Tales From Blackwood Forest

by Robobrony

998 Years, 152 Days Ago

998 Years, 152 Days

In the few months that that unicorn, Keen Eye showed up, I’ve been doing everything I could to keep him safe just so others like him wouldn’t come snooping around in my forest. I had to get directly involved and let him know about my presence after I saved him from the trolls and lead him back to his house. After I did, I found out he had a book that told of my tribes extermination. When I questioned Keen Eye about it, he said another unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded gave it to him. Once I got the information as to where I could find this unicorn, I took off and left my forest, something I never thought I would do.

I went ahead and ‘borrowed’ Keen Eye’s cloak in case I ran into other ponies I didn’t want to meet. I kept away from the towns and villages on my way to this Canterlot castle place. It was easy enough to spot, it was resting on the side of a mountain. I flew on up to it in the night and used my shadow powers to keep hidden from other ponies. During my trek, I was feeling very afraid at the time, but I had to do this, this could be my chance to restore what I lost with the help of this unicorn who can supposedly travel through time.

I managed to make it to the castle gates where there were more of those ponies in armor with spears in their hoofs guarding the place. I snuck past them easy with my shadow sneak ability. I made my way under the front doors and into the castle, it was then that I realized something. “Um, Nightshade, do you even know WHERE this unicorn is?”

I kept my voice low as I was hiding in the shadow of a large potted plant. “Of course I do, he’s…….somewhere in this castle.”

“But where in this castle, you should have asked Keen Eye where he is.”

“Do you want me to get caught, just keep quiet and don’t talk to me so I can focus.” My shadow disappeared. Suddenly, I heard hoofsteps approaching. I stayed in the shadow of the plant as two guards walked by.

“So where you headed?” One asked.

“I got guard duty for the princesses advisor.”

“You mean Starswirl?”

“Yep.” This was my chance to find him, I snuck from the shadow of the plant and hid in the shadow of the guard. “Weirdest thing, he asked for me specifically, his place is at the end of my patrol coming through this area.”

“That is odd, any idea why he asked for you specifically?”

“No, but he kinda creeps me out a bit, all those spells he came up with, all that time he spends working on them. If you ask me, he really needs to get out more.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll see you later, good luck with your post tonight.”

“Thanks, see ya later.” The two guards then parted ways. I stuck with the guard going to Starswirl as he made his way through the castle. Finally, he came to a room with a large door. He was about to knock on it when the door opened.

A unicorn with a brown coat, a long white beard and wearing a pointed blue hat and cape with stars and crescent moons on them poked his head out. “Yes, what is it?” He asked.

The guard was stunned for a moment. “Oh, um, I’m the guard you asked for, I’m here to take the shift of guarding your room for the night sir.”

I took this chance and snuck from the guard’s shadow and into the room. “I appreciate you coming down here, but I changed my mind, I won’t be needing a guard tonight, thank you though.”

“But sir, it is protacol to have a guard stationed outside the rooms of all important ponies at the castle.”

“I understand that and I am sorry for troubling you, but that won’t be necessary, good night.” He then closed the door on the guard. I took a good look around the room, there we’re scrolls and books scattered all over the place, I saw a fire burning in a stone alcove that provided some light for the room, I was hiding in the shadow of a desk on the opposite wall of the fire. There was a black metal pot being suspended over the fire as well.

The unicorn, Starswirl, walked away from the door and stopped at the center of the room. “You can come out now shadow walker.”

I was stunned, did he know I was here, how could he know, there was no way he could know I was hiding in his room. I stayed where I was for a moment, not sure what to make of what I heard.

“Come now, no need to be afraid, you don’t need to hide under my desk.” He said as he looked right at where I was hiding. He did know I was here, he knew exactly where I was.

I wasn’t sure what to do, I was afraid and angry at the same time at this pony. I chose to go with anger and pushed my fear down inside. I slowly slunk out from under the desk and emerged from the shadow. I glared at this unicorn looking at me with a smile. “How did you know where I was, and how do you know WHAT I am?”

