I looked toward the town, rage building as I started walking in the direction of Appleton, revenge on my mind with no care for my own life. Images of Silver Snip flashed in my mind, as if each step I took reminded me of her. Her face, her smile, the way she kissed me in the dark of night, the way she told me she loved me, how warm she was cuddled up next to me as we drifted off to sleep. Her death was on my hooves. If I would’ve just told her not to follow me, she’d be in New Pegasus now or heading back to Cartwheel, setting up her new trading route. If it wasn’t for me, she’d be…what, happy? That was the real question. Would she be happy if I’d never met her, or if I never went to Cartwheel in the first place?

It’s not like it mattered, it was all in the past, I can’t fix what happened. All I could do for Silver was avenge her death. Pride said he couldn’t be killed, but everypony had a weakness even that monster. I’ll figure it out and I’ll strike him down, even if he kills me in the process.

“Shadow wait!” Wind Thrasher yelled as she came flying down toward me, Silver’s destroyed body laying across her back.

I turned my head away, not wanting to look at the mangled corpse, “Don’t try to stop me. I’m gonna make Pride pay for what he did.”

I felt her hoof on my shoulder as she said, “I know this is hard for you, but you can’t just go charging off to face a member of The Sins.”

“Leave me alone” I said pushing the hoof off my shoulder and continued walking.

Wind Thrasher flew in front of me with Silver’s body still over her shoulder, I tried hard to not look at it. Tears started to well up in my eyes. “Shadow! You need to plan this out first. Do you even know how to fight Pride? Do you know anything about him apart from how he fights?”

“I know what kind of magic he uses, and that he can’t be killed with a normal weapon. He seems to think he’s immortal, but that’s not possible, it will be hard to kill him, but everypony can die,” I said, still doing my best not to look at Silver’s body.

Wind Thrasher used her wings to lift Silver Snip off her back then laid her gently on the ground. She took the saddle bag with the tribal lion on it off her back and tossed it at me, “If you want to fight Pride, you’ll need to know what you’re getting yourself into first. Maybe there’s something in here that can help.”

I looked down at the beaten-up bag then asked, “Why would you think that? Pride’s not an idiot, he wouldn’t just leave information like that laying around. If anything, he set some kind of trap.”

I turned quickly and fired the plasma rifle at the voice only to see Greed who was standing a few feet behind me. As always, he didn’t even try to avoid the shot, he just let his perfect armor take the blow. Only this time, instead of it rolling off of him as before, the green goo stuck and started to sizzle.

He jumped back brushing the goo off quickly, “Hey now, there’s no need for violence Shadow, I’m not here to fight you. I don’t fight mares. I think I told you that already.”

I saw that the shot left a black mark on his so called perfect shield, it was also a little warped. I lifted the rifle again and fired yelling, “Fuck you Greed, I’m not dealing with you or any of The Sins anymore!”

This time he dodged the shot, he took to the air then dove at me, his hoof batting my rifle away. If Greed wanted to try and stop me from going after his boss he had another thing coming. I used my magic to grab hold of the Plasma rifle again. I entered S.A.T.S. and targeted two shots at his chest, right where I’d hit him before. He screamed as both shots hit throwing him back.

“So I guess you’re armor isn’t as great as you thought it was huh Greed!?” I yelled taking aim at his shaking body.

He looked up at me then lifted a hoof in the air, “I mean it Shadow, I didn’t come to fight you! I’m trying to help!”

“Fuck you!” I shouted and fired again a tear shed from my eye, only this time Wind Thrasher bucked the weapon out of my magical grip, the shot just missed Greed.

“Calm down Shadow. If he says he wants to help us then let’s hear him out.”

“No, he’s just gonna lie to us, or try and use me for some other goal, you can’t trust a Sin!” Another tear shed from my eye

Greed got to his hooves, there was a large crack in his armor, a bit of blood was dripping from the center of it. He shook his head, then winced in pain but grinned, “You have a point Shadow, you shouldn’t trust a Sin, most of us would do anything to get the upper hoof. Thing is, I wouldn’t blame you for using that rifle to kill me. You could very well do so too, that Rifle was designed to stop a pony just like me. If I wanted, I could fly away and avoid that, but I won’t. I want to help you Shadow, at least listen to what I have to say.”

I lowered the barrel of the rifle just a little, “Why would you want Pride dead? Furthermore, how would you know how to kill him?”

“I’ve been looking into how to kill Pride for years, ever since he recruited me. I think most of The Sins want him dead, apart from Envy or Gluttony. I know for a fact that Wrath want’s him dead, so does Sloth. I’m not sure about Lust, but I do my best to stay away from that whore,” he said.

“How does killing Pride help you? I’ve gotten to know you a little over the past few days and you don’t do anything without a reason.”

Now that was a shock, “Why do you want out of The Sins? I thought being a Sin was something you liked?”

“True, being a member has its perks, like not being banned from the clouds like a normal Dashite, being paid well, and the mares…there have been some beautiful mares. The problem is, being a member of The Seven Sins of Equinity has its downsides. I’m always on guard to make sure nopony tries to kill me, I can’t just do whatever I want, whenever I want, I always have to check with a higher up to make sure I can do anything. You see I have power, money, and mares but I’m like a puppet on a string for the enclave, hell, I’ll go as far as to say I’m a slave of the enclave and I like to have my freedom no strings attached. What I don’t have is the ability to stop something truly horrible from happening.”

I saw a sorrowful look in his eyes as he spoke, that expression told me something was bothering him, so I lowered the rifle the rest of the way, did my best to hide the rage I felt toward his team, “What do you mean you couldn’t stop something horrible from happening?”

He looked over at the body of Silver, he looked so sad when his gaze fell on her mangled corpse, “She was a nice mare, even when she was captured. I felt horrible for taking her so Envy could take her place. That’s where I went when I flew past you when the fight first started. I had my orders to grab Silver Snip while Pride and Cloak distracted you.”

“You mean you were the one who took her captive, did you have a hoof in killing her too!?” I shouted, raising the rifle again.

“Might as well have. I gave her over to one of the Enclave soldiers before returning to the fight. At first, I was told we were just taking her to force you to come to us, I had no idea what Pride really planned on doing,” he said, his voice getting tight, almost like he was trying not to lose control of his own temper, “When the fight was over and I came back here to Halo One, I was told to guard her. So, I did, and I ended up talking with her a lot. At first, I thought she was just a boring dirt pony like most of you surfacers, but then when I heard her talk about you, I saw a different side of her. Did you know that she was more concerned about you than she was about herself?”

That sounded just like Silver, she was the kind of mare who worried about the ones she cared for over her own safety my rifle lowered once again, “That doesn’t surprise me, it wasn’t in her nature to worry about herself when a loved one was in danger.”

“I beg to differ, look at what you were willing to do when you heard Silver was in danger. You were going to give in to their demands just to save her. You did the same thing when you went after Dr. Cell back at my Stable.”

I just shook my head, “I’m not a smart pony, I just didn’t want to make my friends suffer for the stupidity of what I did. Even with Stable 9 I had to kill Dr. Cell so he wouldn’t get free and bring his monsters into The Wasteland. I was just fixing my own mistakes.”

“As I was saying,” Greed said interrupting, “The more I talked with Silver, the worse I felt for taking her captive. It got worse when Pride came up to question her…he hurt her a lot to get the information he wanted from her. No matter how much he hurt her, she never told him anything. He…he said he was going to kill her after the last beating. He left her there to think about that, when he left, she asked me if I’d do something for her.”

“At first, I thought she was going to ask me to free her, but she didn’t. Silver asked me to get her a recorder and to leave her alone for a few minutes to leave you a message. I offered to help her get away, but she told me no. She said she had to stay, it was the only way you’d be safe. I couldn’t deny a strong pony like that her last request, so I did was she asked and gave her a recorder. When she finished, she gave the recording to me and told me that all she wanted me to do was make sure you got it. I tried to talk her into leaving with me, I even opened the door and said I’d fly her to you right away. She refused to leave…no matter how much I begged her to. Finally, Pride came back…and…and I watched as his shadows tore through her. I just stood there and watched, I didn’t do anything!” He cuffed his hoof over his left eye. “It took about thirty minutes before she finally released her last breath. The whole time, she just kept her eyes on me. The last thing she said before she was gone was ‘Please don’t let me down.’ After watching that, I stopped caring about myself, for the first time in my life all I wanted was to make sure I did what she asked me to.”

I felt tears welling up again as he spoke, but I held them back. When he finished I asked, “Do you have it?”

He nodded, “I do, and I’ll give it to you, but first I want you to make me a promise.”

“Promise that no matter what happens, you’ll kill that monster, and put an end to the rest of The Sins for good. If you do that, then I’ll give you the recording and my help. If not…well I guess I’ll just leave. I’ll still give you the recording, but I won’t help you anymore. If you don’t do this for me, I won’t be able to defy the Enclave or Pride.”

Wind Thrasher moved closer to the large pegasus, “You’re scared of him, aren’t you?”

He laughed a little, “Scared doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel about Pride, or Envy for that matter. They’re the only two Ponies I’m scared of…well Cloak too, but she’s never threatened to kill me. As you can tell from using that Rifle of yours, my shield can’t protect me from a few things, one is powerful magic like what Cloak can use, another is the shadow magic Pride uses and Envy is a whole different class himself. If Pride lives and he finds out I helped you, he’ll come after me and kill me. Envy might join him, if he’s in the mood, but I can deal with him. Pride is the one I’m the most worried about, you’ll have to find a way to end him for good.”

