> Immortal
>  by The Grimm Reaper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Part 1 - Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say to live forever is a dream many have tried to obtain throughout the ages, going so far as to call upon their flawed deities for guidance. No-one lives forever, no matter what you do, no matter how long your lifespan, there’s no such thing as immortality. Because even if you achieve immortality, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds a way to kill you.
–Starswirl the Bearded.





I ran, faster and farther than I ever could have run before. This was amazing. I didn’t feel tired, I didn’t feel sore; I just ran and ran and ran. Nothing could catch up with me, nothing could touch me; almost nothing, anyway.  My team slowly but surely caught up with me, enjoying the same thrill as I had. 

“This is great!” one of them said, a female; I couldn’t recall her name. Another began howling with glee at the sky as he kicked his legs against the ground and shot up like a rocket. We all laughed and did the same following his lead.
We were part of a new experimental unit designed to follow orders and not think. Originally we had limited sentience and that was supposed to stay the same, but the experiments didn’t just make us stronger and faster; they also made us smarter.

“Anyone afraid of heights?!” someone called out over the gnashing of the wind. We all smiled and replied in unison.

“NO!”

We were free; experiments on the loose. Indestructible and immortal. We hardly knew each other beyond our tests relating to teamwork, but we had all the time in the world to know each other.

We lived through the reign of humanity, to the evolution of animal kind, to the next planetary generation. We were destroyed countess times, but like a regenerating virus, we came back stronger and faster than ever. As time passed on, we began testing ourselves, sticking to our old ways from time to time. Some of them would hunt me, and some of us would hunt others. Sometimes, all of them would hunt me, and all of us would hunt another individual. It was like a never-ending war game that never ceased to entertain us.

But all good things must come to an end. On the verge of a new era, when life began anew, we became prey to unimaginable things; creatures spoken of in fairy tales. Everything changed while we stayed the same. 




I felt something touch my face. It felt pointy and hard. My mind rushed to the possibilities before I heard voices, breaking me out of my nightmare/memory.

“Don’t poke it, girls.” someone said. She sounded matured, just out of her teen years.

“What is it, Twilight?” another voice asked. I feigned slumber through the continued poking, thankful that it had stopped after the unnamed voice asked of me.

“I’m not sure. It looks like a Timberwolf, but… different.” Twilight replied. I breathed in, letting them know I was alive. I heard three sets of hooves step away while a fourth (which I assumed was Twilight) rushed to get between me and the others. I shifted around, facing away from them. I just wanted to be left alone.

“He’s pretty though.” said a third voice with a thick Earth pony accent. I couldn’t help but curl my lip into a smile at the comment.

“Beautiful but deadly, Applebloom. Remember what Applejack told you about that Poison Ivy after you ran into the field?” Twilight replied.

“Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle made me!” Applebloom complained. The second voice was joined by a fourth and final voice as the two named Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle defended their positions on the matter.

“Did not!” they said together. I imagined Scootaloo to be the one that sounded like a renegade, unless her name was ironic to her personality in which case I was wrong. I wouldn’t lose much sleep over the matter.

“What I want to know is why he has that bone over his face? It’s as white as he is.” Twilight enquired. Ah, the bone… all that remains of one of my friends, one very close to me in life, and still in death.

“Oh no, we’re going to be late! I promised you sisters I’d get you to your homes. Scootaloo, Dash said you could stay with her tonight, I think she’s very eager to regale you with her dreams of being a Wonderbolt.” Twilight added. I heard Scootaloo make an overly positive reaction to the latter part of that information, confirming my guess about which one was which.

"Aw, but I wanna pet the pretty Timberwolf!" Sweetie Belle complained, stomping her hoof. I contemplated "waking up" then and there to try and frighten her into going with Twilight in order to help the elder out, but the chances of her trying to fight me in defence of her charges was too great a risk.

As they hurried along, I stayed where I was. Time had not been kind to me. Not in the same sense as others. I'd spent over a thousand years trying to die and the only way I could possibly do that was through the one thing that scared me more than the judging faces of my friends.

I considered my options. I could either stay as I was and try to starve myself again, or I could make an attempt to gain some semblance of what life used to feel like for me. One would have thought it was an obvious choice, but to me, it was like trying to sate my hunger with water; it would never be the same. Still, water was better than nothing, right? I made up my mind then and there. I would give reintegration another chance, and I knew just who might help me.

With malnourished, but still strong legs, I rose to my feet and followed the scents of those ponies.
> Part 1 - Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following those four wasn’t difficult, even after they’d separated and gone to their respective families. What was difficult however, was staying unseen. While Twilight and the others had a moderately mellow reaction to seeing me, I couldn’t just expect the same from all of them.

It wasn’t being discovered that frightened me; it was being discovered by the wrong entity. Should that wrong entity report me to the highest authority as a trespasser or a potential threat, my plan to return to society would go up in flames. I needed the aid and word of one who would listen and see that I meant no harm to them; I felt Twilight was that one.

Gliding through the air like a giant flying squirrel, I landed with practiced precision to the front entrance of the Library. The scent of Twilight ended here. I knew this was where she resided as her scent was stronger than any other that passed through this door. I pricked my ears as I heard voices from within. She was with company once again, older mares. Perhaps the elder sisters and sister figure of the three young ones?

"You let my dear sister poke a strange creature near the Everfree Forest?" a very Manehattan sounding accent fell through the door.

"No, Scootaloo poked him, Sweetie belle just wanted to." Twilight's voice replied as though she'd been explaining that detail a hundred times already.

"Way to go kid, you looked fear in the eyes and poked it with a stick." an older tomboyish accent commented. This must have been Rainbow Dash, the mare mentioned back out in the field.

"Actually, it was asleep, so I just looked at it and poked it." Scootaloo replied.

"Meh, we'll say you tried to wake it up." Rainbow Dash said.

"Ah ain't never heard of a Timberwolf that looked like that before. Timberwolves are made out wood. If it ain't wood, it ain't a Timberwolf, it's just a-."

"Wolf!" twilight cut in, sounding as if she'd hurried across the Library to gather something.

"Here it is. Wolves were the ancient ancestors of the Timberwolves. Legend has it that they were born from Wolf magic, containing the spirits of the deceased." Twilight said as if reciting a passage.

"So ya'll are sayin' Timberwolves are really just."

"Ghost wolves controlling bodies made of wood." There was a pregnant pause and I pressed my ear against the door to try and hear anything further.

"But wolves died out long before the three pony races even existed." a timid sounding mare piped in.

"So what does that make him?" Scootaloo asked. A scream from Twilight followed suit as she realised what I was.

"HE WAS AN IMMORTAL!!!" she screamed.

"Immortal? You mean like you and the other Princesses immortal?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Princess Celestia was telling me about Immortals and that there used to be a total of twelve, but only the Alicorns remained. Oh she'd be so excited to hear that another one survived!" Twilight gushed. I imagined her shaking her hooves in excitement. Then again, I had no idea what she even looked like; though she was an Alicorn, I knew that much.

I decided to take a chance and rap on the door. I was met with a question.

"Who is it?" Twilight called out.

"A customer, who else?" I joked, covering my mouth as I chuckled.

"Strange, I don't recognise that voice." an eerily high pitched voice commented. As I heard Twilight's hoofsteps, I composed myself, ready to meet her at eye level. As the door opened, she was considerably smaller than I'd expected an Alicorn to be. In fact, I stood over her. It took me a moment to notice this as I looked around for the tall pony but saw a fairly regular sized pony with a dropped jaw.

I raised an eyebrow at her and she slammed the door in my face. "It's him!" she said to her friends. Shuffling was heard within the Library. They were obviously trying to hide. With a sigh, I knocked on the door again.

"If I were dangerous, would I bother speaking to you?" I challenged. Nopony gave a response and all I received was silence. "I'm an old friend of Celestia's." I offered.

"An old pet?" the timid pony asked.

"She wishes." I replied. No response afterward. "Look... what Twilight said was true. I am an Immortal, a pretty lousy one, but an Immortal all the same. Oh the stories I could tell you... The rise and fall of the Unicorn Dominion, my own personal encounter with Starswirl the Bearded..."

"You knew Starswirl the Bearded?" Twilight called out from inside.

"Yes, he tried to experiment on me." I replied, recalling that particular incident. The door opened a crack, but that was enough for me. I waited a second before sticking my nose through. The door slammed in on it. Fortunately, I was protected by the bone on my nose, but that would only protect me for so long. I placed my paw against the door and a small ring of magic grew from out of it, growing no larger than an apple. I pushed ever so gently and the door flung open half way, allowing me the time to pull my face out of the way of the now returning door.

"Be careful with my bone! It's very important to me!" I called out, covering the remnant of my friend and checking for cracks. I noticed one of the ponies spying me through the window on the side I avoided eye contact so as to prevent scaring her further.

"I was awake when Scootaloo began poking me with that stick and I didn't attack, doesn't that count for anything?" I begged. Still nothing. It was clear I wasn't going to get through to them. I'd have to prove it to them, but not outside. I took a few steps back, looked around; coast was clear. I crouched down, a large white ring of magic growing and rotating around me. I pushed against the ring and I was propelled upward. I spiralled around and flipped myself so I would slow down. My paws touched the ground on the second floor balcony and I sighed in relief.

"Thank god I didn't jump through the wall" I said as I opened the unlocked window and crept through.

"I can't see him."

"Where'd he go?" the ponies began to look through the windows near the front door, their backs turned to me. I crept to the middle of the room, grabbing a random book with my tail. Sitting down, I opened the book and found, ironically enough, the past history of Princess Celestia. Her autobiography from the events of Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago.

"You think he gave up and left?" the one I assumed was Rainbow Dash spoke up. Her appearance gave her name an even truer sense of reality.

"I do hope so. He was such a brutish looking thing with that skull on his face." the posh pony said.

"I'll have you know, your younger sister thought I was beautiful." I spoke up while still reading the book. A chorus of gasps erupted, followed by a few screams. I squinted as the sound hurt my sensitive ears.

"And my skull is of great sentimental value to me, so I'll thank you to abstain from making it the cause of your judgement on my appearance." I added, looking up from the book For some reason, i brought my paw to my eye.

"Oh, right, no glasses." I muttered as I put my paw back down. As soon as it touched the ground, Rainbow Dash bolted for me, undoubtedly hoping to catch me off guard. I sighed as she went from across the room to right in front of me in a second. She went right through me, crashing into a stack of books behind me. An orange Earth pony with a stetson was next. She rose to her hind hooves and tried to fight me hoof to paw. I rose to my hind legs too, towering over her, but I managed to counter her moves as if she and i were of the same height. I got her into a strangle hold and held her there for a few moments, cutting off her windpipe before letting her go, coughing and sputtering.

"Are you all done yet?" I asked as I returned to four legs. Rainbow Dash glided around into my field of vision and tried to kick at my face. I lowered it just in time to prevent her from hitting my skull mask. By now, Applejack had gotten her second wind and was ready to try for me again. She ran at me, stopped and spun around. I knew what was coming. I leaned back just in time. Her rear hooves were a hair's breadth away from my face. I reached out, grabbing the hoof with my teeth. She yelled out as I sank them a little too far. Immediately, I let her go, the damage done She hobbled back to the watching group, leaving me to Rainbow Dash.

"I got him!" Dash declared. I sighed again and removed the skull from my face. This was going to hurt. I threw my head down onto a magical ring and it forced my head back up tenfold. My face collided with Rainbow Dash's own and she was stunned in the air. I shoved her towards the group of ponies who looked on in amazement.

"Ow... that's the dumbest trick I ever learned." I said, rubbing my nose before placing the skull mask back over it. With another heavy sigh, followed by a yawn, I picked up the book and went over to the fireplace, sitting in the comfy chair in front of it.

"When you're all ready to stop freaking out and actually talk, I'll be here, testing Celestia's memory." I said.

There was absolute silence for the longest time and as I read on, the ambience from the fire made me drowsy. Before I knew it, I'd nodded off. I don't recall the dream I had then, but it was undoubtedly a nightmare as I woke up gasping. I looked at my surroundings to find myself outside the front door of the Library. A storm had been scheduled and the wind was making its way under my fur. I shivered. Usually, I had the protection of a cave from the natural elements. I stood up again and tried the door. Locked. I repeated my last entry method, but stopped as I entered Twilight's room. She wasn't in her bed. With a raised brow, I checked under it just in case she'd acted like a filly. A small baby dragon slept in his basket at the foot of the bed.

Creeping past, I managed to enter the room I was in before. Twilight was sleeping by the front door, barricading it shut with her body. I kept quiet as I approached her. She seemed so peaceful, it would have been a shame to wake her and try to persuade her again.

With submission in my heart, I gently lifted her up onto my back and carried her over to the still going fireplace. With careful precision, I let her slide slowly off my back onto the floor beside me, the fire feeling warm against my side. I quietly returned to her bedroom and grabbed her blankets, finding a strange doll made of different kinds of stitching underneath. Blinking a few times, I resigned to take it also. I almost tripped over the blankets, but managed to keep quiet enough to avoid disturbing her. I threw the blankets over her and placed her doll in her hooves. She hugged it tightly and it was too sweet to not love.

I realised immediately afterward that I'd forgotten to get the pillow. I couldn't chance going back up for it incase I finally hit a creaking board and woke her or her dragon. A passing thought stuck to me and I decided to take the chance. I gently lifted Twilight's head and positioned myself just right so she could use me as a pillow. My body felt toasty warm by the fire and Twilight's body succeeded in covering the area the fire didn't reach with warmth on that side. She seemed comfortable enough. I let myself relax under her and I closed my eyes once again, hoping to dream of better times.
> Part 1 - Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I used to think I could scream, given my unusually high singing voice, but as it turns out, there are others better suited for the mantle of screaming champion; Namely, Twilight.

My ears were ringing as she screamed her lungs out. Clearly, my plan to earn her trust by letting her use me as a pillow without eating her had backfired in some way. Honestly, I just thought she was overreacting. Finally, I'd had enough. If she wasn't going to cooperate through niceties, I'd have to get a little bad.

"For the love of all that's holy, SHUT... UP!!!!!" I yelled, enhancing my voice to overshadow her own screams As if I'd karate-chopped her throat, she cut her scream off with air still in her lungs. She was still wide-eyed and leaning away from me, but seated.

"Thank you!" I said, a little louder than probably necessary. I cracked my neck, not used to waking up so... instantly. My entire body was creaking and I began to feel my age creeping up on me. "Honestly, what do I have to do in order to get you to believe that I mean you no harm? Rip out my teeth and tell you I don't have a stomach? Because at this point, my stomach's really only extra weight. What is it about me exactly, that frightens you?" I asked, looking her directly in the eye. She said nothing, frustrating me to no end. I sighed, lowering my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Twilight's doll thing. An idea came to mind that I immediately hated, but I was at a loss at this point. With a groan, I picked up the doll. a couple of hoofsteps were my reward.

"Tell you what, say something, anything at all, and I'll give you your...one of a kind doll back." I said, staring her in the eyes once again. She seemed hesitant. A little more pushing was required.

"You do realise that as a canine, I'm showing a tremendous amount of restraint to not chew the eyes off of this thing." I teased. She took another step forward, her mouth trembling. A little more. I brought the doll towards my mouth, opening it slightly. My mind was racing. Please don't make me chew this. Please don't make me chew this. Please don't make me chew this. Please don't make me chew this.

"W-wait!" she called out.

"Ah, thank christ!!" I exclaimed, moving the doll away from my mouth and tossing it to the pony. She grabbed it like a professional hoofball player and held it close. "Now why didn't you say anything earlier?" I asked her.

"You told me to shut up." she replied, looking like I'd just killed her puppy, which in this case would have been merciful for the pup, having to deal with her on a daily basis.

"I see. And did I ever tell you to be scared of me?" I asked.

"No."

"Then why were you? You sounded so excited to hear about having discovered an Immortal, yet when you answered the door for me, you turned into one of those ghost hunters that just saw their first actual ghost. So what's up with that?!" I asked, trying to mimic the expression she'd given me (though my mask would have diminished the effects somewhat).

"Twilight has a tendency to overreact with just about anything of little importance." the young dragon I'd seen last night said as he walked down the stairs.

"Spiiike!" Twilight complained. At least she was talking now.

"I see. Well I imagine you have many questions. Feel free to ask, but know that I retain the right to abstain from answering certain topics." I offered. Immediately, Twilight seemed to go into what I could only describe as an inquisitor's mode/trance. I saw a quill and notepad suddenly enter my field of vision at either side, slowly creeping closer to her as she just stared at me.

"Oh shit!" I said, waiting for the onslaught.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Shiro." I replied.

"How old are you?"

