//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Shadow Eyes and Blinding Sunrise // Story: Tenebrosus Magus // by Moonlit Novel //------------------------------// Author's Notes: Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit Chapter One: Shadow Eyes and Blinding Sunrise ~ ~ ~ “So tomorrow I have to go in and give a renewed statement to prove I am not making up the details. I guess it is because the asshole is dead, but it seems to me that they are making me out to be the criminal. I guess I’ll play by the rules for now...” ~ ~ ~ Shadow Eyes, known to everyone else in Manehatten as Blinding Sunrise, smiled nervously as the guard led her through the guard post. It was interesting to say the least; they were kind to her, and all of them were saying how unfortunate it was that she had to be there that they should just leave it as a justifiable homicide. However things were not so cut and dry, she had to come in this time so that they could see that she hadn’t been lying before. ‘I didn’t lie though!’ thought Shadow Eyes as she pawed at the ground nervously as she waited for the crowd of ponies in front of her to pass, the guard beside her attributing it to not wanting to be here, to which he’d be right, but for different reasons than he probably had in mind. “It’ll be alright, Ms. Blinding, the process shouldn’t take all that long… I know you probably have things you need to do” said the guard and Shadow Eyes nodded absentmindedly as the last pony passed by and the guard continued to show her to the interview room where she sat for a good long while as they attempted to sweat her out. A pretty basic tactic if she was honest with herself, and if she actually had a place to use it, she might use it herself… - - - “Good morning, Ms. Blinding Sunrise” said a female guard as she walked in and Shadow Eyes glanced in her general direction a look of annoyment on her face. “It would be much better if you hadn’t left me in here for an hour” Shadow Eyes replied with a bit of snark. The guard frowned at her and Shadow Eyes shook her head, “We both know you expect me to change my story, that I didn’t mean to hurt him, that it was an accident, but it wasn’t, the bastard tried to rape me, and he got what he deserved” said the now angry mare as she shot up to all fours and stamped on the floor with a hoof, “Like I told you, and I am sure my landlord has told you, I was a defensive spell major, the only thing accidental was me overpowering the spell!” “I see you are sticking to that story. We’ll see you in a mon—” “You will not be seeing me again, not for this, I am no criminal and I refuse to be treated like one” Shadow Eyes snarled before stomping over to the door and with a flick of her magic ripped it from the hinges as she walked through, stopping for a moment to toss a few bits back into the room, “There is my destruction of government property fine!” she said angrily as she made her way through the building. How dare they! She was the victim! Not that dead fool that tried to have his way with her! They never stopped her from leaving… - - - Shadow Eyes was slinking around downtown undisguised, all but begging for someone to do something foolish, when there was a cry a few blocks over. She raced through the crowds on the street and saw a pegasus mare who was backed to a wall, her wings were clenched to her side in her terror. The mare was looking around frantically as a few ponies closed in on her, two stallions and a mare. Two earth ponies and a unicorn, respectively, they were holding when passed for makeshift weapons. Shadow Eyes grinned as she walked towards them. “Room for one more?” she asked and the group of ponies just smirked. “Sure but you go last” said a stallion and Shadow Eyes scowled at him. “I wasn’t talking to you three” it was at that moment the three criminals turned to look at her and froze, it had only been a few days since she had revealed herself to be in Manehatten and as a defender of ponies that needed help; however she was still known as a Tenebrosus Magus, and with that came the fear of the dark magic she wielded. “Oh look a goody-two-shoes” said the mare who seemed to be in charge of the two stallions and Shadow Eyes sneered at the mare. “I am Shadow Eyes, maybe you’ve heard of me? Wanted for use of dark magic and a few counts of homicide?” said the unicorn as she took a step closer, her horn now bubbling with dark magic. “Don’t worry miss, you’ll be safe soon” as soon as Shadow Eyes said it, one of the stallions swung the pipe he was carrying at the blind mare and she jumped to the side, dodging it, she scoffed at the pony, “Really? just because I am blind you think that you can hit me? I have other senses, you know, and I have long since figured out how to see without having eyes” said the mare before a red crystal painfully popped out of the unicorn’s ankles causing her to fall down. The other stallion attempted to help the fallen mare up and only for a crystal to sprayed out of his neck as if it were a spray of blood. Shadow Eyes dodged the renewed attacks by the first stallion, even as they became frantic as the stallion watched his buddies die, or moan in pain in the case of the unicorn mare. With a glance at the thug a chunk of black crystal shot towards the stallion or barely managed to keep from dying, if only to have his right rear leg smashed to bits by the crystal thrown at him. Yelling in pain and dropping the pipe from his fore hoof he didn’t see Shadow Eyes trot up to him and place her horn on his forehead. She smirked as he froze, all along his blood vessels red crystals form and pierce the skin of the unfortunate stallion as he fell down dead. Shadow Eyes trotted up to the frightened mares, one the criminal, the other the intended victim. “I said you would be safe” said Shadow Eyes with a small smile towards the pegasus mare before she rounded on the unicorn mare, “You are lucky, very lucky, I could have killed you at any point.” snapped Shadow Eyes as her horn no longer bubbled with dark magic. “Suck diamond dog dick!” said the unicorn mare and Shadow Eyes tsked before taking the mare’s horn in her magic and with a snap, broke it off causing the mare to scream as tears ran down her face, and blood from the damaged horn. “I better not catch you running with ponies like this again, or I won’t be as lenient next time” spat the blind mare as she dropped the broken bit of horn from her magic field. “And you” she said turning to the now petrified pegasus mare, fearful that she was next, “Get going, and be more careful, I won’t always be around to protect you” with that Shadow Eyes trotted out of the alleyway and back into the crowds of ponies who had not even blinked an eye to the horror that had just happened, it wasn’t until the pegasus mare collapsed that anypony noticed and called the guard, but by that point Shadow Eyes was no where to be seen in the city, only Blinding Sunrise entering her apartment and closing and locking the door… - - - “Keeper Two, are you sure about this? Is she really in Manehatten? I don’t want another wild goose chase whiles she escapes to Tartarus knows where?” asked Luna she and the pegasus stallion were in a grey room, with no windows and only one exit. Keeper Two scowled, normally he would have told the lunar princess it was classified, that Celestia told them not to share this data, but with how Shadow Eyes had been acting recently, killing ponies, he couldn’t abide by her orders. She may be losing herself from to her use of dark magic... “I promise you, but your ponies won’t have long, Celestia has already sent ponies there to try and apprehend her. If they get to her first…” “Leave my sister to me, I will not let that demon live any longer, there is no coming back from using dark magic, not without the Elements” said Luna before turning and trotting to the door. “It is better if we don’t talk again lest my sister become suspicious of your change in heart.” “I understand, long live Equestria” with that Luna left the room and the stallion to his thoughts, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’