Unleashing the Shadowbornes

by Golden Scrolls

Chapter 14

I feel… tired. I can feel a soft hoof brush against my side…

I can hear the sound of a calming voice in my ear. “Do not worry. I will be here waiting,” The voice tells me. I can’t tell who it is, as my memory is fuzzy. Or… is it fuzzy? I don’t know anymore.

I find myself in front of a large set of double doors. Their handles are as grey as the walls are, and they impart a sense of dullness to me. My forehooves touch the door and it’s a move that’s not exactly conscious. The door seems to be calling to me, so I answer the call. Once I step through the doorway, my eyes fall onto a jade throne. A large stallion sits on it and he looks down at me. Before I meet his eyes, my gaze turns to the back wall. I see that it is entirely made of glass judging by the large amount of light pouring through it. Absolutely nothing is discernible through the light. I would wager that the light is all there is. I don’t know where I am. The pony in front of me steps off the throne and I am compelled to bow.

“Greetings,” The earth pony rumbles. “Rise.”

I am compelled to rise.

“Thank you. Your name is… Golden? The poor, unfortunately named stallion from Manehattan? Or close to it? I don’t know. I only know what my files say.” A folder appears in front of him and he opens it up. “Ah yes, you need answers. Where are you? Somewhere off world. Why are you here? Something went wrong. You see, there are very few times when things around you need to step in. Whether it’s the magical threads that run Equestria, or if it’s the ponies around you, or if it’s me. You are not dead. You would never have died from the initiation either.”

I frown, mentally ticking off the questions I had. Before I can speak, I am interrupted by the stallion. “You still have questions. I watch over the gods that get in touch with you, along with the gods on a number of other worlds. The details are not important. You, my child, are a victim of the world around you. The world does not want you here, and you will not unlock your potential here. To fix this, I have to personally set things right. A simple shift will fix everything. Your memories of your shitty life? Not so much. Yet, you will be free. You will have freedom from her, at least until the time where you will meet her again.” The stallion sits back on the throne and the folder disappears. “And yes… you will meet her again.”

“What about my fiance?” I ask, eyeing him closely.

“She will be fine. I do hope you understand that you two might be apart for a little while. Meddling with the affairs of things would cause everything to go wrong if I was certain. Besides, you will definitely gain skills if you aren’t there with her.”

“So you’re planning on separating us?”

“That’s a little harsh, now isn’t it?” The pony raises an eyebrow. “Pay attention, dear stallion. It is not I who makes that decision. I am merely the one to make the snap judgment calls in order to keep things in line. I judge that you and the Shadowbornes do not belong in that Equestria, and I see to it that it happens.”

I take a step back, anger bubbling up. “I don’t want to be away from my fiance,” I say.

The stallion sighs, trotting to me. “There will always be a point in life where you just have to… take shit. You don’t want this. I know you don’t want this. You don’t want this because your sense of freedom and the mirage of freedom has been assailed by… well… me.”

I take a step back. “I don’t-”

“You thought you were free. Would Silver just let you marry your fiance?”

“I…” I sit down when I realize that I didn’t think of it that way.

“Would Silver let you be happy?” He steps toward me. “Would she allow kids to be born?”

“I... “ I can feel my ears flatten and a pang of fear shoots through me. “No.”

“Do you agree that getting away from it all will… repair you?”

“No. The trauma runs deep. It won’t repair me completely, but I believe it will cause most of my life to get back on track.”

The stallion steps onto the throne and sits down on it. He looks down at me thoughtfully. “I can sense your fears. They are not misplaced at all. You want to learn how to cope?” I nod and he trots back to me. He lays his hoof on my head and I do not feel it. “Write. Fill that head of yours with the lives of others. Enact on the things you are passionate about. Doesn’t matter what it is either. You know how many pages that notebook has, so that’s your potential.” He rubs at my head.

“But I fear I’ll think of her,” I mutter.

“Oh, you will think of her. Given a sufficient amount of time, you will find yourself thinking less and less about her. There will be one day where you will never think of her name. With that, her influence will come to an end. With that, you will be free.”

It takes me a moment to respond. I feel a small hoof brush over my wings and I grunt. “So, you’re telling me that it gets better?” I feel torn. A part of me wants too believe this unknown entity, but another side whispers that it won’t get better. It takes me a moment to reject the second side. My gaze hardens in determination.
The stallion catches onto the shifting gaze. “Good… you’re ready. You’re free to go. Enjoy the rest of your time in limbo, and the rest of your time in this Equestria.” The stallion sits back on the throne. With that, I decide to trot out of the room.

“I love you, Golden,” A voice whispers. I turn to face it, but nobody is there. I then sit down on the cold stone, sighing and waiting for something to change.

