The Legend of a Shadowmare

by JasontheDemon

Infected with Hate

Chapter 10: Infected with Hate

It was very early in the morning when Daemon was awoken. Flara shook him gently to rouse him from his sleep. Daemon groaned and rubbed his head as he sat up.

“Ugh... what time is it?”, the groggy stallion asked.

“About three o’ clock.”.

“IN THE MORNING?! Come on! Give me a break! I’m going back to sleep.”, Daemon shouted, pulling the covers over his head and flopping back down frustrated. Flara used her magic and yanked the covers off him and threw them to the opposite side of the room. Daemon gave a whiny moan and curled up even more, refusing to move.

“Get up Daemon! We don’t have time for this! This is our only window of opportunity to leave!”.

“Argh! Alright, alright! I’m getting up! Damn Lightmare rules...”, Daemon grumbled as he got out of bed.

The two walked to the door and Flara shouted, “Computer! Simulation; terminate!”. The room quickly returned to being an empty old room with just a white paneled surface. Flara opened the door while looking back at Daemon. She didn’t notice that Ezreal and Aura were standing right outside as she spoke. “Okay now that you're up we can get back to Ponyville. Hopefully nopony noticed that you are really a Shadowmare...”. Ezreal and Aura stood there, mouths agape from what they had just heard. Daemon saw that the two Lightmares were behind Flara the whole time and he tried to get her to turn around but she just kept talking.

“Uh... Flara...”,

“I just hope that you gathered enough information for Twilight.”,

“Flara...”,

“If we’re lucky we may be able to stop coming here and keep you away from all this Lightmare anarchy... is there something wrong, Daemon?”. Flara finally turned around to see the two blond stallions staring at her completely speechless. “Oh, buck me.”, she swore, knowing that she just blew it. Ezreal stabilized himself enough to talk.

“So... uh, you’re Shadowmare... okay.”, Ezreal said, fear piercing his voice, causing it to crack. He took a few more shaky breaths before continuing, “I knew there was something different about you...”. Flara tensed up, preparing to rush out with Daemon as quick as possible. “This... is... AWESOME! I have a Shadowmare as a friend! And even better... he is going to let me come with him?”, the short Lightmare said, insinuating that he wanted to join them.

Flara was confused as to why they would want to be around a Shadowmare. She knew both ponies personally and she also knew that they were terrified of the demonic looking race.

“Do you seriously think I’m dumb enough to let you come with?! You guys are as anti-Shadowmare as the rest around here... so why do you want to join us?”.

“Because in the one day we knew Nov... I mean Daemon, we had more fun than we have ever had in our lives.”, Aura spoke, which was rare for him. “He is the best thing that has ever happened to us, and being a... Shadowmare, doesn’t change that.”.

Flara sighed. “Very well... you may come along, but remember that the outside world works on different rules. If you intend to keep your lives, I suggest you don’t do anything stupid.”. The stallions gave a couple awkward smiles and moved out of the way for Flara to pass.

The group of four quickly made their way to the elevators. Ezreal and Aura were feeling a little exhilarated by the whole idea of going AWOL. As normal Lightmares they had never disobeyed an order and they had never rebelled. Going against all they had been brought up to do made them feel alive. The whole world seemed to open up before them as they flew through the Quick-Stream, feeling the cold air flow past them. As the sun started to rise they had reached their destination.

“That’s strange... where is all the fire? This is a town, isn't it?”, Ezreal said as they approached Twilight Sparkles abode.

“Towns aren’t always on fire, Ez. They are only set on fire by us Lightmares while we are destroying them.”, Flara explained.

“I like it better this way... it’s pleasant.”, Aura said, gazing out at the still sleeping town. After a few knocks, tired looking purple unicorn answered the door.

“Hello... library hours are from seven a.m. to ten p.m.... If you need a book I suggest you come back when the library opens...”. Twilight was totally out of it.

Flara laughed softly and said, “Twilight? We’re back... Please let us inside so we don’t get seen, okay?”. Twilight smiled dreamily with her eyes still closed .

“Okay Flara... Wait! Flara?! You’re back! I’m sorry, I didn’t think you would come back so early in the morning! Come insi...”, Twilight trailed off as she saw the two Lightmares she didn’t recognise. “Flara, don’t panic, but there are two Lightmares behind you.”, the purple mare said, not moving her lips from the smile she was forcing.

“Oh, I almost forgot. This is Ezreal Lightmane and Aura Flash, they wanted to join the cause. I have informed them that if they step out of line, I will personally bring them down, so there is no cause for alarm.”.

