> The Shadow of Equestria
>  by Lady Umbra
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Displaced Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chamber of The Crystal Heart

It had all seemed so simple at first. Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia, and the Element of Magic, had found the Crystal Heart. Now was the time for her to realize her need for her friends, and entrust the Empire's safety to Spike.

Except for one problem: Spike was trapped in the black crystal cage, right alongside his surrogate sister, and the Crystal Heart that was the key to saving the Empire.

"You should have never come to my kingdom," came the dark voice of King Sombra. Appearing from black mist before them, he raised his hand to strike. However, before he could make a move towards the purple duo, a dark curtain fell over the outside, bathing them all in darkness. Sombra's eyes widened. As he stared around, Twilight saw a strange expression dawn on the dark lord's face. Fear? Irritation? Longing? She couldn't be sure.

"No..."

One by one each and every source of light was snuffed out leaving only the glow of both Unicorn's magic aura. Then, a voice echoed in the dark.

Dark Skies Are Falling, The Reaper Is Calling, He Sees The Tears That Are Falling

"Who's singing?" Spike whispered to Twilight. The purple mare could only shake her head in fear and confusion.

He Hears Your Cries From Afar, He'll Be By Your Side Before Morning, He Wants To Comfort You, Before People Start To Mourn You

Footsteps echoed through the dark room. As the footsteps drew closer, the singing grew louder.

Then He'll Take Your Soul And Leave The Shell Of You

Spike, Twilight and even Sombra flinched as they heard the sound of metal scraping against the ground.

He's Just Like You And Me, He's Got A Job To Do, So Surrender Your Life

The voice continued to speak as he walking into the Unicorns light

Before I Take It From You

King Sombra fired a powerful spell towards the source of the voice. A flash of steel, and the spell was redirected. With an explosion and a burst of smoke, the crystal cage holding Twilight and Spike was destroyed. As Twilight coughed the smoke from her lungs, she gazed upon her savior: a human male, garbed all in black. A skull mask concealed his face, and a large bladed weapon rested on his shoulder. His eyes, however, stared at Sombra, with the same unreadable expression as the Dark Lord's.

"My King," the man said, his tone pleading despite his menacing appearance. "I ask out of respect of our friendship, stand down."

"Captain Von Shadow," Sombra mused, two swords forming at his sides."It's been some time since we have crossed blades, hasn't it?"

"That Power has corrupted you," The man insisted. "Stand down. Let me help you!"

But the King was deaf to the man's pleas. With a roar like the shriek of a demon, Sombra lunged to combat the man. Twilight shut her eyes, but she could not block out the sound of steel clashing against steel.



Now I know what you're thinking; who is this handsome rogue, fighting King Sombra in a land of Pony/Human Hybrids? Well, I'd tell ya, but honestly, I have more questions than answers myself. What I do know that it all started at Comic Con.

My Name is Eric, Eric Monohan. And I'm a One Piece fanatic. The characters, the story, the world... I've always wanted to be part of it. And, as it so happens, Comic Con is the one place where I get to pretend that I am. At Comic Con, I can dress as the OC I built just for One Piece, and no one blinks twice.

In case you're curious, my OC goes by the name Eric Von Shadow; the Celestial Killer. And I have to say, I should get the chance to take pride in my costume: my long, pitch black hair tied back into a high ponytail. A black shirt with a Jolly Roger on the front, poking out from under a black open trenchcoat. A pair of black dress pants over pair of darker boots. People didn't even need to see One Piece to know I looked awesome. I was strutting my stuff, seeing what was worth seeing, when something caught my eye. A stand filled to the brim with all sorts of weapons and items from not just One Piece, but what looked like every anime that had ever been written or thought of.

"Something Catch yer eye Stanger?" a voice with a consistent chuckle to it emanated from under the weapons.

Looking up from the asortment of anime items, I saw the merchant in charge of the weapons. Ironically enough, with his dark blue trenchcoat and balaclava that concealed his face, he looked just like a certain Merchant. The Merchant from Resident Evil 4, to be precise.

I glanced over his wares, trying to keep a straight poker face.

"Well," I said. "You have all three of Zoro's katana's. But I'm curious what else you got here?"

"Zoro's beauties ain't to yer liking?"

"Not really no."

"Then How about these beauties?" The merchant reached under his booth and pulled out...

I couldn't contain my gasp of awe. He had a pitch black Devil Fruit, along with a six-round flintlock pistol and a large white staffed weapon.

"That's..." I mumbled, unable to contain my glee. "That's Edward's Murakumogiri!" I couldn't deny it; I looked up at him, and we both knew he had me. "How much for them?"

"$1,000 Dollars"

"Done!" I handed him the money and claimed my prizes. Unable to resist, I picked up the black devil's fruit, and took a bite. Part of me had wondered if it was a prop, but in that moment, I finally understood why anyone who ate the thing looked so disgusted. Oh my god it was nasty.

I coughed and hacked. "What the heck was that?" I demanded.

"Oh-ho, don't demand a refund yet," the Merchant said, a sly grin in his voice. "Yer journey's only just begun."

And before I could ask what he meant, I was engulfed in a bright light.

Privately, I wondered, am I going to One Piece? Looking back, I kinda wish that had been the case.





Vaguely, I made out the sound of voices. Humming through the ringing in my ears.

Sir, over here!

What....dear lord, what is that...that...thing?

I don't know sir. But it's still breathing.

Remove it's weapon. Bring it with us to the Empire!

But sir this thing is heavy

I don't care bring it back to the Empire. That's an order

Before I could think of resisting, I fell back into the lonely dark of unconsiousness.



As I faded back into consiousness, the voices came back. But one was different. It was low and powerful, like Doflamingo.

"Now what exactly is this thing?" the Doflamingo voice demanded.

"We don't know Your Majesty," the voice of one of the men who found me replied. "We found it in the frozen plains."

"Then why bring it here?!" Doflamingo demanded. "It could be a spy from another nation"

Oh, that couldn't be good. If Doflamingo decided I was a spy before I had the chance to explain myself, I'd probably never get to wake up again. Stretching, I forced myself up with a yawn. I pulled myself to my feet... and promptly found myself surrounded by spears.

But the really strange part was who was holding the spears. They looked like humans, but certainly no humans I was familiar with, One Piece, reality or otherwise. They were... equines. Cartoonish horses with humanoid hands, bipedal legs and humanoid bodies. Yet their heads were clearly horses. Some of them even had horns on those equine heads, or wings sprouting from their backs.

And at the back of them all was what had to be the head hancho: an gray male with a horn and dark purple eyes. A mane of black hair swept down his shoulders like a discount Hades.

"Oh sweet merciful Hera," I mumbled. "I really was hoping this was all a dream."

"Don't move" one of the guards barked, jabbing his spear at my chest. Now, normally, I should've felt pain as an incentive to maybe shut up. But, talking pony-human hybrids and journeys to other dimensions wasn't enough. On top of all that, the spear went right through my body as if I was just a reflection in a pool of water.

Pony and human alike, we all gazed down at the sight. He might as well have tried to stab smoke. Looks of horror were plastered on the pony's faces. I, on the other hand, was already going through the horror and confusion of being on a new world with new people, and dull surprise was the only thing that could register to me at that point.

That Devil Fruit must have been a Logia Type, I realized.

Well, with that decided, I grabbed hold of the spear in my chest, and pulled it out with relative ease.

"Well, that was weird," I commented, glancing up at the head hancho. "So, where am I?"

Thankfully, the big guy had bigger balls than his cronies. As they all backed up in alarm, he simply tilted his head, almost with pride.

"My Kingdom," he declared. "The Crystal Empire! Now who are you? What nation do you ally with? The Changelings? The Yaks?" A deep glower settled on his face. "Equestria?" he growled in a very ominous, Equestria better not be your ally, voice.

Crystal Empire? Equestria? Why do those sound familiar... My face went slack. Oh that stupid Merchant. He threw me into My Little Pony?! I glanced around. Although, these ponies are more human looking then the ones in the show. I huffed and touched my head. Best play the amnesia card until I can find a way to return home.

"Sorry, your majesty," I said, "But I have no memory of what nation I allied myself with."

The King hummed, his eyes narrowing in disbelief. However, another pony beckoned to him.

"My King," the - aide? Servant? I'm gonna go with advisor - said. "A word please?"

The King of the Crystal Empire gave me one more suspicious look before turning to his advisor.

"I believe this creature is a Shade."

"A Shade?" the King asked.

"Yes," the advisor continued. "A creature born from the remaining dark magic of Umbra the Dark. Think about it: no memory? A weird body? A body immune to physical weapons? I do believe we could use this to our advantage. Besides," the advisor added with a smile. "You did say that your son needs a bodyguard."

"Are you sure about this?" the King asked.

"I have researched Shades my entire life, my Lord,” the advisor replied. “They have no will of their own. They bond to someone and serve and protect them until they die. Then they find someone else to serve. These creatures are born from lingering magic and live to serve.”

"You better be right, cause if my son gets so much as a papercut from that thing, it will be your head I mount in my study."

Unfortunately for the ponies, I had been able heard the whole conversation. It would seem my hearing has improved as well, I thought wryly.

"Follow me, Shade,” the king ordered.

As I followed the king, I shoved my hands in my pockets… and felt something bump against my knuckles. Pulling my hand halfway out, I found a bound scroll with a jolly roger seal. But I didn’t have time to read it, as the King brought me to a room with some ominous sounds coming from the other end. I shoved the scroll back into my pocket, and braced myself as the King opened the door, revealing…

A gray furred unicorn stallion no older than ten or eleven. Practicing with a combat saber.

"Sombrahesta!" the King barked. The stallion barely glanced at him or me.

"Father,” he sneered, his eyes doing a double take when he spotted me.

"This is will be your bodyguard when you leave the palace" the king instructed.

"What is it?" the prince replied, giving me a more intrigued look.

"A shade,” the King declared, shoving me forward. “He will follow your orders and protect you with his life.”

"I don't need him," Sombrahesta scoffed, turning back to the combat dummy he had been filling with holes.

"You don't have a choice,” the King growled. “You've already been attacked three times by the Yaks and the Changelings. This is not up for debate!" And before the Prince even had a chance to argue, the King slammed the door on him.

Shrugging, Sombrahesta continued his practice, ignoring me. With the lack of focus on me, I took the time to remove the scroll and see what it said.

Eric Von Shadow, the Devil Fruit you have ingested is the Shade-Shade Fruit, a logia type. You will be able to create, become, and manipulate all shadow, The Gun will only fire bullets made from your powers, and lastly the Murakumogiri will only be lifted by you, any others who try to lift it will only find it to heavy

Enjoy Equestria Mr. Von Shadow

“What are you reading?” the Prince suddenly demanded. His hand snatched at the paper, but I yanked it out of his reach. Then – I’m not sure how I did it – the scroll got absorbed into my shadow body.

"Give it to me," the Prince ordered, raising his blade at my chest.

I meant to swat his blade away, but I neglected to notice the blade that had formed in my hand. As I deflected his saber with a flash of sparks, the prince didn’t even hesitate. He spun and tried to strike my right, but I blocked and countered with a kick to the chest. The stallion may have thought he was a warrior, but he was still just a pre-teen, and my kick knocked him back.

Growling in aggravation, the prince’s horn glowed with a gray aura. His saber levitated off the ground, and shot at me like a harpoon. I blocked and parried, but it kept coming after me.

Meanwhile, Sombrahesta grabbed hold of another saber. With me preoccupied with his first blade, I was unprepared for his strike, and the shadow blade was knocked from my hand before both swords were placed at my throat.

“Now,” the Prince said coldly. “Give me the scroll!”

But I was far from intimidated. With one hand reaching for my gun, I grabbed the prince’s blade with the other hand, shoving it into my shadow body. Before he could try to wrench his weapon free, I withdrew my firearm and shoved it under his jaw. Instantly, the prince froze, his free hand rising in surrender. I smirked.

“I win, your majesty,” I said, putting the gun back and bowing in a mocking manner. I indicated the door. “Shall we... Prince Sombrahesta?”

He tilted his head up. “I prefer… Sombra,” he declared, sheathing his blade, and leaving the room.

"As you wish… Sombra,” I replied, following after him.

Outside, I found ten armored ponies pulling on a rope connected to my Murakumogiri. All of them were puffing and straining, but just as the letter said, the weapon was barely moving. Walking up next to the Prince, I removed his saber and cut the rope. All ten ponies collapsed, panting and wheezing for every breath. Returning the blade to the Prince, I moved to the staffed weapon and stomped the blade, spinning it into the air. As the Murakumogiri began fall I held my hand out to catch it. But for some reason when it landed in my hand I began to spin and twirl the weapon around my body like I've been using it for years.

The years went by. Overtime, I gained Sombra’s trust. I even turned him from a spoiled prince to someone fit to rule a kingdom. Which was lucky; as when his father, King Jasper, was killed, Sombra was crowned King of the Crystal Empire. During his father’s funeral, Sombra was attacked by the Captain of the Royal Guard. The Captain didn’t get far before getting pinned by his own shadow. Later, we found out that he was planning on poisoning both the King and Sombra during dinner.

As it turns out, though, Sombra was spared because I had tired him out training him in the sword. With the prince’s coronation, I was anointed the new Captain of the Royal Guard. It was crazy; by the time I had turned twenty-one, I had found someone to hold a deep affection for.

Her name was Amber Blossom, a Crystal Pegasus. Sparkling blue fur and a long beautiful amber mane. After a year of dates, I finally racked up the nerve and asked her to marry me. She replied with a flurry of yes's. Unfortunately, I only got two years of bliss before everything started to change.

It started with Sombra. He started locking himself away in his room at all hours of the day. On a growing basis, I had to almost drag him out. And I swear I could hear him... whispering to something. When I tried to ask about it, he just brushed me off. Then the changes started setting in...

It started with Sombra’s look. His coat darkened. His horn curved and turned crimson red. His magic aura turned from gray to an eerie dark purple.

Then his personality started to change. He started enslaving everypony. Earth ponies were sent to work in the mines. Unicorns were turned into soldiers to wage war against Equestria,

Then he came for us. My wife was killed along with all the Pegasi. I tried to stop him but I was imprisoned and restrained with cuffs made of sea prism stone (what a coincidence). I screamed for days followed by weeks, then years. When I had finally gave up all hope of being free, I saw a bright rainbow light outside of my cell window. within seconds everything began to turn transparent as the Crystal Empire was vanishing from the frozen north

Closing my eyes, I embraced the death I faced in hopes of seeing her again.

"Amber" I whispered as everything turned to shadow and I was engulfed in darkness.
> Sombrahesta's Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the present, steel clashed against steel as King Sombra and I crossed blades with each other. Our first clash knocked us both back, and the wind knocked the purple mare and her dragon over. The little ones coward as my old friend and I circled each other.

"You can't beat me Eric!" The tyrant king laughed. "Not as I am now!"

"You were my brother once, Sombra," I said, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my weapon. "You were supposed to help the Empire. Not destroy it."

“I am helping the Empire,” Sombra refuted. "And you’re in my way.”

Sombra came at me again, but even when he took control, he had never been my match in combat. With a spark of steel, I deflected his swords and spun, knocking the stallion off guard. As he reeled from my attack, I swung my blade in an arc, parting his crimson horn from his body. The horn bounced on the floor, the chime of its bounce against the crystal floors a nice contrast to Sombra’s bellow of pain. He clutched at his horn stub, a crimson mist leaking from his head.

"You Fool!" Sombra screamed, his voice shifting and lowering in power. "Do you realize what you have done to me…"

"I did what I had to,”I replied. "For the sake of the Crystal Empire and it's people." I lifted the shadow curtains around the windows. "And that includes you, Sombra."

King Sombra screamed as his body began to steam. His fur returned to its dark gray color. His eyes shifted back to the light green he had before. And though his horn didn’t grow back, I was confident that when it grew back in a day or so, it would be back to normal, along with his magic aura.

In a matter of seconds, the Tyrant King was gone and King Sombrahesta stood in his place. Turning my gaze, I make my way to the red horn and stored it in the shadows that made up my body. I let out a breath of relief.

Finally, I thought, as I removed my skull mask. That mask had earned me the title of 'Reaper of the Crystal Empire.’ With my mask safely in my shadow, I slung my weapon across my back. I hoped my appearance would not startle the pony and dragon holding the Crystal Heart. No such luck, as they still trembled to behold me, and flinched when I held out my hand.

"Give me the Heart" I said softly.

They turned, trying to hide the Heart from my eyes. With a sigh, I formed a large hand of shadow, which snatched the relic from them.

"No!" the purple pony screamed, her eyes widening in horror as the Heart reappeared in my hand.

"Fear not, Pony," I said with a smile. "I know where this goes." Grabbing Sombra’s limp body in my free hand, I jumped off the tower and skidded down to the ground level of the Palace, ready to place the Heart where it belonged.

The heart began spinning the moment I rested it in it’s place, unleashing a massive wave of magic and returning the Crystal Ponies to their sparkling, beautiful selves. With Sombra in hand I made my way through the empire until I came across a house with shattered windows, a broken door and a mailbox that lay on the ground. On the mail box were two names: "Amber and Eric Von Shadow.”

Opening the door, I found the house was exactly how I left it that day. The day I failed to protect her. Setting Sombra on the couch, I went to the dinning room, grabbed a chair and returned to the living room. There, I sat and waited for my king to awake. Or until the Royal Guard showed up to imprison him; whichever came last. After an hour or so, I began to hear the sound of metal hoofsteps against the crystal streets. 

So, the guard arrives before Sombra comes to, I mused. Interesting. 

Getting up, I stood in front of the archway that used to hold a door. Looking outside, I saw the Royal Guard approaching. They were being led by a white furred unicorn, wearing purple and blue armor.

"Move aside," the unicorn ordered.

"On who's authority?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Prince Shining Armor,” the stallion declared. “Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard!" His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, but I just smirked, staring him down.

"Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard?” I asked, before indicating myself. “Eric Von Shadow; Reaper of the Crystal Empire.” 

That got a reaction. Despite the Royal Guard following Shining Armor, recognition flashed across their faces as they lay eyes on me. Sure, I was missing the mask, but that was a minor detail.

"Men!” I barked, causing the guards to stand at attention. "Stand down and return to your post!"

Bowing, the crystal soldiers dispersed. Shining Armor watched the whole thing in disbelief. As he turned back to me, I noticed him beginning to draw his sword. I acted faster, binding his body in black, shadowy tendrils.

Shining Armor began to draw his sword only for his body to be bound by black tendrils

"I will not give up my king until I make sure he has returned to normal," I said firmly.
I don’t know if the prince protested; I left him there, and returned to Sombra. Thankfully, he was sitting up on the couch, rubbing his head.

"Welcome back, Sombra" I said, greeting my king with a smile.

"Eric?” Sombra asked, gazing on me with steadily growing regret. "Please, tell me this was all a dream."

"Look around my house,” I said, anger lacing my voice as I indicated the destruction. “And you tell me.”

Though, it was hard to stay angry as my King gazed around in pure horror.

“Oh, dear Gods above…” Sombra whispered. His head fell into his hands, before I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” I said. And guiding him outside, I released Shining Armor from my power.

"I want to speak with your Ruler," I tell Shining Armor, Sombra in tow behind me.

Shining Armor’s glare didn’t fade. He lifted a pair of cuffs. “You’ll meet her in chains,” he said firmly.

I roll my eyes, but I allow Shining Armor to put the cuffs on Sombra. At first, I hope that’ll be enough, but then he teleported away, returning a split second later with a larger pair of hand cuffs… and a ring.

"Sorry,” I say with a grin, showing the gold band already on my finger. “I'm already taken.”

Shining Armor scoffed at my comment, but it did get a grin out of him. He showed me his own gold band.

“So am I,” he said, before placing the ring on Sombra’s horn numb, which was already showing signs of healing. “This is just to make sure he doesn’t pull any new dark spells out.”

“I swear, I won’t,” Sombra insisted, but Shining Armor’s grin faded.

“Well, we’re sure of that now,” he said, before fitting the cuffs on me. His cuffs covered the entirely of my forearm while connected by three metal rods.

With us secure as his prisoners, Shining Armor led us out of the empire and into the frozen north until we reached… something rather odd. If I remembered my time from my original world well enough, I’d have said it looked like a train station. The engine was certainly ‘train’-ish, and the railroads looked similar enough. Of course, while I had a faint inkling as to what it was, Sombra looked utterly dumbfounded at the sight of the station.

"This wasn't here before,” Sombra muttered. I turned to Shining Armor, who was conversing with the conductor.

“Hey, Captain,” I called. “How long have we been gone?"

"One thousand years," Shining Armor replied, motioning us inside the train.

"We've been gone that long?" Sombra asked, staring at the floor in shock.

"Inside,” Shining Armor commanded. “And not another word until we get to Canterlot."

For a while, we obeyed his command. The trip was admittedly boring, but, then again, what was there to talk about. After about an hour, though, Sombra found a subject I’d rather wished he had left alone.

"Eric…” he whispered. “I'm sorry."

I bit my tongue, trying to hold back all the angry comments I had wanted to throw at him while rotting in that cell. By some miracle, I managed to keep my voice level.

"Don't be,” I said softly. “It wasn't your fault.”

“But Amber…” Sombra said. “She didn’t…”

Before I could stop myself, I struck him in the face. Shining Armor stood in shock, while I stormed over to a different seat. Sombra clutched his bleeding nose with a grimace, but didn’t dare complain or try to call me back.

In my new seat, I gazed out the window. Faintly, I could see my reflection. My eyes had changed; the whites had turned pitch-black, and my irises shifted from sea-blue to crimson red. Black veins formed on the sides of my eyes, crossing out from my sockets all the way to under my ears.

Yet, as I took a deep breath, my features managed to return to normal. Looking past my reflection, I watched the train travel off the land and over a massive body of water.

it would seem the ponies have made a sea train to travel around this Sea world I thought, chuckling softly. 

It was a small thing, but it comforted me. And with that comfort, and the soothing rock of the train, I drifted into sleep.



Dark clouds bellowed thunder in the sky. The thunder failed to quell the screams of the citizens, echoing all over the empire. The unicorns marched in succession down every street, firing spells at any pegasi that attempted to take to the air.

Amber and I had been running – hand in hand – when the enslaved soldiers found us. Shadows morphed over my arms, forming massive claws. I carved them through the soldiers. Ponies that I was supposed to save. Yet I had no time for grief. Amber was fighting alongside me, even as they tried to target her over me, and though grief pushed at my heart with every fallen soldier, my love and desire to protect her took priority above all else.

But it wasn’t enough. Halfway from home, Amber's wing was struck by an arrow spell. As she careened to the ground, another punched through her leg. Her scream turned my heart to glass, threatening to shatter it. I tried to cover her, but a spell crashed into my shoulder, burning the flesh and throwing me back. But I refused to pass out. I rolled with the fall, using my powers to fall into my shadow. In the cool dark of the shadow world, I pulled Amber down into her own shadow seconds before the unicorns could get her. And together, we resurfaced in front of our house.

"Amber, get inside now," I ordered.

As she raced inside, I crept in backward, making sure no-one was approaching before shutting the door.

But I should have checked the inside as well. She didn’t even get to scream to warn me.

As I turned, my body froze as I saw Amber lifted off the ground, clutched in the demonic aura of Sombra himself. Fury laced my heart and mind. Shadows emitted from my being.

"Put...Her...Down!” I snarl. There’s no time to worry about if my friend is in there or not. All I have is my fear for my wife.

Sombra saw it. His smile widened as he tightened his grip. For a split second, I thought he was just going to threaten her life. Get me to do what he wanted. But I overestimated his mercy.

The cracking sound didn’t make sense to me. Not until I noticed Amber cease her struggling. Her legs stopped kicking, and her arms went limp. My heart dropped with her body as Sombra let her go. She collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll.

Feral rage turned my vision black and red. I charged the Tyrant, swinging at him with my claws, ready to rend my old friend limb from limb.

But his smile didn’t falter. And his horn lit up again. A spell crashed into me; burning like nothing the first spell had been capable of.

"Light,” Sombra mused. “Such a blinding annoyance. Yet, its also the only thing that can stop you. Isn't it, Eric?" Sombra didn’t wait for me to reply. With another light spell, he threw me through the front door, destroying the windows simply from the back lash.

Every time I tried to rise, he beat me back down with the light spell. Rage, grief and agony twirled together into a cocktail of pain, one I could only unleash with a death wail.

And for a brief moment of relief, I thought it was my death wail. For as Sombra approached my beaten body, his hand emitted a white aura. And he brought it down across my face. I fell into darkness. For a brief moment, I thought I might be dead. That I would be reunited with Amber again.

But fate was not that kind, and before long, I was dragged – kicking and screaming – back to the land of the living. If it could be called that. I awoke to the sound of rattling chains. I found each of my wrists bound to a wall. To make matters worse, I could feel something in the chains. Draining my power, leaving me weak and helpless.

"Comfortable?" a voice asked mockingly.

Groaning, I looked up. Sombra was grinning down at me with teeth like a dragon.

"Sombra," I said weakly. "Please… tell me you didn't."

Smiling, Sombra reached into his pocket, and pulled out a gold band.

"You tell me…Brother," Sombra said, flicking the metal with his thumb. I watched it bounce on the ground, rolling to a stop in front of me, just out of my reach. But I was more than able to read the engraving on the ring; an engraving that I had made, matching the engraving on its brother, still bound around my own finger.
Together Forever

I lunged at Sombra, stopped only by the chains that took my freedom and power.

"I WILL MOUNT YOUR VILE HEAD ON MY WALL,” I bellowed as I struggled in vain against the chains. “I’ll GUT YOU LIKE A FISH AND KNIT YOUR GOD DAMN INTESTINES INTO A FUCKING SWEATER!!!!" I yell trying to free myself

"I'd love to see you try," Sombra laughed as he left me. His laugh rang in my ears, turning my vision a blinding red.

“SOMBRA!!!!!”

But then, a new voice cut through my bellows, and his hideous, demonic laughter.

"Wake up!”



My eyes bolt open. I lunged, the cuffs falling past me as I turned to shadow. I seized the bundle of fur and armor before me and slammed him into the ground. A claw of shadow formed in my claws, ready to rip off the frightened face I glared down at.

Before I could strike, something else grabbed me. Something with a pair of cuffed hands.

"Eric, stop! Calm down!" Sombra said.

My friend, I realized. Not the tyrant. Not the demon. Still, I remembered his voice echoing out from behind the demon. I wrenched myself out of his grip, and glowered at him.

“Never do that again, Sombrahesta,” I growled.

Sombra flinched back. I had almost never called him by his full name. I was broken away from my glare when I once again felt hands on my shoulder. I spun around, finding Shining Armor’s angry eyes inches from my own.

“How’d you get out of those cuffs?” he demanded.

"Simple" I said, flicking his horn. "They weren't made of Sea Prism.”

Shining Armor’s gaze faltered. He glanced at his guards. “Do we have that?” he asked.

I didn’t give him the chance to reply, walking off the train, and finding myself in front of another palace, alongside that lavender pony from the cage, her dragon, and five other mares that walked out the adjacent train car.

The city - and apparently, island - of Canterlot was just as beautiful and majestic as it was depicted in the show. Entering the Palace, Sombra and I were lead into the Celestial throne room, which held both Celestia and Luna, the Princesses of the Sun and Moon.

"Welcome back My faithful student,” the alicorn greeted the lavender pony first, matching her bow with a bow of her own. “And Shining Armor," she added, bowing to the captain. However, as she turned to Sombra and me, her look changed.

"Greetings Princess Celestia," I said, bowing for added respect. "May I present the King of the Crystal Empire, King Sombrahesta."

"We've met," Celestia said, her eyes narrowing into a glare. Sombra looked away, guilt in his eyes.

"Well good,” I replied. “Then I can explain what had happened." I steadied my stance and looked her in the eye. "I am responsible for the destruction of the Crystal Empire."
> The Trial of Eric Von Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia narrowed her eyes at me.

“You?” Celestia asked. “How can you have been responsible? Sombra was the one who forced the earth ponies to work in his mines, brainwashed the unicorns turning them into his soldiers and killed every pegasus with in his empire.”

“Are you so blind in your service to this Tyrant,” Luna asked. “That you are trying to protect him by sacrificing yourself?” I laughed.

"I don't think we've personally met, your majesty," I admitted, bowing before the Princess of the Night. "I am Eric Von Shadow. I am a Shade born of the lingering magic of Umbra the Dark."

That certainly got a reaction. I grinned as I noticed both of them flare their magic.

"Ladies, please,” I asked. “Let's just calm ourselves and think for a second, If I wanted to kill you…" I suddenly dropped into my shadow. I barely gave them a second to gape in alarm before I reappeared from their own shadows, my blades at their necks. "I would have done so already."

Dropping back into shadow I return to the side of my idiotic king. Both Celestia and Luna slowly relaxed, understanding that I meant them no harm

"Explain," Celestia ordered.

"Of course, your majesty" I reply.




Several millennium back…


I was out in the snowy tundra. 30 new recruits stumbled and struggled to march behind me. They were brand new. Unproven. Ready only for the weak and pitiful to be weeded out. Initiated.

"Um sir?” one of the bolder guards asked. “What exactly are we doing here?”

"Quite simple Rookie,” I replied. “How many of you are familiar with Tundra Dragons?" I ask the rookies.

“I am, sir,” one bookish looking rookie complete with glasses and red hair noted. “Tundra Dragons, while having a brain the size of a crystal berry seed, are severely deadly to any who crosses their path.”

"Correct!” I praised the aspiring guard. “Now, while Tundra Dragons are extremely territorial and large even at a young age, what many don't know is that the younger they are, the better for us. It takes at least five guards to kill a one year old.”

“So, then…” a pegasus guard asked. “If a Tundra Dragon is three years of age… it would take fifteen of us to bring it down.”

"Precisely," I agreed, stopping in my tracks, and turning to the group of trainees.

"Now Ponies,” I declared. “Let’s see who among you is truly worthy of protecting the Empire. Who is really the strongest, and who is a weakling that would die in the first wave?”

Before any of them could try any sort of bravado or excuse, I stomped my foot. The snow shifted as a low growl rumbled across the tundra.

Looks of fear gripped every guard as the snow rose from the ground around me. I was lifted up, perched on the head of a monster covered in white scales and snowy quartz crystals.

“Stallions and gentle-mares,” I said with a laugh. “Welcome to Initiation!”

My rookies weren’t supposed to be in danger. The Tundra Dragon was barely two years old, and there were thirty of them. More than enough to take it on. But, I watched in disappointment as twelve immediately screamed in fear and ran back to the Empire. Three more followed when the dragon took one swipe at them.

Luckily, not all of them were cowards. I watched with a grin as two of the remaining fifteen snapped out of their fear and attacked, jabbing their spears at its underbelly. The beast jumped, knocking me off. But I formed a bird of shadow, and watched from above as the rest of the squad lunged in to protect their brethren.

I nodded in approval; these guys were fighting smart, not hard. Covering for each other, and going for weak points rather than trying to bowl it over with numbers. I was ready to tell them to fall back, when I noticed something wrong. The beast’s eyes were turning a vicious blood red. Its roars were angrier. A call for blood.

"Fall Back!!" I ordered. “Fall back!”

Thankfully, the guards obeyed. Maybe they heard the panic in my voice. Maybe they noticed the dragon’s attacks were growing more aggressive. Either way, they got the message and retreated, seconds before the dragon could catch them with its claws.

Jumping from my shadow bird, I landed between my guards and the Tundra Dragon, and separated myself from the rookies with a wall of hardened shadow.

"Okay beast,” I growled, shadowy mist emanating from my body. “Lets see what wrong with you.”

The Tundra Dragon charged at me but I rolled to the left and caught its jaw with shadow restrains. Raising my fist, I formed twin pillars connected by a large blade. Dropping my fist into my palm I dropped the blade onto the creatures’ neck.

Shadow Guillotine

The monsters head rolled, staining the snow black with corrupted blood. Without warning, it melted into a puddle of goo, leaving behind a pointed red crystal.

"Hm…” I muttered. “What kind of gem are you?" I turned the red crystal over in my hands. The crystal was pointed like a dagger or a horn, and glistened like a ruby stained with blood. I also swore I could hear… something. Whispering? Chanting?

Before I could lean in for a closer listen… ask the gem dropping the shadow wall

"Captain?" called from behind my wall of shadow.

My rookies! I quickly dropped the barrier, finding them watching me with looks ranging from confusion to concern.

"We're returning to the empire,” I declared. “You lot have passed initiation. The ones who have fled have failed and will be removed from the ranks of Royal Guard!"

The guards nodded in acceptance, and we returned to the empire. As we walked, I placed the stone into my pocket.

You know more about this stuff than I do Sombra,” I thought. “Maybe you can figure out what this gem is."



"...After that I handed the gem over to Sombra,” I told the Princesses. “It wasn't until it was too late that I realized what I had done.”

I pulled the gem horn from my body, and held it out to the Princesses. Celestia gasped in horror.

“That is no gem!” Celestia declared in a haunted voice. “That’s the Horn of Umbra the Dark!”

“It holds Umbra’s dark essence and magic,” Luna declared in an equally haunted voice.

“Yes,” I mused, pulling the gem back and glaring at it. “As I learned after I broke out of my cell, and got to the Royal Archives.” I clenched the gem, wanting to crush it, before looking up at the Princesses. “My king wasn’t in control,” I declared passionately. “Umbra was. Punish Umbra however you see fit – and punish me for letting him get into the Empire - but leave my King out of it.”

Celestia and Luna turned to look at each other. A silent conversation flashed between them before they looked back to us.

"We will need to deliberate about what to do," Celestia decided. "Until then, you and your King will be held under arrest.” She gave me a sad look. “And you will have to face justice for your aid in Umbra’s rise to power.”

With that, Celestia’s guards herded us out of the throne room. On our way to wherever they were holding us, a servant walked by with a tray of food. Reaching out past the guards, I snatched an apple from the tray and took a bite. The tart juiciness of the fruit exploded across my tongue.

"Hey!" one of the guards protested, but my glare silenced him.

"Hey yourself,” I shot back. “This is the first real food I've had in years. So, piss off!"

The cage they gave us was a gilded one, I’ll admit; nice feather beds, pristine blue walls, and a nice view of the city of Canterlot. But a cage is still a cage, as the bars on said window proved, along with the ominous click of a lock as the guards shut the doors and bolted them fast.

Without the guards there to watch us, I used my powers to strike the chains from Sombra’s wrists. He rubbed his sore wrists, not meeting my eyes at first.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Doing what?"

"You lied to the princesses,” he insisted. “You know very well I was there as well and it was I who found the gem.” He gazed at me with fear. "They’re going to sentence you to death!"

"If I'm lucky," I replied with a shrug. Sombra’s gaze grew broken and sad.

“Do you truly wish for death, Eric?”

I sighed heavily.

“A man can have everything," I recited morosely. "And yet have nothing... if he doesn't have love."

After speaking I set myself on one of the beds with my legs crossed and both hands behind my head.

"You're trying to kill yourself just so you can join Amber?!" Sombra asked, his eyes widening in horror. "Eric, you can't! I-I won't allow it!"

“Sombra, what do you honestly think you can do to stop me?” I replied with a sideways glance. “Even without that ring on, that horn of yours still needs healing.” I jabbed a finger at his horn nub. “Until then, the only thing you’ll be doing is levitating an apple a few feet off the ground.”

But Sombra was undeterred. He sat by my bed, propping his hands on the bed like it was my death bed.

"Eric,” he argued. “There's so much to live for"

"Like what?" I growled, rising from the bed. “My home is destroyed. My wife is dead!” I almost yelled the last part, but the weight of what happened hit me, lowering my voice. “And I’ll never be a father.”

Sombra didn’t get it at first. But, like a rising sun, it dawned on him soon enough.

“Wait…” Sombra muttered. “Was she…?”

My glare was the only answer he needed. Gagging on the guilt of his own sins, Sombra rushed to the nearest toilet. As the sound of him losing whatever his stomach managed to hold since the last thousand years emanated, I lay back down and drifted off to sleep.





Standing out on the balcony with my sister, I raised the moon with my magic, as Celestia lowered the sun with hers.

"Luna?” Celestia asked, “Something troubling you?"

"It’s… that Shade." I gazed up at my beloved moon. My source of power, and my former prison. "It… Something isn't right about it. It's hiding something."

"You felt it as well?" Celestia mused, as we entered the palace. "It can hide things from us. But nothing is hidden in dreams.” 

I saw her meaning in her eyes.

"But Sister,” I protested. “Shades don't sleep!"

"True,” Celestia admitted. “But Shades don't speak unless ordered to either. Let alone threaten to kill." Celestia shook her head, standing outside her bedroom. "Whatever it is, it isn't a shade." Shooting me a knowing grin, Celestia entered her room with a yawn. “Goodnight, Luna.”

As Celestia went to bed for the night, I headed to my own room. Curiosity had seized me, and nearly kept me from sleep. But I was eager to gaze into this so-called shades’ dream.

Once I got into my bed I placed both hands over my stomach and closed my eyes, charging up my magic. The darkness around me was slowly replaced with a light blue plane; littered with stars and doors.
Looking around, I saw two doors that were new to me. One a gray color with a gem cluster on it. The other pitch black, wrapped in chains and stained with what looked like bloodied hand prints, mounted with some triple headed skull and crossbones. Steeling my nerves, I used my magic and opened the door.

What was inside sent a chill of horror through me: the shade was wielding a large bladed weapon as he was cutting down Yaks and Changeling alike, killing them without a second thought. Yet, before I could consider turning away, the scene changed to a calming night at the Crystal Empire. The Shade was leaving a restaurant with a Crystal pony pegasus with amber hair. The Shade had changed; he was dressed nicely. And he was sweating. I could practically smell the pheromones from him. They walked to a house that had the name "Amber Blossom" on the mail box. As the pony was walking away, the shade took ahold of her hand and reached into his pocket.

"Amber we've been going out for a few years now," he said, nervousness etching his voice. "And I was wondering..." He dropped to one knee. From his pocket, he pulled a little black box, and inside the black box, he revealed a ring with a pure emerald on it.

"Will you marry me?" the Shade started to say. But he stopped short, as his body turned black with menacing red eyes.

Yet… his bride to be did not react. She did not move. Not even to breathe. It all came together for me just as the Shade stood and turned right towards me. His skin melted into puddles on the ground. His fancy garb was replaced with shadow-black armor, horns and with bat wings fit for a dragon.

"You don't belong here," the Shade snarled.
I didn’t have time to defend myself. With a flash of night-black shadow, the creature appeared in front of me. His hand closed around my neck.

With a chill, I realized it wasn’t the Shade that held me. This new creature had thin leathery skin, jagged fangs and sharp serrated claws and talons. It wasn't a pony. It wasn't even a shade! It was...A Devil!

"Get out of Eric's mind, before I snap your neck like twig," the devil growled, it’s grip tightening like a vice.

I did not hesitate. With a flash of my magic, I lunged from unconsciousness. Even in the waking world, I could feel that demon’s claws on my throat.

"What… was that creature?" I whispered.

I didn't dare return to the dreamscape. The mere thought of that thing returning for me left me shaking in absolute fear. Shaking my head, I left my room and into the kitchen.
Yet, even in the waking world, the demon had to vex me. For as I entered the kitchen, I found the Shade – Eric, he had called himself, coming out of the fridge with a platter of food.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"I was hungry," he replied, taking a bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Had a weird dream; first time I've had something that wasn't a nightmare."

I blinked. So, that memory with the pegasus was a rarity? Interesting. Before he could notice my pondering, I tried to switch the subject.

“How’d you get past the guards?” I asked.

"Teleportation,” he replied brusquely, finishing his sandwich and moving on to an apple. "At least, to get out of the room."

"But your room nullifies all magic!" I argued.

He merely shrugged. "Didn't use magic."

"And the guards outside?" I persisted, worried thoughts clouding my anger.

He grinned. "Knocked their heads together," he replied coyly. "They should wake up sometime after I get back."

I was left speechless. Shades needed magic to live. It's what gives them their immortality. How could he not use magic?

"Actually,” he noted. “I think I remember you now that I get a good look at you.” He placed his hand on his chin as his face got close to mine. "You and your sister came to the Empire once. To broker peace between your kingdom and Sombra’s'."

"Yes, we did" I said with a nod.

“Yeah…” the shade said with a nod. “Sombra told me you and him hit it off rather quick.” He noticed my saddened look. “Didn't work out, though, did it?”

"We… aren't the same,” I admitted. “I'm an immortal princess… and Sombra was a mortal king. I would have to watch him grow old and gray while I still look the same."

"Well then," the shade noted, putting his plate away before looking in the cabinets. "We're both train wrecks when it comes to dealing with love.” I could hear the grin in his voice as he rummaged through the cabinets. “So, how's about we drink to our similarities?"

"This castle doesn't hold any alcohol" I admitted, glancing away with a blush.
The shade moaned out a curse. 

"Then I'm going to find a bar. I have been gone for a thousand years and I haven't had a drop since Sombra was taken over my Umbra. This Shade needs liquor!"

Eric began to leave when I grabbed the back of his coat. It was against my better judgement, but I had an idea on how to find out more about this so-called Shade.

"Follow me,” I said with a grin.

I lead the shade to the Royal Canterlot Library. I took him to the farthest corner and pulled back five books involving plant life. Behind the books was an emblem in the shape of my beloved moon. With magic flaring around my hand I pressed the emblem, causing it to slide open. Inside, several glass bottles were revealed. The shade’s eyes grew wide. He snatched the first of the bottles from my hand.

"Jack Daniels!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Actually, it's Applejack Daniels," I corrected.
He apparently didn’t care. With a quick twist he opened the bottle, and inhaled it’s aroma.

"Goddamn, it smells just the same" he sighed, seizing two more bottles. For a split second, he turned to leave. I lunged forward and grabbed him, forgetting for a moment his vast collection of powers.

"Hey!!" I chastised, only for him to spin around to me with a smile.

“Oh, were you going to join me?” he asked coyly, lifting a bottle.

With a grin of my own, I teleported away to grab the cups.







A bottle and a half later, Luna and I were laughing our asses off as we regaled each other with stories of my king and her sister.

"So, wait; Sombra acted just like my idiotic nephew Blueblood?" Luna asked, nearly spilling her drink over herself from giggling.

"No Idea who that is, but I'm just saying… yes." I laughed pouring myself and the princess another glass.

The princess sighed in contentment as she took another sip of her drink.

"I haven't felt like this in a long time" Luna admitted, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Same here Princess," I said, before an idea formed in my head. "Hey. You want to see something cool?"

"What is it?"

"Is there a place in this castle that gets direct moon light?" Luna’s eyes beamed with joy.

"In Twilight's old study." She stood, swaying to keep her balance. Trying to spare her the worry, I lifted myself up, finding myself wobbling as well.

"Lead the way, your majesty," I invited.

I follow her as she used the walls for support. Eventually, we reached the study, a simple looking room with an admittedly impressive collection of shelves. Pulling a lever, Luna opened up a part of the roof, and moonlight bathed the room in silver and white. Reaching into my body, I pulled out a closed ocean blue potted plant.

"This is a Crystal Orchid," I explained, showing her the plant. "They are extremely rare and grow in the frozen north. When I found this one, I had one of the palace unicorns cast a spell to prevent it from dying.”

I placed the plant in the moon light. Together, we watched as, one by one, the petals came into bloom. Once the flower bloomed it began to let off glowing wisps of magic.

"They are rare,” I went on, “Because they only bloom in direct moonlight. Which is a problem because they mostly grow in caves." I sighed, downing the rest of my cup.

"It's beautiful," Luna whispered, her fingers softly stroking the petals.

"Almost as beautiful as your night," I noted.
The princess turned to me, her cheeks red. From the alcohol, I wondered. Or from something else.

"You think..."

"Absolutely,” I couldn’t help saying. “There is nothing more beautiful than a full moon’s night.” I quickly grabbed the last bottle. “But that might be the Daniels taking,” I added with a grin.

Yet, tears of joy began to well in Luna’s eyes.
"No one has ever... thought that my night was beautiful,” she whispered, leaning towards me.

"Well… I do," I said, leaning towards her.
For a small second, our lips brushed against each other. But before they could come together in a full on kiss…

BAM! The bottle in my hand exploded. Alcohol and glass went flying. As did the two of us. We might’ve flown higher, what with the voice that followed the shattering glass.

"LUNA!"

We spun. Princess Celestia stood a few feet from us. A magic aura formed around her hand, seizing Luna and dragging her to her sister’s grip.

"You're a princess, Luna!” Celestia chastised. “You should be acting like one. Not drinking with the creature that brought Umbra back into existence. Go to bed!"

Luna shot a sad look at me, but Celestia’s magic pushed her along, and she slunk from the room. For a moment, there was a stillness, like a calm before the storm. Then Celestia’s dark pink eyes found mine.

"And you…" Celestia started to growl, but I lifted my hands in surrender.

"I know, I know" I said, turning away. "Back to my cell." I went to grab the plant, before a golden aura formed between me and the plant.

"Leave it!" she ordered.

I spun to her with a growl.

“When Hell freezes over!” I snarled.

She fired a spell at the plant. But I lunged to protect it, letting the spell scorch my back.

“It’s one of the few things I have left of home,” I half-snarled, half-whimpered.

I prepared for more spells, but all I got was the sound of footsteps. Turning around I saw Celestia walking away. With the assault on my last trinket over for now, I sighed, placed the plant back in my shadow before returning to my cell.

As I collapsed on the bed, realization at what had nearly happened hit me, followed shortly by a wave of guilt.

"You must hate me now Amber," I whispered under my breath. "Turns out I'm not as faithful as I thought."
> Attack on Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke feeling like steel boots were being marched on my brain. Groaning, I sat up, clenching my throbbing head. Slowly I get up from the bed and stand. But the sunlight coming in from the window quickly sent me back down.

"Eric,” Sombra greeted me with a chuckle. “You smell like Granddads wine cellar.”

I opened one eye to glare at him; one eye was all my throbbing head would allow.

“You better find a place to hide before this headache ceases,” I grumbled, laying back on the bed. “’Cause you know I have little to no mercy.”

As I waited for the pain in my head to subside, I found myself reflecting on the night from before. A smile briefly glowed on my face at the thought of Luna. But then Amber’s face flashed before my eyes, dispelling the thought and replacing it with guilt.

My headache had just subsided right when the door clicked and swung open. Shining Armor stood in the doorway, along with four other guards.

"The Princesses are ready to see you," Shining said holding two cuff links up. “Both of you.”

"Don't bother," I grumbled. "Those cuffs won't stop me. And they certainly won't stop me from getting them off of Sombra.”

Shining Armor’s glare didn’t falter, but he shoved the cuffs back into the arms of his guards. “Then prove we don’t need them,” he dared.

Shrugging, I pulled myself to my feet. And together, Sombra and I let Shining Armor and his men lead us back to the Princesses’ throne room.

Luna didn’t make eye contact with me when we entered. There was also a tint of red in her cheeks, and she nursed her head with her right hand. Celestia, on the other hand, glared at me with more than a faint recollection of last night’s events.

"King Sombrahesta,” Celestia announced. “Eric Von Shadow.” Luna flinched at her sister’s volume. That or my name. "The two of you have committed crimes against the people of the Crystal Empire; the people you have sworn to protect."

Sombra bowed his head in regret. I glanced at him, tempted to put a hand on his shoulder. But I ultimately decided against it.

"First and foremost,” Celestia continued. “King Sombrahesta; for giving into the power of Umbra the Dark, me and my sister have decreed that you shall be stripped of both your title and your kingdom and the Crystal Empire shall be in the care of Princess Mí Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. Henceforth, they are dubbed King and Queen of the Crystal Empire."

Sombra’s eyes widened in shock, but he kept his head bowed.

“Very well, your majesty,” he said solemnly. “I accept my punishment. I only pray the Prince and Princess take better care of my Empire than I did.”

Celestia nodded, before turning to me.

"Eric Von Shadow" she declared. "Reaper of the Crystal Empire, and Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard. Like Sombra, for allowing the power of Umbra the Dark to soil this land once more, you shall be stripped of your title and kingdom. And sentenced…”

Celestia paused

“Amber,” I whispered, Sombra glancing at me in worry. “I'm coming.” But then Celestia finished her sentence:

"To be imprisoned within your own shadow til the end of days."

I looked up, my eyes wide in horror.

“No,” I whispered, falling to my knees. But even as I spoke, six ponies came into view around me. Gold necklaces adorned their necks, save for the familiar lavender unicorn, who wore a gold crown.

“Please, just kill me,” I begged. The six ponies stepped back, eyes wide and jaws agape. Even Celestia and Luna’s eyes flickered in disbelief. The only one not surprised was Sombra, who turned his head away with guilt.

“We don’t kill,” Celestia said firmly. “Even one such as yourself.”

Anger clouded any doubt or hesitation. I shot my arm forward. Six tendrils of shadow seized the gold items, and tore them from their owners.

"Would you kill someone who destroys these?" I snarled, a hand of shadow encompassing the elements.

Celestia rose to her feet. But before she could do anything other than grimace in rage, the entire room shook. A rumble like an earthquake rattled the floor beneath us. They were accompanied by the BOOM of the doors slamming open. A guard raced forward, his armor scorched and his eyes wide in panic.

"Princess Celestia!" the guard gasped. "Princess Luna! Pirates! Just outside the city! They're destroying everything!"

For a brief moment, terror flickered across the princess’ face. But when Celestia spoke, it was in the same calm and stern voice that nearly sentenced me to a fate worse than death.

"Send out the Navel Guard!” she ordered. “Protect the citizens at all costs!"

Celestia and Luna turned to each other, and with a flash of midnight blue and sunlight gold, armor adorned their figures, and weapons appeared in their hands. A golden mallet with an impression of the sun stamped into the mallet section for Celestia. And twin swords for Luna, the blades curved into crescent hooks-like sickles.

"My Little Ponies," Celestia declared, marching to the nearest balcony. "Prepare for battle!"

As the ponies rushed to battle formations, Celestia turned to Sombra and me. With a golden flare of magic, she snatched the gold jewelry back from me.

"Return these two to their cell,” Celestia declared, giving me an odd look. “We'll deal with them after we deal with the pirates."

And as another rumble shook the ground beneath us, Sombra and I were forced back to our cells. As we were shoved back inside, I noticed the ship of the pirates just outside our barred window.

Red as blood. Waving a flag displaying some skull and crossbones in front of a bolt of lightning. On top of three stars.

I slouched, my back to the window and my head in my hands.

"Why?" I ask to no one… and yet everyone. "Why can't I just die?"

Almost in answer, a pain in my left cheek surged up. The blow knocked me right off my bed. Looking up, I found Sombra glaring down at me, his eyes alight with the fires of rage. His teeth gritted in frustration.

“Enough, Eric!” Sombra declared. His glare faltered. “You were there when my father was murdered. You were there to protect me from my father’s killer.” He looked back at me. “You are the strongest person I know. But right now, as you are, I could take you down.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’d consider it a blessing at this point,” I muttered, looking away.

"Eric,” Sombra insisted. “Amber would want you to be strong. To live…"

But he had made a mistake. I surged up from the ground, nearly wrapping my shadow claws around his throat.

“Who are you to lecture me about what she’d want?!” I snarled, my voice growing demonic. “You don’t even have the right to say her name!”

But Sombra stood tall, glaring into the face of what easily could’ve been his death without fear.

"I don't care," he said. “Kill me if you must. But only after I say what needs to be said.”

Anger still begged me to put an end to his life. But some small part of me – the stupidest, most naive part that had believed, through thick and thin, that my old friend was still somewhere in the demon he had become – begged me to listen. It held me at bay long enough for him to sit down, sigh and speak.

"Amber spoke to me one day,” he began. “While she was waiting for you to finish with training the guards…"








Several millennium back…


We were at the doorway that led to the Royal Training Grounds. She was watching you train the newest recruits.

“Sombra?” she suddenly said, gaining my attention.

"Yes, Amber," I asked.

"Can you promise me something?" she asked, looking at me with those big eyes.

"Depends on what it is,” I replied coyly.

"You said Eric was a Shade, correct?"

"From what my Father and his advisor said,” I replied, looking back at you. “Not a normal one, admittedly. But no one knows what else to call him.”

“In what way is he… not normal?” she asked.

I looked back at her with a smile. “Shades typically have no free will of their own. Yet, he not only fell in love with you, but married you. All of his own free will.”

“But Shades are… immortal?” she persisted.

"Yes,” I answered. “A quality he may yet have in common with them.”

Amber nodded, her eyes lost in thought.

“Then I want you to promise me,” she said. “That if I ever die…” She looked back at you, just as you were dismissing the guards. “You will tell Eric to move on so he can be happy. All I want is for Eric to be happy. No matter what.”







“No matter what,” Sombra repeated quietly, finally looking down.

I stared at him. No longer in anger. But the emotion that replaced the anger… I couldn’t describe it. Sadness? Loneliness? Regret? Nothing came close.

I shook my head, turning away and sitting back down.

“I can’t live without her, Sombra,” I whispered.

Sombra knelt in front of me. When I looked up, I saw genuine pity in his eyes. A reminder that this really was my friend. And not the demon that had taken him all those years ago.

"I've fulfilled my promise," he said, his hand resting on my shoulder. "Now, it’s up to you on what you’re going to do next."

I looked down, pondering what exactly I could do next. At that very moment, the door swung open. Once again, Shining Armor stood in the doorway. But he was different. Far different.

His breathing was ragged. His arm had been stained a vicious red, leading up to a gray metal dagger buried deep into his shoulder.

"Help!" Shining Armor gasped out, before stumbling into the cell.

Instantly, I caught him, and put him onto the bed. I gripped the blade.

"This is going to hurt, Captain,” I said. He just nodded with a grimace.

“I can take it,” he insisted. He didn’t sound as assured when I yanked the blade from his arm. His cry nearly shattered the window.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” I growled, using the sheets to apply pressure to the wound. I turned to Sombra. “Belt! Now!”

Sombra understood, removing his belt and passing it to me. With a quick wrap and a twist, the flow of blood slowed by a thankful margin.

“Keep pressure,” I barked.

Sombra obeyed, taking my place at the wound as I leaped over to Shining Armor’s other side. I checked his pulse, nodding as his heart eased up, and his breathing calmed.

“Now… what happened?” I asked the captain.

“We were doing so well,” Shining Armor whispered. “Celestia and Luna were more than a match. But then… the pirate captain…” He shook his head. “I don’t understand it; Luna herself cut the captain down. But then… her body parts… started separating and flying around…”

My eyes widened. The chop-chop fruit, I thought with trepidation.

“She got the princesses…” Shining Armor continued. “My sister and her friends too… My sister used her magic to transport me here…”

Shining Armor grabbed my coat with his free hand, but his eyes were alight with desperation.

“I know we’re not exactly friends,” Shining Armor said. “But I’m begging you… save them.”

I gripped his hand, and nodded grimly.

“You have my word,” I promised, before dropping into the shadow of the room







I struggled to get back to my feet, but they refused to work. My beloved sister Celestia was barely conscious. Daggers riddled her back like porcupine quills. Her armor lay in pieces around her lost weapon.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Pirate captain laughed above our six greatest warriors. "Even with all your magic, not a single one of you pathetic ponies could land a single hit!"

"Lightning Dust?!" Rainbow Dash screamed. She struggled to pull herself up, a dagger between her wings. “Why… How?” The captain glared down at the cyan mare with eager vengeance in her eyes.

"You got me kicked out the Wonderbolts,” Lightning Dust replied, twirling a dagger in her hand. “It only makes sense that I’d keep tabs on all six of you. So, once I received and mastered my new powers, I’d be able to enact my revenge!”

"You won't get away with this!" Twilight hissed. She tried to use her magic, but Lightning Dust threw another dagger, cutting Twilight’s magic spell off with a burst of magical static.

"I just did..." Lightning Dust started to say… only for a black scythe to cut into her body.

"There was a reason I was known as The Reaper of the Crystal Empire," A deep voice boomed, as the top of Lightning Dust's body flew away, her legs following after.

A smile grew on my face. Eric Von Shadow had joined the fray.

"Eric," I whispered in gratitude.

"Who the hell are you?!" Lightning Dust screamed, reforming with a shocked and angered expression.

"My name matters not to the likes of you," Eric replied, spinning his weapon around his hand. "But you may call me the Reaper."

"I'll call you a dead man!" Lightning Dust growled, pulling out a red rod. Biting the top, the rod began to spark, and the pirate captain threw it into the air. The rod produced an explosion of color.

"Nice firework, but that won't save..."

BANG! Metal hit the castle walls. I blinked in dumbfounded horror.

The entire top half of Eric’s body was gone. The entire area was painted with black stains.

“Eric?” I whispered, unwilling to believe. “Eric?!” This man couldn’t die. Not because my sister and I were weak!

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Lightning Dust cackled insanely. “Looks like I win! Again!”

But suddenly, her laugh turned into a scream of pain. My head whipped back to the pirate captain. Her wrist was being held by a black tendril coming from one of the stains. One by one, the other stains sent out tendrils, quickly binding the pirate in oily black webs.

"What the hell is this?!" the pirate captain demanded.

"You can't use your powers if there's nothing to separate!"

Turning back to Eric's body, I saw the surrounding shadows were converging on his legs. His body was reforming!

I began to smile, while Lightning Dust’s smile was replaced by fear.

"What...What are you?" she whimpered, as his head reformed.

"I?” he mused. Even masked, I could hear the smile in his voice. “I… am The Shadow Man.”

A large black tendril erupted from his chest and wrapped around Lightning Dust’s legs. As the pirate captain screamed and clawed the ground, the tendrils began to pull her into the shade.

“HELP!” she cried, looking to the very ponies she had just tortured and hurt. “PLEASE HELP ME!”

But the ponies did nothing. To injured or too unwilling to extend mercy. And as Lightning Dust was slowly sucked into Eric’s shadow body, the last thing any of us saw was the Pirate's hand, making one final, desperate bid for freedom. Then it, too, was pulled into shadowy darkness.

Eric removed his mask with a sigh. Lifting his hands, his shadows carried us back to the castle.

“Thank you, Eric,” I whispered in sincere gratitude.

He barely looked at me. His expression was blank.

“Sure,” he muttered softly. His voice quiet. Contemplative.





We arrived at the medical wing in a matter of seconds. My heart relaxed as I noticed Shining Armor already there. Quickly recovering. Setting down the ponies, I set myself down. I didn’t get long to rest before I heard one of the doctors scream.

I spun, and had to resist screaming myself. The pink mare – Pinkie Pie, I believe her name was – had stretched her arm across the room – literally, across the room - to place her finger on Rainbow Dash’s nose.

“Boop,” she teased.

Without hesitation, I shot across the room and seized her wrist. She flinched, but otherwise showed no pain. I was able to stretch and squish her arm like a rope of clay or rubber. When I snapped it back towards her, it went back to her with no trouble. And when I grabbed her arm again, I was able to stretch it until it formed a small pile beneath me.

Her bodies like rubber. That's the powers of the Gum-Gum Fruit!

"When did this happen?" I asked.

"Well,” she chattered. “A week ago, I was wrapping up a party that I set up for one of the fillies in Ponyville, when I noticed a weird melon was with the fruit I had brought. I had no idea how it got there, so I figure it would be tasty. I took a bite out of it and it was absolutely nasty! But since then, my entire body’s been able to stretch like rubber!" She paused. “Do you think it had something to do with the punch?”

“No,” I growled, turning away. “The Devil Fruit.”

"Devil Fruit?” Twilight asked.

"A Devil Fruit is a fruit that grants the person who eats them incredible powers differing between three types. Paramecia, which provide abilities like Pinkie’s here.” I stretched her arm again for emphasis. “Then there’s Zoan, which turns the user into either half or full animal. and the rarest and most dangerous type: Logia. Which turns the users into elements of nature such as, Fire, Ice…" I flared my own powers. “Or Shadow.”

Celestia rubbed her chin. “And you know about this… because you ate one,” she reasoned. “The… Shadow Logia fruit?”

“The Shade-Shade Fruit,” I corrected, turning to her. "And if there are Devil Fruits in this world, then we need to stop them together.”
> Burning Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days after the attack on Canterlot, I found myself searching the royal library for information. Up until now I've been using the Shade lie - saying I was born of Umbra's magic - and for some reason, Celestia kept looking at me like she wanted to run a blade through my heart. But all I had on Umbra was that he was a pony who turned evil. Aside from that, I knew next to nothing about him. It was time for some research.

Sadly, Umbra wasn’t the only research topic on hand. I had just managed to find a book on him… when I felt someone staring at me.

Sighing I turned, seeing a flash of dark blue hair vanish behind a book shelf. I sighed.

"I know you’re there,” I called. “Come on out!”

Reluctantly, Twilight Sparkle came into view, a quill and parchment pressed to her chest. Her eyes were guilty, but also glistening with unsated curiosity.

"So,” I asked conversationally, turning back to the books on Umbra. “Is this spying… or research?” I quirk an eyebrow. “Or both?”

“Eh… a bit of both, I’ll admit,” Twilight admitted, her cheeks a bright red. She glanced at the bookshelf that had poorly served as her hiding place. "How did you know I was watching you?”

"Sixth Sense,” I replied, flipping open my book. “It lets you know when something doesn’t seem right. Whether it’s someone following you… or something bad about to happen.”

"Like my Pinkie Sense?" a voice asked out of nowhere.

Without hesitation, I whirled on the new voice, shadow spikes ready to impale the intruder. However, I stopped short when I realized it was only Pinkie; her head stuck through the bookshelf. Despite my spikes only managing to stop mere centimeters from her body, she still had a blissful smile on her face.

"Pinkie,” I growled, retracting my shadow spikes. “I'm only going to say this once!” I pointed at her. “Don't EVER do that again if you want to live!"

“Oh, come on,” Pinkie said happily, stretching her face like putty. “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Well, you’re not glue – you’re shadows. But…”

"Even with the powers of the Gum-Gum Fruit,” I insisted. “You can still be killed by slashing and piercing weapons. You are in no way invincible."

"What's the Gum-Gum fruit?" Twilight interjected.

“The reason Pinkie is able to stretch like that,” I explained, trying to ignore Pinkie as she continued to stretch and pulled at her face, making very odd looking expressions. “The Gum-Gum Fruit is a Paramecia Type Devil Fruit that turns the users entire body into rubber, allowing them to stretch their body to incredible lengths and making them immune to falls, lightning, and cannonballs."

When stars lit up in Twilight’s eyes in response, a part of me wondered if I had made the wrong decision explaining all that. In a flash, she wrote down everything I had said on her parchment, and right as she looked back up, questions loaded like cannons on her tongue, Pinkie chose that moment to interject with her own squirrel-like chatter.

"What-does-yours-do-can-you-control-someone’s-shadow? Can-you-travel-around-the-world-instantly?” mixed up with "How-do-devil-fruits-work? Can-you-have-two? Do-devil-fruits-have-any-weaknesses? What-happens-when-a-devil-fruit-user-dies?”

I had no idea who was saying what. And honestly, I didn’t have the patience to decipher or wait for their excitement to die down. Using my powers, I dropped into the shadows of the library, exchanging the relentless chatter of the two ponies for the quiet of the castle dungeons.

Problem was, I had left my books behind. With a grumble, I closed the door, ensuring those two couldn’t follow me. Then, making sure no one else was in the room, I reached out to the shadows. From my shadow came that pony pirate captain. Lightning Dust. Gasping for breath, she tried to use her power. But my shadows pinned her to the ground.

"Still trying to break out?" I asked, crossing my arms. “I expected more gratitude, considering I let you live.”

"You say that every time you let me out to eat," Lightning Dust snarled sarcastically. "Where's my food?"

I pulled a pineapple from my coat. Her mouth watered like a dog eager for its treat, but I kept it far out of her reach.

"Where did you get it?" I asked.

“Get what?” she demanded, her eyes still tracing the fruit.

"The Devil Fruit that gave you your power,” I clarified, setting the fruit on the ground, and placing myself between her and the treat. “Tell me and you're free to go.”

Lightning Dust gave the fruit a desperate look, before sighing.

"A few months ago,” she explained. “I came across some guy wearing a black cloak with severed chains on his wrists. He gave me the fruit and told me to master its power. Only then could I get what I want."

"That all?" I asked, a hand reaching into my coat

"Yeah,” Lightning Dust insisted. “Now am I free to go?” She gazed at the pineapple. “Am I at least free to eat?”

"Yes, you're free to leave," I replied. Her smile didn’t last long when I pulled out my gun and rested it on her head.

“W-Wait, but…” Lightning started to stammer.

"In spirit, that is,” I clarified, before pulling the trigger.

The impact threw the pony against the wall, leaving the contents of her head painted across the wall like a depiction of a sunset in Tartarus.

Glancing down at the floor, I watched as the pineapple turned purple. The purple turned into whirling swirls around the whole fruit. Picking up the Chop-Chop fruit, I left the dungeon through the shadows.

As the light returned, I found myself outside the room Princess Luna had given Sombra and me, despite her sister’s objections.

Ironically enough, said sister was sitting outside the doorway, her eyes fixed on me as if she had been awaiting my arrival.

"Von Shadow,” she said, her voice like an icy dagger.

"Princess," I replied with a coy bow. Her eyes narrowed, before darting down to the devil fruit in my hand.

"Is that…?” she started to ask.

"The Chop-Chop Fruit,” I said before she could finish. “The Devil Fruit that Lightning Dust used."

She stretched out her hand to take it, but I pulled it back.

"Hand it over," she ordered. "The power of that fruit can help my navel guard and stop these pirates before more of my citizens die by their hands."

"With all due respect… no," I said, the fruit vanishing into the shadows that made up my body. "The powers of a Devil Fruit are not something you can just hand out to anyone. Power changes people, and not in a good way."

"I wasn't asking," Celestia growled, stepping closer. "I'm ordering you as a Princess of Equestria; give me that Devil Fruit!"

"I'm sorry, your majesty,” I replied, stepping into the room as shadows blocked her from following. “But I serve Sombra. Not you.” With that, the shadows blocked her from view, forming a wall of solid black.

“Making friends?” I heard Sombra note. I glanced over; he was sitting at a nearby desk, a book open before him. Medical Herbs and Their Uses was scrawled across the front of the book.

“As always,” I replied, throwing myself down on my bed. With a grin, I cracked open a book I had snagged from the royal library: History of Equestria. Written by Stygian Green.

It took me a bit of time to scroll through the table of contents, but eventually, I found what I was looking for. Equestria’s Greatest Threats. Flipping to it’s respective page, I began tracing down the list of things that had threatened Equestria.

Changelings. Lord Tirek. Discord. Eris. Cosmos. Finally, I found him: King Umbra.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on his section; decorated with a profile picture of the stallion himself; an ink-black stallion with cruel green eyes and a flowing dark mane.

Umbra The Dark King. Third king of the Crystal Empire, and the First Tyrant King of the Frozen North.

Umbra the Dark was feared throughout the world, not just for his brutality to his enemies, but his cruelty to those he called allies.

A vindictive King obsessed with preserving his legacy, it was not uncommon for Umbra to take many of the females under his rule as his personal concubines, slaughtering any man who objected, and adding any woman who objected to his massive harem. Any who tried to reject him were 'conditioned' through dark magic to accept his rule. Virginity, chastity and even individuality soon became foreign concepts to the depraved King and those brainwashed into following him.

Not even the denizens of Equestria were safe from his madness. When Queen Lucinda, the first Queen of Equestria, attempted to negotiate with the Dark King under a flag of parlay, he broke faith with Equestria and took Lucinda for his concubine.

The depraved act was a declaration of war, and Queen Lucinda’s husband, King Solis, led a brutal counterattack. After seven days of gruesome and brutal fighting, King Solis stood mortally injured but victorious.

Yet even then, hope was not certain. With the Dark King’s final breath, he gave a warning to the Equestrian King: “One day, I shall return. And all will know the name of Umbra the Dark!” Casting one last spell, his body turned into crimson crystal.

Though King Solis smashed the crystal statue to shards, he died seconds later. His wife followed soon after, passing away while giving birth to her second daughter.

I shut the book, confusion battling against disgust. No wonder Celestia had it out for me. The idea of Umbra getting to do all that over again filled me with dread.

Yet, confusion still poked at my brain: who the Hell were Lucinda and Solis? They had never been mentioned in the My Little Pony show. I walked back to the door, but found Celestia missing. Lost in thought, I left the palace, and wandered through the white and gold streets of Canterlot.

At first, nothing popped out to me. But then I saw them. Sitting inside a shop window. There was no mistaking the three Devil Fruits.

The Flame-Flame, the Heat-Heat, and the Wax-Wax. All sitting innocently together, like they naturally belonged there. Snapping out of my funk, I rushed inside and bought all three of them. I could have easily stolen them but I really didn't need Celestia to distrust me any more than she already did.

Leaving the store, I quickly started placing the fruits into my shadow. The Wax-Wax was the first to go, it’s white skin shining before being swallowed up by the darkness. Next was the Heat-Heat. But just as I threw the Flame-Flame in… a rainbow blur shot between me and my shadows. The Flame-Flame was gone, and I had a very bad feeling that it wasn’t in my shadow’s pocket dimension. I whirled around, seeing the rainbow blur heading right for Canterlot Castle.

"Not on your life, pony" I growled. I dove into the surrounding shadows, practically blasting out in front of the rainbow mare.

Tackling into her, I threw her into the walls of the palace, holding her down so she couldn’t escape.

"Give me the Fruit!" I snarled, claws forming over my arms and digging into her sides. Despite blood poking up from where my claws dug into her, Rainbow Dash held the fruit tight and glowered at me in defiance.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the royal guard surrounding me. From the sky, Princess Celestia smashed into the ground, her war-hammer appearing in her hands with a flash of light.

"Cease your assault, Shade!" Celestia demanded.

"Only once I get the Devil Fruit!" I insisted, my shadows binding Rainbow’s wings and legs before creeping up for her arms, both of which clung to the Flame-Flame Fruit like it was her own child.

The defiant look in her eyes faltered. They darted back and forth between me, the Princess and the Devil Fruit. Finally, just as my shadow tendrils reached up to take it, she shoved the whole thing in her mouth.

“NO!” I shouted, trying to pry her mouth open. Her jaws almost obeyed, her entire face puckering in disgust at the flavor. But she fought back against my claws, gave a massive ‘GULP’ and I moaned in sorrow as the fruit bopped against her throat before disappearing into her stomach.

"UGH!” Rainbow groaned. “That was so nasty!” Even as she spoke, her belly began to glow. Small tendrils of fire began spread across her body like the element was in her veins. Rainbow's eyes grew wide with horror as flames began to lick around her body

"Rainbow Dash, “I began, backing off as the heat grew too much for my shadows. “I want you to stay perfectly calm…”

But even as I spoke, I could tell she wasn't listening. Her wide eyes were locked on the flames, and her breath was growing more and more rapid. Then the Flame-Flame Fruit’s effects took hold, and she burst into flames.

“YEEAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!” Rainbow Dash wailed, stamping and flailing as she tried to put the flames out. However, all she accomplished was setting fire to the grass surrounding the palace.

"Rainbow Dash!” Celestia screamed. “Stop!”

But the blue mare was deaf to the pleas of others, panic clouding her mind. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" she replied.

Shaking my head, I formed a pair of wings over my back, and seized Rainbow Dash with twin claws of extra thick shadows. Though the light from the flames threatened to dissipate my shadows, I clung on all the tighter, and gave my wings a massive flap, taking us both to the skies.

“LEMMEGOLEMMEGO!” Rainbow Dash screamed, partially punching at me and partially trying to put her flames out. Ignoring the blows to my claws, I glared around for a source of water. Thankfully, I spotted a pool in the palace’s statue garden. Dive-bombing the water, I released Rainbow Dash just as she gave a particularly hard punch to my gut. My breathing managed to steady as she hit the water, going up in a cloud of steam.

Unfortunately, she didn’t come back up. Landing at the edge of the pond, I dunked into the bubbling water, my shadow claw searching through the water until it found her head. With a desperate pull, I lifted the pony out.

But my troubles weren’t over; she wasn’t breathing. Setting her down and overlapping my hands over her chest, I pumped down, compressing her chest before giving her mouth to mouth. After repeating this process two more times, Rainbow’s eyes bolted open. I barely managed to scramble away as she catapulted up to a sitting position, coughing the water out of her lungs.

"You're an idiot!" I said, patting her back as she got her breath back. "You know that, right?"

“Y-Yeah?” she muttered. “Whatever?” She gave one final cough, before looking up at the water in confusion. “W-Why couldn’t I swim? What happened?”

"That’s the curse of all Devil Fruits," I explained. Glancing around, I saw the Mane Six, both Princesses… even Sombra come into view. I raised my voice so I wouldn’t have to explain twice. "Anyone who eats a Devil Fruit, will sink like a rock in water.”

Celestia grimaced, while the rest gasped in shock. Turning away from Rainbow Dash, I glared into Celestia’s equally angry eyes.

“Another reason why I didn’t give you the Chop-Chop Fruit,” I snarled. “Because someone will get hurt if you can’t control it.” I got in her face, karmic satisfaction flooding me as her grimace faded into worry and a bit of fear. “Next time you try to take a Devil Fruit from me,” I growled. “Make sure I don’t see them.”

Turning away from her, I dove into the shadows and returned to my room.

I don’t know what happened after that; all I remember is my head hitting the pillow. What I remember after that is the sound of light knocking, rousing me from the nap I had fallen into. Stretching, I opened the door, finding a yellow mare with pink hair waiting for me. One I recognized from the Princesses’ court.

"F-Fluttershy, right?" I asked.

The pony looked down. “Y-Yes,” she whispered, barely audible, with a voice like a light breeze. I leaned against the door, waiting for her next move.

For a moment, she was silent, though the constant darting eye she gave me implied she wanted something.

"Umm...,” she finally got out. “I was wondering… if you could… answer a question? About those, um… Devil Fruits."

The poor thing looked like I was going to eat her. My look softened, and I moved out of the way.

“Sure,” I said. “C’mon in.”

Bowing her head gratefully, Fluttershy moved inside, and settled herself in Sombra’s chair. I shut the door and leaned against it, waiting.

For a moment, there was just silence again.

“So…” I prompted. “What was your question?”

“Oh! Um…” Fluttershy squeaked, rocking on her chair. “Just… um… is there a… Devil Fruit that…” She lowered her head. “Let’s someone hear and talk to animals?”

"The Whisper-Whisper fruit," I replied.

"So,” her head dipped lower, almost concealing her face in her mane. “Does that mean I'm… cursed?"

"No" I said, crossing over and brushing her hair out of her face with a grin. "If anyone's cursed, it’s me," I said.

She returned my grin meekly, before sighing in relief.

“Thank you,” she said, before standing up and moving to leave.

"Do yourself a favor, though,” I called after her. “And stay away from deep sources of water."

Her smile brightened. “Thank you,” she said again, before walking out and softly shutting the door behind her.

Now alone, I stared out the window, the realization of what I would have to do sinking in.

"This is just great,” I realized. “Now I need to teach Rainbow Dash how to control her Devil Fruit!”
> Assassination Attempt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sighed in frustration, pulling Rainbow Dash out of the pond for the fourteenth time today.

“I’ve trained thousands of soldiers,” I grumbled, clutching my head. “And yet, you have got to be the single most difficult recruit I’ve ever had!”

Rainbow Dash spat the residual water from her throat and glared down at her fist.

"I'll get it," she snarled, clenching her fist. "I'm gonna figure it out, and then..."

I shook my head and turned away before she could finish.

“I’m going to need more coffee.”

Before I could even reach the caffeinated goodness, I heard Rainbow Dash scream again. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to find her once again ignited into a pony torch. Wrapping a shadow around her waist, I threw her back into the water, pulling her out before she could sink again.

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT!?!" Rainbow bellowed, flaring her wings.

“WILL YOU STOP TRYING TO FORCE IT?!” I bellowed right back, matching her gaze. The younger mare shrunk down, cowed by the force of my voice. “You’re using your powers like you’re trying to beat a river into submission. You have to surrender to the current. Let the power flow; you may be its bearer, but that does not make you its master.”

"So… I control it… by giving up control?” Rainbow Dash asked. She clutched her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

"Nothing ever does when it comes to Devil Fruits," I said, my gaze softening before I handed her a towel. "Now try again."







Up above the balcony, I watched Eric train my sister’s Element of Loyalty. Every time she lost control, Eric plunged her into the water, where they would spend at least another three minutes arguing about how that wasn’t necessary.

I couldn’t help but smile, resting my chin in the palm of my hand. Despite the frustration, Rainbow Dash never asked to rest or give up. She kept right on trying to figure out the flames that were now a part of her. I had always admired that determination. That drive.

And, of course, the Shade helping her…

My eyes grow wide as I feel my cheeks heat up. Shaking my head, I smooth my hands over my face; trying to clear the blush on my face. Thankfully, my attention was diverted to an insistent knocking on my door. Walking up to the door I found my beloved sister. Her serene expression back on her face, after Eric Von Shadow had kept it away for so long.

"Celestia?" I asked, surprised. "I-I thought you were in day court?"

"I decided to take an early lunch,” Celestia replied, walking into the room. "I hope you don't mind that I spend it with my sister?" she added, disarming me with her grin.

I returned the grin. “Not at all, Tia.”

I moved back to the balcony with my sister behind me

"You know I really do miss us spending time together,” I said as I leaned on the balcony again. “We tend to have very few moments like this."

Yet, as I gazed back down at Eric and Rainbow Dash, I noticed someone else had joined them.

It was... Celestia?!

I turned… only for pain to explode in my stomach. A knife had been buried in my gut, it’s gray blade slowly turning red. The imposter before me smiled insanely before touching her face with her left hand.

Instantly, my ‘sister’ vanished, and in her place, was a Thestral with red eyes and a crimson mane. His smile turned into a malicious sneer.

"This is for my brother," The Thestral growled, twisting the knife.

I could have screamed, but he tried to put his hand over his mouth. So, I went for action instead. Crashing my fist into his face, I kicked him away and leaped over the balcony. Spreading my wings, I started to put some distance between us.

But the Thestral was not so easily escaped, and as I heard the song of metal flying through the air, agony shot through my wing.

The feathered appendage lost its hold on the wind, and I plummeted to the ground.




As I pulled Rainbow Dash out for the sixtieth time today, she spat water right into my face.

"THAT'S IT!!" she said, jarring out of my grip and wiping her face. "I never thought I'd say this but… I QUIT!"

"The mighty Rainbow Dash,” I mocked. “A quitter?” I huffed. “Looks like you aren't Wonder Bolt material, after all."

Rainbow Dash fumed at me, her blue face turning a deep red, before a voice cut her off.

“Enough!” Celestia declared, walking over to us. “While I agree that the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit must be understood, Rainbow Dash has had enough for today, Shade.”

“I know what I'm doing," I assured the Sun Princess. "Unlike her, I had the frozen north to practice how to control my powers. I learned that you can't force your powers to obey you. Not like unicorn magic. You must treat the power as you would a friend; with respect."

Celestia grimaced. But before she could speak… I noticed something falling. Celestia noticed it too, once it hit the dirt behind her. Without waiting for the dust to settle, I raced to whoever had fallen.

My heart almost stopped; it was Princess Luna! She had a knife embedded in her left wing. Blood was pouring from her stomach. Skidding to her side, I put both hands on her stomach, hoping to stop the bleeding… and got a sickening crunch in response.

Her Spine!!

"LUNA!!" Celestia screamed, almost throwing me aside as she took to her sister’s side. "What have you done?" Celestia shrieked at me, tears of rage forming in her eyes.

"I didn't do anything!" I snarled, my eyes whirling back to where she had fallen. Briefly, I caught sight of a red-haired pony racing away from the balcony. For a second, his hair shifted to something long and purple. Then he was gone.

I growled, my powers forming a pair of wings on my back as I turned to Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash,” I ordered. “Stay with Luna and Celestia. Burn anyone who gets close to a crisp.” I glared up at the castle. “We’ve got a changeling in the castle."

"A... changeling?" Rainbow Dash stammered, but I didn't have time to explain.

Bursting into the air at top speed, I reached the floor of Luna’s room in seconds. Blood painted the side of the balcony and the ground around it.

For a brief moment, my mind failed me. I didn’t see Luna’s blood.

I saw Amber’s blood.

I swatted the side of my head. Forcing myself to focus.

“God damnit,” I muttered, before hopping over the railing. I barely got to land before a burst of fire came my way. But I managed to dodge it with a simple lean of my head. I glared at Rainbow, who’s fists clenched in fear.

"At least you listened to me" I muttered, walking over to Luna. "But you need to work on your aim."

"Y-Your eyes…” Rainbow Dash tried to point out.

"I know" I replied without turning to her, focusing on the battered and broken Princess before me. "How is she, Celestia?"

Celestia looked up at me. Tears were trailing down her face, but any fires of rage or hatred were gone. The sadness and fear for her sister’s life had left her eyes cracked like a broken mirror. Only able to look at me with hope that I’d have an answer. A way to save her sister’s life.

"She's losing so much blood,” Celestia whispered. “And we can't stop the bleed because of her spine!”

“You don’t need to trust me,” I said, kneeling and placing a hand on her shoulder. “But please… let me help.”

Celestia gripped my hand. Luna’s blood stained both our hands.

“Please,” she all but begged. “I can’t lose her again.”

Giving a nod, I took my place next to Luna. Next to Celestia.

"I won't lie,” I began, a shadow tendril forming around my chest. “This is going to hurt her… but it will also stop the bleeding, and keep her spine from getting any worse.”

Celestia nodded grimly. “Then do it,” she ordered, holding her sister down.

I sent the tendril into Luna's wound. Instantly, she screamed, but with Celestia on her and her spine broken, she could do very little as I covered her spine in a shadow brace.

Picking up the moon princess bridal I drop myself, my precious cargo, and Celestia and Rainbow into the shadows. Resurfacing in the medical wing, Celestia and I gently place her into the nearest bed. Attendants stared at us in confusion. In the way. Unable to do anything to help.

“Everyone out,” I boomed. “NOW!!!!”

No one dared question us. Within seconds, the medical wing was empty.

"Celestia, Rainbow,” I said, removing my coat. “I'm going to need your help!" I threw my coat to another bed. "Celestia, when I tell you, cast a healing spell. Can you do that?”

Celestia nodded mutely.

“Rainbow,” I ordered. “You keep anyone from entering.”

"What are you going do?" Rainbow asked, even as she ran to guard the entrance.

"Her entire spine is severely damaged,” I said. “If I don't fix it, she'll be paralyzed for the rest of her immortal life.” Shadows enveloped both of my arms. "I'm going to reconnect her spine bit by bit so Celestia can cast a healing spell."

“Can’t we get more help?” Celestia asked. “One of the Palace doctors.” I moved her hands, placing both of them over Luna’s stomach.

“With a changeling in the castle?” I asked. “We can’t trust anyone yet. Not until they’re caught.”

With Celestia unable to refute me, I dug my hands into Luna’s stomach and went to work. Reattaching the first bit of her spine elicited a wail of agony from Luna. She bucked, nearly causing me to damage her further. Celestia’ didn’t help, almost reaching to tug my hands away.

"You're hurting her!" Celestia yelled, pulling my hands away, before I tugged them back.

“Do you want your sister to walk and fly again?!” I boomed back. “Hold her down so I can fix her!”

Celestia looked down at her sister, tears joining the doubt in her eyes.

"Princess Celestia" I said, my voice soft, but stern. "Your sister will live! And I will personally take great pleasure in killing the creature that tried to take her from us. Believe me…” My voice briefly cracked as I said it, but I forced it out anyway. “I know what It's like to lose a loved one.”

Celestia gazed into my eyes, before she reluctantly held her sister down.

And so the torture continued. Hour by painful hour went by, but I continued to fix her. Her screams eventually petered into resigned moans, pain and agony becoming pretty much a neighbor Luna was resigned to holding with her. Yet, even then, her moans and pleas for it to stop rang in my ears, and would likely echo in my mind for years after. Judging by the stains her tears were leaving, I would expect this moment would haunt Celestia for eons. If there was any saving grace, it was that the shadow inside Luna was stopping the bleeding in her stomach. And as painful as the screams were, they proved that Luna was still alive. Still fighting.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of torture, I slid the last bit of her spine back into place. I leaned back, looking up at the Princess as she gave me a worried, if exhausted, look.

"Now, Celestia," I said, removing the shadow tendril from Luna. The action elicited a new round of screams from her, higher-pitched and likely doing Hell on her vocal chords.

But as the shadows faded, they were replaced with the light from Celestia’s hands. Glowing with a golden aura, they spread across Luna’s stomach. Her scream finally died down, and as her body was bathed in Celestia’s golden glow, her face relaxed, and she listed to the side, lulled into sleep by the soothing relief of fading pain. Celestia checked her pulse, her own face relaxing as she draped herself over her sister.

"That’s the worst of it,” I said, putting my coat back on. “She’ll live!"

For a moment, Celestia didn’t speak. From the way she was leaned over, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had passed out alongside her sister. But as I turned to Rainbow Dash, Celestia’s voice reached me – so small and feeble I almost couldn’t believe it was her.

"I'm sorry.”

I turned back. Though she tried to look up at me, her eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from her sister.

"I'm sorry for assuming that you were anything… like the Dark King.” Celestia said softly.

I turned away. “I’m not Umbra,” I said. “But I’ll still kill those who are a threat.”

Celestia nodded. “Is that how you got the Devil Fruit from Lightning Dust?”

I sighed. "The only way for a Devil Fruit to resurface in the world is to have the previous user die.” I looked down. "Lightning Dust is dead and as long as I find Devil Fruits and store them into my shadow, no-one will be harmed by their power."

Celestia looked up at me. “Shade… I mean, Eric,” she said quietly. “Even if you are right, that doesn’t mean I can condone killing.” She looked back at her sister. “Not more of this.”

I followed her gaze, my eyes closing in pity. “Celestia,” I said. “Unless you have any Sea Prism stones to counteract the Devil Fruit users… we don’t have a choice.”

She looked up. "Sea Prism Stone?"

"It's the only material that prevents Devil Fruit users from using their powers" I said. “Unless you have some in a secret vault or something… I’ve got no other ideas what to do.”

I walked back to Rainbow, who despite baggy eyes, gave a quick salute.

“Only myself and Pinkie are allowed in,” I declared. “Got that, Rainbow?”

"Why Pinkie?” she asked.

"Because while Changelings may impersonate someone's appearance,” I said, “They can't use their Devil Fruit powers.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding, and I left to find something to slate the grumbling in my stomach. Halfway down the hall, I stopped, looking down at my hands.

All this power, I thought forlornly. And yet… I can’t keep anyone I love from being hurt or killed.

My fists clenched. Fire burned in my gut. I slammed my fist into a stone pillar. But… instead of cracking it… my knuckles bled. Stepping back for a moment, I narrowed my eyes and placed my hand on the pillar. Instantly, a sense of cold shot through my hand. A feeling of… weakness.

