• Published 4th Oct 2015
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Of Flame and Shadow - Garuda IV



Dark Flame was a young stallion of the mining village, Stonewall. But after a dragon thought to be of myth attacks, Dark becomes the only survivor and now attempts to remake his life. However, his past isn't willing to let him go so easily.

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Chapter 20- Reconciliation

Dark awoke in the middle of the night with a startle. While sleep came quickly for him after that physically and emotionally exhausting day, his dreams were hounded by his battle with Shining, and the vision of him and the cloaked figure. He blinked a few times to get his vision straightened, but it turned out to be just a habit as he remembered that with the loss of his eyes, he would no longer have that problem anymore. Taking a moment to calm himself from his recent dream, he looked down to see Twilight thankfully still sleeping, unawakened by him. Feeling unable to return to sleep, Dark gently untangled himself from her before sliding out of bed. As he got out, he stopped as he heard shuffling in the bed.

"Dark?" Twilight groggily called as she rubbed her eyes. "Is everything alright?"

Turning back to her, Dark leaned over the bed to nuzzle her. "Yeah, just going to grab some water is all."

"Alright."

After getting her tucked back in bed, Dark made his way to the door and quietly left the room. As he turned from the door down the hall, he remembered the guards that were rooming on the same floor. Not wanting to accidentally wake any of them, Dark Shadow Melded and made his way to the kitchen. He'd forgotten how peaceful it was to travel by shadows and made a mental note to try and experiment with it more often. Turning the corner to the hallway with the kitchen, Dark saw that a light was already on inside it. Still hidden within the shadows, Dark went over and peeked inside to see Shining sitting at the table without his armor, with a cup of what smelled like tea.

Dark took a moment to think this situation over. While he was still really thirsty, if he walked in, he could risk the possibility of Shining attacking him... again. However, this time around, if Shining was to attack, Dark could just Shadow Meld and get away. And while caution was appearing to be more favorable, his parched mouth wasn't having it. Deciding to go with it, Dark dropped his Shadow Meld and went inside. Upon his reappearing, though, Dark's eyes shown through the darkness, alerting Shining to his sudden presence.

"Easy there," Dark said holding up a claw defensively. "I'm not here to fight."

"Then why are you here?" Shining questioned with furrowed brows.

"I was thirsty, so I came to get some water."

With a skeptical nod from Shining, Dark walked over to the cupboard and picked out a cup before filling it with water from the kitchen sink. Once it was full, Dark walked over to the other end of the table and sat down in front of Shining. Neither looked at each other as they both sipped their respective drinks.

"So," Dark began, "what brings you here so late at night?"

"None of your business, demon," Shining sharply answered.

Sighing, Dark took a gulp of his water before looking Shining directly in the eye.

"Look, I know that you've made it pretty obvious that you hate me enough to kill me. And to be honest, I don't very much care for you either, especially after what happened yesterday."

"Well, nice to know that we agree on something."

"But we can't continue this."

"And why not exactly?"

"... Twilight."

Hearing his sister's name, Shining's face turned to one of remorse as he instinctively brought a hoof up to the area where Twilight had slapped him. He winced as he touched it, the sting still as fresh as when it was first applied. As his thoughts remained on her, Shining looked back up to Dark.

"She's never hit me before," he finally said. "Out of anger or anything, she'd never went this far."

"Can you blame her?" Dark calmly asked, figuring this a good time to try reasoning with him somewhat. "You ignored her and shut her out. Not to mention that any time she asked you for an explanation, your answer would be rather vague."

"Your opinion on this is irrelevant to me, and why is it for that matter that you're so interested in this?"

"You've seen how hurt Twilight was about us fighting like that, so you should know."

Shining paused to think on it and take a drink before allowing himself to continue. "I know that it made me feel guilty for causing her to look like that."

"I feel guilty about it too, and that's the reason why I wanted to talk to you."

"... fine, what is it you're thinking?"

"Since we're both still on... unfriendly terms for the moment, I propose that for Twilight's sake, we stop this fighting. While you and I are within the castle or around Twilight, we will acknowledge each other, but make no attempts at making any insulting comments, or take aggressive actions."

"I made it my mission to kill every kirin that I met."

"Will you at least do it for Twilight? She feels guilty that she did that to you, and she still wants to view you as her BBBFF, but you'll have to give her something to work with."

Turning his gaze down to his near empty cup of tea, Shining drank the rest of it before addressing Dark.

"If it's for Twilight, then I'll try," he answered, "but I make no promises."

"I suppose that'll have to do for now then," Dark nodded before finishing off his own drink and heading to the sink to rinse it off. "Also, just a quick heads up. Sometime after breakfast, Twilight will be wanting some questions answered."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Telling you ahead of time will give you time to give her an answer, and to help resolve this situation between you and Twilight faster. As for the one between the two of us though... that'll have to wait for another time."

Drying off the cup he'd just used, Dark placed it back in the cupboard before turning to head back to bed. As he started to limp back, he was stopped by Shining.

"Before you leave, I'm a bit curious about a few things," he spoke, causing Dark to turn to look at him. "How were you able to regenerate like that?"

"Since it's late, I'll give you the short version. It comes from the dragon that turned me into a kirin."

"You weren't born a kirin?"

