The Nightmare's Apprentice

by Epicburst

Chapter 1: A World of Regret

The Nightmare's Apprentice
Chapter 1: A World of Regret

Chronostasis is a powerful thing, so powerful in fact, that Starswirl the Bearded used it to single hoofedly drive back the dragons, lock himself away in his home to work on a years worth of calculations, and to make an attempt to defy the bloody end of the Elements of Harmony. What he discovered about such a spell, is that it can go one of three ways. The first way is that you are aware that you are in Chronostasis, and you are powerful enough to bend the spell to your will, like Discord; the second is that you have no idea you are under Chronostasis, locked away in your own subconscious for what seems like seconds, like Shade; while the third is that you're highly resistant to most magics, able to shrug it off like it's nothing, like Shade's dragon friend Petal.

When you have no idea you're under Chronostasis, and you're not strong enough to bend the spell, you're stuck. While your body and conscious mind only feel seconds slip by, your subconscious goes hyperactive. At first it begins to panic, unable to comprehend its situation. If you have a close friend with you, your subconscious mind will begin to make connections with theirs.

---

Knight to E7

Go fish!

Wait what? Petal, I thought we were playing chess?

Chess is boring! We played 3268 chess matches, 5932 games of tic tac toe, and 9642 silent games! You really haven't matured have you?

Do you wanna play again?

No, I don't want to play again! I want to get out of this cage! I want to go someplace else without creepy skeletons looking at me!

"They aren't skeletons, they're my friends!" Shade snapped pressing his muzzle against Petal's.

Petal jumped back, startled by the harshness in her friends voice, murderous tone, and sudden movement. Blinking once, she began to smile. She almost forgotten what his voice sounded like after such a long time being stuck.

"What's so funny?" Shade asked, tilting his head to the side.

"You're moving! It's been such a long time since you last moved, I thought that you were going to be stuck forever! We can finally escape!"

"R-really? The last time I was free was so than I could do that favor for Mistress Moon, and that was only a moment ago!"

Petal shook her head, eager to end this conversation and escape. "No, the last time you were free from the spell was a full moon ago." Seeing his perplexion, she sighed. "Let's not dwell on the complexities of relativity, let's go! Break the cage so we can get out of here."

Thank you Nightmare Shade thought, as his horn ignited with flame. Creating a huge fireball, he lobbed it at the cramped cage, blasting it to thousands of pieces.

"Oops." Shade apologized, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof. "That never worked when I tried it before."

"Let's go!" Petal yelled from the top of the stairs. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving," Shade replied, trotting up the stairs. "I'm going to get my armor first."

Looking around the dark castle, he felt magic emanating from a wall, and trotted over to it. Feeling around, he bumped into the familiar equipment chest, and took the time to put on his gear.

Attaching his small crossbow and a quiver of bolts, Shade followed the sound of the dragoness's soft humming.

As they trotted towards the entrance, Shade looked around. The castle was in ruins, making it obvious that nopony has been here in a very long time.

"Hey, what happened here?"

Petal slowed down reluctantly, and turned to look at Shade, walking tentatively towards a picture of Nightmare Moon. She grinned as she decided to have a little fun.

Shade had no idea what to do. He hasn't seen his mentor in such a long time. Why is she looking at me like that? I-is she mad at me? Tucking his tail under his belly and lowering himself down to the ground, he inched himself forward. How did she catch us? I thought she was asleep by now! Before he could begin his cries for mercy, Nightmare Moon herself tugged at his dark blue mane.

"Ahh!" He cried.

Instinctively, Shade focused on drawing mana, and pulsing it outwords, creating a brief inferno. As soon as the spell was cast, he realized his mistake: He just attacked Nightmare Moon. Figuring that all hope was lost for any type of reconciliation, Shade dropped to his side and curled in a ball, prepared for the 'Thousand Lashings of Disobedience'. Forgetting that he was wearing his armor, Shade tried his best to curl up tighter. His body armor, however, was made of a very strong, and very inflexible, metal. Allowing him to just lay straight.