I pulled my hand back. Never before had a feeling of weakening made me happy before. I made a mental note on this exact pillar before looking around for others like it.

If those pillars are what I think they are, I thought, starting to smile. Maybe there is another option after all.




That Night at the Canterlot Sea Train Station


A cloaked figure waited by the station, watching as the red-haired thestral approached.

"So, little brother" the cloaked figure greeted, his voice oozing venom "Is Luna dead?”

"Yup,” the thestral replied with pride. “Stabbed her in the stomach and dropped her over her own balcony. Celestia tried to help her.” He grinned. “She failed."

“And you’re sure she died?”

The thestral’s grin faded. “Well… I couldn’t find out for sure.”

The cloaked figure stiffened. "Why?'

"Because there was a being looking at me,” he said. “Made of shadow looking right at me. I had to…”

"You were spotted?" the cloaked figure demanded, his hood shifting.

"Only for a second" his minion tried to say.

But the cloaked figure was beyond enraged. His fist crashed into the minion’s face.

"You idiot!” the cloaked figure had to resist bellowing. “I gave you that Fruit for one reason: so you could assassinate Luna without being Spotted! And we needed her out of the picture before we could take out that sun bitch!” He turned away with a snarl. “Now it'll be harder to kill either of them!"

The thestral didn’t respond at first, holding his reddened cheek.

“Then…” the thestral asked. “What are we going to do now… brother?”

The cloaked figure paused at the use of ‘brother.’ He glared at his sibling, before sighing.

“You will find and kill the head chef,” he said. “You will impersonate him…” His eyes narrowed. “You will not get spotted again… and you are going to slip this into their dinner.”

The cloaked figure took out an empty flask and held his finger over the opening. A dark purple substance came from his finger, dripping into the bottle with an ominous ooze like oil. When the flask was halfway full, he corked it and handed it to his brother.

"A single drop will be enough," the figure said with a smile. "So, use the whole bottle."

The thestral’s eyes widened. “The whole thing!” he demanded. “But…”

"Do it, Ashen!" his older brother bellowed.

With a frightened yelp, Ashen fled to find the head chef of Canterlot Castle. As he left, the cloaked figure glared up at the moon, his vile smile returning.

"Finally,” he whispered, doffing his hood. “After 15 years…”

His hood fell back, revealing a thestral with purple hair tipped in red. His fur black as the shadows that aided Eric Von Shadow.

“Toxic Dust will finally have his revenge,” the thestral declared, glaring up at the moon. “The Sun and Moon will pay for imprisoning me in Tartarus.”
> Shadow Vs. Venom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sadly, I wasn’t able to tell Celestia my revelation just yet. With a princess' life threatened, the castle went on high alert, trying to find any possible changelings or other infiltrators.

But, on the plus side, Celestia stopped glaring at me like she wanted my head on her wall.

Once Luna woke up from her ordeal, we got a better clue as to what her attacker really was.

“It wasn’t a changeling,” she insisted upon hearing my theory. “It was a Thestral.”

“Thestral?” I asked.

“Bat-Pony,” Rainbow Dash translated.

“Yet… he managed to look and talk just like my sister,” Luna added.

“You’re sure it wasn’t a changeling,” I insisted.

“Changelings can be identified by magic resembling green fire,” Luna said. “This…” she shook her head. “This was something else.”

Judging from the way Rainbow Dash paled, I could tell she came to the same conclusion as I did.

“Please tell me it’s not another one…,” Rainbow Dash pleaded.

“The Clone-Clone Fruit,” I said before she could finish, eliciting a groan from the cyan mare. Ignoring her, I turned to Celestia. “If you leave Luna even once, you’ll have to stay away, on the off-chance this assassin returns in your image.”

Celestia grimaced. “I wish I could say I’d stay by her side for all time,” she said, before lowering her head. “But I still have my duties as a princess.”

“Wait-a-minute!” Pinkie shrieked, bursting into the meeting and pointing at me. “You said that Devil Fruits can’t copy other Devil Fruits. So they can’t copy us!”

I nodded. “She’s right,” I said, turning back to Celestia. “Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and I are the only ones that this assassin won’t be able to replicate.”

Celestia smiled. “Then consider this an order,” she said to the two mares. “Keep Luna under your watchful eyes, and ensure no harm befalls her again.”

“You got it, Princess,” Rainbow Dash declared.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Pinkie added. “Stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“They won’t be the only ones,” I volunteered. “While Rainbow watches in the day, Pinkie can watch in the night… and I’ll be watching from the shadows.”

And that’s exactly what we did. Luna grimaced in annoyance as she was either followed by the excitable Pinkie or the far-too-passionate-about-her-job Rainbow Dash, and I probably didn’t help matters watching her like a demon in the darkness. But our method was working, and the assassin didn’t make a reappearance.

Until one evening…

The evening started innocently enough. Rainbow Dash and I were walking to Luna’s room to summon the Princess and Pinkie Pie for dinner.

"So, when can we get back to training my awesome fire powers?" Rainbow Dash asked. She held up her hand and concentrated, producing a small tiny flame before sparking it out. “That’s… honestly the best I can do without losing control,” she added sheepishly.

“After we capture the assassin,” I promised. “I’ll show you how to let the power flow. Even now, you’re still trying to force it.” I grinned, my hands in my pockets. “Still… it’s impressive that you’re managing even a single flame at this point in time.”

Rainbow Dash stared at me in confusion. “Are you… complimenting me?” she asked.

“No need to act surprised,” I said. “This is the same way I treated my soldiers in the Crystal Empire.” I grinned. “Don’t let the handsome hard-ass front fool you; I can recognize progress and hard work. And you are by far the hardest working soldier I’ve had in years.”

The cyan mare smiled in gratitude, though she rubbed the back of her head.

“Thanks,” she said. “But believe me… I may have a lot of work to do, but I’ll do it and more. I won’t stop until I get as good as you,” she promised with a grin.

I stroked my chin in intrigue. Speed, power, and humility where it counts? I grinned. Rainbow Dash, my dear, once we get that ego of yours under control, you will make a fine soldier one day.

Before I could vocalize my thoughts, we reached Luna’s room. I only had to knock once before Luna’s door opened, revealing a familiar pink mare who squashed her face into a grimace that would’ve been serious had it not been completely ridiculous.

“Who knocks on the door of the moon princess?” Pinkie said in an equally ridiculous accent.

“The ones trying to protect her,” I replied, engulfing my arm in shadow. Rainbow followed suit, conjuring her small flame. The instant we proved ourselves, Pinkie let her face spring back into a still oddly wide smile.

“Eric! Dashie!” she greeted. She almost pulled us into a hug, but I backed away from her.

“We should get moving,” I said, turning my eyes to Luna as she walked up. “I’m hungry, and I can bet you guys are too.”

“Eh…” Pinkie started to say coyly, before her stomach cut her off with a very clear growl. "Yep,” she admitted with a grin.

Luna said nothing. All the way down the dining hall. Her expression was thoughtful, and a little paranoid. I couldn’t blame her, even though she was surrounded by friends and allies: the Mane Six. Sombra. Celestia. And myself, of course.

But then, the chefs and cooks came from the kitchen bringing plates and bowls of food. As they uncovered the food, I felt something… off.

Though the food was making me drool, there was also a faint odor that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Seizing a spoon, I scooped up some of the soup and sniffed it. Though the delicious aroma of herbs and spices tried to cover it up, there was something else hidden beneath.

A scent I recognized from long ago.

“Don’t eat!” I boomed, causing everyone to jump away from the food they had been seconds away from eating. “The food’s been poisoned!”

“Poisoned?!” Pinkie yelped, and threw her own serving away. “Food, I thought we were friends!” she moped.

“Pinkie, get Luna back to her room,” I ordered.

Pinkie immediately whisked Luna away, while I raced into the kitchen. Though Rainbow Dash tried to follow, she retched and backed away at what we found.

Many of the chefs were on the ground, their throats torn cruelly open. A trail of blood led out of the kitchen and into the castle. As Rainbow Dash tried to recover, I strode through the carnage, following the trail of blood to a maid walking innocently through the hallways.

She shot me a dainty eyed look. “Is something wrong?” she asked in a breezy voice.

"You must think I'm stupid,” I growled, taking pleasure in how the mare froze up. “If you want to look like someone else…” I pointed in the kitchen. Beside the swinging door, we both faintly saw another maid just like her on the ground. “Make sure they aren’t in plain sight.”

The maid began to back away.

"Please…” she started to beg.

But just as I prepared to grab her… I heard a scream.

Pinkie!

Dropping into my shadow, I resurfaced to find Luna’s room in tatters. Pinkie was curled up on the ground, her arm slowly turning purple from a spot on her fist. In the corner, feet away from her, Luna was pressed against the wall, a cloaked figure reaching out to her with an arm the same shade that Pinkie’s arm was turning into.

Just before he could seize Luna by the throat, I sent out an arm of shadow, snatching the assassin away.

“No!” the assassin wailed, whirling on me. “How…?”

“There’s a reason you should fear what hides in the shadows,” I growled, throwing the pony off the balcony and into Canterlot.

“Pinkie Pie,” Luna cried, racing over to the mare, but not daring to touch her. “Eric!”

I strode to the pink mare’s side. She was sweating profusely, her arm squeezing her purple arm like she was trying to break it.

“I don’t like this,” she whimpered. “I really don’t like this. This is the worst game of freeze tag I’ve ever played…”

I put a hand on her forehead, and couldn’t blame her agony. She was burning up! Looking back at her arm, I saw familiar purple veins struggling to spread up to her shoulder.

“The venom-venom fruit,” I growled, picking her up. As I looked to Luna, I noticed her watching where I had thrown the assassin with a knowing light.

“Don’t suppose you recognized the user,” I asked Luna as we sped to the medical wing.

“I did,” she said solemnly. “Toxic Dust. A non-believer in the Magic of Harmony and Friendship, he experimented of ponies to see if there was other ways to harness magic. Just before he could succeed, my sister’s Royal Guard caught and arrested him. Celestia and our niece Princess Cadence saw his work as an abomination. An outrage against friendship and harmony. So they locked him up in Tartarus, where he’d never see the light of day again.”

I groaned, reaching the medical wing. “Just great,” I snarled. “So, first we’ve got a Dr. Frankenstein wannabe, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he somehow got the Venom-Venom Fruit.”

“Dr. who?” Luna asked.

“No time to explain,” I said, wincing as Pinkie gave another cry, the poison reaching her shoulder. I looked to Luna. “Use your medical spells; do whatever you can to slow the poison. I’m going after Toxic Dust.”

Luna nodded. Just as I moved to leave, Pinkie grabbed my hand. Despite the pain in her voice, she tried to keep her tone light and positive.

"Eric," she said, "Be careful.” She grinned. “I'd rather have a victory party than a hero's funeral.”

"Don't worry Pinkie,” I assured her, ruffling her hair. “I’m not dying today.”

“Pinkie Promise?” she asked.

I clasped her hand. “Pinkie Promise.”

Satisfied, she let go of my hand. Turning back to the city, I formed my shadow wings and sped off.

It wasn’t that hard to find Toxic Dust. All I had to do was follow the numerous dead guards on the ground. As I tracked them, I almost missed the glob of poison that shot at my face.

Thankfully, I was able to dodge. Dropping down to the ground, I folded my wings back into my body, my eyes alighting on the venomous pony at the end of an alleyway.

"What the hell are you?" the bat pony demanded.

I smiled, my entire body going dark with shadows. “Eric Von Shadow,” I replied. “The Shadow Man.”

The thestral hummed, his own body turning purple as his cloaked dissolved in his poison.

“Then, if you’re Shadow,” he declared. “I’m Poison.”

He lunged forward, poison dripping from his claws. Every swipe scattered droplets of the dangerous purple liquid. They sizzled and dissolved the stones beneath our feet, but thankfully, none of them found my dodging form.

“What’s the matter, Shadow Man?” Toxic demanded as we fought. “Having trouble?”

He had only just spoken when my shadow claw managed to grab his arm.

“Waiting for an opening,” I growled, before I slammed him into an adjacent building. His poison painted the wall, and revealed he had a well-built body. One that would put Bulk Biceps – wherever he was – to shame.

"Sorry but that's not going to work," Toxic said with a grin. A stream of poison hit my chest, knocking me through the window of a store.

Before I could even land, I felt the effects of the poison; a sickly chill like the dead of winter made into liquid and dripping slowly over my heart. Thinking fast, I summoned my shadow portal, falling right through the floor and reappearing behind the laughing bat pony.

His laughter turned into a scream when one of my shadow spikes impaled his shoulder. As he brought his poison corroded hands around, I plunged back into the shadows.

Reappearing behind him, I clawed his back, only to feel that sickly chill up my leg. I didn’t need to look down to know that his poison had gotten over my entire shin. My shadows shivered and dissipated as I stumbled back, my head starting to feel like the time I had downed a hefty amount of ale. Though instead of ale’s warmness, I only felt that oily chill.

"What's the matter, Von Shadow?" Toxic mocked. "Feeling light-headed?"

Toxic slammed his head into mine, sending me staggering. My vision blurred. My ears rung, blocking out whatever taunts he was throwing at me.

But my light-headedness couldn’t block out his fist. And another blow from him sent me halfway across Canterlot.

With the crash of glass, I found myself in a studio. Photos – their depictions blurry and unfocused to me – shivered and swayed from my impact, almost hiding the walls with their arts.

A face swam into my view. Photo Finish, if I remembered my MLP characters correctly. A few other ponies were with her, but she was the only one that I recognized.

“Hm,” she muttered. “He ees severely poisoned!” She turned to her attendants, ready to bark out orders… only for her orders to turn into a cry of anguish.

The side of her wall melted – taking many of the photos with them – to reveal Toxic Dust.

"Move aside, mare," he ordered. “He’s…”

He didn’t get to finish, as Photo Finish hurled a vase at the bat pony. With a grimace, Toxic blasted through the vase, then sent another glop of poison at her.

I could barely think with the poison in my system, but the instincts of a guard captain are absolute. I threw myself through the pain and the air to protect her with my own body. As we both hit the ground, I called to the shadows that had aided me for so long, begging them to just get him away.

Shadow Dragon

The shadows obeyed; a dragon of the darkness flew from me, biting down on Toxic and carrying him away from the ponies.

My eyes were glossing over. It was hard to focus. But I managed to guide myself to the purple light of the blue mare’s glasses.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Do not vorry about me, dark savior,” she declared, lifting her hand. “Vorry about yerself!”

"Photo we need to leave," an attendant insisted, but she shrugged him off.

"If he returns keep yer distance,” she ordered. “And hold him for as long as possible!"

The attendant nodded, and… my eyes widened as his hands formed into giant scissors. Looking to Photo, I saw her fingers become pointed, like needles.

The Horm-Horm and the Snip-Snip, I thought deliriously, but this was no time to worry about the other fruits. I had to worry about myself, and the Devil Fruit user that was actually trying to kill me.

“Whatever you’re gonna do…” I muttered. “Do it fast…”

Without hesitation, Photo Finish plunged her needle fingers into my arm. I felt several different hormones chase the poison away, shot through with a burst of adrenaline. The next thing I knew, I was on my feet.

And not before time too. Just as I regained most of my senses, the poor attendant was smashed through the building.

"Get him out of here,” I ordered, rushing out. “I got this asshat!”

I found him waiting just outside, poison dissolving the ground beneath him.

“Ready for round two, Von Shadow?” Toxic demanded.

[requested by the Author DarkKing2]


In answer, I reached into my body and pulled out my skull mask and my Murakumogiri. Twirling the weapon, I placed the mask on my face.

"Tell me Toxic,” I growled, pointing my weapon at the thestral. “Have you ever heard of The Reaper of the Crystal Empire?” I coated the weapon in shadow. "Cause you're about to get a crash course on why my enemies feared me."

Toxic laughed, but the laughter was tinged with nervousness. He charged, blasting globs of poison, but I slashed them out of the air.

My slashing cost me, as he got close enough to get a cut in on my stomach. I grimaced, already feeling more poison joining the stuff already in my body.

Backing up, I got in a cut of my own, scoring two marks across his arms before twirling the sword-staff and cutting him across the chest.

Toxic screamed in pain, stumbling to the ground. I tried to take the venom pony’s head off, but someone got in my way.

Somehow, Toxic’s scream grew ten times as pained, when a familiar thestral with dark red hair and eyes collapsed before him, my blade through his chest.

"Ashen!!" Toxic wailed, as his brother's eyes went dark before him. It had to be his brother, judging by his tortured look of grief. But his grief was useless on me.

"One Assassin left," I mused with a cruel smile.

"You bastard!" Toxic shrieked, his venomous body taking on a crimson red sheen. Holding his brother with one hand, he tried to take aim with his free hand.

I tried to back up, but he was faster, and his poison blast too the shape of a hydra. But just as the thing moved to swallow me whole… it blasted away in a burst of crimson flames.

Looking to the sky, I smiled beneath my mask. Rainbow Dash was right above us, with flames licking around her body. Yet no panicked expression adorned her face this time. She was completely in control!

"Glad you can join us RD," I said, the shadows exchanging my weapon for a scythe. "What did you do to gain control?"

Rainbow landed behind the thestral, grinning at me.

"I saw you being thrown across Canterlot,” she said. “I won’t stand by and not do anything to help.” Her gaze grew soft. “I never leave a friend hanging.”

"You truly represent your element, don't you?" I praised, before I saw the bat pony getting up. His poison melted the very ground beneat his feet.

Rainbow and I formed battle stances.

"Don't let any of that poison get on you,” I warned. “Even one drop of that stuff will kill you!"

“So… no show-boating?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking a bit too disappointed for my liking.

"No show-boating,” I insisted. “Take him out as fast as possible. Got it?"

"Got it,” she confirmed.

Looks like you know how to act when it counts, I thought gratefully.

"You will pay dearly for what you have done," Toxic said, his voice filled with more venom than the stuff around him. "You and your rainbow whore!"

I just grinned, seeing the look of rage on Rainbow’s face. This mother fucker must have a death wish.

"This bucker’s dead!" Rainbow vowed, her flames turning white-hot.

But before we could attack, Toxic was engulfed in a glob of poison that rose above us, forming a giant, skeletal looking beast of pure venom.

"Venom Demon: Hell's Judgment…" I whispered, fear entering my voice.

“Um… What's that mean?" Rainbow demanded, her voice cracking with equal fear.

"It means use those wings and fly!" I yelled, my own wings forming and taking me to the skies seconds before the beast could crush me.

As the cyan mare and I took to the skies, the poison monster hurled a large ball of red poison. We barely managed to dodge.

"Any Ideas on how to take that thing out?" Rainbow asked.

"One or two…" I growled, clapping my hands together before moving my left hand up and my right hand. My motions produced a bow of shadows, which I quickly stringed and formed an arrow between my fingers.

As I aimed, I noticed Rainbow Dash watching me with confusion.

"This is a little something I call Shadow Rain," I explained, before I released the arrow.

Halfway down, the arrow split into a hundred arrows. Yet when they hit the venom demon, they didn’t seem to do much but annoy it.

"Well that did nothing!" Rainbow Dash deadpanned. "Any other ideas?"

"One now,” I admitted. “But I'll need you to create a wind strong enough to blow away the poison! Can you do that?"

"Can I?" Rainbow Dash laughed, before vanishing from my side.

Yet, as I turned to the Venom Demon, I saw a rainbow and fire enshrouded blur racing for the Venom Demon. Just before she hit it… a sonic boom tinged with a rainbow burst out in a shockwave. She didn’t just blow the poison away… she blasted it miles away from the city. Toxic was left stumbling and clutching his bleeding ears, only able to moan when the pain combined with the beating I had already given him.

Right, I remembered from the show. The Sonic Rain-Boom.

Before the demon could recover from her sonic rain-boom, I took advantage, forming my scythe and embedding the blade in the disoriented thestral’s body.

"Game Over" I growled, as the shadows entered his body. “Shadow Execution.”

He got one moment to grimace in defiant agony at me, before spikes erupted from every inch of his body. Blood leaked down the spikes as he gave a few final twitches… and went still.

Dropping him to the ground, I searched around for the fruits. Soon enough, they appeared – a white swirled clone-clone fruit, and an apple rapidly turning red with the swirls of the venom-venom fruit.

Seizing them up and placing them in my shadows, I dared to finally relax and turn back for the castle.

But then, I noticed a familiar weakness still prevalent in my body. The oily chill of the venom-venom. Looking down, I saw my pants were ripped. A single drop of Toxic’s red poison glistened like blood on my skin.

My eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
> A Shadow In the Everfree
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I leaned against the balcony outside Eric's room overlooking the city. Part of me hoped the see the black clothing of the Reaper of the Crystal Empire, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Honestly, his behavior since his fight with Toxic Dust troubled me. It had been days since his victory over the thestral, yet he still acted as if the ghost of the poison user was haunting him: he was constantly looking around and keeping his distance from everyone.

Then the day came where he took a train and left Canterlot. And even as I glanced to the train station in hope, it remained cruelly devoid of the man who had saved my life.

So lost in thought was I that I almost didn’t notice the tears forming in my eyes. Not until a hand brushed my shoulder. Jumping in fright, I whirled on the intruder, fearing for a moment it would be another assassin. But my heart slowed at the sight of Rainbow Dash, her face filled with concern.

“Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh… Rainbow Dash,” I greeted, wiping my eyes. "Did you need something?"

At first, she said nothing, following my gaze to the train station.

“I’m worried about him too,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “He was one of the only people that I thought was cool.”

I hummed, watching the train station myself. “I don’t understand,” I admitted. "Why did he leave without so much as a goodbye?"

Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “Well… he didn’t leave without saying anything,” she admitted.

I turned to her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“He asked me if I knew someone who could brew miracles,” Rainbow Dash replied with a shrug. “I told him the only one I knew was Zecora.”

Zecora! The zebra flashed in my mind! I know where he is! I realized. I have a chance to see him again! The mere thought brightened my features like the full moon brightens the night.

Hugging Rainbow Dash in thanks, I rushed to the exit and made my way to the sea train. Guards and Rainbow Dash herself tried to dissuade me, but I would not be sated.

Though, as it was, I didn’t need to go far. I had just managed to make my way to the train station when the man himself stepped off an arriving train.

“Eric!” I greeted, ready to sweep him into a hug.

But… the second Eric saw me, he backed away. The look in his eyes. It was as if I was Nightmare Moon once more.

“Eric?” I asked, fearing what had made him so scared. “What’s wrong?!”

"I… need you… to stay away,” he whispered, putting his hands up.

But my eyes widened in horror. His hands were blood red! He looked as if he had soaked them in blood!

“Your hands!” I stammered. “What…?”

But then he groaned. His hands clutched over his heart.

“Eric!” I screamed. I jumped to help him, but he dodged away from me.

“DON’T!” he barked. “Don’t touch me!”

And my heart tore in two as he ran from me.

I didn’t understand. What had Zecora done to him?








Days Ago


On the outside I was a calm as an undisturbed pond. On the inside I was freaking out.

The poison on my shin was already spreading down to my knee and foot.

I tried desperately to remember my One-Piece Lore. In One Piece, the poison killed in twelve hours. But it looked like it was spreading faster than that. To make matters worse, I remembered that the warden’s red poison had no cure.

But then I also remembered; I wasn’t just in One Piece. I was in Equestria! They had magic. Lady Luck had to have something in here that could help me.

The first thing that popped into my mind regarding medicine was that zebra. The one that spoke only in rhymes and lived in the Everfree Forest… Zecora!

But I couldn’t just rush off half-blind. This wasn’t just Equestria either; it was a hybrid fusion of both One Piece and My Little Pony. What if there were differences?

“Don’t just believe what you’re told,” Sombra's father had warned. “Double-check everything!”

Luna was safe. She’d still have Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash! Using my shadows, I tracked down the cyan pegasus. When I found her, I kept my distance, but managed to get her attention with a shadow flare.

“Rainbow Dash,” I hissed. “I need to know if there’s anyone who can brew miracles!” Please still live in the same area, my thoughts couldn’t help but add.

"Brew a miracle?” Rainbow Dash replied. “The only person I know who can do that is possibly Zecora. But she tends to live away from society. Deep in the Everfree Forest."

“Near Ponyville?” I asked, mentally remembering the town.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “Why, do you…?”

But I left with a quick, “Thanks.” Leaving her staring at the shadows puzzled and beyond lost.

Teleporting from the castle, I bought a ticket and boarded the sea train to Ponyville. The ride was mostly eventless, save for some thug trying to mug a few people. I didn’t even need to use my shadows that much; I just grabbed the idiot and threw him out the window.

Though it was a good thing he wasn’t more dangerous. By the time the sea train drifted into Ponyville, I could feel a pained numbing sensation in my thigh.

It’s spreading too fast, I thought fearfully. Seizing my belt, I tied it around the upper part of my thigh. I need to hurry.

With nothing but hope pushing me on, I made my way to the Everfree, taking great care not to let the poison spread from me… or to anyone else.

For better or worse, the ponies made it easy for me. The minute they saw me, they screamed and fled into their homes.

Figures I thought. Ponyville always did overreact over the littlest things. Well, all the better that they stay out of my way.

But, of course, I eventually had to deal with those ponies. The type that just had to be heroes.

I had just reached the edge of the Everfree when I heard the sound of heavy hooves hitting the ground.

Move, my instincts yelled, and I leaped to the left. Mere seconds later, a cream-colored bull with red hair bulldozed past me like a train, ramming into one of the trees of the Everfree and nearly uprooting it.

Yet, as the bull staggered back… my eyes widened when the bull shrunk. In seconds, a young mare with twin horns on her head and a pair of cloven hooves for feet stood before me. Seconds later, two more landed by her side; a purple falcon that shifted into a mare with orange fur and a purple mane, and a bird shrouded in white flames that shifted into a third young mare with a violet and pink mane and white fur.

“Ah,” I realized. “The Ox-Ox Fruit Model: Bull, The Bird-Bird Fruit Model: Falcon, and the Bird-Bird Fruit Model: Phoenix!" I started to call forth my shadow claws, only for the shadows to dissipate when my heart throbbed; a grim reminder of my situation.

“Wait…” the falcon pony noted. “Were those… shadows?” She turned to the bull pony. “Maybe he’s like us, Apple Bloom.”

“But he’s a pirate,” the bull pony insisted. “Ain’t he?”

“Girls,” the phoenix pony said. “I think he’s hurt."

My heart gave another throb, sending me to my knees. For a moment, I breathed, waiting for the pain to subside. When it got to a point I could tolerate, I faced my fellow Devil Fruit users, finding them to have returned to full normal.

As I expected, it was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“You okay, mister?” Scootaloo asked, kneeling before me.

“I’m great,” I gasped out, my tone cold. “Just dying.”

The three jumped back.

“Oh, gosh,” Apple Bloom whimpered. “I’m sorry I attacked you, mister. We thought you were a pirate.”

“Well,” I mumbled, standing back up. “If I was… you should have had your phoenix friend strike first. Remember that for the next pirate.”

Without waiting to gauge their reactions, I continued to limp into the Everfree. However, their voices rang in my ears once more.

“Wait a minute!” Sweetie Belle yelped. “You can’t go in there!”

“I know it’s dangerous,” I confirmed. “But I need to find Zecora.” I turned as an ominous rustling sounded form the bushes. “She’s the only one who can help me at this point.”

I was hoping that would be enough to make them back off. But I got a little better than that, when Apple Bloom gasped in realization.

“We know where she lives!” she claimed.

“Come on,” Scootaloo said. “We’ll take you to her.”

Without much choice, I limped after them as they forged into the forest. As we made progress, my eyes drifted to the falcon wings on Scootaloo’s back.

“Do any of your sisters know about your Devil Fruits?” I asked.

The three looked at me in confusion.

“Devil Fruits?” Apple Bloom asked. “What’re those?”

“Your powers,” I confirmed sternly. “Do your sisters know about your powers.”

The three looked towards each other, but their silence said a lot more than any excuse they were probably coming up with. I sighed, not giving them the chance to start explaining.

“If you’re worried about me telling your sisters; don’t be,” I assured them. “I’m not going to force you to tell them. But you shouldn't keep secrets from your family.”

Oh, you’re one to talk, I couldn’t help but chastise myself. Indeed, I probably sounded like a massive hypocrite.

But, thankfully, I didn’t get the time to dwell on it. A giant timber wolf jumped from the foliage. The three yelped, Scootaloo starting to shift into a falcon. But I was quicker on the draw, and a shadow blast quickly reduced the creature to sticks and stones. And aggravated my heart again.

“Mister?!” the CMC called in worry, as I fell to my knees again.

“I’m fine,” I barked, clutching my chest as the pain seemed to ease off. “And don’t call me mister; makes me sound old.” I looked up at them with a grin. “Name’s Eric.”

Our trek through the Everfree forest was a bit easier after that. The CMC seemed to relax a bit around me, knowing that I wasn’t some mysterious evil pirate, and even the wildlife seemed to know not to mess with us. Before long, we finally came across the tree hut of the rhyming zebra. Quickening my pace, I slammed my fist against the door.

“A knock will not help your stride,” the deep African voice emanated from behind us. “For whom you seek is right outside.”

I spun around, smiling as I beheld Zecora. Her face was hidden by her cloak and hood, but I could see her striped arm hooked under a basket.

“Just the zebra I was looking for,” I admitted. Carefully, I lifted my pants leg, showing the red of my poison. “I need a potion that can cure a pretty powerful poison.”

“Hm,” the zebra hummed. Setting her basket aside, she flipped her hood back, revealing her impressive Mohawk. Settling herself down, she peered at my infected skin. After a moment of study, she stood and raced into her home.

I followed her in, the CMC keeping a safe distance from me, and watched as the zebra pulled book after book off her shelf. Eventually, she found one with no picture or title, and began flipping through its pages. With a cry of discovery, she turned to me.

“This poison should fill you with dread,” she admitted. “By all accounts, you should be dead.”

Despite her somber tone, my poisoned heart couldn’t help but leap. She had a picture of the Venom-Venom fruit! Taking the book carefully from her hands, I flipped through it, finding every devil fruit from One-Piece written in this apparently blank book.

“How did you get this?” I asked incredulously.

“The journal cost more than one bit,” Zecora admitted. “But the contents there-in, I wrote it.”

"But how?" I asked. "No one seems to know what a Devil Fruit is! How could you write all this down?"

“They have surfaced across Equestria’s kingdom,” Zecora declared. “And one I ate gave much wisdom.”

I nodded. “The Wisdom-Wisdom fruit,” I confirmed, handing the book back to the zebra. She flipped back to the venom-venom fruit, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

“Now, to answer your wish,” she continued. “I will need the little ones to find me a fish.”

"You got it Zecora,” Apple Bloom said with a nod. And together, the three fillies raced from the house.

“Um… what’s the fish going to do?” I asked.

Zecora merely gave me a coy grin before indicating my pants. At first, I didn’t understand, but then it slowly dawned on me why she’d send the CMC away.

“Oh…” I mumbled, my heart fluttering at the idea of stripping before this woman – even if she was more of a zebra lady than an actual human.

“Please, your heart has enough dread,” Zecora insisted, motioning to my shirt. “Let me see how far the poison has spread.”

With my heart still fluttering, I removed my shirt and pants. But I didn't have long to be nervous about de-robing; the poison had made it halfway up my stomach. Even Zecora hissed and made a sign to ward off devils.

“It has progressed farther than you last looked,” she declared, racing to her cauldron. “We must hurry before your life is hooked!”

As I hurriedly re-dressed myself, Zecora started tossing various liquids and herbs into her brew. Several times, she consulted her journal, murmuring to herself in a strange, vaguely African language. When the brew began to boil and bubble, Zecora dipped a bowl into the mixture and made her way over to me.

“Drink, and never mind its bite,” Zecora insisted, handing me the bowl. “It should dull the poison’s might.”

Despite her warning about ‘bite,’ I didn’t find the liquid all that distasteful. Clearly, the zebra had yet to drink straight Crystal Empire moonshine. Plus, as the concoction trickled down my throat, a sigh of relief escaped me. The pain that had racked my body for the past hour was subsiding by a massive margin.

“I appreciate the aid,” I confessed. “But I don’t suppose that brew stopped it completely, eh?”

Zecora winced sheepishly. “Two of your Devil Fruits might render it moot,” she said. “The Heal-Heal Fruit, and the Horm-Horm Fruit.”

“And… you wouldn’t happen to know where they are?”

She sadly shook her head. “A fetch quest, you must unfortunately brave,” she said. “For without those fruits, you should prepare your grave.”

Despite her somber tone, I still felt my eyes beam with renewed hope. I had no idea where the Heal-Heal Fruit was. But I more than remembered where the Horm-Horm fruit had ended up.

“Thank you, Zecora,” I said, opting to bow rather than risk infecting her with a hug or handshake. “You’ve been a huge help.”

Though, before I could walk out, the door slammed open. Right into my face. I swore, clutching my nose, as Scootaloo burst in.

“Oh! Sorry, Eric,” Scootaloo stammered, panic cracking her voice. “But Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are in trouble!”

I was still collecting myself, but my instincts pricked at the mention of trouble. “What happened?” I asked.

“Changelings!”

That was all I needed to hear. Careful not to bowl into the young mare, I plunged into my shadow, tracking down the ponies.

I found them on their knees, their eyes tinted green as they stared off into some fantasy in their heads. A trio of changelings were in front of them.

Yet… as I drew closer, I realized one of them was fighting the other two. This… ‘ally,’ I guess I could call him, had blue-ish green hair and blue eyes. He wore grey pants, black leather books, and a brown and green tunic with fur on his shoulders. Two daggers were clutched in both hands, and a bow was slung over his shoulder. I remembered reading that most changelings had either wings or a horn, but this one had both!



"Stand down!” the odd changeling ordered his brethren. “Return to your hive!”

“Our Queen needs ponies,” the winged changeling hissed. “Think of their love! The drones they could spawn…”

I fumed at their implications. My anger was only calmed by the sight of some sort of gas wafting off the friendly changeling. Whatever it was, it seemed to be protecting Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“You should think about yourselves first,” the friendly changeling hissed back, before he launched a cloud of the gas at the pair.

The winged changelings gagged, clutching at their necks before falling to their knees.

"W-What magic is this?" coughed the horned changeling.

“Not magic,” the odd changeling admitted, the gas returning to his outstretched arm. “Poison gas.”

With that, the changeling soldiers fell to the ground, giving one last twitch apiece before going still with death.

For a moment, I didn’t know what to do. But, when the changeling turned back towards the girls, I took a step between them, giving him a warning glare. Thankfully, he sheathed his daggers and raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt them,” he assured me. "Right now, they’re stuck in a trance. An Illusion that shows them their happiest memory."

His horn glowed a green color, and a magic aura of the same color enveloped his hand.

"And in turn causes them to pour love from their very being,” he added.

With a shiver through my core, I noticed his hands were shaking.

He's resisting the urge to feed on their love,I realized. Maybe he can be trusted. At least a little.

My trust in him only increased as the young mares' eyes suddenly returned to normal. They collapsed to the ground, panting as if they had both run a mile.

“Apologies,” the changeling said. "The others managed to feed on them for quite a bit before I could intervene. They'll be out of it for a while."

I knelt next to the mares, but didn’t dare touch them, instead using shadow tendrils to lift them up. I glanced up at the changeling.

"Who are you?” I asked. “You're not like any the other changelings I've faced.”

He smiled softly. “True enough,” he admitted. He gave a small bow. “My name is Echo Silhouette. King of Silhouette Hive.”

I blinked in shock. “Don’t changelings only have queens?” I asked. “Like honey bees?” As I asked, I made my way back to Zecora's. He trailed behind me, almost like he was trying not to be seen.

“Normally,” he admitted. “As far as I’m aware, I’m the only changeling king. Unlike other changelings, I only feed when I need to. As my mother did.”

As we talked, we made it to the clearing outside of Zecora’s hut.

“Then I recommend you stay out here,” I advised. “These girls only know the bad changelings. And there’s an orange one who’s a little too gung-ho.” I turned to the door. “Kinda like her sister figure…”

I opened the door… only to have said orange one charge out, arms spread to give me a hug.

“Eric!” she cheered.

Without thinking, I yanked her shadow up, blocking her from me. But as I blocked her, the shadow’s eyes came to life, burning red and hateful.

“You’re not good enough to be Rainbow’s sister,” It snarled spitefully. “You can only fly because of that Devil Fruit thing. You can't even stop a few changelings! Pretty pathetic don't ya think?”

With a yell of shock, I released control of the filly’s shadow, forcing it back to the ground where it belonged. When I looked up, Scootaloo was stepping back, shock mixing with grief on her face.

“I’m sorry, Scootaloo,” I whispered, wishing I could wipe the tears forming in her eyes away. “But I can’t let you touch me.” I indicated my leg. “The poison I have is severely contagious.”

Scootaloo didn’t respond, staring at where her shadow was. With a sigh of regret, I set her friends on Zecora’s bed, and turned back to Canterlot. I felt Echo’s presence following me, but I didn’t have time for the changeling king.

Right now, I needed to find Photo Finish.
> Shadows Suffering
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The way back to Canterlot was uneventful, yet my stress levels remained high. Even with Zecora’s potion, the poison was still spreading. It covered half my chest and both my arms and hands now. I was actually thankful for Echo following me: taking the form of a gray unicorn stallion, he sat next to me. With his red eyes, black and dark gray hair and pale coat under black garb, he dissuaded others from coming near me, and kept his distance from me himself as best he could. Thanks to him, no one got infected.

With nothing better to do to keep my stress down, we started talking. The Changeling King went on for a bit – I could tell he was used to giving grander speeches – but from what I could decipher, he hoped to establish peace between his hive and Equestria.

“My subjects need food,” he said. “And while Equestria is easily the most bountiful land of love I’ve ever seen, I won’t allow my changelings to resort to pony-napping to feed ourselves. We must be able to live among the ponies in peace.”

“I understand where you’re coming from,” I assured him. “Really, I do. But what you want is going to be next to impossible. Chrysalis not only attacked Canterlot; she attacked the Royal Family.” I stared out at the passing island of Manehatten. God, it looks so much like Manhattan, I thought, before Echo gained my attention again with a disgusted scoff.

“Don’t remind me of that idiot Chrysalis,” Echo grumbled. “Honestly, it’s cruel irony that she’s my aunt.”

I shook my head, wishing I could pat him on the back. But in time, the train stopped, letting ponies out into Manehatten and letting others in. Each second felt like an hour, but thankfully, we were soon on our way towards Canterlot.

Halfway across, something had to happen: Echo gave a sharp inhale. When I spun, I saw an earth pony mare with a knife at the changeling king’s throat.

“Don’t move, changeling,” the mare hissed in his ear.

“Ma’am!” I hissed, raising my hands and wincing as I saw the poison had covered my palms. “I must ask that you leave my friend alone.”

“Your friend is a changeling!” she insisted.

Echo glanced at me, his eyes silently saying, so this is what you were talking about.

I shrugged, before gauging the mare’s reaction. There was no way she was going to ease up on him. And a fight would only instill panic. As I glanced down at my hands again, a reluctant plan formed in my mind.

“I know,” I admitted. And as the mare turned to me in alarm, I saw her knife twitch towards me. Acting fast, I seized her wrist, wincing as it started to turn red.

The mare felt the poison. She looked down at her arm, her eyes widening as the poison spread. “What are you doing?” she squeaked. “I was trying to…”

“Sorry about this,” I said, before I tightened my grip, and a surge of shadow went down my arm and into hers. “But I’m contagious.”

She wrenched her arm away, staring at the rapidly spreading red with a scream building in her throat. Seconds before she could unleash her wail, the shadows crept up around her, and she vanished into her own darkness.

Echo breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his neck, while I grimaced at the poison now covering both my hands.

Damn, I need to hurry, I thought.If this poison keeps going, I'll be dead by sunset!

"Eric?" Echo asked in concern. He reached a hand out, but I pressed myself into the corner like a frantic animal.

“Don’t,” I hissed, showing him my hands. He wisely backed up, his eyes darting to where the mare had been and then to me. “I need to find my healer,” I insisted. “I’ll be just fine then.”

“I hope you’re right,” he whispered, as the train finally arrived in Canterlot station.

Waiting for the departing ponies to thin out was torture, but necessary to make sure the poison didn’t spread. But just as Echo and I finally managed to depart the train, another challenge flung herself at me.

Princess Luna; my name on her lips and her arms spread to pull me into a hug. Instinctively, I dodged back from her, hoping she could see the fear in my eyes.

Thankfully, she always did have a sharp eye.

“Eric?” she asked, her arms falling to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you… to stay away,” I whispered, holding up my hands.

Luna’s eyes widened in horror, taking in the red poison across my palms.

"Your hands!" the princess stammered, "What...?"

Luna never finished her sentence. A sharp pain shot into my heart like a dagger. Clutching my chest, I slipped, my back hitting the train exterior.

“Eric!” she screamed. She jumped to help me, but I dodged away from her.

“DON’T!” I barked. “Don’t touch me!”

Fleeing Luna, I made my way into the city. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash flying through the air.

"Rainbow!" I yelled, drawing the mares attention. "I need your-AGH!” Clenching my heart in pain, I staggered for a brief moment. "Ugh… help me find Photo Finish!"

"But...!" she tried to protest, or ask. But just then, I saw Photo Finish’s studio, and whatever she was going to say went right over my head.

But then I slammed open the door… and there was no one there. No Photo Finish. No attendants. No nothing.

It was over. I could already feel my neck and the right side of my face going numb. There was no way I could search for her with the time I had.

"Shadow man?"

My heart flared in hope. Turning from the door, I saw Photo Finish's attendant – the one that wielded the power of the Snip-Snip Fruit - wearing a hooded cloak. He flinched back at the sight of me, but I didn’t have time for his nervousness.

"Where's Photo?” I begged. “I need her help!”

"She was taken to the castle by the Castle Guards a few days ago," the attendant said. “Apparently someone leaked what she could do.”

I cursed, dropping into my shadow. Briefly, I saw Rainbow flying towards me before she faded away into darkness. I resurfaced into the castle, scaring the crap out of the sun princess in the process. Thankfully though, she was speaking to the pony I needed.

“Eric! I…” Celestia stopped herself upon seeing me.

“H-Help…” I mumbled, my focus on Photo Finish, before I hit the floor, and fell into a far different darkness; the darkness of unconsciousness.





For a moment, Celestia stared at the downed man of shadows. She lifted a hand to aid him, when a rainbow blur shot into her throne room.

“Don’t touch him, Princesss!” Rainbow Dash screamed, nearly smashing the princess into her throne. “He’s been infected with some kinda contagious toxin!”

Celestia gave another look at the red rash-like substance across his skin, and wisely kept her hands off him.

"How do you know this Rainbow?" Celestia asked.

"Because I told her," a new voice declared. A stallion with an oddly royal aura to him marched in, followed closely by Luna.

"He needs to be transported to your medical ward immediately," the disguised Echo declared.

Unable to argue, Celestia and Luna used their magic, picking up Eric in a magic aura.

As Rainbow raced ahead of them to ensure the coast was clear, Luna and Celestia floated the man of shadows after her, closely followed by Photo Finish and Echo. As they reached the medical ward and set Eric down on one of the beds, Luna shuddered as she saw blood beginning to leak from his eyes and nose.

“Help him!” Luna ordered.

Photo Finish stepped forward, all ten of her fingers turned to pointed needles before she gave a sideway glance to the princesses.

"I'll give him an overdose of every healing hormone I have," the photographer declared. And that’s what she did; stabbing Eric and pumping him with hormones. Even as she did her work, she shuddered at the red skin across his body. "Ez condition is critical,” she warned. “Ez chances of survival vill be determined by his vill to live and fight."

Photo Finish withdrew her needles, giving another shudder as red skin began to spread across her hand. Quickly stabbing herself, the poison faded as she injected herself with her own hormones.

“I von’t lie,” she added, watching as Eric began to groan and twitch. “He ez going to suffer more zan a thousand men.”

She wasn’t wrong. The groaning and twitching increased. His body began to thrash like an exorcist victim. Luna shivered, wishing she could help. Then Eric’s eyes snapped open, and he let out a howl of pain. A how that chilled the bone and could be heard beyond the castle. Even to the Crystal Empire and the Frozen North beyond.






Somewhere in the Universe


A Man and a giant were walking side by side; the crowd parting before them like the Red Sea. Suddenly, the man stopped, turning as a wail of agony pierced through the hustle and bustle of the ground. He pat his giant companion’s arm.

"Fezzik? Fezzik, listen!” the man ordered.

Both giant and man turned, listening to the wail.

"Do you hear that?” the man declared. “That is the sound of Ultimate Suffering!"

"My heart made that sound when Rugen slaughtered my father,” the giant rumbled grimly. “The man in black makes it now."





Thankfully, Echo had the foresight to disguise himself as a unicorn stallion. Firing up his magic, Echo held Eric down. The magic was well needed; the man of shadows thrashed and screamed as if his organs were in a high-stakes knife fight with each other.

It was impossible for his wailing to go unnoticed; in seconds, the rest of the Mane Six, Sombra and even the Royal Guard had gathered, their horrified expressions only worsened by Eric’s song of agony.

"What's happening to Eric?" Pinkie whimpered, holding her ears closed as her hair deflated.

“Eric was affected by Toxic’s deadly poison,” Celestia replied, her eyebrows knitting as Eric paused to breathe… only for his screams to continue. “A fact that he kept to himself,” she added bitterly.

"Tia?” Luna asked as Eric’s screams sent a shiver through her spine. "Is this... how it was for me? When you and Eric healed my spine?"

The sun princess gave her sister a sad look. “This is far worse,” she confirmed. She winced at the horrified look Luna gave his thrashing form, and quickly added, “B-But he will survive; if his will to live is stronger than the poison.”

Sombra sighed. “Then he’s going to die,” he said blankly.

"How can you say that?!” Rarity demanded. Sombra didn’t show any fear in the collective glares he got. He watched his friend struggle as if he knew it was for naught.

"Because deep down,” the former king answered. “He still wishes for death so he can join Amber.”

“Amber?” Rainbow asked.

Sombra started to speak, but Luna cut him off.

“Eric’s wife,” Luna remembered.

“Wait…” Rainbow Dash stammered. “Eric was married?!”

“It wasn’t obvious, Rainbow?” Rarity asked. She indicated the golden band around Eric’s finger. “No one wears a ring on that finger unless they’re married.”

“Or very rich,” Pinkie added. ‘But that’s probably not important.”

“Wait… Luna,” Sombra asked. “How did you know?”

“The first night you and Eric arrived,” she explained. “I searched his dreams. Looking for malcontent in his mind. I saw a memory of him proposing.”

Sombra looked away. “Was that the ‘weird dream’ he talked about…?” he muttered to himself.

“From what I gathered,” Luna went on. “The dreams involving her are a rarity.”

Sombra looked down in shame. “No,” he admitted. “He dreams about her every night. Except they’re not dreams to him; they’re nightmares.”

Fluttershy winced. “H-How did she die?” she whispered.

Instead of answering, Sombra left the room. The others looked doubtfully between him and Eric, but Fluttershy followed Sombra out.

As the yellow mare followed Sombra to the hallway outside the medical ward, she took in the shame and regret emanating from his body. His head rested against the nearest wall. After a second or two, he reared his head back and brought it with a hard CRACK into the wall. Fluttershy jumped, the stone foundation splintered, and blood smeared the cracks, dripping down Sombra’s forehead.

“S-Sombra?” Fluttershy asked. He didn’t turn to her.

“What do you want?”

“You…” Fluttershy shivered at the look in his eyes. “You didn't... kill her? Did you?”

Silence dominated the space between them. Then Sombra spun back to the wall. His fist cracked the stone further, and widened the spot of blood.

“I didn’t…” Sombra curled up on the ground, clutching his broken fist. “Please… just leave me alone.”

Fluttershy hesitated, before backing away.

"If you ever wish to talk,” she said. “My door is always open."

She flinched as Eric let out another scream – louder this time – and ran back into the medical ward. Sombra shut his eyes.

"There's nothing he cares about in this world." Sombra whispered, walking down the hall. Tears mixed with the blood dripping down his face. "He's going to die, and I'm going to lose my best friend.”







Three days past, and Eric's suffering showed no signs of stopping. If anything, it only got worse.

And the man of shadows wasn’t the only one suffering.

King Echo valiantly held Eric in place with his magic. But, like all changelings, his magic ran off love. As the days past and Eric gave the King Changeling no time to recuperate, the disguised changelings’ magic started to falter, and he had to struggle to keep Eric down while also maintaining his disguise.

As sweat started to bead on his forehead, Echo almost didn’t notice Luna walk in with a tray of food. But he did notice when she planted a kiss on his cheek. Strength rushed into his being, and his magic steadied. He turned to Luna with surprise, but she smiled softly at him with her midnight blue eyes.

"Thank you for your help," Luna said, before turning towards Eric.
Echo started to sweat again; he could feel the love radiating off the moon princess. For once, Echo found himself thanking Eric for being so hard to quell; it was hard enough resisting the urge to feed off Luna as she knelt at the edge of his bed.

“Eric,” Luna whispered to the thrashing, screaming mess her savior had become. “Please get through this.” Gazing down at his hand, Luna noticed his skin had returned to its proper color. Glancing nervously at Echo, she reached out to take his hand.

"Princess,” Echo warned. “I don't think..."

But she could not be stopped. She took his hand, resting it between her own hands. And both princess and king breathed a small sigh of relief as no poison spread to her.

Closing her eyes, Luna planted a kiss on Eric’s head, and stood. She had just crossed to the exit when Eric’s screaming suddenly… stopped.

With a final spasm, his body went limp in Echo’s magic grasp. Echo stood, while Luna raced back over.

“Eric?” she asked, checking his pulse. “Eric?!”

But the man of shadows didn’t reply. Despite wanting to pass out or lunge onto the princess’ magic, Echo forced himself to fire up his magic one more time, casting a spell that scanned Eric’s vitals. His blood ran cold.

“I-I can’t feel his pulse,” Luna stammered. She turned to Echo. “E-Echo?”

Not missing a beat, Echo ripped off his shirt, and charged a minor lightning spell.

“Clear!” the king warned, placing both hands on his chest. An electric pulse jolted Eric’s body, but his head just listed to the side, and his heart didn’t beat again.

“Eric!” Luna screamed, before pumping his chest, trying to perform CPR.

“Don't you dare do this to us,” Echo demanded, before charging his spell again. “Luna, clear!” he ordered, sending another lightning surge through Eric’s body.

But after five minutes of alternating between lightning jolts and CPR, Echo slowly backed away.

“Echo, no!” Luna insisted, still pumping his chest. “He’s not…”

“Luna…” Echo said in defeat. “He’s gone.”

Luna stared down at Eric’s body. “No…” she whispered, tears streaming down her face. Echo gently took her arms, and started to guide her away.

Then a long dry groan split the air.

Echo and Luna whirled around, Luna nearly throwing Echo aside. Her eyes lit up as Eric Von Shadow opened his eyes. Slowly and weakly, he sat up

When Eric spoke, his voice was low and scratchy. "W…at…er..."

Luna immediately lunged and embraced Eric in a massive hug. A hug that produced a squawk of shock from the man of shadows, along with his spine popping like cracked knuckles.

Resisting the urge to chuckle, Echo picked up a glass from a nearby table, filled it with water, and handed it to Eric. No sooner had he given the cup over than its contents were gone; sloshed down Eric’s throat. He handed the glass back, the light in his eyes begging for more.

After three more cups, Eric’s voice grew stronger.

"Thank you… Your Majesty."

Echo froze. The empty cup clattered out of his hand. Luna glanced between them, confusion fighting against relief.

“Eric?” she asked.

Clearing his nose and rehydrated throat, Eric smiled at Luna before indicating Echo like the King he secretly was.

“Princess Luna,” Eric declared grandly, as if he was Echo's herald. “May I present King Echo Silhouette. The First Changeling King of Silhouette Hive.”
> A Familiar Face
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Echo stumbled back as I introduced him.

“No, I…” Echo stuttered, shying away from the princess. “He… must be delirious, I wasn’t…”

Thankfully, I had chosen the right person to introduce him to. Princess Luna raised a hand for peace, her expression serene.

"I know,” she assured him.

Echo paused. “You knew?”

"I had a hunch," she admitted. She crept closer, bringing her mouth to his ear. “A hunch that was confirmed when you fed off my love.”

The changeling king lowered his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t…” Luna stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“No need to apologize,” she assured him with a smile. “Just… let me see the real you.”

He was reluctant. I could tell from the look in his eyes as he glanced at me. But with a nod from me, he conceded to her request. Closing his eyes and exhaling, Echo’s horn glowed, and he was engulfed in emerald flames, revealing his black, leathery skin, his curved horn, his insect like wings, and the holes in his arms and legs.

“H-Hello… P-Princess L-Luna,” he got out, bowing with a blush to his face.

Why is he stuttering? I pondered to myself. It’s not like… I had to hold back a chuckle. Holy shit, Echo’s not shy around women, is he?

The stuttering in his voice, and the blush on his face didn’t exactly state otherwise.

“Not used to talking to women?” I asked, leaning back on the medical bed.

“Shut up,” Echo said sternly. Luna giggled at his embarrassment.

Unfortunately, Luna's laughter was cut short. A rainbow streak threw Echo from us, before a golden magic aura seized him and held him to the ground.

“Changeling!” The Sun Princess bellowed, royal guards rushing into the room. “Seize him!”

“Tia, stop!” Luna boomed right back. But Celestia moved both of us aside with another wave of her magic.

“Stand back, Luna, and protect Eric,” Celestia growled, focused on the pinned changeling king as her guards formed a circle of spears around him. “We’ll handle the changeling.”

“LEAVE HIM BE!” I boomed over her.

My voice had almost as much power, if not more, than Celestia’s. In moments the guards that had surrounded Echo fell to the ground, and the golden aura around him faded and flickered. I blinked in shock.

Do I… I thought vacantly. Do I have Conqueror's Haki

"What did you do?" Celestia demanded.

"Release Echo, Celestia," I demanded right back.

"But he's..."

"If he wanted to harm anyone,” I cut her off, “He would have done so while I was suffering!" I bore down on Celestia, causing her to shrink back. “Instead, he spent three days holding me down without so much as a minute of rest!”

Celestia’s spell completely faltered as she gazed at Echo in confusion. My voice softened.

“Celestia,” I said. “You may not believe it…” I turned to Echo. “But there is such a thing as a good changeling."

I walked over to Echo and offered my hand. Without Celestia’s spells holding him down, he accepted it gratefully, and I hauled him to his feet.

“Thank you,” he mumbled. Up close, I noticed the bags under his eyes. The tremble in his legs.

I hummed, grabbing his tunic. “Thank me later,” I replied.

Confusion battled against exhaustion on his face. “What are you…?”

Before he could complete his question, I slammed my head hard into his. He went limp in my arms, out like a light.

Celestia blinked. “You… just said there’s such a thing as a good changeling,” she muttered.

“He’s been up for three days with nothing keeping him going but magic spells,” I replied, hoisting him up onto my shoulder. “Even a king needs sleep.”

"Wait,” Rainbow Dash stammered. “King?!”

I set Echo gently on the bed. “Yep,” I replied. “King Echo Silhouette; the first Changeling King.” I turned back to the princesses. “He tagged along with me so that he could negotiate peace between his Hive and Equestria.”

With my peace said, I left the room. But, of course, I didn’t leave it alone. Hearing footsteps behind me, I glanced back. Luna was following me with a small smile on her face.

“I’m truly glad you’re okay, Eric,” she said. “You worried many ponies… you…” She blushed. “You worried me.”

Silence stretched between us; I could tell she was waiting for my response.

"My chances were slim," I admitted, before turning away. "But Lady Luck has yet to give me the finger.”

I continued on, but noticed a lack of footsteps behind me. Then, I heard her voice.

"So Sombra was right."

Luna’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

"You do wish for death?” she asked. “So you can join Amber?"

I spun to face her, my vision turning red. From the way she flinched, I supposed my eyes had turned black and red. But I barely cared.

“It was you?” I growled. “You went into my dream that night?”

She backed up, her eyes widening in surprise. “I… only wished to learn…” But her voice failed her as I stepped towards her.

“You invaded a life that was never yours to know about!”

A part of me pleaded with me to stop. I was scaring her! But the other part of me didn’t care. It didn’t matter that we had gotten drunk together. She didn’t have the right to invade my privacy. She wasn’t Amber.

That thought clung to me like the shadows that served me. She’s not Amber. She never will be Amber, and she will never replace her! No one ever will!

“It wasn’t my idea,” Luna insisted, her voice cracking with fear and her eyes filling with tears.

"Keep out of my dreams!" I snarled, shadow mist pouring from my body.

Turning my back on her, I stormed down the hall. No one got in my way; I could thank the shadows pouring off me for that. Soon, I found myself outside the castle, the fresh air clearing the mists of anger from my mind.

Guilt snaked into my core; I knew I shouldn’t have chewed her out like that. It really wasn’t her fault. And yet… I gazed up at the sun. How long was it going to be before our anniversary? My internal clock ticked; a couple of months. At most.

I sighed, wandering the streets of Canterlot. Hours passed. Maybe more. When the sun was beginning to set, I finally found it in me to return to the castle.

As I returned, I noticed looks from the other nobles. They watched me like I was some disgusting bit of refuse. A freak.

But what did I care? I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me. But then… I reached the castle. The guards in front of me readied their spears. And as I approached, they pointed them. At me!

“What is the meaning of this?” I demanded sternly.

“Behind you, sir,” the guard on the left warned.

I spun. Mere feet behind me, a hooded figure limped slowly after me and towards the castle. Stiches crisscrossed his arms and legs, making him look like a doll that had been recently ripped apart and clumsily put back together. A bloodied, serrated cleaver hung limply in his hand.

“Huh,” I mused, a scythe of shadows forming in my hands. “I didn’t even notice you following me. You must be very skilled.”

The figure said nothing. I couldn’t see his eyes under his hood, but they seemed to be watching me. Suddenly, the figure threw their cleaver.

The shadows formed around me, allowing the cleaver to pass through me without harm.

But I wasn’t who he was aiming for.

“Dusk!” one of the guards screamed.

I spun. The cleaver had gone into the neck of the guard on the right. He hit the wall and slid to the ground, choking on the metal of the blade and his own blood.

Screaming in anger, the second guard lunged past me, moving to ram her spear through his body. But the figure knocked the spear aside, grabbing the guard by the face. Under the hood, I saw teeth flash in a smile like a crescent moon.

Without warning, the second guard exploded, the shockwave throwing me through the palace doors and through several walls.

Okay, my thoughts groaned. So, the Blast-Blast fruit makes an appearance. Or Bomb-Bomb fruit, judging from the explosion. I sighed, cricking my neck. Either way, that hurt.

Dragging myself out of the rubble, I found that I had been blasted into the kitchen. Nearby, Luna was staring at me with bloodshot eyes crusted with dried tears. A tub of ice cream was pressed to her chest, and a spoon was hanging out of her mouth.

"Eric?" Luna stammered, the spoon falling out of her mouth and dropping into the ice cream.

“Raise the moon and get Rainbow and Pinkie,” I barked, leaping back towards the bombardier.

The figure had reached the guard with the cleaver in his neck. As he yanked his weapon from the guard’s throat, I saw the sun practically falling over the horizon as the moon surged up into the sky. It wasn’t instant, but it was fast enough.

However, my pondering over the sun and moon was put on hold, when the figure spoke… in a voice I recognized.

“Welcome back,” he greeted. “Shade of Umbra.” He cackled and removed his hood, revealing…

“Silver Tongue?” I stammered.

“Glad you remember me, Shade,” the former King’s advisor replied, his face a discolored mess of scars and stitches. “With all the work done on me, I was afraid you wouldn’t recognize me.”

He shed his cloak. His body underneath looked worse than Chucky from Child’s Play. What little mane he had left hung like dead worms over one of his bulging eyes, held in place only by the stitches around his socket. His wings were nothing but bones, protruding from his back, and a belt with another serrated cleaver seemed to be all that was holding his waist and torso together.

“How’d you survive?” I asked, my guard up as we circled each other. “Sombra killed the Crystal Pegasi.”

“He did,” Silver replied. “Granted, when I tried to flee… and he shot me out of the air,” he added with a snarl, “My heart didn’t stop when I hit the snow of the frozen north. Instead, I got to live long enough to find out I landed on top of a Tundra Dragon.” His sneer was distorted by his scars, giving him a disturbing Glasgow grin. “And I think you know how territorial those creatures are.”

I winced. More than anyone, I wanted to reply.

“But,” Silver continued. “Someone saved me. Kept me alive for a thousand years. Of course, my heart stopped eventually… but then my master saved me. Used his powers on my corpse.”

I formed a scythe from the shadows. “What did he do?”

“He gave me life with the shadows,” Silver explained, his distorted grin widening. “And bestowed upon me the power to create explosions. Anywhere on my body.” He indicated the messy remains of the second guard.

It clicked.

The Bomb-Bomb Fruit, I remembered. Allows the user to create explosions from anywhere on their body. Spit, boogers, the very air they exhale… my eyes widened, and I took a big step back. Best keep my distance, I reminded myself. Rely solely on my long ranged attacks and my gun.

"Eric!!" In a flash, Rainbow Dash was at my side, crimson flames licking her body.

"Where's Pinkie?" I asked, drawing my pistol.

"Behind you," Pinkie said cheerfully, before her hand tapped at my back.

"Rainbow, Pinkie,” I explained. “This pony has the powers of the Bomb-Bomb fruit. He's a literal walking bomb!"

Rainbow Dash grinned and cracked her knuckles. "I got this," Rainbow said.

"No!!"

But before I could stop her, she shot at the zombie pony. Smiling, Silver lifted his hand, catching Rainbow’s flaming fist. As their hands connected, Silver fired off a massive explosion. Rainbow was rocketed back faster than she had charged. I formed a claw of shadows and caught the idiotic pegasus like a baseball, but the impact nearly knocked me off my feet.

“As I was saying,” I growled, cowing the cyan mare. “For us Logia types, his explosions won’t do damage, but the force will still throw us back.” I turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie, his explosions will cause burn damage, but your main concern is his cleavers. You remember what I told you about your primary weakness?”

“Slashing and piercing weapons,” she recited. “Big no-no!”

"Good,” I said with a smile. At least one of them had the sense to listen to me. “Now pull your attacks back if he goes to cut. Got it?"

"Okie Dokie Loki," Pinkie said, lowering her stance while I let shadows pour off my body.

“Well, sounds like this will be fun,” Silver noted, unhooking his second cleaver.

For a moment, we glared each other down, all Devil Fruit Users. All waiting for the first move.

After a moment of deliberation, Silver charged forward. Firing explosions from his feet and back, he blasted his way towards us, while throwing his second cleaver at Pinkie. The pink mare dodged and threw a punch at the dead pony’s face. Her punch ricocheted him away from the three of us.

Yet, as Rainbow and I moved to follow up on the attack, I noticed a metal wire around his arm. I just started to follow the wire’s path when he yanked on it. The cleaver flew back to his hand, cutting into Pinkie’s side on the way.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled.

The pink mare replied with a hiss, clutching her bleeding side and staggering away.

I moved to help her, when pain exploded from my right shoulder. I gagged and snatched at whatever had hit me, my fingers closing over something that felt like a head. Roaring in rage, I threw whatever I had caught in front of me. Someone tumbled to the ground, but I didn’t have time to see who. The pain was still coursing from my shoulder all through my body, and worst of all… it was making me tired. Weak. Like only one thing could do.

Sea Prism, I realized with a chill, going for whatever had been embedded in my back. I pulled out a curved dagger with mysterious runes carved into the side. I had no idea what the runes were for. But the fact that it was made of Sea Prism was bad enough.

Movement in front of me reminded me of the person who stabbed me in the first place, and I hurled the dagger at the figure. The figure dodged, but I got a good look at him; another pegasus, stitched up just as much if not worse than Silver. However, this one had scales on parts of his arm and body. He grinned a distorted smile at me before vanishing from view.

Fuck me, my thoughts cursed. We've got the Bomb-Bomb and the Clear-Clear fruit user, and they’ve got blades made from Sea Prism stone. You got any other headaches to give me, universe?!

Thankfully, the universe seemed to be willing to cut me a break for now. Looking up, I saw the moon had reached its peak. I also saw hundreds of bats in the air. All of them converged on the entrance, where I spotted Fluttershy bandaging up Pinkie Pie. A bat was perched on her shoulder, while Rainbow battled with Silver, knocking him back and forth as a ball of rainbow colored fire while Silver futilely tried to blast her.

Suddenly, Fluttershy’s ears perked. She turned to the bat on her shoulder before spinning to Rainbow as she skidded to a stop before Silver.

"Rainbow, behind you!” Fluttershy screamed.

Not even questioning it, Rainbow jumped up, as the Clear-Clear fruit user stumbled forward, his dagger back in hand.

"What are you doing!?" Silver screamed. “You were supposed to kill her"

"Not my fault,” the other pony argued. “The yellow one saw me somehow!”

As I exchanged a look with Fluttershy, it clicked in my mind. The bats! Fluttershy’s Devil Fruit let her understand all animals. And bats had echo-location; they could detect the Clear-Clear fruit user no matter how invisible he tried to make himself.

“Alright,” I said gladly, my own power rising with the darkness of night. “Rainbow, focus on protecting the others.”

“You got it,” Rainbow replied, planting herself before Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy,” I continued. “Tell your bat friends to keep an eye on that invisible pony. Don’t let him get the jump on us, got it?”

“Y-Yes… I understand,” Fluttershy replied. Her voice wavered, but she stood tall alongside Rainbow Dash, trying her best to look brave.

Forming another scythe in my hands, the dead advisor and I circled each other like wolves.

"Your master must be good,” I commented, twirling my scythe in hand. “If he was able to make your friends weapons out of Sea Prism stone.”

“Sea Prism?” Silver asked, his grip tightening on his cleaver. “I have no clue what that is. My master forged our weapons using his own fire.”

His own fire? Before I could ask more, Fluttershy cried out.

“Eric! On your right!”

I swung right with my fist; the crack of a broken nose and the feeling of cartilage bending under my knuckles was my reward. Silver’s crony faded into view, holding his nose and cursing. Forming a claw over my arm, I back-handed the sneak into the castle. Silver tried to take advantage of my distraction, but I slashed with my scythe, forcing him back. We went back to circling each other.

“So, what’s your big plan?” I asked, moving my scythe to my claw arm and forming another claw over my freed hand. “Kill me and the other fruit users?”

Silver chuckled. “You always were good at seeing plans, Shade,” he commented. “My master wants an entire army of power fruit users. And he knows how to get the power fruits from those who have reaped their rewards.”

I snorted in laughter. “Power Fruits? Seriously?” I asked. “That’s what you call them?”

Silver blinked, his distorted grin fading in confusion.

“Silver,” I chastised. “They’re called Devil Fruits.”

“And your master can’t have them!” another voice boomed. I didn’t need to look; I knew that Luna had joined Fluttershy, Rainbow and Pinkie, along with the rest of the Mane Six from the way Silver’s eyes widened in nervousness.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I swiped at him with my left claw. The stallion dodged and tried to knock me back with an explosion. But the shadows of the night came to my aid, and the blast was little more than wind blowing on my chest. I took another swing at Silver with my scythe, but he fired an explosion from his chest, backing far out of range.

“You won’t win, Silver,” I taunted. “My Devil Fruit’s a Logia-Type. Your explosions do nothing to me!”

“Not against you, maybe,” Silver admitted, reaching behind his back and breaking off one of his wing bones. Despite it looking rather painful, his sneer didn’t fade. “But what about them?”

His eyes darted to the mares. In the second it took me to follow his gaze, he put the bone to his mouth… and I saw that the bone was hollow.

A blow gun! My thoughts screamed in realization.

Silver shot a breath through the tube. I reached out to cover the ponies, but his crony came out of nowhere, stabbing my arm and cutting off control to my powers.

Three explosions blocked the ponies from my view. My heart dropped when I heard their screams. But when the smoke cleared… Pinkie Pie stood in front of everyone. Her head, leg and chest were all bleeding. Her hair was deflated, and cast a shadow over her eyes as she breathed heavily.

“No one…” she growled. “Hurts… my… friends…”

Despite her vow, she was staggering. I didn’t know how long she could hold herself up. I slammed my head into the pony stabbing me, and yanked his dagger from my arm.

“Rainbow!” I ordered. “Get Pinkie to the medical ward. Same as the rest of you!”

“But we can help!” Luna insisted, only to stammer to a stop as the shadows began to swirl around me.

“Believe me,” I said. "You're not going to want see what I do next!"

Taking the hint, Luna and the Mane Six bundled Pinkie inside. Well… almost all of them. Fluttershy stood off to the side, speaking quietly with her bat friend, as the bat’s ears twitched and it searched for the invisible pony.

But I had no time to worry about the yellow mare. My focus was on Silver, who was backing up in shock as the shadows encased me in night-black armor.

"You should feel honored, Silver Tongue,” I growled. “For you get to witness my ultimate Shadow creation. The Shadow Reaper!”

Silver stared up at me with fear. The shadows had completely encased me in a twenty foot tall cloak of darkness. An extremely large skull covered my face, giving me the look of a real Grim Reaper. My scythe had grown to an impressive size, the blade alone was twice the length of Silver's entire body.

"W-What are you waiting for?” Silver ordered at what seemed to be empty air. “Kill him!"

But his partner slowly faded back into view. His terrified eyes darted from Silver to me and then back to Silver… and then back to me.

“Oh, buck this,” he muttered. Tossing his daggers aside, he took to the air. “I’m outta here!”

“You coward!” Silver screamed. But before he could try to fire an explosion at his traitorous ally, the pony turned invisible. Silver Tongue was on his own.

Screaming in both fear and frustration, Silver blasted several explosives at me. But with a swing of my scythe, I cut through not only the explosions… but also his neck.

As Silver’s head detached from his body, his eyes widened for the last time in disbelief. Bringing my scythe back around, I cut cleanly through his head and down the middle of his body. Before the four quarters could hit the ground, I gave the scythe several more swings, slicing and dicing him until all that was left was a red puddle of what looked like chunky tomato sauce. With a slow breath, I let the shadows depart from me, returning to their proper places as the Shadow Reaper faded away. Faintly, I heard Fluttershy’s bat twittering.

"Where is he?" I asked the mare.

Listening to her bat for a moment, she grabbed one of Silver’s cleavers, and handed it to me before pointing. Taking careful aim, I threw the cleaver… and was rewarded with a scream of pain. The pony’s arm turned visible as it plummeted to the earth. A few seconds later, it’s owner became visible as well, shrieking bloody murder as he clutched at his stump. I summoned a shadow tendril, and the pony took a moment from mourning his arm to turn invisible again. But when I launched my tendril, it wrapped around his severed arm, bringing it back to me.

“Um… pardon me,” Fluttershy mumbled. “But I think you missed.”

"Nope,” I replied. “I got what needed.” I held up the arm proudly. Fluttershy shivered at the sight, sub-consciously holding her own arm.

"W-What good will that do?" she asked.

I indicated the white scales sewn into the arm; snow white and glistening like diamonds. “You see these scales?” I asked. “There’s only one creature that has scales like this.”

“They are… rather pretty,” Fluttershy commented, before her ears pricked. “Wait. Only one creature?”

“These are scales from a creature in the Frozen North,” I explained. “These are the scales of a Tundra Dragon.”
> Music in the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a couple of days since Silver's assault. While Eric had recovered from the wounds inflicted upon him, Pinkie Pie was still recovering, and the others were constantly checking on both of them.

Which left them ill-prepared for the choice that Luna was given.

It was a quiet night. Luna had just finished monitoring the dreams of Equestria, and had wandered down to the kitchen for a midnight snack. The servants usually had a bowl of fruit waiting for her. But when Luna arrived at the kitchen, she noticed a strange new fruit waiting in her bowl:

Round as one of Pinkie’s party bombs, with odd swirling patterns around its dark skin.

Luna took the fruit in hand, and she could feel the power churning inside. This had to be one of the Devil Fruits Eric had spoken about. Just waiting to bestow its magic upon its lucky founder.

But… what was Luna to do? On one hand, she could hand the fruit over to her sister. They could improve the might of the Royal and Naval Guards, and ensure a far better defense for Equestria.

But, on the other hand, Eric had been dead-set on gathering the fruits. And not without good reason; Silver, Ashen, Toxic, and even Lightning Dust were all – formerly – living proof of what happened when the Devil Fruits fell into the wrong hands. What if Celestia couldn’t stop this fruit from going to someone like the villains they had fought.

Luna held the fruit in her hands, quietly contemplating it. Suddenly, she heard the soft rhythm of piano keys. The mournful cry of a violin. 



Drawn by their soothing melody, Luna found herself following it. It drew her like a lure draws a fish to the Gala Ballroom.

She wasn’t the only one. Gathered at the doorway were Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight, all peeking inside curiously.

Joining them at the entrance, Luna peeked into the Ballroom. On the stage sat Eric, wearing only his pants and a sleeveless t-shirt showing off his back and arms. It might have been a fine sight if not for the bandages and scars marring his visage.

A black wood violin was nestled under his chin, glistening in the moonlight as he played with his eyes closed. A short distance away, a shadow in his shape played the gala piano.

Both played with passion, and yet also grace. The music sounded of sorrow, yet also enthusiasm and joy. As the ponies watched, the various animals that inhabited the garden were drawn to his music. The critters stared at the man in awe, stars glittering across their eyes.

Then the Man of Shadows opened his eyes and saw the crowd he had gained. He froze, his shadow fading away. And with the cessation of music, the animals moped before scurrying back to their garden homes. Eric just shut his eyes with a sigh before lowering his violin.

"Heh,” he chuckled. “You always said I lose myself when I play." But when he turned, he saw the ponies watching him.

“Jesus Christ!” he yelped, tripping over the pedestal and falling to the ground.

Immediately Luna rushed to help him but stopped short, his fury from the prior days flashing across her mind. Pushing himself up, Eric checked on his violin. Turning the instrument over Luna caught sight of an engraving carving on the backside.

Always play from the heart my...

The engraving was unfinished but it was clear who it was for. Luna felt her heart break even more. No matter how hard she wanted his love, it would only be a dream at best. Eric would never have room in his heart for anyone other than his wife.

"Wow,” Applejack mumbled. “Ah'm shocked. Ah didn't know someone who commands the shadows themselves knew how to play an instrument like that.”

Eric chuckled, but before he could say anything, a light blue aura snatched the violin from his grasp.

“The craftsmanship is absolutely stunning,” Rarity gushed, unaware of the Shadow Man’s eyes turning red. “What’s this engraving?” She peered at the inscription on the side. “Was this for some…?”

Before she could continue, Eric snatched the violin away. Rarity backed up, fear entering her eyes at the sight of his furious black and red pupils.

"Don't EVER touch this Violin,” he snarled.

Yelping in fright, Rarity fled behind Twilight, who summoned a shield with a spell.

“Eric, calm down,” Twilight begged as the shadow man glowered at them. “She didn’t know.”

For a moment, Eric seethed, looking more than ready to bash through her shield. However, he regained control of himself at the last minute, and his eyes returned to normal. He carefully stored the violin in his shadows.

Twilight hesitantly put her shield down, but her horn still stayed alight as Eric turned his gaze back to the white mare.

"I'm sorry, Rarity,” he said. “But I tend to get a little touchy on things I hold dear to me."

She nodded, not daring to say anything more, and Eric turned to leave.

“Now hold on just a sec, shadow man,” Applejack said before he could walk out. “Yer forgetting something.”

Eric looked back, his eyes widening as she lifted a familiar fruit.

“The Dice-Dice Fruit,” he whispered, taking it from her hand. “Where did you get this?”

“Ah saw one of the guards sneaking away from his post,” she replied. “And when I followed him, I found the varmint trying to eat it.”

For a moment, Eric turned the fruit over in his hand, contemplating the possibilities. Just as Twilight started to pull out her own Devil Fruit… he handed it back to Applejack.

“Eat it,” he said, turning to Twilight and Luna, spotting the fruits in their hands. “You too, Twilight. We start training tomorrow.”

“Training?” Twilight asked.

“Training fer what?” Applejack asked.

"Silver Tongue said that his master wanted an army of Devil Fruit users,” Eric replied, taking the fruits from Luna and Twilight. “Key word there is army." He peered at the fruits as he spoke. "Whoever brought Silver back has a Devil Fruit and is making an army of the Undead."

“You mean… zombies?” Twilight asked.

Eric didn’t reply at first, grinning as he recognized the fruits. “Bomb-Bomb and Flower-Flower,” he muttered, turning to the others. “Where’d you find these?”

"I found the bomb shaped one in a bowl of fruit in the kitchen,” Luna replied.

“Spike found the Flower-Flower and gave it to me,” Twilight added. “I’ve been studying it for the past week.”

Eric grinned and handed the Flower-Flower back to her.

"In my opinion,” he said. “That one is the perfect Devil Fruit for you." He stored the Bomb-Bomb fruit in his shadow.

Luna blinked at him. “Eric!” she stammered.

"Sorry Luna, but Devil Fruits are basically trouble magnets," he explained. "Those who seek power will try and kill you for it."

Twilight paled, suddenly handling the Flower-Flower Fruit like it was a bomb. “Then… why give them to us?” Twilight asked, her magic stopping Applejack from downing her own fruit.

"Because I’ll need your help in the Frozen North,” he replied. “And if you don’t want to die a painful death, you’ll need the Devil Fruits.”

Applejack and Twilight shared a look, before mutually downing their Fruits. Disgusted shudders ran through their bodies, but Eric could see the power of the fruits already coursing through their bodies.

"What about the Royal and Navel Guards?" Luna asked. "Are they not joining you in this venture to the Frozen North?"

“No, they are not,” Eric replied grimly. “Without Sea Prism Stone or Haki your guard will only be living meat shields.”

"Eric!” Rarity gasped, scandalized. “Surely you don't mean…” She stammered into a squeak of horror at his grin. “Oh, you do. You truly do!”

“Don’t worry; it’s not going to be now,” he said, adopting the same tone he had used as Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard. “An ill-prepared army going against a prepared army isn’t even a fight.” His grin faded. “It’s a massacre.”

“I… assume you speak from experience?” Luna asked.

Eric’s head lowered. “One time, we went to exterminate a hive of Changelings that were abducting crystal ponies. We thought it would be a simple bug hunt.” His eyes closed. “But we didn’t anticipate a Yak ambush. While we were trying to fend the brutes off, the changelings attacked us at full force."

Twilight gasped and covered her mouth, while Applejack took off her hat. Eric barely noticed, almost trapped in the memory.

“Two hundred soldiers went to fight for their Empire,” he whispered, a shadow casting over him. “Only one returned.”

Luna’s eyes widened. She recalled the first scene she had observed in his dreams. The War Zone. The bodies. Pony, changeling and yak alike. The pain and guilt of telling the loved ones of the fallen that their brothers, husbands and fathers were never returning. The pain must have been truly great on the Shadow Man’s heart and mind.

Wearied by the memory, Eric left the four behind. However, Luna continued after him. It didn’t take long for him to notice her.

“Tell me, Luna,” he said, causing the Lunar Princess to back up. “How many times are you going to follow me down the hall this week.”

"Eric…” Luna began. “I just wanted to say… I’m sorry. For…”

“No,” he said, turning around. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. You were trying to gather information on a possible threat; you were trying to protect your kingdom.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So… sorry for… not understanding that.”

Luna smiled slightly as Eric turned and returned to his room.

Once inside Eric ran a hand through his hair before placing the other hand over his face. He exhaled in frustration.

I can’t go through that again, he thought. It can't happen again. I will not know the pain of telling their families that they won't return. I will NEVER know that pain again!








The Next Day


The next day, I sent summons to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack. Telling them to meet me at the training grounds. I sat shrouded in shadows, as the five stood side by side with each other.

"So…” Rainbow asked. “Did Eric mention why we’re here?”

"Oh! Maybe he’s throwing me a 'Congratulations-on-Recovering' party!” Pinkie suggested happily. Applejack grinned.

“Twi ‘n ah have another idea,” she replied.

Before she could explain, I surfaced from the shadows. Right in front of them. I chuckled at the way most of them yelped and backed up from me. They reminded me of when I was training the Royal Guards. Not a single one had ever managed to avoid yelping when I just rose out of darkness like that.

Ah, I thought in relief. It’s good to be a Captain again.

“I’ve asked you all here for one reason and one reason alone,” I said, my hands behind my back. "To train."

Rainbow and AJ looked at each other with wide grins of excitement. Pinkie and Fluttershy, however, looked at each other with nervous confusion. Twilight, on the other hand, just peered at me, her fingers itching for parchment and quills to write notes on. Noticing the look on the others, Rainbow’s look of excitement vanished.

“Okay,” Rainbow said. “I get me, and Pinkie. Maybe even AJ. But… why Twilight and Fluttershy? No offense, girls,” she added, giving them a sad look.

"Because each of you have taken a Devil Fruit,” I explained brusquely. “And that makes you the best we’ve got for taking on whatever’s waiting for us in the Frozen North.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, and she glanced at AJ and Twilight with shock. “Before you ask, Rainbow Dash,” I added. “Applejack’s taken the Dice-Dice, and Twilight has the Flower-Flower Fruit.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes glittered, and she struggled to hold back a massive laugh.

“Something funny, Rainbow?” Twilight asked irritably.

“You got… the what?” Rainbow asked, her chuckles escaping as she asked. “The Flower-Flower Fruit?” she laughed. “I’m almost not surprised. An egg-head like you gets flowers and petals, while the awesome one gets flames.” With a laugh, she demonstrated her Devil Fruit, lightning up like a living torch.

Twilight glowered at Rainbow’s show-boating, but I merely grinned.

“Alright, Rainbow,” I said, pointing to the end of the training field. “Stand over there.”

Rainbow Dash’s grin faded. “W-Wait, what…?”

“When I tell you to,” I continued. “Rush Twilight. And go as fast as possible.”

"WHAT!?" Twilight exclaimed, as even Rainbow Dash gave her a worried look.

“Trust me,” I said, taking Twilight under my arm and leading her to the other end of the training field. “Think of this as a lesson to teach Rainbow,” I whispered to her.

Twilight gasped in realization, before grinning. Rainbow tilted her head at our quiet exchange, but obeyed, flying to the end of the training field and waiting for my order.

“Now,” I explained to Twilight. “The name may sound like one thing, but the only thing involving flowers are the petals that appear from its use.” I pointed at her arms. “Your Devil fruit allows you to grow any body part on any – and I do mean any – surface.”

Twilight blinked. “And I… can control these…” my grin answered her before she could even finish her question. “Oh!” she gasped in awe.

I held out my hand.

“Cross your arms over your chest,” I instructed. “And imagine your arm coming from my hand.”

Twilight did as she was told. And within seconds, petals flew from my hand, followed by a purple arm.

“Good,” I said, clenching my fist and dissipating the arm with a flash of petals. I turned her to Rainbow Dash, kneeling next to her. “Now, face Rainbow Dash,” I instructed. “And tell me; how would you stop a speeding pegasus?”

“Well,” Twilight began, her horn already sparking. “I could try and blind them with a…”

I touched her horn. “No magic,” I reminded her. “Devil Fruit only.”

“Oh! R-Right,” she stammered. “Well then, I’d… probably keep her wings from moving.”

“Then do it,” I replied, standing up from her, and lifting my gun. “Rainbow!” I boomed, before firing my gun into the air.

Rainbow took off charging at Twilight with a grin on her face, Closing her eyes to concentrate Twilight crossed her arms before her. I could see her imagining where she wanted the arms to surface from.

With a flurry of petals, two arms sprout from Rainbow's back and took a firm grip on her wings.

“What the…?!” Rainbow Dash yelped, before screaming as she crashed into the ground. Skidding past Twilight, she hit the other side of the training ground with a THUD, the arms vanishing from her back with another flurry of petals. 

Flashing a smile at Twilight, I made my way towards the downed pegasus. Lowering myself to the pony, I tapped her forehead.

"Has the arrogant little pony learned her lesson?" I asked.

Rainbow Dash groaned, before rolling to her back. I helped her up, and turned to the others as she dusted herself off.

"Let this be a lesson to you all." I said. "Underestimate a Devil Fruit User and you pay with your life!"

Fluttershy whimpered. Her face was pure fear. She turned to try and sneak away, but I was faster on the draw. She barely got the chance to turn away from me before she found herself facing my shadow clone.

“Sorry,” I said through the clone. “But you’re coming with us to the Frozen North.”

"B-But I..." Fluttershy almost started to cry as she turned back to me. By that point, I had walked up right behind her, and she yelped at my sudden approach, leaping back into my shadow clone.

“Your fruit gives you the only chance we have of staying safe from Tundra Dragons,” I explained.

"But I'm not strong like Rainbow and Applejack,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I'm not smart like Twilight! I'm certainly not as agile as Pinkie!

I knelt down and placed my hands on her shoulders.

“You are the only one who can speak to animals,” I replied. She smiled softly at the thought. “But you also need to know how to fight back when you’re in danger.”

Turning to the others, I lifted a piece of their shadows. Turning back to my own, I mixed the two sources of darkness together, creating five perfect copies of the Devil Fruit Users.

"Rainbow! Pinkie!" I barked, bringing them to my sides. "The best way to know victory is to know yourselves. Strengths and weaknesses."

"Ha!” Rainbow Dash began, only to falter under my glare.

"Before you even say it; everyone has weaknesses,” I warned her. “Even the mighty Rainbow Dash!”

Her eyes narrowed in defiance… only to widen in confusion when I dropped into my shadow. Emerging from the shadow behind her, I caught her with a shadow tendril around the neck.

“Yours?” I told the cyan mare. “Are water and magma.”

“G-Got it,” she stammered, gripping at the tendril around her neck. I released her and turned to the others.

"I'm aware of how you all act as a team,” I said, as the shadow clones drifted to different parts of the training field. “So, today, each of you will be trained separately!"

The ponies walked after their shadow counterparts – some like Fluttershy reluctantly, others like Applejack with more determination – and I walked after Applejack, ready to help the others throughout the rest of the day.

“So how do ah use this fruit thing?" Applejack asked as I followed after her.

“Well to start, relax,” I told her. “And trust your instincts.”

Applejack nodded, and took a breath, facing her shadow clone. But as she stared the clone down… she slowly turned back to her hands.

“I… still got nothing,” she admitted.

I glanced at the others. Rainbow Dash was screaming in frustration at her double.

Pinkie Pie was cackling with glee as she dodged around her own clone like a game of keep-away.

Twilight had her double pinned, her eyes shut in concentration.

And… Fluttershy was cowering as her double just stared blankly at her.

I let out a breath of frustration, rubbing the back of my head.

This is going to take even longer than I thought, I muttered in my head.
> Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was fully awake at the crack of dawn. Ever since I became the Captain of the Guard, I could never sleep past that time. While Sombra slept nearby, I had my feet on my bed, doing my morning pushups.

