Chapter 4:The Burdens Of Old Equestria
Fire and smoke surged through the sky, spewing balls of roaring fire. The city trembled as a great demon roared and continued it's reign upon the old kingdom. It's hooves crushed the biggest of homes and dozens of horrified ponies, their screams so sharply silenced by it's power. Mangled bloody bodies stuck to the giant pony's hooves as it walked across the district. It's only trouble came in the form of the warriors that shot magic from both sides, while red crystals tried to trap it from below.
Crystar tried to trap the beasts legs in red crystals, but it somehow managed to break itself free. Necrid was able to draw it's attention for a bit with a stream of miasma magic. Though whatever flesh and skin melted off the demon was quickly recovered, proving to only enrage the giant. With a swing of the demon's tail, he cracked Necrid like a baseball into the mountain side. The beast then turned to Crystar and snapped at him while his tail came back down, smashing homes to pieces.
"Darn it, he hasn't lost any steam yet. It must be feeding off it's host's excess energy to keep going,"Crystar assessed while jumping to evade the powerful jaws that crushed a tall building's roof,"We need the king…! Only he has the magic strong enough to seal this creature away."
Crystar then went about a plan, firing a thin spark of red magic into the sky. Before he then jumped building to building to distract the demon and keep it in the district. This at least gave what ponies remained a chance to flee the district while they could still breath. That was exactly what Shadow Swirl and her family had in mind, as they ran for their lives through the district. Shadow Swirl knew the way, and guided her family while her mother limped as fast as she could with Dusty at her side.
Buildings were bursting or simply coming down around them in waves of fire. The fire that rained kept them on the tips of their hooves, just by the thought of one hitting them at any time. Shadow dared not to think of such misfortune as she guided them through a crumbling ally way. Once they had finally made it through, they were greeted by a spirit crushing sight. Their only quick means of escape was reduced to a smoldering giant rut, burning stone and bodies alike.
So many bodies were burning upon the destroyed road, their fur and skin popping and crackling from the fire. Their mother covered Dusty's eyes while Shadow looked away for only a moment. The mother grew worried for her, but some how Shadow managed to keep her cool. She then spotted a piece of the road to her left only two blocks away they could go. She looked to her family, seeing Dusty scared to pieces was killing her, and their fear must have been killing their mother.
"I see a way around this rut…! After that I know a shortcut to the district gates,"Shadow informed her mother and brother, gaining little reaction or faith from them,"Mom…! We need to hurry before the warriors turn the whole place into a war zone! We have to hurry!"
"I was hoping I could shield the both of you from things like this… But no matter what, this world always consumes and corrupts the minds of ponies,"Their mother sighed and tightened her grip around Dusty as she felt the heavy burden of the world keeping her from moving,"No stallion, mare, or even child can be safe from the cruelty of Equestria… This isn't the life we wished for…"
"Mom…? We're not too far, mom…! Please, you have to stay with me…!"Shadow begged her mother to find her will to keep going while pulling at the mare's hoof.
"How do so many children manage to adjust to such a world…? How do they muster such strength to endure this world?"The mother asked herself as she rubbed her son's back till he finally calmed down.
"Mom!"Shadow yelled through the explosion of a house before the mare finally shook out of her grief.
"Shadow…? I'm sorry, I must have gotten lost a bit… You say there's a way around this?"The mother asked as she looked back to the burning rut below them.
"Yeah. Just up this alley way we can move two blocks straight up and go around the rut,"Shadow pointed out the free ally way that appeared clear and stable enough,"We go that way we may just get out of here before the whole place is on fire…!"
"Ok… Can you take Dusty, he'll move a bit faster with you giving him a push,"Their mother insisted as she slowly got Dusty to go to Shadow Swirl for protection,"I'll hang behind and do my best to keep our path clear for our escape…!"
"Ok, come on Dusty. You know where we have to go, and you don't want to be here when the sparks really fly little brother,"Shadow explained their situation and the journey they had yet to go through till they were safe,"I need you to stay with me here… And be ready to run as fast as you can…!"
Dusty quivered at the thought of running through chaos, fire, and many more bodies. Shadow shook him once and got him to look at her, taking in her serious face that he learned to always trust. He swallowed, letting his tears flow while nodding his head in acceptance for the plan.
"Good, now just run…! Run as fast as you can, and don't look back, you hear,"She made sure her brother would commit to their next stretch of ground to cover as he nodded fast,"I'll be right at your side…! And mom will be right behind us…! Now run! RUN as fast as you can!"
