//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Where It All Began // Story: Rise Of The Shadow Walkers // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Rise Of The Shadow Walkers Chapter One: Where It All Began Ages ago, before Celestia and Luna ruled over Equestria, before the dark rule of the god of chaos. Long before there even was an Equestria, in a land far from where Equestria would come to be, there lived a tribe of ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns. These races lived together in peace in houses of stone and wood. The city was ruled by seven ponies of their kind. Two pegasi, two earth ponies, two unicorns, and one alicorn. They were known as the council and ruled the city of ponies justly and fairly. The ponies of this city were content with how things were. They had magic and were capable of utilizing it to make their lives easier. None questioned or cared where magic came from, how it worked, and why it was able to do what it did. All they cared about was that it was there and they could use it to help them in their lives. The alicorns were treated no different than the other ponies, and lived their lives like the others. There was one alicorn, though, who did have a curious mind. He wanted to learn about magic and find its secrets. Little did he know that his search for answers would lead him to discover a new kind of magic, a kind of magic that would be seen as terrifying and dark. This is the story of the first shadow walker pony. Our tale begins on a normal day in the city of Trotsdale. The ponies were going about the cobble stone streets, greeting one another happily. At the center of the town was a large stone grey castle where the council lived and convened to make important decisions about the city and how it should be run. There were ponies who worked under the council as well to help with things about the city such as keeping up with population numbers, making sure every pony obeys the laws and doesn’t cause trouble, and learning about the stars. One pony in particular, on the science team, was an alicorn. He had a curious mind and loved learning new things. Unlike most of the other ponies of the castle, who were rather close minded in his opinion. They were satisfied with the fact that things just worked and didn’t wonder why or how. This one wanted to learn the why and how about the world around him. His special talent had earned him his cutie mark, which was of seven white specks that were stars. He liked looking at the stars and learning all he could about them the most. He had a blue coat and a black mane and tail with blue eyes. His name was Stardust. “Councilpony Auburn, aren’t you at least a little curious how the sun and moon move?” Stardust said as he addressed the councilpony leader. Stardust stood at about four feet in height. He had the fortune of running into Auburn in one of the castle’s halls lined with windows on one side with sunlight streaming in. The stone that made up the walls and floor were near black. Paintings of other ponies in fancy outfits lined the walls opposite the one with windows. “No I’m not. All I need to know is that they move and provide day and night when needed. Why do you insist on finding out how and why they move?” Councilpony Auburn was an alicorn with a white coat and a caramel mane and tail, and brown eyes. His cutie mark was of a pair of crossed scrolls. He stood half a foot taller than Stardust. “All you need to know is they work, there is no need to go any further than that.” Auburn said in a deep authoritative voice. “But there is so much to learn about the world around us. Why not learn all we can?” Stardust argued in his usual young curious voice. “Because there is no need, I am getting very tired of you trying to get the council’s approval for your ridiculous experiments. You’re lucky you have the position of star mapper. Frankly, I don’t see the point of learning about the stars either. But they do help determine the seasons and such, I suggest you don’t push your luck and I make a motion to have your position eliminated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to.” Auburn said as he pushed his way past Stardust. Stardust glared at Auburn as he walked away. “Still no luck I see.” A feminine voice with a bit of a rasp asked. Stardust glanced back at the source, then face forward again as he replied. “That close minded fool. What if something were to happen where such knowledge would come in useful? What if some pony came down with an illness that could be cured with the knowledge of things around us like what properties plants have? We could find cures for all kinds of illnesses from the plants that grow around here and ponies would die from diseases because he was too stupid to look for an answer right in front of his muzzle.” “That’s our leader for you.” The female voice responded. “Stubborn as a mule and twice as big.” The voice laughed. Stardust couldn’t help but laugh a little as well at the quip. He finally faced the source of the voice completely to see an alicorn mare before him. “No kidding. How did some pony like him even get to where he is anyway?” The alicorn mare had a light yellow coat, a flowing red mane and tail, orange eyes, and a magnifying glass for a cutie mark. “Who knows, maybe he intimidated his way to the top.” Stardust smiled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.” “Maybe you’ll have better luck with convincing council pony Earth Shaker.” “HAH, he’s way more intimidating then Auburn, Sunflare.” Stardust retorted. “Come on, I’ll treat you to a meal to help you calm down.” Sunflare offered. “What I NEED is for these ponies who are in charge to have a more open mind. Instead, we’re stuck with a bunch of close minded, stubborn, self-absorbed…” Stardust sounded angrier and angrier with each word. Sunflare placed a hoof on his back. “Stardust! Calm down, don’t let yourself get worked up like this. Take a deep breath and relax.” She said as she looked at him with concern. Stardust looked at her first, then closed his eyes and did as she said. “Better?” She asked. “Yes, thank you Sunflare, I’m so glad I have you as an assistant.” Stardust said as he gave her a smile. Sunflare smiled back. “Glad I could be of help. Come on, let’s get that food I mentioned. I’m so hungry I could eat a whole field of greens.” Stardust smirked. “Since when did you become a cow?” Sunflare smirked back. “Ha ha, very funny.” She gave him a light punch in the shoulder. “Come on jester, let’s go.” “After you my lady.” Stardust said with a bow and a wave of his hoof. Sunflare rolled