When the lashings never came, he decided to risk opening his eyes. First the left one, then the right one. As his eyes opened, he saw Petal on the floor laughing.

"Y-you should have saw your face!" She cried in between fits of laughter. "I-I swear you almost wet yourself!"

Shade's heart pounded in his chest, and his ears rang. He glared at her coldly. "That's not funny! I thought Nightmare Moon came back!"

Petal stopped laughing and looked at him seriously, rolling herself back onto four claws. "You would have liked that, wouldn't you?"

Shade's ears splayed on his head. The small colt blushed slightly as he cantered forward. Of course he would have liked it if Nightmare Moon came back. Despite everything that happened, she was the first pony that showed any hint of caring for him. Regardless if that care was shown by keeping him in a small cage with decaying colts being his only form of food, at least he would have somepony to care about him.

Of course you like her!

She didn't have you slain in the dead of night!

You're nothing more then her mercenary!

You meant nothing to her!

Silence! Every last one of you, just be quiet!

As his mind waged war with lost souls, Shade didn't realize that he trotted outside the castle. Seeing the change of light from the back of his eyelids, he opened them curiously. Almost instantly, he wished he hadn't.

"M-My eyes!"

Petal cantered swiftly to his side, forcefully placing her claws over her friend's eyes. She chuckled as he fell to the ground, failing miserably at hiding from the blinding light. Eventually, Shade's breathing slowed as he got over his initial shock. Now the only thing that was left was his rage.

"What the hay! Why is that fireball so bright? W-where'd the moon go?" Shade asked each question with more and more venom on his tongue. Eventually, he became frustrated enough to launch ice at the sun in a desperate attempt to see it extinguished.

His plan didn't work out so well.

With his eye's clamped shut, he could not see where the sun was, and just started shooting blind. Although he wasn't able to the evil sun, he did defeat a tree, bush, and a rock.

Petal swatted Shade's muzzle, scolding him for his brashness. "Shade, is that the way you get what you want? Why don't you ask the sun very nicely to go away, and maybe it will."

"Haw haw haw, very funny Petal." Shade scoffed as he slowly tried to open his eyes, only to clamp them back shut. "Let's head back inside, I don't like how bright it is out here."

Petal and Shade retreated back into the castle. Although Shade wanted to go deeper inside where it was pitch black, Petal kept him by the entrance, where a few rays shone through. Eventually, Shade opened his eyes again, grateful for the darkness. Eventually, Petal figured that Shade must have fallen asleep with his eyes open again, because for the next half hour, Petal could feel his eyes fixated on the back of her head.

"Okay, what's wrong with you!" Petal yelled, not being able to take the feeling of his glowing red eyes boring into her soul.

Shade jumped, taking a half step back. Confused at his friend's sudden yelling, he tried to figure out what was wrong. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Petal groaned.

"You were staring at me."

"Really?"

"Yes you were! That's why I asked why you were staring at me!"

"Oh um . . ." Shade looked at his hooves uncomfortably, unsure where to begin.

"What's wrong?" Petal asked, brushing him gently with her tail.

"Oh . . . your scales . . . they're shiny." Shade said slowly, becoming transfixed once again by Petal's spectacularly bright, glistening, rose colored scales.

"You haven't seen them?" Petal asked, smiling softly as his face edged ever closer to her scales.

Shade shook his head. "It's too dark in the cages," he responded, never taking his eye off of his slightly distorted reflection. "and I always return from Her requests before moonset."

Petal almost completely forgot about the requests he used to get. For the longest time, after she hatched, Shade would occasionally break free from Nightmare's Chronostasis. He would leave the cage, always forcing her back in if she were to get out, and leave for what seemed like hours. He would then come back, undress from his armor, get back into the cage, cry for hours, then become locked in time once again. Shade didn't know Petal could see in the dark, that's why he always made it a point to cry in silence, so he wouldn't worry her. The problem was that she could see in the dark, and she was worried. Not so much for the tears, but for the stained blood on his coat.

