The Legend of a Shadowmare 2: Journey for Firefly

by JasontheDemon

A Whole New You

Chapter 2: A Whole New You

“OOF!”

Daemon felt a small weight land on his stomach, awaking him from a peaceful sleep that was so rare for him these days. Groggy and still very tired, he checked the clock. 5:24... in the morning! He looked down to see a bubblegum pink mane attached to a mustard yellow face. Firefly looked back at him with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. Apparently she was ready to get the day started, but Daemon wished that she would have just slept a little longer. Her practically glowing sky blue eyes told Daemon her every intention when she woke him up. He believed that the reason why she desired to go through the ritual wasn’t just because she wanted to be like him. Firefly had been having trouble with two of her classmates in particular and it was mostly because she was a Shadowmare who had no wings or magic, where as her tormentors had both. Gold Rush was a unicorn colt and Jade Charm was a pegasus filly. They were nearly carbon copies of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, bullies down to their core. They teased Firefly mercilessly, taunting every flaw they could see. Permanent blank flank, wingless, useless, freak, nobody... these were a few of the names they would call her. Daemon wanted to straighten them out but they would easily be able to accuse him of being cruel to them. With the reputation of the Shadowmare race just beginning to earn redemption from the thousands of years of lies and slander, Daemon could not afford to step between them.

“Firefly... its 5:30. I’m pretty sure everypony besides you is still asleep.” Daemon told her with dark circles under his eyes.

“Yeah, but I can’t sleep! I’m too excited!”

“Well I guess we could go to Twilights and get everything ready...” Firefly squealed in delight and ran out the door.

‘I swear she gets that from hanging around Pinkie’, Daemon thought as he followed her downstairs.

The preparations for ‘The Ritual’ were very important and time consuming. Everything had to be done just right. It wasn’t at all dangerous if you got it wrong, it was just something you didn’t want to start over. The energy it took from the casters was vast. It left you completely drained as you poured your power into the host, in this case... Firefly. If you got something wrong the spell would fail and nothing would happen, then you would have to wait a full day to recuperate and try again. It was a whole lot more risky a few years ago when you had to worry about lightmares detecting it and hunting you down, but it still wasn’t going to be pleasant. Daemon knocked on Twilights door and to his surprise she answered quickly. She didn’t seem to be tired at all.

“Yes! You are finally here! Come in!” Twilight said, full of energy. Daemon was confused how she could be so wide awake at such an early hour. He opened his mouth to ask her a question but it was as if she read his mind and answered while gathering a note pad and quill.

“I couldn’t sleep! This is the event of a lifetime! I mean to actually see a legendary being go through a mysterious and powerful rite of passage that nopony else has ever witnessed is amazing! It’s the sort of thing somepony like me dreams of discovering! To actually be the first one to see the culture of a Shadowmare unravel before you is just... just... AMAZING!”. Daemon looked at the expression on Twilights face after she was done and laughed slightly. He knew this look in her eyes. It was the look she gave when she was about to learn something new. She was overjoyed with discovering new things about his race, she was, as many would say, ‘adorkable’.
For a while, Daemon and Firefly just sat in front of Twilight. She was ready to jot down everything in the notepad levitating in front of her. Daemon scratched the end of his nose and Twilight eagerly wrote it down. This caused Daemon and Firefly to look at each other briefly and flash sly smiles. The two Shadowmares started to bounce around and do cartwheels only to make Twilight write everything down in a rapid pace. She struggled to keep up as the duo continued to perform random acts that meant nothing. Desdemona walked in and found Daemon drinking lemonade upside down, Firefly walking backwards up the stairs, and Twilight writing notes feverishly. She was totally baffled as to what was possessing them to act weirder than normal.

“What the bu- uh, I mean ‘hay’ are you all doing?” Desdemona asked, making sure not to swear with the filly present.

“I’m taking notes! Why are Shadowmares so complicated?!” Twilight shouted, her mane a mess and sweat dripping from her brow.

“You guys are jerks...” Desdemona said as Daemon and Firefly started to snicker.

