Pinkie Pie opens her eyes, finding herself not in the dark void of dreams, but a tunnel lined with swirling colours, standing on a black metallic surface floating in this strange space. “Where am I? Am I dreaming?” She muttered to herself when the metal surface she stands on shakes with a familiar, quaking roar. She turns around to see a massive dragon’s head arching from the edge, roaring its lungs out. She gets a better look, recognizing the dragon as Torch, now realizing she’s standing upon his armour and his body wrapped in black tendrils, jerking and shaking in a futile effort to escape. She was silent staring at the beast, never having been this close to him before.
“Dad!” a woman’s voice echoes.
Pinkie Pie looks around for this new voice, and after taking a few steps she sees a human-sized blue dragon bound by tendrils onto Torch’s body, also trying to free herself. She takes a good look at her, recognizing certain features, such as the specific shade of her scales, and her fire-red eyes. “Ember… is that Ember…?” Pinkie Pie wondered.
“Hahahaha…”
Pinkie Pie heard a new voice, one very close to her, very much so. From behind, a black mass forms from the tendrils, coalescing into a massive black face with burning white eyes, an arched unicorn horn, and a fanged mouth smiling sinisterly: the Pony of Shadows. “No… no way…” Pinkie Pie muttered, taken aback by the entity.
Ember also locks her eyes on the thing, pupils shrinking from terror. “W-what the heck is that?!”
The Pony of Shadows quickly darts its face towards Ember, shining its white eyes at her light flashlights. “I am darkness, dragon.” The Pony of Shadows simply introduces itself before a haughty cackle.
“You… you’ve picked the wrong dragons to mess with!” Ember defiantly spat back.
“Oh, on the contrary… I picked the right one. Your father, that is.” The Pony of Shadows answered as more tendrils crawl onto Ember, wrapping her in a black cocoon.
“Aaah!” Ember screamed in pain as the tendrils tighten before closing her mouth shut, followed by the rest of her head bound in darkness.
“This… this must be the thing’s memories before it came to my world…” Pinkie Pie realized. “It’s all so terrifying… I can see why Ember didn’t wanna talk about it.”
Then, Torch spews out a column of fire, narrowly missing the Pony of Shadows’ head. “Careful now, Torch. I need you in one piece if I’m to enact revenge on the Pillars and Twilight Sparkle.” He advised Torch tauntingly before tentacles clamp his mouth shut. Then, it looks right at Pinkie Pie. “You… what are you?”
“M-m-me?” Pinkie Pie points to herself before hearing a harmonious chorus of twinkling sounds behind, followed by a flash of even brighter light. She turns around, and sees a pair of massive white hands covered in sparkling stars coming at her, grabbing the part of Torch’s armour she’s standing on and crushing her.
“Ah!” Pinkie Pie awakens, finding herself sat under a pine tree, battered, bruised, and her clothes torn. “W-what happened?” Pinkie Pie wondered before her memory flows back, remembering the brief moment the darkness overtook her and transformed her into the Man of Shadows, causing her to cease up and cry. “I… I can’t believe it… I wasn’t… I wasn’t strong enough… I just let it…” Pinkie Pie broke into a crying mess before a spectral image of the Man of Shadows suddenly appears before her. As scared as she is now, she’s equally as furious to see it again. “You… why can I see you now?!”
“I… stronger… I… return… power… thank… you…” the Man of Shadows answered, a chorus of soft whispers muttering behind its speech.
“You’ve got some explaining to do, mister Man of Shadows, Pony of Shadows, whatever I heard Sunset call you!” she curses at it, still blubbering as she quickly wipes away her tears.
“Man…?” the Man of Shadows stares as she sits up, backing away slightly.
“That… that thing you turned me into was just you all powered-up after snacking on my happiness, magic, or whatever, wasn’t it?! Is that why I can see you now?!”
“Darkness… weak… smile… strong… I… use… smile… you… give… smile…” it whispers back in response. “You… strong… we… strong…”
“I dunno what your deal is, but when my friends find me, you’re gonna taste the rainbow for sure!” she pointed at the face defiantly before having a horrible thought, and her fury shrinks into depression. “If… my friends find me… after I almost attacked them…” she muttered doubtfully, lowering her arm and looking away.
