Conditions After a Nightmare...
Shadow finally felt himself coming back to consciousness, a searing pain in his head as he began to open his eyes. It took only but a moment, but after the stallion was able to power through the haze that greatly deformed his vision, he found himself bound to the wooden floor of an unknown structure.
“Uhhhg...” he grumbled, rubbing his temples and sitting up on the cold ground. “I feel like I was hit across the head with a baseball bat...” The light gleamed dimly, a faint step sounding with echo from behind. He quickly whipped around, but the pain from his skull caused the pegasus to retract his head into his forehooves.
“It’s about time you woke up,” an oddly familiar voice spoke, “Because you have some questions that need answering.”
Against his better senses, the stallion looked up from his hooves, staring agonizingly at a lavender unicorn. “T-Twilight? That’s your name... right?” He sounded confused, yet not unsound.
“Yes, and your name’s Shadow correct?” The question stupefied him even further.
“Y-yes... Why?”
“Shadow Eternal, the captain of Celestia’s Solar Empire?”
Silence.
“Well?”
“Who wants to know?” A faint aura began to shine around him, the mare’s horn illuminating faintly.
“I ask the questions here Shadow,” she remarked, Shadow now being levitated in the air. He quickly reached for his blade, but it had disappeared, taken in his unconsciousness. the unicorn took a gleeful notice. “Oh? Looking for this?” She pulled a blade from her side, barely glowing golden, as she continued. “I’ve always had my suspicion about you. I went to Celestia in secret. She told me everything.”
“Oh, I bet she did,” Shadow snarled, now reaching into his vest for the dagger. It too was missing. “Heh, one step ahead of things aren’t we? Ever heard of personal space?”
His body was slammed against the wall, the mare’s tone much more aggressive than before.
“I ask the questions here!”
“Funny how you expect me to answer,” Shadow remarked with irritation. “Quite frankly mare, you should be wary how you treat me, if you know what’s good for you.”
“I know about your ‘powers’ you repulsive monster!” she blared back. He chuckled.
“Oh you should have been there! All the innocent ponies I had slaughtered before me! T’was a sight indeed.” He suddenly felt the steel of his own blade press to his throat.
“You truly are a monster!” Again, Shadow laughed.
“And my dear, what exactly do you plan to do about it? I believe killing isn’t engraved into your being much like Celestia had done for me.” The steel pressed harder, almost breaking skin.
“Don’t speak about the princess in such a manner you vile fiend!” Shadow shut up, but not out of fear. He wanted to know exactly what Celestia had said about him. Another moment of silence passed before Twilight continued.
“She told me how you killed hundreds of innocents in spite of her!”
“Did she tell you why?” the stallion questioned.
“What good reason would anypony have to do such a thing!?” she demanded.
“She didn’t tell you?” The unicorn glared attentively at the pegasus.
“Tell me what exactly?” The blade was still pressed to his throat.
“Oh, nothing much. Just the important parts and such.” Twilight wasn’t in the mood for games, much less that sarcastic riddle.
“Just answer the question!”
“Or what? What are you gonna do? I’m not scared of you!”
“No...” and eerie, terrifying tone sounded from out of sight. “But you are scared of me...”
Into the room stepped a large, nearly snow white coated alicorn, wings unfurled and mane flowing elegantly as several colors shone brightly from it. A golden crown was set upon her head, her cutie mark like that of a sun. It was Celestia, just as Shadow had remembered her. “It’s about time I found you.”
His heart sank, sank down like a branch tied to a stone in the middle of a deep lake. His muscles tensed, mind a clear blank as Twilight’s magic still confined the paralyzed stallion. The lavender mare smiled, almost sadistically.
“He,he,he. You’re going to get it now! Celestia will teach you to spe-”
“Let him go...”
Silence.
“W-w... what?” Twilight stuttered.
“I didn’t hesitate. Let Shadow go.”
“B-but... I thought...”
