The Shadow of Equestria

Chapter 2

The Dark Queen

The only thing I could see was darkness. The only thing I could hear was nothing. The only thing I could smell was death. I was dead, The Shadow had finally been stopped, the legacy ended in one careless mistake. It made me angry and if I could have moved or yelled, I would have screamed and hit the ground in anger. However, I couldn't move, I couldn't even think straight. I was too unsettled. I mentally sighed, if this was death then death sucked. Where was Heaven and Hell? Where is my family? Where is the Grim Reaper?

If death was an eternal blackness, then I would go insane in no time. A sudden wave of realization hit me; maybe I was already in Hell. This was probably my eternal punishment, the one those Christians preached about. If so, where was Satan? I'm sure he would love to thank me for all the people I killed, all the chaos I caused. Sadly, I wanted that to happen instead of rotting in that damned blackness. I began to mentally freak-out. I didn't want this; I would rather choose fiery damnation than this.

'Oh God, get me the fuck out of here!' I yelled mentally as I tried to move. The darkness was not letting up though and I was constantly stopped from moving by some unseen force.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Get me out of here! I don't even know how long I've been in here and I'm already starting to lose it! Please I'll do anything, just get me out of here!'

I yelled to myself over and over, hoping that if there was a God, he would show mercy and maybe save me. I didn't want to think about it at the time but I knew that would never happen. However, I kept yelling to myself over and over, begging for freedom from this suffocating darkness. Anything that would save me, anything that had the power to free me. I ended my mental breakdown and listened, I wanted to hear something speak up and tell me that everything would be alright, that I would be saved from that horrible darkness. Though I was confident something would help me, nothing ever did. I was stuck in that blackness and there was nothing left I could do. I felt defeated, Agent Warren finally got what he wanted, I was finally dead. He's probably already gotten several awards and maybe a promotion. That bastard, I wished I could make him suffer this darkness. I decided that if I couldn't leave, I might as well get comfortable. I closed my eyes in hope that maybe I would be able to escape the darkness and into my dreams, maybe I would find some comfort.

The only problem with that plan was the fact that I wasn't dreaming. Even though I was closing my eyes, or at least I thought I was, all I could see was darkness. I tried to close my eyes harder, keeping them shut and again, all I saw was more darkness. It was hopeless to try and sleep. I was met with darkness everywhere. I couldn't take it anymore but I wasn't ready to give it up.

'Please, if anything at all saves me, I'll owe you my life, I'll give you everything.'

It was my last resort; I didn't care what saved me. If anything saved me, I would be eternally grateful. They would have The Shadow employed under their service for as long as they lived. I just wanted to leave that blackness. I was making another grave mistake but I didn't really care at the time. After a few moments of waiting, I heard something. After hearing it, I smiled widely. I was finally able to hear something. I listened closely and I heard the sound again. It sounded like someone walking and it sounded close.

'Hello, is someone there?' I called out mentally. I wondered if whatever was out there could hear me.

Suddenly the walking got louder and louder. Whatever was making that sound had heard me. My face lit up with joy, I had hope that I would get out of that darkness. The walking got closer and closer until I heard it right in front of me.

"Well, well, well, what a rare find. A human in the void. I was looking for an Ursa but you will do nicely." said something in front of me.

I strained my eyes to see who was talking but I couldn't find anyone.

'Who's there?' I asked in my head as I continued to look for the speaker.

"And you're not brain-dead, this is excellent. I am Nightmare Moon, human. I heard your cries for help and decided to see you for myself. Now I find myself in the presence of an actual human. Tell me something, do you actually mean what you said earlier? About owing your life to the one that could save you?" asked Nightmare Moon.

'Nightmare Moon, if you can get me out of this goddamned darkness, I'll owe you everything. I meant what I said and I never go back on my word.'

"Excellent." said Nightmare.

Suddenly, a bright flash went off in my face causing me to close my eyes. I have no idea where it originated from and I didn't care. It got rid of the darkness and I was thankful towards Nightmare Moon, whoever she was. I opened my eyes to find myself in a brightly light landscape that looked to go on for miles.

"Like what you see?" said something behind me. I turned and couldn't believe my eyes; there stood a large dark blue unicorn with wings. Her features were majestic, like something from a fairy tale. I was frozen, completely out of words; this was a first for me. I've seen some crazy things before but this really took the cake.

"Wha...what are you?" I asked as I continued to look over the winged unicorn.

"Now that's no way to talk to your savior, but I'll let that pass. I am an Alicorn, otherwise known as Nightmare Moon."

"So you're the one who saved me?" I asked.

"Indeed I am, though I'm afraid I didn't catch your name." she said as she leaned in a little closer to me.

I stood up, wiping the dust off my coat, and looked her straight in the face. This was the first time I actually got to see her face and if I wasn't the monster I am now, I would have backed away in fear. A smile was plastered across her face revealing a row of predatory teeth. Two large fangs more prevalent than the others. Her eyes were also completely different. Instead of the pupils being circle like they should be, Nightmare's pupils were slanted like that of a cat. For once in my life, I felt comfortable, like I could put my guard down when I was around her. We were the same, one a monster above the skin and one below.

"My name is Zhane Black. I thank you greatly for helping me Nightmare Moon. As promised, I am under your employ if need be."

"Your talents are very much needed Zhane. That is the reason I released you from the void. I wish to employ you and your skills in a job that is very important to me."

