Shadow Rising

by Shadow Hound

Chapter Nine: Never Show Fear

In the Lycan Empire, Shadow’s little brother, a pup who was five years old named Remus, slept in the kingdom’s nursery. Remus was a unicorn lycan. He hated being a unicorn because his father and brother were alicorns, and wanted to be just like them. Remus found it strange that his mother was a winged wolf. Because of that, Remus often wondered why he was a unicorn.

Then, one day he asked his father. In reply his father told him that it was for his protection. Remus had no idea what it meant.

Eventually, Remus slowly opened his eyes. He rolled onto his back and stared up. Thanks to a Crystal powered lamp that dimly lit the room, there were little dots on the ceiling. Remus liked to imagine that they were stars. Remus stretched out his paws as far as he could, and then he yawned. Remus reached as far out as he could toward the ‘stars.’ He spread out his toes and watched the light between them. The lamp started to flicker on and off as if struggling for power.

Remus groaned at the failure of the lamp. When he realized that it was morning or, at least, what the Lycan Empire considered the morning, he rolled onto his stomach. He got onto his paws and stretched a little more. Remus looked at a book on top of a nearby table. Remus walked over to the book and read, “The Tale of Luna.” He flipped it open. In the corner of the first page was written “Remus.” Something the pup had grown to accept as his name.

Remus sighed after realizing that this was the third day he had woken up. He had not seen Shadow.

Remus looked around to see all the pups in the nursery still sleeping. Quietly he walked over to the door and snuck out.

Remus looked around to see that nobody was guarding the door. He giggled to himself. “I wonder why they would make this so easy to leave. They should at least have one person watching the door.”

Out from behind a pile of blankets, he heard a shy, quiet voice lightly say. “Could you keep it down? I am trying to sleep.”

Remus looked at the pile of blankets. “Shut up, Dodge.”

Out from the blankets, he heard a faint, “Ok, Remus.”

Remus pushed the door open and slipped his body through the cracks into the open air.

Remus walked only a few feet from the door before his body started to ache. The northern winds swept through the empire. With so little magic left inside the kingdom, it could no longer remain a comfortable temperature. The cold went past his fur and touched his skin. It was so cold that Remus became very thankful that he had a thick fur coat but felt like it barely helped.

Remus thought to himself. I wonder if Shadow is in his den.

Remus navigated his way down the path and to Shadow’s room.

Remus thought, Why doesn’t he sleep in the castle anyway? At least there, it is warm.

Remus knocked on the door and waited outside for as long as he could handle. (Which was not that long.) A few minutes later, he checked the doorknob only to find out that Shadow locked the door. Remus jumped up and down at the window to no avail. He stood on the tip of his back paws, grabbed the window frame with his front toes, and stretched out his neck. He could only see the top of the empty bed, otherwise the room was too dark to see anything else.

Remus fell back down and landed on his butt. He got up and stared at the door. To nobody, he said, “Where did he go?”

Remus sighed as he paced back and forth in front of the door. After a few minutes, Remus concluded that his brother has not gotten back yet.

Remus thought to himself, I hope Shadow gets back soon. I hope those evil ponies didn’t hurt him. Remus sat at the door for a few minutes, and then he realized, Maybe mom and dad will know. Remus walked away from the room and toward the castle.

The little lycan skipped up to the main gate and sat down. He turned to the guards and asked, “Can I see Mommy and Daddy?”

The guards looked down at Remus and said, “They said they are not to be disturbed.”

Remus tilted his head sideways and asked, “Why?”

The guard answered, “Because they are busy.”

Remus’s head tilted the other way, and wagged his tail. “About what?”

The guard snapped back, “The subject matter of the meeting is classified!”

Remus asked, “Even from their own son?”

The guard looked forward as he said, “Our orders are to not let anyone in. And that means everyone!”

Remus snickered and responded, “Ok. I guess I am going to go flying around the ravine until Mommy and Daddy are unclassify dud.” He smiled at the guard. “I hope I don’t crash. I hate to think of what the king will do if you tell him that you left his son out in the cold, and he fell down the ravine to his death.”

The guard sighed. “You don’t have wings.”