"No. I was born a unicorn pony, and was turned into a kirin three weeks ago from today."

"Huh. Suppose that explains why you weren't as violent as the others, but that still doesn't change that fact that you're a kirin now."

"So single minded," Dark muttered to himself. "Is there anything else you wanted? If not, then I'm off to bed."

"It appears as though you can still see. How are you doing it?"

"You see these glowing eyes?" Dark asked, getting a confirming nod from Shining. "It's a spell I learned that lets me see without seeing. Although I lost my eyes, with this spell, I can see as though I still had them. But the golden glow it produces makes ponies uncomfortable when looking at them. And although covering them with this eyeband does help somewhat with dimming the glow, it's mostly for hiding the empty eye sockets."

With a final nod from Shining, Dark left the kitchen and Shadow Melded back to his room. Once he got to his room doors, Dark reappeared and quietly opened the doors before closing them just as quietly. He then crept over to the far side of the bed before pulling back the covers, and crawling in. As he resumed his position prior to his leaving, Dark began to relax himself, letting his tiredness take him before Twilight spoke up.

"Took a while just for something to drink," she tiredly said.

"Sorry I took so long," Dark apologized, "your brother was sitting at the kitchen table when I got there, and we started talking."

Twilight tilted her head up to look at Dark. "Did anything happen?"

"No, nothing happened. It looked like he was thinking about when you slapped him earlier, and how much of a wake up call that was to him. He also said that you've never done something like that before."

"Well, he needed it. But he's right, I've never struck him before because I've never felt like I needed to."

"Also, you'll be happy to know that we've made a sort of non-violence agreement with each other."

"That's a relief to hear," she sighed with a smile. "It's definitely a weight off my mind."

"Well, that is the main reason why we agreed to it. We both know how much this was troubling you, and we wanted to help end it."

"So does this mean that Shining's over this thing that he has against kirins?" she asked hopefully.

Dark shook his head. "Sorry, Twilight, but he isn't. He's still bitter against me, but hasn't said why."

"Then how are you two at peace with each other? I mean, it doesn't sound very promising."

"Maybe not, but it's a start right?"

Nodding in agreement, Twilight buried her face back into his chest. "I suppose it is."

Wrapping an arm around her, Dark pulled her close as the two started falling back to sleep. Hopefully, one that wouldn't wake them.


Morning had finally come around as Dark began to stir. Opening his eyes, he was tempted to bring a claw up to them and rub them awake, but stopped when he remembered that he didn't need to anymore.

Guess I'll have to start getting used to this, he mentally sighed. Just sucks that it bothers Twilight so much.

Feeling the need to get up and start breakfast for everyone, Dark began to gently pull away from the sleeping Twilight. He didn't get far, however, as Twilight wrapped her forelegs around him tighter. Looking back down, Dark could see Twilight just barely cracking open an eye.

"Too soon to get up," she groggily complained.

"It's morning, and I need to get up to make us breakfast," Dark explained.

"Do you have to?"

"If you want food ready when you come down, then yes."

"Let Spike take care of it today. Besides." Twilight pulled Dark back down against her as she began snuggling back up against him. "You woke me last night and robbed me of some sleep. Sleep, of which you'll have to help me make up for."

"And how do I do that?"

"Simple. You just stay here with me."

"Alright. How long?"

"Well, I need to sleep for three minutes to every one minute that I was awoken for. And since you kept me awake for ten minutes, that means that I'll need thirty to feel fully rested."

"So basically you're wanting to sleep in," Dark concluded.

"Well, it is a Sunday after all," Twilight countered with a pout.

Giving a throaty chuckle, Dark rested himself back down with Twilight.

"In that case, while we're at it, why don't we just stay in longer then? After all, we were talking about it just a few days ago. And now that I think about it, the events of yesterday are making me feel extra tired too."

Twilight smirked as she knew that he was just using that last part as an excuse for them to stay like this, but was happy to agree with it. Settling themselves back down, the two just laid there, relaxing as they enjoyed the warmth of one another. Though it was mostly Twilight who was enjoying the extra warmth while Dark was simply happy being with her. The two stayed like that in silence for a while before Twilight finally spoke up.

"Hey, Dark?"

"Yeah?"

"You like me... right? And not just as a friend."

"Think it's pretty obvious that I do. Why do you ask?"

"It's just something that you said when we first talked to you at the hospital. You know, about how you're supposedly really shy when it came to asking a mare out. If so, then why is it that you're so calm with me?"

"Well," he began explaining with a chuckle, "waking up with you partially draped over me asleep might've had something to do with it."

"I guess it would," she giggled

"There's also talking to you and getting to know you better. Other than that, there's just something about you that I find comfortable and relaxing."

Twilight pulled away from her snuggle spot to meet Dark at eye level.

"Comfortable and relaxed enough to ask me to be your fillyfriend?" she smirked.

"Says the one who was wanting to kiss me yesterday," Dark playfully said.

"Like you had any objections to that. You wanted to kiss me just as much as I wanted to kiss you."

"And what if I did?" he grinned. "What if I wanted to, but I let you go first because I was trying to be polite and not try and rush you into it?"

"And what if I said that it was something that I wanted?"

"Then I guess that I would have to oblige you, my princess."

