The Guardian Shadow

by KnightBrony

Chapter 19: Revenge

Chapter 19

Revenge

I'm not quite sure how to describe being dead. It's kind of like floating in a ocean of darkness. You can't see, hear, say, smell, or feel anything. You exist and don't exist at the same time. The only thing you have are your thoughts.

The only thought running through my head was “I'm dead”

I'm dead. It's strange. That word, dead, holds so much power to the living. But when you're dead, it doesn't have as much strength.

What's even stranger, is I felt very peaceful. I knew I should be worried about the fact that I was dead. I knew I should be worried about my friends. But nothing. I felt peace.

That's when I heard something. A voice calling out in the darkness.

“Huh? How can that be? I'm dead. I shouldn't be able to hear anything,” I thought. The voice got louder.

“......Up...”

“Huh?”

“...ke...Up...”

The voice got clearer and louder until finally I could discern what it was saying.

“Wake up!!!!!!”

My eyes shot open. All my senses came rushing back. I could hear the sound of chains rattling. I could smell mildew. I could taste blood. I could feel pain. Lots of pain. Finally, I saw what was making the voice. What blood I had left chilled. It was the Ursa Major, still in it's cage. I tried standing up, but fell back down in pain. I looked down and saw that I was still a zebra and now sported three large holes in my chest. The Ursa Major leaned on one of it's paws, looking rather annoyed.

“Well,” it said.

Confused, I asked “Well what?”

“I'm waiting for my apology,” it said.

“Apology!? For what?”

“Oh, I don't know? How about being a complete idiot and getting your dumb ass killed!” it growled at me.

“You want me to apologize for dying!? That's ridiculous!”

“No. You know what's ridiculous. Having an idiot like you as a host,” the Ursa Major said.

“You think it's fun for me having a giant freaking bear living inside my head 24/7!? Especially one that snoops through my memories!” I said, clutching my chest in pain.

“You're in no shape to be arguing with me bucko,” it said.

“Whatever. Well I am dead, so what do you want me to do about it? It's not like I have multiple lives like a video game,” I said.

“Irrelevant. Point is, your my host and without you, I'll die too,” it said.

“Aren't you dead already?”

“Not entirely. Part of my soul is residing in your head.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, as long as you live, so do I.”

“Well that's lovely, but unless you have a magic potion to bring me back to life, I suggest that you prepare to meet the reaper,” I said walking away from the cage.

“I don't have a magic potion, but I can bring you back to life,” the Ursa said. I stopped in my tracks.

“What?”

“I know a way to bring you back to life.” I turned around.

“How?” I said walking back to the cage.

“As you've probably figured out, the Blessing grants you a healing ability. But there's another side to that power,” the Ursa said.

“How so?”

“When you killed me, part of my soul was tied to you, creating a symbiotic bond between us. You gain power and I stay somewhat within the realm of the living,” it said.

“Ok, but how does that bring me back to life?” I asked

“Right now, you're only able to access a fraction of the Blessing's power on your own. With my help, you can access much more,” the Ursa said, sounding a bit like a Sith Lord.

I raised an eyebrow. I turned away from the Ursa to think. I looked down at the holes in my chest. I cringed, remembering the pain of getting skewered, and hearing scarlet's cries of pain as I was killed. My decision was clear. I turned back to the Ursa.

“What do I have to do?” I asked. The Ursa smiled.

“All you have to do is let me take control of your body for a little bit, amplifying the powers of the Blessing,” it said.

“Ok. How do I do that?”

“All you have to do is let me out of this cage for a little bit,” it said motioning to the lock on the cage. I walked over to it, seeing that the key was already in the lock. I looked up at the Ursa.

“Can't you just let yourself out? The key's right here.” The Ursa face-pawed.

“If I could do that, don't you think I would have by now?” it said.

“Ok. But answer me this. What'll you do once I let you out? Are you actually gonna help me?” I asked.

“You're my host kid. If I don't help you, I don't help myself.” the Ursa said.

I looked at the lock once more “One more question. How do I know you'll give me control back once this is all over?” I asked.

The Ursa just looked at me and said “ You don't.”

I thought back to Scarlet's screams and my friends being tossed around like rag dolls. My decision was clear.

“Just promise me you'll save my friends,” I said grabbing the key.

“Whatever you say kid,” the Ursa said as I turned the key.

