//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Unleashing the Shadowbornes // by Golden Scrolls //------------------------------// "You look like you could attack at any moment," The Changeling responds, suspicion seeping into his voice. "Hell, how do I know that you won't?" "You don't, but you have to trust me on this one." The Changeling pauses, before stepping out of the bush. "Alright, I'll trust you for now. My name is Moonlight Fang and well... love is my lifeline." Golden does a double take and looks at the Changeling in front of me. The Changeling stares back, conviction in his eyes. "Now, I know that you may be thinking that this isn't true, but, I'll assure you that it is. Would I lie to you?" "Deliberately, yes, you would lie to him. You are a Changeling, you would do anything to feed off of love. I highly doubt that you of all possible ponies would tell the truth." A shadowed figure stands in front of a screen, displaying Golden, his marefriend and Moonlight. The figure watches the scene with a somewhat stern expression. He doesn't seem startled at all when a smaller figure appears right beside him. The mare speaks in a soft voice which counters the other pony's strong voice. "Now brother, who are you to judge him? You certainly haven't seen enough to say that he'd lie to Golden." The smaller figure rests a hoof on his shoulder. The figure faces her. "Visual and auditory evidence are damn near convincing enough. All I'm missing is the anecdotal evidence, and then that would be enough." "No, brother of mine. You know that we can't exactly do it yet, he has to meet Desert first." "Why him?" "Because, that's exactly how it has to work. You do know this, don't you? Sure, he may not be our best choice in this matter, but it's a better choice than what you might expect. We can't see Golden right now, give it time." The smaller figure pats her brother's mane softly. He releases a barely audible sigh and nods in defeat. "Fine, but how should we introduce him to our little friend here?" He asks gently, placing a hoof on the screen as it zooms in on Golden. "How else? Through Shybeat, we can do many things. She's an asset to us right now, whatever she says, Golden follows unquestionably." A second screen next to it fires up, divided into two sections. One section shows Shybeat, laying on top of a cloud, humming in a very soft tone. The other shows a roughly Shadow-sized pegasus pony with a dark brown coat, a red and black striped mane, and blue eyes. He appears to be trotting in Ponyville, a holstered handgun on a hind leg. "Alright, we got the players, all we need is the plan," the mare figure quips. "I want it to be done as quickly as possible, in one hour." The other figure nods, turning to the first screen. "As you wish." The stallion bows and disappears. The mare sighs softly. "You better get it done, brother of mine. This is vitally important to his future. It will make him survive the trials not too far ahead of him." The mare figure says before trotting to a corner and laying down. She then dozes off, leaving her brother to plan things out. Back in the Everfree, I continue to stare down the smaller Changeling in front of me. He was just done telling me that he survives off of actually feeling love. I was contemplating if the pony was telling the truth or not. Shaking head, I step back a safe distance, figuring out only one way to test his words. "Prove it," I say, words hanging in the air above us. "Prove that you survive off of the love you are given. I don't trust your word or your race." Moonlight sighs softly, "How am I supposed to prove it if there is nopony I possibly love here?" "Then how are you still alive?" Marly asks, curiosity in her eyes. "You seem like a fascinating being." I almost decide to glare at her but end up with glancing at her somewhat passively. "The reason I am still alive is because I find mares around town and cuddle with them," Moonlight responds, twitching slightly. "I disguise myself as a good looking stallion and hang out with them." I could slowly feel his anger rising; something told me to keep on going. "Does it go any farther?" I ask. The Changeling shakes his head quickly, a little too quickly for my liking. I instantly get suspicious. "So it does go further!" My marefriend sighs, "Golden, enough pestering the poor guy, can't you see that he's growing angry? You could feel it," She hugs Moonlight, the Changeling sinking into it and smiling softly. "Thanks," Moonlight says. "Back off though, he's mine," she responds, letting go of him and hugging me. I smile and stroke her