//------------------------------// // Escaping Darkness // Story: Shadows Of My World // by HopeForTheFew //------------------------------// Today, I'm gonna breath again. If it is my last time then so be it, but at least I'll be able to say I lived with a good heart. The man slammed his foot down, causing him to stop his speed, almost tumbling as he did so. He turned his head sharply to the left as he gazed at the guards, beginning to surround him. He looked to the right and behind him, it was the same thing everywhere he turned. Then the man gazed up, looking through a skylight window as beams of light from the sun shone on his tears. He looked back at the guards in front of him and took a deep breath. His heartbeat slowed as he watched the ponies closing in. The man limped his way forward, all of the guards freezing and preparing to strike as the man kept moving forward. A mage charged up his horn and shot a blast at the man. He fell face first as the blast impacted his spine. He screeched and grunted in pain as he tried to get up. The man pushed on the ground with all his might, blood dripping from his wounds. He staggered backwards as he got up. Then out of the blue came a loud holler of absolute rage. "Get him! Kill him! Look what he did to me!" Came a loud voice to the mans right. He turned his head and, when he located where the voice had come from, spat on the ground as he stared at Shining armor. The pony who caused him so much pain was sitting right there, beaten and battered when he should have been dead. "I Hope you found your little bit of heaven." The man spat as he charged at the pony, shoving the guards to the side as they were in shock. The man quickly reached the pony and did a swift uppercut to the jaw of Shining Armor, a loud crack was heard as his fist impacted and Shining fell to the floor like a rock, blood dripping from his mouth. if Shining wasn't dead then he would at least have even more permanent damage to deal with. The man heard hoof steps behind him and when he turned around the whole slew of guards were charging at him, the mage slammed the man with a thundering loud blast and sent the man flying backward. His world went black as he smashed through a window. The last thing he knew was the sense and feeling of falling as he traveled down the building. Celestia jumped in her throne when the door slammed open. A wounded and beaten Shining Armor limped through the door, blood dripping from his wounds. "We have a problem." He said as he stared at Celestia. And in that moment, realization hit her like a freight train. "Alert all the guards that are available, make sure that he never speaks again unless its to us." Celestia ordered, and with that, Shining Armor bowed as best he could and limped out the door. Worried looks were on the guards stationed at the door. Years of training couldn't stop them from breaking their cold dead stares when they saw their captain in such a shape. Celestia had so many thoughts running through her mind, and she had to admit, some fear too. If her ponies figured out what was going on then there would be revolts, rebels and horrible consequences. But she had her ways of dealing with things. Her guards were loyal, they would heed her words. Celestia in that moment grew a twisted smile. The man had nothing to stand on, if it came down to it, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. All he needed was a push. Just a push... Colors came floating back to the man and he heard screaming and yelling, words were thrown but he couldn't make them out. The man rubbed his temple as a splitting headache rumbled through his brain. The mans eyes grew clear and he found he was in a bush. He looked up and above was a broken window about fifteen feet up. Inside the window, looking down at him were the pony guards. The unicorn was there and tried to levitate the man up, but he held tight to his bush and fought the spell. The next thing the man saw were Pegasus ponies darting out the window left and right, getting ready to charge him. He rolled out of the bush and tried to stand up. But the moment he did he yelled in pain as he fell back down the ground. His ankle, he wasn't sure if it was broken or sprained, but he did know for sure that it hurt like Hell. There were ponies around who were not part of the group, he turned his head toward them as a last ditch effort, tears starting to spill. "Please." He muttered to them. All the while the guards were moving in. He tried to stand up, one more time. But as he made his attempt, he saw and heard the hooves of the flying guards land all around him. Some were busy clearing the crowd away but most were by him. He rolled onto his back as he stared up at the noon day sun. His first chance to live in weeks and he couldn't even manage an escape. The man started to chuckle quietly to himself and it grew into an unsteady laugh as his breathing grew ragged. One of the guards ran up to him and put her hoof on his chest. He looked up at the guard and smiled. "You know, you almost look like my wife." The man chuckled as his vision started to grow dark. "His hearts stopping, we need to get him to the hospital, now!." The guard said and the next thing he knew, he was being levitated by some odd unicorn. "Well, you would look like my wife if it weren't for the , you know, pony thing." The man muttered as he took one last glance at the female guard. She did look, in some odd way, like his wife. But she wasn't, and he had a family to get back to. With that the man regained his conscience which was starting to slip and rolled out of the telekinetic grip of the unicorn. He grunted hard as a sharp pain ran right up his leg. He turned around swiftly and stared into the shocked expressions of the guards. A new crowd was starting to form behind the man as he backed up slowly. The guards quickly snapped out of their daze and grabbed the man. He didn't even have a chance. There was nothing he could do, not anymore. "Oh come on mate, stand up already. Its not your time to die." "Then when will that time come? When I've had all my mangy body can handle? Let me tell you this, I'm tired of living, tired of dealing with all the pain, all the heartbreak." "All the sorrow..." "And is that what your family would want? Huh, for you to give up, what about your children? If you truly love them then you better stand, up. No good will come from a man who gives up, none whatsoever." "So