“I won’t repeat myself again, now drop him.” Even as Shadow felt the aura around him dissipate, he sat still completely frozen in an awkward position in the floor, gaze never averting the princess, his former leader. All the years of hiding, all hopes of remaining unnoticed, gone. Taken from him. He felt that feeling of monumental hatred that nopony should feel for a second time, gritting his teeth as the mare before him only fueled the anger.
“You...” he began slowly. “You’re the reason I’m like this! The reason I have no soul! The reason I...” He paused. It always pained him to look back on his past, but even more so now that she was there. “The reason for my sister’s death...” A small gasp came from the unicorn at the side.
“C-Celestia... is that... true?” No response. The princess, goddess of the day, continued her glance at the stallion.
“Why Celestia? Why didn’t you just try to help me? WHY!?” Shadow’s voice rose. His voice almost cracked.
“The blind cannot lead the blind Shadow,” she replied. He tilted his head in confusion.
“What are you saying?”
Silence.
Shadow bolted up in anger. “Answer me!” A cynical cackle sounded from a distance away, just audible. “W-what’s g-going on? Tell me something!” Twilight was at the side, having noticed the laugh and now a bit frightened as well. Suddenly, everything around went black. A scream, an ear piercing and blood chilling cry filled his ears. The voice was Twilight’s, the origin of the shriek at his side, a bit of blood splattering across his coat in the darkness. It began to close around him, but there was only one image that Shadow could see. That damned image of Celestia, imprinted into his mind. He opened his mouth to curse her name, but the void around him engulfed him without hesitation, leaving everything in him numb, and all that he saw black as night.
Silence... the unending, unyielding silence...
Suddenly, Shadow began to wake...
"So, what do all y'all think?" an orange mare asked her group of five other friends. "Ah mean, he can't stay here."
"Why would he do this?" a lavender unicorn said, almost completely ignoring the question. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe him and Gene have a bad history together?" a cyan pegasus added.
"Gene's never met him. Ah done told you what he told me." the work pony replied.
"Even if they had a past," the unicorn continued, "It couldn't have been bad enough to wish harm upon Gene."
"Maybe if we throw him a party, he won't feel like trying it anymore?" a pink pony pondered aloud. "At least when he wakes up anyway."
"Please Pinkie Pie," a rather perplexed fashionista began, "Try and be a little serious about the matter. I mea-" There was a bustle from the seemingly dead body under them.
"Shhh..." Fluttershy whispered, slightly aghast at the situation itself. "H-he's waking up..."
"Owww..." the stallion said, unable to move. "My head..." Pinkie Pie was the first to act.
"Hey there Shadow!" she beamed with earnest sentiment, only to be rudely pushed aside by Twilight.
"What were you doing trying to hurt our friend? What did he ever do to you?" the unicorn interrogated.
"Yea!" Rainbow Dash quickly added in. "What did he do to you?" They began to crowd around the still half conscious stallion, head in worse pain that even from his dream. "Did that Peach Puppet send you!?"
"Please everypony!" Fluttershy interjected, standing above him in his defense. "Let him rest. You did hit him pretty hard."
Shadow was unable to move, his whole entire body bound to the ground by both a spell, followed by many ropes. He could only lay and listen in agony as his head continued to throb.
"He deserved it!" Rainbow Dash roared back at her friend. "He was going to kill Gene!"
"Don't say that!" she aggressively remarked, though the potency was lost in the soft nature of her voice. "It could have been a misunderstanding or something. You never know."
"Misunderstanding? Fat chance!," she protested. "I bet it was Peach! Remember what she did to Carrot Top while she was here? Lyra is still recovering in the hospital!"
"Everypony please!" Twilight herself cried out among the rabble. "Calm down! Wouldn't it be easier to just ask him?"
"How would we know he wasn't lying?"
"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Let me help! I can tell!" the energetic pink party pony bounced, almost literally jumping off the walls.