“It’s really simple my boy, I foresaw your coming, I knew you would come looking for me once you found out about that book I gave Keen Eye.”

“I’m not in the mood for games old timer.”

“ME old, HA, if I’m not mistaken, you’re practically a thousand years old yourself are you not?”

I took a few steps forward. “If you knew I was coming, then you know why I’m here, I want answers unicorn.”

“And answers you shall receive.”

“Tell me, is it REALLY true you can travel through time, or was it just some lucky coincidence that you knew about my kind and expected one to come to you?”

“Yes, it is true, I am capable of time travel.”

“Then you should also know what else I want.”

“You wish me to send you back in time to save your clan from the horrible disaster that befell it, effectively wiping them out and leaving you as the sole shadow walker.”

“Exactly, so get to it, I want my family back that your kind stole from me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

I glared intensely at him. “I’m warning you, you do not want me angry, now SEND ME BACK SO I CAN SAVE MY CLAN!”

I saw his horn light up, my whole body froze, I was completely paralyzed, the only thing I could move was my mouth. “What, what is this………I can’t move, what did you do to me old one?!”

He smirked at me. “Paralyzing spell, you will be unable to move until I undo the spell.”

“Then you’d better undo it or I’m going to tear you limb from limb and feed you to the timberwolves in my forest.”

“And just how do you plan on doing that when you can’t move, even your magic and shadow magic is useless right now.”

I was starting to get scared again, this unicorn had me at his mercy, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t use my powers, I couldn’t do anything, and it was all because of this unicorn who is part of a race that destroyed my world. “You……..you better let me go…or I’ll-“ He cut me off.

“You’ll what, use your shadow powers on me, I don’t think so. Just relax, I’m not going to kill you.”

“Yeah right, you planned this didn’t you, using that unicorn as bait to lure me here to finish what your ancestors started?” I was actually starting to accept the fact this could be the end for me. I may actually get to be reunited with my family in the afterlife. “Well, what are you waiting for, just get it over with then.”

“Nightshade, I’m not going to kill you, I just want to talk. I find your kind very fascinating, the only creatures capable of manipulating the shadows and doing incredible things. Such a race should never have been killed off.”

“Then……why won’t you let me save my family?”

“Nightshade, I’m sorry, but your family can’t be saved, I could send you back, but do you really expect to fight off all those ponies on your own? You won’t be able to save all of them. Plus, there would be too many for you to fight. There is nothing you can do for them Nightshade.” He looked at me with such sympathy. “I’m sorry, I truly am, but you just have to face facts, your family is gone, and there is nothing you can do.” He then released his spell on me and I was able to move again.

His words stung. “You…you’re lying, there has to be something I can do. I can’t just give up, not after everything I’ve been through.”

“There is nothing, not a thing that you can do. I’m sorry.”

I returned my glare at him but spoke low. “Then tell me unicorn, what is the point of me going on if my family is dead, what point is there when I’m the last of my kind with no hope of restoring them? WHAT, TELL ME!”

“Hope.”

“……Hope? What do you mean, you just told me I can’t bring my family back, where is the hope in that? This is a sick game you’re playing.”

“Hear me out, there is no hope of restoring your old clan, but there is hope of bringing the shadow walkers back to this world.”

“What are you talking about, how is there hope of bringing them back, you said my family can’t be brought back.”

“True, but you can make a new one.”

My anger was returning, I was getting tired of this unicorn beating around the bush. “Listen old one, I’m getting tired of this, either you start making sense, or I start hurting you.”

“What I mean is simply this, one day, you will meet someone that will change your life for the better, she will be the key to bringing the shadow walkers back to this world. You just have to have faith and continue living your life.”

“I’m still not getting it beardo, who is this someone that I’m supposed to meet?”