her eyes with a smirk at the display and just started walking to the mess hall. The mess hall was a large room with long wooden tables and benches set up to eat at. The food was brought to those who ate there by the ponies working the kitchen. Sunflare and Stardust had a wooden bowl of vegetable soup in front of them. They sat across from each other at one of the tables near the center of the hall. They each used their magic to lift the wooden spoons provided to eat their soup. “The soup is very good today.” Sunflare said in hopes of starting a conversation to get Stardust’s mind off of things. “I guess.” Stardust replied coldly. Sunlfare set her spoon down in her bowl. “Oh come on, will you just forget that rock headed goat for a minute?” she said almost angrily. Stardust looked up at her. “I’m sorry Sunflare, but I can’t help it. I want to learn all I can about the world. I’m just so curious about the inner workings of it all and I can barely do anything about it because I need the council’s permission for any experiment.” “Why can’t you just accept it and move on? Just live your life like every pony else.” Sunflare stated. “What? And be a mindless sheep like every other pony? I’m supposed to just fall in line and blindly do what I’m told?” Stardust nearly shouted. “AHEM!” A gruff male voice came from the end of the table the two were sitting at. Stardust and Sunflare looked to the source to see a muscular stone faced stallion with a brown coat, a black mane and tail combed back, and a triangular shaped mass of land with the point facing down and a crack going down the middle halfway through for a cutie mark. He had a very displeased look. “If you have a problem with how we run things, you need only bring your concerns to the council and present your argument there, not speaking of them in this manner.” The stallion said in a gruff voice. “Oh, hello council pony Earth Shaker.” Sunflare said with a nervous smile. “We were just talking about…..something else.” Sunflare offered in hopes of staying out of trouble. “Really, like what?” The large earth pony asked with a raised eyebrow. “We were talking about…….SHEEP!” She shouted in desperation for an excuse. “Yeah, about how sheep migrate and such.” “I see.” Earth Shaker glanced at Stardust who didn’t look nervous at all. “Well do keep your voices down in the mess hall. This is a place for eating, not yelling. Good day Sunflare, Stardust.” The earth pony gave a nod then walked away. Sunflare sighed in relief. “Whew, that was close. Stardust, you really should be more careful with your words. What if he heard all you were saying?” “I hope he did, I’m tempted to just walk up to each and every one of those council members and give them a piece of my mind.” Sunflare looked at him worriedly. “You can’t do that, you could lose your position, you could get kicked out of the castle. Or worse….you could get banished to the dark forest.” “Better than being here, at least out there, I’d be free to learn.” Stardust retorted. “Yeah, for at least five minutes before the monsters there kill you and eat you. Come on Stardust, you can’t mean that.” Stardust looked at Sunflare. “How long have you been my assistant Sunflare?” Sunflare paused, caught off guard by the question. “Well, I think it’s been about 15 years now.” “And how long have you known me?” He asked again. Sunflare sighed. “20.” She answered weakly. “Exaclty, we have known each other practically all our lives. We’ve been such good friends for so long. You should know me by now and how I feel about this whole situation.” Sunflare glared at him. “Did YOU ever consider other’s feelings? That maybe there are ponies who care about you too much to just let you throw your life away on some silly ideals?” Stardust glared back. “Silly ideals? Oh, so now my ideas are silly are they?” Sunflare continued. “I didn’t mean it like that and you know it! Your just being a….a……A SELFISH JERK! GAH!” Sunflare threw her head back in frustration. She picked up her bowl of soup with her magic and stormed off in a huff. As she got halfway through the mess hall, Stardust realized what he did. “Stardust, you idiot.” He berated himself. He quickly got up from his seat and galloped after her. “Sunflare, wait!” He called after her. He managed to catch up to her and got to her side. “Sunflare, please, I’m sorry.” He tried to say. “I’m not talking to you Stardust.” Sunflare said with her head raised and her eyes closed. “Sunflare, please, I’m sorry all right? You were right, I was being an idiot and a selfish jerk. Please Sunflare, I’m really sorry.” Stardust pleaded. Sunlfare stopped in her tracks. She looked at Stardust with one eye. “Are you really sorry?” She asked. “Yes, I was being an idiot, a jerk, and a stupid stubborn mule. Please forgive me.” She looked at him completely. “Don’t you know how I would feel if something happened to you? Your my friend Stardust. If anything were to happen to you….I don’t know what I’d do.” “I know, I wasn’t thinking about you when I said what I did. And I’m sorry. Please, please, PLEASE forgive me.” Stardust begged more. Sunflare turned her whole body in his direction. “I’ll forgive you on one condition.” “What is it, just name it.” Stardust said with a smile. “I want you to stop with your magic experiments your doing.” “WHAT?!” Stardust yelled out. He quickly placed both his front hooves over his mouth and looked around to see if any pony heard him. He then spoke in a whisper. “How did you know about that?” “Come on Stardust, I know you. You want to learn about everything. Including magic. If the council finds out about your secret experiments, then you’ll get banished for sure. Please Stardust, for me, just give up on it and let it go.” She said with worry in her eyes. “But I’m so close to making a breakthrough. I’m on the verge of a major discovery. You want me to just give up on it and let it go?” “Please Stardust. I don’t want to lose you. Please just give up on it and throw away any and all evidence you have pertaining to it.” “But…years of research will have been wasted. If I just quit, so much knowledge will have been lost. I can’t just quit. I’ve found so many new spells that can be used to better our lives because of this.” “Stardust, if you keep up with this, the council will find out somehow and you’ll get banished. Please Stardust, just give it up and quit with your magic research.” Sunflare begged. Stardust looked to the side sadly. How could he make such a decision? If he quits, so much knowledge will be lost. If he doesn’t, he could very well lose his only friend. What is Stardust to do?