And seething at how bad our situation was.

A full week had passed, and the other Devil Fruit Users had been doing abysmal. Applejack had yet to call her Devil Fruit forward. Fluttershy was constantly trying to hide and bury her head in the dirt like an ostrich. Rainbow Dash refused to admit her weaknesses. Pinkie treated the whole thing like a game. And Twilight…

Well, now that I thought of it, Twilight was at least trying to take this whole thing seriously.

But that wasn’t even mentioning the amount of times our training got cut off by attacks from more zombie ponies looking to steal our Devil Fruits. None of the zombies had Devil Fruits themselves, thank God. But they still were always attacking at night. It made it hard to tell if someone was sending them in using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit or some other Zombie Devil fruit.

I longed for Zecora and her book; it’d be able to tell me what was going on. I briefly considered shadow jumping over there, but dismissed it. She probably wasn’t an early bird like I was, and it would take too much focus to jump there and back. I’d give myself a splitting headache and be out for the next thirty six hours.

“Fluttershy’s the main problem,” I muttered to myself, finishing my pushups and moving to sit ups. “A unit is no better than its weakest member. Let’s see… she’s timid around ponies, but acts better around animals… maybe I should ask Twilight…”

“Hm…” a low moan came from Sombra, though he didn't open his eyes. “Eric, can you please keep it down?” He rolled over. “A King needs his rest.”

I paused, considering that. Technically, he wasn’t the King anymore. But…

“Thanks for reminding me,” I declared, finishing my last situp and rolling to my feet. I summoned a club from my shadow. “RISE AND SHINE, YOUR MAJESTY!” I boomed, slamming my club into the foot of his bed and launching him into the wall.

“HMM MM GMM!” He swore as he tangled in his sheets. Peeling the former king from the wall, I grinned down at him as he looked up at me with seething rage.

“I will gut you in your sleep,” he vowed through clenched teeth.

“Good luck with that,” I replied with a laugh. Reaching into my shadow, I pulled out his personal saber. “Now… you may not be the King anymore. But that doesn’t mean you can slouch on your Saber skills.” I motioned for him to follow and walked out of the room.

“Even after all these weeks, you insist on calling me your king?” Sombra asked, following me out.

"I don't care what they say,” I replied. “They may have stripped us of our ranks and titles but that doesn't mean anything as long as we hold power to command!" I turned to Sombra and tossed him his saber. "No matter what the princesses say, I am still the Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard as well as the Reaper of the Crystal Empire; a name that struck fear in all those who witness my combat prowess!"

"Well that's just you,” Sombra commented. “I have no power left to command.”

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Crystal King,” I indicated his saber. “Or would you rather be called by the other name that holds power: Combat King."

"I am no King," Sombra said somberly, looking down at his saber. "A king protect his subjects. He doesn't kill or enslave them.”

Ignoring Sombra's comments, I pulled him into the training ground, only to find someone already inside.

My eyes widened, as I watched an orange pony deliver a devastating kick to a metal dummy. Other dummies lay scattered across the training room floor, and her forehead was beaded with sweat. Her teeth were also clenched, and a vein throbbed in her head, a sure sign of someone that had been working hard for hours, and had made little progress.

"Has,” Sombra mumbled in shock. “Has she been training all night?"

“She’s frustrated,” I replied. “Twi, Pinkie and Rainbow have gotten a handle on their Devil Fruits. She still can’t even turn a finger into a blade.”

Almost as if my words had briefly empowered her, a glint of sunlight reflected off her legs, like they were turning to metal. But then they returned to normal, merely denting the dummy rather than cutting it. My eyes widened in realization.

“But she’s focusing on the wrong places,” I whispered, pulling my guardsman sword.

“What do you mean?” Sombra asked.

Just watch,” I replied, drawing the sword as shadow mist left my body.

I charged. Applejack’s ears twitched, and she swung her left leg around. Her leg clashed against my blade. But instead of blood, there was the spark of metal hitting metal. I smiled and leaped back, lowering my blade.

"What In tarnation?" Applejack mumbled, staring down at her leg. Though it had already shifted back to normal.

"That’s the effect of the Dice-Dice Fruit," I replied, sheathing my blade.

"Ah don't understand,” she insisted. “Why couldn't I use it before?"

"Probably because your strengths lie in your legs rather than your fists,”

“But… how’d ya move so fast? I didn’t even see ya.”

“Shave Technique,” I replied. “It’s one of six powerful techniques called the Six Powers. Took me years to master all of them.”

"The Six Powers?" Applejack asked.

"Techniques that require great amount of training to acquire. I don’t really use them, but…” Suddenly, an idea formed in my mind. “Hey. Let’s try something.”

“What is it?” she asked. I pointed at the dummy she had been wailing on.

“Throw a kick at that dummy.”

She laughed. “That all?” She started to fix her stance, but I stopped her, and pulled her back a few feet.

“Just throw a kick,” I insisted. “Don’t jump forward. Don’t try to close the distance. Don’t assume you’re going to hit it physically.”

She tilted her head. “Did you hit yer head, partner? I can’t hit somethin’ without… well, hitting somethin’!”

"Trust me,” I said. “Just kick. With all your might.”

Still grimacing at my idea, Applejack put her foot back, and kicked. At first, nothing seemd to happen. She glared at me, irritated.

“See?” she asked. “I told ya…”

But I moved to the dummy, and smiled. Turning to her, I pointed out a small nick on the dummy’s chest.

"Don’t be so sure about that, farm girl,” I replied, indicating the cut. “You see this?” She tilted her head at it. “This is from an extremely weak Tempest Kick.”

"Tempest what-now?"

"One of the Six Powers, which allows one to kick so hard they can turn the air itself into a razor sharp blade.” I smirked at her look of disbelief.

“Y-Ya gotta be jokin,” She insisted, as I walked away and lifted my own leg. “There’s no way anyone could…”

With a swift kick, I sent an air blade through the dummy. I split it diagonally, the top half slamming on the ground and sending up a cloud of dirt. A slash mark even appeared against the wall. Applejack’s words died in her mouth, her jaw hanging agape at the display.

"What...In… Tarnation...?" she stuttered.

"That,” I lowered my stance. “Was the Tempest Kick. With the proper training anyone can do it.” I swatted at her flank. “I suggest you start training your legs."

Applejack's dumbfounded expression turned into a determined glare. "Until they break," she replied.

"That's the spirit," I flashed a smile to the orange mare before turning to Sombra. "Alright Sombra. Time to...."

I stopped short. Instead of Sombra, a trail of kicked up dirt lay before me. My vision briefly shifted to red.

“That… Mother Fucker…” I growled, struggling to remain calm. Applejack helped.

“Ah take it Sombra ain’t too keen to train with ya,” she commented.

"His swordsmanship is going to falter when he needs it most," I replied. I let out a frustrated sigh. "I’ve trained hundreds of soldiers… and their king. And yet, none of them have ever treated it like a game, refused to admit their own weaknesses, and none of them have ever been this afraid of their own shadows.”

Applejack faltered. “Yer referring to Pinkie, Dash and Flutters, ain’t cha?”

“That obivious?” I asked sarcastically. I sighed again. “The longer we wait, the more our enemy grows.”

“Well, why not leave em here?”

"One, the Tundra Dragons are severely dangerous when one enters their territory. Fluttershy could be invaluable for that. Second; if any one of those zombies wields the Glint-Glint Fruit, then I’m done.”

"That fruit’s yer weakness?"

“It gives it’s user the ability to control Light; the weakness of all shadows.” As I spoke, I drew my sword, going through the sword drills. Sombra wasn’t there, but using the sword felt a bit better than pacing.

"What are ya going to do then?" asked the earth pony.

"Well first I need to fix the weakest link in this unit,” I replied.

Applejack grimaced. “Flutters, right?” I glanced at her. “C’mon, I’m her friend, and even I can see it; the poor girl hates fighting.”

“But she doesn’t understand,” I insisted. “Her fruit can be extremely powerful. She just has to awaken it’s hidden potential.” I swung my sword and pivoted back to Applejack. “That fruit can do more than communicate with animals; it also give the user the ability to control them!"

But Applejack shook her head. “She won’t do that,” she insisted. “She cares too much about the animals.”

I paused, sheathing my sword. “What was that?” I asked.

“She… cares too much about em?” she replied.

I grinned. Walking to the orange mare, I put both hands on her shoulder.

“Applejack,” I said. “You are an absolute genius.”

She blinked at me in confusion. “I just… told the truth,” she mumbled.

But I didn’t have time for technicalities. Dropping into my shadow, I resurfaced in Twilight's room. To my surprise, Twilight was still awake. And even better, she was practicing with her powers. Her arms were crossed over her chest, while numerous other arms covered the walls and ceiling.

“Well done,” I noted.

She yelped in surprise, the arms vanishing in a flash of petals.

“Oh, Eric,” she stammered. “I was just… um…” she crossed her arms behind her. “What can I do for you?”

“I need help with Fluttershy’s training,” I replied. “And I think you’re the only one who can help.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “How?”







Fluttershy was tending to the animals in the garden. As a black hand emerged behind her, she blinked in surprise as the animals scattered.

“What’s wrong,” she started to ask… just as the hand grabbed hold of her tail. “No!” she screamed as she was dragged away. “Leave me alone! No!”

But the hand was insistent, and dragged her into the shadows. Giving up, the yellow pegasus covered her eyes and whimpered, waiting for death as she was pulled upside down.

“You can open your eyes, Fluttershy,” I said calmly above her.

Fluttershy’s eyes shot open, finding herself inches from my face. She blinked in shock.

"Oh! H-hello Eric," whispered the pegasus. With a nervous glance down – or up, from my perspective – she tried to keep her skirt from falling up. "Um… could you… um, you know… put me down now?" she asked shyly.

With a grin, I set her on the ground. The instant she was down, she scrambled to her feet and looked for the exits. Unfortunately, I had planned for that. All the exits were blocked in darkness. No one there but us.

“Um… where’s the exit?” she whimpered.

“First,” I said, “You gotta save that.” I pointed to a box covered with a black sheet.

Fluttershy’s ears dropped. Her eyes widened in fear. “But…”

The sheet flew away with a flourish. Sitting in the box, beating its little white paws against the bars, was a single white rabbit. Fluttershy’s eyes went wide.

“Angel?!” she stammered. She moved to free it, only to fall over Eric’s outstretched foot.

“Hang on,” I replied, as a shadow double appeared next to the cage, and opened it up. At the same time, several other shadows separated from my own and began to rise. Fluttershy gaped in alarm as they took the shape of large, feral wolves with jagged teeth, razor sharp claws and burning red eyes.

“Shadow Wolf Pack,” echoed through the shadows.

The shadow wolves turned to me. And I uttered one simple command:

"Kill it.”

They barely got to moving before Fluttershy was trying to race for the rabbit. Once again, I caught her by the back of the sweater. I threw her away as the wolves chased the rabbit through the shadows.

“Eric, stop!” Fluttershy pleaded. “This is cruel!”

“You want to save it?” I asked, shadows wafting from my body. “Fight!”

Her teeth gritted. She gazed at the rabbit, as it valiantly ducked and dodged the wolves. Whimpering in fear, Fluttershy tried to dodge past me, but my foot caught her in the stomach, and knocked her further away.

“Please, it’s just an innocent rabbit!” Fluttershy begged.

“Get past me and you can save it,” I ordered.

But she remained on her hands and knees. Tears spilled down her eyes.

“Why are you doing this?” she sobbed.

“Because if you don’t learn how to fight, you’ll die,” I replied bluntly. “And if you die…” I indicated the rabbit as one of the wolves managing to smack it with a paw. “Who will take care of your animals?”

“I…” Fluttershy stammered, her eyes only on her rabbit.

“No one,” I answered for her. “You die. And then they’ll die. “Now, are you going to let them die, or are you going to fight to protect them?”

Her fists clenched. With a scream… she vanished. I blinked in shock before she suddenly reappared in front of me, an expression of rage adorning her delicate features and her fist drawn back. My eyes widened.

“That was the Shave Technique!?”

Before I could stop her, her fist plunged into my face, throwing me backward. A burst of pain surprised me, racing from my nose all the way to the back of my skull. Even the shadow wolves paused in their torment of the rabbit, staring at me in disbelief.

“That… hurt?!” I thought. I looked up at Fluttershy, who briefly glowered at me before lunging to help her rabbit. She didn’t even seem to notice what was on the tips of her knuckles. “She has an aptitude for Armament Haki!”

I smiled. With a snap, the wolves backed away from her, vanishing back into my shadow. Fluttershy stared around, her arms around her rabbit, before the sound of my clapping caused her to turn back to me.

"I'm proud of you Fluttershy,” I declared. “Not only did you manage to land a hit on me… but you also used the Shave Technique.”

“The what?” Fluttershy asked.

"Look at your knuckles,” I encouraged.

Glancing down, Fluttershy blinked. A black substance covered her knuckles.

“W-What the fudge cake…?” she stammered, trying to rub it off. I took her hand and held out the black marks.

"That is Armament Haki,” I explained. “Think of it as a layer of armor.” I held up her hand. “This type of Haki is the physical manifestation of one's own will.” I looked at her in pride. “Your will to protect the animals."

Fluttershy gazed down at her rabbit, who was clinging to her chest like a baby. My hand started to fall over it, but Fluttershy yanked it away, a fire coming back into her eyes.

“I have no intention of harming it,” I promised, holding my hand out.

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed… only for the rabbit to squirm out of her arms and leap into my hand.

“He’s right, Fluttershy,” the rabbit said, in a voice that made Fluttershy’s ears perk up.

“T-Twilight?” she stammered.

I tossed the rabbit in the air. With a flash of light, the rabbit vanished… and Twilight appeared, landing gracefully on the ground.

“B-But how?” Fluttershy stammered.

"I just used a harmless spell that allowed me to take the form of one of the rabbits in the garden before you arrived,” Twilight replied. “And then I used an illusion spell to make it look like the real thing.”

“That… I…” Fluttershy stammered. “I… suppose that was pretty smart…”

“It was Eric’s idea,” she replied, motioning to me.








~Hours Earlier~


"I need help with Fluttershy's training and you're the only one who can help."

“How?”

"Do you by any chance have a spell that could turn you into one of the animals in the garden?"

Twilight furrowed her brow. Heading over to a bookshelf, she moved her finger over several of the tomes.

“I’m assuming you want to motivate Fluttershy so she can train,” Twilight admitted as she searched. “You’ll need me to look as realistic as possible. I’ll need an illusion spell to top it all… ah!” she cried in pleasure, pulling a book from the shelf and opening it. After a moment of searching…

“Here we are,” she said, grinning. “The spell seems simple… but I’ll need a rabbit to do it.” She set the book back in its place and checked the time. “We’d better get to it now before Fluttershy wakes up. She usually tends to the animals in the garden in about ten minutes.”

“Won’t be a problem,” I replied. Grabbing hold of the unicorn, I dropped us into the shadows, and resurfaced in the shade of the trees.

There, Twilight went to work. With a flash of magic, she hit one of the rabbits, and in a flash of light, she turned into a purple version of one. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulder, making our way to the training ground as she worked her illusion spell, turning her fur a more pale color, and - for some reason - making herself look male. When she noticed me staring, she shrugged.

"Fluttershy has a personal favorite rabbit," she admitted. "Mean little thing, but she absolutely adores him. Hopefully, it'll help."

I hummed, before a thought came to me. “I haven’t seen your brother, recently,” I noted. “Did he go back to the Empire?”

“Yeah,” Twilight admitted as she worked. “When he heard that our enemy stationed himself in the Frozen North, he had to make sure Cadence was safe." As we entered the training grounds, she added, "So how do you want to proceed with this?"

"Well first you're going to sit in a cage made from my shadow while I get Fluttershy in the garden. You're going to have to act just like a scared rabbit, cause I'm going to use my powers and create a pack of shadow wolves to 'kill you.'"

Her eyes widened. "Uh... what?"

"Don't worry," I said quickly. "In reality, they'll just chase and make it look like they'll eat you. During that time I'm going to fight Fluttershy myself and see if she can be brave when pushed." I set her down, as she rubbed her little paw.

“Okay…” she muttered. “So… don’t talk, act scared, and run like my life depends on it.” She nodded. “Anything else?”

“Pray,” I replied coldly. “If this doesn’t work, I may have to drag her into the Frozen North.”


~Present~


"So…. What now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well... I'm going to train you in how to use more of your Armament Haki as well as your combat training.” I grinned and pat her shoulder. “But I promise I will try to be as gentle as possible.”

She bowed her head. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I glanced up at the sky. “Now, all we’ve got left is Rainbow’s Denial, and Pinkie’s childish outlook.” I exhaled. “I honestly don’t know which is going to be harder.”
> Meeting Thanos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weeks passed. I still had yet to get past Rainbow's ego, or Pinkie's childish antics. Needing a break, I took a walk around the city, the curious stares of the ponies a lot better than dealing with the elements of Loyalty and Laughter. Eventually, I made it to the Islands edge. Settling at the shore, I lay on the sand and just enjoyed the sea scented breeze.

"Honestly the one thing I miss from home, is the smell of the breeze that blew in from sea," I said with a smile.

Suddenly, I noticed a glint of gold on the water's edge. Rising to my feet, I noticed the gold was in the shape of a gauntlet. But not just any gauntlet.

I crossed over and lifted it up. Yep, it was the Infinity Gauntlet. Wielded by the Mand Titan Thanos. The stones were missing, but before I could ponder on where they could've gone...

"My name is Thanos, The Mad Titan, a voice rang in my head. Call my name and I shall answer!"

My curiosity was piqued. "Thanos, the Mad Titan!" I called out. "I need your aid! I call upon you!"

Nothing happened. At first.

I was just about to shrug and head back to the castle... when a portal opened up before me.

I jumped back in surprise. Stepping through the portal was the Mad Titan himself. Or, at the very least, the Josh Brolin version of him. Regardless, he towered over me, regarding me with narrowed eyes.

"So," he murmured, his voice still managing to shake the earth. "You're the one who called?" He huffed. "What do you want?"

I dropped the gauntlet. Slowly, I edged into a battle stance. "You the real Thanos?" I asked. "Mad Titan. Conqueror of worlds?"

He merely grinned. "Does it matter?"

His grin was a little disarming. I found myself relaxing, though I still inched my shadow closer in case he tried something violent. "Not really," I admitted casually. "As long as you don't plan on killing any pony."

"Any pony?" the titan asked with a chuckle. "I don't kill people or ponies who annoy me." He looked me up and down. "And you aren't exactly an eyesore. What's your name, little one?"

I narrowed my eyes, insulted. "Eric Von Shadow," I growled. My growl died to a groan as the titan merely laughed again.

"No I meant your real name," he insisted. "I can tell a fake name from a real one."

I glared back at the castle, but thankfully, no one was around but us.

"Eric Monohan," I grumbled. I gave him a more analytical glare. "And are you actually Thanos? Or are you like me?"

He chuckled again. "Technically, name's John Oliver," he replied. "But, if you're going by Von Shadow, I think I'm entitled to go by Thanos."

"Then you might want this," I replied, tossing him his gauntlet. "Well, it's been fun, but you might as well go back." I turned to leave the titan behind. However, he wasn't done.

"What's your title?" Thanos asked.

The question made me stop in my tracks. I turned to him with a grin.

"Reaper of the Crystal Empire," I answered.

"And," he continued, drawing his sword. "Would you like to show me why that's your title?"

I grinned. "Are you really challenging a Devil Fruit User?" I asked, a scythe of shadows forming in my hand.

His grin said it all. I couldn't help grinning myself.

"No killing," I noted, even as I spun my scythe. "Gotta keep this fight exciting."

"LIkewise, Shadow man," Thanos replied. And with twin smiles, we lunged.

Our blades met, his own tearing through mine like tissue paper. Had I not moved to the left the titans blade would have tore off my nose and half my face. Rolling into my dodge, I dropped into my shadow, surfacing a few feet away.

"Don't like the Shadow Scythe, huh?" I asked, drawing the Murakumogiri. "Then how about I get to the good stuff?"

Thanos merely laughed. "Your weapon is heavy on one side," he pointed out. "Such inbalance can't hope to go against me and my blade!"

"Then come get me, Mad Titan," I dared.

He obliged. I let him come, watching as he dropped his sword on me. Using the Shave Technique, I appeared behind him, carving a groove into his armor. The titan wasn't even fazed. He glanced back at me, his eyes sparkling in intrigue.

"The Shave Technique," he commented. "An impressive form."

Suddenly, he vanished from my sight.

"However," he added from behind me. "You're not the only one who knows it!"

I spun with barely enough time to spare. He was bringing his sword down. I was barely able to bring my arm up in time. But when his blade met my limb... he was knocked back. He blinked in shock, eliciting a smile from me.

"If you're familiar with the Shave Technique," I noted. "Then you should recognize the Iron Body." I shoved him back, though it was alot like shoving a brick wall.

"That's two of the Six Powers," he commented. "I take it you have access to all six?"

"Correct," I replied, stabbing my weapon into the ground. "So how bout we make this more fun?" I cricked my neck. "No weapons. No powers. Just combat skills and the Six Powers?"

"Sadly, I've only got three of the six," he replied, shedding his cloak and armor. "But at least it's half, am I right?" He cracked his knuckles.

"Good enough," I replied, shedding my coat. "I'll only use the Shave, Iron Body and the Tempest Kick." I reformed my battle stance. "Whenever you're ready, Thanos."

"Let's gets this fight started, Von Shadow," Thanos replied, vanishing into the air.

Immedaitely I used the Shave Technique to match his speed. His blows, aided by his gauntlet, packed a punch. But by combining my punches with the Iron Body technique, I managed to leave some dents in his armor.

Time flew with our punches. I assume maybe an hour passed. Or a day. Either way, the sun was just kissing the horizon when we backed up, sweat pouring down our bodies and our breath ragged.

Thanos chuckled, despite his exhaustion. "You are quite skilled," he praised. "I'd say you'd even be a match for Lucci."

He threw a Tempest Kick... but my body exploded into shadows when he caught me. He blinked in shock as I reformed.

"You said no powers," he argued.

I shrugged. "That's one part I can't turn off," I replied, before holding my hand out. "Call it a draw?"

He hummed, before taking my hand. "For now," he replied with a knowing grin.

Thanos settled himself down with his arm against his knee. "So... what do you need help with?"

I tilted my head.

"You called me with my token," he reminded me. "Said you needed my aide."

Thinking for a bit, I remembered the problem I've been having for the past several weeks.

"Right," I said with a sheepish grin, settling on the sand as well. "So, about a month ago, we caught wind of a army forming in the Frozen North..."

"And you want me to destroy this army?" he asked with a grin. He laughed before I could even grin. "Sorry, Von Shadow, but without the stones, I'd be at a bit of a disadvantage." He lifted his gauntlet for emphasis.

I chuckled. "No," I confirmed. "But the master of this force wants to amass a army of Devil Fruit users. Now, I've manage to train most of the Mane 6 to properly use their Devil Fruits. However I can't get past Pinkie's childish demeanor and Rainbow's refusal to admit her weaknesses."

The titan brushed his chin, looking up at the Canterlot Castle. "Hm, I see your problem." For a moment, he pondered the sand. "Have you tried a severe fear-based tactic?"

I blinked. "A... what?"

"Hear me out..." he began to explain.





Eric stood pacing back and forth within the training ground. Nearby, Pinkie played with her shadow. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, tumbled out of the air, stomping the ground with a growl of frustration. Eric's gaze matched hers, as he exhaled in an attempt to stay calm.

"Fall in!" Eric barked, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie jumping to position before him. "Once again none of you are taking this seriously," he lecutred. "Hell, even Fluttershy is taking this more seriously than you two."

Pinkie's hair deflated, while Rainbow Dash glowered at him. The Shadow Man rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I'm not trying to be an ass about this," he continued. "I'm trying to get the two of you to understand. Our enemy isn't going to hold back. They will kill us and they won't even bat an..."

Without warning, a fist burst out of Eric's chest, clutching his heart. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash jumped back with screams as a large, purple skinned figure appeared behind the shadow man.

Eric stared at his own heart as the purple figure crushed it in his fist, black blood painting the ground before the figure yanked his fist out. Eric stumbled forward, staring at the new hole in his chest before falling to his knees. Briefly, he looked up at the horrified mares.

"E-Eric...?" Dash whimpered.

"Run," he gasped out. Then he slumped to the ground.

Pinkie screamed, while Rainbow Dash leaped in front of her, seething with grief and rage as the purple figure laughed before them. His golden armor was covered in the stitches of the mysterious zombie fruit wielders. And worst of all, he held a Devil Fruit in his hand. Once which he promptly popped into his mouth.

"The Power!" the monster laughed as shadows started to pour from his body like a early morning mist. "My master shall be pleased." He leered down at the two. "Especially when I bring him two more Power Fruits!"

Rainbow Dash snarled, flames bursting over her body.

"You'll pay for what you did!" she screamed, lauching at the creature like a rocket.

The creature vanished as Rainbow Dash charged, only to reappear behind her. Seizing her hair, the monter halted her charge completely before slamming her into the earth.

"Too slow, Pony," the monster mocked, his boot keeping Rainbow pinned.

"Dashie!" Pinkie squeaked, before trying her own charge. Throwing her arms back, she stretched them to their limits before hurling them at the beast. However, he managed to catch both of her arms with only one massive hand.

"Nice try," he commented, before extending his hand. A shadow tendril launched around the pink mare's neck, squeezing her so her head bulged.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow gasped as her friend struggled for breath.

"You want her to live?" the creature asked. His grip on Pinkie's neck lessened. "Tell me your weaknesses."

Rainbow Dash snarled. "I have none!" she snapped, throwing a fireball at the giant. A shadow wall caught the flames, and dissipated them into nothing.

"Wrong answer." the monster replied, doubling his grip on Pinkie. The pink mare gagged, her face turning blue."

"Wait-wait!" Dash screamed. "Fine!" She lowered her head. "I'm... I'm weak."

"Oh?" The creature asked.

"No matter how hard I try," Dash confessed. "I'm just a pony. I'm not as strong as a dragon or a yak or a minotaur..." Tears welled up in her eyes. "They can at least take a hit and keep on coming."

The beast relaxed his grip on the pink mare.

"I've tried to make up for it," Dash admitted. "I've tried to be fast, so I can never get hit. And my ego's always been there to make it seem like I knew what I was doing. But..." Her head lowered. "But if I get hit... that's it. It doesn't matter how tough or fast I am... I just can't get up after that."

Thanos nodded. "Good girl," he said, dropping Pinkie. The pink mare gave a long gasp of air, her blue face returning to normal. He grinned down at her. "But she still has to die." He drew his blade and stabbed down.

"NO!" Rainbow Dash wailed as Pinkie screamed, breaking down into hysterical sobs. However, as her sobs sounded... they were intermixed with laughter.

Rainbow looked around, blinking her tears away... and gasped. Eric was sitting up. Laughing at her. The hole in his chest was gone! He grinned at Dash as she gaped at him.

"Now was that so hard?" With a wave of his hand, the shadows around Thanos returned to his body. The black stitches faded into the darkness as well.

"You...?" Rainbow Dash stammered, her fire flaring back up as her rage boiled over. "You...!" She looked back and forth between him and Thanos. "Eric, you have five seconds to tell me what in Celestia's name is going on!"

"Or what?" Eric dared. Rainbow Dash turned beet red, but had no comment. Eric shrugged. "But, since you insisted..." he pat Thanos' shoulder. "Meet Thanos. He's a fellow Shade like myself. I brought him here to help with both of your training."

"But he killed Pinkie!" Dash argued.

"Did I?" Thanos asked.

He pulled his blade from the pink mare. There was no sign of blood or gore. Pinkie felt at her chest, staring in disbelief at the lack of a mark. Though her pink fur had nearly paled to white, and her mane was completely deflated.

"All this was," Thanos explained. "Was a means to get you to admit your weaknesses. And for Pinkie to understand that you can't play around with a opponent. They will kill you without hesitation."

"And the Devil Fruit?" Pinkie mumbled.

"I promised him one in exchange for his help," Eric replied nonchalantly.

"Speaking of which, which one did you give me?" the Titan asked.

"The Heat-Heat Fruit." Eric grinned. "With your size I thought it would be perfect for you. Not to mention if you turn hostile, I can take you out easily."

"Pretty cocky for someone who fought me to a standstill." Thanos shot back, though he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"Eric!!" Rainbow screamed from under Thanos' boot, regaining the attention of the two displaced humans.

"Right. Sorry," the Shadow Man apologized. With a motion from him, Thanos got off Rainbow Dash. "So with the help of Thanos I managed to get the both of you to finally understand the severity of our situation."






~Earlier~


"I kill you." Thanos said.

I blinked in disbelief. "Come again?"

"You want them to understand the gravity of this upcoming war?" he asked with a shrug. "Well then you need to die. With your powers, my attacks won't do any real damage, right?" He brushed his chin. "We'd just need something to substitute your heart."

I grinned. "That's... actually not a bad idea," I admitted, pulling out the Heat-Heat Fruit. "This could work as a substitute for my heart." I shrugged. "Heck, you can have it if it works."

"Aw," Thanos replied with a grin. "But I didn't get you anything."

"Just give me something awesome next time we meet" I replied.

Standing up, I offered my hand to the Titan. He quirked an eyebrow at me, though it quickly shot into a wide-eyed look of disbelief when I managed to pull him up. standing up, offering a hand to the titan

"I'm alot stronger than I look," I explained. "I've trained in the Crystal Empire since I was fifteen years old." I let him go. "Now. Ready to break a ponies will and resolve?"

He grinned. "It is inevitable."





"Please understand," Thanos said to a still fuming Rainbow Dash. "Eric and I did this to protect you. Knowing one's weaknesses makes one stronger. As well as knowing when to play, and when to be serious in a fight can mean the differance between Life and Death." He sheathed his blade. "I would know. I've battled the..."

I nudged him, reminding him of who he was talking to.

"I mean..." he quickly recitified. "I've fought in countless battles. So I know when to fool around and when to be serious." He glanced up at the sun. "Well, I think it's best I return to my friends."

Turning, Thanos came face to face with Celestia herself. The sun princess blinked in shock at him. Immediately Thanos froze before glancing at me.

"Meet me where we first fought," he said, before edging around the Princess before giving her a grin. "Nice seeing you, Sunny."

The princess blinked in confusion, but Thanos didn't stick around to explain.

"Eric..." Celestia stammered. "Who... or rather what... was that? And why did it call me Sunny?"

"His name is Thanos," I replied, watching him walk off. "He's a shade like me." I shook my head. "But I have no idea why he call you that."

Leaving Celestia flummoxed, I dropped into my shadow, yanking Thanos down with me. We resurfaced at the beach. The infinity gauntlet sat waiting for us.

For a moment, we sat there, staring out to sea.

"You married the Celestia in your Equestria," I guessed.

"I did," Thanos replied with a nod. "Then she found out about the stones." He lowered his head. "She wanted to use the stones to erase all evil. I disagreed; I told her a world with no evil would be an imbalenced world." He shook his head. "She refused to listen, and we started a war against each other." He glanced back. "This world's Celestia looks just like her when we first married."

I tsked. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said with pity. "It's not easy losing your wife."

He gave me a sideways glance.

"She left you too?" he asked.

I shook my head. "She was killed by my best friend," I explained. "He was possessed by a dark spirit."

He hummed in sympathy. "You have my condolences."

"And you've got mine," I replied.

He nodded before turning to me. "You may need help in the future," he warned. "You'll need to create a token."

"You mentioned that," I noted curiously. "But... how exactly do I do that?"

"You make an item," he explained. "Something you can send into the multiple Equestria's to lend your aid to other Displaced humans."

"Okay. So how do I make one?"

He motioned. "Hold out your palm," he instructed. I did as he said. "Now, channel your energy. Turn it into your token."

I began focusing. A black orb started to form before taking shape of a pitch black Devil Fruit with gray swirls

"Now speak your creed," Thanos instructed.

The words came almost naturally to me. As if they were waiting in the back of my mind.

'I am Eric Von Shadow, I am the Reaper of the Crystal Empire. Should anyone require my aid, simply call upon the Reaper and tell me where to point my scythe!'

Once I fininshed my creed, I tossed the fruit in the air. With a ripple through the air, it vanished. Seconds later, it reappeared and landed in my hand. With a grin, I tossed the fruit over to the titan.

"If you ever require my scythe," I said. "Just call upon the Reaper. And I won't hesitate to join you in battle."

He nodded, gripping the fruit to his chest. "Thanks for the fruit, Monohan," he said, as a portal appeared behind him.

"No problem, Oliver," I replied.

And with a final nod, Thanos walked into the portal and returned to his Equestria.
> Return to the Crystal Empire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to the help given by Thanos, Rainbow Dash finally admitted her weakness and Pinkie was finally taken the threat of this upcoming war seriously. It gave me the adequate time to properly train the main 6.

I helped Fluttershy improve her Armament Haki, as well as help her master the Shave Technique. I barely had to help Applejack; she trained herself with heavy wieghts attached to her legs. At this point she could almost cut a dummy in half.

Twilight, like Applejack, choose to train her Devil Fruit by herself, and I have to say she made phenomenal progress. When she first got her Devil Fruit she could only spawn ten arms at any given time. Now she could summon hundreds of any body part.

Her progress allowed me to direct my full attention on Rainbow Dash, mercilessly training her in the six powers. However I mostly focused on the Shave Technique and the Iron Body Technique. Her progress was good, but she was still visible when using the Shve Technique and her Iron Body wasn't perfect, as she felt pain with enough force.

During this time I choose to impart a bit of One Piece onto Pinkie and Rainbow Dash by teaching them the moves of their Fruits predecessors: "Fire Fist" Ace and "Straw Hat" Luffy. And I managed to train Pinkie Pie on how to use the Paper Art. Given how natually flexible she was, and from what I've seen, I have a very strong belief that the party mare had a extremely stong aptitude for Observation Haki

Now since Rarity refused to stay behind with the others fought, I had little choice but to train her in swordsmanship. I kinda had to surpress a chuckle when she chose her weapon: a rather elegant looking Rapier.

Though deep down it wouldn't be uncommon for her. Training her in swordplay was so much easier than training Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

Unfortunately, reports began to come in from all over Equestria. Ponies were disappearing; from nobility to commoner, with no rhyme or reason to the disappearances. With their disappearances came an increase of attacks from the Army of the Frozen North.

The most recent attack consisted of twelve stitched up ponies, all carrying weapons made from sea-prism, riding on top of a stitched up Tundra Dragon. However, like the other attacks, the ponies attacked during Luna's night.

Idiots.

Had the pony with the Clear-Clear Fruit gone into detail about what I did to Silver Tongue, then he would have had them attack during day.

Fortunately, Rainbow Dash made short work of them using the moves I taught her while I took out the Dragon binding the beast in shadow chains before removing its head by using the move I dubbed Shadow Guillotine.

Yet, as the bodies went still, I knew it was time to act before it was too late.

I awoke Celestia as well as the other royals in the castle, such as Echo Silhouette, Sombra, and Luna. After explaining the situation we all agreed to put an end to this before it got out of hand and ruined Equestria's long riegn of peace.

The following morning, Celestia had the guards gather the Main 6, Sombra, and the Changeling King within the princesses' throne room.

"All are present, Princess Celestia" the guard said, leaving once Celestia dismissed him.

"My little ponies," Celestia began. "Eric Von Shadow, Sombra, and King Silhouette. I have gathered you all here to discuss of this impending war."

"We know next to nothing about the master mind," Luna continued. "What we do know is that he has a vast army at his command. He has been sending ponies to acquire any and all Devil Fruits to strengthen his army. Now as of recent attacks, we have been recieving a rather large pile of reports of these stitched ponies taking ponies at night and from their homes, noble and commoners alike."

"What do you mean Princess?" Pinkie asked.

"We don't know why they are taking ponies from their homes, but what we do know is this," I said. "We're going to the Frozen North. And we're going to put a stop to this war before it begins."

Celestia breathed, keeping her cool. "Precisely," she agreed with the Shadow Man. "Do not fear, my little ponies; you will be accompanied by Luna and myself. As well as a thousand of our best trained guards from both Equestria and the Crystal Empire." She began to rise from her throne.

"No," I said. My tone made Celestia blink in shock. "Celestia, please understand," I continued. "Your army is ill prepared to face off against the Tundra Dragons of the Frozen North."

Privately, my mind went to the ambush my group had faced in the past.

"While the men I've trained learned the in's and out's of the Frozen North and it's threats" I continued. "I will not send them into a battle they can't win."

"Mr. Von Shadow, with all due respect," Celestia scoffed, crossing her arms. "The soldiers of the Crystal Empire no longer follow you. You have been stripped of your rank."

I just chuckled.

"You may have stripped me of my rank as the Empire's Captain," I admitted. "But between me and the Prince, my men will choose me without a moment of hesitation." I turned and returned to my room, not even giving her the chance to retort.

On the way back to my room, I lifted a silver chain from beneath my shirt, gazing at the gold ring attached, with the emerald embedded in its gold surface.

"Well, Amber," I said, holding the ring gently. "We're going home."




Three days later, we were heading to the Crystal Empire via the Sea Train.

However, while the Mane Six rode together with the Princesses, I was currently in a car with three particular fillies.

"So can ya explained why the royal guard picked up from school the other day," Apple Bloom asked.

"Not that we mind," Scootaloo added. "We did get to rub it in Diamond's and Silver Spoon's faces."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom giggled in response. I allowed myself a small smile.

"The three of you are joining us to the Crystal Empire because you are all targets to somepony who's going after Devil Fruit users like yourselves," I replied.

Their smiles completely faded.

"You didn't... tell our sisters, did you?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice cracking in slight fear.

"I didn't," I assured them. "But you'd be wise to tell them yourselves." I glanced outside, seeing the snow of the Frozen North beginning to ice over the water outside. We were getting close.

"But won't they get mad at us," Scootaloo insisted. "For not telling them about the Devil Fruits?"

"The longer you hold it off, the worse it will be" I replied, my eyes on the snow covered island coming into view. "Personally, I believe it would be best if you rip the band-aid now rather than later."

Before any of the fillies could argue, the train slowed to a stop. I got up from my seat.

"You three packed warm clothing, right?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Apple Bloom replied, pulling out a pair of long pants and a thick winter coat. "The royal guard that picked us up told us all about where we were going."

Sweetie Belle pulled out a white and pink coat trimmed in pure white fur, while Scootaloo pulled out a thick blue and yellow Wonderbolts hoodie. I nodded in approval.

"Good. Come on then," I said, crossing over to the door.

Despite bundling up the three fillies still shrieked as the cold breeze cut right through their winter gear. I chuckled at their discomfort.

"W..w..why are...y..you..laughing?" Scootaloo asked, her anger undone by her chattering teeth. "Ar..Aren't you..c..c..cold?"

"Nope," I replied, stretching and letting the cold run across my chest. "I've lived here for ten years. My body's honed to handle the harsh enviroment." I grinned, though my grin faded as I glanced down at my ring. "And honestly, the cold's nothing at this point in my life."

Seeking to get my mind off my darker thoughts, I knelt down and scooped up some snow, popping it into my mouth.

'The snow around here is soft, and lacks the taste of iron, I noted before spitting it out. Good. That means the dragons are nowhere close to the station.'

"Apple Bloom?" Applejack cried, marching over with Rainbow and Rarity. "What in tarnation are you and yer friends doing here?"

Briefly, the fillies glanced at me, and I nodded, glancing at their older sisters significantly. However...

"Well we've... been helping out Mrs. Cake and Big Mac," Apple Bloom lied. Applejack raised an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously," Sweetie Belle agreed. "We earned enough bits to see the Empire you mentioned in your letter!"

Rarity and Applejack both looked at me. I sighed.

"They're here on my request," I replied neutrally, gaining the attention of the others as the princesses, Sombra, and the disguised Echo left the train. "I figured it would be safer for these three if they were under the protection of King Armor."

"Do you truly think they'll be safe with my brother?" Twilight asked, zipping her purple coat up

"The Crystal Empire has hundreds of trained soldiers and guards" I explained, walking through the snow and towards the empire. "And all of them trained by yours truly." I jabbed a thumb at myself.

The group followed behind me to the Crystal Empire. The wind roared like dragons, chilling the ponies to the bone. Sombra and myself however, marched on with barely a shudder, both of us used to the cold. To my surprise, King Echo strode right along with us as well, having shifted into something with thick, warm fur.

But before I could worry about what his disguise was specifically, I noticed a figure marching towards us. Hidden by the heavy snowfall.

"Wait," I ordered. Everyone formed ranks around me.

"Is it a Tundra Dragon?" Rainbow asked, partially excited, and partially nervous.

"No," I said. "Too small."

Indeed, the figure was the size of a pony. A... very familiar pony.

A pegasus pony. With a crystal blue coat and light brown hair. I froze.

'No it...it can't be'

"A-Amber?" I whispered.

"Amber?" Sombra, Echo, the princesses and the Main 6 said in unison, however I was only focused on the pegasus before me.

My legs moved, almost like I was dreaming. But before I could catch her, she pitched to the side.

"NO!" I screamed, seizing the body of my wife. "Amber? Amber! Amber, please wake up!" I pleaded, shaking her body.

"Eric that isn't Amber!" Sombra yelled. But my powers ran with my emotions, and a wall of shadows stopped him from pulling me away.

The downed pegasus slowly opened her eyes. I smiled in relief: they were the same garnet color that I fell in love with.

"Eric?" Amber asked.

"It's me, my love," I whispered.

Her eyes lit up, and her arms wrapped around my neck. "Oh, Eric," she whispered. "My love..."

I lifted her from the snowy ground, my heart aching in both joy and sorrow.

"I'm sorry Amber," I whispered. "I failed to protect you."

"It's okay my love," She whispered, as her arms released me. I, however, refused to release her. "I know how you can make it up to me."

"Anything just to keep you with me," I replied.

Then my eyes shot open. Pain tore through my chest. I stepped back, unable to fathom the knife in my chest. Or that Amber's hands held the blade. I gazed up at her, as she smiled sadistically at me.

"You can die," she said, before forcing the knife deeper into my chest. But in my conflicted emotions, my powers fluctated, and the wall of shadows fell, letting the others see my predictament.

"Eric!!" Luna voice screamed.

A blast of night-blue magic threw my wife from me. I staggered backward, clutching the knife as blood caught in my throat.

I watched, unable to believe, as Amber pointed behind me - no doubt where Luna had been - and her arm tore and morphed into the barrel of a musket.

With no time to think - barely any time to breath - I leaped in the way of her shot, and yelled as the bullet found my back.

"How pathetic," Amber's voice mocked as I struggled to my knees. "You'd take a bullet for these so-called 'friends?' You really care that much about them?"

I turned to her, betrayal turning my vision red, only to find both her arms shifting into gatling barrels.

"Well," she said. "Let's see how much you really care." Then she turned them on the others.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack lunged to defend their friends, followed closely by the princesses. But I was even faster with the aid of the Shave Technique. I tackled Amber to the ground, hoping against hope that the mare I loved was still in there.

"Amber stop! this isn't..." I began.

But she shoved her gatlings into my stomach. And fired.

The pain was a continuous stream of agony as bullet after bullet punched through my gut. I wasn't even able to scream. My vision shot through with white and red flashes. The only thing I was able to make out was Amber smirking up at me.

Then everything went dark as my shadows.





Amber kicked Eric's bleeding body off, laughing as she stood.

"Men," Amber noted to the stunned mares, her arms shifting back to normal. "So predictable... so pathetic."

Applejack roared and charged, her leg turning into a razor sharp blade. She kicked, aiming to take the sadistic mare's head off. Instead, sparks flew as Amber's arms shifted into a pair of large swords, deflecting Applejack's strike.

"Consarnit!" Applejack growled, turning to the others. "She's a Devil Fruit User!"

Rainbow Dash punched her palm, flames spiraling around her. "That's our avenue, Pinkie," she growled, turning to the Princesses and the non-Devil Fruit Users. "Get Eric to the Empire. He'll need some serious medical care."

"Yeah, heal him up," Pinkie agreed. "We got this."

Applejack didn't reply, focused more on trying to cut Amber to ribbons. Their blades hacked, slashed and parried, but nothing but sparks flew into the air. Yet, despite Applejack's efforts, Amber almost looked bored as she saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie running at her.

"Three versus one? hardly seem fair," Amber noted, before her leg morphed into another gatling gun. Once she pointed at where Eric had fallen. And where everyone else was gathering. "Then again... it'll take much more than the three of you to stop me."

However, as she fired at the others, King Echo glowered up at her, and put himself between her bullets and the group. A cloud of gas enveloped his body, dissolving the bullets to dust. His forehead lit up with magic.

"If my magic wasn't needed on the Shadow Man," he snarled at the mare. "I'd kill you myself for taking the form of his wife." Then he disappeared with the others in a bright flash.

Huffing in disappointment, Amber sent the Applejack back with a slash of her sword. However, as Applejack fell back, only Pinkie showed up to catch her.

"Hm?" Amber mused, before glancing up. "A fire user..." Her arms shifted to normal, and she grabbed the handle of her sea prism dagger. "Back of the head..." she muttered. "Left fist."

Right as Rainbow Dash shot out of the sky like a comet, the crystal pegasus ducked away. Rainbow Dash hit the ground hard, her target briefly bouncing away before ricocheting back towards the cyan and red mare.

"How'd..." was all Rainbow got to say before Amber plunged her dagger into the pegasus' arm.

Rainbow howled in pain, clutching her injured arm. As she backed up, Applejack rushed forward. However, Amber grinned at her, her arm shifting into another gun barrel.

"Right kick to my left side?" Amber asked before firing.

Applejack couldn't dodge in time, and screamed as the bullet dug into her thigh and sent her into the snow.

Amber glanced towards Pinkie, trying to predict her move. But the pink mare hadn't moved yet. She stared at the patch of red snow where Eric had stood. As her eyes turned to her friends, bleeding and shivering with pain, her blue eyes suddenly... changed. They turned ice blue, like the snow on a glacier. Her mane deflated, hanging over her head like a curtain. Her fur darkened, turning almost maroon. And when she struck, it wasn't at Amber. Her limbs stretched, seizing Rainbow Dash and Applejack and throwing them behind her.

"Pinkie!"Applejack demanded, only to go quiet as she stared at Pinkie's transformed state. "Oh, no... Or... is it...?"

"Pinkamena" Rainbow finished, holding Applejack back as Pinkamena glared at Amber. The crystal pegasus' grin faltered at the utter blood lust in the mare's eyes. The blank expression as she cracked her knuckles.

"Stand... back," Pinkamena growled.

"Put Pinkie...." Rainbow said only to stop when Pinkimena sent a death glare at the pegasus. Rainbow backed up, wondering how Amber hadn't devolved into sobs at the sight of the crazed light in those eyes.

"Stay. Back." Pinkamena growled, turning back to the crystal pegasus.

The crystal pegasus forced her sadistic grin to stay in place. Drawing her gun barrel arm, she tried to fire at the pink mare.

But the pink mare dodged with a simple crane of her head.

"But..." Amber stammered, her grin fading. "How'd you dodge that?"

"My other half would've wasted her time with you," Pinkamena growled. "I'm not that patient."

Three lumps formed on her legs, the lumps pumping back into her body. Her fur took on a brighter sheen as steam curled from her body. The snow around her melted as Pinkamena planted her fist on the ground.

"What in tarnation is she doing?" Applejack whispered.

Pinkamena grinned for the first time since she had made her appearance. And the crystal pony backed up at the murderous hatred in her grin.

"2nd Gear," Pinkamena replied.
> Pinkamena Vs Amber
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amber's stance faltered under the glare and the aura of death surrounding the pink mare.

"2nd gear?" She tried to mock despite her fear. "P-Please! All you did was let some steam off your body."

Pinkamena said nothing, rearing her right fist back while using her left thumb to aim.

"Gum-Gum...." Pinkamena began.

"Y-You're aiming?" Amber demanded with a laugh. "Do you realize that will just give me ample time to block?" She brought her fists together, turning them into a large kite shield. "Go on. Try to hit me now!"

Pinkamena just grinned. "...Jet Pistol," she whispered.

With speeds that left Rainbow Dash gaping in amazement, Pinkamena shot towards the crystal pegasus. Amber let out a scream of disbelief and pain as her shield was split in two. Pinkamena's fist buried itself in Amber's face, throwing her off her feet.

Amber hit the ground, carving a trench twenty feet long into the snow. Pulling herself up, Amber's look of disbelief rapidly faded into one of utter rage.

"Power Fruit, huh?" Amber growled, turning her shattered shield arms into two Gatling Guns. "Master Scale will definitely want that in his army."

Amber opened fire on the pink mare. Pinkamena just grinned before the bullets slammed into the snow, creating a cloud of dust and vapor that blocked her from view.

Amber laughed in insane delight. "All three of your fruits will improve my master's army!" Amber screamed, before a tap on the shoulder caused her to turn.

Pinkamena was standing on her right. "They're called Devil Fruits," she said quietly, before socking Amber in the face again.

Amber was knocked off her feet, the fist crushing her nose and knocking her front teeth out. Before she even had a chance of rearing back in pain, Pinkamena threw her arm back, giving the punch an added spin before hurling Amber across the snowy wasteland once again.

"Rifle!!" Pinkamena shouted, slugging Amber again and keeping her in the air. Lunging into the air, Pinkie buried her fist into Amber's stomach, causing her eyes to bulge and a groan of utter agony to escape the crystal pegasus.

Amber hit the ground rolling, desperately forming her hand into another rifle. But when she whirled around, there was no sign of the pink mare.

"Where'd you go?" Amber demanded, fear threatening to crack her voice. "H-How are you doing this? How are you moving so fast!?"

"Stamp!" Pinkamena shouted, before her foot smashed into Amber's back, sending her into the ground hard enough to crack the ground and send snow flying into the air.

Amber screamed in pain, but Pinkie's Dark Side was far from done.

"And Spear!!" Pinkamena jumped up, putting her feet together, and rammed onto Amber's back a second time. As Amber's scream echoed through the wasteland, it went up an octave as Pinkamena seized her wings.

"N-No..." Amber began to beg. "Don't...!"

"Missile!" Pinkamena yanked Amber's body forward, and rammed her entire body into the mare, breaking the ground underneath them.

Leaping off the battered and now sobbing pegasus, Pinkamena darted around the mare at an impossible speed. As far as the others were concerned, Pinkamena might as well have been invisible.

But she was far from intangible. As Amber struggled to her feet, her face was bent inward again by Pinkamena's fist slamming into her cheek. Stumbling, Amber pulled up her gatling guns. With a desperate cry, she opened fire, spinning in a frenzy, but Pinkamena practically teleported behind her, seizing her wings and throwing her up and back into the snow.

Her voice cracking as she screamed in frustrated fear, Amber leaped back to her feet. Not even bothering to track the blur of dark pink, Amber whirled on Rainbow and Applejack, who were standing watching the spectacle with horrified awe.

"Show yourself," Amber threatened, her voice cracking into a strange accent as she aimed at the two mares. "Or I'll blow so many hole in yer friends, their guts will be leaken lead."

Applejacks eye's grew wide, and not just from the gatlings starting to spin.

'Leaken Lead? I've heard that threat before!' Applejack realized, just before Pinkamena appeared behind Amber.

"I'd move if I were you," Pinkamena snarled.

Both parties assumed she was talking to them. While Amber whirled on the dark pink mare, Rainbow Dash seized Applejack and flew above the fight.

"When Tartarus freezes over," Amber snarled, turning back to Rainbow and Applejack, only to find them gone.

"I wasn't talking to you," Pinkamena said, throwing both her arms back "Gum-Gum....."

'No I can't fail now,' Amber though with horror. 
'Master Scale will surely punish me'. She put her arms together forming the biggest shield she could make; thicker than ten shields lined up behind each other.

"H-Ha," Amber mocked. "No way you can break this! Not even a Tundra Dragon can destroy this shield!"

But Pinkamena was undeterred. Charging forward, she pushed her arms to their absolute limit before snapping them back.

"...Jet Bazooka!!" Pinkamena boomed, as her fists slammed into Amber's sheild.

The ten inch thick shield shattered like glass, and Amber was launched into the air.

"NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" she wailed, her voice fading as she sailed through the sky and vanished over the horizon.

With Amber gone, Rainbow cautiously lowered Applejack to the ground. Both of them watched Pinkamena with fear in their hearts, having seen firsthand just how strong this mare was as well as how ruthless she could be.

"I think..." Rainbow Dash whispered, for once filled with unfathomable fear, "This is why Pinkie doesn't take things seriously."

"P-Pinkie how'd," Applejack stammered, watching the steam around Pinkamena slowly cease. "How'd ya do that?"

"It's called 2nd Gear," Pinkamena growled, reluctantly putting the farmgirl's arm over her shoulder. "I thought I called it while using it," she added with a sneer. She glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who flinched away from her. "Do I need you carry you to the Empire too?"

"No, I'm good," Rainbow Dash insisted, hovering in the air before a thought made her pause. "Wait... do you... care?"

"No," Pinkamena replied with a shrug. "But Pinkie does. So I won't let you die for her sake." She grinned. "At least not yet," she added ominously.

Applejack shuddered as the dark pink mare carried her after Rainbow Dash, the pegasus doing her best not to flee. The silence made Applejack's heart hammer; despite the heat from the 2nd Gear technique, Pinkie's fur was almost as cold as the snow around her.

"So... you were saying... er... Pinkamena?" Applejack asked, desperate for some lull from the silence.

Pinkamena rolled her eyes, sighing as something seemed to nudge an answer out of her.

"2nd Gear is a technique that Eric taught us during one of our private training sessions," she explained coldly. "He said it expaneded our blood vessels, allowing our blood to pump faster, boosting our speed and strength."

The Empire came into view, and it's barriers soothed the mares with its magical warmth.

"However," Pinkamena added, showing no sign of relief from the cold. "He also told us to only use it when deemed nessessary. Since Pinkie froze up seeing all of you getting beat to Tartarus, I took over and deemed it necessary."

"Why not use it all the time?" Rainbow asked. "It's pretty awesome."

"I don't need your praise, Dash" Pinkamena growled, chilling the pegasus despite the warmth around them. "Besides," Pinkamena added. "Using it shortens our lifespan."

What?!?!" Applejack and Dash yelped in shock. Pinkamena growled and nearly shoved Applejack away.

"Calm down," she snapped. "At most I shaved a couple of years off of our life. So we won't live to be 106. Wow, what horror."

"B-But... how are you not worried about your life?" Rainbow demanded, her courage failing her when the dark pink mare glared at her.

"I'm done talking about my decisions," Pinkamena declared. "Let's just get to the Empire and get those wounds healed." She glared ahead, focusing on the hospital, where Eric Von Shadow was no doubt being healed.

'Pinkie enjoys his company alot,' Pinkamena mused, a grim smile forming as her thoughts continued. 'If he dies, I will take great pleasure in killing that mare claiming to be his wife.'





The group landed in front of the crystal castle. As the others adjusted to Echo's spell, the changeling king swept forward, Eric's bleeding body in his arms.

As he passed through the enchantments placed by King Armor and Queen Cadence, however, they burned away his disguise. The changeling king didn't notice, even as guards raced to intercept him.

"Halt! Changeling!" one of the guards yelled, blocking Echo's path.

"Please, he needs medical attention!" Echo begged, holding up Eric's body.

The guards didn't shift. "It's a trick," one of them insisted.

"It's gotta be," another agreed.

"It is no trick," Celestia declared, racing to his side. "Let him pass."

The guards blinked at Celestia herself appearing, but with Echo looking desperate, and Eric bleeding out, they reluctantly parted, letting Echo through to the hospital.

As they entered, Sombra took the lead. "This way," he declared. "I know where the medical wing is."

"Growing up here has advantages like that, huh?" Twilight mused.

"Twilight, not now," Celestia chastised. "Find your brother and Queen Cadence. We're going to need all the magic we can get."

Twilight saluted. "Yes, ma'am," she said, before vanishing with a teleport spell.

Bursting through the doors of the medical wing of the castle, Echo and Sombra set Eric on one of the empty beds. Doctors and patients alike screamed at his blood soaked appearance, before the sight of the royalty calmed their nerves.

"Please, this man need help!" Echo shouted, just as Shining, Cadance, and Twilight appeared with a flash of light.

"Um..Your Majesty??" one of the Doctors stammered, indicating Echo.

"I know what he is," Shining replied. "But right now, focus on the injured." Indicating the shadow man, the doctors and nurses rushed to his side.

As every unicorn and alicorn charged up their horns, Sombra paused, a sense of unease settling over him. Following his gut, he cast an X-Ray spell rather than a healing one.

His eyes went wide. "Stop!" he yelled, grabbing one of their horns. "STOP! EVERYONE, WAIT!"

The unicorns paused, staring at Sombra like he had gone mad.

"What do you mean, stop?!" Luna demanded. "He needs healing!"

"But some of the gatling gun pellets are still in him!" Sombra insisted, showing his X-Ray to the others, and the bullets lodged in his stomach, shoulders and arms. "If we heal him with those still inside, they'll undo all our repairs the minute he tries to move." Sombra lunged for a nearby tray of scalpels. "We have to extract those bullets first."

"And how are we going to get them out," the head doctor growled. "In case you forgot, all the surgeons were pegasi." His eyes narrowed. "Pegasi that you killed."

Briefly, guilt made Sombra's heart throb, but removed his coat and brought the surgical tools he had lunged for over to Eric.

"Not all of them," he said grimly.

Luna blinked. "You?" she asked.

"I never planned on becoming a king who just sits on his throne," Sombra replied, donning a mask and sterile gloves. "I trained in both Combat and in all forms of the medical field." He turned to the head doctor. "Dr. Onyx, I know you don't follow my command. But I beg you; cast a sterilization spell."

Dr. Onyx grumbled, but his horn lit up, and a white glow washed over the room.

"Just know," Onyx added with a glower. "I'm only doing this for Captain Von Shadow."

"Thank you," Sombra said gratefully, picking up a scalpel and forceps before turning to the others. "Ms. Sparkle," he began to order. "Cast a numbing spell on Eric. Celestia, you and Luna use a monitor spell to keep an eye on his vitals. He's already lost a dangerous amount of blood, so I will require everyone's help."

The others nodded or spoke words of agreement, while Sombra gazed at Eric's still, slowly paling body.

"You saved me from Umbra's influence, my friend," Sombra whispered quietly to Eric. "It's time I returned the favor."

Desperately, he dug into the shadow man. Rarity stood by, holding a small tray where he deposited the blood-stained bullets. Fluttershy stood on Sombra's side with a rag, wiping the sweat from his face as he worked.

Twilight focused on Eric, her numbing spell keeping him from feeling pain. However, Luna and Celestia's faces grew grim as they watched his life flicker like a dying candle.

"He's losing too much blood," Luna whispered. "H-He could go into cardiac arrest if he loses much more."

"Hang on," Cadence said, flaring her own magic. Yet despite her magic slowing the rate of the blood pooling around Eric's body, Luna's facial expression did not change.

"I-It's still too much," she whispered. She turned to Sombra. "Is there another way to save him?"

"Two," Sombra said grimly, his eyes not leaving Eric's shredded chest as he removed another bullet. "We give him a blood transfusion."

"No good," Shining said, gazing at his wife. "With the rate of blood loss, it'll just be a waste. So... option two?"

Sombra shut his eyes.

"I could....Cast...one of Umbra's spells..." he began.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Celestia yelled, her Royal Canterlot Voice almost making the room shake. Sombra looked up at her, his eyes blood shot and brimming with unshed tears.

"Do you really think I want to dip into that bastards magic," Sombra demanded. "One of his spells was a time enchantment. I could freeze Eric's body in time, which would stop his blood loss long enough for me to repair him." He looked away. "I hate the thought of using anything that bastard cooked up, but it's the only way I see us saving Eric!"

Celestia grimaced, looking to Twilight, but the young unicorn shook her head silently, unsure how she could replicate such magic. Luna, however, stepped towards Sombra.

"Do it," she begged.

"Luna?!" Celestia screamed, scandalized. "I-I know how you think you feel..."

"It's not just that, sister," Luna snapped. "Eric knows more about the Devil Fruits than any of us! We need him if we want to save our country!" She turned back to Sombra. "Do it!"

With Celestia stammering, unable to argue, Sombra took his chance while he could. A purple aura shrouded his horn. And even though he squeezed his eyes shut, purple whisps still flickered around them.

But, as his dark spell hit Eric, his blood ceased to flow. Cadence cautiously shut off her magic, but the blood stayed right where it was. Sombra grit his teeth, steeling his mind against the negative effects of Umbra's spell.

"This isn't permanent," he moaned, blinking away the purple wisps and the purple glow on his horn. "It will only last for an hour." Despite looking winded, he dove back extracting the bullets. "I have to hurry."

Minute by agonizing minute passed. And with them, bullet after bullet dropped into Rarity's tray. As the minutes passed, and the spell began to flicker, warning everyone of its expiration, many began to gaze at each other with fear. Sombra's head was soaked with sweat, no matter how much Fluttershy tried to wipe it away. His tools trembled in his grip, nearly doing more damage to Eric. Some began to even believe that it was too late for the Shadow Man.

But, with a loud sigh of relief, Sombra yanked the last bullet out. The spell, while flickering in its final stages, still held.

"That's the last one," Sombra gasped, stepping back and promptly collapsing to the ground. Rarity nearly reached for him, but he waved her off. "Heal him," he rasped.

The unicorns turned to Eric, their spells covering him in a soft glow. Sombra, meanwhile, struggled back to his feet. Removing his bloodied gloves and mask, he left the room, holding his head in pain.

A few feet behind the former king, Fluttershy watched him with a guarded but ultimately piteous expression.

Sombra glowered at the ground, yet she could tell the only one he was angry at was himself. Angry for using the magic belonging to the king that had ruined both his life and the life of his friend.

For some time, he simply walked, Fluttershy shadowing his steps like a yellow ghost. Eventually, he stopped at a portrait. A portrait depicting a handsome stallion with Sombra's dark fur and regal expression. Yet, his eyes were different. Sombra's eyes instead resembled that of the mare next to the stallion in the portrait.

It clicked for Fluttershy the moment Sombra spoke to the portrait, as if the ponies it depicted could hear him.

"Hello Mother... Father," Sombra whispered, his eyes shutting as his anger left him. "It's good to see you both again. At least my actions couldn't besmirch your memory."

He gazed up at the painting, a small, yet broken smile creeping onto his face. Carefully, Fluttershy stepped up next to him, gazing at the portrait with wonder.

"They look so happy together," Fluttershy commented.

Sombra's only reaction to her was a slight flinch in his muscles. He gazed down, his smile fading.

"They were," he admitted. "Until my mother was taken by the changelings of the Carapax Hive."

Fluttershy turned to him with horror. "Did... um..."

Sombra's eyes shut. "We found her body," he admitted forlornly. "And Father was never the same after that. He was colder. Angrier. And yet..." Sombra gazed up at his father with regret. "He didn't deserve what happened to him."

"I-If you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy whispered. "What... happened?"

Sombra hummed, pursing his lips. "It's... complicated," he admitted. "One who doesn't understand the rankings of this kingdom might not comprehend."

Fluttershy turned to him. "Then help me understand," she invited. "How does it work?"

Sombra turned to her with surprise, but her eyes showed only genuine curiosity. A want to understand and sympathize. Touched by her kindness, Sombra began to explain.

"You see," he began. "If the royal family is killed, the role of King goes straight to the Captain of Royal Guard..."





Eric was helping me improve my swordplay. I decided to forego dinner. Ultimately a wise move on my part.

Halfway through our training, a messenger raced in.

"Prince Sombra!" he exclaimed. "Your father's been poisoned!"

There was nothing we could do for him. Only give him the grandest funeral we could afford.

The Former Captain of the Guard tried to forego the funeral. He wanted to be coronated as soon as possible. I grew suspicious. I investigated, and I discovered he had been the one to poison my father. When he discovered my knowledge, he attempted to send me the same way as my father.

Eric was the reason I didn't die that night. Instead of joining my father in the foundation of my treacherous captain's throne, I got to avenge him.





"It was not a question of who got to succeed the Captain after that," Sombra said, his hand resting under the portrait. Fluttershy gazed at him; at the lines hardening his face.

"Eric really means a lot to you, doesn't he," Fluttershy noted.

"He turned me from a spoiled foal to a honorable stallion," Sombra replied with a nostalgic smile. "He was my first friend, and if I have to become Umbra to save him... then I will do so. Without hesitation."

Sombra put his back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. His smile faded.

"That makes me a bad person," Sombra noted with resignation as Fluttershy sat next to him. "Doesn't it."

"I don't think so," Fluttershy replied, placing a hand on the unicorn's shoulder. "You're willing to sacrafice for your friend. If you ask me that makes you a great person."

Fluttershy smiled softly. Sombra briefly shared her smile, before looking away, blushing at how her smile brought out her natural beauty.

"Thank you Fluttershy," he said gratefully. "That does make me feel better."

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before their moment was interuppted.

"Sombra!"

Sombra and Fluttershy leaped to their feet. Twilight shot around the corner, frantically looking around before spotting the two.

"Sombra!" Twilight stammered, racing towards him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's Eric," Twilight said. "He's gotten worse."

Briefly, Sombra froze in horror. "No," he thought. "Not now. Not after what I sacrificed!"

Sombra rushed past Twilight and back into the medical ward. For a moment, he heard nothing. Nothing but the very slow beeping of the princesses monitor spells. Eric lay where they had placed him, his chest rising and falling slowly, but steadily. Yet... he was also pale. Dangerously pale.

"He's lost too much blood," Sombra realized, turning to the others. "He needs a transfusion now!" He gazed among the assembled ponies. "W-Who here has blood type A Positive?"

For a horrifying moment, no one spoke.

"Please!" Sombra insisted. "Anyone?"

Still, that awful silence was his answer. Until...

"I do."

Celestia stepped forward. Never in all his time knowing her had Sombra realized just how much of a goddess she was.

"Tia," Luna asked with worry. "Are you sure?"

But Celestia gazed on Eric with regret in her eyes.

"Eric has risked his life to save us on numerous occasions," she said. "This is the least I can do for him." She sat next to him and held out her hand to Sombra.

Not waiting for her to change her mind, Sombra tied a rubber chord around her bicep, and located the vein.

Sombra seized the needle... only for Dr. Onyx to grab his wrist.

"Princess, you can't be serious," he protested.

A monstrous growl escaped Sombra, only to be silenced as Dr. Onyx aimed a scalpel at his neck.

"You'd willingly let this monster take your blood?" he demanded.

Yet Celestia's expression didn't change. "I understand your concern, Doctor Onyx," she assured him. "But in order to save this man, I will allow even Sombra to take my blood."

Dr. Onyx fumed, unaware of a familiar trio of ponies entering. His scalpel didn't lower from Sombra's neck... until a dark pink arm seized his neck.

The others stared in shock as Dr. Onyx was pulled to Pinkamena's side. Briefly, he tried to fight, stabbing at her with the syringe. But it only elicited a grim smile from her. Deflecting his stab, she broke his wrist with a sickening CRACK! Stealing the scalpel from him.

"Pinkie...?" Twilight started to stammer, only for Rainbow Dash and Applejack to push her back.

"There's nothing we can do," Applejack insisted, as Pinkie yanked the doctor's head back.

"You'd kill someone trying to save someone else?" Pinkamena growled. "You're disgraceful."

Whimpering, Dr. Onyx made a grab for his scalpel with his unbroken arm. Dodging his lunge, Pinkie drove the blade right into his eye. Briefly, screams of horror sounded, as Dr. Onyx tried to sound his own wail of agony with them. But Pinkamena cut him off, slamming her head into the handle and driving the blade further into his brain.

Dr. Onyx dropped to the ground dead.

Pinkamena glared down at his corpse, before turning her glare on at the others. Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy huddled behind Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Not even the princesses or the changeling king dared to approach.

"Is that...?" Fluttershy began.

"Pinkamena," Rarity finished, her voice cracking.

"What are you waiting for?" Pinkamena growled, her gaze turning to a stunned Sombra. "Save his life, Sombra."

Snapping out of his shock, Sombra turned to the still stunned Celestia and disinfected her arm. It was only when he inserted the needle that she snapped out of her shock, watching as he inserted the other end of the needle into Eric's arm.

Blood flowed into the thin tube and into Eric's body. Slowly but surely, Eric's breathing steadied. His heart rate returned to normal. The color returned to his skin.

Celestia blinked, and wavered on her seat, but Luna and Echo kept her from tumbling to the ground.

"Tia please," Luna begged. "Don't overdo it."

"Thank you for your concern Luna," Celestia said with a smile. "But believe me; I'm fine."

Acting fast, Sombra removed the needle, covering her arm with cotton. He bowed his head to her.

"Thank you, your Majesty," he whispered, bowing his head before her. "Thank you for saving my friend."

Celestia smiled softly down at him, before giving Eric a melancholy expression.

"No one should have to bury their loved ones," she whispered, sounding as old as the many centuries she had likely lived.
> The Start of the War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the Frozen North, a cloaked figure treked through the snow. In front of him, a deep trench had been carved through the frozen dirt. Following the trench, the cloaked figure found a blue crystal pegasus mare with her face buried in the snow. Bruises and cuts adorned her body. And with her hair flung over her head and buried by the snow, a single stitch mark was visible down her nape.

"Amber," the cloaked figure greeted.

Amber yelped, pulling her head from the snow.

"M-Master Scale," Amber whimpered.

"Do you not have the Shade's Power Fruit?" The cloaked figure growled.

"I... well..." Amber whimpered, as he marched towards her, a scaled arm withdrawing from his cloak.

"You failed your mission?" Master Scale snarled, seizing her by the neck.

"I..." Amber could get no other word out, as the scaled arm slowly crushed her stiched up neck. She squirmed and kicked, desperately trying to get air into her lungs, but the figure's grip was merciless.

"Give me one good reason why I don't resnap the spine I repaired," Scale growled. Amber twitched and gagged, desperately sucking the little air he allowed her.

"Three... more... Users!" she gasped out.

Scale dropped her. For a moment, she inhaled breath like a starving man inhales food. However, she barely got a moment to recover before Master Scale was bearing down on her.

"What do you mean?" he barked.

"There's three more Power Fruit users," Amber explained as quickly as her battered throat allowed. "On the island."

Scale knelt, his slit pupiled eyes flashing from under his cloak. They reflected Amber's scared expression.

"Explain," he growled.

"A-A blue pegasus," Amber said quickly. "Elemental, like Ronin. B-But it's fire instead of sand."

The master hummed, running his scaled arm over his chin. "That could be a problem." His eyes narrowed. "But according to Jasper, this Reaper that took his arm is by far our main priority." Master Scale paused before turning back to Amber. "What about the other two?"

"Earth ponies," Amber reported. "An orange earth pony who can turn her legs into blades..."

"Physical type, though I doubt it only works on her legs," Scale analyzed with a grin. "It could probably turn any part of the users body into a blade or sword."

"And a pink one," Amber growled angrily. "With a body made of rubber."

"And all three of them fought you?" Scale asked

"They did," Amber answered.

In response, her master seized her by her throat and lifting her off the ground. As he lifted her up to his face, a strong winter wind blew the masters' hood off, revealing a the glacier blue scales of a Ice Dragon

"And you lost to them?!" Scale yelled, baring his fangs at the pony. "After you beat thirty of my troops, at the same time, with barely a scratch?! After you fought one of my Tundra Dragons and emerged unscathed?!"

"I-It was the pink one!" Amber cried, her words coming out in a rush for fear that her throat would be blocked for good this time. "She used something called 2nd Gear! I've never seen anything like it! She started emitting steam and moving faster than I could track... she-she broke my strongest shield like it was glass!" Tears began to stream from Amber's eyes. "Please forgive me, Master! She wasn't like anything I ever fought before!"

Scale slightly relaxed his grip on the pony. His eyes narrowed.

"Who else was with with them?" he demanded.

"The Shade that took Jasper's arm, who I gravely injuried," she listed. "The Dark King, Sombra. Two unicorns, a yellow pegasus, a royal changeling, and the Princesses; Celestia and Luna."

Scale dropped Amber again, and she coughed and hacked for air, rubbing her throat gratefully.

"The princesses of the Sun and Moon?" Scale asked, chuckling darkly. "Well... with them here I can finally bring back my strongest General."

"Master?" Amber asked. She flinched as Scale glanced down at her, but relaxed upon seeing his icy smile.

"I have a special job for both you and Jasper..." he began.





My eyes fluttered open, catching a purple shine. Blinking a few times, I saw it was the flowing hair of Princess Luna. Dimmer than usual.

"She has barely left your side," a voice I didn't recognize noted.

Glancing to my right, I saw a pony hidden in the shadows of the dimmed medical ward.

"Who are you?" I growled out, despite my limbs feeling more like clubs.

"I guess you wouldn't know me," the figure admitted. "Considering we've never met before."

She stepped into the moonlight. Her fur was pink, and her eyes were blue. She looked like Pinkie. And yet... everything was the wrong shade. Her pink fur was darker. Her blue eyes were colder. Her hair hung in a straight curtain instead of being puffed up and fluffy.

"Pinkie?"

"Try again, shadow man," she growled.

It clicked. "Pinkamena," I tried again.

She huffed, but a shadow of a grin played across her scowl.

"Two tries," she commented. "Not bad." She crossed over to my bed. I tried to lift myself up, but my body ached in protest, keeping me on my back. I glanced down at my chest, shivering at the scars across it.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well for starters you royally - and I do mean 'royally' - bucked up." She stretched her arm and pulled a jar to her side. The jar was half full of what looked like musket balls.

"And got..." Pinkamena continued, briefly counting the bullets inside. "73 of these things lodged in your body." She set the jar down and fixed me with a glare. "And because of that," she continued. "Applejack got one of these stuck in her leg, and Rainbow Dash got a knife in the arm."

There was no empathy in her voice. She said each fact slowly, like she was reciting the periodic table for a bored teacher. I leaned my head back.

"I'm guessing Pinkie's the one that has more sympathy?" I noted

"You want sympathy," Pinkamena growled before turning her back on me. "Try looking in the dictionary between Shit and Syphilis."

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically as she walked away. My word caught her ear, and she paused, sighing like I was the biggest drag on her life.

"Can you stop being a senstive sally?" she asked. "Pinkie... fine, the both of us are happy you're alive." She turned to me, her death glare sending a shiver through my repaired heart. "But if you ever cause Pinkie to worry about you like that again..." She stepped closer. "I will beat you to within an inch of your life."

And with that Pinkamena left the room. I was left alone, in the dark room. With only my breathing and the light snoring of Princess Luna.

"You really are a fucking idiot," I admitted to myself, gazing at the ring around my finger. "That wasn't her. She's dead... and she's never coming back."

My brain may have been correct, but my heart was singing a different song. And unfortunately, my powers voiced my hearts desire.

'In a world with Devil Fruits,' the voice of my shadow commented. 'Maybe we could find one to bring her back'

I shut my eyes. I didn't want to listen. I wanted to block my ears.

'You know I'm right,' my shadow commented.

I waved my hand, dissipating my shadow, and pulled myself from bed. My body screamed in protest, and I barely managed to get off the bed before I fell to my knees, my entire body refusing to cooperate.

"D-Dammit," I growled, clutching my throbbing gut.

"Hmm..." Luna groaned. Her eyes fluttered open, and she let out a yawn, sitting up and stretching.

Rubbing her eyes, the Lunar Princess shifted her gaze to the bed that I was once on. As she noticed my absence, Luna's eyes shot open. She almost frantically looked around before catching sight of me on the ground.

"Eric?!" she stammered, racing to my side. "What are you doing out of bed? Your body has yet to heal!"

"Didn't you guys use a healing spell on me?" I asked, using the bed frame as leverage to pull myself up.

"Healing spells aren't perfect," she replied, giving me her shoulder to lean on. "The spells can accelerate the healing process, but the body still needs to adjust to the rapid healing."

"Well, my body needs to adjust fast," I growled, trying to limp for the door. "We still have an army practically on our doorstep, who could attack us at any given moment!"

Yet as I tried to reach for the door, Luna pulled me back. And the mere act sent another throb of pain through my stubborn nerves.

"Eric, please," Luna begged. "Rest." She tried to guide me back to the bed, but I resisted despite the pain.

"Once this army is six feet under" I insisted, pulling myself from her grip. Trying to ignore the waves of pain washing over me, I limped from the room. Luna chased after me.

"At least let me try to relieve you of your pain," she bargained, her horn and hand glowing as she reached out to me.

With the pain wracking my body, I stopped and let her place her hand on my back. Her aura covered my entire body, and soon after, I felt the pain in my body lessen by a marvelous degree.

"Thank you Luna," I whispered, turning back to her with a smile.

She grinned sheepishly, a small blush forming on her face. Noticing the blush, I turned away, my smile fading.

"We need to find your sister," I said. "As well as Shining and Cadence. We need a plan for the battle ahead."

"I agree," Luna said, as we walked together, her hand on my shoulder. "But we still know nothing about the master or what Devil Fruit they have. If they hold one at all."

"We can figure it out," I offered, heading down the halls. "You should get Shining and Cadence. I'll get Celestia. She's set up in the royal guest rooms, right?"

Luna tilted her head. "You know that?" she asked.

"It's kinda obvious," I replied. "That room was only ever used for the most important of nobles."

Humming at my logic, we reluctantly parted ways to get the royals. Though the pain came back in force, I managed to grit my teeth and bare through it.

Of course, not long after I left Luna behind, I heard something.

The shattering of glass. The sounds of a fight.

I picked up my pace, calling upon my shadows and racing into the darkness.

Surfacing in the guest room, I found the place in shambles. A small note with Luna's cutie mark on it lay carefully among the wreckage.

My heart skipped a beat. I picked up the note and began to read.

If you want your sister back, bring all your fruit users to the south-east end of the Empire.

The note crumpled in my fist. Shadows poured from my body as my vision turned red.

"Looks like this war just started," I growled, as my shadows covered the room in darkness.

Stuffing the note into my pocket, I raced to the throne room.

Disregarding the muffled voices inside, I slammed the doors open. The resulting CLANG resounded through the room, instantly grabbing the attention of the three royals inside while echoing throughout the castle.

"Eric?!" Shining stammered, glancing behind me. "W-Wait... Where's Celestia?"

I held out the note. "She's been ponynapped," I growled, my shadows continuing to cover the floor. "By the leader of this army."

Shining and Cadence gasped. Luna's eyes darted to the note, and she shot forward on blue shadows of her own, yanking it from my grip. Her eyes skimmed across the inscribed words as Shining marched towards me.

"I-Impossible," he said. "How'd they get past the guards?"

"I don't know," I admitted, putting a hand on Luna's shoulders as her eyes brimmed with tears. "But apparently they planned on Luna finding out in the morning."

She turned to me with horror in her eyes. "Do you think they also know about the children?"

"No idea on that either," I admitted. "But it's for the best that they stay here with Cadance and Shining"

"Wait, children?" Cadance asked. "What children?"

"Applebloom Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all possess Devil Fruits," I explained. "It's the reason I brought them here in the first place."

"But if even Celestia wasn't safe here..." Luna turned to me. "Eric, what are we going to do?"

"For starters, we wait until everyone wakes..." I paused, feeling the presence of someone just outside the room. "Hang on." I turned to the door, raising my hand and summoning a shadow blade. "Get out here. Now."

Twilight and Pinkamena poked their head out from behind the door; Twilight with worry etched across her face, and Pinkamena with her trademark scowl. I dissipated my blades with a sigh.

"I thought you went to bed," I noted.

"I saw Twilight snooping around," Pinkamena replied non-chalantly, jutting her head at the worried purple mare.

"The Devil Fruits..." Twilight mumbled, turning to me with a worried glare. "Is that why you lied about bringing the Crusaders?"

"I never lied about why I brought them here," I pointed out. "I just never told the entire truth." I took a breath. "But since you're here, you should know Celestia's been taken."

Twilight's eyes widend, and her jaw hit the floor. "What?!" she screamed so loud the entire kingdom probably heard.

"They took Celestia, and left a note saying they want our Devil Fruit users," I said, trying to think of a plan while Pinkamena grabbed a hyperventialting Twilight and slapped her across the face.

"Get ahold of yourself," Pinkamena growled at her before turning to me. "Then send them your Devil Fruit Users," she replied to me. "Me, Rainbow, Applejack, and yourself." She crossed her arms. "We're the only ones they definitely know about, and we know how to fight." Her eyes narrowed. "Assuming you don't let that Amber horse trick you again."

I grimaced at her bringing up Amber, but managed to ground out, "She's got a point." But at that moment, the rest of the Mane Six burst in, along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Changeling King, and Sombra.

"We heard a crash, and a lot of screaming," Rainbow said, glaring around as her body coated itself in flames. Echo, at the same time, covered his own body with gas.

"What happened?" he demanded. "We're ready to help."

I sighed, glancing at Luna. "You explain it to them," I said. "I'm not explaining this stuff a third time." I walked out of the throne room, leaving the group staring at me in confusion.

"But... where are you going?" Shining asked.

"To get something I haven't worn in years," I replied.

Sombra went wide-eyed. "You don't mean..."

"I do," I replied with a grin. Then I walked out of sight.

Trekking through the castle, I made my way to my office. The office for the Captain of the Royal Guard. I grit my teeth as I found my name gone. Shining Armor's name had been placed over where mine had stood.

"Deal with the army first," I whispered to myself with a calming breath. "Kill Shining later."

Reaching into my shadow body, I pulled out a key ring with numerous keys attached to it. Picking a dark silver key, I unlocked the door and walked inside.

Place was just as I remembered it, though the pictures of Cadence had replaced my pictures of Amber. Holding back another bout of irritation, I moved to one of the bookshelves. Removing a stack of them, I set them on the desk before returning to the bookshelf. Seeing the keyhold inside, I selected an obsidian key and unlocked the secret keyhole.

Then I heard the wooden desk creak.

I spun around just in time to catch Amber jumping at me. Her blade dug into my shoulder before I managed to throw her off.

Rolling over the desk and onto the floor, she briefly went limp.

"A-Amber?" I stammered, concern washing over me despite my fears. I stepped towards her, before stopping. "No," I forced myself to say. "You're not..."

She didn't give me the chance to fight my conflicting emotions. Leaping back up, she lashed at me with a long curved blade. I dodged away, only to trip over one of the books she had knocked over. I hit the ground, the dagger in my shoulder digging deeper, but I forced myself to ignore it, rolling as Amber jumped on top of me.

Her arms shifted into scythe blades, which she tried to bring down on my neck.

Despite my entire body screaming in protest, I caught both of her wrists, struggling to push her back. It wasn't working; I was still too weak from the damage she had inflicted. Inch by inch, the blades sunk closer. With all my strength, I tried to push them back... only for something wet to hit my face.

I looked up. Amber was crying.

"Please, Eric..." she begged.

My grip faltered... and she promptly sunk her right blade into my shoulder. Despite that, she continued to cry.

"Just let me kill you!" Amber shrieked as her tears streamed onto my face.

I screamed back as her blade dug deeper.

'Damnit man, think!' My thoughts roared at me. 'It's not her! Amber would not do this! She's not her! She's not my wife! She's! Not! Amber!'

As my thoughts roared in my mind, my shadow powers came to me. Gritting my teeth, I released the arm holding back her blade, letting it form into a fist of darkness. Bellowing in rage, I struck the zombie mare across the face.

As she reeled back, I caught her by the shirt and punched her again, throwing her right out of my former office.

I glanced down at my hand... and noticed something more than shadows covering it.

The Armament Haki, I recognized.

However, I couldn't let it distract me. I heard the familiar spin of gatling guns, and looked up in time to see her pointing her gun arms at me.

"Why won't you just die already?!" Amber screamed. But before I could think of dodging...

"Leave him alone!!" shouted a familiar voice.

An orange and purple flash smashed Amber's aim away. The next thing I knew, Amber was screaming as she attempted to bat away an angry orange and purple falcon pony hybrid.

"Scootaloo!" I yelled.

"You little brat!" Amber snarled, her guns shifting back to arms as she threw Scootaloo off her.

"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo screamed as she was thrown into the air.

Amber briefly tried to make a musket to aim at her, only for her eyes to grow wide. My instincts stopped me from leaving my office, and I got to watch as a white and red flash smashed Amber further down the hallway.

I rushed out, finding Apple Bloom in her bull form, trampling over Amber and sending her rolling down the hall. As Amber managed to scramble out behind Apple Bloom, a fiery bird shot past me and tried to set Amber's mane on fire with her blazing talons.

"Eric!" Scootaloo yelled, landing before me and shifting back to her normal form. "You're hurt!"

"I'm fine," I insisted, even as the dagger demanded my attention, forcing me to one knee.

Scootaloo looked over the dagger with a grimace. Hesitating for a second, she pulled the bloody dagger from my shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain from me.

"Sorry," she stammered, before turning to her friends. "Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!"

Apple Bloom spun on a dime and charged back into Amber. As she bulldozed the zombie mare over again, Sweetie Belle leaped from Amber's flaming mane, landing in front of me with a grimace. Seeing my stab wound steeled her gaze, and Rarity's sister rubbed her hands together. Blue and yellow flames mixed together before she placed them on me.

The flames spread over my body. But unlike Rainbow's blaze, this was more... pleasant. Like lying in front of a hearth fire. The pain left my body, and I watched as the wounds Amber had given me fade away.

"Heh," I chuckled. "Phoenix healing."

Sweetie Belle nodded, while Scootaloo turned back to Amber. The zombie mare had managed to wriggle out from Apple Bloom's trampling, and tried to aim her arms at the half bull.

"No you don't," Scootaloo growled. Bursting back into full falcon form, she caught Amber by the arms, lifting her into the air and setting her up for another bulldozing charge by Apple Bloom. But as Apple Bloom rounded on her, Amber swung her legs forward.

Danger flashed in my mind. "Apple Bloom, no!" I yelled. 

But it wasn't enough. Amber's legs shifted into musket barrels, and she sent two shots into Apple Bloom's leg and chest. The half-bull fell to the ground with a shriek of agony.

"Apple Bloom!!" Scootaloo screamed. She clawed down at Amber hatefully, but the mare merely smirked up at her.

She stuck out her tongue... which promptly shifted into a gun of it's own. Before I could even reach out, she fired... and Scootaloo hit the ground, back in her normal form. Clutching at her eye as it oozed blood and vitreous gel.

Before Amber could follow up, I plunged my hands into the ground. My hands shot up from the fillies' shadows, yanking them into the darkness and pulling them out at my side. Amber huffed as she turned back to me.

"This is why you always fail," she noted coldly. "You protect them at the cost of your own life!"

I merely glared at her, rising up and planting myself between her and the fillies.

"Thank you," I growled.

Her glare faltered. "For...?" she asked.

"Because of what you did," I growled, shadows pouring off me as I aimed at her. "I now know that you are not Amber."