Shadow still laid there, bound to the floor and head pulsing miserably. Their constant rambling intensified his headache with every word that left their mouth.
"But," Twilight continued, "I need somepony to hold him down, in case things get a bit... touchy..."
"Ah'll do it." Applejack offered.
"Great! Fluttershy, try your best to keep him calm while Rainbow Dash unties him. When Applejack has a hold, Pinkie Pie will keep sure that he isn't lying when I start to ask him questions. Rarity, be ready at the door to get help if anything should go wrong. Everypony clear on that?" The all nodded in unison. "Good. Now Rainbow Dash, start untying. I'll keep him down with this spell."
The cyan pegasus began to do as instructed, undoing the knots within the ropes while her lavender friend kept the stallion down, though it wasn't like he was fighting back that much. Upon finishing, Applejack stood above him, placing her hooves on top of his and applying slight pressure. Pinkie Pie quickly shot around with enthusiasm, glaring wide-eyed into his vision. Twilight slowly trudged behind, face in hoof.
"I'll ask you again. Why are you here and why are you trying to hurt Gene?" The response was just another set of groans. "We're getting nowhere..."
"Ummm... maybe I could help," Fluttershy softly suggested. Before anypony could think to protest, which they wouldn't have anyway, the mare left, leaving the rest in wonder.
"Where do you suppose she went?" Twilight asked after a while. Everypony in the room shrugged in unison. Time passed before the quiet pegasus returned, a steamy wooden bowl in her hooves.
"Some of this should pick him right up," she said assuredly.
"Should?"
"Well, it's a special recipe that I use with Angel when he feels bad, but I haven't exactly given it to anypony else yet."
"Well, what COULD happen?"
"Ummm... he... might... go... into... a coma..."
"What!? NO!" the unicorn gasped with confusion.
"I was just trying to help... You don't have to yell..." the yellow pony shyly stated, shrinking away.
"I'm sorry, but delay isn't what we need right now. We need answers, and I don't want to take any chances. I'm confused enough as it is."
"I want answers too!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"I say we throw a party!" Pinkie Pie randomly inserted.
Every sound, every tiny little peep... Every detail, every minor detail... It intensified his pain, his head splitting headache. Silence was what he longed for now, but they continued on, tearing at the adamant nerves in their weakened state after all the years he spent building them up. If this persisted, he would snap.
"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yelled, "Take this seriously! Gene could have really been hurt!"
"I am being serious! Hey, you know what sounds close to serious? Cereal! Let's have a cereal party! Oh! I wonder what his favourite cereal is? Hey Shadow! What's your favourite cereal? Mine is-"
"SHUT THE BUCK UP!" Shadow roared at her, silencing the pony in an instant.
Everypony in the room fell silent, Shadow's sudden outburst bellowing. Pinkie Pie retracted her lips, holding her togune. Applejack still stood above him, keeping her grip solid.
"Thank you..." he continued after a moment. They all still stared at him, jaws hanging from the hinges. "Now," he started, clearing his throat. "What was it you wanted?" Nopony spoke.
"Well?"
"I-I'm s-" Pinkie began. Shadow shot her a glare.
"Not you. Your voice annoys me." The party pony sulked down a little.
"B-but I w-w-wa-"
"I said shut it!"
That seemed to send her over the edge, a tear suddenly streaming from the corner of her eye. She dashed out of the building, sobbing.
"Great! Now I feel bad," he remarked, apparently to only himself. With how still and motionless the others looked, you could almost swear they were painted on the wall in their position.
"Are y'all gonna just stare all day or what? I've got things to do." Still, nopony moved. To see an act like that was almost unheard of. That level of cruelty to their friend, it literally left them breathless. "I guess the first option is the obvious answer to that question," he grunted. "And why in Equestria is this mare holding me down? Get off!"
Applejack didn't obey. Instead, she only drove her hooves harder on his, locking him more firmly in place. Shadow didn't take kindly to this.
