Meeting Royalty
Chapter 11: Meeting Royalty
It had been five days since the incident with Daemon changing into the monstrous Shadowmare/Lightmare hybrid. Flara and the other two Lightmares were forced to stay in Ponyville. Flara explained that if they were to return, they would be questioned about “Nova’s” disappearance. Aura and Ezreal were a bit awkward at first, damaging property and roughing a few ponies up to make friends. Lightmares would bond by hitting each other and rough-housing. However, the new additions to the humble town soon learned the correct way to greet ponies was not a punch to the jaw. They even managed to find good ways to pass the time with their newly acquired friends. Ezreal found joy in flying with Rainbow Dash, trying to keep up with her. Rainbow Dash would sometimes show her true potential and scare Ezreal with her remarkable speed, but Ezreal enjoyed being with a mare who had the same radical personality as him. Aura loved nature and adored being outside on Sweet Apple Acres. He would walk around with Big Mac and help him out with the farm labor. Both of them never said a word the whole time, but they did happen to enjoy working together none the less. Aura didn’t even see it as work, he saw it as a vacation if anything. His tremendous strength made bucking the trees almost too easy. It indeed seemed as though everything was working out fine... except for a certain Shadowmare who looked like he just had his soul ripped from his body.
For nearly five days now, Daemon would walk around in a daze, not really interacting with anypony. He looked very troubled, you may even say he looked like he was in a severe state of depression. His eyes no longer showed their usual shine, instead they were dull and lifeless. He walked slowly. His normal energetic trot was reduced to a pathetic shuffle.
When his friends would ask what was wrong, a fake and shallow smile crossed his face and he would respond with a pleasant, “nothing! everything is great! Yeah, everything is... just fine.”. Every one of his friends could see that everything he told them was a lie to cover up something, but none of them had the heart to ask what it was. What was even stranger than his listlessness was his disappearances at night. Fluttershy said he wasn’t sleeping in her cottage like he used to, and every night he would just vanish. Nopony knew where he would go for the night to sleep, but every day he would show up again with the same melancholy attitude, so they decided that he was alright for the time being. Desdemona didn’t seem concerned about his drastic change in mood, but she never seemed too concerned about anypony. The last thing that disturbed the ponies in Ponyville was the lack of music. It was assumed that Daemon got his guitar back when he returned, but nopony saw him with it anymore. He didn’t sing, he didn’t smile, and he didn’t stay near anypony for more than a few passing moments. Something was definitely wrong with the dusky stallion.
Applejack had done her chores for the day and had just finished her workload of bucking apple trees. She was ready to go to bed and relax after a hard days work. She couldn’t help but feel like things were getting worse more than they were getting better.
‘First we have ta deal with all this Shadowmare nonsense, and now we gotta take in a Lightmare!’, she thought to herself. It was true after all... they had no choice but to take in Aura Flash. It didn’t really bother her that she had to help him. She thought he was sweet, if a little too quiet. The thing that got under her skin was that she had to share her room with the near larger-than-life stallion. He took up a lot of space and could barely fit through her door. Applejack sighed as she continued to walk on, but she couldn’t help but notice a subtle sound emanating from the barn to her left. Thinking it may be a trespasser trying to steal her crops, she silently made her way to the barn door. As she inched her way closer to the entrance she began to notice something familiar about the sound, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. After the orange mare cracked the door open she instantly knew why it sounded so familiar... it was Daemon. He was singing for the first time since the incident... or at least this was the first time he was heard. Daemon was sitting on the rafters near the top of the barn, his legs hanging off the wooden beam, playing his guitar. {Link 1} By the sound of his song, he was singing about Fluttershy, but the lyrics didn’t add up. {Link 2} He was singing of how he missed her even though he saw her every day and she hadn’t left Ponyville in at least a month. He also made it out that he wasn’t good enough for her. Applejack had no idea what could be making him say such sad things... until she remembered what he did when he was last fighting off his inner rage. He was still torn up about hurting his friends! Even though it was out of his control, he still saw himself as the bad guy. Applejack knew he was hurting inside and didn’t even want to attempt to try to make the Shadowmare feel better, so she tried to slowly back away once the song ended.
However, Daemon already knew she was there and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask if I could use your barn. I just didn’t want to bother you...”.
