Light's Shadow

by Jorofrarie

Chapter 19

Corruption was invaluable.

Not many people seem to realize the importance of getting to the heart of something, changing it irreversibly for the worse, or better, take your pick.

I’ve seen might kingdoms fall; empires crumble in the face of it. They work on their defenses to make them impenetrable, completely invulnerable to outside influence.

But the biggest threat can sometimes come from within.

That was one of the things that I over thought in my own conquest. I’d completely sedated the populace with a bland mindset, effectively killing their resistance to any cause.

But of course he had to appear. He’d always been around to be a thorn in my side, but that time had gone on long enough.

That was why I recruited It again.

It had served me long ago, at one point being my most trusted troop, always ready to fight, to attack. But not from the front line, no, never from there. It was always behind the defenses, moving invisibly to sabotage even the most sturdy of defenses. I can’t even begin to count just how many attacks have finished that much quicker due to its work.

But that time had long passed. It had gotten the idea that It was stronger than me at one point. A foolish notion, but an annoying one at that.

So It had rebelled, trying to somehow break through and destroy me, or at the very least remove me from power.

Of course, that hadn’t worked, and It still came out the worse for wear in the end. I sometimes wonder if there was some other way to go about my… negotiations with It, but what’s done is done, and what I did to It never went away.

I made It fear me.

I made It fear me like no other, the one being in existence that could completely and utterly remove it from any form of life and sentience.

Fear is a powerful motivator. A city being controlled by fear might rebel, but if the idea is spread about right then it is quiet, subdued, no attempts being made at all to get any semblance of freedom.

Fear managed to break It, and It didn’t ever dare try to attack me ever again, one exception of course, but that was a mistake, unavoidable, It didn't even recognise me.

But this control over It came at a price. Loyalty. It was always unsure of what it was doing, never acting the way It once had, without question. It could not be trusted to carry out my orders, and it was only a matter of time before It could take it no longer and betrayed me, quietly and without warning, the way It always liked to do things.

And It had escaped me, that much was sure, but never again. It had surprised me in a time of triumph, and it’s my fault as well. I hadn’t properly understood the psyche of that murderous, treacherous leech. But I do now.

This time It wouldn’t get the chance to escape my sight, not after all that I’ve gone through. To make my conquest completely successful, I would need to have all of the help I could get, and this included It.

Corruption would never be free again, and after I was done with her, I’d kill It; I can’t be having any loose ends lying around.

But in the meantime, I have a use for corruption.

There was a reason why I hadn’t continued on to his location after the destruction of the striped animals, and that was that he had too much protection. I’d never get in there cleanly to finish off the job. There were precautions to be taken, plans to be formed.

I hadn’t even sensed their presence at first, but it’s impossible to ignore something like them for very long, especially when they are of such a high caliber.

But they are castles, with defenses. And although they are incredibly strong, border-lining impenetrable, they can still be worn, and chipped, and torn apart at the seams.

And that was precisely what I planned to do.

Light wouldn’t be safe for long, and I’d get to him sooner or later. Apparently Corruption sensed him too and had some fun with him. It will be punished of course.

Only I get to touch him. But the others I’ve left to it.

It can get in there unnoticed, and that’s what I’m relying on It to do. It’ll get to them and rot the defense to its core.

And if It tries to turn on me, even in the slightest…

I’ll destroy it.

---

I’d always found the night my ally. It was one of the only things that stopped me from being found in the city. It was my friend…
-Light

Chapter 19

Not so Silent Night

There wasn’t much to do in general. Nothing to read, well, nothing that I could understand at least. Turns out that I’m not the best at translating alien languages.

Go figure.

So I was bored.

…

Yep, that’s my mind. There wasn’t even any fun to be had by baiting the others that were in the room. I’d gone outside a while ago to just sit on the grass. I still wasn’t sure where the ideas for the names of the objects had come from originally, before my stoning, it was like a half remembered dream.

But I tried not to dwell on that for too long, too confusing in general. So I just lay there on the grass, trying to ignore the fact that I was no longer under attack in any way…

…

That came out weirder than I thought didn’t it? Was my life really that messed up that, in the one moment of true peace that I’ve had for as long as I can remember comes along I have nothing to do?

Am I just a fighter?

I sighed and shifted a bit on the grass. I could hear the animals in the distance being corralled back towards Fluttershy’s cottage. They’d been scared off earlier when I’d reset/exploded, and apparently animals don’t like explosion going off right near where they’re staying.

News to me.

But that didn’t matter anyway, they were being retrieved now, so it was okay. And it gave me a chance to escape the house for a while.

Celestia had been taken out of the equation too. I don’t know how, but she’d forgotten completely about the town nearby, so the whole time that I’d been talking they were still panicking and wondering just what the hell had happened to their Princess, so they were probably a bit relieved to find the answer to it all. She’d taken Twilight Sparkle with her to assess the damage. I’d been told that she was a demon with a checklist.