Remus responded, “I guess I will go run home then. I hope I don’t trip and fall down the ravine.”

The guard paused for a second, stomped his foot, and said, “You can come in, sir.”

Remus smiled at the guard. “Thank you.” He pranced into the castle.

Remus walked through the door into the main room of the castle. The large room was long and had a red carpet. Giant white pillars decorated both sides of the room. He walked into the main foyer until he could see his mother and father talking. Their butler, Buddy and a pink dragon named Sprocket, were in the group as well. Quickly Remus hid behind and pillar and tried to listen to what they were saying.

King Archimedes looked at Queen Alabaster. “I have no choice. I have to go to Equestria.”

King Archimedes looked to Buddy and said, “Do they have my chariot ready?”

Buddy nodded. “They said they do. The pack you requested is waiting by the main gate.”

King Archimedes grinned. “Excellent! We need to march to Equestria right away!”

Queen Alabaster sighed. “Could you at least bring a dragon with you, so if I need to, I can send you a message?”

Sprocket saluted the king and said, “I am happy to help.”

King Archimedes responded, “I only own two more scribes. There is no point in wasting a dragon.”

Sprocket lowered her hand, frowned, and kicked her feet into the air. She was disappointed.

Queen Alabaster responded, “How is keeping in touch with your wife and kingdom a waste of a dragon? What if we need you?”

King Archimedes calmed himself down he responded softly, “General Claw already has a dragon. I ordered him to meet me at the morning line which divides the undiscovered west from Equestria. Once I meet with his squad, I will have his dragon. If I bring a dragon, then I am going to have two.”

Queen Alabaster said, “But you know how I worry about you. It is better to have too many dragons then not enough.”

King Archimedes said, “Not when it comes to scribes. Dragons are expensive enough on the black market. Do you know how hard it is to buy dragons that can send a message with their fire? Not every dragon can do that.”

Queen Alabaster responded, “I understand, my love.”

King Archimedes put his paw under the queen’s head and rubbed her chin. “I am going to be fine. I have been king for 1,000 years. I am not going to let anything happen now.”

He gently kissed her on top of her head. “I can’t lose another dragon. Who knows what those ponies will do to Servo if they capture him? They will probably freeze him in stone and shattered it, just like they did to the storm king.”

Sprocket gasped, then begged, “Please bring my brother back safely.”

King Archimedes looked down at the pink dragon. “I hope to. He was expensive. If we lose any more of your brothers and sisters, you are going to be useless to me.”

Sprocket bit her claws, then admitted, “I don’t want to be useless.”

Queen Alabaster pat her on the head reassuringly as she said, “I would never get rid of a sweet thing like you.”

Sprocket smiled weakly at Queen Alabaster.

King Archimedes spoke loudly. “I should have never trusted that bratt alone. I should have known that he was not ready and that something would happen. I should have known that Shadow would have messed up. He wasn’t ready for his first mission.”

Remus fell to the floor in shock, “Big brother.”

He bit his lips. Tears flowed down his face.

King Archimedes sighed and looked at the queen with impatience. “Sprocket, you better stop crying, or I am going to give you something to cry about.” He looked at Sprocket to see her shrugging back at him.

Sprocket spoke with a mousy voice, “I didn’t say anything.”

King Archimedes then looked at Buddy to see that he was looking around in astonishment.

The queen sighed and said in a calm and loving voice. “It sounds like someone was visiting us.”

She pointed a paw at a pillar. After squinting, the king noticed Remus’s tail coming out from behind the pillar.

He sighed and looked at his queen. They both slowly approached the pillar.

King Archimedes said in a calm voice. “What are you doing up? You should be in the nursery where the heat is.”

Remus dried his eyes with his tail. “Big brother wasn’t home. He is in trouble, and I don’t want him to get shattered.”

King Archimedes wrapped his paw around Remus. His arm nearly covered his entire body. The king held the pup tight. “ Calm down. You know that I will tear Equestria apart to get Shadow back.”

King Archimedes let go of his son and stood up.

With a stern voice he looked down at Remus and said, "You need to get yourself cleaned up right now. You are making yourself look like a foal."

