• Published 18th Jun 2012
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The Legend of a Shadowmare - JasontheDemon



The story of Daemon and his fight to save his dying race.

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Preparing for War

Chapter 15: Preparing for War

The day after the Changeling queen, Chrysalis, tried to deceive Daemon, he was roughly awoken by Flara.

She flung him into a wall with the use of her magic and shouted “RISE AND SHINE, MAGGOT! YOU ARE IN FLARA’S TRAINING CAMP AND YOU ARE GOING TO HATE ME BY THE TIME THE SUN GOES DOWN!”.

Daemon proceeded to peel himself off the wall and said pleasantly, “Good morning Flara! I’m glad to see you’re feeling so energetic, but I don’t think I could ever hate you!”. As Daemon smiled, Flara put on her best psychotic grin and said, “oh, you will! You will...”.

Fluttershy entered the room soon after Flara’s ‘threat’. She was smiling as she trotted up to Daemon. “Good morning Daemon... hello Flara! You seem happy today!”, Fluttershy noted, seeing Flara’s evil smile. “Damn it! What’s wrong with ponies around here?! I’m supposed to be intimidating! All the Lightmares back at the base were terrified of making me mad! I was a 1st Lieutenant for bucks sake!”.


After calming down, Flara explained that it was going to be Ezreal’s and Aura’s job to get Daemon to unleash his rage and then they were going to keep him from causing mayhem while Fluttershy would snap him out of it. The process would continue for as long as it would take to make it second nature to the two ‘love birds’. Flara was going to keep an eye on things and make sure that nothing went wrong. This ‘training exercise’ was going to help Daemon to control his power and allow him to use it against the Lightmares. Since Daemons memories of fighting style and battle strategy seemed dead set on staying lost, they were going to try to control Daemon’s flaw and turn it into their greatest asset. If all went according to plan Daemon would be able to fight the Lightmare Legion in a week... and win.



First thing on the day's agenda was to find a place that was void of random civilians. They came across a meadow just outside town and decided that it was far enough away to suffice. Ezreal and Aura went about it like they would in the base. they lined up side by side and stood at attention. Ezreal was always unable to keep the average serious look on his face and ended up with a smirk that suited his personality.

Flara marched in front of them like she always did at the base, saying, “alright, we are here to train Daemon into an ultimate fighting machine. You will engage him in combat and activate his rage. You will then make sure nopony gets hurt as the process of taming him is underway. We need to accomplish this as soon as possible.”.

That’s when Flara noticed Pinkie Pie lined up among the two Lightmares, sitting at attention just like the stallions beside her. “Pinkie?! What are you doing here?!” Flara shouted in surprise.

“I thought the Corps would help me straighten out my life, ma’am!” Pinkie responded like she was in the army. Once again the pink pony seemed to be out of her little mind with the crazy statement. Flara always knew she was a bit random, but popping up out of nowhere, saying that she wanted to join the military? She must have went insane at some point in her life.

“Pinkie, this isn’t the Corps.”.{Link 1} Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. “It’s not? Okie dokie lokie!”, she said, bouncing off merrily.


Even though Pinkie managed to keep things interesting, now was not the time for jokes. Daemon grew increasingly nervous beside Fluttershy, knowing that he could easily kill everypony if Desdemonas theory was incorrect. Desdemona had gone to the chocolate factory earlier, to make up for the previous day. Even though the chocolate addicted mare was healed completely, Fluttershy was still sporting a bruise and a bandage over the cut on her cheek. Shadowmares were built for battle... but Fluttershy wasn’t. She was fragile. Incapable of harming a single soul because of her nature. Daemon was terrified for her, but Fluttershy calmed his nerves with than a simple touch and a gentle smile. Daemon couldn’t explain how her touch made him feel. It was as if he became instantly relaxed whenever he was in contact with her. It wasn’t that natural feeling that you get when someone calms you down either... it was more like all but the most pleasant emotions were shut off all at once. However, even though there was more to it than met the eye, Daemon still had doubts and fears for what was to come.


“Okay Daemon... are you ready?”, Flara asked after he was in position.

“Uh, I don’t thin-” Daemon was quickly cut off by Aura Flash ramming into him, sending the unprepared Shadowmare to the ground.


“THAT’S TOO DAMN BAD! IF YOU’RE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS, YOU ARE GOING TO FIGHT NOW!”, Flara shouted.

Flaras harsh order to attack Daemon in such an unsporting fashion was part of her plan. To unleash Daemons rage he had to either get mad to the point where he couldn’t help it or snap suddenly from an unexpected attack. Unfortunately, her plan may have worked too well.


