Equestrian Vacation

by Dragonboy111

Chapter 6: Shadow And Soul

"ARGH!" Everypony jumped back at Harry's cry. Harry collapsed, hooves grasping at his head as he writhed.

Cadance was in a state of shock. Had she done something wrong?! She never put any other pony into a state like this!

Twilight was equally panicked. She rushed to Harry as soon as he dropped.

"Harry! Harry, what's going on?!" She tried to get his attention, but he seemed too far gone to notice his friends. She could only watch helplessly as her friend fell unconscious. "Somepony get a doctor!" Was he sick, or hurt? Why didn't he say something?

"Twilight, look out!" Cadance shouted, seeing something was terribly wrong with Harry.

His shadow was growing. Everypony backed away in fear as Harry's shadow enveloped his whole body, washing his tan coat away into a dull grey and his dark mane into a lifeless black. After the shadow blanketed his body, it crawled out of him in a dark circle. Wherever the shadows spread, the ground was quick to lose its color, and any crystals turned black. Everypony backed away in panic and fear.

"It's him!" one of the stylists cried in terror.

"He's returned..." another whimpered fearfully. As the crystal ponies backed away, it became clear their coats were losing their shine, just like they were when the empire first returned.

Cadance looked down at the colt on the ground. This darkness looked, and felt, so much like that of the twisted king Sombra, who once ruled the Crystal Empire. She had to fix this, to protect her people.

"Everypony, get away!" Cadance shouted. Her horn glowed its blue-green color.

A bright dome surrounded Harry, not all too different from the one she used when Sombra first returned. The shadows recoiled from the light, repulsed by the magic, the love, that powered it. The shadows tried to wrap around the dome's insides, creating a dark void, but couldn't escape the protective magic.

"Twilight, what's going on?!" Cadance demanded. Twilight would never willingly bring a threat to her friends, right?

"I- I don't know." Twilight's breathing became more ragged and stressed. "This has never happened before! Harry's never done this!"

"Whatever this is, I'm going to get rid of it! Stand back!" Cadance ordered.

Cadance focused again, and a beam of energy blasted from her horn. The magic empowered the shield, forcing it to shrink, compressing the shadows, and forcing them to retreat from the others. Cadance pulled her head up, dragging the shadows up into an orb, with Harry lying at the bottom, unmoving.

"Twilight, help me!" Cadance commanded. Together, the two pulled as one. Twilight grabbed Harry, and Cadance grasped at the shadows.

As they tried to pull the shadows free from Harry, his coat started to regain some of its previous colors as he exited the orb. But, as soon as his head was the last thing left in the bubble, the shadows turned violent. They thrashed harder against Cadance's barrier but still couldn't pierce it. The shadows retreated toward their host, crawling over Harry's head, before sinking into his head.

Into his scar.

When the last of the shadows faded, Cadance let her barrier vanish. Twilight rushed to grab her friend. She checked on Harry, seeing he was still breathing, albeit shakily.

"It's alright everypony, the danger's passed," Cadance said, trying to keep the ponies, the crystal ones in particular, calm and collected.

"Your majesty, was that... him?" one of the stylists asked.

Twilight wasn't sure if they were talking about Harry, the shadows, or Sombra. But whatever just happened, Harry wasn't responsible.

"No, it wasn't," Twilight said. "Harry's a good pony, he doesn't hold any evil in him." Twilight glanced at his scar. She knew Harry harbored no evil, at least, not willingly.

Cadance approached Harry slowly and cautiously. She held her glowing horn over him, keeping her eyes closed as she focused. What appeared to be faint wisps of black smoke wafted up from Harry's scar. Cadance closed her eyes as her horn glowed brighter.

"There's so much darkness here... Hatred and malice, evil the likes of which I haven't seen since Sombra," Cadance whispered just loud enough to be heard by Twilight. "I've never seen something like this before, its nature is antithetical to love, but so much weaker. It doesn't come from Harry, it orbits around him, clings to him like a bad odor. I can't believe I didn't sense it when he arrived," she said as the smoke coming from Harry's scar disappeared.

"Is he going to be okay?" Twilight asked, her voice filled to the brim with concern. She gently leaned into Harry's prone form.

"I believe he should recover. I'll see if I can wake him, give him some strength," said Cadance. Harry glowed for a brief moment before the human-turned-unicorn weakly raised his head. His eyes squinted against the sun, headache lingering.

"Uh, my head," Harry said weakly. He saw Twilight and the others looking down with concern, and a small bit of fear. "What... What happened?"

"I was about to ask the same," Cadance said in an uncharacteristically authoritative voice. "Shadows were coming out of you. It's never a good sign."

Harry placed a hoof against his head, thinking. When he first saw Cadance, his headache got worse, beyond normal. The only times they ever got that bad were... with Voldemort. But he wasn't here, so there had to be something.

"It's my scar, I think," Harry whispered. "It... reacted to something."

"Your scar?" Cadance said, confused. "Twilight, what's he talking about?" The unicorn looked deep in thought, recalling everything Harry had written or said about his scar.

"His scar is a one-of-a-kind mark from a dark wizard's attempt on his life when he was a baby. That's the only mark left by the curse" She recited. Twilight leaned into Cadance's ear. "That curse is the darkest one, at least in Harry's dimension." She whispered just loud enough for her sister-in-law to hear.

"The killing curse," Harry supplied quietly. "No one's ever survived it. Not even..." he paused for a moment, "not even my parents." Cadance's gaze softened.