Shadow's yells rang through her brother's head and got him running like the wind. Shadow was right at his side as promised, while their mother lit up her horn with magic and followed. Shadow felt her mind racing, her shear bravery was the only means of sanity preservation she had. They entered the ally way, where the buildings appeared to be growing unstable. She had to keep her eyes forward however, putting faith in their mother while she kept Dusty moving.
They crossed the alley way, and as they reached the middle of the ally way. The buildings began to explode from falling balls of fire, they rumbled and began to crumble apart. The mother raised a rectangle shape shield of magic above their heads, deflecting falling chunks of stone and wood. The very road under their hooves suddenly cracked and grew into a fissure behind them. They looked down, but then looked out to the ear splitting roars of the fearsome demon pony itself.
Crystar appeared to no longer confine the beast to a secluded piece of the district. Now he was forced to jump away to new areas that were still being evacuated. Shadow looked back down, just in time to see a building coming down slow and packing a lot of force. Their mother was quick to put some pep in her crippled step before she was able to lunge for her children. Scooping them into her hooves and soaring right out of the ally way just as the building came down.
Their ears rang from the loud sharp crash of stone and wood that sounded behind them. Shadow was able to stand back up on wobbly legs, trying to endure the high pitch ring in her ears. She turned back to her brother, barely able to hear a thing as he struggled to help their mother.
"HELP ME…!"Dusty screamed, and was barely heard as Shadow rushed to her brother's side.
They were quick to lift their mother back onto three legs and quickly get moving. Their mother then took the lead and guided them to a larger road, in the distance they could see it. The remaining main road was in their reach, and it gave them all the incentive they needed. The mother hurried along, her children were quick to catch up as they ran for the road. The beasts roars drew their attention as they watched demon vomit and waterfall of lava onto a cluster of homes, barely missing Crystar.
This kicked up their adrenaline, and made them go as fast as they could. Before they knew it, the family was already at the main road, a road that was littered with more bodies. These bodies were more mangled than burned, it was a nightmarish sight to behold. Thankfully a greater sight drew their attention back to the demon, just as a massive explosion of green erupted from the mountain. Necrid Ghoul himself then came, recovering from the monster's attack and coming in like a comet for pay back.
The family was quick to start passing through the main road, just as Necrid rammed into the giant's side. The beast roared before it slowly tipped over, and began to slowly fall. It's shadow shrouded over the family before they looked again to see the beast falling like a tower towards them. Dusty screamed, seeing as the beasts had was looking to come down right on top of them. The three unicorns could run for only one more moment before they were forced to jump for it.
Their jumps for the other side were barely awarded, at that same moment, the head of the giant pony came down. Smashing clean through the mane road, blowing dust and stone every where. The shear force launched Shadow and her family across the main road. They all slammed against a stone wall, cracking the house's foundation in the process, and slowing their recovery. The demon was easily able to recover as it snagged Necrid into both of it's hooves in a rage.
"Rrrgh…! If it were up to me, your life would not be spared boy! To hay with your father!"Necrid growled and shot a green stream of magic into the demon's right eye.
This angered the demon, and for a moment, it's eyes assumed the regular red eye form of a pony's eyes. It glared in rage at Necrid's insult to itself, and the father he rudely insulted. It then lifted it's hooves back and chucked the necromancer across the district, and into many buildings. The back lash of force from the toss cracked away at the building behind Shadow and her family. Until it rumbled and began to slowly come down upon the family of three with crushing force.
Shadow looked up with wide eyes and jumped to Dusty to hug him tight. She turned to the collapsing building to use her body as a shield, but one mare wasn't ready to let her die. Before they knew it, Shadow felt herself and Dusty get shoved out of the way with great force. She heard the loud crash of the crumbling building rumbled the ground they slammed into. Their ears rang once more as they held each other tightly and braced for a wave of dirt to berate their faces.
The beast roared at it's battered foe before it's eyes returned to their demonic glowing self. Slowly it stood back up, it's stomps rumbled the ground just as the dust and dirt began to settle. Shadow shook off the rattling and ringing that quaked through her head, before she looked to Dusty. He was shaken up and trembling as he rubbed at his ears to try and hear again. She crawled to him and grabbed at his fore arm to help the both of them stand up and try to shake off the damage.
"Shadow…! Are we almost there? Tell me we're almost there…!"Dusty groaned as his hearing slowly began to come back to him.
"We're almost there, there's a secondary road that leads to the northern district gate,"Shadow replied before noticing that their mom was missing after the massive collapse,"We just have to find mom…! Mom?! Mom!"
"Shadow… Dusty…!"Came the weak cries of their mother that drew their attention to the pile of stone and wood.