He pointed at the saddle bags, “Pride did forget those when he left, he ordered me to get the bags back before I left. He said he had to get to Appleton before the rest of the team did. Inside those are the spell books he used to make himself into what he is now. I’m not sure why he keeps them in his saddle bags, but normally he doesn’t let them out of his sight. He doesn’t worry about me figuring out what his true weakness is from those, so he sent me to get it. The stupid thing is, he forgets who I am,” He Smiled wide as he continued, “I’m Greed The Avaricious, I want everything for myself, that includes knowledge of how to kill a pony like him, even if I can’t do the deed myself.”

I lifted the Saddlebags with my magic and opened them, as he said, there were a couple black spell books inside, they looked old…REALLY OLD, as old as the Goddesses themselves. I took them out and looked them over quickly, one I couldn’t read at all, but the second had a simple title on it, ‘Sombra’s Journal.’ I looked back at Greed and asked, “Who’s Sombra?”

“He used to be the King of the Crystal Empire, there’s a few old stories about him that I read about,” Wind Thrasher said, “From what I read, he used a kind of dark crystal magic to take over The Empire a long time ago.”

Greed just shrugged, “I don’t know much about him really, but I’m not from Nimbus so I wouldn’t anyway. All I know is he made some powerful magic, and that’s what Pride uses, or some kind of variation of it.”

I looked at the books again, “What’s this other one, I don’t know this language.”

Wind Thrasher moved closer and looked down at the glyphs, “They look like Ancient Zebra.”

“No, not many ponies can. You’d need to find a Zebra that knows the old tongue or a pony who studies it,” she replied.

Greed shrugged, “I know he said something once about his power being in those old books. Honestly when he finds out they’re missing he’ll come after you just to get them back. You think he was angry when you killed Gluttony? Whew Shadow, you have no idea. What I think you’ll need to know is in the smaller third book.”

“What third book?” I asked then I looked back in the saddlebags and saw a book the size of my hoof on the bottom. It wasn’t anything special, just a leather-bound notebook. When I took it out and opened it, I saw that Pride had been taking notes, in a tight scribble. There were notes about the older Zebra tome, more about Sombra’s journal. I started flipping through the pages until I saw a page that mentioned Black Magic. The first entry was dated nineteen years ago.

I’ve been trying my new experiments out, it’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. All my life magic has always made sense to me, every spell I tried was as easy as breathing. It was so annoying, nothing was challenging, not until I started reading this journal I found in the forgotten library. The spells in it are dark, yet so powerful. I’ve been trying the spells out, but I can’t seem to get a grip on this crystal magic at all. Maybe it’s because I’m not a true crystal pony like most of the ponies who used to live there were.

In my studies, I found that King Sombra was obsessed with dark magic of all kinds. He even went to the old Zebra lands to learn dark arts from a tribe called Starkatteri. He used what magic he knew and mixed it with the magic he learned from the Zebras. With this he was able to make a new kind of Dark Magic called Shadow Magic. He then took that and mixed it again with his natural ability to control the crystals in the empire. It made him powerful and a force to be reckoned with, it was also his downfall in the end. From his notes, he wasn’t willing to go far enough with the shadow magic to make himself powerful enough to win the war he started.

I can’t use crystal magic myself, but working backwards from Sombra’s notes, I was able to recreate the shadow magic he created. At first, I thought it’d be easy to use because of my special talents with magic, but I was wrong. I’ve been doing experiments, making sure to keep anypony away while I did, now I think I’ve got a good handle on it. Finally, a magic I have to work at to learn, I’ve been wanting something challenging for a long time.

I thought I had this magic controlled, but I was wrong. No matter how hard I try it keeps slipping away from me. It’s even stronger than I thought at first, and it takes everything I have to just to keep it contained. I’m scared that I may have to do something drastic to get full control. I know what I have to do, but I’m not sure I can, not after what happened today. Guards will be coming for me any time now, that’s if my sister doesn’t kill me first. I’ve never seen her so mad before. She always told me magic always comes with a price. I always thought she was just saying that because she wasn’t as good with spells as I am, but she was right.

I’ll have to pay the price for what I did today, and again if I want to control this power. I’m so close to figuring out the one thing that every pony wants to find. Black magic can lead me to true immortality, I was so close! Now I’m afraid that the guards will take me away, and I’ll be executed for what I did, unless…unless I do the spell. I’ll have to pay a toll for the magic to work, but it might be worth it. I’ll get true immortality, something pony kind has always dreamed of. If I do this, I’ll also get full control of the shadows and this powerful magic.

The last entry that mattered was dated only a couple weeks later that same year,

I’ve done it! At first when I preformed the spell, I wasn’t sure it worked. I knew something happened, because I felt my body melt away. It was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced in my life, but now I know that it worked. The high council wanted to execute me for my crime. Luckily for me, they tried everything they could think of, but everything they did just turned my body into a shadow, it was amazing, I didn’t even feel pain when they shot me, or cut me, or even when they tried to incinerate me. Nothing worked. Finally they thought of something, they offered me a chance to atone for what I’ve done seeing as they can’t harm me, they saw opportunity in me. After talking with the council, we came to an agreement. I was to atone for my crime, for my pride in the work I was doing that lead me to do something horrible. They told me about a group they used to have in The Enclave that was disbanded years ago code named “Sins of Equinity,” basically it was exile with a small twist, you give up you’re rights as a citizen of The Grand Pegasus Enclave and your name. You would then be sent to take care of jobs that they didn’t want the rest of the ponies to know about.

They named me the leader and stripped me of my name, I am no longer Oricalcos, I am now Pride the Arrogant, named for my Sin. Now I can help my sister with her own project and still widen the range of my abilities. I’m learning so much and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of what I can do with this new gift. There’s only one downside I’ve found so far, bright light hurts me immensely. If I ease my way into a lighted area, I can endure it, but if it’s sudden and harsh enough, my body seems to vanish, until I’m only a small bit of shadow. It still doesn’t kill me, but it’s very hard for me to pull myself back together. I fear that if something was harsh enough either with fire or light, my new body wouldn’t be able to handle it. It’s a good thing nopony has ever created a weapon powerful enough that it could kill me, but I’ll still keep this from The Council. I don’t need to give them a reason to find a way to kill me. One day, I’ll build this team up and make them so powerful that we can overthrow The Enclave itself, and show those damn pegasi who they should REALLY fear.

I finished reading the notes awestruck, so Pride was the first pony in The Sins, or at least the first pony in the new Sins. He had a goal in mind back then to take over one day, maybe that was why he was so angry when I killed Gluttony. The rest of what he wrote made sense too. From what I read, it looked like he performed some kind of spell that either changed his body into shadows or replaced it. Either way, his body wasn’t normal, that I knew, but from what I read, he was just a living shadow. He did it to become immortal to escape the death he was sentenced to and to control his powers. He was wrong though, because nopony was truly immortal. He feared harsh light or a weapon that used light or fire, because he thought if it was powerful enough, it would kill him.

“This doesn’t sound good at all from what I’m reading. There isn’t anything that can kill him, not unless we could come up with a way to make quick flash of light that was as bright as the sun itself. Even then he wasn’t sure if that would even work, but he does fear it,” I said looking at Wind Thrasher and Greed.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Greed said, scraping at the dirt with his hoof, “I’ll have to look into it though, I’m sure I can find something.”

“I’m not sure, I’m sure there has to be another way to kill him. Maybe if I keep using flash grenades on him, it might kill him. I’d have to trap him in a place where he couldn’t just get away easily. It could be done, if I plan this out right.”

“I think you can do it. Pride is called Pride for a reason. If you stroke his ego enough and make it seem like you’re helpless, he’ll let his guard down,” Greed said.

I liked the idea, I even have a few flash grenades that Silver…I mean Envy helped me get back at Crimson Canyon. All I’d have to do is get Pride alone in a room and spring a trap. It’d be tight, but I think I could do it. I looked back at Silver’s body. I’d have to do it, for her. If I kept that in mind, nopony could stop me.

I walked over to Silver’s body and sat down next to it, doing my best to hold back my sorrow at seeing her destroyed beauty. After a long moment passed I said, “We should bury her.”

Wind Thrasher came over to me and asked, “That’s a good idea Shadow, maybe it’ll help you deal with this.”

“No, but it’s the right thing to do. I’m not gonna let her rot in The Wasteland and get eaten by mutated birds like most ponies would,” I said looking in the distance trying to find a place that looked like it would be nice. Then I spotted something, it was a large rock in the middle of a field. The rock sparkled in the dim light, “Let’s bury her right there.”

They both looked at the rock and Wind Thrasher said, “I think it’s perfect.”

Greed smiled, “A perfect resting place for a beautiful mare,” then he frowned, “I wish I could help you with this Shadow, but I’ve spent too much time away as it is.”

“I have to, but don’t worry, from now on you can count on my help when you need it. I’ll learn what I can about what’s going on with The Enclave and find out why they want you so bad,” he said, then reached into a side pocket on his barding and pulled out a recording, “Take this, she wanted you to hear this when you found her. Listen to it anytime, all she wanted was to make sure you got it.”

I took it and slipped it into my Pip-Buck, “I’ll listen to it soon, but what about you? Are you gonna be okay?”

