//------------------------------// // Chapter 47 // Story: The Darkness in our Souls // by Black Light //------------------------------// Chapter 47 I was standing in the room looking at the pony who had just entered. Rainbow landed on the floor and made sure to put me in between her and the new pony. The emotions I could feel from her betraying her confident expression. “So tell me what is it you think you’re doing?” The pony asked. I put the book into my saddlebags and faced the Alpha. “Oh you know, just breaking and entering.” I answered. “You know that’s against the law.” He said to me. “Please, I don’t need a lecture from you about what is and isn’t lawful.” I responded. “Shadow who is he?” Twilight asked behind me. “He’s the Alpha of the Shadow Servers, their leader.” I answered without looking away from him. “He’s also the one that foalnapped Rainbow a while back.” Behind me the girls gasped, and I felt Rainbow cringe a little, these weren’t the best memories. I looked at the Alpha’s artificial hoof. “So how’s the new hoof treating you?” I asked. “It’s taken some getting used to.” The Alpha answered bringing the metal hoof to his face. “I didn’t really appreciate you removing my old one though.” “Why, had you grown attached to it?” I asked. The Alpha scowled at me. “Is now really the time for this meaningless conversation. You came her for the book, you have the book, now you can leave.” I looked at the Alpha with a questioning expression. “Really you’re not even going to try to make me lose control?” I asked. “Why should I bother, the darkness in you has made it quite clear that he doesn’t want our help, it is our duty to serve him, even if that duty is to not.” The Alpha answered. “I see.” I responded. “So I’m going to have to kill you.” The girls gasped. “Shadow, why? He’s saying we can leave.” Rainbow said. Twilight was quiet and deep in thought. “You know the reason don’t you Twilight?” I asked her, she hesitated and then nodded slowly with a sad expression. “If he needed the book to use the spell he would stop us, but he’s not. The book doesn’t contain the framework for the spell, so they don’t need the book anymore. Once we leave they can create a new darkness even without the book, and chances are you don’t trust anypony else with the spell and only you know it, securing your place as Alpha.” I said turning to face the Alpha yet again. “Without you and the book, the Shadow Servers won’t be able to create another darkness ever again.” The Alpha simply laughed. “You don’t have the will to kill me. Ever since you stopped running and found a home, you’ve lost your blood lust.” He said to me. “I remember a time that if you had the chance to kill one of us you would never pass up the opportunity, but up on the mountain I was at your mercy and you just left. You didn’t have the will to kill me then, what makes you think you have the will to kill me now?” He asked me. My horn started to glow and I levitated a sword off of the wall and pointed it towards the Alpha. “What’s changed? What’s Changed?! What’s changed is that because of you there is an innocent mare who’s dead!” I shouted at him. I could see his eyes widen slightly I had found my resolve, and he was about to feel the full force of my anger. My magic got brighter slightly and grabbed the Alpha’s metal hoof pulling it out from under him. He fell to the ground on his side soon I was standing over him with the sword at his neck. “I think you all should wait outside.” I said my voice void of emotions. The girls looked like they wanted to argue, that they wanted to stop me, but despite how much they hated the idea, they all still had that part of them that understood the necessity. I wish they didn’t though, I wish that they could still have kept their innocence and been friends with me, but that could never happen. The girls gave in and left the room, I could tell that Fluttershy was crying and as much as that hurt me I still needed to do this. “Before I kill you, tell me why. Why do you want to hurt others?” I asked him. “Because pain is a part of living. Our goal is to make those who deny this fact know the truth of it.” He answered. “Have you ever considered that maybe without you that peace they believe in might actually exist?” “No” He answered. “But you have, and you know as long as you exist that peace you wish for will never exist.” “…I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try.” I told him as I thrust the sword forward. Impaling his throat in a quick stab and killing him within seconds. I left the sword there and started towards the door. I opened the door and left the room. As I left I saw the girls looking at me, all with mixed emotions. I sighed, I let them see that side of me again. I was about to speak when “INTRUDERS!” Somepony shouted from down the hall. “Run!” I said, quickly placing Rarity on my back with levitation and running down the hall. We were running as quickly as we could, with Prowler leading us, heading towards the opening of the cave. