Golden Shadows

by Sylif Daring Doo

The mission.

_______*fifty minutes later, nearing the entrance to the mine.*_______

Sapphire grunted as she sat down on a nearby rock. "We've been going in circles Skitter, you clearly got us lost." She stated.

Skitter sighed as she examined the area carefully. "At least I'm trying to get us there, unlike you." She countered.

"Well I don't like the idea of us getting lost while searching for a crystal mine, especially when the scouts are offering to give directions." Sapphire said as she catched her breath.

Skitter huffed. "We don't need directions sis, what we need is to find this mine and ensure its safe for our hive to harvest from." She replied with stubberness.

"And why does that mean we can't ask the people who know where it is?" Sapphire asked curiously.

Skitter looked at her sister and then she went back to examining the rocky terrain. "Simple, we can't exactly be Manti if we rely on others to do the work for us." She stated easily.

Sapphire sighed to herself and stood up. "Follow me Skitter, I'm tired of going in circles." She muttered.

With that said, Sapphire led a grumbling Skitter to the entrance of the crystal mine, which was a twenty minute walk away. "The scouts found this, it's only right to ask them where they found it, now come on." Sapphire stated with a smirk.

Skitter had replied by muttering something like 'I could have found it' quietly, but didn't openly continue the conversation.

The crystal mine was dimly lit by the crystals embedded in the stone, there didn't seem to be any signs of life in the cave. "How far did they search?" Skitter asked.

Sapphire approached a green crystal and spoke. "They stopped when they reached a crossroads, we just need to take our time with our search, better thorough than fast." She stated.

"Better fast than inactive." Skitter countered.

They walked for a while through the crystal mine, it was quiet up until they reached the crossroads, where the path branched off into two different directions. "Which way then?" Skitter asked.

Sapphire sighed and pointed down the path on the right. "That way I guess." She said.

At that, the sisters walked in silence, listening for anything that could cause a problem, they heard no sound for ten whole minutes, until they reached a large chamber that went deeper and deeper by way of a suspension system, where one stood in a metal box and was lowered down. "Let's just stay on this level for now." Skitter suggested.

Sapphire nodded and looked around for anything of value or of note, as did Skitter.

The chamber was very large indeed, there were boxes strewn about, large boulders lay on the ground, tables and mining equipment were scattered about, the ceiling was high up, but they weren't even able to see the bottom of the pit.

Skitter soon noticed a single piece of paper on a table, it had blood stains on it and was next to a large pile of crystal, she walked over curiously and picked up the paper. "Sapphire, listen to this." She said.

"Our lord tasked us with mining this crystal, I personally couldn't care about his reasons, he payed well and that was good enough for me.........what a fool I was, two weeks into the operation, things began to go wrong, equipment broke more often, workers screaming as though they were possessed, most of us believed that the mine was cursed......they were both right and wrong." Skitter cleared her throat for the next part.

"We continued our operation once things calmed down, but that was a mistake, we had delved too deep and woke something that had been alive down here, it attacked us with strength and magic that I had never seen before, some of us survived, I hope.......as for me? My leg was shattered, and I'm bleeding out, I can only hope that whoever reads this is smart enough to run........this mine is not worth it." The note stopped and Skitter looked down at a nearby skeleton. It had a large crystal spike in its chest, as well as a leg that was almost completely destroyed.

"What did you wake up?" She wondered.

A loud crash and a violent rumble shook the mine, the vibrations themselves were incredible crystals and rocks fell to the ground, and any equipment or such was shook so much that most of it fell over, it lasted about a minute before it settled.

Sapphire looked around and saw the damage. "I really hope we don't have to deal with whatever caused that." She said.

"Same here, but we don't have a choice, our mission is to clear this mine of anything that could impede us." Skitter replied as she started walking to the metal box, she got inside. "You can't be serious." Sapphire said.

"Come on, let's get going." Skitter said firmly.

Sapphire sighed and walked over, she got inside and Skitter lowered it with the lever.

The box was small and uncomfortable, clearly not meant for more than one person at once, it soon stopped and a metal gate opened, allowing them access.

"Let's go." Skitter said as she walked through the gate, her sister begrudgingly following behind.

Once they were through the gate, they walked through the narrow tunnels. "Do these tunnels seem off to you Sapphire?" Skitter asked.

Sapphire nodded as they walked. "These are deliberate, clearly whoever made these didn't want to harm the earth more than necessary." She said.