Actually, I kinda feel sorry for the town now…

And get this, the place was called Ponyville. Ponyville?! I mean, really, how dull must the founders have been to name a place like that?!

Of course I couldn’t just say that to the group. Again. I found out the hard way that Applejack’s grandmother had been one of the ponies that built the place about one hundred years ago. The biggest question being just how old was Applejack’s grandmother anyway?

Applejack had already wandered off somewhere, I didn’t really pay much attention to where she was going. I’d heard that she was a farmer, so I assumed that she’d wandered off to check on that orchard that I saw off in the distance during my… unscheduled crash landing in the middle of the conveniently placed crater in the town.

I don’t even want to know where Rarity went to, it most likely was fashion related, that being the only thing that she ever freakin’ talked about to me. I mean, really, she hadn’t stop talking about my clothes since she first saw them!

The talking wasn’t as good as her trying to take my clothes off thoug-

WAIT WAIT NO! WRONG SENTENCE! I meant that it wasn’t as bad! Shut up! I totally did!

…You recorded that didn’t you…?

I’m on a roll with awkward phrasing today aren’t I?

Anyway, I discovered that ponies apparently have absolutely no problem with trying to get others naked, especially considering that they pretty much never wear clothes…

Come to think of it, I’ve only seen the Princesses and the guards wearing anything at all…

Oh God! I’m living in a nudist town aren’t I! I’m pretty sure that the ponies in the city were wearing clothes!

I do seem to be attracting all of the weirdos don’t I?

So Rarity was off somewhere, presumably plotting another way for her to attack me with no warning and try to steal my clothes.

Like I said, weirdos.

Talking about weirdos, notice the awesome link in the topic there, Rainbow Dash had gotten all emo and upset about earlier when Luna and Celestia had torn her apart in front of her friends. Not that I felt that bad about any of that, she’d pretty much lost any possible respect that she might have had when she started yelling for no reason when I was getting a hug…

…What? It was a nice hug…

So she’d gone flying somewhere, I honestly could not be bothered to go and look for her at all, it just wasn’t interesting.

So I just decided to say ‘screw the ponies, Imma lie here’. And that is what I did.

I am a man of my word after all…

I gave a relaxed sigh and closed my eyes, content to just… relax, for the first time that I could remember. The moon was high and bright overhead, a perfect crescent hanging in the sky. It had just the right amount of luminance to illuminate the surroundings, but not be too bright for nighttime.

And the air here was amazing to say the least. I’d spent all of my time in a place where you couldn’t take a few breaths without taking in about a litre of tar and more than a bit of poison, that was how disgusting the place was. So it was a pleasant surprise that when I lay back I didn’t immediately start choking on my own tongue in an attempt to kill myself faster than the air could.

I was actually glad that it was night at the time. Luna had given her massively dramatic speech thing, but we hadn’t had a chance to act on it at all yet.

To be truthful, I was glad. I didn’t want to do anything else that night, apart from just lie down and maybe even sleep.

…Actually, the last time I properly slept was back in the city. The only other times that I haven’t been conscious were when I was knocked out without warning, and the times apart from that were when I was made out of bloody stone, so you can give me a bit of slack here.

Celestia had disappeared a few hours ago, back when it was only a little dark. It was full night now, and I expected her to return before long. That I wasn’t too worried about. Her student however…

No, don’t talk to me about her, she is a menace!

But until the Portable Purple Aneurism got back I’d have a little time to myself, just to try and relax, maybe even try to come to terms with just what the fuck has been happening in my life, because it’s obviously that it hasn’t been boring so far…

Yep, just me, peaceful night, about to sleep…

Just me, all alone, with the night sky…

Soft grass, nice sky, creepy Luna, tre-

…

I sighed, realizing that I really couldn’t get a single moment of quiet alone time. It was obviously too much to ask for. Luna remained blissfully unaware that she was creeping me the fuck out, so she had a happy look on her face.

It occurred to me, just then, what it might look like to anyone watching. Moonlit night, me lying relaxed on the grass, Luna standing right over my head looking down onto my face, romantically gazing into my eyes, ask-

Well, where did that one come from…

I rolled my eyes, sighing heavily, “Luna, would you kindly explain why the hell you’re standing over my like that when it’s obvious that I’m trying to relax, and maybe get some sleep?”

“Well, I thought that you might like to talk about… what’s happening?” She looked a bit too hopeful, but that look quickly turned to slight sadness, “And we would also like to ask you a personal question…”

I sat up slightly, curious as to what she was talking about. I waved my hand to prompt her a little further.

She looked confused by the gesture for a second before getting the gist and continuing, “Every time you looked at me back in there you looked like you were sad about something…”

She hesitated for a second before speaking sadly, “I thought that you might have something against me for some reason…” Her head was looking at the grass at her hooves.

“Why would you think that I was annoyed at you or something?” I asked.

