The Shadow of Equestria

Chapter 14

Doing Time

My eyes shot open and surveyed the area around me. The last thing that I had remembered was the feeling of a sword being shoved through my shoulder. A feeling that I do not wish to experience again. Other than that, the rest was a blur. I remember seeing my own blood on my hands. I remember thinking that it was the end, a foolish thought considering where I was injured. I had thought that they would just let me bleed out for what I had done. As far as I knew, that would come to be what I would have wanted. There's no telling what will happen to me now.

I looked around the dimly lit room in greater detail. I noticed the bland gray walls, the weird looking toilet and sink on the other side of the room, and the bars leading to the outside of where ever I was at. I looked past the bars to see if I could recognize where exactly I was but the only problem was that the area outside of my cell looked nothing like the dungeon that I had been in before. Instead of the bleak medieval look that the dungeon had, this room had a more different look to it. On the outside of my cell was another room all on its own. Complete with a table, several chairs, and a door leading out to God knows where.

I sighed and rested my head back on the pillow where it had rest in the first place. I tried to move around to get comfortable but cringed in pain when I tried to move my left shoulder. I looked down to see that my cloak had been stripped away leaving nothing but a torn plain white shirt that I wore under my regular clothes. At the spot where the blade entered my shoulder, a mass of bandages covered the wound. Doing my best to man up, I slowly lifted up and tried to move my shoulder.

After several attempts at trying to move it, I finally got used to pain as I continued to move and roll my shoulder. After a while, I stopped and looked around the room, getting a better look than my previous one. This cell was defiantly bigger than the one in the dungeon. At least I had some walking space in this cell. In the corner next to the bed stood a small wooden chair. I had no idea why I would need it. There were no tables nearby

I then placed a hand on my neck to stretch. The only problem was when I put my hand there, I didn't feel my neck, I felt metal. I put both hands on the metal device in an attempt to see if I could get it off. The thing would even budge; it felt like it was permanently stuck to my neck.

The thought of a dog collar passed through my mind, causing me to become angry. I would not be chain up and kept as a pet. In an attempt to pull the collar off, I placed my hand on it and started to build up a magic bolt. About half way through I received a nasty shock originating from the collar.

"It's probably not a good idea to do that." said a familiar voice on the other side of the cell.

I looked up to see that Agliss was standing at the door with a pair of shackles in his grasp.

"Celestia placed the enchantment on the collar herself. It is designed to cut off your magical abilities as long as you wear it. It will also deliver a small shock every time you try to use your magic."

I frowned and kept my eyes on Agliss who had opened the cell door.

"Now." he said as he held the shackles out. "You have a court date to attend so let us not waste any more time."

I looked at the open shackles and Agliss before placing my wrists in and watching as the closed shut with a click. Agliss then motioned me to follow as he walked across the room and out the door.

I followed him closely as I tried to take in my surroundings. Outside the room containing my cell was a long hallway with two guards standing watch at the door to enter my cell room and at door on the other side. Once we exited that hallway, we came into another hallway with three doors. One on the left, right, and one at the end of the hall. The two doors on the left and right were different though. One had a bright yellow sun carved into a golden colored door. The other and a moon carved into a bluish colored door.

'Please tell me these aren't what I think they are." I said mentally as we passed the doors. "They must have faith in their ability to keep me locked up."

Once we hit the door at the end, the hallway emptied out into a large room filled with bright and dark colored banners. A large red carpet lined the ground we walked along. At the end of the red carpet stood two thrones with their respective owners occupying them. Celestia sat in hers while her eyes followed me down the carpet with a look of hatred in her eyes. The other one watched on with a look of intrigue, as if I was some kind of exotic creature of some sorts. At the end of the red carpet, I was stopped by Agliss.

"Thank you Agliss." said Celestia as she turned her attention towards me. There was a pause before she continued.

"Zhane Black." she began. "You stand before me as a prisoner of Equestria. You have committed several atrocities against the ponies of the land as well as the well-being of my country. You have committed acts of murder and assault which are unforgivable in Equestria. As the Princesses of this land, my sister and I will sentence you accordingly."

The blue Princess began to speak.

"We would sentence thou to death for such heinous crimes but Captain Agliss has insisted on an alternative considering that thou art a human. The Captain has suggested that thou serve time here in the castle until thou hast understood the seriousness of thine offense and are willing to atone.

Luna stepped back and Celestia stepped forward.

"I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, hereby officially sentence you, Zhane Black, to incarceration. The amount of time you will spend in that cell is unknown. You will wear that collar around your neck at all time as it can only be removed by me." Celestia paused. "Do you have anything to say in your defense Zhane?" she asked

I kept silent and simply glared at her with an angry look.

"That's what I thought." said Celestia as she nodded at Agliss who began to escort me back to my jail cell. Once back inside and the shackles removed, I watched Agliss walk out of the door, leaving me alone. This way the first time I had felt defeated in a long time.

I awoke in the bed in that cell on my second day to the sound of the door to my room being opened. The sound of hooves on the stone floor echoed throughout the entire room until they stopped about halfway to the cell. The sound of dishes clattered on the table before the room fell quiet again.

"I know you're awake Zhane." said the pony that had walked in. "Pull that chair to the bars and sit down."

I sat up in my bed and looked toward where the voice was coming from. It was Celestia in all of her regal glory. I sighed silently and pushed myself out of my bed. I grabbed the wooden chair, now knowing what purpose it served, and plopped down right in front of the bars. I watched as Celestia fumbled around with the tray she had brought in.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked as she poured some into a small cup.

I didn't answer; I just stared with hateful intent. After a good 30 seconds of silence, Celestia got the message and grabbed her cup from the tray with her magic.