"'My princess', huh?" Twilight responded as she inched her muzzle closer to Dark's. "Alright then. If I'm you princess, then that makes you my kirin."

"I suppose it does," Dark agreed as he too moved his muzzle closer to Twilight's.

"So if I gave you an order to kiss me right now..."

"Then I would have to do it whether I wanted to or not... which I do."

"Then what's stopping you?" she whispered as she started closing her eyes.

Dark too began closing his eyes, their lips an inch apart before whispering, "Absolutely noth-"

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

"Oh, for Celestia's sake, what is it now?!" Dark roared at the door.

"Umm, excuse me?" a male voice nervously answered through the door. "I was sent to come get you for breakfast."

With a throaty growl, Dark looked back from the door to Twilight who exaggeratedly sighed in disappointment.

"We could just ignore him?" Dark suggested.

"We could, but that would probably make whoever's out there suspicious," Twilight groaned.

Reluctantly and irritably, Dark got out of bed before walking heavily over to the door. In his annoyance, his arms and wings started protruding shadowy ribbons and mist from them. Throwing open the door, he came face-to-face with the orange pegasus that accompanied Shining, who flinched upon seeing Dark with his shadows, glowing eyes, and flames licking the corners of his lips.

"Who are you?" Dark growled. "You're one of the guards that came with Shining Armor, but you're not a crystal pony."

"That is correct," he answered. "My name is Flash Sentry, and I was transferred to the Crystal Empire by request of Prince Shining."

"Alright then, Flash. Give me a moment and I'll be right down."

"Before you go, Prince Shining's been looking for Princess Twilight. He went to visit with her before breakfast was ready, but she wasn't in her room when he got there."

Sorry, Shining, but the princess is in another bedroom, Dark mentally chuckled before addressing Flash. "I wouldn't worry about her. She probably went out for a morning flight or something. Besides, she can take care of herself."

"... alright," he slowly responded, catching a familiar scent from Dark's coat. "Well, come on down whenever you're ready."

With his message delivered, Flash left Dark's door and made his way back to Shining with an extra boost to his step. As he left, Dark closed his bedroom door before he banged his head on it with a groan. With the coast clear, Twilight came out of hiding from beneath the bedsheets and walked over to Dark.

"Whoever said that the third time's the charm deservers a good smacking," Dark grumbled.

"It does seem like whenever one of us starts, somepony's there to interrupt us," Twilight agreed.

With a dejected sigh, Dark opened the door again. "Well, I suppose we better get going."

"Yeah, I guess so. But first, I need to write that letter to Princess Celestia about your eyes."

"If you'd like, I can wait for you to finish it and walk to breakfast with you."

"If you want."

Heading over to the desk, Twilight began writing her letter while Dark went to the mirror to see if his eyeband was on right. Adjusting it slightly, Dark felt it completely cover his eye sockets and went back to wait by the door. It took her another minute or so, but Twilight had finished her letter and was ready to head on down. Walking down the halls, they could smell the breakfast that Spike had made for them. As they turned the corner into the kitchen, they were met with Sweetie Belle, Rarity, and Flash at the table, Spike on the stove, and Shining standing in front of them.

"Where were you, Twilight?" Shining asked, his tone serious.

"Just writing a letter," she innocently answered.

"That's not what I meant." Shining began slowly walking up to her and Dark. "What I want to know is where you were, Twilight. You weren't in your room when I went to talk to you last night, or this morning."

Not liking where this might lead, Twilight tried to play it safe with the truth, but leave a few details out. "I was in bed, sleeping."

"So Flash was right then!" Shining accused. "You were sleeping with this kirin!"

Rarity's, Sweetie Belle's, and Spike's eyes widened as their heads snapped over to Twilight and Dark in surprise. Dark rolled his eyes, but no one saw it since the magical orbs didn't have any pupils to indicate an eye-roll, and Twilight just stood there while Shining and Flash glared daggers at Dark. Not wanting things to start getting out of hoof, Twilight decided to clarify.

"Look, nothing happened, alright?" she told them. "We just fell asleep together, that's all."

"I'm sure you did," Shining mocked before turning to Flash. "What do you think, Flash?"

"All I know, sir, is that her scent was all over him," he answered.

"That's good enough for me," Shining said before charging his horn. "It's time that I put you-"

Shining was silenced as he was suddenly turned into a potted cactus, much to everyone's surprise. As everyone turned to Twilight, she looked over to Dark and shrugged.

"I told you last night that I would turn him into a cactus if he tried anything, remember?" Twilight reminded.

"Yeah, I remember, but I didn't really think that you would actually do it to your own brother," Dark responded.

"Well, as you can see, I did mean it. That, and I may have accidentally turned my parents into cacti as well."

"Really? When did this happen?"

"Remember when I told you about when I hatched Spike at my entrance exam?" she asked, getting a nod from Dark. "Well, turns out that during that magical surge I had when I hatched him, I also accidentally turned the judges into potted plants, and my parents into cacti."

"So I guess that with Shining, that means that you've turned your whole family into cactuses," Spike laughed.

"I suppose so," Twilight answered before reversing the spell on Shining. "No fighting unless you want to be turned into a cactus again, Shining."

