Prologue: Escape
You all know King Sombra. Made of pure evil, King of the Shadows? You probably didn't know that he had a daughter. Yeah, a daughter. Pretty surprising for someone so almighty and evil. Her name was Shadow Dash. She lived in Sombra's castle, as did all his servants, sitting in her own room most of the time. She was a cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow mane, not really living up to the whole 'Shadow' part of Shadow Dash. Of course, her father insisted on calling her that. He hated colors. He hated joy. Light. Anything that wasn't dark and shadowy wasn't good enough for him.
Shadow hated her father. She had nothing to do in the damned castle. Even with all the space. All the open hallways, rooms, dorms, kitchens... there was nothing to do. She wasn't allowed to fly. Her father, of course, had to hate flying. He was a unicorn, he stuck to magic. And with his hatred of flying came his hatred of pegasi. Pretty unlucky for Shadow, who was a pegasus herself. Sometimes she would wonder why her father hated pegasi so much and how she turned out to be one herself.
Sometimes she wished she was never born in the first place.
It was nearing the end of the day, tomorrow would be her birthday. Her 5th birthday. You'd think a father would be proud and would attend said birthday, right? Well, for Dash, it was quite the opposite.
"Hey dad?" little Shadow tapped on her father's side. He was much taller than she was, he was an adult. It made sense.
"What annoyance do you bring to me this evening, Shadow?" her father grumbly replied. He was in the midst of signing papers of some sort. He didn't even bother to look up from his parchment. Just signing away, approving and stamping parchments. He was the leader of this Empire, of course.
"Dad, I was thinking. Since tomorrow is my birthday, could we do something? Just you and me?" Shadow asked quietly. She knew it was a long shot, but she still wanted to try.
"No. What kind of ridiculous question is that? Birthdays are pointless. Just celebrating that we are one year closer to death," Sombra replied, eyes still glued onto the papers.
"But, Dad, please?" she pleaded. Slight tears forming in her eyes. She nudged her father.
He growled and set his pen down before turning towards Shadow. "What part of no don't you understand?!" he shouted. "Get out of my sight, I'm busy right now! We can talk later, but preferably not," he shooed her away like a fly.
Shadow stumbled backwards and tears streamed down her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, only sobs. She ran back to her room and slammed the door behind her.
She just wanted to have a normal life. Normal friends, normal hobbies, heck, she'd even take being a boring old librarian over this whose only job is to stack and organize books. At least normal people would come into her place then. Of course, she could only dream. How could she escape from this place? It was her home, she'd have nowhere else to go. Even if she did have a home outside of this castle, what would she do then? She only knew life within the castle walls, she didn't know what the outside world was like. What normal ponies were like. For now, she would sit in the corner of her room, crying the night away, hoping that she wouldn't wake up in the same place the next morning.
It had been a while since that incident. A few years later, Shadow kept avoiding her father. Her resentment grew. She would start shouting at the guards, her anger not directed at them, but at Sombra. Even just thinking of his name made her spit in disgust. However one day, Sombra approached her. It was surprising, to say the least. Would he finally talk to her? Give her the love and attention she deserved?
"Daughter," he spoke. They stood in her bedroom. "I believe you are old enough to learn to rule besides me."
A volley of emotions cycled through her. Confusion. Anger. She shouted, "Why in Tartarus should I rule besides you?! All you've done my entire life is ignore me! Ignore me and push me down! Now you want me to rule besides you?!"
"You know nothing of what you speak, child, now either you will learn to rule besides me, or I will lock you in this room myself!" Sombra growled.
"I don't want to rule, Dad! I want to go out in the world! I want a normal life! I want friends! Lots of friends so I can talk to someone when I'm bored!" Shadow cried out.
"You want friends? Friends are for the weak! They only bring you down until they stab you in the back! Betray you! And if they don't? They'd only slow you down!" Sombra argued. He stomped his hoof on the ground.
"Why can't I have a normal life, Dad? Why can't I have a normal family? Someone who cares for me and helps me up when I'm down? The only loving family I ever had was mom! Mom was twice the parent you wer-" Shadow was cut off.
"WE DO NOT SPEAK OF MOTHER!!" he roared, his eyes flaring out purple. The room dropped fifteen degrees in temperature. Dash crumbled down to the ground in fear like a piece of paper. "You know NOTHING of what mother did when she was around. We do not speak of her EVER. If I catch you even WHISPERING about her, I will banish you into the dungeons myself! Am I clear?!"
Shadow weakly nodded.