Remus bit his lower lip. He stopped crying and looked at his father with wet eyes.

King Archimedes looked at the pup and said, “What do I always tell you?”

Remus looked up and said innocently. “Never eat it, if it can talk back.”

King Archimedes snickered and pat his son on the back, “What else do I tell you?”

Remus says, “Never let any of your subjects see you cry. It makes you look weak.”

King Archimedes smiled, “And?”

Remus sat and thought for a minute. Remus continued, “If a subject doesn’t listen, you grab them by the neck and hold on until they stop moving.”

King Archimedes embraced Remus for a hug. “That is my boy!”

King Archimedes felt Remus’s cold body against him. Remus’s body stopped shaking at the warmth of his father’s embrace.

King Archimedes let go of Remus. He looked at his son’s face and said, “Why don’t you go warm up with a nice bowl of rabbit soup?”

Remus put coward and said in a disappointed voice. “Ok.”

King Archimedes said, “What is bothering you now?”

Remus wagged his tale and asked, “Can I go with you?”

King Archimedes looked down at Remus and said, “You are my son. You are the next heir to the throne. You need to stay in the Lycan Empire.”

Remus started to tear up. “What if you don’t return?”

King Archimedes said, “I am going to be fine. I have survived worse than Celestia.”

King Archimedes waved Buddy over and said, “Make sure that Chief makes him the rabbit soup that he likes.”

Buddy responded, “The hunting team have not caught rabbits for quite some time.”

King Archimedes said, “Then tell Chief to make any soup.”

Buddy nodded, “Very well, sir.”

Queen Alabaster looked at the king and gently kissed him on the side of the face. “Do be careful. Come back safely, my love.”

King Archimedes kissed her back. “Take care of my kingdom while I am away, my gem.”

She smiled at him. “It is in safe paws.”

King Archimedes walked toward the door and kicked it open. He turned back at the group and grinned, “I will be back before you know it.”

Remus yelled back. “YOU GOT SHOW THOSE MEAN OLD PONIES WHO THE BOSS IS.”

Queen Alabaster pat him on the back and giggled. “Ok, tough guy. let’s go eat lunch.”

Remus said, “But the Chief is out of rabbit.”

Queen Alabaster looked at Buddy and said, “I am sure that he can make you some chicken noodle soup.

Buddy nodded.

Queen Alabaster grabbed her son and said, “Then let’s go get warmed up. We can both eat together.”

Remus said, “Are you sure? Dad doesn’t like it when I eat with you. He says he wants to build independence.”

Queen Alabaster said, “Yes, what he doesn’t know will not make him angry.”

Remus cheered, “Yay! Dinner with mommy!”

---

The king’s chariot did not sit by the gate door, but instead, there sat a sizeable wooded wagon. The wagon was red with gold trim. It had large wooded wheels that were painted white on the sides. At the front of the wagon sat an enormous cylinder with two lycans shoveling wood into a massive cylinder. A brown earth lycan in a white lab coat with glasses walked up and down the contraption inspecting it.

King Archimedes looked at the lycan in the white lab coat. “Rubric, I am not in the mood for any of your games.” With a sneer, he said, “What is this thing?” In a slightly calmer voice, he asked, “And where is my chariot.”

The lycan looked nervous and said, “Sir, you said you wanted to get to Equestria in record-breaking time. If my math is correct, a lycan powered chariot will take three days to get to Equestria.” The king did not look amused. Rubric continued in a worried tone. “My invention uses steam to move.” Rubric grinned from ear to ear. “It will take less than a day.”

King Archimedes raised an eyebrow. “Impressive. If it does perform as you say, it will.”

King Archimedes walked past the door to the front of the crowd of lycans. Two rows of lycans lined bother sides of the chariot. King Archimedes stood in front of the metal door, which sat between the Lycan Kingdom and the harsh wildlands.

King Archimedes looked at the crowd of lycans, and they started looking at him. Once he knew he had their attention, he started talking. “I call upon the kingdom, not just as your king, but as a father.”

He started to raise his voice, “About two days ago, I received a message from my son’s pack. They said that he had gone missing while in Ponyville.”