forehead, feeling the heat of her body. "I'd assume you two would love some alone time?" Moonlight asks, stepping back. "No," Marly says. I respond with the opposite, then silence descends upon the area. The tension builds up, Marly's smile fading to a thin line. She speaks in a soft, but authoritarian tone, "Dear, why won't you let him stay with us for the day, maybe a few? I don't have a problem with this Changeling. He is different from the-" "No! I don't want to spend time with him!" I shout, pulling away from her. "It's nothing personal, I just don't like Changelings." Moonlight tries to lay a hoof on me but I flinch away. "Why?" He asks. That was one question too far. I stare at the Changeling, tone of voice flat but angry. "I don't like them because my mother had a thing with Chrysalis! Ask me one more time and I swear to the gods that the life will leave your eyes instantly!" I take to the sky, a red trail following me as I fly away. Sighing, Marly lays down and curls up. "Why must he do this? Why you of all ponies?" Marly glances at the stallion as he shakes his head. "I honestly don't know," he says before trotting off. "Where are you going?" Marly asks, watching him leave. Moonlight stops and looks back. "Away... I'm going away," he says before trotting out of sight. "B-but Moonlight," Marly protests, standing up. "If you leave-" "If I leave then he will leave me alone! Hell, I'll have a chance to find somepony that will love me!" He shouts before breaking into a gallop, leaving Marly there. She slumps against a tree, staring at the dissipating red trail I left her. Seething, I land in the all too familiar clearing. My wing glows slightly and I stare at a tree. The air heats up around the tree and the energy from the wing is transferred to the tree. An ember touches the base of the trunk, and it sizzles when it makes contact. My stare heightens in intensity, and I will the base of the tree to catch fire. Soon, the fire climbs up the trunk, and then engulfs the tree completely. I take deeper breaths, then rub my head. The faint throb of a headache makes me feel even more upset. I growl louder as the urge to burn the clearing rises. I don’t like them, I think. They have a connection with my mother, so that makes them bad. My thoughts end up feeding the fire. The leaves blacken, then are ripped from the tree. The air currents send them in, then eject them warmer than they were when they were ripped off. I watch as the grass smolders below it, wanting to expel all the negativity I hold bottled up inside me. I was never told to vent it out slowly. I lay down, breathing harder now. Ash and smoke blow towards me, but I don’t care. I stopped caring when I saw him. That makes them all bad. I wasn’t raised with any sense of morality, and nopony loved me. Nopony would care if I raided one of their hives. NOPONY! Suddenly, a great pain comes to my chest. I touch it, but the pain doesn’t fade. In fact, it worsens, and I bite my lip. Before I can question what it is, the pain fades. However, the hated still remains. One rational part of me says that my anger is unreasonable, and that those close to me would worry even more. Yet, the large angry part does not care about the reason. I don’t even think Marly would care. Would she care? No, she wouldn’t care. At least, I don’t think she would care. I don’t know. Do I know? I silence my thoughts, by curling up just a bit. I notice how warm my wings are. They are visibly smoking, but I don’t care. There is a lot of things I don’t care about. I tune myself out of the world, and then become preoccupied by my own thoughts. Meanwhile, Ponyville provides a stark contrast to the troubles in the clearing. The sky is calm and clear, and the town is busy with ponies that don’t recognize the somewhat intimidating stallion trotting down the main road. A small breeze blows down the street, and the stallion doesn’t particularly care for it. He had other things on his mind, namely the variety of hard cider only gotten from one of the Ponyville’s bars. Once a thought like that crosses his mind, it doesn’t leave. The pony in question is Desert Storm. Desert has been having an extremely boring couple of days. Of course, extremely boring for him is normal for everypony else. Like Golden, he has a passionate distaste for Changelings. Unlike Golden, he is actually married. He wonders why his wife puts up with his rather explosive shenanigans, then he shrugs. The scent of alcohol fills the air, so he sniffs it. The scent doesn’t placate him. He tenses up a bit as a gust of wind brings the smell of smoke. A part of