The Game of Shadows

by Zytharros

The Fall of Zytharros

The Fall of Zytharros

There wasn’t much to speak of on the journey back to Ponyville. Once Boomdrop got better, which took the better part of a couple months, it was twelve days of boring travel. We stuck to the main roads, intent on getting back to our destination as quickly as possible. Those with wings took turns flying around the caravan. The Earth ponies pulled the carts. The unicorns helped where they could. Occasionally the monotony would be broken up with a competition of some kind, or a new song by Sweetie Belle, or Dashcore practicing with me singing lead… that kind of stuff. Of course, Rainbow and Chuck won most of the events, but occasionally one would come along where another member would win. Derpy in particular won a couple balancing and find-the-item events. By the end of the journey, all of us – that is, Rainbow Dash, myself, Boomdrop, Sweetie Belle, Emerald Thunder, Razortongue, Scootaloo, Canuck Chuck, Derpy Hooves, and Apple Bloom – were exhausted, drained, tired, hungry, and simply fed up with travel. We just wanted to be home.

Soon we approached the barrier, which opened for us without resistance. I was suspicious – I could never tell what Crystal Fist was up to. She must’ve known we would be coming. After all, she had two little pieces of herself in here. She had shown me she could communicate freely with the shadows in my mind, so she must have some access into my thoughts.

As we passed under the barrier, a twitch of energy suddenly gave me a pounding headache. I collapsed onto the ground.

“Zytharros!” Sweetie Belle shrieked, running to my side.

Derpy looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

I managed to pull myself up, but I didn’t feel quite right. Something was missing.

“Your horn’s fucked off!!” Razortongue exclaimed.

“I don’t have one?” I asked.

“Nope. It’s gone!” Apple Bloom said.

I touched my forehead where my horn was, and found nothing but smoothness. I stood, stunned, for several minutes, then growled.

“Crystal Fist…” I muttered, spreading my wings. “Okay, what’s her problem!?” I demanded.

“She doesn’t want you to pose a threat,” Rainbow said. “She knows the power of your imagination and wants to limit it as much as possible.” She glowered at the sky. “She takes away your strongest ability when you become her slave.”

“So, when we meet Fluttershy, she will likely have taken away her kindness…” I said.

Derpy frowned. “She would have taken Twilight’s smarts…”

“Pinkie Pie’s happiness…” Apple Bloom mused.

Sweetie Belle sniffed. “Rarity’s beautiful dressmaking ability…”

“And Applejack’s work ethic,” Scootaloo concluded.

Razortongue groaned. “This bitch needs to be taught a lesson.”

The rest of us nodded in agreement. The headache continued pulsing, the corruption inside attacking my will like Metroid Prime 2’s Ing taking over a new host. I could feel myself growing weaker with each ‘will-tap’ as we walked.

After another hour, just in front of Ponyville’s entrance, Apple Bloom, perched atop a wagon, shouted, “Look!”

A silhouette passed us by on a tree. The silhouette was of another pegasus with long, flowing hair.
Fluttershy.

The silhouette passed over more ground, some trees, and finally dematerialized from the shadow of a falling leaf.
I stood in front of everyone, stripped of everything that made me useful and barely able to breathe. Desperate to end the battle as fast as I could, I charged her. I passed through her body harmlessly and wound up sprawled all over the earth in shock and dismay.

The fall hurt more than just mentally. I could no longer help my team. I couldn’t go into Fluttershy’s mind.
The game had just changed… and I was now suddenly useless.

I watched the battle unfold before me, with results that would have unfolded as if they had tried to fight air. They passed through her with little effect as the ghost taunted us, chuckling in that warm Fluttershy way. The echo it gave off provided a supremely creepy soundtrack for the fury of the nine still standing.

But it was all for naught. With one quiet “yay” and an explosion that could’ve woken the dead, she had incapacitated everyone…

Everyone… except Razortongue.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?” she shouted. “Fluttershy! Stop this!”

The shadow looked at her funny and attempted to whisper-shout another “yay”. When it still didn’t work, she charged with a roar. Razortongue met her charge headlong. The two collided, sending Fluttershadow careening back. The corrupted image of Fluttershy flopped and rolled, her body tossed by Razortongue like a ragdoll. Without any hesitation, however, she stood back up and re-entered the fray.

“I’m sorry, mom,” Razortongue said with a hint of regret as she charged again.

Fluttershadow roared and charged headlong for her surrogate daughter. They connected hard, fighting each other tooth and nail with bucks, stomps, headbutts… anything they could use. Their lethal dance made its way over to me. I simply rolled over, letting the duelists continue uninterrupted.

But again, fighting wasn’t working. Because Razortongue wouldn’t think of an alternative, and there was no physical way I could keep them apart, I began to come up with solutions.

“Try running away!” I shouted.

That failed – Fluttershy quickly caught up to her, continuing the assault.