"Good. And if you are not grateful with the life you have now, let me remind you that I brought you into this world and I can take you out. You're grounded Shadow. I will unlock this door when you feel ready to rule," he finished and slammed the door, dust flying out from underneath. She heard a click sound coming from the door.
Then silence.
Shadow got up. She stood there for a bit, tears streaming down her face, before she clenched her eyes shut and screamed as loud as she could before kicking the wall in front of her. The wall shuddered upon impact. A frame hanging on the wall, one of the only pictures held up in her room, shook side to side before eventually falling and cracking both the frame and the glass covering. A loud RRIIIIP sound was heard as it fell.
Dash yelped in surprise when the frame hit the floor. "What?! NO!" Dash rushed over to the fallen picture and picked it up in her hooves. Small glass shards fell onto her legs, giving her small cuts, but she didn't care. She shook the picture a bit, getting all the other small bits out before carefully picking up the picture held within, careful not to rip it further. It was a drawing that was made a while ago. In the middle, there was a shakily drawn picture of a smiling blue pony with a rainbow mane. She seemed happy. Besides her was a grey unicorn with black hair and a horribly drawn set of armor on top of him who also held a smile. And on the other side of the blue pony was a white pegasus, wings outstretched. She had a beautiful mane colored rainbow, just like the blue pony's in the center. They stood in a castle background, all smiling together. Much like a family photo. And to top it all off, there was a large pink heart drawn around them. They were all happy... joyful.
The state the ponies were in almost made it feel... foreign to Shadow. And yet, she hugged it tightly, crying softly into the paper. Then, she muttered something quietly, so that not even a mouse nearby would be able to hear. Eventually, she stopped hugging the paper and looked at it again. She wiped the tears from her eye and a new spark of energy brewed within her. One of determination.
Quickly, she grabbed her saddle bags, stuffed her toiletries, clothes, and other various items into the bag. Eventually, it was nearly full, and she went back to the piece of artwork. She picked it up, examining it closely. She looked at the picture, and wondered if what she was doing was the right thing to do. But then she looked up at her bedroom door. And back at her paper. Then at the door. The paper. And then her mind was set. She neatly folded the picture up, kissed it lightly on top, and safely secured it in her saddlebag.
She approached the only window in the room. One that was small. With no doors to open it. Only able to see the world which she could not reach. Shadow attempted to move it in anyway possible, but it would not budge. She shouted in anger and punched her hoof through it, making the planes shatter clear off, leaving some glass shards imbedded in her hoof.
"Ow!" she yelped in pain. She ripped out the shards with her teeth. Blood started pouring out. She covered it with her other hoof and carefully flew through the small gap she made.
Then it hit her. A gush of wind. The smell of plants. The chirping of crickets. Freedom! At last!
She flew up in the air and spun around, whooping in cheer. Then, she blasted off away. Just away from the castle. Away from her prison. That damned castle that she had dared called a home. Now she was off. Anywhere was better than here.
She flew as far as her wings would take her. Well, of course that wasn't that far. She was still a filly after all. She decided that it was okay to take a quick break, so she landed on a nearby tree and tried to get comfortable. And damn was that tree comfortable. Now, it was time to enjoy a nice sleep, away from the nightmare.
* * *
Shadow woke up. Fully rested, too! She smiled as a new day was to be had. Eventually, she saw a city nearby, filled with tons of ponies! The way the sun shined on the city made it glow like it was something straight from heaven!
It was such a bright day, Dash could sing her heart out right now! The aroma of flowers and baked goods came from the city below. Those who were down there could be seen smiling, chatting, talking with others, sharing meals with each other. Giving each other hugs.
Excited, Shadow dashed down to the center of the city, looking around at the sights around her. An ice cream shop! A painting store! A... war camp? Why would they need a war camp here? She looked besides it and saw... 'Tom's Armor & Weapons'. Wait, that's not right. Dash continued to look around.
Bows & Crossbows
Lots and Lots of Axes!
Scool's Skull Shop
Barn's Bloodspill
Screaming and Screaming!
War and DEATH
The sky started to turn dark, the clouds turning crimson red. Thunder crackled down and it started to rain blood.
Shadow's eyes widened. She started to hyperventilate. She began to walk backwards, away from the madness, but ran into a pony. When she turned around to look at the them, she saw evil green eyes staring into her soul. Purple flaring out with extreme power. It spoke to her. "Friends are for the weak! They only bring you down until they stab you in the back! Betray you!" it spoke in her father's voice.
She ran in the opposite direction, but tripped on a branch, falling face first into the concrete. When she got up, all the ponies were gone. Replaced by replicas of her father. All staring at her.