“Friends…” the face hissed. “You… nice… friends… I… want… meet… them…”
Rightfully angered, Pinkie Pie searches her jacket to find the pistol responsible for her horrible transformation, gripping it angrily before throwing it into the snow. “I’ve had it with you! You come to my world and possess me, make me miserable by sucking out all my magic, turn me into a big black monster, and most of all you scared my friends half to death!” She screamed at the face before raising her foot over the gun. “I’ve had enough!” she plunges her foot down to stomp the gun, but some force stops her before her sole can make contact. She tries pushing through, but instead falls off balance and lands on her butt.
“Smile… smile…” the face hovers above hers.
“What for? So you can suck out what little happiness I have left?” Pinkie Pie groans in defeat as she curls up into a ball.
“Pinkie…” it whispered before dodging a snowball.
“Leave me alone!” Pinkie Pie shouted before throwing another snowball, this one passing right through the eyes. She turns away and flops onto her side, planting herself in three inches of snow. “Leave me alone…”
“Pinkie… Pie… smile… smile…” the voice whispered into her ear as she tightens up, trying to ignore it when she feels a poke on her side.
“Smile… is… power…”
She again tries to ignore it when she feels another poke.
“Pinkie—”
“I said leave me alo—!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she gets up with a snowball primed, but instead of the shadowy face, she sees Rarity coming in for a hug. Over Rarity’s shoulder, she sees Twilight Sparkle waving to her with Spike at her side.
“Oh, Pinkie Pie, I’m so glad you’re alive!” Rarity sobbed in relief as her arms wrap around Pinkie Pie.
“Rarity… Twilight… Spike… where’re the others?” Pinkie Pie asked them. “They probably don’t wanna see me after I turned into… that thing…” she moaned as her eyes shamefully wander away from them.
“Are you kidding? They’re all worried for you since the Man of Shadows took you away.” Spike responded.
“We all agreed we wouldn’t go further into the forest without you, so some of us split up to look for you.” Twilight Sparkle responded.
“Now that we’ve found you, let’s get you back to the others.” Rarity picks up Pinkie Pie, but is surprised when she’s suddenly pushed away.
“Please, don’t come any closer. The thing… the Man of Shadows… it might come outta me again.” Pinkie Pie pleaded as she backs into the tree.
“That’s a risk we took to find you.” Twilight Sparkle said. “You’re not the only, nor the first of us to turn into a monster.”
“We didn’t know if you were still that awful creature or returned to normal, but as your friends, we searched for you, regardless.” Rarity added.
“After all we’ve been through, it’s pretty unbelievable for you to think we’d ever leave you behind just because ‘The Darkness’ got to you. What kinda friends do you think we are?” Spike said teasingly.
Then, Rarity gives her hand to Pinkie Pie. “So, will you come back with us, Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie looks at Rarity’s hand and was about to give hers, when she sees in the distance an illusion of the Man of Shadows standing behind a tree, staring at her.
“Friends… power… more… you… more… us…” its voice rang through her head, as if it’s whispering right into her ear.
Pinkie Pie stares in horror at the Man of Shadows, but is assured when her eyes wander to her friends, and she silently takes Rarity’s hand. “Okay… let’s go.” Pinkie Pie nodded hesitantly.
Her friends smile as they take Pinkie Pie away by her hand, stepping over an empty three-inch tall gun-shaped hole. As Pinkie Pie follows them through the thick snow sheet carpeting the forest floor, they pass by the tree where the Man of Shadows’ illusion hides behind. It tracks its eyes at Pinkie Pie, and she does back, only more horrified as her body quivers and shakes. Unexpectedly, the Man of Shadows puts its fingers on its face where its mouth would be, tracing a smile on its face. Pinkie Pie looks away and focuses on her friends, hurriedly pushing them along to escape his sight.
They walk through the forest without incident, arriving at a barebones campsite beside a frozen pond; Sunset Shimmer and Applejack tending to something on the ground beside a campfire surrounded by a circle of exposed, warm ground. “Hey, everyone! We’re back!” Spike announced their arrival.
“We found Pinkie Pie!” Rarity added for the two others to rush over and hug Pinkie Pie.
“Pinkie Pie!” Sunset Shimmer hugged her tightly.
“I knew we’d find ya, sugarcube!”
“Woah, woah, be careful. She’s in shock after what happened.” Twilight Sparkle cautioned as she separates them from Pinkie Pie.