Amber tried to draw her weapons, but I was faster, firing a shadow spike into her shoulder and rendering her dominant arm useless as she wailed in agony.

"Amber adored children!" I snarled, firing another spike into her other arm. "She cared for children!"

I sent another spike into her leg, sending her to the ground as she moaned in pain.

"And she would never so much as raise a hand to harm children!"

I seized her head and slammed it into the ground. I lifted her up, watching her eyes flutter and her mouth gape, uttering small squeaks of pain and fear.

I wanted to crush her head. I wanted to gut her. I wanted to smash her head again and again until it was nothing but pulp. But logic helped me resist. She could have information that could be useful.

And so, with one final smash that cracked the ground on impact, I watched as her eyes fluttered shut, before letting the shadows imprison her.

Once she had vanished into the darkness, I raced back to the Crusaders. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle had not been complacent with her healing fire. Scootaloo was blinking her repaired eye, and she was already resting her hands on Apple Bloom's leg and chest.

"Wait," I warned, using my powers to create small thin tendrils. "We need to remove the bullets first."

Sweetie Belle blinked in shock, but I didn't waste time, letting the tendrils into Apple Bloom's wounds. The filly groaned in pain, but with the power of shadows on my side, I quickly removed the bullets.

"Go ahead," I said.

Sweetie Belle nodded, and just put her flames onto Apple Bloom... when the Mane Six charged around the corner.

For a moment, we stared at each other in shock. A shock that only lasted a second.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack screamed, racing over to her sister.

"Scoot!" Rainbow Dash yelled, practically teleporting over to the younger pegasus.

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity stammered, stepping forward and raising a hand towards the flame covered unicorn.

"What in..." Applejack watched as Sweetie Belle tried to heal her sister. "What happened?"

"Why is Scoots crying?" demanded Rainbow

"And why does Sweetie have flames around her?" demanded Rarity

"Amber came after me again," I growled, lifting the unconsious mare out of the shadows for a moment. "The crusaders saved me"

"But how?" Applejack demanded.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "They're just fillies!"

I glanced at Sweetie Belle. "You wanna tell them?" I asked.

Sweetie Belle sighed with guilt. "Because..." she looked fearfully up at her sister. "Because we have Devil Fruits."

To prove her point, Sweetie shifted into her full phoenix form and spread her healing fire over her friend. Applejack watched in stunned disbelief as her sister was completely healed in seconds.

"But... How?" Applejack questioned.

"Sometime after you all left for the Crystal Empire," Sweetie Belle explained, shifting back to her normal form. "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and I found some weird looking fruits in the orchird. We took them to the club house and..."

"W-We thought they were just fancy apples," Apple Bloom added, though both of them shuddered from the memory of the taste.

"They sure didn't taste like apples," Scootaloo noted, grinning at Sweetie despite everything. "Tasted almost as good as your cooking, Sweetie Belle."

"Hey!" Sweetie Belle protested. But with the gazes of their sisters on them, they didn't have long to banter.

"Later that day," Apple Bloom continued. "When we were playing in the orchird we found we could turn into animals."

To prove their points, Apple Bloom shifted into a bull, while Scootaloo showed off her falcon form. Sweetie Belle briefly glanced down at her hands, before shrugging and assuming her phoenix form again.

"Zoan types," I noted, gazing at their forms with a look of pride. "Bird-Bird Fruit Models Falcon, the Ox-Ox Fruit Model Bull, and Mythical class Bird-Bird Fruit Model Phoenix." I grinned. "The fact that you three somewhat mastered your fruits in just under a month is pretty impressive."

Noticing the glares the three older sisters were beginning to shoot at me, I quickly morphed my look of pride into one of disappointment.

"That being said," I continued. "You three need to go to bed, and stay within the castle."

"But..." Apple Bloom tried to say.

"No 'but's Apple Bloom," Applejack chastised.

"She's right," I agreed. "If you follow us, your sisters will worry about you. It will distract them, and if they're not focused, they will die. Do you understand?"

The three fillies paled at my words, and with a mutual look to their families, they lowered their heads in understanding.

Leaving them with their sisters, I made my way into the deeper levels of the castle. Eventually, I reached the castle dungeon. The guards flinched and sprang to attention as I came into their sight.

"C-Captain Von Shadow," the head guard said with a salute.

"I've got a prisoner that needs a new home," I declared.

The guards nodded and moved out of my way. Passing cell after cell, I stopped at one in particular.

Summoning the zombie mare from my shadow, I threw her inside, clamping her wrists to the wall-mounted chains. Giving her one last look of disgust, I slammed the door shut, and left to head to bed.





My prisoner was still unconsious when I returned the next morning. That, or she was just faking it. Though, with Sombra, Echo, Shining Armor, Cadence, Luna and the Mane 6 all with me, I had no time for her tricks.

I dumped a bucket of ice water on the mare, grinning as she thrashed awake with a scream.

"What in Tar... Wait. Where am I?" the mare stammered, pulling at the chains around her wrists.

"Don't bother using your powers," I noted before she could try. "Those chains are made from Sea Prism Stone." I grinned as she spun to me. "It was the only cell that could hold me. And now it's the only cell that can hold you."

Snarling at the sight of me, she lunged forward. She didn't even get a foot closer before the chains yanked her back. She still snarled, pulling at me like a territorial dog staked to a chain.

'Hmm... why does this look familiar?' I mused, remembering how I did the same thing to Sombra.

"Ah swere," the mare growled in a confusing southern accent. "The moment I get out of these chains, I'mma blow so many hole in ya, yer guts'll be leaken lead!"

"Eric!" Applejack said solemnly. "I know that voice."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, turning from the angered prisoner. "Who is it?"

"Silver Rain," Applejack growled, walking up next to me. "And she used that exact same threat a few years back. On the Sheriff of Appleloosa no less, just fer keeping 'er from stealing apples from a fair me 'n Big Mac were participating in."

'Another's mannerisms in another's body,' I mused. 'And all the bodies have been repaired using the flesh and scales of Tundra Dragons.'

It clicked. I remembered one of the Arcs of One Piece.

"Thriller Bark," I said. The others turned to me.

"What?" they all asked.

"I know what Devil Fruit the leader has," I stated.

"Which one?" Pinkamena asked, her very presence causing Silver Rain to back away with fear in her eyes.

"The Shadow-Shadow Fruit," I explained. "It allows one to manipulate all forms of shadow. A known trademark is creating zombies, by taking one's shadow and putting it into a dead body, bringing it to life." I turned from Silver Rain, grinning at Pinkamena. "Would you like to see if you can get any other information from her?"

For the first time, Pinkamena gave me a smile. Though it lacked any of Pinkie's warmth. It was cold and ominous. And when she turned it to Silver Rain, the zombie mare began to cry tears of fear.

"It would be my pleasure," Pinkamena growled cracking her knuckles and bearing down on the whimpering zombie mare. "I am absolutely livid towards her for harming my favorite crusaders."

"No! Get away! " begged the zombie mare. "Keep her away from me! I'll tell you whatever you want, just please!" Briefly, she shifted into Amber's voice. "Eric? Eric, you wouldn't!"

But I had long lost any sympathy for the mare, and the others shared my thoughts. As we walked away from the cell, the zombie mare's screams of fear soon turned cracked with pain, and joined with Pinkamena's sadistic laughter in a cathartic duo of torture.
> Information
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkamena returned around lunchtime, wiping blood off her body with an already stained red rag. Her smile remained stuck on her face, making the others shudder.

"Is it me, or is her smile more unsettling then her glare?" Rainbow whispered to Rarity.

"It's not just you," Rarity assured her blue friend. "I think I might get nightmares from this."

"Well?" I asked Pinkamena over them.

"I won't lie," Pinkamena said, wiping off her fist as she sat before me. "This is probably the first time since I was born that I've felt truly happy."

The three fillies inched closer to me, having chosen to eat by my side rather than their sisters. I, however, merely hummed, chomping down on a Tundra Dragon meat sandwich.

"Is she still alive?" I asked.

"Define 'alive?'" Pinkamena asked, tossing the rag in the trash and letting us get a good look at a necklace around her neck.

The prisoner's teeth jangled like jingle bells on the necklace. Honestly though, after the crap Silver Rain put me through, I just found it amusing.

"Is she still breathing?" I clarified.

"Barely," Pinkamena commented. "But I did get quite a bit of useful information."

"Like?" Shining Armor prompted.

"Her masters name is Cold Scale," she explained, picking up an apple from Applejack's tray. "He's an Ice Dragon. And as Eric already said, his Devil Fruit allows him to control shadows." Her smile faded back to her glare. "Unfortunately, he's also got three-hundred zombies under his control. And 73 of them have Devil Fruits."

"Which ones?" Twilight asked.

Pinkamena huffed. "She didn't know all of them," she replied, biting out of the apple. "But the ones we need to worry about are the ten generals."

"Okay," Shining said, the tone of a military general entering his tone. "What are we dealing with?"

"All of them are pegasi," she continued. "And all of them have numbers tattooed to their body. Ranking them in terms of strength." Pinkamena lifted the tooth necklace with her unsettling smile. "I had to pull a few teeth, but I got their names and ranks."

"Tell us," I ordered.

She glared at me, but I stared her down. Her eyes widened in surprise, before she chuckled darkly.

"You certainly aren't like most," Pinkamena commented, running her finger along my jaw. "You'd make the perfect stallion for me. If I didn't have to give my body back to Pinkie."

"Pinkamena," I said softly but firmly. "The ranks. Now."

She rolled her eyes and continued.

"Rank Ten belongs to Ivory Rook. His Devil Fruit lets him make monsters out of whatever he touches."

"The Golem-Golem Fruit. Paramecia Type," I commented. "He'll be easy if we can get past his Golems. A guy like that will probably try to let his monsters fight for him."

"Radiant Faith? She's Rank Nine. Her Devil Fruit lets her fire some kind of beam that slows down time on anything it hits."

"Slow-Slow Fruit," I responded. "Another Paramecia Type." I grinned. "Sounds like our prisoner forgot to mention how the effect only lasts thirty seconds. And that any damage done to the slowed target happens all at once once those thirty seconds are up."

"Next we have Rank Eight," Pinkamena continued. "Sapphire Joy. Her Devil Fruit turns her into a wolf."

"Zoan Type," I listed instantly. "Mutt-Mutt Fruit. Model Wolf or Artic Wolf. Both are equally powerful in an area like the Frozen North."

"Rank Seven: Night Knight. His Devil Fruit turns his body into smoke." She lifted a hand before I could comment. "Let me guess... Logia Type? Smoke-Smoke Fruit?"

I grinned. "Right on the money," I praised.

She didn't grin, but her eyes sparkled for a brief moment.

"Rank Six is Lavender Crystal. Only thing our prisoner knew about her Devil Fruit was that it had something to do with stone."

My grin faded. "That's not much to go on," I admitted. "There are plenty of different types of Devil Fruits that can control, manipulate or effect stone." I sighed. "I don't like going in without much information, but we'll probably have to wait and see what Fruit she's got before we take her on."

"Rank Five's Amethyst Shard. Her Devil Fruit lets her control others."

I shook my head. "Still doesn't narrow it down," I commented.

Pinkamena shrugged, her glower returning. "I got that mare barely breathing in the cell," she growled. "Don't tell me I didn't try hard enough."

"I'm not," I replied. "What else did you learn?"

"Rank Four is held by a pony named Lavender Lily," she replied. "Her fruit lets her manipulate and control emeralds."

"Paramecia Type," I replied, grateful for more information. "The Emerald-Emerald Fruit." Despite the extra information, I leaned back, my heart jumping. "These are powerful Devil Fruits," I commented. "And two of them I don't even know about."

"You're gonna want to hold your horses then," Pinkamena replied with a grin. "We're not done yet."

Remembering that she spoke of ten generals, I nodded and motioned for her to continue."

"Artic Lily is third ranked. She has a Devil Fruit that lets her control bubbles."

"Bubble-Bubble Fruit." I huffed. "So, we've got a wolf and a bubble girl." I grinned. "All we're missing is a leopard, a giraffe, and a Door-Door user. Then we'd have all the Devil Fruit users of CP9."

"CP what?" Rainbow questioned

"Nothing," I said, waving the cyan pegasus off. "Continue, Pinkamena."

"Number Two belongs to a pony calling himself Ronin. He has a logia type which I'm assuming is called the Sand-Sand Fruit."

I nodded, eliciting another sparkle from her eyes.

"Finally, the Number One Ranked General, Emerald Dream..." Pinkamena sighed. "Our prisoner had no idea what his Devil Fruit was."

"Darn it," Rainbow Dash spat.

"All she'd say was that he went up against twenty Tundra Dragons and won. Without a single scratch."

I nodded. "Thank you, Pinkamena," I declared, rising up and moving to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Rainbow asked

"We," I replied. "Are going to the south-east end of the empire. To get the Princess back." I turned to Shining and Cadence. "If anything causes us to leave the Empire, you need to be prepared for an assault by the enemy."

They nodded in confirmation, and I dropped into my shadow, pulling Pinkamena, Rainbow and Applejack with me.

We surfaced in the streets of the Empire.

"Hey, Captain Von Shadow," several crystal ponies greeted happily, an excellent far cry from the fear and terror the ponies of Canterlot would give me. Then again, the crystal ponies had been exposed to me doing this for ten years. So they were definitely more used to it.

As we walked to the south-east commoner district, I felt a presence. He was trying to blend in with the crowd, but I knew this pony didn't belong among them. I stopped in my tracks, causing the others to stop as well.

"You noticed it?" Pinkamena asked

"Yeah." I turned to the crowd. "Come out now. Otherwise, we send you back to your master in pieces."

The crystal ponies parted, revealing a pale white pegasus making his way into the crowd from the border to the Frozen North. He wore a brown, fur trimmed vest and a pair of emerald green pants. Scales and leather skin adorned his body along with numerous stitch marks. On his left arm a black 10 was engraved like a tattoo.

"Ten?" I noted. "So... Ivory Rook. General to Cold Scale."

The pegasus made a small bow of acknowledgement. "And you must be the Shade that Amber was supposed to kill," he noted, shaking his head with disappointment. "That woman was always such a failure."

The insult to my wife sent a throb of anger through my veins. Before I could stop myself, I used the Shave Technique, catching the dead stallion by the neck. I prepared the Finger Pistol, ready to stab him in the heart. But he merely grinned... as I heard screams.

I turned, careful to keep my finger pistol trained on his heart. AJ, Rainbow and Pinkamena were all being held by black golems wearing even blacker gauntlets. All three - even Pinkamena - were struggling and gagging in pain. Briefly, I saw Rainbow Dash flare her flames, trying to phase through the golem's grip. But the tactic didn't work.

"Sea Prism gauntlets," I growled, turning back to Ivory as my hand formed into a large claw. "Let them go!"

Ivory merely glanced at his golems. "If I die, kill all three of them," he commanded.

The golem's grip tightened, but I didn't let him notice my fear.

"Not bad," I admitted with a grin. "But you overlooked something."

He raised an eyebrow as my shadow stretched towards the captive ponies. Lunging out from the darkness, my shadow formed a scythe and swung at the golem's arms.

The shadow burst apart into dark shards, while the golems merely shrugged. If they were capable of laughter, I'm pretty sure they would've been howling in amusement.

"You didn't think I planned on that?" Rook asked with a laugh of his own. "My monsters are made from obsidian stone!"

I nodded. "Good to know," I replied, before enacting my backup plan. Nodding to my shadow, it pulled out the Murakumogiri.

Rook briefly widened his eyes at the weapon, before the shadow clone took another swing at the golems. This time, the Murakumogiri cut through them like a hot knife through butter, allowing Pinkamena, Rainbow Dash and Applejack to spring free. Rook somehow got even paler, as my shadows coursed around him in thick ropes, binding him tight. As the shadows curled around his neck, he turned to me with a pleading expression.

"Y-You know, with the benefit of hindsight," he noted. "M-Maybe there's a way we can have this work out for everyone!" He choked as the tendrils tightened around his neck. "P-Preferably without me having to die a second time."

"You don't want to die?" I asked. "Take us to your master. Now."

He nodded, and spun around. Using my shadow rope as a leash, and with the trio of ponies following me, we trekked into the Frozen North to retrieve Princess Celestia.

However, barely a mile into the snow... a voice echoed above us.

"You pitiful coward," the voice boomed, followed by the sound of wings.

I looked up, seeing something dive-bombing Ivory and me. Seizing the general, I leaped back as the object hit the ground. Snow and debris briefly hid it. Yet, as the snow and vapor cleared...

"Oh, great," I muttered.

It was a dragon. White and black scales covered with the usual stitchmarks of Scale's zombies. An open coat exposed his stitched up yet still muscular chest, and a pair of black pants accentuated his powerful legs.

"Obsidian," Rook stammered in delight. "Thank the Master you're here. Quick, help me..."

"You're such a disgrace," The dragon - Obsidian - growled.

Then he vanished. Before I could even look around, he reappeared in front of Rook. He was holding a heart in his claw, the muscle slowly ceasing it's beat.

Rook and I briefly backed up, before we both looked down at the hole in the pegasus chest. Rook briefly looked up at me with fear, before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he hit the ground dead.

Was that the Shave Technique? I thought in horror. Despite my own heart starting to hammer, I forced my fear down.

"I see there's no honor among thieves," I growled, even as my hand trembled.

"His tactics were weak," Obsidian replied. "And he surrendered without a fight. He didn't deserve a second chance at life." He lifted his claws, and grinned ominously as blue and white smoke lifted from his claws. "And neither do you."

My hands trembled. I couldn't hold back my fear. If that was the fruit I thought it was... combined with his mastery of the Shave Technique...

"Girls..." I whispered as my trembling got worse. "Warn the Empire."

"But Eric..." Applejack said.

"Applejack, look," Pinkamena said, probably pointing at my trembling body. "We need to go."

I heard them running, but Obsidian's grin didn't fade.

"They won't get far," Obsidian noted, cracking his knuckles as they formed a fist. "Not once I kill you."

'I've got no choice'

Pulling out one of Amber's Sea Prism Stone daggers, I cut deep into my arm and begin pouring shadow into the cut. But before I could get too far, Obsidian reappeared in front of me. My vision went dark as his black palm covered my face.

"Goodbye, Shadow Man," Obsidian said, before everything went cold. Colder than I ever thought the Frozen North was capable of.





Fluttershy gazed out from the lookout tower of the castle. Her eyes widened as the south-east area was suddenly covered in blue crystals. Looking into a nearby telescope she saw... something attack a trio of orange, blue and pink ponies, dragging them away from the Empire.

"Girls..." Fluttershy whispered in horror, turning to a nearby owl that had been living in the lookout tower. "Please," she begged the owl with her Devil Fruit. "I need you to follow them. Find out where they took them."

The owl gazed at the Frozen North and blue crystals before turning to Fluttershy with a wide eyed expression.

"Honey, you must be joking?" the owl hooted.

"I'm not. Please." Fluttershy begged. She gasped, remembering that it was almost owl mating season. "I'll introduce you to a handsome owl I know."

The owl narrowed her eyes. "You better not be tempting me with a man," the owl hooted, waving a wing at the pegasus. "I'll carve your eyes out and use them to line my nest."

"Will you at least look for my friends first?" Fluttershy asked, batting her eyes.

The owl rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Yes," she muttered, taking flight after the figure that had taken Fluttershy's friends.

Turning from the telescope, Fluttershy ran down the stairs, using the technique Eric had taught her to increase her speed. Fluttershy raced to the throne room, where the royalty awaited.

"They're gone," she called out as she burst in. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash. E-Even Pinkamena. Something attacked them and dragged them away from the Empire!"

"What about Eric?" Luna and Sombra asked in unison.

Fluttershy said nothing, fearing that he was killed in the blue crystals storm.

Without hesitation, Luna and Sombra's horns flared, and they teleported to the south-east area of the Empire.

The two gaped at the wide spread cluster of blue crystals that awaited them.

"What are these?" Luna demanded. "Baby blue sapphires?"

Sombra placed his hand on one, narrowing his eyes at it's cold feeling. And the dampness already spreading across it.

"No," he said. "It's ice."

Seconds later, Shining and Cadence appeared, along with the rest of the Mane Six.

Ignoring them, Sombra moved deeper into the ice formation, using a fire spell to melt his way through. However, not too far into the ice formation, Sombra came across something that made his eyes widen in horror.

"No..." he whispered as the others joined them.

"Oh, Faust!" Shining stammered.

"Eric!" more than a few screamed, Luna's voice the loudest of them all.

The Shadow Man was frozen before them, his head reared back and an expression of horror frozen to his face.

"Oh..." Luna cried, turning away and trying not to be sick.

Sombra, however, clenched his fist, an ominous growl bubbling up from his throat. His hands started to glow bright purple. Aiming both his hands at the large clusters of ice, Sombra released a torrent of black flames. The ice disintegrated, and purple wisps formed in his eyes.

A mad cackle escaped him, growing into the laugh of a very familiar tyrant. The others turned, watching as he was bathed in black flames.

"Sombra?" Luna stammered. "Sombra!"

"He's returning to his old ways!" Shining warned, grabbing his sword.

"Wait!" Fluttershy yelled, jumping between them and the dark king. "He's doing this to help Eric!"

But Shining shook his head, unconvinced, as Sombra suddenly stopped. The flames died down, and the former king fell to his knees, clutching his head as tears began to roll from his dark eyes. Yet, his sobbing was still intercut with that horrible, mad laughter.

Ignoring the warnings of the unicorn, Fluttershy approached the stallion. Settling herself on her knees in front of him, she gripped Sombra's cheeks with a firm but gentle touch.

"Sombra," Fluttershy said softly. "You need to focus. Focus on my voice."

Sombra's laughter started to cease. His eyes gazed out from the purple wisps, focusing on her eyes.

"We need to save Eric and the others," she reminded him. "You need to steel your mind and save Eric."

The purple wisps dissipated. Sombra's laughter and tears slowly stopped. Taking a deep breath, Sombra smiled gratefully at the pegasus.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Sombra whispered, rising up with her.

With Fluttershy by his side, Sombra's magic gained a softer glow, and he pulled the water from the melted ice, swirling it around Eric and forming a sphere around the frozen Shadow Man.

"We need to thaw him out," Sombra ordered. "He may be the only one to stop this dragon from freezing all of the Empire."

Twilight, Rarity, Shining and even Cadence and Luna obeyed the former king. Grouping around the sphere, their own horns began to glow as they added their own magic to the spell.

"Not too hot," Sombra warned. "We need to slowly thaw him out. Otherwise, we'll just injure him further."

Bit by bit, the jagged pieces of ice snapped off. Eric's skin slowly became visible. After almost an hour of swirling the hot water around, his body began to drift in the water, more like a rag doll than a statue.

As bubbles began to rise from the water, the unicorns quickly dissipated their spell. Lunging forward, Sombra kept Eric from hitting the ground. Eric took a breath; though it was slow and ragged, the sign of life from his friend brought a smile to the former king's face.

"We need to get him back to the Castle" Sombra said. Yet, as he flared his magic in preparation for a teleport spell... an odd purple glow surrounded his horn.

'Kill Him,' another voice growled. 'He's the only thing stopping me from reclaiming MY empire...'

Sombra blinked before shaking his head, violently trying to purge the voice from his head.

"Sombra?" Luna asked. Fluttershy rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Sombra insisted. Flaring his horn again (thankfully without the red glow), he teleported Eric to the medical ward of the castle, the others following shortly afterward.

Handing him over to the doctors, Sombra quickly backed out of the room. Fluttershy followed after him, watching him with caution as he checked his hands and horn for any more signs of effects from the dark spells.

"Sombra," Fluttershy asked. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Fine," he replied gruffly. But Fluttershy moved in front of him before he could walk off.

"Don't lie to me, Sombra," Fluttershy said sternly. "I may not have Applejack's Element of Honesty, but I know when someone needs help."

Sombra tried to look away, but her gaze caught his own. And his resolve crumbled in the face of her genuine desire to help.

"I'm not okay," he admitted. "I'm starting to be effected by Umbra's dark spells." He clenched his head. "I-It was only one spell." He gazed up at her with fear. "If I have to tap into that kind of magic again... it may... it..."

Fluttershy took his hands, gently pulling them away from his head. "I know you'd give up your life to protect your friends," she said with a compassionate smile. "But you need to protect yourself as well. Please?" Her thumbs ran over his fingers. "You may not believe it, but there are some ponies that care for you."

Sombra gazed up at her with a look that made them both blush. Fluttershy turned away, walking ahead of him. As Sombra watched her go, another voice came to him. Not dark and evil like Umbra's. Instead, it was the gentle and soothing tone of a memory.

'Sombrahesta,' his mother had once said to him, 'When the time comes, you will find a mare who doesn't care about the crown. Only about you. Just like your father found me, there will be a mare that will find you.'

"You were right, Mother," Sombra whispered to himself, smiling as he watched Fluttershy go. "Though... I think I found her."
> The Dragon's Lair
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Along the edge of the island stood a raised rock formation. On the formation was a massive hole which lead deep into the underground.

Deep within the vast layout of caves stood a large room filled with three hundred scared ponies, three of them unconcious. Though not for long.

Rainbow Dash was the first to awaken. Trying to rub her head revealed a metal bracelet bound to her wrist. A bracelet made of sea prism.

Rainbow Dash's groan roused her friends, and the three mares gazed at the group of ponies around them. One of which Applejack immediately recognized.

"Silver Rain?" Applejack asked.

The red earth pony mare flinched. "A-Applejack?"

"What are ya going here?" Appljack asked

"Ah was taken from Apploosa on mah way home from the saloon," Silver Rain explained. "Then everything went black and ah woke up here."

Looking around Applejack spotted a unguarded exit. She blinked at it for a moment before pointing it out to Rainbow and Pinkamena.

"Why haven't any of ya left?" Applejack asked. "No pony's guarding the exit"

"We can't," Silver replied morosely. Before she could continue, Rainbow Dash hissed.

"Someone's coming!"

Sure enough, they began to hear foot falls. Moving to the sides of the doorway, Rainbow and Pinkamena prepared to ambush whoever was coming through.

Then the footsteps stopped. Silver Rain moaned, covering her mouth as a chuckle echoed through the doorway.

Then, with a massive THUD, seconds of the wall collapsed, burying Rainbow and Pinkamena before they could even look up.

The zombie pony walked in - a dull gray stallion with dragon scales over his forearms leading up to a black vest lined with white fur, and open to reveal a '1' tattooed onto his open chest. He smirked as Rainbow and Pinkamena poked their heads from the ice, coughing and spitting up ice shards.

"You aren't the first ponies to try and attack me," he said in a deep voice. "And you certainly won't be the last"

Pinkamena and Rainbow Dash pulled themselves from the rubble as the zombie turned to Applejack.

"If you wish to see your princess, then I'd suggest you follow me," ordered the Zombie.

Exchanging a glance, the trio of mares reluctantly nodded, and followed the zombie, noticing the white '1' stitched into his vest. As they followed him through the caves, they passed more zombies. Some had more animalistic features, while others had other biazarre features like parts of their bodies covered in stone or straw.

"Let me guess," Pinkamena growled, not taking her eyes off the stallion in front of them. "You're Emerald Dream, aren't you?"

"And what makes you think that?" he replied.

"You have a One tattooed on your chest as well as one on the back of your vest," she explained. "The mare I tortured told me the rank one general was named Emerald Dream."

The zombie paused, sighing in irritation.

"So the mare failed?" he mused, shaking his head. "I knew it. He should've sent me; I wouldn't have let that Shade live."

He slammed his fist into the wall. An ominous crack weaved up the wall, before the sound of falling rocks emanated from further away. A small scream echoed before being cut off by the crash of stones. The mares watched Emerald with trepidation, but he merely let out another irritated sigh.

"Keep moving," he growled.

Eventually, the group reached the entrance to a very large room. 11 chairs lined the room, eight of them filled by Cold Scales generals. In the center of the room, the biggest chair held Cold Scale himself, sitting over an eerily still pony stitched together with dragon parts. A shadow squirmed and spasmed in his grip.

"I've brought the ponies, Master Scale," Emerald announced, bowing before taking the seat marked '1.'

"Glad to see I can count on you, Emerald Dream," Cold Scale replied, barely even looking at his general before shoving the shadow into the pony/dragon corpse. Slowly, the pony began to breath.

But as Applejack started to shift in front of her friends, Pinkamena gave a slight gasp. Glancing at her, the friends followed her gaze to above Cold Scale's throne.

Their breath hitched. Princess Celestia, bleeding golden ichor from several different injuries, hung above his throne, held by invisible strings. Her chest barely rose and fell, and her eyes were shut like she was asleep.

Tears began streaming from Pinkamena's eyes. Briefly, Pinkie's original voice escaped her mouth.

"N-No... Princess..." Pinkie sobbed, before Pinkamena wrenched control away, covering her eyes, and seething in rage.

"You bastard," Pinkamena muttered under her breath. Her fist tightened. Her knuckles turned white. "You made Pinkie CRY!"

The pink mare lunged past her friends, leaping to bury her fist into Cold Scales' smirking face. His smirk never wavered, and for good reason.

Her fist stopped a full foot from the ice dragon, and for a moment, she hung in the air.

"Thank you Amethyst." Cold Scale said.

Though his attention didn't waver from his experiment, Rainbow and Applejack quickly saw the Five throne. The pony sitting on it had her fist raised and her eyes on the pink mare.

However, her expression faltered. "Um... sir?" she asked.

Cold Scale looked up... and his eyes widened. Pinkamena's fist was shaking. She was moving closer to to him. Lines of blood formed all over her body, and yet she continued to push herself forward.

"My my my," Cold Scale mused. "Even with Amethyst's powers, you are still able to move."

"No pony makes Pinkie cry," Pinkamena snarled, inching closer. "No pony... and no drake!"

"You truly are a strong one," the dragon mused, before turning to a familiar black and white dragon marching up behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "That's good. That's very good."

Rainbow and Applejack had just enough time to turn their heads before Obsidian seized them by the shoulders. Ice covered them in seconds, and they screamed at the freezing pain.

"Glad you could join us, Obsidian Fury," Cold Scale said, turning away from the pink mare as Obsidian pushed the pegasus and the earth pony next to her.

"Anything for my older brother," Obsidian said.

Rainbow and Applejack stared at him wide-eyed. "Brother?!"

Rainbow Dash tried to move, but the ice was too cold even for her flames. As she struggled, Obsidian spewed a barrage of fire of his own.

"Fire and ice?!" Applejack demanded, as the warmth slowly melted the ice on their backs. "Now that's just not fair!"

The others ignored her protests, as the light from Obsidian's flames caused the three mares to cast dark shadows before Cold Scale. Smiling cruelly, he reached down and seized the head of Applejack's shadow. And as the farm mare stared in silent horror, he lifted the folds of darkness from the ground.

"M-My shadow..." she whispered, before he did the same thing to Rainbow and Pinkamena's shadow, using his other hand and even his tail.

Amethyst Shard flicked a finger on her free hand, and Applejack's shadow separated like she had just cut a piece of very dark paper. Instantly, the orange earth pony fell, the rise and fall of her chest the only sign of life.

"Applejack!" Rainbow Dash screamed, before Amethyst did the same to her. With a final flick of her hand, Pinkamena's shadow was severed. Though the mare struggled to hold onto consiousness, glaring up at the dragon leader.

"I promise you Dragon," she snarled. "You will suffer greatly for what you did to both Pinkie and Eric." Yet, despite her bold words, not even she could resist the effects of losing her shadow. "Mark...my....words..." was the last she got out before she collapsed, and moved no more.

Sparing a small chuckle at the expense of the downed mares, Cold Scale turned to Artic Lilly. The shadows squirmed and thrashed in his grip, but had just as much luck escaping him as the many other shadows that he had taken.

"Bring me three more corpses," the dragon ordered his general. "I have the means to bring them life."

"As you wish Master Scale," Artic Lily said with a bow, leaving the room as Cold Scale turned to his other Generals.

"With this Shade still alive..."

"With all due respect Brother," Obsidian interuppted. "There's no way that creature still lives after what I did."

"I've heard that he has a stubborn grip on life," Cold Scale replied smoothly. "And it's better to be ready if he did survive." He turned as Artic Lily returned, dragging three bodies behind her. "With that being said, I have a special job for each of you."





Back at the Empire, Shining Armor paced before the Crystal Army. Though he was garbed in the Armor given to him by Celestia herself, the Crystal Army was completely unimpressed.

"We need to stand together," Shining Armor insisted. "Now more than ever."

"I told you, sir," the strongest guard replied. "We take our orders from Captain Von Shadow. The Reaper of the Crystal Empire. No one else."

"Ugh, not this argument again," Shining Armor groaned, rubbing his head. With a sigh, he turned from the soldiers. "At least see what you can do to keep the Empire safe. I'm sure Captain Von Shadow would say something similar."

As Shining left the soldiers to their own whims, he was unaware that he was walking right over the castle dungeon.

Amber sat in the corner of her cell. Blood still oozed from a million different cuts. Her left eye was swollen shut, and a large number of her teeth were missing.

Suddenly, a noise jumped life back into the beaten mare.

"Hey stop right..." a guard called before he screamed. Bones snapped, and something metal clanged to the ground. A pony stepped into view, his voice making Amber shiver.

"Poor poor poor Amber," the stallion mocked, his burnt red hair swaying as he shook his head. His eyes - one red and one yellow - glistened with disgust, and his singed orange coat failed to cover the many stitches adorning his body. A black Two was tattooed on his left cheek.

"R-Ronin?!" Amber squeaked out.

Grinning, Ronin's body turned to sand, allowing him to walk right through the bars of her cell. Though part of him reformed, the rest of the sand started to crawl up the mare's body. Despite her efforts to get away, her legs were quickly seized by the sentient sand.

"We sent you to kill the Shade and take his Power Fruit," Ronin lectured as his sand crawled up the mares body. "We had Jasper get you into the castle to kill the shade and his fruit users."

Amber couldn't protest. Ronin's sand had now covered the majority of her body, leaving only her frightened face visible.

"And if that wasn't enough," Ronin growled. "You told the enemy about me and the other generals." His fist clenched, and Amber whimpered as the sand dug into her cuts. "By all rights I should kill you right here and now."

Amber shut her eyes, death a sweet mercy compared to what she had already gone through. But as he noticed the look of relief struggling not to show on her face, Ronin rolled his eyes and pulled his sand away from her. Her eyes shot open in alarm, before he bounced a set of keys off her forehead.

"But lucky for you," he continued. "I wasn't ordered to kill you. And Master Scale thinks you can still be useful."

Hesitantly, Amber took the keys, freeing herself from her chains.

"Well whatever that use is," she grumbled. "Just know this body is now completely useless. The Shade will no longer hesitate at the sight of me."

"Good to know," Ronin replied sarcastically. "But it won't matter." He pointed at her. "This is your last chance to prevent your second death by the hands of our master."

Amber struggled to her feet. "And what do I have to do?" she asked.

"Kill everyone in the castle and bring their Power Fruits to Master Scale," Ronin replied, already walking out of the cell.

"W-Wait! Alone?!" she stammered in fear.

"I have orders of my own," Ronin replied like it was obvious. "Only instructions I had for you were to set you free." And with one more mocking grin, he disappeared into sand, which was blown away by an unknown breeze.

"Sure," Amber snarled at his departing form. "Leave the beaten mare to kill a princess, a changeling, three fillies, six mares, the Dark King, and his Shade. Not like anything could possibly go wrong there!" She looked down with a moan.





I opened my eyes with a moan. Once again, I found myself in the castle's medical wing. But I couldn't help but notice three mares were missing.

'Shit,' my thoughts bemoaned. 'Pinkamena's going to kill me.'

Getting up I find both my shirt and coat missing, and several hot damp rags all over my body, as well as a bowl of steaming water next to my bed. Immediately I remembered what happened.

That dragon... Obsidian. He had speed on par with the Shave Technique as well as the powers of the Ice Logia Devil Fruit.

All I could do was hope the others were okay. Dropping the rags to the floor I look around for a shirt, but found nothing. Cursing, I made my way out of the room and tried to find a shirt. I couldn't care less about the coat but I needed a shirt. Trekking through the castle I couldn't help but grow angry

'seriously, of all the things I bring from my world, They had to stay?!' I thought angrily.

Moving quickly through the castle, I passed many of the servants. One out of every seven let out a gasp of surprise and fear. I didn't have time for them, though; I was beginning to recognize the territory. I smiled softly; this had been my old living quarters. Back when I was Sombra's bodyguard. However my smile faded when I opened the door to my room, and found Luna.

She was carrying a vase with a red and orange flower. I knew that plant too: it was known as a Dragon Fire Lily. A medical plant grown by Sombra's mother. When brewed properly, the petals of that plant could keep a pony warm even if they stood in the Frozen North with nothing else, and could bring them back from any stage of frostbite or hypothermia.

"Eric?!" Luna yelped, her cheeks reddening as she set the vase down. "Sombra said you wouldn't wake up for another day!"

"I've been told that I'm a quick healer," I replied, pushing past the alicorn and into my room. As I tried to look around for a shirt, Luna gasped. I spun to her as she dropped the lily, it's vase shattering on the floor.

"Eric!" Luna whispered, trying to get behind me. "What...What happened to your back?"

I kept my back from her. "They're records of all my battles," I insisted, though I couldn't look her in the eye. "Trophies of war."

Luna sighed. When I looked up at her, I could see she didn't buy my lie for a second.

"Eric," she started softly. "My sister and I have seen many battles, and saved many innocent ponies from fates worse than death." She circled behind me, tracing her hand over one of the deeper scars. "These are not scars of combat. They are torture scars."

I spun away from her. Even just her voice saying it started to bring the memories back. I swore, already hearing the music. The screams.

I stumbled to the door, my knuckles turning white as they gripped the crystal door frame.

"Eric?" Luna's voice echoed past the scream. I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"Get off me!" I hissed, yanking my shoulder away. The crystal cracked under my grip.

"Who hurt you?" Luna asked. But her touch was like poison. My vision turned red.

"Get...Off...Me..." I began to growl. My shadows started to seep off my body. They stabbed at Luna's hand, and she wisely withdrew.

"But Eric!" Luna began, but a wall of darkness formed, keeping her out.

"Please...Get off me," I hissed, tears streaming from my eyes.

I stumbled away from the door, and the princess took her chance, rushing out before my shadows slammed the door behind her.

But even with her gone, the voices weren't stopping. My breath came in short, hitches that had no air. I slid against the door, trying to think of something else. And thinking of nothing else.

NO! DO IT RIGHT! the voice boomed, followed by the hard slap.
INCREASE YOUR TEMPO the voice repeated, followed by the crack of a whip.
TOO SLOW the voice mocked, before the memory of a hot iron seared against my skin. 

"Stop it..." I whispered. "Stop it! No more!"

AGAIN, PLAY IT AGAIN AND DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME! a metal blade flashed in the darkness.

"STOP IT!" I screamed at the voice.

"Eric, for Faust sake!" Luna shouted. "Let me in!" Her voice and fists pounded on the door, but they were drowned out by the voice. The torture. The music. The...

The music! I found it! A more pleasant memory.

Amber. Unaltered by Cold Scale's lies. Sitting on her knees; smiling at me with her hands on my cheeks.

'Sweetheart,' she said, her voice like soothing nectar. 'It doesn't matter what happened in your past. All that matters is what you do now. And right now I want to spend my future with you.'

She lifted her hand to my chin, and I saw a gold ring sparkling on her finger.

'So please,' she asked. 'Let me be your rock,'

My breathing slowed. My powers steadied. I smiled at my wife, even as she slowly vanished from view.

"Thank you Amber," I whispered. "Even in death you're still keeping me from the grips of insanity."

My head cleared further as I found a simple black shirt. Sighing in relief as the shirt settled over my body, I dropped into the shadows of the already dark room.

"I need to keep a level head," I muttered to myself, peering into the various shadows of the castle.

Eventually, I found who I was looking for:

Sombra was in the throne room, along with Shining Armor and Cadance. The two unicorns seemed to be talking about a plan of action with Cold Scale's army. Though the 'talk' was more of an 'argument.'

"Has becoming King of my empire messed with your thinking?!" Sombra snarled at Shining. "Because it sounds like you're putting Equestian battle stratagy into a place filled with ponies not familiar with it!"

"You're not the king here!" Shining Armor snapped back. "This is the best possible course of action!"

"I've already told you!" Sombra bemoaned. "Having the Crystal Army fight Cold Scale's army while Cadance raises a barrier to protect the citizens is MORONIC!" He practically stabbed his finger at the map. "The army should be stationed within the barrier in case they break through!"

"Cadence's barrier is by far the strongest out of the three princesses, but it doesn't adapt for allowing attacks out" Shining snapped. "You station them behind that wall, we're just settling down for a siege!"

"Not even a long siege at that," Sombra replied snidely. "Remind me, how long did it take me to break through her beloved princess' barrier?"

Shining seized the hilt of his sword, but Sombra drew his twice as fast.

"You bastard," Shining snapped, his blade clashing against Sombra's before he could put it to the lighter unicorn's throat.

"Enough!" Cadance boomed, her magic glowing and tossing the swords from both males' hands. "Both of you, this is neither the time nor the place to be fighting amongst each other!"

"But Cadance..." Shining protested.

"Shining," Cadence interuppted. "I hate to admit it but Sombra has a point." She indicated the map. "We need to place the soldiers at the border. That way, they can attack back, yet can also retreat if needed."

Shining's anger faded to reluctant silence, while Sombra crossed his arms, but nodded assent. I chuckled, emerging from Sombra's shadow, causing Shining and Cadence to jump in alarm, while Sombra merely sighed.

"Now we know who wears the pants in this relationship," I commented to Sombra.

The former king grinned wistfully, before he did a double take.

"Wait... Eric! You shouldn't be..."

"Sombra I'm perfectly fine," I assured him. His concern didn't fade. "Really, I am. But we need...."

I stopped as a scream ripped down the hall. A scream followed by gunfire. And manaical laughter.

Without a word, the four of us turned to the door... just as three fillies burst in.

"That pony from earlier!" Scootaloo screamed.

"The one that tried to kill Eric," Sweetie Belle cried.

"She's back!" Apple Bloom finished weakly.

I didn't hesitate. Forming two shadow tendrils, I seized Shining and Sombra's swords from where Cadence had flung them. Drawing them to myself, I stormed out, Sombra right behind me.

"Eric, why my sword?" Sombra demanded, grabbing for his blade. "You have your own!"

I made him flinch back with a sideways glare. "That thing may have the body of my wife," I growled. "But she is in no way worthy of being killed by that blade."

Sombra didn't argue, and I continued on, following the sound of gunfire and screams.

Soon enough, I found her. Standing in the middle of numerous dead guards. Breathing heavily, her eyes darting around wildly like a cornered animal.

"It seems to happen," I whispered, drawing her gaze.
"When people least expect it
Death awaits for no one"

She flinched at the sight of me. She backed up as I approached her.

"Eric..." she tried to begin, going silent as I pointed Sombra's sword at her.

"I don't care who's shadow is inside you, Amber," I said. "All I care about is freeing you from your torment. Giving you the proper burial you deserved one-thousand years ago."

Amber narrowed her eyes, only to widen as she noticed the shadows shifting. She jumped just as the shadows struck, slamming into the walls, floor and even ceiling.

She escaped them all.

I growled. "You always did have the ability to tell when something would go wrong," I noted. "But if you want it the hard way..."

Remembering when Celestia had seen Echo's true form, I let the Conquerors' Haki expand from my being. The mare staggered, but tried to aim her changing arms at me.

"Shave," I whispered under my breath, and I shot at the zombie with blinding speed.

She tried to fire, but I was already behind her. She screamed as my blades burst through her chest, and fell to her knees, clutching at the blades asthey protruded from her chest.

"Goodbye Amber," I whispered in her ear. "I pray this finally sets you free."

Amber spasmed. She choked. Then suddenly, a black blob forced it's way out of her mouth. With a gurgling spit, she regurtitated the shadow, which promptly shot out the window, seeking to return to its owner. Amber's head drooped, and she moved no more.

I withdrew the swords, tossing them aside to pick her up in a bridal pose. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a slight distortion in the air.

"Hello, Echo," I whispered, my voice monotone and wistful.

Echo shimmered into being, a curved dagger in his hand and a shocked expression on his face.

"How'd you know I was here?" he demanded.

"Your cloaking spell had a slight visual distortion," I replied, my eyes not leaving my now dead wife. "It's easy to spot when you've faced the number of hostile changelings that I have."

The stomping of footfalls drew my gaze. I glanced up apathetically as one of my soldiers rounded the corner.

"C-Captain Von Shadow," he stammered, staring in horror at the carnage before him. "I..."

"Assemble every soldier we have," I said, in a tone that was not to be questioned. "I want each and every one of you standing guard at the borders of the empire."

He quickly saluted. "Y-Yes, sir," he said, turning and running to follow my orders. Turning from him, I made my way down the hall, my wife never leaving my arms. Echo watched me go curiously.

"What are you going to do Eric?" he asked.

"I need to get something from my old office," I replied. "Then I'm going to bury my wife"

Leaving behind the changeling king, I continued through the castle. No one tried to stop me. No one tried to question me. The only sound was my footsteps, steady as a beating drum.

Briefly stopping in front of my office, I let a shadow double shimmer into existance.

"Get it, while I go to the graveyard" I ordered.

The shadow double obeyed, sinking into the door, while I continued onward.





While Eric made his way to bury his beloved, his shadow went into the office. The key was still in its secret keyhole.

Turning it until it clicked, the shadow stepped back, watching as the bookshelf pushed itself out and slid open. Inside, a small space awaited, filled with weapons. At the center of it all was a mannequin with a unique set of armor:

A dark blue shirt with the Royal crest embroidered on it. A black trench coat with the image of a skull on the left shoulder and a pair of metal bracers on the forearm sleeves. Black fingerless gloves with thick metal studs on the knuckles. Black pants with thick metal shin guards. And a pair of dark grey boots with two razor sharp spikes on the back of the boot.

The armor of the Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard. The Uniform of the Reaper of the Crystal Empire.

The shadow placed a hand on the mannequin, it's essence pouring into the armor and pulling it into the darkness. When the mannequin stood bare, the shadow pushed the bookshelf back into place, reclaimed the keyring, and replaced the books.

It's work done, the double stepped into the shadows of the room and returned to it's master.
> Clashing Of Our Minds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After an hour of hard work, it was complete. Yet Eric Von Shadow felt no triumph. Nor did he have reason to.

He merely stood forlorn and wistful, gazing upon the gravestone and the words he had marked.






Here Lies
Amber Von Shadow
Died: Age 26



A Living Goddess Given Mortal Form
A Friend and a Beloved Wife



May you find peace in your next life






"It took a thousand years, my love," Eric noted. "But you finally get to rest in peace." He looked past the gravestone. "In the safety of your home."

He bowed his head with a sigh. For a moment, he felt content to stand there for an eternity. Then he felt it.

An unfamiliar presence. Approaching him from behind.

He didn't turn. "If you're planning on killing me," he said. "You should know: you'll have better luck killing a Tundra Dragon."

"Precisely why I'm here," the presence responded, walking up to the side of the shadow man.

Eric turned. Standing next to him was an odd creature. He remembered it was referred to as a 'Dragonoid' back home.

Humanoid, with bipedal legs and arms, but covered in sparkling white scales like a lizard, with a head that resembled a human, but with his cheeks equally protected with the snow-white scales.

"Well-well," the shadow man noted. "A Tundra Dragon."

"Perceptive of you, Kin Slayer," the Dragon growled through clenched teeth.

"So," Eric noted, turning away as shadows began to drip from his body. "You're here to avenge your slain brethen?"

The dragon tensed, his clawed fists clenching. Knuckles popped, and Eric readied himself for battle.

But, before he could start considering whether to strike first... the tundra dragon's fist unclenched, and he sighed in disappointment.

"Unfortunately, no" he growled. He turned to Eric. "I was sent to deliever you to the Elder. You can either come willingly... or I can drag you there."

As if to prove his point, his aura changed. A pair of black feathered wings sprouted from his back, and his claws and teeth bared. Eric raised an eyebrow.

"Human-Human Fruit," he noted. "Model: Archangel."

The dragon grinned. "By all means," he dared. "Pick the second option."

At first, Eric didn't reply. He turned back to Amber's grave, his voice dropping an octave when he spoke again.

"The dead deserve their peaceful slumber," Eric declared. The shadows receded back into his body, and he walked away from the dragon.

At first, the dragon blinked at his retreating form, unsure what he was up to. Eric's voice prevented the dragon's anger from rising.

"Lead the way, Tundra Dragon."

The Tundra Dragon deflated. "Shame..." he muttered. But, with his challenge denied, the tundra dragon caught up with the shadow man, leading him out from the empire and into the Frozen Tundra of the North.





Rainbow's eyes fluttered open. She groaned; she was back in that same unguarded room from before.

But something was wrong. She felt... empty. As if something had been taken from her that she didn't know how to get back. When she looked down, she found no shadow beneath her body.

"What... happened?" Rainbow asked, reaching a hand to her head.

"Welcome back," Silver Rain's voice greeted.

Rainbow Dash turned. Silver Rain was kneeling before her, looking on her with concern. Near the exit, Pinkamena leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Applejack stood before her, both engaged in a whispered conversation.

"How Long...?" Rainbow asked, rubbing her head.

"Only a few hours." Silver Rain answered.

"Glad to see you've finally joined us, Rainbow" Pinkamena said, drawing Rainbow's gaze. The pink mare walked over to her and offered a hand. "We figured out why Nopony is guarding this room."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asked.

"We spoke to a few of them," Pinkamena replied, indicating the other ponies.

Rainbow Dash blinked. She hadn't noticed it before, but there were actually fewer ponies than she had thought. Less than a hundred instead of the three hundred she had thought she saw.

"They all told us the zombies said that they were free to go anytime," Pinkamena continued. "Many tried, and disappeared the moment they left the caves."

"What happened to them?" Rainbow asked. "Were they attacked?"

"No," Silver Rain replied before Pinkamena or Applejack could answer. "They just... crumble away to dust."

Rainbow's eyes widened as Silver Rain shuddered at the memory.

"I saw it myself," she continued. "We all tried to leave... and a hundred of us got out before we realized what was happening." She shook her head in sorrow. "The moment their bodies touched the sun's light..." She hung her head. "Gone."

"We must be trapped here until we get our shadows back," Applejack realized. "Until then, I reckon fer once, Celestia's sun would be bad fer us."

Suddenly, a dark silhouette entered the room. Before the group could even turn to it, it lunged at Silver Rain. The pony shrieked in alarm, but after briefly being covered with darkness like ink, the darkness faded away.

Silver Rain blinked. She looked... fuller. Healthier. And to make matters better... when they looked down, her shadow darkened the ground behind her once more.

"Mah...Mah Shadow!" Silver Rain stammered. "I-It's back!"

"Somepony must-a killed Amber," Applejack realized.

Pinkamena didn't waste time, however. She raced to the earth pony and shoved her towards the entrance.

"Go" the pink mare ordered. "Get to the empire, and bring an army! We need to get the princess out of here!"

"But what about you?" Silver asked. She indicated the stone bracers on their wrists. "Those ain't just bracelets. Those 'r power-sealing stones. Made by that main dragon himself!"

Pinkamena smirked coldly, raising her fist.

"Your concern is touching," Pinkamena replied, popping her knuckles. "But you overlooked one major fact." Her eyes flashed. "I was born and raised on a rock farm!"

She spun, and slammed the palm of her fist into the stone wall. A series of large cracks spread from Pinkamena's fist and covered every wall before returning to the mare's side.

Silver Rain backed up, Rainbow Dash and Applejack right behind her. The other ponies spun, fear shining brightly in their eyes.

"Thank Celestia she's on our side," Silver Rain mumbled. Pinkamena merely smirked that cold smile again, bringing her arm back to her side.

"I may not be able to use my devil fruit," she growled. "But I can still take on plenty of that scaly freak's zombies." She seized Silver Rain by the mane. "Now enough talk. Let's get you outta here."

The mare wisely raced after her. Applejack and Rainbow Dash nearly followed, before Pinkie turned to them.

"You two stay," Pinkamena ordered. "And keep the others safe."

Leaving no time for arguments, Pinkamena raced out, Silver Rain moving ahead of her due to know where the exit was.

As they drew closer and closer to seeing the sunlight, Silver Rain's expression brightened with hope.

But just before they could reach the exit... the rank one General Emerald blocked their path. Pinkamena pulled Silver behind her, but the General had already spotted the darkness beneath Silver.

"Just like Cold Scale predicted," Emerald growled, cracking his knuckles. "Amber has been killed and her shadow returned to its weak master." He smirked. "I felt a tremor through the caves earlier. Was that you... Pinkamena?"

"Get out of our way, Zombie," Pinkamena ordered.

The zombie's grin didn't fade. He stepped forward, and Silver Rain stepped back. Even Pinkamena took a slow step backward as the zombie advanced on them.

"And what will you do if I refuse?" Emerald asked. "Without your powers, you're nothing but a weak, pathetic..."

CRASH!

Emerald's boast was cut short as a large chunk of rock collided with his face.

Pinkamena smirked, having thrown a chunk of the wall at him. She glared at silver, and the mare wisely took off, racing over the downed zombie as Pinkamena followed them. However, the zombie recovered quicker than expected, rolling to his chest with a growl.

"Okay," he muttered, lifting his fist. "Let's see you handle THIS!"

He slammed his fist into the ground. Deep cracks raced towards the ponies before traveling up the walls and into the ceiling, causing Pinkamena to gaze up with actual worry.

Grabbing Silver by her shirt, Pinkamena threw Silver Rain with all her strength. The mare tumbled out of range just as the entire ceiling came down. Pinkamena braced her body, threw her hands up... and caught the entire chunk of rock.

"Pinkie..." Silver stammered

"Go!" the pink mare screamed, struggling to hold the stone up. "Get out of here Silver!"

Reluctantly, Silver rose to her feet and ran out of the caves

"How honorable," Emerald said, appraoching the mare from behind. "I'm going to enjoy breaking that frail body of yours."

Pinkamena didn't respond, focusing on keeping the ceiling up. Emerald's grin widened as he struck Pinkamena's side with his fist... only to recoil with a cry of pain. It was as if he had just punched a solid steel wall instead of a soft pony body.

"What the...?" he demanded. Pinkamena just grunted in irritation, shooting him a cold smirk.

"What's the matter?" Pinkamena mocked. "Did our 'frail little filly' body hurt the big bad zombie?"

Emerald seethed. He lifted his fist... only for a cyan arm to wrap around his neck.

"Don't even think about it, Bucker!" Rainbow Dash growled, locking him into a head lock, and getting her legs around him for good measure.

"Dash?!" Pinkamena demanded. She lifted the stone another few inches. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay behind!"

Rainbow Dash grunted as Emerald slammed her against the wall, but managed a grin. "Oh, come on, Pinkie. I can't let you have all the fun."

"Get..." Emerald growled. "OFF!" He jumped in the air, landing right on top of the cyan mare.

The force of the blow knocked the wind from Rainbow's lungs. With a gag, her grip failed, and Emerald rolled out of her grasp.

Rubbing his neck with a growl, Emerald Dream lunged on top of Rainbow, seizing her neck in one hand and bringing his other fist into her nose. Dash's head jarred to the side, and blood flowed from her nose as it was twisted to a bad angle.

"I'm going to crush your skull into dust," Emerald vowed, trying to bring his fist down again. Rainbow Dash blocked it, only to cry out as his fist bent her wrist.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow got out. "Drop It!"

Pinkamena shifted her grip. But before she could try to release her hold... something pulled her consiousness from reality.





Opening her eyes, Pinkamena found herself in a area extremely familiar to her.

An endless void of dark pink, dark blue, and black. Gray trees with black leaves guarded roads paved with grey and black. Candy skulls flanked both sides of the road, leading to a broken down-looking house that stunk of ominous foreboding.

"You can't do it!" a voice shouted.

Pinkamena turned with a growl. The original Pinkie Pie stood before her, on the verge of tears.

The area behind her was brighter. With trees made from taffy and other sweets, and a road made of frosting and sugar grass. Behind Pinkie was a version of Sugarcube Corner, only less of a bakery and more of a home.

Pinkamena scoffed. She always wanted to mock the party mare for her choice of residence. But the light in Pinkie's eyes warned against mockery.

"If you drop that ceiling," Pinkie insisted. "You'll kill Rainbow!"

"Pinkie, I need to drop it," Pinkamena insisted. "We need to stop Emerald Dream!"

"No!"

The tone of her voice shocked Pinkamena. While Pinkie had been known to yell for no reason, she never yelled at anyone in anger. Least of all her own dark self.

"You've already killed somepony," Pinkie insisted. "I won't let you kill my friend!"

"Arguing like this is just going to kill her anyway, Pinkie!" Pinkamena argued. "Her death will be on our hands regardless!"

Pinkie seethed, before giving up on words. Without warning, she slugged her darker half, throwing her off her feet and into several candy skulls.

Pinkamena rolled back to her feet, glaring at Pinkie Pie. Yet she didn't move to attack, even as her teeth grit in anger.

"I won't fight you Pinkie," Pinkamena hissed through gritted teeth. "We need each other, one cannot exist without the other."

Pinkie braced herself to charge. "I've never needed you," Pinkie growled. "And I never want you in control. Ever again!"

With that, she charged. But Pinkamena easily dodged.

"Pinkie!" Pinkamena barked. "I said, I don't want to fight you!"

She caught Pinkie's next blow, and threw her over her body.

"Stop this!" Pinkamena pleaded.

But the party mare's face lacked hesitation or doubt. Realizing she wasn't backing down, the evil half sighed, and prepared to stop holding back. She let her body heat up, and swung her fist, causing three lumps to form.

"2nd Gear," Pinkamena growled, steam curling from her body.

Doubt entered Pinkie's eyes. She started to back down.

"That's it," Pinkamena encouraged. "Stand down Pinkie. My job is to protect you. I don't want to hurt you."

But Pinkie's doubt left her, and she glared at her darker half.

"You hurt me the moment you hurt others," she said, before biting into her thumb. "3rd Gear!"

Pinkamena gasped, as Pinkie blew into her thumb, causing it to swell like a balloon.

"Bone Balloon," Pinkie added, leaping into the air as the air traveled through her body.

"Pinkie..." Pinakmena tried to warn, but the party mare aimed her right hand at her darker half.

"Gum-Gum...." Pinkie growled. "Giant Pistol!"

Pinkie's giant fist slammed into Pinkamena, and the dark half vanished in a massive cloud of dust and debris.

However, Pinkamena jumped up from the dust cloud. No visible damage adorned her. If anything, she just looked angrier than before.

"Fine Pinkie!" she barked. "Have it your way!" She threw her arm back with a added spin. "Gum-Gum Jet Rifle!"

Pinkamena's fist spun and connected with Pinkie's chest. The party mare flew out of the air and into a group of taffy creatures.

Pinkie shook off the pain, and channeled the air into her left foot, launching at the still airborn Pinkamena

"Giant Stamp!" Pinkie Pie yelled, as her giant foot collided with Pinkamena. The dark mare soared through the air, and crashed through the roof of her house.

With a growl, Pinkamena kicked her door open... to find Pinkie gone.

Looking up, she spotted her brighter half. Still in the air, with her giant left leg raised far above her.

"Giant Axe!" Pinkie yelled, bringing her enlarged foot right into Pinkamena's house.

Jumping up, Pinkamena ran up Pinkie's outstretched leg. Before Pinkie could pull her leg back, Pinkamena fired a flurry of blinding attacks on her counterpart.

"Jet Gatling!" Pinkamena barked, launching Pinkie into her candy house.

As Pinkie vanished in a dust cloud of sugar and gingerbread crumbs, Pinkamena launched her arms forward. She seized the edges of the hole she had punched into Pinkie's home.

"Jet Missle!" Pinkamena added, smashing through the home and turning it into sweet tasting rubble.

Pinkamena stumbled back, the injuries dealt by Pinkie catching up to her. As she knelt, trying to recover, she groaned as Pinkie similarly rose. Though she was shrunken and gasping for breath. A negative effect of the 3rd Gear.

"You care about them," Pinkamena admitted. "I know this, Pinkie." Her stance strengthened as the steam faded. "But I need to kill that zombie."

Pinkie didn't look up. She began to sob. Pinkamena's glare faded into pity.

"I never wanted to bring you so much pain," Pinkamena whispered, offering a hand to her brighter half.

But without warning, Pinkie seized Pinkamena by the shoulders. With a desperate scream not unlike a cornered animal, Pinkie reared her head back and slammed it into Pinkamena's face. Both Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena staggered backward as as their eyes turned white. The two mares collapsed backward, and consiousness left them.





"I'm going to crush your skull into dust," Emerald vowed, trying to bring his fist down again. Rainbow Dash blocked it, only to cry out as his fist bent her wrist.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow got out. "Drop It!"

Pinkamena shifted her grip. But before she could try to release her hold... the pink mare gasped as her body twitched and spasmed. In a single sentence, her mane puffed up into the curly hairstyle of Pinkie Pie, before shifting back into Pinkamena's long and straight. Her coat brightened and darkened like someone was flicking a flashlight on her.

Before Emerald or Rainbow could figure out what was happening, the pink mare's eyes rolled up in her head, and she collapsed. The ceiling that Pinkamena was holding up fell with her. And Rainbow Dash and Emerald Dream screamed as they were buried under tons of frozen rock.





Hours passed. The sun slowly set.

Just as the moon rose, and night overtook the day... a scaled arm punched up from the stone.

Emerald Dream pulled himself from the stone, and dusted himself off.

"I hate foal sitting," Emerald muttered as he limped back to the cave. "Why couldn't I have just been on the attack team?"

Growling at his misfortune, he slammed his fist into the entrance, triggering a massive cave in. As the rocks blocked out the night sky and moon, Emerald made his way to his masters rendezvous point.

Completely unaware of a snow owl circling above him. With a flap of her wings, the snow owl returned to the empire.

"Better tell that yellow mare there'll be an attack on the empire," the snow owl noted, before noticing an earth pony desperately racing through the snow. In the same direction.

"Hm," the owl mumbled. "Maybe if I add in that some pony escaped the dragon... I could get something better out of our agreement."

Chuckling at the thought, the snow owl beat her wings, eager to reach the Empire before the earth pony.
> The Attack Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few miles out of the Empire, the Tundra Dragon took to the skies, giving me a mocking look from above. I quickly realized his method would save us countless days of walking through the snow. Grinning, I formed my own wings of shadow, and joined him in the air. As I followed the dragon, I couldn't help but notice a quick flash of lightning streak across the sky a great distance away.

'Lightning? On a clear day without a single dark cloud in the sky?' I narrowed my eyes. 'Must be one of Cold Scale's zombies.'

After an hour passed, I started to grow annoyed. Didn't this bag of scales know I was in the middle of a war?

"How much longer?" I called.

The tundra dragon growled, his wings shivering with irritation.

"In case you haven't noticed," I barked. "I've got a war knocking on the door of the Empire!"

The dragon stopped in his tracks, glaring at me like it was my fault for the war. I got ready to summon a weapon, but all he did was lower himself to the ground. I followed behind the dragon, my wings folding into my back when we hit the ground.

Immediately I felt something. Or more... sensed it. Several beings were hidden beneath the snow. Surrounding the two of us. Or, more accurately, surrounding me.

"This was your plan, wasn't it?" I growled, shadows boiling around me like a fiery mist. "Lure me away and then gang up on me with your dragon brethren?"

Sure enough, the snow around us erupted, revealing nine more of the humanoid tundra dragons.

I huffed, drawing my weapons. "You guys evolved in the last thousand years."

"We do what we have to do to survive," the black winged dragon snarled. "Like killing you, 'Kin Slayer!'"

The others charged to attack me, but I merely grinned.

"Trying to kill me isn't good for your survival," I noted, calling forth my signature scythe... only for an overwhelming pressure nearly staggering me to my knees.

'This...this feeling!' I thought in horror. 'The Haki of the Kings?!' I tried to fight against it, for nothing. 'Impossible. Not even I have full control of Conqueror's Haki!'

Had the Haki not applied to the other dragons, they could have cut me to ribbons. Though thankfully, it seemed to affect them just as much as me. For a moment, they stood frozen in absolute fear.

Finally, as one, they dropped to the ground and bowed, as a loud crashing sound emanated from behind, followed by a large shadow that concealed me in darkness.

"Cease this foolish fighting my children!" boomed a voice that vibrated every bone in my body.

Fighting against the Conqueror's Haki, I gazed up behind me... and was left utterly speechless.

Towering above me was another tundra dragon. This one large enough to use the Crystal Castle as a baseball bat.

'Sweet merciful buddha, he's massive!' my thoughts screamed.

I had killed many dragons of the frozen north. But the oldest I'd killed was no more than thirty or forty. Compared to this beast, I may as well have been fighting babies. By my estimate, this monster had to have been somewhere between four hundred and five hundred years old.

"Kin Slayer," his voice boomed, directing all it's bone-shaking volume right at me. "Lower your weapon. My children will not harm you."

I didn't even need to glance around to know he was telling the truth. His voice wafted over all of us like a blanket, forcing them to the ground, and causing my scythe to vanish back into the darkness from whence it came.

"Return home, my children," the giant dragon ordered.

With the Conqueror's Haki influencing them, the ten dragons rose as one. They slunk past the larger dragon, the black winged dragon trying to get ahead of them. His attempts proved useless, as the large dragon planted his massive claw in front of the black winged dragon.

"Not you, Khan," the leader ordered. "I told you to bring him to me. Alive and unspoiled."

"M-My apologies... father," Khan whispered, his head bowed in submission.

The dragon snorted, before turning his brilliant ice white eyes - big as the domed roof of a planetarium - to me.

"Eric Von Shadow?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes," I answered.

The dragon hummed, rising to his hind legs. For a moment, I flinched, wondering if I was going to have to see what was between his legs.

'Wouldn't be the first time,' my thoughts whispered in irritation.

Luckily, though, I was able to breathe in relief as he was revealed to be wearing a pair of black shorts. His front claws changed into clawed hands, and he began to shrink to a slightly more tolerable size. Yet, even at what appeared to be his smallest, he still had to sit down in front of me with his elbow on his knee. Like he was a child observing an interesting insect.

"Eric Von Shadow," he mused. "Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard. Reaper of the Crystal Empire. Shade of Umbra the Dark." He chuckled. "Many titles have been given to you by many ponies." His eyes narrowed, and his voice turned to a dangerous growl. "But to us, you will always be the Kin Slayer."

I swallowed, noticing how his clawed hands clenched into fists. I had no idea what to say to that, so I opted for nothing at all. Good thing as well, for he lifted his other hand to his chest.

"I am Kain Tundra," he introduced. "Elder of the Tundra Dragons." He pointed at me. "You will refer to me as Elder Kain."

His Conqueror's Haki washed over me, forcing me to nod almost to the point of bowing. Not that it helped soothe the anger in his voice.

"For the many deaths of my children," he added. "I should kill you and mount your head on a pike."

For a moment, I wondered if that was exactly what he intended to do. But instead, he let out a long, weary breath, and the anger in his voice faded by a margin.

"But instead," he admitted. "The time has come... where I must ask for your help."

I blinked, looking up at him. "Help?" I asked.

"Do not mistake me," he warned, the anger in his voice returning. "You have killed many of my kind. My children." His voice softened. "But only those that venture too close to the Empire. Even we can understand an animal's need to defend it's home."

Khan growled. "That doesn't make it right," he noted, turning to his father. "Father. With the blood of hundreds on his hands... you'd still ask for this monster's help?"

"If our roles were reversed," Elder Kain noted with a grin. "I would likely say the same." His grin faded. "But do not mistake my intent, my son. I will never forgive those who killed my children."

"I understand that," I assured him. "No matter what, I can never forgive the man who murdered my wife."

His eyes crinkled in amusement. "Then at least we're on the same page," he noted. "Now, while the hatred I hold for you in my heart will never be quelled... there is one other whom I hate more than you."

I narrowed my eyes in intrigue.

"While you only killed those who strayed too close to your home," Elder Kain explained. "This one kills my children for sport. And defiles their corpses!"

The anger rose in his voice, making me thankful it wasn't directed towards me.

"He's rendered their flesh," Elder Kain half-bemoaned, and half-bellowed in rage, "And tainted their brilliant scales!"

It connected. Cold Scale's Zombies. The tundra dragon flesh and scales that adorned their bodies.

"Cold Scale's the one murdering your children," I realized. "Isn't he?"

Elder Kain snarled, as if the mere name was a curse, but nodded.

"The Ice Dragon," he growled. "That's what my children call him. The Defiler of the Frozen North!"

I nodded. "I have seen his undead army, Elder Kain," I said. "I have seen the zombies that hold the flesh of your fallen children." The attack before we had come to the Crystal Empire flashed through my mind. "And it pains me to inform you that he has done much worse."

Confusion entered his eyes. "What do you mean, Kin Slayer?" he growled.

"Before my comrades and I ventured to this island," I explained. "We were attacked by the zombie soldiers of Cold Scales." I prepared myself for his reaction. "And they rode atop a reanimated Tundra Dragon."

I bent my head and braced myself. I could already see his body begin to tremble with newfound rage.

"He... reanimated... my... child's... CORPSE?!" Kain Tundra seethed.

His Conqueror's Haki blasted me off my feet. His own son tumbled to the ground in a submissive bow. And that was only before the elder dragon rose to his feet and let loose with an ear splitting roar of rage.



Neither his son nor I dared to move at first. It took all we had to lift our trembling heads.

Though his roar had calmed him somewhat, every breath was still steaming with anger and frustration.

"I share your pain, Elder Kain," I got out. "Cold Scale did the same thing to my wife."

Khan glared at me. "And yet, you don't share his rage," he noted.

"Do not mistake me," I growled. "My heart boils with rage just as your father. But in order to fight a foe such as Cold Scale, I need to stay calm. Collected. Focused." I turned away with narrowed eyes that barely kept me from seeing red. "I have learned long ago... that vengeance is a fool's game."

Shadows began to pour from my body.

"Why be controlled by the emotions of anger," I asked. "When you can punish the wicked?"

"My thoughts exactly," Elder Kain growled. He lowered himself back to the ground, his fists causing the earth to crumble under his still trembling claws. "Kin Slayer," he growled. "I do not ask you for aid in revenge. I ask you to help me force the Defiler to face his long overdue punishment." He gazed down at me. "Will you do me this one favor... Eric Von Shadow?"

I formed a pair of wings and flew up to his eyes. Allowing us to gaze at each other as equals.

"You have my allegiance, Elder Kain," I vowed. "Cold Scale will recieve his due punishment."





Sombra stood before his mother and father's old throne room. Once, two thrones stood tall and proud before him. Now only one still stood. Though Sombra could still see some of the rubble that had once been his mother's throne.

Sombra winced, remembering Umbra's influence. Cackling in his ear as he smashed the once grand throne of the Queen to pieces. Shaking his head, Sombra turned, and walked towards the throne room Shining Armor and Cadence presided over. The few ponies he walked past watched him with nothing but disgust, hatred and suspicion. Sombra did nothing to dissuade their glares, even as his heart churned with anger.

'They should fear me,' his thoughts growled. 'Not just hate me. They dare look at me like some lowly insect? I should rip those disgusting glares from their faces!'

"No," he grumbled out loud. "I deserve their disgust."

'Do you?' his thoughts whispered. 'There was a time when they would tremble before you. Now, they think they can get away with regarding you with such loathing. They think you're pathetic. Are they right?'

Sombra shook his head and gripped his head. "Shut up," he growled.

'Never,' the voice growled back. 'You can't use my magic, and expect me to stay silent. Mark my words, colt, you will give into me one day. When you're sleeping, perhaps? When one of these foals gives you the wrong look at the wrong time?'

Sombra seethed, wishing he could dig his fingers into his brain and strangle the irksome voice. It merely laughed at his anger, before...

"Sombra."

Sombra jumped up at the sound of a familiar voice. He looked up.

"Oh Queen Cadance," he said, fixing his posture. "I was just looking for you. A-As well as King Armor."

Cadence peered at his attempts to appear presentable. "You... wish to discuss possible attack plans?" she offered. "If the army breaks through my barrier?"

He swallowed. "Well, no. You see, it's..."

"Cadence!"

The two spun. Twilight was racing down the halls. Her eyes, briefly looking around in panic, sighted down on them with the air of a woman in need of aid.

"Cadance!" Twilight stammered. "We need to gather everypony. Fluttershy especially. Her owl returned, but I can't understand what it's saying! We need Fluttershy!"

"Right," Cadence said, turning to Sombra. "Sombra. You know where Fluttershy is, yes." When Sombra blinked, she grinned. "Come on, I've seen the way you two look at each other."

Sombra looked away, turning red. "Um... I'll go find her," he offered, slinking away.

"Okay," Twilight said. "A-And I'll gather my friends."

"I've got the royals," Cadence promised.

And the three sped off in different directions. Cadence's intuition proved to be correct. Fluttershy almost seemed to appear before Sombra in no time. Alongside King Echo.

"Fluttershy," Sombra said. "Y-Your grace! The throne room! Now!"

Before the two could protest or ask question, Sombra grabbed them. With a flash of his horn, he teleported the three of them into the throne room.

A second later, Cadence appeared with her husband, while Twilight appeared with Rarity and a snowy owl.

"Oh!" Fluttershy whispered, racing over to the owl as it fluttered to her outstretched arm.

"It would seem all are present?" Cadance noted. The others nodded or gave assent as Fluttershy tended to the snowy owl.

"I'm so glad you've returned," Fluttershy whispered to the owl. "None of your beautiful feathers lost?"

The owl hooted, turning her head and flapping her wings. Though the others couldn't understand...

"Honey, you flatter me," the owl said with a laugh.

"Were you able to find were they took Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.

"I did, but..."

Fluttershy winced at her tone. "Bad news?"

"And good news," the owl replied. "Which would you like first?"

"Um... I think I'd like to... hear the good news."

"They were taken to a cave near the islands edge. It's a two day journey from the skies. Probably three days by foot? I couldn't tell you for sure; it's not like I would waste these beautiful wings."

Fluttershy giggled, but her cheery demeanor quickly faded. "But... what about the bad news?" she asked.

"The cave your friends are in was caved in," the owl replied. "Your friends are probably dead, and you have a army approaching."

Fluttershy's heart stopped. She raced to the nearest window... and whimpered in horror.

The others joined her, and similarly gasped or growled in shock. A good distance away, they all saw a massive cluster of undead pegasi slowly advancing towards the Crystal Empire. Large, zombified tundra dragons flanked them.

"Oh...my..." Fluttershy whimpered.

The owl tapped her shoulder.

"Would it be a bad time to point out some of them are attacking that mare down there," the owl commented pointing to the city surrounding the castle.

Fluttershy followed her gaze, and nearly screamed. Indeed, several zombies were chasing down a tan earth pony. The poor mare's clothes were torn, and one of her arms was bleeding, but she still desperately forged towards the city as the zombies threw knives and spears at her.

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed. She looked to her owl friend. "Stay here," she said.

The owl took one look at the zombies, and fluttered off Fluttershy's arm. "You got it, honey," she said.

Fluttershy turned to the others. "Rarity, meet me at the front of the castle."

"But..." Rarity tried to protest, but there was no time to argue.

Fluttershy jumped down, her wings flaring and slowing her descent. Right as she reached the ground, Rarity joined with the flash of a teleportation spell, rapier in hand.

"This way," Fluttershy growled.

Rarity blinked at the force in Fluttershy's tone, but nodded, following along.

They reached the edge of the city just as the earth pony ran out of luck. Ten zombies surrounded her prone form, each wielding a different weapon ranging from daggers to swords to axes to halberds. A zombie raised his spear to skewer the mare.

Growling, Fluttershy covered her arms in the Armament Haki. Using the Shave technique, she shot right up to the zombie, burying her fist into the zombie's face and sending it flying.

Rarity gasped. Though the zombies looked surprised as well, Rarity knew they had no clue how unusual this was for the normally meek and timid pegasus.

"Rarity!" Fluttershy hollered breaking the unicorn from her stupor.

"Right! S-Sorry, darling!" Rarity stammered before lunging into the fray. She slashed three zombies in the back, staggering them and turning their attention away from Fluttershy.

"Hello colts," Rarity taunted, lifting her blade. "Care to dance?"

The zombies glowered at her. One lifted a pair of daggers, another a double sided axe. The third hefted a sword, and a fourth joined them, spinning a halberd. Despite the odds, Rarity kept her smug grin intact.

"Well, come along then," Rarity dared. "It's rude to keep a mare waiting."

Growling, the zombies lunged forward. Tripping the dagger zombie, Rarity made quick work of the axe zombie with a stab through the heart. Before the dagger zombie could recover, Rarity kicked the axe zombie away flipping and burying her blade into the dagger zombie's brain.

The sword zombie tried to take advantage, but Rarity's rapier slid from the dagger zombie's brain like a hot knife out of butter, carving the sword zombie across the face and forcing him back. The halberd zombie charged his weapon trained on the mares heart, but Rarity spun past the weapon and ran her blade right through the halberd zombie's heart.

Pushing the zombie off, Rarity strode over to the still groaning sword zombie. With his back to her, she quickly ended his suffering with a stab to the nape. As he hit the ground, she pulled out her pocket mirror, checking her mane and makeup.

"Perfect. As always," Rarity said to herself, closing the mirror and retrieving her blade. "Fluttershy, dear, are you in need of some..."

Rarity's face fell with slight disappointment. The rest of the zombies lay dead, their shadows flying away from the bodies, and Fluttershy was helping the earth pony to her feet.

"...assistance," Rarity finished half-heartedly. She shook her head. "My goodness, when did you get so brave, my dear?"

Fluttershy chuckled sheepishly. "I... guess she needed my help. That's all," she insisted, turning to the earth pony mare. "Um... are you alright?"

"Princess... Celestia," the pony gasped, clinging to Fluttershy for support. "Save... others..." Then she slumped into Fluttershy's arms. Her eyes fluttered shut.

"Oh, poor thing," Rarity whispered, lifting her mane and taking in her battered, exhausted features. "She must have been running on pure adrenaline."

The two mares glanced up as a massive pink dome covered the empire. Wisely, they dragged the earth mare under the dome before it could lock them out.

"Come on," Fluttershy said. "We better bring her to the medical wing. She can tell us what she needed to say once she wakes up."

"Agreed," Rarity said. And together, the two mares dragged their unconsious friend back to the Empire. 





A good distance from the Empire, Cold Scale watched the magic barrier form though a telescope.

"So predictable," Cold Scale muttered, shutting his telescope before pausing. A loud, echoing roar sounded from the Frozen North. Cold Scale turned to it with an intrigued grin. "Oh-ho, goodie."

"What is it, my lord?" one of his generals asked.

"Another tundra dragon," Cold Scale replied with a smile. "And this one sounds stronger than the others." He turned back to his generals. "Lavender Crystal; capture it. Take Lavender Lily with you."

Both Pegasi bowed and took off in the direction of the roar. At the last second, Cold Scale's voice stopped them.

"And do try to bring this one back in one piece," he reminded them. "I do not have access to my tools at the moment."

"Of course, Master Scale," Lily said bowing to the Ice Dragon before turning back to the tundra. In seconds, the mares vanished over the horizon.

"Brother," Obsidian said, approaching with a familiar stallion. "Emerald Dream has returned."

Turning to his brother, Cold Scale watched Emerald Dream drop to one knee out of respect. Down below, Cold Scale saw a plume of smoke and sand erupt within the barrier.

"Ronin and Night Knight have begun their assault on the denizens of the Empire," the ice dragon commented with a grin. "Emerald. Destroy that barrier."

"Of course, Master Scale" Emerald said flaring his wings and racing towards the barrier. As he left, an excited grin grew on the general's face.

"The rest of you," Cold Scale added. "Follow behind. Wreck havoc on the ponies."

The Generals chuckled darkly before taking to the skies. However, one stayed behind.

"Are you not going with them, Obsidian?"

"It would be bad if something were to happen to you, brother," Obsidian replied, resting a talon on his brother's shoulder.

Cold Scale smiled softly at the concern in his brother's voice, before turning to watch the armies clash.





Down at the barrier, Emerald reached the rear of his army.

"Stand aside, weaklings!" Emerald shouted.

The zombies obeyed, parting before him like the red sea as he charged the barrier. Behind the pink, transparent walls, Emerald grinned as he saw the soldiers behind. Weapons ready, faces set in determination.

"Prepare yourselves," their commander declared. "We will hold our ground until back up arrives."

"How cute," Emerald mocked, as the other generals landed beside him. "You honestly think you'll survive that long?"

As if emphasizing his point, the other generals flared their powers. Sapphire Joy knelt, shifting into her wolf form. Amethyst Shard dragged five visible lines of... 'something' in the snow behind her. Bubbles lifted from Artic Lily's body. And Emerald Dream? Emerald Dream lifted a fist glowing with a white aura, and brought it down hard on the barrier.

Instantly, cracks formed across the barrier. A few of the soldiers inside backed up, but the commander's voice soothed their brief moment of fear.

"Have faith!" the commander ordered. "Captain Von Shadow trained us to never show our enemy fear." He stepped up to the cracking barrier, and glared at Emerald Dream in defiance. "We shall not give in!"

"Let's see how long that bravado of yours lasts," Emerald shot back, hitting the barrier again. A small chunk of barrier - the size of a keyhole - fell to the ground before the commander, fizzling into pink sparkles.

Though the squad commander stood his ground, fear gripped several more of the men. Several turned and fled as Emerald raised his fist for the final time.

But for the Crystal Guard that remained, Emerald Dream's shattering of the barrier wasn't the beginning of the nightmare, but an invitation for attack.

"Charge!!" the Squad commander bellowed, charging right through the shattered barrier and lunging onto the zombies.

"Kill them all!" Emerald shouted in turn, as the other generals and zombies immediately checked the Crystal Guard's charge.

Blade clashed against blade. Shields splintered and spears were snapped in half. As the soldiers valiantly kept the zombies out of the castle, civilians were ushered into the crystal sanctuary by the castle guard.

Yet, even the civilians were not safe.

"Quickly now. Into the castle," one guard said, pulling a civilian inside just before he felt the presence of an enemy. He ducked and rolled as a red maned zombie struck the ground he had stood on seconds ago.

"Hello Hard Tack," Night Knight noted. "Did you miss me?"

Hard Tack drew his sword. "Like frostbite after orientation," Hard Tack spat, before carving right through the zombie's body. Unfortunately, rather than blood, the zombie burst into smoke before reforming without a scratch. Hard Tack grimaced, while Night Knight grinned.

"My turn," Night Knight said, throwing a punch... and gasping as Hard Tack caught it. "Impossible!" Night insisted, watching as a black substance covered Tack's hand

"You underestimate the will of Crystal Guard," Hard Tack replied with a grin, catching the zombie with a sword hilt across the face.

As pain wracked his body and gave way to fear, Night Knight fled in a burst of smoke, reappearing behind a weaker guard and engaging him in combat.

Shaking his head in disgust, Hard Tack raced to a downed citizen, and pulled her towards the castle. However, both of them slowed as Sombra came out from the entrance. Dressed in the same grey and red armor he had used for conquest, and with two swords strapped to his side. Hard Tack didn't consider himself above blame for thinking that Sombra had returned to conquer them once more.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hard Tack growled, aiming his sword at the former king's heart.

"Disbelieve me all you want," Sombra replied, striding past Hard Tack and his escort. "But I care for the citizens of the Crystal Empire." He glanced back at them as he unsheathed his swords. "Do what you must for them; I'll take care of the Generals."

Before Hard Tack could even think of protesting, Sombra crouched, his grip tightening on his swords as he narrowed his eyes at an approaching horde.

"Two-Sword Style...." Sombra whispered. "...Rashomon."

He vanished from view. The zombies charging at them froze, their eyes wide with shock. An instant later, Sombra appeared behind them, sheathing his swords as the zombies fell, bisected vertically. Sombra chuckled.

"Still got it," he noted to himself, before engaging more of the zombies in combat.

With the dark king on their side, evacuation of citizens got easier. And it wasn't long before Hard Tack got the last child behind the Crystal Walls.

"That the last of them?" Sombra asked as Hard Tack shut the door.

"I believe..." Tack started to say, before something made his eyes go wide. "Sombra!"

Tack knocked Sombra to the ground, as an odd whistle sang in the air. Multiple red lines appeared over the guard's body, before he collapsed into pieces. Sombra blinked in horror before a voice drew his angered gaze.

"How could you miss him with that many strings?" a familiar pale crystal pegasus with a green mane complained.

"It's not my fault," the pink haired zombie next to her insisted. "The guard pushed him out of the way!"

Sombra regained his feet, glaring at the numbers five and nine tattooed to the zombies neck and forehead respectively.

"Rank five and nine," Sombra mused. "Radiant Faith and Amethyst Shard."

Amethyst Shard spread her arms in a bow. "I'm pleased you remember me, Dark King."

'Duck!' Sombra's instincts screamed. Rolling into a dodge - feeling Amethyst's strings pass by inches over his head - Sombra drew his swords and tried to cut the two down.

Unfortunately, Radiant Faith hit him with a pink beam. Instantly, his movements slowed. He may has well have been trying to fight through syrup.

"Your corpse shall make a fine addition to Master Scales' collection," Amethyst noted, swinging both arms.

Thick metal strings fired from the zombies finger and went straight for Sombra. Sombra's eyes slowly widened, unable to scream or dodge.

Blood hit the ground... but it wasn't Sombra who fell. as a yellow pegaus dropped to the ground before him.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity's voice screamed, as the yellow mare's body hit the ground shortly after. With a shriek of rage, the white mare stabbed her rapier into Radiant Faith's arm.

The power lifting from Sombra's form, he tried to change direction, going to Fluttershy's fallen form. Unfortunately, he only got a step in before he had to stop, Amethyst nearly carving off his foot with a string barrage.

"We aren't done yet, lover boy," Amethyst growled, launching another flurry of strings.

But Sombra was not one to be detained. Sheathing his swords, he lashed out with the Armament Haki, catching every string. And with a levitation spell, he summoned Hard Tack's sword, gripping it in his mouth like a feral beast.

"You will pay dearly for that," Sombra seethed between the hilt in his mouth.

Amethyst's eyes narrowed, and she tried to pull, hoping to slice his fingers off. However, Sombra released her strings, causing her to stumble while he unsheathed his swords once more.

Amethyst recovered and prepared to kill the unicorn, only to freeze. Was it a trick of the light, or was she seeing a six armed, three-headed demon bearing down on her?

"Demon Aura Nine Sword Style: Asura!" Sombra bellowed, as a demonic aura covered him.



"What... are you?!" Amethyst whispered, fear freezing her in place.

Sombra merely vanished... before reappearing behind her.

"You said it yourself," he mocked, as she gave one final gasp. "I'm the Dark King." He lowered his head. "Asura Silver Mist."