Even while Nightmare Moon was gone, she could still tell Shade who to kill, and he would do it without a second thought.

"Would you like to touch them?"

Shade nodded swiftly, eagerly rubbing his hoof across her scales for the next hour. Petal scolded him when he would go to low, or when he tried to pull. Eventually, he let loose a yawn and rested his muzzle on his friend's back.

Petal bristled her scales, gently waking the young foal.

"Take your armor off before you go to sleep."

Shade stood and trudged a few steps to the side. Lighting his horn, he casted the only transformation spell he knew: an equipment spell. As the spell was cast, his armor fell in a giant heap around his hooves. Yawning, Shade returned to his Dragonic companion and rested his head on her side. He was fast asleep before he could be asked to scoot over.

---

The sun was shining in Ponyville. Everypony in town was enjoying the sunshine and the nice warm summer breeze. It was too bad that the six mares inside the Golden Oaks Library couldn't enjoy it. In fact, it might as well have been a graveyard.

Twilight stood over the two parchments. Her mind was racing in a torrent of confusion, fear, anger, and disappointment. Around her stood her closest friends: Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and her number one assistant Spike.

Even Pinkie Pie, the best pony there was to make you smile, was frowning.

"Twi', what the hay is goin' on here?" Applejack asked, rereading over the two Princess's requests.

Twilight frowned. What was she supposed to do? All of her friends where counting on her to make the first move, yet she couldn't. She wanted to help Princess Luna, yet she never wanted to disobey her mentor. Even though she was right, the guilt of how she acted almost crushed her.

"If Princess Celestia is asking us, Equestria's last line of defense, and the Elements of Harmony, to save it, then we must."

Everypony nodded in understanding. All except a yellow ball hiding pressed into the corner, trying to escape the thick air of troubled minds.

"Fluttershy darling, what do you think on the matter?" Rarity asked, bringing comfort to her scared friend with a hoof on the back.

"I . . . I couldn't hurt anypony. Not even if Princess Celestia asked us to. I-I'm sorry . . ." The shy Pegasus began to shy further away from her friends, fearful that the room would erupt with objections and other dissaproving voices.

"Look," Spike sighed, fatigued by worrying about the six ponies'sconstent jabbering. "I don't think that we would be able to help what happens here. If we try and do it fairly, somepony won't get what they want, and the Elements won't work if something bad happens. Why not just bring the foal in, and see what happens from there?"

"Spike, that's it!" Applejack exclaimed. "Girls, ah don' know 'bout ya'll, but ah don't think this little foal could be much worse then Discord!"

Her friends nodded in agreement. Unless this foal who was supposed to be coming out of the Everfree Forest can manipulate ponies minds and bend reality, there was no reason to treat him worse than Discord.

"I'm sorry girls, but I can't do that." Twilight said quietly, slowly shaking her head. When she saw them looking at her confused, she decided to elaborate. "The Princess trusts me enough to take care of this problem, and I won't fail her now. This is obviously very important to her, and if she wants the foal destroyed, there has to be a good reason for it."

"I'm with Twilight on this one girls." Rainbow Dash said, placing a bookmark in the newest Daring Do book. "Look, I highly doubt Princess Celestia would tell us to do anything that would lead to the destruction of Equestria, and I highly doubt she would make us go out in the middle of the night and assassinate any random foal that just so happens to be Princess Luna's apprentice." The others nodded as Rainbow Dash continued. "What if her apprentice is super evil or something?"

Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie looked at the two mares with apprehension. Were they really willing to go out their and slay a poor foal?

Sensing the tension in the room, Spike walked in between the two groups.

"So how about this," He began looking towards Twilight, then to Fluttershy. "You girls first try reforming him, but if it doesn't work, or if he hurts somepony, then you use your Elements."