“What about bucking her with all your might?” I suggested.

The shadow never allowed it to hit her.

After four or five of these suggestions, I stopped and thought for a second. If kindness was taken away, then kindness needed to be shown again… A flash of thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Razortongue!” I shouted. “Drop and let her hit you!”

“The fuck?” she shrieked, still fighting. “She’ll kill me!”

“Maybe if she sees someone she loves getting thrashed it’ll wake her up from her stupor!” I shouted back. “We’ve tried practically everything else!”

Speckled with grunts, she complained, “But what about being a badass? They don’t fuckin’ just drop in the middle of a fight to the death!”

“Drop the tough chick act!” I ordered. “What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?”

“But I-” she said anxiously.

I replied, “You’re wearing down! She isn’t! If you keep this up, you’ll die of exhaustion and Crystal Fist will win! Do you want to save her or lose her forever?”

“Okay, fine… Fuck…”

Biting her lip and bracing, she allowed Fluttershy to gain one good hit in. This allowed Razortongue to flop over and exit the fight without losing much of her ‘badass factor’. Fluttershadow descended on her, wailing as hard as her hooves could on her former charge. It didn’t look like the firebrand pony was taking a lot of damage. Fluttershy never was all that physically strong, after all.

Fluttershy began to come out of her psycho coma. As she did, I saw flecks of black erupt from her ears with each hit. It wasn’t quite enough, though.

Something else caught my eye. Derpy, standing on the ground, glowed with an unnatural light. Her bubbles flickered in the colors of the rainbow. Her wings were spread wide, eyes perfectly in line and staring right at Fluttershy.

“I should’ve told you sooner…” she said when I caught her eye. “I was the one that put you in Rainbow’s mind.”

A billion questions instantly flooded into my mind as she returned to focussing on Fluttershadow.

Soon Fluttershy was encased in that white light. She stumbled back. A war raged inside her for her mind – a war I knew all too well from having fought it with Rainbow Dash. It was a war stripped down to its basic elements – a war between souls, pure and simple. The battle would be swift, but it would drain a lot of energy from the plucky mailmare.

I could imagine the fight – the balls of souls, Fluttershy’s being butter yellow and Derpy’s being a mix of blonde and gray, battling it out against a number of evil wills brought forth by Crystal Fist into a pony’ mind for takeover. How I wished I could be in there to assist, or at least to watch! Without my horn, however, I was…

I shook my head and shouted, “Go Derpy!”

Rainbow woke up. Seeing the glow around both Derpy and Fluttershy, her jaw dropped.

“What the hell is going on!?” she said, surprised.

“That,” I said to her indicating Derpy and the weird glow surrounding her, “is what saved your neck.”

“How??” Rainbow asked. “She’s not a unicorn! She has no magic!”

“I’ll bet there’s a lot more to her than we know…” I said, staring at our friend with a newfound respect. “…especially regarding her family history.”

Rainbow’s jaw was still open. I pushed up against it and shut it.

“So, what can we do to help?” she asked.

I sighed. “I’m afraid we can’t do anything… it’s between her, Fluttershy, and Crystal Fist now.”

A few more minutes of fighting occurred, though to us it looked more like a staring contest between two bitter rivals. Occasionally we would break the silence with a “Go Derpy!” or a “Hang in there, buddy!” but for the most part we watched in anticipation.

Eventually, though both lights faded. Derpy and Fluttershy collapsed. Rainbow ran for Fluttershy. I ran for Derpy.

“Whoa!” Startled by something, Rainbow had shouted.

It wasn’t long after that. I felt a wave of blackness come over me. My wings disappeared in a feeling of shredding saw blades. My mind was assaulted again. I reeled and collapsed in pain, writhing in agony.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash collected near me, their faces clothed in a look of concern.

“You’re okay…” I said, reeling in pain and groaning. It felt like my skin was peeling off.

They said something, but I didn’t know what. I could barely hear them over the crowd of voices in my mind. My lack of response seemed to concern them.

“Tell Derpy she’s in charge…” I said.

I could see their demeanor change. Fluttershy began tearing up. Rainbow Dash was shouting something, her face registering agony and fear. She was tearing up badly.

The pain grew. I curled into a ball and screamed, closing my eyes. I felt myself raised into one of the carts and the doors close.

I felt like I had failed. I had gathered the Guardians of Harmony and saved two Elements. That was it. I had not completely gathered the Elements. I had not defeated the resurgent Crystal Fist. I had not saved anyone else. I was being loaded into my coffin to die.

“Lord… s-save me…” I managed to croak.

That was the last thing I did. I passed out, both in body and mind.

Crystal Fist had won.

===================

Book 1: Crashing Equestria, the prequel to "The Game of Shadows".

Book 3: Derpy’s Gambit - Continue the Adventure!

Comments

[Zytharros]

637600

Feel like a monster any?