Grumbling, Shining relented as he took his seat by Flash while Twilight and Dark sat together across from them. After waiting for a few minutes in silence, Spike brought them their breakfast which they immediately dug into. A few bites later, Sweetie Belle broke that silence with a few questions.

"Excuse me, Twilight?" she called. "Can you teach me how to turn ponies into cactuses?"

"Sorry, Sweetie Belle," Twilight apologized, "but that's rather advanced magic, something of which you shouldn't try until you're a lot better at it."

"Alright, but can I ask you something else then?" Sweetie Belle paused before getting a confirming nod from Twilight. "Are you and Dark special somepoines?"

Hearing her question made Dark choke on a pancake while Shining and Flash glared at him again. Getting his choking fit under control Dark was the one to reply.

"No, we aren't," he answered.

Twilight was going to add onto Dark's answer, but paused as she remembered her other reason for coming down. "Hey, Spike? Could you send this letter to the princess for me?"

With a nod, Spike took the scroll before breathing fire onto it and sending it off. As Dark watched it happen, he turned confusingly to Twilight.

"What just happened?" he questioned.

"Spike's able to use his fire breath to send letters to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," Twilight happily answered.

"So, what was in the letter exactly?" Shining asked with a hint of worry.

Twilight glared at Shining. "I asked them if they know of any spells to restore Dark's eyes."


Sitting at the dining table in Canterlot Castle, Celestia and Luna were peacefully having their meals together. Things started out well enough with some idle chatter, but once things were turned to Luna's jobs with dreams, that's when her expression turned serious.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news regarding the Dream Realm, Tia," Luna said.

"What's wrong?" Celestia asked.

"It seems as though our fears have come to pass."

"Could you be a little more specific?"

Luna sighed. "It's Dark and Shining Armor." Celestia's eyes widened as she continued. "It turns out that Dark had a dream about the two of them fighting. And I don't believe that it was just a dream either, seeing as how vivid and detailed the dream was. And besides Shining Armor, I even saw some of the crystal guards, and Lieutenant Flash Sentry in the background. All of whom I doubt he's ever seen before."

"Damn it all," Celestia muttered.

"Such language, Tia."

"Like you're one to talk, Luna." Celestia paused to collect herself. "How bad was his dream?"

"... how much detail do you want?"

"All of it."

"Alright then, let me think. If I remember correctly, Shining suffered some minor injuries while Dark was impaled from behind by seven spears, and had his eyes cut out."

"Is there anything else?"

"Sorry, but that's all that I saw in his dream."

Celestia was about to ask something else, but her eyes caught the sight of a familiar green wisp of smoke. Once it materialized into a sealed letter, Celestia opened it to read it's contents. After reading it, she reread it, making sure that what she read was correct before lookin back up to Luna.

"It seems that according to this letter from Twilight, the dream left out a few details of the fight," Celestia told her, "but otherwise, Shining and Dark did fight."

"So, what do we do about Shining Armor then?" Luna questioned.

"I think that's for somepony else to decide," Celestia replied before lighting her horn.

Few seconds later, a crystal appeared hovering above the table. Celestia then started pouring some of her magic into it while thinking of the pony with a copy of the crystal.

"We really should get Twilight one of these," Luna recommended. "It would make communication with her much easier."

"I agree. Perhaps when she comes to the meeting we will."

Another minute later, the crystal projected a screen above it. The image was all gray with snow, but after a moment, it revealed a crystal throne room with Cadence sitting on the throne.

"Hello, Aunty Celestia, hello, Aunty Luna," she happily greeted them with a wave.

"Good morning, Cadence," the sisters returned.

"How's the little one been?" Celestia asked.

"She's been doing great!" Cadence beamed. "I can't wait for you two to see her again."

"It has been a while," Luna agreed.

"I'll bring her to visit you two and her grandparents during our time meeting with King Inferno. Just make sure to watch out for her magical spurts... and her flying." Cadence paused to giggle at her daughter's antics. "Who would've known that somepony so small would be such a hoofful? The poor maids are having to rotate out with each other just to keep up with her when Shining and I aren't around."

"Speaking of Shining Armor," Celestia began, "I received a letter from Twilight that he's currently in Ponyville."

"Sounds about right, but he brought Lieutenant Flash and some guards with him."

"Did he say why?"

"Something about a kirin. We got a report about the attack on Ponyville Thursday afternoon, but it wasn't until the mention of this kirin that Shining started acting weird. After he left, I read the report myself, and I don't see what the problem with this Dark guy is."

"Have you heard of him?" Luna asked.

"Just what I've read in the report. He sounds really strong if he was able to do all of that."

"Well then," Celestia began, "you should probably know that he and Twilight have a thing going on."

"A thing?"

"As in they like each other... a lot," Luna clarified.

Hearing this caused Cadence to squee in joy. "So my little Twily has finally found herself a special somepony?!"

"Well... not exactly," Celestia said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Turns out that Luna and I accidentally interrupted Dark when he tried asking Twilight."

"Oh. Well that's too bad."

"If it helps, Dark didn't seem too upset with it. He just told me that he'll just have to ask again."

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're getting off track here," Luna interjected.

"Oh, right. Back to Shining." Celestia cleared her throat before continuing. "Anyway, there are a few things for why we called you, Cadence. First, do you know any healing spells?"