He continued in a voice of concern. “I do not know the situation. I do not know the fate of my son, your prince, Shadow. Shadow would read to all of your sons and daughters in the nursery. Shadow was the prince that read to many of you when you were pups. He liked seeing the pups get excited at the stories of the past. I fear the worse has happened.”

The crowed of lycans gasped at the news.

King Archimedes tried to not grin. He thought to himself Good thing I let Shadow read those stories to the pups. Now as adults they have nothing but disdain for the pony kingdom. Making the next step in his plan all too easy.

King Archimedes said in a voice that boomed across the crowd, “IT IS NOT ABOUT REVENGE! IT IS ABOUT JUSTICE. IF ANYPONY DARES TO HURT THE PRINCE, WHAT WOULD THEY DO TO ANY OF YOU?”

King Archimedes continued, “I CALL ON YOU ALL, NOT FOR WAR, BUT TO DEFEND THE KINGDOM. IF THE ROYAL CAKE LOVING CELESTIA HAS HURT MY SON, THEN WHAT SHOULD OUR KINGDOM DO?”

King Archimedes asked, “SHOULD WE ROLLOVER IN OBEDIENCE LIKE THE DOGS THAT THEY KEEP AS SLAVES?”

Groups of Lycans in the Crowd shouted, “NO!”

King Archimedes grinned and screamed, “OR DO WE SHOW THEM THE MIGHT OF THE LYCAN EMPIRE?”

The crowd responded with a happy and excited, “YEAH!”

King Archimedes grinned. “THEN LET’S SHOW THEM WHY THE STORM KING FEARED US!”

King Archimedes turned and pointed at the gate. “WE WILL MARCH AT A SPEED NOBODY THOUGHT POSSIBLE. WE WILL GET OUR PRINCE BACK.

“WE WILL GET RESPECT, AND IF THEY HURT THE PRINCE, THEY WILL PAY.” The king rolled his front paws into balls and shook them at the sky. The veins showed in his neck as he roared, “THEY WILL HEAR THE HOWLS OF WAR AS THEIR KINGDOM FALLS. IT WILL BE THE LAST THING THEY DO!”

The crowd cheered and clapped at the king. King Archimedes walked up to the chariot.

A Lycan in full armor approached him. The sound of metal clattered as he walked toward the king. The top of the lycan’s body was dark brown, and his chin was tan. The lycan sounded almost monotone, “Wonderful speech, Sir. If the prince is no longer among the living, I will personally tear Equestria apart myself.”

King Archimedes grinned at the solder. “Good to hear, General Pawton. That is what I like to hear. Why don’t you ride in the chariot with me to save your energy?”

General Pawton responded, “No, thank you, sir. I have plenty to spare, and a good general should always be with the troops. That way they stay in line. After all, if anyone disobeys, go for the throat.”

King Archimedes snickered. “I guess you are right. No wonder you are one of my best generals.”

Rubric opened the door. “I designed it for maximum comfort.”

King Archimedes breathed in heavy and rolled his eyes. “Very well then, but if it does not perform, then I will be very disappointed in you.”

Rubric pointed inside a little house on the chariot. “You can sit in this tiny house at the top. I call it a cabin. The best part is that it is covered so it can protect you from rain and other things.” Rubric pointed to a large cylinder in the front. Two lycans were throwing wood into a fire inside the cylinder. “This is what moves the wagon. It is the future.”

King Archimedes slowly walked into the cabin of the device. The king looked around the inside of the new chariot to study his surroundings. The chariot’s interior was wooden, just like his old chariot, but it had a soft red roof and seemed smaller. There was a red bench at the front and back of the cabin. Soft red material covered the seats, and the trim was gold. There were benches at the front and back of the vehicle but each bench could only fit two lycans. Windows sat on both sides of the doors that sat above the benches.

Rubric waited for the king to sit down. He shut the door and then started to walk off.

King Archimedes called out to him. “Don’t you dare walk off! I want you to get in here and tell me how you came up with this idea.”

Rubric looked delighted as he opened up the door and sat down across from the king.

Rubric asked, “Is the material to your liking?”