When Daemon snapped, he rushed Ezreal, pinning him by putting his hoof against his throat. As Daemon increased the pressure he put on the Lightmare, Fluttershy couldn’t help but stare in shock. Daemons ruthlessness was almost too much to bear. Before her very eyes, the Shadowmare that she cared for so much went from being his normal sweet self... to a monster who looked as though he was enjoying squeezing the life out of the small blond stallion. Flara was yelling at Fluttershy who was, at the moment, frozen from the shock of what she was seeing. Much like when Daemon was out of control while infected with Poison Joke, her brain was telling her to move, but her body wouldn’t respond. Aura had to do something to keep Daemon from killing Ezreal, so he ripped a tree from the ground and chucked it at Daemon. The Shadowmare leapt over the flying hunk of timber and dove for Aura. Ezreal quickly regained his breath and used his magic to slam Daemon to the ground before he reached his target.


As the fighting continued, Fluttershy was in her own little world. She was having flashbacks of all the great times she had with Daemon. The time they went to the pond and he sang for her; when they first met and she bandaged his leg; how he taught her how to use the quick-stream; the first hug they shared after he was ‘imprisoned’... and every time he said that he loved her. The images flooding her mind were replaced by all the times she had stopped him from succumbing to his dark flaw. First when Discord came back and Daemon nearly killed him. The second time when the Poison Joke altered his genes and made him go mad as he was slowly changing into a Lightmare. Finally, the day before, when he was ready to slaughter Chrysalis. Every time he changed, Fluttershy had pulled him back. She had been the one to keep him from killing every single time. She was the key. She was his pacifier; his guardian; the savior to his soul.


When Fluttershy came out of her trance, both Ezreal and Aura were on their last legs. They had put up a great fight, but Daemon was far too skilled in his current state. Daemon was just standing in front of the two stallions... looking as cold and ruthless as any cut-throat assassin.

It took a moment for Fluttershy to realize that Flara was still shaking her and screaming, “SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU NEED TO STOP DAEMON! WAKE UP!”. Fluttershy started to move towards Daemon.

She walked slowly, but at least she was moving now. When she came within five feet of Daemon, he noticed her and turned around. His horn started to glow as Fluttershy inched her way to him. Daemon’s horn fired a laser that barely missed Fluttershys face, cutting roughly three hairs in the process. Fluttershy remained unfazed as if she didn’t even see what happened. The stallions horn started to charge for a second blast, but the moment Fluttershy wrapped her arms around him, it died down. Daemons fierce expression softened and he hugged her back, smiling out of relief.


The next couple of days consisted of repeating the process. Every day would be better than the last. Fluttershy soon lost her fear of his rage completely and started seeing it as him throwing a tantrum. After six days of rigorous practice, Fluttershy was able to snap him out of it by simply shouting, “Daemon, that’s enough!”. Also with each passing day, Daemon would go to find Vinyl Scratch and they would work on what Daemon said was a ‘secret project’. Whatever it was, it seemed Daemon was able to keep it a mystery from everypony.


Fluttershy took the time she had off to make sure all the animals were well taken care of, but since she had made a process to make the ordeal run smoothly and quickly, she was often at a loss of what to do. Since the ‘taming’ of Daemon went without many problems, it was safe to say the final battle was soon to come. Fluttershy should have been a nervous wreck, but oddly enough, she was actually looking forward to the day where they would be able to live peacefully without fear of a Lightmare attack. It was amazing how much Fluttershy had changed since she met Daemon. She used to be afraid of her own shadow, but now she was able to feel at ease knowing that the fight of their lives was soon at hand. ‘I guess being around a Shadowmare has that effect on you’, Fluttershy thought as she approached Flara for another day of training. Daemon was right beside her, smiling with no sign of nervousness like he had on the first day. The two were now highly trained and synchronized soldiers of purity.

They were expecting Flara to shout her usual orders, but instead she smiled and declared, “You have passed ‘Flara’s boot camp for the weak’... congratulations. Your training is complete and I’m giving you the rest of the day to do as you please. Have fun... or don’t, it’s up to you.”.

Daemon shouted with glee did a backflip in celebration, while Fluttershy smiled politely, content with taking the less dramatic approach to show her appreciation.


“Hey, Daemon now that we are free for the rest of the day, do you want to go see Applejack?” Fluttershy asked. Daemon placed his hoof on his chin and assumed a thinking pose.

“Hmm... Do you mean on her farm?”, the Shadowmare asked.

“Yes.”.

“Well if thats the case... buck that! She always finds a way to make me work for her when I visit her farm! I would really like to not spend my time off working, thank you!”, Daemon exclaimed.

The two decided to visit Rainbow Dash instead, since she was more about having fun than the orange earth pony. The rainbow maned pegasus was currently going about town pranking ponies with Pinkie. Daemon had never performed a prank before but he wanted in on the action. Rainbow Dash guided him in the way of the most classic prank of all time... the whoopie cushion!

“Okay, first you inflate it. Then you find a nice unsuspecting target.”, she explained gesturing to Pinkie who was acting as a volunteer for the stunt. “Finally, you put the cushion on their chair and offer them to take a load off!”.

The pink mare demonstrated by sitting on the seat that was primed for the prank. It let out a revolting sound and Daemon fell over, unable to stop laughing.

“Is this your first time seeing a prank or something?”, Rainbow Dash asked the hysterical stallion.