He opened his wings and winced a little, his chest still bleeding slightly, “I’ll be fine. I’ll find our doctor when I get to Appleton.”

Before he could fly away I asked, “Greed, before you go, can you tell me your real name?”

He stopped then smiled, “Another time Shadow, I’ll see you in Appleton,” then he flew off without saying another word, slowly flying toward the distant town.

Wind Thrasher came up to stand next to me as we watched him fly, “He’s a strange one, isn’t he?”

“He is, but he means well. One day I’m gonna have to ask him how he became a Sin.”

“Assuming he lives that long. If the Enclave or Pride finds out what he did today, they’ll kill him.”

“Maybe, but he’s too tricky to just let them kill him. I have faith that we’ll see him again,” I said then turned back toward the rock, “Now how are we going to dig a grave?”

“We’ll use our hooves, just like an earth pony would in the old days,” she said smiling at me, “Come on, I’ll help you.”

We worked with the hard soil, I decided to play the recording that Silver left for me. I let it play out loud as I worked, trying to hold back tears while she spoke.

It started out simple, Silvers voice echoed out of my Pip-Buck, weakly at first, then as she went on, she seemed to find strength not letting any fear or sorrow come to the words she had for me…

Hello Shadow Star, I’m glad Greed gave this to you like I asked him to. I think you can trust him, he seemed truly horrified at what Pride was doing to me. It hurts, everything hurts so bad right now, but I’m doing everything I can to not tell them anything. I’m sure your thinking right now that I’m an idiot for holding back and letting them do this. The truth is, no matter what I tell them, I’m going to die. I know it for a fact and there’s nothing I can do to change that, and I’m okay with it. It’s not like I want to die, but I will die for you. I just wish I could see you one last time before the end, it’d be nice to hold you close to me so I could vent my frustrations, not at you, but at myself for being so weak.

I should’ve stayed by your side when the fight broke out, but I had to prove that I was just as strong as Aura or Stardust. I knew they both saw me as just a tag along to warm your bed at night, but that wasn’t true, it never would be. I figured I could prove myself and you’d see I was just as strong as all of you. I’m sorry I let myself get captured, I’m really sorry Shadow. That isn’t what I wanted to say though.”

I kept digging the hole next to Wind Thrasher, neither of us looking at each other. We were doing our best to keep our minds in the work, to lose ourselves in the task of shoveling soil out of the ever-expanding hole. Really, we didn’t want to show the tears that were mixing with the sweat that was flowing down our faces. As we worked, Silver’s words kept playing in the background, her voice steady as she went on.

“Shadow, you’re an amazing mare and I think it’s time you saw that. I’ve been watching you for the past couple days and I’ve noticed how you always second guess yourself, you need to stop doing that and start trusting yourself more. You’re so good and kind, you’re strong and beautiful. Be your own mare and don’t let anypony tell you who you’re supposed to be. This mission to find your mother is noble and I understand why you think you need to go on with it. You want answers and you deserve to get them. I wish I told you all this sooner, but I was afraid you’d be angry with me for holding back. I didn’t want you to leave to go off and find her, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

“I remembered your mother when she first came to town with you when you were little. That wasn’t the last time I saw her. Grimoire came to Cartwheel eight years ago, she didn’t stay long, but she did talk to Box Tape and my mother. I remember her leaving something with mom, but I never found out what it was. Mom put it in her safe and I never found a key for it when she died. Eight months ago, Grimoire came back to Cartwheel, she was just passing through making her way toward the M.A.S.E.B.S. Tower that’s just north of town, but I never forget a pony. I tried to talk to her and ask her about you, I wanted to know why I never heard back from you after we first met so many years ago…she looked at me like I was an insect and told me her daughter was dead.”

“She told me that you died a long time ago, I don’t know why she said that, maybe she was just protecting you or I don’t know, but she was different, she was angry and cruel. I didn’t see her after that, but whatever she had planned for you, I don’t think she meant it to be good Shadow. You told me that your mom took away your memories of the past, maybe there was a reason for that and not the one she told you. You only know her as the mom you knew in Stable 28, but what if that isn’t what she’s really like. She could be using you for something bad. I’m not sure what it was, but she gave me a bad feeling when I met her that last time. So please, don’t go following her, learn what you can, but don’t go into her plan blindly. You need to find out who you were before the Stable, when you do then find her. At least that way you’ll know the truth about who she really is.”

“I won’t be there to help you down this hard road you’ve set yourself on. Just remember that even though I won’t be around, you still have friends. They love you, I can see that. Start listening to them more, and be there for them no matter what, because every one of them will be there for you. Stardust is loyal to a tee, you can count on him to protect you and always be there for you. Wingnut may have a dirty mind now and then, but he’s a colt he’ll grow out of it, maybe. I’m not making any promises about him. He’s still a strong kid, and smarter than most ponies I’ve met that are twice his age. Aura…what can I say about her? Well… I see something in her that I don’t think you have. Out of all your friends she’s the one I’m most jealous of. She’s so strong and brave, she’s always willing to speak her mind no matter who’s around. She’s also broken inside, she needs you more than you know. I want you to be there for her, don’t let her go, no matter what. Also talk to her about her past, don’t force it out of her, just sit back and listen, she’ll open up to you if you just listen.”

“That’s all I want from you Shadow, be there for your friends, and don’t ever give up on them. And remember that even if I’m gone, I’ll still be watching over you. I don’t know if the Goddesses are real or just a story that was cooked up to make us mortals feel better about our lives, but I chose to have faith that when I pass on to the afterlife, they’ll be there and from the paradise where they reside I’ll watch over you, until the day we are reunited again. The last thing I want to say is simple, don’t be afraid to love again. I know there’s somepony out there for you, one who will be able to stay by your side for many years, I wish it was me, but I think my role in life was to help you find yourself. I hope I was able to do that. I love you Shadow Star, I always have and I always will, thank you for making my last few days, perfect. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, even if it meant I could live on for fifty years, I still wouldn’t give up the time we had together, short as it was.”

“Now go out there, be strong, be safe, and show everypony that you’re not a pony to cross. I have faith in you. Good bye…”

The audio recording cut out, her last two words echoing inside my head. Tears welled up in my eyes again as I stopped digging. I looked down at my dirty hooves watching as tears fall on them. She met mom eight months ago, but she never told me, because she didn’t want me to go on with this foolish journey to find her. Not because she was worried about me finding out the truth, but because she didn’t trust the pony mom had become. She wanted to protect me from whatever plan mom set into motion eight years ago when she left me alone in Stable 28. It also meant Lonely Hearts was right about her, she wasn’t the same pony that I knew from when I was younger, or maybe I didn’t know her like I thought I did. Was she even my real mother, or was I just a filly she was using for some greater goal? Where did I come from and why wouldn’t mom ever talk about it when we were in the Stable? The more I looked into her, the more questions I had.

What could I do about everything that was happening right now, all of this crap that revolved around either mom, or this stupid Pip-Buck she’d left for me. If I’d left the stable without it, no pony would be after me or even care who I was. I’d just be another mare in The Wasteland. To be honest I probably would’ve been dead already without the help of S.A.T.S. At the same time, if I’d never found the Pip-Buck I wouldn’t have become friends with Stardust, he would’ve been there to save me from the raiders, but he wouldn’t have needed a reason to travel with me after. I would’ve just stayed in Cartwheel, the same went for Aura. If the Overmare hadn’t lied to the Red Talons about me, then she wouldn’t have ever stolen the orders to hunt me down and came searching for me. Wind Thrasher would still be stuck in Stable 9, having to do whatever she was told to by Dr. Cell. Wingnut and Honeysuckle would’ve been killed by those Cazadores if I wasn’t heading to New Pegasus to find Lonely Hearts.

No matter the reasons why mom left the Mark II with me, it wasn’t the root of all my problems, no, Mom was. The Pip-Buck was the reason I made so many new friends, and met some interesting and fun ponies along the way. Shit, if I never found it, I’d still be miserable living in Stable 28 with a sad lonely life ahead of me. Living in The Wasteland was hard, but it was so much better than the shitty life I had back in Stable 28. I was happy now, I laughed every day no matter what was happening around me, my friends always tried their best to make me smile. I rarely smiled in Stable 28, it was only when Milkshake or Balefire could get away and spend the day with me. As we grew older that happened less and less, first with Balefire training to get into security, and Milkshake taking on small duties as she got ready for one of the jobs she’d be doing when she came of age. I was always with Auntie, watching her go through the day making sure the Stable was running properly, but I never paid it much mind, I only cared about myself back then.

I didn’t think like that anymore, now I had something to look forward to in life, and even with the loss of a mare I cared for more than anything, I still had a goal. She was right, I needed to find out who I was first before I started looking for mom again or at the very least before I continued down the path she’d set for me. I am Shadow Star, I’m not good at listening Auntie would always say. She was right too, if mom wanted me to go one direction, then I’d cheat, and take a side path, one of my own choosing.

I popped the recording out of the Mark II, placed it in my saddle bags then got out of the hole Wind Thrasher and I dug. She watched me quietly as I lifted Silver gently with my magic then lowered her into the grave. I reached down and closed her lifeless eyes. I arranged her forehooves so they were crossed over her chest. Then I sat back and looked down at her face, ignoring the blood and bruises left over from her imprisonment. She was still beautiful, and she looked at peace now, nothing could change what happened, she knew that. That was why she left me that long message, she wanted me to know that she didn’t blame me for what happened. She wanted me to move on with my life, to find my friends and find out who I really was. So that’s what I’ll do, after I take care of Pride. No matter what, he still had to be dealt with.