As Pinkie Pie looks back at her friends, she sees past Sunset Shimmer’s shoulders an unconscious, bandaged-up Juggler lying beside the campfire on a bedroll. “Juggler!” she shouted out before dashing to him.
“Juggler?” Rarity joins her friends in confusion.
Pinkie Pie kneels beside him and looks at his face, visibly bruised, scraped, covered in bandages and band-aids. “Is he okay? I thought he was a goner!” she asked her friends.
“He’s alive, but he had a mighty nasty break.” Applejack assured. “He’s been out cold fer two hours now.”
“Two hours?! Is that how long I’ve been gone?!” Pinkie Pie panicked.
“Why’d you call him Juggler?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she and Spike approach her.
“Well, uh, funny thing that happened before we attacked.” Pinkie Pie stammered before turning to Rarity. “Remember when he called me for something before crossing the bridge? Turns out he wanted my autograph.”
“An autograph?” Rarity repeated in surprise.
“That explains this.” Sunset Shimmer presented the cracked remains of the Shine Like Rainbows album.
“Oh…” Pinkie Pie takes the album and looks at the disc fragmented and crushed. “Oh no…” she opens it, only for the plastic cover to fall apart, leaving the crumpled autographed cover jacket.
“We found it on the ground where the Bug attacked him.” Twilight Sparkle told her.
“We never figured him for a fan. That just makes me feel even worse for the guy.” Sunset Shimmer sadly looked to the man in black and blue.
“Feller probably looked up to us so much. Now look where we’ve gotten him.” Applejack commented.
“Juggler…” Pinkie Pie puts her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…” she started crying again, and feels a cold hand on her shoulder. She knew who it was, but was too grief-stricken that she didn’t even look to confirm. Suddenly, Juggler jerks and sputter, and she pulls her hand away.
Everyone gathers around Juggler as he coughs himself awake and clutches his bruised scalp. “Aw… gah… where am I? What happened?” Juggler lifts up his arm only to feel a sharp pain.
Sunset Shimmer comes to his side to console him. “Take it easy, Agent Bravo. You’re hurt really bad.”
“We crossed the bridge, and the Bug…”
“Turns out it can teleport and attacked you by surprise. Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” Twilight Sparkle explained.
Pinkie Pie quickly sat next to Juggler with a regretful look. “Juggler, I’m so sorry that this happened to you! We didn’t know it could do that and—”
“Save it.” Juggler snuck an assuring chuckle. “I’ve been through worse. It’s all part of the job, after all.”
Pinkie Pie smiles at Juggler, trying to muster up some courage and joy left. As she looks at him, she hears a long, furious, sustained screaming, and when she turns to her left, she’s sideswiped by a blue blur and knocked onto her back. She opens her eyes and looks up to see Ember snarling above her, pinning her down as she bares her teeth. “Ember, wait, it's just me! It’s just me!”
“That’s the problem!” Ember snarled before being lifted away by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, thank goodness you’re here!” Pinkie Pie hyperventilated in relief as she sits up.
“That should be our line!” Rainbow Dash chuckled before Ember kicks her in the chin.
As Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy restrain Ember, Flash Sentry and Lil Flash arrive just in time. “Hey, Pinkie’s back!” he said in relief before joining everyone.
“Ember, what was that for?!” Pinkie Pie asked her as she stands up.
“I only joined the search party to make sure you don’t come back!” Ember answered before jumping out of Fluttershy’s arms and growling at Pinkie Pie.
“Huh?”
“We… kinda had an argument before we went off to find you.” Fluttershy began explaining.
“It was pretty unanimous that we wanted to find you, even Lil Flash.” Flash Sentry thumbed to his drone, who tilts as if nodding.
“Buuut Ember had another idea.” Spike glances to Ember.
“I told them that bringing you back with the Man of Shadows still inside you will bring us nothing but trouble!” Ember growled. “It could smite us in one blow if we’re not careful, or worse!”
“And we said it don’t matter. We’ll find Pinkie even if it kills us, and by my count we still got all our heads on our shoulders.” Applejack smugly looks back to Ember.
“You mean…” Juggler coughed. “…The Third emerged from Pinkie?” he turns to Pinkie Pie, who looks away shamefully.
