//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Shadows // Story: The Golden Child // by Fusionflare374 //------------------------------// It was turning dark as Austin, Frisk, Celestia, Luna and Papyrus was walking down the hall to get ready for bed. “Wow I’ve never knew spaghetti was that good!” Luna said to Papyrus. “Why thank you. It took me a few months to master it with help from Undyne and lady Toriel of course.” Papyrus said happily. “May I ask, who is Undyne and lady Toriel?” Celestia asked curiously. “Oh right you don’t know them yet!” Papyrus scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. “Undyne is my friend and she was the head of the royal guard, a group of monsters that hunt humans on the underground. But since we live with the humans on the surface, they disbanded it, except for one member, me.” “And Toriel used to be the queen of the monsters, but she left the king because the king killed the humans that go to the underground and she wanted to keep them protected from him in the ruins, but the humans always leave. Now that they are on the surface, the king wanted to get back with Toriel, but she rejected him. She is also my mother.” Frisk said to Celestia. “Wow they sound very... interesting.” Celestia said to the two. “Yeah Undyne is a bit extreme and a bit rude at times, but if they get to know you, she can be cool.” Papyrus said. “And Toriel is very kind when your around her.” Frisk said. “Well if we have a chance to meet them, we can get to know them.” Celestia smiled. “Yeah!” Papyrus smiled happily. “We should get some sleep, it’s getting late.” Luna said to the group. “Yeah your right, these two are getting a bit tired.” Celestia said as she looks at Frisk and Austin, looking fairly tired. “Yeah... Come on Frisk let’s get some sleep.” Papyrus said to Frisk. “Okay Paps. Goodnight everyone.” Frisk said sleepily. “Goodnight Frisk, goodnight Papyrus.” Celestia, Luna and Austin said in unison. Papyrus and Frisk opened their bedroom door and closed it behind them. “Well I better go and do my job. Those nightmares won’t get rid of themselves.” Luna said. “Okay Lulu. Have fun.” Celestia smiled. “I will Tia. Have a good sleep you two.” “We will!” Celestia and Austin said in unison. Luna walked away from Austin and Celestia. Celestia looked at Austin. “You ready for bed?” Celestia asked Austin. “Y-Yep!” Austin said to Celestia. “Okay dear.” The two opened the door to Celestia’s bedroom. Austin went to the left side and Celestia went to the right. “Goodnight sweetie.” Celestia said softly. “G-Goodnight momma.” Austin said tiredly. The two then fell asleep. Austin was sleeping peacefully that he was starting to dream. Austin was dreaming of a dark void again, but nothing appeared. “Am i in a vision?” Austin said to himself. Austin walked around the empty space, but Austin felt like he wasn’t going anywhere. “This is kind of scarring me a bit.” Austin said worriedly. As he kept walking, a bright ball of light appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Austin covered his eyes, but some of the light hit his eyes, causing him to not see. The light went away and Austin tried to get his vision cleared again. Austin finally got his vision back and he saw a blue Pegasus with an amulet. The Pegasus opened his eyes and looked at Austin. His eyes looked like he’s blind, but he is looking directly at Austin. “W-Who are you?” Austin said scaredly “Don’t be scared, I mean no harm. My name is Sol Fire, Watcher of Equestria.” Sol Fire said to Austin. “I’m Austin. It’s nice to meet you.” “It’s nice to meet you too. Now listen I don’t have any more time.” “Is their something wrong?” “Yes their is a threat that is trying to —“ Sol Fire couldn’t finish the sentence because he was starting to glitch out. “Sol Fire what’s happening to you?!” Austin said nervously. “Don’t let... hi-m influence y-ou...” Sol Fire said before glitching out and disappearing. “Sol Fire? Sol Fire!” “Sol Fire is gone.” A voice said in the darkness. “W-who’s their... s-show yourself!” Austin yelled. “Don’t worry Austin, I’m not here to harm you, I just want to talk.” “H-how did you know my n-name?” The voice came out of the shadows. It looked just like Austin, but more shadowy and his eyes and mouth are glowing with a sinister look. “I’m you.” The voice sinisterly said. “H-how can you be me when I’m me?” Austin asked. “I’m you, but in shadow form.” “Oh that’s cool.” “Indeed. You can call me Shadow Austin.” “Okay Shadow Austin, what h-happened to Sol Fire?” “I teleported him away from you.” “Why?” “He was trying to corrupt you.” “What!” Austin said in shock. “Yes, he was going to corrupt you to join the dark side.” “But why would he do that? He looked like a nice guy.” “He was only trying to do that to gain your trust. I was here just in time to save you. But now I... we have two more things to take care of your corruption.” “What’s that?” “The ponies and the skeleton family.” “WHAT!!! But they h-help me become more