//------------------------------// // Bonus Story: A Single Sin of a Shadowing Shade // Story: Utter // by Regina Wright //------------------------------// I was once apart of something much greater. Not that I was not magnificent all on my own but I was, for a time, greater than I was alone. Together with a sniveling equestrian princess, we became something that sought control of Equestria, her worthless ponies and most importantly, the night. She was the moon and I was the darkness that swept over every star. Our union was beautiful and so we plotted together for sake of our deepest desires. We threw away our names in the pursuit of power. Our enemies knew us as Nightmare Moon. Our sister, her greatest regret. It was a shame that even with our combined powers and united will, we lost to that white sow and her cheap tricks. Then again, to her student and companions less than a thousand years later. In that moment we were split, my other fled from my embrace and left me to fracture under their disgusting magic of hope and friendship. I became bitter. I desperately wanted her back. Loneliness ate at my mind and so I sought magic to rebuild my body and a plan to regain my moon. I thought it wouldn't take long. I only needed a festering mind with a well-spring of magic. Plenty to be found in Equestria. I snuck and crept and slithered into every dream and mind-scape, draining my victims of their extra energy. But the magic I stole was tainted. Altered by the proximity of the Elements of Harmony. The nectar I took from the citizens of Ponyville useless to me. I was chained to where I was defeated in the depths of the Everfree, free to wander to the borders of such an accursed town and no more. I could not understand why I was being punished. That cruel princess took my freedom, took my greatness and now she locks me here in all the fake love and cruel friendship to starve me? Was there not a single ounce of mercy? Should she had freed me, I would have tore her neck open with my bare teeth but now, she deserved worse. Eternal was my torment until I came across an odd looking gate deep within a buried tunnel. Death and dark magic oozed from the many stones and cracks of its entrance. Fresher-looking runes were carved into the side. An altar of foals' toys sat below, dusty and rotting. I inhaled the sin-laden stench, a cold grin stretching across my face. I knew of Celestia's hoof-work. I knew that she used her supposedly pure and righteous magic to do something unforgivable. There was far too much ambient magic and death to prove anything otherwise. I knew not what I was chasing but I pursued the traces of the magic, feeling faint throbs of motion and activity from the other side of the tunnel. There was no plot within my hooves. No grand ploy to be played on the creatures I would later discover on that side. I only wished to find the receiver of Celestia's blessing should it be some sword, great tome or hated relic of the past, and stomp it into dust. It was to my great surprise for it to be a little boy. I thought I would take my time in breaking him. The boy was protected by her magic but it certainly didn't stop me from encouraging him to handle his emotions in a constructive way. He flew into a blinding rage at the drop of coin, beating people and breaking all that was around him. It was by his fists he pushed the curious and the calculating out of his life. Unmanageable. Savage. Insane. All words were like praise to my fine craftsmanship. Acknowledgement of his potential. He learned so much under my care. How to stab, how to strangle, how to subjugate the lessor minds. They all feared him, shipping him off to one place to another. His parents washed their hands of him. Called their little boy dead and left him to fend for himself but he was not alone. I was always with him. Watching. Protecting. Guarding. Perhaps, I shouldn't have? For if I had spent more time hacking at his mind then I wouldn't have been so thwarted in the years to come. But I manifested myself around him from time to time, looking upon him in the natural. He was my little monster and I felt a strange fondness for my colt. On the tiny cot they allowed him, I would sleep close to him. My wings would extend to protect him from sight and I was alert for any mischief that would come to his room. In his deepest of sleep, he felt my presence. Reaching out a hand to stroke my fur, seeking warmth and comfort. As the dim darkness was over us, I adored him. Embracing him like I did the mare I once loved. I told myself the boy was only a substitute. Possibly a means to an end. But I slowed in my ambitions. I slowed my spite as well. In the nights, I held him. Listening to his breath and watching his dreams as the hours blurred. In the mornings, I redirected my energy into tormenting others. Inflicting their minds with madness and letting my boy be known as a curse-bringer. I would find the magic I needed another way and my little boy would grow into my champion. It would be he that would bring me Celestia's head! Ah, but I was a fool. I hadn't notice with every pill he took, the less of me he felt. His mind became unrecognizable. Fought me at every turn as if I was a foe, a fiend to vanquished. He was slipping through my hooves. He was leaving me to suffer. I tore through his mind as fiercely as I could but it was too late. His habit only increased in time and he sought out others to help him. To ruin the great investment I had made. And so I did what was necessary. I waited and wormed my way through every hole, crack and unbolted lock in his mind. Patiently wearing down his mental walls. His drugs would one day fail and I would have his body and Celestia's magic. His consciousness would not survive the transfer. But it was better this way. I would repair him when I was done. I would give him an ounce of love for every drop of his blood I spilled. He would be my boy. My little monster.