“It happened after the Bug knocked you out. With Pinkie Pie’s fragile mental state, seeing that happen to you must’ve triggered some reaction that caused the Man of Shadows’ consciousness to emerge.” Twilight Sparkle explained.
“Pinkie, do you still have the gun?” Sunset Shimmer asked her.
Pinkie Pie reaches into her jacket, and as feared, “Trigger…” it has indeed returned, and she presents it to everyone, holding it by the barrel.
“After the Man of Shadows consciousness surfaced, it pulled the trigger on the gun, and brought its body to take over Pinkie Pie.” Sunset Shimmer continued.
“Now the gun makes much more sense.” Rainbow Dash realized. “What better to bring out a creature of violence and fear than a weapon of violence and fear?”
“It’s almost poetic, in a scary, super-villainous way.” Applejack added.
“I… don’t remember that. I think I blacked out after Juggler was hurt, and only woke up when all those black stuff crawled up on me. It’s all a haze.” Pinkie Pie said as she hands the gun over to Twilight Sparkle, clutching her head stressfully.
“You should’ve seen it! It was all black and muscle-y, and had this giant scissor-hand!” Flash Sentry described to Juggler excitedly.
“It was smaller than when it first showed up in the city, but still taller than us, ‘bout a foot taller than my brother.” Applejack added.
“Man of Shadows? Is that what you’re calling it?” Juggler asked.
“While Rainbow Dash and Applejack were fending off the Bug, I received a response from the princess in my journal.” Sunset Shimmer reported. “According to her, the Pony of Shadows was a being of pure darkness and pure evil that she and her friends imprisoned in Limbo; the space between this world and Equestria.”
“It was the same entity that ensnared Torch during his transit between worlds, what your organization called The Third.” Twilight Sparkle continued.
“And since it became a man-monster, we figured it isn’t a pony anymore.” Sunset Shimmer added.
“It swung its blades everywhere to get the Bug, but only cut down all the trees around us! We were lucky enough to escape!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“The worst part is that even though something else was controlling my body, it made me watch everything it was doing.” Pinkie Pie added woefully.
“But despite all that, we didn’t give up on Pinkie. We all came together and cheered her on to fight the darkness!” Rarity said confidently.
“And I heard them.” Pinkie Pie smiled to Rarity. “I heard them and managed to take back control of my body, even if for a while.” Pinkie Pie smiled to the rest of her friends.
“But you didn’t finish off the Bug.” Ember told Pinkie Pie sternly. “You were tossing it around like a frisbee, and just when you had it by the neck, you just let it go!”
“That’s when… it… took back control.” Pinkie Pie answered with a sigh. “The Man of Shadows stopped me before I can finish it off, then it turned on my friends. I tried taking over again, but I was dragged back into the darkness.” She continued.
“But… you did take back control again, didn’t you?” Rarity asked. “When I put up my shields, it looked so horrified to see itself that it ran away. That was you looking at the Man of Shadows, yes?”
“I… I can’t remember, I don’t remember anything after that.” Pinkie Pie said.
“I should count myself lucky to not be awake for all that.” Juggler commented.
“Why’d the Man of Shadows spare the Bug, anyway?” Flash Sentry wondered.
“The Bug is probably the Pony of Shadows’s minion of darkness. It attacked in the cave us to help its master, or something. That’s why it stopped when Pinkie Pie pulled out that wicked weapon on it.” Ember suggested.
“No… not… mine… I… don’t… know…” Pinkie Pie darts her eyes to the side to see the Man of Shadows appearing beside her in a puff of smoke. She sees it looking at her friends, breathing heavily with groaning huffs and puffs.
“There’s something else you all need to know.” Pinkie Pie told her friends as she lowers her hands, then sighs. “When I woke up, I started seeing the Man of Shadows for real, like a ghost only I can see.” She explained, turning to her side where the Man of Shadows is standing.
“Is it here now?” Juggler asked.
“Yes, but I don’t think it can hurt or touch you.” Pinkie Pie nodded before turning to her side. “It’s right here.” she points up to her side, and her friends all back away.
“Just as I feared. It’s getting more powerful. That transformation was just the beginning.” Ember noted.
“The first thing it said when I woke up was that the darkness was weak and the power of friendship was strong.” Pinkie Pie continued.
“What does that even mean?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“It must’ve learned from its defeat at the hands of my counterpart. It knew that the Magic of Friendship was more powerful than the darkness it so relied on, so it could be trying to harness it by absorbing Pinkie’s Geode magic!” Twilight Sparkle speculated.