"Lost count after the meteor hit."

"Meteor?" Twilight enquired, looking up from her notepad.

"Yes. The meteor that crashed onto this world, destroying the previous civilisation that roamed this earth. The Immortals survived and continued their lives as usual. We didn't really care for others outside our own little coven at that time." I replied. Twilight jotted the notes down, engrossed in the little tale I'd told.

"And what happened to all the other Immortals?" she asked. My ears drooped and I tried to hide my face under my mask.

"I'd rather not discuss that." I said. I knew Twilight was disappointed. I imagined she'd been leading up to that, hoping I'd let something slip.

I learned quickly that Twilight was not the type to give in easily. On top of trying the classic "face" on me, which I countered with my own discomfort on the subject, I felt her trying to enter my mind through her magic. I allowed her to enter up to a point, then I projected an image to her.

She swallowed and held her throat for a moment, checking to make sure it was still there.

"So... How do you know Celestia?" she asked with hesitance in her voice.

"We're old friends. I can't say more on the matter until I know she's comfortable with you knowing." I replied.

"Then let's go see her." she said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Don't you need to like... make an appointment or something?" I asked. Twilight shrugged.

"I dunno. I haven't been a Princess for very long. I've still got a lot to learn. Celestia's made it known throughout Equestria that Ponyville, that's the town we're in, will become my own little royal abode." she replied.

"Really? Castle and all?" I asked.

"Tree castle! Like this Library. I wouldn't be surprised if this actually became a part of my castle." she replied, seeming to draw on nostalgia.

"I sense we've gone off topic. If you're ready to go to Celestia, I suppose I am too. Though I'm not too sure how she'll react to seeing me." I said. Twilight, as I expected, attacked the little bit of information I'd given.

"I thought the two of you were friends." she said.

"We were... but we had a falling out. She's probably still mad at me. Youth isn't the only thing Celestia keeps forever. Grudges are just as everlasting when it comes to her." I replied.

"Well, let's see how she reacts. Maybe if I told her how nice you were being to us even after we treated you like a monster, she'll think better of you." Twilight proposed. I smiled and followed her out of the Library.

I'm afraid that'll only validate her current opinion of me. I thought as we left.




Twilight and I got our own car on the train; Primarily because nopony was comfortable sitting in the same car as a strange white coated timberwolf. I rounded it up to the fact that Twilight was also there and royalty often had their own car. The train ride was very quiet sans the clickety-clack of the railway and the occasional sounding of the locomotive's whistle. I dreaded the thought of seeing her again while at the same time, my heart was begging to see one of my friends after all this time.

Twilight tried to enter my mind from time to time, but I kept scaring her off with different images, some of them variations of my past horrors. I found that showing her images of how I used to hunt like a regular wolf gave me more time between her attempts to infiltrate my mind than any other image.

I looked out the window and spotted the approaching castle. Out of frustration, I laid myself down on the seat and covered my face under my paws. I imagined I looked quite the sight, cowering at the sight of a castle.




The trek from the station to the castle itself was as strange as I expected. Ponies looked at me wherever I looked, some of them having the sense to look away as our eyes met. The guards at the castle entrance, although having seen Twilight, started at me. Spears touched my throat and it took Twilight's words to lower them. While it was somewhat comforting being in the presence of another Princess, although not involved in the past, I was still assaulted with discomfort. Twilight had a curious mind and my attempts to bar her from knowledge she sought was wearing thin on the both of us. I promised myself that as soon as I'd finished speaking with Celestia that I would let Twilight see what I saw every day.

It wasn’t a long walk from the entrance to the gates of Hell (a.k.a the throne room), but the wait was maddening. Thanks to my sensitive hearing, I heard the conversation prior to my “audience” with them. Fortunately, I managed to redirect my hearing elsewhere as Celestia used her booming voice. The conversation between the Princesses was as follows…

Twilight entered the throne room. “Ah, if it isn’t my newest family member. Welcome home, Twilight. is this a social call or is there something you wish or need to discuss with me?” the alabaster Alicorn enquired, greeting the younger of the two.

“Neither, Princess. In fact, I have good news.” Twilight replied. Good news, yeah right. There was a moment’s silence between the two. I could only imagine Celestia was curious as to what could constitute such a description. Knowing Twilight as well as I did, I got the sense that it could be any number of things. Undoubtedly, Celestia thought the same.

“And what would that be?” Celestia asked. It sounded nice to hear her voice without venom or disdain. But it woudn’t last for long.

“I discovered an Immortal!” Twilight said excitedly. Celestia didn’t hesitate for a moment. Although she was far off in her assumptions as to who it was Twilight spoke of.

“Oh no! Is Sombra back? Is it Chrysalis? Abbadon?” she sounded frantic. Of course, I understood why she’d jumped to those conclusions.

“No…He said his name was Shiro.” Twilight replied with the hint of confusion in her voice. I chose that moment to turn my ears around into another direction. Just in time too as Celestia chose then to start screeching like a banshee in the electric chair.

“WHAT!!!” her voice carried throughout the hallways. My ears were barely saved from the ringing that would have ensued had I been focusing them on the throne room.

“GET HIM IN HERE NOW!!!!” she boomed a little louder, just enough to give me a headache. While I wasn’t a very aggressive wolf, not for thousands of years at least, I really didn’t like loud noises, and it had a tendency to… upset me.

The doors opened for me, just enough to see Twilight’s confused and hurt face. My ears were ringing, unaided by the creaking of the doors. Out of habit, I challenged Celestia’s loud voice. A ring of magic appeared in front of my mouth and rotated slowly.

“STOP YELLING, OR I’LL GO DEAF!!! YOU CAN’T EFFECTIVELY YELL AT A DEAF GUY NOW CAN YOU?!!” I bellowed; my voice amplified through the magic ring. Even Twilight covered her ears as I spoke. The ring disappeared in front of me and I stood rather shakily before what my mind called the devil incarnate.

There was a long and arduous moment where I just stared at her and she stared right back. Her eyes were filled with total and unfaltering rage while mine reflected guilt and determination towards closure. I had to speak with her, I needed to speak with her; to face my demons.

The silence broke with her voice. “How dare you. How dare you come in here! How dare you raise your voice at me and how dare you even show your face in Equestria!” she yelled. I stood my ground under her judging gaze.

“I dare because I’m done feeling sorry for myself, Celestia.” I said, taking a step forward.

“Why? No-one else is ever going to feel sorry for you! All you have is yourself and for good reason too.” she snapped.

“I don’t need pity, I don’t need the weight of what I did weighing me down anymore. I’m done. I came here to face my past and leave it behind. I’m sorry, Twilight, I led you here under somewhat false pretenses.” I said, turning to the lavender Alicorn who was more confused than conscious at this point. She seemed to break away from her train of thought as I spoke to her.

“I still don’t understand what the problem is, aren’t you both friends?” she asked. Celestia scoffed.
Like I’d still call this traitor my friend after what he did.” she said. Twilight looked to me for an answer, but now was not the time to give it.

“My friends are dead, as am I. Celestia and I are shadows of our former selves.” I replied to Twilight.

“Don’t place me in the same boat as you, Shiro. I can barely stand to look at you.”

“Yet you’re doing a fine job all the same.” I snapped back. She just glared at me, not bothering to hide her anger towards me. I took a deep breath and relaxed under her gaze. Snapping at each other would not get anything accomplished other than further distaste between us. I then felt something arise from her. She seemed to want something. I had an idea of what that something was.

“Twilight, would you leave the room for a moment? There are a few things I imagine the both of us would like to get off our chests.” I said. Twilight seemed unsure. She even looked to Celestia who nodded, confirming my suspicion.

“If you’re sure…” she began.

“Tell you what, let us sort this whole thing out and with Celestia’s permission, I’ll show you what happened to us.” I offered. My negotiation skill had not rusted at all over the years. No sooner had I finished my offer than Twilight had made a dash for the door. I found her inquisitive nature rather humorous in that aspect as her legs skittered around towards the exit. I chanced an amused chuckle at her expense. No sooner had the door closed, than I found myself with a ten inch horn rammed into my side. I hadn't expected Celestia to start so quickly.

I had a funny feeling that I knew what was gonna come next. And sure enough, I was right. I felt her horn charging her magic between my intestines. I couldn't remove myself from the pinning either as she was actually forcing me towards the door. With a mighty slam that rattled even those powerful and large doors, I was pinned in place. I didn't have time to react as she ripped her horn out from my side, making me turn in reflex and then impaled me again right through the heart. I coughed up blood, which didn't really matter so much other than the fact that it was messy.

"Hurry up already, you're boring me to death!" I growled at her. Celestia clearly took this as a challenge as she released her magic into me. She stood back, letting me fall to the ground as her magic went to expand my body. Unfortunately for her, I'd found an escape for this.

Using my own magic, I began to disturb the expansion of Celestia's like shaking fizzy drinks while it was still in the bottle. I protected my organs and skeletal structure as it was a bitch to regenerate. There was only one way that magic could escape. I reared my neck before throwing it forward, opening my maw. Celestia got a glimpse of the magic rings encasing my  tongue and inner mouth like japanese paper seals on a wall or "cursed box". She growled at me and ran for it, leaping over her throne just as her very own magic escaped my lips. The golden energy looked like a beam at first, but as the last of it left, it formed into a ball like a fast motion lava lamp.

I chuckled at the sight before me. Celestia was crouched down with her hooves over her eyes hiding behind what used to be her throne but looked more like a footstool at that point. Without warning, the massive doors I was leaning against creaked open slightly.

"Princess? Shiro?" Twilight's voice creeped into the room. I hurried to my paws and met her before she could open the door any further.

"Not yet, Twilight. We're still...arguing the issues. Tell you what, go get Discord. When we're done here, I'll go a round with him too, okay?" I said beginning to close the door again. I caught her befuddled look before I felt a great and familiar pain  stick into my flank. I opened my mouth and yelled before slamming the door shut on reflex. Celestia had stuck me again.

"Come on, what are you, an Alicorn or a freaking sword-fish? Get the hell off!" I yelled, forming a magic ring on the tip of her horn. The force of that spell alone threw Celestia off me and broke her neck. The sound echoed, followed by her collapse. The ring from before emerged from the wound and rested on the surface, preventing blood from leaking onto the floor.

"Fine, don't talk to me. I prefer it actually, your voice, although soft and calming to the untrained ear possesses that high pitched background noise to it that gives me a headache." I said, limping slightly towards one of the courtroom benches Half way there, the ring disappeared and the wounds were gone from my thigh.

"This isn't the time for talking, Shiro!" Celestia yelled at him.

"She speaks!" Shiro exclaimed with mock surprise. All he received was a groan as her bones mended slowly.

"You might wanna remove that crown before it gets bent in our little skirmish, C. Wouldn't want you to look like you got your ass handed to you like old times." I mused, taking off the skull fragment on my nose which remained undamaged.

"Please, you couldn't beat me if you tried." Celestia boasted.

"What did you get senile over the years? You never won against me, ever." I said.

"But when the rest of us teamed up against you-."

"You still lost. I think you're confusing my skills with Shaiya's." I said. Celestia took a moment to think that part through.

"Oh yeah. Well I've a chance of beating you now. You've done little else but stew and fester in your own sorrow while I spent the better half of the last fifteen hundred years preparing myself for the eventual encounter I knew we were going to have." she declared. I sighed and returned to my saddened state as I recalled the events that followed.
> Part 1 - Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I awoke to fire all around me. My body was undamaged aside from the occasional scorch mark on my fur. At first, I couldn’t figure out what had happened. One minute, I was with the others and the next…

The memories came flooding back like a migraine mixed with brain freeze. It was overwhelming, the memories that returned to me; horrifying even. I couldn’t believe I’d done what I did. The memories, although only a few hours in total were destructive to my mind. I let out a blood-curdling scream and tore at my own face. It was the first time in my life that I hated the fact that I was immortal. I tore and tore at my face, but the flesh just grew back behind the trail my claws left behind.

Finding the action useless, I threw my head down onto the ground trying to bash my head in. Even that didn’t work. I smashed and smashed, breaking my skull a thousand times over, but every time it just healed and grew stronger. Finally, I gave up the self-torture for the time being and just collapsed where I was, sobbing at the memory that just didn’t seem like mine…

“What I did drove me insane, C. I did nothing but gnaw my own legs off a thousand times over for the first five hundred years.” I explained, looking her in the eye. She wasn’t convinced.

“So you went a little crazy for five hundred years, big deal! You deserved no less; in fact, you deserved more. You abandoned us, Shiro; left us at the mercy of that thing. We suffered pain and indecencies that still cause Discord to wake up screaming at night. We all would have escaped had you not run away with your tail between your legs.” she argued.

“I’ve suffered enough for that mistake, C! We all have.” I said.

“WE WERE TORTUREED, SHIRO!!!” She began to yell.

“PHYSICAL SCARS HEAL, NOT MENTAL ONES!!!” I yelled back, throwing myself at her and pinning her to the ground. To make sure she couldn’t throw me off, I used magic ring to pin me to her.

“IT’S TAKEN UNTIL LAST YEAR FOR ME  TO RECOLLECT MY SANITY, AND ONLY LAST WEEK DID I REMEMBER WHO I WAS! I TRAVELLED THE WORLD NOT KNOWING WHO I WAS FOR FIFTEEN HUNDRED YEARS, GUILTY OVER SOMETHING I COULDN’T REMEMBER! THE MASK ON MY FACE FRIGHTENED ME AND I COULDN’T TAKE IT OFF BECAUSE OF REASONS I’D FORGOTTEN!”

My teeth were bared at her, my pupils contracted to pinpricks. “YOU GOT OFF EASY! I DESTROYED NOT ONLY OUR FRIENDSHIP, BUT WHO I WAS!”

“Is that why you only go by the first half of your name?” Celestia asked, her voice and expression as calm as if she were disappointed instead of angry. Her question threw me off and I regained control of myself. I removed the magical rings that pinned me to her and stepped off, letting her sit up and brush herself off. She still wore that angry frown, but she was calmer.

“So what if it is?” I asked, getting defensive.

“That means you recognise that you’re half the wolf you used to be. Like Shaiya, you’re dead. That pisses me off more than you could possibly know. Because the real you is as dead as our friendship, I can’t hate what remains.” she said, turning to where her throne used to be. With a quick flash of her horn, time seemed to reverse itself in the room and everything that had been destroyed, gradually returned to its rightful place, like watching a small twister demolish a sand castle in reverse.

“I guess that means you don’t know about the others?” she asked.  I knew about Discord after the entirety of Equestria had been turned literally topsy-turvy, but the others?

“Other than Discord, I don’t know what you mean.” I replied.

“Discord, as well as Sombra, Luna, Chrysalis and Abbadon went Crazy like you. Luna a little later than the others, but I managed to get her back. Discord’s on the mend also, as I’m sure you’re aware. Unfortunately, Sombra was destroyed. His own mind was beyond saving. Abbadon has yet to reveal himself.” she explained. “But the one I feared most of all was you. I can never forgive you, Shiro. Not only did you abandon us, but in doing so, you let Shaiya die.”

I lowered my head in submission to the fact that I was indeed responsible for her death. As I thought over the events, something came to mind.

“Hang on… what about you?” I asked. Celestia seemed confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You mentioned that everyone grew insane at some point, but what about you? How exactly was your sanity saved?” I asked. Celestia’s eye twitched slightly.

“Shiro, you know me better than anyone, unfortunately. You should already have the answer.” She replied before going on. 

“I was always a little crazy to begin with. But what ultimately kept me in the right frame of mind was my hatred for you. That was all I thought about as that thing assaulted me.” she said, sitting in her newly reformed throne.

“Only it’s not me you really hate, is it. It’s the wolf I used to be.” I clarified. Celestia nodded and sighed in irritation.

“Which means that what kept me sane through the years is gone. So all I can do with you now is ask you why you ran out on us.” she replied.

I wanted to answer her, I really did. “I don’t remember.” was all I said. If it were possible, I’d have sworn her fur turned to grey.

“Honestly, Shiro, you are just a titanic idiot! A collosal ass-hat! A…”

“A giant douche?” I offered.

“That too!”

“Well, thanks for sizing me up and everything, but I’d like to bring it down a notch.” I said.

“You think I’m joking?! You think that after we’ve had a proper fight and talked through some things that We’re just going to pick up where we left off?” she snapped.

“To be honest, even if that was enough, I wouldn’t be interested in picking up where we left off.” I said, getting up and stretching myself. I noticed Celestia seemed slightly disturbed by that fact. Why that was the case was beyond me.

“And why not?” she asked, hiding that disturbed expression well.