Everypony nodded in agreement. Twilight walked over to her number one assistant and gave him an affectionate nuzzle.

"Thanks Spike." Twilight turned back towards her friends. "Why don't we all just spend the night here? Just in case something happens."

---

Shade hated the night. That wasn't to say that he preferred to be under Celestia's sun, but he still hated it. The main reason for his discomfort under Luna's moon were the souls. At night, all fifty seven souls of long dead Ponies, Griffons, and other creatures that he killed, came back with a vengence.

You'll kill anypony, won't you?

Nopony loves you anymore.

You should go straight to Tartarus!

Do you even care about the lives you ruined!

We are the only ones who know your worst fears.

We will tell the world, that Shade is no more than a murderer!

Burn him alive! That's what he did to me!

Poison the meat that he eats!

You cannibal! You never even eaten a blade of grass!

How could you tear me away from my two foals!

Open him up and hear him beg for mercy!

Break his horn and stab him with it!

You killed your own brother!

Send him to the sun!

You're sadistic! You shouldn't even been born!

Your own parents regretted having you!

You were a mistake! A foalish prank of Discord's to make us suffer!

Kill him in his sleep!

The rants of the souls became more and more vivid. All sorts of ways to kill him mercilessly. No matter how they said they would kill him, it all came back to one topic: Kill him in his sleep. They liked this plan the most.

Shade could no longer take it anymore. His conscience gnawed away at his heart until he could feel nothing but agony. The worst part was: He couldn't even deny any of the accusations.

"Will you just BE QUIET!"

Shade's eyes snapped open, and his breath was coming to him in ragged gasps.As his vision cleared, he realized he was curled up in a ball, with tears streaming down his face. Beside him was Petal, her wings fully extended and her body raised in a combat stance.

As Shade continued to pant for air, Petal folded her wings and dropped back on four legs.

"Shade?" The name's owner knew exactly what she was going to ask next by the tone of her voice. "Did you have another nightmare?" Petal asked softly, looking him dead in the eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Shade turned towards his armor pile and ignited his horn. As the armor assembled around his body, he looked outside. We'll be waiting for you.

"Let's keep moving." Shade noticed the look of concern on Petal's face and sighed softly. "Please, just don't let me fall asleep."

Confused by the odd request, Petal didn't notice that Shade started heading out. Trotting in order to catch up, she fell in line right behind the young pony.

They continued at a brisk trot through the Everfree Forest, and it wasn't until moonset that Shade's stomach growled, and they slowed down.

"Why are we stopping, I'm not tired yet." Complained Shade.

Petal just shook her head. "Of course you're not tired yet, when your stomach growls that means you're hungry! Go hunt for something, just remember that I like my meat cooked."

Shade nodded at Petal and began to walk off. He didn't make it far until he stopped and turned back around.

"How would you want me to do it?" Shade asked, his voice growing colder at the thought of his next kill.

"Try using electricity this time, you've burned enough things for one day."

Shade nodded and trotted further into the Everfree Forest.

Shade walked slower and slower the farther he got inside the forest. His heart fluttered with excitement as his imagination went haywire. Visions of deer falling victim to thunderbolts, the cries of fawn as their tiny hearts quit under the enormous voltage. The image of one deer collapsing as it took a crossbow bolt to the neck.

Shade stopped completely as he entered a clearing. Looking around him, his ears splayed back as he saw two deer feeding off plants. A doe and a faun. Closing his eyes, Shade pictured how he would manipulate the mana. The bolt will fire at the faun, killing it. It then jumps to the doe, stunning it. Shade smiled as he felt energy fill his horn, crackling softly with electricity. Opening his eyes, he aimed at the faun's heart, and fired.

Shade was stunned by what he saw. Blue electricity arched from his horn, strait into the faun. From there, a smaller bolt jumped from the faun to its mother, giving her a heart attack. That was exactly how he pictured it, and it all happened in less then a second. Remembering that the mother was still alive, he galloped over to her and leaned over her ear.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he jammed his sharpened horn through the suffering mother's throat.