“How long did ya know ah was here?” Applejack asked.
“Since before you opened the door... I apologize in advance, but you aren’t the lightest on your hooves and I could hear you from a mile away.”.
Now that she had already started talking to Daemon, Applejack figured that she might as well ask.
“So why are ya sittin’ here in the dark? Y’all are more than welcome to come inside. Oh and before ah forget... why are ya not at Fluttershy’s? Ya know she has been wor-”
“I can’t go near her! At least... not anymore.” Daemon interrupted.
Applejack was fed up with his self pity party and shouted, “YES YOU CAN! I can’t believe y'all are havin’ such a hard time with this still! We went over how ya can’t control yerself and-”
“This is different!” Daemon interrupted yet again. “This time I hurt her! And who knows what will happen if I’m around when I snap next time?! I need to stay away from her and everypony else as much as possible or it might just turn into what happened to Firefly all over again!”. Applejack was taken back by how much he had thought this over, but she had one last question.
“Um, excuse me but... who’s ‘Firefly’?”. Daemon landed close by Applejack before he explained,
“Firefly is why I’m here. She was a pegasus, like Fluttershy, who had journeyed with us. We were with her for a while, but.... she died because she was with me. If she never met me, she would still be alive. So, please, just let me stay as far away from you guys as possible. You need to remember... I'm a Shadowmare. I'm not safe to be around.”. After that being said, Daemon walked out of the barn into the cool night air and faded away in the darkness. Applejack was left with a cold empty feeling in her chest. She wanted to help, but Daemon made it perfectly clear that he was not ready to forget about that incident five days earlier. In need of somepony cleaver who could help think of a way to give Daemon the aid that he needed at a time like this, Applejack decided to talk to Twilight.
The next day, Daemon was helping out Sweet Apple Acres, tilling the soil to plant a few more trees. His strength wasn’t as immense as Big Mac’s, but it was good enough to make plowing a field no real problem. Applebloom was right behind him every step of the way planting seeds in the freshly churned soil. She saw how sad Daemon looked and tried to cheer him up a few times by telling jokes while they worked, but Daemon never even seemed to notice her.
‘Dang, it’s like workin’ with a zombie pony!’, the yellow filly thought to herself. Applebloom soon got bored hanging around Daemon and just wanted to finish so she could get away from the perpetual mope. After finishing, Daemon started walking back to the main road of Ponyville, when he was stopped by a loud ominous yell from the sky.
“SHADOWMARE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE HAVE COME TO HAVE A WORD WITH THE LEGEND FROM THE DISTANT PAST!”. Daemon looked towards the booming shouts coming above him and saw that the sky was getting dark and windy. The clouds started to swirl around and a flash of lightning was followed by a thunderous boom. It got cold and the air got heavy. Daemon half expected to see a god pony to come down, and his assumptions weren’t far off. A black chariot pulled by two evil looking pegasi came flying through the circling cloud formation. In the chariot was an alicorn. She had a navy blue coat and an ethereal dark blue mane and tale that sparkled like the night sky. She was a bit bigger than him, but not by much. Stunned by the show and a little scared to move, Daemon just sat in place while the shady bunch of ponies landed by him. All of Ponyville saw the entrance of the alicorn and a group quickly gathered around them (mane six included). Twilight was the first to speak.
“Princess Luna? Why are you here? -not that it’s a bad thing! Just unexpected! NOT THAT I’M SAYING I DON’T EXPECT YOU TO VISIT, IT’S JUST THAT-”
“Calm down Twilight Sparkle. I am here strictly for him.”. The pony labeled as ‘Luna’ pointed at Daemon.
“What? Why are you here for Daemon?”, Rarity asked, pushing her way through the crowd.
“According to Miss Sparkle’s letters, this young stallion is not only a Shadowmare... he also aided in the destruction of Manehatten and killed an innocent. We need to place him in our custody until we can be sure of his intent.”. Luna’s statement of Daemon killing and causing the downfall of a city was met with gasps and hushed whispers.
“SHE’S JUST KIDDING EVERYPONY!” Pinkie Pie shouted to the frightened collective of ponies. “THAT’S RIGHT! MOVE ALONG! NOTHING TO SEE HERE!”, the pink mare continued to shout, leading all the onlookers away.
