Shadow made his way past the guards into the cell blocks, feeling fury building in his chest like a pool of acid. It couldn't be him. It just couldn't. Shadow strode past empty cell after empty cell until he reached the end of the block. As a peaceful nation, there hadn't been much need for the cell blocks for years. Now however, there was only one occupant. The cut shadow had made across its side had been wrapped with bandages, though a thin red mark still stained the bandages. The intruder was sitting on the slightly too small bed, its head hidden by its hands. The humans top layer of clothing had been removed to cover up the cut, revealing pale skin, tinged an ugly grayish color. Several faded scars covered the humans left shoulder and side. Shadow waited a few minutes, pacing back and forth in front of the captives cell but the human made no sign of movement or even gave any indication that it had noticed that Shadow was there. It just sat there. Shadow stopped in front of the humans cell, feeling his already fragile temper beginning to break. He cleared his throat. Then again. Finally, when he couldn't take anymore of the humans silence, stamped his hoof hard on the stone floor.
"I thought I sensed your presence....JAY!" Shadow growled angrily. The human looked up. A pair of green eyes widened in surprise. Taking his hands away from his face, the human stood up, smiling at the Unicorn. Shadow felt his temper rise higher than it ever had before. The smirk. That most irritating smirk. "What are you smiling at Jay. Surely you realize the position you're in." Jay tilted his head to the side, that irritating smirk never leaving his face. It only widened. Shadow couldn't stand looking at that smirk. It ticked him off. More than it should have done. He was getting angrier and angrier every second he had to look at that face. Shadow resumed pacing up and down in front of the barred door. The human didn't move from its position, moving only his eyes to track the irate Unicorns pace. Shadow breathed in and out heavily, feeling as though a fire had been lit inside him and was getting hotter and hotter, the flames licking his stomach and clawing up his throat, searing the inside of his mouth. He didn't understand why he felt so angry. He tried to think about what he caused him to come down here and talk to the human. But nothing came to mind. Even that made Shadow angry.
"Come to gloat?" asked a cold voice. Shadow looked round at Jay. The Human still had that smirk on his face but it was cold. It didn't quite reach Jay's eyes. "You know," The human continued, conversationally, "I would have thought that you be in the infirmary with the rainbow maned fool." Shadow's eyes widened in rapidly building fury. "That cocky blue bitch could never...." Jay began. Shadows hooves hit the barred door so hard that the metal began to bend.
"Don't you DARE speak...of...her....like that you.....you...." Shadow stammered, his fury burning in him like an inferno. He bared his teeth, in a furious snarl, grinding his teeth together so hard that they hurt. His head was beginning to pound like a drum. It hurt, more and more, each time he blinked. "You...standing there with your....smirk....and....and..." He couldn't seem to speak without spitting with rage. Jays grin had widened so much it was in danger of splitting his face. "Stop...it..." Shadow growled, feeling the pain in his head begin to reach its peak. He was pressing the bars of the door with such force that the bars were bending inwards with loud grinding noises. Jay was staring hard at Shadow. The Human was no longer smiling but Shadow did not care. He wanted to hit Jay as hard as he could. To make sure this stupid..foolish.....thing who dared hurt his friend could do no more harm. But...something felt wrong. It was almost as though a voice was whispering in his ear.
"Go on....Do it....tear the doors off. Rip this pathetic human limb from limb....do it!" Shadow shook his head furiously, attempting to clear the interfering voice. It only made his head hurt more. It was as if something was trying to tear his horn off. "Dooooooooo it, you foolish Unicorn. Stop fighting it." The voice whispered. Shadow began to pound the already damaged bars again. There was a metallic snap as several of the bars tore away from the housings and clattered across the floor. The pain was climaxing now. His vision was blurring. Blood was leaking out of his nose, dripping over his teeth. The taste made him feel worse. Then the voice spoke again. "Right...I've tried being nice kiddo. Now it's my turn to take the wheel." Then Shadow's head burst open and he knew no more.
