The Origin Chronicles Vol. 3

by SmokeShadow95

The Job

Ebony was eagerly waiting for them in her quarters. She had been waiting for a little under ten minutes when they finally did show up. Shadow and Charmer walked into Ebony's quarters a little nervous. Hardly any pony was allowed to be in here, and even fewer were invited. Shadow had been in here a few times over the years. Ebony watched them as they sat on some pillows on the floor.

“Good. You're all here,” Ebony said nodding to all three of them. It was only them that Shadow and Charmer saw the other pony in the room. He was sitting in a corner of the room behind them.

“Ratigan,” Shadow said, exasperated. She didn't like the pony. He reminded her a rodent, always poking about and looking to get into things he shouldn't be getting into. She even found him in her room once during her first year. She made sure that never happened again. Ever since, both of them took great lengths to avoid the other.

“I know of your troubles with each other, but I ask that you set them aside for this,” Ebony pleaded with them. “This is far too important to be undermined by a petty feud.”

“I understand,” Shadow said, shooting Ratigan a fleeting glare.

“Good,” Ebony smiled. “You three are the only ponies I can trust with this.”

Ebony slid a folder over to them. Ratigan stepped up to read it with them. Charmer flipped it open with a flick of her horn. To say they were all surprised at the contents would be an understatement. The first thing they saw were pictures. Many pictures, but they were all of the same pony. Shadow remembered him from the train. He was with Ratigan. She glanced over at him. He was more affected by this than either of them. He pulled some of the photos closer to him.

In each of the photos was the same large Pegasus Shadow and Charmer had seen on the train. Only he didn't look at all the same. He was cleaner, sharper. And in several of the photos, he was wearing the armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard. He was laughing with other ponies, more guards. He was proud and happy. Some later pictures showed him as they knew him now. Longer mane, a dust covered appearance, and shifty eyes. He was sneaking into Canterlot Castle.

“No,” Ratigan said. “Ain't right. Can't be.”

“I'm afraid it is,” Ebony said. “He's been here over a year. I should have seen it sooner.”

“Ebony,” Shadow said, looking through the photos. “What is it that you want us to do?”

“I sent him on a job a few nights ago,” Ebony explained. “He has not returned. With this evidence, it's doubtless as to why. I need you three to find him, and find out how much he knows.”

“That it,” Ratigan asked, “Just gotta fond out what this traitor knows?”

“No, my dear Ratigan,” Ebony cooed. “You're here because I need somepony who can make sure he doesn't tell any other pony what he knows.”

He smiled at that. She knew what he liked to do, even if this is a pony he considered a friend. He knew what he had to do, and he always tried to enjoy his work. He left to prepare himself for the job. Charmer took the file for herself to study. She wanted to know as much as she could about this pony before she went on this job. Shadow took a last cursory overlook of the photos but otherwise she felt ready. The only thing preventing her from leaving the room then was the feeling of Ebony's gaze on her. She could always feel her staring.

“Shadow,” Ebony said. “There is one more thing about this job you should know.”

Shadow didn't bother looking up. She didn't have to say anything to let Ebony know she was listening. Her ears perked up and she shot a glance up at her. Ebony picked up on it.

“Given the rather sensitive nature of this job, I see it only natural that I reward you if you get this job done,” Ebony said in that alluring tone of hers. “You must do it well though. Nothing can go wrong. No mistakes.”

“Of course,” Shadow said, finally looking up. “And what would be my reward?”

“Your one and only wish of course,” Ebony purred. “I will let you go and get what you want most.”

Shadow could hardly believe it. Four years, and Ebony had barely even spoken to her about this. They talked about it once when she first arrived but that was it. Hardly a word since then. And now she was coming out with this, out of the blue? Shadow stood there with her mouth slightly open. She was dumbfounded. And then she smiled.

It was only a half an hour later and the three of them were standing in a dark alleyway. It was night still, so no pony noticed the additional darkness that flashed into existence for a second. Shadow chest rose and fell in heavy breaths for a moment after that.

“I thought you were s'posed to good attis kinda thing,” Ratigan sneered.