“You shouldn’t say things like that when everypony is looking! They might get the wrong idea!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering above Luna and the others.
Luna didn’t move a single muscle and said in a rather sarcastic tone of voice, “Oh yes... because the destruction of a city can be interpreted in sooo many different ways.”. This hit the flustered pegasus like a sack of bricks, causing her to fall to the ground in absolute depression.
“Don’t take this out on them! It’s me you want, so just take me and let’s be done with it!”, Daemon grumbled, making his way to the dark, crude mode of transportation.
“Is he always like this?”, Luna asked, turning to Rarity.
“No. He’s quite sweet most days. I don’t know what has gotten into him lately.”.
The trip to the palace was pretty uneventful. Daemon showed a stern expression that was normally seen from Luna. The princess of the night was a little uneasy sitting next to him. His kind wasn’t even supposed to exist! Even when she was a filly herself there were stories of Shadowmares, but that was just it. They were supposed to be just stories! They were meant to be no more real then the creatures known as humans. Had she known the existence of Shadowmares was more than a pony tale when she was a filly, Luna would have wet herself. It was a good thing that she was much older since then and far more powerful or she would have still been scared stiff. Upon arrival at the castle gates Daemon flew out of the chariot before it had a chance to land. However, instead of trying to escape like Luna thought he would do, he actually went inside willingly.
‘Either he is the bravest pony I have ever met, or he is the dumbest...’, Luna thought, before ordering her guards to whisk her away to her bed chambers. Daemon was escorted by four guards when he entered through the two large castle doors.
“Is this really necessary?”, Daemon growled. There was no response from the stoic ponies leading him. Daemon observed that the entire place seemed rather empty. “Your princess must get lonely with nopony around to talk to her.” Daemon said, hoping for a response this time... there was none. Right when Daemon was going to ask if he was being punked into walking in circles, the group stopped at a large, excellently crafted door.
“Upon your meeting with Princess Celestia, you may only address her as ‘your majesty’. If you attempt to attack or show any hostility, you will be restrained and thrown in the dungeon. The first thing you will do is bow to the princess and show your respect towards the crown by saying, ‘thank you for summoning me your majesty. I am not worthy.’. Do you understand what you have been told?”, the guard asked, glaring at Daemon.
“Yeah, yeah. Act like a pathetic sniveling worm with no self-respect. Got it.”, the demonic stallion answered.
As soon as Daemon entered the throne room he saw the alicorn known as Princess Celestia. Much to Daemons surprise, she was smiling. She actually seemed happy to see him. On the floor in front of her were two more guards. Daemon started to do what he was told by the other guard, bowing and reciting that ridiculous boot-licking speech.
He was cut off by the Princess herself, “You don’t really have to say that. It’s not something I enjoy hearing. Ponies just think that they need to say all that because it has been passed down through the eons. Now I hear that you have been to Manehatten recently? Hearing that it was annihilated by some unknown force was not something that I needed to hear last week... but it turns out that my star pupil’s new friend had been there and he knew what had happened.”. Daemon started to sweat, knowing where she was going with this. “She said that you were there the day of the attack... and you helped?”, Celestia said, looking down at Daemon with a frown.
“Yes”, Daemon responded trying to stay cool under the pressure he was experiencing.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to order your execution... at least not without hearing your side. I will give you one chance to prove yourself as nice and pure as Twilight has told me you are.”. Celestias horn started to glow and a guitar floated out from behind her throne.
“I have read in many letters that you are quite the musician. I would like to hear this for myself, if you don’t mind.”, the princess said, telekinetically handing Daemon the stringed instrument. Daemon suddenly had a thought about the position he was in, ‘I’ve been trying to stay away from my friends to protect them, but if I am where they can’t be, they will be safe no matter what happens.’. Daemon grinned wickedly and started to play, using his magic to change the sound of the acoustic guitar to sound like an electric one {Link 3}. Twilight and the others walked in just in time to see his performance... and they didn’t enjoy his music for once. His lyrics were aggressive, angry, vulgar, and hateful to the point where it scared them. Twilight couldn’t believe he was singing such a disrespectful song to her godly teacher. Princess Celestia just stared at him blankly with a small frown. As he continued, Fluttershy turned around, clenched her eyes shut, and held her hooves over her ears, trying desperately to block out the dark music that resonated through the massive room. The others were too shocked or disturbed to turn away. The moment the song ended, Daemon was seized by the guards, both grabbing an arm to hold him in place.
