Shadow Seeds

by Orsuros

Chapter 8

Returning with the changelings had taken far longer than Orsuros planned, but they filled the evening sky behind him as he led the way. Already the last of the sunlight was slipping away. Once the night fell, the shadow beasts would be free to attack and multiply. Orsuros cursed himself for not noticing their presence sooner. If he had been able to sense them earlier, he could have ended the infestation quickly by himself.

He had an army led by his new friend, Thorax. Spike rode on top of his back. With the right magical enhancements, even the little dragon could be useful in the coming fight, but Orsuros wanted to save his best plans for when the situation grew dire. Revealing too much before he knew who was controlling the shadow beasts could easily play into the enemy’s hands. Rainbow Dash flew ahead of the group, eager to help her friends and Equestria with some fighting.

With so much help, Orsuros knew he should feel confident, but an unknown enemy was always more dangerous than a known one. The shadow beasts here were behaving strangely as well. Those created from the cutie marks of ponies seemed to show some intelligence and a lot more power than the ones he had run into in his own world.

The group flew onward. At least the wind wasn’t bad for flying, but this was a long flight, and they’d need to arrive ready to go. They flew at a quick pace over the wilderness and scattered villages of the countryside. On the far horizon, the lights of Ponyville began to glow in the dimming light. Even further away, the lights of Canterlot lit up the mountainside. They were getting closer, but it still felt so far away.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash, don’t get too far ahead,” Orsuros shouted. “It could be dangerous.”

Rainbow Dash slowed and flew next to Orsuros. “As if any of those shadow jerks could beat me. I’ll give them a good kicking when I see them.”

“I know you’re eager, but I’ll need you to lead the changelings. Luckily, they actually do have a little bit of battle training. We’ll go in carefully unless some ponies are already in trouble. Every pony we save means one less enemy to fight. If the shadow beasts are already attacking, hit them with all you’ve got, but don’t let them stop or surround you.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “We’ll hit them so fast, they won’t see us coming.”

Orsuros looked over at the lead changeling. “And how about you, Thorax? Are you ready for this?”

“I guess, but I never was one of the fighters or guards. My brother and plenty of former guards volunteered to come. They’re good at fighting.”

“Hmm, former guards? Do you not have guards anymore, then?”

“We keep a few around, but not nearly as many as before. Everyone has mostly been busy rebuilding.”

“Just keep them from getting separated and you should be able to protect each other.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll let my squad captains know.”

“Go ahead, but I bet that’s what they already had planned. You sound so scared. If you’re a leader, you need to be confident, especially in battle.”

Thorax blushed a little. “It’s hard to be confident when I haven’t done something before.”

Orsuros thought over what to say to encourage the bug pony. “As leader, you have a role to play. Even if you feel less confident in yourself, you can feel confident at least one of your subjects will be able to help.”

“That’s a great way of looking at it.” Thorax smiled and flew off to speak with the leader of the changeling troops.

The first stars began to twinkle in the sky as the last of the colors of sunset vanished. Ponyville soon passed below them and they flew onward toward Canterlot.

Spike coughed then spat out a burst of flame. The little dragon caught the scroll before it could fly away on the wind. He breathed a little gout of flame to read by.

Spike’s eyes went wide. “Oh, this is bad! Twilight’s in trouble!”

Orsuros turned his head to speak with Spike. “What happened?”

“A messenger was sent by Twilight. They found the enemy at a large town near Canterlot and are fighting them now. When the messenger left, Luna was down, and what’s that?” Spike spat out more flame to read by. “I thought I read that wrong, but it says Nightmare Moon is helping the enemy!”

“Who is that?” Orsuros asked.

“Well, that’s what doesn’t make sense. Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and attacked Celestia over 1,000 years ago. She was banished to the moon but returned a little while ago. Twilight and her friends turned Nightmare Moon back into Luna with the elements of harmony, so she shouldn’t be able to come back. Oh, this is bad!”

“We’re almost there. Let’s hope they can hold on. And remember your job. Keep any shadow beasts off my back.”

Orsuros motioned for silence. He shut his eyes and used his magic. He could sense a massive amount of shadow beasts ahead. He motioned for everyone to follow and dove toward the town below. As they got closer, a few flashes of magic lit up the otherwise dark city. A small circle of lights remained in the center of town, but it was otherwise dark. Soon, they were close enough to make out a few figures fighting in the sky and on the ground. Orsuros felt his gaze drawn to a particular shadow that was different than the others. A dragon like him was in the streets below.