“I just took all three of us on a long distance trip in a matter of seconds,” Shadow replied between annoyed breaths. “Just be lucky you're all here.”

“Whatever,” He said. “Anyways, where are we?”

“As close as I could get to his last known location,” Shadow told him.

When it was clear that that answer wasn't enough for him Charmer chimed in with her own response. “Phillydelphia, Ratigan. We're obviously in Phillydelphia. Just take a moment to take in that pungent aroma of regret, and loneliness in the air. Might be a tinge of desperation as well.”

She wasn't sure if her nodded at her in response or if that was an attempt at a rude gesture she didn't understand. Either way it ended with him rolling his eyes and walking to the street. He looked around at the city for a moment. They were a good distance from the main city, with all the tall buildings and fancy stuff. The neighborhood they were in could easily have been identified as the 'bad' neighborhood. Run down houses, closed stores, and overgrown sidewalks as far as he could see.

“I know where we are,” He stated clearly. “Ain't far now. Come on.”

He didn't wait for them as he set off at a brisk pace down the street. Shadow hurriedly trotted up to catch him and Charmer was right beside her. Even though he was on the small side for an Earth pony he moved fast. He was always ahead of the two of them. Charmer threw up a disguise around them after they were passed by a couple of ponies. There was nothing strange about them, but she didn't trust their whispers. It was an easy thing for her to cast an illusion. In a flash, she was a charming stallion walking along with his beautiful mare and their young child. Shadow noticed immediately, but Ratigan seemed oblivious.

“Did Ebony say something to you,” Charmer asked her friend. “Come now, tell me. I can tell something is wrong with you.”

“Nothing is wrong with me,” Shadow shot back quickly. “I'm just focused. This job needs to be done right. No mistakes.”

“Yes, I know that,” Charmer replied. “But you seem even grumpier than usual at the moment. What is it that has you in such a foul mood?”

Shadow sighed. “Ebony did say something,” She relented. “She said if we can do this job right, then I can finally go after it.”

“What,” Charmer nearly screamed, breaking her otherwise calm demeanor. “Are you serious?! She said that?”

“Yes,” Shadow said seriously.

“Ahem,” Ratigan interrupted. He was angrily tapping his hoof on the sidewalk and glaring at them. “If yoor done yappin', then can we get bacta work? 'Round this corner, third building down. That's where he crashes.”

Shadow and Charmer stepped forward far enough to peer around the corner. The street turned sharply to the right so at least they knew no ponies would be coming from the other direction. Shadow used her magic to spread the shadows of the night around them, making them harder to see. They could easily spot the building in question. It was a small to medium sized warehouse by the looks of it.

“He lives in there,” Charmer asked with more than a hint of disgust in her voice.

“Ain't a bad place,” Ratigan said. “Big on the inside, spacious. Notalot ponies around.”

“You've been inside,” Shadow asked.

“A few times,” Ratigan sighed. He was trying hard not to show it, but he once considered this pony a friend. This job wasn't easy for him. It was getting harder as the night went on.

“Do you think he's here,” Shadow asked.

“ I dunno,” Ratigan asked. “Maybe.”

“Useless,” Shadow whispered under her breath.

“Ratigan, my friend, I need you to do something for me,” Charmer said, slinking her way around to the other side of him. He watched her carefully.

“What is it,” He asked cautiously.

“You've been inside,” She said. “I need you to picture the inside of that place. I need you to bring those delightful memories to the surface of your mind. Just imagine you are inside again.”

“Why?”

“Just do it,” Shadow snapped. “The sooner you do, the sooner we can be done with this job.”

Ratigan scowled. He really didn't like the way she talked to him. He figured this whole thing was probably part of some magic thing Charmer was going to do. He didn't much like magic, but he knew it was all these two did. What they didn't know was that he was already picturing the inside of that building. He was trying not to, but memories were coming up in the mind. He couldn't stop them not matter how hard he tried to just focus on the job.

“Good. That works,” Charmer said with a smile. He glanced up at her. He then found out that was a mistake. His eyes met hers, glowing powerfully along with her horn and he couldn't look away. “Thank you for letting me in.”