“I’m very disappointed... I expected much more from one my student regarded so much. Due to your... performance, I have no choice but to sentence you to death”. At the royal pony’s mention of the death sentence, the group of six friends gasped. “I’m sorry, but I can’t have a pony with such a potential for violence to roam free.”, Celestia said, looking quite sorrowful.
“I understand your majesty. I know I’m too dangerous to be let go. You are wise to do what you have declared.”, Daemon said, a slight smile painting his face.
Daemon was taken to the dungeon. As he was escorted out of the throne room he heard his friends objections to his sentence.
‘I sure am lucky to have so many friends who care about me...’, he thought. The dungeon was dark and bleak. Only a few torches lighted the catacombs of the suffocating prison. The whole time, they walked past nothing but empty cells. It seemed like Daemon was the only one who dared to wish being sent to such a place. Before the guard locked him in a one of the hundreds of cells he told Daemon of a ghost that supposedly haunted the place. Daemon just thought the guard was trying to scare him, but as time went on he had the strangest feeling that he was not alone. The Shadowmare only passed it off as his imagination... at least until he started hearing things. The things he heard were also not things that you could pass off as just ‘the jail walls crumbling away’ or ‘dripping water’. He started hearing giggles... from all around him. He also felt cool breezes rush by him even though there were no windows and he was far from any source of wind. Knowing that he wasn’t going to live to see tomorrow anyway, Daemon stayed calm.
“Maybe I’ll be able to make friends with this ghost after I’m sent to the chopping block.”, Daemon laughed. However his laughter quickly stopped as a ghostly figure phased through the wall and stared at him in the eyes {Link 4}. She had a ghoulish grey coat that was completely transparent, a brown mane and tail that were also transparent... and there were black voids where her eyes were supposed to be.
“Boo...”, the ghost pony said at the wide eyed stallion.
“H-hello...”, Daemon said, scared out of his mind.
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972544 Thank you, and I believe it gets better as it goes along.
973071 I would like to say, that I'n loving the plot of this story and the story itself, especially with the links you put in but you really need an editor or something to fix the sentences up etc. If you want, let me be your editor because I'm good with that sort of stuff and I would really love to see this story get more likes. Please consider what I am asking
..... ok ether A twilight needs to exsplain things in more detail in her future letters or B your celestia is a bit of a bitch... just saying cause she obviously doesnt know about the circumstance wich forced him to help raise Manehatten otherwise i doubt she would want to execute him
its a bit rude 
but then again now this gives us (the readers) an interesting thing to ponder wich is how celestia reacts to finding that infomation out. also if i were him id probably of ether A thrown the guitar at Celestia or B said Buck you and smashed it. so i probably would be in the same situation as him
looking forward to the next chapter AND IN THE NAME OF LUNA WHAT IS A GHOST DOING THERE?
(pinkie pie) OOO OOO doesitlikeparties?ibetitlikespartiesandcupcakeswithhotsauceormaybeitlikesdrinksmorelikepunchorappleci-
(me) PINKIE please dont invade my comments
(piinkie pie) okie dokie lokie
(me)...... by the way did u remember to bring cupcakes?
(pinkie pie) of course silly filly
(me) yay *bites one* GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOT SAUCE
(pinkie pie) well shadowless_nights run off so ill finish this comment for him *gasp*maybehewillsmileandwewillbecomebestoffriendsifiwritethis!!!!!
well hes looking forward to the next chapter bye!
975495 Sounds okay to me. I was actually hoping to find someone to edit for me. It's hard enough coming up with the story and drawing all the pictures to go with it, so editing is the last thing on my mind when I finish a chapter. In short, I would be happy to have you as an editor.
975887 It's all part of the story. Things will (probably) work out in the end. Trust me on this. 
976635 Yay
984379 Ezreal is my main and favourite character in League :P (As soon as I saw this when reading I felt that this story became 20% cooler).
984408 Well as far as I know I just used the name. Any other relation to the characters in the game would be a coincidence if there are any other similarities... haven't played the game but I have been told that I should when I get the chance.