I smiled as I looked up at the cloudy sky and I started to speak, “Silver Snip was a great pony. She wasn’t Strong or as brave as other ponies I knew, braver than me, no doubt, maybe even stronger, but she had a big heart. She befriended a scared sickly little filly because she wanted to see her smile. She loved a mare who was broken inside and wanted to do everything she could to help her heal. She risked her life and in the end, gave her life to protect the mare she loved with all her heart. Goddesses, if you’re really up there, please watch over this mare’s soul and welcome her into your loving hooves. Help her find peace in the afterlife.”

It was all I could say, so using my magic I moved as much dirt as I could back into the hole. Covering the body forever. It took a few times of moving the piles of dirt, but soon I was finished. When I was finished, Wind Thrasher moved over to the rock and using a jagged rock she found on the ground, she started to scratch deep lines in the grey stone. It took her a few minutes but when she was done I felt fresh tears falling as I saw what she’d done.

Here Lies Silver Snip
Friend, Lover, and a One of a Kind Pony
She Gave her life for the Mare she loved more than anything
Let her Spirit find Peace in the loving embrace of Celestia and Luna

She nodded, her own eyes filled with tears, “I didn’t know her, but after listening to what she had to say, I wish I had. It was the least I could do for you Shadow. Also, since I was never able to bury my mother, this helps me find peace in a small sense. The words may be for Silver Snip, but for me they’re also for my mom, who also gave her life to protect the rest of the stable and in hope that one day I’d be free.”

I moved closer and hugged the batpony for a long moment, both of us letting our sorrow out. It didn’t last long, but in that short time I felt like everything bad that had happened was being washed away with the tears. It was time for a new pony to show herself. It was time to become the Courier Mare The Wasteland called for. If DJ Pon3 and Mr. New Pegasus wanted a hero in the west, then I’d give them one. I’d start by showing The Enclave that you don’t mess with a wasteland pony, or the mare I loved. It was time to take on Pride, and get Stardust back.

That was the first time in my life I felt I was a part of the wasteland, I was no longer the same Stable 28 Mare, I was the Courier Mare of the Wasteland. Hero of the west. At least that’s what I told myself at the time

I pulled away from Wind Thrasher, dried my eyes and said, “I’m still going to head to Appleton and try my best to kill Pride. I’ll understand if you don’t want to go with me, you already did more than I could have asked by helping me get Silver back.”

She laughed drying her eyes, “I don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll stick by you as long as you’ll let me,” she held out a hoof, “I want to be your friend and friends stick together.”

I took her hoof and shook it, “I’ll be happy to call you my friend Wind Thrasher, and thank you,” my smile fell as I thought about Aura and Wingnut. I’m sure they were back at Crimson Canyon by now, and they had to be furious with me. I’d have to do whatever I could to make it up to them. “I just hope that I’ll be able to earn back the trust of my other friends, after what I did, I’m not sure that’ll be easy.”

“I dunno, you might be surprised how far friends will go for each other. Don’t give up hope too quickly on Aura and Wingnut.”

“You’re right, let’s go take care of Pride, then I can find them and let them take out whatever anger they have toward me. Are you ready to do this?”

“Maybe, mind you it’s probably going to get one or both of us killed, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Then let’s get going, we aren’t going to be able to do much while sitting around here crying like Foals.”

I laughed then nodded. We both headed off toward Appleton, I only looked back once toward the large rock that now served as a marker and tombstone for Silver Snip. I made sure to brand that rock and the writing on it into my mind forever. I vowed that I wouldn’t let another pony I loved die like she did, I would die first before I’d let them give their lives for me just like Silver had. I whispered one last prayer to the Goddesses then turned away.

***

Appleton was nothing like any town I’d seen so far in The Wasteland. Cartwheel was a town with rickety walls around it to help protect the town from raiders or whoever else would try and take the city, it wasn’t perfect but it worked. New Pegasus and Freedom were both towns that revolved around gambling, sex, trade, business, and fear. Frosty Summit was a safe haven for any who needed it. Crimson Canyon was a mercenary settlement for Griffons. Appleton, was like walking into a prewar town that hadn’t changed since the bombs fell, apart from the fact that instead of traders and ponies just trying to get by in the world, it was like walking into a den of Thieves.

Everypony here had a hard edge to them, each one looking like they’d be more likely to stab you before they’d shake your hoof in greeting. At the same time, even with their hard look, they had a sense of welcoming to them. They looked scary but none of the ponies that I could see turned away anypony who was walking in or out of the town. They also smiled at one another, welcoming some of the traders who were leading their Brahman in through the gate.

But it wasn’t the look of the other ponies that kept Wind Thrasher and myself outside looking in. It was the Pegasi flying over the town, all of them in power armor with magical energy rifle battle saddles. There was also something I’d never seen before just on the outskirts of town. There were three armored carriages, with pegasi hooked up to them. I guess they were sky carriages, but I couldn’t be sure. I remember the trader outside of Little Hoof saying The Enclave took over Appleton, but I didn’t think it was this bad.

It was then that I noticed two Enclave guards just inside the gate that lead into town. Each one was checking everypony who walked in, keeping their eyes out for something. I wasn’t sure what, but I’m sure I would be a pony who would raise suspicion. I looked over at Wind Thrasher and asked, “How are we gonna get past them?”

“Maybe we could sneak in?” she said, watching the ponies who were heading slowly in and out of Appleton, “I’m sure one of those ponies would have an outfit that we could use too.”

As I sat there trying to think of a way to sneak past the ponies guarding the gate, something went flying over us speeding toward the gate. There was the sound of crunching and a body falling to the ground. I looked over at the gate and saw that one of the guards was dead, a long spear sticking out of one of his eye sockets. The other guard was backing away from the body, his battle saddle charging.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked, but I got my answer a moment later as ponies on the road started screaming and running away.

As I watched an equine form materialize a few feet away, it was wearing a red cloak that seemed to shimmer. It pulled back its hood, revealing a Zebra Stallion. He hefted another spear in his hoof and threw it at the other guard yelling, “For the Caesar!”

The spear buried itself in the ground an inch away from the guard. He jumped back, then fired at the lone Zebra yelling, “Romans!”

The Zebra easily sidestepped the shot and threw his cloak back showing off his own battle saddle. The Zebra fired taking the guard down like it was nothing. More pegasi started to fly down toward the Zebra firing at him. He just smiled and yelled, “You think your puny garrison is a match for the fury of The Romans?”

As the trade ponies started to run in all directions, some of them pulled away throwing off their cloaks, revealing more striped faces. They pulled out rifles and battle saddles all of them firing up at the armor covered pegasi. The air around the first Zebra shimmered and another ten zebra’s materialized. Before I knew it, an all-out battle erupted in front of my eyes.

I felt Wind Thrasher pulling on me, “Shadow, now’s a good time for us to get into town.”

“Is there going to be a town after this?” I asked my eyes glued on the fight. I watched as a pegasus flew down at one of the advancing Zebra’s, he dodged a shot, the stinger on his tail coming around and jamming into the zebra’s neck, the tip protruding out the other side. Before the pegasus could fly away, another zebra ran up and jammed a spear through the soldier’s visor. His body went ridged for a moment then fell as the zebra pulled the bloody spear out.

“It’s better than staying here and dodging stray energy beams, now let’s go,” she said pulling on my foreleg.

I turned my head away from the carnage unfolding before me and ran toward the gate. We just made it through when something exploded behind us. I looked back and saw chunks of pony flying through the air, a red mist where I assume the pony had been a second before. Turning away again I followed Wind Thrasher as she ducked into an alley.

“Well that worked I guess,” I said shaking a little from the adrenalin pumping through my veins, “What the hell was that all about?”

“Yes, from what the N.L.R. told me, those Zebras are the worst thing for ponies of any kind to run into. The stories about what they do are terrifying,” she said with a shiver, “Let’s move further into town, we can use this to start searching for Pride.”

“I think we won’t have to look far,” I said ducking farther down the alley. Walking by closely followed by Sloth and Lust, was Pride.

He was right there, and he didn’t even know I was here. I started walking toward him pulling the plasma rifle from its holster. Wind Thrasher grabbed me and pulled me behind a pile of trash whispering, “Not now Shadow, not with those other two ponies with him. You need to get him alone first.”

I felt the hot rage flowing through me as I looked at his smug golden face. The image of Silver’s corpse still fresh in my mind. I wanted to destroy him, I wanted him to suffer like he made her suffer. It took all of my will power, not to pull away and make an insane dash toward the bastard. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.

“Calm down,” Wind Thrasher said. She wrapped her forehooves around me and pulled me into an embrace. Slowly my shaking slowed and the rage left me.

She just smiled and let the embrace linger for another moment then she let me go, “I’m your friend Shadow, I’m here to make sure you don’t do something stupid.”

As she talked, Prides voice echoed from just around the corner to the alley, “What’s going on out there?”

Sloth answered in his unexcited monotone voice, “I heard one of the soldiers say something about Zebra’s attacking err something.”

Pride sighed, “They must know that this town is the perfect place to set up camp if they wanted to take over Halo One, like we did. They probably scouted our pegasi leaving slowly and thought this would be the perfect time to try and take Appleton.”