Nine deep slashes erupted across Amethyst Shard's body, and her final wail of agony sounded long and loud across the battlefield.

Sombra dropped to his knees, the demonic aura fading, and leaving him an exhausted mess. A second later, he saw another body hit the ground.

To his despair, however, it was Rarity that had fallen; bruises and cuts adorning her white coat, and Radiant Faith was already approaching him.

"One down," Radiant mocked. "One to go."

Yet... Sombra's ears twitched. He heard the sound of someone approaching. And fast.

Radiant heard it as well. But before she could turn to the source... a set of jaws seized her by the neck. Radiant screamed as a humanoid tundra dragon smashed her to the ground and attempted to pull her head from her body.

"Need a hand?"

Turning from the grisly fight, Sombra saw a familier face which brought a smile on his face. Eric Von Shadow; clad in his royal guard armor. Offering Sombra a hand.

"Glad you could join us" Sombra said, taking his hand and staggering to his feet.. "Did you bring the calvary?"

Eric's grin widened, and he glanced back as geysers of flames erupted. Pink hands and feet smashed into the ground, as a massive dragon rampaged into the city.

"Don't I always?" Eric replied with a grin, pulling his murakumogiri from his back. "Now... how about we bring this war to an end?"
> The Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stood with the dragon elder and his son, trying to think up a plan of action.

"Why bother planning," Khan growled as I paced. "We can easily destroy the entire island!"

"And what if it turns out he wasn't there?" I argued. "We have no idea where he really is."

"We know that he wants tundra dragons," Khan argued. "To make us into more of his horrible zombies."

My eyes widened. "You're right," I realized. "Which means... all we really have to do is wait." I turned to the elder dragon. "Elder Kain. I'd like to ask that you please find a way to hide yourself."

His eyes narrowed. "And why would I?"

"Because that angry roar of yours probably got Cold Scales attention," I explained. "He's probably sent someone to try and capture you." I turned around, trying to determine where the zombies would come from. "If we use your son as bait..."

My idea had gotten the wrong reaction. Elder Kain's claw came down on me like an avalanche. The only reason I avoided getting squashed like a bug was by turning my body to shadow, seeping up through his fingers and reforming in the air.

"Trust me Elder," I pleaded as he snarled angrily at me. "The last thing I want is to put your son in harms way."

He still glowered at me, but he didn't try to swipe at me. I took advantage while I had his attention.

"I promise," I vowed. "I will do everything in my power to protect him."

"You'd better," Elder Kain growled, shifting into his dragon form. "Or else I'll have your skin."

With that lovely sentiment, he dug into the ground, and vanished into the snow. I couldn't help but chuckle at the method, before floating down to Khan.

"Even after a thousand of years of evolution," I noted to Khan. "You guys still bury yourselves in the snow?"

"It's a good tactic," Khan snarled defensively. "The snow blocks out the shine of our scales." He crossed his arms. "Besides, it's not like you got anything better. You want to use me as bait."

"I 'have' to," I corrected. "I don't 'want' to; I hate using others as bait." I lifted a shadow covered hand for emphasis. "I'm the kind of person who either fights my opponent head on or takes them out from the shadows."

He huffed. "I'll believe it when I see it, Kin Slayer," he replied. With that, he shifted into his dragon form, growing three times my size. I hoped that meant he was willing to go along with it.

Before I could ask, though, I heard something flying through the air. My eyes widened.

"Look out!" I yelled, but I was too late.

Without warning, a green shard shot past my head and pierced Khan's right shoulder. As he bellowed in rage, I whipped my head around.

Two mares were coming our way. Stitch marks adorned their bodies, along with the tattoos seven and four.

"Dammit," I growled, summoning my shadows. "Why can't I sense these abominations?"

The number four general - a black haired mare - smirked at my anger, firing another green shard from the palm of her hand.

Moving quickly, I knocked the shard out of the air with a shadow covered fist. As it spun into the snow, I recognized the gleam of an emerald gem. I sighed.

"Lavender Lily," I noted, the shadows pouring from my body.

"Always good to meet a fan," Lily replied with a wink. She turned to the number four general - an orange haired mare with her tattoo on her forearm. "Crystal, care to do the honors?"

"Why not?" Crystal replied. She put her fingers to her lips, and blew a kiss. A large, dull red heart sped at me.

Pinkamena's words echoed in my mind: "Rank Six is Lavender Crystal. Only thing our prisoner knew about her Devil Fruit was that it had something to do with stone."

'But, this isn't a stone devil fruit!' I thought as Lavender Crystal pulled on the heart. "It's the Love-Love Fruit!'

Throwing her hand forward, Crystal turned the heart into a volley of dull red arrows. I tried to throw up a shadow wall, but the arrows still pierced my body. Sure enough, my body wasn't rendered in stone. Crystal blinked, fear working it's way into her bones.

"Uh oh," she mumbled. "Uh, Lily? Problem!"

Lily groaned, summoning emeralds from the ground. "Do I have to do everything?" she demanded.

However, the emeralds weren't the only thing she summoned. With a trembling in the ground befitting an earth quake, Elder Kain burst from the ground, showering us in snow and rubble.

"You said you would protect him!" Elder Kain bellowed, his voice striking fear in the zombies.

"I couldn't sense their shadows," I growled back, taking advantage of their fear and rushing them with a shadow blade.

Using the moon walk, I landed behind them, slashing the tendons in their legs. The two zombies fell to their knees, as both dragons reverted to their more humanoid forms. The dragons bore down on the zombies, murderous intent shining in their eyes.

"Wait!" I barked, only for them to turn their anger-filled eyes on me.

"You expect me to wait after what they did?!" Elder Kain boomed. "You should be lucky I don't take my rage out on you, Kin Slayer!"

"Father I'm fine," Khan insisted, rolling his injured shoulder. "It's only a scratch."

"Plus," I pointed out. "If you kill them, we have no way of knowing where Cold Scale is."

Elder Kain moved to protest, but logic stayed his anger. For now, anyway. Taking advantage of his silence, I turned to the trembling zombies.

"Once we finish this," I promised, "You are more than welcome to kill them and then me to avenge your children."

With the dragons sated for now, I turned the zombies, facing them away from the dragons.

"Now listen to me," I growled, my vision turning red as shadows loomed dangerously over the zombies. "Lie to me and I will kill you."

Crystal gulped audibly, while Lily tried to stay more composed. I leaned in close.

"Where is Cold Scales lair?"

"We don't know" Lily growled.

"Yeah, no idea," Crystal agreed. "No idea at all."

I chuckled. "The rank seven and four generals don't know where their master's lair is?" My powers wafted off my body like a thick fog. "Well, I guess that means you're both useless to me."

Thousand of needle thin thedrils formed from my back aimed at every part of their body.

"Whoa, wait a minute..." Crystal stammered.

"But since I don't know pony anatomy," I said over her. "I guess I should start with your fingers and toes before making my way up to find your hearts and brains." I gave them both a vile grin. "Hope you don't mind a little pain."

"Wait wait wait wait!!!" Lily shouted.

"We'll tell you everything!" Crystal stammered. "Just please don't kill us!"

My shadows came back to me. I knelt to the zombie's level and put a hand over my heart.

"You have my word, I will not kill you," I said sincerely, before narrowing my eyes. "But first, you need to uphold your part. Now speak!"

Jumping at the boom in my voice, they spilled their guts:

"Master Scales has a system of underground caves that hold both the prisoners and the princess," Lily said. "The one and only entrance is located on the south east edge of the island." Lily said.

"H-However Master Scale and the army have already began to attack on the empire," Crystal added, smiling hopefully at me.

"Anything else you want to add?" I asked.

"That's everything, I swear" Lavender Lily insisted. Crystal nodded by her side, both of them gazing up at me with pleading pony eyes.

"That's good to hear," I said with a nod. "Now all that's left is to kill the two of you."

Both of their faces dropped.

"But-but... but you promised!" Crystal whimpered.

"And I always keep my word," I assured them, grabbing their arms and dragging them through the snow. "I'm not going to kill you." I threw them at the feet of Khan and Elder Kain. "They are."

Khan smiled as Lily looked up at him in absolute fear. The emerald shard she had hit him with gripped in his claw, he reverted into his dragon form.

Lily tried to crawl away, but with her tendons cut, there was nowhere for her to flee. Khan let her get a foot or two before pouncing. She screamed as his feet crushed her legs into dust, and her scream cut short as he seized her head in his jaws. Swinging his head like a dog with a chew toy, her body couldn't handle the stress, and was flung far from her head.

Lavender Crystal could only squeak at the sight of her fellow general's murder. Looking up, her last vision was of the dragon elder raising his fist, and bringing it down hard on her body. Unlike me, her fruit gave her no way out, and she disappeared under the dragon elder's fist, blood slowly coloring the white snow around the inside of the crater.

Elder Kain removed his fist, brushing the bloody snow off. "What next, Von Shadow?"

"We go to his lair and retreive his prisoners," I said. "As well as my students and the princess." I started to flare my wings but the elder held out a hand.

"It would be faster if you rode on my back," Elder Kain insisted, dropping to all fours and shifting into his dragon form.

I nodded in gratitude, and jumped onto his back.

"Don't think this will be a regular thing," he warned darkly.

I nodded. "Of course not," I agreed.

Using my powers, I hoisted Khan up as well. Elder Kain started slow before picking up speed. Within no time at all we had made it to the south-east end. And the rock formation that had to be Cold Scales' lair. Unfortunately, when we spotted the rock formation, the entrance looked caved in.

Cursing, I jumped from Elder Kain and raced over to the formation. Sure enough, I found the indentation that had caused the pile up of rocks.

"Dammit," I cursed, placing my hands on the rock. I closed my eyes, trying to sense some sort of life. Any sign of life. "Come on," I insisted. "There's no way this would kill them. They're stronger than that."

Melting into the shadows of the cave, I emerged inside, on the other side of the cave in.

Several ponies screamed. I spun, and found several of them backing up. One familiar orange mare, however, was still struggling with the rocks, half of another familiar cyan mare stuck under the rubble.

"Will you guys quit screaming and get with the shifting?" Rainbow Dash groaned. "I'm starting to cramp up down here!"

Applejack narrowed her eyes, but before she could speak...

"Don't be such a baby, Dash," I said.

The two turned to me. Applejack's eyes lit up with happiness, though Rainbow Dash's eyes quickly narrowed in irritation.

"Well you certainly took your time getting here," Rainbow noted sarcastically.

"Rainbow!" Applejack chastised.

"Hey, don't fault me for being right," Dash insisted, indicating the rubble. "We weren't exactly sitting around doing nothing!"

I glanced back at the crowd, my eyes narrowing. "Where's Pinkie?"

Rainbow indicated the rubble behind her. Clenching my teeth, I plunged me arms into the shadows on the wall. After a bit of rummaging, I managed to find a familiar poof of pink mane. And with a hard tug, I yanked an unconsious Pinkie Pie from the shadows.

Though... something was wrong with her. Her eyes were open, but completely white, lacking any pupils or irises. Her mane and coat color shimmered, altering between Pinkie's bright pink and Pinkamena's darker vermillion.

"What's happening to her?" I asked, setting her gently on the ground and moving to Applejack's side.

"Mind zero," Applejack replied, as we tugged Rainbow Dash from the rubble.

"Mind what?"

"It's what we call it when Pinkie and Pinkamena's minds clash," Rainbow explained, groaning as she streched out her stiff and aching body parts.

"Since Pinkie and Pinkamena share the same strength," Applejack added with a shrug. "Result's always the same."

I grumbled, kneeling next to the pink mare's shifting form. I tapped her side, but I may as well have been tapping a rag doll.

"And how long til she wakes up?" I asked.

"Dunno," Applejack replied. "Soonest I've seen is three days."

I cursed. "We don't have that kind of time," I noted, hoisting Pinkie up and handing her to Applejack. "We still need to get the princess out of here."

Rainbow Dash set herself up against a wall. "She's down the hall," she replied. "G-Give me a minute, and I'll show you."

"No need," I assured her, heading into the labyrinth of caves. As I began to walk, I let the shadows move out around me, sensing the maze before me.

In no time, I sensed what had to be Celestia. Hanging in a room that held eleven throne shaped stones. Melting through the shadows, I quickly made it to the room of thrones.

As I expected, I found the princess. Her white coat stained red with her own blood, dripping from three red rings on her arms.

I moved to free her, but a giggle echoed through the room. A giggle that I was very familiar with. I sighed.

"Alright, come out and face me," I growled, causing the gigling to cease. " And return that shadow inside your body."

For a moment, there was no reply. Then suddenly, a blur shot by my face. My cheek flashed with pain, and as I tried to find the source, I felt my cheek grow warm with blood.

"Tempest Kick!" a southern voice shouted, smashing through my shadowy body.

'Tempest kick and the Shave technique?' I thought as the shadows reformed my body. 'I never taught Pinkie those techniques.' My eyes narrowed. 'That must mean Rainbow and AJ's shadows are here too.'

"Surprise!" Pinkie's voice cheered from behind. I roared in shock as a blade buried itself in my back.

I spun and tried to strike, but she fluttered out of the way like a sheet of paper.

"Paper Art!" the zombie laughed, fluttering into the shadows and out of sight. I growled, and yanked the blade from my back.

"Damn Zombies," I muttered, storing the blade in my body and exchanging it for a pistol. "You wanna play rough!?" I challenged. "Let's play rough!"

"Tempest Kick!"

Immediately I spun and fired a tendril at the source of the voice.

"Get over here!" I boomed, pulling the zombie to my gun. I shoved it under their chin. "Say hello to my little friend."

My shadow bullet blew the zombie's head off, and a shadow shot away - back to its proper master. Dropping the body, I spun to find a blur coming straight after me. I stepped to the left and shifted my right arm into a shadow blade. The zombie couldn't redirect in time, and hit the blade next first.

I nodded as the second shadow left it's body, and turned back to the throne room. "Alright, come on now," I dared. "You're next and you know it."

"I don't think so," the zombie sang.

I followed the source of the voice, and found myself looking up at Celestia. The last zombie was hanging on Celestia, causing the strings holding the princess up to cut into her deeper. Her blade was on her neck.

I blinked, and looked down, but the dagger belonging to Rainbow's zombie was gone. Growling, I glared up at the zombie.

"You're tempting fate, zombie," I warned.

"I'm keeping myself alive, shadow man," she replied, drawing blood as she dug her blade deeper into the princess' neck.

"That so," I noted, putting my hands in my pockets. I didn't say it just yet, but having known Pinkie for the last couple of months, I figured a few of her trigger words might still work.

"I've got a question for you," I said with a grin.

The zombie's eyes narrowed. "What kind of question, Shade?"

I grinned. "Do you know how much a shave and a haircut is?" I asked.

The zombie's eye twitched. "Two bits!" she shouted, holding up two fingers... and dropping her dagger as a result. She tried to scream in horror, but I was faster.

Piercing her body with a shadow spear from behind, I pulled her into the wall and bound her to the stone.

"I'll deal with you later," I growled, moving under Celestia. moving to Celestia. "Right now, the Princess takes priority."

Extending my hand, I sent a shadow blade through the strings. Princess Celestia tumbled into my waiting arms. Instantly, I sensed a problem with how cold she was. And though she was normally whiter than the snow on Everest, now she was even more pale than normal.

I shook my head. "You've lost a lot of blood," I noted, gently setting her down onto the center throne. "Let's see if we can't take care of that."

Removing my coat I begin to rip it up and treat her injuries to the best of my ability. I wasn't Sombra - I had no training in the medical field. But I was determined to at least make sure she didn't lose any more blood.

"She's gonna die!" the zombie cackled as I dressed Celestia's wounds. "She gonna die, and her shadow will belong to Master Scale's strongest general for all of eternity!"

I merely glared up at her. "You know," I noted, forming a shadow spike. "If there's one thing I enjoy most...?"

I fired the spike right into her skull.

"It's proving others wrong," I finished, as Celestia began to twitch. Her pink eyes opened, struggling to focus on me.

"E-Er-Eric?" Celestia mumbled.

"It's alright Celestia," I assured her. "You're safe."

"S-Sombra..." Celestia whispered.

"Don't worry about him now," I insisted, but she gripped my arm.

"No," she insisted, struggling to hold onto her consiousness. "Tell Sombra... I'm sorry." She winced, but gazed at me with regret. "I... shouldn't have... blamed him... for... what... happened..."

With her peace said, Celestia's head hung, and she passed out again. Briefly, my heart throbbed with panic. But when I checked her pulse, I could still feel her heart beating. Trying so hard to keep her alive despite the limited blood.

"You can tell him yourself," I said softly, picking her up bridal style, and making my way back through the caves.

I found Rainbow, Applejack and the others digging their way through the rubble. Pinkie was leaned against a wall, her head rising and falling as she slowly regained conciousness.

Remembering the stone bracers on their wrists, I created three tendrils.

"Hang on a second, girls," I said, drawing their attention just as my tendrils seized their wrists.

Rainbow Dash yelped as I pulled their arms into their shadows. But when she yanked her arm out, the stone bracer was gone. Seeing what I was doing, Applejack nodded and waited more patiently, while Pinkie - understandably - didn't react. Seconds later, all three were freed from their magic restraints.

"A heads up would've been nice," Rainbow Dash growled.

"Rainbow, now ain't the time," Applejack insisted, running to the bundle of white fur I had brought with me. "The Princess..."

"She's lost alot of blood," I said. "We need to get out." I turned to the other ponies, grinning as I felt the presence of several of their shadows. "Some of you have regained your shadows, so stepping into the sunlight won't kill you."

"What about those of us that don't have our shadows?" a faded gray pony asked. "I don't wanna stay here, but I don't wanna die either."

In answer, I used the shadows of the caves to compensate for their missing ones. "I believe this should help," I replied. "I'm not a hundred percent sure if it'll work, though, so if you feel yourself start to vanish, I want you to find the nearest shadow and stay there."

The ponies swallowed, but none of them dared complain.

"The shadows are your friend," I continued as I merged another shadow to the princess. "Cling to them like a bee to a flower, and you might just make it out alive. Understand?"

"Y-Yes, sir," a few mumbled. The rest nodded assent. Spreading my own shadow to cover the ponies, I dropped the lot of us into darkness. I resurfaced in front of the elder and his son. Both of them glowered as several ponies resisted screaming at them, but their focus was mainly on me.

"Took you long enough, Von Shadow" Elder Kain grumbled.

I didn't respond. I kept a careful eye on the ponies, but thus far, none of them were turning to dust. Though, as they gazed upon the giant dragon, I wondered if some of them were going to pass out from fear.

"Calm down everypony," I said. "Elder Kain means none of you any harm." I turned back to the dragon elder. "Apologies for keeping you waiting. Scale had the princess guarded."

Elder Kain grinned. "That's fine. It gave me time to call forth my children."

A number of snow mounds erupted, revealing multiple dragons as he reverted to his dragon form. I nodded.

"Very good," I said. "With a army three hundred large, we'll need a army of our own." I started to lift my students onto the elder's back, before his white eyes narrowed in warning.

"I didn't give any of them permission to ride atop my back," Elder Kain growled.

"You have my word they will be off your back the moment we reach the empire," I said insistently.

Grumbling, the Elder allowed me to place the ponies onto his back, and we raced for the Empire.

"They'd better" Elder Kain mumbled under his breath.

Not wanting to tempt fate, I kept my eyes peeled on the horizon. Once the empire was within my three hundred mile limit, I shadow dropped myself and the ponies to the edge. Briefly resurfacing on the edge of the empire, I dropped back in like a dolphin in the sea, reappearing with my pony followers in the medical ward and scaring the doctors out of their robes.

"Take care of Celestia," I ordered, almost tossing the princess into the doctor's arms. "She's lost alot of blood."

The sight of the princesses spurned the doctors to action. They laid her out on a medical cot while I turned back to the shadows.

"Eric!" Applejack called. But I vanished into the shadows before she or anyone else could follow.

As I spun through shadows, I let my clothing be exchanged with my royal armor. I seized the Murakumogiri from the darkness around me. And drawing on my senses, I popped out of the shadows near Sombra, engaged in battle with two other zombies.

My eyes grew wide; one of them fired a pink beam that slowed his movements.

'The Slow-Slow Fruit,' I realized. 'Radiant Faith!'

Before I could try to help, the other launched a volley of strings at him - Amethyst Shard, if I was remembering Pinkie correctly. Fluttershy and Rarity shot out from the side, Fluttershy taking the stringed blow for the unicorn, while Rarity engaged the Slow-Slow Fruit user in combat.

With Rarity dealing with Radiant, and Sombra freed but distracted by Amethyst, I took it upon myself to head to Fluttershy. As I sunk her down into the shadows, sending her to the medical ward, I watched as Sombra caught Amethyst's strings, bringing an abandoned sword to his mouth with a flare of his horn. I couldn't help but grin, remembering the style I had spent so many years teaching him.

"You will pay dearly for that," Sombra seethed between the hilt in his mouth, releasing Amethyst's strings and sending her off guard while he drew his swords once more.

'That's it,' I encouraged silently, not daring to distract him, while Amethyst froze, seeing his demonic form. 'You got it.'

"Demon Aura Nine Sword Style: Asura!" Sombra shouted, the demonic aura giving him three head and six arms

"What... are you?!" Amethyst whispered, fear freezing her in place.

Sombra merely vanished... before reappearing behind her.

"You said it yourself," he mocked, as she gave one final gasp. "I'm the Dark King." He lowered his head. "Asura Silver Mist."

Nine deep slashes erupted across Amethyst Shard's body, and her final wail of agony sounded long and loud across the battlefield.

Sombra dropped to his knees, the demonic aura fading, and leaving him an exhausted mess. A second later, I saw another body hit the ground.

But it wasn't Radiant Faith that had fallen; it was Rarity. Bruises and cuts adorning her white coat, and Radiant Faith was already approaching my friend.

"One down," Radiant mocked. "One to go."

Gripping my weapon, I prepared to cut this zombie to ribbons. However, someone else got to her first.

We heard it around the same time - footsteps coming on us fast. Before Radiant Faith could turn to the source, a pair of jaws seized her by the neck. A tundra dragon about Celestia's size slammed Radiant faith into the ground and began pulling her head from her body.

I slung my weapon across my back with a nod of thanks to the tundra dragon. It ignored me in favor of destroying the zombie, but that was fine. I had the attention of Sombra, who gazed on me with relief as I grinned and extended a hand to my king.

"Need a hand?" I asked.

Sombra's grin was brighter than the sun. "Glad you could join us." he replied, taking my hand and staggering to his feet. He glanced at the tundra dragon. "Did you bring the calvary?"

My grin widened, glancing behind me as geysers of flames erupted. Pink hands and feet smashed into the ground, as a massive dragon rampaged into the city.

"Don't I always?" I replied with a grin, pulling my murakumogiri from my back and resting it on my shoulder. "Now... how about we bring this war to an end?"

Sombra's grin widened, and he clasped his hand over mine. "Let's do it."
> The Living Vs. The Undead pt. 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anger was not a strong enough emotion to describe what Cold Scale was feeling.

As he peered through his telescope, the Ice Dragon struggled not to break the telescope as he saw his zombies being killed left and right. He saw a lavender unicorn snatching zombies up with arms from any location. He saw the Dark King cutting down one of his generals. He spotted a royal changeling that tore through the zombie line with poison gas pouring from his body.

But worst of all, he saw the three ponies he had imprisoned in his caves. Back in action and taking down zombies alongside their friends.

"Brother?" Obsidian asked.

Cold Scale growled, finally crushing his telescope into powder. "Three of our prisoners are out there," he reported, turning to his brother. "If they're here... that means the princess was returned to the empire as well."

Obsidian grimaced, glaring down at the large scar on his chest. Cold Scale followed his gaze.

"She needed to die," Cold Scale hissed, his shadow manipulating itself into a pair of dragon wings. "And that cave was supposed to be her tomb!" He looked up. "Come brother. Let us put a stop to this feeble attempt to stop my plans."





Applejack spun through a line of zombies, cutting them down in a meager attempt to dwindle their numbers. The cursed undead seemed to be endless, but Applejack was determined to hold out.

Deep down, Applejack could feel her chest already struggling for air. The ache in her muscles. She always feared that she was weaker than Rainbow or Pinkie. Hell, she knew she was weaker than Twilight.

Eric had claimed that her Devil Fruit allowed her to turn any part of her body into a sword. Yet, the best she could do was transform her legs. And no matter how much she turned her kicks into deadly slashes, she still needed them to stand on.

As twenty zombies fell, Applejack found herself facing a new challenger: the Rank Eight General Sapphire Joy. Her full wolf form howling at Applejack in challenge before rolling first into her hybrid form and then into her full pony form.

"Nice reflexes for a earth pony," Sapphire commented with a grin.

Applejack narrowed her eyes, glancing at the fur on the wolf zombie's body.

"Look who's talking," Applejack replied. "You ain't no artic wolf; this ain't yer territory."

Sapphire huffed. "Seems to suit me just fine."

"Let's see 'bout that." Turning her left leg into a blade, Applejack lunged forward, ready to kick-cut the wolf in half.

Unfortunately, Sapphire was expecting such an attack, and bound over her kick effortlessly. As she landed behind Applejack, Sapphire spun, her claws carving four deep cuts into the cow mare's back.

Applejack stumbled forward with a cry of pain. A cry that got higher as Sapphire's full wolf form tackled into her and dug its fangs into her right arm.

Spinning around, Sapphire hurled Applejack through several buildings. Though the cow mare pulled herself from the rubble, every movement was accompanied by a groan of pain.

"Ah... guess Cold Scale didn't make you his general for nothing," Applejack growled, clutching her bleeding arm.

She chanced a glance up as Rainbow Dash used the Shave Technique on a horde of zombies, while Pinkie Pie fluttered away with the Paper Art. Applejack shook her head.

"Why didn't ah try to learn those?" she bemoaned.

Unfortunately, there was no time for a lesson. Applejack saw Sapphire running straight towards her. As the wolf pony prepared to go for the cow mare's throat, one of Eric Von Shadow's lessons came back to Applejack, causing her eyes to light up in glee.

"But I do got one thing they don't," Applejack remembered, steadying herself as Sapphire pounced. "Tempest Kick!"

Applejack's attack nearly caved in the wolf's face. Sapphire shrieked with agony, one of her eyes bursting as Applejack dove out of the way and let the creatures' momentum carry it into the ruins of the building.

Using her good arm Applejack steadied herself into a defensive form as Sapphire Joy exited the building in her pony form. One hand over her eye as she shifted into her hybrid form with a growl.

"I'm going to wear your intestines like a scarf," Sapphire vowed angrily.

Applejack tried to refute her with a kick, but the pony dodged and tackled Applejack to the ground, pinning her legs to the ground. With no method of attack, Applejack was forced to cover her face with her arms as Sapphire prepared to carve her arms and face off.

"And once I finish with you," Sapphire seethed. "I'm going to maul each and every pony that fled into that castle!"

Applejack's eyes widened under her arms. Her sister was in that castle. Her friends were in that castle.

For a moment, Applejack flashed back to when she was a filly. When she had found her parents. Or rather... what was left of them. Timber wolf tracks were everywhere, letting her know exactly who had taken her parents from her.

The thought of another stinking wolf taking a family member from her stirred something deep within the earth pony.

Clenching her teeth, Applejack forgot about pain. She forgot about fear. All she cared about was one thought: 'Ain't no way in Tartarus, Hell or any of the afterlives I can think of, that I'm letting another stinkin' wolf git my family!'

The wolf zombie raised her claws, ready to carve Applejack's arms off. But instead... four of her claws were severed as they slashed futilely at a razor edged blade.

The blood painted Applejack's face like a mask, the fingers bouncing off her head, as the wolf reared up with a scream of agony.

Taking advantage, Applejack slammed her head against the zombie's. Losing her stetson, but also freeing her legs as the wolf tumbled back.

"I promised my parents I would do everything to protect my little sister," Applejack swore, rising up as each of her fingers turned into blades. "And it'll be a cold day in Tartarus before I break that promise!"

Rushing forward like a woman possessed, Applejack began slashing and hacking at the wolf zombie, just as Sapphire had been doing to her. Fur, blood and flesh flew into the air, as Sapphire gave up on fighting, shifted to her full wolf form and attempted to flee.

But there would be no mercy for Sapphire here. Sending a Tempest Kick at the wolf, Applejack snapped her legs, sending her spinning into the ground. Seizing her mane, Applejack tried to lift her up to get a shot at her face.

However, Sapphire Joy still had some fight in her, and caught the mare with a slash across the chest. Applejack gasped, biting back a scream even as her shirt was torn, and her stomach soaked with blood.

But Applejack did not release her grip. And before Sapphire could hit her again, Applejack drove her bladed hand right into the wolf zombie's chest.

Sapphire Joy gagged, her eyes rising to the heavens as she slowly went limp in Applejack's grip.

"Forgive me... Master... Scale," Sapphire choked out. "I failed..."

With those final words, the shadow left her body, and the light went out of her eyes forever.

Applejack dropped the body and wrenched her bladed hand free.

"Ah did it... Apple Bloom," she mumbled, turning to the castle. "Ah'll... always protect ya..."

But Applejack barely managed two steps back towards the castle before the blood loss got to her, and she tumbled forward into unconsciousness.

However this wasn't the day Applejack was destined to die. Right as she lost consciousness, a group of Crystal Empire soldiers rounded the bend, spotting her immediately.

"The Element of Honesty!" the commander barked, almost shoving the medic over to her. "Well?" he asked as the medic checked her wounds.

"Not good, Iron Rock," the medic replied. "She's lost a lot of blood."

"Bring her to the castle," Iron Rocket ordered. "Take her straight to the medical bay."

Obeying, the medic and another soldier flared their horns. With a flash of light, Applejack and the soldiers vanished.

"And us, sir?" one of the remaining soldiers asked.

"We lend our aid to Captain Von Shadow and his comrades," Iron Rock replied.

Nodding in agreement, the squad ran off, to find and bring aid to their Royal Captain..





Towards the northern side of the empire, in the noble district, Echo searched the streets for any pony that hadn't fled to the castle.

Careful to make sure his gas couldn't hurt friendlies, he rounded a corner, looking for any living creature.

Unfortunately, the non-living found him first.

Without warning, Echo was knocked to the ground by a fist made from smoke. Tumbling down the streets, Echo barely managed to regain his feet, his right claw slowing his descent and allowing him to stabilize himself.

"Well, well, well," a voice declared, smoke converging to reform the body of the Rank Seven General, Night Knight. "I knew I'd be killing ponies. But I didn't think I'd get the chance to pluck a changeling's wings."

Echo hissed, drawing his daggers as gas poured from his body. "You'll find this changeling a lot stronger than most."

"We'll see, Drone," Night replied, his own body turning to smoke.

Echo's eyes widened. "Drone?" he demanded. "I am a King, maggot. As you will soon learn."

With that final line, Echo and Night charged. Gas clashed with smoke. Fist crashed against fists, and heads bashed against heads.

Briefly, the two staggered back, Night clutching his head while Echo clutched his wrist. Gas and smoke covered the ground in a thick, unbreathable blanket. Night Knight glowered at the changeling, but hid his anger behind a huff.

"Not bad," The zombie general mocked. "For a king of bugs."

"The words of a blemish on a gnat's carapace means nothing to me," Echo replied with pride. "Mock me all you want, but you won't get under my carapace."

"Spoken like a true drone of a whore," Night Knight mocked.

Despite his words, the royal changeling couldn't help but feel fury boil in his gut. His slitted eyes narrowed to fine lines. His fangs bore all the way to the gums. The most deadly gas he could must swirled around him like a coiling viper.

"Care to repeat that, puppet?" Echo ground out.

Night Knight merely laughed at Echo's fury. "It's common knowledge. Changeling queens sleep around with many creatures. It's how they can create drones like you and the rest of your filthy kind."

Echo knew he wasn't supposed to let this creature get to him. His own mother had taught him never to let emotion cloud his judgement. After all, this thing was nothing but an undead. A shadow of a former life. And yet...

His mother was the one who gave life to him. His queen. She was everything to a changeling. How was he supposed to let something as insignificant as a zombie insult her and not face the consequences?

"What's the matter, drone?" Night Knight laughed, relishing in Echo's building rage. "The little drone going to cry over his whore mother?"

"I'm... not... a... DRONE!" Echo boomed. Gas flooded from his body, covering the area like fog. He clashed his daggers together. "I am Echo Silhouette. The First Changeling King of the Silhouette Hive!" He sparked his daggers, sending cinders into the gas around him. "And you can burn in Tartarus!"

As he finished his boast, the sparks ignited his gas.

An explosion rocked the entire Noble District, flattening several homes and sending a mushroom cloud into the air.

As the smoke cleared, Echo stood tall, unhurt save for the injuries already inflicted on him by General Night.

To his displeasure, the Rank Seven General also still stood as well, the smoke from the explosion easily reforming his body. However, his smug grin faded. His breathing became ragged. He pulled at his collar, before falling to his knees, coughing up blood.

"H...How?" Night Knight choked out. "You're... smoke..."

"Wrong," Echo boasted, sheathing his daggers. "I'm Gas. And you've been inhaling my most deadly poisons ever since you challenged me."

Night Knight's eyes widened. He looked down at the blood in his palm, before Echo drew his attention back with a kick to the face, throwing the general onto his back.

"Oh, don't worry," Echo said darkly. "It won't kill you instantly." He grinned as Night Knight struggled to rise, spitting out another liter of blood. "It'll just melt your lungs, and drown you in your own blood."

"You... Bas..." Night tried to swear, only for the blood flooding his throat to drown him out. He spasmed and fell to the ground, as Echo stood over him triumphantly.

"Let that be a lesson," Echo growled as the shadow left the general's body, and his spasming went still. "No one insults the glorious Queen Silhouette." He looked down at the body, which was already melting into a pile of sludge and bones. "The penalty is death. By order of King Silhouette."

Echo looked up from the skeleton. More zombies were patrolling. Drawing his knives, he advanced on them.

"My mother lost her life for refusing to feed on you ponies," he murmured darkly. "Insult her again at your peril."





Pinkie Pie bounced around the commoner district. Due to her use of 3rd gear, she was forced to go around in a tinier form.

Undeterred, Pinkie looked for a way to return to her usual size... only to find several soldiers. Their bodies rounder and shinier than usual.

"Oh....So shiny" Pinkie said kneeling down next to one of the soldiers. "You okay? You don't look so good."

"She's stronger than we thought," the soldier got out.

Pinkie's tail twitched. 'Incoming attack.'

Jumping back, Pinkie winced as a cluster of bubbles barely missed her... and crushed the soldier's head.

"Nice dodge," the attacker complimented.

Spinning to the voice, Pinkie was met with the sight of a wingless pegasus. Her light purple coat covered by a torn, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of torn pants ripped at the knees. Her black mane and tail were ratty and unkempt, and the number '3' was tattooed on her right shin.

"Oh hey! I know you," Pinkie noted, putting a finger to her chin. "Hmm... Pinkamena said your name was... Artic something. Artic... some kind of flower, I believe. Rose? No, that doesn't sound right..."

Pinkie turned away from the general, failing to pick up the general's slowly deepening frown of fury.

"Orchid, maybe? No, that wasn't it..." Pinkie muttered, before her tail twitched again. 'Incoming Attack!' She jumped away as another cluster of bubbles pulverized the ground she stood on.

"It's Lily, you insufferable clod!" Artic Lily bellowed, launching a volley of bubbles at the mare. "Artic Lily!"

Pinkie spun around the attack with ease, slapping herself on the head. "Oh, that was it!" Pinkie giggled. "I'm so silly."

Dodging another barrage of bubbles, Pinkie went on the offensive. "Gum-Gum..." Pinkie said gleefully throwing her fist back. "...Pistol!!"

Unfortunately, Artic Lily caught her arm and covered it with bubbles. "Gotcha!" the General cried in glee.

Pulling her arm back, Pinkie gazed in awe at how round and shiny her arm was. However, as she landed on all fours, her right arm slipped out from under her, sending her to the ground as Artic Lily laughed.

"Like my Golden Bubbles?" Artic Lily asked. "They cleanse anything they touch. Turning them into a slippery mess."

Despite the zombie's mocking tone, Pinkie's smile didn't falter. "Sounds like fun," she replied, rolling to her feet and delivering another right hook.

Unfortunately, her punch slipped right off the zombie's body, and Artic Lily grinned in amusement. Stunned, Pinkie was unable to dodge Artic Lily's next barrage, and she slid across the ground on her rear, covered in golden bubbles.

"Oopsie," Pinkie squeaked out, before Artic Lily charged.

Slamming her leg against the pony's face, Artic Lily sent Pinkie sliding on her side. As the pink mare struggled to control herself Artic Lily stomped on the mare's stomach with a laugh.

"And here we all thought you were the strongest out of your pathetic friends," mocked the rank three general.

Pinkie was barely listening, looking at the zombie mare's foot on her stomach. Even though her rubber body was negating most of the damage, it still didn't feel good to have a foot on her gut. She tried to shove the foot off, but the golden bubbles kept causing her hands to slip. Artic Lily laughed at Pinkie's attempts, reaching for her throat.

"Oh, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this," Lily noted. Before she could seize her, however...

Bite her! Pinkamena's voice ordered.

'What?!' Pinkie questioned.

Bite her Pinkie! Before she kills you! Pinkamena ordered, her voice growing panicked.

'But biting is wrong!' argued Pinkie

And if she kills you, who's going to bring joy and laughter to your friends? Pinkamena insisted. You die and you'll bring nothing but tears and sadness! Not only to your friends, but to Mother, Father and our sisters!

Pinkie gasped in horror. Lunging forward, her teeth clamped down on the zombie's thumb. Artic Lily howled in pain as she tried to pry herself from the mare's mouth. Unfortunately her thumb couldn't handle the stress and snapped off. Sliding away, Pinkie did everything she could to stand on her own.

Clenching her now bleeding hand, Artic Lily glared at Pinkie with murderous intent. She lifted both her arms, and a wall of bubbles formed.

"You're dead, pony!" Artic Lily screamed, sending the bubble wall at the party pony.

The wall threw Pinkie into the bathroom of one of the crystal homes. Water and rubble flew into the air as the bubbles dissipated, clearing the way for Artic Lily as she marched up to the pile of wreckage Pinkie had been buried in.

"I'm going to rip off that thumb of yours to replace the one you took," Artic Lily vowed, digging through the rubble.

But she barely got started at digging before a dark pink fist shot from the rubble. Free of bubbles, it slammed into the zombie's face, tossing her into the adjacent building.

As Artic Lily struggled to recover, she saw the pink mare emerge from the rubble. But it wasn't the bubbly, cheerful mare she had been kicking around earlier.

Pinkamena had returned. Covered in water, and with a glower on her face. She spat out Lily's thumb and wiped the water off her face.

"I've got you figured out," Pinkamena growled, grinning at the water soaking her arms. Dissolving the bubbles. "Water cancels the effects of your Golden Bubbles." She clenched her fist, 2nd gear activating. "And last time I checked, they don't do so well with heat!"

She vanished. Artic Lily didn't have long to look before Pinkamena returned, hitting her again and sending her sprawling. Pinkamena moved to hit her again - to beat her until her shadow left her body - but her own body suddenly locked up.

Pinkie, not now! Pinkamena demanded.

'Stop it! her brighter half insisted. 'Pinkamena, give me back control! I've got this!

"This isn't the time!" Pinkamena said out loud, jumping back and barely avoiding another cluster of bubbles. "Pinkie, once this is all over you and I need a serious talk!"

Pinkamena tried to rush Lily, attempting to make up for Pinkie's attempt to wrest back control. But her speed was not enough, and she crashed hard into a wall of bubbles.

"Did you think you could defeat me that easily?!" Artic Lily demanded, bubbles surfacing and covering her body. "I'm the rank... Three... GENERAL!"

Pinkamena jumped back as a titan formed from the bubbles. Faintly, she could see Artic Lily inside, grinning smugly at her.

"Say hello to my Bubble Titan!"

Before Pinkie could try to attack or say hello, Artic Lily backhanded Pinkamena, sending her through one house. Two houses. Three.

The next thing Pinkie or Pinkamena knew, they had tumbled out of the empire and into the Frozen North. A trench had been carved into the ground by their body, and glass, metal shards and other splinters adorned her bleeding body.

Groaning Pinkamena struggled to her feet, her 2nd Gear dispersing. Pinkamena barely regained her feet before she collapsed from a massive pain in her leg. Looking down, she discovered the source of the pain to be a large metal pipe. Impaling her left leg.

"P-Pinkie," Pinkamena hissed through short breaths. "Are you okay?"

No answer came from the brighter half.

"Must have blacked out," Pinkamena huffed. "You never could handle too much pain." She seized the pipe and tightened her grip in defiance of the agony. "Luckily..." she hissed. "You got me!"

She ripped the pipe out, painting the snow red with her blood. Stabbing the pipe into the ground to use as a cane, Pinkamena lifted herself up, as Artic Lily approached in her bubble titan.

"Can't... let... it... end," Pinkamena gasped, stabbing the pipe into the snow with every word, as she marched towards Artic Lily. Must... protect... Pinkie!"

But as the bubble titan approached, Lily felt no fear in Pinkamena's attempt at defiance.

"What's the matter, pony?" Artic Lily mocked, rearing her colossal fist back. "What happened to that strength you had back at the caves?"

Pinkamena tried to rear her fist back... but she couldn't put weight on her injured leg. It was all she could to stay standing. As Artic Lily's fist rushed towards her body, Pinkamena's eyes shut.

'I'm sorry, Pinkie. I wasn't able to protect you.'

However the attack never came. Opening her eyes, Pinkamena found that she had gained a guardian.

A 6ft blue pegasus stallion with white tipped wings stood between her and Artic Lily. On the back of his armor was a depiction of a starry night sky with a full moon on top of a white cloud. Strapped to his side was a sheathed Katana blade with a six pointed star shaped cross guard. The mysterious stallion hand was extended, and the titan's fist had dispersed into harmless bubbles, floating daintily around them.

"What the...?!" Artic Lily stammered.

"Dishonorable!" the Stallion chastised with a heavy accent, placing his thumb on the guard of his blade. "Attacking a unarmed and defeated pony? You bring shame upon your life!"

Flicking his guard, the stallion unsheathed his blade, resting it on his left shoulder with both hands on the grip.

Shaking off the shock, Artic Lily tried to use her other fist, charging the stallion.

"First Form: Roar," the stallion whispered, inhaling deeply.

Bringing down his blade, he slashed the titan in half. At the same time, a massive explosion ripped through the titan, leaving a high pitched ringing in its place. As Artic Lily was flung from her titan, she could only gaze at the stallion in utter shock before her body split down the middle. Her shadow briefly appeared from the two halves before flitting away to rejoin its master.

Turning to the injured mare, the stallion returned his katana to its scabbard, and offered Pinkamena a hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Pinkamena stared up at him, trying to formulate a response... before falling unconscious into his arms.

"Hm," he mumbled. "I suppose not."

Slipping his arm under her leg, the stallion carried the mare bridal style to the castle.
> The Living Vs. The Undead Pt. 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While her friends were finishing their fights down below, Rainbow Dash was in the skies. Taking out any undead pegasus who ventured too close to the castle.

However, her body was starting to cramp. Her breathing was ragged, and her wings hurt as they flapped. She did her best to hide it, but despite having control over Eric's Iron Body and Shave Technique, she still lacked control for the more precise attacks; like the Crossfire and Firefly attacks.

But, it wasn't all bad. As she arced in a circle, she noticed a lack of zombie pegasi. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Okay..." Rainbow noted. "Looks like they finally saw my awesomeness and are staying away from the castle." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing too. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Glancing down, Rainbow noticed the battles raging on the ground.

"Probably best if I give the guards some ground support then," Rainbow noted tiredly. Despite her muscles pleading she take a break, she ignored their protests and lowered herself to the ground.

"Sand Sword!"

Without warning a straight blast tore through the guards. Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid getting hit by the sandy projectile.

"Wait," Rainbow stammered. "Was that... actual sand?"

Another blast of sand shot at her in response. She dodged with a flip, Pinkamena's words coming back to her.

"Number Two belongs to a pony calling himself Ronin. He's a Logia Type, which I'm assuming is called the Sand-Sand Fruit."

"Damn." a voice spoke from below. "How did a worthless mare manage to dodge my sand sword, not once..." The figure flew into view. "...But twice?"

The rainbow-maned pegasus was met with a pegasus with singed orange fur and a black 2 tattooed on his left cheek.

"Sand in a place surrounded by snow?" Rainbow mused with a grin. "You must be the rank two general, aren't you?"

The two pegasi landed, facing each other.

"Not that somepony like you has the right to ask that, but yes," The general replied, sand wafting off of him as he bowed mockingly. "I am Ronin of the Sand. You may now bow to me like the lowly mare you are."

Rainbow Dash smirked. Instead of a bow, she offered an Iron Body fueled punch across the zombies face. Ronin's head explodes in a burst of sand. The momentum sent Rainbow tumbling behind him, while Ronin simply reformed his head with a laugh.

"HAHAHA! Face down in the dirt," The General mocked. "Just as it should be with the rest of your pathetic sex."

Rainbow Dash glanced at him with a glare. "Sexist pig," she growled, swinging her arm up in an arc of crimson flames.

Unfortunately, her flames were snuffed out by a wall of sand. Utilizing her speed, Rainbow Dash blasted out of the wall of sand and into the sky. Fire blazed around her as she launched a volley of flames below her. Ronin emerged from the flames unscathed. His smug grin still plastered on his face.

"Just like a mare," Ronin continued to mock, as sand swirled around his body. "Running away from the better stallion."

Seething at the zombie's words, Rainbow charged at Ronin, her entire body covered in her flames. Unfortunately, Ronin dodged to the right and caught Rainbow Dash by the arm.

A shock of pain went through her arm. She shrieked, losing control of her flames and wings as she plummeted to the ground. Barely able to land on her feet, she stared in shock at her arm, which had become grey and shriveled.

"An interesting little part about my Fruit's power," Ronin boasted, landing in front of her... just in time for a Crystal Guard to shove his sword through Ronin's back.

However, the blow did nothing. Ronin's body shifted in sand, allowing him to face the guard. Seizing the hapless soldier by the throat, he turned back to Rainbow Dash with a grin.

"By hitting anypony with my sand," Ronin explained, as his sand covered the writhing, screaming guard, "I can remove any and all moisture from their body."

Indeed, as the guard's struggles came to a stop, the sand fell away to reveal the guard shriveled up like a mummy. The zombie threw aside the guard with a laugh, as Rainbow Dash's anger rose like the sun.

A memory of months prior came to her mind...





Eric kicked the Pegasus down to the ground for the fiftieth time. With a roar of anger, Rainbow launched a massive fireball. Eric summoned a wall of shadow that absorbed the fireball and left Rainbow Dash staring at shadows.

"Sorry Dash," Eric said. "But you're not ready." The shadows faded to show him walking away.

"Wait!" Rainbow said flying in front of the Shadow Man blocking his path. "You said you were training us to stop a war. But all you've done is knock me on my flank!"

"You keep losing control of your anger," Eric replied, pushing past the Pegasus. "That's why you can't win."

"So what? Everypony gets angry!" she argued, flying in front of him again. "Don't tell me you've never gotten angry before!"

"Anger," Eric growled, his voice raising and causing her to back up. "Can be a weapon. But only if you can control it. And you, Rainbow Dash?" He once again moved her out of the way. "You clearly cannot."

Rainbow Dash seethed at his words. His retreating back. A fireball formed in her hand. With a bark of frustration, she threw the fireball at Eric. Eric spun and back-handed the projectile into a couple training dummies, his fist covered in Haki. His glare wasn't angry; it was merely assured, like she had proven his point.

"The war ahead is going to be difficult," he said. "And if you can't stop yourself from getting lost in your anger, then you have no business being on the battlefield."

With those final words, the Shadow Man left the pegasus behind.





As Ronin approached Rainbow, the pegasus closed her eyes, focusing on Eric's words and her own shortening temper.

'Anger can be a weapon... but I need to control it,' Rainbow thought. She opened her eyes, seeing Ronin reaching for her. She focused on his smug look. What he had done to the guard. What he was likely going to do to everyone if she couldn't stop him.

And her powers responded to her anger. White flames erupted from Rainbow's body. Ronin jumped back, his smug expression crumbling as the sand around the pegasus turned to glass.

"What in Faust...?" Ronin stammered, flaring his sand in a defensive wall.



"You're an absolute plothole," Rainbow growled, stepping through the glass and fire. "Never in my life have I ever hated somepony more than I hate you."

Rainbow thrust her arms forward. White flames blasted into Ronin's sand wall. Ronin's determined glare cracked with fear as the sand was turned into crystal clear glass.

Briefly, he saw Rainbow Dash glaring through the glass at him, before she shattered the former sand with a brutal punch.

Ronin began to back further up, throwing more blasts of sand at the mare. Unfortunately, her flames turned all of the blasts into harmless glass, and she walked forward unimpeded.

"N-No!" Ronin protested. "It..it's not possible!"

"It's very possible, zombie," Rainbow said, raising a fist covered in flames and increasing in size. "A mare defeated the likes of you. White Fire Fist!"

Rainbow's fist collided with Ronin's right arm. The general screamed as he fell to the ground, clutching an arm now made of glass. He glared up at the pegasus with murderous intent.

"Mark my words, mare," Ronin seethed. "This will not be the last time we meet." He began turning to sand. "You will be sorry for what you have done."

Ronin's body blew away with the Arctic breeze, leaving behind his glass arm, which shattered on contact with the crystal roads. Rainbow Dash watched him go with a glare, her white flames fading as her exhaustion took over.

"Yeah? Well..." Rainbow whispered tiredly. "Eat me... Bucker."

Rainbow collapsed to her knees, her vision fading as she struggled to stay consious. To add insult to injury, a nearby zombie approached the downed pegasus with a laugh.

"Looks like Ronin did all the heavy lifting for me," the zombie said gleefully, pulling out a busted dagger from his belt. "All I have do is slit your throat and take that fruit of your's." The Zombie lifted Rainbow's head by her hair. "Then I can replace Ronin as the 2nd Rank!"

However before the zombie could move, a slender blade pierced his wrist, heart, and brain, all in the span of a second. The zombie collapsed to the ground, as Rainbow's savior swung the blood from her rapier. Once cleaned and sheathed, Rarity helped Rainbow to her feet.

"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity said. "Are you alright, Darling?"

Rainbow looked up at her friend, managing a tired smile.

"Thanks... for the save... Rares," Rainbow got out, before her eyes shut, and she went limp. Rarity felt Rainbow's beating heart, and sighed in relief.

"You're very welcome," Rarity said, covering herself and Rainbow in her magic. "Let's get you fixed up." With a flash Rarity and Rainbow teleport to the castle's medical wing.





At the castle's entrance, Twilight helped the ponies evacuate into the safety of the crystal castle.

"Is that the last of them?" Twilight asked an Equestrian guard ushering a frightened family into the palace.

"I believe so, Miss Sparkle," the guard said, turning and cutting down an approaching zombie.

"That's good..." Twilight stopped as a group of zombies approached, shifting into various animals.

"Tiger. Lion. Cheetah," Twilight analyzed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "All Zoan Types, all belonging to the feline family. Different models of the Cat-Cat Fruit."

She concentrated, and multiple purple arms sprouted from the backs of the zombified animals. Clenching her hands, Twilight made the arms twist the zombies. All three collapsed with cries of pain.

"Did... Did you kill them?" the Guard asked, staring at the zombies in shock.

"No," Twilight said, touching her face sheepishly. "All I did was break several vertebrates along their spine. It's easy enough... if you know how to."

"And you know this how?" the guard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I spent a lot of years learning under Celestia," Twilight replied. "She taught me magic, however during my free time I learned everything else I could." Twilight touched her face again, glaring at her hand like it had done something wrong. The guard grinned.

"Let me guess," he noted. "You used to wear glasses before switching to contacts."

"Old habits die hard," she replied. "A-Anyway, in my free time, I memorized the skeletal structure of every creature known by Equestria." Twilight indicated the downed zombies. "And I know exactly what to break to immobilize them."

The guard grinned at her work. "Well, I'm not gonna lie, Ms. Sparkle. That is severely cool."

"Please. Call me Twilight."

"Then you can call me Flash," the guard said with a smile.

Twilight chuckled... until she and Flash were thrown into the castle walls by a incredible gust of wind. Sliding to the ground, the lavender unicorn looked up to see a bulky zombie walking towards them: a dull gray stallion wearing a pair of ripped pants. Dragon scales covered his forearms, leading up to a black vest lined with white fur, and opened to reveal a '1' tattooed onto his open chest.

"Emerald... Dream?" Twilight groaned.

"In the flesh, little filly," Emerald laughed. "Well... what's left of it anyway."

"Please... don't do this," Twilight begged, lifting her arms and subtly crossing them. "There are innocent ponies in there."

"I know," Emerald replied without empathy, reaching for his back. "Good try, though."

Seizing the arm she had grown out of his back, Emerald Dream snapped the arm like a twig. Twilight shrieked as her own arm broke in response.

Seeing the fear in Twilight's eyes, Flash took up his sword and attacked the zombie. Emerald caught Flash by the wrist, twisting and squeezing until his sword clattered to the ground.

"Valiant effort," Emerald noted, raising his fist. "But pointless nonetheless."

Suddenly, a beam of purple light hit Emerald Dream's face. The zombie general dropped Flash with a scream, covering his steaming face. Flash seized his sword and tried to follow up, only for Emerald to shatter Flash's armor with a punch, flinging him into the palace walls.

"Flash!" Twilight screamed, before Emerald seized her by the throat. Without his hand covering his face, Twilight saw that her spell had melted off his skin on the left side of his face, revealing the skull underneath.

"I'm quite surprised filly," Emerald growled, lifting her off the ground. "That hurt. That hurt quite a bit"

His fist tightened, cutting off Twilight's air.

"I. Hate. Feeling. Pain," Emerald growled out.

Without warning a loud BANG sounded, like someone had broken the sound barrier. A black arrow punched through the zombies' forearm, causing him to release Twilight with a shout.

Backing up, Emerald yanked the arrow from his arm before whirling on the attacker: further away, on top of the buildings, a familiar shadow man stood with a black bow and arrow.

Twilight smiled. "Eric..." she whispered.

Eric fired another arrow, producing another BANG. However, Emerald Dream jumped and avoided the arrow, along with the ones that followed it.

Emerald jumped backward - continuing to dodge Eric's arrows - when suddenly, his back bumped into something.

Something growling.

Emerald Dream slowly looked up, to find himself face to face with Elder Kain. The dragon glowered at the zombie, shifting into his humanoid form as Emerald Dream scrambled back from him.

"You!" Elder Kain growled out in a low but angered voice. "You're the one who murdered my children!"

Elder Kain lunged, his clawed fist seeking the zombie general's flesh. However, Emerald Dream matched him with a punch of his own. Emerald's fist glowed white as cracks formed along the dragons arm, and as the dragon pulled back, Emerald went for another punch.

However Emerald's attack never hit the dragon.

Instead, Emerald's attack caused the air in front of Kain to crack tremendously, creating a massive gust of wind that knocked the dragon off his feet.

"Yes, I have killed many of your kind," Emerald said, regaining his grin. "And I enjoyed killing them!"

"Just as I will enjoy killing YOU!" Kain yelled, shifting to his dragon form and charging the zombie

Emerald merely smiled as he jumped up and slammed his aura covered fist into the dragons arm. Cracks ran up and down Elder Kain's entire arm, and threw him back into the ground.

"Kinda hard to kill me if you're nothing but a massive target for my power fruit," Emerald laughed.

Kain reverted back to his humanoid form, glowering at the zombie with murder in his eyes. Some of the cracked scales on his arm shattered. Without warning, the elder was hit by a beam of magic, which caused the dragons body to change in size. Kain's body shrunk to the size of an average Minotaur, yet he still dwarfed the zombie.

"Hmm..." Elder Kain hummed, clenching and unclenching his hands. "I do not appreciate you altering my body with your magic, pony"

Hearing this Emerald turned. Twilight was holding her unbroken arm in the direction of the Tundra Dragon. She smiled sheepishly.

"But it seems that it hasn't diminished any of my strength!" Elder Kain yelled. With a flex fo his arm, the remaining broken scales scattered like glass, and new scales grew in their place.

"Scale regrowth?" Emerald chuckled. "Something Tundra Dragons can only do once."

Emerald charged at the dragon raising his aura covered fist, but the Tundra Dragon Elder matched his fist with his own. A shockwave forced the two apart, cracks once again adorning the dragons forearm, while Emerald shook his fist from the stinging pain. Nevertheless, Emerald Dream's grin did not fade.

"This will be over in a matter of moments, Dragon," Emerald promised, cracking his knuckles.

"You underestimate the strength of a Dragon Elder," Elder Kain replied. Once again, he shed his broken scales. And once more, new scales formed in their place.

"Then I guess I'll have to take that head of yours," Emerald replied, covering both his hands in the white aura of his Devil Fruit.

"I would love to see you try," Kain replied, charging the zombie again.

A clash of fists rendered the surrounding area covered in powerful shockewaves, with Emerald's devastating power shattering the dragon's scales like glass. However due to his scale regrowth rate, the Dragon Elder armor kept regenerating, allowing him to eventually catch Emerald Dream with a punch that knocked the wind from his lungs.

"That... Hurt!" Emerald said through clenched teeth. He struck the dragon across the face, and a shockwave hurled the dragon across the street.

Kain's broken scales fell from his face... followed by drops of blood.

“No..." Kain whispered, his voice weak and pleading. "Don’t…”

“Don’t what?" Emerald mocked. "Kill the strongest dragon on this island?” He began to approach... only to stop as he heard feral growls come from every direction.

Glancing around, Emerald found himself surrounded by the elders growling children. All of them crouched low in their bipedal forms. Glaring at the zombie with feral rage in their draconian eyes.

“Well... Looks like i won’t need to hunt you all down later,” Emerald laughed, his hands covered by the aura of his Devil Fruit.

“You won’t be hunting a single one of my children!” Elder Kain growled, lifting himself from the ground before looking to his children. “Do not interfere my children. This fight is between me and the Defiler’s puppet!”

Kain stepped up to the zombie, shedding every one of his scales.

“Father, please let us help!” Khan begged, stepping forward from the crowd. “You’ve shed your scales! You’ll die!”

“Be silent, Khan!” Kain yelled, unleashing a powerful wave of Conqueror’s Haki. “I know the risk, my child. But defense will not avenge your mother.”

Kain rushed forward. Before Emerald could comprehend his speed, Kain slammed his fist into the zombie’s face, throwing him into the castle’s walls. Emerald coughed up a small amount of black blood as he dropped to the ground.

“You dare wound me, you giant sack of scales?” Emerald seethed, rising to his feet, “I’ve killed thousands of your kind! Just because you’re the father of all of them doesn’t mean you can take me down!” Emerald clenched his fist and shot off like a rocket. His head covered in a white aura and slammed into Kain. The air cracked, and Kain was sent flying through multiple buildings, shaking the whole Empire.

“Tch, he made me bleed," Emerald growled, wiping the blood off his mouth. "What a bother.”

Without warning the Tundra Dragons pounced on the Zombie all at once. Unfortunately, while they had him in sheer numbers, the Zombie out-powered the entire hoard of reptiles.

Elder Kain pulled himself from the rubble that was on top of him when his hearing became flooded with the death cries of his children.

“NO!” Kain screamed shifting into his dragon form and racing back to the castle. Stopping on the street leading to the castle, the elder’s blood ran colder than the tundra he lived in.

The streets were covered in scales, blood and the dismembered bodies of his children. Anger... rage... no, he realized, fury flooded the elders body and he shifted back into his humanoid form.

His eyes glared at the zombie with cold precision as he walked towards the general. The dragon’s pace increased with each step as the zombie lifted a blooded Khan by his neck.

‘Protect them, my mate.’ Kain heard the last words of his former mate echo in his mind.

The Dragon’s pace increased to a full blown sprint as he jumped to all fours, returning to his dragon form. The noise of his clawed feet hitting the pavement caused the Zombie to drop his son and turn to him. Opening his jaws Kain clamped them down on the Zombie’s arm.

“GAH SON OF A BITCH!!!” Emerald slammed a fist down onto the Elder, but he did not budge. “Let go, you bastard! You’re going to rip my damn arm off!”

And that’s exactly what Kain did. With a hard wrench, he ripped Emerald's arm like a dog with a stick.

Emerald let out a blood curdling scream before clutching at the socket.

Emerald glared at the drake, but Kain glared right back, coldly spitting Emerald's arm out onto the ground.

“I’M GOING TO TEAR YOUR BODY APART YOU DAMN DRAGON!!!” Emerald screamed, charging the Dragon

A scream tore through the air, before Emerald's body convulsed. As Twilight crossed her arms over her chest, her teeth gritted in pain and her eyes fluttering as she struggled to stay awake, multiple arms spawning and holding the zombie in place.

“F-Finish him!” Twilight screamed. "I-I can't hold him forever!"

Understanding the ponies intent, Kain reared his head back and unleashed a burst of frost breath.

Twilight fell to the ground, as Emerald Dream and her arms were frozen solid in seconds. Emerald Dream's face was locked in one last expression of rage and disbelief.

“For my mate,” the elder growled, swinging his tail into the frozen body.

Emerald’s body shattered like glass, and his still intact head rolled in front of the dragon, staring up with a face that wanted to wail in rage and pain.

“And for my children,” the dragon added, stomping the head into bits.

With the fight done, the dragon shifted to his humanoid form. He gazed at his son, thankfully still breathing. He looked to Twilight, still breathing as well. Even the guard still drew breath. Contemplating his choices, the dragon sighed before slinging the ponies over his shoulder and picking up his son. As his scales regrew, he walked into the castle.





Eric and Sombra fought side by side, cutting down every zombe that dared approach them.

However, Eric stopped when he felt a tremor beneath his feet.

"Eric?" Sombra asked, sheathing one of his swords.

"I got a bad feeling," Eric said, jumping to the top of one of the buildings.

Reaching into his body, Eric pulled out a looking glass. Gazing through it at the castle, Eric saw Twilight and an Equestria Guard fall.

"Damnit... I told her to supply support," Eric growled, before seeing the zombie approaching the unicorn mare.

Quickly absorbing the telescope into his body, Eric created a black bow from his shadow. Pulling back the string, he let an arrow of darkness form between his fingers, and let loose.

The arrow broke the sound barrier, driving the zombie back. Eric continued to fire arrow after arrow until the Elder Kain joined the fight.

Grinning at the zombie's look of disbelief, Eric jumped down to join the former king, dispelling his bow as he landed.

However, before Eric could explain, he felt another presence. At the border of the Empire.

"Something is approaching the borders... Fast." Eric grabbed Sombra's shoulder. "Let's go meet them there!"

Pulling himself and his king into the shadows, Eric surfaced at the border to the Empire.

Two familiar dragons were charging, but stopped a full twenty feet from the pair.

Obsidian Fury launched a ice glacier at the pair, only for Sombra to rush forward with one of his sword in his hand.

"One Sword Style" Sombra growled, clashing his blade against the ice. "Great Dragon Shock!" The Glacier split clean down the middle showing a still angered pair of Dragons.

"Cold Scale, I assume," Eric said turning his gaze from the angry ice dragon to the black dragon next to him. "And don't think I've forgotten you, ice boy."

“You’ve ruined everything!” Cold Scale snarled at the pair, shadows swirling in his hands as a cold mist emanated from his brothers body. "Everything!"
> Shade Vs. Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric and Sombra stood at the edge of the Empire. Standing across from them were Cold Scale and his brother Obsidian Fury. Both glared in anger at the pair.

Cold Scale wore a pair of dark winter pants that had seen better days. Holes left very little to the imagination. He had dark grey armor that had dents and scratches covering it, it’s color faded from time. His brother wore only a pair of thick winter pants. A large scar adorned his chest as smaller ones covered the rest of his black and white scales.

“You’ve ruined everything!” Cold Scale snarled at the pair, shadows swirling in his hands.

"Everything!" Obsidian agreed, as a cold mist emanated from his body.

“You tried to destroy the place we call home,” Sombra spoke in a Royal Empire Voice. “And took the lives of countless innocent ponies!”

“Who cares?" Obsidian Fury growled, the frost on his body becoming like icy armor. "This place is nothing but a spawning ground for the army we need!”

“An army that is now decimated by my forces,” Eric dismissed, shadows pouring from his body.

“It doesn't matter,” Cold Scale growled, lifting the shadows from the ground. “Once we kill the two of you, I’ll not only possess your Power Fruits, but I will gain a pony capable of cutting my brothers ice!”

“I’d love to see you try, Dragon,” Sombra said, gripping the hilt of his swords.

"Do not speak to my brother like that!" Obsidian Fury snapped, glaring down at Sombra.

“Put a stop to this, dragon,” Eric ordered, lifting his Murakumogiri. “Turn tail and leave; this is your only warning!”

“I will not,” Cold Scale growled. The shadows pulsed and shifted violently. “I need loyal subjects to destroy that accursed island!”

And with that final vow, the Ice Dragon fired spears of shadow at the Shadow Man while his brother fired a wave of ice at the unicorn.

Eric and Sombra moved as one. They dodged the spears before Sombra unsheathed his sword, clearing a path to Cold Scale.

“Take the Ice Dragon,” Sombra ordered Eric, before rushing Obsidian. “I’ll handle his brother!”

“Don’t get yourself killed,” Eric replied. "I already buried Amber,” He added in a whisper. “I don’t want to bury you too.”

As Eric rushed Cold Scale, the Ice Dragon pulled a pair of daggers from his belt and matched his charge. Eric blocked the initial attack with his weapon, but failed to dodge bats of shadow, throwing him back several feet.



“Cute” Eric mocked, lifting his hand and creating several blobs of shadow from his shadows. “But let me show a real Shadow Bat.”

The shadows took the shape of large bats, staring at Cold Scale with burning red eyes

“These are Shadow Bats,” Eric growled, as the bats lunged for the dragon with dripping black fangs.

Cold Scale roared in defiance, and slashed. The first round of bats exploded in a burst of shadow. Eric’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the metal the daggers were made from.

“Hmm… Sea Prism Stone,” Eric mused, before tightening his grip on his weapon. “I can work around that.”

Eric rushed the dragon, swinging his Murakumogiri in an arc. However, Cold Scale jumped back and fired a series of Shadow daggers in retribution.

Eric matched Cold’s daggers with swords of shadow, the blades clashing and sparking as the two fighters closed the gap between them.

Eric thrust his weapon into the dragon, but the dragon turned black, swapping places with his shadow. As the dragon’s shadow smiled darkly, pain flared in Eric's shoulders. Cold Scale had stabbed him in the back with both of his daggers.

Grunting in pain, Eric fired a spike from his back. But Cold Scale swapped places with his shadow again. Making a shadow sword, the ice dragon slashed at Eric’s chest before grabbing the Sea Prism daggers and jumping back.

Breathing through his teeth, Eric’s eyes burned red as black veins formed turned the whites of his eyes to black. He dropped his weapon, and reached into his shadows, withdrawing a pure white mask and donning it with a growl.

“Okay Drake,” Eric seethed through his mask. “You want to fight like that?” The shadows boiled and bubbled around him. “Then why don’t we take this somewhere else?”

Shadow Dragon

From Eric’s body, a large dragon burst from the darkness. Biting down on Cold Scale’s shoulder, the shadow dragon flared a pair of massive wings and took off into the sky. As he carried Cold Scale from the Empire, Eric briefly turned to Sombra and Obsidian.

“Finish this quickly Sombra.” Eric muttered, before taking off after his shadow dragon.





Sombra went to speak to Eric, but another wave of ice cut him off.

“Your fight is with me, pony.” Obsidian said frost and ice covering the majority of his body.

“Oh trust me,” Sombra said, drawing Hard Tack’s sword. “This won’t be a fight.” The unicorn placed the sword in between his teeth, and drew his second sword. “It’ll be a butchering."

"Yes. Yours." Obsidian replied, lifting his claws. "Ice Saber!" A sword of ice formed in his claws.

Unintimidated, Sombra rushed forward. "Three Sword Style," he growled, before appearing behind Obsidian. "Oni Giri!"

Unfortunately, even as Sombra scored a hit, a painful freezing sensation caused Sombra to wince in pain. He backed up, looking at his ice covered arms in anger.

"All talk and nothing else." Obsidian remarked as he turned to Sombra, ignoring the wound across his scaly body. "Ice-Ice, Dragon Spin!" Obsidian spun into a ball of ice, spikes sticking out of the frosted surface before he cannonballed at Sombra.

Sombra rolled to the left, but Obsidian's ice still managed to catch his leg. Sombra barked as the flesh around the wound froze, and blood began to ooze across the frosted surface. Jumping back to his feet, the unicorn used one of swords to keep his balance.

“You’re a Logia type,” Sombra mused. “Just like Eric.”

Obsidian did not reply. His ice ball made a U-Turn back to Sombra, growing in size as it rolled across the snow. Just before it could hit Sombra again, the ice ball shattered like an egg, and Obsidian came out as a Frozen Golem. He carried twin Ice Sabers, as long as Eric's Mukumogiri and as big as Sombra himself.

Sombra barely managed to block a double strike from both blades. But it required all three of his own swords. And even as he valiantly held off the icy sabers, his own steel began to freeze and crack from the pressure. Jumping back, Obsidian shattered Sombra's left sword with a swipe. Another swipe claimed the sword in Sombra's mouth. Two more cuts caught Sombra across the chest.

Sombra staggered back, ice and blood painting his body white and red as the dragon bore down on him.

"What's wrong Prince? Oh wait, that title was revoked from you, wasn't it?" Obsidian mocked, kicking Sombra across the battlefield with a boot to the chest. "Don't you understand? You're doomed to fail! I have the territorial advantage: this icy wasteland was simply made for people like me."

Sombra looked down as Obsidian's words washed over him.

"What do you have?" the dragon demanded. "You have nothing! Your kingdom has been handed to Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. You slayed your best friend's mate. You took everything from him with just a snap of your finger. And Princess Celestia took away your everything with a snap of her fingers. Quite ironic isn't it?" Obsidian laughed.

“You’re right, Dragon,” Sombra said, lifting his head and his sword. “I have had everything taken away from me.” He pulled his sheath from his hip and put the sword in side. "And I will still fight to get everything back." He raised his sheathed weapon. "And if I die in the process... then so be it.”

Obsidian smiled at the pony. "How adorable," he mused. "Well then, let's get on with your demise." He rushed at Sombra, his blades held high. "Dual Ice Saber's Style; Dragon Claw!"

"One Sword Style” Sombra whispered as he matched the dragon's charge, his blade covered in Armament Haki. “Re-sheath: Lion's Song!”

"DIE!" Obsidian roared as they clashed with a brutal swing of their blades.

Sombra hit the ground, covered in blood and ice, his left eye the only thing unfrozen. Obsidian hit the ground next, his blades and golem shattering as he lay bloodied, staring in disbelief at a large cut carved deep into his body.

“Damn," Obsidian mumbled. "I… Lost...” Obsidian smiled before he fell to the icy cold ground.

A large shadow came from the body; a royal aura covering it as it's hair flowed in a non existant wind. Rather than return to its master, the shadow knelt down and placed a hand on the frozen stallion. The ice around Sombra melted, and the shadow was pulled back to its master.

An hour passed. Sombra did not move from where he had fallen. In all liklihood, he would have died there.

Had a strange figure not found him, and seized him by the ankle. Dragging the former king back to the Empire.





Cold Scale got his arm loose from the dragon's jaw. With a snarl, he stabbed the dragon in the head with his dagger, causing it to explode in a burst of darkness.

Falling to the ground, Cold Scale formed a pair of wings over his ripped and torn pair, allowing him to glide towards the ground.

However, without warning, Eric appeared, slicing through the dragon’s right shadow wing with a scythe.

Cold Scale hissed in pain as his wing evaporated into thin air, causing him to hit the ground with a loud THUD. He struggled back up to his feet as Eric landed before him.

“I won’t let you take this chance from me!” Cold Scale hissed, forming two Shadow Swords and lunging, only for his blades to be deflected by a pair of shadow swords.

The Shadow Man and the Ice Dragon slashed, hacked, parried and thrust. Though Cold Scale had years of experience with his Devil Fruit, Eric was more skilled in swordplay. And Cold scale lacked Eric’s intangibility.

A fact that was made clear as slashes and cuts began to litter the dragon's armor, followed by blood as Eric carved his swords through the dragon's scales.

Finally, with a brutal kick, Eric sent the dragon to the ground, Cold Scale's blood turning the snow red.

“I will only say this once more,” Eric spoke to the downed dragon with an intimidating glare. “Stand down. Surrender your arms and face your judgement.”

“Never!” Cold Scale yelled, forcing himself up and rushing the Shadow Man. “Those creatures must DIE!!!”

Cold Scale conjured up a mass of shadow tigers. In turn, Eric dispelled his shadow swords and raised his fist. Cold Scale’s tigers lunged at the Shadow Man, but he punched each and every one of them with blinding speed. In seconds, the pack of tigers exploded in a burst of shadow vapor.

Cold scale stared at Eric with disbelief plastered on his face. Eric grinned as he lifted his glove covered fist.

“You're not the only one who has Sea Prism Stone,” Eric noted, the Sea Prism Knuckles glittering in the sunlight.

“Damn… Damn you...” Cold Scale growled, more shadow tigers clawing out of the ground. “Damn you Reaper!”

Eric summoned forth shadow jaguars in turn. However, he failed to notice the Armament Haki covering Cold Scales' hands and shadow swords.

Eric and Cold rush each other, but when Eric moved to clash swords with the dragon again, Cold Scales swords cut right through and carved two deep gashes into his chest.

Eric faltered, and Cold Scale took advantage, attacking with a flurry of furious slashes. Eric quickly jumped back, putting distance between him and his opponent.

“Damn, Armament Haki,” Eric muttered to himself, touching his guts and grimacing at the blood on his hand. Sliding his right leg back, Eric sent a kick forward. “Tempest Kick!”

The pressured air blade clashed into Cold Scale’s chest. His armor and shirt were torn away from the impact, revealing a body covered in deep old scars. Eric paused, noticing a strange scar among them: a burn scar in the shape of a upside down triangle with a pair of horns on the top.

“You were a slave?” Eric asked.

Cold Scale paused, his shadows halting as he glowered at the human.

“I was,” Cold Scale answered. His grip on his blades tightened. “My family and I lived on one of the islands bordering the Dragon Lands and the Minotuars capital island of Minos.”

His head dropped, bitterness and anger darkening his voice as he regaled the Shadow Man with his past.

“A single iron ship hit our shores. Hundreds... thousands of minotaurs came. They killed the drakes. Captured the dragonesses. And their hatchlings with them."

Cold scale moved the shadows, recreating the scene from that day.

“We were taken to Minos and auctioned off to the vile creatures there.”

Eric watched, frowning in subdued horror, as a shadowy horned creature stabbed a shadowy dragon with something glowing.

“They branded me," Cold Scale whispered. "My brother. My Mother. For years, we were forced to serve under the royal family." The images showed more as he spoke. "We were beaten... tortured for the children's enjoyment.”

Cold Scale seethed in anger before grinning. “Then my brother and I were saved.”





It was like clockwork: wake up, tend to the king and his children, receive the daily beating from the guards, be bound by the children and awaited their torture.

Each and every day was the same and every day there would be a new scar adorning the dragons' bodies. That was just the way it was for a slave to the Royal Family on Minos.

Just. Like. Clockwork.

But one day... a pony showed up. Male from the looks of it. His fur light brown. His eyes a darker brown. He wore a white shirt underneath a blue striped buttoned shirt with a red tie around his neck. Around his body was a brown trench coat. Blue striped pants covered his lower body, and he had a pair of red and white shoes on his feet. Near one of the buttons of his coat was a pin in the shape of hourglass.

From his coat he pulled a glowing rod before pointing it at our cage. The cage holding me and my family opened with a loud click

“Quickly now,” The pony said, ushering us and the other dragons out. “Before the guards return.”

Many were hesitant to listen to the pony. They feared angering our masters. But I took the chance. Pulling my brother and mother by the arms, I ran out of that cell. Too desperate to leave.

“Stay if you want," I growled at the others. "But we’re getting out of this nightmare.”

I ran after that pony. My brother and mother claw in claw.

“I’m sorry.” The pony whispered as he ran. “I’m so sorry.”

The pony knew the way. Left, right, another right, left, another left. Finally, we exited the castle. I smiled. I felt the warmth of the sun on my scales, and for the briefest of moments... I thought I was finally free.

But then my smile faded... as I heard the voices of the guards.

“Someone is setting the slaves free!”

I turned, hearing the cloven hooves already approaching. But my mother slammed the door shut. She breathed ice over the door.

"Hurry," the pony said. "We need to leave!"

Not questioning him, we turned tail, and ran to the island's edge.

But at every turn, the minotaurs tried to stop us. But we had the pony. At every turn where the minotaurs cut us off, he found a way for us to slip by or dodge them. But though he could dodge them, he could not fight them.

And by the time we reached the island's edge, we had attracted the attention of every minotaur in the kingdom. And it was on the edge of the island that our savior's luck finally ran out.

A minotaur seized him, lifting him off the ground. The minotaur's muscles pulsed as he pressed down, and I heard the pony's bones begin to break.

“I’m sorry” The pony gasped out, before his body lit up in blue, and he disappeared in a flash of light.

My mother didn't let despair bring her down. "Cold Scale," she hissed. "Protect your brother!" With a roar of ice, she forced the minotaurs back, while Obsidian and I took to the skies.

I tried not to look back. But when I heard her scream, I couldn't stop myself. I saw her face bleeding, the back of her head held by the King of Minos, King Strong Arm. He glared at us with rage in his eyes, and I knew that it was either escape... or a fate worse than death.

“I want those dragons back on this island,” Strong Arm bellowed, before glaring at my mother in his hand. “And remove the element gland in the other slaves!”

His subjects flinched and winced, uneasiness in their eyes. But King Strong Arm's glare proved to be far scarier than breaking moral boundaries.

"Are you waiting for an invitation?" he demanded. "GO!"

It didn't take long for the guards to reach the ships. Boarding their fastest vessels, Obsidian and I once again found the minotaurs on our tails.

Their vessels ran on steam and fire rather than wind. And to us, we were not living creatures deserving of freedom. Just property that had forgotten its place.

For days, we flew. We couldn't rest; not with the minotaurs after us. Exhaustion crept up on us like an icy serpent, dragging our wings down, pulling our bodies to the sea. When the violent dark clouds began to swirl in front of us, my brother began to falter.

"It's no use," he whispered. "We can't do this!"

“Come on Obsidian," I begged my brother. "Don’t give up! We need to keep going!”

Somehow, my voice and the desperate gaze in my eyes got to him, and we continued. But just as we dove into the pounding rain, ready to endure the storm...

A harpoon hit my brother in the chest. I spun back, seeing the minotaur's ships. In my moment of disbelief, another harpoon hit my wings. Together, we plummeted into the water.

"Obsidian!" I screamed, paddling for my brother. Though he still breathed, the harpoon was attached to a wire. And I feared that if I tried to remove the harpoon, I'd only do more damage to my brother than if I left it in.

“HA!” The Minotaur manning the harpoon launcher shouted with glee. “Got the little shits.” The Minotaur laughed as he began to reel us in.

However their victory was short lived. A massive bolt of lightning struck the metal ship. A sick bit of catharsis swelled in my gut as I watched the metal ship tear asunder and ignite in a blaze of light.

But my catharsis and relief was short-lived, as even as the ship sunk, a massive wave rose over my brother and me. And with exhaustion and the rain already beating us down, the wave provided the final push, and we let the brutal world push us down into the depths of the sea.





Eric looked up at Cold Scale, who watched the shadowy recreation with bitterness.

“...We washed up on the shore of this island over 900 years ago," he mumbled. "My wings were torn and my brother lost... so much blood.” Cold Scale looked up. “There was no hope of him surviving without food, and because of the Tundra Dragons, I couldn’t leave his side.”

Eric nodded as it all came together. "And then you discovered the fruit," he guessed.

Cold Scale nodded. "I tried to feed my brother with it... but he was already dead." Cold Scale shook his head. "Eating it was worse than any 'food' the minotaurs gave us... but the power..." he smiled grimly as the shadows lifted behind him. "The power was more than worth it." He looked back at his shadows. “With this power, I could wipe that miserable island off the face of this planet.”

Eric sighed, shadows converging on his own body. "You have every right to be angry at them," he admitted. "But that doesn't give you the right to ponynap and kill the innocent.”

"Maybe," Cold Scale admitted. "But I've come too far. And I am not giving up until that island burns in the infernal realm of Tartarus! Brick Bats!" Bats of shadow were sent Eric's way.

Eric raised a hand and stopped the bats in their tracks. “This is your final warning Scale, Leave… or Die."

Cold Scale laughed. "Die? I've been dead before I got onto this filthy island. “SHADOW'S ASGARD!!!!”

Countless shadows crawled through the ground below Cold Scale before attaching to the dragon, the shadows entered his body increasing his size with each shadow.

“Three Hundred and Seventy-six. The Shadows of my entire army are mine to command.” Cold Scale said, his voice taking a much deeper and menacing tone. “And with them I’ll add your shadow and your corpse to my army.”

Cold Scale rammed his fist at the Shadow Man at a blinding speed, Eric barely managed to dodge the attack with the Paper Art Technique. With the Shave Technique, Eric put some distance between himself and the enlarged dragon. Sliding to a stop Eric gritted his teeth.

“Got no choice.” Eric muttered as Cold Scale threw another fist. Slamming his hand into the ground, Eric created a shockwave, knocking Cold Scale off balance. “Looks like I need to kick things up a notch.”

Shadow Soul: Soul of the Reaper

Eric’s size increased by an additional five feet as his skin melted from his bones. Forming a puddle of darkness below his feet, the shadows below Eric formed a robe of shadow. In his hand a large scythe emerged.



Tightly gripping his weapon, Eric shot into the air with the inferno rocket.

Cold Scale tried to track him, but the Shadow Man moved at unimaginable speed. Before he could react the Ice Dragon was slashed across his shoulder. Another gash was cut into his back. Cut after cut, gash after gash Cold Scale soon had more cuts than scales.

As Scale roared in frustration, Eric slid across the snow before stopping to turn to the dragon with blood dripping from his scythe. Racing forward, Eric delivered a devastating kick to the dragon's stomach. As Cold Scale fell, he lost his grip on the shadows in his body, and shrunk in size until he was back to his normal form.

He fell to his knees in defeat. “I was so close...” he whispered. "So damn close..."

“I gave you plenty of chances,” Eric said to the dragon with remorse. “I understand your pain, I have been where you are before.” The scythe blade grew larger as he spoke.

“They took everything from me. They must perish!” Cold Scale seethed, looking up at Eric.

“And they will, by my hand,” Eric's eyes narrowed behind the sockets of his skull “However, you’ve defiled the dead of the Crystal Ponies and the Tundra Dragons.”

Cold Scale frowned. “You’re going to kill me… aren't you?”

Despite his eerie voice, there was sympathy in his tone. “You’ve suffered enough in life.” He lifted his scythe. “You will feel no pain.”

Cold Scales' eyes narrowed. "So kind," he mused. "Why? I used your wife to try and kill you."

“But I’ve been where you are. Suffering at the hands of others,” Eric said, his grip on his scythe tightening. “However, when I was saved, I didn’t use my power to hurt the innocent. That’s a line I don’t cross.”

Cold Scale sighed, lowering his head. "Then thank you... for a painless release," he whispered.

“Don’t thank me,” Eric said, before slicing his scythe through the dragon's neck. “I’m just sparing you from the pain.”

‘Thank you...’ Cold Scale whispered out one last time, before his head slid off his neck, and hit the snow covered ground.

Exhaling heavily, Eric returned to normal before dropping to a single knee. “D… Damn," he muttered. "Not… as bad as… last time but still...”

He forced himself to his feet, and trudged towards the Empire.

After an hour of walking to the Empire, Eric found both Sombra and Obsidian laying down in the snow. Thankfully, Sombra still drew breath. Unlike Obsidian, who lay unmoving in circle of red snow. Walking past the dragon, Eric grabbed Sombra by his ankle and dragged him back to the Empire.

“It’s over, brother,” Eric said, a bed of shadows forming around Sombra as they crossed the border. “This war is over.”

Eric felt a pain of guilt of sadness and regret was he watched several soldiers removing silver tags from the dead soldiers. One of the Crystal soldier spotted Eric and went up to the Shadow Man before standing at attention.

“Captain," the pony reported. "All the citizens are safe and sound within the castle walls."

“Any casualties?” Eric asked the pony

“Zero civilian casualties. However..." The soldier showed the silver chains in his hands. “We’re still counting the dead, I’m sorry sir, we lost a lot of good stallions today”

“Don’t apologize. You and the rest survived,” Eric said offering a warming smile to the soldier. “I’d call that a victory anyday.”

Despite his words, Eric's smile faded for a grim look as he reached the Medical Wing.

“Dammit all” Eric whispered.

After setting Sombra down on one of the beds, Eric looked around and found the others being treated. All eyes were on him, but Eric said nothing as he removed his coat and sat down on the last bed left.

Hesitantly, a few doctors ran over, stitching up his shoulder as Rarity cautiously approached.

“Eric...” Rarity spoke up drawing the Shadow Man’s attention. “Is..is it over?”

Eric grunted at first, as the doctor's pierced his shoulder. "It is," he said, offering a grin. “And I’m proud of all of you”

“Why?" Rainbow asked, pulling her shriveled arm from a tub of water. "We got our flanks handed to us."

“You survived,” Eric said with a genuine smile. “And that’s more than I can say about some of my soldiers.”

Fluttershy gasped. "How... how many did we lose?"

Eric shook his head. "I'm not even sure. My men are still retrieving their tags." He winced as the doctor sealed the wound in his lower shoulder.

As if on cue, the doors opened. Several guards holding chains walked in.

“What are those?” Twilight asked flinching when she tried to lift her arm.

“Dog Tags,” Eric explained, taking them from the crystal ponies. “I had every guard and soldier wear one. In case they were injured so badly nopony could Identify them.” He looked over the tags with a twinge of pain. "Fifty two..." He paused, seeing a tag split in two. "Fifty three... soldiers lost." He read the split tag. "Second in command... Hard Tack."

He lowered his head, as the guard who brought them glanced around worriedly.

"Sir?" the guard asked.

“I want you to inform the families,” Eric ordered the soldier. “In 3 days time we will hold the funeral for the fallen.”

“Yes, sir.” the pony saluted before leaving the medical wing. Eric rose and donned his coat again.

“Rest up, ladies,” Eric said. “We leave once we put the lost to rest.”

~Ponyville that Night~

Aloe was repeatedly tapping her filed nails against the counter of her and her sisters spa. Her sister should have been back by now. Sure, that stallion she had met earlier that day had sounded attractive, but she had promised she would be back by now.