"I know quite a few. Any in particular that you were thinking of?" Cadence wondered.

"One for restoring eyes."

"It won't be easy, but I can do it. What kind of eye damage are we talking about though?"

"Complete eye loss."

Cadence shook her head. "I'm sorry, but if somepony lost their eyes completely, then I can't do anything to help restore them. By the way, who is this for and how did this happen?"

"That's the other reason for why we called you. As it turns out, it's Dark who lost his eyes, and the one who took them was Shining Armor." Cadence's mouth dropped as Celestia continued. "He fought with Dark and apparently cut him with his Draconium sword. Normal unicorn healing spells aren't working, and according to the letter from Twilight, their hospital's zebra herbs aren't working either. To restore his eyes, he'll need something more powerful than that."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, and I'm sorry that I can't be of any help. Especially since this was Shining's doing," Cadence solemnly said. "Any idea of why he would do something like this?"

The two sisters stayed quiet before Luna spoke up.

"I think you should answer this, Tia," Luna suggested. "After all, I wasn't here during that incident."

"What happened?" Cadence wondered.

With a sad sigh, Celestia looked back up to the projection image of Cadence. "Do you remember Silica?"

Hearing her name again caused Cadence to turn sorrowful. "Yeah, I remember her. We haven't talked about her for a long time."

"Did Shining Armor ever tell you about what happened to her?"

Cadence shook her head. "He never said anything other than that she was killed by... kirins..."

Celestia nodded. "So you know of why Shining Armor went to Ponyville. Although, it sounds as though he left out the details leading up to her death."

"Yeah. Shining never wanted to talk about it, said that it was too painful to remember."

"I believe that it would. However, what he probably didn't tell you was that I also had the files for that mission deemed classified and sealed away. In addition, since Shining Armor was the only survivor, I had ordered him to never speak of the details of that mission to anypony besides Luna and I."

"Well he's done a great job of it," Cadence muttered before looking back up to the projection of Celestia and Luna in worry. "Shining did say something, though, about how he hunted down all the kirins."

"Yes," Celestia sighed. "It was really more of a purge than anything else."

"If so, then how's Dark doing right now? I doubt that Shining would've gone easy on him if he's a kirin."

"If what I saw in his dreams were true, then Dark would've died several times during their fight. That is, if it wasn't for his regeneration," Luna answered.

"... and all of this is because of Silica?"

"It's hard to say for sure," Celestia began, "but I believe that her death is playing a major roll in it."

"But that still doesn't give him the right to just go off and start trying to kill off Twilight's coltfriend, even if he is a kirin."

"But they're not a couple yet," Luna reminded.

"Maybe not, but it could still happen if Shining doesn't kill him first." Cadence paused to think for a moment before looking back up to Celestia and Luna. "And so, I've decided that Shining will answer for it when he gets back."

"What did you have in mind for his punishment?"

"Well for starters, I'm grounding him from joining his friends for their Thursday Night Poker for the next month."

"... okay?"

"During which, he'll have to change the baby's diapers all by himself."

"That doesn't sound very pleasant," Celestia whispered to Luna.

"Also, he'll be sleeping on the couch. And when I say that, I'm not talking about the nice soft sofa couch that we have in our room, I'm talking about him sleeping in one of the bunks in the barrack."

Both Celestia and Luna grimaced as they remembered the night that they both posed as guards and slept in the barrack's bed. Needless to say that that was a mistake neither of them would repeat.

"And that's just for now. Whether or not I add more onto that depends on what Twily says about it when she comes up for that meeting."

"Seems like he's getting off easy, but considering that Shining Armor has gone through with kirins... I'll trust your judgment on this, Cadence," Celestia said before conjuring a scroll and ink, and writing a letter to Twilight before sending it off.

"What was that?"

"Just a response letter to Twilight telling her that none of us know of any spells to help heal Dark's eyes."

"And how do you know that I don't know of any spells?" Luna questioned.

"Because, Lulu," Celestia smirked, "ever since you returned from your banishment, you've been spending your free time on your Neighstation, playing Fate while eating pizza and drinking Summit Dew."

"Now that I'm taking a closer look at you, Aunty Luna, you do look like you've put on a few pounds," Cadence giggled.

Luna blushed from embarrassment. "It's not my fault! They released 'The Seized Emperor' expansion. Each class now has a new third sub-class, and they gave the heavy weapon slot swords."

"Speaking of things that have been released, didn't they just come out with Aftermath 4?"

"... what?"

"I believe she's right, Luna," Celestia agreed. "If I remember hearing the staff correctly, the game was released a few weeks ago."

"... if you two will excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be," Luna said right before she teleported away.

A few seconds after Luna teleported away to fetch her new game, Celestia and Cadence broke out laughing. They knew that Luna was a gamer, but they didn't think that she'd forget the release date of such an anticipated game. They went on for a while before Cadence gained control over her laughter to speak again.

"So, about Dark," she spoke. "You've met him before right? Tell me, what's he like exactly?"


Later that day in Twilight's Castle, Spike and Sweetie Belle ran off to play with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, while everypony else was sitting in the lounge. Shining had sent his guards to go help with repairing Ponyville during their stay, a suggestion made by Twilight. While Shining and Flash sat on one couch, Twilight and Dark sat on the one across from them on the other side of the coffee table, and Rarity sat down in a comfortable reading chair. The five of them sat down in silence for a few minutes before Rarity finally spoke up.