“Ha-y-haha yesss! Ha ha ha ha ha!” Daemon barely managed to say over his laughter. After Daemon caught his breath and stopped giggling, he asked if he could borrow the rubber cushion. Against her better judgement, Rainbow allowed him to use it. Daemon took the opportunity he was given to pay Twilight a much needed visit. He kept the object of hilarity hidden from the purple unicorns sight as she came downstairs. She was clever enough to see the hidden cushion in the reflection of a mirror on the wall. Daemon offered her a seat by him, but knowing what he had in store Twilight declined and chose a chair across the room. However, Twilight wasn’t as clever as she thought and Daemon managed to move the whoopie cushion under her with his magic before she sat down. Hearing the sound she thought she avoided, Twilight was surprised. She leapt to her hooves while blushing to see that Daemon had actually outsmarted her. Spike was watching the whole time and joined Daemon in his well earned laughter.


After Daemon was done pranking for the day, the sun was setting and he had one last thing he wanted to do. Since they were done practicing the control of his rage, that meant that tomorrow they would have to face the Lightmares for one final battle... winner take all. If he lost, he wanted his last memories to be pleasant, so he went to find Fluttershy. She was on a grassy hill staring out at the sunset when he found her. The breeze was blowing through her mane and the way she was looking out in the distance made her look like Princess Celestia... wise, serene, kind, and composed. She had an air of confidence surrounding her that made Daemon almost forget why he came.{Link 2} When she turned to look at him, Daemon suddenly remembered what he wanted to ask and got nervous.

“Daemon? What is it? Is there something wrong?”, Fluttershy asked. Daemon started to sweat as he stuttered through his question.

“Uh, y-yeah. I was just thinking that, um, we never had a chance to do this before and I thought that it would be nice... and, uh, what I’m trying to say is...”. Daemon never had so much trouble talking to anypony before. Fluttershy tilted her head, wondering what could have been making him act so strange... she quickly got her answer.

“WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME?!”, Daemon shouted with his eyes clenched shut out of nervousness.


Fluttershy giggled and responded, “Of course, Daemon... but It’s getting late and I don’t think we could go anywhere in town since they all left for the Lightmare battle tomorrow.”.

Relieved that she didn’t shoot down what could be his last request, Daemon cheerfully said, “That’s okay! I didn’t want to go anywhere special. I just thought we could do something simple like watch Luna raise the moon or stare at the stars. I always liked the stars. I used to connect them and make pictures when I was just a colt.”.

“That sounds like it would be very nice...”. Daemon explained to Desdemona what they were going to do back at the cottage. She said that she didn’t care and he didn’t need to tell her such trivial things because she wasn’t his babysitter. Desdemona was starting to seem more like a regular mare recently. She didn’t act mad all the time and she actually smiled on rare occasions. Her actual laugh was still a mystery however. No matter what happened the most anypony would ever get is a small smile... and it always looked awkward, like she had only recently learned how.

‘At least she’s a little happy... I guess that’s all we can ask for.’ Daemon thought as he made his way toward an open field covered in long lush grass.

Fluttershy was right beside him, smiling as usual. They had come a long way from their first encounter. Daemon was nothing more than an unknown stallion with a lost memory. Fluttershy was just a common pegasus with a fear of almost everything (including heights, being mocked, enclosed spaces, and her own shadow).

“Hey Fluttershy, I bet you can’t catch me!” Daemon shouted, running off into the moonlit meadow.

“I bet I can!”, Fluttershy shouted in return, chasing after the childlike stallion.

Daemon was able to keep Fluttershy just out of reach as they leapt around. Before she realized it, Daemon vanished from Fluttershys sight. She started to get scared from how eerily quiet things were. Fluttershy began to panic and looked around as she heard the sounds of nocturnal creatures. Suddenly just as she was about to run away in terror Daemon leapt from the grass concealing him and pounced on the mare.

“Ha! I caught you!” Daemon said staring into a pair of aqua eyes.

“I thought I was supposed to catch you.”

“Oh yeah... I forgot! Ha ha ha!” Daemon laughed as he flipped off of the yellow pegasus.


They started to relax as they picked formations of stars out of the sky. Daemon showed Fluttershy all the constellations he made up when he was little. The shear number of images that he showed Fluttershy was astounding, but what was even more astounding was that he had a name for them all.

“...And that one is Steve, the magical blue donkey. See how he’s casting a spell on Blaine, the fire turtle? Ooh! And that’s Desdemona! The mud eating meanie face!”, Daemon said, making Fluttershy laugh. {Link 3} {Link 4}

They continued to stay up under the stars, talking for hours. Daemon told of all the things he did while traveling, all the sights he had seen, and all the amazing creatures he had come across. Fluttershy would tell him her adventures with her friends in return. It was at least one o’clock by the time Fluttershy fell asleep. Daemon got up and used his magic to gently place her on his back. As he was walking home, he felt completely satisfied with how things had turned out. He was happy and knowing that he had done all he wanted, he felt like whatever happened tomorrow would be fine with him. He didn’t care if this was his last day in Equestria... because he now knew what it was like to truly be in love.