King Archimedes answered, “It will do for now.”

King Archimedes stuck his head out of the cabin and yelled. “Soot, Snarl, are you ready?”

Both of the Lycans on the device saluted their king. The short grey one spoke up. “The boiler is ready, my king.” The one next to him, giggled and yelled. “Ready.” The short grey lycan looked at his companion and replied, “Snarl, what have I said about repeating me?”

Snarl replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

King Archimedes looked over to the lycan that was controlling the metal door. He yelled, “Sarge open the door.” The machine to raise the door started whirling to life.

Sarge replied, “The scout team has not returned yet, so no news on if it is clear to leave. Once I get the all-clear, I can open the door.”

King Archimedes smiled. “Open the door now. I am in the mood to take out my aggression on something weak and useless.”

Sarge gulped at the sound of that. “He pressed the big red button in front of him.”

Red lights started glowing and saturated everyone with a red hue. The guards in front started marching. The king’s machine started roaring to life. Pistons began moving up and down as a giant wheel on the motor spun to life. The machine inched forward as It crept onto the ramp. It struggled to go up the ramp. It went up to slow to be efficient. The two lycans turned knobs and made adjustments.

King Archimedes shouted, “Why are we going so slow? Speed it up.”

Soot yelled back, “I am giving her all she’s got!”

Gnarl yelled, “Got.”

Soot looked at a few dials and said, “I don’t know how much more the boiler can take.”

Gnarl yelled, “Can take.”

Soot pulled a large wrench out of his jacket and smacked Gnarl on the head. “Knock it off.”

Gnarl rubbed his head.

King Archimedes sat in the carriage and tapped his paws to an armrest. He said to himself. “I was hoping this contraption could go faster than I could walk.”

General Pawton passed by the windows and said, “Should I sent the troops ahead?”

Rubric nervously laughed and said, “I am sure it will go faster when we are not going uphill.”

After a few minutes, he noticed that the carriage was not moving.

King Archimedes jumped out of the carriage and shouted. “What is going on now?!” The king looked at Soot.

Soot nervously pointed up to a large boulder creature. “The guards are dealing with our friend.”

King Archimedes looked toward the front of the machine. Blocking their way was a creature made of rock named a golem. The guards were fighting the beast and not doing very well against it.

It swung one of its arms and a group of guards. It missed most of them, but a few guards were thrown from the hit of the blow.

King Archimedes sighed.

King Archimedes jumped out the window of the carriage onto the ground below. “We don’t have time for this.” The king took off his crimson cloak, revealing his dark fur underneath, and threw it at Rubric. He yelled at him. “If you get my cloak dirty, I will skin you and make another one.”

Rubric responded with a nervous, “Yes, sir.”

King Archimedes rocked his head back and forth. He walked up to the creature and yelled, “You have 5 seconds to move. You could move, or I get to have some fun.”

The creature roared back at him, picked up a boulder, and threw it towards the carriage. Gnarl and Soot hugged each other and screamed, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh.”
-Mark-
King Archimedes jumped up and kicked the boulder back at the golem. The boulder broke upon hitting it. He then punched the Golem into the chest and flew above it. He then slammed his feet down onto its head. The golem broke down the center, and rock flew across the forest. With one last moan, the stones stopped moving.

King Archimedes looked back at all the soldiers. With a stern look on his face and fire in his eyes, he asked, “What is everyone staring at?”

The group looked back and forth.

General Pawton dusted off his armor and stated, “Thank you, my king.”

King Archimedes walked back toward the carriage. He looked over at Rubric, whose mouth was gaping open. The king reached out one claw and shut the lycans mouth. “Shut your mouth unless you are trying to catch flies.”

He grabbed his robe off the lycan and threw it onto his back and said. “We need to start moving. I don’t want to repeat myself. Or does anyone else want to be an example of why I am king?”

King Archimedes slammed the door shut. The soldiers started moving forward. Soot turned a valve, and the carriage started creeping forward. Soot turned a few more valves, and the carriage began to move faster and faster.

King Archimedes grinned, “That is more like it. We should only take about a day now.”