"Hey! What are you doing? Get off me now!"
"No!" the orange mare snarled back, having newfound courage. The rest quickly followed suit.
"You have some questions to answer Shadow," the lavender mare hastefully added.
"Heh, fine. Lay 'em on me. It's not like I'm obligated to answer anyway," he remarked.
"Oh yes you will!" Rainbow Dash growled, getting in his face. "You'll answer every one of them!"
"Make me," he replied with a chuckle. Twilight suddenly grinned an almost sadistic grin.
"Spike!" she called. A short, purple scaled dragon hesitantly stepped inside, a bit nervous upon Shadow's initial scream.
"Y-yes Twi?" he answered.
"Take a letter."
"O-okay..." The dragon grabbed a parchment and quill from a drawer, sitting and waiting on her command before printing out the words.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I-" That's all Shadow needed to hear.
"Wait! What are you doing!?" he asked, concern very audible.
"Sending the princess a letter about your arrival. I'm sure she'd love to see you and help teach you about friendship."
"That... won't be necessary..." He sighed with defeat.
"Oh? How come?" Twilight wondered aloud, victory beaming from her very being.
"I... I'll talk..."
"Good!"
Shadow told them everything. Well, what they asked for anyway. He told them about meeting peach and of her payment in very broad detail, leaving out a few specific matters, and had to tell them anything else they could think to ask. At one time, Pinkie Pie did return. She wasn't as energetic though, and the stallion never apologized, saying that 'it was her own fault'.
"So let me recap," Twilight started. "So what you're REALLY doing here is trying to 'take care of' Gene on the whim of a pony who hasn't even paid yet?" He felt stupid in hearing it put that way.
"In a way, yes..." he responded.
"That sounds downright idiotic!" Rarity bursted in, voice that opinion rather vividly.
"There must be more to it," Twilight pondered. :Are you sure you told us everything?"
"Everything you asked," Shadow replied.
"He's a monster..." Fluttershy added.
"I'm whatever you want me to be, but what you say doesn't change anything. Buck, I even gave that stallion a chance! His fault if anything..." The purple unicorn stepped in.
"You're the one who caused this, not him."
"He's the one who ruined his chance! I swear, when I get free, I'll-"
"You'll what?" Applejack growled from above, still holding him down.
"Oh, my dear... He'll not endure anything compared to what I'll do to you if you don't let me go!" That didn't help that factor. The pressure on his hooves rose.
"Try me sugarcube."
"If you were a threat, I would..."
The mare scoffed at the statement. "Heh, watch yer mouth there bud. Ah don't wanna have to hurt you." Shadow didn't even acknowledge the comment. She wasn't worth in his opinion.
"So what are you gonna do with me? Just keep me here?"
"Yes. You'll be confined until we can be absolutely sure that you won't hurt our friend," Twilight stated. "We obviously can't trust you to do so now, so you'll be staying here until then."
"And if I were to refuse?"
"It won't matter. Unless you want Celestia to come down and pay us a nice little visit, you'll do as we say."
Shadow was in quite the predicament. Everypony was now on to him, and even more dangerously they had the ability to basically control him into doing their bidding if the wanted. An idea had struck him a while ago, but it seemed useless at this point.
"Alright..." he gruffed. "I'll stay here..."
"Good," the unicorn beamed. "Now that that's been settled, you can all go back home now."
"Yea..." Rainbow Dash said, yawning as she stretched her wings. "It's getting late. One could see the moonlight filling the room from a lonely window. It was very late in the day, almost close to the next. "I'm gonna head on home."
"So am I. Being inside so long has really started to affect my mane," Rarity chimed in. Everypony else began to give their respective excuses, leaving the establishment one by one until it was only shadow and Twilight, Spike already asleep in the other room. There was an almost calming silence this time, must less awkward than all the other times, yet Shadow was starting to feel uncomfortable, the mare at his side staring and looking him over while he still laid in the floor. He never did get up, not even after Applejack made her leave. Finally, he had to say something.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, still unsettled by how carefully and precisely she seemed to examine him.