“You said it yourself. I’m not really me anymore. It wouldn’t be the same as before.” I replied. The Alicorn seemed to stir where she was.

“It could be better.” she said grumpily.

“Things don’t get better after that kind of incident, C.” I stated.

“You got better!” she argued.

“Did I?” I challenged. She seemed unsure about that question. “Since when does remembering fragments of what happened and returning to half of what you once were count as being better? I haven’t recovered, Celestia; nor have you or any of the others. It’s difficult to even contemplate the idea that any of us ever will in the future; near or distant.” I approached her, stopping just short of her face.

“Once again, C… The Shiro that you knew … is dead. Can you see the truth in my eyes?” Her expression was familiar to me. I’d seen it only once before. She looked like she did when I left them for dead; horrified.

Before more words could be spoken between us, I threw my head forward, butting her. I was careful to avoid her horn and ultimately succeeded in knocking her out. The princess of the ponies surrounding me fell to the ground, rarely defeated by anyone except the other Immortals. I caught her before her head could hit the side of her throne and let it rest gently there.

“The reason I chose Shiro over Yami was because I’m not a black evil wolf, I’m a white blank slate, now that I’ve obtained my closure. Well, most of it. There’s something I need to get from your vault. I wish I could pay for any expenses I might cause to the door, but sadly, that’ll just be another thing for you to hate me over.” I ran a paw through her transparent mane and smiled.

“I hadn’t realised you’d changed your style. It suits you. I remember the lovely pink you used to have, but this is much more… you.” I said, looking down at her once more. “And I never noticed how beautiful you were. I suppose Shaiya was the reason for that. After all, she was my opposite; the Yang to my Yin. But she’s gone now. It’s a shame it took her dying for me to finally notice you. Too late now, I guess.” I brought my face down to hers and narrowed my eyes.

“Hello Discord.” I said, removing Celestia from my line of sight as I turned around. The draconequus floated there, his arms crossed, holding a rather angry expression.

“Hello old friend, we meet again. I see you made short work of Celestia. Hardly surprising seeing as how she escaped that monster and left us to die… Oh wait, that was you, wasn’t it?” he did not sound pleased.

“Are you angry at me, Discord?” I asked.

“Furious, thank you!” he groaned. I just smiled at him.

“I’m sorry, I’d believe you more if you didn’t look like you’d been run over by a car and put back together by Frankenstein.” I said, chuckling slightly.

“I used to be a goat!” he said, restraining a yell.

“Oh, shit yeah. Sorry.” I said, still chuckling. Discord bared his snaggleteeth at me and charged blindly.

“God, you were shit.” I said, knocking him back with a magic ring. I played pinball with him and more rings before slamming him into the ground.

“Fatality! Shiro wins!” I stepped around the unconscious body of Discord and made my way to the exit where Twilight stood aghast. “Toasty!” I joked. Twilight stood in front of me, blocking my path.

“I thought you wanted to start anew, to begin a new life!” she said. She looked as angry as the others did.

“I did, and I will. I just needed to get Celestia and Discord out of the way so I could pick up a little momento.” I replied, stepping forward. As expected, Twilight stepped back but stayed in my path.

“And what was that?” she demanded.

“We’ve all held onto a little something from the past. Me, I held onto the remains of a friend we lost, Shaiya.” As if summoned, the mask fragment was thrown from its place on the bench and landed perfectly on my nose. “Discord held onto his head, wonky as it is. And Celestia kept that same shade of pink in her mane, even if she has added to it, but I felt as soon as I entered the castle that she had something else that rightfully belongs to me.” I said, stepping forward again.

“And what would that be?” Twilight asked.

“That would be none of your business. I know I promised to show you what happened in the past, but to be honest, I’d rather not waste the time. Ask Celestia or Discord when they wake up. Discord will actually show you through a rip in fabric and space, it’s really quite awesome.”

“Who are the Immortals?” she asked, sounding on the verge of tears. I raised a brow at this and saw that she was in fact ready to cry. I wasn’t entirely sure why. Was it because she had been played?

“You learned the names of most of them during Celestia’s little freak-out session. You have myself, Celestia, Luna, Discord and Sombra. I imagine that because Sombra is dead, you met him. Creepy little shit. Had a crystal fetish. As soon as he found the crystal ponies… I don’t want to even think about what he’d have done. But there are two which you don’t know about. One of which is Shaiya, the other is Abbadon.” There was a chill in the air as I spoke Abbadon’s name.

“Who were they?” she asked.

“Shaiya was a black wolf from the Southern Hemishpere of the world. African if I recall. Abbadon was black Panther, quite besotted with Shaiya, but she ultimately chose me. I think Abbadon always hated me for stealing her away. But that doesn’t matter now.” I took another step and found Twilight standing her ground. I raised another brow.

“Can’t you all become friends again?” she seemed to beg me.

“Generally, starting anew means I have to sever all ties to my past. While I’ve done that, I guess if they wanted, I’d stay with them. But you’ve taken up enough of my time, Twilight. I can’t move on without what’s in that vault. So if you’ll excuse me…” I went to step around her, but she got in my way again.

“Tell me what’s in the vault.” she demanded.

“Is that an order, Princess?” I asked, showing my displeasure at her tone. She held true.

“Yes, it is.” she replied.

“Too bad I’m not one of your subjects, otherwise I’d have to answer you. Now I won’t ask you again… step aside.” The two guards standing by the door aimed their spears at me. With a tap of my paw, two rings of white magic appeared in the middle of the spears and split them in two.

“I’ll leave you with a message, Twilight. For Celestia when she wakes up.” I began, a ring of white magic appearing beside me. “I’ll return if she wants me. I’ll be there if she needs me. I will not fail her or anyone again.” With that, I was gone; forced to the side by my ring of magic at such a speed, it would have appeared to Twilight as if I’d just vanished in a blur.

I used more rings to propel me as well as steer me. Different strengths were required to control how far to the left or right I went. Corners were easy enough, but the constant pacing of the unaware guards were difficult to say the least.

I followed my senses to the vault, bypassing each and every guard that would have tried to stop me. The door was larger than I imagined. Like everything else, it was decorated in beautiful patterns with sheets of metal in place of glass. I almost felt bad about having to destroy it to get inside.

“HALT!” called a guard who just happened to be looking my way. I didn’t halt, I was already standing still. With a sigh of annoyance, I erected numerous rings around the area, creating a dome around myself and the vault door, like the Spartans of old used to do when showered with arrows.

In short, the guard was an idiot. He held his spear in his mouth and as he jabbed at the barrier, it was thrown back, the spear sliding through his teeth. The blade of the weapon sliced his cheeks as it went by. He doubled over in pain, trying to close his cheeks.

“Stay there.” I muttered over his cries.
Placing a paw on the surface, a ring grew from underneath, engulfing the whole door. I brought my paw back for a moment before throwing it forward full force. Nothing happened at first, but the ring stopped a second later and disappeared.

“Clever girl. You always were overly cautious. So my magic won’t work on this door.” I said, smiling. One of the metal sheets seemed to emanate red. It was that emanation that I figured out how it would open.

“Password protected and voice sensitive. Celestia, you’ve integrated old technology with magic. I salute you, madam!” I teased, saluting the ceiling above me. I took a deep breath and leaned down to the glowing panel. A ring of magic grew in front of my mouth, no larger than a baseball.

“This should handle the voice.” I said, the ring altering it to sound like Celestia’s. I focused on the panel and spoke.

“Open.” The panel just flashed red.

“Celestia.” Red.

“Luna.” Red

“Twilight?” Red again.

“Discord, Sombra, Abbadon!” All red. I began to grow frustrated.

“Shaiya!” Once more, red. I banged on the vault door, the sound echoing through the halls.

“What’s left?!” I demanded. There was one word I could think of, One name, but I knew she could never bring herself to use it as a password. But it was all I could think of at the time. With a defeated sigh, I brought my lips to the panel and uttered the word.

“Shiroyami.”

The panel… flashed green! The vault door groaned with annoyance at having to move its massive bulk, but it moved all the same. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of happiness as my name opened the door to the best kept secrets Celestia possessed.

“I gave Twilight the right message after all.” I said as I stepped through the entry way. The inside was larger than I thought. A thousand years of personal memories gathered in one place. One long, long, long place.

“Fuck!”

> Part 1 - Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

((3rd Person))


Celestia awoke drowsily from her nap. The last few memories escaped her, but as she saw Twilight looking worriedly down at her, and Discord with his face in the tiled flooring, events quickly unfolded in front of her.

"Celestia, are you okay?" she heard Twilight call, the sound of her voice slightly muffled through the Princess' ears.

"Ugh... I'm-I'm fine, Twilight. Just a little dazed. Where's Shiro?" she asked, her speech a little slurred. She hadn't had a good thrashing like that in too long. On a more positive note, her sinuses were rid of the blocking that had signalled the dawn of a cold.

"He went to the vault to get something that belongs to him." Twilight replied.

"The arrogant bastard!" Celestia fumed as Twilight's information registered with her. She wobbled to her hooves and made track for the door, stepping over Discord who proceeded to groan as a result. Twilight blinked for a moment and scuttled after her mentor.

"Princess, wait! He gave me a message to tell you when you woke up." Twilight called over Celestia's shoulder.

"It'll have to wait. If Shiro finds out my password for the vault, he'll get the wrong idea." Celestia called back, running faster. Twilight struggled to keep up with the older Alicorn, going so far as to glide after her.





The two alicorns arrived at the vault door to find a guard passed out with his mouth cut open and a spear by the far wall. Celestia immediately figured out what had happened and sighed, calling a couple of guards over to tend to their fallen comrade.

Looking through the dome into the almost pearl white vault, Celestia and Twilight spotted Shiro with great difficulty, just sitting in the middle of the room, staring into space.

"Let me in, Shiro!" Celestia ordered. The white wolf turned his head and cracked his neck, the sound echoing to their ears, amplified by the large room. Almost as if that were the trigger, the dome of magical rings vanished, opening up the path to the vault. Celestia and Twilight both stepped through, the dome reappearing behind them. Twilight reamined a few steps into the vault entrance while Celestia went ahead, keeping a cautious (and although she wouldn't admit it) curious eye on her old friend.

Shiro stood staring into space, seemingly lost for thought. Celestia looked around to find each and every vault door opened, but what he was looking for was not among them.

"Don't worry, I didn't break your shit. But I never knew you were such a hoarder." he said, falling to his stomach in exhaustion. Celestia wasn't sure what to make of Shiro. He seemed sane at the time, then he knocked her out but didn't act weird when he couldn't find what he was looking for and she'd managed to catch him.

"What's going on, Shiro? This isn't you." she said. Shiro just huffed at her.

"What exactly did you expect? I told you that the old me was dead. I'm dead." he said as if scolding her. Celestia watched as Shiro removed his skull fragment of Shaiya, and then proceed to bash his head on the ground. She knew he'd hit it hard as her nearest leg was stained with blood.

"Shiro." she said as calmly as she could manage, but as he began to repeatedly destroy his face, she began to see just how much he'd suffered over the years. For a moment, she spotted something in his eyes. A wildness that she'd only ever seen in deranged wolves. His pupils had dilated. He then did something she knew he never would were he sane. He threw Shaiya's skull fragment away. Celestia caught it before it could hit the ground and chip away even further.

Shiro continued to surprise her by making a sound akin to a howl and a cry. The sound was more painful to Celestia than anything she'd endured before.

"Shiro STOP!" she tried.

"DON'T...CALL ME THAT!!!" Shiro suddenly belted, frightening Celestia speechless. "I'M NOT HIM ANYMORE!!! I'M NOT SHIROYAMI...  I'M NOT EVEN HALF OF WHAT HE WAS... I'm just dead... and this is Hell. Spending THOUSANDS OF YEARS! Trying to pull myself back together only to find fragments of my memory still missing and friends in despair at the sight of me."

She didn't know what to do or say. Celestia had always been a selfless being, especially when it had come to Shiroyami; but to see the white wolf in this state just overpowered her anger towards him. She couldn't bare to see him in this state. Her mind raced with options she could take to end this quickly. She didn't want to forgive him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be friends again but she did want to see an end to his suffering.

*BUCK*





((1st Person))

I felt warmth engulf me. It wasn't the kind of warmth that made you sweat under the collar. Actually, it was somewhat familiar to me, though I couldn't quite place it. My eyes felt heavy, like they were weighted down by fishing weights. Regardless, I forced them open, the water creeping to the surface beneath. The recollection of that warmth hit me like one of Celestia's hard bucks. The warmth was her. She was by nature, warmer than any other living creature, her core body temperature matching that of the sun itself.

At that moment, I forgot everything. All I remembered was that one moment after we'd escaped the research facility. I'd proven myself capable of being the leader, as I was the strongest, and by nature, I was an Alpha Wolf. That night, Celestia had kept we warm, as had Luna. They'd tucked themselves at either side of me and slept peacefully. Now all that was missing was Luna.

"You're awake." a voice said from behind us. I craned my neck around to see a Lavender form out of the corner of my eye. Twilight.

"So it seems..." I replied, keeping my gaze towards her. "How long has she been here?" I asked.

"The whole time; two days now. Luna's had to raise the sun for once. Though she wasn't very happy about you taking Celestia away from her duties, I'm sure she was giddy on the inside, having the chance to do what Celestia did for a thousand years." she replied, eliminating any chance of small talk.

"And you?" I asked.

"What about me?" she asked.

"How long have you been here?" I replied.

"About an hour. I was hoping Celestia would wake up first. She needs to get back to her duties." Twilight replied. For such an intelligent pony, she was incredibly dense.

"It's night-time, Twilight; she has at best, nine hours left until she has to return to her duties." I said. Even out of the corner of my eye, I could see Twilight scowl at me. She was furious at me. "Did you want anything else?" I asked.

"Yes, an apology." she replied.

"For what?"

"Where to begin. You lied to me about your purpose in coming here, you fought with Celestia and Discord both, though Discord had it coming to him. You then broke into the vault and caused serious damage to one of the guards." she replied.

"I warned him not to touch the glyphs, he didn't listen." I stated.

"Be that as it may, that still leaves two things for you to apologise for." she retorted.

"You want me to say 'I'm sorry'? Too bad. I'm done apologising for things." I said, turning away from her.

"Then tell me what happened. I want the full story, you owe me at least that much." she said. She was right. The story needed to be told. Perhaps by telling it, it might trigger another fraction of memory.

"Fine. I'll tell you all I know:"





((3rd Person))

5000 years ago...

The group had just finished gathering their evening meals. The carnivores had hunted their food, making sure to steer clear of their comrades' respective races. The herbivores had gathered fruits, vegetables, berries, the like. They sat in a circle in a clearing within what would eventually be called the Everfree Forest. The nastier creatures had all congregated to that forest after having been driven to the edge of extinction thanks to the group they surrounded.

"Hey, Discord; sheep aren't relatives of your race are they?" Abbadon asked, his black fur covering the crimson sheeps blood on his maw. Discord snapped his head up in irritation.

"Does my kind look like sheep to you, Abbadon?" the goat asked irritably.

"Well, it's just that you make that strange sound and I figured there had to be a connection." Abbadon replied, a grin plastered on his face.

"Sheep bay, Abbadon. Goats bleat. There's a difference." Luna said, lifting up a berry and placing it daintily in her mouth.

"Can you believe; three million years and he only asks that question now?!" Discord complained, throwing his hooves towards his black comrade.

"Don't take it personally, D. For a jaguar, Abbadon's pretty slow in the brain department." a white wolf with black trimmings along his head said.

"Shut up, Shiroyami! I'm smarter than you." Abbadon declared.

"And it shows; that plan you had for frightening an Elephant by letting it step on your head and regenerating worked brilliantly... well, if it had seen you regenerate, it would have." Shiroyami countered, earning chuckles and snickers from the others, Discord included. Abbadon growled at him.

"What about that time I tripped that boar with my trap?" the jaguar defended.

"Right next to the boar cage. The thing flipped over and broke the gate, freeing all the others." more chuckles.

"What about that young Rhino?! I had him cornered!"

"Right between his mother's front legs. You came home with a horn up your nostril." tears came from the others as they laughed so hard.

"What about that other trap I made for a Giraffe? That one worked." Abbadon countered.

"On you." Shiroyami replied. Berries rolled on the floor alongside their owners as the bowls were tipped over. Abbadon kept quiet, settling with an angry glare.

"Shiro, leave him alone. It's not Abbadon's fault he has bad luck with hunting. And it's not as if it's all the time. He had a successful hunt tonight, didn't he?" a black wolf with white polka-dots said, snuggling up to Shiroyami.

"He did... then he waited until after he'd started eating to check and see if his kill was in any way related to goats." Shiro said. More chuckles ensued as the black wolf gave Shiroyami a stare as if to say that was enough.