I nodded slightly. "Like I said, I will not go back on my word. I will serve you Nightmare Moon and do whatever I can to repay me debt to you."

"Excellent!" cried Nightmare as smiled widely. "Now tell me one thing Zhane. What kind of magic do you know?"

That question caught me off guard. Did she really just ask me what kind of magic I knew? I found it hard to find the words to answer this question.

"Ma...magic?" I asked. "Magic actually exists?"

The best way I could describes Nightmare's face was one of pure disbelief. The kind of face you get when someone asks you a really stupid question.

"What do you mean by that? Are you telling me you don't know magic?" Nightmare said still looking at me.

"I can honestly say that magic does not exist where I'm from." I said shrugging my shoulders.

Nightmare groaned and let out a loud snort.

"Just my luck to find possibly the last human somewhat alive and him not able to use magic."

"Ok, I'm confused." I stated as I tried to get Nightmare's attention. "No one where I'm from knows magic. We've adapted to function without things like that. Were there humans that actually knew magic?"

Nightmare didn't respond, instead, she snorted one last time before turning and facing me. Suddenly, her horn lit up with a dark blue hue. On instinct, I backed up and place my hand on my belt where I kept my push daggers. Nightmare noticed this and looked up at me.

"I'm not trying to hurt you; I just want to see into your memories."

At first I didn't like the idea of something looking into my memories, for obvious reasons. However, Nightmare did save me and she looked like she could handle it, so I complied. Slowly, I removed my hand from my belt and began to approach Nightmare. I stopped once her horn was rather close to my face. Once there, Nightmare's horn lit up brighter and suddenly flashed.

It was dark, almost as dark as that dreaded place I had escaped. The only difference was a small light in the distance. One that grow every passing second. Eventually, the light got bigger and bigger until it had enveloped me in white light.

"We'll give you three minutes to decide what you're going to do." said a voice calmly. At that moment, I instantly recognized who was speaking. It was Lewis Black, the Devil himself. That meant Nightmare was currently overlooking my memories. I only hoped she could stand looking through them.

There were two loud bangs followed by a maniacal laugh and silence. The next thing I heard was another loud bang followed by another voice from the past.

"I'll be damned, you actually killed one, a good one at that." said the voice.

I recognized it as Graham, the man who raised me for a good portion of my life. The man who made me realize what I was capable of. Another shot rang out followed by the sound of something burning. Nightmare had just seen my first kill.

"The pawn, the most useless and looked down upon pieces. However, with the right direction, this piece can replace its fallen comrades."

It was Lewis again; it was when I talked to them at the asylum. I always wanted to go back there and take their lives but after the feds had found out I had killed that State Trooper and visited them, they were moved and I never found out what happened to them.

"Any last words Zhane?" asked another voice.

"How does it feel to know that your best was not good enough to stop people from dying." said another.

I recognized this as my dying words to that bastard Warren. It was a joy to see him angry one last time before I died. There was another loud bang followed by another flash.

Once the light cleared, I saw myself standing in the same exact spot I was before Nightmare looked into my memories. I looked down at her and noticed she was staring at me with a toothy grin.

"I honestly didn't think you were capable of such acts Zhane, color me impressed. That makes this a whole lot easier."

"How exactly did I make this a whole lot easier?" I asked.

"From what I remember, humans were very peaceful creatures. After seeing what you've done in the past, you'll be able to do this task of ours without hesitation."

"If I may ask, what exactly is our task?" I asked.

"I was going to get to that." Nightmare said. "This task is one in which I only have one chance at. After that, I'll have to wait a long time before I can try again."

Nightmare stopped to clear her throat and began to talk again.

"A long time ago, my sister and I ruled a great kingdom known as Equestria. My sister controlled the raising and setting of the sun while ruling over the day. I myself was responsible for the rising and setting of the moon while I ruled over the nighttime. Over time, the citizens of our fair kingdom began to shun the night. They began to forget about me and paid more attention to my sister. The worst part is that my sister did nothing to stop this. She was too caught up in the love of her citizens."

"I became angry and confronted my sister. It was that day that I became sick of her nonsense and decided to rise against her. She took it a step too far and used her power to seal me in this realm for 1000 years. That 1000 years is about to end and we will soon be freed from this realm and placed back into Equestria. This is timed perfectly, for my sister is having a festival in her honor that night. This is where you come in Zhane, this is the reason I saved you. I want you by my side while this happens, I want you to be there with me when we return to Equestria and take it back. I want my dear sister to see that I have a human supporting me. To do this, I want you to deal with any of my sister's little guards or citizens that decide they want to stop us."

I took a moment to take all of that information in. Most of it I didn't understand like the rising and setting of the sun/moon. Then again, I didn't think magic was real but I was also proved wrong on that. In the end, I nodded.

"I will make sure those who bother us will regret doing so."

"Good." said Nightmare before she looked up into the white nothingness that was the sky of her realm. "It's almost time for us to depart from the damned realm. Are you ready Zhane?" asked Nightmare as she smiled.

I smiled like Nightmare had and nodded.

"Let's go have so fun."

Here's Chapter 2 for everypony! Enjoy!

Alright, I posted a list of episodes that this story will be involved in on my tumblr. To get there, just go to my profile and click the link.

So, depending on the rate at which I am currently writing the later chapters for TSOE, I might start releasing two a week. In the end, I'll let everypony know what my final decision is.