It's been a few days since Twilight had made the difficult move to send the students home until the Pony of Shadows was dealt with. The school was barren, and empty. It was way too weird to walk the hallways, it was so quiet that your own voice would echo in your own head. The school was practically being turned into a fort with most doors locked and barred as well. The main corridor acting as a hub for the group to meet for meetings, they were even able to move Twilight's map of Equestria into the corridor. Everyone had their own 'shifts' if you could call them that. watch duty, guard duty, map duty, and shopping duty if food got low. Currently, all the students, as well as their friends who chose to stay were all in the hub area standing around the map.
"Whoa... Twilight's cutie map. It's so cool to see it face to face." Said Gizmo.
"You're just some kind of Elements of Harmony fanboy ain't ya?" Said Brisk.
"Of course! Why aren't you one? They have literally saved the world multiple times." Said Gizmo.
"Whoa! I can see my home town." Said Roulette pointing to Los Pegasus on the map.
"You're from Los Pegasus Roulette?" Asked Sandbar.
"Yeah, My parents own a casino, why do you think I like Gambling Cards so much?" Said Roulette.
"Guess we should have seen that coming." Said Gallus.
"What about you Brisk, where are you from?" Asked Silverstream.
"Right here." Said Brisk as he points to Manehatten.
"Manehatten. Wow. You're from the big city huh?" Said Ocellus.
"Yeah, My pop's gotta a business there. He owns a huge dueling center where you can get cards, duel disks, deck holders, anything you need really." Said Brisk.
"Is your dad a duelist?" asked Gallus.
"He used to be, but not much anymore since he spends a majority of time on business. He's got some stock held in with Neighba Corp and Industrial Illusions." said Brisk.
"Wow. He sounds loaded." Said Smolder.
"And you Gizmo? Where you from?" Asked Silverstream.
"Nowhere important." Said Gizmo pointing to Trottingham.
"Trottingham?" Asked Yona.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting a lot of you to know about it, it's about as small as Ponyville." Said Gizmo.
"What is there to do there?" Asked Sandbar.
"Well... Not much. Some kids there duel but not a lot, and they don't even have duel disks so we play using mats." Said Gizmo.
"Wow really? Maybe that's why it was so hard to place you in a dorm, since your skills were largely untested." Said Gallus.
"Yeah, I think so too." Said Gizmo.
"What are you kids doing here?" Said a voice behind them. It was Starswirl walking in with Twilight and Spike.
"Hi sir, uh, we were just looking at the map." Said Sandbar.
"Don't be messing with it too much, this is our greatest tool in locating the Shadows." Said Starswirl.
"We understand sir." Said Sandbar.
"Let them be Starswirl, they're not causing any harm by looking at it." Said Twilight.
"It is an extension of the Tree of Harmony, pardon my concerns." Said Starswirl.
"Besides, we haven't seen the shadows at all." Said Smolder.
Starswirl looks at the group with a confused look. His eyes then went towards the map.
"Not one?" Asked Starswirl as he stepped closer to the map. He looked at it closely, there was no trace of the Shadows anywhere. "Strange, usually we can see the Shadows moving about frivolously here." Starswirl's horn begins to glow and he zaps the Map with his horn. Nothing happened to the map. "This... This is far too strange."
"Let me try Starswirl." Said Twilight. She did the same, zapping the map with magic, but nothing happened.
"The shadows are trying to hide from us... unless." Said Starswirl turning back towards Spike. "You, come here."
"Me? Why me?" Asked Spike.
"You still have an abundance of Shadow magic in you, I need you to place your claw on the map." Said Starswirl
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Starswirl? The map is connected directly to the Tree of Harmony." said Twilight.
"I know, but We need to find the shadows before they get the jump on us. It's a risk we must take." Said Starswirl. Again he motions Spike closer.
Spike approaches and places his hand onto the map. A dark black mass appears around his hand and quickly spreads around the map. The map glitches heavily before the black mass finally seeps into the map. After a bit, suddenly a large cloud of Shadows emerged, and was moving towards the school. All the students let out a loud gasp. It was the biggest movement of Shadows they have ever seen, it was as if the Shadows planned a full fledged attack on them.
"As I thought." Said Starswirl.
"WHOA! That's a lot of Shadows!" Yelled Gallus.
"And they’re headed right for us!" Said Smolder.
"What could bring that many Shadows Starswirl?" Asked Twilight.
"It's either the Shadow Riders are making a huge move on us, or The Pony of Shadows has come to deal with us personally." Said Starswirl.
"So...What do we do!?" Asked Ocellus.
"I will warn the others, the rest of you stay calm, if we show them fear, they will take advantage of us." Said Starswirl.
"This is Insane! If he wants to destroy the Elements so bad, why not go straight for the Tree!?" Asked Smolder.
"Just as the Shadows need souls to power up, we power the tree up. The More element bearers there are, the stronger the tree is. Once they dispatch us, the Tree will be vulnerable." Said Starswirl. "You kids get ready, I don't know what will happen when those Shadows get here, but they are in a hurry." Starswirl and Twilight then exit the Hub.
It took no longer than an hour for the Shadows to arrive. These elements gather all in the hub and they all look outside, in front of the school, standing in formation as if they were a small army. By how many Shadow Riders they have taken down, there should be 11 of them, and all of them were itching to get at the elements.
"Look at them out there, They must be trying to intimidate us." Said Flash Magnus.
"Of course they are. Why would they all be here if they were not?" Said Starswirl. The students stayed behind the others, afraid to look out at the Shadow Riders. Slowly however, two Shadow Riders stepped forward.
"STARSWIRL! Come out here you bearded weasel!" Shouted one of them.