"Honey." she began.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave him alone," Shiroyami said, returning to his own dinner, which he shared with the other wolf beside him.

"Thank you." she said, tucking in.

"With his bleating sheep." Shiroyami finished under his breath. Everyone present heard him anyway and burst into hysterics. Abbadon on the other paw stood up and stormed off in a tiff. All the while, the black wolf stared disapprovingly at her mate.

"I'll get him back." he sighed, standing to follow the black jaguar.

"Come on, Shaiya; you know Shiroyami was just teasing." Celestia said, turning to the black wolf.

"When you turn on your friends, it can cause conflicts that may never heal, no matter how much time passes. I don't ever want us to be broken apart, and if that means I have to kick Shiro into submission despite his role among us, then that's what I'll do." Shaiya replied, her cyan eyes passing over each and every member there. Chrysalis smiled at the black wolf, the black widow, digging into a mouse's carcass.





Shiroyami found Abbadon sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking up at the moon. He seemed upset, given that his ears were folded back, making him look like a black seal.

"Thoughts of our favourite Cobalt mare, Abbadon?" Shiroyami asked, drawing the black jaguar's attention to him. The feline huffed and looked back up at the moon.

"Hardly, you know I love only Shaiya." he replied.

"Hey, she chose me, dude. You know this." the white wolf defended.

"Of course I know that. What I don't know is why you have to single me out like that. It's bad enough that you got the girl, but now you gotta get everyone else?" Abbadon asked, looking cross with him.

"Don, it's Shiroyami you're talking to. I make fun of everyone from time to time. Remember Luna couldn't pronounce the letter 'L', so she kept calling herself 'Woona'? We called her that until she learned how to say her name properly. Tears were shed every now and then, but in the end, it was all in good fun." Abbadon didn't seem stirred by this knowledge/memory. "We've all been together for three million years, give or take a few hundred thousand. There's very little left to entertain us anymore, and making fun of each other from time to time just takes the edge off. isn't that what friends do? Crack a few jokes from time to time?"

Abbadon sighed and looked down at the forest below, the camp fire from the others glowing through the trees. "It's all well and good for you. You're flawless. No-one makes jokes about you." he replied. Shiroyami drew back from the comment.

"Not true, old friend. The girls have a little laugh amongst themselves. Chrysalis said I was whipped, now that Shaiya's with me. I'm not sure what that means, but-." Shiroyami was interrupted by laughter from the black jaguar.

"It means that between you two, she's the Alpha. Think for a moment, you wouldn't have come to see me now if she hadn't given you the stare, right?" he asked. Shiroyami considered his words for a moment before widening his eyes.

"Son of a bitch!" he said, staring off into space.

"I'm not sure how to comment on that innuendo." Abbadon replied. The both of them chuckled between each other for a moment before a sight caught their eyes.

"Shooting star?" Abbadon asked as it came closer.

"No, it's inside the atmosphere. Meteorite, possibly a comet." Shiroyami replied.

"It's gonna hit just beside the camp." Abbadon stated.

"Let's make sure it doesn't hit it directly." Shiroyami said. Abbadon disappeared in a puff of black smoke while Shiroyami leaped off the cliff. He landed on one of his magic glyphs before it flipped facing towards the camp. Shiroyami was sent flying towards the camp at break-neck speed.





Fire lit up the trees around the camp as the comet touched down a few yards into the tree line. Sombra and Chrysalis had gathered between Celestia and Shaiya, with Luna on Celestia's other side and Discord on Shaiya's. Abbadon appeared within their shadows, becoming solid as his entire body escaped the shadows.

"See what it was?" the jaguar asked, stepping around Luna.

"The ponies said they could feel something inside the comet. It's evil, whatever it is. Sombra's not even speaking, he's in shock." Discord replied.

"Do we know what this something is?" Shiroyami asked, landing calmly in front of Shaiya.

"No. All we know is it's evil, as in pure...made of evil, evil." Chrysalis replied, jumping onto Shiroyami's nose and crawling up between his ears.

"Right... Well, let's take a look-see, shall we?" Shiroyami asked, dropping into a bolt towards the comet's crash site.





The scene was fairly impressive; the impact dragged along for a hundred metres, ending in a large silvery comet made of what looked like Onyx.

"A crystal comet?" Shaiya asked, examining the object more closely.

"Crysstal!" Sombra commented, leaning closer to look through it.

"Thanks for the input there, Sombra. Any idea what this evil is that you said you felt?" Shiroyami asked, turning to the ponies.

"Inssside the crysstal." Sombra spoke again. As if the words were a trigger, the blackness of the crystal comet shrank into the centre, leaving the object looking like a clear diamond. Something black and amorphous shot out one of the crystals' tips, becoming invisible in the dark of night.

"It's more evil than I thought," Celestia began. " The comet was acting as a seal for the creature, it's literally radiating darkness. This thing might be able to kill us." she concluded. There was a dead silence before the creature in the crystal made its presence known to the Immortals.





((1st Person))

Present Day.

"We followed the creature to an old warehouse that still stood strong. Some of us were afraid, others determined to stop it before it made a mess of our way of life. I myself was eager to get a good workout. We weren't prepared for what we saw." I said, shivering. Twilight had decided to take down notes as if she were writing my auto-biography. Perhaps that could act as a memory booster.

"What did you see?" she asked.

"It's hard to describe. It had a form, but at the same time it didn't. It was like a Changeling, but not solid, you know? Its form held aspects of things we all feared. It spoke to us, its voice, chilling us to the bone. The only way I could describe it would be to call it the definition of 'evil incarnate'." I said, shuddering at the memory.

"What happened then?" Twilight asked, seemingly unaffected.

"We fell." I replied plainly. " Abbadon and Sombra were the first to attack the creature, followed by Chrysalis, then Shaiya. Needless to say, they failed. That's where my memory gets foggy. The next thing I remember, I awake surrounded by fire and rubble. I realise that I ran, but I can't recall why. It was when I noticed Shaiya's skull that I lost all sense of sanity. And... here we are, you know the rest. I wandered for eternity, regaining fragments of who I was." I replied. Twilight was silent for a moment as she jotted it all down.

"One thing puzzles me," she noted. "You described yourself as having two black lines along your face, but you're pure white, all the way down to the colour of your irises. What changed?" she asked. It surprised me to no end that she seemed unphazed by the story, like it was no more than something I made up on the spot.

"The lines were a sign of my power. When I lost my mind, my full comprehension of my abilities was diminished." I replied, lying back down to rest my head on the soft white pillow.

"You're saying that the magic we've seen so far wasn't the full extent of your abilities?" Twilight asked.

"Right. My magic deals in force alteration. Currently, I can amplify whatever force touches the glyphs tenfold in order to make things stronger, I can then reflect the force of the blow back at the enemy. Theoretically, at full strength, lines and all, I should be able to do much more. I could turn the landing of a feather into a planet-cracking blow." Now, Twilight showed awe.

"But you'd have to multiply that by three-hundred-billion to the hundredth power!" she exclaimed, stirring Celestia.

"You're talking to an Immortal who spent three million years as the leader of a group consisting of the spirit of Chaos, the sun and the moon, shadows, shape-shifting, crystals and harmony." I replied. Twilight was speechless for a moment.

"Wait, crystals?" she asked.

"Sombra." I said. Twilight gave an understanding expression that suggested the answer should have been obvious to her.

"You said Harmony, who was that?" she asked.

"Shaiya's real ability was the manipulation of Nature. She created the Everfree Forest as our own personal hunting grounds. But she had another ability that didn't come from our Immortality or any genetic modification. Shaiya brought harmony to us all, even at the worst of times. It was her that reminded us that we were a family. Abbadon and I often fought for her affection, and when she chose me, she managed to calm Abbadon down so he wouldn't disrupt the peace we had for so long. You could say she was the glue that stuck us all together." I said, recalling the good times (the ones I had in my memory at least).

"Did she create the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked. I pondered the idea for a moment.

"I don't believe so. If anything, she might have been the foundation of the Elements. I imagine after the others escaped the creature, they banded together to create the Elements in her memory. You'd have to ask one of the others." I said.

"On that note, what exactly happened to the creature? Where'd it go?" she asked.

"I don't know. I never saw it again. Didn't even hear of it since that day. I figure it must have survived off of the others' torment and when they escaped, it starved to death." I replied.





((3rd Person))

Twilight closed the door behind her, leaving Shiro and Celestia alone to sleep for the night. Her friends were there waiting for any news. They grew worried when Twilight fell to the floor in a heap, shock and fear planted on her face the likes of which nopony had ever seen.

"So, did you get the story? How bad was it?" Rainbow Dash asked, leaning in close to examine her friend.

"I wish I never asked. I've got so many more questions but I'm afraid to ask, because his past terrifies me. I'll never look at Celestia or Luna the same way again, even Discord will forever be something for me to fear." she replied. The girls did not want to hear that.

"What's going on, darling?" Rarity urged.

"Shiro left some things out, but it's pretty obvious that Celestia, Luna, Sombra, Discord, Chrysalis, Abbadon and Shaiya were captured by this strange creature and tortured to the brink of insanity. It altered not just their minds, but their appearances as well. Seems only Celestia and Luna managed to retain their sanity, Luna only retained it to a certain extent." she replied.

"Wait, the princesses were friends with Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra?" Dash asked, shell-shocked.

"Yes. Discord was a goat, Chrysalis was a spider and Sombra was a pony, just like the princesses before the creature tortured them all." Twilight replied.

"Maybe Shiro was tortured too and the others just can't remember him being there?" Fluttershy suggested, the thought making her physically sick.

"No, Shiro remembers running away. He doesn't remember why, his loyalty to his friends can't be called into question, even now. Something in his eyes tells me that there's a logical reason behind his leaving them that even he doesn't know about. On a cheerier note, turns out we have Shaiya to thank for the Elements of Harmony." Twilight said, changing the subject, happily.

"Shaiya created the Elements?" Rarity asked.

"No, but the others, not including Shiro, created them in memory of Shiaya before they parted ways." Twilight replied.

"Ya got that from a wolf who's crazier than Granny Smith when the Timber Wolves start a-howlin'?" Applejack asked, sounding sceptical.

"He seems to have good moments and bad ones." Twilight said.

"Ah think he's makin' it all up just ta get some sympathy. He's probably lyin' through his teeth." Applejack declared.

"You didn't see him, AJ. No sane creature does what he did." Twilight said.

"What'd he do?" Dash asked.

"Bashed his head repeatedly against the floor of the vault. I heard his skull crack from all the way outside." she replied. The ponies shuddered at the image that gave them.

"So what do we do, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking like her mane was on the verge of drooping.

"W're going to try and bring Shiro back to his old self. We'll start by helping him make up with Celestia and Luna."
> Part 1 - Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unable to think straight after talking to Twilight, I decided to gather myself out on the balcony from Celestia's room. The sun was almost completely out, the Eastern half of the sky shone a bright orange, while the sky to the west held a mixture of blue, stars and black. Right above me was the Twilight itself, that wonderful concoction of violet sky that streamed across between the North and South. I'd seen countless mornings like this one, yet I never had the chance to fully appreciate them, at least not in the way that I could now. The scene was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The action caused me to question why it was so. The only reason I should have watery eyes is because...

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my best to make as little noise as I could. No matter how much time passed, I could never completely forget what I did. And like the others, I could never forgive myself. I loved them, all of them. Yet I abandoned them when they truly needed me and one of them... Shaiya... had died as a result. How she died escaped me, but she died nonetheless.

Alas, it seemed not even muffled cries went unheard. The gentle hoof step from the doorway behind me reached my ears and I knew Celestia had woken up. "You stayed?" she asked, sitting beside me, looking over the railing at her Empire.

"Twilight had questions." I replied, not bothering to hide my shame. There was a calm and slightly strangulating silence between us. Neither of us looked at each other. She looked out at Canterlot while I seemed to enjoy watching the worm I discovered dig holes in the little flower pot in front of me.

"We all used to think that a thousand years was nothing more than pocket money to us, didn't we?" she asked. I remembered when we each commented on the subject together. We had forever together, and a thousand years would not stop us from being the best of friends, a family of friends.

"Looks like we spared pain and sorrow some of our coin." I said flatly, blinking slowly.

"What are you looking for, Shiro? What drives you to try and make amends in the strangest of ways?" she asked. An odd question for me to answer.

"I'm looking for a way to join Shaiya. I want to die." I replied.

"You want to forget?" she asked. Her question confused me. I raised an ear to her and looked at her to see she was giving me a sad look as if my answer was not the one she wanted to hear.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Do you still remember when we were young? Our little group was just getting off it's paws and hooves, and I asked you; 'What happens when we die'?" I did remember that. That day was what could have been considered the clincher in my friendship with Celestia. "And you said-."

"You forget everything." I said, both then and now...

...Three hundred-million years ago...

..."Even you?" she asked. She lowered her ears as she contemplated the idea of forgetting her friends, her life, her past, who we were.

"Yes. Even me." I replied, smiling sweetly to show her that it was alright. Sadly, it didn't obtain the reaction I wanted from her.

Celestia began to cry. "I don't want to die... I don't want to forget everything that we have!" she cried out...

...Present...

"The remains of what we had, I still hold dear to my heart. I wouldn't give that up for everything. I only remembered that conversation after I saw you in the vault." Celestia said, looking into my eyes as she spoke to me.

"I don't want to forget, either... I just want to forget the suffering we went through all those years ago, the insanity I endured for five thousand years. Seeing the ghost of someone I couldn't remember and crying myself to sleep because that ghost disappeared and I knew I was somehow responsible. I want to forget this horrible aching in my heart that I feel every second of every day. But I never ever want to forget our lives together. I'd suffer a thousand-fold to keep that in my memories." I said. Celestia smiled sweetly, the same smile I gave her all those years ago.

"I'm glad, Shiro. Maybe you do deserve to claim your old name again." she said. I smiled back at her and leaned towards her, burying my head in her side. She shifted a bit before taking me into a loving embrace. "I forgive you, Shiroyami. Memory or not, you must have had a good reason for doing what you did. You were always arrogant, slightly pompous and loved to show off, but you never did anything to bring harm to the family. I guess, even if you choked facing that thing, I can understand. All of us did in the end, we just weren't fast enough to get away." she told me. I held her closer, digging my claws into her back, but she didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I cried, squeezing my eyes shut.

"It's okay... I forgive you. You can stay with me, my best friend." she said. Those words broke me. I sucked in air and yelled into her fur, soaking it with my tears. I felt her hold on me tighten and I welcomed it like a child would welcome their parent after they found out they'd been lost over enemy territory.

Celestia had done three things for me at once. She'd helped me recover a memory I'd forgotten, she forgave me for doing something that wasn't in my nature to do, which caused her and the others to suffer greatly, and finally she told me I could stay. I could stay here with her; I had a home... I was home.
> Part 1 - Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The day went by smoothly with my friendship with Celestia being rekindled. We sat together and recollected what we both remembered. Some things I didn't remember turned out to be a joke on her part. Apparently, I never 'died' eating a jellyfish. Her humor had a hint of cruelty to it when she tricked me into believing that I'd been unfaithful to Shaiya one night and spent a night with both her and Luna. For that, I was glad to have heard the word 'joke' afterward.

All in all, spending the day with Celestia was pretty entertaining and easy given the time spent apart. It was the night I had to worry about. While Celestia had forgiven me, I was still on Luna's...shitty list. I found out that she was not looking forward to seeing me, but Celestia had forced her hoof. Now, her evening was free to spend with me while Celestia took on the Royal duties she'd been accustomed to doing for a thousand years, thanks in no small part to me.

I stood before the doors to Luna's chambers, staring at them as if they were a bigger, nastier version of my old self. I could feel the disdain from Luna leaking through the gaps in the doors and the keyholes like a torrent of water. She was really angry with me. I knew I wasn't wrong when I thought Celestia had suffered more than the rest of them, but Luna came a close second; very close judging by the seething hatred mixed in with her aura. Truth be told, I kind of wanted to see what Nightmare Moon looked like. My instincts told me that I would find out if I wasn't careful. I'd wind up being the first wolf on the moon.

I gave the doors a gentle knock. They creaked slightly under light pressure. I felt magic slam them shut, barring me access. Self-preservation told me that this was her maintaining control over herself. If I went in there, I'd get torn a new one. Still, Celestia had given up her evening for my chance to fix things with Luna. Trying during the day when she was exhausted would be even more dangerous. Girls were moody like that; least what I remembered of evenings with Shaiya.

"Luna, come on. We need to clear the air between us. Kick the shit out of me if you want, just let me see you." I began. There was no immediate reply, but I waited a few more seconds.

