//------------------------------// // A dark friend // Story: A dark friend // by Closet-Bronie-333 //------------------------------//                                                                 A dark friend Dear journal, My name is Darce Grayson, I'm six foot six inch tall human male, with blood red eyes, short platinum hair done up in a ponytail, pale white skin, and one inch long pointed fingernails, with a modest build, and my arrival could've done with less spears in my face. I'll start from the beginning. It all started at the Main Library Hall on Earth, researching how to use my dark powers properly. Even though half the world hates me, and the other half doesn’t care.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "AND DON'T YOU DESTROY THE SCROLLS!!!" screeched the head librarian. "Yes ma'am" I replied in a neutral voice as I replaced the last of the scrolls of Magic Sight Matrix Hacking Planes Walking and Void Shielding on the shelf ‘and here i thought libraries are supposed to be quite’ i thought to myself. But little did I know,the six elite mages of the world had a plan to get rid of me through Rift Banishment.  As I was leaving the Main Library Hall a messenger came running up to me gave me a letter and promptly left. What he gave me was an invitation to the Mages Hall of Light. “But i don’t understand, i’m a dark mage not a light mage. Nonetheless it is a formal invite, so I best be on my way and not keep them waiting.” As I was making my way  to the Mages Hall of Light, the shadows around me started to whisper that this was a trap, so I precast the four spells i just learned just in case before i made it, as i went inside when I gave my invite to the gatekeeper, I noticed a lack of elite guards in the halls as I made my way to the main hall. So, before I entered the main hall i activated Magic Sight,lo and behold as i entered, a Rift AND a Cage matrix, I internally grinned ‘perfect’ i thought to myself. And ALL one hundred elite guards plus the six elite mages. So, without wasting time, I walked towards the matrix and ignored the monologing of the ‘elite six’. As soon as I stopped at the center of the matrix, both Rift and Cage matrixes activated, so without any fanfare I activated Void Shielding and Matrix Hacking. There reactions were priceless, eyes wide and fearful, and so, I spoke out one last time. “So hated i was for being what I am, so despised for being born into Darkness, so loathed for barely following the rules you placed for ‘perfect peace’, so i say this, no more will i be the source of you scorn, no more will i be hated for being what I am, and so I leave this world for one that will accept all that i am. Goodby to you all.” I said with a calm voice And with what i said, there looks of fear turned to looks of fury for being subverted in such a manner, and with the Cage matrix being active they couldn’t stop what I am about to do. I changed the Rift Banishment to Rift Travel and added a few details so i can arrive on a new world where i would be mostly accepted, such as the My Little Pony relm, then activated Planes Walking, and with that I left. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                                 (six months after Luna’s return) I arrived with little fanfare just as i left Earth and right in the middle of the Royal Court Hall of the Royal Sisters, the second I blinked and i'm surrounded by guards armed with spears,swords, and crossbows. And with Magic Sight still active, i can see that they are wearing enchanted armor, the helmets have an Honesty enchantment, but the rest of the armor has a few protection enchantments on them, and luckily Void shielding is still active as well. ‘How interesting,a Planes Walker, and a dark one at that, I wonder why it’s here, oh, it’s about to say something’ I thought to myself. “So this is the world that’ll accept what I am, and able to find love and not be shunned for my darkness.” It-no HE spoke in a plain voice as we all heard him.  “I am Princess Celestia, and It saddens me that you were shunned on your world, though, if I may ask how bad was it?” He then looked and spoke to me with such cold indifference, that I must confess, I flinched. “Well meet Celestia, I was hated by half the world, and the other half didn’t care about me, not even my own mother, and forgive my indifference, but i was born of darkness and don’t much care for the light and anything that is associated with it, but i do understand the need for the light, so you need not worry.” My guards glared at him for disregarding my title, and his cold indifference towards me I then gave him a hard look and asked sternly, “Are you going to harm any of my little ponies?” he meets my hard gaze with one of his own and answered with honest conviction. “Only if they are corrupt,vile,and/or wicked, then and ONLY then will I ever go after your little ponies.” I stepped from the shadows and asked “Dearest sister, are you trying to make an enemy out of him?, can't you tell he’s only at a quarter of his power?”  Sister balked at this and asked fearfully of Us “Are you certain of your claim Luna?” “We are most certain sister mine” We looked into our sisters eyes and answered without hesitation. We then turned our gaze to the Planes Walker and asked “What would be thys name Stranger and why are you shackled so” (que the entry of the main six) I deactivated Void Shielding and looked towards Luna and answered. “I’m Darce Grayson a dark mage, and the reason I'm shackled like i am is thus, at the age of ten my mother abandoned me in an alleyway to fend for myself, and for two years i lived off the garbage of others, for two years i self-taught myself on dark magic-control, for two years i lived in indifference towards others, and it was the eve of the third year that i was shackled like this.” I show my bindings to her “And also the start of ten long years of torment.  