“All I can tell you is that she will be the key to unlocking your heart again so you can be happy again. That is all I can say, if I reveal too much, then it may not happen.”

“Then why are you telling me all this now?”

“Because you needed to hear it. That is all I have to say on the matter.”

“So that’s it, I’m going to meet someone that will unlock my heart and make me happy and help me bring back the shadow walkers? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”

“If you don’t want to believe me, that is your choice, I said what I felt you needed to hear. It’s up to you to believe it or not.”

“And give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you for wasting my time?”

“Because one, there is a part of you that want’s to believe me. And two, killing me won’t do anything, it would just be a waste of your time. So if there is nothing else, why not go on back to the forest, there will be a nice new home waiting for you. Pity about Keen Eye, I wish he had listened to me when I told him not to go to your forest, but then, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now would we?”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “You are a strange one, but……I suppose you are right, killing you would be a waste of my time, I’ve wasted enough time here already anyway. You just watch yourself and stay away from my forest, and if you tell any of your kind about me, I will hunt you down.”

“No need to worry about that, your visit will be our little secret, as is Keen Eye’s whereabouts, he took a job to study a dangerous forest, thus Celestia decreed that if anything did happen to him, nothing would be done about it, they know he’s there, but they also know the forest is dangerous, if they don’t hear from him, they will assume he fell prey to the dangers of the forest.”

“Are you saying I can just go ahead and kill him?” I looked at him confused.

“I’m saying you won’t have to do anything to him upon your return to your forest, now go on, off with you, I’ve said all I needed to say, you best be off now.”

I just gave him a look, sunk into the shadows, and slunk away. I made my way out of the castle, out of the city, found an area with no ponies around and flew off back to my forest.

During my flight back, I ended up having a conversation with my shadow. “That was weird, what do you think he meant by all that?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care, he’s just some crazy old unicorn, this was a complete waste of my time.”

“But what if it’s all true, what if you ARE destined to meet someone that could change your life for the better and make you happy again?”

“HMPF, Yeah right, that unicorn was just spouting a bunch of nonsense.”

“And what about all that stuff about restoring the shadow walkers, don’t tell me you’re not at least a little hopeful about that.”

“I gave up hope a long time ago.”

“Then why did you come see him?”

“……” I had no comeback, the whole reason I went to him was because I DID hope, I hoped there was a chance to get my family back, a chance to restore my clan, but now I see that wasn’t what happened. Instead, I was told that I would meet someone that would make me happy again, I didn’t believe it though. Yet……still.

It was early morning when I got back to Keen Eye’s house, I just landed in front of the door and barged in. “Keen Eye, you here!? You better not have gone out into the forest!” I received no response. “Great, I bet he went out into the forest for this research he was doing.” So I turned around and headed out to look for him. I searched and searched for a few hours and saw no trace of him, until I came to the part of the forest with quicksand pits. I found his book lying on the ground in front of a pit.

“That moron, I told him to stay put, why didn’t he listen.” It didn’t take a geneous to figure out what happened. Keen Eye fell into a quick sand pit and drowned. He was now gone. “That stupid unicorn, now others are going to come looking for him. If any of those ponies find me…..”

“But Nightshade, didn’t Starswirl say that if anything happened to Keen Eye, this ruler of theirs wouldn’t do anything about it, they would just assume he died from the dangers of the forest?”

“Hmmm, I guess, and he did say there would be a new home waiting for me when I got back to the forest.”

“You think he meant that big house Keen Eye lived in?”

“What else could it be, might as well, bet it’s better than sleeping in trees anyway.” So I resolved to at least give the house a try for myself and see what it would be like living there. Did this mean Starswirl is right, that I truly would meet someone that would change my life for the better and help me restore the shadow walkers to the world? Only time would tell me that.

Author's Note:

Hello my readers, sorry this chapter is shorter than the others, but I did what I wanted to in this chapter and felt I reached a good stopping point. So just wait till the next chapter comes out. Hope you liked this one.