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Rarity wasn’t going to fall off and saw the wave of black following behind us. I saw a few break off from the group and go down a separate tunnel. I quickly turned my attention forward again just in time to see a few Shadow Servers come out from one of the side tunnels heading us off. Twilight and I made quick work of them with a blast of magic knocking them unconscious. We turned a corner and I saw the light coming from the end of the tunnel signifying the outside. I began to speed up hoping to get out as soon as possible, but as I passed through the light and the outside world became visible, I skidded to a stop. Surrounding the entrance to the cave was a circle of Shadow Servers so packed together a mouse, let alone nine ponies, wouldn’t be able to squeeze through. “So… What the buck do we do now?” Prowler asked. “I would slap you if I had the strength.” Rarity said weakly from a top my back. “Good to know, Shadow any ideas?” Prowler said to me. “I don’t know.” I said as I levitated Rarity off my back and next to Twilight for support. “There’s too many to fight, and not enough room to slip through… I’ve got nothing.” I answered him. One of the Shadow Servers stepped forward and spoke. “Surrender quietly and we promise, your deaths will be quick.” Prowler turned to look at me, but his gaze drifted to the mares behind me. I knew what he was asking. Do we fight and hope for a miracle, risking a painful death, or do we give in so that we can avoid some of the pain? Then I saw the slight hint of movement out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t see what, but I knew it was just inside the forest hiding in the bushes and grass. I smiled. “Do you think we’ll give in just because you ask, because we’re not.” I told the Shadow Server. The Shadow Server scowled. “Fine, you will be the first to die.” He said “Hmm…no I don’t think so.” I responded. “I think that-” I started lifting my hoof and starting to move it around pointing at different ponies. “…You.” I finally said pointing at a pony just behind the speaker. “You will be the first to die.” The speaker looked at me. “That is pointless, how could you think that we would-” However he was cut off as a scream of pain came from behind him. He turned around just in time to see a large timberwolf removing his jaws from the downed pony’s, which happened to be the one I pointed at, neck. “Leaf!?” Prowler exclaimed “What are you doing here?!” “Leave the questions for later.” I said pointing towards one side of the circle surrounding us. “Sic em.” And Leaf did just that. Soon enough there was a gap in the Shadow Servers defenses and I turned to the girls. “GO!” I shouted pointing. They started off running through the gap and away from the cave. I turned back to Prowler. “We need to buy them some time to get away.” I told him. “No… I do.” He told me. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Look at the odds, even with both of us and Leaf. As soon as that circle closes again, which it will, it’s not opening again.” He told me. I quickly realized what he was saying. “No, Prowler don’t you dare do this!” I shouted at him. He put a hoof on my shoulder. “Shadow, for as long as I could remember whenever we met you always came just with Skies. You said that the last town had been the same as all the others before.” He told me. “This time you came with friends, friends that stuck by your side through the hardest of times. They need you, you need them, and you don’t really need me anymore, nopony really needs me.” He said. “Prowler-” I started, but he interrupted me shaking his head. “It’s time to go.” He said indicating over my shoulder showing the circle was starting to close again, and Leaf was starting to be pushed back. When I looked back to Prowler I noticed two things. One, his back was to me. Two, his rear legs were coming towards me at high speed. Prowler’s buck hit me hard in the chest and sent me flying a good few feet. When I landed and stopped rolling I was outside of the circle of Shadow Servers and Prowler was standing in the center with Leaf by his side. A sad but content smile on his face. Even over the sounds of fighting in the circle, I still heard Prowler’s small voice carry over. “Well boy, it looks like this is it for us. I don’t know where we’re going, but wherever it is, we’re both gonna be there.” I wanted to run back in, I wanted to help him, but I knew it would be pointless, so I ran. I ran back into the forest praying to whatever forces I could think of to help him. When I stopped running, I was back at the spot we had set up camp the night before. The girls had also found their way back here and smiled as they saw me. Skies and Rainbow both came and hugged me asking about Prowler. I was silent and simply went and sat at the edge of the clearing waiting for the answer to come. My answer did come eventually, it came in the form of a young timberwolf carrying a bloodied hat and a piece of bark. He dropped them at my feet, and I had my answer. I put the hat and bark in my saddle bag and left to go to sleep. Nopony complained that night about me sleeping on my own under the tree.