"Go away, Shiroyami." her voice said through the door, accompanied by more of that hateful aura.

"Can't do that, Woona." I replied, receiving an intense amount of anger from the other side after calling her that. "Celestia's giving us this chance. I for one, don't want to waste it."

"She can give you as many chances as she wants, I'm not going to even look at you." she said.

"Do I really have to destroy these wonderfully crafted doors? Because I will. I'm insane, Woona. I'd destroy a random rock if I thought it would get your attention." I said.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!!" she shouted through the door.

"Let me in then and I'll stop." I replied. There was no response. She was playing the silent treatment. "You know... this corridor does have excellent harmonics. I think I remember a song you used to love growing up. Shall we see if I remember it properly?" I teased. Almost immediately, the doors opened a crack. A light chuckle escaped my lips as I pushed the door open.

Luna stood there, facing the rising Moon through her balcony window. A gentle night breeze brushed the curtains, making them wave like the Princess' mane. "It's pretty clichéd in here, huh? Just like Celestia's room." I said, sparking an irritated groan from the mare.

"Why did you come back, Shiroyami?" Luna asked. I knew she wouldn't accept any games around this subject.

"Wouldn't you?" I asked in turn. She shot me her first angry look of the night.

"Not after what you did. If I were you, I would never show my face. I'd jump into a volcano and stay there forever." she spat at me. I approached, sitting beside her. Personal space was hardly an issue for what I said next.

"So why didn't you stay on the moon?" I asked.





"You're seriously saying that the biggest issue you're facing that was so important you requested Royal intervention... is which one of you will grow potatoes this season?" Celestia asked, sitting in her throne. Two farmers from the outskirts of Canterlot had been bickering over what to grow for the coming season.

"You see, Princess; we went under the arrangement that we would take turns each year, but he denies having grown them last when he knows he did!" one of the farmers said.

"Put your glasses on, you blind old Prune! Your compost bin is still full of potato peels. I grew onions last season. My skin and fur's so dry from crying all the moisture in my body out into peeling and chopping those onions!" the other farmer said.

As the two of them bickered on, Celestia rubbed her temple in frustration. "No wonder Luna went insane a thousand years ago. Gentlecolts, I must ask; why have you requested this audience at night? Farming's a day-time activity, surely that falls within my usual jurisdiction." she asked the two.

"Well, we both have to devote our time wisely to growing our crops. Because we work all day, night-time was the only time we could afford to meet with you." the first farmer replied. Now Celestia knew she was losing her mind with them if they were pointing out obvious facts to her.

"Of course." she said, the energy drained out of her in that sudden realisation. For goodness' sake! Let something interesting come out of tonight! she thought to herself as she stared at the two arguing ponies.

As if some form of god had answered her prayer, her life was picked up by the sudden and unceremonious entrance of her sister. Luna had somehow found herself flying through the side wall of the throne room, missing the windows completely. This action startled the farmers and they bolted for the door, leaving Celestia to watch Luna slide along the marble floor before getting up and brushing herself off.

"Did you piss him off, Luna?" Celestia asked with judgement in her voice.

"No, he pissed me off! But when I went to hit him, he brought up one of those repulsive glyphs he uses!" Luna replied, growling at the hole she'd made in the room, as if Shiroyami were standing there.

"Now, when you say repulsive... do you mean that in the sense that he quite literally propelled you, or do you find that magic not to your liking?" Celestia teased.

"Who's side are you on, Sister?!" Luna demanded.

"Depending on what's said, I'm a neutral party at this point." the white Alicorn replied, chuckling as she watched Shiroyami step through the hole in the wall. It was especially interesting considering that just beyond that wall was the outside and Luna's chambers were in the tower adjacent to the hole.

"You're dead, Shiroyami!" Luna declared, charging her magic. Shiroyami had a look in his eyes that suggested that wasn't such a bad thing to him.

"I feel like I've lived this before... oh yeah! Celestia and Discord said similar things to me." Shiro teased, enraging Luna further.

"Enough games, Shiroyami! Fight me with everything you have!" Luna demanded. Shiro looked at her with an expression that suggested he had no intention of taking her seriously.

"Luna. If I fought you with all I had... you wouldn't have a chance. You were too young to remember, but... oh, never mind." he said, smiling gently at her as she charged her magic. Shiroyami knew already the full extent of Luna's power. She could undoubtedly destroy the moon twice over with the amount of magic she'd pumped into her horn. She was really angry.

"You want me to forgive you? Beat me and I'll do it. I need to give it everything I have against you!" she said. Shiro paused for a second before smiling sweetly.

"Look at you both. You've become such beautiful mares, I forgot what kind of people you truly are for a whole other reason than amnesia." he said. Celestia smiled at his comment, hiding a blush behind her hoof. Luna ignored the compliment and prepared to attack. "Very well, Luna. I'll give you what you want. I'll fight you with everything I've got." Shiro said as he removed Shaiya's skull from his face. He held it out to Celestia who took it in her magic and levitated it to safety beside her.

"I'll ask that you take it outside. I'd rather not have the windows replaced, Shiroyami." Celestia said. Shiro nodded and motioned for Luna to follow him outside. With her horn still fully charged, she walked out to the front of the castle, where Shiro stood, waiting for her. The front garden was large enough that no serious stationary would be destroyed in the skirmish. Ponies from nearby came to watch the battle.

"All of you stay there by the gate entrance. This is going to be dangerous and I can't afford to have your deaths on my paws." Shiro ordered. Some of the higher up ponies found his order to be insulting, but Luna had waited for him to prepare himself.

"Are you sure this is how you want it, Luna? You will lose to me, and when you do, you will be honour-bound to forgive me. Is that how I'm to get it?" Shiro asked, giving Luna one last chance. Luna didn't reply. Her mind was focused entirely on the spell she would take Shiro out with. Realising her resolve was absolute in this path, Shiro's eyes showed a liveliness they'd lacked for thousands of years.





"Princess Celestia! What's going on down there?!" Twilight asked, reaching her mentor and friend just in time to see Shiro facing off against Luna.

"Shiroyami and Luna are settling their differences in this fight that's sure to be short and awesome." Celestia replied. The other Elements of Harmony joined Twilight, Rainbow Dash flying overhead at the mention of 'awesome'.

"There's something in the air. It feels like Shiro's doing. Princess, what exactly are you all?" Twilight asked.

"We, Twilight, are the closest things to gods you'll ever find. We can't be killed, and we adapt and evolve to better ourselves. We can't be drowned, we can't be suffocated. Lava won't destroy us, dismemberment won't last. We tried every possible form of suicide just for fun because we knew it wouldn't work. Twilight, you've obtained something far greater than Princesshood. You've essentially become an Immortal like us." she said, smiling down at the ponies who stared at her flabbergasted.

"You make it sound as though you could destroy the planet with your power." Rainbow Dash said, looking at the pair of Immortals engaged in combat.

"I don't know about the planet, but Luna's spell there could take out the moon." Celestia replied.

"WHAT?!" the ponies cried together.

"Of course, we couldn't always do these things. Like I said, we evolve." she added.

"So what's the deal with Shiro? I'm not a unicorn and I can feel the excitement coming off of him." Rainbow Dash said.

"From the very beginning, Shiroyami was our leader. He was the strongest, the smartest. We learned early on that despite his desire to protect us, there was one thing he loved more. And that was this: single combat against an equally powerful enemy. He'd get a thrill out of it, as did Shaiya. We attributed it to them being wolves, but Shiroyami was something special. It's mainly why we couldn't understand why he would run from the creature that warped our minds and our bodies." Celestia's face became sad as she recalled the events in her mind.

"So you were renegades with no rules? Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said, throwing a hoof in the air.

"Not quit, there was one rule. A very special rule which we made up after witnessing something as dangerous as the creature." she began, looking down to Shiro as she recited the rule. "Never.... make Shiroyami angry."

"Let's go, Luna." Shiro said. As he spoke, a feeling washed over everypony within a mile radius. The world seemed heavier, as if gravity itself had suddenly increased, and within that gravity lay something dormant that if wakened, could spell disaster for Equestria. Twilight and her friends had felt this feeling before. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra gave off a similar feeling, but theirs was out there for everypony to see. Shiro's was more subtle. Twilight felt as through a dozen of each evil Immortal was watching her from beyond her field of vision. She felt surrounded, closed in. The air was enough to strangle her.

"Calm yourself, girls. That feeling is your natural instincts being overpowered." Celestia said. With great difficulty, Twilight and her friends managed to calm down by thinking of something that made them happy.

"What in Equestria was that?!" Rarity demanded.

"A technique we developed early on in life. When we were still young and didn't know that nothing could kill us, we managed to use our instincts as a weapon. When faced against large numbers, we would use our own instincts and project them outward in an aggressive manner. It had a few names. Shiroyami took to calling it Spiritual Pressure because he went a step further and added his true ability into the equation." Celestia explained.

"His true ability?" Pinkie asked.

"You'd think that he uses magic to reflect the force of any kind of attack like a mirror. That's not the case. The Glyphs act as both a shield and an analyser for the force of the attack it defends him against. Once the glyph has done this, it returns with either equal force or greater in the form of projected gravity. Shiroyami's abilities stem from gravity itself. He can make the area he's in seem completely weightless, he can make it as heavy as he wants, he can even make you fall sideways."

The girls all seemed shocked by this discovery. Were the Immortals so powerful they could literally mould the world the way they wanted? Their attention was brought to a scene that caused Rarity to faint. Something like an aura surrounded Shiro and Luna each. These aura took on the forms of the Immortals. Twilight looked upon a much larger version of Shiro. It's size would have made an Ursa Major run screaming back to it's cave. She noticed that the Aura possessed something that Shiro himself didn't; two lines running the length of his face, over his eyes and supposedly connecting somewhere along the back of his neck. These lines were glowing a pale blue, just barely noticeable on the transparent form of Shiro's aura.

Luna's Aura was similar in size. It took on the form of Nightmare Moon, only the aura seemed much more regal and honourable than the real thing. Everypony noticed that the features of each aura were sharper than those of the actual beings. Luna's horn was longer and pointier, her wings longer and the feathers stronger. Shiro's teeth were longer and sharper and his fur seemed like it would make a hedgehog curl up in shame. Even their eyes both seemed more focused than the real ones.

The gravity of Shiro's Spiritual Pressure distorted the auras, making things hard to distinguish, but Twilight caught all of these things. "Is it safe here?" she asked.

"Probably not. The ponies watching from the entrance into the garden are too scared by what they see to even move. The guards are equally as frightened. Understandable. The Pressures evolve with experience gained over time."





"Let's make this quick, Luna. I'd rather not injure anypony if I can help it." Shiro said, crouching down into his attack stance. "That said..." he began. "I'll beat you in five seconds." he declared. He knew that would send Luna over the edge. As expected, it did. Luna's magic arced out like a wave, flying towards Shiro at a speed nopony was able to follow. As she fired, Shiro began to count down.

"Five!" he said. A glyph as large as the wave appeared in front of him. It took in Luna's attack.

"Four!" Shiro began to run around his Glyph, using the blinding light of Luna's own attack to mask his movements.

"Three!" he said, appearing behind her. Luna heard him and turned around accordingly.

"Two!" Luna was tripped from underneath. She fell on her back, her wings splayed out much like her legs. Shiro stood over her, pinning her down.

"One!" he said, a glyph appearing between the two of them. Luna gasped as she figured out where the force contained in that glyph had come from. Shiro lifted his head up and threw it down.

"ZERO!" his head collided with the glyph and instantly, the force from Luna's own attack came out the other side. At the last second, Luna managed to erect a shield to protect herself, but she struggled greatly as the ground began to bend and arc outward beneath her. They descended the ever-growing crater together. As it reached twenty feet deep, Shiro let the glyph go and everything was still. The auras were gone and the ponies who hadn't been blown back and frightened from the shock wave of the impact surrounded the edge of the crater, as did Celestia and the Elements of Harmony.

"I win." Shiro said, leaning down to kiss Luna on the forehead as if she were a foal being kissed goodnight. Luna lost all consciousness and her head rested on another glyph that now supported them both.

As Shiro brought the Night Princess out and let the medics examine her for any injuries sustained, he turned to Celestia and the girls. There was a moment of absolute silence between them, broken by the background noises made from the spectator ponies. Another moment passed before Shiro dropped all seriousness and grinned.

"Well, I think that went well. She'll definitely have forgiven me now." he said cheerily. All but Celestia fell over in surprise.
> Part 1 - Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	With Luna bedridden, Celestia suggested this would be the best opportunity for me to mend broken fences with her. Now I could have brought her food in for her and tended to her every need. But this was me. I just sat there and kept her company day and night. Psychologically, she would grow to get used to having me around. If I timed it right, she would miss me when I left to do something.

Of course I did some things for her such as helping to find things she misplaced. Mainly, I was there to speak to her. The first day went silently, like dead silent. You'd hear dust fall it was that quiet. The next day got me verbal abuse, which was about all she was fit to sling at me for the time being. I constantly fought against laughing when I saw her with that cast around her neck. Some would think me mean for beating her up the way I had, but she'd received worse from Celestia in the past.

By the third day, I was reading her stories. She'd picked up the habit of reading foals' tales from her absence on the moon. everything from short picture stories to children's novels. The fourth night, I'd just so happened to recall reading to her as a filly an old human child's novel. The memory returned to me word for word. All I had to do was recite what I remembered. That story put me in her good books (pardon the pun).

The fifth night was by far the best of them. Luna was smiling and laughing, her cast had come off and she was just catching up on some rest to recover the magic she'd expended. We were talking, just like old times. Seems Luna had more of a cruel streak with my amnesia than Celestia herself had. I was relieved to know that I hadn't kissed Abbadon and Discord both on a dare.

All in all, things were looking up for us. My bonds with the Alicorns were stronger than ever. Of course, not everything was all sunshine lollipops... least not for long.

A seat at the Royal Court had been reserved for me, which I attended every first day and every second evening. A somewhat heinous schedule, but it seemed to brighten their moods to have me there. Luna in particular favoured my playful nature as I blew spit-balls at some of the less interesting nobles. Fortunately I was able to play the Insanity card whenever they dared to address me. To spice things up a bit, I'd shoot a ball and toss the straw to the guy next to me, blaming him or her. Celestia requested I take a more respectful approach when in attendance of her court. I often just sat there and read a book or two.

Rarely did I go outside, and so the subjects of the Sisters' rule had witnessed only rumours of my existence. Some were afraid, others intrigued, some considered me a god of sorts. Despite Celestia's pleads, I decided I would milk that cow until the 'god complex' became stale.

Twilight was as inquisitive as ever. She seemed to have a sort of spring in her step when she was about to approach me with more enquiries regarding my past and the relationship I had with Celestia and Luna. Apparently, it was riveting stuff. She'd enquired as to whether or not I planned on writing an auto-biography in the near future.

With my life pretty much set in its ways, I found myself missing the adventures we used to take together. Of course, they were little more than a memory as the sisters were pinned down by their duty to the ponies. So, adventure would have to wait. It wouldn't be the same without them. Fortunately, adventure decided not to wait and it came knocking on our door... in the form of an old friend.

Thousands of black insectoid ponies swarmed the castle and the city below. From within the Throne room, I could hear the panicked screams of the populace below as they said roughly the same thing: 'The Changelings were back!' Mincing into the Throne room like she owned the place stepped the largest and presumably the queen of the Changelings. Having hidden in the rafters of the room, I looked below to see the queen approach Celestia casually. Celestia in turn mirrored her movements with a scornful expression planted on her face.

Changelings flanked their queen by the dozens, keeping every member of the court in place. When she spoke, her voice was strange, but slightly familiar in certain circumstances.

"Hello again, Celestia. As you can see, I've returned. I'm not pulling any punches this time around." she said. Observing closely, I noticed that Celestia, although giving this queen the death stare of a lifetime, had not tensed up at all. She was as calm as water in a glass.

I realised who this creature was when I felt and saw their spiritual pressures take form. Celestia's was much like herself. A white Alicorn shimmering like the sun. The changeling's took on a form I recognised all too well. Chrysalis, once a Black Widow Spider, now evolved into... this. Her aura held a redness to it, taking on her original form but far more deadly looking and much much larger. Chrysalis used to be a large Black widow the size of a dinner plate. Now she stood en par with Celestia in both height and apparently power.

"Chrysalis, so nice to see you again. I'm glad to see you survived that disgraceful beating my niece and nephew in-law gave you last time you were here." Celestia said. I was tempted to offer Chrysalis something for that burn, but decided to keep silent so I could watch.