"So, Dark," she began, "how are you feeling after yesterday?"

Dark shrugged. "Alright I guess. My eyes and arm still hurt, but it's not that bad."

"Speaking of yesterday," Flash began, "how is it that you're able to see where you're going? I though that you lost your eye sight?"

"I did," Dark nodded, "but I knew a spell that could let me see, even without my eyes. That's why my eyes are glowing like this, because it's coming from my spell."

"So if you can see, then why are you wearing that cloth over your eyes?"

"If I didn't, then ponies could see the empty eye sockets. Besides, this spell also allows me to see through things, so this cloth isn't obscuring my vision in the least."

"But if you can see through things, then would that include walls and such?"

"It would, but I can only see through one thing at a time. Since I'm already looking through this eyeband, I can't look through walls or anything else."

"So that means that for all we know, you could've been watching my sister taking a shower," Shining accused.

"Do you seriously think that I would do something like that?!" Dark snarled angrily.

"Yes," he deadpanned.

"That's enough, Shining," Twilight interjected. "I know Dark, and he would never do something inappropriate like that."

"Thank you," Dark thanked.

"How long have you known him?" Shining questioned.

"A little over two weeks," Twilight answered.

"Then how do you know that he's not just acting nice around you?"

"Because I trust him, and you should trust my judgement."

Shining sighed. "I do trust you, Twilight. It's him that I don't trust."

"And why is that?" Twilight questioned. "You didn't exactly give me a specific reason yesterday when I was asking you."

"Because I don't want to and I'm not suppose to."

"And why not?"

Shining took a moment to think before he answered her. "Because Princess Celestia has ordered me to remain silent on the matter." He paused to think of what he could say for her to understand before one came to mind. "Remember that one time when I returned hospitalized after a mission?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Celestia gave me the week off to be with you after that."

"Although I can't talk about the events leading up to and during it, what I can say is that it happened because of a group of kirins." Shining turned from Twilight to Dark with a glare. "And the injury was caused by them pinning me to the ground with a spear in my back."

"So," Dark began with a slight growl to his voice, "the reason why you did that to me with the spears was because that's what they did to you?"

"Yes. That's also how I killed most of the kirins that I've met."

"Well, like I told you last night, I wasn't born a kirin, I was turned into one. My parents and siblings were ponies, same with the villagers I lived with. It wasn't until three weeks ago from today that I was turned into a kirin."

"But you're still a kirin."

Dark groaned as he buried his face in his claw. Why does he have to be so stubborn about this? He's worse than my grandpa was, and that's saying something.

Any further thoughts were interrupted as Spike and Fluttershy walked through the doors, the latter carrying a medical kit on her back.

"Hey, Twilight," Spike called as he walked over to her. "I just received this letter from Princess Celestia for to you."

Taking the scroll in her magic, Twilight brought the letter over to her and began reading it. While she was busy reading it, Spike returned back to play with the Crusaders while Fluttershy walked over to Dark.

"Hello, Dark," she warmly greeted.

"Hey, Fluttershy," he returned.

"How are you feeling today?"

"My arm and eyes are still a bit sore, but it's not too bad."

"Fluttershy, dear," Rarity addressed, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, after seeing Dark yesterday, I thought that I would come over and change his bandages. That is, if it's okay with you?"

"If you want," Dark replied, "but aren't you scared of my eyes?"

"Oh no, I'm used to it."

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked. "You've only seen them last night and today."

"Well, Discord's eyes sometimes glow, so seeing Dark's eyes glowing like this just isn't that big of a deal to me."

Finished with her explanation, and with his permission, Fluttershy sat down her medical kit and began unpacking it. As she began unwrapping the bandage of Dark's arm, Twilight let out a dejected sigh.

"Something wrong, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Turns out that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna don't know any spells to help restore Dark's eyes. Even Cadence doesn't know," Twilight sighed.

"Wait," Shining quickly spoke up, "Cadence knows? Just what did you put in that letter, Twilight?"

"Just that you fought Dark and he lost his eyes during the fight."

"Um, excuse me," Fluttershy meekly spoke, "but what happened exactly?"

"Oh, right. I guess nopony explained what happened huh?" Twilight said before explaining. "During their fight, Shining cut Dark's eyes with a sword made of a rare metal called Draconium. Turns out that zebra medical herbs, and unicorn healing magic are blocked by the sword's effects since Dark's half-dragon."

"That's horrible. Is there anything that we can do to help?"

"Nothing that I or the princesses can think of. Normal magic won't work in healing him."

"Normal magic? Is that all?

Confused, Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'Is that all'? Dark's eyes are gone, and there's nothing that we can to do help him."

"I wouldn't quite say that," Fluttershy said, finishing wrapping Dark's arm before closing her eyes and tilting her head up.

Curious as to what she was doing, everyone looked to her before Rarity asked her, "Fluttershy, what is it that you're doing? Do you have an idea?"

Without answering, Fluttershy took in a deep breath before shouting out one name.

"Discord!"