"Your cutie mark... it intrigues me..." she responded, gaze fixated on the mark. "And that scar under your vest..."
"What? Those old things? They don't mean nothing."
"See, if they didn't mean something Shadow, you wouldn't have them," she remarked smartly. "Two crossed red swords with blackened wings... What does that mean?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," he half snorted. "Anyway, how about showing me where it is I'm supposed to lay my head tonight? The floor would be fine, b-"
"I have an extra bed upstairs across from mine just for guests. You can use that one." Shadow laughed at this.
"I'm basically a prisoner and you give me a bed?"
"Well, if you prefer the floor, I'll send Spike t-"
"The bed's fine, thanks."
"That's what I thought you'd say. Be ready to get up early though. I still have plenty to ask you."
"I'll be up early enough," he responded. "Who's cooking breakfast?"
"I don't normally eat breakfast," Twilight chuckled, heading up the stairs. "Coming along?"
"I'll get to bed later. Got a few things I need to think about first."
"Don't try running now. I've cast a spell that'll kee-"
"I get it," he interrupted. "And I guess I don't get my weapons back do I?"
"Not until we trust you." She disappeared at that statement, leaving Shadow alone in a strange building in an unknown location within a city he barely knew.
"Heh... Peach, Peach, Peach... You and me are gonna have one long discussion next time I see you."
Hurting or attempting to harm any other ponies now would definitely obtain him a meeting with the princess, so he had to go along with it. Maybe he could trick them, though he doubted it with that blasted Pinkie Pie telling his every lie.
Shadow found himself strangely tired. He had been out like a light for most of a day's morning. Despite that fact, he trotted up the wooden stairway to the level above. Twilight lay sleeping soundly in her own bed, covered up and her little dragon in a basket underneath. To his left was the bed. It always bothered him to sleep in somepony else's bed. It was just weird to him. Taking off his black shoes and the breastplate that still was around him, he slowly climbed under the covers of the mattress and slept...
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Skin them all.....skin them and I say gene gets mutilated, the mane 6 I don't care just teach them not to fuck around with shadow.
1585749
Shadow can't do much at this time. He doesn't want another encounter with Celestia. They basically have control of him for now. BUT, he has a plan.
1585757 believe me I'd free him myself and watch him mutilate gene but I don't have access to that universe
damn I really wanted to see it up close.
1585771
I have a story line-up already sketched out and am working on it. Trust me, it'll be a surprise.
You do realize this story IS rated teen right? DON'T WORRY about it.
1585778 just because its rated teen doesn't mean it can't have mutilation.
That was a great start I love the leangth of the story you have earned a favorite
1586195
Not even half-way finished yet.
Glad ya liked it!
Thanks! I take pride in the length of this story.
I cant wait to READ MORE
1586216 here's a present [youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=wledWvJzGIM]
Well, my old friend, I will be traveling for Thanksgiving with my family and since I can download chapters you gave me something I can read while I travel. Now then here have mustache
1654204
Happy I could be of service. 
....The only story you have with a tag that says 'sex' is the one I wrote with you.... why does this not surprise me? XD
Man......I really wonder when this will update. I miss this story it was a great one. I just wish things would go back the way they used to be.
I'll read this later, looks good so far!
5 dislikes
but 23 likes 
wuz wrong wit chu ppl? 
Good night glow s 27 likes and like...1dislike? Well...10 more likes shall please me, ore of that dislikin' crap
I will watch you with this stare.... I will...
...I ran outta stuff to look at
yearning strongly for nostalgia I read A Timeless Hell, love how you made Davys personality in it as time here went by, tis amazing though " "The name's Downpour... Davy Downpour..." " oddly made me wanna read this and so I did. amazing.
4625131 Hey Davy. Been a while. PM me?