//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Time to Sleep, Time to Wake // Story: My Life as a Hybrid // by ChaosDoomscythe //------------------------------// My Life as a Hybrid By: ChaosDoomscythe/Doomscythe01 Chapter 13: Time to Sleep, Time to Wake I had just finished reciting from memory the letter Shadow wrote to me. In response, there was a mixture of crying mares and sad smiles (and in the case of bones, the feeling of a sad smile, seeing as how he has no facial expressions.) Unsurprisingly, I was currently hovering high above the group to keep away from Pinkies grubby hooves. I was not getting hugged by her again, not right now at least. “Pinkie, I know you’re sad and all….but sit down, mare.” “Not… until… I… give… you… a… HUG!” She was jumping up and down in the air trying to get to me, and whenever she came close, I hovered just a little further out of reach. “Fine then.” I turned towards everyone else to address them, while still keeping an eye on Pinkie to make sure she didn’t surprise me and keep out of her reach. “So, yeah. It’s thanks to that letter, thanks to Shadow, that I regained the will to live. I’ve got a promise to keep now, and I have every intention of fulfilling it. No matter what the future may hold, I’m going to keep on moving forward, until I die of old age, and that’s not gonna happen for at least a few hundred, maybe even a thousand years.” That actually got a number of surprised looks from them, so much so that Pinkie even momentarily stopped jumping trying to glomp me out of the sky. “Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that to you. I’m more than likely gonna outlive most all of you. I mean, sure, I’m only half dragon, but I still maintain a dragons long life expectancy. Don’t know exactly how long I’ll live for, but at the very least, I’ll be here for a few hundred years. Because… you know… Dragons are friggin’ boss.” And now they look mildly confused at my last remark. High moon above, it feels so good to use Earth phrases, even if no one understands them here. My smug smirk isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “WHEEEEEEE!” “Hurgk!” I may have spoken too soon. … ‘Where the hell did Pinkie get a trampoline from?’ So, after several minutes of struggling to escape the clutches of the deadly hug monster, who was now back to smiling obnoxiously, I went back to explaining my life’s story. “So, Shadow, You said that this was the first step for you, correct?” I looked at twilight, mildly confused at what she said before she clarified it for me. “You said that this was the first step towards your brief bout of insanity… What… what was the second?” “Right…. that. Yeah.” I sighed, and was quiet for a few moments to organize my thoughts before I began again. “The looming threat of Shadow’s death was the first step. It led me to seek out desperate measures to ensure his safety, even if it led to me committing suicide. His actual death led to a crippling depression and made me lose the will to live, even going so far as to leading me to believe myself a source of pain for others, which led to me attempting suicide a second time. “What I didn’t know at the time, and something I didn’t realize until I met Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, is that his death, along with my own from before I arrived in Equestria, caused me to develop a phobia. Athagoraphobia.” “A fear of abandonment.” The ponies turned towards Luna, Twilight mildly surprised she knew what the word meant. I wasn’t. I could see it in her eyes. She had a fear similar to mine. She had autophobia: a fear of solitude. We both nodded to each other in silent understanding. “She’s right. I have a fear of being abandoned. That fear and the second step led directly into my loss of sanity. When I did lose my mind, something inside of me broke. I’m still broken, and you’d be able to tell if you knew what to look for. For a long time, my mom and dad became my rock. The anchor that kept me sane. I think my mom realized that, and did everything in her power to make sure I was going to be alright, because she was fretting over me almost all the time. Of course, that may have also been due to her worry about me getting healthy and making sure I didn’t try to kill myself again, but at that point, I had no intentions of doing that. “A couple of months later, and I was back in peak condition, being able to reach the highest levels of magic I had access to, and soaring through the sky at top speeds. It looked like everything was going to go back to normal. Well, as normal things could get, all things considered. But then… a few years after, everything came crashing down for me… and I lost my mind.” The other’s looked nervous, as though they didn’t really want to ask, but then Dash stepped up to the plate. “What happened, Shadow?” I looked over at Rainbow. Then slowly, I turned my gaze over the rest of them, taking in each of their expressions. I know what I was about to say and show them would probably devastate them and likely alter some of their opinions of me, but I had to be known. They had to know the reason why I assaulted Celestia and attempted to murder her. Just as I opened my mouth to begin my explanation, the void interrupted me, shifting black, before turning back into it rainbow of colors. Strangely, the colors were dulled, and less vibrant than normal. I blinked up at it. “Huh. That’s…. stupid.” Shining spoke up. “What’s stupid? What’s happening?” “I think my body is about to shut down.” They all looked alarmed at that. “Someone tell me what today is. I lost track.” Rarity answered, “It’s Tuesday, darling, why?” “Oh, ok