As the echoing started dying down, in a flash of light, Discord appeared floating in the middle of the group facing Fluttershy.

"You called, dear?" Discord asked Fluttershy.

"Yes I did. I was wondering if you could help us with a little problem?"

"Of course. Whatever it is that you need, I'll be more than happy to help you with."

"In that case, could you use your magic to fix Dark's eyes?"

Curious, Discord looked over Dark, but stopped once he saw the golden glow beneath his eyeband.

"Mind removing you eyeband?" Discord asked. "I don't know what I'm working with unless I can see it."

With a nod, Dark began removing his eyeband. Once it was off, Dark dispelled his Second Sight for Discord to have a look at. However, this had also caused Dark to lose his vision as everything went black.

"Ooh, that's a nasty one," Discord commented. "What happened to you anyway?"

"Shining Armor cut me with a Draconium sword," Dark answered.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Shining confirmed, causing Discord to spin around.

"Ah, Shining Armor. It's been a while. When was the last time we met, anyway?"

"When you betrayed us to Tirek."

"Oh, right. Well now, back to your eyes," Discord said as he turned back to Dark, humming to himself as he looked over his empty eye sockets.

"But what could you do to help him?" Twilight questioned. "Normal magic doesn't work with restoring his eyes."

"That's why I called Discord for help," Fluttershy began explaining. "You said that normal magic wouldn't work, so I figured that Discord's chaotic magic could. After all, he's helped me when some of the animals were too injured for me to do anything to help them."

"Yes, but they weren't dragons cut by a Draconium weapon."

"True," Discord interjected, "but I should be able to do it."

Twilight's face lit up. "Really?!"

"Of course. But, while it would normally take me just the snap of a claw to fix, given the circumstances of his injuries, it will take me about an hour to completely restore his eyes, and any other injury he sustained from that weapon."

Hearing the happy news, Twilight flew to give Discord a hug while repeatedly saying "Thank you". Once she was done thanking him, she flew to Dark and wrapped him in a happy hug. However, unlike Discord, Dark was blinded and didn't see Twilight coming, causing her to knock him over on his back while she laid on top of him. It wasn't until Shining cleared his throat that Twilight realized the position that they were in, and with everyone watching. Seeing everyone staring at them, Twilight quickly got off of Dark and turned away, trying to hide her blush.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's alright, dear," Rarity said.

"Yeah right," Shining and Flash muttered.

"Well then," Discord began as he clapped his paw and claw together, "shall we begin?"

With a nod from Dark, he closed his eyes while Discord began channeling his chaotic magic into him. As Twilight and Fluttershy stayed, Rarity returned home while Shining and Flash stepped out. Like Discord said, it took him a full hour for his work to be complete.

"Alright, all done. You can open your eyes now," he announced.

Heeding Discord's words, Dark slowly opened his eyelids. At first the light caused him to wince and tightly shut his eyes, but after a few more attempts, Dark managed to fully open his eyelids, revealing his restored eyes. Looking around, he could see a satisfied look on Discord, Fluttershy smiling, and finally Twilight, who he quickly found wrapping him up again, happy that his eyes were restored. As Dark returned the embrace, he looked over to Discord.

"Thank you for doing this," Dark happily thanked.

"Oh, it was nothing really," Discord brushed off.

"So, how do my eyes look?"

"Just like they were when we last met."

"So my eyes are golden and draconic?"

"Correct."

"Good." Dark paused as he looked down at Twilight and began patting her on the head. "You alright there?"

Looking back up, Dark could see the tearstains on her cheek, and a smile on her face.

"Yeah, just happy is all," she replied.

Content, the two remained as they were, completely forgetting about the other two in the room watching them. As they continued embracing each other on the couch, Fluttershy flew up to Discord.

"That was a really nice thing of you to do, Discord," Fluttershy smiled.

"Well, I couldn't rightfully disappoint you now could I?" he said. "Besides, I kinda like him."

"Well, I think that you deserve a little something, so why don't you come over to my place for dinner tonight? I mean, it was been a while since we've had a nice dinner together."

"Yes, I suppose it has," Discord nodded.

Fluttershy's face turned red as she flew up to be at eye-level with Discord.

"And... maybe..." Her voice trailed off as she began whispering into his ear.

As Discord listened to Fluttershy, his eyes started growing wider as his jaw dropped. As she finished whispering her idea, an audible 'foomph' could be heard throughout the room. While Dark and Twilight apparently didn't notice it, Discord and Fluttershy looked back to see that his pegasus wing was stiff as a board.

"Umm... I'll just go and... get ready for tonight," Discord stammered before teleporting away.

Taking a moment to gaining control of the blush that was plastered across her face, Fluttershy went over to the two.

"It's good to see you with your normal eyes again," she commented.

Looking up to Fluttershy, Dark and Twilight both gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," he thanked.

"Yes, thank you," Twilight mimicked before looking around. "Where's Discord?"

Hearing Discord's name caused Fluttershy's blush to return.

"Oh, he had to go... and so should I!" she quickly added before she picked up her med kit and flew out the door.

Twilight and Dark watched in confusion as she left them. They didn't know why she seemed to be in such a rush, or why her face was so red for that matter, so they decided to leave it be. They weren't alone for long, though, as they heard the castle doors open with a pair of metallic hoofsteps echoing through the halls. Separating themselves, the two made their way over to see Shining and Flash returning, the former wearing his cleaned Draconian gear.