The Slowly Shadow and her brother broke into a run right to the wreck. They were quick to drop down and start pulling pieces of the wreck, tossing it aside to continue digging into the wreck. Bricks of stone and wooden beams were constantly tossed aside as they managed to enter the pile. That was when Shadow was first to see their mother on her back in a puddle of blood. She was breathing, looking up as she began to breath labor like, and letting blood flow from her mouth.
"Mom…! Hold on! We'll get you out of there!"Shadow called to their mother as they tore away at the wreckage.
"No… It's useless now Shadow… I'm already losing too much blood…"The mother was struggling to speak as her children lifted a mess of wood beams off her.
"We'll carry you then! We'll get you to the nearest clinic and we can patch you up!"Shadow continued to yell as she kicked away some stones.
"No…! It won't matter…! Look at me!"She strained herself to yell at Shadow as a piece of roof was lifted off to reveal the damage.
Her labored breathing was clearly the result of a collapse lung from the force of the crash. However the bleeding was another story that was revealed to be the caused by mortal wounds. The mare had three thick would beams completely penetrating through her body. Two stuck her in the lower belly, striking the liver and stomach from what she could tell from the pain. The third was right above the heart, and she could feel the warm rush of blood escaping her heart from an artery.
Shadow realized the damage was fatal, three vital organs penetrated in one go. It made her tremble as she processed the pool of blood that still grew around her mother. She dropped to her belly and began to fight the tears that forced into her eyes as she pounded away at the floor.
"No…! No…! This can't be happening! We were so close! This can't happen now…!"Shadow pounded at the floor as tears stung her eyes on the way down her tricks.
"Mom…? What's going to happen now…?! What do we do?"Dusty asked out of confusion to be seeing such a grisly and unknown sight.
"You both… Need to go on and get to the north district…! Shadow… You…are all Dusty will have now,"The mare explained for Shadow as Shadow looked up and was finally able to suppress her sorrow,"You need to take him out of here to safety, he'll need you more than ever now…!"
"I know…! But how can I do this without you. Everything I'm trying to become is because you're with me."Shadow struggled to hold back her sobs as she wrapped her hoof around her dying mother's.
"Shadow… You've been proving to me that you're more than capable of shaping your own destiny,"The mother slowly looked up to a hole in the wreck to see the sky,"You study so hard, you fight even harder, and you've taken care of Dusty more than I ever have. Half the time… I wondered who the real mother was…"
Her words were true, and at the same time, they were confusing her as well. She never expected a filly with a demon forced into her body to ever bare such a gentle yet strong heart. It made her think of the night she rescued Shadow from the witch that dared to corrupt her with dark magic. Slowly her head turned to Shadow, and she was able to get out one measly chuckle. Seeing the pony that Shadow was bound to become in the future, it was like she saw her own child growing up to change the world.
"Shadow… You're going to grow to become something real special… I feared a wicked one would turn you to a creature of great evil…the night I found you,"Shadow was shocked and grew curious of these new words that her mother spoke of,"But now that I see you… You're heart is stronger than any darkness that tries to guide you towards evil…"
"Mom…?"Dusty remained confused, but he was now able to start crying in fear.
"Dusty… Listen to Shadow, and trust her with your life…! There's going to be rough times ahead for you,"The mother sighed and felt her vision starting to grow blurry and dark,"Take good care of each other… And be strong… Only the strong can survive this world… And I want you two to survive…"
Suddenly a chunk of the building slid off to reveal the demon finally back on it's hooves. It then chilled their spines and froze their hearts by slowly looking over to them with a snarl. It was almost as if it knew they were there, and it hungered for the innocent after fighting warriors. Suddenly, it then began to stomp it's way towards the wreckage, it smelled their fear. Shadow struggled to breath, but she could not dare to leave her family to be devoured by such a beast.
"Run…! It's coming…! A demon only goes for a mare and child for pure blood or fun,"The mother warned the children with what energy and life she had left,"Shadow, please take Dusty and go…! Please I don't want to see my children devoured by a pure evil monster!"
Shadow responded by rushing out with Dusty and taking him away from the wreck. She then took a block of stone into both hooves and ran as fast as she could for distance. The brave little filly then looked to the demon and chucked the stone right into the muzzle of the demon. She sat Dusty down and began to wave her hooves just as the demon slowly turned it's glowing death stare to her. It's eyes narrowed to her as she then screamed and hollered at the demon.
"Hey…! Over here you beast! Come get me! Come on!"Shadow screamed to get the beasts full attention on her and away from her family.
