixing his neck. His heart was still beating, so once she fixed that and the bit of spine inside his neck, he'd be fine. Soon, Oak blinked, purple fire burning around him that healed his body. "Thank... you..." He whispered weakly, his voice still recovering. Ashmodeus's body got up, black fires burning his wounds closed as he pounced on Rainbow Dash, wrestling her to the ground and biting her wings hard enough for them to sink in. He tore a wing off with his teeth, and then smacked her head into the dirt hard enough to give her a concussion and brain damage, her eyes rolling back in her head. "It's a shame you're not on my side... With strength like yours, you would have made a fine bride." "RAINBOW!" Applejack yelled. He kicked her crying form, and bit into her chest, leaving a huge bruise. "After I trained you properly to submit to your superior, that is." Twilight quickly used what was left of her energy to heal that damage to her head and her hoof, and stop the bleeding, but she didn't have anywhere near enough to fix her wing. She collapsed back down, annoyed. "Twilight! Can't ya fix her?" Big Mac asked. "I can't, not without doing permanent town to this town's ecosystem! Nothing would ever grow in this town again if I did that!" Twilight said. "Then drain ma energy, instead!" Big Mac declared, running over to Twilight and kneeling. "Take ma energy, and fix her!" "You don't have enough energy for that!" Twilight declared. "I'd kill you and barely be able to stop her bleeding in return!" Big Mac growled. "Dang it... Why am A always so USELESS when monsters like this threaten ma town?!" "Hey, Twilight, I got Fluttershy and RarAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Pinkie screamed, and so did the others, when they arrived and she saw Rainbow Dash. "What did I miss?" Rarity asked, summoning a giant sewing needle and some fabric. "Did that brute do this?" "Angel Bunny's gathering up the biggest monsters in the Everfree, he'll be here soon." Fluttershy said. And then she saw Rainbow, and started to cry. "Yes, he did." Twilight said angrily. "Twilight... Drain my energy." Oak whispered, purple fires burning around him. "I can take it." "Ok." Twilight said, draining his energy. He screamed, it felt like his fire was being sucked out of him and burning him at the same time, but for Rainbow Dash, he'd suffer through that and worse. "What's she doing, torturing him to bring out his inner darkness?" Ashmodeus asked, amused. "...Yes." Twilight lied cleverly. "Hm. You weak creatures and your friendships... You'd always sell each other out or do whatever you have to when the chips are down, even if it means stabbing the one you called friend." "So, he can take it, but A can't?!" Big Mac asked angrily, and then he started yelling. "I'm Big Mac! I'm the strongest pony on the planet! Every day, I have to hold back so I don't break my own trees! But you... You can take it, can't you?" "I can take everything you've got, laugh, and spit it back in your face." Ashmodeus sneered. "That's what they all say. THEN I BREAK THEM WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! Dang it... Sorry Ma, Pa... I'm finally gonna do it. I'm gonna use ma strength to hurt another thing. On purpose." "Oh, this is gonna be hilarious." Ashmodeus laughed. "...You monster... THIS IS MA TOWN, TOOOOOOOO!" Big Mac yelled, rushing forwards. "Oh, that's adorable." Ashmodeus sneered, intent on taking the attack without flinching. And then Big Mac crashed into him and kept running, carrying the red-maned black stallion away while red flames rushed out of his body, scorching the ground. "DAAAAAANG IIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Ashmodeus shouted. "Is what I'd say if I couldn't do this." Ashmodeus wrapped his tail around Big Mac, crushing his neck in a second. The larger pony fell to the ground, useless, and Ashmodeus landed on his rear. "I meant to do that." Ashmodeus said. "Black Blade!" Ashmodeus yelled, forming his sword of black flames and burning Big Mac into nothingness. "Big Mac!" Applejack yelled. "What was that?" Ashmodeus asked, laughing. "What even was that?" "He did that on purpose!" Twilight thought, realizing it. "He wanted to make sure we could get Rainbow's body!" Twilight's magic drained more energy from Oak, but he closed his mouth, not wanting to give anything away even as it felt like a hundred supernovas were being shoved into his eye sockets. Finally, it stopped, and Oak fell to the ground as Twilight's overflowing magic healed the bleeding Rainbow Dash, skin and blue fur growing over the winghole left behind. "Big Mac... You might not say much, but there always was more to you than met the eye." Twilight thought as Rainbow Dash got back up. Pinkie rushed over to her and carried her back to Twilight. "Mommy... I'm sorry. I didn't want to be slow any more." "I'm not your Mom." Pinkie said quietly, not sure what to say now that it wasn't time for joking around. "Finally... We're all back together." Twilight said, as the six Elements of Harmony got ready to face down Ashmodeus - Except for Rainbow, who just stared into the distance. Twilight activated Rainbow Power, and they all transformed. Rainbow grew back her missing wing, and her broken hoof, and she suddenly felt way better. She joined her friends in staring down Ashmodeus, hating him now more than ever. Oak stared at how beautiful they were, especially Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and sweet, sweet Applejack. The other two looked kinda dumb. He wished he had an awesome transformation of his own. "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ashmodeus shouted. "It's happening! You six, you're the ones destined to kill every last one of the Shadow Dragons, aren't you?" "What?" Oak asked, surprised. "That's right... Every last one!" Ashmodeus said, smiling. "They're going to destroy us all." "That's a lie!" Applejack yelled. "We'd never hurt Oak!" "And when Twilight tortured my little brother Nixhilus with that spell of hers?" "I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER!" Oak shouted. "And she was draining my energy, so we could pull this off!" "Really? Dang, and I thought you'd finally found yourself a mare with a backbone. Oh, who am I kidding! You couldn't get a mare if she didn't have any bones left in her body!" Ashmodeus laughed. "Laugh while you still can! With this power, we can finally defeat you!" Oak yelled. The six ponies floated together and shot a huge rainbow beam at Ashmodeus, who dodged. But Oak was faster, and he punched Ashmodeus back into the beam. "Why, Nixhilus... Why would you do this to your own brother?" Ashmodeus asked as he fell back into the rainbow beam. "You're not my brother... AND MY NAME! IS! OOOOOOAAAAAK!" Oak yelled, firing his own purple beam from his mouth into the rainbow explosion that grew bigger and bigger before finally exploding, making everything white.