Shade's ears perked up as he sensed something from the treeline. Before Shade could inquire any further, terror gripped at his chest. Turning, he saw a figure coming at him from the sky, so he lit up his horn, and soon it was crackling with electricity. Shade remembered how he was supposed to prepare himself for battle. One by one, every muscle in his body flexed. His stance shifted to that of a crouch so he could avoid the avian's talons and claws. Lastly, he let the world around him slip into the background of strange colorless blobs, the only thing he cared about was his target, who was now enveloped in a red glow.

Foreseeing the flight path of his opponent, Shade assaulted it relentlessly as blue lightning arched from his horn into the victim's body. The creatures flight path shifted into a dive. Switching tactics, Shade's horn dropped to freezing temperatures. Focusing on the wings, he launched five ice spikes. All of them were completely ineffective.

Before Shade could do anything else, he felt a familiar, yet sharp pain in his muzzle. Shade fell hard on his rump, staring forward and rubbing his muzzle. The colors of the world around him were filled in, as the shapes became more distinct then blobs. Petal stood in front of him, her eyes a mixture relief, annoyance, and a hint of something he couldn't name. Petal sighed softly and pulled him into a hug.

"You panicked again, didn't you?" Petal sighed as Shade nodded in disappointment. "I knew I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. This place is no place for foals you know."

Shade pulled himself out of the hug roughly, and turned himself away from his friend. "I'm not a foal! I'm a warrior that was hoof picked by Nightmare Moon!" Before Petal could argue, Shade said something that he began to regret even before it left his muzzle. "How could I possibly kill a dragon like you?"

The look of fury that etched Petal's features was furious enough to rival Nightmare Moon. Shade knew better not to mention the fact that she came from a dragon egg that he chose to spare years ago, and the fact that she never shown her discomfort towards the fact that her mother was killed scared him even more.

Within seconds, a decade of suppressed rage, frustration, and depression poured out of the dragoness. "You of all ponies should know that Shade! You should know damn well how to kill a dragon, figuring you killed my mother!" Shade's ears splayed backwards, yet Petal didn't care about his fear of her right now. If she was going to say it, now was the best time. "Oh, but how would I know your mother?" Petal exclaimed in a rudely satirized mimic of Shade. "Because you plucked my egg right out from her den! You killed my mother Shade, but did you ever apologize for it? NO!" Petal began backing Shade into a tree. "If you did apologize, should I even accept it? So far, you apologize by hatching me inside your crummy old cage, forced me to sleep on rotting foal carcasses, and whenever you would go out on Nightmare's assassinations, you still wouldn't let me out! You left me in there for ten years!"

Steam began hissing out of the dragoness' nose. The release of anger that has been stored for a decade showed no sign of slowing. "But do you want to know why I stayed with you this far Shade?" Petal glared at the foal, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "It's because of that look you had whenever you returned from those missions Nightmare sent you on. That look of agony written in your eyes. Unlike you, I was never trapped in time. So instead of breaking free, I decided to see what's inside that sick, twisted head of yours. I spent months in your head before you found me Shade! I know you even better than you know yourself, and do you want to know what I figured out? I figured out that you're a monster! You are a sick little monster that's just trying to run home back to his mother. But you want to know the funny part? YOUR MOTHER NEVER WANTED YOU! SHE WAS THE ONE THAT TOSSED YOU IN THAT CAGE! So what do you do Shade? You just get yourself a new mommy. The closest thing you've had was Nightmare Moon, and she hated you! Every single day of your miserable life she tried to kill you, but when she couldn't, you were made her champion that's supposed to destroy the Elements of Harmony and kill Celestia, but you don't even know how. So now I'm stuck keeping my eyes on you, because you're now my responsibility! You say that you're a warrior, but you're so foalish, you think paintings on the forsaken walls are the real thing! Now, for everypony that you kill, their blood is on my claws! Just like the blood of my mother is on your hooves."