Lust laughed, “More like the worse time if you ask me. What should we do about them Pride?”

“It’s not like we need this town anymore, but our own ponies are still here so I guess we should put a stop to this. It’d also help put those Stripes in their place,” Pride replied.

I heard Sloth yawn, “Are you gonna make us go fight them Pride? Cause I really don’t feel like doing that, it’s so much work.”

“No, I’ll take care of this, I could do with an excuse to let out some of this anger,” Pride said, then he laughed, “It’ll also be a good time to show the ponies around here why you don’t mess with The Seven Sins of Equinity.”

“What do you want us to do then? Sit on our fore hooves and watch?” Lust asked.

“I want you two to go find out what’s taking Greed so long, he should’ve been back by now.”

“She’s already taken off with the last Raptor that went out. I’ll deal with this, finish up here, then go find Greed. When you do find out where he is, I want all three of you to fly back to Stratus right away.”

“Can do boss,” Sloth said, a moment later I saw both Pegasi flying off away from the battle I could still hear going on just outside the walls.

We waited a moment then Wind Thrasher and I crept toward the entrance to the alley. Peeking around it I just caught sight of Pride walking outside the gate. We followed, wondering what he was going to do to stop the Zebra advance. When we got to the gate we watched as Pride walked out toward the fight.

He raised his voice, his horn glowing and yelled in a magically projected voice, “All Enclave Soldiers fall back toward town, leave them to me.”

They all obeyed, the thirty or so Pegasi that could still move, flew back over the walls and into town. Luckily none of them flew toward us. The Zebra who first showed up looked at Pride, a triumphant look on his face, “Are you here to surrender Pony?”

“On the contrary, I’m here to kill all of you. Well maybe not all of you. Somepony needs to send the message of your demise to the Caesar,” Pride said.

The Zebra laughed, “You ponies think you’re so powerful, and what makes you think you can defeat my centurions by yourself?”

“I don’t think, I know. I’m Pride the Arrogant, leader of The Seven Sins of Equinity,” he said then he started to laugh, “Why am I explaining this to a backward cultured piece of shit like you?”

Pride just yawned as the Zebra’s opened fire. The bullets just passed through him like my own had back at Frosty Summit. The holes they made just turned to shadow and reformed a second later. When the gunfire stopped Pride said, “Are you finished or are you just reloading?”

Another shot rang out, a bullet flying through Prides head. The leader looked like he’d been slapped. As he spoke his voice shook a little, “You are a demon of the Stars.”

“No, I’m just a unicorn who learned how to control some of the most powerful magic known to Ponykind,” Pride said, then Shadows erupted from his horn forming into sharp points. The light around Pride seemed to dim almost like his presence alone was darkening everything around him, “Don’t worry though, you’re attack here will still accomplish something good, you’ll serve as an example to that imbecile you call Caesar that we are not to be trifled with.”

He never finished what he was going to say. All the shadows around Pride flew forward, each one stabbing through the helms and heads of the closest Zebras. As the first Six fell, Pride started to move forward, his body erupting into shadows, his presence seeming to grow and surround them like a cloud of death. They started to fire wildly, but it did no good.

One of the Zebra’s closest to town fell, his head flying away from his body, a shower of blood spraying from his neck. Another screamed and tried to run, only to run face first into a spike of shadow that erupted from the ground. Two more were smashed to a bloody pulp as another shadow slammed down onto them, turning their bodies into jelly. Three were left now, they were slowly backing away as the darkness around them pulled together reforming into Pride.

“What…What are you?” One of the remaining Zebra’s asked, shaking violently.

Pride didn’t say a word, he just waved a hoof. A shadow shot out from that hoof picking the Zebra who’d spoken into the air. He started to scream, then the scream got higher as the shadows around his torso tightened. The Scream turned into a gurgle as his innards exploded from his mouth spraying blood and chunks of meat down on the last two Zebras. Then Pride dropped the body in front of them.

They looked at him like he was a demon from hell. It made sense since Pride was standing there surrounded by Zebra Corpses, blood pooling around him. It was a scarlet reminder of who they were messing with. After a minute passed Pride finally spoke, “A message needs somepony to deliver it, but sometimes a message might not be received if only one brings the message. I really need my message to be received properly, so you two get to live…for now. Make sure you tell your Caesar what happened here and you let him know that if he tries to screw with The Enclave again, I’ll make this look like a simple mercy culling.”

Pride laughed, then a shadow shot out and stabbed him in the eye. The Zebra screamed as the sharp tip poked through his cornea, then ripped the eye out leaving the Zebra screaming on the ground next to his companion. He pulled the shadow back to himself the eyeball still stuck to the end of it. He looked it over for a moment before letting it drop to the ground where he stepped on the orb slowly, “Do I make myself clear?”

The remaining Zebra who was still standing nodded, then he moved to help the Zebra who was screaming on the ground. He lifted him up and together they both ran from the demonic pony who started laughing maniacally.

Wind Thrasher and I retreated back into town putting as much distance as we could between us and Pride. When we finally found what looked like a safe place to stop, Wind Thrasher asked, “How do you plan on killing…that!?”

I was stunned at the display of mutilation Pride had just did but I shook my head and looked at Wind Thrasher trying my best to look calm “I have a plan…I think.”

“YOU THINK!?” Wind Thrasher exclaimed in a loud whisper, “How do you plan on killing that!? He’s not even a pony!”

“Everypony has a weakness, even Pride. If I trap him in a small place where he can’t just escape easily and use multiple flash grenades, it should kill him,” I said.

“I have to do something Wind Thrasher, I can’t just let a pony like him stay alive.”

Honestly, I couldn’t either, Pride hadn’t fought like that before. He’d used the spikes like that before, but the other stuff…it was just insane. Those Zebra’s didn’t stand a chance against him, and he was only ONE of The Sins. If Envy was right, he wasn’t even the strongest one. What could Envy do that could top Pride’s power?

I sighed, “You’re right, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have to kill Pride. If you don’t wanna help me, I understand. I don’t want you getting hurt just to help me with this.”

The anger in her face faded then she sighed, “It’s not like that Shadow. Yes, I’m scared, but I’ll stand by your side. I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me, I know I can do this. Hell, even if I can’t, then it’s not like it matters in the end. My life doesn’t matter, all I am is a pony who’s carrying a Pip-Buck that I don’t understand, with stuff on it that’s way over my head just to get it back to my mother. I don’t care about it anymore, if I don’t win, then at least I’ll be back with Silver…and Morning Star will be gone too,” I said turning away from my friend.

“Shadow, you have ponies who care about you, that’s a horrible way to look at life. You matter to Aura and Wingnut, I’m sure your mother still cares about you, and what about your friends in your Stable?”

I rounded on her, anger lancing through me, “Oh yeah, let’s just take a look at the ponies who care about me. Aura, I lied to her about where I was going and betrayed her by leaving. I’ve dragged her around The Wasteland, putting her into dangerous situations just so I could finish my quest, not once taking time to make sure she was okay or even wanted to help me. Wingnut, I took a colt and put him into situations that a colt shouldn’t ever have to experience. He should’ve been brought to a place where he could grow and use his mind for something good. Stardust, all I did for him was help The Sins find him. I treated him like a bodyguard and not like a friend. My friends in the Stable, what a good friend I was, all I ever cared about was my shitty life and my problems instead of worrying about them or their problems. Then I left them behind without a second thought. And my mother, she might care about me, but she sure knew how to show it didn’t she? She’s just as bad as I am if not worse, she put me into a situation where I had to run away from the only life I knew, she also took away the memories I had of my real home, and wanted me to go around The Wasteland with a Pip-Buck that she wants and so does everypony else. She didn’t even have the decency to TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK I WAS DOING! So, tell me why I’m worth anything!”

She didn’t yell at me, she didn’t try to tell me I was wrong. Wind Thrasher just gave me a smile filled with pity and said, “You also saved your friends in many ways Shadow. Aura had no one to call a friend before she met you. Wingnut would’ve died if he didn’t meet you and his life is better by knowing you no matter what you think. Stardust was always on the run from what you told me, and by traveling with you, he found a new purpose in life. Your friends in the Stable I’m sure understood why you were the way you were, they still loved you. Don’t forget about me, if it wasn’t for you I’d still be stuck in Stable 9, now I’m free and nothing can be better than that, even if I died today. As for your mom, she had her reasons for doing what she did and you can’t blame her until you know everything. Now stop thinking like a foal, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start thinking of a way to win. Not what would happen if you died. Fight to Win, not to lose. When we buried Silver I saw your face Shadow it was determined are you really gonna let it die that fast?”

I hung my head, ashamed at the dark thoughts that had been running through my head, “You’re right Wind Thrasher, but I’m not sure what else to do.”

“Your plan isn’t a bad one Shadow, but it can’t be your only one. Is there anything else you can think of that would work against Pride? Because that…thing I saw out there, isn’t a pony who’ll just fall for a simple Trap.”

“I…may know one more thing that would work, but if I did it, I risk letting something even worse than Pride out.”

Morning Star pushed to the front of my mind for a moment, “I wouldn’t say I’m worse than Pride, but I am powerful enough to kill him.”

Morning Star strained to keep her hold on my mind so she could speak to me, “I know the magic he’s using and how to block it. I’ve felt it before and it might be powerful, but it’s not invulnerable.”