They soon reached an empty chamber and saw that it had two doors, on to the left, and one straight ahead. "Keep your guard up, there's no telling what's down here." Skitter said.

With that, the sisters walked to the door on the left and opened it, it creaked open loudly and slowly, Sapphire fired a magic flare into the dark room, lighting it up and revealing around twenty people, fifteen earth ponies, and five diamond dogs, they all snapped their heads to face the sisters and roared at them.

On an instinct, Skitter used her magic and ignited her hooves and horn, creating claws of fire and throwing a cone of flames at the small horde of hostiles.

Four of them were incinerated but the rest charged quickly, and recklessly, no attempts to dodge, no usage of cover. "I don't think they know what they are doing!" Skitter said as she used her claws to kill an earth pony.

Sapphire took to the skies and fired a small barrage of magical blasts, hitting three diamond dogs in the head, she then used her magic and flew into the fray, using her now razor sharp wings to slice and dice any in her path.

The horde was dropping rapidly, and in half a minute, only two earth ponies and one diamond dog remained, Skitter fired two fireballs and incinerated the former miners.

The diamond dog roared. "This is not over impure ones! the master shall end you!" He screamed before lunging at Sapphire.

The changeling sisters easily dispatched of the crazed diamond dog, afterwards, Skitter knelt down and examined his face.

"His eyes are bloodshot and forced open, no eyelids that I can see, his teeth were filed erratically and his nose is broken, his ears are the same way." Skitter looked at her sister. "There's no way he should be alive, if he was in his right mind he wouldn't be able to see smell or hear." She stood up and proceeded to examine the others.

Sapphire watched as Skitter examined the bodies, it took ten minutes total before she stood up. "They all have similar injuries, the only inconsistencies are the injuries themselves, but they all point to the same thing.......these people did this to themselves, whether they were in control or not, I'm guessing they were obsessed with eliminating their basic senses." Skitter looked around the room. "They weren't living here, it's obvious they were standing here the entire time, as if on standby." She concluded.

"We need to get out of here, we aren't prepared for something that can do this." She stated, gesturing to the bodies.

Skitter shook her head. "If we leave now, what's to stop this thing from doing THIS, to others?" She asked, gesturing to the bodies.

Sapphire sighed. "Fine.....but I still think we are in over our heads."

With that said, they left the room and headed for the other door.

Skitter took a breath and opened the door, Sapphire fired another magic flare into the room and it lit up, it was large and empty, save for multiple boulders with large crystals in them throughout the room. "What the hell?" Skitter wondered as they entered the room.

Once inside, Skitter walked up to one of the boulders and examined it. "Skitter no!" Sapphire shouted.

Skitter ignored her sister as she looked closer at the boulder. "Strange, the crystals are.....growing here, like a tree." She observed.

"Skitter, there's nothing here but rocks......lets go!" She shouted in a panicked tone.

As if on cue, the door to the room slammed shut and the flare died out.

The room was pitch black for a second until the crystals started glowing, and numerous crystals suddenly shot out from the walls and ceiling, covering most of the room in them.

Skitter quickly tried to get back to Sapphire but a large rock fist infused with Rubies slammed in front of her. "This isn't good." She whispered as she turned around.

Both of their eyes widened as a large creature made of crystals and rock stood in the center of the room, it's left arm was infused with rubies, the right was jet, the left leg was emeralds, the right was sapphires, the body was diamonds, and the head was aquamarine.

When the creature threw a punch at Skitter, she dodged the surprisingly fast fist, and retaliated with a stream of fire at its chest.

The creature just let the fire hit it, it threw another punch but this time at Sapphire.

Sapphire's eyes widened as she flew away, she threw a volley of magic blasts at the creature, but it simply let it hit, she then decided to try a different attack, she sharpened her wings and flew at the creature at high speed.

Skitter fired a large barrage of fire at the creature, intensifying the heat to incredible levels, her flames hit the creatures leg but it didn't do anything at all. "Impossible, that fire could burn through solid steel." She muttered.

Sapphire's attack didn't go well either, her wings caused no damage and were damaged in the process, she screamed in pain as the creature punched her away.

Skitter quickly caught Sapphire by leaping toward her, she landed on the ground hard and Sapphire rolled out of her grasp, landing five feet away.

Skitter breathed shakily as she looked at the creature. "Saph! get up!" She shouted.

The creature then raised its right hand and crystals from the walls and ceiling flew to its hand, pink and green, red and blue, crystals of all colors were now covering its hand.