The lock glowed with an intense blue light as I could feel myself once again losing consciousness.

“Hurry up you idiots! We don't have all day!” Iron Spear yelled at his subordinates as they loaded more crates onto an airship inside of an abandoned warehouse, one of them dropping a crate in the process.

“You idiot! Be more careful with those!” Iron Spear yelled, generating a spear and pointing it at the minion that had dropped the crate.

“I'm sorry Iron Spear sir. It was an accident I swear,” he said. Iron Spear growled at him and made the spear disappear.

“Just get back to work, now!” he yelled as the minion ran to get back to his work.

“Let us out of here you spear wielding bastard!!” Iron Spear heard. He turned and saw that it was Nova, one of Shadow's friends that he had just recently captured. He was in a cage with the other three, all of them in chains. Iron Spear laughed and walked over to the cage.

“And why, pray tell would I ever do that?” he asked the chained pegasus.

“Because Shadow's going to kill you if you don't,” Nova said. Iron Spear laughed at this and looked the pegasus in the eye.

“You're friend Shadow is dead. I killed him myself,” he said in an arrogant tone.

“LIAR! Shadow would never be killed by someone like you!” the pegasus said struggling against his chains. Iron Spear laughed at his attempts.

“Just ask little red over there. She saw me kill him with her own eyes,” he said pointing at Scarlet. Nova looked over at Scarlet. Her face was puffy and red from crying and her eyes were lifeless.

“Scarlet, tell me this bastard is lying. Shadow can't be dead!” Nova said shaking Scarlet. Scarlet looked at him with dead eyes.

“It's true Nova. Shadow's dead,” she said, fresh tears forming in her eyes. Nova let her go and punched the ground.

“What's the matter dynamite boy, sad you're poor leader is pushing up daisies,” Iron Spear said mockingly

“Don't you dare insult Shadow! He's better than you'll ever be you creep!” Nebula said.

“Yes! Shadow good! You evil and scary and smell like death!” Jade said.

“You honestly think that fazes me. Those are compliments!” He said laughing at the four in the cage.

“I can't believe someone like you was a member of the Royal Guard,” Nova yelled. Iron Spear laughed some more and turned back to Nova.

“Well believe it. And once I send you four to the mines along with the other ones I've taken, I'll just tell the Princess Silver Tongue did it, say you all died, and return a hero.” he said.

“You're a monster!” Nebula said.

“Damn right! Now shut up and accept your-,”

“Iron Spear sir!” a minion yelled. Iron Spear turned around and saw that the minion, a unicorn stallion, was running toward him, blood running down his face.

“What's going on, and why are you covered in blood?” Iron Spear asked.

The minion struggled to breath “Sir, we have an intruder. He's outside slaughtering our troops. He's like an animal sir,” he said.

“Oh come on, there's no way that can be-” he was cut off by a something flying past him and hitting the wall. He looked and saw that it was the decapitated body of one of his minions.

“What in Tartarus is going on!?” he said as a wall exploded behind him. Iron Spear made one of his spears and got into a fighting stance.

“Who are you?” he asked as the smoke cleared. Through the smoke, Iron Spear could see bits and pieces of a figure. Whoever it was was tall, standing a couple feet taller than the princesses. The figure threw something at Iron Spear. The object rolled to his hooves, and he saw that it was the dead minion's head.

“Sorry, we had a bit of a disagreement. He wanted me dead, and I wanted him dead. I think you can see who won,” the figure said with a chuckle as he stepped out of the smoke. Iron Spears eyes went wide at who the figure was. It was Shadow. Except he looked vastly different. He looked more like a bear now than a zebra. He still had his mohawk and stripes, but he was taller with much shaggier fur and big, jagged claws and teeth

“That-that's impossible! I killed you! I made sure of it!” he yelled.

“Oh you did,” he said stepping closer to Iron Spear “He was dead as a door nail. That's why I'm here.”

“Shadow, is that really you?” Nova asked. 'Shadow' stepped toward the cage and looked inside.

“So you're Shadow's little group eh?” he said. They all looked at him confused. Scarlet looking at him in shock.

“What do you mean? It's us Shadow,” Nebula said.

“Yeah, there's a little problem with that, you see-” he whipped around and grabbed a spear that had been thrown at him. He looked and saw that Iron Spear had created five more.

“Well, someone's a little antsy,” 'Shadow' said snapping the spear in half.