Rainbow Dash motioned the advance troops to go in for a dive bomb attack. They smashed a squadron of shadow pegasi out of the sky before continuing on to break the enemy line on one side of the surrounded town square.

Orsuros watched the enemy. These shadow beasts seemed somehow more self-aware than previous ones, and he had noticed a few using magic somehow. He waited a few moments longer then swooped down once the enemy dragon seemed distracted. He aimed straight for its neck.

It jumped to the side the moment before Orsuros hit it. His claws managed to only scratch its wing, yet a moment later, Orsuros felt a searing pain in his own wing. He skidded to a rough landing and spun around. His golden eyes met a pair of eyes that looked just like them. The pain in his wing faded as the shadow dragon reformed its torn wing.

“I didn’t expect you to side with these creatures,” the dragon said. “I had hoped you’d realize just how much power you could get from them, as I did. But now, here you are, attacking me. Can you feel what I am? Do you know why the pain of every wound I take is felt by you?”

Orsuros roared. “It doesn’t matter who you are. I’ll defend my friends and the ponies of this world. No world should have to face the terror of these shadow beasts, yet you’ve brought them here.”

The shadow dragon laughed. “It was you who brought them here. And you brought me with you as well. You cast the spell that brought you here with the intention of leaving behind the things from home that could hurt other worlds, but what do you think the spell did when it found those things within you?”

“So, is that why you have my eyes? You’re some corrupted copy of me?” Orsuros and the other dragon began circling each other.

“Orsuros, you’re not thinking nearly big enough. I was part of you. We’re still very connected. That’s why we feel the same pains. I suppose I need a new name, though. For now, you may call me Siega. It’s a fitting name. It means harvest in one of the old tongues. And that is what I’m here to do. You came to gain power from this world. It's all around you, but you are unwilling to take it. I shall harvest the power in this world and use it to free our own world.”

Siega’s magic flashed suddenly, and Orsuros staggered. The dragon pounced, but Spike took a deep breath and shot a burst of flames. The dragon stumbled enough that Orsuros was able to duck under the attack.

Spike took a deep breath and poked Orsuros. “Are you okay? I’ve seen villains like this before. Don’t listen to him.”

Orsuros shook off the magic that had tried to overwhelm him. Siega was using powerful soul magic and attacking directly through the bond the two had. It was going to take most his energy just to defend against another attack.

“I’m alright. He just caught me off guard. But you’re right.” Orsuros turned to the other dragon. “Siega! I can see what your plans are now. There are many reasons why I could never go along with them. The first and best reason is that we’ll never free the world by using the powers that our enemy has used to corrupt it. We must be stronger than that and find a new way to free our home.”

“Still blinded by your ideals.” Siega growled and flung another burst of soul magic at Orsuros.

He used his own magic to soften the blow, but the attack still made him feel dizzy. He tried the same tactic, and it seemed to have an equal effect on Siega. Soon both he and the other dragon could barely stand and started to back away from each other.

Spike tapped on Orsuros’s neck to get his attention. “This is bad! Nightmare Moon just took out Twilight and Rainbow Dash!”

Orsuros spun around to see. Rainbow Dash was unconscious on the ground. It looked like she had crashed rather hard. Twilight seemed to have been blasted backwards into a building. Starlight was still trying to hold off Nightmare Moon. She was quickly losing ground. Thorax and the changelings had pushed the enemy lines back a little but seem to be at a stalemate. Without Siega and Nightmare Moon, the changelings might have been able to win this, but their enemies had too much power right now. If the shadow beasts broke through or overwhelmed the changelings, there wouldn’t be much of a force left to fight the shadow beasts.

“Spike, go tell Thorax to create an escape route. Our only hope is to get out of here and regroup.”

“Will you be okay alone?”

“I’ll watch my own back for now. Now hurry!”

Spike slid down Orsuros’s tail and sprinted away. Orsuros looked at his shadowy copy.

“At the very least, I can do this to buy my friends some time to get us out of here.”

Siega growled and lashed out with soul magic as Orsuros used his own. He stared into the other dragon’s eyes that were so much like his own. Neither of them was holding back, and the magic battered their minds, souls, and bodies. The pain and effort was making the edges of Orsuros’s vision flicker. He pushed harder and harder until finally Siega let out an alarmed cry. Both dragons collapsed at the same time.