Prologue: Shade's Upbringing
The Nightmare's Apprentice
Prologue: Shade's Upbringing
Princess Celestia loved the afternoon. All of her meetings were finished, the paperwork has been signed and sent, and it was almost time for dinner. The royal sister sighed softly, slowly walking through the castle gardens. The rainbows of colors and sweet scents of beautiful flowers from all over the world welcomed her and lured her deeper inside. Princess Celestia walked towards the center of the castle gardens to her favorite spot, a rectangular bed of roses. She released another sigh of comfort as she towered over the plants. Slowly, she began lowering herself onto them, just like she did while she was a foal. Princess Celestia let her breathing slow, and her mind wander, as sleep-
"NO!"
Princess Celestia's eyes snapped open, her brief reminiscence of her foalhood shattered before her as Luna's cry of defiance rang through the afternoon sky.
"Luna!"
Princess Luna yawned softly as she aided the moon in its nightly dance across the sky. When began its dance without aid, the lunar princess retired to her chamber. Princess Luna grumbled softly as she climbed into her bed. For the past couple weeks, she herself has been having nightmares. She performed all of the regular spells and wards to herself as she would other ponies, but nothing helped. Before she knew it, her head hit the pillow, and she was thrust into dreamland.
She was having the same dream, just like all the others. It was always the same, yet she never remembered it happening before. In fact, she barely remembered anything about being the Mare in the Moon. Dread racked her body as she swiftly retreated into the depths of the Everfree Forest to her own castle. With practiced ease, she found herself trotting deeper and deeper into the castle until she reached a large chamber veiled in darkness. Luna's nose crinkled slightly as the stale odor of mold, decay, and waste rose through the door to meet her.
She entered the chamber, just like she has hundred of times in her dreams, and like she must have hundreds in the real world. Her vision adjusted quickly to the familiar scene of cages, chains, and other brutal devices that Luna hasn't seen in thousands of years, but her mind did not. No matter how much she begged for the vision to pass, or how many times she forced it to change, it was always showed her the same scene of her brutally torturing foals. Nightmare Moon entered the chamber, a malevolent smile etched her features as the guard behind her lit a torch. Princess Luna was unable to hold onto a shiver that forced its way out. She begged once more to whatever spirit was causing this unbreakable vision, but to no avail. Nightmare Moon walked deviously towards the small cages, no bigger than her wing length, that were filled with foals.
Princess Luna wished she was still stuck on the moon. At least then her thoughts wouldn't be ravaged by nightmares. She cringed as she heard the screaming begin. For what felt like hours, she watched as her evil doppelganger savagely tore apart the colts hides. They tried to beg, to move further into the cage, but there was no room. Princess Luna realized that a few of the colts were not moving, and she thought they were really brave, until she realized that they were long dead and beginning to rot. All the princess could do was watch as the foals hides were torn apart by the brutal lashings, the young ones writhing atop of the fortunate ones that were able to die.
Finally Nightmare Moon granted them mercy and stopped. Walking slowly to the next cage, she couldn't help but smile as she saw no movement from within. Looks like she could retire early today. She paused for a moment to bask in the ecstasy that was her chamber. The wailing of young foals, the beautiful aroma of the weak and conquered corpses, what could be better? Nightmare Moon snapped out of her euphoria as she heard a yawn and movement coming from within the cage of corpses.
"What," asked the young colt from within. "aren't I lucky enough to get whipped to?"
Princess Luna glared at the young foal who dared to challenge her. Of course, she was ready for this. She dropped her standard leather whip, and picked up her chain, barbed whip. As she snapped it against the cage, the foal did not flinch, but instead, he turned to his side.
"Just make sure you get my good side, alright?"
Nightmare Moon spent the next half hour tearing apart the challengers hide. She grinned as she left him writhing as well, but just like the other days, he made no cries, just the regular grunts of discomfort he usually did. Nightmare Moon turned towards the steps and nodded towards the guard, queuing him to extinguish the torches.
"W-wait!" cried a filly. "Y-you never feed us anymore . . . w-what are we supposed to eat?"
Nightmare Moon lashed her tail to the side in frustration. "You have meat in there don't you? You don't want it to spoil." Nightmare Moon grinned wickedly as the room was filled with desperate whimpers from the trapped children. Her work was done for the day, and tomorrow, she planned on feeding them to a dragon.