"None except him have lived," Twilight said. "This kind of mark is unique."

Cadance took a deep breath. At least Harry's magic wasn't the direct cause of it, but something lingering over him. And the poor colt had lost his parents to it, to this 'dark wizard'. But that did another question to be answered.

"How did you survive?"

Harry was quiet for a few moments thinking. He had nothing but Dumbledore's theories to go off of. And those were based on hefty assumptions.

"I think it was love," Harry said after a moment. "My mother, she sacrificed herself for me. As far as we know, that sacrifice cast a protection over me that caused to curse to rebound."

"And these headaches? They're new?" Cadance again asked softly.

"No, not really. I get... pains or visions when he's near, or feeling something strong. It also imparted some of his talents onto me."

"Talents?"

"He talks to snakes," Twilight supplied.

"But my scar never did that before. I think it was trying to escape."

Pieces were beginning to fall into place now. Twilight and Cadance shared a look, understanding the start of another theory that could explain what just happened.

"I think I get it! The curse, or maybe your link to this wizard, must have reacted to Cadance, Princess of Love," said Twilight.

"And since our magics share the same source, the protection of love from his mother must have done the same, getting stronger near me," Cadance added.

"So, when Harry was near you," Twilight started.

"The darkness must have tried to escape!" Cadance finished. Harry groaned from the floor, and the five ponies from Ponyville exchanged nervous looks.

"Is Harry going to be alright?" Applejack asked.

"He's okay, right?" Fluttershy asked. The alicorn and unicorn exchanged a glance.

"Cadance's presence triggered this reaction, but she's best equipped to deal with it," Twilight noted.

"So, what do I do now?" Harry asked. The headache had settled down, for now at least.

"I think," started Cadance, "it would be best if Harry stayed here for now, while I get my ceremonial headdress done. I don't think I should attempt to tamper with whatever that thing was."

Twilight nodded in agreement. While she didn't like it, Harry would have to stay, at least until after the game's inspector left.

"Let's get you off the floor." Twilight said softly. Harry tried to stagger to his feet but was held down by her. "Don't move, I'll do it." As gently as she could, she levitated Harry off the ground and placed him on a massage table. "Just relax for a minute." Once she was certain he was comfortable, she moved to the rest of the group.

"Ceremonial... headdress?" asked Rarity excitedly. Cadance nodded.

"When meeting with important guests, it was tradition for rulers of the Crystal Empire to weave crystals into their manes in a very specific way. The Games Inspector is known for doing her homework. She'll certainly be expecting my look to reflect the importance of her visit," Cadance explained. "Even if something else of importance occurs," she said, looking at Harry's prone form.

Suddenly, a golden mare burst through the front doors.

"Princess, if I may have a word... I- I have two pieces of news for you. First, your mane stylist has the flu and won't be able to make it for fear of you catching it, too," the mare said. The stylists and Cadance shared nervous looks.

"Oh. Well... I hope she's better soon. Do any of the other stylists here know how to do the traditional royal ceremonial headdress?" When no pony said yes, Cadance took a deep breath. "Just a... small detail," she said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" interrupted Rainbow Dash. "You're trying to land the Equestria Games here. There is no such thing as a small detail!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded.

"I suppose... I could give it a shot," said Rarity.

"Oh, Rarity, you would do that for me?" said Cadance. "Fortunately, I have all the precise instructions right here." She unrolled a large piece of paper. "You sure you're up to this?"

"Working on the hair of royalty on such an auspicious occasion is the opportunity of a lifetime! I will give it everything I've got!"

"See? No worries!" said Twilight.

"That's one problem taken care of," said Harry. "What about the inspector?"

"The Games Inspector isn't expected for several hours," said Rarity.

"Good. Now," Cadance addressed the messenger, "you said you had a second bit of news?"

"Yes, quite. The Games Inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving on the... next train." Everypony gasped in shock.

"This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" quipped Rainbow Dash. "That's ten minutes from now!"

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Fluttershy. Twilight took a deep breath.

"How long before Cadance is ready?" she asked. Rarity began to scroll through the list.

"I should be able to find some shortcuts."

"Good. Cadance?" Twilight turned to her former foalsitter. "I know this is a lot to ask, but—"

"Harry will stay put. The only safe place in the empire for him is here, with me." The princess replied.

Twilight let out a breath of relief. She grabbed the letter from the messenger about the inspector, read it over twice to be safe, and then handed it back. She then walked over to Harry.

"Sorry for the trouble," he said. "If I didn't come—"

"Then this might have gone unnoticed for years. We caught it before it got serious. Whatever this thing is, I give you my word we can figure it out, together. We'll take care of this as soon as we can, I just need you to stay with Cadance. Please?" said Twilight. Harry reluctantly nodded. "Thanks. Rarity, can you have Cadance back at the castle when we're done?"

"Done," Rarity said curtly.

"Okay, we'll be fine." She led her friends, minus Harry and Rarity, to the front door. "Everypony, just be on the lookout for the pony with the flower print luggage."

The five ponies were quick to rush to the train station, leaving Rarity, Cadance, Harry, and several stylists to themselves.

"So, is there a shorter list, or is this the only one?" Rarity asked.

Author's Note:

Oh no, here we go. Harry's magical MacGuffin scar is causing trouble again. This is a pretty big thing I plan to have set off several chain reactions that lead to several things down the line, but no spoilers! I will have more chapters posted soon to catch up the my fanfiction.net account.

Comments

[Vailen]

The Crystal Heart should purge that piece of Voldemort out of his head.