“This is ridiculous! If killing you once wasn't enough,” his minions began to surround him “Then I'll just have to kill you again,” he said creating more spears.

'Shadow' smirked and cracked his neck “Finally, some real fun. It's been a while since I've had fresh meat, and guess who's hungry,” he said extending his claws.

“Get him! I don't care how, just kill him!” Iron Spear said as his minions charged 'Shadow'. 'Shadow' licked his lips. As the first minion charged at 'Shadow' with a sword, he grabbed him, picked him up, and tore him in half.

“Come get some!” he said ripping into a few more of Iron Spear's minions. 'Shadow' moved like a giant tank, slashing, ripping apart, and eviscerating anyone that got in his way.

“Come on, is this the best you got!?” he said decapitating one of minions. Iron Spear looked on in horror as his minions were ripped limb from limb.

“Sir, what should we do?” one of them asked. Iron Spear's response was to run as fast as he could the other direction. Shadow saw this and roared.

“Where do you think you're going coward!?” he said tossing one of the fallen minions axes at him. The axe hit Iron Spear in the leg as Shadow finished killing the last of his minions. Iron Spear tried to stand, but quickly fell back down. He desperately tried to crawl away, only to have his injured leg grabbed by Shadow and hoisted into the air.

“Oh how the tables have turned,” 'Shadow' said licking his lips.

Iron Spear had tears forming in his eyes “Please, let me go. I'll give you anything you want! Money, mares, anything! Just please don't kill me,” he said. 'Shadow' looked him right in the eye.

“A tempting offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. You see, while I have promises to keep to my weaker half, I have my own reasons for wanting to kill you.” he said extending his claws.

“You killed my host, and killing him means you kill me,” he said tracing a line along Iron Spear's chest.

“Now, let's see. You put three holes in Shadow, so I think I'll put three in you,” 'Shadow' said raising his claws.

“Please, stop!” Iron Spear begged.

“Too late for that pal, now die!” he said about to pierce Iron Spear's body. Iron Spear closed his eyes and waited for death. However, he opened his eyes to find that 'Shadow's' claws had stopped just short of their mark.

“What are you doing you idiot!? I have him in my grasp, let me kill him!” 'Shadow' said.

“He's not worth it. Let him go,” the real Shadow said.

“Come on, need I remind you that this is the guy that killed you, beat the shit out of your friends, and was going to send them to a mine to be slaves! Why shouldn't I kill him!?” he said, struggling for control of his body.

“If we do this, we're no better than him. Besides, look at him.” he said. 'Shadow' looked at Iron Spear. He was crying, sniffling, and had just soiled himself.

“So he's a weakling. That should stop me from killing him,” 'Shadow' said.

“Look, just don't kill him. If it'll make you feel better, you can knock him out or something.”

“Can I at least tear his leg off?” 'Shadow' whined. The real Shadow thought for a moment.

“That's fine too,” he said.

'Shadow' responded by tearing off one of Iron Spear's legs. Iron Spear screamed in pain.

“Oh shut up! Just be glad my other half wants you alive,” 'Shadow' said as he hit Iron Spear on the head to shut him up. He tossed his leg away and dropped Iron Spear on the ground.

“You should've let me kill him,” 'Shadow' said.

“Just get my friends out of that damn cage and give me back control. It's boring in here,” the real Shadow said.

“Welcome to my world,” 'Shadow' said as he ripped the bars on the cage off and broke his friend's chains. They all just stood there staring.

“Take a picture, it'll last longer,” he said.

“You're not Shadow, are you?” Nebula asked.

“You don't say,” he said making the face to go along with it.

“If you're not Shadow, then who are you?” Scarlet asked.

“I was wondering when you were gonna speak. Let's just say Shadow and I have a very......complicated relationship,” he said. Scarlet walked up to him and looked him up and down.

“Let me ask one thing. Are we gonna get our Shadow back?” she said.

“Well, while I do look damn sexy in this body, I'm afraid I promised my other half I'd give it back,” he said as his body started to glow blue and shrink dramatically.

“So long folks,” he said as his body returned to it's original form. Shadow shook his head, opening his eyes and smiling at the sight of his friends.

“Well, that was an adventure,” he said. Scarlet went up to him, touching her hoof to his face.

“Is it really you this time?” she said.