him is relieved when he realizes that he won’t be bored any longer. He turns, then takes a step toward the smoke, but halts. Maybe I should take a drink with me? Nah, it can wait. He blinks, then shakes his head. He sighs, then pulls a bottle from his wing. Des temporarily forgot about the quantum storage area he calls his wings. He pops open the bottle, and takes a swig. He then trots with more determined steps toward the clearing. The smell of smoke excites him a bit. He always enjoyed burning things, so he fancies himself a bit of a pyromaniac. A relatively sane part of him is curious why the forest is burning, while the rest of him just wants to burn it all down. Soon, he leaves the bustle of town, and heads toward the plume of smoke billowing out from behind some trees. He casts his gaze on the path, because he doesn’t want to lose it. He wanted to find his way back. Moments later, he trots into the clearing, then frowns a bit as he sees the damage. By the time he came by, most of the tree has burnt down. The grass around it has blackened, and the smell of it does not please him. He trots to the gnarled remains of the tree, then pokes it. The heat doesn’t bother him, so he keeps his hoof on there. A pony catches the corner of his eye, so he looks toward me. He sees the smoke billowing out from the wing, then trots to me. Since I am lost in my thoughts, I can’t hear the throat clearing; and the poking and prodding. With enough of it, I snarl and swipe at the pony. It’s blocked, and I feel an intimidating gaze on me. The leg I hit was warm, almost unnaturally so. I clear my throat, then speak in my soft voice. “Why hello sir. I see that you have enough skill to not get hit.” “I see that you have enough skill to catch a damn tree and half the clearing on fire. I also see that you’re the pony my wife spoke to me about. If you were anypony else, I would probably have been far less forgiving… if I was in the mood for it,” Des says in a cool voice. He didn’t think I had these kinds of abilities, so this was a first for him. He sighs, then rubs his hoof through his mane. I suddenly became aware of the gun he had on him. I never seen a gun, nor did I know how guns work. A part of me says that guns are ridiculously overpowered, which is why so few ponies own one. Another part says that I shouldn’t care either way. I was growing tired of the constant internal bickering, which doesn’t help my mood. “Forgive me if I’m in a shitty mood. Changelings,” I grumble. “I can’t trust any of them. No, I won’t tell you why. I don’t trust you.” Desert’s frown deepens a bit. “Oh, I know how that feels.” He rolls his eyes, then trots away. He doesn’t feel like engaging on a deeper level with me. He wasn’t a fan of me so far, and that feeling worsened when he heard hoofsteps behind him. He didn’t have to turn to know who it was. “Why are you following me? Stop following me. I’m not in the mood to talk with you.” “Why not?” I ask. I follow a safe distance behind him. “I’m not in the mood to talk with anypony, so look at me.” My speaking was met with silence. I, too, fall silent. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but a rather heavy one. I had the feeling that Desert doesn’t want to talk. I quicken my pace, then lay a hoof on his shoulder. That was a bad move. Desert quickly grabs my hoof, then twists it behind my back. He then sighs. “Rule one, don’t scare me like that. Rule two, don’t ever zap me with lightning. I hate that, and it scares me. Yes, a hardened bastard like me has fears. Would you like to be hit with your fear?” My silence ends up confirming with suspicions. “Ah well… it’s not a good thing to leave a pony behind. I was told of your appearance in the clearing. You then promptly burned that down earlier today, so it lost its magic it had to you. Good going.” “What? Are you proud of me, or what?” I ask with a huff. The agitation still crawls at my coat. It feels like I want to murder someone, and I know that it’s irrational to do it. “Neutral,” He responds. “Like everypony you meet. Yes, I do form initial opinions of others. You’re lucky enough that I don’t have one of you yet. Get on my good side, and you won’t end up dead one day. You don’t want that, do you?” His tone of voice makes me shy back a bit. I didn’t like it. It reminded me of the life I left behind. Des then chuckles. “I don’t really apologize for that. I am a rather intimidating pony, which means they don’t fuck with me.” “I can see that, Mister Storm,” I respond politely but nervously. I was still rather unsure of him. “You really are intimidating. It’s kinda