Doing my best to push Morning Star away I said, “Remember that thing that lives inside me I told you about before? Well, it could be powerful enough to stop him for good. The problem is, if I let her out again, I might not be able to stop her,” I pointed at the ring on my horn, “Once this comes off, I’m not sure I’ll have enough strength to put it back on again.”

“It could be a risk we’ll have to take,” Wind Thrasher said, “If I have to, I’ll make sure you don’t lose yourself to whatever that thing is.”

“She’s right Shadow, and it’s not like I have to take over fully to fight Pride. It could be like when the griffons attacked, you saw what a small amount of my power can do. Imagine if you had control of just a little more,” Morning Star said as she faded slowly back into my mind.

“I’m…scared of what would happen if I gave in to the temptation of that power.”

“Then don’t be Scared, use the power to help ponies and don’t worry about what you might do. Don’t let your power control you Shadow, you control it. Just like I have to do with my own,” Wind Thrasher said.

“Well if luck isn’t on my side for once,” The voice of the one pony I wasn’t ready to run into yet said. Wind Thrasher and I both turned to see Pride standing on the other side of the road. He was leaning against a building watching us. He grinned, “I take it you got my message.”

At the sight of his twisted grin, everything I was afraid of about Pride vanished. I stood my ground and said, “Loud and clear Pride, and I’m here to show you that you aren’t immortal.”

Pride just laughed again, “How cute, you think you can kill me do you? Let me guess, you think that if you can somehow expose me to enough bright light, it’ll kill me. I’m sure you read what I wrote in my journal. I do hope that isn’t you’re plan, because I should tell you that it won’t work. You’re not the first one to try something like that on me. I found out years ago that no amount of light can kill me, it’ll hurt me, or make me vanish for a while, but it won’t kill me. Those notes I left for you to find were old. I originally meant for you to find them so you could try your gambit giving me an excuse to kill you in a fight. Then the higher ups couldn’t do anything about it. Sadly, I don’t have time for that now, I knew you’d come here to find me, I’ve been waiting for you.”

Wind Thrasher put a hoof on my shoulder saying quickly, “He’s not lying Shadow, I can see it in his eyes. This was a trap, we have to get out of here.”

“Enough of this,” I yelled pulling out my plasma rifle, “I’ll make you pay for what you did to Silver.”

Pride erupted into shadows as I fired at him, the wall of shadows flew at me. I tried to dodge, but he was faster. The shadows wrapped around me lifting me into the air, and throwing me into one of the buildings. Before I could even hit the ground, they slammed into me crushing my body against the wall. Wind Thrasher tried to help, but a shadow peeled away from the larger mass and swatted her out of the air like a bug.

She slammed into another wall, a tiny scream coming from her muzzle. She fell to the ground, and didn’t get back up. I was doing my best to breathe as the shadow crushed me against the wall. A light chuckling came from the middle of the creature Pride’s voice coming from it, “Finally Courier, it’s just me and you. No more friends to come in and save the day. Whatever will you do now?”

Using what was left of my strength I pulled a flash grenade from my Saddle bags and wheezed out, “This!”

I pulled the pin and dropped the flash bomb. A yell came from the shadow and Pride released me fleeing for the other side of the road. It went off and he screamed as some of his shadows blew away like dust, but unlike before, he didn’t vanish. I’d have to get closer and use more flash bombs to kill him.

When I hit the ground, I took a few deep breaths, then looked over at where the shadowy form hovered, “I’m not going down that easily Pride. You’re going to die today.”

He reformed back into a pony, “Nothing can kill me Courier, trust me, you’re not the first pony to try this trick. I’ve had ponies trying to kill me for forty years. From the jealous who hated me for my natural talent with magic, to the ponies in The Enclave who wanted me dead because of who I am. So, tell me Courier, how do you think you can possibly kill me? A mare whose magical power is mediocre at best?”

“Use my power Shadow, my power can kill him,” Morning Star said, her presence pushing past the protection spell again, “It’s the only way, those flash bombs won’t work, he’s using black magic, you need light magic to take him down.”

“I’ll never trust you Morning Star. If I let you take hold again, you’ll never let go.”

Pride started to walk toward me slowly, shadows rolling off him in waves, “No answer?”

Morning Star was starting to fade, but she pushed hard to keep contact, “I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll give you access to my power without taking control of your mind. I’ll help you control the power itself, but you’ll be the one using it and controlling what to cast.”

“Because I never lie, if I make a deal I keep it. You and I may have our problems, but I still need you alive. Don’t let us die because you’re too stubborn to let me help. Please Shadow, think about Silver, are you really going to let Pride kill you like he did those Zebras? Is that what her memory deserves?”

Pride smiled thinking I was talking to him, “I’ll admit, you are a brave pony. Before you die, just know that you do have my utmost respect.”

As he spoke Morning Star said, “Pull off the ring and cut yourself, once you do I can give you the power you’ll need. You’ll be able to feel me in your mind helping with the flow of power, but you have to cast the spells and control where they land. That’s all I can do without taking over.”

Pride shot toward me, in the split second it took for him to attack, I reached up and pulled the talisman off my horn. Throwing it away, I jumped out of the way but let one of the shadows scrape by, leaving a shallow cut in my foreleg. I ran over to Wind Thrasher and lifted her into the air as I ran away from Pride.

I could feel the power flowing into me as I ran toward the center of town, pushing past townsponies and traders. When I reached the center of town I set Wind Thrasher down and turned to face Pride. I picked up the plasma rife again and pointed it at him.

He smiled as he reformed his spears of shadow, “I thought we’ve done this already?”

I smiled as I felt the last of the power from Morning Star flow into me and light formed around the cut in my foreleg, “You don’t know what I’m capable of Pride, now you’ve forced my hoof. I’ll show you my true power.”

He started to laugh, “Your true power? Oh please, that’s cute. Goodbye Courier.”

He moved to attack, but he was too late. The light exploded out of me forcing him to jump away with a hiss. The explosion of magic that came was almost too much for me to handle, let alone understand. My body changed like it did when I fought the griffons, only without the pain that accompanied it. My Coat changed to a silvery white and my mane turned black as the night sky. It was over in a matter of seconds. I could feel Morning Star as she said, but she wasn’t trying to take control of me like she had the first time. She was only there to help me understand the magic I now held and to guide it as I used it.

When I spoke, my voice was my own thank the goddesses, “It’s time for you to die Pride.”

I was about to attack when I saw the look on Pride’s face. He looked…scared, could he feel the power, or was it something else? He took a step back and said in a quite voice, “No…that’s not possible.”

“Why do you have her face? She died, you can’t have her face,” he was rambling. Pride was rambling? Whose face did I have, did he know who Morning Star was? Then the Shadows around him exploded as she Screamed, “HOW DARE YOU!”

Pure anger rolled off the golden pony as he attacked. The towns ponies around us screamed as dark magic rolled across the center of town, two ponies dying from just the touch of his shadows. The darkness rolled toward me like a wave. Oddly I didn’t feel fear like I normally would from such a powerful spell, no, my mind was clear. I pulled on the vast amount of energy I could feel flowing through me from Morning Star and I cast the first spell that came into mind.

A wave of bright light exploded from my horn blasting right at the dark wall of shadow. It parted at the touch of the spell blowing right at the dark from in the middle. I saw a quick glow of purple eyes then the dark shape vanished, the flood of darkness flowing down and extinguishing the light of my spell. I flipped around, keeping my head on a swivel looking for any sign of the bastard. A lance of shadow flew out from one of the alleys, I jumped to one side, but not before it left a shallow gash along my cheek. Another second later and it would’ve gone through my eye.

I shot another blast of light at the alley, but nothing was there, “Fuck!” I yelled as I twisted around again, but not before a spear punched through my armor and into my back and out the other side. Morning Star and I both screamed in pain as something seemed to explode inside my body. A moment later I was lifted off the ground and thrown toward the far side of the town center, my body crashing into a building. If it wasn’t for the reinforced armor I would’ve broken more than the brick my body landed against.

I looked down at myself, and saw blood slowly flowing from my stomach. I winched then did my best to get back to my hooves looking up at the rolling shadows that seemed to fill the town square, purple eyes in the center of the mass. A wide grin of pure pleasure and terror just under those violet orbs. As I looked into those eyes I forgot the pain and only thought about the monster that I had to face, the monster who killed the mare I loved, the evil bastard that has made my life hell.

He didn’t say a word, he only attacked. Blades of shadow flew at me, quick as a bullet. My horn flashed and I teleported away, reappearing on the other side of the square. I cast another spell, this one not just a burst of light, but a binding spell to try and hold down the mass of shadow. His shadows blew that spell apart as more lances of darkness tried to pin me down. I jumped out of the way of two and was nearly cut in two by another that came from another alley. I blew that one apart with another burst of light. Keeping the light going I ran toward the center of the mass of shadow.

“And I’m not letting you leave this town alive, COURIER!” Pride’s voice echoed out from the center of the shadow.

Dozens of blades blew out toward me, but I was ready for it. I ducked under them by sliding along the ground, my magic taking two flash bombs from my saddle bags and throwing them into the center of the mass. I closed my eyes as they went off. Pride’s scream bringing a small smile to my lips. Opening my eyes again, I got to my hooves ready for another attack, the mass of shadows was gone, but Pride wasn’t.

He was standing only a few inches away from me, his horn glowing. He looked a little shocked, but the expression vanished in a second, “Nice trick, but it won’t work this time.”