Petal sighed as the years of pent up anger vanished into venomous words. Looking underneath her, she saw tears streaming down Shade's face.

"Look, I know why you killed those fifty six ponies, and I know that they don't understand but-" Petal stopped as Shade began to shake his head.

"Fifty seven . . . one of Nightmare's requests was a twofer."

"Do you even think before you say the things that you say!" Petal yelled in defeat and began walking towards the treeline. "Look, I can't be with you right now, just . . . stay close. I'll find you later." On that note, Petal trotted through the thin barricade of trees, and disappeared.

Shade was stunned. What just happened? He wracked his brain, desperate to learn of any form of reconciliation with his friend. Shade gasped as he remembered that Petal was leaving. Swiftly, he raced in the direction she left in, and slowly worked his way through the trees. His heart sunk as all he could see was the side of a cottage.

Shade snapped out of his stupor when a drop of moisture landed on his cheek. Sniffling, he wiped the tear off his cheek. Sighing to himself, he looked up at the dark storm clouds. As Shade crossed over a small bridge, more and more tears began to stream down his face. He continued walking aimlessly, silently crying to himself.

I'm not crying! Warriors don't cry! Only foals cry because their friends leave them! It's . . . just the rain . . . As the last thought left his subconscious, the storm began.

The wind howled like a pack of timberwolves. The rain battered him like its goal was to strip him of his hide, every droplet stinging like a bee. Eventually, the weight of Petal's words were too much for the young foal, and the realization that he may never see his friend again.

You killed my mother Shade!

I know you better than you know yourself!

You're a sick, little monster!

Your own mother didn't want you!

Your mother was the one who tossed you in that cage!

With each recollection Shade made, he could feel a little bit of his spirit fade. My own friend doesn't even like me! Eventually, the realization that he had absolutely nopony anymore was too much, and he collapsed. For the first time in his life, he sobbed vocally. As his body was wracked with sobs, he screamed in a mixture of regret, confusion and fury, hoping to draw somepony's attention. For the first time in his life, he knew he couldn't stand alone, and he begged for somepony - anypony to help him. As he wailed into the night sky, his voice was ripped away by the wind. He was alone.

---

Big Macintosh has long since remembered all the sounds the house could make. The thudding of Winona's tail coming from Applebloom's room. The creaking of the stairs, and of Granny Smith's rocking chair. The gentle pinging of rainwater falling into the leak bucket in the living room, and Applebloom's snoring. It was none of these sounds that woke him up though. This sound seemed to be battling the wind. This sound was only heard for a second before it set him on edge.

A foal was wailing in pain.

Big Macintosh shot out of bed, determined to rescue the foal. Entering the hallway, he walked down the wooden stairs as quietly as possible, which for him, wasn't quiet at all.

His heavy frame making the stairs creak with every step, almost tripping over Applebloom's rubber ducky, and giving a startled grunt as he was almost sent cascading down the steps were just the most noticeable of issues.

As he trotted over to the front door, the screen was swinging wildly. He haphazardly placed an apple bucket by the door. Using the frequent flashes of lightning as his only light source, Big Macintosh began searching for the foal.

With his mind racing, Big Macintosh never noticed the full strength of the storm. The violent gusts of wind, and the liquid projectile bullets that were propelled along with it. With another flash of lightning, the red stallion noticed a small, uncharacteristic lump in the middle of the road. As he trotted to the now unconscious foal, desperate to help at any cost, his mind stopped.

Lightning flashed above, and thunder roared shortly after. Big Macintosh never noticed the marks on his body made from the water that now clawed at him. All he saw was the foal. The foal of shadows with the glowing red eyes. The foal that plagued his nightmares from foalhood until now.

Now he could get his revenge. After all, who wouldn't want to kill their parents murderer?

Comments

[Ahrazell]

oh crap..... aj is going to be pissed off to hell and frankly, shade is screwed