"NO!"
Princess Luna's eyes snapped open as her body was thrown into a panic. The line between thoughts and actions was erased as she began to yell erratically and move her body in multiple directions at once, leaving her seizing on her bed as her muscles began to spasm violently.
Princess Celestia blasted her sister's door aside and charged in. Seeing her younger sister gripped by panic, she trotted over and held her the loving embrace Luna knew so well.
"Hush now Sister, all is safe." Celestia cooed softly.
Celestia continued hugging and petting her sister's mane gently and began rocking back and forth. Before long, Luna's muffled cries were replaced by cries of fear. Despite the fact that her younger sister's tears were matting her pearl white coat, she didn't care. The problem was getting worse as the weeks passed, and before long they would be out of control.
After a while, Luna's sobs subsided. Letting the silence stretch on, Luna just wished she could disappear again. She knew what would happen next: Her sister would ask her what her dream was about, and she would say that it was the same one, but not remember what it was about. After an hour of this, Luna would curl up in bed for the rest of the day and try to figure out what the dream meant.
Princess Celestia sighed softly, noting her sister's discomfort. "I'm sorry Luna," she said, nuzzling her younger sister softly. "We must talk about this." The younger mare looked up at her sister sadly. "If these dreams you keep happening are too powerful for even you to control, then you must talk about it! I know you are afraid, but this problem will only get worse if you keep it bottled up, okay?"
Princess Luna nodded slowly, unsure of where, or how to begin. "Celestia?" The pearl mare looked down at her sister questioningly, silently asking her to continue. "What happened when we were Nightmare Moon? W-we don't remember anything."
Nodding, Princess Celestia sat on the edge of Luna's bed. "I don't know how long you were carrying all of your resentment for Luna, but the day you revealed the form of Nightmare Moon, you disappeared. Each passing day, I could feel something stirring. So when you finally revealed yourself, we fought. That battle destroyed our old castle in the Everfree Forest. I underestimated your power, and fell under your might. When I came to, I made the decision to use the Elements of Harmony to banish you to the moon, Immortalizing you as the Mare in the Moon. After a thousand years, you became known as a ponies tale. Once Twilight warned me of your inevitable return, I didn't believe her, but I knew that the friends that she would make in Ponyville would be able to recharge the Elements, and set you free."
Princess Luna listened in awe as her sister recalled details that she had long since forgotten, or that were completely foreign to her. At the end of her sister's tale, Princess Luna sighed heavily with guilt.
"Sister . . . We've done a terrible thing."
Before Princess Celestia could inquire further, Luna casted a modified dreamwalking spell. Instead of it being casted on herself to enter other ponies dreams, this one targeted both herself and her sister, in order to review the one dream. Seeing the dream twice in one day did not make Princess Luna feel any better, and the fact that her sister was watching by her side did her no comfort. What was even more soul crushing was that as she turned towards her sister for advice, she saw the one thing she hoped she would never see again. Her sister was crying.
"T-Tia . . ." Princess Luna stepped towards her sister tentatively. Princess Celestia made no attempt to wipe away her tears as her sister approached. "We . . . we don't know what to do." Luna stared desperately at her older sibling, begging for her guidance.
"Go to sleep," Celestia said solemnly, wiping away her tears and turning towards the door. "It seems like you've got a lot to think about."
Princess Luna was stunned, Does she really expect me to sleep with those nightmares? "Sister, you don't understand! I can't go back to-"
Princess Luna was stopped mid sentence as her sister inflicted her with a sleep spell. Before she knew it, she collapsed onto the floor, forced to deal with her hellish dreamscape alone.
Princess Luna was stunned. For the first time in months, she was having a different dream. In this one, Nightmare Moon was nowhere in sight, and her ears filled with the quiet sobs of young foals.
"I-I don't want to die!"
"I want to go home!"
"Somepony help us!"
The young colt covered his ears, failing miserably to block the desperate wails and prayers to Celestia. He groaned in discomfort, wiggling deeper among the dead for warmth. The place he was in was cramped, cold, and terrifying. He no longer knew how long it has been since he was taken, but he knew for sure that he was one of the youngest. At first, he couldn't keep his mind strait. The torture was agonizing, and the Keeper was terrifying. It wasn't until he realized that despite him being the youngest, he was the strongest. He needed to save them, any way possible.