"Rule besides me!" they all spoke in unison before cackling with evil laughter.
"No!" Dash screamed. She turned around again, but this time it was yet another clone of her father, grown to the size of fifty ponies, towering over her.
"Join me!" it roared.
"NEVER!" Shadow shrieked. She looked all around her and the clones started to close in on her. One step at a time, closing the circle around her.
Shadow curled into a ball and sobbed into her legs. "GO AWAY! PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Then there was silence.
Dash tried to uncurl herself, but she was trapped in a small box. It was pitch black all around.
"M-mom? D-dad? Anyone?" she whimpered. She couldn't move. She was stuck. Her breathing increased in tempo. "D-dad?! Anypony! Help! I don't want to be here anymore! Please! I'll go back to your castle! I'll rule by your side! Anywhere but here!" she shouted. But only darkness was returned. Dark shadows that surrounded her.
Her breathing quickened even more in pace. The room started to run out of oxygen. Her vision began to fade, until eventually, it turned completely black.
* * *
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Shadow screamed. She bolted straight up. Her body was covered in cold sweat. She felt her face and it was covered in tears. She had been crying for hours.
Carefully, she stood up and wiped her face. She brushed the leaves out of her mane and coat and slid the saddlebags over her back once more.
"More travel time... yay," she said unenthusiastically.
She took to the sky, soaring slower this time. Her mind still on the dream the previous night. She shook her head. It was just a dream. Nothing more. He's wrong. I will never rule with him.
Eventually, she came across a small town. Looking down, she could read that it was called Ponyville. It looked like a good place to settle down. Not a lot of ponies here. Mostly just Earth Ponies and Unicorns. Maybe she could stay here?
Just then, she looked up to the sky and saw a huge towering cloud. "Woooah!" she exclaimed and took off towards the top.
It was a giant cloud city! Pegasi were flying all over the place! And there was a school?! She could learn all kinds of new things there! The little filly was excited, like she had just eaten an entire pack of gummy bears by herself. She raced towards the school and saw kids her age flying around and having fun. Playing catch, racing, and other interesting activities.
That was until she saw one pony that was separate from the rest. It was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. The difference from everyone else? Shadow saw two older pegasi talking down to her. What kind of cruel joke is this? She flew down to investigate.
"Haha! What was that flying, Klutzershy? My baby brother can fly better than you!" one of them laughed.
"You should just quit and be an Earth pony, since you love the ground so much!" the other teased.
That's it. Shadow had had enough. She flew down from the roof she was perched on and directly in front of the cowering yellow pegasus.
"Leave her alone!" she shouted at them.
"And who are you?" the first bully questioned.
Shadow thought to herself for a second, but then continued, "The name's Rainbow Dash. What's it to you?"
"Hah, probably just as bad as a flier as Klutzershy over here!" he laughed.
"Yeah, Rainbow Crash," the other added while also laughing.
"Hey! I'm not a bad flier!" Shadow defended herself.
"Oh yeah? How about a race a week from now? Just you and us. A race to the other side. If you're so good at flying like you said, you should be able to easily beat us!" the first bully challenged.
"Unless you crash," the second snorted.
"Challenge accepted, losers. Prepare to go down!" she smirked.
"If you say so, Rainbow Crash," both started laughing again and walked away.
Shadow growled and got out of her defensive stance, before turning towards the shy mare she was protecting. "You okay?" she asked, offering a hoof to help her up.
"Y-yeah..." she answered quietly. She accepted the hoof and was pulled up. "T-thanks Rainbow Dash." She looked down at the floor.
"Don't sweat it," Dash said, giving her a quick hug. "Those guys don't mean nothin'."
Some time went by and neither of them spoke. Finally, Dash broke the silence, "So, what's your name? I don't wanna call you Klutzershy. Unless that's your actual name, no offense."
The mare fidgeted with her hooves. "It's, uh... F-fluttershy," she stuttered.
"Nice to meet you Flutters," Dash held up a hoof to shake. "Ya don't mind if I call you Flutters, do you?"
Fluttershy hesitantly shook her hoof. "N-no. I don't mind."
"Well then, it was nice meeting you, but I've got some places to be. Cya around?" Dash asked.
"Okay... bye. Thanks for the help, again," Fluttershy responded.
"Like I said, don't sweat it. Cya around Flutters!" Dash zoomed off into the distance, away from the city. She'd have to come back sometime. Maybe she'd even enroll in the school. For now, her eyes were set on Ponyville.
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So... she slept through ~1000 years?
11886599
Yeah imma just bullshit my way outta this and say that she left seconds before the spell ended.