Since Desdemona had arrived, both she and Daemon set to work on setting up the area. Flara had taught them both what was needed to perform ‘The Ritual’ when Firefly was born, just incase they had to do it. First the floor of the library was cleared of all clutter, the area had to be clean and have a good sized spot where Firefly would be away from any others that were going to watch. Next came the sigil. It was a mark that was drawn on the floor with a special red liquid that looked a lot like blood at first glance. The ingredients to make it were ash from a volcano, hair of a manticore, a ground up scale of a dragon, water from a pond at midnight under the full moon, and lastly a drop of blood from the participants. The ash and water were provided by Zecora because they were a little more difficult to acquire. The red paste-like substance was painted on the floor near one side of the room. It looked ominous, kind of like something a crazy cult would draw to worship ‘Beelzepony’. It was a star, within a triangle, within a circle. On the outside of the circle and triangle were strange and mysterious runic symbols. From what Desdemona and Daemon were told, they were a prayer to some ancient entity that was long forgotten... specifically a prayer to be saved with by being granted the might of the shadows. It sounded like something evil but what Daemon had to explain was that darkness wasn’t bad, it was only interpreted as being sinister by those who weren’t comfortable in it... and Shadowmares were ironically more comfortable in the shade than direct sunlight, that’s why Daemon and Desdemona would often spend their days off in the shadow of a tree. It wasn’t that the light hurt them per se, they just liked the dark more.
Once everyone had arrived and the sigil was painted to perfection, it was time to begin. everypony except Daemon and Desdemona were to stay against the far wall opposite of the ancient magic symbol where Firefly was going to be standing. The two grown Shadowmares had closed all the shutters and curtains, making it relatively dark in the library. Desdemona said said it was necessary for a shaded atmosphere to be present, but she didn’t say why... instead she told everypony that the reason would present itself soon enough. Firefly sat in the center of the circle, waiting for it to begin. She was getting frightened by the conditions and nearly asked to have it stop, but she tried to remain brave and remind herself that it would be over shortly. Then without warning... it started. Daemon and Desdemona were seated in front of the little filly and began to chant in an unknown language. The words filled the air with an ominous feel. The sigil on the floor was responding to the chorus by glowing with a vibrant shade of fluorescent red, startling Firefly a bit. The group of closely knit friends jumped at the sight of what happened next. Swirling ribbons of pink energy lifted Firefly into the air and the center of the demonic emblem emitted light blue streams of light, shooting a few off occasionally. As the the spell went on, the effects grew and dark flames began to engulf the small Shadowmare. Daemon’s and Desdemona’s horns were shining with great intensity. Once Firefly was completely wrapped in the black fires consuming her, they bursted into a roaring inferno, sending her scruffy mane upwards toward the ceiling. When the spell reached this climax, Firefly gasped and opened her eyes wide, staring off into space as if she was peering into the face of a god. Her eyes were glowing with the same blue light that streaked past her. Much to the crowds surprise, the flames didn’t burn her. Just when things seemingly couldn’t get anymore terrifying, the shadows of the room danced and came to life. They flowed around her and condensed into a black orb of darkness, concealing her from the sight of all onlookers. The chanting of Daemon and Desdemona had come to an end. When they opened their eyes, the spell died down and the orb formed to a more familiar shape... but this time, it had horns and wings. The blackness that covered the filly faded and released her. She was curled up in a ball, wings were blocking anypony from seeing her. Daemon moved up to the miniscule figure and nudged her with his hoof.

“Wake up sweetie... it’s done.”

Firefly groaned a little and muttered, “But I don’t wanna go to school.”

She moved a bit and began to stand up. Her wings fell to the floor as she got to her hooves. Everypony could now see that she had three horns like Desdemona. Her eyes were still closed and it appeared as if she just woke from a nap by the way she stumbled around.

“Firefly, open your eyes... and get ready to see things in a whole new light.” Daemon said in a gentle loving manner, like he often did when he spoke to her.

Slowly but surely, she opened her eyes. The room went into an anxious silence, watching in anticipation as her eyes cracked open. They were a gorgeous bright sky blue with the traditional elongated pupil and striped iris that all Shadowmares shared. Her eyes were the same shade of cyan, but now they almost seemed to glow in the dark. Twilight and the others ‘ooh’ and ‘awed’ at the reborn filly in front of them. Firefly still was pretty out of it and was looking at them with a sense of confusion and disorientation. When she recalled what she was doing in the treehouse, Firefly looked at her dad with those striking, devilish eyes as if to ask ‘am I really a full Shadowmare?!’. When Daemon nodded proudly, she ran upstairs to the bathroom and a high pitched squeal was heard. The piercing shriek was followed by the sound of breaking glass... her new unfocused magical power had broken the mirror along with several windows.