Rubric said in a voice of confidence, “I am glad that you are pleased, sir.”

He looked out the window. “Hopefully, Shadow hasn’t gotten himself into trouble before I can get there.”

---

With the light in his eyes, Shadow slowly woke up. Shadow looked around to see the sun going over the hill and shining through a spot that was once a stained glass window. Shadow rolled over and smelled the air. The smell of meat stew cooking filled the air. A few minutes later, Shadow’s head shot up. He shouted, “I’m running late for the Gala.”

Shadow looked around. The lycans in his current team were surrounding a metal pot boiling on an open fire.

Shadow told the group, “I need to hurry and get ready for the Gala.”

The group snickered and said, “You don’t need to worry about the Gala.”

Shadow insisted, “The Gala is today. I need to get ready, or I am going to miss the train station.”

Shadow started walking toward the door and said, “I hope Applejack is not going to be mad.”

The group of lycans sat and snickered around the pot. Blaze said, “I don’t think she will be feeling anything anymore.”

Shadow stopped in front of the door after he noticed hoof marks in the stone. Marks that were not there yesterday. They were fresh. Shadow gasped. His heart started beating a million beats per minute. He turned around and asked, “What are you cooking?”

Blaze said, “Breakfast. Somepony delivered it.”

Blaze took a long sip from the soup spoon. “Some orange pony that showed up at the door.”

Shadow struggled to breathe. His body filled with anger. He turned around to see that his pack was all smiling at him.

Whittwolf said, “She fought back, but she was no match for the five of us.” -Mark-

Blaze pulled out a familiar cowboy hat and put it on. She asked, “Do I look good in it?”

Shadow ran at them and screamed, “I WILL TEAR YOU APART!”

His pack’s eyes turn red and their fur turned into a dark mass.

Shadow stopped running and said, almost monotone, “Oh. Not you again.”

He sighed and continued, “You are so boring. Can’t you let me sleep?”

His pack turned into one giant mass that turned into a mare. The mare opened her eyes and said, “Your nightmares are only starting.” She laughed manically!

The mare jumped up and dashed toward Shadow. Quickly Shadow hovered a piece of wood above himself to protect himself from her incoming hit.

The wood broke in two. Nightmare reached a claw toward him and cut him deep on the check. Drops of blood hit the stone floor.

Shadow said, “I know what you want, and you are not going to get it.”

Nightmare laughed. “If you do not accept my offer, then I will tie you down. I will rip everything that you love out of your life. Your kingdom and your pack will all be gone.” Nightmare spit out a bone which hit Shadow in the face.

Shadow grit his teeth. “I am not going to let you touch them.”

Nightmare grinned. “And the last thing that you will see is me tearing Applejack to pieces slowly as I make you watch her beg for her life. Then, after you beg for mercy, only then will I untie you and let you live the rest of your life knowing that everything that you love is gone.”

Nightmare laughed, “How does that sound?”

Shadow leaped in the air and exposed his claws at her. He screamed, “NOOO!”

Just then, he felt his body slam down on the ground. His paws hurt from the impact. He looked around to see his pack looking back at him. He lifted his hand to see that it was bloody and was shaking. He stared back and forth between his paw and his pack.

Triage broke the silence first. “Are you ok? You looked like you were having quite the dream.”

Shadow spoke next. “What happened?”

Whittwolf stated, “That is what we were going to ask you.”

Shirwolf continued, “If we didn’t move, you would have hurt one of us.”

Shadow looked around to see the castle filled with feathers.

Blaze laughed out loud. “Don’t worry. Everywolf is fine, but you did show your pillow who was boss.”

Servo said from behind the group, “And you wonder why I sent the letter.”

Triage walked up to Shadow with a clean cloth. “I should check your paw to make sure that you did not break it. You slammed it pretty hard into the ground.”

Shadow held out his paw, and Triage looked at it. Triage smiled at him. “You are lucky there are no broken bones. Now just let me see your face.”

Shadow responded, “My face?”

Triage confirmed, “Yes. You have a rather deep cut on the side of your face.”
Triage put a wet cloth to his face for a few seconds. She removed it and then responded. “Do not worry. I don’t think it will scar. Just don’t touch it, and it will heal.”