"Oh, I managed. It wasn't all that difficult, given how much magic I sapped from you before-hoof." Chrysalis retorted. Until then, I never thought it possible to burn the sun.

"Glad I could help. And I'm glad you're here actually, old friend. I'd like to introduce you to someone neither of us have seen in a long time." Celestia said with confidence. This was my cue to enter.

"Oh? And who might that be?" she demanded. I stepped off the rafter and landed with a thud on all fours. Dust kicked up, hiding me from sight for a few moments. I stepped forward and came nose to nose with Chrysalis.

"Hiya Chrys!" I said with a grin on my face.
> Part 2 - Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


((300,000,000 Years ago))


There it was, the first inkling that I was alive. With all my other senses still dead, I could just barely hear things. First, it was subtle, like a light breeze in dead silence. Something else reached my ears, a more solid sound. It was speech. Someone was speaking. There were two of them. Exhaling, I felt my sense of touch return to me as bubbles rose and brushed my fur and whiskers. I was under water. Opening my eyes, everything was blurred... and strange. My vision was suddenly introduced by colour. As I focused more, I noticed something was on my face; it allowed me to breathe under this green water.

"...ow is Project X doing today?" my hearing cleared up, allowing me to make out words coming from the two figures speaking to each other.

"Surprisingly well for something that was road-kill not three days ago. Unlike the others, his body's accepted the mutagen beyond expected parameters. We should be able to view his initial skill level by tomorrow." another said. I noticed through the blurry green water, that as the latter spoke, the figure with the lighter colour, which I assumed was white through the green liquid, moved and swayed as he gestured to what I assumed was me. The darker figure must have been the one enquiring about my health.

"What can we expect of him in the initial test? Will he attack the others?" the darker figure asked.

"I don't think so. With the mutagen assimilated into his body, thanks in no small part to his critical wounds, he should be able to sense the mutagen in the others, and hopefully, he won't attack them." the lighter one replied. I found myself floating closer to the figures, my nose bumping something solid; likely that clear wall stuff humans put in the holes of their dens. The closer I got, the clearer my vision of the two became. The lighter coloured one wore a long white coat, while the other had baggier clothes that consisted of splotches of different shades of the same colour, presumably green.

"Then let's test that theory when the time comes. We'll put some other animals in the arena with them and see what happens." The white one seemed uncertain about the idea presented to him, but said nothing. "Keep up the good work, Doctor."

"Yes, General." the Doctor replied, returning to his station just a few steps in front of me. He sat down in one of those metal contraptions that rotated and adjusted to the user's figure. I closed my eyes again and pushed gently with my nose against the wall. I then heard the Doctor speak to me directly.

"I know you'll succeed, I just know it... Sleep well, boy. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for you." he said. I didn't open my eyes after that. Now that silence once again filled my ears, I took some time to think about what I'd just heard. The green human, the General, was obviously the one in charge, the Alpha of the pack, or whatever humans called this. The Doctor was obviously the Omega. The status suited him. Despite Omegas being the weakest of the pack, they were thinkers, and this human was obviously a thinker.

It wasn't the green liquid that both surprised and confused me, or the fact that I was in the presence of humans. Not even the mention of others that they so ominously neglected to give details over. What did surprise and confuse, and on some level, frighten me was the fact that I could understand what had been said. Human speech was difficult to understand, and suddenly hearing what they said and understanding the words just boggled my mind. Of course, there were some words that I didn't understand. What was a 'mutagen'? And was a 'parameter' anything like a 'perimeter'? So many questions filled my mind and before I knew it, I'd burned out my mind and had fallen asleep.





I awoke to the sound of water going down a hole. I wasn't half wrong as the green liquid inside my... tube began to disappear. I felt my back paws touch the floor first. Then came my front paws as the water level went down to barely nothing. I reached up and pulled the thing on my face off. I got a sick feeling as a long thing had been attached to it and was down my throat the entire time. I coughed and gagged at the sensation. My fur was slightly green after having been in that stuff for goodness knows how long. With everything out of my system, I looked beyond the clear wall to see the scientist as well as a dozen different Generals. Some of them younger, others older, judging by the wrinkles on their heads. They had those infamous thunder sticks in their hands, known for taking down wolves and other animals alike.

"I hope you know what you're doing Doc, regular wolves are bad enough, but this is just plain insane." one of the Generals said.

"Relax, Lieutenant. Dangerous though wolves may be, they have a tremendous sense of loyalty. And considering we saved this one's life, I don't think he'll be attacking us any time soon." the Doctor said. Gathering what I'd heard from before, I pieced together the incident missing from my memory. I'd been the unfortunate victim of a human transport device. Clearly, either the human operating the device was one of these people, or the incident just so happened to be near this place.

I heard a sound, and noticed that the clear wall had disappeared, leaving me free to leave the confines of the tube. As I took a step, the humans' thunder sticks made clicking sounds and the humans themselves seemed to focus them on me even further. "Easy, boy. Nobody's going to hurt you. Just relax." the Doctor said. Understanding him, I took him for his word and stepped further out of the tube. I could sense the fear emanating from the armed humans, but the Doctor seemed as calm as ever.

"Doctor Reed!" the 'Lieutenant' said, agitation evident in his voice.

"Don't fire, Lieutenant! Do so without provocation from Project X and I'll see the General demotes you to Cadet." the Doctor threatened. Those words gave me clarification on the matter. These humans were labelling themselves by their ranks, reserving their names for other occasions. Clearly, 'Doctor' was not the rank of Omega, but 'Cadet' was. Unless 'Doctor' didn't even belong in the same chain of command as these...warriors. Human rank was a headache in itself. "Come to me, boy. Come on." the Doctor commanded, crouching down to my level. I wondered why I should obey him. I was not apart of his pack, I wasn't even a part of his species. Then again, he'd been right when he said I owed him my life.

I did as he'd commanded, walking casually towards the Doctor. "Well done! Good boy!" he praised me. Something in the way he said it sounded condescending, but for the life of me, I couldn't place why.





I performed other acts for the Doctor in order to ease the minds of the humans with their weapons, to convince them that I was not hostile. To my surprise, it worked. Shortly afterwards, I was directed through long narrow passages with so many different sights and smells. The humans we passed that had not witnessed my... tame performance still registered fear with me. What I assumed were the females of the species were particularly nervous around me.

What made me feel slightly nervous was the fact that the one human who held confidence in me, the Doctor had departed from the group escorting me to Kahna only knew where. I was left with the warriors who not ten minutes ago had been ready to obliterate me out of general fear. I tried to follow the Doctor, but I was herded towards my initial direction. A wall seemingly barred our path, but some toying round with an object next to the wall from one of the warriors and the obstacle revealed itself to have been some sort of doorway.

I was fascinated as it broke in two, one half retreating into the metal and stone above, the other descending into the ground beneath. Beyond was what looked like some sort of dome. strange objects I'd never seen before lay across the floor seemingly without order. I suppose it would have been too much to hope that they were leading me to the exit. I thought, stepping through. The doorway closed behind me. The bad news, I was trapped in this round space. The good news was that those warriors with their thunder sticks weren't in here with me.

Some of the objects were small, others were massive. The area took me a full minute to pace around before coming back to the door. I looked upwards and saw the Doctor standing with the General and a few other humans I didn't recognise. It was then that I first saw, right above the invisible wall, a spider large enough to wrap its legs around my chest. The sheer size of the arachnid terrified me. I yelped in fear, backing away towards the doorway I'd come in from and began scraping at it in the hopes it would open.

As a rule, I wasn't particularly afraid of spiders, but when one big enough to give me a bear hug enters into the equation... I'd make like an Omega and bolt.

"Shut up! Geez, you're a noisy one, aren't you?!" I heard a voice. Momentarily forgetting the spider, I looked around for the source of the voice.

"Who said that?!" I demanded, realising I wasn't alone with this spider.

"The one who made you scream like a little girl, over here." I couldn't believe it... the spider talked. Other animals were one thing, Humans were another, but insects and arachnids had a whole other level of communication that neither man nor animal could hope to comprehend, yet this one spoke as if she were another wolf. "What's the matter, big boy, scared of spiders?" she asked.

A moment of silence answered her first. "I am now, thanks to you!" I replied, sticking to the doorway as the spider approached.

"Well, don't worry. I don't bite, unless you annoy me." she was teasing me. A spider was teasing me. I'm insane! I thought. I've finally cracked! My mother warned me if I pursued this course in life, I'd go mad. Bitch was right!

"H-How are we talking to each other?" I asked after taking a moment to sort my thoughts.

"The mutagen. We've all been injected with it. It's become a part of us and it's allowed us to speak like this. Right now, I'm not speaking like an Arachnid, and neither are you speaking like a wolf. It's a whole other language unique to us. Pretty cool, huh?" the spider said. She was certainly not what I expected a spider to be like had I ever had the chance to meet and speak to one. Then again, I never expected it.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around.

"The Arena. It's part of a human research facility, founded and funded by the government, the big guys up the top of the ladder." she replied. All I understood was 'human research' and 'Arena'.

"I meant where in the world are we?" I corrected.

"Oh, Idaho." she replied.

"Gesundheit?" I offered.

"No, you dolt! Idaho is what the humans call this part of the world. We're in a forest within Idaho. I think it's that 'Caribou-Targhee National Forest'." she corrected.

"That nature reserve designed primarily for Caribou?" I asked.

"Okay, how do you know that when you don't even know about Idaho?" the spider asked.

"One of my meals mentioned how he wished he was back there while I pursued him." I replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"You're a weird one... still, you're one of us now, so we'll have to make do." she said. Those words froze me.

"Wait... us?" I asked. the Spider did what I could only hope was a nod and walked away, disappearing behind one of the large objects in the arena.

"Chrysalis is a tad condescending, but she means well, especially when it comes to her new family, which includes you."

"Tell me about it." I said...	...... "Waaah!!!" I threw myself to the side as I realised someone else had spoken to me. Upon seeing the newcomer, I was thankful to see it wasn't another giant spider. This one was a black wolf, completely different to me in every way. This one displayed confidence along with a certain amount of passivity which I found myself rather envious about, given my two miniature heart-attacks within five minutes.

"You really are a jumpy one, aren't you?" this back wolf said, slinking towards and around me. She sniffed at the air, identifying me through scent. "Despite your outward appearance and current actions, I can tell you have potential." she said, coming to a halt in front of me. She then sat down and stared at me. "You know, there's a reason you didn't fear me the second you heard my voice." she said after a moment.

"And what would that be?" I asked, not sure about her.

"You subconsciously knew I was there already. You could sense my presence. What made you freak out was the transaction from subconscious to conscious. You need to work on that." she said. I'm starting to realise how that Caribou I ate felt before he died. I thought, sighing. "Something wrong, snowball?" she asked, bringing me back to reality.

"Don't ever call me that again. I have a name." I replied.

"We all have names, new guy. We know ours, but you're still a mystery." she said. I felt a rush of cold as I felt the spider land on my back. I went stiff and my pupils undoubtedly contracted.

"Chrys, I think you just petrified the poor guy." the black wolf said.

"Geez, this guy have a heart condition before or something? He's worse than Luna, and she's just a kid." Chrysalis replied.

"Well, to be fair. Luna was kind of born in this facility, whereas this guy undoubtedly had a life before." Through my frozen form, I saw the black wolf look up towards the invisible wall where the humans were. She gave them a stare, one that suggested she didn't trust them. That made me wonder if I shouldn't either.

"Hey, think I can get him to move by crawling around him?" Chrysalis asked.

"I think he'd try and squash you if you moved an inch right now, Chrysalis. Best you get off him and let him breathe. Fur shouldn't turn blue." I felt Chrysalis' legs slide off my back and heard her touch the floor. I then sucked in air and began to move around, shaking off the creepy feeling I got from that experience.

"And you say he has potential?" Chrysalis asked the black wolf, sounding doubtful.

"Enough! You said there were others, not one other. How many more of us are there?" I asked. I watched as the black wolf turned to Chrysalis.

"There's your potential, Chrys. Not even I thought about that when I started out." she said. The black wolf then turned back to me. "There are eight of us in total, including yourself. The others are Abbadon, a black Panther. Discord, a goat. Celestia and Luna are siblings, though Luna was recently born about a month ago. They're horses, Thoroughbreds to be exact. The final member of our little family is Sombra. He too is a horse, a Clydesdale. He is in no way related to the other two. He's a pretty silent one, but then again, we're all unique in our own way." she said.

"Why so many horses?" I asked.

"Initially, there were ten of each species, but we were the only ones to make it past the initial stages." she replied.

"YOU MEAN I COULD HAVE DIED AGAIN?!" I shouted, looking up at the humans in disbelief.

"What exactly do you mean by again?" the black wolf asked.

"I was road-kill before they brought me back using the mutagen. Aparently, my body accepted it better and faster than the others, which I guess means you guys." I explained. both of them seemed... perplexed.

"The mutagen resurrected you?" she asked. I shrugged and waited for them to speak. "You may have more potential than I initially thought."

"Thanks, I think?" I said, unsure how to take that comment. The black wolf shook her head and approached me in a more friendly manner.

"Well, let's discuss that some other time. My name's Shaiya, newbie." she said.

"I'm Shiro." I said. Shaiya laughed.

"The Japanese word for 'white'. I like it. It suits your outer character well, but it completely leaves your inner self blank as a blackboard." she said.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, hoping she would clarify.

"I can see it in your eyes, Shiro. That potential I spoke of holds a bit of darkness within. You've got a hint of black which makes you just the slightest bit grey. I'm gonna call you Shiroyami." she said, grinning at me. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't help but grin along with her.

"Alright, Shiroyami it is. I love contradictions." I said. We all shared a laugh, Chrysalis included.
> Part 2  - Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


((...One week later...))


I'd quickly grown accustomed to the green liquid the doctor would place me in after every encounter with the others. I learned many things within my first week, such as the name of the seemingly invisible wall; glass, window and in some cases door. Just another construct of man made from natural elements. The green liquid was in fact the mutagen introduced into my system but in liquid form. While it did nothing to alter my appearance, it just made sure the virus already in my body remained stable and fresh. This I learned from the Doctor. Clearly my ability to understand him went unnoticed by him. Chrysalis told me that she'd seen humans speaking to their pet dogs in much the same way the doctor spoke to me. I guess I was just an ear for him to talk to.

While I liked the doctor and all the wonderful insight into all things physics and scientific, the General was the one who gave off a feeling that made me feel insecure. Shaiya explained that he was in chrage of the entire thing, not just the people as I'd thought. That meant he was in charge of our progression, and I didn't like that at all. It was time for a change.

I'd spent the week trying to learn all I could about this mutagen they'd forced upon us. Apparently, it was some sort of virus designed to grant strength, agility, dexterity and intelligence to us. Of course, we were just experiments, test subjects to make sure the treatments worked before applying it on humans, as if they weren't strong enough already.





In the arena, the eight of us discussed how we should proceed with our place in this seemingly alien world.

"I say we take our chances and attack the second they let their guard down." Abbadon said. Abbadon was brash, quick to react, but not thick. Very much like a black panther in the initial stages of the hunt.

"That would be suicide! I for one have no interest in attacking them directly. I recommend we learn how to use their defense systems, which are placed throughout the facility and turn those against them. That'll bring the entire facility down into chaos!" Discord said, chuckling as he spoke.

"That could work, but we need to figure out how we would get to those systems without being seen. They've got monitoring equipment throughout the facility." Shaiya confirmed. Everyone stopped to pause and think.

"What do you think, Shiroyami?" Sombra asked, drawing everyone's attention to me. I sat there, thinking hard about what we should do.

"I don't know. The fact of the matter is, none of us has enough information about this place to come up with a foolproof plan. With young Luna among us, her safety is as much a priority as it is a handicap, no offense." I said, turning to the sisters.

"No, you're right. Luna's youth is a problem, but it can't be helped. What do you think we should do, Shiroyami?" Celestia replied.

"Why's everyone asking me? I'm just the new guy." I asked.

"Yet you've learned so much in such a short time. You're smart, Shiroyami. To be frank, this is a pack, and we've all decided you're the Alpha." Shaiya said.

"Ah, when you say 'we've all' decided..." Abbadon went to interrupt, but an alarm began to blare out of nowhere. The eight of us were at attention in an instant.

Warning! Warning! Project Simian has been breached. Warning! Project Simian has been breached. a female voice sounded throughout the facility.

"The heck's Project Simian?" I asked, turning to Shaiya. She, as well as the others shrugged in response. The doorway opened and the General himself entered the place, along with a contingency of his guards. He held something in his hand.

"Projects III through X, approach!" the General commanded. The others waited for me to decide what to do. Genuine curiosity got the better of me, and I did as commanded, sitting at attention.