Minute by minute, Aloe felt her worry increase like a bubble in her heart.

The door opened, ringing the bell above it. Aloe jumped up. Was she back?

Unfortunately no. It was only Octavia Melody.

Aloe nearly slumped back in disappointment, before intrigue took over. Why was Octavia here? Normally she would come in the spa in the morning. She never came in at such a late hour.

She looked up... only to see Octavia holding a shockingly familiar headband. The one belonging to her twin sister.

“Octavia...?” Aloe stammered, walking from behind the counter and taking the headband from the cellist’s hand. “Where did you find this?”

“I found it at the sea train station…” Octavia said before pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket. "Along with this."

The initials BB were embroidered on the corner, and several locks of pink hair were carefully folded inside.

Tears began to well up in spa ponies eyes. She raced outside, denial insisting she'd find her sister. Unfortunately, Aloe would never find Lotus In Ponyville.
> A String of Ponynappings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Days Later

Eric stared out the window in irritation. Though Canterlot glimmered in the sun, the beauty of Equestria's capital was not enough to soothe his foul mood.

"Seventy three Devil Fruits were in that army," Eric cursed, gritting his teeth. "And we were only able to get two?"

"It's not that bad, darling," Rarity said, preening as several men drooled over her; the physical effects of the Love-Love Fruit practically shining on her form. Rolling his eyes, Eric glanced at his shadows, where Cold Scales' Shadow-Shadow Fruit was thankfully kept safe.

"Don't get him even more upset," Sombra advised Rarity, settling next to Eric.

Eric barked a laugh. “Upset is an understatement,” Eric seethed, crossing his arms. “We may have won the war, but we lost the battle. We only managed to recover two out of the Seventy-Three Devil Fruits.”

“Is that why all the stallions on this train have turned into drooling zombies?” Sombra asked looking at the moronic stallions.

“Yes. We recovered Cold Scales' Shadow-Shadow and the Rank Six General's Love-Love,” Eric said as Sombra took the seat in front of the Shadow Man. “Turned out Pinkamena was right in one aspect: he Love-Love Fruit turns the user into what most stallions would perceive as a living Goddess of Beauty.” Eric nodded at the stallions fawning over Rarity. “It also has the ability to turn anypony into stone, so long as that person finds you attractive.”

“And the reason we...” Sombra waved a finger between himself and Eric, “...aren’t drooling over her is because we don’t find her attractive?”

“Somewhat," Eric admitted. "I’ll admit she is attractive, but I no longer hold any love in my heart." Eric glanced behind Sombra. “You on the other hand, seem already be attracted to somepony else.”

Sombra followed Eric's gaze to the yellow mare sitting quietly by herself. Eric turned back to the window, sparing Sombra the embarassment of blushing in front of his friend.

After an overall uneventful train ride (with the exception of having to fend off the love crazy stallions with a shadow staff), the sea train came to a stop at Canterlot station. Luna got off with Celestia in her arms; even with healing magic, the severity of the injuries and blood loss had taken a heavy toll on the princesses body.

“Come along, Tia,” Luna said, helping her sister off the train. “Let’s get you to the Royal Doctor.” Luna turned to the others before offering an apologetic smile. “I’ll see you all back at the castle.”

“Don’t worry, we understand,” Eric said to the alicorn. “Family comes first.”

Nodding in gratitude, Luna lit up her horn. And with a flash of magic, the princesses disappeared, leaving Eric and the others to make their way up to the castle. As they neared the entrance, Eric picked up the sound of yelling. Jogging ahead, Eric was met with the sight of a pink mare trying to push past the guards.

“Please I must speak to the princess,” the pony begged. “Please! It’s an emergency!”

“I told you already the princesses have yet to return from their trip to the Crystal Empire,” the guard said, shoving the pony to the ground.

Jumping to her feet, the mare body checked the guard, knocking him off balance and causing the other guard to aim his spear at the desperate mare.

"HEY!" Eric boomed. Putting himself between the guards and the mare, he caught the spear and yanked it away, kicking the guard to the ground in the process.

“You’re a guard,” Eric barked sternly, pointing the spear at its previous owner. “You protect, and you never raise your weapon to the innocent!”

The guards wisely backed off, raising their hands in submission. His glare not faltering, Eric snapped the spear in two, just as the others rounded the corner. Rarity's eyes widened.

“Aloe?” Rarity said, approaching the battered mare.

“R-Rarity!” Aloe said, turning in relief to the white mare. "Thank Celestia you're here. They won't let me in and... and..."

Rarity hushed Aloe, pulling her close and patting her head. "There, there, darling," Rarity crooned. "Tell us what's wrong."

“It's my sister, Lotus," Aloe explained, trying not to sob. "She never came home last night!"

Eric's eyes narrowed. He put a hand on the pony's shoulder. "Tell me everything."

Aloe explained: how she waited for her sister only to find Octavia at her door with a handkerchief with strands of her sister’s hair inside. Aloe barely got the handkerchief out of her pocket before Eric snatched it up, looking it over.

“Ponynapped...” Eric growled, pocketing the rag. “I’ll be back.”

The guards had tried to slink away after their first encounter with Eric. However, Eric caught the slower of the two and spun him back to face the Shadow Man.

“Have there been reports of anypony missing within the surrounding islands?” Eric ordered.

“Y-yeah," the guard stammered. "W-we’ve received several reports of Mares missing from their island." His grip on his spear tightened. “Not just ponies but every type of creature. D-donkeys, dragons... as long as it was female, it was taken."

“Stealing females," Eric growled, one of his eyes twitching. "You know what that means, right?"

"I-I guess?" the guard stammered.

But Eric had already turned away from him and left the castle, grinding his teeth.

‘Even after one thousand years, there are still black markets. Damn it all to Tartarus.’ Eric stopped, putting a hand to his chin. ‘Hmm... one thousand years ago, I found the Empire’s black market with the aid of somepony closely related to it. Shining was the Captain of Canterlot, so he would know who to talk to.'

“Eric,” Fluttershy said, drawing his gaze. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to find Aloe's sister,” Eric said, pulling out a silver whistle. “But I’m going to need a little information from the former Captain of Canterlot.”

Eric put the whistle to his mouth and blew into it, however no sound came from it. Fluttershy tilted her head.

“What kind of whistle is that?” Fluttershy asked. "Is it a... dog whistle, or...?"

She soon got her answer. In mere seconds, a black ball of fire appeared over the horizon. It charged into Eric, knocking him off his feet.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash barked, igniting into flames. But her flames quickly cooled, as she realized that whatever had careened into Eric wasn't malicious.

The ponies backed up as a black phoenix danced on Eric's chest, cawing in excitement as shadowy sparks jumped from his extended wings. Its head boppped and bowed, and a rare smile cropped up on the Shadow Man's face.

“It’s good to see you too, Pitch” Eric said petting the fire birds head.

“Oh... My...” Fluttershy said, stars in her eyes. “What a beautiful creature.”

"I didn't even know phoenixes could be that color!" Rarity gushed.

“He's an Ebony Phoenix," Eric explained, rising to his feet as Pitch perched himself on his shoulder. "Majestic creature in my opinion."

Of course, Pitch immediately challenged that claim by pecking angrily at the Shadow Man's head.

"Ow, hey!" Eric barked. "Pitch, stop it!"

“He’s angry,” Fluttershy said, her ears perking as she translated the phoenix's words. “He’s been alone since you vanished. He’s been flying around the world looking for you for the last thousand years.”

The anger in Eric's eyes faded, just as he noticed the sorrow behind Pitch's gaze.

“Pitch,” Eric bowed his head, causing the Phoenix to put his head against Eric’s. “I’m sorry I left you alone for so long.”

Pitch unfurled his wings and cawed again. Eric turned to Fluttershy who had a warm smile on her face

“He said he missed you so much,” Fluttershy said before Pitch squawked angrily causing Fluttershy to giggle. “He also said that if you ever vanish for a thousand years again he’s going to peck you for all eternity.”

“Don’t worry bud,” Eric smiles, using his finger to rub the Phoenix's head. “I promise never to leave you again."

Pitch warbled, closing his eyes in bliss.

“If I may, where did the two of you meet?” Fluttershy asked.

“Another time, Fluttershy” Eric said, turning the phoenix's attention to him. Reaching into his body Eric pulled out a small scroll as well as a bottle of ink and a quill, moving the fire-bird to his shoulder, he handed the ink pot to the yellow pegasus. Dipping the quill into the bottle, Eric began to write:

King Shining Armor,

Upon arriving on Canterlot we received word of females from many different species being taken. I have reason to believe that there is a black market either within Canterlot or near the island itself. Can you inform me of any individuals who could help me locate said Market?

~Reaper of the Crystal Empire

Sealing the bottle of ink, Eric absorbed both bottle and quill before rolling up the scroll.

“Take this to the Empire, Pitch” Eric ordered, lifting the scroll to Pitch. Just as Pitch grabbed the scroll, Eric stopped him from taking off. “Let me finish: give it to the current king, and come back here 'only; once he has given you a scroll to return with.”

Pitch cawed, and launched off Eric's shoulder with a blaze of ebony flames. Fluttershy watched with stars in their eyes.

“So... fast,” Fluttershy squealed in excitement.

“Pitch is faster than any bird or creature you’ll ever come across,” Eric said proudly, walking the castle path. “Where are the others?”

“Rarity and the others took Aloe into the castle,” Fluttershy explained, walking with the Shadow Man.

Eric smirked. "And you're not with them because you want to see Pitch again."

Fluttershy shrunk down. "It was that obvious?" she simpered.

“Nothing wrong with it,” Eric said with a slight chuckle. “He’s been with me ever since I saved him from a previous... abusive master."

Fluttershy's grin faded. "A-Abusive?" she asked.

Eric's grin faded as he remembered what had happened.

“A Royal arrived to meet with Sombra,” Eric said. “He brought Pitch along, but I don't think it was for sentiment. I saw him lock Pitch up in a cage, neglect to feed him... even outright harm the poor bird."

Fluttershy's ears flattened. "That's disgusting," she said, rage behind her words.

"Luckily, I freed him," Eric said. "And, well..." He paused as they both saw a ball of black fire already rocketing back towards them. "Stand back!"

Fluttershy - remembering Pitch's last landing - wisely took a step back. However, Pitch's landing was softer this time, banking in the air as he held out a scroll in his talons.

Eric took the scroll and began to read:

First and foremost, I’d prefer you use Spike to send a scroll to us. The guards are not familiar with your Phoenix, and came dangerously close to skewering him.

Now, regarding your suspicion, I’d recommend you track down an information broker by the name of Dusk Starsword. He deals in both items and information both legal and Illegal. I was never able to arrest him without any solid proof, but he has a pub in the south east end of Canterlot called Aureum Brew.

Good luck.

~King Shining Armor

Eric smiled, closing the scroll before looking up at Pitch. “Thank you for your help, my friend,” Eric said, reaching into his body and pulling out a bag of bird seed. Just before he could offer it up to the phoenix, he noticed Fluttershy gazing up at him pleadingly.

“Can... Can I feed him?” she asked.

Eric chuckled before handing the bird seed to her. “Just know he’s quite the glutton.”

“Isn’t every animal?” Fluttershy replied with a wry smile.

Chuckling, Eric left the pegasus and phoenix before disappearing into the shadows. With a quick search around, he reappeared right before Aloe.

"Oh!" Aloe yelped.

“Come with me” Eric ordered. Aloe didn't dare disobey, and followed after the Shadow Man as he went out of the castle and into the city

“Did you find my sister?” Aloe asked.

“I have a hunch,” Eric said, as he and Aloe made it to the South-east end of the city. “And right now it’s all we’ve got”

It took a few minutes of searching, but before long, Eric and Aloe found themselves in front of the Aurenum Brew. Walking through into the door rang a bell, alerting the owner.

“Welcome,” a white unicorn behind the counter greeted before turning to the pair. He held a white handkerchief with a blue embroidering on it, but upon seeing the Shadow Man, his eyes widened and he hid the handkerchief behind his back. “And what can I get the two of you?”

However, he had been too slow, and Aloe's eyes widened. She moved to speak, but Eric put his arm in front of her. He didn't need her to let him know he was in the right place.

"I'm looking for someone," Eric said in his best regal tone. "Dusk Starsword."

The white unicorn tensed, but tried to cover it with a chuckle. "Well, that's me," he replied, leaning against the counter. "And may I ask who you are?"

“Just a fellow noble looking for some Off the Market Items” Eric said.

Dusk raised an eyebrow. "Since when did the Reaper of the Crystal Empire become a noble?" he asked.

Eric was surprised at the unicorn's words. The only ones who knew of his title were the princesses, Twilight, her friends and the Empire itself.

However he kept a calm demeanor. “When you choose to ponynap this mare's sister," he replied, indicating Aloe.

“I don’t ponynap. That’s a line I don’t cross,” Dusk said firmly. “However, I was paid to help. It was a job. I have bills to pay." He grinned. "In fact, if you've got the bits, I'd be more than willing to help you get her back."

“Hows about I pay you by allowing you to live," Eric threatened, forming multiple razor tipped tendrils from his back, all aimed at the info broker.

However, Dusk laughed. "You're threatening to kill the guy you want to help you? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Peeved, Eric sent a single tendril at the unicorn, however it was stopped by a barrier spell.

Dusk lets out a low chuckle. "You must not be very smart, hurting the guy giving you intel often proves harmful to you in the end… you must not value the safety of the victim do you?"

“Probably been threatened with worse,” Eric said to himself

“You like money. Right pony?” Eric said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a large sack of bits before setting it on the counter. “All of this is yours if you give me one piece of information.”

Dusk's gazed at the Shadow Man intrigued. "Sir you just piqued my interest! You know what? For such a generous patron, I'll give you what you want to hear. So let's hear it: what Intel do you want on the Golden King?" A slight aura glowed around the bag and Dusk's hands

“None,” Eric said, grinned as the information broker's smile vanished. Eric pointed at Aloe. “I want to know where her sister is, and I want to know if she’s still on the island.”

Dusk looks apprehensive as he eyed Aloe before glancing at the gold "Now see, here's the problem. She's still on the island and when I left her she was fine. However, the auction is tonight."

“YOU’RE GOING TO SELL MY SISTER!!” Aloe screamed at a pitch that could shatter glass.

“Calm yourself," Eric said to her. "She’s still on the island which means we can still save her.” He returned his gaze to the info broker. “Where’s the Auction?”

"Hang on," Dusk looked to Aloe. "I do want you to know, I apologize for my actions. It was just a job, and nothing personal. As such, expect to receive compensation at your residence in a few days. The auction will be held soon, and I can get the location for you and bring you all as potential 'buyers.'" He grinned. "Being a supplier has its perks, after all."

Eric reached into his pocket and threw in a few more bits in the sack. “How soon?”

Dusk gave a small smile as he returned behind the counter ''Let me clean up the place, and we can be on our way." As he started cleaning up, he added over his shoulder, "It would be wise to dress up a little before we head out. You don't exactly look like a 'buyer' right now."

“Maybe,” Eric admitted as he looked over himself. “And if you know me so easily then I’ll need a proper disguise to get me into that auction.” Eric put a hand to his chin. “I could always ask Twilight for a illusion spell.”

“Wise choice,” Dusk grinned before looking towards the Earth Pony. “However I’d refrain from bringing her. She’ll blow your cover the moment she sees the state her sister might be in”

“He's right” Eric said to Aloe. “You’ll have to stay at the castle while I handle this.”

“I will not!” Aloe said, her face turning red with anger. “She’s my sister and I will not stay back while Faust knows what’s being done to her.”

With use of his Shave Technique, Eric appears behind Aloe and chops the back of her neck causing her to fall into unconsciousness. Eric stops her from falling to the floor before looking at the Info broker.

“Something tells me I’m going to need more than myself, aren’t I?” The Shadow Man asked.

Dusk gives a nervous smirk as he looks to Eric. "Well, first off really happy now you didn't decide to kill me…" He cleared his throat as Eric's eyes began to narrow. "Second off, bringing along someone as 'tribute' or 'trade' would be a good idea. It'll get you closer to the areas you want to go to. And a bit of eye candy helps to distract from your true intentions."

“Eye candy?” Eric whispered before remembering the train ride. He grinned. “I think I have a candidate in mind”

“Good. Meet me here, around midnight tonight.”

Eric began to leave with Aloe in tow before looking back at the Info broker. “Double cross us and there will not be a single place you can hide from me.”

Dusk laughed and shooed Eric away "So long as you’ve got money to give, I’ve got no reason to betray the creature who killed somepony as infamous as Toxic Dust.”

With that the Shadow Man left the bar.
> The Black Market
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric walked back to Cantorlot castle with Aloe in tow. Inside, Eric was approached by several guards.

Eric put the mare in the arms of a pegasus guard. “Take her to the Medical Wing.”

Without another thought, Eric immediately went to look for Rarity and Twilight. After a small search, he managed to find Rarity with Pinkie Pie in the dining hall.

“Rarity,” Eric called, gaining the unicorns attention.

“Eric, were you able to find Lotus?” Rarity asked.

“I did,” Eric said, grabbing the mare’s wrist and pulling her from her table. “But you need to come with me. We need to find Twilight.”

Without warning Eric pulled Rarity into his shadow and began searching the castle. Meanwhile Pinkie darted her head left and right. Whistling innocently, her fingers grazed the edge of Rarity’s plate. Sliding the plate closer to herself, Pinkie began helping herself to Rarity’s food.

It didn’t take long to find the user of the Flower-Flower Fruit. Eric and Rarity walked out of the shadows of the library and found Twilight moving from book to book using both her magic and her Devil Fruit.

“Always the bookworm,” Eric mused, catching Twilight's attention.

“I spoke to the guards about the ponynappings,” Twilight said, not pulling away from her books. “I’ve been researching the islands to try and find a connection.”

“Well, pull yourself away from the books. I have a plan to get the spa pony’s sister back.” Eric said.

Twilight paused, before giving him her full attention.

“I need an illusion spell to be put on both myself and Rarity.”

“Me?” Rarity asked.

“Where the spa pony is, I’m going to need some eye candy” Eric said. “And you…” he motioned to Rarity's newly acquired body. “...Fit that role perfectly.”

“Excuse me?!” Rarity shouted, indignant.

“If you want to rescue the spa pony, then I need you to accompany me,” Eric growled impatiently.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked.

“Lotus Blossom is at the black market,” Eric answered. “Unfortunately, the people here know who I am. The same goes for The Element of Generosity. That’s why we need a illusion spell.”

Twilight grimaced. "I'm familiar with illusion spells," she admitted. "But they don't ever last long. You'd have maybe an hour at most."

Humming in thought, Eric turned his gaze to his ring. “What about enchanting an object?”

“It’s possible. However the object must be close to the user,” Twilight explained. “Like a sword, or a dagger, or even..."

"Jewelry?" Rarity asked. "Like a Fire Ruby necklace?"

“Or a ring that never leaves my finger” Eric offered, lifting his hand.

“Yes! Those will work perfectly,” Twilight said.

Nodding, Rarity left to retrieve her necklace.

“Any preference?” Twilight asked as Eric reluctantly removed his wedding band.

“Pony, preferably, and good looking,” Eric said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Because of the side-effect of Rarity’s Devil Fruit, I’ll need to look either on par or better looking than her,” Eric explained. “Because let’s face it, in the world of the noble, if you don’t look as beautiful as yourself you wouldn’t give them the time of day”

“Vain... but understandable,” Twilight admitted, placing the enchantment on the ring. “Okay. Just put the ring on and the illusion will activate.”

Eric placed the ring back on his finger and felt a wave of magic pulse through him. Twilight used her magic to conjure a mirror showing Eric how he now looked.

He had the shape and build of a unicorn soldier. His fur was a pale grey, his eyes were a dull green with a small brown tone. The Shadow Man’s hair was short yellow and gelled back, his tail was also yellow and stopped at his knees, unfortunately his clothes remained the same. Rarity soon walked in with jewelry in hand only to stop when she looked at Eric with a blush on her face, her mouth slightly ajar.

“You’re going to start catching flies if you don’t close your mouth,” Eric said.

Rarity snapped out of her trance. “Right. Sorry Eric, it’s just...” Rarity handed the Fire Ruby to Twilight. “... Seeing you as a pony is... strange.”

“Is that a Insult or a compliment?” Eric asked.

“Neither Eric,” Twilight replied as she finished enchanting the jewelry. “Now since you don’t wear this Twenty-four/Seven like Eric.” Twilight explained as she helped Rarity put it on. “The enchantment won’t be as strong as Eric’s but you should be fine as long as nopony touches it.”

“Understood” Rarity said, as her fur changed from white to lightish red.

Her eyes became a dark purple color. She stayed a unicorn but her horn was tipped white. A side effect of the enchantment which left part of her horn the same color as her original fur color, Rarity’s hair and tail also changed from purple and swirled to rose red and straight.

“Ech..." Rarity moaned in disgust. "This hair color clashes with my fur."

“Look, do what you want with how you look, but you need to look like a spoiled, snobby, privileged noble before midnight,” Eric said over looking at his clothes as well. “Now I need to find myself a suit.”

“You don’t have one?” Rarity asked.

“The last suit I wore was on my wedding day and that was over 1,000 years ago” Eric said, soon motioning to his body. “And I was a little shorter and had less muscles back then.”

“Then let me make you one,” Rarity insisted with a smile as she removed the necklace, returning to her former form. “I am the best seamstress on this island, after all.”

“Can you make it before midnight?” Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My dear Shadow Man,” Rarity said with a coy grin. “I can have yours finished in under two hours.”





Midnight was drawing close as Eric and Rarity walked out of the castle in their disguises. Eric wore a black suit and tie with a grey waistcoat, and a red silk shirt.



Eric smirked at his choice of attire. Rarity, however, wasn't as happy.

“Why did you choose this gaudy dress?” Rarity asked looking over her dress.



“I apologize, but the sluttier the better,” Eric replied, walking to the bar Dusk owned. “If it makes you feel better, after we save Lotus you may use me as your fashion mannequin.”

Rarity says nothing as the two of them walk into the bar in their spellbound disguises.

“Dusk,” Eric shouted as he walked up to the counter. “We’re here!”

Dusk walked from the back of the shop, dressed in an elegant 3 piece suit, silver scrollwork inlays across the lapels, a silver monocle perched on his left eye.

"Good choice my friend," he praised. "And you don't look half bad either. Now are you ready or would either of you like some liquid courage before we delve into a pit of devils?"

“No thank you darling” Rarity said with a slight shudder. “Liquor leaves a foul aftertaste.”

“I’ll take a shot of Applejack Daniels,” Eric said as the Infobroker made his drink, picking up the glass, Eric finished it instantly before setting the shot glass upside down on the table. “Rule# 32 Rarity,” Eric said with a grin. “You’ve got to enjoy the little things.”

Before Rarity could comment Dusk reached under the counter and pulled out two masks, one black masquerade mask and a half gold one. "Everyone uses aliases in the market and most hide their faces in some way. Think of it as added insurance."

“The more insurance the better,” Eric said putting on the black mask while Rarity followed after.

“Don’t suppose you have something that matches my dress?” Rarity said leaning forward slightly giving Dusk a full view of her cleavage, this in turn causes blood to drip from his nose. He quickly grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood before going back to the counter.

"Unfortunately I only have a black or a gold half mask here. Would one of those work for you?"

Before Rarity could speak Eric chimed in. “Take the gold. Gold does go with red a lot better than black.”

“How do you know that?” Rarity asked

“Because I had a wife who was good at that sort of thing,” Eric said, almost glaring at the disguised unicorn

"One more thing," Dusk added. "Before we head out stick to your aliases when we get there, get used to speaking like you have your head wedged 3 feet up your ass, and call me Silver Tongue while we are there."

“I’d suggest calling yourself Lady Love,” Eric said to Rarity. “While I’ll go by…” Eric thought for a moment before finding a name. “...Elton, Elton John”

Dusk chuckled a little before he opens the door "Unusual, but hey, it works."

“It was the name of a former master of mine,” Eric said.

It wasn’t a complete lie; he did play music for someone named Reginald Dwight. He was one of the nicest nobles Eric had ever served, even taught him a few songs himself.

"Hey as long as you play the part right I have no problem with what you call yourself." Dusk said, placing a silver mask covering the right half of his face

“Trust me, I’ve been around my fair share of greedy corrupt nobles," Eric said. "I know how to play the part.” To emphasize his point, he let his aura changed around him. The Shadow Man went from having the aura of a seasoned warrior to one who would rather call a servant than clip their own fingers. “Now let’s hurry this up, we haven’t got all night... Silver”

Dusk gives the first genuine laugh since they met. "My friend I already want to punch you. Good job"

Eric gave a mocking laugh. “As if my guards would let a commoner like you anywhere near me!”

Rarity just scoffed, already in full snob mode as she looked at Dusk in disgust. “Let get on with this you little toad”

Dusk's smile drops for a fraction of a second before he mutters to himself "Let's hope you can keep to the part when you see what happens to the ones I sell…"

Dusk led the pair down a series of alleyways before stopping at a deadend, reaching forward Dusk pushed in a series of bricks causing the wall to open up revealing a set of stairs leading down.

“Inside now,” Dusk said as Eric and Rarity descended the stairs, meanwhile Dusk was looking over his shoulder making sure he wasn’t followed.

Finding the coast clear he tapped one of the bricks which caused the entrance to seal itself, quickly descending the stairs he moved in front of the two.

“I must say this is far more advanced than the one I destroyed in the Empire,” Eric said slightly impressed

"There is a reason why it's gotten as big as it has," Dusk replied. "Funding from major noble houses and the layers of protection means they can splurge on such toys."

“Nobility at its worst,” Eric muttered under his breath, but kept his posture and his aura the same.

Eventually Dusk and the other make it to the door. Dusk gave a series of knocks. A slit in the door opened up, and a pair of eyes peered through.

“How thick is the Guillotine?” a creature growled.

“Thick enough to sever the greedy kings head," Dusk replied without hesitation.

The door opened, revealing thousands upon thousands of shops, stalls, and tents. Conversations, bets, and items both rare and illegal were being sold and traded with one or another

“Welcome to the Black Market you two,” Dusk said as the bouncer clamps a bracer on both Eric and Rarity causing them to feel weak.

“What are these?” Eric asked, knowing full well what they were.

“They are a material called Sea Stone,” Dusk answered. “They prevent Fruit users from using their abilities”

Dusk walked past them before stopping at the door, turning to them Dusk offered a smile as he pointed in a direction to their right.

“What you two newbies want is in the Sex District,” Dusk said pointing towards an area lit up with colors of pink, purple, and red. “Just follow the colors and you can’t miss it. There are tons of items there for... relieving one’s stress.”

The bouncer began to close the door. Immediately Dusk shouted to the pair. “Oh and don’t let your lady breath in the pink aroma vapor!” And with that the Bouncer shut and locked the door.





Dusk walked back into his bar only to stop when he saw a figure with orange hair sitting at the counter. Multiple black piercings adorned his face, with three in his nose, six earrings, a longer ring going through his other ear and two pointed piercings coming from his bottom lip. He wore a black headband with a metal plaque with a line going through four thicker lines. His coat was black with red clouds, and he wore black pants with what looked like white socks and open toe sandals which showed his red nails. However his eyes were the most odd, they were purple with multiple black circles around his pupil.

“Can I... help you?” Dusk asked

"Indeed you can," The Orange Haired Man spoke with a voice that sent shivers down Dusk's spine. The Orange Haired Man glanced lazily at Dusk. "Tell me about a certain someone."

“May I ask who?” Dusk asked, still cautious. “And it will cost…”

However Dusk was interrupted when strings pinned Dusk against the wall, Dusk glanced around and saw an Orange Haired young man. He had strings around his fingers, the Orange Haired Man walked close to Dusk. "I believe your life costs more than gold, is it not? Tell me everything about Eric Von Shadow or I'll have Walter peel your dick like a banana." The Orange Haired Man said in a calm rage.

“It’ll take at least three days to gather Everything” Dusk said in slight fear as the figure began to leave. “Not to be rude, but may ask who wishes to know about the Reaper of the Crystal Empire?”

“I'm the thing that foals fear, I am the thing that warriors feel in battle. I… Am Pain.” He  replied, before leaving the bar along with his companion.
> The Sex District
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric and Rarity strolled towards their objective before Eric detected a shop that was selling different odd shaped fruit.

Familiar fruits.

"They're selling Devil Fruits," Eric murmured to the unicorn next to him

"This could be awful for Celestia and her guard if any of them fall into the wrong hands" Rarity whispered.

"They already have," Eric growled, continuing on.

The second they entered the Sex District their ears were overflowed with blissful and lust filled moans. Rarity started to turn red at the sounds.

"Breathe," Eric warned her. "And keep your emotions in check."

Making an honest effort to overlook the hints of wild desire, Rarity followed Eric as she felt the eyes of every noble - male and female - devouring her beauty. The two passed a large number of shops, most selling different toys and drugs. Passing by one of the shops Eric's eyes widened as he inhaled in a familiar scent. He halted, feeling a woozy sensation.

"E..." Rarity caught herself. "Elton. Are you OK?"

"I know that smell," Eric said, approaching the shop.

Grabbing a canister with a pink powder, he found a single solidtary word painted in huge dark letters. Eric scowled at the compartment with outrage; he knew this specific drug generally very well.

"Lust." Eric growled.

"Right you are, my acceptable stallion" the retailer said, taking the canister from Eric's grasp. "An amazing aphrodisiac made and refined from a associate of mine."

"The Carapax hive was destroyed 1,000 years ago," Eric murmured to himself

"Oh, goodness, it was!" the proprietor said, before being engulfed in emerald blazes uncovering a changeling drone. "Luckily, our Queen survived and has perfected her blend."

"Perfected how?" Rarity asked. As she asked, she elbowed the disguised Shadow Man, and made him recapture control of his feelings.

"Well ordinarily it doesn't influence males and it never influenced any creature in its powdered structure," the Changeling said, smiling as he blended the powder in with a fluid and emptied the combination into an evaporator. The pink fume filtered into the tent close to him. "The vapor makes this ten thousand times more potent, on the off chance that both of you are intrigued it will make for quite an evening."

As the vapor poured into the tent, the screams and moans inside became louder. Rarity recognized a voice amid the clamor of combined lovemaking. Before Eric could stop her, the disguised unicorn burst into the tent and what she saw brought a look of horror to her face. Inside the tent were numerous ponies and other creatures going at it like feral rabbits! Her eyes, however, were on a naked grey earth pony mare who had three round rocks as a cutie mark.

"M...Marble?!" She gasped, shocked at the sight of her friend's sister in such a place and in such a state!

Marble lay on top of a grey stallion who Rarity recognized as Upper Crust. With him was a brown stallion she knew as Sealed Scroll. Both were going to town on both her holes while she had her hands on two other members, jacking them off rapidly. Her face and body were covered in spunk. In her shock, Rarity realized she had inhaled some of the vapor. She felt warmer; her nethers became much more sensitive against her clothes. And she noticed Marble's eyes had bright glowing pink hearts around her pupils. Similar to her own.

Without warning, Eric pulled Rarity from the tent. Eric turned her around and looked into her eyes. The Shadow Man exhaled in relief as he saw the pink heart already fading from her eyes.

"Lady Love, do me a favor," Eric said as the heart faded completely. "Avoid Lust...in any form."

"Sorry," Rarity apologized, glancing back at the tent. "But I heard Marble's voice."

"Focus on the mission," Eric said in a quieted voice. "I previously enlightened Celestia regarding this. Marble will be returned home."

"You're right... Elton," Rarity said. Steeling herself, she prepared to move along, before...

"Pardon me, sir," the Changeling said motioning Eric towards him.

Eric glared back at him, but the changeling's grin remained, even more malicious than before.

"Try not to think my Queen has overlooked what you've done... Reaper."

Eric's eyes widened. He turned fully to the changeling. "So, You're going to get us killed?" Eric asked.

"Goodness, no!" The changeling cried, returning to his pony form. "It would demolish my Queen's Plan. Kill her fun."

Despite his assurance, Eric took Rarity by the arm and led her away from the still grinning changeling. Out of the market they went, both shuddering at the things they had seen.

"Are you alright, Elton?" Rarity inquired.

"I'm fine," Eric said, before hearing the sound of a mallet.

"Sold!" a voice yelled out.

Picking up the pace, the two Devil Fruit users showed up at an auction. Rarity's eyes widened: a chained Earth pony with blue bruised fur and battered pink hair was being led off a large stage by what had to be an announcer towards a white unicorn with blue hair. Next to the announcer, another stallion hidden by a golden mask and crown watched, his mask twisted into a wretched smile.

"Mr. Wealth, I do hope you enjoy your new toy," an announcer said with a smile. "Furthermore, you can thank the Golden King for his generous gift."

"It was my pleasure," The man that had to be the Golden King said.

Rarity's eyes went wide. She had not heard that voice in years, but she would never forget it. 

"Blueblood..." Rarity snarled, clenching her hands.

Eric noticed. He pulled her back away from the crowd.

"You know him?" Eric inquired.

"Sadly," Rarity said with toxin in her voice. "I met him at the Grand Galloping Gala. He only cares about his money, status, and his looks."

"That bad?" Eric mused, glancing back at the Golden King.

"Indeed," Rarity admitted. "I made a point to avoid him any time I came to Canterlot." She paused, recollecting the past. "Yet... I would often see him with unicorn mares. All of them had a similar fur color as mine and their hair were sloppily dyed and styled like mine."

"We can utilize that," Eric said, breaking his wrist with a grunt of pain. "He'll likely only accept the most noteworthy class as slaves himself."

Eric pulled the brace off his wrist. Venturing into his body, he pulled out a bottle that held numerous white tablets. With his harmed hand he pulled out a little holder of Lust from his pocket.

"How'd you get that?" Rarity asked the Shadow Man

"I picked that changelings' pocket," Eric said, giving the pills to Rarity. "Take one of those; they're a antidote for Lust."

"Be that as it may, isn't this a stronger blend?" the disguised unicorn inquired.

"Those tablets can withstand ten dosages of Lust," Eric clarified, opening the little holder. "And it’s powder form is when it’s at its weakest."

Rarity gulped the tablet before Eric put the container to her nose, Rarity breathed in the Drug and quickly felt woozy.

"Rarity, are you feeling yourself?" Eric said ensuring his friend was safe.

"I'm... I'm good," Rarity said, taking a gander at Eric with brilliant hearts in her eyes. "Somewhat woozy... but good."

"Good. I'm sorry ahead of time" Eric said, snatching her dress and ripping an enormous bit off. "Good enough."

Rarity covered herself, perceiving how the apparel holding her bosoms and lower body was just being held by a couple of strings.

"Are you insane!" Rarity yelled discreetly

Eric glanced around as though he was glancing as far as he could tell. "Little bit, yeah. But trust me" The Shadow Man said. Removing Rarity's Fire Ruby, he dispersed her disguise

"I couldn't say whether I do any longer," Rarity muttered as Eric placed his hand against the floor.

His shadow extended underneath the two making them sink into the floor. Both rose as the announcer left the stage.

"Pardon me," Eric said rapidly, pushing the brace back onto his arm. "Is the Auction over?"

"Afraid so pal, best return tomorrow" the announcer said, before spotting Rarity. "Wait...is that who I think it is"

"You know it," Eric said, faking a smile. "Shame I'll need to sell her tomorrow." The Shadow Man started to leave with Rarity, before being obstructed by the host.

"Hold up, the auction is soo not finished." the announcer said getting back to the stage with scramble. "Gentlecolts wait! Don’t leave; we have a last minute item!"

The group began to return. Already intrigued by Rarity's form.

"This arrangement of yours better work" Rarity murmured to the Shadow Man.

"Regardless of whether you remember him from his voice, it will be basically impossible for us to can charge him of anything without proof." Eric replied.

"You can bring her out now," the host said, sticking his head into the room.

"Go on doll-face," Eric said, keeping his cover with a lecherous voice. "I'll be with the others while you stand up their making me some of that glorious money." He smacked Rarity's rear for emphasis.

Rarity seethed, butstrolled forward all the same, keeping up the look as if she was under the effects of the drug. However Eric knew she was arranging his death. Eric left with different purchasers, keeping a mental note on the ones he could remember. He recognized the person who purchased Lotus: an earth pony with a light earthy colored hide and light blue eyes. His dark and grayed hair was slicked back. He wore a blue suit with a white shirt and a red tie, however his most notable attire was the triple money bag cuff-links. Plunking down, Eric watched Rarity stroll in front of an audience procuring stunned gasps from everybody.

"That is correct, some fortunate bastard figured out how to catch the Element of Generosity herself!" the Host said with merriment nonetheless before he could talk a starting price the bidding began.

"5,000 Bits!"

"10,000!"

"One Hundred Million Bits." Eric grinned when he heard the "Golden King" call out his offering.

His grin was detestable and lust filled as he stood and saw nopony else offer up a bet to counter him. "So what bonehead do I pay for my prize"

"Me," Eric said, rising from his seat, and pproaching the unicorn. The Shadow Man extended his hand. "Elton John."

With an unrefined grin, Blueblood ventured into his pocket and pulled out a gold key. Setting it into the bracer, the prince removed the restraint, permitting golden bits to pour from his hands.

"Take it and leave me to claim my toy," Blueblood said, making Eric chuckle. "Something funny?"

"You truly are a fool," Eric replied, ripping off his brace and allowing shadow to pour from his body as his disguise faded. "Not a single one of you is leaving this auction! You will all face punishment!"

Fear replaced the greed and lust. The aristocrats bolted for the exits, but black tendrils maneuvered them all into shadows.

However, when Eric moved to claim Blueblood... his tendrils passed right through. Smiling, the unicorn thrusted forward and slammed his hand into the Shadow Man's face. Gold quickly spread from the unicorn's hand encasing the shadow man in solid gold.

"Eric!" Rarity shouted, stunning Prince Blueblood.

"What!" Blueblood stammered. He stepped away from the gold figure as the shadows under it began to move. "Eric Von Shadow. The Shade who served King Sombra?"

"The one and only," Eric said climbing from the shadows without his disguise. He glanced at the statue of himself and pulled the ring from its finger, storing it in his body. “Not a bad likeness; just not as handsome”

Blueblood tried to run. Eric wandered casually after him, pulling out a rapier and a cloak.

"Go get Lotus," Eric called, throwing the items to Rarity.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook because of this Eric,” Rarity snapped, tossing the shroud around herself and taking off to where the ponies took Lotus and the other slaves.

As Rarity vanished after her friends, Eric gave chase after Blueblood. The prince pulled and shoved others aside in hopes of tripping the Shadow Man. However, Eric jumped over each and every one of them in his pursuit of the prince. Tiring of his chase, Eric erected a wall of shadow, blocking the Prince's path path. Blueblood briefly struggled to break through before Eric's voice made him freeze.

“Enough running Blueblood” Eric said, slowing to a stop a full ten feet from the prince. “It’s time you face your aunt for your crimes.”

Reluctantly, Blueblood turned back to the Shadow Man. "What crimes?" he demanded. "They were nothing but commoner filth! Not a single one of them really mattered."

Shadows wrapped around Eric's hands, forming claws as he growled. "All of them mattered!"

Blueblood looked around frantically before his eyes landed on the stalls. Each one had bits either on or under it. His smile returne, and his arms coated themselves in gold.

"The only thing that matters is one's status," Blueblood lectured. "And one's money!"

Without warning, every piece of gold within the underground market began to swirl around Blueblood. Eric merely stood there as he watched the gold above move around the prince.

“The Gold-Gold Fruit,” Eric muttered out. “Fire, Gas, Smoke, Sand, Ice and now Gold?" He sighed. "Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by Logia users.”

“Gold Rush!” Blueblood roared, sending the golden bits at the Shadow Man.

Eric raised a shadow wall to intercept the bits, however the gold began to break through the hardened shadow. Eric jumped back as the wall gave way pelting the ground with gold. Blueblood didn’t stop there and turned the bits to molten gold.

“Now it’s time I show all you unless peons why I am a cut above the rest!!!” Prince Blueblood said, levitating the molten gold around him and forming it into a giant sphere.

A hail storm began; deadly riches fell upon the black market. While some were unlucky enough to be hit by the gold, Eric was safe as the gold phased through his body.

“And what, pray tell, was that supposed to accomplish?” Eric growled.

“To show you all that I can do as I please!" Blueblood declared. "You should be honored to be killed by royalty. At least your life would have some value!"

“Royalty?” Eric laughed. “Please, you are nothing more than a peasant pretending to be a king.”

Blueblood's face turned red. “A peasant? Me?!!! How dare you insult a superior. I am a prince; soon to be a king, and soon to be a GOD! And if you think I'm going to let a little wretch like you get away with such insults think again...” he surrounded Eric in a sphere of gold with a hole in the front. Through the hole, Blueblood shot a beam of light inside.

Blueblood stood for a moment, waiting for the Shadow Man to emerge from the surrounding shadows. However he never surfaced. Blueblood was about to celebrate his triumph over the Shadow of Sombra... but then he saw when several tendrils rise from the hole. They pushed their way through revealing what looked like a black octopus made from Eric’s shadows. The shadow creature plopped on the ground with a splat and a splash of red, before glaring at Blueblood with red eyes of rage.

“I’m going to start beating you now.” The octopus said as it grew and turned into an angry and bleeding Eric. “I don’t know when I’ll stop.”

From Eric’s hand, the Shadow Man formed a blade over his arm, but Blueblood struck first.

“Oh no you don't!” He hurled his own blades of gold.

Eric tried to slash them away, only for them to burst into molten gold, splashing and pinning him to the ground. Eric melted into the shadows to escape his golden bonds, but didn't resurface.

“What’s the matter?” Blueblood shouted looking around him. "You call me the coward? Me?!"

Despite his words, he felt fear in his heart at the lack of the Shadow Man. Blueblood surrounded himself inside a golden sphere with spikes for defense, however an idea came to mind for the Prince. Using his powers he recalled the gold that hit the ponies of the market with them still attached. The gold began to spread around them encasing them in gold with fear filled looks plastered on their gold faces.

Eric immediately pulled himself from the shadows. “You ARE a coward! Using others as a shield?”

“The people should be honored I turned them from worthless dirt to something of value," Blueblood retorted. "They should be happy that my feet are standing on their very being!"

Eric was confused until he noticed the gold statues. Their feet fused together, lifting the spiked sphere off the ground. The gold took the shape of a large beast which reared its head up and let out a mighty roar.



Blueblood laughed as the sphere receded and morphed into a throne which he happily sat upon. “Isn't it glorious Eric? These people are so lucky and honored to become the stepping stones of my God hood! Look at their satisfied faces” He waved his hand at the faces of the people he enslaved.

“You are beyond vile, Blueblood,” Eric growled as shadows began to surround the Shadow Man. “I think you have an overdue date with the Reaper!” The Shadow Man slammed his hand on ground.

Shadow Soul: Soul of the Reaper

Eric’s size increased by an additional five feet as his skin melted from his bones. Forming a puddle of darkness below his feet, the shadows below ran up Eric’s body forming robes of shadow. In his hand a large scythe of shadow emerged from the palm of his hand.



“You’ll regret your actions, Blueblood” Eric’s eerie voice sent a deathlike chine down the unicorn's spine.

“Y-you think a Reaper can take down a God!” He used his light magic to enhance the reflective surfaces of his golden lion.

Eric glared at the unicorn through the sockets of his empty eyes. “There are no gods in this or any world!” The Shadow Man shot forward going straight for Blueblood’s neck.

The Lion's jaws clamped down on the Reaper’s boney arm before throwing him back to the ground. Before the Shadow Man could recover the lion slammed it’s massive paw into his body.

Eric let out a hiss of pain as he felt his bones crack. A sound that brought a smile to the Prince’s face.

“How does it feel to be in the presence of a living God?" Blueblood demanded. "Not even Celestia can compare to my Radiance! l will become the new rising sun born from the old!!!” Blueblood took bit of gold from his throne and molded it into a crown, which he placed on his head.

Eric however began to laugh hysterically, which caused Blueblood to pause.

“Find something funny, Eric?”

“You are a fucking idiot, Blueblood” Eric laughed as he stabbed the blade of his scythe into the lions leg causing it to let out a roar and try to move off him. “Only Celestia has the power to move the sun.”

Eric struggled to stay on his feet before the shadow covered and repaired his bones before forming pair of wings over his back. Taking to the sky, Eric formed another scythe to replace the one in the golden beasts leg, with a flap of his wings Eric went after Blueblood. Only this time, when the lion tried to hit him, the scythe in its paw turned to chains, halting it's attack. Unfortunately, Blueblood pulled a statue from the lion and uncovered the gold around it, using the pony as a human shield. Eric hesitated, allowing the lion to spin and hit Eric with his golden tail. As Eric crashed into a series of stalls, he reverted to his human form which caused Blueblood to laugh.

“Oh well look at that! Looks like the grim Reaper is defenseless without his precious shadows,” he mocked

“Speed isn’t an option here,” Eric murmured, stepping out of the wrecked stalls. “I’m going to need something stronger and more durable.”

"Go ahead and try as you might but nothing can stop the radiance of my light!!!"

Eric reached into his body and pulled out a whistle, putting the object to his mouth he blew into it yet no sound came.

“Keep him busy, Pitch!” Eric shouted, before a black ball of flame attacked Blueblood.

The fire exploded revealing a black Phoenix which pecked and scratched at the prince.

“Ugh what is this?!" Blueblood shouted. He swiped at the phoenix and shot light beams at it. "Go away, you are damaging the perfection that is me!”

“Good Boy,” Eric said, slamming his hand to the ground as the Shadows swirled around him.

Shadow Soul: Soul of the Knight.

Eric was immediately swarmed by the surrounding shadows, covering him in a cloud of darkness. Without warning a large figure slammed into Blueblood’s lion knocking it back, Blueblood looked back at Eric in shock. Where the Shadow Man once was, now stood a hulking figure armed with a large sword and a large circular shield. Black plated armor covered his body as a black torn cape bellowed behind him, his red eyes aimed right at the Prince.



“What in the name of Equestria is that horrid abomination?!” Blueblood uttered as he trembled in fear

“Your Damnation” The Black Knight growled as it approached the prince, gripping its sword.

“Onward my faithful lion, destroy that desecrator!!!”

The Lion leaped at Eric with jaws ready to bite the man’s head off. At the same time, Eric lunged forward. But when the Lion landed, his mouth lacked any part of the Shadow Man. Eric appeared behind the golden creature with his blade against the ground.

“Ha, Nice try,” Blue blood shouted out. “Now kill him my Loyal pet”

However the beast didn’t move.

“Shadow Slasher” Eric whispered.

Without warning the Prince’s lion split down the middle, dropping the prince to the ground. However despite the destruction of his beast all the people he captured were left unharmed and undamaged.

“No. NOOO!!!" Blueblood shouted. "You peons are worthless. I gave you riches and you squandered it all just as you have always done!!!” The Prince used his power to reform his beast, but he didn't make it try to face the Shadow Man.



“I believe it’s time I take my leave” Blueblood said, lifting his arm forming a massive sphere of molten gold to form. “Just be honored that your deaths will be worth more than your pathetic lives. CITY OF GOLD!!”

He threw his gold sphere to the ground, and the sphere exploded like a grenade, sending the gold everywhere. It covered everything from the stones to the people including Eric who was now frozen with his sword stabbed into the ground. Blueblood laughed as his lion broke out of the underground market and into the sky above Canterlot.

“So long Eric Von Shadow. Looks like my God hood stays intact!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, 'nephew.'”

Blueblood’s eyes shrink as he whipped his head around and came face to face with Celestia and Luna both having disappointed looks on their face. Behind them was the Entire Pegasus Guard as well as Luna’s Lunar Guard blocking his path to freedom.

“Oh!" Blueblood stammered. "A-Auntie Celestia! And Auntie Luna! W-Why are you in a place like this?"

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this Blueblood,” Luna spoke, glaring at the unicorn. “Lower your beast and accept your punishment"

“What?! But I brought these miserable wretches my presence. They should be grateful for being a part of my glorious beast!”

“Blueblood," Celestia boomed. "As Princess of Equestria, I hereby place you under arrest for taking part in the illegal dealings of this Black Market!” Her Pegasus Guard approached the Prince

“What?! Why?!”

Celestia pulled out the handkerchief that Aloe found with her sister's hair inside. “You Ponynapped an innocent pony from Ponyville and sold her,” Celestia growled. “Stand down now Blueblood, before your punishment becomes more than you already losing everything.”

“Everything?” Blueblood stammered

“With these actions, you’ve forfeited your title, your home, your money, and will be forced to live within the poor district and under constant watch.” Luna responded as her eyes narrowed at her Nephew

“This is ridiculous. I was doing the world a favor turning the less desirable into something that gives a sliver of value!!!!”

“ENOUGH BLUEBLOOD!” Celestia yelled using the Royal Canterlot Voice. She turned to her guards. “Arrest him."

The Pegasus Guards moved to Blueblood with weapons and cuffs on them. Blueblood disbelief turned to rage.

“I think it’s time you finally retired Auntie,” Blueblood said moving to attack.

Without warning the Wings of his beast were removed. Blueblood got one moment to blink in confusion before he and his golden Lion fell to the streets of Canterlot. Groaning Blueblood Opened his eyes to see Eric standing over him with a Sea Prism brace on his wrist.

“Good to see your awake, Your majesty” Eric said with sarcasm in his voice.

“Where am I? Why are you looking down at me in such a manner, you peon!” Blueblood moaned in disgust

“I’ve been called worse,” Eric said, putting his knuckle gloves on and punching Blueblood so hard he knocked a tooth out. “Now you may arrest him.”

“What of the others?” Celestia asked before noticing multiple shadows coming from the hole to the black market. Hundreds of various creatures were pulled from the hole.

“I managed to pull everyone into the shadows before Blueblood destroyed the market,” Eric said, bringing two Rarity and Lotus to the ground and removing the shadow from their body.

Rarity removed her shroud and placed it on Lotus before walking up to Eric. For a moment, Eric just sighed as Rarity glared at her. Then the white mare slapped Eric across his face.

“I deserve that."

But Rarity was not done. Putting all her force into her leg, she slammed it into Eric’s crotch. Several of the male guards groaned in sympathy. Eric fell to his knees cupping his boys and trying very hard not to cry from the pain.

Rarity grabbed the Shadow Man by the color of his clothes before bringing him to her face. “I am going to make you suffer for this.” Rarity dropped Eric and helped Lotus move towards the castle.

Celestia and Luna watched her go with wide eyes, before Luna turned to Eric in concern.

“Are you going to be okay, Eric?” Luna asked.

“No...” Eric said, slowly standing. “Just have your men arrest the others while I carry the victims to the medical ward.”
> Pinkie’s Rage & Blueblood’s Punishment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric entered the medical ward and found Rarity along with Aloe as they comforted the Spa Ponies sister. Eric carefully set the women on the spare beds while at the same time binding those affected by Lust in his shadow.

“Why are you binding them?” one of the doctors asked, seeing the state of most of the women. “And... why do they look like...?”

“They have been affected by a powerful drug,” Eric said as Rarity approached. “Keep any males away from them.”

Rarity gazed at Marble with worry. “Is Marble going to be okay?”

“Hard to say,” Eric said, glancing the heavy breathing earth pony. “She has been exposed to the drug for who knows how long.”

“What about these,” Rarity showed the bottle of pills he gave her. “Could they help her?

“No. They barely had an effect on you,” Eric said, sitting down. “The best we can do is keep her cold, and make sure she doesn’t keel over.”

“Wait... They can die from this?!”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Eric said remembering the mares he had rescued from Carapax hive. “When I freed several mares from Carapax Hive, they lasted five days before suffering a heart attack. However, we found that if we lower their body temperature they had a thirty percent higher chance of survival.”

“We need to tell Pinkie about this,” Rarity said. She moved to leave, but Eric blocked her path.

"You tell Pinkie," he warned. "And you know there will be no pony who can quell her rage."

“Tell me what?” A bright and cheerful voice asked behind the pair.

Eric and Rarity winced, turning to find Pinkie grinning at them.

“P-Pinkie!” Rarity screamed in shock, before she and Eric blocked her view of Marble. “Um, tell you...”

However before Rarity could finish, Marble let out a moan. “More… Please…”

“Marble?” Pinkie asked, craning her neck to peer over the pair.

“Pinkie, maybe it would be wise if..." But Eric's voice petered out, as Pinkie shot past the two, racing to Marble's side.

“Sis?" Pinkie asked, her voice thankfully retaining its cheer. "What brings you here?"

Marble's arms had freed themselves from their constraints, and she seized Pinkie, pulling her into a sloppy kiss. Pinkie managed to pull away, and spotted the pink hearts in her sister's eyes.

“More. I need more… More!” Marble moaned out in her Lust filled trance.

“What's... wrong with her?" Pinkie asked, the horror growing in her voice as Eric strapped Marble back down.

“We….” Rarity began, glancing worriedly at Eric. “We found her in the Black Market. She was given a type of Drug that enhanced one's... Love making.”

As Rarity tried to explain everything to Pinkie, a guard came in and walked up to Eric. “Sir we got something”

“And that would be?”

“The pony who ran the auction gave us this record of his sales and who sold them,” the Guard said, handing Eric the record. “It looks like Blueblood has been doing this for years. And not just with ponies.”

Without warning, Pinkie's arm seized the record.

"Pinkie, please!" Rarity begged.

But Pinkie's eyes were already darting across the pages, her knuckles whitening as she clenched the book in mounting rage. Her eyes locked on one line in particular: Marble was sold by a pony named the Golden King.

“Who’s the Golden King?” Pinkie growled, her teeth clenched.

Eric and Rarity glanced at each other, mutually agreeing to stay silent. Unfortunately, the Guard didn't know better.

“The Princesses' Nephew, Prince Blueblood” the Guard replied. Too late, he saw Pinkie's hair and fur darken. "B-But don't worry! He's in the dungeons awaiting his trial!"

Eric glared at the Guard. "You're a fucking idiot..." Eric started to say, but Pinkie was way ahead of him.

With the smoke of Second Gear flowing around her, she raced out of the medical wing. Rarity yelped as her clothes were torn by Pinkie's speed, and tried to cover herself, while Eric rolled with the fall. Throwing his jacket to Rarity and giving the terrified Guard one more brutal stare, Eric raced into the shadows. But even then, it wasn't enough.

‘Shit..’ Eric said, as he felt Pinkie's presence shifting into a blur. ‘She’s faster than me in that state! I need a different strategy!’

Pinkie had already made it to the castle dungeons where her sister's defiler was. Turning the corners of the cells the Pink mare ran right into a black web. The web held her firmly in place despite her struggling. Above her a number of small black spiders and a large spider with a red hourglass descended from the ceiling.

“'Welcome to my Parlor,' said the spider to the fly.” The spiders said in unison. Pinkamena merely glared up at them. “Don’t do this Pinkie.”

“Let me go, Eric,” Pinkamena growled. She snapped some of the black webbing, but the spiders quickly caught her with fresh ones.

“If you kill him, you will take his place in that cell.”

"And what if it was Amber instead of Marble?" Pinkamena replied.

The spider's twitched, their largest glaring at the pony. The spiders crawled to the ground before converging on a single spot. The cluster of spiders grew to the size of a man until the large spider rested on top of them. With a ripple of shadow, Eric stood before Pinkamena.

“I guess I would do the same,” Eric admitted, releasing the earth pony. “But still, why let Blueblood escape punishment? Death is an escape from crime.”

“Then what do you suggest we do? Let him go so he can do this again?”

Eric thought for a moment, but then his eyes lit up. With a cruel smile, Eric leaned over and whispered his idea to the mare. As she listened, Pinkamena's face lit up with grim delight.

"Wouldn't you think that would be a fate worse than death?" Eric concluded.

Pinkamena hummed in thought, before nodding and turning to leave. “It’s a perfect fate for somepony like him.”

Eric followed the mare out of the dungeon, ready to inform Celestia and Luna of his plan.





Three Days Later

Blueblood was dragged from his cell by a pegasus guard and a unicorn guard, both pushing the prince whenever he slowed.

“How could somepony of your stature do something so vile?” the unicorn growled in disgust.

“They were nothing but lowly peasants," Blueblood replied. "They should be honored be be sold by somepony as glorious as myself."

“Just because you’re a prince doesn’t mean you can do whatever you wish,” the pegasus refuted, shoving the prisoner forward.

“Enough chit chat,” A voice called out from the dungeon entrance. The three looked up to find Eric. “Your trial awaits, Blueblood” the Shadow Man said with a glare.

Eric escorted the guards to Celestia’s and Luna’s throne room. Inside, the Princesses sat on their respective thrones with expressionless looks. The mane Six stood below the thrones as Eric joined them.

“Blueblood,” Celestia greeted as she crossed her arms.

“Auntie” Blueblood replied blankly.

“You stand before us to be punished for your crimes,” Luna said, venom lacing her voice.

“Read the charges, Von Shadow,” Celestia ordered.

“As you wish, Princess” Eric said with a slight bow as he pulled out a number of parchments. “Taking part in supplying money and other goods to the illegal activities of the black market, kidnapping a number of different females from the various races,” Eric read moving to the next page. “We also searched his house and found a hidden room below the floor, made entirely out of gold. Numerous unicorn mares sharing similarities with the Element of Generosity were found bound to the walls inside by gold.”

Eric turned to Celestia and Luna as he continued. “All were with child. And all had gold over their mouths and nose,” Eric then glared at Blueblood. “So we can add murder of women and children to the list.”

Blueblood merely huffed and his grin widened.

“...And lastly, an attempt to attack and kill the Princess of the Sun.”

“Blueblood, how do you plead?” Celestia asked her nephew

“Not guilty,” Blueblood said with a grin. “Honestly, Auntie. I did nothing wrong.”

“Nothing Wrong!” Luna shouted.

“Sister” Celestia soothed, her calm voice causing Luna to simmer down. She turned back to the Prince. “Blueblood, As of now you will be stripped of everything and sent into the deepest pits of Tartarus...” Celestia began before Blueblood spoke over her.

“I would like to invoke Trial by Combat!” Blueblood said.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Quite bold of you to request,” Celestia mused, closing her eyes.

“What’s Trial by Combat?” Rainbow asked looking towards the princess.

“It’s a means of clearing one’s charges in a battle of the sword” Celestia said to the pegasus. “Should Blueblood win, he will be free to return home with no crime to hold him down.”

“And you’ll allow him to do that?” Luna asked in a raised voice.

“It was one of our father's laws,” Celestia replied.

Luna shrunk back at the mention of their father; the father she never met.

“I... I’m sorry, sister,” Luna apologized.

Celestia stood and approached her foolish nephew. “You want a Trial by Combat? Very well." She turned to her guards. "Take him to the training grounds.”

As Blueblood was moved out of the room, Celestia turned to the Elements and the Shadow Man. A smile worked her way across her face.

“I was thinking, maybe I should let the guards watch this,” Celestia said as a grin formed on Eric’s face. “What do you think?”

“I think your men should have a little entertainment,” Eric said leaving the throne room. “It’s rare for men like them to have fun.”





Blueblood was pushed into the grounds as a sword was tossed next to him. Grabbing the blade the unicorn lifted himself to his feet. Looking around Blueblood saw the guards piling in, followed by the princesses and the Elements.

“So which guard will I be facing?” Blueblood asked smugly

“You will not be facing my guard today, Blueblood,” Celestia responded coldly

“Then who?” Blueblood asked, before a chill ran up his spine.

A chill that was like the touch of death. Turning around Blueblood looked ahead with fear gripping his very soul.

“And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him.” Eric said as he rode into the ground atop a horse of his shadow with a black sword and sheath attached to his waist. “And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

“He can’t fight me, he isn’t of the Royal Guard,” Blueblood argued, turning to the princess. “The law…”

“My fathers law states that the Trial by Combat is between the guilty and the strongest creature in the castle grounds,” Celestia barked back at the unicorn.

“And last time I checked,” Eric said, dismounting his shadow horse. “I can beat any one of the ponies in this area.”

“You have an Elemental Power Fruit!” Blueblood shouted before turning to Celestia. “How is that a fair fight?”

"You have a Power Fruit as well," Luna protested.

"Then take this sea prism off me!" Blueblood cried. "It's not fair!"

"I will not allow you access to your powers," Celestia refuted, before turning to Eric. “Eric, I’d ask that you seal away your powers”

Eric pulled out a bracer made of Sea Prism Stone which had a gold key still in the keyhole. Placing the bracer on his wrist, Eric gave the key a turn before throwing it to Celestia.

“Better?” Eric asked sarcastically.

Blueblood didn’t respond, raising his sword and charging. Eric just smiled as he drew his sword and blocked the prince's feeble attack.

“I’m going to Win,” Blueblood said, jumping back. “This is a fight to the Death!”

“You’re wrong,” Eric said with a grin. “This is a fight to the Pain!”

Blueblood lowered his sword and looked at Eric with confusion plastered on his face. “I don’t think I’m familiar with that.”

“I’ll explain. And I’ll be sure to use small words so that you can understand me, you warthog faced buffoon” Eric said, causing several Guards to snicker while the others laughed.

“That may be the first time a man has Dared insult me” Blueblood growled, tightening his grip on the sword.

“And it won’t be the last, 'Pig,'” Eric said.

Blueblood roared in outrage, rushing the Shadow Man. “You will cease speaking to me like that” Blueblood shouted clashing his sword against Eric’s.

The Shadow Man smiled as he saw Sombra walk onto the grounds. As the Shadow Man toyed with the unicorn, Sombra stopped beside the princesses.

“He’s using that sword?” Sombra noted, earning Celestia’s attention. “He’s truly going to show no mercy.”

“You are right on that. I'm sensing a dark magic from that sword,” Celestia commented.

“It’s not surprising,” Sombra said, turning to Eric. “That sword use to belong to Captain Blossom during Umbra’s rule”

“Blossom?” Luna asked. “As in…”

“Yes, Amber’s ancestor, who took up arms against Umbra,” Sombra said, turning his gaze back to the princess. “He died but not before leaving a cut right under his right eye”

“That doesn’t explain how I sense his power from that blade”

“That sword is special," Sombra explained. "It’s made by fusing obsidian, steel, and magic.” Sombra watched Eric kick Blueblood to the ground. “A method that has been lost to the ages. Weapons like that are given special properties, this weapon takes the blood of it’s owner and opponent and becomes stronger.” Sombra nodded as Eric backed up from another swipe from Blueblood. “That sword has taken the blood of a thousand men. It has been given a name because of that ability.”

Blueblood almost stopped as Sombra's utterance of the name sent a chill into the air.

“Obsidian Blood.”



“I think it’s time we finish this” Eric said, slashing Blueblood’s sword from his hand. “It’s time you learned what ‘To the Pain’ means.”

Without hesitation Eric brings his sword down on Blueblood’s wrist, The unicorn howled in agony as his now bloodied hand fell to the ground. Blueblood backed away in fear as Eric shrouded himself in a murderous aura.

“‘To the Pain’ means that the first thing you’ll lose will be your hands at the wrists,” Eric said using the Shave Technique to rush the unicorn and relieve him of his other hand. “Then your feet below the ankles.”

Blueblood tried to run, but Eric was faster. Blueblood hit the ground with a wail of agony, his feet cut off right where Erich had said. Eric stood over Blueblood with his now crimson blade in his hand, and seized the unicorn by his hair. Lifting him off the ground, he glared into Blueblood's tear-flooded eyes.

“Auntie, please… Make him...Make him stop...” Blueblood cried. “I’m guilty, I'll admit it! Just make it stop!”

“You get no sympathy from me, 'nephew,'” Celestia said, shifting her gaze from Blueblood to Eric. “Finish it, Eric.”

“Now you’ll lose your nose,” Eric said, cutting off the prince's nose, earning another pain filled scream. “Next you’ll lose your left eye, followed by your right”

Eric placed his blade in front of the prince's eyes before slicing his left and right eye. Blueblood screamed, before petering out to a crying whimper. The unicorns body slumped in defeat as his eyes cried bloodied tears

“Just end it!” Blueblood cried. “What's next? Your going to take my tongue and hearing next?”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong Blueblood” Eric whispered into the unicorn's ears. “Your ears you keep and I tell you why. So that every shriek of every child that sees your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach; every woman who cries out, 'Dear Faust! What is that thing?' will echo in your perfect ears.”

Eric drops Blueblood to the ground. “That is what 'to the pain' means; it means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery, forever." Eric seized the prince's tongue and pulled it from his mouth. “You will never harm another creature again.” in a swift motion, Eric severed Blueblood,s tongue, leaving him blind, crippled and now mute.

“Take Blueblood to the medical ward.” Celestia ordered a number of guards. “Tell them to treat him, but not to heal him.” She approached Eric as he sheathed his sword. “Was this really the only punishment that could have been passed on him?”

“Your original punishment was to strip him of everything and to lock him up in your prison, correct?” Eric asked

“With his crimes?” Celestia replied with regret in her voice. “I’d have no choice but to send him to the lower levels of Tartarus.”

“And tell me, since he was a noble, would he survive in a place like that?” Eric asked the princess

“We, as well as the other nations, have put pirates and other criminals in that prison. Many hold anger and rage towards the nobility of any race,” Celestia said, turning away from the Shadow Man. “No. he would have been mercilessly beaten until the light left his eyes.”

“Exactly.” Eric said leaving the grounds. “Rather than death, he will live with the consequences,” Eric stopped at the entrance before giving a side glance to the princess. “In time he will learn what he had done was wrong. And on that day, you should find somepony who commands the abilities of the Heal-Heal Fruit.”

Eric left the castle grounds before Sombra appeared before him in a flash of magic.

“Need something Sombra?"

“You used Obsidian Blood” Sombra stated as he walked towards Eric. “Why would you use such a blade on a foe as pathetic as Blueblood?”

“He wielded a Logia Type,” Eric said, drawing his blade as it shifted from black to gold and back to black in an instant. “I took some of his power.”

“You know you only have a limited number of uses,” Sombra said, moving past the Shadow Man. “Don’t waste them.”

“I never do,” Eric replied, walking into the city.





For a time, Eric simply wandered.

"Hello there," said an unknown voice with a heavy Japanese accent.

Turning Eric was met with a pegasus male with dark blue fur and wings that have a white fade at the end of the tips of each feather. His hair and tail was a light blue color, he wore samurai armor. On his armor was a image of a star filled night with a full moon on top of a cloud.

“Judging from your voice - as well as the style of your attire - I’m going to assume your Nieghpanese,” Eric stated keeping his guard up.

"Japanese actually," the figure corrected in a neutral tone while keeping his own guard up.

Eric’s eyes grow wide hearing this. “You were displaced here as well?"

"Displaced?" the Samurai asked, confused

“You used to live on Earth, did you not?” Eric asked the samurai.

"I did."

Looking around Eric went to move through the city. “Follow me,” Eric said motioning the pegasus to tail him.

The two traveled through the city until they walked into the poor district, where there were fewer ponies to risk listening in on their conversation.

“From what I’ve been told," Eric said. "Being displaced is when you are removed from your world and into this one or another version of Equestria.”

"Can you tell me more about Equestria?" asked the samurai

“I can tell you what I know of This Equestria,” Eric responded, watching the surrounding ponies. “As you’ve already figured out, this world is covered mostly by sea water, so travel between islands are either by boat, the Sea Train or using a unicorn's magic to teleport.”

"I've also heard about these fruits which grant powers," the samurai noted.

“Devil Fruits,” Eric said with a nod. “They are odd shaped fruits which grant the users one of three types of powers: Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia types”

"Devil Fruits," the samurai tasted the name. "A good name for them."

“Yeah, considering they take away your ability to swim,” Eric added, noticing the pinkish pads on the pony’s hand.

"Wait, what?!" the Samurai almost yelled in surprise.

“Power always comes at a price,” Eric responded with a slight frown.

"I suppose it always does," the samurai bemoaned.

“Now for the types: Paramecia types like the Paw-Paw fruit you ate,” Eric said pointing to the pony’s hands. “Change the body or give various abilities.”

"So that's what it's called?" said the samurai as he looked at his hands

“Yes. The Paw-Paw Fruit is a Paramecia Type that gives the user paws on their hand, and these paws can repel any physical force among other things,” Eric explained as they began to head towards the south-east end of the island

"About these Logia and Zoan types... what about them?" asked the samurai.

“Zoan Types are animal based: in your human form you can either get a strength or speed boost. It also allows you to turn either half or full animal,” Eric said as his gaze shifted to a familiar bar. “And Logia types are the rarest of them all, They allow the user to take the shape of the elements.” Eric said, turning his body into shadow surprising the Samurai. “Like my Shade-Shade Fruit. Logia types are also the most dangerous of them all.”

"Why?"

“Draw your weapon,” Eric ordered the Samurai.

The samurai gazed at him with confusion, but drew his weapon all the same.

Eric turned and held his arms out. “Now cut me down,” Eric ordered.

The samurai blinked in shock. "Why?" he demanded.

“Humor me,” Eric said, not moving. “Be a warrior and cut. Me. Down.”

The samurai grumbled. "Not my fault if you die," he mused, before swinging his sword.

However much to the samurai’s shock, his sword went right through the Shadow Man’s body without a single drop of blood hitting the ground. The Samurai backed up in disbelief as Eric’s body reformed.

“That is why Logia types are dangerous,” Eric said with a grin. “Physical attacks are almost useless unless you know what their weaknesses are.”

"Would my power have any effect on you?" the Samurai asked.

“Not really. Unless you know how to stop every shadow in the area,” Eric said.

The Samurai glanced at the shadows moving in the streets and from the walls.

"So is that the reason why we came here," the Samurai realized, getting into a fighting stance. "So that you'd have the advantage!"

“No,” Eric said, turning to the bar. “I have some business to take care of.” The Shadow Man began to chuckle. “Besides, it doesn’t matter where we are in this city. I’ll always have the advantage.”

With that Eric entered the bar and saw Dusk behind the counter with bloodied clothing and a few missing teeth.

“Bad customer?” Eric asked as Dusk wiped the blood from his mouth.

“You have no idea,” Dusk growled, before looking towards the Samurai. “Who’s the Nip?”

"Nip?" the Samurai glowered.

“Both of you simmer down,” Eric said before putting a book on the counter. “I need to know where these women are.”

Dusk took the book and opened it up. He quirked an eye at the names before closing it. “It’ll cost you a shit-ton and it’ll take a couple of months to get everything from this book."

“You should know I have the money” Eric replied.

Dusk sighed, but just before Eric could leave...

“Von Shadow...” Dusk said, drawing the Shadow Man’s attention. “Be careful. Somepony came in here asking about you. I told him everything I know.”

“Thanks for the warning.” With that Eric and the Samurai left the bar.

"What's on the book?" the Samurai asked.

“It was a record of women sold at a Black Market," Eric answered

"What?!" Anger fueled the Samurai's voice.

“I’m going to give the unicorn’s findings to the Princess so we can attempt to set them free and return them home," Eric said before pausing. “I never introduced myself, did I?” The Shadow Man extended his hand to the Samurai. “Erikku fon shadō, kurisutaru teikoku no karitori."

The Samurai stepped back. "You know Japanese too?" He smiled. "Impressive." He took Eric's hand. "Hoshizora or Starry Sky if you wish to use the translation."

“I usually prefer English, but after years of education I can never forget the other languages,” Eric said, letting go of Hoshizora's hand. “So what is somepony like you doing in Canterlot?”

"I'm here for you actually," said the Samurai.

Eric grinned, showing his wedding band. “Sorry, I’m taken."

The Samurai laughed, showing his own ring. "As am I."

“Well let’s hope yours is still above the ground” Eric said closing his fist. “What do you need from me?”

"My condolences, but I doubt mine is still alive. As for what I need I was wondering if you've found a way back?" Starry said with a hint of hope in his voice.

“I’ve been on this world for one thousand and ten years. Most of that time I was trapped in the shadows. I’m afraid I don’t know if it’s possible to return” Eric said as the two continued to walk through the city. "And even if there ways I'm not leaving"

"Let me help," Starry said abruptly.

“Beg Pardon?” Eric lifted an eyebrow.

"Those girls in the book are still missing, are they not?"

“Yes they are” Eric nodded to the Pegasus. “You are more than welcome to join me in this endeavor.”

"I thank you," Starry said with a bow. "Is there anything else you wish to know or shall we head back?"

“Actually I’m curious about two things. First How did you get displaced and when?” Eric asked the Samurai. “Cause that armor makes you look like a feudal Era samurai or shogun.”

"To the first question, I had just escaped with my life when several Samurai had shown up to my house saying that since I had refused their lord's offer I had to be made an example of. After escaping a few days later, I encountered a strange looking man who was selling all kinds of things from armor, weapons, weird books, and fruits. I was hungry so I bought one of the fruits and took a bite and it tasted terrible. Next thing I know the strange man was standing over me saying ‘enjoy your trip,’" said Starry "As for the second question I did come from 'feudal Japan' as you put it."

“Well that answers…” Eric paused, spotting a pony wearing a brown coat vanish in a flash of light.

‘A brown furred earth pony with a brown coat that disappeared in a flash of light. But Cold Scale saw him nine hundred years ago’ Eric thought before his eyes grew wide. ‘He must have the Time-Time Fruit!’
> Mission Barely Possible
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash released a fireball from her hands, sending the crimson orbs at the Shadow Man. Eric dodged and retaliated with a spear of shadow. With a twist of her body, the pegasus barely evaded the spears, escaping with only a cut on her shirt. Kicking her leg, Rainbow sent a monsoon of fire at Eric, who formed a pair of giant wings and snuffed the flames out with a powerful flap.

The two combatants grinned, and lowered themselves to the ground.

“You’re getting better at controlling the Flame-Flame Fruit,” Eric praised, tossing a towel to the mare.

“Thanks Eric,” she replied.

“However, you're still having trouble controlling your precision attacks,” Eric added, wiping his face with his own towel. “You try to go all out, you’ll only tire yourself out in the middle of a fight.”

Rainbow grimaced. “Trust me, I’ve been trying.” She looked down. “I’m not like you; I don’t know everything about all the Devil Fruits.”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Eric encouraged with a grin. “All it takes is time, patience and a lot of practice.”

Rainbow nodded, but before she could reply…

"I call upon the Reaper of the Crystal Empire!"

Eric paused. ‘Thanos?’

“What is it, Eric?” Rainbow asked.

Eric moved away. “Nothing,” he said over his shoulder. “Continue training for a bit.”

“But… where are you going?” Rainbow asked.

“Remember that purple skinned Shade?” Eric asked. Rainbow nodded. “Well he needs me, so I can’t exactly leave him hanging. Right?”

Understanding dawned on Rainbow Dash’s face, and she nodded. With the cyan mare sated, Eric entered his shadow, where a fiery shadow portal was located. Ducking through the portal, Eric found himself in the world of the Mad Titan.

He had emerged behind Thanos, who stared at Eric’s token as if waiting for it to do backflips. Grinning, Eric formed a scythe of shadow, putting the blade to the titan’s neck.

"You require the aid of the Reaper?" Eric asked, resisting the urge to laugh as Thanos jumped, spinning around to greet him.

Thanos groaned, rubbing his eyebrows. “Pull that again, so help me…” He stopped, as both men heard the sound of tiny footsteps.

“Daddy?” A young feminine voice spoke.

Thanos gasped. Seizing Eric with all his strength, the Titan shoved Eric into an armor stand, before whirling around to greet a small minotaur girl with all the passion of a father greeting his daughter.

“Shieldy!” Thanos cried in glee, embracing the young calf. “What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you,” the calf – Shield? – responded.

Eric chuckled, climbing out of the armor stand. “Cute. She your Gamora? or did you lay a minotaur?” He tapped a fist to his chest. “Either way, respect on being a father.”

Thanos chuckled. “Celestia is the only one for me! But yeah, you could say she’s my Gamora. There was this King named Golden Hoof: a descendent from the Golden family, and the ruler of Minos. After I wrecked him and took the throne, his daughter became mine.” He pet his child. “I gotta say, I think she likes me more.” Despite his words, Shield stared up at Eric with curiosity.

“Daddy, who is that… Emo guy?” Golden Shield asked, pointing at Eric.

Eric grimaced. “Emo guy?”

Thanos cracked up, booming with laughter and slapping his knee. After calming down, he turned back to his daughter. “Well, Shieldy, this ‘emo guy’ is my friend. Eric Von Shadow, the Reaper of the Crystal Empire! He has a thing for serving rulers. But don’t worry, I’m not gay.” Thanos laughed again as he rose to his full height; eight feet and three inches. Eric didn’t even blink, dispelling his scythe into shadow.

“So, what do you need from me?” Eric asked.

Thanos’ gaze turned serious. “Yeah, follow me.”

With Golden Shield following, Thanos led Eric through a door and into a room packed with the Mad Titan’s ‘crew.’

Eric recognized Grievous, the Dragon Slayer of the East, as well as Entity_303, a blocky fellow who hailed from the world of Minecraft. Rob Lucci, the Leopard Assassin, lounged in a corner sharpening his claws like the leopard he was. Three minotaurs stood with them; a muscular bull of a minotaur with green armor, a more lithe, female minotaur with aqua colored armor, sharpening a sword made of sapphire, and a second female minotaur that resembled the first female perfectly, save for her armor being red, her sword being a spear, and her snout having more scars.

“Eric Von Shadow, meet The Boys! Also, called the Infinity Warriors but we aren’t completely assembled yet…” Thanos said with a sigh. “You already know Grievous, Entity and Lucci.”

Eric nodded. “And the minotaurs?”

“Emerald Gauntlet,” Thanos introduced, as the green armored minotaur flexed. “Sapphire Sword…” the blue-armored minotaur nodded. “And Ruby.”

“Hey,” Ruby replied.

Eric turned to the door, sensing a shadow approaching. “Someone’s coming,” he warned.

“ENTITY!!!!” a woman roared, before the door burst open, falling on Eric.

“Sally?” Entity stammered, as the woman – Sally – stormed in, glaring him down.

“You have the NERVE to skip our date?!”

“IT’S A DAMN WAR!” Entity shrieked in both fear and disbelief.

“I don’t fucking care, a date is a date!” Sally snarled, storming off the door and turning it to ash.

Eric’s head poked out of the ash, grimacing in frustration. “Thanks,” he muttered, standing and dusting the ash off. “So, where should my scythe be pointed, Thanos?”

“We’re currently going to go on a mission,” Thanos replied with a grin. “A mission that’s… barely possible.”

From out of nowhere, Grievous pulled out a drum seat, and played a rim shot.

“Thank you Grievous,” the mad titan praised.

“You’re welcome fam.” The Dragon Slayer replied, “It’s what I do.”

“Anyway,” Thanos continued. “This is a mission that will most likely put you guys in danger. I am going with you guys to make sure you guys don’t do something stupid, which, let’s be honest, you guys would.”

The others shrugged, while Eric merely narrowed his eyes.

“Now,” Thanos continued. “We’re going to sneak into Canterlot and steal the Power Stone. The residents of Canterlot may be in the possession of the Mind Stone too, but I want to give them a chance in the oncoming war. Giving them hope so that I can CRUSH it.” Thanos clenched his fist for emphasis.

“So, you need me to steal a couple of Infinity Stones?” Eric summarized. He shrugged. “Should be pretty easy.”

“Did you not hear the man?” Grievous growled. “He said ‘one.’”

“And no, it won’t be easy,” Thanos added. “The Power Stone is most likely being held in the Vault of Heroes, deep inside Canterlot. Completely surrounded by Sea Prism Stone, and capped off with Anti-Teleportation Magic.”

Eric hummed. “So, no teleportation, and no Devil Fruit.”

“Exactly,” Thanos agreed. “And that’s not even mentioning they have Creatures of the Dark; one of Oblivion the Shadow’s creations, lightning up the fucking brim!”

“I assume you have a plan?”

“Have some faith, Von Shadow,” Thanos teased before turning to the others. “We’re splitting up into teams. Grievous? Lucci? Sally? Eric? You’re with me on Team Snake.”

“Team Snake?” Eric chuckled. “Are we going to wear Cardboard boxes?”

“If it comes to that, yes, we would.” He turned to Entity and the Minotaurs. “The second team, Team Watchdog, will scope around the area and look for guards. I know we have Observation Haki to sense our surroundings, but from what my Agent told me-”

“My Observation isn’t that good,” Eric cut off. “But I can sense any pony's shadow within a three-hundred-mile radius. I’m more effective with armament and somewhat on my conquerors.''

“But did you know that the Royal Guards have Sea Prism Armor and Golden Armor that has the effect of Shine?” Lucci asked.

Eric tilted his head. “Shine?”

“It gives them no shadow. Allows them to conceal themselves when doing stealth ops, and gives them an advantage over Shadow Demons. Yes,” Lucci added at Eric’s raised eyebrows. “We have those.”

“How?”

“There was a Unicorn named Oblivion; a student of our world’s Umbra the Dark. Oblivion was Umbra’s successor and his goal was to vanquish the forces of light and leave the world in shadow. To please Umbra the Dark, so he created Shadow Demons. Shadow Demons come out of REALLY dark places, which is why our ponies never visit the ocean. Oblivion was sealed in a Ring but legend says he’s still making Shadow Demons even inside his prison.”

“I wouldn't mind seeing if I could use something like Oblivion,” Eric muttered to himself. “Shadow Demons could work in tandem with my Devil Fruit.”

“I’m not even going into detail of how wrong that idea is.” Sally said. Sighing, she turned back to Thanos. “Continue.”

“Team Watchdog will scout out any danger and message the others with this,” Thanos pulled out a black spherical object. “A communication device made by…” Thanos’ lifted his gauntlet, and a familiar gem shined. “The Reality Stone! Ta-Da!”

Briefly, Eric felt gravity fade around him. Before he could be left to float in the air like an idiot, Eric melted into the shadows, emerging with his feet bound to the floor.

“Anything else?” Eric asked.

“Yeah,” Thanos replied, turning to the minotaurs again. “Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby; you three are Team Salvation. Emerald and Ruby will get us to Sapphire’s Armanda of Airships when we have the stone, and we’ll use those to fly out of Canterlot. And once I get the Power Stone, I will be a step closer to becoming whole again.”

Thanos clenched his Gauntlet wearing fist and the gauntlet holes lit up with the power of the Infinity stones. Infinity Stones colors.

Eric nodded as the colors faded. “Alright. When do we start?”

“Midnight. When the shadows are aplenty.” Thanos turned back to his crew. “ So get some rest, everyone, for tonight will shake the balance of the world.”

Eric crossed his arms. “And tell me… do you have a backup plan, in case – no, when – something goes wrong?”

“Mission Barely Possible has multiple plans,” Thanos boasted. “Right Sally?”

“Uh…” Sally grimaced and whispered in his ear. Thanos balked.

“W-We don’t?” he asked.

She whispered some more.

“Of course, I’m not gonna tell him, it would be funnier that way.” Thanos looked to Eric with a grin. “Eric, we have ten backup plans, do not worry.”

Eric just raised an eyebrow. “That’s comforting.” He sighed, noticing Grievous eyeing him. “What? You see something you like?”

“Nope, just edge sharper than my blades…” Grievous replied with a shake of his head.

Lucci chuckled. “He’s like that goth kid in class who wore black all the time. What was his name… Jeremy?”

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Entity said. “Whenever I got a whiff of him, I cut my nose.”

“I can hear all of you!” Eric noted.

“We know, we’re not idiots!” Entity shot back. “I mean we were called the Three Idiots at a time but-”

Lucci slapped the back of Entity’s head. “You’re not helping our case!”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Thanos, I’m going to rest.” Eric walked out of earshot from the others, but waited until Thanos followed him. “Your crew has no discipline,” the Shadow Man noted. “This plan of yours will fail.”

“You haven’t seen them when they respect someone,” Thanos replied. “Or when they’re in battle. They have much more discipline then.”

Eric didn’t reply, following Thanos out of the war room and into a library. For a moment, they were silent. Eric’s thoughts turned to his own world. And the user of the Time-Time Fruit.

“Hey Thanos,” Eric said. “Can I ask you something?”

"What is it, Little One?"

“If you had the ability to go back in time to save someone, would you do it?”

Thanos shook his head. "No, the past is in the past. There is nothing you can do about it. You can only smile and move on.” Thanos moved deeper into the library. “Come, I want to show you something."

Eric followed Thanos deeper and deeper into the library. As the shadows grew, Eric noticed several statues of warriors. Most of the warriors were minotaurs, but at the very back, Eric found himself staring at a statue of Thanos.

"Welcome to Mino's Archives!" Thanos said, "Also the Realm of Warriors." Thanos stood in front of his statue with a grin. “Pretty cool don't you think?"

“It is,” Eric admitted, gazing up at the Titan’s likeness. “Did they do this or did you command this to be put here?”

"They did,” Thanos gazed at the other statues. “I was a War Hero way back when. Not to mention the student of Cloven Diamond, the strongest being on the planet." Thanos nodded at a statue that looked made of diamonds.

“Cloven Diamond…” Eric put a hand to his chin. “I’ve heard that name before.”

Reaching into his shadows, Eric pulled the book he had used to research King Umbra. Flipping through the pages, he found an image of a minotaur with diamond-colored fur and a beard fit for a Viking.

“Cloven Diamond,”Eric read. “The ruler of Minos; a proud but fair warrior who ruled Minos with compassion and strength. Created one of the first alliances with Equestria’s King Sol until the War with Lord Tirek.” Eric’s eyes narrowed as Thanos listened in solemn thought. “Having felt the king failed to protect his father, Cloven Diamond’s son, the successor to the throne, terminated the alliance and cursed Equestria with a destruction of death, fire, and steel.”

"He was a King here too,” Thanos admitted. “But he gave the crown to his nephew." He ran a hand along the bottom of the statue, where Eric made out a small inscription:


'Forever the Greatest Warrior.'


"He taught me everything he knew about the Six Powers,” Thanos said with a wistful smile. “Martial Arts. Haki."

Eric nodded in understanding. “We must always honor our masters by the way we fight. King Jasper and Captain Raven Wind trained me before their retirement.”

"The Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard name was Black Shield,” Thanos noted with a shrug. “I guess the colors are connected."

The titan walked towards a shelf and picked up a book from it. It was a black book with red letters.


"The List of Evil."


"You might need this,” Thanos said, offering it to Eric. “To search for Oblivion the Shadow. After all, he might be in your Equestria as well."

Eric took the book with a nod.

"Go read it in your room which is…" Thanos activated the reality stone, and the two were transported to a shadow themed room. "Here. I had my maids make the room just for you, should you need shelter here."

“Thanks,” Eric said, settling in a chair and cracking open the book. “For all I know, he may as well be dead in my world, but it’s never a bad thing to learn how to counter a powerful foe.”

Thanos nodded. "Sweet dreams, short stack,” he added with a grin, before moon-walking out of the room. Eric watched him go with a grin.

“See you tonight… Lard Ass” Eric noted with a laugh.