confident in myself by supporting me!” Austin yelled at Shadow Austin. “Yes, but they’re doing that to get you to defeat Necrafa. After that, they will throw you away like a piece to trash.” “No... t-that’s not true!” “If you don’t believe me, this will.” Shadow Austin used his magic to project the princesses, Austin and a crowd of ponies. Austin was doing a speech and the princesses looked at each other, nodding at each other. Austin saw Princess Celestia charging her horn and the projection Austin turned around. Celestia shot Austin in the stomach and Austin fell on the floor. Austin saw this and fell on his knees, crying. Austin heard the crowd cheering even louder as Celestia hit Austin with the magic beam. “B-but she loves me... does she?” Austin looked at the shadow. “Would she love you, just to get rid of you after you defeat Necrafa?” “...” Austin couldn’t say anything after what he saw. “They only love you to get you to unlock your true self and after that your nothing to them.” “B-but what about Gaster and them?” Austin asked weakly. “Them? If they truly care about you, why would Gaster hit you without mercy?” “H-how did you—“ “I know everything. I know your past, the present and even the future. That speech that I showed you was part of your future when you defeat Necrafa.” “Okay... but what do you k-know about Gaster and them?” “Im glad you asked. Gaster and his sons want to corrupt you by hitting you violently. In fact, they work for Necrafa herself to speed up the process.” “T-they work for Necrafa? But Gaster apologized to me after the hitting.” “He only did that to not expose his true plan for you.” “A-are Papyrus and Frisk working for her too?” Austin asked, hoping that they weren’t working for her. “All of them are working for her. Gaster, Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk.” Austin looked at the ground. He felt betrayed that his friends and family would do that. “But their m-my friends, they wouldn’t do that to me.” Austin said to Shadow Austin. “Friends? Pffft, hahaha! Why would they be friends with you? You are just a freak with a dumb prophecy that people think it’s a hoax.” Shadow Austin said to Austin. Austin whimpered and covered his face with his hands, crying his eyes out. “But!” The shadow said. Austin looked up at Shadow Austin. “Who needs them when you have me! I’m basically you.” Shadow Austin sat down beside Austin. “But I-I love my friends and family.” Austin said in tears. “Well just didn’t say I didn’t warn you. If you die from your own family, don’t cry to me when your in the afterlife.” Shadow Austin said as he stood up. “But for now it’s time to wake up.” “Wha—“ “Wake up Wake up Wake up” Austin covered his ears as the words echoed the room. He then heard a familiar voice calling out to him. “Austin wake up.” The voice said Austin opened his eyes wide, frightened for a minute. He looked around the room and noticed that he was in Celestia’s room. “Austin?” The voice said. Austin turned to his side and saw Celestia, but she looked worried. “Austin, sweetie are you okay?” Celestia asked worriedly. “U-uh yeah... why?” Austin asked. “You were tossing and turning, crying, and saying words but they were mumbled. Are you sure your alright?” “Y-yeah I’m fine. It must o-of been a bad—“ Austin stopped his sentence. He saw a glimpse look of Celestia charging her horn and firing it at him. Austin flinched and fell off the bed with a loud thud. “Austin!” Celestia said worriedly. Celestia got out of bed and ran towards Austin’s side to check if he’s okay. “Sweetie are you alright?” Celestia asked as she check for any bruises. “I-I’m fine, honest.” Austin forced a smile. “Are you sure? You stopped talking and just looked at me, then you got scared and fell.” “O-oh that... I must of blanked out and scared myself. Don’t w-worry I’m fine.” “If you say so dear. Lets get back to bed, it’s only midnight still.” Celestia smiled softly. “O-okay.” Celestia and Austin got back to their side of the bed and Celestia turned off the lights. Celestia fell asleep peacefully, but Austin couldn’t fall asleep. His eyes stared at the ceiling, thinking of the same question over and over. Can I truly trust them now after I know their true plans to get rid of me? that thought lingered on his brain all night. In the white void, the Sol Fire teleported back in the void. He slammed his hoof on the ground in anger. “I was too late to warn him. Now that shadow will corrupt him to the point where he can’t trust himself or anypony,” Sol Fire sighed. “If I must, I will reveal myself and stop this darkness inside of him, if I can. I’m sorry Austin, I let you become corrupted by him and I couldn’t stop it. I could just erase it, but it counts as a living thing and I’m not sure how powerful its magic is. For now I’ll try to communicate with him and hopefully he gets my messages.” Sol Fire looked down at his amulet and it began to shine into a picture of Austin struggling to sleep. To Be Continued...