Time passes and I soon feel the urge to sleep. I try and fight it, but my eyes soon shut, and my body goes limp.

---

The feeling of a hoof on my chest causes a groan to escape from my lips. I try to open my eyes and blinding light fills it. I groan again and shut them. After a moment, I slowly reopen them and try to sit up. I end up collapsing back onto the bed with a soft whimper. I glance to my sides and see Cyrus and Marly. Cyrus is speaking with a doctor, and Marly is watching me intently. The worry in her eyes breaks my heart. I try and shift over to her, but it hurts to move.

“N-no… don’t move, Goldie,” Marly says. She sniffs and nuzzles at my chest. The worry fades away into a rather calm feeling. “I’m h-here.”

I lick my lips while I search for words to say. Finding none, I choose to relax to her gentle nuzzles. Soon enough, Cyrus trots over.

“It’s been… two days, Golden,” He says softly. “Would you like me to fill you in as to what’s been-”

“No,” I say, almost sitting up but catching myself. “No I… I don’t want to know.”

“Don’t get up too fast,” Cyrus says. “Okay? The day is still young-ish, so you have time.”

I sigh shakily, laying in bed for what feels like hours. Huh, it certainly does not feel like two days, I think. I’m not hungry, nor thirsty, but I feel a slight pang for blood. I grunt, then shift to sit up. It takes me a moment, and it’s a bit of a struggle, but I manage it. I yawn softly and shake my head.

“Do you want to head out now, Goldie?” Marly asks softly, lovingly putting a forehoof on one of my hind legs. I look down at it and nod. I slowly shift to the edge of the bed and plant my hind hooves on the ground. I slide off the bed and shakily move my forehooves onto the ground. My body nearly collapses, but I manage to catch myself. I look over at Marly, then nod. Marly then leads me out of the hospital wing only to be stopped by Cyrus.

“And what are you two doing?” Cyrus asks, watching us trot out of the hospital wing. I stop and look at Cyrus, smiling weakly.

“I want to marry my fiance,” I say.

“But Golden, you’re not well,” Cyrus protests, eyeing Marly now.

The mare looks at Cyrus and shrugs. “He wants it, and so do I,” She says. “It might be rushed, but I kinda get his viewpoint. It’s the day of the wedding, and anypony that is going to be there is going to be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. Shaky reasoning, I know.” She sighs. “I just don’t want to disappoint Golden.” She gives my cheek a kiss and I nod.

“Cy, I would really like it if this happened. Really,” I say. I bite my lip when a wave of dizziness washes over me. I shake my head quickly.

Cyrus closes his eyes and sighs, rubbing his head with a forehoof. “Why do I even…? Fine, go ahead. I can’t stop you from being happy. Just let me get a security team set up. Start heading over to the clearing and they will be there.” He grumbles as he trots away.

Marly frowns and takes a step towards Cyrus, but then stops. The mare glances down the corridor, then makes her way towards the exit. She hums softly as she trots, and the sound of it puts my mind at ease.

“You really want to get this done, eh?” I chuckle. “So do I. I can’t stop justifying it in my head. I don’t want Cyrus to worry, nor anyone else, but I just want to spend my life with you and that comes first.” The words taste weird in my mouth as I reflect back on what I was told in the dreamscape.

Dreamscape? I think. He mentioned limbo. Was I that much affected by it?

“Hey Marly, how was I like when I was knocked out?” I ask, my tongue brushing over one of my fangs in nervousness. Her humming stops, replaced with a sigh.

“You were unmoving, and Cyrus said that your vitals were below normal. The only way we could tell that you were responsive was you reacting slightly to my touch. When you grunted, I thought you were almost out of it. No, it was still another seven or so hours.” She explains.

“What did you do during the two days?”

“Well, I delivered the invitations. Went to Shy and Desert, as planned. As you said, others will come if they know the location. Oh, and speaking of Shy, she wanted to pop on over to see you, but she got wrapped up in some things. I suppose she’s looking forward to seeing you!”

I merely nod, an uneasy feeling creeping into the pit of my stomach, I manage to shake it off when we step into the cool Everfree air. Marly then makes a beeline for Ponyville. A quick sniff of the air doesn’t reveal much, only that it recently rained. “Rain on our wedding day?” I ask. “We won’t be in the Everfree though!”

Marly giggles and nods. “Exactly! Enjoy the fresh air dear! You deserve it.” She smiles warmly and stops to nuzzle me. Her touch causes my heart to flutter a bit and I giggle, momentarily forgetting that this might be my last day on Equestria. I then kiss at her cheek.

“You’re a cutie,” I say. She flicks me with her tail and laughs before continuing to trot. She doesn’t say much else on the way to the clearing.

