Shadow Pony

by PaulAsaran

Fine's Story

There once was a colt. This little colt had all the things he could ever want in life. Loving parents, money, a bright future. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that he would ever want.

Until, one day, he saw something. It was big, it was mean, and it took what he loved the most. The colt was sad; he wanted it back. He cried and cried, and when he couldn’t cry anymore he just felt miserable.

He decided to follow the terrible thing. He saw that it had gone through a door. When he opened that door, he saw something… new. Darkness, a deep and all-encompassing shadow. It amazed him. It awed him. The colt stood at the threshold of the door. He looked for what was stolen from him, searching everywhere in the shadows. He never found it, and soon he trudged back home and left the door behind.

Time passed. The colt still hurt. The door had his attention. He wanted to go in, explore, see how deep the shadows grew. So he went back to that door, entered the darkness, and began his search. It was a long, tireless, hopeless journey, seeking out that which was lost or, at least, the thing which took it.

With every step, he grew more curious. The darkness showed him things, things he’d never known existed. Dark things, terrible things, things that scared him, things happening to other ponies that he knew was wrong. He wanted to see more, to understand what he’d found, to help the other ponies who were lost in the darkness. But the more he looked, the more frightened he became.

At last he turned around. He ran, ran for days, ran from the shadows and the black. Yet when he finally made it all the way back… the door was gone. The colt was trapped in the shadows. They had lured him in, he’d lingered too long.

He would never go home.

The colt wandered, lost and scared, always in darkness. He saw more bad things happening, more evil and pain and fear. The shadows seeped into him. Soon he began to do bad things, too. Instead of helping the other lost ponies, he began hurting them. He didn’t like it, but he did it anyway. He couldn’t stop. Every day he became meaner and meaner. Every day he caused more and more pain.

Every day he grew more and more scared.

Then, one day, he saw something he’d never seen before: a window. It led to the light. He couldn’t open it, he couldn’t climb through and escape, but he could see the world that was once his home. In that world, he saw another pony. A filly, who had lost something important just like him. She was staring into the darkness, facing that same fear and curiosity he had so long ago.

The colt longed to be in the world of the light, but knew he would never get there. So he lingered at the window and watched as the filly came back, day after day, to stare into the darkness. She couldn’t see him… but she knew he was there. One day, the window was not a window anymore: it was a door. The colt watched as the door opened. The filly was at the threshold, wondering what was beyond.

Just like he had been.

The colt grew scared. He called to the filly, begged her to turn away. He cried and waved and shouted. He tried to go through the door and push her away, but he couldn’t; the darkness wouldn’t let him go. He was so afraid. He didn’t want the filly to be lost in the darkness as he was. That thought scared him more than anything he’d ever seen in the black eternity.

And then something incredible happened. The filly turned around… and walked away. The door closed. He never saw her again.

Had she heard him? Had he saved her? The colt didn’t know… but he decided that he would no longer wallow in the shadows feeling wretched and hurting other ponies. He began resisting the dark tug of the eternal black on his mind. He could never leave the shadows, but that didn’t mean the shadows had to control him.

He vowed to never let another pony enter that door. He sought it out, and whenever he found it he always found a scared and hurting pony peering at the darkness. He always spoke to them, always helped them. He became the Shadowpony, that little voice that tells us when we should ignore that dark pull on our hearts and turn away from that door.

And now…

…he’s watching you.

Author's Note:

This is the story told to Keen Arrow by Fine Crime in Chapter 19 of Lightning's Bolt. It alone is the inspiration for Shadow Pony. It felt only appropriate that I post it here as the conclusion.

Comments

[Icanhazmochi]

Oh Paul, stop pulling at my heartstrings, you awful person. This is very fitting backstory for Lightning's Bolt, and I'm happy with what you've done here ^^ I'm surprised you managed to write all of this with your job and all- try not to overwork yourself, though. Your works are awesome, but I wouldn't want you stressing out too much over all this ;-;

[PaulAsaran]

6261217
Actually, the rough draft was done before I got the job. That should give you an idea of how long this thing was in development hell waiting for an editor...

Anywho, glad you enjoyed it!

[MoistGooDragon]

When I'd first read this story in Lightning's Bolt I'd thought it was mostly made up, thanks to Verity's knack for storytelling, but looks like I was pretty wrong. Amazing work as usual, Paul.

[Dextroscity]

The Feels were very much real in this one.
I enjoyed it, another awesome story.

[PaulAsaran]

6301508
Glad to hear it! But no, I made Baba Groot's name on the fly. It was supposed to mean something, but to be perfectly honest I forgot what the meaning was. It's not easy to look up, I can assure you.

wish I could offer a more poetic response after all that, but I got nothin'. Brain's not firing on all two-and-a-half cylinders today.

[kyubbiman]

Loved it. Very nice. Question where does this fall chronologically in your story timeline?

[Zwei]

You sir gain a like and favorite. Great story, and as Mister E said i to would pick a heroic monster. i loved the last message Fine gave Sunflower, it was a great wrap-up for a great story. Well Done

[Zodiacspear]

Here is your review from the Pleasant Comment and Review Group. Hope you enjoy. Any questions, feel free to Pm me.

[draco the flamewing]

god damn, how many sequels are there? I started with "life of pie", and ended with this story. wow.

[PaulAsaran]

8143567
Oh, I've got a lot, and it gets even bigger if you branch out into the Fleur-verse. And I'm not done, either; assuming I keep writing on pone stuff for the forseeable future, I've got at least three more stories in the No Heroes universe to do after I finish Life of Pie.

[draco the flamewing]

8143673 Wow...just wow...

[PhoenixDragon44]

8285502
I laughed for a good while after reading that... I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the story.

[Perfectly Insane]

I have just discovered this series of yours, and am quite interested. It seems worth the read.

[PaulAsaran]

9498966
Here’s hoping you can get through the stories! Some of them consist of my earliest works on the site and are thus... rough. But glad you’ve discovered it, regardless.

[Perfectly Insane]

9498978
Oh, believe me, I understand. I intend for all of my stories to be extremely long, I'll probs be in my forties before any of them actually end. And my writing has drastically improved since I started writing them, but I believe they are worth reading.

And I fully intend to get through this series since it has interested me, at some point.

[PaulAsaran]

9762080
I appreciate everything you say, praise or not, and I'm looking forward to further commentary!

And yes, Twilight's Inferno gets rough. Gradually. But do bear in mind that it is part of the Trixie vs. Equestria alternate timeline of No Heroes, so things won't align with what you've already read in the No Heroes universe. Also, Trixie vs. Equestria and Twilight's Inferno may be take place one after the other, but I wrote them so as to be independent; you can read either without the other and still get a full experience. Or at least that was the intention.