"I recognise that one." Said Twilight.
"Me too, those two have to be Enigma and Eclipse." Said Starswirl. "Those two must be leading the Shadow Riders while the Pony of Shadows is in hiding." Starswirl put his hoof on the doorknob and was about to go out.
"Are you crazy! Why are you going out there!?" Asked Rarity.
"They want an audience, it's best to see what they want." Said Starswirl, opening the door and stepping out.
The sky was very cloudy and that made it look dark outside. A few raindrops also began to fall making the whole setting a little more ominous.
"What is it you two want!? You scared away our students, and the rumor of the Shadows is returning! What else could you possibly want!?" Yelled Starswirl.
"We're here to punish you!" Said Eclipse.
"You took a soul out of the Shadow Realm. That has made our master very, very angry!" Said Enigma.
"Good, I'm glad I made him angry. If I could rescue another without unleashing the full wrath of the Shadow Realm, I would do it." Said Starswirl.
"Well aren't you cheeky." Said Eclipse.
"We've come to make a deal, Starswirl, we suggest you listen." Said Eclipse.
"Suggest? Seems more like a threat since you brought the rest of your Shadows here." Said Starswirl.
"Heh, I guess you are pretty smart beardy." Said Eclipse.
"Since you wrongfully took a soul from the Shadow Realm, we demand you give us three sacrifices to replace it." Said Enigma.
"PREPOSTEROUS!" Yelled Starswirl.
"Do as we say or we will unleash our might upon this school, and we will wipe out every single one of you!" Yelled Eclipse
"Don't be a fool, Starswirl!" Said Enigma.
"You want our souls that badly, come and get them!" Yelled Starswirl before going back inside.
Starswirl slams the door hard as he enters back inside. He had an angry but fearful look on his face. His expression alone put a pit in the other's stomachs.
"What happened starswirl?" asked Mistmane.
"They are mad we rescued Spike, they want more souls to replace him." Said Starswirl.
"You're not letting them are you?" Asked Mage Meadowbrook.
"No, of course not. But we now may be in grave danger, they might try to siege the school, and steal all our souls." Said Starswirl.
"Then let us stand between them, Me, Discord, Spike, Neighsay, and the other students. It's you they want, so we can duel them to waste their time." Said Starlight.
"That would be foolish. Your souls will be at stake. Though a soul charged with the elements are the most powerful, they won't hesitate to capture yours to power up the Pony of Shadows." Said Starswirl.
"Then that is a sacrifice we are willing to take." Said Spike.
"Your souls are the most important. You guys are the only ones who can stop the Pony of Shadows from consuming the world. Protecting you all should be the number one priority." Said Neighsay.
Starswirl looks at Starlight, Spike, and Neighsay. He was touched by their selflessness. He was even surprised to see that Gizmo had even stepped up. slowly after him, Brisk and Roulette even stepped forward.
"Are you young ones willing to do this?" Asked Starswirl.
"Yes sir, it's for the greater good." Said Gizmo.
"We stand by our friends, even if it means we need to stand in front of them." Said Roulette.
"Yeah, what they said." Said Brisk. Starswirl smiles at them warmly. However, there was one creature missing. They all in unison turn towards Discord who had his arms crossed.
"What are you looking at me for?" Asked Discord bluntly. Everyone had an unamused expression on their face. "Oh Hum, fine. Very well, I too will be canon fodder for you....For Fluttershy." Said Discord. With a snap of his fingers, he was suddenly wearing a kilt and head a broad sword in his hand with blue face paint. "FOR FREEEEEEEDOM!"
Just when everyone was getting the feels, a low sounding noise could be heard, coming from outside. Starswirl turns to look outside to see what it was. The Shadow Riders were standing in a circle, chanting something. Starswirl couldn't tell what they were saying, but he knew it wasn't good. In the middle of the circle, a large purple ball of energy begins to glow.
"What are they doing?" They are casting a spell, some kind of Shadow magic. We need to stop them!" Said Starswirl. Twilight, Starlight, Come with me, we may need to come up with a counter spell to whatever it is they're doing. The rest of you...be careful." Said Starswirl. He along with Twilight and Starlight then quickly make their way towards the Library.
"Alright everyone! Stand in formation, an all out war between light and darkness may be upon us!" Said Flash Magnus.
Outside, the ball of purple energy grows, turning pitch black with a purple hue. Soon it begins to grow, engulfing the shadow Riders.
"What did they just do?" Asked Spike.
"Some kind of ball of Shadow energy?" Suggested Mistman. The ball grows even bigger, and is heading towards the school. Neighsay's eyes widened, as he knew what was happening.
"By Celestia...They are pulling us into a pocket dimension of the Shadow Realm!" Said Neighsy.
"WHAT!?" Yelled All the students at once.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Yelled Neighsay. Soon the ball touches the school and begins to engulf it as well. the whole school begins to shake, and the lights flickers until the entire school is surrounded by Shadows. The ball soon slows to a stop as the school now sits in this pocket dimension. They all look out a window, all around them is a dome of swirling purple shadows, and the ground stained black. They all look at the Shadow Riders who were now standing side by side. slowly, one by one their whole bodies get completely covered by the Shadows and then slowly evaporate away. When they do, the coldest chill they have ever felt strikes all of them. They all let out a vocal reaction to the cold.
"Wh-what happened? Where did they go!?" Asked Sandbar.
"Since we are in a small dimension of the Shadow Realm, their magic is at max power, they must have teleported inside the school!" Said Neighsay.
"Alright everyone, we need to split up and try to find them! We can't have them surround us." Said Flash and everyone agrees. Some of them buddy up and then split up and start running around the school to find the Shadow Riders.