I jumped back, but another shadow came out of nowhere and stabbed through my hind leg, another going through my right foreleg, pinning me to the ground. I tried to scream and attack again, but Pride moved close and pressed his shadow covered horn to mine. When the tip of his horn met mine, it was like somepony started pouring hot lead into my horn. The pain started at where the connection was made then ran down my horn into my head and throughout my entire body.

The pain was so intense I couldn’t even scream. Morning Star was doing her best to fight whatever spell he was using. I could feel her flowing some kind of power through my body and up to meet the magic that was pouring into me.

“Shadow, you need to pull free, before he stops my spell,” she said as she struggled to hold the magic back, “If you don’t this will kill us!”

I didn’t ask questions, ignoring the pain flowing into me, and the pain of the blades in my legs, I finally got a scream past my lips, and pulled one leg free of the shadows. My foreleg came up and slammed into Pride’s horn. Instead of passing through it like I figured it would, my hoof connected with a solid object. Pride’s eyes went wide and he screamed. The same instant the pain from his spell vanished. Without anything to fight against Morning Star’s spell burst forward like a flood of its own and shot into Pride.

As our horns parted and the spell hit him, there was a spark of light and a few flashes of images flashed into my vision. A colt showing off a new spell for some older unicorns proud of what he was able to accomplish at such a young age, another of a mature colt casting a spell that was thought to be impossible for one pony alone to use, and the last was the same colt, now a stallion mistaking a new spell he was testing out and hurting a young foal stopping the foal’s heart. It only took a second, but the feelings of that pony filled me like it was my own experiences.

“What was that?” Morning Star asked as she stopped her own attack, she seemed just as shocked as I was.

Pride pulled away, a look of pure shock on his face, “Who are you?” he asked in wonder.

“That’s not my name, that pony died years ago,” he said backing up a little, “Tell me what you are!”

“I WASN’T talking to you Courier!” he exclaimed, his body exploded into shadows again shooting toward me, “I was talking to the THING inside you!”

“He can feel me,” Morning Star said as I dodged the attack and fired another burst of light at him, “How can he feel me? Unless…no he can’t know what I am, unless the power he’s using is…”

“Shadow, let him hit you with the next attack, I know a way we can stop him.”

“You really are insane!” I yelled as I teleported out of the way of another attack from the shadowy form.

“Fine,” I said. I stopped and stood my ground as the cloud of shadow flew up into the air. It rolled around for a moment then it shot at me with all its force.

It slammed into me with the force of a dragon. I felt my hooves leave the ground as I was lifted high into the air, the shadows around me tightening, trying to crush me. I could feel Morning Star readying a spell for me, as she did a voice echoed in my ear, “Die!”

I cast whatever spell she had prepared. I felt warmth flow through out every inch of my body then it erupted. Spears of light flew out from all points around me and pushed past the crushing shadow. Four points of the spell reached the outside of the shadow around us, then it blasted around everything, enclosing Pride within a sphere of magical light. Everything went white.

When I could see again, I found myself on the ground blinking up at the cloudy sky. I turned my head, a throbbing pain just behind my eyes, I saw pride laying there his gaze locked with mine. I pulled a healing potion out of my saddle bags and drank it as quick as I could. The bleeding in my forelegs, stomach and back slowed slightly. I got to my hooves and readied another spell as I limped toward Pride.

His eyes followed me as I approached, “I understand now, and here I thought it was a myth,” he said weakly.

“What are you rambling about now Pride?” I asked as I drew closer, keeping my guard up.

He chuckled, “You should’ve killed me with that spell Aquila, because now I know who and what you are. Now you’ve missed your opportunity!”

Seemingly of its own accord the spell I was readying on my horn vanished. Morning Star seemed to be struck dumb by his simple words. Without her guidance I couldn’t use the spell on my own. I took a step back, as Pride got to his own hooves, his self-satisfied smirk back on his smug face. He took a step closer to me, “Courier do you know what lies beneath your tainted hide?”

“Don’t listen to him Shadow, he’s trying to get into your head,” Morning Star said.

He started to laugh, “Goddesses above, you don’t know what you are do you? How did a pony like you end up in a Stable? It’s quite fascinating, I almost want to take you with me so I can study the creature that lives inside you. That is if I could let something like it live. But sadly, I can’t,” as he spoke thick shadows started to pour out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

“KILL HIM SHADOW NOW!” Morning Star yelled, but something kept me from moving.

I could feel the spell I needed to use, a spell that would destroy every part of his magic, but I couldn’t draw on it. Pride’s gaze had me held in some kind of trance. He chuckled louder, “Aquila, don’t even try and do anything, you chose the wrong vessel. You had your chance to take me out, now it’s too late, I’ve won. I’m going to destroy you and cleanse Equestria of your kind. You should feel honored though, because no pony has ever gotten to see me use my power to its full potential.”

“What do you mean?” I was able to squeak out as more shadows poured from him.

“Shadow we need to run NOW!” Morning Star yelled again, but her voice was nothing more than the buzzing of a nat.

“I want you to pay close attention Courier, because I want you to understand before you die, what you got yourself into. You see the reason no pony can kill me is simple. I don’t have a real body anymore, I had to use it as payment to obtain this power I now have. What you see now is nothing more than a shell…a container if you will. It holds back my full power, it also makes it a lot easier to keep my mind intact. Because magic always comes with a price, the more power you obtain, the more you pay, be it mind, body, or soul. Bear witness to true perfection…and die!”

The next moment everything went black as the shadows that had been pouring out of him exploded from his skin like it was nothing more than paper. I felt that I could move my body again, and I ran. The darkness vanished when I got just outside of the town square. I looked behind me and witnessed a nightmare unfold. The darkness that had burst forth from Pride, pulled back in and pulled together to form something that wasn’t even a pony.

The body of the creature was made entirely of black and purple shadows. It was so tall that it’s chest was level with the tallest building in town, it’s head towering over the rest. It was shaped like a unicorn, but with a violet shadow for a horn, deep glowing purple eyes with red pupils. When it opened its mouth, it had long fangs that dripped blackness. It fixed its gaze on me and roared, causing the cobbles under my hooves to crack, and the buildings to shudder. On its flanks in place of a cutie mark was a burning red tribal lion.

The monster stopped its roar then laughed and spoke, “Witness the power of King Sombra’s magic, the power he was too weak to use himself. Too frightened to unleash. I am perfection, I AM PRIDE!”

I saw other ponies looking up at the horror that was impossible to miss. I wanted to scream at them to run away, before they fell victim to whatever Pride had just become, but the look on their faces told me that they couldn’t move out of pure terror. Even if I could say anything, I doubt my voice would make it past their fear.

Pride fixed his gaze on me again, “Now to put an end to that THING first, then you Courier!”

I could feel Morning Star trying to take over just a little to cast a teleportation spell, but she couldn’t, something was keeping her from escaping, “Cast the spell Shadow…PLEASE!”

A flash of black light flew from the monster’s horn, and it slammed into me. When it hit, it felt like I was being ripped in half. My vison went white and Morning Star screamed, “No…not that curse, not again! I can’t do it again!”

Every part of Morning Star ripped away from my mind, her magic was shattered, and her scream was all that was left, to echo inside my mind. I felt my heart flutter, almost like it wanted to stop beating, or explode, but as soon as Morning Star faded away, so did the pain in my chest. As the Spell faded one last thing from Morning Star made its way to me, “I won’t lose!”

My vision went back to normal and I was still standing in the same spot I was before. I looked down at myself and saw that I was my normal black. That moment was all I had, because the next I was being lifted by a dark shadow. I had no more energy, with Morning Star’s abrupt departure I had been completely drained. My body was pulled close to the monster Pride had now become, I stopped an inch away from his muzzle.

He chuckled as he used his magic to strip my saddle bags away, tossing it away and outside of the city, “Do you feel helpless now Courier?”

He slammed my body into the ground, I couldn’t even feel one of my ribs break, but I could hear it. He lifted me back up and slammed me against a building, cracking the brick. My breath blew out of my lungs as he slammed me against another building and another, and another. Even with the lack of pain, I knew I was in trouble, there was no way my body could take so much abuse.

He brought me one last time in front of his gaze, “I asked you a question Courier.”

I just smiled, “My name is Shadow Star,” I was having trouble breathing, but I pushed on, “If you want to taunt me then call me by my fucking name…Oricalcos.”

He just let his grin slide a little, “Have it your way, those were some pathetic last words, how disappointing. Goodbye.”

A spear of shadow blew from my back and out my belly, then he threw me in the same direction as my saddle bags. It wasn’t as scary as it was peaceful. I just closed my eyes and let the wind flow past my mane. I did what I could for Silver, now I’d join her in a world far…far away from the pain of this world, this Wasteland. That was until I felt somepony grab me from mid-air. My eyes snapped open and I saw Wind Thrasher, she swooped in and caught me before I hit the ground.

“Don’t worry Shadow I’ve got you,” she said setting me down as gently as she could.

“Too bad you couldn’t catch me before he smacked me around a few times,” I said, wincing as feeling started to come back to my body.

“No…this is too much for a healing potion to handle,” she said looking over my wounds, “I’m not sure where to even start.”

“It…doesn’t matter Wind Thrasher, I did what I could, and I lost. Just let me die so I can be done with all of this,” I said weakly Coughing up blood.