With a swift punch, the creature threw a powerful punch toward Sapphire, who was just barely starting to get back up.

Skitter gasped and time seemed to slow down for her, in a split second, without any thought, she charged ahead and stood in front of Sapphire, conjuring the strongest shield she could manage, while using her body to support it. "Gah!" She grunted from the sheer force of the impact.

Skitter stared the fist straight down, not willing to give up even as her barrier started to fail.

It was then that the crystals began to glow, brighter and brighter until they were blinding. "AAAAAAAHHH!" Skitter screamed, the pain surged through her body as the barrier fell and the fist impacted.

Skitter flew back and slammed against the door, she fell to the ground hard, unable to stand due to the pain.

Sapphire had barely managed to move, and when she looked and saw Skitter on the ground, she gasped and proceeded to fire an unrelenting barrage of magic at the creature, her fury making her uncaring if they did damage or not.

Skitter cried out in pain as she tried to move, she grit her teeth and tears fell down her face, she opened her eyes so she could see what was going on, but to her shock, she could see nothing. "W-w-what the hell?" She muttered shakily, she forced her way through the pain and waved her hoof in front of her face but saw nothing. "I-i-i-I can't see." She stammered.

Sapphire panted as she stopped firing, her exhaustion was now taking its toll. "All that training......all of it, a waste." She whispered, tears forming under her eyes.

Skitter then heard crying, she recognized it as Sapphire and tried to walk over, only to trip on her hooves. "Gah!" She cried out as she fell down. "I......I can still fight." She muttered as she aimed her horn at where she thought the creature was, she channeled her magic trying to fire a spell, only for a sharp pain to take over.

"Aaaaaaaahhh!" She screamed as she held her head, she felt something changing from within, it quickly passed, but Skitter felt different now.

Skitter pushed past the pain one last time and aimed. "Stay away from my sister!" She shouted before firing a spell that came to her head suddenly.

From Sapphire's perspective, it was astonishing, Skitter had suddenly fired a small spark of magic that clung to the creature, and to her surprise, all the crystals in the room suddenly shot towards the creature, severing its arms and legs, and then it's head from its body, and to finish it off, one giant crystal spike shot into the creatures chest.

Skitter was now panting heavily, she had used far too much magic, and suffered incredible wounds, she grunted in pain and collapsed to the floor unconscious.

_______*later.*______

Skitter groaned as she awoke. "Ugh......what happened?" She asked herself quietly.

"Sis your awake!" Sapphire's voice said happily.

Skitter opened her eyes only to find she couldn't see, she felt her face and noticed a cloth over them. "Why are my eyes covered?" She asked, while she was happy she wasn't in constant pain, she was curious.

"After you passed out, your eyes started to bleed, I brought you back to the hive and the healers got to work, they should be good as new." Sapphire stated.

Skitter gulped and shakily reached for the cloth, but she set her hoof down at her side instead. "Can.....can you do it?" She asked nervously.

Skitter felt Sapphire remove the cloth, but to her sorrow, she still couldn't see. "Skitter, what happened to your eyes!?" Sapphire asked, her voice was panicked and concerned.

"I......I'm blind?" Skitter mumbled shakily, she then cleared her throat. "What......what do they look like?" She asked.

Sapphire sighed and placed her hoof on Skitter's. "They.......they are a beautiful gray with a prismatic shine to them." She answered quietly.

Skitter shook and began to cry, it was quiet but still noticeable. "Why?.....why did this happen? why didn't I listen to you Saph?" She asked herself through the tears.

"Skitter....." Sapphire's voice said quietly, her tone was one of concern and compassion, but Skitter wasn't listening anymore.

______*the next day.*_______

Skitter was being walked home by Sapphire, who insisted they walk together. "It'll never be the same." Skitter muttered. "I can't go and have fun with the Black Cloud anymore, and I can't go out into the field." She whispered.

Once Sapphire brought them into their home, she talked. "At least your alright." She said, before gasping at her poor choice of words.

Skitter's anger quickly took hold as she looked in the direction Sapphire was in. "ALRIGHT!?" She shouted. "I am fucking blind! I. AM. NOT. ALRIGHT!" She shouted, her magic spiking.

Sapphire cried out as Skitter heard cracks in the floor and walls, she shook her head clear and her breathing was panicked. "Saph!.....are you hurt!?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine!" Sapphire replied quickly.