“Ye… yes…” Pinkie Pie looks at the Man of Shadows, who appears to hesitantly nod.
“Look, we’ve already found Pinkie Pie. Let’s get back to findin’ Torch so we can save the world together.” Applejack hurried them.
“Yes… find… Torch… free…” the voice whispered again.
“G-guys, I don’t think—"
“What if that exactly what it wants us to do?” Ember postulated. “If power’s what this Pony of Shadows is looking for, then if we take Pinkie Pie to my dad, we’re giving it greater power! If a Man of Shadows wasn’t terrifyingly powerful already, imagine a Dragon of Shadows!”
“We spent so much time looking for Pinkie. We can’t leave her behind!” Rarity argued.
“And besides, we’ll take care of it with the Magic of Friendship!” Rainbow Dash added.
“I’m afraid with Pinkie Pie’s Geode out of commission, we won’t be able to use it at full power.” Twilight Sparkle declined.
“Then we’ll find another way. You don’t always use the Magic of Friendship to solve your problems, right?” Flash Sentry encouraged.
“No.” Pinkie Pie said for her friends to turn to her, surprised. The Man of Shadows does too, getting its face uncomfortably close to her face. “Ember’s right. If there is a risk that it’ll move from me to Torch… then I’m staying here where it can’t hurt anyone.”
“But, Pinkie… we can’t leave you here alone.” Rarity refused.
“She won’t be alone.” Juggler spoke up. “I might not be in the best condition, but I can stay here and watch her for you. If the Man of Shadows emerges, I’ll phone you.” he presents his black smartphone to them.
“If it really is feeding off the Magic of Friendship, then the closer you all are to me, the more magic it can feed on, and the more it feeds on, the more powerful it can become.” Pinkie Pie spoke softly as she turns away from her friends. “You all should go find Torch and save the world without me. We can take care of the Man of Shadows after.”
“No! Go… with… them…!”
“I’m sure we can think of a plan to remove the Man of Shadows before we reach Torch!” Rarity proposed.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that.” Twilight Sparkle points her scanner up, picking up sparce magic readings. “The trail’s going cold. We gotta move now or we won’t find Torch at all.”
“Go.” Pinkie Pie said. “I’ll be okay here with Juggler.”
“No… go…!”
Her friends stand by with sorry looks on their faces, even Ember, who was the first to be against her following them. “You heard her. Let’s go find my dad.” She hesitantly said before turning around.
“Take… Pinkie… take… me!” the Man of Shadows goes to grab them, but they were all unaware as its arms phase through them.
One-by-one, her friends turn around and follow Ember into the forest, looking back sorrowfully until Rarity was the only one left standing before Pinkie Pie, facing her dear friend’s back. Pinkie Pie looks over her shoulder to Rarity, seeing the Man of Shadows trying to grab her friends, only for its claws to pass through them. “No! Come… back… take… her…! Take… me…!”
Rarity’s lips trembled before she speaks. “Pinkie… what happened to—”
“I said go!” Pinkie Pie screamed desperately at such a high volume, shocking Rarity with a severely frustrated and tired tone.
Without another word, Rarity backs away before turning and running away from Pinkie Pie. The Man of Shadows tries to bear-hug her, but she phases through, joining her friends. As she does, she wipes away the tears in her eyes. “No! Come… back!” the Man of Shadows desperately calls to them before turning to Pinkie Pie.
“I may be losing to you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you win.” Pinkie Pie said to her foe with her back to him.
“Big… mistake… Pinkie…”
Pinkie Pie turns around to the Man of Shadows and gives him a weak, but valiant smile. “I’m not letting a creep like you take whatever you want. So… ha… ha…” Pinkie Pie tries to let out a rebellious laugh, but instead tears run down her face. “Ha…” she squeaks out one before falling to her knees and crying before the Man of Shadows, who fades away.
Juggler watches remorsefully as Pinkie Pie sits motionlessly, letting teardrops fall from her face onto the snow through muffled whimpers and sniffles. Then, he picks up a quiet crackle in his ear, swearing it to be the Bug. He scans his surroundings, but the sound had already disappeared. “I’m not taking any chances.” He puts his hand in his jacket, and clicks something.
To be continued…