The start of the third year is when the six elite mages of light found me practicing dark magic-control, and the following happened to me, taken into the custody of the mages of light and shackled with magic restraints knocking my power down to a quarter of what it is but also making me magically stronger than them in the process, after three years, I was branded as evil by the mages of light, and children were allowed to throw rocks at me and adults threw rotten food (cue entry of the captains of the day/night guards)  A year later I was allowed only scraps of food to survive on, but luckily for me it was small chunks of meat, cheese, and bread, thus making me physically stronger than them, and that’s not counting the daily abuse with whips and rubber paddles I got when I turned eighteen.” That brought up gasps all around the room, and silent crying from three mares. “But that didn’t stop me from learning the standard and slightly advanced spells when one turns eighteen, and after I turned twenty, the abuse went from physical to menal, insults have little meaning to me anymore, and I turned twenty two tonight, the very night the six elite mages of light tried to banish me with Rift Banishment HAHAHA.” All of a sudden, I'm being hugged by three ponies, and a strange feeling welling up inside me, I looked down and asked in a strained voice and tears in my eyes, “Who are you three and what are you doing to me” They looked up to me and the orange one replied “we're givin’ ya a hug, don’t you know what a hug is” to this I replied “No,ive never had a hug, not even by my own mother, so that answers WHAT you are doing, but WHO you are” tears started flowing out of my eyes like a sieve. Everyponies jaw dropped, he’s never received a hug, not even by his own ma, I sniffled with tears in my eyes and answered “I-I’m AppleJack” Rarity spoke next “I-I-I’m Rarity d-darling” FlutterShy was next, though she wailed out her name “I’M FLUTTERSHY!!! WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!”  We watched as he tried to stop the flow of tears and sadly sighs and say “Tsk, twelve years of holding the tears at bay, and it starts now? WHY?”  I gave my best apple brand smile with tears still in my eyes and answered “Cause sugarcube, the genuine hug we just gave you was the much needed buck to your tree to shake those feelings free” I then sat down on my haunches and pulled him into another much needed hug,Rarity joined me in giving him a hug, FlutterShy calmed down enough to join in, though she was still whimpering, Darce was shaking a storm of repressed emotions, Princess Luna saw this and added her two bits into the hug, and wrapped her wings around us all, and that did it, his red eyes glazed over and wailed, hard and loud, as he clung to me as if I was his only lifeline, as tears and snot stained my withers. (time skip five minutes) “Well i’ll be, five minutes of much needed soul freeing cryin’.” I said as he calmed down from his burden relief, a moment later we all pulled away, his face matted just as much as my fur with tears and snot. “Princess Luna, could you have a pale of warm water and a couple rags brought up, please” the lunar princess nodded as her horn flared, and boy howdy, thirty seconds later here comes the pale of water and rags. I watched as Darce, the poor dear, clean the mess off his face “No one shouldn’t have had to go through all that suffering and torment just because they’re hated” I said with tears in my eyes still “I agree darling, your torment is something I can not condone” As Rarity agreed with me He then looked to us with a smile and said “different worlds, different rules, and besides if there is no adversary there can be no growth.”  “But still- “ “NO.” he interrupted me before I could even start “From what you said, I understand you both are a pacifist, and believe that any violence is unjustifiable, but if it weren't for that violence, I wouldn't be here right now getting the much needed help. Think about it for a moment.” he said to us Both Rarity and I did think about it, but we still didn’t like it, then Rarity said what I was about to say.  “I’m sorry darling, but we can not be friends with you, you grew up with too much hatred in your life.” After getting my withers cleaned off, and listened to what Fluttershy and Rarity had to say, to say I was floored was an understatement, then Darce chuckled, which surprised all of us, and answered with the utmost honesty. “That’s alright, I can’t force any creature to become my friend, that wouldn’t be very kind of me (FlutterShy winced at that) so all I can do is be generous and give you time so we can be friends (Rarity winced at that).” He then turned to look at me and asked “What about you AppleJack, can we be friends” I looked down and thought for a moment. I looked back up to him stood proudly and answered honestly and with a smile “Eeyup, i’ll extend a hoof of kindness and be your friend” CRACK!!! I looked down at the shackles on my wrists and smiled with glee. CRACKLE-GROAN-WHINE!!! And with that, my shackles crumbled away. And AppleJack asked what was on everyponies mind “What just happened?” To which I replied with a grin, “I’ve just been freed from twelve years of constant restraint and pain, because you answered honestly and said you are my friend” “Ask of me what you will, and I will answer, ask of me for help, and I will offer my power to you, ask of me for anything you need, and i’ll do everything in my power to make it happen, for you have just made, a dark friend.”