Twilight Sparkle galloped down the hall, fear pulsing through her chest. Luna was matching her pace, her face drawn in a grimace of concern. The violet Unicorn, alongside Celestia had bolted from the infirmary the moment a resounding boom had sounded from under their hooves. Leaving the rest of her friends behind, Twilight had sped out of the infirmary, knocking over the very surprised doctor in her haste to discover the cause of the explosion. Grabbing a passing guard, she'd grilled the frightened Pegasus about what had happened. The shaking guard had mentioned that straight after the explosion, smoke had begun to pour out from the steps leading down into the cell blocks. Ignoring the yelps of the guards she was bowling out of the way in her haste to get to the cells, she turned her head to glance at Luna. The Princess of the night was galloping so fast that her dark crown was on the verge of flying off her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see Celestia struggling to keep up with them, whilst simultaneously attempting to avoid the groaning mass of ponies twilight had knocked down.
"I hope Shadow hasn't done anything stupid." Twilight gasped as she skidded around a sharp corner, almost slipping on the marble floor. Luna followed, righting herself with her wings. Luna wasn't as lucky with her grip and she skidded into a pedestal holding an ornate vase of flowers. The marble podium toppled over with a loud crash, followed by the smashing of the vase. Cursing, Luna hurried to catch up with Twilight.
"Shadow is our pupil." She gasped, just as Celestia skidded round the corner, lost her balance on several shattered pieces of porcelain and crashed into another servant pony. "Shadow won't harm a prisoner. Not if he was in his right mind anyway." Luna frowned, looking thoughtful as they finally made it to the hallway leading down into the cells. A large cloud of thick black smoke was pouring at into the corridor from the broken doorway. The door had been blasted off its hinges and had smashed on the opposite wall. Splinters of wood and metal lay everywhere. The two guards that usually stood at the entrance to the door lay under a small pile of rubble and glass. While Celestia moved to check the unconscious ponies, both Luna and Twilight made their way down the stairs. The smoke was so thick that almost immediately, their eyes started watering and it hurt to even breathe. Finally, the two ponies cleared the smoky corridor. The cells had been torn apart. Metal bars lay everywhere. the beds had been torn from their hangings on the wall and trashed in the corners. There were several small fires burning. Standing at the end of the cell block, where the humans cell had been, standing over the feebly stirring, bleeding, injured form of the human was a familiar, black furred Unicorn.
"Sh-Shadow?" Panted Twilight. The Unicorn turned to look at her and Luna. Twilight heard Luna gasp. She felt as though ice was spreading through her veins. The Unicorn in front of her was not Shadow. It couldn't be....
Jay was slightly surprised when the black furred Unicorn suddenly tore the cell door of its hinges and flung it to one side. He took a step backwards, in an an attempt to shield himself from the raging pony. Too late. The Black furred Unicorn gave a scream of rage, before shooting forward. Pain like nothing Jay had ever felt before shot through his stomach, branching out into his limbs. Shadow or, whatever raging demon he'd become had charged forward, moving faster than Jay could see, and speared the human on the end of his horn. The human screamed just as the unicorn gave a great jerk of its head and flung him straight at the other cells. The bars bent inward and snapped off on impact. Jay felt several of his ribs break. Blood bubbled up, through his throat and spraying out over his teeth. With a sickening crack, he hit the wall and slid to the floor.
"Well....that hurt Shadow..." The unicorn smiled madly as he stalked over to the prone human, pressing a hoof down hard onto his blood soaked chest. "If...only...you'd arrived.... before I hurt Rainbow.... Shadow...." The unicorn pressed harder, preventing Jay from speaking. More blood dribbled down Jays chin as he coughed and hacked. The Unicorn leaned in, Jays blood dripping down his horn into his face fur, dying a grisly crimson. The mad grin on the Unicorn's face had not wavered, even as the blood dripped into his mouth.
"Oh no my dear human." the Unicorn whispered. Jays eyes widened, even as his vision began to grow darker. Shadow's voice had changed. It was deeper, darker, smoother. The fur was growing longer, tangling itself. "Shadow isn't here anymore. Obsidian is." Jay moaned as he tried to keep his eyes open. His vision was growing darker and darker. Blackness was creeping in on the edge of his vision. This...Obsidian smiled, pushing his blood stained hoof harder into the spreading pool of Jay's blood. "Shhhh, little human. The demon will keep you company, all the way till your death. Just know...." Obsidian leaned over, so his mouth was directly next to Jay's ear. "I'll be the one to take the power. I'll look after it for you. Loser!" Darkness clouded Jays vision, just as a purple....something burst into the cells and called out
"SH-Shadow. STOP!"