She seems happy, I think as I step into the clearing. My gaze immediately turns to the willow tree and I smile. Standing there is Raikia draped in a fuzzy purple robe, and Shy. She is leaned against the tree a bit, reading through a small book. Her ears perk up and she stops, smiling and looking at us.

“Why, hello!” Raikia grins and trots over to us, followed by Shy. The pink mare inspects Marly’s mane first, before moving to mine and sighing. She gently smooths down my mane and shakes her head. “Now I know you were unconscious. Doesn’t mean you should slack in the appearance department on your big day.” She giggles, then kisses my cheek before doing the same to Marly’s.

In the back of the clearing, Desert steps out from the brush and stretches his wings. He doesn’t say anything as he trots to the center of the clearing. He then sits down and yawns, looking toward Shy.

Shy trots up to us when Raikia steps to the side. She looks into my eyes and smiles softly. “I’m proud of you. You chose a good mare to be with. What are you going to do after the ceremony? I was thinking we can head on over to my place to celebrate!”

“That sounds good to me, Shy,” I smile warmly at her. Solacia teleports into the clearing in my peripheral vision, so I acknowledge her with a nod. Shy nods and trots to Desert, sitting next to him.

Raikia steps forward and clears her throat. “Ready?” She asks, smiling brightly at us. When Marly and I nod, she trots to the front of the willow tree. Marly and I follow her, both stopping in front of her and stepping off to the side a bit. Marly turns to face me and she smiles.

“Brothers, sisters, and friends; we are all gathered here on this blessed day in order to witness two lovers come together in the bonds of love. Marly and Golden met one day, and I can swear that they couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. I don’t know why they got attached as fast as they did, but love is a fickle mistress. Love does what love does. Love takes and gives what it takes and gives, and we can do nothing but watch. Love brings these two beings together, and love will hold them together for as long as they live. If they were to ever emotionally drift apart, the memories imparted by their experiences will still enrich their lives. Golden, you found someone… hell… a number of ponies who care for you. You found someone that loves you, almost without trying. You too, Marly.” Raikia looks at Marly and smiles. “Few possess that ability, so I commend you both for it.”

I giggle softly, nuzzling at Marly. My hooves are feeling slightly tingly, but I ignore it. “T-thank you, Raikia.”

“Thanks,” Marly nods at the mare, returning the nuzzle. I can feel a gentle sense of confusion emanating from her, so I respond with a nip to her cheek. The confusion fades away.

“Marly, do you wish to marry this stallion? I’m still… confused as to why I need to ask you guys this. Yes, I assume?” Raikia giggles. Marly nods without hesitation.

“And you, Golden?” She turns to me and I nod as well. I ignore the tingling, which is getting worse by the second. “Good. Now, kiss this nice mare. She’s been waiting.”

As soon as I hear those words, the world around me slows and I focus entirely on Marly. My smile is soft as I step towards her. It takes me a second to speak. “I… I love you,” I say before kissing her right on the lips. I close my eyes, leaning into it a bit as the tingling turns into a sharp pain. The pain rockets straight for my chest and I feel as if my head has been smashed by a hammer. The sudden escalation of pain causes me to gasp slightly into the kiss.

Fear, confusion, acceptance, and pain, I calmly think. I break the kiss, then gently wrap my hooves around Marly, ignoring the pain of every move. I open my mouth to issue an apology, but no words come out. I can only watch as a gentle glow covers both me and Marly. I search in her eyes and find nothing but confusion and fear. I gently rub a forehoof against her cheek. My gaze softens quite a bit. I hug her tighter and press my face against her neck, giving it a gentle nuzzle.

Acceptance, and pain. Oh my god the… pain. I bite my lip as I start to tear up. I c-can’t handle bringing her pain. O-oh god I’m so sorry. I-I should have told you. I-It will be alright. Just hold me. Hold me until I can’t f-feel you anymore. I move in to kiss her and she returns it, wrapping her forelegs around me.

Slowly, my surroundings fade around me. I can see Marly’s face slowly fading as well. The pain in my chest increases, as if one of Silver’s knives pierced straight through it. I don’t see Shy’s shocked face as her husband suffers the same fate as I, nor do I see Solacia and Raikia somberly watching from a distance. Every emotion I feel around me slowly fades into nothingness, and I fall with it.

Author's Note:

And so it ends. I wasn't sure where I should have ended this, as I wrote myself into a "This final paragraph feels so FINAL, I can't write anything after it" kind of corner. I ended it where I did, and left it slightly open-ended? Maybe?

I hoped you enjoyed suffering through this, while watching my writing slowly improve over these wild and wacky couple of years. I regret not working on this more, and I'll try to rectify that in the sequel. Thanks for reading, everyone. See you when I post the next installment ^_^