She nervously walked down the stairs and softly said, “Um Twilight, I might have made your mirror explode...”.

“Oh that’s quite alright, you’ll get used to using your magic soon enough.” Twilight responded, waving off the situation like it was an everyday occurrence.

“So how do ya feel sugarcube?”, Applejack asked.

Firefly thought about it a second and replied, “Not too different really... my back and head feel a little funny.”

“That would be your new wings and horns you’re feeling.” Desdemona laughed.

“Does this mean I can fly now?!” Firefly shouted, filled with excitement.

“You’ll need a teacher... luckily I know just the mare to help.” Fluttershy told her.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile, in a looming building right outside the city walls of Canterlot, a certain pony was awakened by a strong wave of energy that washed over him. His time to return was nearly here...

“Good morning”, he heard a mare say outside the confines of his cell.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Flara, or should I say ‘traitor’?”, the once powerful stallion answered back.

“If you must label me as such, go ahead! I know I did the right thing when I helped him grow strong enough to beat you!”

Her remark made Lux laugh madly. “I was saving us from the filth of this world! Scum like them are weak and as we all know, only the strong should survive! Not only have you stopped us from sitting upon thrones like we deserve, you are letting the abominations breed!”

Flara sat there a moment, wondering how he could possibly know about Firefly. When she saw the smile on his face she assumed he was bluffing and merely guessed about her existence. Infuriated by his games, Flara began to storm out, but she heard him say something she really didn’t wish to...

“See you soon... granddaughter.”

That last word, ‘granddaughter’, made her feel sick and ashamed. To know she was so closely related to him made her physically ill. Only Princess Celestia, who had read all her files, knew about how she was his descendant... and she wanted it to stay that way.

* * * * * *

Rainbow Dash wasn’t able to attend Firefly’s transformation since she had work to do up in Cloudsdale. Being a Wonderbolt was full of challenges, but the cyan pegasus was always able to accomplish her assigned job with ‘flying colors’... literally. She didn’t want to miss the awesomeness that when down this day, however her unique talents were needed for this specific task. While rainbow cursed her rotten luck to miss out on such a remarkable scene, she saw Fluttershy make her way up to the cloud layer. It looked like she was guiding somepony up with her. The rainbow maned mare couldn’t see who it was but had a guess. She walked up to Fluttershy and tried to peer around her so she could catch a glimpse of the ‘new and improved’ filly. Firefly was often shy around Rainbow Dash because her radical and extreme attitude normally ended up in some sort of ‘sporting accident’. She did look up to the cooler than cool daredevil though, and often enjoyed watching her stunts.

“Say hello dear.” Fluttershy said, looking back at her hidden daughter.

Firefly crept out into plain view and stared at Rainbow. “H-hi...”.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Well, well, well! It looks like somepony just got twenty percent cooler!”. This statement caused Firefly to blush and give a small smile of her own.

“Rainbow Dash, I came to ask a favor. Would it be okay if you taught Firefly how to fly? You are the best in Equestria and we would love you to be her instructor... if that’s okay with you.”, Fluttershy requested.

“Would it be okay?! I would love to teach the munchkin how to fly! It won’t be easy, but I ask you this one thing...”. Rainbow knelt down to Firefly’s eye level and yelled. “DO YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST?!”

“Yeah...” Firefly said meekly.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!”

“Yeah!” the filly started to shout back.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“YEAH!!!”

Rainbow Dash went over the basics first. Wing control and aerodynamics. Firefly felt like she was in school a day too early by the middle of the instructions. She didn’t get to do anything for a full hour. When Dash proceeded to step two; basic hovering, Firefly was overjoyed. Being new to having wings it was difficult for her to control their movements. Each wing seemed to have a mind of its own as she flapped them spastically. All the crazy flailing by her new apprentice was too much for the pegasus and she facehoofed in frustration.