As they waited for the others to arrive Daemon was acting kind of strange. Kept glaring around the room. It seemed like he was angry from seriously painful headaches at first, but as time went by it appeared as if Twilight was the source of his anger. He stared at her with an intensity that made her wonder what she had done to make him mad. Twilight sighed in relief as the others came through the door. As with Twilight, the rest of the mane six were startled to see the extra Lightmares in the room. Flara explained everything and the tension was broken. Daemon got straight to business and said everything he saw... and he even told everypony about how he had to kill. The thought of Daemon murdering an innocent caused a dead silence to invade the room. The thing that caused everypony to feel disturbed was the way Daemon said that he killed the filly... there was no hesitation or regret in his voice. Desdemona felt that something was wrong. Daemon had never been so uncaring in all his life. He always showed deep concern for even the smallest of problems. When Daemon finished telling everypony what he had witnessed, Desdemona walked up to him and put her hoof to his head.

“What are you doing?”, Daemon asked, sounding rather irritated by her touch.

“Checking to see what is wrong with you. You have been behaving oddly, I am going to find out why.” Desdemona said as she checked his pupils for signs of a concussion. As Desdemona went through the physical examination, her hopes slowly dropped. She was down to one last test, the one she didn’t want to resort to... she used the aura spell that Fluttershy saw a few days before.

A ray of light emanated from Desdemona’s horn and hit Daemon. The result was shocking to everypony.

“Just as I feared...”, Desdemona sighed. The glow around Daemon was an unstable orange. It pulsated between being a better shade of red to yellow. “Daemon, the Poison Joke has not stopped its infection of your body. You are becoming a Lightmare in mind and soul as well as body now.”. Daemon looked quite mad from the accusations he was presented with.

“I’m not becoming a Lightmare! In fact, I don’t remember the last time I felt so good! Wait, I know what’s going on... YOU’RE JEALOUS! You’ve never been as powerful as me and now that I’m admired by everyone you can’t stand to see me doing so well! All of you are just jealous of my gifts! I’m not going back to the way I looked before! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!”, Daemon shouted as he flew through the door, breaking it off it’s hinges.

“What the buck just happened?”, a shocked Rainbow Dash asked.

“His Shadowmare flaw, the rage that gives him outrageous power, is merging with the growing Lightmare instinct to fight. He is most likely becoming the worst of both sides because his aggressive traits are feeding off one another.”, Desdemona hypothesised. “We need to catch him and force the cure on him. I already know he is too far gone to be reasoned with. The look in his eyes as he left told me that his dark side has been released, that I am sure of. Let’s spread out and find him, but don’t take him on by yourself. Call for help if you find him. He will not be himself and he will kill you if you give him the chance.”.

The ten ponies searched the town high and low, but of course Fluttershy was the first to find him in the woodlands by her cottage. She wondered why she was always able to find him with such ease. It was like they were magnetically attracted to each other. Daemon was holding his head in extreme agony {Link 1}. The alteration of his mind was taking a toll on him. Seeing him in so much pain made Fluttershy completely forget what she was told about yelling for help upon his sighting. His suffering made her inch her way towards him. Fluttershy accidentally stepped on a twig. The snap alerted Daemon to her presence and his eye shot open {Link 2}.

“Argh... Fluttershy! Stay back! I... I can’t hold it much longer! Agh... RUN WHILE I’M STILL IN CONTROL!”, Daemon shouted staggering his way to her. The look on his face was one of pure hatred. It was the same look he gave Discord. Fluttershy couldn’t move. Her legs were frozen in fear. Daemon was mere inches from her when he was tackled by Aura Flash. Even though Aura was at least three times the size of Daemon, he didn’t stand a chance. Daemon easily tossed Aura off him like he was made of paper. Daemon then set his sights on finishing off the large stallion who was picking himself off the ground. Before Aura could react, Daemon knocked him into a nearby tree with a solid buck to the jaw. After slamming into the hard trunk of the tree, Daemon continued to buck him in rapid succession in the stomach. With each blow, Aura spat up some blood. Suddenly Desdemona rushed in and grabbed the out of control stallion in a headlock.

“Twilight! Barrier! Now!”, Desdemona shouted as she continued to struggle with Daemon. Twilight, who had been following close behind Dedemona, put up a magical force field around Daemon. It seemed to work at first. He stopped moving and showed no sign of aggression. As the others arrived, Desdemona had been thinking that he gave up far too easily... and she was right.

