//------------------------------// // Section 2; Scroll 12 // Story: The Rider Of Darkness // by GaleWind //------------------------------// Section 2; Scroll 12 The moon was at its zenith in the sky as the storm clouds dissipated. The rain had ceased and a light fog blanked the entire town. Most of Ponyville’s residents have long since gone to bed, but not all was peaceful in the small town. Inside Golden Oaks library, a group of ponies were discussing what they had just learned. Something had happened earlier that shocked most of them to the core and drove two to tears. An identity finally revealed. An agenda brought to the light. A hidden secret unlocked by cruel fate. The girls were still reeling from what they found out earlier about Echo Wave. Pinkie and Fluttershy’s eyes were still red from the tears earlier but had calmed down a bit. Rarity and Applejack had been trying to calm them down while keeping themselves in check. Rainbow was fidgeting her wings out of uneasiness. Twilight was the only one among them that seemed to be calm enough. However, even she was struggling with herself over recent events. While she was trying to figure out a reason for it, she heard someone clear their voice. She looked up and saw Firma sitting in front of them with his arms in his lap. “Girls, I know this is hard for you all, but I need you to focus. Can you do that?” he asked them. Twilight thought for a minute pondering the question. She turned to the others and they talked for a minute before turning back to him. “We’ll answer what we can.” She answered and the girls nodded in agreement. “Okay first, how long have you all really known Echo Wave?” He started off his questioning. “Well personally, we’ve known him since after the ‘misshape’ at the Gala years back.” Rainbow said. “Rainbow is right, we didn’t really learn about him until a couple weeks before that.” Twilight added. “So, how did you all first meet him?” He asked his second question. “One day, Sweetie Belle came home and told me about this part-time teacher’s assistant in her music class. She and the girls talked about how he could find the smallest mistake in a song without much trouble.” Rarity explained. “After that, I just so happened to bump into him at Sugarcube Corner with the girls and we became friends.” Firma looked at them all and could tell they were telling the truth. “Okay one last Question.” He said. “You told us that he up and left all of a sudden and you haven’t had contact with him for over five years, right?” The girls nodded. “Before he vanished, did any of you notice any changes in his behavior?” The girls thought about that question hard. It had been so long ago that they barely remembered anything. “Sorry, we can’t remember anything. He just seemed and acted the way he usually did.” Twilight said. Obsidian watched to see if they were lying before giving out a sigh. “No, it’s alright. You’ve answered my questions.” He got up and walked to the kitchen. “What happens now?” Rainbow asked. “Well tomorrow, me and the others are heading back up to the castle to report in. After that, we’re going to see if we can’t track him down and bring him in.” he replied while getting a glass of water. “You’re not going to try to follow him.” Pinkie spoke up since the accident. “We could but, we might need backup. Also,” he paused for a minute trying to think of his next words. “…the Everfree Forest affects vilotans differently and we don’t want to take the chance. “Y-you’re n-not going to h-hu-hurt him, are you?” Fluttershy choked out while trying not to cry again. The image of their injured friend still fresh in her mind. “…We won’t try but, if he resists again, we might have to.” He announced. After that, the whole room was silent. Firma busied himself in the kitchen. The girls were still trying to come to terms with this. “Why is he doing this?” Fluttershy whispered. “I don’t know sugarcube, but he’s got to have a reason for this.” Applejack replied. “What reason could Echo possibly have for going around and hurting ponies? Has he gone nuts?!” Rainbow harshly snapped, resulting in a silent ‘eep’ from the yellow mare. “Darling, you must calm down. Yelling will solve nothing.” Rarity spoke out, causing Rainbow to grumble her next words. “While I can not condone what he is doing, he did save Fluttershy back in Baltimare. So, I must agree with Applejack, he must have some reason.” “We just don’t know what it is.” Pinkie added. Silence returned to the girls until another topic came up. “How do you think Reverb’s takin’ it?” Applejack asked. “I sent Spike upstairs to check up on him. He’s been up there ever since we got in. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now.” Twilight answered with worry. The girls looked and wondered on the status of their new friend. Looking up at Luna’s moon, Reverb stood on the balcony in silence. Since coming to the treehouse, he has not said a word. He went up to the top floor and has been there since. Spike had come up an hour ago with food and to check up on him on the girls behalf. He been up there since but Reverb had not acknowledged his presence and the food had gone cold. When they came home, he was given a small version of what happened but still didn’t understand what was going on or why. “Spike?” The dragon looked up to the sound of his name. Reverb had not moved but spoke to the young drake. “Did you know that me and Echo have been friends since we were foals?” He asked out of the blue. “Well… yay, he once told me about that.” Spike said. “My second week in kindergarten and I was already labeled the ‘class troublemaker’. I pulled pranks on students and teachers but they were usually small things, nothing big.” Reverb began, telling about his foalhood. Spike listened on as he spoke. “One day, I was cornered on the playground by the class bully and his crony; they didn’t like the prank I pulled on them. I was this close to being beaten up when this soccer ball comes out of nowhere and hits the jerk in the back of the head and he goes down and guess who I see right behind him.” He spoke. “Echo Wave?” Spike guessed. Reverb gave a small chuckle. “Yay, he always did have a good kick. The bully gets up but before anything else, the teacher shows up. Not wanting any trouble, the jerk says we were playing and Echo forgot to yell ‘heads up!’. The teacher takes him to the nurse but not before he fixed me with one more glare. I walk up to Echo to thank him and he says ‘Ponies that bully others are just scaredy cats.’ ” Reverb spoke in his best Echo impression that caused a chuckle from Spike. “After that, we got to know each other and soon enough, we became best friends. Anytime we, mostly because of me, got into trouble, he’d always be the one to pull us out of the fire. He’s always been there helping me, even when I got my cutie mark.” He told. “Echo helped you discover your special talent?!” Spike shockingly asked. Reverb turned to look at Spike and gave a small smile and a nod. He went up to his neck and pulled out a necklace. The chain was silver but the charm was unique. It was small, silver, flat, and shaped like a like a square. In the center was a carving of his cutie mark with a black gem in the middle of the records. He fiddled with it between his fingers while continuing his story. “About a year or two after we became friends, we were hanging out at my house. We were bored and it was raining. He was working on his drawing skills but I had another problem.” “I still didn’t have my cutie mark. I was the last one in our class and he had just got his a few days earlier. I was so bored that I actually put on one of the copies of my dad’s records. Lucky for me, my dad had a test for rock.” He spoke. “So, when did Echo help you discover your talent?” Spike asked but stopped when he realized he interrupted. Reverb gave a small chuckle. “The very same day. I had gotten bored with the record and went over to stop it. I didn’t raise the needle and ended up scratching the record. Whatever I did, it sounded cool to us and I did it again. Soon enough, I had my own little jam session.” He said. “Six years old and I was already a dj-in-training.” He stated with a chuckle and Spike joined in it. “My dad was upset that I ruined a record but it was worth it. Echo reminded me about that our school was having a talent show and wondered why I don’t sign up for it. At first, I thought he was crazy but he told me about what I just did and how much I enjoyed doing it.” he explained. “So did you do it?” Spike asked. “Reluctantly, I did. It was a month away and he helped me practice after school every day. With that hearing of his, he picked up any mistakes I made and helped picked right songs to use with each other. I asked my dad for any old records he didn’t listen to anymore and used those.” Reverb spoke. “The night of the show came and I was last up. I was a nervous wreck but Echo convinced me to just have fun with it. When I went on stage, I froze where I stood. The auditorium was packed and I didn’t know what to do.” He said. “What helped you out?” Spike asked. This caused another smile.” I looked out into the audience and saw my parents, his parents, his sister, and him. They were right there and backing me up. I steeled myself, went up to the record players, turned them on and started. When everypony was hearing this, they were shocked a six year old could be this in tuned with the songs to re-mix them like that.” He laughed at his own joke. “As soon as I was done, the whole place was silent. At first, I thought I messed up until the placed erupted in cheers. No one was shocked more than my parents despite cheering as well. Echo gave me a thumbs up and I returned it.” He recounted the happy memory. “I won by a landslide but the real shock came when I got home. I was getting ready for bed when I just glanced down and nearly drop my toothbrush. My parents came in when