then. That makes sense.” They still looked confused, so I explained it to them. “It’s been almost two weeks since my body had sleep… well, sleep that hadn’t been induced by a spell or from being knocked unconscious. And while I do replenish some magic when that occurs, it’s not enough to keep me going. So, my body forces me to sleep for three days straight. In those three days, my body’s resistance to magic vanishes, and I begin absorbing and storing ambient magical energy from around me into to restore myself, and to keep me active for about two weeks straight. It’s why I can’t sleep whenever I want to unless somepony knocks me out with a spell... or they just knock me out.” The void went black, but stayed so for several moments before the rainbow of colors returned again, this time, they were grey scaled. Which meant I had about one minute before I shut down for some time. “Okay, quick. I need two things when I go under. One, I need to be transported to a remote location, because I absorb a lot of magic, and I can’t get enough out of the air, my body start staking it from other creatures, and that’s not good for anyone. Two. Private Pinkie!” She didn’t miss a beat and appeared right next to me, complete with army helmet and camouflage lines on her cheeks. “Sir, Private Pinkie reporting for duty!” “Do you remember how much I ate when we went to the mess hall?” “You bet I do, sir!” “Your mission is to recruit Applejack and make me three times that much by the end of the third day! Am I clear?!” “What, what?” “Sir, yes sir!” “Now, hold on just a moment! Why do Ah-? And then the void went Black. ‘Perfect timing void. Perfect timing.’ The girls, Shining, and Bones all bolted upright, their eyes wide as they all shivered, having received what felt like a massive electric shock along their spines from their forced ejection from the void. They all looked towards the hospital bed to see Shadow sprawled out on it, snoring away without a care in the world, one of his back legs hanging off the bed and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. The ponies in the room, sans the guards, couldn’t help but giggle at how strange he looked, but it wasn’t long before a heavily condensed blue aura surrounded him and levitated him off the bed. Trapped in Princess Luna’s magic, he was levitated right out the door, the other ponies and the guards in the room following her and her charge out. Twilight walked up to the princess of the night, with Shining and Cadence right behind her. “Where are you going to take him, Princess?” Luna thought for a moment, before an idea struck her. “There is an old cave at the top of this mountain. According to Celestia, our old friend, a dragon named Recluse, used to live there, but he vacated long ago so that she could build Canterlot here. He even helped in the construction of the city. I believe that the cave should be far away enough for Shadow.” “You and Aunt Celestia were friends with a dragon?” asked Cadence. “I didn’t think we had any ties to dragons, given their… unique personalities.” “Recluse grew up together with my sister and me,” replied the dark alicorn. “We were all very close friends. Although, I have not seen him since my banishment, so I have no idea where he is at the moment.” Twilight poke up next, the shock evident in her voice. “Wait, you mean he’s still alive? But, then he’d have to be-“ “A few thousand years old, yes, “Luna replied with a nod. She smiled a little. “While most dragons only live for a thousand years at best, Recluse has been alive just as long as my sister and I. and, from what sister has told me, he’s still relatively in his prime.” Jaws dropped in response to her comment. “Still in his prime?! I’d love to study him! He has to know a lot about things that passed over the ages! Do you think we could meet him, Princess Luna?” “Yes, I think so. It would be nice to… What is the phrase? ‘Catch up?’” She turned to look at the assembled ponies, whom all nodded in response. “Yes, it would be nice to catch up with him. I will see about a meeting with him when we are in a less important situation.” With that statement, the ponies all started conversing, some about the dragon, and in the case of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, about Shadow Flare. Luna herself looked at the lightly snoring hybrid held within her magical field, and couldn’t help but think about him and his situation as well. ‘It’s obvious that deep down, Shadow Flare… Radiant Nova is a good pony. And though he’s been through so much, I still do not understand why he attacked my sister.’ Over the months of Shadow working in the Castle, he and Luna had in fact become very good friends. Aside from the ponies behind her, with the exception of the mysterious Bones, Shadow is one of the first true friends Princess Luna had made upon her return from her banishment. His attack on her sister, however, heavily strained her friendship with him. Despite that, she still felt that bond with him, and sincerely hoped that when this was all over, they could remain friends. ‘But first, we need to discover exactly what happened to him. What did happened to him? What was done to him that was so devastating that it would drive him to attack Celestia?’ She shook her head, and looked forward, before turning a corner, and continuing her walk down the pristine walls of the castle. ‘Whatever it was, according to him, it drove him mad for a short time. When this is over, I believe it may be a good idea to get him some professional help. Much like my sister did for me when I was restored by the Elements.’ She then turned her head enough so that she could look behind her. There, in the very back of the group, being tailed by two solar guards, undead pony, Bones. He caught her gaze, and she watch his steps falter for a moment before he averted his gaze from her. She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘And then there is the mystery of the skeleton pony… Hmm…’ She was brought out of her musings as another solar guard approached her from the front. He saluted, before turning and walking next to her. Luna leaned her head down as he began relaying his message. “Princess Celestia is awake, and she requests your presence, Princess.” “Thank you.” The guard saluted, before marching off back to his post. Luna turned to the assembled ponies, noting they were all looking at her. She motioned for the Guards to come towards her. “Please escort Shadow Flare to the Cave above Canterlot.” She materialized a map out of thin air, and handed it to one of her unicorn guards. “I want ten guards posted around him at all times.” “Yes, Your Highness.” The guard saluted, and Luna lowered the sleeping hybrid onto the backs of two guards. The moment her magic faded, they both nearly buckled under the weight of Shadow. After composing themselves, the guards all walked off, down another corridor. Luna then turned towards the rest of the group. “Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, if you two would not mind, could you lease retrieve Mantle and go with my guards. I would like for you two to watch over and guard Shadow as well. If he happens to wake up and he overpowers the guards, Fluttershy’s Stare and Rainbow’s speed, and Mantle’ strength and magic absorbing capabilities will be the only things that can stop him.” Both ponies nodded, though Fluttershy looked hesitant to do so. Nonetheless, she acquiesced to Luna’s request and both flew off towards the castle gardens. “The rest of you, please move to the throne room. I will return there shortly with news of my sister’s condition soon…” The ponies nodded, and began to walk away, until… “Except you, Bones.” Said Skeleton pony flinched so hard he looked like he was recoiling from being back hoofed. “Come with me. You and I are going to have a discussion with my sister if she is up to it.” The ponies looked back at bones, who had an abject look of horror across his face. His jaw was dropped, and the red dots in his eye sockets turned to just that. Small, almost unnoticeable dots. His entire form trembled, before he locked up…. and then fell to pieces. A light blue bubble surrounded all of the bones and lifted them into the air before the hovered over next to the princess. She eyed them momentarily, before turning to the ponies, nodding, and then walking off towards the medical wing of the hospital. The others just looked at each other, before they all moved to reconvene towards the castle. As they were walking, Twilight though about the things she had learned, and then silently made a decision to write a letter to Spike. She had a feeling it would probably be a good idea for him to come to Canterlot. There were some things he needed to learn about his adoptive older brother. Before she could even begin to think about how to structure the letter, there was a gasp. The ponies turned to Pinkie, as she nearly shouted. “Oh, no! I almost forgot! Come on, Applejack!” “Wait, whut? WHAT IN TARNATION!? PINKIE! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! WHOA NELLY! PINKIE! HOLD ON! SLOW DOWN! PINKIE! STOP! WE'RE GONNA- *Crash* As Luna approached the doors that led to Celestia’s room, the guards at the doors saluted their princess of the night, before the unicorn guard opened the doors for her. She entered the room, placing the pile of bones in a corner of the room, before turning her gaze towards her where her sister would be resting. What she saw was actually rather shocking. There Celestia was, Covered in bandages around each wing, her torso, and all four of her hooves. There was a patch over her right eye, coincidently the one usually covered by her flowing mane. Said mane was also much shorter, the ends of both her mane and tail having been burned off and reducing their overall length. They would be back to normal within the week. Worst of all, however, was probably her horn. It too, was wrapped in bandages, concealing the numerous cracks spread throughout it from when an enraged shadow Flare managed to get his jaws on it. For unicorns, and subsequently alicorns, their horn is their most sensitive part of their body. It is the focal point of their magic, and if abused, it can cause excruciating pain for its owner, even more for the case of exceptionally powerful unicorns or alicorns. Luna shivered when she remembered her sister’s scream when Shadow brought his razor sharp, gem crushing fangs down on Celestia’s horn. Aside from the bandages, there were numerous black spots on certain areas of her body where Shadow had burned her, including the tip of her horn, which was still visible in certain spots of her body. All in all, Celestia looked like she had been beat to Tartarus… which wasn’t far from the truth. But that’s not what shocked Luna. What had shocked her was that Celestia was sitting up in her bead, holding a cup of tea in her hooves and sipping on it like it was just another day. When she noticed her sister enter, she slowly placed the cup down on the table next to her, wincing very slightly, before resting her hooves at her side and addressing Luna. “Good afternoon, sister. How are you feeling?” “I should be asking you that, sister.” Luna walked up to Celestia and gave her a light muzzle, the older sister closing her eyes and sighed, muzzling