"We came back to tell you that we're returning to the Crystal Empire," Shining explained.

Twilight frowned in disappointment. "Oh... okay."

"Considering the circumstances from yesterday, I believe that we've overstayed our welcome enough as it is." Shining slowly walked up to Twilight. "And also, I came back to try and apologize to you for how I've acted these last two days. I ignored and upset you so much yesterday that you actually slapped me, and again today to the point where you actually turned me into a cactus."

"I told Dark last night that I wouldn't let you hurt him again."

"So I've noticed." Shining sighed. "Look, Twilight, I'm sorry for how I acted since I got here. I never meant to hurt you like that. With my past experiences with kirins, once I heard that one was here in Ponyville, the only thing I was thinking of was to keep you safe from it."

"I understand. Thank you, Shining," Twilight smiled. "But I believe that somepony else deserves an apology too."

Shining glanced over to Dark. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but I still don't trust him, nor am I sorry for what I did."

"Shining," Twilight warned before feeling Dark's claw on her shoulder.

"It's alright, Twilight, I'm used to ponies not liking me. Besides." Dark glanced over to Shining and gave him a subtle wink. "He's trying to mend things here with you, not me."

Taking the hint, Shining added, "Perhaps in time I can come to not hate him. But for now, I'll need time to think over it, get some more opinions on him from others. Please don't take this as a sign of me not trusting you, Twilight. I just want to make sure that everypony agrees with what you told me, and that he's not just playing you."

"Alright," Twilight sighed. "I would prefer that you not hate him at all, but I understand that you'll need time to get over it."

"Thanks, Twilight."

"Twily," she smiled.

"So does that mean you forgive me?" Shining asked hopefully.

"A little, but not completely. While I still don't like what you did to Dark, thanks to Discord, no permanent damage was done. And considering that you're my brother, I suppose that I do partially forgive you, but I won't completely forgive you until you've honestly apologized to Dark."

"That could take a while," Shining began, "but still, thank you, Twily."

Happy with how things turned out, Twilight went over to give Shining a loving hug, which he happily returned. Once they were done, Shining and Flash made their way out of the castle with Twilight and Dark following.

"We can at least see you off at the train station," she offered as she trotted up alongside them.

With a nod, the four made their way to meet up with the crystal guards at the train station. As they continued down the streets of Ponyville, Shining fell back a little bit to have some last words with Dark.

"So, am I to believe that you too are going to forgive me?" Shining presumed.

"Really? After what you did to me yesterday, I don't think that forgiveness will come so quickly," Dark replied.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised."

"However, while I don't forgive you, I am willing to play nice for Twilight."

"Alright."

With their talk done, they caught up with the others and made their way to the train station. While they began boarding the train, Twilight gave Shining a goodbye hug before he too got on. As the train started moving, Twilight and Dark remained on the platform, waving them goodbye until they were out of sight. Once they finally were, the two made their way back to the castle.

"I'm happy to see that you two are back on good terms," Dark commented as they walked back.

"Me too, but I still wish that you two would get along as well," Twilight returned.

"In time, but for now, he has some issues to deal with, and I don't usually take kindly to those who try to kill me. Perhaps next time we will."

"Well, here's hoping." Twilight remained silent as they continued down the road till she remembered something. "Oh, by the way. Tomorrow we'll be having a meeting to go over the teams and other details for the Prank Wars this Wednesday." Hearing about tomorrow caused Dark to facepalm. "Something wrong?"

"I just remembered," Dark groaned, "I'm suppose to give Spike 'The Talk' tomorrow."


Later that evening back in Canterlot, a storm was brewing as the cloaked figure ran through the streets in the downpour, his destination being a shady store which few ponies would go to visit. Upon finding the store, the cloaked figure opened the door before closing it shut behind him. As he continued through the store, looking over its stock, a voice called out to him.

"Welcome to my shop, traveler," the gray earth pony shopkeeper greeted. "How may I help you today?" The cloaked figure didn't answer, but instead dropped his hood. "Ah, it's you again. Tell me, did The Beast Master's Amulet that I sold you work well for you?"

"It did," the cloaked figure answered. "However, its power couldn't handle what I wanted and broke."

"Oh, well that's a shame to hear. So then, what can I do for you this time? Anything specific you're looking for? Perhaps an Alicorn Amulet that I could have... reacquired?"

"Actually, yes, there is something that I need," the cloaked figure said before swiftly unsheathing his sword and embedding it into the shopkeeper's chest. "You see, I came back to tie up loose ends. Don't take this the wrong way now, it's nothing personal, I just can't risk you talking about me is all."

As the cloaked figure watched the shopkeeper die, he then walked around the front desk and looked down over him.

"Can't have you stinking up the place now can I?" he questioned before finding a waterproof bag, stuffed him inside, and sealed him in an empty crate in the basement storage room. "There. Now that that's taken care of, I can take over this store and live here while posing as his nephew till spring comes back around."

Author's Note:

I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. Turns out that when I went to my parent's house for the holidays, I brought my computer with me, but forgot the power cord.:facehoof:

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and Happy New Years.:twilightsmile:

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