Shadow looked at the dirty cloth and then thought back to his dream. Was it real, or was it a dream, or was it both?

Eclipse looked at Shadow. “Do you have any ideas about what we can eat? I am starving.”

Blaze responded, “We have beans.”

Eclipse said, “I will not eat beans. They disagree with me.”

Blaze said, “Come on! The more you eat, the more you-”

Eclipse put her paw onto Blaze’s muzzle. “I am a lady. I do not want to do that.”

Shadow sighed. “I don’t care. Get something to eat while I am at the Gala as long as you do it after spending all the bits on supplies for the kingdom. We don’t use bits, so they are useless to us.”

Shirwolf grinned. “What are you planning, boss?”

Shadow smiled back, “I saw a book on the Crystal Empire at Twilights castle. Remember what General Claw’s mission was?”

Blaze responded, “To study the Crystal heart?”

Shadow said, “Correct, and if that book has information on the Crystal Empire in it, we can complete both missions ourselves.”

Servo replied, “Our only mission was to sell the iron.”

Shadow retorted, “Yes, and my wonderful pack has done a great job of selling it all.”

Blaze said, “Aww, thank you! You’re awesome too.”

Shadow said, “After I get that book, I can save the Lycan Empire.”

Whittwolf asked, “What is the point of getting that book anyway? What if it doesn’t work?”

Shadow responded, “Then the Lycan Empire is not going to be any worse off.”

Blaze said, “I don’t understand why we are worried anyway. Not every Lycan uses magic.”

Eclipse retorts, “It is not just the magic that the Heart of the Lycan Empire feeds. The heart also protects the kingdom from the elements. If the heart loses its magic, then the Lycan Empire will be swallowed by the wildlands.”

Blaze asked, “Huh?” She pulled out a paper map and looked at it. “What are the wildlands? I can’t find it.”

Eclipse sighed. “The ponies call it the undiscovered west.”

Blaze responded, “I found it!”

Shadow looked up at the moon.

Shadow said, “There is not going to be a Lycan Empire if we can’t recharge the heart.”

Shadow looked down at his pack. Shadow said, “Once the Gala is over, I will come back to this castle, then we are going to go back home.

“While I am at the Gala. I need everyone to pack up the wagon. As soon as I get back, we are going to leave.”

Servo asked, “What about your father?”

Shadow said, “We can meet him closer to the morning line. But, in case Twilight gets a little mad, we can’t stay here.”

Servo responded, “Well, you are planning on stealing on of her books?”

Shadow looked down and responded, “She has a billion books. She is not going to miss one.”

Shadow turned to the pack and said, “Incase there are any problems, I am going to howl. Does everyone remember what the howls mean?”

Blaze raised a paw, “I know this one! Bark once for food, two for the bathroom-”

Eclipse put a paw over Blaze’s muzzle again.

Shirwolf asked, “Why did we bring her?”

Whittwolf rolled his eyes and responded, “One howl for backup. Two howls for retreat. Three for attack. Four for war.”

Shadow grinned, “If there are any problems, listen for two howls. If I do leave with the wagon, I will meet you later.”

Triage asked, “Should we respond, or is this covert?”

Shadow replied, “Do not respond if I howl. It is going to grab the attention of the guards. Let me take their attention away from you. Stay quiet so the Ponyville guards do not know that you are here so you can get away.”

Shadow got up and pointed to the secret exit. “Take this exit. We will meet up at the morning line.”

A knock on the door disturbed their meeting. Triage got up and walked toward the door. Shadow asked, “Any questions?”

Blaze raised her paw.

Shadow answered, “No, we are not going to eat more beans.”

Blaze looked pointed to the door, “Who is that?”

Shadow turned around and saw a familiar orange face. Quickly he ran toward the door.

Applejack stood in the door frame. “Is Shadow here?”

Shadow ran up to the door and pushed Triage out of the way.
He looked at Applejack and said, “Hi, Applejack. How did you know where to find me?”

Applejack replied, “I followed the road that you always seem to come from, and it led me here.”