"What.......what did I just do?" Skitter asked herself. "I think I went to throw fire, but......" She was cut off.

Sapphire walked over slowly and hugged Skitter. "You summoned crystals........I am so sorry Skitter!" She said sadly.

Skitter simply embraced her sister and whispered. "I.......I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten angry, it is going to take a lot of work to get used to this." She said. "I, I'm not sensitive about my eyes, really.......I just don't know what got into me." She added.

Skitter heard something moving which Sapphire confirmed to be the crystals receeding. "I.....I have to give the Queen my report, do you want to sit down or something?" Sapphire asked.

"Thanks, just......lead me to my room I guess." Skitter replied.

After slowly navigating to Skitter's room and getting her on her bed, Sapphire left to deliver her report.

'Life is never going to be the same.' Skitter whispered as she lay in her bed.

______*a few months later.*_______

Skitter was currently in the training grounds waiting on Sapphire, they had both been promoted to junior Manti, and Skitter was bored.

They had discovered that Skitter's magic had been altered irreversibly, she could only use her new crystal magic, and other non elemental magic, and while this had resulted in a unique spell that allowed Skitter to somewhat see, it also meant that the fire magic she was so attuned with was now worthless.

Skitter sighed as she closed her eyes. "What's the point of promoting me if I can't see? I can't be a hunter like this." She muttered.

Soon enough, a voice said. "I'm back sis." Sapphire's voice said.

Skitter nodded. "Finally, let's get back home Saph." She said before standing.

"So how did you do?" Skitter asked.

Sapphire groaned. "It was exhausting, picking up a trace of movement from almost nothing?.....how do they do it so easily?" She wondered.

Skitter chuckled. "Training, dedication, experience." She listed off the reasons one by one.

Sapphire sighed. "Your unbelievable." She whispered.

Skitter grinned. "You mean I'm un-BEE-lievable?" She joked.

"That was awful." Sapphire replied.

Without a response, Skitter simply walked back home in silence.

They walked for a while until they reached the house, they went inside and Sapphire plopped down on the couch. "I really hope next time isn't as bad." The changeling mumbled.

Skitter walked to her room door. "Wouldn't count on it." She mumbled.

______*that night.*_______

Skitter sighed as she grabbed her medallion, Sapphire had gotten it made for her as a birthday gift, and had refused to allow Skitter to get her one, stating that she didn't need one at all.

Skitter pocketed the medallion in her backpack and grabbed one more thing from her room, a small bag of bits that she had gotten from Cloudsdale.

'I've been putting this off for too long, if Sapphire is going to be free, she can't take care of me all the time.' Skitter thought to herself as she quickly wrote a note and left it on her bed.

Skitter walked to the front door quietly, she opened it and looked back, her blind eyes may not be capable of sight, but there were good memories of this place, and now they would never be the same, she sighed to herself and left the house, shattering her heart and leaving her only true family behind. "I'm sorry Saph.........I really am." She said quietly as she let a tear out.

______*present day, Ponyville.*______

Skitter sat in Lyaroa's house impatiently. "Is this really necessary?.......I was doing just fine before." She stated.

Lyaroa had invited Skitter over with an offer, while the changeling had Garth back, she was still blind. "Yea, barely able to see more than thirty feet, your sight is great." The sentinel teased as she sat in front of the changeling.

Skitter grunted, it was true that her magical sight was amazing to have in the other timeline, but it was getting worse and worse over time.

Lyaroa's offer was simple, and very generous, she offered to let Skitter and Garth move in, she would even heal Skitter's sight.

"What if I like being blind after so much time?" Skitter countered, her stubberness was truly amazing. "You just told me that you left your family behind because of your blindness, and now you are telling me you want to keep it?" Lyaroa asked.

Skitter thought on it for a moment before sighing in defeat. "No......fine, heal it, but I would like to see what my eyes actually look like before any other changes like a reset of eye color." She replied.

Lyaroa nodded and held her hand out, she channeled her energy into Skitter and repaired her damaged eyesight, the changeling had her eyes closed as this went on.

Once the sentinel was done, Skitter took a deep breath. "Ok......here goes nothing." She muttered.

Her eyes opened slowly and were bombarded by bright lights, dim lights, colors, and just flat out sight itself!......she gasped at the overwhelming sensation and looked at Lyaroa, really looked, her white fur, her cyan pupils, red scelra, the fuzzy wolf ears, her claws and fluffy tail, and her blue jeans and white hoodie, she then looked at her hooves, seeing their black color was incredible. "Here." Lyaroa said.