She sighed, reminiscing, “Light, I think there’s some things that you need to know about my past…”

Rainbow Dash

She was hidden, completely and utterly hidden. There was no chance that they would ever find her in her present hiding spot.

In the tree nearby.

Meh, it was the best place she could find in the quickest time. And besides, only a bit of her tail was poking out.

Rainbow shuffled to get into a more comfortable position, adjusting her Daring Doo pith helm a little and increasing the zoom on the binoculars so that she could get a better view.

She could see everything that he was doing, which really wasn’t much. But she couldn’t take her eyes off of him, she knew that he was plotting something, it was only a matter of time before something set him off, and he attacked, and did… evil stuff…

What? That was a real thing!

Wait, what? Luna? Why’s she there too? And why didn’t she go with Celestia as well?

Was there a reason why she was talking to Light, all alone in the darkness, with nopony around to see them apart from her?

Oh, oh no, that’s terrible…

Rainbow came to the shocking conclusion that Luna was working with Light, it was obvious by the way that she seemed so relaxed around him as they sat there, talking, plotting their plans. Rainbow didn’t normally like to be a suspicious pony, and she really, really was trying to be nice to Luna, but she had to remember that no too long ago she had been trapped on the moon because of trying to overthrow Celestia…

And now she had been taken into Light’s evil plans as well. There was apparently no escaping this evil fiend. Only she, Rainbow Dash, would have a chance of protecting Equestria.

With that she was gone, a slight rustling noise and a few scattered leaves the only thing left behind as she vanished into the night, rushing to find Rarity, Fluttershy, anypony!

They needed to be told about this interaction between the newcomer and the returner.

Light

“Hold on to your horses there, you said that you were imprisoned… for one thousand years?!”

Luna looked at me, unimpressed at the pun, before lowering her eyes and slowly nodding her head, a small sigh escaping her lips. “Yes, all that I’ve said is true, I was taken over the Nightmare and made to do horrible things…

It was almost like watching one of those talking pictures that the ponies have nowadays, I could see it, and I felt like I was doing what I wanted to do, but in all truth it was the Nightmare that was forcing me to do those things. I only realized the fault that I was at after I was freed by the Elements of Harmony.”

“The same po-“

She nodded, “Yes, the ponies that you were just talking to…”

I was still curious about something though, “What was this… Nightmare doing to you to make you think the way you were thinking?”

She looked a bit taken aback, “You know, nopony has ever asked me that… It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced…” She visibly shuddered, “I could hear these two other voices, constantly talking to me to try and persuade me to commit the atrocities that I did… The worst part being that whenever they did talk I completely believed them…”

“Are you feeling alright Light”

Luna was watching me, slightly alarmed by the way that I’d frozen up after hearing her description. I tried to loosen up a little, “Uhhh, hmmm? Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just a bit… stunned, yeah, stunned by what you went through…” Please let her buy it, please let her buy it, please l-“

“That is very kind of you Light, very thoughtful.”

That was close, anything to stop her from realizing the similarities between her case and mine. By the looks of her face she believed me, and we both lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Luna cast another glance my way, “So why might I even be finding you out here on this night? Any reason?”

I shook my head, “No, just trying to relax a little, don’t get to do that very often.” Awkward chuckle moment.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, ”I just thought that I might be able to find a little peace and quiet here, when it’s night. It was the only time that I was really comfortable, you know, fighting and all…” I decided that it was probably a good time to stop speaking, before I really put my foot right into my big mouth.

I closed my eyes and lay back, which is probably the reason why I didn’t see Luna quietly blushing next to me. I could hear her lay down besides me as I did, our breathing slowing to a crawl as we started to drift closer and closer to sleep.

But there was one thing I hadn’t asked her yet.

“Luna, what’s this Time guy like? Nice, or is he just a total asshat?”

She chuckled, “He can be a bit moody, but he’s usually easy to get along with. I’ve known him since before my banishment, so he’s a good friend. I think you’ll like him…”

“Thanks Luna.”

That being said, I just let the soft breeze carry me out of the waking world, happy to let whatever was going to happen the next day happen the next day…

I did get one last image before I drifted off though, of Celestia going to the stores in Ponyville…

Comments

[TacoTown]

...dafuq did i just watch?

[Dgrb]

Previously on Light's Shadow comment section "About to go to sleep. See's Light's Shadow has updated... SCREW SLEEP! ALSO FIRST!!! Seriously twice in a row. Wow you and your timing

[MC BR0N3]

Rainbow Dash… you and you f!#@*ng assumptions.

[Colorful spark]

Ok... well...
1. what did i just watch...
2. seriously rainbow... Stop being paranoid
3. well seems like luna has a crush

[dashdlkashd]

1455834
Ditto ^

[OdinBrony]

rainbow needs to get some sense beaten onto her

[TheTownCrier]

Huzzah! Today has been the day of days!

[dbanksischillin]

Hmmmm. Seems light might have a bit of a Nightmare... huh huh? Anyone.

[BackgroundBrony]

1498505 no shit?