As I spoke I saw movement from the corner of my eye, turning my head, I saw Pride’s head looming over the buildings of Appleton. Ponies were running from the town, trying to push their way past the gate, trampling other ponies who weren’t fast enough to make it though. Then he spoke, “Not dead yet Courier? Don’t worry I’ll remedy that right now, and your friend can join you in death’s beautiful embrace.”

His shadowy horn started to glow. A small amount of strength poured into me when he said that. He could attack me, break me, kill me, but I’ll never let him hurt another one of my friends. I don’t know why I did it, it was stupid, but something inside of me told me to glance up. My saddle bag was just a few inches away from me, and one thing had been thrown out of it when it hit the ground. That stupid toy gun I told the Zebra colt I’d keep safe.

Using what I had left of my magic, surprised I had any at all, I pulled it close and lifted it up. The screen was glowing green, and in one corner it had the number 1. No matter what this thing was, or what it did, it still wouldn’t matter. Nothing could hurt or kill Pride, but at least I’d get one last ‘fuck you’ before he killed us. I smiled and pointed the ridiculous gun toward Pride. He was too far away for anything to reach him, but fuck him. I brought the sights on the top of the gun up and targeted his head.

The screen on the back of the gun lit up, a triangle with numbers on each point appeared. As it did, a small beam shot out from the weapon, it streaked across the distance between Pride and myself. The small beam hit him square in the forehead leaving a small symbol where it hit. Pride started to laugh, his oversized body seeming to grow more.

“What is that huh? I’ve already told you Courier you can’t do anything to me!” his voice boomed.

Error, Cloud layer blocking shot, preparing to remove cloud layer…Protective barrier being activated, Solar Flare preparing to Fire, please stand back.

My heart stopped, this wasn’t just a stupid looking gun or a last defiance toward Pride. Solar Flare’s Range Finder, it couldn’t be what I thought it was could it? How would something like this end up in the hooves of a Zebra colt? I looked toward Pride who was still laughing, the glowing symbol still stuck to his head. If I could move, I would’ve gotten to my hooves and ran toward Pride, to try and get him away from the town, but even if I could, it was too late.

Four pillars of yellow light blasted through the cloud layer on four sides of Pride. Each one landing just outside of the town square. Pride looked confused as each one hit, a constant beam of light making a large circle. The beams flashed then expanded, thinning out until each one met making a translucent barrier. I reached a hoof out and pulled my saddle bags closer, digging franticly for a healing potion.

“Shadow what is that?” Wind Thrasher asked as she looked at the yellow sphere of dim light.

“We have to stop it! I didn’t know what that weapon did,” I shouted. I finally found a healing potion and downed it. I was too hurt for it to do much for me, but it washed away a little of the pain and slowed my bleeding. I wobbled as I got to my hooves and ran.

I dodged around ponies who were running from town, either from Pride or what I had just brought down from the heavens. As I ran I tried to figure out if there was a way to stop the weapon from firing. Wind Thrasher flew while I ran back into town, ignoring the throbbing pain rolling through my body. But we both came to a skidding stop as we made it to the barrier. The ponies who had been too scared to even move when Pride turned into whatever he was now were screaming and beating their hooves on the barrier. They were trapped, at least a hundred mares, stallions and foals, all crying and screaming.

Pride was looking around at the barrier, then his eyes fell on me, “What did you do?”

I was still trying to figure out how to stop the blast when I heard something worse. Looking up, past Pride the clouds were vanishing. The sound I heard was half of a cloud building falling as the clouds supporting it disappeared. Pegasi were trying to escape the barrier as well. I could see some of them slamming their bodies against it with all they had. They weren’t soldiers, I realized as I watched. If I hadn’t been so horrified at what I was witnessing, I would’ve marveled at the blue sky above me, but I couldn’t. All I could do was look at the ponies that were trapped on the other side.

Maybe the weapon wouldn’t work, I mean the weapon had been shut down for two hundred years. It was possible that nothing would happen…apart from this thing in front of me.

“What the fuck did you do Courier!” Pride yelled, he slammed his body against the barrier, it flashed gold and sheered a chunk of shadow off Prides body. He backed up, a look of horror in his purple eyes, “Stop this, whatever you did turn it off.”

Other ponies started to yell the same thing, asking me to stop, or to let them go. I just took a step back and looked into their terrified eyes, “I…I don’t know how.”

The Range Finder beeped, I looked down at it. The screen flashed a quick message…

I saw something flash in the sky above, Wind Thrasher took hold of me, trying to pull me away, “Shadow we have to run!”

I didn’t fight back, I just stayed limp as I was lifted into the air and pulled away. My eyes locked on Pride’s, he looked scared, he knew that whatever this was, I couldn’t stop it. At the last moment he closed them and grinned, “Check mate Shadow, you win.”

There was a flash of bright light coming down in a beam, first striking down the center of Prides shadowy form. His body exploded where it hit. Pride screamed as the beam of light spread, and so did the ponies on the ground. I watched as their bodies burst into flames the closer the beam got to them. Every one of them started to roll around writhing in pain, but it only lasted a second. The intense light grew brighter when the beam hit the barrier. When it did, all sound seemed to vanish, time felt like it stopped, and my sight was locked on that one horrible sight.

The blast probably only lasted about ten seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Then as quickly as it started, everything came rushing back to me at once. Sound returned, time quickened and screams filled the air along with a loud crack, like breaking glass. The barrier cracked then shattered, a blast of hot air blew out as it disappeared, crashing into Wind Thrasher and me, throwing us to the ground.

I looked back up once my body stopped rolling across the hard ground, and all I saw was smoke, ash, and buildings reduced to black piles of smoldering brick and wood. What I didn’t see was Pride, he’d vanished in the flash of light from Solar Flare, and so did half of the town. What had been trapped in the barrier was just gone, when the barrier went down the concussion from the remainder of the blast took out more of the buildings, leaving most of them in ruin. With one pull of the trigger, I’d killed Pride, over a hundred Ponies, and destroyed a town. I couldn’t even move, all I could do was look at the devastation left behind by one weapon.

I felt somepony shaking me, looking back I saw a blood-spattered Wind Thrasher, “What did you do Shadow!?”

“I…I don’t know, I had no idea what that was.” I was stuttering, I was in shock.

She looked me over her eyes falling on my torso, following her gaze I saw what she was looking at. A twisted piece of metal was jutting out from my belly, I couldn’t even feel it. I just looked back up into her yellow eyes, “What did I do?”

“Stop talking, you need to conserve your strength,” Wind Thrasher said, rolling me over and looking over my wounds.

I started to cry, “I didn’t mean to hurt so many ponies…I just wanted to stop Pride. What have I done?”

My vision was starting to go black around the edges, as Wind Thrasher put a hoof to my muzzle, “You need to stop, you can’t change what happened, right now we need to get you to a doctor.”

I didn’t need a doctor, I needed to go back three minutes and stop myself from pulling that trigger and committing genocide. Pride deserved what he got, but the rest of the ponies that lived here didn’t. I let my anger get the best of me, my own wrath clouding my judgement. I laid my head back and looked toward Appleton. I saw a small charred corpse just on the edge of town. The foal’s body must’ve been thrown by the blast, now it was just on the other side of the gate, almost free of the destroyed town.

I heard flapping from above us, I guessed it was The Enclave coming to find out what happened, or to take me in for killing so many of their ponies and punching another hole in the clouds. Turning my head back toward the sky I saw it wasn’t them. Griffons from the Red Talons were flying toward the town, one broke off from the rest and headed toward us, a small blue figure on her back.

She landed a few feet away looking down at my pathetic body lying there helplessly. I couldn’t help myself from bursting into tears again as Aura slowly walked toward us. As I expected she looked pissed, and so did Wingnut who was still on her back. She moved right up to Wind Thrasher and me and looked us both over.

“Well don’t you two look like hell,” she said sounding as pissed as she looked, “Tell me what the fuck you did!”

Wind Thrasher got to her hooves, “You don’t understand Aura, she had no choice.”

“Shut up Batty, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the Pony who lied to me about leaving, and destroyed a town filled with innocent Ponies. Now answer me Shadow, what the fuck did you do!”

“I…don’t know,” I said weakly, “I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to Stop Pride…it was all his fault. He killed her, he drew me in so he could kill me, they made me do this!”

Aura’s face didn’t change in the least, but she did sigh, “We aren’t done talking about this, you have a lot to answer for Shadow, but right now it looks like we have to fix you.”

“Go away Aura, you don’t work for me anymore. I’ll just end up getting you killed just like I did to Silver, and those townsponies. You should all go, I’m nothing but a curse.”

Wingnut jumped off Aura and walked toward me, “Shadow we came here to find you, we care about you.”

“Sorry Shadow, but as you just said, I don’t work for you anymore, so I don’t have to take your orders,” Aura said looking back at Wingnut, “So boss what do you want me to do with her.”

“She’s not in her right mind, let’s get her out of here before she hurts herself more,” Wingnut said.

“Sure thing boss,” Aura said looking back at me, “Time to go now Shadow.”

“No…you work for Wingnut now…no don’t do this please just let me…” Aura punched me as hard as she could in the side of the head.

“Let’s get out of here quickly before The Enclave or The N.L.R. figure out what happened here. Wind Thrasher grab Shadow’s things and follow me, I’ll explain what’s going on while we fly back,” Aura said as my vision slowly faded, and everything went black…

[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]

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Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 24: Nightmare