Shadow pushed Applejack out of the doorframe and told her, “I am going to be a few minutes, and then we can go.”

Applejack asked, “What are ya doing?”

Shadow replied, “Ahhhh, Getting dressed.” Shadow closed the wooden door with a thud.

Applejack yelled through the door, “But you don’t normally wear clothes.”

Shadow looked to all the Lycans. “Does everyone know what they need to do?”

They all nodded. Triage said, “She seemed nice. Can we meet her?”

Shadow felt the scratch on his face. It finally stopped bleeding. He then replied, “You can meet her when I am ready.”

Blaze raised a paw. Eclipse rolled her eyes.

Eclipse whispered under her breath. “What? Are you two years old?”

Shadow sighed, “Yes, Blaze. What is your question?”

Blaze asked in earnest, “Can I make soup?”

Shadow panicked and replied with a loud, “No!”

Shadow then composed himself and searched for an answer. He settled for, “We don’t want the smell to attract anypony to our location."

Shadow shut his eyes and then transformed into his pony form. When he opened his eyes, he was a stallion. He turned to his team and said, “Wish me luck.”

They all nodded, except Servo, who pouted in a corner.

Servo got up and walked over to Shadow. Servo said, “You represent the Lycan kingdom. Don’t go starting any fights that you can not win.”

Shadow paused for a minute and thought about what was said. He finished with a simple, “Ok.”

Shadow opened the door and slipped out.

Applejack greeted Shadow with a smile and asked, “Are you going to introduce me to your friends? The nurse seemed nice.”

Shadow responded with, “Maybe some other time. Right now we need to leave for the train.”

Applejack continued, “It will just be for a second. Just enough time to say Howdy.”

Shadow responded with, “Maybe after the Gala.”

Applejack said, “All right then, but you better introduce me.”

Shadow smiled at her, “Ok, Maybe.”

Applejack looked at the side of Shadow’s face. “Is that a claw mark?”

Shadow responded, “No, it is a message from someone.”

Shadow thought to himself, At least I didn't lie. It does feel like Nightmare was sending him a message.

Applejack said, “Did one of them hurt you? I will buck them to next Tuesday.”

Shadow insisted, “No, they didn’t do it.”

Applejack said, “Then why can’t I meet them?”

Shadow thought of what to say. To be honest, he didn’t know that he could tell her the truth. That he was scared. His father always did say not to show fear. Maybe it was ok for her to know his feelings. Maybe he could tell her that he was afraid that she would get hurt. He didn’t want to hurt her family anymore.

He didn’t know if he could be hurt anymore. Because Shadow was an alicorn, he would have to watch her get old and die. He didn’t know if he could handle it. In the Lycan Empire, he knew not to get close to anypup because, to him, they were just going to leave him. Everypup did.

It was more than just fear what if his pack hated her? Pony culture was much different than lycan culture. The lycans believed that Luna was a hero. They didn’t even know that Nightmare moon existed.

In the end, he said, “We need to hurry, so we don’t miss the train.” And they both galloped to Twilight’s castle.

---

In a dark room sat a pony in brown robes. She sat mashing flower petals into a nice fine paste.

A dark cloud formed in the room and laughed uncontrollably. By now, the mare had grown to call the cloud Nightmare cloud.

The mare smiled at the cloud, “I guess you had a good night.”

Nightmare replied, “Soon, the pup will fall within my grasps. He is now hesitating to trust his pack. Just a few dozen nightmares and his trust is swaying. It is all too easy.”

Nightmare cloud hovered behind the mare. “How much longer? It better be ready for tomorrow night.”

The mare said, “I have been following your instruction and doing everything that they say.”

Nightmare cloud replied, “Good! Excellent job, Sister Neon.”

Nightmare hovered in the room. “Don’t forget that, for my plan to work, your club needs to give the mixture to the correct princess.”

Sister Neon said, “Why can’t you join us?”

Nightmare cloud flew through the table. “For me to be able to touch anything and be at full power, I need a new body. The Elements of Harmony are stopping me from using Luna’s body. I need another.”

Nightmare cloud grinned at Sister Neon. “Lucky for me, I have a new body that I can use, very, very soon.”