He could feel her. She was in front of him, standing only a hoof out of reach but he could feel her. She was in his head. She was crawling around inside of his head. He could do nothing but stare into her eyes as her magic sifted through his thoughts and memories. He was completely paralyzed. It wasn't that he was afraid, or panicked. No, it felt more like he just couldn't remember how to walk away. The very act of moving his legs felt unnatural to him in that moment. Was it a moment? Time was meaningless during that incursion. He wasn't sure how long he was suffering through that when it was gone. Everything he was feeling was yanked back.

“What did you just do to me?!”

He wanted to shout at them as loud as he could but he didn't. He growled through clenched teeth instead, angrier than he had ever been. He glared up at Charmer with a rage rising up in his small frame. Charmer just held that grin on her face like a badge of honor. She smirked and sauntered her way back around him and to Shadow.

“What did you do?!”

“Relax, Ratigan,” Charmer said. “I just wanted to see the inside of that building for myself.”

“That's it,” He growled. “You pick my brain for that? Do you have any idea what that feels like? Do you?!”

“I've been told it's quite unpleasant,” Charmer shot back quickly with a cold glare.

He wasn't sure what to do, what to say next. He was there when Ebony brought these to along. For years he always just thought of them as Ebony's pet ponies. He knew some of the others thought the same of him, but at least he had a job to do. He was important to her. She started sending these two out much too soon for his liking. He could never figure out what she saw in them. But he was seeing it now. He stumbled back a few steps, falling to a seat. His eyes widened as as his anger subsided and was replaced with a new sensation. It had been a very long time since he felt afraid. But staring up at these two, it was the only thing he could feel.

Shadow had them both half consumed in the darkness. She stood behind Charmer with a stern, serious look on her face. Her body was low to the ground. She stood like a predatory animal stalking its prey. He never really thought about it before, but he came to realize now that Shadow wasn't afraid of anything. Why should she be? It was a beautifully dangerous sight. It was made only more so by Charmer herself.

Standing tall and proud next to her friend. Her light coat complimented nicely. It also mislead anypony thinking she was a nice pony with kindness in her heart. No, she reveled in games and manipulation. The more she could mess with the mind of a pony the better. And she could smile all the while doing it. He had just experienced that firsthoof. Maybe that was the thing that finally opened his eyes. These two were the perfect pair. One to wreck the mind and the other to wreck the body. He shivered where he sat.

“Come on now,” Charmer said. She cast a spell and a small image of the building appeared before her. A three dimensional hologram of the building hovered in front of them and Charmer focused on the main floor. The image fell away until just the room she wanted was left. It was a large, empty space. “Its what I could piece together from poor Ratigan's most recent memories. Only two weeks past. Can you do it with just this? Is it enough?”

“Should be,” Shadow said as she studied the image. “You're going to have to stand closer to us, Rat.”

He gulped, swallowing his fear and stepping closer the pair. He shuddered as he felt Charmer's eyes on him. He wanted to look away but Shadow caught his attention. She let the shadows slip of their bodies, leaving them momentarily more visible. But not for long. He watched as pure darkness itself wrapped around her horn. It grew and swallowed them all up. He felt a tug in his gut, stronger than before and pulling him along with it.

The next thing he knew he was looking at the inside walls of the warehouse. He also noticed they were not on the floor. He nervously looked down to see a dark disk under his hooves. He couldn't feel it and it bothered him greatly. He scrambled to get off falling to the floor in the process. In his frantic mess of movement he collided with a stack of boxes. Needless to say the boxed fell. Countless bits of scrap metal and other random assortments were now scattered about the place. As Ratigan stood up again, shaking, he heard a few strong wingflaps.

“Ratigan,” The Pegasus questioned. He emerged from a room on the second floor. The stair leading up had long since rusted away but he had his wings to get him there. He quickly flew out to see what all the noise was about. He didn't expect to see him. He flew down the floor and landed with all hooves down. “What are you doing here?”

Ratigan was still shaking when his former friend showed up. He landed across the room. Neither he or Ratigan himself could see the girls anymore. A sharp pang of fear came to him from that. He looked back at his former friend. Some small part of him actually wanted to warn him.

