The Queen of Shadows

by megabyte97

Colab Chapter: Entity of Water

Author's Note:

First Colab chapter of the story, and my first time writing fanfiction in 3rd person... To be honest, I think I'm going to stick to first person from now on.

Comments are appreciated so leave one down below if you have the time, and finally thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Finally, Echo had gotten the yellow chaos emerald after such a hectic mess of getting it in the first place. Princess Ember had it for her staff, yet somehow managed to learn how to utilize its power, it was a good thing he had Frostpool by his side through the hell. “Now to return back to Celestia to see if she can find the next emerald,” Echo said, making his way across the Ocean in his modified serpent draconic form. Echo was currently pondering if he should bring back Frostpool for another trip... Then again, perhaps it would be unwise considering Frostpool’s… questionable shenanigans and his strange ability to break the fourth wall, nothing is normal with that person.

Echo arrived to the East of Equestria, slowly climbing up onto shore and returning to his unicorn form, his original colors still the same blue and green, even if the strange ponytail (no pun intended) hair was part of it, it helped Echo blend in better with the population.

“Hello? The maker of this gem… are you there?” a feminine voice called out from the sky. “I swear if the multiverse decided to give me a useless token then by all the gods I will find a way to make it pay.”

Echo froze at where he stood when he heard the voice. “I suppose your plea isn’t urgent, considering you did not speak the prayer.” Echo answered back, his mind’s voice echoing back to her.

“Oh good, you’re actually responsive… You know what, screw it, Echo, I summon thee!”

Echo’s body took on an dark glow, the same color as the emerald that the voice held, and with a bright spark of chaotic energy, Echo vanished as if he had performed Chaos Control. He flew through the void, a little startled since this is the first time he’d experienced it, his body shaking and vibrating from the suction, threatening to pull him apart. Eventually he arrived on the other side, although the landing was a bit rough, his body almost lost its form on impact.

“Well now, aren’t you interesting,” the feminine voice stated from above him. Looking up Echo found what could only be described as a cross between a human and a pony looking down at him. Tan fur covered her body, at least what wasn’t covered by clothing. “A unicorn, but not one of solid matter. Maybe a side effect of using chaos magic? No, not a unicorn, but one that takes a shape similar to one… Tell me, are you an experiment of Discord’s?”

“Nay, however I used to be friends with Discord before he become the beast he is now, a pony that is nothing but a shell of his former self.” Echo said. Suddenly his body twirled around, taking on two glows of yellow and gold. He pulled upon the chaos within the two emeralds within his possession, taking on a form similar to the other humanoid pony. “Considering what Travis said to me, I’d assume Discord isn’t the same here?” Echo asked, now standing on two legs. He was still the same color of blue with snake-like emerald green eyes, the hair was the same style although longer to adjust to the body’s new height, and he was naked, though there is no… mentionables to be shown. “Where exactly am I, for that matter?”

“Well I guess the answers to your questions are: I have no idea seeing as I do not know your Discord, and we are in a town, specifically the temporary home of a contract holder,” the mare stated, pointing behind Echo with a hand holding a black chaos emerald. “Also, keep your voice down, I don’t want her waking up just yet.”

Turning around Echo found the temporary living space extremely dusty. Tiny hoofprints were clear to see in the fine layer of dust leading to a bed with a sleeping orange filly. The only lighting in the home came from a space off to the side holding several candles, a dagger, and a bleached skeleton.

A moment of silence passed as Echo inspected his newly formed hand. It felt strange yet familiar, like an lost distant memory he could never get back. Finally he responds “What exactly happened, though?” Echo asks, looking at the three questionable things in the room. It looked like some sort of ritual, but of course another familiar thing Echo wished he could remember.

“You’re going to have to narrow that question down a bit, a lot has happened. Most of it you probably wouldn’t understand unless you experienced it yourself.”

Echo gestured toward the strange ritual. “It looks like someone died, or possibly was sacrificed. I’m not familiar with this sort of magic. I suppose the first two things I said are false as I sense nothing chaotic, nothing left over, no death, no energy whatsoever,” Echo said, looking around the room once more. “I suppose I’ll find out later. according to your star orb token, you’re the Shadow Queen?” Echo asked, taking out the very thing from out behind his eyes. It appeared that his body served as storage, but it isn’t wet much like the red scarf around his neck and the other red gem.

“Fascinating…” the mare stated, bringing a hand to her mouth and leaning against a wall. “...Yes I am the Shadow Queen, and the ritual is a summons, although it is missing several key markings to actually work, I’ll give you that…” The mare blinked. “Wait… you’ve never come across bone magic?” The mare asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m going by throughts and theories, It doesn’t mean I know about it, then again, I suppose I might have at one time before I was reborn as this Entity of water…” Echo said, motioning toward his own body. “I wasn’t always like this.”

“Hmmm… Maybe a memory suppression spell? It could be your own mind trying to protect itself, but it is unlikely… Perhaps your magic is playing a game with you?” the Shadow Queen stated, looking at Echo like he was a puzzle she didsn’t have all the pieces to.