Unfortunately, the demon slowly turned away from her and looked towards the wreckage. It huffed, and showed a tiny little smirk after reading Shadow's body language. It tilted it's head, as Shadow took another piece of stone and chucked it at the giant's cheek. It shook it's massive head and huffed before stomping over to the destroyed building and roared at the pile of rubble. Shadow panicked and scooped up as much debris as she could to throw it at the beast.
"It's going after her…! It knows she's hurt, and our mother…! Dusty help,"Shadow yelled before making sticks, stones and rocks fly and pelt the beast like tiny bees,"Leave her alone! Fight me! Pay attention to me! LOOK OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME!"
"Leave our mother alone!"Dusty weakly called out as the beast slammed it's hooves into the pile to dig around for it's prey.
Even with Dusty also throwing things at the giant pony, nothing even managed to make it flinch. It then found it's prey and wrapped both hooves around the mother as it lifted up onto two legs. It yanked the mare out of the rock as she screamed in fear and pain to see such a demonic creature. Shadow panic and pushed herself to shoot tiny dark purple streams of magic that stung like a wasp. Only to hear their mother scream as she turned to her children one more time to see their faces.
"I love you…! Both of you…!"The mother turned back to face her demise as the creature looked to the children to make sure they were watching.
"No…! No…!'Shadow begged for the inevitable to not happen, even when it was all for nothing.
Their mother widened her eyes as the demon opened it's gaping jaws wide. The mare almost felt the urge to faint as it brought her into his mouth full of razor sharp curved teeth. She only managed to close her eyes while her children watched with wide eyes as the jaws came down. They watched as blood exploded like a water balloon from the jaws that crushed down on the mare. Only one leg could be seen as bones cracked in it's gullet and the body went limp.
Blood rained in the faces of the mother's children as the demon reared it's head back. Giving the body one last chew before swallowing the rest of the mare whole, it was now over. They had now watched their mother die and be eaten by a giant pony demon right before their eyes. Dusty felt the quaking emotional shock that immediately made him pass out before Shadow. While Shadow herself shuddered with ice cold breaths and a heart bashing with pain against her own chest.
Grief, pain, anger, hate, all emotions darkened her mind and brought forth a vile rage. Her purple magic turned to black as she felt her anger explode the moment the beast roared to the sky and slowly turned away. She screamed, her magic blasted into the sky like black fire.
"FACE ME! DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK TO ME!"She roared to the beast as her very own shadow expanded like slime that fell from the mountain top.
She growled as her skin crawled and her fur turned to pitch black like the darkest night. The shadows burst from the ground and snaked towards her mother's killer from every side. They shot up like tendrils and wrapped around the demon as it filled the creature's very own shadow. Turning it pitch black and suddenly forcing the beast to freeze in it's place against the beast's will. Shadow stomped her trembling hooves as her eyes turned to complete red and glared to her enemy.
"FACE ME! FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME!"She shouted, just in time for the beast to turn around slowly and suddenly get forced towards Shadow.
It slowly stomped it's way towards Shadow, her own shadow connecting to it's own. It was like it now shadowed the demands she gave to the demon, even as it fought against her control. Blood seeped down her jaws as she felt the burning cut of her own flesh splitting her mouth apart. Yet she continued not to lose eye contact with the beast, as it finally stood before her. It roared down to her, trying to show it's resilience to her control, but it was all for nothing.
It could only lower it's head down to the point that their muzzles were touching. Staring at each other as if they were going to both die together, but that moment did not come. For the red crystals arrived in mass, exploding around the creature and constricting it's body like a cage. Only it's head remained free as it struggled and roared against both the crystals and the possessive shadow. As Shadow felt her mouth feeling like it was going to burst apart, she felt a hoof crack her in the back of the head.
Immediately her body went limp from the blow, as she saw a great and dark pony fly in. The wings were wide and his horn was sharp, two very distinct features that described the king. King Cosmos himself, the great Alicorn and master of the night converging on the scene himself. As she fell to her side, she felt her vision fading as the Alicorn yelled to the pony. Shooting a black magic spell into the beasts chest while Crystar himself kept the pony in it's place.
Shadow could only watch as the beast began to shrink down to size, losing it's Alicorn pony features. Hooves turned to limbs with tiny digits and fur shedding away to bare skin. Her vision had finally faded to black, remembering only the innocent face of a black haired prince. The very prince that was meant to rule and protect Equestria till then end of the world's day. And the very being that would open a great path for her to follow into a future that many would think was impossible.
So…the seed of choice and destiny has been planted. That is when everything shall change for the queen of darkness. From that day on, everything changes. Stay tuned to see what lies in store for Shadow, and stay pony every one.