Behind the door, Thanos couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. "I love that guy…"

With the titan gone, Eric focused on his book.


“Oblivion: The Shadow… A Unicorn who willingly chose to work under Umbra the Dark. Under his wing, the unicorn defiled many ponies and warped them into mindless drones for Umbra’s army. He also is the creator of the Shadow Spells, spells so forbidden that if you mutter the name you could get life in Tartarus. The Spells allow him to steal the shadows of others and make them into warriors. As long as the Shadow Warriors are alive, the original cannot die; not from starving, falling, or any injury of the sort. However, there is a cost; while the original canot die, they can also not see or touch or feel anything.



Oblivion has different forms of spells, he can pull people towards them, seal ponies in weapons, and even summon the Demon of Darkness himself, Ravelk, to his aid. However, the demon can only remain in the mortal realm for a limited time."


Eric sighed, closing the book and looking up at the ceiling. “He better be dead in my Equestria” Setting the book down Eric shut his eyes to rest.

Unknown to him, the shadows rippled with an angry aura.





"ON YOUR FEET SOLDIER,” Grievous’ voice boomed in Eric’s ear. “WE ARE LEAVING!!!!"

Instantly, numerous spears of shadow surrounded the cyborg’s body. Eric opened an irritated red and black eye, and rose with a growl.

“Don’t ever do that again!”

Grievous just rolled his eyes. “Then hurry your ass up!” He glared at the spears. “And let me down from this!”

Eric glowered at the General, but reluctantly dispelled the spears. Swinging his cape, Grievous opened the door and headed down the corridor to the Docking Area, Eric not far behind. As they marched through the docking area, they passed three Zeppelins with red, blue, and green on each. But there was one in front of them, which was jet black on the sides. Thanos and the Boys stood before the black zeppelin.

"This,” Thanos declared. “Is the Nigga Mobile!" Thanos glanced at Eric. "Those who are white say the Wigga Mobile."

Eric rolled his eyes and moved past the Boys, boarding the vessel. “Let’s get this party started.”

But he barely stepped one foot onto the ship before a giant claw of light snagged him.

"GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK HERE!!!" Thanos roared, depositing Eric next to The Boys. "I forgot to cover something with our briefing. We need to put the Power Stone in this," He pulled out a box of Crystal. "Or you'll be obliterated."

“Understood,” Eric said with a nod.

"Now, that is all, who knows how to not die?" Thanos said, looking at the group. “Anyone?” No one replied. “Okay. Now Eric…” Thanos gave him a serious look. “Do you know who Candice is…?”

Eric laughed, but shook his head. “Nice try. I fell for that before I was displaced.”

“Damnit,” Thanos barked to the heavens. “Ah well. All aboard the A.S.S!” He strode on board. “The Awesome Super Ship!”

“This will be fun.” Grievous noted, following Thanos.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call the A.S.S. M’dick,” Eric added as he followed Grievous.

“That’s the ship over there.” Sally pointed to the smallest ship in the dock yard.

“Has he ever asked how it feels riding it?” Eric asked.

Sally blushed. “Yes… And I unfortunately said it feels good.” Sally rubbed her eyebrows.

Eric lifted his hand. “You have my condolences.” He began rubbing his pointer finger and his thumb together. “Let me play you a song on the world's smallest violin.”

“Fuck you!” Sally replied, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing as they boarded the ship.

“I’m serious,” Eric noted as he sat in a strapped down chair. “This is the world’s smallest violin.” He revealed a tiny black violin in his hand. “See?”

“Bro you play that too?!” Sally and Grievous said, before showing off their own small violins.

“Of course,” Eric said, putting the violin back in his shadows. “It’s one of my prized possessions.”

Grievous bowed. “You’ve gained my respect. That simple thing… You’ve gained my respect. No one respects the most BEAUTIFUL instrument ever.”

“Unfortunately,” Eric added with slight disgust. “I can play more than just the violin. Piano, harp, cello...” He glowered. “Every instrument dealing with nobility.”

Grievous hummed. “I can tell you’re troubled… Have you ever been to Alcatraz on Earth? It’s a… pretty weird place. Oh, and I got a Harmonica there!” He pulled out said harmonic. It read, ‘where music was a privilege.’

“I think I would have preferred that when I was still on Earth,” Eric replied.

“Alrighty Boys and girls, we're taking lift off!” Entity spoke over the intercom, taking his place at the pilot’s seat. The engines revved up and the aircraft began to ascend. “If you’re scared of heights, too bad. If you want to leave, the door is on the right of Thanos.”

Thanos pointed at a door with the word ‘EXIT’ right next to him.

Sally thought for a moment, before turning to Eric. “Want to hear a story of old, when me and the others weren’t in a war with good ol’ Tia?”

Eric crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “If it involves a dragon, zombies, or Prince Blueblood, then I’ll pass.”

Sally scoffed. “Dragons? Zombies? We have too much to tell about them! Let me tell you about the time Supergirl and Thanos raced around the world to settle who was superior at certain things.”

Sally smiled as Eric opened one eye in intrigue.

“So, about a thousand years ago, I woke up to Thanos and Supergirl arguing about who was faster. Supergirl argued that she could fly, making her faster. Thanos argued that he can use Soru and Geppo, making her point invalid. So, they decided to race around the world.”

“Cloven Diamond approved,” Grievous added. “And they met up at the outside of the eastern border to the Everfree Forest. The rules were that they had to pass Griffonstone, the Dragon Lands, Zebrafrica, then the continent of Asia and Europe then finally swim from Neighpan to Equestria.”

Eric raised an eyebrow; from the way Grievous talked, he made it sound like such a journey was just a few laps through a pool for the Krypton and Titan. “Sounds like it was fun,” Eric mused, turning to Grievous. “How long did the race last?”

“Five hours.” Grievous replied, “It was exciting.”

Eric hummed, pondering to himself. ‘I don’t think my reaper form could make that distance in that time. I’d probably have to give or take two or three extra hours.’

“The race was so exciting that even the Rulers from other Countries gathered to watch,” Sally continued. “Supergirl flew high, but Thanos used Kamisori - a mixture of Geppo and Soru. Or if you want, Moonwalk and Shave. The two were both going fast before they began the swimming part of the challenge. That’s right,” she added at Eric’s raised eyebrows. “They swam across entire bodies of water. From Equestria to Griffonstone. Thanos had more physical strength than Supergirl, so Thanos got out of the water first. Supergirl caught up to him around the Dragon Lands, where they had to leap over volcanoes. But the real interesting part was at the end, there was a huge distance from Neighpan and Equestria. Over 6,000 miles!” Sally’s eyes sparkled.

“Hear that man?” Grievous asked. “They swam it too, and they did it in under an hour. Swimming is the most grueling task on the human body.”

“Must have been one Hell of a workout,” Eric replied with a smile. “Speaking of Hell…” Eric turned to Thanos. “How’s the Heat-Heat Fruit treating you, Thanos?”

“I can expel fire now if I condense heat into a ball.” Thanos clenched his fist, then opened it. A ball of fire revealed itself. “Catch.” Thanos threw it at Eric.

Eric reached and shadow poured from his hand, swallowing the fire whole. Eric grinned as the shadow receded back into his body.

“Oh, and I can do stuff with steam!” Thanos added, standing up from his seat. Steam hissed from his boots, propelling him into the air like Iron Man. With a grimace, Thanos began to vanish, mimicking Gear Second.

“It’s like you’re a Steam Man” Eric noted with a grin.

Thanos laughed, appearing above Eric in an upside-down position. Steam hissed out of his head like a tea kettle. “That’s exactly what it’s called.”

“Good to know.”

“Yeah...” Thanos flipped back to his seat. “Anyway, my race with Supergirl ended in a draw. Which I must add was BULLSHIT!” Thanos briefly burst into red flames at his curse.

“But you had fun, right?” Eric noted.

Thanos chuckled. “Yeah… Cloven Diamond was proud of us. He said a draw is better than winning. He told us that we could do it again and push ourselves to our limits trying to overcome one another. Basically Oogway.”

Eric smiled fondly. “Captain Raven once told me something about one’s limits. He said, ‘Limits are not a blockade. They aren’t made to be broken, they are meant to be shattered!”

“How did you think I got here?” Thanos replied.

“It was under my guidance that made you live this far.” A voice spoke in Thanos’ head.

“Shut it Thanos,” the Titan barked at the voice in his head. Sighing, he turned back to Eric. “Anyways what were you saying?”

“Well, it makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one who hears voices,” Eric glanced down. “Though mine take the form of my shadow.”

The others peered at Eric’s shadow before he shook himself off.

“And to answer your question,” Eric continued. “You got here, not by shattering your limits but by destroying them. As I have.”

“Do you think we can meet your gang?” Lucci asked. “I’m curious on how we differentiate from them.”

“Possibly.” Eric shrugged. “I still have them thinking I’m a Shade made from Umbra’s magic. Not sure how I’ll explain you guys.”

Lucci pondered it. “What if we said we were warriors from a distant land? Worked for us before.” Thanos just nodded in agreement.

“It’s plausible,” Eric admitted, “But I finally got the princesses' trust.” He put a hand to his chin. “I’d rather not lose it now”

“Do we really look untrustworthy?” Thanos asked. “I just helped Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie learn from their mistakes! Hell, you could say you and I are friends.” He paused, before bowing his head. “But I understand, princesses are a fickle lot. I should know…”





The Aircraft stopped, the drawbridge landing on a snowy platform. Entity crossed his arms, Lucci standing right by his side.

“This is your stop,” Lucci declared. “Welcome to the top of Mount Canter. Below you is Canterlot. Try not to waste your oxygen until you get down there alright?”

Eric walked out, the cold doing nothing for his shadowy body. “Feels like home up here,” he noted, as Lucci, Thanos, Sally and Grievous joined him.

“Huh?” Thanos did a double take at Lucci. “Why are you joining us?”

“I was a part of the CP9, I’ll be more useful here.” Lucci shrugged. “I’m not called the Leopard Assassin for nothing.”

“Well, does anyone want to go with Entity?” Thanos looked at the others, but was greeted with silence. Entity huffed.

“Well fuck you too!” Entity pouted with a cross of his arms.

“Sorry sweetie.” Sally said, walking up and kissing Entity on the cheeks. She gave him a soft smile and walked back down. “Stay safe!”

Entity chuckled. “You know me, he replied, returning to the controls. “I’m never safe!”

With his final words, the bridge went up, and the aircraft took off again. As the aircraft left them, Eric pulled out a telescope and peered down at Canterlot. “Are you sure that Celestia won’t notice this?”

“Don’t worry,” Thanos replied. “She’s crying her heart out. Look.”

Shifting his scope, Eric spotted the Solar Princess. Indeed, she didn’t seem to be in the most stable position. Shivering in her room, with her hair in ruffles. The mare looked on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Eric hissed, handing the looking glass to Thanos. “What did you do to her?”

“Destroyed her cake stash,” Thanos replied with a grin. He sneered at Celestia’s turmoil. “Fat bitch. Anyway…” He shifted his gaze to the rest of the castle. “We need to enter through the roof of that building.” He pointed at one of the rounder buildings in the center of the castle. “Silently, we’ll make our way from the roof to the underground vault. Remember Eric, you can’t go sneaking into shadows, the guards have armor that detects shadow demons.”

“Right,” Eric grumbled, taking his telescope back. “Puts me at a bit of a disadvantage.”

“Now, don’t jump off just yet,” Thanos warned. “We should do it silently.” Thanos walked to the edge. “Follow my lead.” Thanos jumped. Using his weapon, he cast a silence spell over the blade and sunk it into the side of the mountain. Thanos slid down the peak without a sound.

Placing his hand on the ground, Eric created a large black falcon. Jumping on the back of the bird, Eric rode the beast down to the castle grounds.

At the same time, Lucci turned into his Hybrid Form. With his paws allowing for absolute silence, Lucci jumped and used Geppo, slowly and silently prowling into the castle grounds.

Grievous got out his Wind Sword and slashed, making wings of pure air. Taking a running start, the general jumped off the mountain and glided down to the castle grounds.

Thanos then jumped off the mountain at the right time, using Geppo to jump on air before silently rolling to his feet on the building. Grievous gently flew down after him, his wings of Wind fluttering as he gracefully landed next to Thanos. Lucci’s Geppo allowed him to gently set down next to Thanos as well. And Eric jumped from his bird, dispelling it back into shadow as he joined the Boys.

“Where’s Sally?” Grievous whispered.

A bird call sounded behind Grievous. The Boys turned to find the girl already next tot them. Eric blinked.

“Are you sure you’re not Himiko Toga?” Eric asked.

“If I was,” Sally replied. “I would’ve already tied Entity up, put him in the basement then made him love me.”

Grievous, Thanos, and Lucci stared at her wide-eyed. “Someone better keep an eye on Entity…” Grievous noted, his robotic spine shivering, before he shook it off. “Either way, we should really get going.”

“Both are good ideas,” Thanos replied. “Follow me.” Crouching, Thanos infiltrated the building, sneaking down onto a balcony.

Just as the others moved to join him…

“Get down!” Thanos hissed.

They jumped back, while Thanos hid his bulk against the wall. A guard passed by the doorway, before pausing. Stepping onto the balcony, the guard’s horn lit up, shining like a flashlight and coming eerily close to exposing Thanos.

Luckily, Eric was fast. Jumping into the shadows, Eric emerged behind the guard. And just as the guard’s armor warned him of Eric’s presence, the Shadow Man struck; seizing the guard’s sheathed sword and slamming it into his neck. Thanos caught the guard before he hit the ground, sighing in relief. The guard was unconscious, and no noise had been made.

As the Boys concealed the body, Eric made sure no other guards were coming. He motioned into the room. “Shall we?”

“Shall we what?” Thanos whispered. “Suck some dick? Finish your sentences!”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Move on with the mission!” he hissed.

Thanos ignored him, moving past Eric with Grievous in tow.

They soon encountered another guard, his confused expression hinting he was looking for the one they had just knocked out. Moving like liquid, Grievous slid behind the guard and chopped his neck. Thanos caught the guard and set him on the bed with a blanket and pillow. As Grievous, Lucci, Eric and Sally headed inside, Thanos proceeded to tuck in the first guard as well.

“Come on!” Lucci whispered.

“I’m kissing the homies goodnight,” Thanos protested. “Go on ahead!”

But Sally walked up and kissed both of them. “There,” she said. “Now let’s go.” She dragged Thanos through the door.

Down the stairs they went, Grievous using his claws to crawl on the ceiling, Eric moving through the shadows and Thanos changing into various vases and decorations with the reality stone. Lucci and Sally grimaced at their friends’ methods, but stuck to normal sneaking.

As they passed by a door, they heard guards inside.

“You remember that time when Grievous poured ink on Princess Celestia’s tits?” one asked.

“Yeah, that was hysterical,” another one spoke.

Eric poked his head out of the shadows. “You all have some bad luck around the Princesses.”

“You have no fucking idea.” Grievous replied softly.

Thanos just sighed. Unfortunately for the Boys…

“What was that?”

The guards came out, one a unicorn, the other an earth pony.

“I… Don’t know.” The earth pony put his hand on his sword.

Acting fast, Sally used Soru and rushed right past them. The guards dissolved into ash. Unfortunately, their armor remained. And as it clattered to the ground, the noise echoed down the halls.

“Shit,” Sally hissed, opening a door that led into a library. “In here!”

The Boys followed her in, Lucci swearing, Thanos wincing, Grievous growling and Eric slinking.

They had barely shut the door when another voice sounded. “Who’s down there?”

“Scatter!” Thanos ordered.

The group obeyed. Eric fired a tendril to the roof and pulled himself to the ceiling. Keeping his eyes trained below, Eric saw the owner of the voice enter the room. His eyes widened.

“Luna?” Eric muttered softly.

The Princess of the Moon walked up next to a vase. From his vantage point, Eric saw Grievous, huddled deep inside. Luna’s eyes narrowed at the General’s hiding spot, and she moved to touch it.

Thinking fast, Eric threw a small black orb towards the doors she came through. The sound alerted her, and she spun back around, re-opening the doors to the Hall.

“Is some pony there?” Luna demanded, walking outside. For a moment, everyone held their breath as Luna stood just outside the opened doors. Finally, after a tense moment, Luna turned around and shut the door. Carefully, everyone walked back to the center of the library.

“Thank Faust” Eric whispered as he descended.

“Sally,” Lucci growled. “What. Was. That?”

“I don’t know, I panicked!” Sally hissed. “And Thanos, you were supposed to cover us. Couldn’t you have made the plates of armor muffins or something?”

“I didn’t know you would do that,” Thanos protested. “I was thinking about Celestia. Also, Lucci, why are you here?! You’re supposed to be with Entity.”

“I am an assassin, this is what I fucking do!” Lucci crossed his arms with a glower.

“And it looks like we’re at the third step,” Eric murmured.

The others stared at Eric in confusion. “The fuck do you mean?” Grievous demanded.

“We’re in the third step of any plan,” Eric explained. “Four steps: 1) make the plan. 2) execute the plan. 3) expect the plan to go off the rail, then 4) throw away the plan.”

“No,” Thanos growled. “I worked really hard on the plan and I will not-”

Thanos paused as they heard faint whimpering. The group turned to find a familiar young unicorn. Moon Dancer; shivering with fear.

“I am done with this shit, fuck you,” Thanos growled, forging a bat. However, Sally jumped between him and the foal, a disapproving frown plastered on her face.

“That’s a fucking child.” Sally protested.

“Fuck that child.” Thanos growled back.

Before Sally could argue, they both heard the sound of a body hitting the ground. Turning around, they found Eric standing over an unconscious but otherwise unharmed Moon Dancer.

“Problem solved,” Eric said, moving the pony to sit against the wall with a book on her lap. “Now she’ll think she fell asleep reading.”

Thanos nodded. “Alright, good. Let’s continue.” Walking to the door, he opened and peered out cautiously. “We’re clear.”

The group snuck out, approaching another flight of stairs.

“Come on.” Thanos said, sneaking down the stairs.

Eric found it surprising how an 8’3 goliath who weighs about 700 pounds was able to be so sneaky, but the mad titan found a way. Grievous just crawled on the roof, while Lucci became a full Leopard and snuck down the stairs. Sally followed in Thanos’ giant footsteps, and Eric merged with the dark stairs and rushed ahead. At the bottom of the stairs, Eric found a pair of guards. Being in a dark area Eric didn’t need their shadows to pull them into his, and before either could let out a scream, Eric sucked them into the darkness, rising out with a grin.

“You’re gonna put them back… Right?” Sally asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So long as I don’t forget” Eric replied.

“I’ll be sure to remind you then.” Sally noted. She turned to the corridor on the left and found another flight of stairs. “After this flight, we have one more left before we go into the most guarded place in the castle.”

Making sure no one was watching, Sally made a run for it, her footsteps as silent as a mouse. Reaching the flight of stairs, Sally motioned for the others to come. Thanos turned to Eric, signaling him to go first.

Moving ahead of the pack, Eric traveled through the shadows of the stairs. Arriving at the bottom, Eric found a sealed door, bolted with several locks. Using his powers he pulled the others to the bottom via their shadow.

“You need to unlock the door to go down the stairs but…” Thanos paused, hearing voices. But they didn’t sound like guards. Turning, the Boys saw multiple Nobles talking to the Princess of the Night.

“What is wrong with you?” One of the nobles was declaring, “Here I am giving you a second chance after that whole Nightmare Moon debacle, and you repay me by insulting my attire?”

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Luna protested. “I meant to say that they’re awfully good…”

“Inexcusable!” the noble barked, causing Luna to shrink down. “You make a mockery of the Royal Family!”

Eric clenched his teeth, unsheathing his blade. However, Thanos grabbed him.

“The mission,” Thanos reminded him. “We need to complete it.”

Eric hesitated, knowing he should sheathe his sword. Thanos was right. This Luna wasn’t even his Luna. And yet… that Noble’s infuriating tone continued to assault Eric’s ears. And he knew Luna’s body language; he could tell she was on the verge of tears.

“You could never be a princess! Always in Celestia’s shadow! Hmph! You should go back to the moon where you belong!”

“She’s a princess,” one of the nobles, Fancy Pants, declared. “Respect her.”
“Princess?” the other noble huffed. “More like a mistake! Making her a princess was the worst decision ever made. Everything was fine until she came along!” He spat at Luna’s face.

Eric’s eyes turned red. His knuckles turned white as he crushed the grip on his sword. Thanos turned Eric around, a wave of Conqueror’s Haki rolling over the Shadow Man.

“Follow. The damn. Mission,” Thanos hissed.

With Eric frozen by the Haki, Thanos used his reality stone, and silently unlocked the door. Yet, as the group slunk inside, none of them felt any victory.

“One should not be reminded of their darkest past” Eric whispered, looking down to find his grip had turned his hand red.

Thanos ignored him at first, finding a spiral staircase leading down. Motioning for the others, Thanos led the way down. At first, everyone was silent. But then Eric spoke up.

“Thanos,” Eric said through his clenched teeth. His eyes turned black and red as Thanos glanced his way. “Once this mission is over, I want to kill that vile man.”

Thanos nodded. “Understood. But after the mission.”

Eric nodded as well, and the group reached the bottom. Another corridor stretched out before them. At the end was a door covered in Sea Prism Stone; the entrance to the vault. And just like a spy or heist movie, lasers blocked the way forward.

“Move aside” Eric growled, drawing his sword. Sally blocked his path.

“Or…” she noted. “Let me hack into the system and make the lasers go away real quick, so as to not cause any sound or suspicion.”

Eric grumbled, but sheathed his weapon. Sally walked up to a High Tech device that had words on it. With a few minutes of keystrokes, the lasers faded away.

“We need to go fast,” Sally warned. “It’s only got one minute before it’s back up again!”

Nodding, the group sprinted down the corridor. But the corridor was long, and the door stood tall. Even if they made it, there was no tell how they’d open it.

However, Eric had no patience left. Drawing his blade, Eric jumped for the door.

“Shadow Sword Art: Devil’s cross!”

An upside down cross formed on the door, and the sea prism crumbled into rubble. Golden light filled the corridor, chasing away the shadows.

But Thanos didn’t care. His expression blank as a drone, he walked into the room, and up a mountain of gold. The Power Stone stood right before him on a pedestal of silver.

“At last…” Thanos whispered, holding his hand out to the Power Stone with a smile. “You’re coming back to your rightful owner…”

Lucci and the others watched Thanos with worry.

“Does Thanos seem kind… Off?” Sally asked, leaning to Eric.

Eric paused, trying to calm himself down. “Something is off,” he admitted. “But it isn’t Thanos.”

Sally tilted her head, confused. Meanwhile, Thanos opened his cube and placed the Power Stone inside. He turned to his friends and raised the box high.

“Mission success,” he said with a wide smile… then the shockwave hit.

The next thing Eric knew, he, Sally, Lucci, Grievous and Thanos had been flung against the walls, collapsing in a heap of disoriented bodies.

“Ugh… What was that?” Grievous moaned weakly

“Did anyone catch the license plate on that car?” Eric groaned, trying to look ahead.

“Nope…” Thanos coughed as he got up.

As their vision cleared, they saw a man before them. Bandages covered a robotic, steampunk-esque body, like some kind of robot mummy. The Power Stone box was clutched in one of his hands.

“Looks like someone got too greedy.” The Man taunted, wagging a finger at them with a chuckle.

“Give that back!” Thanos boomed, rushing the man with an Armament Haki punch.

The man matched it with his own Armament Haki punch, sending Thanos right back into the wall. Thanos groaned in agony, his wrist broken and clutched in his free hand. Eric blinked in stunned disbelief before jumping to his feet and summoning his scythe. At the same time, Lucci stood and took a stance, while Grievous unsheathed all his blades, and Sally coated her feet and fists in Armament Haki.

“Who the Hell are you?” Eric boomed.

The man regarded Eric with striking blue eyes. “My children called my daddy. My wife called me Milien. But you can call me… Nox.”

Eric paused. “Wait… from Wakfu?” he asked. “The time wizard?”

Nox gave a bow. “It’s Xelor, thank you very much,” he replied. “Now, why don’t you guys calm down and negotiate?”

“Negotiate this!” Lucci boomed, using Kamisori to kick at Nox’s head.

Unfortunately, Nox raised an arm up and blocked the attack effortlessly with his forearm. “Hm, it would seem that you’re not ready to talk yet.” Nox did a palm strike to Lucci’s chest, sending him flying into Eric

Eric rolled with the Leopard man until they both landed back on their feet. “Don’t suppose you know how to beat him, eh?” Lucci asked.

“I only saw a single episode,” Eric protested before coughing. He felt at his chest, sensing five broken ribs. And when he looked up, Nox had appeared right in front of the Shadow Man.

Bringing his knee up, Nox sent Eric into the ceiling, embedding his head in the Sea Prism stone.

“Damn it!” Thanos clenched his gauntlet and used the Reality Stone to separate Eric from the roof. “We’re stuck with him.”

“Not just him.” A familiar voice spoke.

Thanos turned around just in time to receive a kick to the face. He was sent spinning into a pile of gold.

“Us.” Princess Celestia declared, standing tall at the entrance with Princess Luna by her side.

“ATA!” Sally covered her foot in Armament Haki and kicked at Celestia, but the alicorn’s horn lit up and she teleported behind the Corpse Queen. Celestia then fired a beam of pure light into Sally’s arm, making her shriek.

Eric slashed at Celestia, but she easily dodged out of the way, noticing his shadows.

“Ah, another devil fruit user?” Celestia mused. “Well, your shadows won’t work on me. I ate the Glint-Glint fruit, making me a Light Pony.”

Eric growled, trying to summon his shadows. But the darkness was seized by Luna, who yanked him backwards to her.

“And I have the Dark-Dark Fruit,” Luna noted, slamming Eric into the ground. “And I need to vent!”

“Trust me,” Eric choked out. “I know.” Pulling his gun from his coat, Eric shot the alicorn in the leg.

Luna roared in agony, allowing Eric to headbutt and kick her off him. Spinning back to his feet, he unsheathed his sword Obsidian Blood.

“The Dark-Dark Fruit may be a Logia Type,” Eric explained as Luna reeled. “But you still have a physical body and you feel twice the pain inflicted.”

Before Eric could say more, pain flared across his body, as Xelor kneed Eric in the kidney.

“Have you lost your mind?” Nox demanded. “That is a lady!” He paused. “Then again, I’m a man of true Gender Equality, so I suppose I respect it.” Nox then grabbed Eric by the back of the head and slammed him into the ground, grinding him across the stone before throwing him into the wall of storage.

“Well, I’m an equal opportunity ass-whooper!” Eric argued. Spinning in the air, he sent a shadow fist from his back, catching the Xelor in the stomach. Nox stumbled, clutching his chest, and allowing Lucci to catch him with a kick to the side of the head. Nox stumbled to the side before firing a wave of Wakfu into an approaching Eric and kneeing Lucci in the chin.

Meanwhile, Thanos and Celestia battled like gods, Thanos’ Inifinity Blade clashing against Celestia’s sword of light. Despite Thanos’ overwhelming power, Celestia was equally nimble and strong. Knocking Thanos off guard with a kick, Celestia used an overhead strike that impacted Thanos like a Lightsaber through Younglings.

“GWAGH!” Thanos wheezed, powering through the pain to knee Celestia in the chin and slam his head into hers. “Double Bladed Sword Style: Windmill!” Thanos spun and caught Celestia with a cut of his own. Celestia stumbed backwards, groaning in pain.

“Sister!” Luna cried. Knocking Grievous aside when he tried to attack her, Luna pulled Thanos in with her Devil Fruit, slamming him to the ground. Growling, Thanos heated up his fist and punched at Luna. Unfortunately, Luna turned her head into darkness, rendering Thanos’ strike moot.

“Damn Dark-Dark…” Thanos grumbled.

But before Luna could attack again, another gunshot rang out. The Lunar Princess screamed as her shoulder was pierced. Briefly, Eric stood tall, his smoking gun aimed at her, before a wave of Wakfu knocked him across the room again.

“THOU SCURVY COMPANION! THOU FAT GUTTED, HOBBY HORSE HOPPING RUMP-FED, BOLTING-HUTCH FUCKING DICK!!” Luna roared. “THOU SHOT US TWICE!!!”

“DODGE!!!” Nox roared, slamming an Armament Haki, Iron Body “Strong/Tekkai Go covered foot into Eric’s groin.

“Oh!” every male lamented, covering their groins. However, to their surpise… Eric laughed.

Granted, his voice was cracked like an Xbox Live kid and his expression was pained, but he laughed all the same.

“Already been kicked there,” he squeaked. “I was prepared for this in the future.”

Nox hummed, pointing his fingers at Eric’s nipples. “Were you prepared for this?” he asked, firing two Wakfu beams right into Eric’s chest.

Eric hissed in pain, but grinned all the same. Powering through, Eric seized Nox’s head, as Lucci put his fists together against the Xelor’s back.

“Do it, Lucci!” Eric called out, holding the Xelor in place.

Lucci went into his Hybrid form. “You done goofed. Sai Dai Rin… ROKUOGAN!!!!”

A huge shockwave pierced through Nox and he wheezed in pain. Nox held his chest, feeling his broken ribs. “Okay…” he moaned. “Y-You got me that time, but…”

Eric was then gripped firmly by Nox and drained of his Wakfu. Eric screamed in pain as he was electrocuted and drained. Eric barely managed to stand, but glared up at his foe.

“Hey Nox,” Eric said weakly

“What?

“You should’ve check the shadows.”

Nox’s head tilted in confusion, but then a black sword pierced the Xelor’s chest. The Xelor turned in shock. A dark figure shaped like Eric with burning red eyes grinned at him. Kicking the Xelor away, Eric’s shadow pulled Eric back up and handed him his sword.

Nox recovered and rolled to his feet. Nox then brought out his own sword; a blade shaped like a clock pin. “It seems like you need to get serious…” Nox growled, adopting a blue aura that clashed against Eric’s black aura. “Show me your power!” Nox’s now adopted a blue aura that radiated power while Eric’s black aura radiated darkness and death.

“Shadow Sword Art…” Eric growled, gripping his weapon as the blade turned to gold.

“Clockwork Sword Style...” Nox replied, clenching his weapon and covering it in Ryou Haki.

“…Gold Rush.” Eric rushed the Xelor as the blade took on a slight blue glow.

“…Time Swipe.” Nox rushed at the Shadow Man, Nox’s sword taking on a dark blue glow.

The two clashed. Gold covered Nox’s sword and his arm and shoulder, but Eric was hit in turn by a wound that cut deep into his body, covering his body in his own blood. Eric winced as his internal organs ruptured, like a Six King Gun had fired off into him.

“If I know anything about Samurai Movies, it’s that I’m gonna die,” Nox noted. “But before I do... Our sponsor for today’s Crossover Chapter is honey!” Nox turned to the Readers. “Do you ever get a feeling that your money gets robbed when you buy something online? Then try honey, it saves you a lot of money. But for right now, I’mma fucking die.” Nox fell face first on the ground. Dead.

Despite the pain, Eric pulled himself up, limping over to Xelor and lifting his sword. “I’ve made this mistake once before,” Eric said, before relieving the Time Wizard of his head. “Rule #2: Double tap.” The Shadow Man gripped his blade as it gained a clock image around it and began to reverse the damage Eric had taken.

Right as his organs and cuts repaired themselves, the glow faded. Eric grimaced at his blade. “Guess I could only use it once,” the Shadow Man mused. He rolled his shoulder; he still felt rather weak, but he’d survive.

Then seven beams of light pierced him.

“YOU MURDERER!!!” Celestia roared in anger, storming away from Thanos, who was buried in gold.

“I’m a Pirate,” Eric argued, forcing himself up. “It’s what I do.”

Celestia seethed with anger all the same. But before she could retort…

“I FOUND IT!”

Thanos jumped from the gold, Thanos’ gauntlet glowing with the Power Stone. At the same time, Grievous kicked Luna into Celestia.

Celestia and Eric winced at how badly Luna was wounded.

“Now,” Thanos boomed, his reality stone glowing in sync with the power stone. “Let’s blow this joint!” The ceiling separated, revealing the night sky far up above them.

With Eric’s body still injured, he formed a set of spider-like limbs which lifted him into the hole leading out. Once out, the legs were replaced with two sets of wings, which carried him into the sky.

At the same time, Thanos punched the ground with the Power Stone, rocketing him up into the sky. Grievous seized Sally – who was covered in wounds from her fight with the alicorn – and used his wind sword to fly out. Lucci reverted to his leopard form, and ran up the walls, following the others out. Once everyone was out Thanos shot a wave of the Power Stone’s energy to the sky: a signal that the time was nigh.

“Now, we need to wait until Entity and the others arrive.” Thanos said, “Follow me!”

Thanos jumped from the roof of the palace and ran down the streets at light speed. Grievous carried Sally as he followed, and Lucci used Kamisori and bounced off the air and buildings. As Eric tried to follow them, darkness seized hold of him, and he was dragged back down towards Luna. Blood dripped from Luna’s head, covering her right eye. Her wings were damaged, and she only managed to pull herself out of the palace before falling. Using her momentum, however, she forced Eric to the ground as well, making a crater from the impact. Eric wheezed from the pain, unable to stop Luna from flinging him into a fountain of water.

“Dark-Dark… Frozen Darkness!” Luna coughed out. Infusing magic with her Devil Fruit, she unleashed dozens of ice cold orbs of darkness that combined to form a massive black hole, which tried to suck Eric in.

However, a series of tendrils flooded from Eric’s body, locking him in place and keeping the orb from following him.

“Do you want me to tell you your first mistake? Or your second?” Eric asked the Princess.

Luna tilted her head, nervousness shining on her face as the black hole neared Eric. “Um… both please.”

“Your first mistake was fighting me alone,” Eric said with a growing grin. “Your second mistake was to fight me in the city at night.”

Luna’s eyes widened, before a black skeletal hand seized her. On instinct, she flared her power, and an explosion went off as the black hole hit Eric. Parts of him froze completely. Yet his smile didn’t fade. The princess groaned in unsettled horror.

“I’m… Going to get my ass kicked, aren’t I?” Luna said.

Before Eric could respond, a blur of light went past her. Celestia kicked Eric and sent him into a storage unit. Yet, even as Eric vanished into the rubble, Luna still felt the cold skeletal hand around her leg. Shrieking, Luna’s struggles were for naught as she was pulled into the floor.

“You should really watch where you step.” Eric’s voice echoed from the rubble. “Enjoy the Shadow Zone!”

“Luna!” Celestia screamed, but Luna vanished into his shadow. “You demon!” Celestia spat. She threw a bolt of light, only for a wall of shadow to deflect the attack.

At the same, Thanos appeared, booting Celestia back and taking a stance next to Eric.

“I didn’t forget you man,” Thanos assured him. “I made sure my boys escaped.”

“Trust me I know,” Eric replied. “Family first” The two stood tall as Celestia paced around them.

“Are you fucking Dom?” Thanos asked with a laugh. Celestia tried to take advantage, but Thanos had Future Sight Observation Haki, and blocked her attack easily. “Too slow.”

Celestia frowned at Thanos’ taunt.

“We need to end this,” Eric said to the titan. “I can feel myself losing consciousness”

“Oh?” Celestia said, “You should really not say certain things out… LOUD!” Celestia kicked Eric in his chest, sending him flying into the castle.

Eric struggled to move as Celestia appeared above him with light around her hands. Yet he still managed to keep his smug grin.

“Kill me…” he warned. “And you’ll kill Luna as well.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t harm you …” Celestia replied, shooting a beam of light into his kneecaps, making him writhe. “So how about you release my dear sister…?”

Eric screamed in pain, but he still held his grin. “Or I could stop supplying oxygen to my shadow zone.”

“I dare you!” Celestia fired two more into Eric’s elbows, “Release her!” Thanos then appeared next to Celestia.

“Get away from… MY BOY!!!!” Thanos slammed his gauntlet fist into Celestia’s face, covering it in 1000 degree celsius heat, Armament Haki, Tekkai Go, and the Power Stone furthering the attack’s power. “HEAT CRASH!!!!” Celestia was sent flying through the town, crashing into buildings after building. Soon enough ponies began to walk out of the houses and Royal Guards and Night Guards poured out of the castle.

“Thanos…” Eric said as his body began to ripple. “Pull her out...quickly”

“Don’t worry, my pull-out game is unbeatable.” Thanos said, before pulling Luna out. “Oh, and those two guards.” Thanos pulled the guards Eric had captured and set them down. He frowned at their still forms. “Are they asleep?”

“Just unconscious from lack of oxygen” Eric explained

“Science! Now let’s go!” Thanos moved to leave, only to find Eric wasn’t moving. “Get the fuck up, man!”

“I... can’t…” Eric muttered, before his last grip on consciousness left him.

Thanos chuckled. “Aww, he’s all tuckered out.” Thanos picked and put him on his back. “Don’t worry; Uncle Thanos will bring you home safely.”

Running as fast as he could. Thanos left behind the Royal Guard, who shot bolts of magic at him in a futile attempt to stop him. Thanos soon caught sight of Grievous, who was currently fighting off some guards patrolling the streets.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! MOVE!” Thanos ordered.

Obeying, Grievous joined Thanos, and the two raced to the Zeppelins that just arrived. Lucci had Sally in his hands. Entity walked out of the ship and saw Sally.

“What happened to her?” Entity yelled, grabbing Sally. He stared up at Lucci, who jumped for the controls. “HEY!”

“She was hit by that bitch Celestia alright?” Lucci replied. “She had the Glint-Glint Fruit, and she was too fast to catch!”

Entity’s red eyes glowed. “That… Bitch.” Entity turned his gaze to Canterlot, only to find Thanos and Grievous had been caught by Celestia. The alicorn fought the two like a demon, Thanos hindered by trying to keep Eric’s unconscious body out of harm’s way.

“Entity…” Sally muttered, blinking dazed up at him. “They’ll be okay… I’ll be okay, we should… Go while we have the chance…” Sally said, looking up at Entity.

“Grievous and Thanos are fighting for their lives,” Entity objected. “And Eric’s!”

Sally just smiled, delirious. “We’ll live to fight another day…” Sally’s eyes closed.

“Sal!” Entity glanced back with a grimace. “I… I’m sorry Thanos.” Entity went up the bridge and inside the Nigga Mobile. “Let’s go!” Entity ordered Lucci, who was piloting. Lucci walked out of the cockpit and saw Entity’s face.

“But-”

“They’ll be alright,” Entity insisted, even as his teeth clenched and his eyes closed. “If we get captured what would Golden Shield think?”

Lucci looked at Entity, he looked like he was hurting.

“F-fine!” Lucci looked outside and saw Thanos looking over at the Zeppelin. “I’m sorry, my old friend...”

The bridge pulled up. Grievous noticed and looked back to the ship.

“Wait, why are they closing the door?!” Grievous demanded. “YOU BASTARDS!!!”

But Thanos sighed and pat Grievous’ back, knowing what Entity and the others had done.

“Looks like… This is the end of us,” Thanos said with a chuckle. He looked down at Eric’s body. “I’m sorry Eric, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and the others… I couldn’t keep your friend safe.”

Grievous looked at Thanos, Grievous saw Thanos shed a tear and the Cybernetic Samurai sighed.

“Remember what our master told us…” Grievous got into a stance, his weapons began to glow with the corresponding element. Thanos grinned and took out his Infinity Blade and lit it on fire.

“DYING IS THE DAY WORTH LIVING FOR!!!!” Thanos and Grievous say with a grin, with a battle cry they rushed Celestia and her army. Celestia frowned and shot a beam of light at Thanos who sleekly evaded the attack without Observation Haki.

“HAAA!” Thanos and Grievous raised their weapons… Only for a magic bolt to hit the enemy army.

Thanos spun, and smiled with delight. Sapphire Sword’s ships had come. As well as the other Generals.

“Don’t worry my King,” Sapphire Sword announced. “We’ve got your backs!”

Emerald Gauntlet jumped down from his ship, forming a huge green shield of emeralds. “I have you, now go! Go!” Thanos and Grievous ran away, Thanos handed Eric to Grievous while Emerald blocked the magic bolts form the ponies.

“Go,” Thanos declared. “There’s something I must take care of.”

Grievous nodded. “Stay safe, brother.” Pouring on the speed, Grievous ran to a red Zeppelin where Ruby was waiting. The bridge dropped open, unleashing a swarm of manticores. Leaping over the beasts, Grievous raced into the Zeppelin, handing Eric to Ruby.

“Give him medical attention stat!” Grievous ordered. Ruby blinked at Eric in shock before saluting.

“Yes, sir!” Ruby carried Eric away, while Grievous readied his blades. For a moment, he prepared to jump back into battle, before remembering Thanos’ words.

“He must do this alone…”

Back at the battlefield, Thanos faced off against Celestia, fire and light clashing against each other. Thanos growled, trying to push Celestia back, but Celestia matched him blow for blow.

“You won’t get away with this, Thanos,” Celestia vowed, her hair erupting in flames. “I will have that man’s head on a pike!”

“I won’t let you hurt my… HOMEBOY!!!” Thanos roared, using steam to push Celestia back. “But there is something I’ll let you do…” Thanos clenched his fist and using the Reality Stone he made all of the Manticores float into the air, floating towards Canterlot. “Get wrecked.” Thanos clenched his fist and the Power Stone glowed.

Celestia froze. “NO! DON’T!”

But the mad titan didn’t listen and slammed his fist into the ground.





Eric opened his eyes. He found himself in a white room, with bandages covering his body. Sitting up Eric felt pain in his legs and his chest causing him to hiss.

“Shit...” Eric hissed, struggling to pull himself from the bed. As he lifted his head, he found Thanos, laying on another bed, just as banged up as Eric was.

“Hey you,” Thanos greeted. “You’re finally awake.”

Eric stared at Thanos in disbelief. “You look like shit, man” Eric noted with a grin.

“You don’t look like a basket of fruit yourself,” Thanos noted with a grin of his own.

The two laughed, before Eric raised his arm. “Thanks for having my back.”

“That’s what homies do,” Thanos replied, lifting his own hand. “They watch their boys' backs.”

The two friends high fived… and promptly regretted it, as pain shot down their arms.

“Son of a bitch ass motherfucker who eats donkeys!” Thanos cursed.

“Yeah. not gonna lie that was stupid” Eric muttered, gripping his arm.

“Aww fuck,” Thanos muttered. I can’t believe we’ve done this…” He sighed. “Well… It’ll take a while to heal and we can’t exactly move yet so… Wanna talk about cheese? My favorite cheese is Pepper Jack!”

“Not really,” Eric said, moving back to his bed. “ Never really was a fan of Cheese,” Eric said moving back on the bed.

“Pepper Jack is the only exception I’ll make,” Thanos replied. “Any cheese on food except for pizza is fucking trash.”

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, Eric and Thanos spent time healing and enjoying each other's company… and cheese. Despite being annoyed by one another every now and then. By the time they had healed, the others had planned a party to celebrate the success of Mission Barely Possible.

“It was a stupid name, not going to lie.” Sally noted, crossing her arms.

“Absolutely idiotic” Eric agreed with the stitched-up girl.

Thanos scoffed. “Well, your name isn’t any better, Eric.” he countered, “And besides, I don’t want to call it Mission Impossible. You need to be both stupid and comedic. What else do you want me to call it? Mission Power Sap? Because you know, we’re getting the Power Stone?” He paused. “Oh, my god that was way better than the name I came up with… But it was funny!” Thanos insisted, both to Eric and himself.

“Alright-alright,” Eric decided with a grin. “Let’s quit messing with the purple Mr. Clean and get this party started.”





“Do you know how to play the violin?” Thanos asked. “A normal violin?”

“I can,” Eric replied, pulling his Ebony Violin from his body. “Only question is what to play?”

“Binks- No, play from your heart.” Thanos said with a smile.

With a grin, Eric put the instrument against his chin and put the bow to the strings. Closing his eyes Eric began to play. 



As the song ended, Eric remembered…

The Crystal Empire. All those centuries ago.

"Come on," Amber encouraged him. "Play something."

The instrument shop was filled with beautiful pieces for playing music. But the black violin he had found topped all of them. It looked like it had been carved from pure ebony, with strings that seemed to hum even without touching them.

"Come on, Amber," Eric had said. "I don't really know how to play..."

She smirked. "Humble much?" she asked. "I saw the way you were looking at the piano.”

He glanced at one of the ivory keyed instruments. "It just looks nice," he protested.

"And the cello?" she teased. "Or the harps? Novices don't look at them the way you do, my love." Her smile became less coy. "Come on, my mother tells me that the stronger a man is, the more beautiful his art.”

Eric huffed. "Well, your grandparents clearly never forced your mother to perform at noble galas or parties."

"We're all blessed in our own ways," she replied, giving him that smile that he could never say no to.

Rolling his eyes, but unable to hide his own smile, Eric picked up the bow for the instrument and placed the violin against his chin.

With the smile of his angel encouraging him, Eric began to play.



As Eric lost himself to the music, he didn't notice the crowd that began to form. All he needed to focus on was her. The light of awe in her beautiful eyes. The way the wind swept her mane to the side. The way her wings twitched and longed to spread when she was excited.

He played for her. He let his love flow through the instrument. And all too soon, he had to stop.

Applause broke the lovers out of the trance they had been stuck in. The crowd was cheering; stamping their feet as they brushed tears from their eyes.

"Huh," Eric noted, turning to Amber. "Why didn't you tell me you brought an audience?"

She giggled. "Oh, my beautiful, humble musician," she teased, gazing into his eyes. "You get so lost when you play."

"That's fine," he replied as they drew closer together. "I've got you to guide me back."

She kissed his cheek as they nuzzled into each other.

“As long as you play for me,” she promised. “I’ll always be there to guide you back.”





"You know, this won't be the last time I call you,” Thanos noted. “The next time I call you, you should be prepared to battle."

Eric said nothing, continuing to play his music. The others looked on in awe. Even Sally couldn't help but be enchanted by the shadow man's musical prowess.





After an hour of everyone talking and being themselves, Eric walked out of the room, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Mad Titan. Thanos followed Eric outside, finding him leaning on a railing that overlooked the kingdom.

“Beautiful, is it not?” Thanos noted, joining Eric at the railing. “This is all mine. My country, Minos. The capital, Minocow.” Thanos looked over the city, a cold breeze brushing past them.

“It’s very beautiful,” Eric said, observing the city, “Especially during the night.”

For a moment, the two just enjoyed the city.

“I’m going to visit this place in my world,” Eric noted, putting his back against the railing. “I made a promise to a certain ice dragon.”

“Eh?” Thanos raised an eyebrow.

"He used the power of his Shadow-Shadow Fruit and reanimated my wife,” Eric explained. “She almost killed the Cutie Mark Crusaders and most of the palace guards. I was forced to kill her." Eric grit his teeth, holding back tears as the shadows on his body became more pronounced. "Could you seriously not be infuriated by having to re-kill your own wife?"

Thanos’ eyes were sympathetic. He put a hand on the Shadow Man’s shoulder.

"I remember when I had to...” Thanos cleared his throat. “When I had to kill a friend. Due to a misunderstanding.” He looked over the city. “Platinum Dusk. The only outsider of our group. There was a changeling mind-controlling her sister and... I killed her sister because she was going to kill Sally. We kept it a secret but when she found out... I had to force my hand and blast her to smithereens. I cannot sympathize with you, you lost your wife once then had to kill her... I just had to kill my friend... But…" Thanos took his hand off of Eric's shoulder and shook his head.

"We're all fucked up, aren't we?" the Shadow Man noted.

"Physically and Mentally," Thanos agreed, “If you need me, just call me. And as thanks, I’ll give you the Infinity Broadsword. It’s made out of a mix between Netherite and Shadow Stone.” Thanos brought out a blade that looked like the Infinity Blade but just the size of a regular broadsword.



“Thanks, Thanos,” Eric said, creating a sheath for the sword from his shadow. “And the same applies to me: if you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

With a final nod, a black portal appeared behind the Shadow Man. Eric turned and returned to his Equestria.





The portal deposited Eric in front of the palace. He smiled and moved to step forward… and got clobbered by a flaming pegasus.

“Where in Faust’s name have you been?!” Rainbow boomed, seizing the Shadow Man’s collar.

“Helping a friend,” Eric replied, pushing the mare off of him and standing “I owed him for helping me train you and Pinkie.”

“But you’ve been gone for almost two months!” Rainbow protested.

Eric’s heart dropped. “So... we’re in the month of Hearths Warming?” Eric asked in sadness. When Rainbow Dash nodded, Eric took in the snow around them. “Well, shit."
> Christmas Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


How the Shade Stole Christmas.


Snow drifted from the sky as ponies traveled across the city, winter clothing protecting their bodies from the cold. Shops and stores were busier than normal, as parents bought gifts for their children and loved ones.

The Mane Six had left a few days ago to spend hearth's warming with their families. Fortunately for Pinkie, Marble was one of the twenty mares who survived the effects of Lust, so she and her parents could enjoy the holiday together.

Eric stood atop one of the many balconies that overlooked the city. He sighed, wishing he had stayed with Thanos and skipped this holiday.

“Look at them,” Eric’s shadow said, rising from beneath his feet. “So many, going home to their families and loved ones.”

Eric moved away from the balcony, only for his shadow to move in front of him with a wide grin.

“And what about us? We have Sombra, but he isn’t family, is he? And what about a loved one...Oh wait we don’t have one either.”

“I don’t need to be reminded,” Eric growled. He tried to shove past the shadow and go to his room, only for his shadow to grab his arm.

“Why not take what they have…”The Shadow stopped when they heard a knock.

“Eric?” the voice of Princess Luna called. “Are you in there?”

Without hesitation, Eric sent his shadow away and composed himself. “I’m fine...I can handle this… ‘Holiday,’”Eric whispered to himself. Taking another breath, he opened the door. “Something I can help you with, Princess?”

“I was wondering if you could join me as I visit some of the Canterlot Orphanages,” Luna said with a small smile.

“Couldn’t you ask Celestia?” Eric asked, rubbing his aching head. “I’m not exactly a Hearth's Warming guy.”

“I already did, but she told me she was busy today,” Luna admitted with a nervous smile. “Please? I think the children would enjoy your company.”

Eric wanted to say no. No, more than that, he wanted to say ‘Hell No!’ No, more like ‘No way in Tartarus!’ But as the Luna Princess smiled at him, he found himself unable to refuse.

“Sure,” Eric said in defeat. “I’ll meet you at the castle entrance.”

“Thank you,” Luna said, shutting her eyes in glee.

Eric closed the door before rubbing his eyes. “What is it with me and my inability to say no to mares?” Eric asked himself. Regardless, he put his jacket on before glancing to the ring on his hand. “Well,” he muttered. “Here goes my first Real Hearth's Warming… without you.” His fist clenched.





Eric found Luna on the palace grounds, standing by herself. She was adorned in a red and white fur trimmed coat. It was honestly the perfect thing to wear during the Hearth’s Warming Season.

“You haven’t waited long, have you?” Eric asked.

“Not at all,” Luna said, glancing at Eric’s clothes. “Is that a new Jacket?”



“Yes,” Eric replied. “And it was a pain in the ass to get.”

“How so?”

“I owed Rarity for what I did in the Black Market” Eric said. As he spoke, he lifted his sleeve, revealing bandages adorning his arm. “She made me wear Sea Prism Stone, so I felt it every time her needle pierced my skin.”

Luna winced. “It sounds… painful.”

“It was,” Eric admitted with a sigh. “But, I suppose I did deserved it.”

The two turned and began to walk into the city. Luna sidled up next to Eric.

“Well, it does look good on you,” she noted.

“She made it for me, so I might as well wear it,” Eric replied.

Luna hummed, but before she could think of more to talk about, they came across the first Orphanage. Eric read the sign with a quirked eyebrow.

“Destiny Gardens?”

“Our first stop” Luna explained.

As she entered the orphanage, the excited screams of children barraged Eric’s ears. He watched on in bemusement as younglings of every race swarmed the Princess, smiles lighting their faces up brighter than the Hearth’s Warming decorations above them.

“Princess Luna! Princess Luna!” the children cheered, all of them trying to hug her at once.

Luna laughed, embracing them as the caretaker approached.

“Ah, greetings Sunny,” Luna said to the caretaker. “They seem more energetic than usual.”

“They were excited to see you, Your Majesty,” Sunny replied, before spotting Eric behind the princess. “Oh! Who is this? I thought your sister was going to accompany you.”

“She was busy today,” Luna said before motioning to Eric. “This is Eric Von Shadow. The Former Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard.”

“OO,” the children whispered, gazing up at Eric with stars in their eyes.

“You were a captain of the Royal Guard?” an earth pony filly asked in excitement.

“Did you train the guard yourself?” another pegasus colt asked with the same enthusiasm.

“How long were you captain?” a dragon hatchling with yellow scales asked, his wings extending as he flew to meet Eric’s height.

“Can I join the guard?” A unicorn filly asked with a wide smile

“Children, please!” Sunny began, but Eric waved her off with a small smile, turning to each of the kids.

“I was,” he said to the earth pony, “I trained the guards myself,” he said to the pegasus colt, “I was Captain for eight long years,” he said to the dragon. Then Eric knelt before the unicorn filly. “And you can join the guard if you get stronger and prove yourself.” He tapped the filly’s nose with a grin.

Luna watched on with intrigue as the children giggled and whispered to each other in glee, before Sunny ushered them into another room.

“I’m surprised,” Luna commented. “I didn’t know you were that good with children.”

“This isn’t my first orphanage trip,” Eric replied, rising to his feet. “And it seems it won’t be my last.” He glanced at Luna. “So, do we move on? Or is there still something to do?”

“I usually tell the children a story about Hearth’s Warming,” Luna replied, conjuring a large sack with her magic. “And put these under the tree.”

Eric shrugged and took the sack. “Well, ‘tis the season for giving.’” He indicated the sack. “I can put these under the tree if you want to get started on that story.”

Luna smiled. “You’re a saint.” Luna turned to follow the children, before pausing. “Oh, and make sure you set out thirteen gifts.”

“You’ve done this before?”

“I’ve been doing this every year since I was freed from… well…” Luna paused, gripping her arm.

“You don’t need to go into details,” Eric assured her. “Trust me. I understand.” He slung the sack over his shoulder and turned to the room holding the tree; grateful that the angle hid his scowl. “We all have a part of us we wish to forget.”
Luna nodded with a hum, before turning and following the children.

As Eric placed the thirteen gifts, a small voice piped up.

“It’s fourteen, actually.”

Eric turned. A small filly was sitting by herself on a set of stairs. She had light brown hair, forest green eyes and wore a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt. Eric set the sack down.

“New arrival?” Eric asked.

The filly nodded. Eric was silent at first.

“What happened to your parents?” he finally asked.

She looked down. “My parents liked to travel to islands and create maps for the princesses and other nations. But… pirates…” Her eyes began to water.

Eric nodded. “You don’t need to say anymore.”

She just nodded again. Silence stretched between them, before Eric glanced at where Luna had gone.

“Why aren’t you with the others?” Eric asked.

“They don’t want a freak like me around,” the filly muttered, folding her arms over her knees. “They think I’m cursed”

Eric’s eyes widened. Shaking his head, he walked up to the filly and sat down next to her. “Why do they think you’re a freak?”

“Because I can do this.” The filly touched the wall and a series of small cubes came out. “I accidently turned a colt into a cube. And since then, they don’t want me near them.”

Eric’s brow furrowed in sympathy. “Hey…” he nudged her, but she looked away. “Sweetheart,” Eric insisted, placing a finger on her chin and turned her towards him.

When she finally looked up at him, Eric turned his body into shadows. The filly gasped in shock.

“You…” she stammered. “You’re like… me?”

Eric reformed with a grin and a nod. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“D-Dawn Snow.”

Eric extended his hand to her. “Eric Von Shadow.”

Hesitantly, Dawn Snow shook Eric’s hand.

“You’re not a freak, Dawn Snow,” Eric assured her. “You’re actually more special than any pony here.”

“How?”

“You have the power to control the cubes you create” Eric said, motioning to the cubes from the wall. “What you have is no curse. It’s a gift.”

Hesitantly, the filly lifted her arm, and the cubes floated up towards her. “How is this… a gift?”

Eric thought for a bit before he noticed a rainbow pin in Dawn Snow’s hair. “Do you know Rainbow Dash?”

He almost laughed at how quickly the little filly lit up.

“Who doesn’t? She’s the most awesome pony who ever lived! She’s faced off against Nightmare Moon, Discord…”

“Well, did you know Rainbow Dash has powers like you and me?” Eric noted.

Dawn covered her mouth. “No way.”

Eric nodded. “She has the ability to produce and control flames.”

Stars formed in Dawn’s eyes. As she processed the information, Eric glanced at Luna’s sack. Realizing that she might be a present short, Eric reached into his shadows, and found a small plushie of a Tundra Dragon. He hesitated for a moment, but shook off his hesitation and offered it to the little filly.

“Is this…?” Dawn whispered. “A tundra dragon?” She looked up at him with joy. “This is so cool.

“It’s yours,” Eric replied with a grin. “Think of it as a gift between freaks.”

Dawn’s eyes softened as she hugged the plushie. “Or… a gift between gifted?”

Eric chuckled, and nudged the filly. “You see?” he noted. “People will only think of you that way if you let them. Use your powers for good, and show them how much fun you can really be.”

The filly nodded. “I will.” After a moment’s pause, she hugged the shadow man, before skipping upstairs.
For a moment, Eric watched her go.

“You’re really good with children,” Sunny’s voice noted. Eric turned to find her in the door way. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a father yourself.”

Eric couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, unfortunately, I’m not a family man.”

“Even still,” Sunny said, looking up at where Dawn had gone. “Not many can get Dawn to open up like that.”

Eric nodded. “I found that if you force them to open up, they’ll resent you. However if you let them open up by themselves, they’ll love you til they have a family themselves.” Eric stood and retrieved the sack. “I did want a family. But… some things are just not meant to be.” Sunny hummed softly at that. “No matter where you go, there will always be a family for you,” she insisted.

Nodding at her advice, Eric walked into the room with Luna and the children, as Luna retold the tale of the first Hearth’s Warming:


‘Once Upon a Time, the Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies hated each other. The Pegasi, led by Commander Hurricane, believed themselves superior because they could control the weather. The Unicorns, ruled by a king who is represented by his daughter Princess Platinum, believed themselves superior because they had magic, which they used to move the sun and moon. Both tribes demanded food from the Earth Ponies, led by Chancellor Pudding head.



One year, an inexplicable blizzard came to their land, and the ground was frozen so hard that the Earth Ponies could not cultivate. Neither the Pegasi nor the Unicorns could banish the storm, so the three clans held a summit, trying to figure out a solution. But with the storm raging outside reflecting the ponies' conflict inside, it didn't take long for the leaders to angrily give up and return home. The second-in-command of each group — Pegasus Private Pansy, Unicorn vizier and student of Star Swirl the Bearded Clover the Clever, and Earth Pony secretary Smart Cookie — were disappointed at the news.



Individually, each leader decided to leave their desolate wasteland and find a new realm to live. The parties soon found a beautiful paradise with a diverse landscape, beautifully thick clouds, and fertile soil. Unfortunately, they had all chosen the same land, and soon the fighting between the three leaders resumed with increased fervor. As their bickering increased, the blizzard they had left behind started up once again, forcing the six ponies to seek shelter in a cave.



Even the plight of their situation didn't deter the hostilities; as the blizzard grew worse, the leaders' petty bickering continued, until the ice encroached so far into the cave that the commander, the princess, and the chancellor were frozen over in mid-rant. Unfettered by their superiors, the advisors admitted that they had hoped for peace and friendship. Clover the Clever realized that the blizzard was created by Windigos: supernatural creatures that thrive on hate and fighting, and that the coldness of their hearts had brought the disaster on themselves. Just as the ice was about to completely imprison the advisors, the spark of their friendship ignited, saving them and driving back the Windigos.



Seizing the opportunity, the three nurtured the warmth of their friendship with stories and laughter and singing, eventually thawing out their leaders. With every pony realizing that friendship and cooperation succeeded where arguing and fighting had not, the three tribes agreed to come together in harmony, thus forming Equestria on the principle that all ponies are equal.’


Finishing her story she stood and bowed, as the children clapped. However, their clapping faded as Luna made her way back to Eric.

“Can’t you read more?” one of the children asked.

“I wish you could stay forever,” another child whimpered.

“I do apologize, little ones, but we must be off,” Luna apologized with a bow. “But fear not; I will return; whether it be in your dreams or on the next Hearth’s Warming.”

Satisfied with her reply, the children gave their goodbyes, and Eric and Luna took their leave. All the while, Eric couldn’t help but be awed by how vibrant Luna seemed to be with the younglings. How her smile made her sparkle like stars, and all the worry and fear of the past few adventures seemed to fade away like it never existed.

“You seem to be in good spirits” Eric noted.

“I am,” Luna admitted. “I just so enjoy seeing them happy. After all…” her expression became sad. “I can relate to them. My father was dead before my birth, and my mother died when I was born.”

Eric looked away, an old memory bringing a spark of anger to his eyes. “Must be a blessing,” he grumbled.

Luna turned. “What did you say?”

“Nothing!” Eric said quickly.

Yet Luna still gazed at him in confusion. She didn’t press him – instead looking away, but his words still circled confusingly in her head. ‘How would not knowing one's parents be a blessing?’

Despite her confusion, the trip continued smoothly. Eric and Luna visited several orphanages, and each time, the cycle repeated; with Eric putting gifts under the tree while Luna entertained the children with tales of Hearth’s Warming.

Eric could barely hide his laughter at some of the tales. Even in Equestria, they had versions of Rudolph and Frosty; with Rudolph being a heroic reindeer who saved an important shipment of medicine and gifts, while Frosty was a warrior of snow who defended his village against a horde of Windigos.

Luna noticed Eric’s smile as they left the second-to-last orphanage on their journey.

“Something funny, Mr. Von Shadow?” Luna teased.

“Your Rudolph and Frosty story,” Eric explained. “I’m wondering if they had Devil Fruits. The Reindeer-Reindeer is a Zoan Type. And the Snow-Snow Fruit is Logia.”

Luna hummed as they reached the door of the last orphanage. “It is not impossible,” she admitted. “After all, we have only just recently figured out the source of these bizarre abilities. In the past, Celestia and I just assumed they got the powers from some sort of Dark Magic fueled ritual.”

Eric didn’t bother reply, as Luna opened the door and was once again swarmed by overjoyed children, who took equal curiosity in Eric and pestered him with questions, all of which Eric was happy to answer.

After putting the presents under the tree Eric went to listen to Luna’s story only to find some of the children shouting at the Princess.

“We want a different story!” several of the children were shouting. Luna gripped her hands in nervousness, but Eric had no patience for unruly children. With a hard clap of his hands, he immediately silenced the children, and drew their attention to him.

“Is that anyway to speak or act in front of the Princess of the Moon?” Eric asked.

His words held no malice, yet they struck hard. The children looked down in shame, and sat on the floor.

“That’s better” Eric said before motioning Luna to move. “Do you all want a Hearth’s Warming Tale?”

The children glanced up briefly, but kept their heads down, nodding solemnly.

Eric took Luna’s seat in front of the children. “Then you’ll get one.” Using his powers, Eric formed black snow, which sprinkled down before the children. “Inside a Snowflake,” he explained, before beginning:


‘Inside a snowflake, like the one on your sleeves, there happened a story you must see to believe. Way out in the mountains in the high range of Pontoons, lay the small town of Whoville - the home of the Whos. Ask any pony and they’ll have this to say. “There is no Place like Whoville around Hearth’s Warming Day.”


Eric’s power formed a small town at the foot of a mountain.


Arbor Day was Fine and Easter was pleasant. And every Saint Fizzin's day, they ate a Fizz pheasant. But every Who knew, from their twelve toes to their snout they loved Hearth’s Warming the most, without a single Who doubt.



Yes, Every Who down in Whoville liked Hearth’s a lot



But the Shade who lived just North of Whoville did not!



Using his powers, he zoomed in on the mountain and showed a shadowy figure which was accompanied by a dog.



The Shade hated Hearth’s Warming! The whole Hearth's Warming season!



Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.



It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.



It could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right.



But I think that the most likely reason of all



May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.



But, whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes,



He stood there on Hearth’s Warming Eve, hating the Whos,



Staring down from his cave with a sour, grouchy frown



At the warm lighted windows below in their town,



For he knew every Who down in Whoville beneath



Was busy now hanging a holly-who wreath.



"And they're hanging their stockings," he snarled with a sneer.



"Tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Day! It's practically here!"



Then he growled, with his shade fingers nervously drumming,



"I must find some way to keep Hearth’s Warming from coming!



For, tomorrow, I know all the Who girls and boys



Will wake bright and early. They'll rush for their toys!



And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!



There's one thing I hate! All the NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!



And they'll shriek squeaks and squeals, racing 'round on their wheels.



They'll dance with jingtinglers tied onto their heels.



They'll blow their floofloovers. They'll bang their tartookas.



They'll blow their whohoopers. They'll bang their gardookas.



They'll spin their trumtookas. They'll slam their slooslunkas.



They'll beat their blumbloopas. They'll wham their whowonkas.



And they'll play noisy games like zoozittacarzay,



A roller-skate type of lacrosse and croquet!



And then they'll make ear-splitting noises galooks



On their great big electro whocarnio flooks!



Then the Whos, young and old, will sit down to a feast.



And they'll feast! And they'll feast! And they'll FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!



They'll feast on Who pudding, and rare Who roast beast,



Raw roast beast is a feast I can't stand in the least!



And then they'll do something I hate most of all!



Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,



They'll stand close together, with Hearth’s Warming bells ringing.



They'll stand hand-in-hand, and those Whos will start singing!"



"And they'll sing! And they'll sing! And they'd SING! SING! SING! SING!"



And the more the Shade thought of this Who Hearth’s Warming Sing,



The more the Shade thought, "I must stop this whole thing!”



Why for fifty-three years I've put up with it now!



I must stop Hearth’s Warming from coming! But how?"



Then he got an idea! An awful idea!



The Shade got a wonderful, awful idea!



"I know just what to do!" The Shade laughed in his throat.



"I'll make a quick Santy Hooves hat and a coat."



And he chuckled, and clucked, "What a great Shady trick!



With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like Saint Nick!"



"All I need is a reindeer." The Shade looked around.



But since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.



Did that stop the Shade? Hah! The Shade simply said,



"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!"



So, he took his dog Sam, and he took some black thread.



And he tied a big horn on top of his head.



Then he loaded some bags and some old empty sacks



On a ramshackle sleigh and he whistled for Sam.



Then the Shade said "Giddy-yap!" and the sleigh started down



Toward the homes where the Whos lay a-snooze in their town.



All their windows were dark. No one knew he was there.



All the Whos were all dreaming sweet dreams without care



When he came to the first little house of the square.



"This is stop number one," the old Shade Claus hissed,



As he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.



Then he slid down the chimney, a rather tight pinch.



But if Santa could do it, then so could the Shade.



He got stuck only once, for a minute or two.



Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue



Where the little Who stockings hung all in a row.



"These stockings," he sneered, "Are the first things to go!"



Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,



Around the whole room, and he took every present!



Pop guns, pampoogas, pantookas, and drums!



Checkerboards, bizilbigs, popcorn, and plums!



And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Shade, very nimbly,



stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney.



Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos' feast!



He took the Who pudding! He took the roast beast!



He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.



Why, that Shade even took the last can of Who hash!



Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee.



"Now," grinned the Shade, "I will stuff up the tree!"



As the Shade took the tree, as he started to shove,



He heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.



He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who!



Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was no more than two.



She stared at the Shade and said, "Santy Hooves, why,



Why are you taking our tree? Why?"



But, you know, that old Shade was so smart and so slick,



He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!



"Why, my sweet little tot," the fake Santa Hooves lied,



"There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side.”



“So, I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear.



I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here."



And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head,



And he got her a drink, and he sent her to bed.



And when Cindy-Lou Who was in bed with her cup,



He crept to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!



Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar.



And the last thing he took was the log for their fire.



On their walls, he left nothing but hooks and some wire.



And the one speck of food that he left in the house



Was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.



Then he did the same thing to the other Whos' houses,



Leaving crumbs much too small for the other Whos' mouses!



It was quarter of dawn. All the Whos still a-bed,



All the Whos still a-snooze, when he packed up his sled,



Packed it up with their presents, their ribbons, their wrappings,



Their snoof and their fuzzles, their tringlers and trappings!


Eric showed a sleigh climbing the side of the mountain


Ten thousand feet up, up the side of Mount Crumpit,



He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!



"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinchily humming.



"They're finding out now that no Hearth’s Warming is coming!”



“They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!



Their mouths will hang open a minute or two



Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry boo-hoo!”



“That's a noise," grinned the Shade, "that I simply must hear!"



He paused, and the Shade put a hand to his ear.



And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.



It started in low, then it started to grow.



But this sound wasn't sad!



Why, this sound sounded glad!



Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,



Was singing without any presents at all!



He hadn't stopped Hearth’s Warming from coming! It came!



Somehow or other, it came just the same!



And the Shade, with his feet ice-cold in the snow,



Stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so?



“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!



It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"



He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore.



Then the Shade thought of something he hadn't before.



Maybe Hearth’s Warming, he thought, doesn't come from a store.



Maybe Hearth’s Warming, perhaps, means a little bit more!



And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say



That the Shade's small heart grew three sizes that day!


Eric used his shadows to show how the sleigh was sliding off the edge and the Shade jumping to grab it only to miss and hastily to crawl and grab it


And then the true meaning of Hearth’s Warming came through,



And the Shade found the strength of ten Shades, plus two!



And now that his heart didn't feel quite so tight,



He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light



With a smile to his soul, he descended Mount Crumpit



Cheerily blowing "Who! Who!" on his trumpet.



He rode into Whoville. He brought back their toys.



He brought back their floof to the Who girls and boys.



He brought back their snoof and their tringlers and fuzzles,



Brought back their pantookas, their dafflers and wuzzles.



He brought everything back, all the food for the feast!



And he, he himself, the Shade carved the roast beast!


Eric then dispelled his shadows and closed his eyes as he began to sing


Welcome Hearth’s Warming. Bring your cheer,



Cheer to all Whos, far and near.



Hearth’s Warming Day is in our grasp



So, long as we have hands to clasp.



Hearth’s Warming Day will always be



Just as long as we have we.



Welcome Hearth’s Warming while we stand



Heart to heart and hand in hand.


Eric opened his eyes and smiled as he saw the wide smiles and stars in their eyes. Immediately, a hand went up which made Eric chuckled.

“Yes?”

“Can you tell us another one, Mister?” a filly asked with pleading eyes.

“I could… if you could say something to the Princess who left you all the gifts and took time out of her schedule to tell you a tale,” Eric said with a grin.

All the children gave a respectful bow to the princess. “We’re very sorry Your Majesty.”

“You are all forgiven” Luna said, before nodding at Eric, who began another story.





Luna noticed that despite Eric saying he didn’t want to leave the castle, his genuine smile had not left his face since the first orphanage. Eric told the children a Hearth’s Warming tale he called ‘Santa Is Coming to Town.’

After completing his story, Eric realized that the Princess was missing.

“She had to leave to raise the moon,” the care taker explained, before turning to the children. “And you know what that means, children.”

The children groaned, but did not protest further as the caretaker sent them to bed.

With the last orphanage visited, Eric returned to the castle, finding Luna waiting for him.

“I find it curious,” Luna noted as he approached. “You said you didn’t want to leave the castle. Yet, since we left Destiny Garden’s orphanage, that smile has not once left your face.”

Eric couldn’t even bring himself to frown. “I’ve got nothing to say.” He glanced back at the decorations. “If you don’t mind… I think I’m going to walk around for a bit.”

“Very well,” Luna moved to leave, before pausing. Glancing upward and then back at Eric, she planted a small kiss on his cheek.

Eric blinked in confusion at her, before she pointed up. An entire row of mistletoe was hanging above them. Eric sighed, but still couldn’t bring himself to frown.

“Thank you for joining me today” Luna said, blushing as she returned to the castle.

“No problem… Princess,” Eric replied, holding his cheek as he headed back into the city.





Back inside the castle, Luna was greeted by her sister, who held a small box in her hands.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Luna,” Celestia said, opening the box.



Inside, Luna found a Moon and Sun necklace. “Oh… Thank you, Tia.”

“It was… our Mothers” Celestia said with a smile. “Get some rest, sister. It looks like those children wore you out”

Luna smiled, hugging her sister before putting on the necklace. With a small spring in her step, she headed back to her room. As she entered, her eyes grew wide: her room was filled with glowing wisps of magic. Walking through her room she looked ahead and found her balcony window was wide open, letting the glow of the moonlight in. Sitting on a small table was Eric’s Crystal Orchid, which filled the room with the magical wisps. Next to the potted plant was a box and a card.
Luna gingerly picked up the card and opened it.


Happy Hearth’s Warming, Princess



-Eric


Opening the box, Luna found a moon and star necklace inside.



Smiling, Luna held the trinket to her heart. “Thank you, Eric.”





As Eric walked around, he couldn't help but feel lonely. Eventually, he formed a pair of wings and flew back to the castle. Only Eric didn’t fly to the entrance; he flew up to the absolute top of the palace. Once he set a single foot down…

“WHY?!”Eric’s shadow boomed, rising behind him.“Why did you give that flower to her!?”

“I don’t know,” Eric said, unable to stop smiling. “It just felt like the thing to do.”

The shadow moved in front of Eric. “Why are you so happy!”

“It’s Hearth’s Warming,” Eric replied. “I got to spend it the same way I did one thousand years ago: by giving children a great Hearth’s Warming.”

The shadow paused, trying to digest that. And in its moment of contemplation, Eric sent it back where it belonged. Reaching deeper into his shadows, he pulled out his treasured violin. Shutting his eyes, he began to play, as he recited the story his old friend used to tell him on Christmas Eve”




Twas the night before Christmas and all through the garage
Not a creature was stirring, not even my Dodge.
The tires were hung on the bumper with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas will fill them with air.



The engine was tucked all snug in it's bed
While visions of Spark Plugs danced in its Heads.
With me in the front seat and the wife in the back
We just settled down after having a snack.
When outside the garage we heard a car roar
It must have more cubic inches than a 454.
So I rose just enough to look over the hood
To see what I can see, the best that I could.



All of a sudden it opened, the overhead door,
And I could see six cars, then I saw two more.
They were all the Christmas colors, Red, Green and White
There's no doubt in my mind, it's St. Nicholas alright.
He was all dressed up in his Drag Racing suit
Jacket and Pants, Gloves, Helmet and Boot.
Unlike his red furry suit that he normally wore
He wore this suit when he put the pedal to the floor.



He entered the garage and knew just what to do
And filled up those tires in a minute or two.
He went out to the cars with trunks open wide
Then he loaded his sack and brought it inside.



Along with his eight little helpers so jolly
They set out some gifts from Moroso and Holley.
A new set of Fan Belts and Seat Covers of gray
Were surely the makings for a great Christmas Day.



'Let's go fellas' he said, 'Be quick on your feet'
'Pedal to the Metal Boys, and let's hit the street'.
I heard the cars start, first one, two, three, then all
They just sat and waited till he gave them the call.



'On Corvette! On Mustang! On Cobra!
On, Stingray! On, Camaro! On, GTO!
On, Charger! On, Plymouth Too! '
'Put the pedal to the metal, there's more stops to do'.



Hearing the thunder of the pipes and tires squealing
Filled my heart with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
And I could hear St. Nick yell, as the cars took flight
'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night'.


Once the song and the rhyme was finished Eric gazed blissfully at the star-filled night.

“Merry Christmas, Calam,” Eric said, lowering his instrument. “I really hope you’re alive and well… somewhere.”
> Setting Sail
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the new year dawned, the Mane Six began to return.

Pinkie was the first to arrive, returning while Eric was training with Rainbow and Twilight.

However, as Eric and his students turned to her, they noticed, not the fluffy pink mane of Pinkie, but the straight dark, almost red hair of Pinkamena.

“Hey,” she greeted sourly.

“Umm... Pinkamena?” Rainbow asked, flying towards the mare. “Did you enjoy your Hearth’s…?”

Pinkamena silenced her with a swift punch to the face, not even bothering to look at the Rainbow Pegasus.

Rainbow yelped as she held her snout. “She broke mah Snooze!” Rainbow whined.

“Don’t be a baby,” Eric said, motioning Dash to approach him. “Come here Dash; let me see.”

Rainbow pulled her hands away. Twilight hissed at the sight of her broken snout. “Can you even breathe like that?”

“No!” Rainbow shouted as Eric put his hands on the sides of her nose.

“On the count of three,” Eric said. “Ready?”

Rainbow nodded her head.

“Alright.” Eric’s fingers tensed. “One.” He jolted her snout back into place with a loud CRACK!

Rainbow yelped, jolting back and holding her nose. “You Plot Hole!” she boomed. “What happened to ‘two’ and ‘three?’”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Eric asked with a smug grin.

Rainbow rubbed her nose with a grimace. “It still hurts.”

“Technically speaking, Rainbow,” Twilight said hesitantly. “Had he waited it would have hurt more since you were expecting the pain. Since he caught you off guard your pain was lessened.”

“I hate your logic Twi.” Rainbow grumbled, following Eric back to the training floor. Twilight, however, looked at where Pinkamena had wandered off to.

“Eric, I’m going to talk to Pinkie, see what’s wrong.” Twilight said.

Eric and Rainbow exchanged a look before nodding. “Yeah that might be a good idea, Twi.” Eric said.

Nodding in thanks, the Unicorn chased after the violent mare.

“Any ideas on what’s wrong with Pinkie?” Rainbow asked the Shadow Man.

“No clue.” Eric said before he noticed Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy entering the training grounds.

“Hey ya’ll,” Applejack greeted. “What’d we miss?”





A few hours passed and Twilight walked out onto the grounds with a downtrodden look on her face.

“Well?” Eric asked. “Something happen to her family?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow asked. “Why’s she acting like somepony killed Gummy?”

“Blueblood did more than ponynap Marble.” Twilight said, her voice slightly shaken. “He used his magic and wiped her parents' memories of their own daughter.”

Eric straightened. “Can you restore their memories?”

Twilight hummed. “I… think so…

“Then do it,” he said. “Get out to the Pie Family Farm and give them their memories back.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you.” She turned. “I’m going to get Pinkie.”

As Twilight left, Eric returned to training. But before he could assume his combat stance, a guard ran up.

“Sir Von Shadow!” the guard saluted. “Dusk Starsword is here.” The guard moved aside to display the unicorn. “I’ve brought him as you’ve requested.”

“Thank you,” Eric said.

“He was also accompanied by a minotaur,” the guard added. “Who is currently speaking with Her Highness.”

Eric nodded and dismissed the guard before turning to Dusk with a pouch of bits. “I take it you have my information, Dusk?”

“I have, and you might find this quite interesting,” Dusk said, smirking as he handed over the book. “Almost all the women were purchased by a member of Royalty.”

“Equestrian Royalty?”

“No, Royalty of the Minotaur Nation,” Dusk clarified. “They were sent to the Minotaur Capital, Minos.”





“Princess Celestia,” a guard declared, entering the throne room. “You have a visitor.”

Celestia looked up as the doors opened. In walked a gray Minotaur with glittering, polished armor. His helmet concealed his entire head. Massive boots shook the floor when he walked, and giant gauntlets were clenched in fists. A giant sword hung from his back, crossed with a staff. Added onto it, the Minotaur had a staff on his back as well.

The Minotaur walked to the center of the room and knelt before the Princess of the Sun. “Princess Celestia Solaris, Diarch of Equestria. It is an honor to meet you.”

Celestia smiled warmly, and inclined her head. “Iron Horn. Crown Prince of the Minotaur Kingdom?” She rose. “It feels like only yesterday that we last saw each other.” Her eyes glittered. “You’ve grown from the calf I remember; for a moment, I almost mistook you for your father”

Iron Horn chuckled. "If that was the case, I would’ve changed my looks.” A wave of melancholy washed over him. “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen my father for the last ten years.”

Celestia sighed. “Yes. I apologize.” She descended her throne. “But, why come here?”

Iron Horn cleared his throat. “Well, for starters, you still owe me sixteen bits,” he said with a grin.

Celestia laughed, but her eyes patiently requested the truth. Iron Horn’s grin faded, and a sense of urgency entered his voice.

“And… I need to fight every warrior on this island. Bring them to me,” he ordered.

Celestia’s smile faded. “May I ask why you seek warriors to fight?”

“I have been banished from my home land,” he explained. “In order to return, I must beat ten thousand warriors in combat. I’m up to around two thousand now.” He gazed at Celestia with steel-like determination. “Please, Celestia. I need to see my family, I need to see my father, and I need to see my Kingdom. My people, my home. It’s been ten years since I’ve set out on this journey, and I will get home.”

Celestia gently touched his shoulder. “Your will is admirable,” she praised, before lowering her arm. “But I’m afraid our Warriors might be too much for you.”

“Is that so?” Iron Horn’s body shook with mirth. He slammed his fist into his palm with a loud metal clap. “Well, let me decide that. Bring them on, get me in an arena and we’ll do a Gauntlet. Starting from weakest to strongest, back to back. I’m really in a hurry; it took ten years to get to two thousand. I want to get to at least six thousand in five years.”

Celestia shut her eyes with a sigh, but she could tell Iron Horn’s will was set. “Very well,” she decided, leaving the throne room. “Follow me.”

Eagerly, Iron Horn followed after her, knocking on the wall as he went. “Pretty sturdy walls you have here.”

“They would be,” Celestia noted, before noticing a series of fist shaped craters along the wall leading to the Training Grounds. “Not sturdy enough when you have a pony who was raised on a rock farm.”

“Hm,” Iron Horn mused, observing the fist shaped craters. “Quite a strong one. Female? I assume it to be so, given most of your guards are female.”

“Some of them,” Celestia corrected. “Most are stallions.” The grounds came into view as she added, “Luna has the most mares in her guard.”

“And of a different species,” Iron Horn remembered. “Bat-Pony, I believe.” Celestia nodded, causing Iron Horn to hum in thought. “Yes… Our guard from what I recall has only male warriors and some females here and there. I think my father told me that we males are too rough to care for children, we’re only good for combat. Females are nicer and caring to their calves. However, since my mother died, my father did his best to care for me. And he did, in his own way: raising me to be a warrior, which eventually led me to being banished…” Iron Horn said with a sigh, he then shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts.

Before Celestia could respond, Eric appeared from the shadows.

“Celestia, we have the locations.” Eric held up a book. “The slaves sold at the Black Market were sent to a lot of different locations. However a good third of them were sent to the Island of Minos.”

“M-Minos?” Iron Horn asked in surprise. “My father-” Iron Horn then stopped mid-sentence, noticing Eric giving him an odd look. He gave a salute and offered his hand. “My name is Iron Horn, a wandering warrior. Are you Eric Von Shadow? The one I’ve read on the newspaper about defending Canterlot from Pirates?”

“Among other things.” Eric answered, taking Iron Horn’s hand. “Eric Von Shadow, Reaper of the Crystal Empire, Shade of Umbra, Kinslayer and Captain of the Crystal Royal Guard.”

Iron Horn nodded. “It’s an honor,” he said, before urgency entered his voice. “Please. Bring your mightiest soldiers, and let me fight them.” Privately, he thought, If my kingdom has sentenced innocent beings to a lifetime of slavery, I must return home and stop this madness.

Eric cocked an eyebrow, almost reading his thoughts, before glancing back as his comrades joined them. “You want the mightiest soldiers? You’re looking at them.” He motioned to his group. “Iron Horn. Meet Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity Belle, and Fluttershy.”

“The Elements of Harmony!” Iron Horn exclaimed before saluting Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty and the fastest in all of Equestria.” He grinned jokingly. “You must not be great in bed.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, flames licking her form. Eric set a hand on Dash’s shoulder, calming her down as the minotaur turned to Applejack.

“Applejack,” he greeted, giving her a firm handshake. “Element of Honesty, and a proud member of the Apple Family. Quite a sturdy character if I do say so myself.”

“Mighty kind of ya,” Applejack said, before the minotaur moved onto Rarity, kissing her hand.

“Miss Rarity Belle, Element of Generosity, and one of the finest conjurers of clothes in all of Equestria. A dashing lady if I say so myself.”

Rarity smiled. “Well aren’t you sweet.”

Iron Horn turned to Fluttershy, giving her a thumbs up despite her moving behind Eric in fear. “And here we have the sweet Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, and the Caretaker of the animals of Ponyville. A small thing to do but a big feat to pull off all the same, what you do is amazing and keep on doing what’s best for the nature around you.”

Fluttershy just squeaked in terror, her last encounter with a minotaur fresh on her mind. Iron Horn looked behind her, his grin fading.

“...Where are the others?” Iron Horn asked.

“Indeed,” Celestia noted, turning to Eric. “Where are Twilight and Pinkie Pie?”

“Twilight returned to the Pie family’s farm to restore the damage your nephew caused,” Eric said.

Celestia groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose “What else did he do?”

“He used magic to erase Marble from her family’s mind.”

“Of course, he did” Celestia sighed before glancing at the book “So how soon can you set sail to retrieve the slaves?”

“This afternoon,” Eric answered. “Maybe even tonight.”

“I…” Iron Horn started to raise a finger, before he paused. “No, not yet, he decided.I have to fulfill my promise.He shook his head, “Er, never mind. Bring me all of your mightiest warriors so we can hold a Gauntlet.”

Eric glanced at him. “Why?”

“Well I can’t tell you,” Iron Horn admitted. “But I promise, I can IF you defeat me.”

Eric sighed. “Look If you want to fight, knock yourself out.” The Shadow Man left to prepare. “Dash, AJ, figure out who wants to go first.”

“Not want,” Iron Horn corrected, crossing his arms. “Need.” He looked down. “However, it’s been a long journey. I need to rest, perhaps we can engage in battle tomorrow?”

“There is no tomorrow,” Eric replied. “We leave as soon as possible. You are more than welcome to fight whoever chooses to stay behind, but freeing the slaves is our top priority.”

For a moment, Iron Horn was silent. “Can I tell you something Von Shadow…?” Iron Horn said softly.

“Is it about your banishment?” Eric said.

Iron Horn blinked in shock. “How do you know that?” He went for his staff, an axe blade popping out with the click of a button. “Have you been following me?”

“I don’t need to,” Eric replied, pulling out a folded paper. “You’re not the only one who reads the papers.”

Banished Minotaur Prince Spotted in the Equestrian Nation was printed on the paper in big bold letters. Below the headline was a photo of the Minotaur wielding his shield and blade, standing over an armored knight. Iron Horn was looking up to the skies like what a hero would do.

“That was over ten fucking ye- How did you even get that?” Iron Horn exclaimed. “I thought my name was wiped from the face of the damn planet!”

“It might have,” Eric snarked. “If you started wearing a mask instead of a helmet.”