I screamed but learned the cause of it when they saw it too. I must have been so engrossed in the show that it came without anyone knowing.” He said, finishing his tale. Spike was amazed at how much the two have done, even as colts. He still was interested in the necklace. “What about your necklace?” He asked. “After we graduated from school, my mom gave both of us a present. She‘s a jeweler and had these specially made for us. He’s got one of his cutie mark made just like mine. In the middle of his is a dark green gem where the sounds come from.” He said. He flipped it over and showed an engraving of Echo’s cutie mark and an inscription underneath it. “Echo’s got the same thing on his only with mine. It reads ‘No matter the paths we take, we’ll always be connected.’ ” He stated. “You two are more like brothers than friends.” Spike said with a smile. “We practically are. Growing up, he always had my back no matter what.” Reverb stated. Spike went over to the food and used a small flame to heat it back up. Reverb gave a small ‘thanks’ as he sat down in chair and began eating. “Why do you think he’s doing this?” Spike finally the question. Reverb just sat there, recalling everything about his friend and trying to contemplate what was happening. “I don’t know Spike. Growing up, he always told me that if he ever did something, it was for good reasons. I just can’t think of any.” He said. Spike was quiet for a minute before something else came to mind. “Reverb, can you keep a secret?” he asked the stallion. “Of course, if you need help romancing Rarity, I know a few ways you can try.” He snickered with a sly grin. This caused the young drake’s cheeks to turn bright cherry red before shaking his head, trying to clear his mind. “T-Th-That isn’t it at all!” He exclaimed despite red cheeks. Reverb gave a small joyous laugh while trying his hardest to stay quiet. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry but I was trying lighten up the mood a bit.” Spike calmed his flustered self-down enough to talk. “Anyway, it has something to do with the vilotans.” Reverb immediately calmed down. “What do you mean, Spike?” The young dragon was a little shocked at how fast he calmed down but continued on. “I can’t really explain it but I always get like a weird vibe when I’m near one of them.” “What do you mean by weird vibe?” “I don’t really know but it’s been growing and growing to point to the point where my get shivers whenever I’m near one.” Spike explained. Reverb thought for a minute on what Spike had just told him. “Have you told Twilight about this?” “I tried to tell her but she said it must be my mind playing tricks with me.” He stated. “I don’t know what to tell you, Spike. I mean, Twilight may be right about it but… keep this to yourself. I’ll see what if I can’t find something out to explain it.” Spike agreed and silence came back to the two. However, unknown to them, they had company. On top of the tree, obscured by the branches, a lone figure was there. Obsidian sat there cross-legged with his sword in his lap, looking in the direction of the Everfree Forest. He sat there silently as he listened to the conversation and story of the two. Especially the part when Spike mentioned his ‘weird vibe’. “One should be careful trusting your senses. Before it leads you to an unfortunate end.” Spike got the shivers and quickly looked behind and above him but only saw tree branches. “What’s wrong, Spike?” Reverb asked as he noticed his reaction. Spike continued to watch the branches with a sense of dread but saw nothing. “I don’t know. I just… don’t know.” He whispered. Somewhere else… Darkness, darkness was everywhere. I woke up and found myself in a void. Nothing was here except darkness. I looked down and noticed all my injuries were gone as it was not dark enough that I couldn’t see myself. “Hello? Helloooo?” My voice echoed into the endless expanse. “Anypony here?!” I shouted. “Hehehe, well there is but, I’m not exactly a pony.” A distorted, male voice spoke out. Footsteps could be heard from behind me. The steps were getting closer and from the sound I could tell the individual was bigger than me. The steps ceased and I slowly turned around to face him. The creature that stood before me was dog-like in every sense of the word but was by no means a diamond dog. He looked more like a wolf with a pointed noise and angular face. He was lean and fit but could probably be as strong as Big Macintosh, if not more. His arms were thick and he stood two heads taller than me on hind-legs. His coat was dark red, almost close to black and he wore a beige tunic and beige pants. There were three things that separated him diamond dogs though. The entire of his arms and legs were covered in black armor, his eyes were red and slitted like a snake… …and he wore the umbra driver around his waist. “NightShade.” The creature grinned hearing his name, showing his sharpened fangs. “Good to see you again, Echo.”