“Sorry, bud,” He ended up saying. “Wish it didn't have to end like this.”

“What are you. . .” His sentence trailed off as he saw the shadows to next to Ratigan peel back. A moment ago it was empty space. Anypony would tell you the same. He didn't even realize the darker it had gotten. But now two ponies stood before him.

“He looks surprised,” Charmer smiled.

“What?! No,” He muttered. “I got past you. I covered my tracks. You didn't find me!”

“You're right,” Shadow said as she stepped closer. “We searched your room back at home. We didn't find anything. Ebony, however, found everything. You shouldn't have crossed her.”

He didn't reply. His initial shock was wearing off. Shadow could see him going through his options. He was desperately trying to think of something, anything, that could help him here. After a few seconds he hung his head.

“Giving up already,” Charmer teased. “I expected more from a Royal Canterlot Guard.”

“Is that what you think I was,” He said. “Ha! Well, I supposed you're kinda right. I was once. You said Ebony found everything. Obviously she didn't, or else you would have known that Princess Celestia herself chose me for this mission.”

His determination was admirable. He believed in what he was doing. And he was not the kind of pony who would go down easy. Ratigan knew this. He should have seen it sooner. He just wasn't himself that night. But he saw the signs as they appeared. Wings tensing up just behind the shoulders. Small adjustments made to positioning his hooves. Even his breathing changed. He was a Pegasus and he was bigger than most, but that didn't mean he wasn't fast. In fact he was quite known for being fast and incredibly strong. For a Pegasus that is. So when he shot forward like a speeding train Ratigan shouldn't have been surprised. All he could do was yell out an all too late warning.

The guard pony moved with a surprisingly quick burst of speed. He hooves extended out for a fight was expecting. What he wasn't expecting was for his hooves to go through them. Both Shadow and Charmer dissolved into smoke at the slightest touch from his hooves. He quickly flapped his wings and turned back. He saw Charmer sitting in the middle of the floor by herself. The fact that she was sitting so carelessly was irritating him to no end. He charged at her, half expecting another smoke trick.

Instead he got hooves. He had to admit she had nerves of steel. She waited until the last possible second. He'd taken down yaks with his charge. He knew the damage it could do, but she didn't flinch. At the absolute last second she rolled back and under his charge, throwing her hooves up to meet his body. It did little to nothing to him, but that wasn't the point. It slowed him just enough for her. It forced his eyes down to her. In that last, brief second. He saw her glowing eyes.

She rolled under his charge, somehow taking no damage from it. Even he could admit that she was good. Better than he thought. After all, Ebony wouldn't support those who couldn't handle themselves.

“Thank you,” Charmer called out to him. He did not like the grin on her face as she looked at him. And her unnervingly cheerful tone sent a shiver up his spine.

“Just stop,” Ratigan yelled out. “Just stop, bud. Ya can't win against these two. Jus tell 'em what you know.”

“Yes, please.” Shadow stepped out of the dark to stand next to Charmer. “I would much rather save as much of my energy as I can so I can us all back home. Don't make me waste any more on you.”

“You want to know what I know,” The guard repeated. “I know who you are. Both of you.”

Charmer was unaffected by this. She had become so accustomed to keeping up appearances and such that you could tell her the world was ending right behind her and she still wouldn't move. Shadow on the other hand, was not so well trained. She was so used to having the upper hoof. She was used to being more powerful than any problem set before her. So when she flinched, even though it was just a small flicker of movement, Ratigan saw it.

“Should I tell Ratigan here,” The guard pony shouted. “He could go and tell Ebony. I'm sure she'd love to know. Maybe she already does. But what about all the others. What will they think when they find out who you really are?”

“You're bluffing,” Shadow hissed.

“I think your parents would disagree.”

Even Charmer moved at that one. Ratigan saw it in her face. Her grin faded. A look he couldn't quite describe replaced it. Worry? For who, Shadow? Pity for the pony on the receiving end of their power? Could it have been a small bit of empathy for what was about to happen?