Eventually his cage slowly grew less cramped, and he hated himself for silently thanking his keeper for it. With the space I was given, I can sleep easier, gain more strength, and protect the weak.
"Everypony please!" his call swiftly silenced the chamber. "You're just giving her what she wants! She wants to hear us scream, and beg, and cry, just like newborn foals! Just keep calm and-"
"Oh shut up you flank kisser!" Another voice from the adjacent cage growled. "You think you're all high and mighty because everypony else in that cage is dead! While seven of us are cramped together! Just admit it, you killed them didn't you! They all just dropped dead like flies, there are younger fillies in this cage that lasted longer!"
The colt held his tongue. Of course he couldn't deny what those in the other cage thought of him, the entire time he practically begged the Keeper to punish him worse then the others. He knew they wouldn't survive, so he granted them an early respite.
"So what if I did." Please forgive me for this "What are you going to do about it Amber?"
The young colt could feel the tension snap, as Amber bellowed in agony. "YOU KILLED MY SISTER YOU LITTLE BLANKFLANK! IT'S TIME TO TEACH YOU A LESSON!"
"Listen, I didn't kill your sister without purpose! She was suffering, and she knew she couldn't-" The young colt was cut off by the sound of a sickening crunch. Tears sprang to his eyes, his body racked with sobs as he pictured his older brother's face one last time. "T-thank you for saving him for me Amber. He never deserved to suffer at the claws of a dragon."
Before Amber could respond, they heard the defining sound of the door creaking open. Each step of the Keeper echoed through the chamber and blasted through his chest. His body seized in panic as his mind clawed desperately for any type of sanity. Finally, the thunderous hoof steps ended. A whimper of fear left his lips as he heard shuffling echoing through the dark room. The young colt stretched and mentally braced himself to stare into the eye of Tartarus itself.
The foal cringed as the hoofsteps continued in the darkness. Not knowing where the Keeper was, his mind began going through worse case scenarios. None of which could have prepaired him for what happened next. Before he could make sense of the small buzzing sound, something sparked inside the other cage, erupting into an inferno.
The blaze's heat blinded him, The screams of agony deafined him. All he could do was watch as the last of his friends were eaten alive by the carnivorous flame. By the end of it, the young foal was choking on the stench of cooked ponies.
Nightmare Moon smiled. After an entire month, she finally broke him. At this point he was willing to do anything she asked of him. Her grin grew wider as she realized that her plan could work. With a little training, this foal will become Celestia's demise.
"You like your meat medium, don't you?"
Opening his cage, she gripped him in her magic and levitated the limp body in the air. As she did so, she realized that he was unconscious. Her malevolent grin grew wider as she began to have fun with him, throwing him against the floor. Among the sounds of snapping bones, she was able to hear a small yelp of pain.
"Good, you're awake." Nightmare Moon stepped closer to the crumpled foal, eager to begin. "What is your name?"
The foal, who was teetering on the edge of consciousness, turned away from her. Foolishly thinking that she wasn't even there, or maybe just some kind of dream. A well placed kick to the side staggered the young foal, gripping his entire body in pain. She didn't care though, for every second that he refused to answer, that was every second he wished he would be swallowed by Tartarus. Nightmare Moon continued kicking, stomping, and tossing the young foal around before a strangled cry reached her ears.
"S-Shade!" The young colt coughed, partially choking on his own blood pooling inside his mouth. As he responded, the magical grip he found himself in dissipated.
Nightmare Moon couldn't resist smiling. The foal that had openly mocked her, defied her, and challenged her was nothing more than a child begging for mercy. Perfect, let his training begin.
Luna's dream began to accelerate. Days passed in what only felt like hours. In that time, it was almost like Shade would be praised with a mothers love for his obedience, and with her fury for any mistake or hesitation. The next few days were filled with vigorous amount of training. They would spar with weapons, read for a break, and than spar with magic. Both Luna and Nightmare Moon were impressed at the speed of which he grasped new material, and how effectively he used them in combat. Before long, it went from Nightmare Moon blasting him across the castle, to him swatting her attacks aside like they were nothing. This is exactly what she hoped would happen. She has crafted a foal who could conquer anypony without hesitation, and tomorrow, he would kill a dragon.