“It's really me Scarlet,” he said returning the gesture. Scarlet's eyes watered with tears as she wrapped Shadow in a hug, crying into his shoulder.

“Come on guys, let's go search to see what all Iron Spear was up to,” Nova said. Nebula and Jade nodded and went to search the warehouse.

“I'm sorry Scarlet,” he said as he stroked her hair, letting her get out all her emotions.

“I-I saw you die! It was horrible! I thought you were you dead you giant idiot,” she said pounding her hooves against his chest. He wrapped her in a hug.

“I know Scarlet, I'm sorry,” he said.

“How? How did you come back to life?” she asked, wiping tears from her face.

“It was the Ursa Major. He brought me back to life in exchange for letting him take my body for a joyride,” he said. He broke the hug and looked Scarlet in the eye.

“I wasn't sure if it would work, but there was one thing that gave me the strength to do it,” he said.

“What was that?” she asked.

“You Scarlet,” he said as he kissed her. Her eyes shot open in shock, but after a while she reciprocated the kiss. They stayed like that for a minute before breaking the kiss.

“Shadow that was,” he put a hoof to her lips.

“I know Scarlet,” he said with a smile. She smiled and blushed.

“Shadow, you better come see this,” Nova called. Shadow and Scarlet smiled at each other and went to go see what Nova had found.

When we found Nova and the others, they were standing next to an open crate.

“What's up Nova? You find something?” I asked. He shook his head.

“You're not gonna like it,” he said leading us to the open crate. Inside, Nebula was sitting next to a red pegasus mare, trying to comfort her. She looked like she hadn't eaten or bathed in weeks. She also had a few bruises and cuts here and there. She was shaking and crying into Nebula's fur.

“What's going on here?” I asked, a dangerous and concerned tone in my voice.

“We heard a noise coming from one of the crates and decided to open it. When we did, we found her in there. She hasn't talked much, but from what we could get out of her, she's been here for a while,” he said. I could see that he was trying his best to contain his anger. I couldn't blame him. After seeing this, I was finding it hard not to punch a hole in the wall.

“Where's Jade?” I asked.

“We sent her to keep an eye on that bastard Iron Spear. Me and Nebula were just waiting on you two,” he said, winking at the last part. Scarlet and I both blushed. We were about to make up an explanation, but Nova held up his hoof.

“Save it. It's your business, not mine,” he said in an odd show of maturity.

“Ok. For now, me and Scarlet will get the rest of these crates open. You and Nebula go check the airship. See if there's anyone on there,” I said. Nova nodded and he and Nebula went to go check the ship.

Scarlet and I spent the next hour or so getting the rest of the crates open. Unfortunately, we didn't find any of the other kidnap victims. What we did find was that nearly all of the crates were filled with either gems, weapons, or chains. Nova and Nebula returned from the airship after a while, carrying with them some more boxes of gems and a stack of papers. They had also managed to find Silver Thorn, which relieved me.

“Shadow! It's good to see your alive. But how?” he asked.

“It's along story buddy. I'll tell you later,” I said as I slung my sword onto my back. Nova handed me the stack of papers.

“What are these,” I asked taking the papers.

“Don't know, but they have Iron Spear's name on them,” he said. Nebula flew back over to the mare, who we managed to learn was called Lily, and gave her some food and water. I looked over the documents and saw that they all had numbers and figures on them. They were a list of transactions between Iron Spear and whoever he was selling people as slaves too.

“This bastard,” I said crumpling the paper.

“Shadow,” I heard Jade call. We turned and saw her dragging Iron Spear toward us, his stump where his leg used to be wrapped in a bloody cloth. She threw him in front of us, still unconscious

“What should we do with him?” Scarlet asked.

“For now just lock him in the ship's brig. If he wakes up, hit him over the head with something,” I said. Jade and Nova nodded as they dragged him onto the airship.

“So what do we do now?” Scarlet asked.

“For now, we go back to Canterlot, tell the Princess what we found, then figure out where the mine is that Iron Spear's been sending ponies to,” I said.

“Ok, but what about all these gems and weapons. We can't just leave this all behind,” Scarlet said. I looked up at the airship, a grin appearing on my face.

“I've got a plan,” I said as I walked up onto the deck of the ship.

Comments

[Classy Toad]

Trolololooool predictable zebra is predictable!

[JaDan]

Dammit the story is dead

[KnightBrony]

3207210
Dead? How do you mean?