you got a choice mate. Stand up, and give it all you got. Or rot away like so many before you did. Celestia can't get away this time." "So will you choose to die... or to live?" The man awoke, once again in the arms of his old friend. His good old torture chamber. He sighed, his eyes barely open and he turned to see who he assumed was Celestia. He had no idea how he got there, but this was her kingdom, she had the strings to pull. "Since Shining Armor couldn't get the job done, I thought I might as well give a crack at it." She finished the sentence with a slight giggle. "I haven't been able to do this in years!" She hopped up out of her own regal chair and pranced right over to him, gazed in his eyes with a sly smile and smacked him as hard as her hooves would allow her. His head whipped to the side as she did so, blood dripping from his mouth. "Boy did that feel good!" She said as she pranced back to her chair. "Now, down to business shall we! Since your Human government has so much security and we can't really corrupt it in anyway we try. We have to go a different rout to get what we want." She said as she leaned in close, that sly smile never leaving her face. The man spat on her, and she spat back. "Obviously you don't understand what's at risk here. We need your wood so we can kill the Griffons. And that's just putting it bluntly." She said, now with a bored expression. "I know why you need my wood, but you can't have it, no matter how hard you try, you can't break me!" The man finished laughing hysterically. "You have been trying for forever now to break me, and you haven't got anywhere!" The man said, pausing between words to laugh. "You know, I didn't want to have to do this. Its an extremely dangerous practice, but, I think we can make an exception." She said cynically. Celestia then proceeded two teleport two items in, one was a table, the other was a piece of paper, a piece of paper he was suppose to sign. "You wouldn't." He said, his laughter all gone. "Oh, but I would." She finished as she charged her horn and sent a large beam directly towards the mans forehead. "The question is mate, do you have the strength to fight for those you love? Will you live... Or will you die?" When the beam impacted, the man felt something crawling through his brain, trying to get some kind of leverage. He felt it wrap around his brain, he grunted as his teeth clenched and rubbed against each other. He fought and fought and fought, it was a battle of wills. But unfortunately for the man, he had lost his strength and will a long time ago... But as unfortunate things come, so do fortunate things. The battle was quickly lost and Celestia had him right where she wanted him. Luckily for her and the man, the spell hadn't caused any damage, just quite a bit of pain on the mans side. He could feel himself slip away as his body began to be manipulated. Now all she needed to do, was force the man to sign his name. A harder thing to do then one might realize. But deep in the heart of all those who are good, stands a light. And we all know what the light does to the darkness now don't we? So the man, not by the strength of his will, but by the strength of his heart found a way. And something, someone, somewhere gave him strength, an unnatural strength, a Godlike strength. The man roared, scaring away the grip Celestia had within him. The beam shut down and a startled Celestia sat before the man. He pulled against his bonds and they snapped like twigs. He stood up, the bloody mess he was couldn't stop him, no evil that day could stop him. He walked up to Celestia, shock and fear clear in her eyes. Rage filled the man as he lifted his right hand, ready to end what was once his cruel torturer. But then, in the blink of an eye, Celestia appeared behind the man and sent fire as hot as the sun toward the man. He screamed in pain as he took on the incoming fire, and then, when he regathered himself, he charged. He sent blow after blow to the head of the Princess of the Sun. And with one large right hook he sent her flying through the old stone wall and then he carried her to the main halls. There he through her down the hall, her muzzle sharply striking an old but proudly decorated pillar. Celestia shook her head, bewildered and frightened at what become of her so quickly. But then she started back up, as if her energy was being fueled. The man growled as he was struck by a bolt from the Princess. He fell on his back and grunted, trying to get up, but it was as if he was glued to the floor. Celestia trotted up to the man and placed her front two hooves on his chest in mockery. Her bruised and bloodied face looked rather ugly up close. "Just to make your end a little cheesier, any last words?" She asked, spite and anger clear in her voice. "God your stupid." The man said as he reached up, grabbed the back of Celestia's head and grabbed her muzzle, and then, he twisted. A loud crack was heard as he broke her neck. "I have never ever seen anyone as stupid as you." He shook his head and rolled out from under Celestia, letting her corpse fall to the floor. The man heard yelling to his left and right and he knew it was time to leave. And so, with that, the man turned around and jumped out the window, shattering the glass as he did so. And now, here we are, after around 7,000 words, we've reached the end of this story. I suppose its just a small one at that. And maybe not to good of a story. But maybe, just maybe this story touched one of you. Made you feel an emotion that made you reach out to it. Maybe even made you feel a little Hope, pun intended. But before I leave you, I would like to share one thing... One last thing: Epilogue: I walked through the ancient forests of the Everfree. Its nature, just as scary as ever. But in all honesty, I had nothing in my mind at that moment but the thought of reaching my family. My love for them ran deeper then I ever realized, now I'll be able to show them it. Every step I took filled me with even more anxiousness and impatience. But then it all stopped, as the days went past and the closer I got, I finally arrived. As I gazed at the stunning rooftop of the home I painted long ago. I heard the laughter and pitter patter of children's feet running across the dirt as I walked over that last hill I would have to face. A smile like never before beamed across my face as I ran with all my might to where my heart truly lies. "I'm home."