The guard pony had no time to react. In less time than it took to blink Shadow was gone. He didn't even close his eyes. He didn't look away. She was just gone. He couldn't even think as to why before his side exploded with pain. The impact of two hooves sent him through the air. He hit the far wall hard. Hard enough so that they all could hear the snap of his wing. He grunted through the pain as he stood back up. He walked forward. He didn't get far before a ring of fire encircled him.

“I studied your file,” Charmer said. “You hide it well, but you have a small fear of fire. Perhaps this will keep you in check.”

Ratigan watched as he worriedly back away from an invisible threat. Every time he stepped back he turned and stepped back again. Whatever it was he was seeing, whatever flames were there were surrounding him.

“This won't work,” He said in staggered tones. “I can still speak. I can still say your names.”

“Just tell us what you know and this can all end, my friend,” Charmer called out to him.

“Don't bother, Charmer,” Shadow said. “If he does know our names, then he knows everything.”

“Yes, I suppose that makes sense,” Charmer said. A quick flash of magic and he flames were gone. Beads of sweat from his pain and his panic coated the guards body. He sneered through ground teeth, not letting the pain stop him.

“So, is this the part where you shut me up?”

“Well, it was supposed to be Ratigan here,” Charmer said. “But I don't think he's up to silencing you at the moment.”

The guard pony sat down, defeated. Not just physically. He was battered and broken to be sure, but it was more than that. He could feel Charmer in his head. He knew the flames weren't real. He could feel her worming through his mind even now. It made it hard to think. Every potential thought just lead back to her. It was exhausting.

Shadow stood only a few paces away from him. She stared at him with anger in her eyes. Then she closed them. There was nothing he could but watch as darkness surrounded her. Not like the fire surrounded him, though. The fire was threatening and hostile. The shadows, the dark, did not just wrap around her. They welcomed her. They fell over her like a blanket falls over a young filly. She wasn't just comfortable in the dark, she was a part of it.

He watched as the dark warped around her. She lifted her head up. He thought it was just the ground at first, but it wasn't. The whole building started to shake. It was like a tremor centered on Shadow. Chains hanging about the warehouse rattled together. All the scrap metal scattered across the floor clattered against other pieces. The metal walls groaned under some unseen strain. Meanwhile, the shadows were growing. The dark shadows in the corners of the room were spreading out like they were drawn to Shadow herself. He could barely hear himself think through this destructive symphony.

“Hahaha,” He laughed. Perhaps he was delirious by this point. He wasn't even sure himself anymore. “Witness the true power of Star Shadow, daughter of Luna and Spike.”

His laughter was the last thing anypony heard before the darkness overtook him, enveloping him for an instant. But an instant was all that was needed. Ratigan watched in horror as this one pony just took a sane pony and drove him into a delirious stupor in a matter of minutes. He couldn't look away. He couldn't move away. He was afraid and he wanted to run, but couldn't. He couldn't get his legs to work. He saw Charmer walking towards him. His heart skipped a beat. Now he understood that look on her face. It was everything he thought it was all at once and more.

“Sleep now, poor Ratigan,” She purred.

And he did. His eyelids dropped. He couldn't stop it. The last thing he saw before his forced slumber was Charmer's grin. Thankfully, his sleep was not one full of dreams or nightmares. He wasn't sure if it Charmer was purposefully keeping it empty or not. He was just thankful. Period.

When he did finally wake, he found himself waking to the gentle shaking of train cabin. He was lazily lifting his eyes when a sudden jolt of the train forced his eyes open wide. He had to keep himself so rolling off the seat. He saw Charmer and Shadow in the seats across from him.

“What happened?”

“We confronted him in the warehouse,” Charmer said. “He attacked. You got knocked out in the fray and we finished the job without you.”

“'Bout what he said?”

“You didn't hear anything,” Shadow said. “You were unconscious at the time. And he is now a drooling mess on its way to Celestia's doorstep. Is that clear?”

“Of course,” Ratigan agreed. Why wouldn't he? After what he just saw he wasn't going to risk crossing them. Especially when they were the only three in an otherwise empty train cabin. But he remembered. He heard what the guard pony said. He knew her name.

Comments

[Love able chaos]

Starshadow could really use the storybook that Spike wanted to give her, so she knows exactly how she's following.