Iron Horn snorted like an angry bull before snatching the paper and tearing it up. “Damn newspaper guy-thing!”

“I’ve also heard the rumors,” Eric said to the Prince. “In order for you to return you must win ten thousand duels. Am I wrong?”

Iron Horn sighed. “No, you would be correct.” He looked up. “But I must ask; did my father, Cloven Horn, die in my absence?”

Eric grimaced. “I couldn’t tell you that.”

Iron Horn sighed, before bowing. “Then let me join you. I’ve overheard what has happened to my Kingdom and I can NOT let this stand! The slaves… My father would never allow this. He’s too prideful to stoop that low. It’s been ten years… I haven’t seen my family, or my friends! I have a ship called the Iron Maiden that is in the docks sitting there right now.” He looked up. “Let me join you! PLEASE!”

“You are welcome to join,” Celestia said to the Prince. “However, my guard along with a handful of guards from the Empire will have to accompany you.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia!” Iron Horn said, jumping to his feet and hugging the Princess unexpectedly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I will NOT betray your trust or you in any way shape or form!”

“When can you get a ship prepared?” Eric asked the princess

“On short notice? Two hours.”

Eric turned to the minotaur. “Can you be ready in two hours?”

“I can be ready in ten minutes!” Iron Horn declared. “I am a master of Quick Claw technique.” He noticed Rainbow Dash’s confused expression. “In other words, I’m fast as fuck!”

“Then met us at the docks in two hours,” Eric said, leaving the grounds through the shadows





Eric made his way towards the docks with Sombra and Starry Sky behind him. Applejack and Rainbow were already at the docks waiting for the others. Eric glanced around, noticing a lack of white or yellow.

“No Rarity or Fluttershy?” Eric asked.

“They decided to stay behind,” Rainbow said, crossing her arms. “Fluttershy said she wanted to work on her Haki Control.”

“And Rarity?”

“Same reason” Applejack said, moving one leg over the other while flicking her Stetson. “She wanted to get better control over her Devil Fruit.”

“Avast ye bilge rats!” The voice of Iron Horn boomed, causing the three to jump. “Up here!” The group looked up to find Iron Horn standing on top of a ship with no Jolly Roger but a symbol of the Minos Flag. His ship was coated in metal, the bottom of the ship was Sea Prism Stone. Iron Horn jumped from the Crow’s Nest and down next to Eric, making a crater when he landed.

“This is the Iron Maiden,” Iron Horn said with glee, patting his fair ship/lady. “And she’s pretty sturdy, been with me for ten years yet no sign of rust.”

Eric nodded in agreement. “She’s quite the beauty,” he noted, before hearing the sound of marching.

Turning, Eric was met with the sight of the Crystal Royal Guard, sixteen guards saluted their captain.

“Crystal Guard reporting for duty, sir,” the group said in unison.

“At ease,” Eric said, boarding the naval vessel. “Board the ship!”

The guards obeyed their captain. “Do you have everything Sir Eric?” a unicorn guard asked as he manned the wheel.

“Indeed,” Eric replied. “Raise the Anchor, and drop the sails.” Eric ordered before stepping to the front of the vessel. “To Minos!”

“Ahem,” Iron Horn snorted. “I’m the Captain here.” He turned to the guards. “Hoist the colors high and raise the anchor!”

"Isn't Eric the captain?" Starry asked.

Eric shook his head. “This isn’t my ship. Last time I checked, Iron Horn is captain of his own vessel.”

"I thought you were the captain because you were the one who got us together,” the samurai noted. “Guess not.”

“On this vessel,” a voice called from another ship. “I am Captain!”

A pegasus stallion appeared on the deck of the second ship, wearing an armored chest plate with a large white coat over his shoulders. His head was covered with a white beret. A longsword attached to his hip and a pair of pressed white pants on his lower body, and a pair of pure white boots adorn his feet.

“Name's White Knight,” the captain said in a voice that screamed authority. “Captain of the ‘White Dream.”

Iron Horn just stared at White Knight from the Iron Maiden, “I gotta fight that stallion…” He thought, looking at the guard.

Starry Sky stared at The White Knight and hummed. "He does look strong"

“Eric Von Shadow” The Shadow Man introduced before motioning to his friends. “This is Sombrahesta…”

“Ah, yes...” White Knight said with venom in his voice. “The Tyrant.”

“Watch your tongue,” Eric growled as his shadows began to waft from his body.

“Whatever,” White Knight said, crossing his arms before spotting two of the Elements. “It’s an honor to have the Elements of Loyalty and Honesty alongside my vessel.”

"Elements?" thought Starry as he looked at the mares with rainbow hair and the one with a Stetson hat.

Eric saw the confused look on the Samurai’s face before speaking in Sky’s native tongue. “Atode setsumei shimasu.”
[I’ll Explain Later]

Starry nodded, trusting Eric’s word before White Knight noticed the samurai.

“And who are you, Nip?” White Knight asked, flying off his ship and stepping in front of Starry.

"I am Starry Sky, Bucket Head," he replied with annoyance in his voice

Insulted, the Captain went to draw his blade only to have three separate blades at his throat: Obsidian Blood held by Eric Von Shadow, Sombra’s Broadsword and a katana held by Starry Sky.

“A piece of advice Captain White Knight...” Sombra Began

“...Never start a fight…” Eric said next.

"You can't finish," Starry finished.

Reluctantly, the captain moved his hand away from his sword which made all three of them retract their blades from his throat. Huffing, the captain returned to his ship in silence.

“Arrogant bastard,” Eric growled, sheathing his sword. “Calling you a Tyrant…” Eric looked to Sombra. “And then calling you a Nip” the Shadow man turned to the Samurai as he sheathed his katana .

“Hmph, what a rude thing to say to another.” Iron Horn said, crossing his arms. “Now I have to teach that ‘Knight’ a lesson.”

"What was he talking about you being a tyrant?” Starry asked Sombra.

“Under the influence of a dark entity I... Enslaved my people and murdered an entire race.” Sombra admitted with guilt and regret.

Starry hummed, narrowing his eyes. "Do you regret what happened?”

“Every minute of every day,” Sombra assured him. He glanced at Eric who began to walk to the head of the ship. “Especially since I ruined a potential family.”

Starry followed his gaze. “While I don't know the specifics or much about who you are as a person I can tell by just looking at you that you're a good person and if what you said was true then you aren't the one at fault.”

“Thanks” Sombra said, gripping his sword.

"You’re welcome" Starry said, patting Sombra’s shoulder.
> The Island of Minos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric walked around, unaware of where he was. No matter where he turned, he found nothing but darkness. As he continued to walk, he heard a voice.

No… a scream.

“Eric! ERIC!”

Bursting into a full blown sprint Eric followed the scream. It grew louder and more desperate, ringing in his ears. Whoever was screaming needed help. Now!

“I’m coming!” he wanted to say. “I’m coming!”

But the scream would not be silent. And soon enough, he saw why.

Out from the darkness came a house. A familiar house; his house. It’s front door torn off.

Running inside, the Shadow Man saw an amber furred Crystal Pegasus lying dead on the ground. Before he could approach, a large shadow rose from the pony’s corpse.

“You did this!” the shadow screamed to Eric. “You were supposed to protect her! And you failed!”

Eric shook his head, wanting to protest. But the shadow didn’t give him the chance.

Its arms turned to blades. “YOU KILLED HER ERIC!!”

The shadow slashed and carved at Eric’s body. His screams were drowned out by the roars of the monster.

“ERIC!”
“ERIC!”
“ERIC!”
“Eric Wake up!”

Suddenly, Eric jolted awake, finding himself being shaken. Instinct took over, and his hand went around Starry’s throat, lifting him into the air.

"Eric, stop!” Starry choked out. “Its me!”

“Hoshizora?” Eric quickly let go of the pegasus, pulling himself from his hammock. “I’m sorry…” he murmured. Lost in thought, he staggered out to the deck.

The deck of the ship was bathed in Luna’s moonlight. Yet it did little to soothe Eric, as he ran his hands through his hair and tried to forget the nightmare. It was eased when he felt the presence of Starry’s shadow.

"You want to talk about it?" the samurai asked.

“I’m sorry about that,” Eric repeated, not looking to his companion. “I’m… constantly plagued with nightmares every night. It’s…”

“Don’t worry too much,” Starry replied. “I’ve been choked by worse. Also, I have a… ‘rough’ understanding of your nightmares.”

“I’m forced to relive my greatest sin,” Eric said, gazing over the horizon. “I failed to save my wife from Sombra. Back when he wasn’t in control.”

"Well…” Starry glanced over the side of the boat. I guess you and I are in the same boat then.”

Eric didn’t laugh.

Starry sighed. “Alright, enough joking around. What you went through was very horrible and anyone in your situation would be in a much worse position than you."

“You may be right,” Eric said with a chuckle. “But on the inside, I am more damaged than a shattered sword.”

As Eric lamented neither he nor Starry Sky noticed the grey unicorn at the foot of the stairs. Sombra looked down in pain and regret before returning to his hammock.

“I’m sorry, Eric…”

Eric dropped himself against the mast before staring at the moon and star-filled night. “You don’t need to stay,” he noted to Starry. “This isn’t the first time I’ve done this”

"Perhaps,” Starry replied with a smile. “But this is the first time this happened and I'm here.”

Eric grinned. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”





Days passed. Weeks. To alleviate the boredom and to keep their skills sharp, Eric trained his small group, learning their strengths and weaknesses. Though it was important to keep their skills sharp, the more impulsive, like Rainbow Dash, craved action.

After two weeks of nothing, Dash got her wish, when a violent rocking of the ship interrupted their latest training session.Racing to the side, Eric beheld a large shadow moving underneath the ship.

“Rainbow…” Eric asked. “Are there Sea Kings in the water?”

Starry blinked. “What’s a Sea King?!”

“No,” Rainbow said as the ship rocked again. “But we do have Sea Serpents.”

Right on cue, a large Sea Serpent emerged from the water. A second followed shortly, both gazing at Iron Horn’s ship and the naval ship with hungry red eyes.

"Ancestors help us," Starry whispered in horror.

The sea monsters let out twin roars before rushing the ships. White Knight jumped from the upper deck, slashing into the serpent's lower jaw. The beast snarled, briefly diving into the sea before coming back up for another attack.

"Paw Rush!" Starry shouted.

Several paw like projectiles hit the Sea Serpent, once again knocking it off course.

“AJ; give me a boost” Rainbow called.

Nodding, Applejack planted her foot into Rainbow’s, and kicked the pegasus into the air.

Rainbow engulfed her fist in flame before slugging the sea serpent in the face

“Fire Fist!” Rainbow boasted as the serpent fell forward.

Eric grabbed the farm mare by the back of her shirt. They shared a grin before Eric threw AJ into the air. As she soared through the sky, Applejack shifted her arms into blades.

“X-Dicer!” Applejack called out, severing the serpent through the middle with a large X.

“One down…” Eric turned to the Iron Maiden, just in time to see the other serpent fall into the now reddening sea.

“Make that two down!” Iron Horn boasted from his ship.

Starry sheathed his sword, gazing down at the red sea with trepidation. “So… were those sea kings?”

“In a way,” Eric answered, before White Knight drew his attention.

“Well done,” White Knight praised. “It would seem you all can hold your own in a fight.”

“More than you know, pony,” Iron Horn put up his weapons and dusted off his hands. “Now, I’m going back to reading the newspaper. God, I need some of that ‘cough-fee’ that they call in Equestria…”

Unfortunately, before Iron Horn could leave, the two ships got a good view of sharks descending on the sea serpent corpses. Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned green at the sight of the feast, and raced to the other side of the ship to relieve themselves of breakfast.

"They're not used to gore?” Iron Horn mused, crossing his arms and glaring at Eric. “You've done a good job at training them but not a good one at preparing them for awful things.”

“They’ve fought an army of Zombies,” Eric shot back. “There wasn’t much to learn.”

"Power Fruit user? Or Umbra Fruit users… I prefer the latter, it sounds cooler." Iron Horn said with a shake of his head. "Either way, I need a disguise if I am to go into the Kingdom. I was already recognized outside of Minos, I can imagine it'll be worse coming in to Minos."

“Then find one fast,” Eric said rising from a shadow aboard the Iron Maiden, pointing to an island in the distance. “We’ve arrived.”

Sure enough, the Minos royal flag was visible, waving from a building set at the shore of the island.

Iron Horn paled. "Uh… I'll be right back!" The minotaur dashed down to the lower decks of the ship. Briefly, Eric heard metal crashing and paint spraying. Eventually, Iron Horn came back out, his armor painted red and blue with fire accents. He struck a pose. “How do I look?”

“Like someone who will stand out,” Eric said coldly. “Sometimes simple black works the best.”

"And sometimes, standing out is the best way to stay hidden,” Iron Horn refuted, patting his painted armor. “No one would expect one of Royalty to dress up like… this.” He struck another pose. “Hence forth, call me… Orion Prime."

Before Eric could respond, the growl of an empty stomach emanated from him. Before Iron Horn could laugh, an equally loud growl bubbled up from the minotaur’s stomach as well. The two stared at each other in embarrassment.

“You know a place we can eat on Minos?” Eric asked.

"You like meat?"

“I do.”

“Good.” Iron Horn pointed. "There's a restaurant called the Golden Axel, where my youngest brother visits frequently. Hopefully, he's still the pure little man he used to be." Iron Horn chuckled, remembering his fond times in Minos.

“Alright, I’ll inform the others.” Eric merged with the shadows of the ship before emerging from the shadows of the naval vessel. “Captain Knight,” he called. “The Island of Minos is just ahead.”

“Thanks for the report, Shade,” White Knight replied, turning to the crew. “Alright, everypony; prepare to dock!”

The two ships docked in the harbor. No sooner had the boards come down before a red minotaur stomped up and planted himself between them and the dock.

“If you all want to dock here, it’ll be sixty bits.”

Eric started to reach for his money pouch, but the minotaur held up a hand.

“Each,” the red beast added.

Stamping down his irritation, Eric paid for himself Sombra And Starry Sky. Immediately, the minotaur’s hostile gaze was replaced by a friendlier grin.

“Thank you very much. Enjoy Minos.” The minotaur turned his sights on Captain Knight. The captain sighed.

“I’ll handle this,” the captain said to the Shadow Man and his group. “Go on ahead.”

“Thank you, captain,” Eric said, joining his friends on the dock.

"As for me," Iron Horn said, his voice different and more robotic. "I'll pay for my two companions here." Iron Horn stepped up to the Red Minotaur and paid for himself, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

“Enjoy your stay in the Minotaur Capital,” the dock guard said cheerfully.

As the group left the docks Eric walked up to the prince’s side. “Was it always this expensive to dock here?” Eric asked the prince.

"We need it for the many women of Minos,” Iron Horn explained. “They care for our children so we must provide them with any resource to help the young grow. Unless times have changed and they’re just pouring resources into the military… I'd be disappointed if that was the case." Iron Horn crossed his arms with a grunt.

“If they take so much money then why are they wasting it on buying Slaves?” Eric grumbled. “It’s bad enough they enslaved Dragons.”

"I didn't enslave shit!” Iron Horn barked. “I was banished for ten years and fought in a war for even longer, but I don't ever enslave living beings. I give them their freedom after they serve a sentence.” Iron Horn flexed his shoulders. “Honestly I am offended that you even considered me a slaver."

“Did you at least know an ice dragoness?” Eric pressed. “She would have had her elemental gland removed.”

Iron Horn shook his head. "Father never let me into the slave region. He said to wait until I was thirty. I was only twenty-nine at the time." Iron Horn looked away. “Now, enough talk. Give me a minute to find the Golden Axel.”

Eric sighed, but didn’t protest, letting Iron Horn lead them through town and eventually, to the restaurant. The second Iron Horn opened the door for Eric and his companions, the Shadow Man felt all eyes fall on them.

A female waitress – a Minotaura - walked up to them. "Are you beings of different races a party?"

“We are, Ma’am.” Eric tried to keep a respectful tone and even grinned, but the female was unimpressed.

"Quite a lot of you. Ah, well; allow me to take you to your seats." The Minotaura elegantly maneuvered herself to one of the biggest tables. "Please have a seat."

"Thank you, ma'am." Iron Horn spoke.

Despite his changed voice, the Minotaura tilted her head at him in confusion.

“Have we… met before?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

"My name is Orion Prime. I wasn't born on Minos, but I heard stories from here by my father. So, I decided to pay a visit to where I belong."

The waitress seemed to accept his word, and the party took their seats without further questioning. However, as the waitress got their requests for drinks, ‘Orion’ felt someone’s eyes remain on him. Glancing to the one who was staring, Orion smiled.

“Von Shadow,” he whispered. “I believe my younger brother is currently here."

Eric followed his gaze, before turning both of their eyes away. “So long as he stays over there, we’ll be fine” Eric responded.

But Rainbow noticed another detail that made her stiffen. “Eric,” she hissed. “He’s got several mares around him. Mares with collars!” 

Eric took another look, his eyes widening. “I…Orion,” he hissed. “You don’t think your brother is the one buying the slaves?”

“He can’t be,” Orion insisted, but his eyes didn’t deceive him. “It can’t be…” His fists shook with rage, coating themselves in Armament Haki. “That… bastard… he’s not my brother if he…”

"Slaver scum," Starry growled, reaching for his katana.

“Don’t do something foolish,” Eric warned the two. “Remember; we aren’t in the Equestrian Nation anymore. We must follow their laws. Which includes ‘no attacking the Royal Family.’”

Starry grimaced, but let go of his katana hilt. “The first chance I get,” Starry warned. “I shall run him through.”

That chance came sooner rather than later. As Iron Horn and Starry settled into their seats, a pair of powerful arms suddenly yanked Applejack from her chair.

“What in Tarnation!” Applejack roared, thrashing from the arms of the Royal Guard. Before the guard could try again, Orion jumped to his hooves.

"HEY!" Orion boomed. "That is no way to treat a lady you fiendish bilge rats!"

“Sit. Back. Down.” Iron Horn’s brother ordered.

The minotaurs bowed, but Iron Horn did not. As he glared his brother down, Conqueror’s Haki emanated from his form.

"Make me." Orion dared.

Iron Horn’s brother stood, a smug grin tracing his features.

“You don’t seem to understand who you’re dealing with,” he noted. “I am Prince Diamond Bling.” He pointed at Applejack. “And this mare will be my new bride.”

“Yer what?!” Applejack shouted.

"You don't have one already?” Orion mused. “What a pathetic excuse for a prince. One of your status would have already chosen one.” He shook his head. “I guess even the mightiest of Minotaurs are still weak."

In his moment of boasting, the prince pulled a dagger, driving it into Iron Horn’s gut. “You will not speak to me like that again!” Diamond Bling roared.

"Bastard!" Starry yelled. Feinting at Diamond Bling, Starry redirected his katana, freeing Applejack from the Royal Guard… and relieving the royal guard of his arms.

Orion backed up, yanking the dagger from his gut and stopping the blood. But before he and Starry could charge, Eric bound them with his shadow.

“Forgive my companions your Noble Highness” Eric said with a respectful bow.

"What are you doing?!" Starry said to Eric.

"Stand up, you are no subject of his." Orion demanded.

But despite their protests, the prince did stand down with a grin. “At least one of you knows how to act in front of Royalty.” Prince Diamond scoffed

"Pathetic…" Orion spat, glaring at Diamond, throwing away the dagger. He looked down at his wound and chuckled. "I don't even feel it…"

“However,” Eric continued. “You cannot claim her as yours. The Element of Honesty is a national treasure to the Equestrian Nation. “So I humbly apologize, but she is off the market.”

Diamond Bling rolled his eyes and pulled out a flintlock pistol. With a BOOM, he sent a bullet into the Shadow Man’s head.

“YOU BASTARD!” Sombra boomed

"Die slaver scum!!" Starry yelled as he tried to unsheath his katana… only to find he and the others were still bound in shadow.

"Tch…" Orion Prime glowered at his bindings, while his brother turned to his remaining guards.

“Take her to the castle.” Diamond ordered.

However, they barely got Applejack out of the restaurant before Rainbow Dash made her move. Erupting in a fountain of fire, she broke through the shadow bindings.

“No way am I letting this scumbag win,” Rainbow Dash snarled, racing after them.

"Miss Dash, calm yourself!" Orion ordered the Element of Loyalty.

However, before Rainbow could save Applejack, the Element of Honesty saved herself. Turning her arms to blades, she relieved the guards of their fingers. Applejack walked up to the Prince before turning her blades back to normal

"Stop it you two! That's enough!" Orion ordered the two.

However, the Banished Prince's words fell deaf on the farm girl's ears as she punched the prince in the face, and the minotaur was thrown back into the bar.

“ARREST HER!!” Diamond Bling roared, and all the minotaurs rushed the earth pony.

Applejack tried to fight, but the minotaurs soon overwhelmed her. It was impossible to even see her as they pinned her down and knocked her out.

The prince stood over her, boiling with rage, before sadistically smiling.

“I’m going to thoroughly enjoy breaking you,” Bling said, before walking to the castle with the minotaurs and his prize in tow.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you," Starry thought darkly.

Orion kept silent, not saying a word as she was taken away. Orion then took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“Alright Eric, the spoiled bastard is gone,” Sombra said. “You can quit with the act.”

"Yes, let me go as well. We both know you’re not dead" Starry added angrily.

Eric rose from his slumped form and dusted himself off. “Sorry about that, but I figured it was the only way to prevent another war.”

"...You're a wise man,” Iron Horn admitted with a sigh. “I still have much to learn." Releasing himself from his bonds, he tipped the waitress 5,000 bits. "Take this, I apologize for my actions."

"You may be right,” Starry said. “But before this is over, I'm will see him dead.”

“But what do we do now?” Rainbow demanded. “We just let him take AJ away?”

“You don’t have a choice,” the waitress said. “You can’t defy the royal family; otherwise you’ll be killed or imprisoned.”

“So, there’s no way to get her back?” Rainbow asked, on the verge of defeat.

"Didn't you say she was a national treasure?” Starry asked. “Wouldn't that already make the minotaurs be on uneasy grounds with Equestria.”

“The Element of Honesty is a jewel,” Eric admitted. “Anyone with a powerful sense of honesty can use it.” He sighed. “It was a bluff that honestly backfired.”

“There is one way,” the Minotuara noted, gaining their attention. “There’s a law that allows you to claim anything on the island.”

Orion gasped. “The Duel Law.”

The Minotuara nodded. “You must defeat three of the strongest minotaurs in order to claim your prize.”

"I'll go." Orion stood up to his feet, "Would you like to come as well Rai-"

Unfortunately, when he called her name all he saw was the flashing out line and a trail of fire leading to the castle.

"The fool,” Starry hissed. “She's going to get herself taken as well!”

“Worse,” Eric said, running to the castle. “She’s going to get herself killed. She’s never fought a Minotaur before! She can’t even beat me.”

"Let’s hope they’d rather capture her than kill her," Starry said

"Tch, idiot!" Orion growled, following the others as they sprinted to the Palace.





Rainbow burst through the windows of the King Cloven Iron’s throne room. The guards gasped in shock, but the King merely raised an eyebrow

“You’re either here for the Duel Law or you’re a really bad assassin,” the King noted. “Which is it?”

“I want my friend back,” Rainbow demanded. “She’s an earth pony with the power to turn into blades. If I win the Duel Law, I want her back!”

“Very well,” the King said, rather bored. “I could use some entertainment.” Rainbow beamed before the king interrupted her. “Should you lose, however, you will serve the Royal Family for the next hundred years.”

Rainbow blinked. “Ponies don’t live that long!”

“You can have children,” the King replied, causing horror to cover the mare’s face.

“Hold it!” a voice boomed, before Orion burst in as well. "I want to take part in this Duel Law as well!”

Starry burst in next. “You’re not the only one here that wants to fight!”

“Sorry,” the King replied. “First one gets dibs. She’s going to partake in the gauntlet.”

"ARE YOU MAD?!" Orion cried out in worry, shaking the whole Castle. He whirled on Rainbow Dash. "They're Royalty! Meaning they’re the strongest warriors on this Island!"

Eric said nothing, walking past his friends and smacking Rainbow Dash’s head.

“OW!” Rainbow Dash yelped.

“You are an idiot,” Eric glared at the mare.

“She’s not the only one,” the King noted, crossing to Orion. “You’re not supposed to be on this island…” He ripped off Orion’s helmet. “Iron Horn.”

Despite the King crushing his helmet in his grip, Iron Horn’s expression remained defiant. "I literally beat an army of a thousand every single time I went into battle. I deserve to be here, father." Iron Horn boomed. "You KNOW I'm way capable of doing ten thousand wins, and I did it in the war."

“And how many have you beaten after you were banished?” the King replied coldly.

"One on one battles? Well, two thousand. How many one on one battles have you fought? Oh right, ya don't do one on ones anymore!"

“Get out Iron Horn” The King ordered. “You were banished and banished you will stay.”

"Let me stay!” Iron Horn insisted. “I'll fight in the arena, with Rainbow Dash or otherwise!"

“You will not,” the King said, pushing past his son. “She wants to enact the Duel Law, she’ll fight By. Her. Self."

Iron Horn still followed his father. "Please Father, then let me go against her for my freedom and Applejack's!"

“You want to stay, Iron Horn?” King Iron asked.

"Yes!" Iron Horn said, clenching his fists with determination.

“Then take her to the arena and inform her of the gauntlet” the king said with a grin. “And pray she isn’t defeated, otherwise you’ll share her fate.”

"So be it." Iron Horn said solemnly, he turned around and exited the castle. "Goodbye Father, and prepare to be surprised."





Eric and others stood in the waiting room of the arena as Iron Horn explained the Duel Law.

"Alright Rainbow Dash, let me tell you about who you'll be facing. There are two fighters you'll be facing, they have no Devil Fruits. I'm confident that the first one is Diamond Bling. He's the weakest out of all of us as far as I can tell, but as long as you can keep to the skies and shoot fireballs at him you'll win. He has no way of reaching you, so keep flying and shooting. The second… I have no idea who that will be, but the third one will most likely be Tungsten Will. He has a Paramecia Type Umbra Fruit. If my memory serves me correctly, it's the Spring Spring Fruit he wields. He can fly using Elastic Force so you're not safe in the skies, though you should attack him before he picks up momentum. If you don't you're fucked."

"Don't get too confident in using your ability to fly and control flames,” Starry added. “I wouldn't be surprised if they've fought Devil Fruit users and Pegasi like you before."

“You all are putting too much confidence in her,” Eric noted. “She’s fighting Minotaurs, and she has no control on precision attacks.”

"My literal fate is with her." Iron Horn snarled with a huff.

“Then tell me this,” Eric replied coldly. “Are they three fights over three days or three fight back to back?”

Iron Horn looked down. “Back to back,” he admitted, “With a small break in between.” He looked up in defiance. “Which is why I'm giving tips to her!”

Eric just turned to leave the room. “You’re fucked.”

"I'M TRYING ERIC!" Iron Horn roared, before turning desperately to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, please… you're not only fighting for your freedom and Applejack's but mines as well. Please do not fuck this up!"

“I…” Rainbow Dash shuddered, struggling to keep up her confidence. However, before she could find her voice, Iron Horn left.

“Rainbow,” Sombra said, getting the mare’s attention. “Conserve your Devil Fruit, rely on hand to hand combat as much as possible.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, struggling to keep from folding in panic, when a knock on the door alerted the group inside.

“The fighters are ready,” a voice called out.

“Well…” Rainbow swallowed, clenching her quivering fists. “Pray for me.” She forced her mouth to stretch into a smile, and entered the arena.
> The Fire and Flames
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Grand Arena of Minos was a large Colosseum with stands filled to the brim with members of the Minotaur race. Three towers evenly spaced out across the earthy ground.

Rainbow Dash walked out into the arena and immediately was bombarded with cheers and shouts. Looking to the stands, Rainbow spotted Eric standing at the top. Watching her with judgement and disappointment.

“Rainbow Dash!” the King boomed, grabbing her attention.

The king sat atop a golden throne. To his left was a muscular and fit minotaur who had to be Tungsten Will. On his right… Rainbow Dash growled as she recognized Diamond Bling; the spoiled sow who took Applejack.

“You have demanded the Duel Law,” the King continued. “You will fight three of my strongest minotaurs.” The King smirked. “First up, you will fight my Fleet captain. Golden Sky!”

The crowd roared in glee as a minotaur walked into the arena: golden fur flashed in the sun, his mane the same color as the sky above. He towered over Rainbow Dash at ten feel tall, with muscles bigger than Rainbow's head. A scar ran down his chest. His nose ring glittered gold with red marks like tally figures.

“Begin!” King Iron shouted.

Rainbow immediately rushed the Minotaur… and was immediately knocked to the ground with a back hand.

Eric narrowed his eyes, as Sombra and the others joined him.

Sombra elbowed Eric. “Do you have to stare at her like that?”

“I told her not to engage in a fight she can’t win,” Eric replied coldly.

"She's not only doomed herself, but me and Applejack,” Iron Horn huffed. “My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."

“Did she even tell you how long you must serve?” Eric asked the banished prince

"One hundred years, if I remember correctly," Iron Horn replied. "And I have at least two hundred more left in me before I croak."

"Don't worry too much,” Starry replied. “If it comes to it, Eric, Sombra and I will try and break you out.”

"It won't be needed,” Iron Horn replied venomously. “Because when I get out… I will kill my father and assume the throne…”

“He’s going to die regardless,” Eric said to the prince, turning his gaze to the King. “Even a blind man can see he’s been poisoned one too many times.”

"Yes,” Starry agreed. “And I'm personally going after the one we meet at the tavern.”

“Eric,” Iron Horn asked. “In your opinion, what are her odds at surviving this?”

“Not good,” the Shadow Man admitted, wringing his hands. “But if she can break through her limits, she’ll have a chance.”

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash wasn’t in any position to be breaking limits. It was taking all she could to get up from the ground; spots danced in front of her eyes and a low ringing drilled into her ears.

Golden Sky basked in his assumed victory, laughing as he took in the cheers and screams of the crowd.

Growling at his confidence, Rainbow shook the spots free and rose to her feet. “Hand to hand combat, my flank,” she muttered darkly.

"God damn it!” Iron Horn slammed his fist into the ground, making the ground shake. “I should have been out there!"

Starry smiled. “How about you focus on something else? Like which way you want to use to rush the castle?”

"Ugh, I'll deal with it afterwards, I'm too busy brooding… Can I get some rum over here…?"

"Just tell me where I can find the princes,” Starry insisted. “I'll deal with them.”

Just then, Rainbow Dash summoned her Devil Fruit, catching Golden Sky’s attention. Glowering at her foe, Rainbow formed two large fireballs, and threw them at Golden Sky. The Fleet Captain grunted as the fireballs forced him back, but with a roar, he charged and tackled her to the ground. He punched… only for his punch to pass right through her fire-shrouded body.

“What the…?” Golden Sky stammered before he felt the burn.

“Fire Pillar!” Rainbow Dash roared.

Golden Sky screamed as the flames shot upward, burning him to a crisp. The minotaur stumbled off her and fell face first into the ground, while Rainbow Dash rose up, out of breath, but victorious.

“Congratulations, Miss Dash” the King declared with a grin. “Take a break; we’ll let you know when your next fight is ready.”

Rainbow left the arena, the others quickly moving to meet with her. However, Eric couldn’t help but linger, watching the royal family as they argued.

“Father, you can’t let them take my bride!” Diamond Bling complained.

“They won’t, my son,” the king said, resting his chin on his fist. “They’ll fail as others have done before.”

“But what if they don’t fail?” the prince shouted. “What if they…?”

Tungsten interrupted his brother with a punch to the face. “Father said they won’t,” he snarled. “Besides, name one creature who can beat me.”





Eric and the others found Rainbow drinking a large cup of water.

"Nicely done Rainbow Dash,” Starry noted. “Though I like my meat slightly less charred.”

“Avoid hand-to-hand in the next match,” Iron Horn advised, helping her patch up some of her wounds. “Keep to the skies, stay calm, and strike when they reveal a weak point.”

"You should taunt them into attacking you,” Starry added. “Then move out the way and blast them.”

"Do not do that, do not!" Iron Horn barked, "We get stronger when angry."

Nodding at their advice, Rainbow looked to Eric. “What about you, Eric?” she asked.

“What?” Eric demanded. “You expect praise or advice?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, but you’ll get no help from me.”

"Yeah, you were kind of a fucking idiot challenging them without me or Starry to help you." Iron Horn admitted.

"You've got to think things through and not just charge into things like an enraged bull.” Starry added.

“But...” Rainbow began only to be interrupted by Eric

“Had you kept that temper of yours in check, we could have saved her without you going through this gauntlet,” Eric scolded the Pegasus. “But now, you must ride the tracks you have laid down.”

Eric left the room slamming the doors behind him. Rainbow bristled, her flames creeping back up, before she sighed and sank back into her chair.

“You know,” she noted. “I don’t need you three constantly telling me I bucked up. Even if I did.”

"Big time," Starry answered.

“Royally” Sombra added.

"Massively." Iron Horn said as well, frowning as he finished patching Rainbow's wounds.

A knock came from the door; her next opponent was ready.

Rainbow sighed. “Thanks for the votes of confidence, guys,” she grumbled, cricking her neck. “Well… Show time.”

Entering the arena for the second time today Rainbow was again greeted with cheers. Only this time, she failed to spot Eric among the crowd.

“Miss Dash” the king called, drawing the Mare’s attention. “Your second Match will be with my Captain of the Royal Guard; Crimson Horn."

Crimson Horn stepped out; a seven foot, eleven bull with horns red as blood. Combined with his equally red fur, he resembled some sort of satanic demon. Black tattoos of skulls – both ponies and griffon alike – adorned his muscular arms. He flexed before Rainbow Dash with a grin.

“Each of these tattoos are for kills,” Crimson explained. He pointed to a spot on his shoulder. “And I got a special spot for you. Right here.”

Rainbow grimaced, struggling to hide her fear. “Oh Faust…”

“Begin!” the King boomed.

Crimson didn’t wait a single second; dropping to all fours, he charged at Rainbow, his horns covering in Armament Haki. But Rainbow Dash’s boasts of being the fastest in Equestria were not empty words. Flaring her wings, she took to the skies, Crimson Horn slamming head first into a wall. Pulling himself free with a growl, he glared up at the skies as Rainbow Dash smirked down at him.

"Coward!" Crimson Horn grabbed a chunk of the arena wall and flung it into the air.

Rainbow Dash easily dodged, but as the rock fell, Crimson jumped. Using the rock as a stepping stone, he boosted himself above Rainbow Dash, his arms coating in Armament Haki as he tried to bring them down on her head. Too shocked at his move to dodge, Rainbow crossed her arms as the fists made contact with her body. Pain flared in her gut as she plummeted to the ground.

"WHY DIDN’T YOU DOOOOOOODGE!?!?!?!" Iron Horn bellowed, shaking the arena with his sheer voice.

"The Hell happened to his hands?" Starry said.

“Armament Haki,” Sombra answered. “It’s an ability that allows one to harm a Devil Fruit User.”

Starry grimaced. "I have a bad feeling about this.”

He wasn’t wrong. Crimson Horn brought Rainbow Dash to the ground, kicking her deeper into the dirt. Seizing her hair, he slammed his fist into her nose repeatedly.

"Come on, pony!” he snarled as she reeled. “Aren't you going to fight back?"

“Dear… Faust” Sombra whispered, turning away. “Eric was right… She had no chance”

Starry shook his head. “COME ON RAINBOW! SHOW THIS BUCK FOR BRAINS HOW ITS DONE"

"Why isn't she dodging?!” Iron Horn demanded. “At least guard! Please win! You can win! You feel great! YOU. CAN. DO. THIS!"

“Rainbow!” Sombra urged. “You’re the fastest pegasus in the world. Are you really going to let a minotaur beat you like this?!”

Their words lit a spark in Rainbow Dash’s flames. Roaring like a dragon, she erupted into white flames, forcing Crimson Horn to release her and back off.

"What the Tartarus?" Crimson Horn muttered, before clenching his fists and coating them in Armament Haki.

White flames flooded from Rainbow’s feet covering the arena in flame, and forming a fire sphere around her.

"Tch, no matter!” Crimson boasted. “Those flames are useless! HRAH!" Crimson Horn ran at Rainbow. "CRIMSON BARREL PUNCH!"

“Great Flame Commandment:” Rainbow growled before throwing her sphere at the minotaur. “White Flame Empress!”

With a great WHOOM, Crimson Horn vanished in a burst of fire and smoke.

Rainbow Dash slumped to her knees. “Two down…” Rainbow mumbled

"You bitch…" Crimson Horn’s voice growled, sending a chill up the pegasus’ spine.

Before she could turn, the minotaur lunged from the smoke, seizing her by the wings. Though burnt, the fire of rage burned bright in his eyes.

“Do you know how long it’s going to take to replace all my kills” Crimson said through clenched teeth as he tightened his grip on Rainbow wings

“How are you not dead!?” Rainbow said, kicking and struggling to free her wings.

Crimson Horn chuckled madly. "You must have never fought a Minotaur before. We Minotaurs have one of the highest damage resistance in the world. A punk ass fireball like yours is just a hot sunny day in Minos." Crimson Horn then grinned ear to ear, "And as seen you took something precious of mine, I'll take something of yours…"

Rainbow made every attempt to free herself from the minotaur as he began to pull on her wings. However, it was for not.

Her growls turned to screams as her wing joints dislocated. Her screams turned to shrieks as the flesh tore. And finally, with a cruel, sadistic grin, Crimson Horn ripped the wings from its owner.

Rainbow fell to the ground, screaming in utter agony as her blood painted the ground.

"That's rough buddy." Iron Horn mumbled.

Starry Sky clenched his fist and looked down In sadness and anger.

“You… mother...” Rainbow hissed.

“Sorry,” Crimson mocked. “Can’t hear you over your whimpering.” He seized her by the hair, raising her up like a trophy. “Care to repeat it, weakling?”

“You…” Rainbow slammed her head into the minotaur's head before grabbing his horns. “MOTHER!” Rainbow Dash ripped his horns clean from his head. “FUCKER!!!” the Pegasus rammed his horns into his eyes.

Crimson Horn’s wail of agony filled the arena, as Rainbow Dash backflipped, running on pure adrenaline. Using the Shave Technique, she buried her flaming leg into his stomach.

“White Fire Inferno!” Rainbow’s legs erupt in a monsoon of white flame, burning through the minotaur’s flesh, and ripping him in two.

The King stared in disbelief as Crimson Horn’s upper body hit the ground behind him with a splat. “She… won?!”

"LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!!!!" Iron Horn jumped into the air and hugged the one nearest to him tightly which was unfortunately Starry Sky. "I KNEW SHE COULD DO IT!"

"YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH" Starry shouted, hugging Iron Will without a care.

“Don’t celebrate, you morons!” Sombra said teleporting to the Arena to retrieve the bleeding Rainbow Dash. “Grab her wings!”

“Right-right,” Iron Horn jumped down and grabbed her wings. “I got the sewing kit and bandages!" Iron Horn somersaults down before glancing up to Cloven Iron and pulling a sewing kit and bandages from his bags.

“We need boiling water and we need to go back to the room!” Sombra said, carrying Dash to the waiting room.

"Ok I'll get the water, but when you're done sewing her up, pass her to me so I can help heal her." Starry said, running to go get some boiling water.

Sombra kicked open the door and immediately cast a Sterilization spell on everything. Setting the mare on the table he immediately ripped the back of Rainbow’s clothes away.

“Where’s that boiling water!” Sombra shouted.

"Here." Starry said, passing the Boiling water to Sombra.

“Horn, dip that needle in the water,” Sombra ordered, pressing a cluster of cloth on rainbow’s wounds to slow the bleeding.

"On it!" Iron Horn dipped the needle in the water and got ready to stitch Rainbow Dash back together.

“Give me that,” Sombra took the needle before shoving the minotaur's hands into the cloth. “Keep pressure on the wound.”

The moment the needle pierced the mare’s skin, the pegasus let out a scream.

“Damn it, somepony hold her down!” Sombra ordered.

"Sorry Rainbow,” Starry said, holding the mare down. “You're going to feel a lot of stinging. It’s gonna suck, but it’s gonna help as well!"

Sombra pierced her skin with the needle and began sealing the wounds. Rainbow Dash clutched the table, every breath a hiss of pain.





Meanwhile, outside…

“This is bad!” Diamond Bling cried. “This is very bad! She just killed the captain.”

“Quit your whining!” Tungsten yelled out to his brother. “You’re not going to lose your precious Bride.”

"But Tungsten!” Diamond whined. “She's going to take my new bride away from me" Bling cried in a whining voice

“Are you assuming she can beat me?!” Tungsten growled

"She killed the captain!" Bling cried. “Ripped him in half! What can…”

“Quiet Both of you” the King shouted, before Tungsten could cave Diamond’s face in.

"But Daddy-"

“You will not lose your toy!” the King snarled. “I will not let the Captain’s death be in vain.” He turned to Tungsten. “Tungsten.”

“Yes, Father?”

“Give it your all in the next match. Break her. Torture her…” He grinned. “Then kill her.”

Tungsten grinned a vile smile. “Gladly.”





Rainbow’s breathing steadied, and she gingerly flapped the wings Sombra had just re-sealed.

“Careful with those wings,” Sombra ordered. “Sit up, Rainbow.”

Sombra began placing thick pads of gauze on her wings, before wrapping her body in white bindings, enticing hisses of pain from the mare.

“Thank you, Sombra” Rainbow whispered, pulling herself to her feet.

“You can’t fight like this,” Sombra warned. “You’ll die”.

“I don’t have a choice,” Rainbow refuted. “I need to save my friend.”

"One second, Rainbow." Starry went behind Rainbow, and put his hand on her back. A red, paw shaped bubble appeared in front of her, and all her pain and fatigue suddenly faded.

“Thank you,” Rainbow mumbled, moving to the door.

"You're welcome, Rainbow" Starry said.

“Rainbow…” Sombra tried to say, only for a knock at the door to stop him.

“Your Final fight is ready.”

“Rainbow, stop,” Sombra pleaded. “Don’t go out there. You’ve reached your limit. You won't survive.”

“I’m the Element of Loyalty Sombra,” Rainbow said, pushing open the door. “And I won’t represent that anymore if I just leave my friends to save myself.”

“You are a stubborn mare” Sombra shouted.

Rainbow closed the door. “Maybe.”

Starry sighed, returning to the stands. "May the Ancestors bless you… even though you are one of the most hard headed beings I've meet"

“In your opinion, would you have let her go out there?” Sombra asked Starry Sky watching as Rainbow walked into the arena

"If she were a normal mare? Definitely not. But she is so stubborn, I'm pretty sure death would have a hard time taking her."

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Sombra said.

"Do not fret friends,” Starry smiled. “I have full confidence she can pull this off.”

“You’re quite strong for a pony, Miss Dash,” the King praised through a vile grin. “Now your final opponent.”

To the king's left, Tungsten Will stood up and walked up to the balcony, before dropping into the stands.

“Oh no…” Iron Horn grumbled, shielding his eyes.

Tungsten Will had brown fur and a dark mane. His horns were white and three feet tall, and his build was eleven feet tall. His fur was a bit fluffier than normal Minotaurs and his muscles mirrored that of Golden Sky’s. He had yellow eyes and a golden ring on his nose.

"Yeah go get her Tungsten!" Bling cheered.

Tungsten obeyed, rushing Rainbow with a roar. Having waited for the King to begin the match, Rainbow was caught off guard as he attacked, throwing her to her back. Dodging his cloven hooves, Rainbow gasped at the sight of metal coils in place of the prince’s shins. Laughing, Tungsten jumped high into the sky, aiming his hooves for her face.

Jumping to her feet, Rainbow dodged seconds before Tungsten landed, his impact creating a small crater. Despite her flames weakly licking her body, Rainbow pulled herself and assumed her combat pose all the same.

Tungsten chuckled, his arms turning to springs. “It’s cute how you think you can beat me when you’re halfway through Death’s door.”

“I will beat you,” Rainbow growled, trying to summon more flames.

“You’ll die trying.”

Tungsten rushed her again, compressing the spring on his arm. “Spring Death Fist!” he boomed, sending Rainbow into the walls of the arena.

“Rainbow!” Sombra shouted over the cheers of the audience.

Rainbow dropped to her knees, blood covering her face. Nevertheless, she pulled herself back up.

Tungsten grinned softly. “Not gonna lie,” he admitted. “For one as fragile as you, you don’t give up.” He recompressed his springs. “Let’s see how long that lasts. Spring…” His legs turned into springs before he jumped at one of the towers. “Hopper!”



Tungsten moved from tower to ground to tower all the while gaining more and more speed until he completely vanished. Second by second, Rainbow was knocked around the arena by the fast minotaur.

“Is this the best you got?” Tungsten shouted, slamming his fist into the mare’s face. “I bet you don’t even know how to throw a proper punch!”

The next series of attacks forced the fire user back to the ground, Rainbow remained on the ground struggling to rise an inch.

“You’ve reached your limit, pony,” Tungsten mocked before impacting the ground in front of her. “And you know the real kicker?” Tungsten kicked Rainbow flipping her onto her back. “You’re fighting to save your friend, but in reality, she’s my brothers now and his she’ll stay.” The prince planted his cloven hoof on her chest. “You’re going to die for nothing.”

“RAINBOW!!” a familiar voice shouted, drawing their gaze.

Tungsten blinked at the sight of Applejack and Eric next to their friends. “How in Tartarus did she get out?!”

“Applejack…” Rainbow whispered, a smile creeping onto her face.

“Quit holding back, Dash” Eric shouted to the pegasus. “Limits aren’t meant to stop you!”

Rainbow grinned up at the prince, and unleashed a fireball. The prince was flung off her chest and fell hard on his back. Rising to her feet, Rainbow’s spirit soared as flames began to lick her body; red, blue, green, and yellow turned her into a tornado of rainbow light.

“You were wrong, Tungsten Will,” Rainbow said as her body vanished in the flurry of multi-colored flames. “I’m not at my limit.”

The flames exploded, revealing Rainbow Dash covered entirely in rainbow colored flames, a pair of fiery wings on her back. Red eyes of fire glared at the Minotaur who began to back away in fear.

“I’ve broken my limit!” Rainbow shouted.

“What… is that?” Tungsten whimpered.

"Rainbow Flame Spirit.”
> Freedom is Taken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric walked out of the waiting room with anger plastered on his face. He slammed the door behind him.

“Damn that irresponsible stubborn mare!” Eric yelled, leaving the colosseum. “She’s going to get herself killed!”

Eric made it a full ten feet from the colosseum before his eyes trained on the approaching Crystal Guard along with the Equestrian Navy. Leading ahead them was the captain of the White Dream.

“Von Shadow,” White Knight said with a respectful nod.

“Captain Knight,” Eric said, returning the nod.

“Where are the others?” Captain White Knight asked the Shadow Man.

“Well Applejack is currently being held against her will, and Rainbow Dash is currently being reckless and fighting three Minotaurs to free her,” Eric said, still angered at the actions of the Element of Loyalty.

“They’ve taken the Element of Honesty?!” the Captain shouted, almost drawing his long-sword. “Equestrian Law states that…!”

“We aren’t in Equestria, we are in the Minotaur Nation.”

“Then what do you plan to do?” White Knight demanded. “Let these detestable bulls keep the Element of Honesty?”

“No, I don’t,” Eric turned from the captain and towards the castle. “We’ll have to set her free ourselves.”

“What about Miss Dash?” the captain asked.

“She’ll keep them busy as she fights,” Eric said.

With a grin, Eric turned into shadow and raced to the castle, unfortunately the doors were made from Sea Prism stone. Upon contact Eric was knocked back into the light, groaning Eric looked ahead and saw two armored minotaurs approaching with their weapons raised.

“Nice going Shade,'' the Captain said sarcastically. “Now we’ll have to fight off the guard!”

“You know what?” Eric said, getting up to his feet. “Fuck stealth.” Eric flared his powers as his eyes turned red and the whites of his eyes turned black. “I need to work off some anger.”

Eric walked towards the castle with an infuriated look on his face. There was a flash of darkness as the guards slowed to a stop behind the Shadow Man. The guards dropped their weapons as a red line formed in the middle of their faces, both sides of the Minotaurs separated and hit the ground in a bloody heap.

“You… killed them?” the Captain uttered out in shock. “I didn’t even see you attack!”

White Knight looked at the Shadow Man and saw two blood covered tendrils connected to Eric’s backs as they returned to his body. Drawing his sword Eric sliced through the door like a hot knife through butter

“Shadow Sword Art: Demon’s Star,” Eric muttered, sheathing his sword as a upside down star pattern became visible before collapsing.

“Incredible…” White Knight said, walking behind the Shadow Man, and observing the damage. “Such strength and speed…”

“Yep…” one of the Empire guards calls out. “That’s our captain for ya.”

Immediately the entrance was swarmed by the guard. “Do you all Really wish to meet Thanatos that badly?” Eric said putting a hand over his grinning face as the shadows began to rise around him.

Despite his unsettling grin, the guards still charged the Shadow Man, Eric’s grin grew as black veins formed on the sides of his face.

“Shadow Chains!” Eric shouted as the Minotaurs were bound in black chains and pulled to the ground. “And now…”

Eric raised his hand, causing dark pillars to form on both sides of the Minotaur’s heads, A devilish grin spread across Eric's face as a blade formed between the pillars.

“Shadow Guillotine,” Eric muttered. severing their heads from their bodies.

“Swift and brutal,” White Knight muttered under his breath. “Thank Faust he’s an ally and not an Enemy... we’d have no way to stop him!”

With the Minotaurs dead, Eric moved on through the castle as the naval and crystal guard followed behind. Any Minotaur idiotic enough to approach them were dealt with swiftly.

“Damn… Everything in this damn palace is made from Sea Prism Stone,” Eric complained looking around the castle. “The walls, the doors… even parts of the floor!”

“This material you speak of,” White Knight asked. “It’s sealing stone, correct?”

“Yes,” Eric stated to the captain. “But it’s proper name is called Sea Prism Stone. It prevents Devil Fruit users from using their abilities.”

Before the captain could respond, a Minotaur charged from the right with its ax raised high. However, Eric turned his hand into a claw and grabbed the bipedal bull by his throat, lifting him off the ground.

“My patience is wearing extremely thin right now,” Eric hissed out, tightening his grip on the Minotaur’s throat. “Your slaves. Where are they?”

The Minotaur struggled to free itself which irritated the Shadow Man. Eric nearly crushed the minotaur’s throat.

“You are testing my patience,” Eric growled, raising his voice. “The slaves. Tell me or I will kill you.”

“D-Downstairs,” The guard whimpered, struggling to breathe. “B-Behind the throne. The… young prince’s brides are... there as well.”

“Thank you,” Eric said, raising his hand. “Finger Pistol.” Eric pierced the Minotaur’s heart before dropping him to the ground. “I’m coming Applejack.”

“Was it necessary to kill him?” Captain White Knight asked, keeping his blade’s hilt in his hands.

“They have slaves here. All slavers will die,” Eric said coldly. “Nopony deserves to have their freedom taken from them. Nopony.”

The group made their way to the throne room. Each stretch and turn they were confronted by one of several Minotaur guards. But each of them was dealt with swiftly and without mercy. Reaching the throne room, Eric enlarged his claw and seized the throne in his grip. With a hard pull the Shadow Man removed the throne from the wall. True to the Minotaur’s word, there was a large stairway leading down into the castle walls.

“Stop him!” a guard shouted as a group of Minotaurs charged in.

Without hesitation, the Crystal Guard drew their weapons and charged the Minotaurs

“Captain we can handle this, go on ahead” a guard called out, cutting down one of the bulls.

“Kill them all,” Eric ordered his men. “Not a single one gets past you”

“SIR!” the guards said in unison as Eric, White Knight and his crew left the room

Eric descended the secret pathway as his men held off and killed the Minotaurs. Eric moved down the dark corridor. The only light came from the barely lit torches.

“Sweet merciful Hera,” Eric said, walking down the path. “Even the prisoners of the Empire had lighter punishments than this.”

“Same for our Prisoners,” White Knight confirmed before they all heard a scream. “Someone’s being tortured ahead!”

Captain Knight went to run ahead but was stopped by Eric. “That scream didn’t come from down here,” Eric glanced up to the ceiling where he heard screams of agony and excited cheers. “Hmm... It would seem we’re underneath the Arena.” Eric however was more focused on the agony filled screams. “And it would seem Rainbow is suffering. We’d better hurry.”

Eric and the others quickened their pace before they heard the sound of whimpering and crying. Moving ahead, they came across a series of cells. However, Eric soon slowed to a stop as he passed the first cell. Backing up, Eric stood in front of the opened cell, gritting his teeth in fury and rage.

“Dear Faust….” Captain Knight said in horror at the sight before him.

“Those bastards…” Eric growled through clenched teeth.

Inside the cell was a massive cluster of corpses and skeletons. Dragons, griffins, and ponies all lay among the dead.

“They take, destroy, enslave and kill anything they see as theirs,” Eric said, black veins crawling up on his face. “They must learn you can’t do what you want! People shouldn’t be tortured! People aren’t your SLAVES!!”

In his anger and rage, the Shadow Man tore the bars off the cell like twigs. Eric turned away and walked down to the rest of the cells before crossing his arms.

“Shadow Crescent blades,” Eric swung his arms, sending out a volley of crescent shaped blades.

The shadow blades cut and severed through each and every lock on the cell doors. Slowly the doors began to open as the slaves stepped out to examine the damage.

“Did somepony… save us?”

“If you all want your freedom,” Eric called out, surprising the slaves. “Take it. There’s an Equestrian Ship at the docks. We’ll take you all back to your homes”

The Slaves were hesitant to leave, which caused Eric to exhale. Eric turned to Captain White Knight.

“Take them to the ship. Kill anyone who tries to stop them,” Eric ordered the pony, causing the slaves to relax.

White Knight was hesitant at first but in his mind flashed images of the first cell which tightened his resolve.

“You have my word,” White Knight said, unsheathing his longsword. “Not a single Minotaur will get close to them.”

Without hesitation, the slaves followed after the captain and his crew, however Eric grabbed one of them and brought them to his eye line. “Prince Diamond Bling’s brides. Where are they?”

“I’m one of them,” the mare said, running after the others. “But the recent one is farther down in his personal playroom.”

Eric went to move but stopped when he found a severely scarred blue scaled dragoness sitting in a corner by herself. Entering the cell the Shadow Man knelt down in front of the dragon. Looking into her eyes he saw eyes that had lost the will to live. Eyes that begged for death.

“Have you finally come to claim my soul, Thanatos?” the dragoness asked

Not wanting to pull her to reality, Eric indulged her in her illusion.

“No, it is yet not your time,” Eric said before lifting the dragoness’s head. “Did you have two sons. Their names are Cold Scale and Obsidian Fury”

“I did,” the dragon said weakly. “But they escaped this torment.”

“I’ve met them,” Eric said to the dragon. “I’m sorry but they’re dead.”

“Did they suffer?” she asked

“No.”

“They’ve finally joined their father” the dragoness leaned back into the corner. “Thank you, Thanatos.”

“Do you wish to be free?” Eric asked with concern in his eyes.

“Freedom can be taken,” the dragoness whispered. “I wish to be free from my life.”

Eric looked down before placing his hand on the ground. “Then I will end your suffering, In the Name of Hades I will claim your soul as painlessly as possible.” Shadow dripped from Eric’s hand and began to cover the dragon in a bubble. “Now sleep.”

With the aid of Eric’s bubble, he cut off the dragon’s supply of oxygen giving her a painless death.

“You’re... not… as… heartless... as... they….” the dragon’s head slumped down as she released her final breath.

“Go...Be with your family,” Eric said leaving the dragon behind in the cell

In the hall, Eric couldn’t help but relate to the dragons torment.

“I too wanted the same fate long ago.”

It didn’t take long for Eric to find the spoiled Prince’s Playroom. It was the brightest room in this secret pathway. Eric could help but grow exasperated upon seeing the gaudy room. It looked like a combination of a horny teens room and a serial rapist’s. There were paintings of females wearing skimpy clothing or none whatsoever, there were several glass cases which held either articles of clothes or clumps of hair and claws.

“Eric!” a southern voice called out to the shadow man.

Eric turned and found Applejack with her wrists bound by chains connected to the ceiling. Applejack's face was red as she lacked her clothes with the exception of her bra and underwear. Eric chuckled seeing a farm girl wearing something so lacey and frilly.

“Will ya quit staring and get me mah clothes!” Applejack yelled at the Shadow Man

Eric approached the mare as he drew his sword. “Gonna be honest AJ,” Eric sliced clean through her chains. “Didn’t take you for the kind to wear frills.”

“Don’t ya dare tell any pony,” Applejack warned before running up to one of the cases that held her clothes. Rearing her elbow back the farm girl smashed opened the case and took back her clothes.

“And what would I gain from your embarrassment?” Eric said heading to the doorway as Applejack covered herself. “Come on, Rainbow is fighting to save you”

“What?!” Applejack said following behind the Shadow Man.

“How’s your progress with the Shave Technique?” Eric asked, rushing down the corridor at top speed.

“Better than Rainbow’s!” Applejack called out, chasing after the Shadow Man.

Eric and Applejack raced out of the castle at top speed. Back on the streets of Minos Eric led the farm girl to the arena. Eric went straight to the stands to rejoin his comrades.

“Iron, how’s Rainbow holding up” Eric asked before spotting Rainbows bloodied form on the ground.

“Eh, she’s… not doing well.” Iron Horn said, clasping his hands and putting them under his chin.

Hearing this caused Applejack to run into view into the arena. Down below saw Rainbow’s bleeding wingless form on the ground with Tungsten in the air above her.

“You’ve reached your limit, pony,” Tungsten mocked before impacting the ground in front of the down pegasus. “And you know the real kicker”

Tungsten kicked Rainbow flipping her onto her back. “You’re fighting to save your friend, but in reality, she’s my brothers now and his she’ll stay,” the Minotaur prince said, planting his cloven hoof on Rainbow’s chest. “And you’re going to die.”

“RAINBOW!!” Applejack shouted, causing Rainbow and Tungsten to turn towards the stands. “You’re stronger than this! Get up!”

Tungsten immediately grew angry seeing Applejack. “How in Tartarus did she get out!” before he turned his gaze towards Eric.

“Applejack…” Rainbow whispered

“Quit holding back, Dash!” Eric Ordered walking next to Applejack. “Limits aren’t meant to stop the likes of you!”

“He’s right, go further beyond Rainbow Dash!” Iron Horn agreed. “And then go beyond, beyond, become Ultra!”

"Show them what it means to be a pony! Show them the might of Equestria!!" Starry shouted.

Rainbow glared at the prince and blasted him with a small fireball. Tungsten lost his balance and fell on his rear. Rising to her feet, Rainbow was immediately invigorated to win all the more as flames began to lick her body. Red, blue, green, and yellow flames began to swirl around her form.

“You’re wrong, Tungsten,” Rainbow said as her body vanished in the flurry of multi-colored flames. “I’m not at my limit.”

“Eric what’s happening to her?” Applejack asked turning to the madly grinning shadow user.

“She’s doing it,” Eric said with a massive grin plastered on his face. “Rainbow is exceeding her limits and growing stronger!”

The flames exploded revealing Rainbow Dash covered entirely in rainbow colored flames, a pair of fiery wings on her back. Red eyes of fire glared at the Minotaur who began to back away.

“Because limits are made to be broken!” Rainbow shouted. “And I’ve just broken mine.”

“What...is that?” Tungsten uttered out

“Rainbow Flame Spirit,” Rainbow said as her flaming wings flapped sending her into the sky. “And it’s time I end this.”

“TUNGSTEN! QUIT MESSING AROUND AND KILL HER!” King Cloven Iron yelled from the royal box.

“S-Spring hopper!” Tungsten said, going back to his quick moving tactic.

“Prince Tungsten…” Rainbow said, raising her tightening fist. “You asked me if I know how to throw a punch?”

“DIE PONY!” Tungsten called out, racing towards the mare’s back

Rainbow flipped around and slammed her flaming fist into the prince's face sending him down to the arena. Both the king and his youngest son stared in shock as Tungsten hit the ground hard.

“I’m stronger than you!” Rainbow whispered as the flames on her body intensified.

With a hard flap of her wings, the pegasus raced down to the Minotaur as she began to fight against the air itself.

“Is she...” Eric began before Applejack finished

“She’s using the Sonic Rainboom!”

“Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty… What an opponent you are, heh, you surprise me in every way.” Iron Horn begins looking at Rainbow Dash, he then turns around, not bothering to face the outcome.

“Rainbow Flame...” Rainbow said as she broke the sound Barrier

In desperation, Tungsten stood and turned his arms into springs and condensed them to their limit. “Spring Death…”

“...Raging Typhoon!!” Rainbow called out as she hit the prince.

Immediately the arena was covered in a rainbow fire twisters, the sand on the arena floor was turned to glass instantly. The twister lasted a full minute before dissipating, down below Rainbow was on the ground while the Prince stood frozen with his extended spring arms in mid-air, like he was stuck frozen in time. Rainbow began to rise, her Rainbow Flames having been snuffed out completely, the pegasus glared at the prince before lifting her shaking fist. With a yell of anger Rainbow punched the prince in his face, to everyone’s complete shock, the prince’s body fell apart as he turned to ash. With a wide grin, Rainbow lifted her arm in victory before dropping to her knees and falling to the ground.

“She...” Applejack began in shock.

“...Won…” Iron Horn finished as he smirked and turned around to face the results. He looked like a proud coach, looking down at Rainbow Dash. “What a match.”

Starry stares slack jawed after witnessing everything that has just happened before practically jumping up and cheering and celebrating.

“Heh, I’m proud of you Rainbow,” Eric said before freezing in place.

He felt something off; an enormous sense of blood-lust. A sense that didn’t go unnoticed by the others.

“What is this feeling?” Applejack stammered, breaking into a cold sweat.

Starry stopped celebrating as he jumped into the arena. As he landed he got into a fighting stance with one hand on his katana and one hand outstretched.

Observation Haki kicked in for Iron Horn. Iron Horn jumped down to the arena and rolled in front of Rainbow Dash. He got out his shield and slammed it onto the ground, he began to pant and look around. He looked up to his remaining family members, Diamond Bling and Cloven Iron. Iron Horn clicked a button on his new helmet and a face mask slid in. He then clenched his fist and a blade came out of the gauntlet.

“Father! Kill them and get back my bride!” Diamond Bling ordered as the King rose from his seat.

“Come and get me, Cloven Iron.” Iron Horn dared his ‘father’, Iron Horn was glaring up in defiance at Cloven Iron.

“It would seem my kingdom will fall to ruin,” King Iron said, grabbing the hair of his son. “If it would be ruled by one such as you.”

“Father!” Diamond Bling screamed as they all saw steam come from the king's fingers.

The prince screamed bloody murder as a thick red and black substance traveled down the king’s hand, and melted Diamond Bling like butter. Cloven Iron turned his gaze to his last remaining son.

“It’s a shame I’ll have to see all three of my sons die in the same day.”

“On the contrary, it’s a shame that I’ll have to eliminate my last family member. If I can even call you that.” Iron Horn said. He looked to Sky and motioned him to take Rainbow and leave.

“Don’t be foolish, Iron” Eric said, appearing from the Minotaurs shadow. “He’s a Logia type, and you’re a Paramecia type.”

“No, I must beat him, for the things he’s done… I must liberate my people!” Iron Horn coated his weapons in Armament Haki.

"Hey Eric could that haki stuff hurt him?" Starry asked Eric.

“That is if we could get close enough,” Eric stated before eyeing the downed pegasus. “But the odds aren’t in our favor.”

“...Hmph, I like those odds.” Iron Horn got ready for battle and stood up to his full height.

“Iron Horn,” Eric said, sending out a wave of Conqueror's Haki causing him to stagger. “Your Devil Fruit is the Iron-Iron Fruit. You won’t last against your fathers Magma-Magma Fruit.''

“And?” Iron Horn sent a wave of Conqueror’s Haki back. “I will simply not use my fruit. I must take him out. For I am Iron Horn, the last remaining son of Diamond Heart.” Iron Horn then stood to his full height and let out a roar to pump him up.

“I’ve already freed the slaves it would be in our best interest to flee,” Eric advised the prince.

“I’m taking my people with me, if they stay with that beast, he will destroy everything he has created.” Iron Horn then put his shield up and sheathed his hidden blade. Iron Horn looked back at Eric. “Von Shadow, is there a way to transfer everyone on this island to the ships? I have an Island in mind that can hold them. And... I have realized that our blood… Are not fit to be kings. From Diamond Bling to Cloven Iron, they must be free from our tyranny.”

“I can,” Eric said, turning to Sombra. “Sombrahesta” Sombra’s eyes grow wide hearing Eric’s serious tone. “Take Rainbow to the ship's doctor, and tell the Crystal Guard, to leave me behind.”

Sombra was shocked hearing Eric’s words, but nodded before lifting the pegasus.

“Eric, do you need me to...?” Sombra began before Eric cut him off.

“No! I can win this without that form,” Eric said calmly as Sombra, Applejack, and Starry Sky left to return to the ships.







Sombra ran ahead of Applejack and Starry Sky as the Samurai carried the Unconscious Rainbow Dash across his back. A number of Armored Minotaurs began charging the two of them until they were surrounded.

“Damn, we need to get to the ship quickly,” Sombra said, drawing his sword. “Eric’s destruction will kill us!”

“What destruction?” Applejack questioned.

"I don’t know. This isn't looking very good,” Starry said grimly. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Hey Sombra how good are you with magic?”

“If you're asking for a teleport then you’re out of luck. I can only teleport a max of twenty feet,” Sombra said.

"Okay good I need you to try and get inside one of these buildings," Starry said as he grabbed his katana. "Preferably one that has a basement."

“Teleportation magic requires me to see where I’m going,” Sombra said as the Minotaurs charged. “One Sword Style…”

"Well then, can you levitate yourself at least?" Starry asked as he readied himself.

“36 Caliber Phoenix!” A slash of air clashed with the Minotaurs.

"Screw it," Starry said as he started shooting transparent paw shaped bubbles from one hand and jumped back dodging a downward strike from one of the Minotaurs. Applejack turned her legs into blades as she cut down two Minotaurs before following Sombra.

“Keep moving Starry Sky,” Sombra ordered. “We can’t afford to waste time.”

“We still need to care for Rainbow’s wounds!” Applejack said.

"Alright let's move!" Starry answered.

The two made their way through Minos before heading aboard the White Dream.

“Captain Knight, we need medical attention!” Applejack shouted causing the captain to immediately bark orders to his crew.

“Wake the doctor! Tell him it’s critical!” White Knight said, moving to take the mare into the med bay.

"We've still got an army to deal with! How do you plan to fight it" Starry said as he pushed Rainbows pain and fatigue into a bubble before handing her over to White Knight.

“As far as we’re concerned they’re forfeiting their lives by staring,” Sombra said, turning to the Crystal Royal Guard. “I have a message from Eric, Leave him behind!”

The Guards paled, before scrambling to set sail, one of them went to the edge of the ship.

“If you want to live you’d better start sailing!” the guard shouted. “This island is about to be destroyed!”

Immediately the two ships set sail as a number of Minotaurs and Minotaura’s ran to the docks. Off in the distance an explosion of molten magma erupted from the arena.

"Dear gods," Starry said with hint of fear and amazement as he saw the explosion.

“Faust help them” Applejack muttered in worry, watching the magma spew from the island.

“They’ll win,” Sombra said with slight concern for his friend.

The three of them continue to watch the island as it began to glow a reddish hue. Before long, the three of them saw a black ball.

“What in tarnation is that?!” Applejack shouted.

"Ancestors protect us,” Starry prayed as he watched the black ball grow.

Sombra however, grinned like a mad man, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Samurai and the Farm-girl.

“What are you smiling bout?” Applejack asked.

"You've finally lost your mind lost your mind haven’t you Sombra," Starry said with fear.

“Fear not Samurai, that is on our side,” Sombra said, not losing his grin as the ball vanished.

Without warning, the island was engulfed in a black mushroom cloud before receding. The island was no longer there.

“What was that?!" Applejack yelled.

Sombra grinned. “Dark Nova.”
> A Royal Showdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Not even a goodbye?” Iron Horn jested. “How heartless.” He covered his arms and legs in Armament Haki. “Von Shadow, our plan is to hold Cloven Iron off long enough for the others to escape with my people. Should he still be alive after this battle, blow up Minos.” Iron Horn squinted his eyes and he readied his shield.

Eric let out a low laugh. Iron Horn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Er, why are you laughing? It’s sort of creepy.”

“Because…” Eric exploded into his shadowy form, his burning red eyes staring into the King’s soul. “I was planning to wipe this island off the map when I rescued the slaves”

“Glad to see that we’re on the same page!” Iron Horn said with a grin, “Dying is the day worth living for!” Iron Horn let out a battle cry and ran at the King; his shield raised and coated in Haki to avoid any melting injury.



“It’s amusing how you think just the two of you can fight me and my entire island,” Cloven Iron said kicking the stone railing off the royal box. “The both of you will share the same fate as my absolute waste of sperm.”

“That so?” Eric said with an unsettling grin. “I would love to see you try.”

Iron Horn used the Quick Claw technique to race up the arena walls and leaped up to Cloven Iron. He then slammed his Armament Haki blade into Cloven Iron, but the King simply blocked the attack with his double-bladed sword. Conqueror’s Haki clashed and shook the arena, before Cloven Iron pushed his banished son back.

Iron Horn hit the glass floor and rolled to his feet. Undeterred, Iron Horn slammed his two fists into the ground before throwing a huge block of glass at Cloven Iron, distracting him and setting up Eric to attack.

The Shadow Man had vanished from the arena when the banished prince attacked, but reappeared in the shadows of the royal box, his signature scythe in hand, and an increasing grin on his face. Covering the shadow weapon in Armament Haki, Eric slashed at the king’s back… only for Cloven Iron to block the attack. Eric’s eyes widened before the King blasted the Shadow Man with a glob of magma. Erecting a shadow wall to defend against the attack, Eric retreated back into the shadows.

“Your feeble attempts are quite amusing,” Cloven Iron mocked as Eric rose from his sons shadow.

Iron Horn put up his hidden blade and got out his staff. With the click of a button the staff turned into an axe to he quickly coated the weapon in Armament Haki. “We need a strategy,” Iron Horn grumbled to Eric. “So, how about we hit him hard and fast. Or just fast given that he probably won’t be able to see us coming.”

“Fast and Hard is easier said than done, he foresaw my attack from behind,” Eric whispered back as the king dropped to the arena floor. “I think he may have some strong Observation Haki.”

“Get ready, Von Shadow!” Iron Horn raised up his shield, he then used the Quick Claw technique and ran towards the Minotaur King.

Eric drew his sword and Naginata from his body, charging behind the minotaur prince.

“YAH!” Iron Horn swung his blade, only for the King to block it. Iron Horn then bashed Cloven Iron with his shield and tried to slice his chest with his axe.

But with Observation Haki on his side, Cloven Iron was able to dash away from the attacks and leap into the stands of the arena. The arena was barren and only the three warriors were left: the citizens had fled, and any remaining guards were facing Sombra and the others.

Cloven Iron lifted his hand as magma dripped from his arms. “Great Eruption!” King Iron roared, launching a fist of pure magma at his opponents. Iron Horn blocked the magma, but the King didn’t let up, and the shield began to warm ominously.
“This is problematic,” Eric said, feeling the heat of the attack. “The Magma-Magma Fruit is one of the stronger Logia types.”

“Indeed,” Iron Horn agreed, flipping his axe around. “But now, we must work together. I’m sure we can use hit and run tactics on him.”

Eric stabbed his Naginata into the ground before pulling his gun from his coat and aiming it away from the Minotaur King. “True.” Eric said, sending a shadow bullet through the air. “But there are other ways to defeat a Logia Type”

The bullet curved in the air, heading towards Cloven Iron. Too focused on his son to heed his Observation Haki, Cloven Iron was caught off guard as the bullet embedded itself in his right eye. Cloven let out a yell of agony, seething at the pair.

“Now would be a good time to give yourself some extra armor,” Eric said putting his gun away and pulling his Naginata from the ground.

Iron Horn nodded and turned his skin to iron. The banished prince slammed his fists together making a metal sound that made Cloven Iron wince. Using the Quick Claw technique, Iron Horn bashed his father in the ribs before darting away, wincing at the pain in his hand. Punching his father was like punching magma itself.

Angered, King Iron launched another glob of Magma at his son, however Eric stepped in and absorbed the magma into his shadow. Though he stopped the attack, Eric grimaced in pain, his hand becoming pink and charred from burn damage.

Cloven Iron turned his hands to magma. “You and your pathetic friend will pay for your defiance!” Cloven Iron said as his magma grew hotter. “Your melted flesh will become the ground beneath my feet!”

The Minotaur King slammed his hands into the ground, Immediately, Eric and Iron Horn felt the heat beneath their feet and saw the glass ground glow red.

Iron Horn cursed as he tucked and rolled from the glass ground, somersaulting into the arena stands for dear life.

Eric formed three set of wings on his back, and took to the skies before firing a large tendril to lift the Minotaur Prince from the stands.

“EXPLODING VOLCANO!” Cloven shouted, and the floor exploded in a mountain of magma. The King's magma covered the entire arena, Iron horn looking on in slight horror as he hung from Eric’s tendril.

“Thanks…” Iron Horn mumbled.

“That attack had a massive attack range,” Eric said, wincing as his hand stung. “His attacks are stronger than I anticipated, I felt the burn through my shadows”

“Any weaknesses?” Iron Horn asked.

“Water,” Eric said plainly. “If we can get him in the water when he’s in his magma form he’ll be nothing but a statue.”

“Roger that, but first we need a bucket, where can…” Iron Horn looked over to a restaurant called the Bucket Heat with a huge metal bucket. He smiled. “Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together.”

“That won’t be enough,” Eric claimed, dodging a magma ball fired from the King. “We need to drown him.”

“It can stall him, though,” Iron Horn split his shield apart, turning it into a crossbow before taking out some bolts enchanted with magic. “Take this you neglectful bastard!” Iron Horn shot a crossbow bolt.

Cloven Iron blocked the bolt with his arm… which suddenly froze. Cloven paused, melting the ice around his arm with a glower.

“We need cover,” Eric said, racing into the city. “We’re sitting ducks in the air”

“Any ideas?” Iron Horn asked.

Eric released the minotaur before planting his feet on the ground next to him. “Not a lot.” Eric shifted his gaze to his sword. “My sword has some abilities stored inside.”

“What kind of abilities?” Iron Horn readied his crossbow and quickly sought cover behind the Golden Axel.

“I can turn whatever I cut into gold, but I only got one or two uses left,” Eric explained. “I can also use the shapeshifting ability of a changeling, but I’ve only got one use left. And I have enough Dark Magic in this blade for one spell but I’d rather save that for an emergency.”

“Well that’s maddeningly unhelpful.” Iron Horn grumbled, “The best we can do is stall him. If we get close we get burnt. Hmph, the best I can do if things go to shit is use the Quick Claw technique and pummel him at close range. Get my licks in before either going unconscious, or die from shock.”

“His Observation Haki would sense you before you had a chance to get close,” Eric claimed, pulling the minotaur back from the oncoming King.

“Hmph,” Iron Horn reverted his crossbow back to a shield. “Eric, can you check to see if the citizens are gone?”

“Afraid I can't. I need to focus on the shadows of this city to keep an eye on your hot-headed father, but from what I can tell, most are out of the danger zone”

“Good.” Iron Horn coated parts of his body in Armament Haki. “We need to get a hit in, just one good hit on my father.”

Without warning Eric and Iron began to feel hot as sweat dripped from their heads, Eric and Iron Horn looked back and found their path blocked by magma flooding the streets. The two turn to run the other way only to find their path blocked by more magma.

“Your father is flooding the city!” Eric shouted in anger.

“We need to stop him!” Iron Horn’s body solidified into iron, he clapped his hands together, making a loud echoing clang that blew the magma away. “We need to find him and beat him! You said you have a transformation, right? Because I have one other than this.”

“I’m usually left exhausted after using them,” Eric said, jumping up to the rooftops.

“Same for me, I can last only three hours in this state, but…!” Iron Horn clenched his fists and his whole body began to change. It became a silver color and a symbol of a Devil Fruit was placed onto his body as he infused the form with Armament Haki. He grew taller and his Armament Haki changed to silver. “Iron-Iron, Un-shattered Will!”

Without warning, the magma began to feel hotter.

“Hellhound!” Cloven Iron shouted as a beam of magma hit Eric in the right side of his torso.

Eric let out a scream as he struggled to stay on his feet. “Damn you….” Eric seethed, clenching his side.

“Eric, stay back,” Iron Horn claimed. “You need to run. A burn like that can cause serious damage to you. However, a Minotaur like me will have to take more punishment to be out for the count!” Iron Horn used the Quick Claw technique and sprinted towards Cloven Iron.

Cloven Iron shot magma fists at Iron Horn but the quick hunk of metal evaded the attacks as he approached the King rapidly. Iron Horn punched the ground with enough force to make a crater, causing King Iron to lose his balance.

“Steel Fist!” Iron Horn sent an Armament Haki powered punch into King Iron’s gut, eliciting a crunching sound.

King Iron took one step back before glaring down at Iron Horn.

“Tch, not enough. Bullet Punch!” Iron Horn sent more attacks towards his father’s way.

However, King Iron bent his logia body to avoid the attacks. It worked but not as effectively as he thought it would, as some attacks landed onto points of his body that weren't completely magma.

Unfortunately, King Iron just shrugged it off and grabbed hold of his son's arm. Magma poured over his arm which began to glow red.

“You may have improved your powers,” Cloven Iron said to his son before his grin widened. “Unfortunately for you, so have I.”

The magma turned pure red and orange as his grip tightened on his son's arm, Iron Horn punched at Cloven Iron in an attempt to free himself, only for his father to grab hold of his son’s fist. Before long Iron Horn started to grunt out in pain.

Eric pulled out his gun and started shooting the Minotaur king, but his bullets passed right through him.

“I will get to you in a moment,” King Iron said as he began to cover more and more of Iron Horn’s body in magma.

Iron Horn swore as he pulled and began to kick Cloven Iron’s body in an attempt to free himself from his father’s grasp.

Unfortunately, his legs got caught in the flowing magma. Iron Horn began to scream as his metal skin drew closer and closer to melting. Eric lashed out and wrapped a tendril around the Minotaur King’s neck. Yet, even then, Cloven Iron refused to let go of his son.

“Don’t bother,” Cloven Horn mocked, covering everything but his head and neck in magma. “This disgrace will join his mother and brother in the same death!”

“Not a chance in Valhalla!” Iron Horn slammed his head against Cloven Iron’s head, he continued to bash his skull into King Iron’s. Amidst his wild hits, Iron Horn then covered his left horn in Armament Haki and stabbed it into King Iron’s bad eye.

The King let out a pained shout and released his son. Seeing his chance, Eric pulled the Iron user from the glowing magma. However, he was breathing heavily as his entire body glowed brightly while parts were even starting to melt. Eric immediately put as much distance as he could between him and the howling King.

“Can you stand, Iron?” Eric asked as the prince noticed shadows wrapping around the Shadow Man’s injury.

“Yeah…” Iron Horn said, breaking his bonds and began to pant. “That was horrifying, but we pulled through, or rather you pulled me.”

“He’s much stronger,” Eric said as the King turned to them. “And I don’t think my Knight Soul could take him like this!” 

“I’m assuming that’s a transformation, but you’re right… This battle was lost before it began. Remember what I told you, Von Shadow.” Iron Horn said as he took out his crossbow and tried to shoot.

However, Iron Horn missed as he lost feeling in his arm. Looking down, the prince saw his melting metal skin dripping to the ground with blood mixed in. “Oooh, that doesn’t look good, but I can’t feel it! Meaning that’s a pain for future me to handle.” Iron Horn growled before returning to firing magical crossbow bolts at King Iron.

They were barely fazing the King, however, as he rushed the two down. “It’s a real shame. Your brother was much stronger than you!”

“Well that’s a fucking lie!” Iron Horn countered, taking out his axe and running at the King, all the while staying wary of King Iron’s Devil Fruit.

King Cloven Iron vanished from view before appearing behind the prince and slamming the back of his fist into the prince’s side sending him towards the magma below them.

Thinking quickly, Iron Horn put his hands apart and clapped them together, making a powerful shockwave that sent him airborne. Iron Horn then rolled into a building before regaining his footing, whirling on the King in anger.

“You have the nerve to strike behind my back?”

King Iron snarled and collapsed the building with a lava fist.

Iron Horn looked around for buildings to jump to but found none. The buildings were all burnt to a crisp. “Well shit.”

Iron Horn fell into the magma below as his Carbon Steel body began to melt into his skin. Using Conqueror’s Haki, Iron Horn tried to blow away the magma, but more flooded right back in.

Eric moved quick and grabbed hold of the prince with a shadow tendril before lifting him up on a bridge of shadow.

“His powers are bullshit! I have no way of combating him, and he has the NERVE of telling me I’m weaker than my brother! I would have demolished everyone in that gauntlet and then some!” Iron Horn was visibly angry, puffing out steam from his nostrils. “However… I think I have a plan… You know his magma can be blown away, right? What if we blow away the surrounding area of magma and both of us get one single powerful hit in.” Iron Horn suggested covering some of his unarmored places in Armament Haki.

“Alright,” Eric said before a pair of large reptilian wings came from his back. “I can probably get the Magma to disperse.”

Several more wings sprouted from Eric’s back before several large shadow dragons came forth from Eric’s shadows. The dragons hovered in the air before flapping their wings, drumming up strong winds that blasted the magma away.

As they worked, Iron Horn put up his axe and put his shield to his right hand. The shield then transformed into a gauntlet with spiked gloves.

“One powerful hit, Eric!” Iron Horn jumped down to the ground and sprinted towards King Iron. “Father, if I can even call you that… You are nothing but a manipulative slime bag who cares nothing of others but his own wellbeing. You are the pinnacle of garbage, you banished your child for avenging his wife, killed your own son, and enslaved races that are not your own!”

Cloven Horn tried to blast his son, but the shadow dragons kept blasting his magma away.

Iron Horn slammed his foot onto the ground and covered his whole entire arm in Armament Haki. Making sure that this punch would be the strongest hit he had ever given. All the while, Eric worked to blast as much magma away from the minotaur king as he could.

“And above all else…” Iron Horn pulled back a fist. “...I’ll never forgive you…” Iron Horn appeared before King Iron. “...FOR KILLING MY MOTHER!!!!” Iron Horn slammed his fist into King Iron’s chest.

Cloven Iron smashed into the roof, and Iron Horn grinned as he saw his father’s blood hit the floor.

However, his grin faded when the king stood right back up.

“All that for a single drop of blood?” Cloven Iron asked. “Absolutely pitiful.”

“Eric!” Iron Horn crossed his arms to block.

However, before Eric could try to attack, the King used his Quick Claw technique and appeared in between the two with his hands on both their chests. “Hound Crimson Lotus.”

Eric was fortunately enough to be small enough to drop to the ground immediately. However, Iron Horn did not have that level of mobility and flexibility and was hit with a wave of magma shaped like a fanged dog head. King Iron’s attack bites down on Iron Horn before passing right through him, Iron Horn stood there his metal flesh glowing pure orange as bit by bit his skin melted off.

“Iron!” Eric shouted as the prince fell to his knees.

“...My brothers… Mother, I’ll be seeing you…” Iron Horn then gave a middle finger to his father before he hit the ground.

“Such a shame,” King Iron said, kicking his downed son into the magma below.

Before the prince could meet his fiery demise, a floor of shadow covered the magma, catching Iron Horn and covering him before vanishing into the wall of the only remaining building.

“You could have taken this chance to flee,” the King said, turning to the shadow man, whose hands were on the roof. “And yet you waste it protecting my failure of a son?”

“That isn’t who I am,” Eric said standing up and glaring at the King with eyes that sought his demise. “Besides… now I can destroy this place without hurting the prince.”

“Destroy?” the King asked with a laugh. “You couldn’t even land a single hit on me, how do you plan to destroy all of Minos?”

“Like this.” His shadows rose.

Shadow Soul: Soul of the King

Eric’s form grew an additional five feet. His attire of shadows resembled that of a king in medieval times, with a seven-pointed crowned helmet over his head. His face was hidden behind the shadows of his helmet.



Shadows began to pour from Eric’s very being. Darkness covered the roof before putting a layer of shadow over the magma left behind by King Iron.

“Soul of the King?” Cloven Iron said with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous, creature. All you’ve done is wrap yourself in your shadows.”

Eric said nothing.

The King grew angry. King Iron raised his arm to fire a burst of Magma only for something to grab his shoulder. Turning, the king was met with the sight of a large black knight, which hurled him to the ground.

King Iron quickly recovered as he glared at the silent king. Eric simply walked off the roof as a pair of stairs materialized from the shadows.

“You’re going to die, Cloven Iron,”

“As you said yourself,” Cloven Iron said as his body poured magma. “I would love to see you try”

“Dark Nova...”

Eric lifted his hand as the shadows converged on his palm, a black orb formed in Eric’s hand and grew rapidly.

Not wanting to humor the Shadow Man the Minotaur King fired off another blast of magma. However, a black tendril caught the King’s wrist and yanked it to the right. His magma missed the Shadow Man by a mile.

King Iron ripped the tendril from his wrist, and charged the Shadow Man with a roar.

However, a series of large round shields cut him off. All the while, the shadow orb in Eric’s hand grew to gargantuan size.

Eric curled his fingers, and the sphere condensed into a tiny orb. Dispelling his knights, Eric dropped the small sphere.

Cloven Iron tried to attack, but he couldn’t stop the sphere from touching the ground.

“Island…”

The sphere cracked.

“Destroyer.”

The sphere exploded covering the entire island in a inky darkness.

The explosion subsided, revealing Eric hovering over the ocean on a platform made from shadow.

Eric returned to normal before dropping to all fours, panting heavily. He glared down at the ocean; the King was nowhere to be seen.

“I told you,” Eric wheezed. “You were going to die.”

He looked off into the distance. On the horizon were a number of dots he could assume were the ships that fled Minos. Forming a pair of wings, Eric flew off towards them.
> Cancelation Notice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry everybody, but I can no longer continue this story....I have tried and tried to continue working on this fic but I have ultimately backed myself into a corner.

"I'm aware that some of your characters will go to waste, and again I'm sorry.

One day I hope we can restart this awesome fanfiction. but until that day happens I hope you can enjoy this rotting corpse of a fanfiction until I ultimately decide to delete it all together

Until we meet again Eric Von Shadow: The Reaper of the Crystal Empire. 
Goodbye my beloved character


Here Lies
The Shadow of Equestria

~Born~
17th Aug 2020

~Death~
3rd Jan 2024



Hope to revamp this one day