"Here, take a whiff of this and hunt down the source. Kill on sight!" the General ordered. He held out his hand and a tuft of fur was presented to us. I sniffed it, identifying it as the Mutagen, but a variant of our own. Also, the fur suggested it belonged to a Gorilla. The mutagen within me reacted and surged, sending a signal to the others. They too now had the scent. With the information we needed, we set off to hunt down this defunct relative of ours.

It was relatively easy to find him, even without relying on the scent. Gunfire could be heard from beyond. My friends and I ran through the corridors leading to our target.

"Are we really going to kill one of our own?" Chrysalis asked, jumping onto my back for a ride (which I had grown accustomed to).

"A necessary sacrifice for our continued existence." I replied.

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled, halting the pursuit. I stopped with them, forming a ring to discuss the matter.

"Look, the General is the one in charge, that means he must have set things in motion. Why would he do that unless he's testing us for obedience as well as performance. If we show neither, this whole thing will be shut down and we can kiss any chance of escape goodbye, but do as he says, and he may just let us go when he's done with us. Unfortunately, that means we have to eliminate one of our own." I said. There was a deafening silence amongst us that just screamed resignation.

"I don't want to kill anyone." Luna said, sounding really sad in the process. I turned to the little filly and smiled gently at her.

"You won't have to, little Woona. With any luck, neither will Celestia. This is strictly for the predators." I said. Luna nodded, nuzzling my face in thanks. "Good girl. Alright everyone, let's press on."





The Gorilla was larger than we'd anticipated. He was bigger than some of the machinery humans operated. But that wasn't the most dangerous part about him. This defunct Project was armed with a mini-gun. We entered a large room near the exit where bodies of countless humans lay strewn in a bloody trail of carnage.

Luna turned away, hiding the from the sight into Celestia's fur. Discord seemed impartial to it all. Sombra was as speechless as usual. Chrysalis rose to the roof, wanting to get a safe distance away from the bodies. Abbadon, Shaiya and myself remained unphazed by the scent and the scene. Abbadon even went so far as to make a snack out of some of a nearby human.

On the far side of the room was our target a Silverback Gorilla the size of an Elephant. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face us. His face was missing pieces, covered in metal plating. An eye had been cybernetically replaced and his shoulders bore steel guards to protect the joints.

"So, this is the next generation of slaves?" the Gorilla asked. I growled at him.

"Does a slave plan his escape?" I asked him.

"Occasionally. I know I am. What about you, little carnivores? What is your goal here?" he asked in return. I turned to Celestia who nodded, taking Luna away from the area. Sombra, Discord and Chrysalis followed, leaving Abbadon, Shaiya and me to deal with the Gorilla.

"We've been told to take you down." I said. Shaiya and Abbadon came up beside me, baring their teeth at him to look more threatening.

"You plan to escape, yet you obey your master at the same time? Such a conflicting pair. How do you think that will turn out?"

"We're waiting for the right opportunity, as you did." I replied.

"You're astute, for a wolf. Then again, that may be the advanced mutagen in your body, it seems to agree with you. Mine wasn't so agreeable, as you can plainly see." he said. I was about to continue the conversation further, but I saw his finger begin to squeeze the trigger on the weapon. A surprise attack!

"Scatter!" I called. We were just in time as the bullets went flying after us. I ran and ran and ran. The trail of bullets followed me in particular. I used my momentum to run along the wall and up another. I gained access to the observation deck, using its floor as a shield from the weapon. I could feel the barrage of bullets breaking away at the flooring. In a matter of seconds, they would break through and I would no longer be safe.

Just as I felt the rock begin to give way, luck smiled upon me as the mini-gun had run out of bullets. I peeked my head over to see him discard his weapon to the side. He then slammed his fists together. The sheer power sent a wave of air out that rustled my fur. One hit and I'm as good as I was before the mutagen. I thought.

Still, my determination was unshaken. It was do or die, and I didn't want to die. I leaped over the observation deck and landed back on the ground level. Abbadon and Shaiya were right behind me in an instant.

"He's unarmed. Now's our chance!" Abbadon said, rushing towards him.

"Abbadon, wait!" I called out. it was too late. The gorilla struck him, breaking his body with a single hit. the black panther was sent flying backwards. I intercepted him, going back with him. The next thing I felt was the wall slamming against my back, the force increased by the pressure Abbadon had added to it. Searing pain shot through one of my legs as a rebar rod, broken from the gunfire protruded through my leg. Through that, I was pinned to the wall while Abbadon fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Bastard!" Shaiya yelled at the Gorilla, going in for the attack.

"SHAIYA! STOP!" I shouted. The wolf halted just short of the Gorilla's reach, his swing blowing her back like a gale-force wind.

"He's too strong for us right now. Think smart!" I said, tearing my leg from the rod. It was agonising! Shaiya did as I said and retreated to a safe distance.

"I was right to assume you were the leader. You're clearly more experienced than any of them." the Gorilla commented.

"Nah... I'm just the new guy!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Then let me share some knowledge with you, new guy. These humans came prepared for my escape attempt, that is to say, my first attempt. The defences in this facility were designed to prevent our escape. If you defeat me, they'll improve their defences so you too will be unable to escape. So I urge you to think about how you'll approach that situation." he said. With a bad limp on one of my legs, I was even weaker against this Gorilla than before.

"I'll take what you said into consideration in the future. But what I'd like to know right now, is you name." I said.

"My name? Why would you want to know that?" he asked.

"Because Project Simian seems a bit... stale. Should I manage to win in this scenario, you would at least deserve to be remembered by your real name, don't you think?" I said. He smiled at me, the first kind feeling I got from him since this all started.

"I'll give you my name if you give me yours." he offered.

"I'm Shiroyami." I said.

"Plato." he replied. I nodded to him before turning to Shaiya. She saw in my eyes the message I was trying to relay.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I just nodded to her. Immediately, she withdrew from the battle.

"Single combat? How nomadic of you. I thought wolves always hunted in packs." Plato said.

"Thinking like a wolf won't help us to escape." I replied. "Besides, this isn't so much a hunt as it is a sacrifice on your part."

Plato gave me a look of both intrigue and confusion. "Oh? Please elaborate." he asked.

"In killing you, the General will have further use of us, if so, then we continue to exist, and if we continue to exist, so does Luna, the foal you undoubtedly saw leave with her sister and the others." I said.

"You are very kind to carry the burden of such a young one upon your shoulders. No doubt she limits the opportunities you have to escape yourselves." Plato commented.

"For now, the only obstacles are you, and time itself. We could wait for her to grow up, but chances are we won't be useful to the General for that long." I stated.

"Then I shall give you time to think further, should you defeat me. Shall we get this over with?" Plato asked. I smiled and chuckled.

"Yes, I think I've spent enough time preparing myself for this." I replied. With great force of will, I slammed my injured leg down on the ground. The muscles squeezed tightly, closing the wound in my leg. The mutagen did the rest. As it began to repair the injury, it also cut the pain receptors around that area, leaving me as good as new.

"You've adapted to your mutagen quickly, I see." Plato said.

"Something the others said about it, plus what it did for me in the first place made me believe it responded to my will in much the same way the others did. In short, I've earned a few new tricks." I replied. Plato rushed me. My mind went into overdrive. Think fast, think fast, think fast! I shot around him, digging my fangs into his leg, the momentum of my swing allowed me to drag my teeth around, essentially forming cuts in his body. I'd crippled one leg. The real worry were the arms. While I could stay out of their reach, that wouldn't let me kill him any faster. I had to stay behind him if I wanted to do any damage.

I leaped up onto his back and bit down on the back of his neck. As I suspected, his hide was as tough as an Elephant's. Strength, strength, strength! I thought. My jaws broke the skin as my teeth seemingly sharpened themselves. Plato roared in pain.

Stay behind him, go in hard and fast, don't let him hit you. I kept thinking these things over and over again. It worked for a while, but as luck would have it. I mistimed one of my assaults and was struck in the face by one of his fists. I went through a wall, meeting the others there. Pain seared my entire body.

"Well, new guy's kaput." Discord said. There was a moment's silence among us before I coughed up blood.

"Don't write me off so quickly, Discord." I said, struggling to get back up.

"Well, the night's still young." he replied, chuckling afterward.

"I'll be home in time for dinner." I said, hobbling back through the wall.

Directly attacking won't do it. So what have I got left? I need to disable his arms somehow. I thought. Plato sat there, his injured leg preventing him from moving further. I did likewise, just beyond his reach. I closed my eyes and began to think about the fight so far.

He had a mini-gun, a long-range weapon, rendered useless by its exhaustion of ammunition. His body's so thick nothing short of my teeth could pierce it, but it's not enough. To make things worse, he's got that armour over his shoulders... That was it. I forced my body to go into overdrive. I shot back around before Plato could have a chance to even go for a strike. Instead of going for the neck, I went for the armour over his shoulders. Getting a firm grip on the left pauldron, I used all my strength to rip it off. I hadn't expected it to have actually been bolted to his shoulder, but that was just a happy accident. The underside of the pauldron was darkened by blood; some old, some fresh.

This was more than I'd hoped for. His left arm went limp. Realising that I could disable his greatest weapon, I repeated the process with his right shoulder. Success. He was disarmed, both figuratively and literally. Plato fell back in pain. He was defeated.

I stood over my prey and looked down upon him. He was panting for breath. His body was shutting down, now that it had lost a tremendous amount of blood. "Well... done... Shiroyami. You live... to serve... another day." he said. I stared down at him, neither a smile nor a look of pity on my face.

"You'll be remembered, Plato. I promise you. Not only because of the incident, but you've helped me to figure out what I'm going to do." I said. Plato smiled at me before closing his eyes. I gave him a quick death. Throwing my face at him, I tore his throat out. He died instantly. I swallowed the chunk in my mouth whole, the mutagen breaking it up and adding certain components, such as its density to my own body. My wounds were healing quickly, but I would undoubtedly need more time in my tank.





The next week, I entered the arena, fully healed and ready to share my revelation with the others. "Everyone, gather round." I said. They obeyed, Abbadon still hobbling from the battle the previous week.

"You've figured out what we're going to do?" Shaiya asked. I nodded.

"Well? What do we do? Run amok? Disable their defences? Play dead?" Discord asked.

"We'll do nothing." I said.

"WHAT?!" they demanded.

"I've learned that the Doctor has been giving me a unique version of the mutagen. He made a journal entry on the computer last night when he was alone with me. He calls it the 'Alpha Gene'. It's twice as efficient as the mutagen within yourselves and moreover it's designed to evolve. I'm going to become stronger much faster than expected." I said. there was stunned silence among the group.

"So... what, you're abandoning us?" Chrysalis asked.

"No. My plan is this. There's a time at night when everything, including the security and camera systems shut down. The only things still functioning are our tanks. With everyone away, I'll get out and sneak into the Doctor's secret room where he keeps the formula for the Alpha Gene. I'll then distribute it to each of your own tanks, effectively giving you the same gene." I said.

"Okay, so we all progress faster than expected, then what?" Shaiya asked.

"Plato said that they redesign the defence systems to counter our progress should we decide to follow his example. My plan is that we, Luna included, evolve past the point that the defences can stop us. In order to do so, we'll have to continue to evolve, but hide our progress from the humans. Demonstrate only a fraction of our true abilities. They'll be none the wiser. I too will limit my potential, making the doctor believe that his secret experiment is a failure. If we're lucky, he'll come up with something even better."

There were mumbles of uncertainty among them. "What if we run out of time before then?" Celestia asked.

"Then we'll do what Plato did and force our way out. After all, the only thing that stopped him was us. And the humans won't start up another project while we're still efficient."

My reasoning seemed to put their minds at ease. Excitement filled the air as they all began to imagine how things would play out. I left them to their devices and went over to one of the cubes in the arena, taking a seat. I then stared up at the window where the General and the Doctor stared back. They spoke amongst themselves, mainly uncertainties with my looking at them.

"Something on your mind, new guy?" Shaiya asked, having detached from the excited group to sit beside me.

"The only obstacle now is time. Despite my cognition, I can't read the General's mind. When will he pull the plug on us? How long do we have to prepare? And will it be enough? I've talked the talk for their sake, but the walk is a little shaky." I said. Shaiya chuckled and nuzzled me.

"You gave them what they needed, a plan they could back and the morale required to back it. Let fate decide how the story ends from here on  out and just do what comes naturally to you." she said.

"That's the thing, Shaiya... none of this is natural to me. I feel like I've woken up in the middle of an apocalypse. It's only a matter of time before we all die, one way or another. We're still only mortal." I said.

"You're afraid to die?" she asked me.

"I'm afraid I won't die the way I want to die." I replied.

"And how would you like to die?"

"Right now, I'd like to die free, with all of you nearby." I turned to Shaiya to see her looking at me with a content expression on her face.

"Then we'll make sure that's how you go, Alpha." then she kissed me. A small thing, like a bump of her nose on the cheek, only more. I watched as she rejoined the group of excited animals and I thought to myself; No, not even time will stop us from being free. If the General pulls the plug too early, I will obliterate this facility. I looked back up to the General and gave him a stern look before turning away towards the arena exit.
> Part 2 - Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


((...Four Months Later...))


"I don't understand it, General. Project X seems to have halted his evolution altogether. All readings are nominal and his health is above average. Whatever's stopping him from advancing must be Psychological." the Doctor said.

"I don't want excuses, Doctor; not from you or him. I want results! Force the evolution if you have to, just get him working again!" the General fumed.

"He's not a machine, General, I can't just force him to accept updates to his software."

"It's a wolf, George! Emotions are beyond its comprehension. All it knows how to do is follow its instincts and that's exactly what it's doing. Project X has decided that the mutagen is dangerous and has begun refusing the treatment."

"Gerenal, please-." before the Doctor could speak any further, through slightly parted eyes, I saw a gun pointed at him.

"If you don't get that mutagen into him, I'll find someone who will." the General threatened, returning his weapon to its holster. With the threat passed for now, I closed my eyes fully once more and just floated where I was. I heard the Doctor place his hands against the glass.





I was there all day. Doctor George was the last one still within the facility. He'd made up the excuse of running over some tests to his enquiring co-workers, but I knew the truth behind his stays.

"Area 101, Genetic Research Facility. 02/10/2230. The time is 23:00 hours. This is Doctor George Reed, head of Genetic manipulation and adaptation. Personal Log 24." he said almost as if he'd practised it. "Despite my attempts to further the research of the Alpha Gene, it appears as though Project X has come to a dead end. The subject is non-responsive, but very much alive. Any response I do receive from him is one of cold calculation. The subject has reached an evolutionary maturity that is either close to or equal to our own in terms of intelligence and comprehension. Initially, the subject's rate of progress began to lessen as time went on, but now, it's come to a full stop. I fear the Alpha Gene is to blame. As such, I'm renaming it the Omega Gene as the other subjects will continue to evolve while Project X stays as he is now. He will become the weaker of the lot.

"I just don't understand how this happened! Readings verify that there is nothing stopping him from evolving, yet he simply won't... Wait, that's it. Perhaps it's not that he can't evolve, but that he won't." so he was finally understanding. Yes, I could evolve if I wanted to, but I chose not to. I was fasting. Cutting myself off from the nutrition the mutagen required in order to feed me. If I was right, the instant I began once again, my evolution would spike. While I could have told my friends about this plan, the simple fact of the matter is that once we got out of this facility, it would likely be every animal for itself. Despite the link we had together that was the mutagen, we were in the end, different species. There would come a time when we would turn on each other. I knew Shaiya had promised that we would all be together, but it was not one she alone could make, and the others had not made such a promise.

"That just leaves one question; why is he refusing to evolve beyond this point?" the Doctor said. Earlier on, before I decided to fast, we were presented with a television, where we watched movies ranging from children's comedy to... erotic themed movies. Thankfully, Luna was spared from those movies in the form of tests the humans needed to run. George turned to look at me with the kind of leer I'd seen a burglar give a child when that child had bested him in his own house. I think it was 'Home Alone'.

The Doctor was surprised to see me looking down at him with a knowing expression, but what surprised him further was the intrusion from behind. It seemed the General was smarter than I gave him credit for. "I suspected you were up to something, George when I read the roster and found you were working over time every other day. You've been tampering with a Government funded experiment, using your own little chemistry set to make what has clearly tainted the subject!" The General bore down on the doctor, his gun pressing into his forehead. "Give me one good reason not to splatter your brains all over the console here?" he asked.

"Because my secret project hasn't failed at all. Project X has advanced faster than any other. He's figured out that the mutagen is altering him, and so he's forcibly denied the general mutagen." the Doctor began to whimper before his superior.