"It's a long story.” Echo said with a sigh. "I'll give you the abridged version - I woke up as a lake of water, met Starswirl, then as the years passed, slowly gained a solid form through absorbing chaos magic such as disharmony, chaos, destruction, the flow of time, created a unicorn form, tried to make a life for myself, ended up turning Starswirl the bearded into Discord, he blasted me with chaos magic, I became a huge draconic monster, flooded a quarter of Equestria, was sealed and frozen in ice by the royal sisters, many years passed, got free, fled, the Elements of Harmony befriended me, (although 'befriended' is stretching it, more like they assumed me as a friend without trying,) but I don’t consider the same for them, et cetera. I learned I was Displaced thanks to an overpowered being called Davis, then met another Displaced, then his other friend appeared by breaking reality known as Frostpool, I learned that the Chaos Emeralds were around, he helped me get the second one, and then a moment later, you summoned me here,” Echo said without even taking a breath. He is an being of water, breathing isn’t even part of his biological functions.

The Shadow Queen blinked before snorting, a small smile on her face. “It is amazing how much you assume,” she stated, walking towards Echo slowly.

Echo slowly raised an eyeridge, “I don’t assume, I go by what I know thus far, Davis told me that I had died in some sort of crash before arriving in my world of Equestria. If I could restore my memories, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

The Shadow Queen flicks the scarf around Echo’s neck with a finger and opens her mouth, “I’ll let you slide this time seeing as you’re apparently new to the multiverse, but the next time you are summoned be more careful. You automatically assumed that I was a friend, that I held no ill will towards you. ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is oftentimes much more than a warning. Be wary of those offering a smile and forgiveness, they always have a hidden agenda.”

“To be honest, I did not assume you as a ‘friend’ at first, Shadow Queen, considering your name, I merely explained my past to better shine upon your confusion. It was either that or leave myself shrouded in mystery,” Echo explained as he crossed his arms. “You hold my token, and with it not only do you hold a small portion of chaos energy to do with as you please, but you are the summoner and the dismisser, I cannot return until I fulfill whatever you need me for, so in short: Getting on your good side will allow me to go home sooner than later… Unless there was no purpose and you just needed someone to speak to?” Echo asked.

The Shadow Queen looked at Echo with flat eyes, “No, you assume a lot, there is always a way to break a contract, you simply need to find it. You introduced yourself as a former… god of destruction,” the mare stated, emphasizing the past tense of the title, “implying that you were either overthrown or you simply do not wish to have the title anymore. You stated that you destroyed a fourth of Equestria after Discord pumped you full of chaos magic, implying that you did not wish to do so… Be careful of what you say, not every individual in the multiverse is as forgiving as I am.”

“...I suppose...” Echo said quietly, and then remained silent for a moment. “...Though I regret only a little when I sent the fake emeralds. I cannot lie about my title, I did become a powerful being and that was only by Discord’s power alone, who knows what I could truly become if I had all seven emeralds of chaos,” Echo said, looking down at the ground. “I am only collecting them so that they do not fall into the wrong hands, Princess Ember showed what she could do with just one; even if it was an novice attempt at throwing Chaos Bolts, she was able to do it, she overthrew her father using it and became the Dragon Lord. While her father was indeed mad, he showed a little bit of pride in his daughter.” Echo shook his head, not really comprehending why someone’s father would not attempt to find a good punishment, since she did burn him rather badly.

“...Do you even know how chaos magic works?”

“It can be manipulated in any shape and form depending on how much you have, and so far I’ve only learned how harness it as attacks, to control an small fabric of time, to teleport from one place to another. This is all I know, I’m sure I could do much more if I absorbed more chaos energy at a slow, steady pace, or as I mentioned before: Chaos Emeralds,” Echo said, sighing and shaking his head. “I know, I’m new to this and that draconic form of mine was only a taste, yes, I became it unwillingly as I had no experience nor control, but in the end I will be able to do it. I don’t know what I’ll use it for, but it’ll be better under my control than the control of others, what happened in the past was only the past, not the present.”

“By the gods you actually don’t know…” the Shadow Queen whispered. Leaning back and crossing her arms, she got a contemplative look on her muzzle and started tapping a hoof to the dusty floor. The Shadow Queen sighed, “You do know that you are practically crippled until you learn how to use it, right?”

“...I know how to use it, but only in small amounts. It’ll take time and I’m in no rush, rushing would probably turn me into that beast of the past,” Echo said, talking about the past wasn’t exactly helping the mood. “As of now, I know enough to defend myself or escape if I can’t.”

The Shadow Queen stared at Echo for a time before sighing once more, “You know what, fine, if you are content with just being able to defend yourself and survive then be my guest,” she held up a finger. “I summoned you first so I am indebted to you, you can summon me one time free of charge, do you still have the star point?”

Echo nodded before slowly making it emerge from out of his chest. The Shadow Queen snaps her fingers and the orb changes color from black to a deep green, the spinning star inside seeming to speed up.

“Go home, Echo,” the Shadow Queen stated, snapping her fingers again. The chaotic entity disappeared a split second later. “You’re not useful right now anyway.” She continues walking back to the corner of the home and returning to her vigil over the sleeping filly.

Echo is sent through the void, returning to his Equestria with disappointment in himself. “Gods above, that was an embarrassing first impression on my part. I wish I could have offered more, or at least something in return… How could I have been so stubborn? She was trying to tell me that chaos magic is like a child, it only does what it wants to do...” Echo muttered to himself, slowly heading over to Celestia’s castle.

Comments

[DisplacedWriter]

It seems I made a typing mistake... "Sent the Emeralds" I meant to say "Sent the token fake emeralds"

[Guner]

‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is oftentimes much more than a warning.