Princess Luna groaned. Her head protesting as she rose to her hooves. She couldn't believe what she dreamed. Was she really torturing foals just because of her jealousy? Shaking the thoughts away, she walked to her sister's chambers. It was when she made it to the door when she realized how upset she made her sister. Luna could not inform her of something even worse then before. She couldn't inform her that for months she allowed children to murder the weak, and then forced them to feed off their corpses. She didn't realize that the door she was staring at for the past five minutes opened, revealing Princess Celestia.
"Luna," she began, her tone hinted an expertly crafted lightness that one could only gain after centuries of leadership. "Did you have another nightmare?" Princess Luna stared at her sister, this wasn't like her. Luna could see past the centuries of practice Princess Celestia had under her hoof, and was not fooled by her tone. Celestia was on edge, a mixture of fear and fury that only Luna could surface. The only thing that made her wish to be back on the moon.
"I did . . ." Princess Luna responded slowly, picking each of her words carefully, not wishing to antagonize her sister any further. "This one was about a single foal, a young colt named Shade." Luna looked up to see a look of disgust on her Celestia's face. "Sister please!" Luna yelled, unable to take the decimating force of disappointment radiating off of her sister. "I don't know any of this! I-I don't know what happened!"
Celestia looked at her begging sister, pleading for her forgiveness. Her expression did not change. "Is the foal still alive?"
"I-I don't know, his training was going well, but . . . Nightmare Moon said something about him slaying a dragon."
The moment Luna finished her sentence, Celestia retired once more to her chamber, closing the door behind her. Luna stared at her older sister's door. This is all my fault. She thought. I should have done something to stop this. I should have never returned from the moon. Luna sat at the throne numb. She never enjoyed her sister's disappointment, but for the first time, she wish she had somepony to wish upon to make this pain stop.
"I'm . . . so sorry."
"Yes, keep going." NIghtmare Moon beamed as her weapon of Celestia's destruction fought four of her guards at spear point. Expertly tearing through their defenses, then savagely tearing apart their armor.
Nightmare paused as Shade hovered over the last of her guards. Shade was dripping with sweat, his black coat gleaming underneath his armor. He raised the spear tip from the soldier's throat.
"What do you think you're doing? Finish him!" Nightmare Moon urged.
"I won't kill him." Shade said, shaking his head and stepping back. "He knows that he lost, and if he doesn't then I would be more than happy to tell him that myself." Shade's voice was hard and empty. The young colt's spirit being crushed days before now. He hated himself for silently wishing that the guard didn't make one last effort to win the battle. He wanted to crush his apponent. He needed to destroy his soul.
The gates to the arena opened once more as two griffons entered the battlefield. Their heavy, yellow armor gleamed in the minimal light that he was alowed to have. Taking to the air, the griffons began to circle him. Shade knew that they were better equipped then he was, but he had magic, they didn't.
Shade closed his eyes and focused. The memories of Nightmare Moon's teachings echoed in his mind. Unlike Celestia's empire, we do not use simple levitations and beams of light. While you are under my reign, you will use the Black Arts. Draw power from the Aether, bend it to your will, and use it to crush your foes. Shade felt the Aether's energy - Mana, she told him- flow through him. He smiled as he felt his horn fill with the magical energy, knowing that it was the end for Feather-Brain #1.
On his will, his horn erupted in flames. Focusing on Feather-Brain #1, he propelled the fireball forward, leaving a burning griffon wailing in agony as he burned to a crisp. Before he was finished admiring his good hoofwork, a searing pain engulfed his rump. Turning, He noted a javelin embedded about three inches deep. Silently scolding himself, he let his left leg go limp, trying to make his muscles contract as little as possible around the skewer.
Following a flash of movement, Shade spotted Feather-Brain #2 taking the the sky with a second javelin at the ready. Grunting with effort, he spun himself around. Readying himself, he raised his right fore hoof, and aimed an attached crossbow at his aggressor. Seeing this, the Griffon through his Javelin. Shade cursed as the jagged edge raked against his armor, nipping hungrily at his hide. Shade adjusted his aim swiftly and fired an arrow, he let out an exhausted sigh of relief as the arrow pierced his opponent's wing, grounding the beast.