scary.” I really meant the part of being scared, and he nods. As soon as we reach Ponyville, we part ways, and I then sit down. I’m not sure what to do next, so I stand back up, then make my way to Sugarcube corner. I gaze around town as I trot, and ponies seem to recognize me. It fills me with a warm feeling, and I am filled with hope. I hope that I have escaped my past, and I hope that Marly also feels like she wants to be in my life. Wait a minute, why’d I think that? I think, somewhat puzzled. Of course she does. I know she will agree to it. I sigh a bit when I trot up to Sugarcube Corner. Here I am again. Why do I keep coming here? Is it sanctuary for me, since I burned the old sanctuary like a dumbass? Typical. Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed near safe places. Will that be my legacy? I blink when I feel a pair of eyes stare into my back. I hear a throat being cleared, and the tapping of an impatient hoof. Annoyed by the impatience, I make a show of it by slowly opening the door to the bakery. I slowly trot up to the hyperactive pink pony known as Pinkie. The impatient pony then trots past me, which annoys me further. I quash my annoyances and pet peeves, then wait in line. I’m a doormat, I think bitterly. Since when? I huff, trotting up to Pinkie when it is my turn. I feel her energetic eyes on me. I open my mouth, then close it as I look at all the baked goods she has. Suddenly, I feel overwhelmed. “U-um, I’m sorry. I’ll have to think about what I want,” I say shakily. I wasn’t the best at approaching other ponies and talking to them. Pinkie grins, then assures me that it’s okay. I then scan over the baked goods. The cookies seem nice. I might get them. I dunno though. There are cakes? I never had a cake before. Is one made of cheese? I sigh, then look up at Ms. Pie. “I’d like a cheesecake?” I ask. “Well, a slice. I dunno if they are called that.” My ears flatten a bit as I feel out of touch with society. It has always been at the back of my mind. Pinkie gasps softly, stares at me, then conforms my suspicions. “You never had cheesecake before? Did you live under a rock?” She asks. The then swiftly serves me with a slice. “You’re going to love this!” Pinkie now grins, and I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. I then try a bit of the cake, then gasp. Wow, she really was right, this is amazing, I think as I dig right into the cake. I never tasted something like it before. I wasn’t sure why I thought the cake was made of cheese. It didn’t really taste like cheese, but it was pretty good. I soon finish it up, then flip a few bits onto the counter. The pink pony takes the bits, then thanks me for paying her. I then learned that she was going to give that one for free, but I shrugged. “I have a few bits left, so I might as well make them all count,” I say with a sigh. When I pat at my saddlebag, the sounds of a few coins fill the air. I then realized how bad my financial situation really was. I recalled that I was given forty bits from a pony who sympathized with me, but I knew that wasn’t enough for much longer. I trot out of the bakery, thoroughly upset at my situation. My thoughts then turn to Marly. I didn’t know where she was, but I wanted to apologize for my actions. Guilt then crawls at my chest. Aw man… I abandoned her. Heh… some friend I am. Some lover I am. Good job, you moron. That Changeling hates me, Marly probably doesn’t like me, Shy isn’t here, and as for that new pony, my thoughts pause for a bit as I look up to the sky. He’s interesting. I sigh, shake my head, and then fly up to one of the roofs. I close my eyes, then doze off, hoping that my situation would eventually improve. Meanwhile, the Changeling gallops through the woods. He was extremely tired of how ponies viewed him. He really wants to stop caring about that, but he can’t. He wants to feel loved, but he feels like he can’t. Suddenly, a large shadow looms beside him. He turns to it, then tilts his head. He noticed that the shadow was quiet. “Hello?” He asks. He hears a giggle. “Why hello there, dear Changeling. I have the feeling that you and I are going to be great friends,” A cool voice is heard. Sounds of twigs snapping are heard when she moves. “I’m not going to harm you. Why don’t you come with me?” A sizable grey mare trots out of the forest. Her mane ad tail are black and somewhat messy. She runs her tail under his chin, and then down his side. “I swear, I won’t harm you.” She then giggles, trotting deeper into the forest. She knew he was going to follow, and follow he did. She knew she couldn’t turn back now.