"So you've made him smart enough to realise we're fucking with his genetic code, is that what you're saying?!" George paused for a moment before nodding in defeat. I could tell that the General was going to pull the trigger when an alarm went off.

"What the fuck?!" the General demanded angrily. George turned around and began punching some buttons.

"Projects three through nine have broken out of their pods. They're... coming here." he replied. The two of them had a moment of panic before the General grabbed George by the collar.

"Did you put that Alpha stuff into the others as well?!" he demanded.

"No, just him!"

"Well somehow they know X is in danger."

"Impossible. The base mutagen wasn't designed for that. It could only allow the host to identify other hosts upon eye contact. Only the Alpha Gene could evolve that aspect of itself into this, but the others certainly couldn't unless they too received the Gene. But nobody could have given it to them." George said.

"Wrong!"

"Did you say that?"
"Did you say that?"

"I didn't say it." the General replied.

"Nor did I." the Doctor responded. An eerie feeling no doubt swept though them as they slowly turned to face me.

"That's right. I did it. I spoke to you through telepathy. And I injected the others with the Alpha Gene." I said. The liquid mutagen in the tank with me began to diminish as I consumed it all through my pores, even drinking some of it.

"That's not possible!" the General said.

"Which part? The fact that you can now understand me as I could you from the get-go, or the part where I stole several vials of the Alpha Gene from George's Office and injected their contents into each of the mutagen tanks?" the General was speechless, as was the Doctor. "I'll take your stunned silence as an answer for the former option. Yes, I have broken the barrier that prevented man and wolf from understanding one another for hundreds of years. You were right, Doctor Reed; I had chosen not to continue evolving, but not for the reasons you presented to the General. I was fasting, forcing the mutagen within me to go into overdrive so that when I again began to consume the mutagen within this tank, my evolution would occur so much faster than it would have had I remained on the course the others had been on."

Their petrification was almost riveting to me. "How did you do this? And why?" George said.

"Being able to understand your words, I pieced together that we were in fact experiments being exploited for your entertainment. That initial thought was wrong, as your Subject three clarified that we were in fact a trial. You use animals for testing before endangering your own race to unknown chemicals and mutagens. Together, after defeating Project Simian, a.k.a, Plato, we realized that it was only a matter of time before you would find us obsolete."

"So you fasted in the hopes your evolution would skyrocket to a point where our defenses would be about as useful as a toy gun against a tank." George realized.

"That was my final idea. Before then, I told the others to mask the true extent of their evolution. Plato told us how you modified your defenses to combat our stage of evolution. If you modified them to the weakest point, we would be able to escape with little resistance." I said.

"You're truly an extraordinary being, Project X." George said.

"And what does that say about you who gave me this power? It tells me that you made an error in judgement. Animals by nature are meant to be free. Equip them with the tools necessary to obtain that freedom and you're in for one hell of a horror movie. It all depends on me now. I could go out there and do good, in which case you would be able to take credit for it. Or, I could do bad and you'd wind up having to take responsibility for my actions. This is what happens when you try to play god, you mistake your creation for the world, but wind up getting burned by a sun."

"You cannot be allowed to escape! Not only could you become a danger to what remains of the human race, but you could also jeopardize the Government's credibility." the General pointed his gun at me.

"I'm not going to beg, General. I don't do tricks anymore." I teased. I wanted to buy time for the others to get here and perhaps disarm the General, but he thought ahead. I felt the bullet strike my forehead. The force turned my head to the side. To everyone's surprise, even my own, the bullet ricocheted off of my skull and hit a nearby wall. I turned back around slowly, growling at the man.

"That hurt, you jackass!" I said, stepping out of the tank. "I have to thank you for allowing Project Nine to exist. It was because of her that we waited as long as we did. Had she not been as young as she was, we would have undoubtedly tried to escape before you unleashed us on Plato. Then, we wouldn't have made it unscathed and all together. For that, you have my gratitude." I commented, approaching the General with a calm and collected expression on my face.

"Stay back!" he commanded.

"I thought I told you already; I'm not doing tricks anymore, General. Compared to humans, we animals have a very short lifespan. I intend to live out the rest of my days free, not hindered by the whims of a Human Government." He fired again, and again. The second bullet ricocheted off of my head and struck Doctor Reed, killing him instantly.

"Why won't you die?!" he demanded.

"General, even you shouldn't be so stupid as to think the order you work for would pay to create something that could die easily. You've been here from day one and you think I'll be killed by a side-arm?" I began to laugh at him, my telepathic voice filling the room with the sound. Right on cue, the others found their way to us using a shortcut called the roof.

We encircled the General and closed in on him. He threw his gun around, pointing it to each of them. His mind was on the verge of breaking. "General, my telepathy is currently limited to transmitting. I cannot read your mind. Therefore, I'm willing to give you a chance to save yourself." I offered. As expected, he took the bait. His attention was completely focused on me. "Give me the master access code for this facility and any other necessities we may need to escape this place. Do that, and I'll let you live."

Immediately, he reached for his breast pocket and pulled out a keycard. He threw it to Shaiya who took it in her mouth. "That card will give you unrestricted access to this facility, including the exit which has an auto-encryption password system. You couldn't get out without one of those." he said.

"Thank you, General. You've been most co-operative." I then turned to leave, pausing after a second. My head turned back towards the others still circling around him. "You know what to do."

"Wait! You said you'd spare me!" he argued.

"And I will. But I never said anything about these guys, did I?" I then moved on, smiling gleefully with Shaiya walking next to me and the sound of the General screaming for help behind us.

"That was cold, Shiroyami. I like that." she said with the card in her mouth.

"I'm a cold person, Shaiya. The wolf you met four months ago was just stunned and surprised. I went on from there. While I believed you could handle who I really am, the presence of the others, not to mention a child forced me to reinvent myself. Since then, I've been slowly feeding them darker aspects of myself so they get used to the way I am now." I explained. Shaiya just looked at me with slanted eyes.

"Anyone ever tell you you're awesome when you talk smart?" she asked. I looked at her with a raised brow.

"Usually the ones I talk smart to don't live that long to tell me." I replied.

"And you're sexy when you talk evil." she added. I couldn't help but blush under my fur.

"You think so, huh?" I asked.





The General was too trusting. As he said, the front door worked with that keycard of his. I single swipe and it opened like a vault door.

"Friends, I give you the world. It's ours to do with as we please!" I said. Everyone began to cheer, some of them, mainly Celestia and Luna decided to run out of the entrance. The brightness of the sun blinded us all as we stepped out. Fresh air filled our nostrils, along with something else that was recently familiar, only better aged. With my eyes still adjusting, I heard shocked gasps from the others as they saw what I couldn't.

"What is it, guys?" Shaiya asked from beside me. Our eyes began to focus.

"The world... it's..." Discord couldn't finish the sentence. Fortunately he didn't have to. Shaiya and I gave a joint gasp as we saw the scene before us. The surrounding forest area had been decimated. The trees were either uprooted or stripped to their trunks. The outside of the facility had graffiti all over near the entrance. The ground was like desert sand mixed with dirt. The world was not like this when I was alive.

"That bastard! He knew this was what awaited us! Damn it!!! I should have killed him myself!" I yelled. As if to mock us, a tumbleweed rolled by a human skull half buried in the sand.

"So this is our freedom? To die in a fucking wasteland?! That's great, Shiroyami. Thanks a lot! I'd have preferred life in that facility over this heap of shit!" Discord began to grow frustrated.

"The world's not completely destroyed. The humans who worked in the facility had to have gone somewhere. So there must be settlements or something nearby." Shaiya defended.

"Fat load of good that does us. Human settlements are for humans, Shaiya!" Abbadon growled.

"Gee, you don't say!" I growled at him.

"Don't you give me cheek, you white haired freak!" Abbadon snapped.

"It must be so nice to be a black Panther. I bet all the other panthers don't give you shit for your colour. Oh wait, you're from the amazon or some shit like that. Must be really great originating from only one place!"

"Are you trying to insult me, because I think you're failing." Abbadon retorted.

"I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm pissed off! I can't think straight!" I replied.

"Seriously, boys? We get a bit of desert and you blow a gasket on us? Man up, bitches!" Shaiya said. Abbadon and I looked at each other, then to her, then back to each other.

"There's a word for what she just did." Abbadon said.

"Two, actually; 'redundant' and 'ironic'." I said.

"Just think. Human settlements will have animals, mainly farm animals and the kind that would be useful for hunting. Discord and the horses could all pass for farm animals. And Shiroyami and I could pass for dogs." Shaiya said.

"What about Chrysalis and me?" Abbadon asked.

"Well, we don't have time to go to India and I doubt Chrysalis could pretend to be the fake bug on an Exterminator truck, so..."

"Something that he said feels racist to me." Chrysalis commented.

"To you?! He says I originate from the Amazon, then he suggests I'd fit in over in India!"

"Well, you know how Indian Princes tend to collect exotic animals?"

"You saying I'm an exotic animal?"

"I'm saying you could pass for one."

"You ass!"

"Present!"

"Shut up, Discord!"
"Shut up, Discord!"





The argument went on for about five minutes, after which Shaiya had had enough. With Abbadon and Chrysalis sticking out like sore thumbs, we decided to investigate one of the settlements in the hopes that an answer would come to us. Along the way, I was beginning to wonder why I'd told Shaiya I wanted to die with them around. I'd have been happy to just die with her nearby. Fortunately, thanks to the mutagen, I only had old age to worry about.

"I've got it!" I said, stopping the caravan.

"Got what?!" Abbadon said grouchily.

"How we're going to fit you guys in." I said.

"I swear, Shiroyami, if you suggest we disguise ourselves as different animals, I'm gonna eat your eyeballs!" he growled. I paused for a second.

"We'll call that plan B." I said, much to the irritation of the panther. "Shaiya said that the settlement was solely for humans, so if we eliminate the human element, it will belong to us and the other animals living there." I said.

"Great idea. And will we give it a name while we're at it?" Abbadon asked sarcastically.

"The only alternatives are dressing you up like a seal or making you wait outside while we bring food to you like dogs chained to their kennels waiting for dinner time. You know, with the little bowl that has your name plastered on the si-."

"ALRIGHT! I get it! We'll kill the damn humans! God, you're annoying!" Abbadon interrupted.

"Shoulda thought of that before you decided to become unkillable." I said, turning to leave.
> Part 2 - Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I knew from the beginning that my relationship with Abbadon would be... difficult. It started out as a rivalry, and grew into something more. Our escape from the facility gave us nothing but a ruined world. Our plan to take over the nearest human settlement went smoothly enough. There was resistance at first, however an external source aided in our initial takeover. Humanity had created so many movies relating to the supernatural, the minority being the most likely; zombie apocalypse.

That was the world that had awaited us beyond the confines of the Facility. It took us months to piece together what we could. What with the humans vying for protection from their zombified counterparts, and the travels to and from the facility in search of information on our Projects. We learned that we were augmented to be a counter-offensive against the apocalypse. The Mutagen was derived from the same virus that struck the human populace several years prior to our capture. Facility databases informed us that we were all placed in cryogenic stasis for a period of ten years. I was the last of the untainted subjects they received before the virus spread like wildfire. We were forgotten for a time before the General and the Doctor discovered the facility the year before we were awakened.

Ten of each animal were placed in the project. Only Two wolves, one arachnid, one goat, three horses and a black panther survived. The eight of us were the only successful subjects. The variety of animal was to help determine which augmented species would best serve to quell the undead forces. Turns out none of us were fit to do so. We turned on our so-called masters and became free to do as we pleased.

In regards to the settlement, we eliminated the authority figures first, then worked our way down the ranks until we arrived at the civilians. For a time we were at a crossroads; we could either kill all humans within the settlement, but that would make us no better than the zombies out for their flesh and blood. Alternatively, we could protect the humans and fulfill the wishes those at the facility had for us. Abbadon, Sombra, Discord and Chrysalis wanted to destroy them for what humanity had done to us and the world they once ruled. Celestia, Luna and Shaiya thought differently. They believed that every species deserved a second chance.

I knew better than to give them such a lenient judgement. Humanity knew they were bringing the world to its knees, yet they pursued their own goals regardless, pretending not to have heard the obvious signs. Even as a pup, I learned from my peers that the world wasn't right anymore. The seasons were sometimes backwards. Snow in the Summer, heatwaves during the winter.

With that in mind, I gave out another option; let the strong thrive, and the weak perish. We would neither aid, nor attack them. Let destiny decide their fates. Some found the idea to be sinister; others thought the same but in a good way. And so we watched humanity slowly dwindle under the might of the zombie horde, like mice searching for the cheese that was their shelter while being chased by proverbial cats. We were the spectators, like the General and the Doctor before us.

It was interesting watching humans fight to survive. Their baser instincts often kicked in. Generally it would be a man, no family, no-one to love him, he would grow insane with fear and snap at the smallest of things, whether it be a faithful man praying or an infant crying. Sometimes, they wielded a weapon. Those around him would watch until at least one person was killed by him before retaliating. It wasn't until blood was shed by these insane men that the rest of the herd would consider him or her no better than the zombies hunting them.

We made no moves to stay out of sight from either the humans, nor the zombies. Some of either race would attack us, but we evolved beyond their attempts, thanks to the Alpha Gene. Instant regeneration was a useful tool in our dominance over the land. A human would shoot us with their feeble weapons, or a zombie would take a chunk out of our flesh. By the time either the bullet went through, or the chunk was removed, the missing parts of our bodies would be replaced before the human could fire again or the zombie could swallow.

Over time, the humans learned to ignore us and the zombies learned not to eat us. We were poisonous to them. What little sense they had left went into that knowledge. So we remained spectators. The settlement had only a small handful of human survivors left. Paranoid and starving, cannibalism was inbound within a matter of weeks. The humans would become the zombies one way or the other.

Their contingency plan was one of both shock and to some extent, respect. They proved my prediction wrong when they were on their last legs. Four humans; a man, a woman and two girls, one a teenager, the other just short of thirteen. They'd huddled together around something I never thought I'd see. The man held the code for the detonator to a tactical nuke. They took the entire compound with them. I thought we were going to die then and there.

Fortune favored us as we realized that not only could we shrug off bullets, but we could also absorb the radiation from nuclear warheads to further our own evolution. Physical changes began to manifest in all of us. The horses' manes were replaced by what looked like an aurora for Celestia and a rip in space and time for Luna. Sombra had become more masculine. Discord's face became warped, the iris on his left eye enlarging while the left one shrank. He then began to grow a snaggletooth. Abbadon began to look less like  black panther and more like a black saber-toothed tiger. Chrysalis had turned from a plate-sized arachnid into a horse with an abdomen. Coral green hairs covered her body and indentations formed all over her legs. Shaiya's fur began to grow strange markings, almost like she were a wind spirit, the intricate details under her eyes, over her shoulder, along her flanks... And I... And I... I became the true Shiroyami!

Shaiya once said that although I was all white, I had a little bit of darkness in me. How right she was. Two black lines starting from my nose reached out, grew over my eyes and ended in a converging point at the back of my neck. On top of that, my fur felt rougher, harder even. That wasn't all that had happened to me. I never told the others, but I felt a piece of me die afterward. A piece of me that cared about the difference between right and wrong.





It took close to a century for what remained of Humanity to turn on us. With each radioactive hotspot, our being would alter in some way, shape or form. By the time the last war of Humanity broke out, Celestia and Luna were Pegasi, Sombra had become the first Unicorn. Discord was... Discord, Abbadon had turned into a cross between a dragon and a cat. We liked to call him a Hellcat. Chrysalis had become the Changeling she was today, only her leg's weren't completely hollow. The indentations were just short of connecting. Shaiya had grown larger, enough to match Celestia. I myself had grown larger still. Coming just above the Pegasus' head. Not only that, but my hard fur had grown even harder. They were like scales.

Throughout the war, we thought we might die countless times, but we never did. We gained a little insight into our strengths, but more importantly, our weaknesses. The Pegasi and Unicorn were good at combination attacks. Sombra's use of Telekinisis worked as an effective shield against ranged weapons while the girls' aerial attacks worked well to distract the enemy and have them waste their ammunition.

Discord was the first one to warp reality beyond telekinesis. He'd learned to teleport random objects, which he used to crush our enemies from above. Abbadon's speed was beyond what the naked eye could follow, yet we could follow it. Though Shaiya and I were of the same species, our evolutionary progresses were so dissimilar. Like the others, Shaiya's abilities were more physical, while mine were mental. She'd learned to fuse herself into the ground, and the trees, and the rocks, virtually any natural substance. I myself had learned how to put the fear of their god into them, through my icy gaze. I would come to call it Spiritual Pressure.