Daemon chuckled sadistically. His evil laughter frightened all around him. Daemon strained against the spell that Twilight had cast, shattering it with relative ease. The way he moved and acted was entirely different than anypony had seen him before. He was definitely a totally different guy now... and he was ready to fight the rest of his friends. Taking advantage of their stunned state, Daemon used a telekinesis spell and flung Applejack into the woods. After dealing with Applejack, Rainbow Dash rushed him, flying head first in an attempt to knock him out before he had a chance to react. Daemon turned and caught her, placing his hoof on her forehead. While she was suspended from the inertia of her flying assault, Daemon moved his hoof up, causing Rainbow Dash to swing into an upright position. Daemon then shoved his hoof down causing the vertical Dash to be pressed into the ground like a railroad spike.

“Ohh... when I get out of here, you are so going to get it...” Rainbow Dash muttered, only her head sticking out of the ground. As the corrupted Shadowmare slowly marched up to Desdemona, Pinkie Pie charged in with her party cannon. Right as Pinkie was about to fire it, Daemon hit the muzzle without even giving the pink pony a glance. It flipped to face Pinkie a moment before it went off. With soot on her face Pinkie Pie waved a little white flag in a cartoony fashion. Seeing how easily Daemon defeated the rest of her friends, Rarity thought it was best to just stay out of the way.

Daemon was slowly and ominously walking up to Desdemona. She had her back against a tree and was glaring at him furiously, unable to do anything else but wait for him to attack her.

Ezreal got in between the two and yelled, “STOP! Dude, I know you’re still in there somewhere! You have to fight this! I don’t know what’s going on, but I know you can beat it!”. Daemon didn’t show any sign to signify that heard Ezreals speech. As Daemon raised his hoof in the air he felt something grasp him. In reflex he swung his hoof to bat away what was holding his arm. Fluttershy went flying and smacked into a tree, instantly being knocked unconscious. Witnessing what he had done, something started to happen to Daemon.

He held his head and grunted, “Flut-ter-shy... Arrgh!”. Desdemona never saw him fight his Shadowmare fury before. It always took complete hold of him and didn’t let go until everyone in the vicinity was either incapacitated or dead, but here he was... fighting his biological flaw because he happened to harm one pony. Daemon staggered around, holding his head, and growling in pain. “D.! Do it! Aah! Change me back NOW!”. Desdemona couldn’t believe it. He was going against four millennia of evolution and asking to be changed back to normal. She didn’t waste any time and pulled out a vial of concentrated antidote that she got from Zecora. Desdemona chucked the bottle at Daemon and it shattered against the ground below him. After being drenched in the tonic, Daemon passed out. Right as Daemon hit the ground, Applejack came charging out of the woods.

“Alright, partner! Ya caught me off guard before but this time I'm not gonna go so easy on... wait, what in tarnation did I miss?!”.

Daemon woke up in the hospital. His head was throbbing, but he felt fine. When he tried to sit up something stopped him. He looked at his arm and saw that he was hoofcuffed to the bed, completely unable to move.

“Hello? Guys? Anypony?”, he called out, staring at the ceiling.

He heard a door open and a familiar voice say, “Hello idiot! You’re finally awake I see... so how’s the head?”. Daemon could tell it had to be Desdemona... nopony else called him ‘idiot’ like that.

“A little sore, but not bad... and how are you this fine day? Forgive me if I don’t make eye contact while speaking to you. It’s just that I’m HOOFCUFFED TO A BED AND CAN’T MOVE!”, Daemon yelled.

“That was for protection.”, Desdemona said, unlocking one of the hoofcuffs on his leg.

“How are hoofcuffs supposed to protect me?!”, Daemon shouted. Desdemona slapped him with tear in her eyes.

“It wasn’t for your protection! It was for hers!”, Desdemona yelled back, pointing towards the other bed in the room. Fluttershy was sitting down on the bed with a bruise on her right arm and another on the left side of her forehead. Her head was tilted down and she didn’t move. Fluttershy was asleep. “You hit her, but she demanded to stay with you while you recovered from your psychotic state. In order to make sure you wouldn’t be able to hurt her again, we restrained you with what we had to work with.”, Desdemona told the now teary eyed stallion.

“If you care for her, you should stay away from now on. We are Shadowmares, Daemon. We only end up hurting those who we get close to. I was a fool to think you two could live together without her getting injured. Unless you want her to end up like Firefly... don’t get too attached.”, Desdemona said as she left the room. With all the hoofcuffs removed, Daemon sat up and thought about what he had done earlier that day. The memories were hazy, but he still knew that he had hurt the ones he cared about. He couldn’t let it happen again, even if it meant cutting himself off from his friends... forever.

Comments

[Anubis Nox]

862004 Lol you can thank shadowless night for my fav and like as he told me about this story.

[JasontheDemon]

t.qkme.me/58ww.jpg

[shadowless_night]

917656 eh hem i have just returned from my trip and ive only got this to say
*takes glasses off*
mother of celestia 120 chapters have updated.......
what is this sleep u speak off?