“Listen kid, you can’t overthink it too much. Just let it come to you. It’s like walking... if you simply wish to go somewhere, before you know it you will be moving in that direction.” Rainbow dash explained. Firefly took the words upon herself and tried to focus on the tip of a nearby tree. ‘I want to go there...’ she mentally told herself. Rainbows jaw dropped as Firefly stopped her thrashing about and zipped over to a tree. For a second Dash thought the young pony was simply pranking her by acting like she didn’t know how to fly, but when Firefly noticed that she got to the top of the oak, she fell. Rainbow Dash feared that she wasn’t going to make it in time, but she had no reason to worry because Firefly was now gifted with dense bones almost like an earth pony. Instinctively Firefly aimed a sole hoof at the ground and when she struck it made a cloud of dust and debris fly up from the shockwave. The earth cracked from the force of impact and a hoofprint marked the ground where she hit. Stunned from what she did, she looked at her hoofs dumbfounded and afraid. She was shaking slightly, looking from Rainbow to her hooves and back again.

“D-did you see that?!” she asked, still trembling. Rainbow Dash nodded.

“Th-that... was... AWESOME! CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!” Firefly begged, looking up at the Wonderbolt before her.

“Well as much as I’d love to see you split the planet in two... I think you should be going home. It’s gonna be dark soon.” Rainbow said, looking at the setting sun. “But I had fun... what do you say we do this every day after you get out of school?”. Firefly grinned and nodded happily. It was funny how much Firefly reminded Dash about Scootaloo when she was about the same age.

Fluttershy was pacing in the living room, looking out the window every few seconds. Damon was watching her frantic behavior from the couch. Fluttershy was getting more and more uneasy with every passing moment.

“If you keep this up, you’re going to worry yourself sick...” Daemon said, hoping she would calm down.

“But what if she’s hurt herself?! What if she flew to high?! What if-” Daemon grabbed hold of her and shook her a little.

“Listen! She is with Dash! NOTHING will happen to her!” Daemon shouted.

Just at that moment Firefly ran through the door and was immediately embraced (rather tightly) by Fluttershy.

“Oh my sweet baby! What happened?! Do we need to go to the hospital?! What’s broken?!” Fluttershy cried.

“Mom! I’m fine! I might even be indestructible!” Firefly said, desperately trying to break free from the hold.

Daemon raised an eyebrow. “‘Indestructible’? What makes you think that you are indestructible?”

Firefly explained what had happened. Fluttershy fainted, but Daemon was impressed. The fact that Firefly was able to instinctively come up with a way to save herself from a fall was good news. However, she was not ready to stop learning and just wanted to figure out how to use her magic since she was back home.

“Oh no you don’t missy. You chose to learn how to fly first. Music now, magic later... you know the rules.” Fluttershy commanded.

It was the agreement they went over a year ago. Firefly promised to play her instrument every night if they got it for her. She had gotten very good at it and was able to play intricate songs without the use of magic. Her tutor was Octavia. The musically gifted earth pony agreed to teach the little filly because Daemon had become a good friend of her best friend, Vinyl Scratch. Firefly was able to play a few instruments, but one stood out in particular... the harp. It was strange to see a Shadowmare play such an angelic instrument, but what she produced from its strings was worth the odd sight of her playing. Firefly found that her new strength helped in carrying the large object. It was actually four times bigger than her, but she managed to reach far enough to play it. Once it was in position, she began to play. It was a happy, cheerful tune that fit her perfectly. Her playing always caused her proud parents to almost shed tears of joy. To them she was as beautiful as her song. The notes that flew through the air were serene, filling the cottage with a feeling of not only love, but also peace. She continued to play and make the melody her own. When she was finally finished she was nearly ready for bed. The look upon her face told Daemon that she was exhausted. Flying for the first time tends to do that to you. Daemon used his magic to place the sleepy pony on his back and proceeded to carry her to her room. After tucking her in he gave her a kiss on the forehead. As he walked to leave the room, he heard, “Thanks daddy... for everything”. He teared up as he remembered how he said something similar to Fluttershy the night they met.

Comments

[Shadow Note]

She's her father's filly alright I remember way back when Daemon helped AJ for the first time and did the same thing, although probably on a much bigger scale lol It seems like only yesterday we were watching him and Fluttershy fall in love *happy sigh*

[JasontheDemon]

1773988 yeah but when he helped AJ he did it on purpose, firefly was most likely reenacting the story he told her (that or she has unbelievable reflexes).