back. “Well, I’m a little sore, and hungry, and I can’t use my magic, but all in all, I am mostly well. How long have I been asleep for?” “You have been out of commission for several days. Should you not be resting though? Moving will only aggravate your wounds.” “I am only suffering from a cracked horn, bruised ribs, and sore muscles,” Celestia calmly replied. “With the exception of my horn, I should be able to get out of my bed in only another day. You know how fast we heal. It is nothing too serious, Luna.” “Even we have out limits, sister.” Luna walked over to the window and looked out at the sun, shining high in the sky. “This is the first time I’ve ever had to raise the sun in your stead. And I will continue to do so until your horn has healed and your magic has returned.” She then turned back around and approached her elder sister again. “’Tia, neither of us has ever been injured like this before. You almost died, and I fear that had I lost you, I would have fallen into darkness once again. Please, do not strain yourself, sister. I will not risk losing you.” The two sisters looked each other right in the eyes. Celestia could see the worry written all over her sister’s face. She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh, before opening them and smiling again. “Very well, Luna. I promise I will take it easy and rest until I can move freely…” “Thank you-“ “After I get something to eat.” Celestia’s smirk still had the effect of aggravating Luna, even after all these years. The night ruler let out a huff before turning away. “Fine.” Moments later, Luna slowly started to smile, before both sisters began lightly giggling with each other. Moment’s where the two sisters could just be with each other and laugh like this were few and far between, and they cherished every moment, no matter how small. Celestia had always had an appetite, and was a rather ravenous eater herself, especially when they were younger. ‘She used to eat so much, mother and father always wondered where she used to pack it all. It’s no wonder she grew so large. I never understood why, or how, sister could eat so much. It’s strange. She eats just as much as Shad-‘ Upon remembering him, she suddenly remembered that she needed to talk with her sister about him, regarding her actions. However, she hesitated, not knowing exactly how her sister would react towards the subject so soon after her attack. Celestia, having apparently sensed her sister’s sudden mood change, pieced together what she must have wanted to talk about. “Luna, I think it’s time you told me what happened while I was out.” Luna flinched ever so slightly, but from years of experience in seeing things like this with her sister, Celestia still caught sight of the slight movement. “Luna, while my few interactions with Shadow Flare have been brief, I always felt he had some kind of a dislike for me. That had raised some suspicions for me, however, when I saw how well you two got along together, I let them slide because I didn’t want them to get in the way of your happiness. You two became such close friends, and I didn’t wish to interfere with that, especially with how few you have. I didn’t think, however, that his dislike for me was in fact hatred. And I never would’ve imagined that that hatred would drive him to try to take my life.” Celestia looked out the window briefly, thinking about what Shadow said when he burst in the throne room that day in the middle of day court. She thought back to the words he said right before he fired a massive gout of black and green flames out of his mouth. Those words lined out the exact reason why he attacked Celestia, but they didn’t make any sense. What he had said to her was something so impossible she couldn’t believe what she had heard. She still didn’t really believe it, but in order to get to the bottom of things, she required more information. Thus, she turned back towards Luna. “Sister, you now him better than I do. Do you have any idea as to why he attacked me?” Luna pulled up a cushion next to Celestia’s bed, and plopped down on it, looking her sister in the eye. “I have learned much sister. There is much I must tell you and show you.” Celestia let out a small smile. “Well, if this is going to be as long a discussion as I think, then what’s say we have something to eat while we talk? How does cake sound?” Celestia’s cake sit forgotten next to her now empty teacup as she stared down at the white bed sheets of her hospital bed. It had been silent in the room for nearly half an hour now, save for the sound of two ponies lightly breathing. Celestia sat there digesting everything Luna told her. She replayed in her head everything Luna had showed her, the things that Shadow had showed all of them, and while Luna couldn’t transmit the emotions he felt at those times like Shadow could, she felt like she still knew exactly how he felt. Shadow had been hurt and broken multiple times in his life. She couldn’t help but feel for the hybrid, his life being nearly defined by tragedy after tragedy. Finally, after what seemed like a short eternity to Luna, her sister finally raised her head and looked at her. Sadness etched across her face. “Luna… If this is all true… then it makes sense why he attacked me now.” “What do you mean, sister?” “The last tragedy he suffered through. The event that caused him to lose his mind. Right before he attacked, when he entered the throne room, he made a declaration. ‘Regent of the Sun. Bringer of the Day. Co-ruler of this great nation. Princess Celestia of Equestria… Today is the day I will have my revenge… For the murder my mother and my father.’”