//------------------------------// // Scroll 2 // Story: The Rider Of Darkness // by GaleWind //------------------------------// Scroll 2 On a mountain cliff behind Canterlot, stands a castle made of black marble. It is not as tall as Canterlot castle but, still a sight to see. The halls are guarded by the foot soldiers of the serac in their pony disguises. In the center of the castle, lies the throne room where the Vilotan siblings wonder on today’s events. Sombra was sitting on the center, highest throne; deep in thought while, Discord was on his coach, floating in midair sipping tea and Chrysalis was pacing back and forth in the center of the room. “Well, this has been quiet the eventful day hasn’t it?” Discord said in mid sip. Chrysalis stopped pacing and glared at him. “How can you joke about this? This thing has discovered us and has slain some of our creatures and one of our generals!?” She yelled in anger. “Yes, I was wondering who was taking down our soldiers.” “You knew about this!” “No, but I have seen reports over the last three years about a mysterious stallion in a suit and helmet taking down some of our creations. It’s nothing really.” “What do you mean ‘It’s nothing’?” “We can always make more of them. It’s no big deal.” “IT IS A BIG DEAL!” “ENOUGH!!!” Sombra yelled as he slammed his fist into his throne which shook the whole castle, dark magic seeping through his eyes. The shock stopped the argument and Discord and Chrysalis looked at him. “This changes nothing.” He said calmly as he got off his throne. “How can you react so calmly to this?” “It’s just one insignificant pony trying to fix the impossible.” “I saw that look you had when you touched that barrier, it was made from archaic magic and that technique he used contained magic not seen in thousands of years.” “It doesn’t matter what magic he uses. He will be dealt with just like others that have tried to defy us, Equestria is ours.” He said while looking out the window. “What will we tell the ponies?” “We’ll tell them that he is an old enemy of ours. That he created the monsters and lost control of them. I don’t know who you are but, you will be the enemy of the ponies you try to free. Your demise is absolute.” It’s been two days since those three appeared in Ponyville. The paper read that I was the ‘sorcerer of arcane’. It said that I had created the monsters and lost control of them. I am amazed that they could think of this. The siblings said that it was their kingdoms custom to postpone their inhabitant’s ceremony until the cause is dealt with. The town was still distraught over the loss of Breaker and his guards, especially the girls. I hated seeing them like this but; I have to be strong, for their sakes and the others. I had told the girls to come to my house for a get together and to see how they were holding up. Spike and I were finishing up the snacks and tea as the girls waited in the living room. “Thanks for the help, Spike.” I said to the little dragon. Spike had gotten taller in the past five years but, not by much. The little guy only comes up to my waist line now. He looked up to me and smiled. “No problem, Echo. It’s great having you back.” He said. We walked backed into the living room with the snacks and tea to see the girls were still depressed. We placed the treats on the table and I poured the tea into the cups, gave them to each of them and took my seat. “So, how have you girls been doing?” “We’ve been able to pull through, sugarcube. It just still hurts.” Applejack answered. “I still think that meany pants went too far in doing that to Breaker.” Pinkie said. I noticed that even though her main and tail was still puffy, it lost the vibrancy it usually had. “I say will go out there, find this jerk and make him pay!” Rainbow declared. I gave her a stern look that caused her to sink back into her seat. I closed my eyes and gave a long sigh. “Look, I know you girls are sad about what this masked stallion did to him and his guards but, that doesn’t mean you should go out there and try to find him. Vengeance doesn’t solve anything and I don’t want you girls to get hurt by him. You’re my friends and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” I said. The girls and spike looked at me with small smiles and thanked me for my words. We started eating the treats and talking about something else to get into a different subject. “How’s Sweet Apple Acres doing, Applejack?” “It’s coming along great. In fact, I brought some apples along for everypony, freshly picked right off the tree.” She said. She grabbed her bag and took out eight red apples and handed them to each of us. The others started eating and I was about to before I noticed something. I looked at it closely and saw it was emitting the same green tint as my friend’s eyes. “Is something wrong with the apple?” Twilight said. “No, I’m just not hungry. Hey Applejack, did anything change on the farm while I was gone?” I asked her. “Nothing really noticeable but, we did receive a gift three years ago. The royals gave us this tree that grew only in their kingdom. They said it helped improve the health of the plants around it. Since we planted it, the harvest has been better than ever.” She said. I was about to ask another question when there was a knock on my door. Spike went over, opened the door and we were greeted by an unusually sight. At the door was a female griffin. She was wearing a red tank top and blue jeans. Her feathers had a silver tint to them and her eyes were red. The others were shocked but, I knew who she was. “I’m sorry but, can we help you?” Twilight asked. The griffin looked in my direction, noticed my expression and smirked. She walked past Spike, into the house, got behind me, leaned down and crossed her arms around my neck. “Echo, that wasn’t nice? After all we’ve been through; it wasn’t nice to go without leaving a note.” She said in a slightly sultry voice. The girl’s eyes were wide when she said that. I just kept my blank expression. “Echo, who is this and why does she know you?” Rarity asked. “Girls, this is Zepha, I met her two years ago on my travels.” I answered. She waved her hand at them when I said her name. I told them I would explain tomorrow and that I would stop by the farm. They had confused faces but, they left regardless. When the door closed, my tone went serious. “Okay, why are you here?” I asked while getting up and walking into the kitchen. “Ah, you sound cute when you’re mad.” She replied as she picked up the apple. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” “Relax, you know this doesn’t affect me but, it’s nice to know you care.” She said. She was right though when she said it didn’t affect her. During my travels, I learned that the spell only affected residents of Equestria, other inhabitants that weren’t ponies weren’t affected. However, this didn’t mean that Sombra and the other two didn’t take this into consideration. They found different ways to keep other races in check. “Why are you here?” “I just came to see how your mission was going and know if you’re going to keep your promise. You do remember you’re promise, right?” She asked. I did remember the promise I made to her. I first met her two years ago when she and her father, Swift Talons, were being chased by rezythes. I dispatched them and asked what happened. Her father said that they were escapees from the Griffin Kingdom. I learned that the current ruler, Iron Wing, was replaced by an obsidian named maelstrom and put a lock down on the entire kingdom, preventing anyone from leaving. I promised them that I would help free their people when mine were free. Now I know that the day I own up to that promise and others is approaching sooner than I thought. “I remember.” The next day, I told Zepha to stay inside while I checked out sweet apple acres. I got to the farm and noticed that the apple family added more trees when I last saw it. I saw Applejack and her brother and went towards them. Big Macintosh was still big as ever. He was wearing blue overalls with a yellow shirt. In his mouth was a stick of wheat. “Well howdy, Echo Wave.” “Hey, Applejack. Can you show me this tree that the siblings gave you?” “Well sure. Big Mac, can you show him?” She asked her older brother. He replied the only way he knew how. “Eeyup.” Big Mac and I walked through the trees and I saw the green magic flowing through the tree’s roots and into the apples. We came to a stop and saw a dark brown tree at the top of a hill. I went closer and noticed that the magic was spreading from it. I turned around to talk to him, only to be shocked with what I saw. “BIG MAC, WATCH OUT!!!” I yelled. Before he could react, a serac had blindsided him and knocked him unconscious. I heard movement and turned around to see the tree split open and a log like creature stepped out. The magic was coming from him and now I knew that it was the cause. “So, you were behind all this? The magic seeping into the apples came from you, didn’t it?” I accused. It answered in a deep voice. “Yes, I don’t who you are but, now that you’ve seen my true form, you and that farmer need to be dealt with, permanently.” It said. I would attack but, I can’t do anything until Big Mac was safe. An idea came to mind and I whistled. “What are you doing?" “I’m calling a friend.” I answered. Before it could say anything else, something black shot past it. It heard a crunching noise and looked up to see a full grown, solid black timber wolf with remains of the serac in its jaw. Its piercing white eyes looking right at it. This was Shadow, all grown up. “Shadow, guard that stallion while I deal with this.” I said while taking out the artifact, which I dubbed the ‘Umbra Driver’. Shadow barked in confirmation. I placed the driver on my waist, the belt appeared and I performed the motions. “Henshin.” I transformed and punched the ground, erecting the barrier. I launched my daggers at it only to see them lodge into its arm. It lowered its arm and smirked. “So, you’re the one that has been destroying our comrades. I will have you know that mere knives will not destroy my armor. Now, perish!” It yelled as it struck the ground with both its arms and the ground shook. Spear like roots shot out of the ground and tried to impale. I got out of the way in time but, more kept coming. I drew my sword, slashed the next set of roots, sprinted towards the creature and slashed its left arm off. It merely shrugged and swung its right arm at me. I blocked it but, the force of the impact pushed me back. “It will take more than that to defeat me.” It said with a grin. If physical attacks were no good, I knew what else to use. I pulled the handle, took out the crescent gem, placed it in and slammed the handle back. “Lunar Moon!” The dark blue chest plate formed on me right before a root impaled me. The creature laughed at my ‘demise’ but, it didn’t notice my sword stuck in its chest, with me holding it. “What!?” it shrieked in disbelief. It looked to where it thought I was only to see another me before it faded away in a blue mist. “Each of my gems grants me a different ability; this one grants me illusionary powers. Your armor may protect you from the outside but, I bet the same can’t be said for your insides.” I pulled the handle back out and slammed it back in. “Lunar Moon, Exceed!” The blue mist returned but, this time it focused on my blade. Blue lines started to inch up its skin as I twist my sword. “May the darkness, consume this evil.” It yelled in pain as the mist came out of its mouth and engulfed it. The mist cleared and it was gone and the roots receded back into the ground. I dissipated the barrier and went up to the split tree. The magic was gone and it returned to being a regular tree. The book I read had a chapter in restoration and dispelling magic on a simple level. I chanted the runic incantations and slammed my fist into the ground. A magic pulse was sent that restored the tree and was sent out to the other trees in the entire orchard. When it finished, I was left exhausted but, it was worth it to restore the orchard to the glory I remembered it had. I couldn’t affect the apples that were already picked but, at least the farm was pure once again. I told Shadow to return to the castle ruins and to deal with any stray seracs he finds, once I gave the order, he disappeared into the trees. I waited there until Big Mac opened his eyes. “You okay, Macintosh.” “What happened? The last thing I remembered was you yelling at me to watch out for something.” “The tree branch above you just snapped and landed on your head, knocking you out. I stayed here until you woke up, you ready to head back?" “Eeyup.” We went back to the farmhouse and I waved goodbye as I went home. The sun was already setting and the streets were clear. I opened my door and saw the girls chatting with Zepha. I walked in, closed the door and settled into my chair. “Welcome home, sugarcube. Zepha here has been telling us about how yall met in Manehatten. She also said how she liked to tease you a bit. Echo Wave?” Applejack asked. I didn’t answer I was already fast asleep in my chair. The girls just smiled and Twilight levitated my quilt off my bed and placed it on me. “He must have tired himself out while helping Big Mac collect the rest of the apples. You can tell him the letter tomorrow Twilight.” “Yeah, he’ll be so surprised to find out that the Vilotan siblings have asked us to visit them at their castle."