Skitter looked over and saw Lyaroa had a hand mirror, she looked into and saw her face, for the first time in a long time she was able to actually see her face, her eyes were indeed as Sapphire said, gray with a prismatic shine, she took a few deep breaths to help calm down. "This is amazing!" She said happily.

Lyaroa nodded with a smile. "Your welcome." She replied.

Skitter looked at Lyaroa and quickly lunged, she embraced the sentinel In a deep bear hug, which was returned. "Well well Migraine, someone seems to be happy." Roxanne's teasing voice said.

Skitter looked and examined Roxanne carefully, her white fur, the faded red patches of fur, the fox ears and tail, her beautiful Amber eyes, even the jeans and shirt she wore. "Whoa........" She muttered as she broke the hug up.

Roxanne chuckled and met Skitter half way. "I take it you can see Skitter?" The fox asked.

Skitter nodded and looked up at Roxanne's face. "Man.......Lyaroa!" She shouted as she looked at the sentinel who seemed startled. "What?" The sentinel muttered.

Skitter pointed at Roxanne. "Why didn't you tell me Roxanne was hot!?" She snapped.

Roxanne looked at Lyaroa who seemed too flabbergasted to answer that question accurately. "I-i-i uh? I didn't know you were blind?" She answered pathetically.

Skitter groaned and looked at Roxanne. "I think we need to work on her some more." She commented.

Roxanne shrugged. "Eh, I like her as she is, it wouldn't be the same otherwise." She said.

Skitter walked over to Lyaroa. "Thanks Lyaroa, seriously, and about your offer?" She leaned in and kissed the Sentinel's left cheek. "I'll start packing." She said, winking before walking to the door.

Lyaroa rubbed her cheek as Skitter disguised before leaving to enjoy her new sight. "Since when did Skitter kiss people?" She wondered.

"Don't make it weird Migraine, come on, we need to set up a room or two." Roxanne stated.

_____*outside.*_____

Skitter was in her disguise as Gem, and she was loving her new sight, being able to see again after so many years was like a miracle, she wasn't acting out strangely, that of course would draw attention, of course, she was definitely happier, that much was clear on her face.

And by the time she neared her home, she had started to calm down again, she walked inside and closed the door, dropping her disguise.

Skitter's house wasn't anything special, it had plain walls and floors, little decoration and only the bare necessities. "Guess I don't have a lot of packing to do." She said to herself.

She quickly headed for her room to check on Garth, she had left him here with Sapphire until she got back, and sure enough, when she entered the room, they were both here. "Hey Saph." Skitter said.

Sapphire looked at Skitter and smiled. "He just fell asleep, I'm amazed that he hasn't grown yet, born differently or no, he is a changeling." She stated.

Skitter walked over and sat down on the bed. "You know Sapphire, I almost didn't believe you when you told me my eye color." She said ominously.

Sapphire blinked. "Why are you bringing this up now? even if I did tell you a lie, there's no way you would.......know." Her eyes widened as Skitter smiled. "Skitter.......are you able to see me?" She asked curiously.

Skitter grinned. "I'm back and better than ever." She replied.

Sapphire immediately hugged Skitter tightly, which was returned gently. "This is amazing sis!" She said.

"Yea I know, but let's not do anything major right now okay? I want to take my time with this." Skitter stated.

Sapphire nodded. "So.......what will you do now?" She asked.

Skitter shrugged. "For one, I'm going to move, not out of town, but out of this dump." She stated, pointing to an unfinished wall. "After that, I guess I'll raise my son." She said.

Sapphire smiled. "You have a place at the manor you know? Fil won't mind having you around." She suggested.

Skitter shook her head. "Nah, I'll be moving in with Lyaroa." She said.

Before Sapphire could object, Skitter raised a hoof. "I'm going to visit, don't worry about that, you are my sister and that won't change, besides, Lyaroa isn't so bad when you get to know her, she won't be a bad influence, I swear." She stated.

"I.......I understand Skitter, just remember our door is always open to you." Sapphire reminded.

Skitter nodded. "Thanks." She said quietly.

Author's Note:

There we go, I know Skitter only had two chapters for backstory, technically three, but there are reasons for that, the main one being that I didn't want to bore you all with her years of training in the hive.

I hope this answered some questions you guys had, mostly about Skitter's eyesight, past and reason for leaving.

See you next time.