Not wanting to take any chances, he began to fire bolt after bolt. The Griffon grunted with effort, as he took a Javelin and began twirling it at high speed. Blocking all five bolts with an expertly practiced maneuver. Shade began panting heavily, his head light from blood loss. In a last ditch effort, he hastily channeled mana, launching a small fireball. Instead of hitting the Griffon, the fireball intercepted his Javelin, causing it to erupt in flames.
The Griffon had enough of these games and charged. Seeing this, Shade charged also. As they rapidly closed the distance, his body screamed at him. His left side wailing in agonizing pain. Before they clashed, Shade's body collapsed, sending him sliding underneath the Griffon.
As Shade tumbled on the ground, he loosed an explosive shockwave. The last thing he saw was the Griffon turning to ash.
I'm sorry 57, at least by my hooves, you didn't have to suffer.
Shade grumbled. His head was killing him, almost as bad as his side. Opening his eye's slowly, he was wasn't surprised to see corpses and other matter that has long decayed.
Great, I'm back in my cage.
Suddenly, he was back in his cage. His wounds still open and bleeding profusely.
Ponyfeathers! Shade jumped to his hooves. Turning, he examined his wounds, and immediately wished he didn't. He was bleeding from the middle of his ribs down to his rump. The gash luckily wasn't very deep, but it obviously was infected. White puss, yellow ooze, and something green all harvested on or around the gash.
Shade groaned in disgust as he examined his wound further. At this rate, he was going to die before his eighth birthday.
He sighed and looked towards his hooves. Wriggling his hooves in between corpses, he stood in silent agony. Patiently waiting his next task.
Excuse me 42. Sorry about that 27.
What kind of pony would he be if he just pushed his friends around like they were nothing?
The next day was the final test. He was finally going to face a dragon. He knew that this is what he was protecting the others from. Those ponies could not handle the pressure.
Nightmare Moon growled in disgust as she flew to her sister's castle. He took down a forsaken dragon! She split the air with yet another battlecry. A foal no more then eight years of age can't be stronger than her! She was ready. She was going to kill her sister, reclaim Equestria, and plunge it into an ever lasting night! As she approached the castle, she cast one last spell: Chronostasis. Her pupil will never walk this earth again; if anypony would betray her it would be him.
Nightmare Moon cast the spell, locking her apprentice in time permanently. The only thing she forgot about was the egg.
Princess Luna woke with a jolt. Her mind was racing, she finally understood her nightmares. Summoning parchment and quill, she wrote a quick letter. She had no time to waste. She didn't care about how informal it was, all she cared about was correcting her mistake as fast as possible.
Dear Twilight Sparkle and Friends,
Twilight, you must do exactly as I ask. I am undoing an ancient spell. A spell that I haven't cast since I first appeared as Nightmare Moon. Please, In a few hours you will see a young foal appearing out of the Everfree Forest. He will have a black coat, red eyes, and a dark blue mane. He is a unicorn with an unusually shaped horn. It curves sharply forward, coming past his snout. He may or may not be wearing armor. You must help him. He is my worst regret as a monster. I'm begging you.
Your's truly,
Princess Luna
Princess Luna sent the letter. Finally, after so long, she could finally be free of all this guilt. She would be able to peacefully patrol the night, guarding over her subjects dreams instead of locked in her own. After so long without sleep, she was more then ready to repay her debts to her own subconscious.
Princess Celestia glared at her sister as she walked towards her chambers, completely drained. That foal was her final act as betrayal towards me. Celestia thought as she grabbed her own quill and parchment.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
This letter may be short, but that should only convey its urgency. If you find a foal from inside the Everfree Forest, you must destroy him as quickly as you can without mercy. I urge you. YOU MUST NOT HESITATE! This foal is the last remaining reminance of Nightmare Moon and he must be destroyed. Do not fail me Twilight.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
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first!
i'm interested in what twilight does to the poor guy
You have my attention. Let's see how Shade develops as a character. Sure, he may be able to kill a dragon, but 1000 years outside time would probably kill any form of combat proficiency he would posses.
Please continue.
OoC, complete lack of internal consistency, spelling errors, and many grammatical errors.