"Guess not." she said in a low sigh as she pushed on of the table's chairs over to the bars and sat down.

She took a sip of her tea and looked straight into my eyes.

"I feel redundant for asking this but tell me, why did you do it? Why did you would you do such horrible things? What has happened in your life that caused you to think that any of these was okay?"

I tensed up. The last time I even made a mere mention of my past on Earth was the last time I was in the castle. I will have to say that it is a sensitive subject and I don't like to talk about it. However, some ponies don't understand the meaning of a dead silence.

"It's none of your business." I said

"I believe it is Zhane." said Celestia as she took another sip of her tea. "You caused problems and I want to know why you thought that doing such things were okay."

"I already told you why I did it." I said, referring to my first time in the castle.

"I know what you told and that's not what I'm asking. I want to know what caused you to become so vile."

She paused.

"I want to know about your childhood." she asked.

That's where she struck a chord. The past was private, all events that happened in my younger year were foggy at best and I liked it that way. However, when Celestia brought it up, I started to remember one little detail. I remembered my family, my mother and father, my two older brothers. I remembered Lewis and Ashton killing them and playing their little game. After that, my childhood became an unimportant memory. So, I remained silent.

I could start to see Celestia become extremely aggravated over not getting any answers. The moment she looked like she was going to snap, the door opened once more and a guard walked in.

"Princess Celestia." he said. "Your presence is required in the throne room. Some of the nobles have appeared for day court and are wishing to start."

Celestia sighed before getting out of her chair and pushing it back to the table. She placed her now empty cup on the tray and lifted it with her magic.

"A guard will come by in an hour to give you your breakfast. We will continue this later." she said as she walked out of the room with the guard, slamming the door.

The hours came and went, the guard came by as Celestia had said and gave me my breakfast. The rest of the day turned out to be a quiet one. No one came in or out of the room not even Celestia who said herself was coming back. I sighed as the natural light disappeared from the room and was replaced with the light of several candles inside the room. Once again, sadness began to fill my being as the night carried on. I don't know how I handled being alone during my time as "The Shadow". If I had to guess, I'd say that the killing is what stopped me from slinking too far into depression. Agreeing with myself, I slipped into the bed and closed my eyes.

The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of a tray hit the table.

"Tea?" I heard Celestia call out.

I remained silent as I got out of my bed and pulled the chair over to the bars. As I sat down, Celestia pulled up her chair and sat as well.

"Seeing as how you wouldn't talk yesterday and probably won't today, would you like to know how Twilight Sparkle and her friends are doing?" she asked

"Why should I care?" I asked in a low tone.

"Well, considering that you were more than likely targeting them, I believe that you would love to know."

I leaned forward.

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"I didn't." she said with a smirk. "You just told me. That would have been a bad idea on your part. You would have had the entirety of my army on you in an instant, as well as several helpers from the neighboring countries."

"Do you think I didn't know that? I knew a perfect time to strike; I just had to make everything a little chaotic,"

"What are you talking about?" Celestia asked.

"Oh you know a dragon here, a parasprite there, maybe even a little killing."

Celestia stared at me in udder disbelief.

"So you're telling me that you were the one that caused the dragon to move from its original nest. As well as causing the parasprite infestation that almost wiped out two cities?"

"Look at you finally figuring things out." I said as I smiled. "The plan was to cause civil unrest and when the time was right, I swoop in for the kill."

"That plan has no logic behind it whatsoever." said Celestia. "I bet you wouldn't have the guts to do it." Celestia stated. "Not after knowing the consequences."

I ignored her.

"I would probably start with the rainbow haired one and slowly work my way down the list till I got to Twilight Sparkle."

"Why do that? What purpose do you have for attacking them?" Celestia asked.

"I thought I already told you." I replied. "They destroyed a friend, someone that I had sworn loyalty to. With that loyalty, I will hunt down those who destroyed her and wipe them off the face of this planet."

"You do know that Nightmare Moon's true motives were to make night eternal, right?" asked Celestia.

"I knew that, her motives were completely different than mine were. However, we found a need for each other. We needed the others help to achieve our own motive. She needed help with her plans; I wanted to escape the void. In the process, I became thankful and swore loyalty."

Celestia became silent for a few moments before placing her tea cup on the tray and pushing her chair away.

"We will resume this at some other time Zhane. A guard will be here in an hour with your breakfast." she said as she walked out of the door, slamming it shut.

Several more days passed as the same routine continued. Celestia would arrive in the morning, offer tea, and talk with me. This often ended with her leaving the room not even twenty minute after she had entered. I suppose it had to do with some of the answers I had given her. She started to ask personal question so I gave her personal answers. About seven days passed, Celestia continued coming every morning and doing the same thing. However, the eighth day was different.

I awoke and sat in bed waiting to hear the sound of the tray enter the room. For the longest time, the only thing I could hear was me breathing. As I realized what had happened, I got out of bed and started my day without the daily ritual. The rest of the day passed without seeing any sight of Celestia. I hate to admit it but I started to miss that colorful mane of hers.

The moon had set on the castle and it was nearing my time to go to sleep. Maybe Celestia would arrive tomorrow.

I shook my head, what the fuck was I thinking? Did I really miss that bitch? She's the reason I was locked in that cell; I had no reason to miss her. I frowned and began to prepare for bed as I heard the door to my room open. I turned my head to see the younger princess, Princess Luna, walk into the room and sit at the table. There was a moment of silence as I watched from the shadows and she watched from the moonlight.

"The shadows suit you perfectly." she said. "Your eyes really give your figure a freighting look covered in darkness."

I looked at her in surprise. I was expecting the middle English, royal we using princess to come at me full force with her none sense. Instead, I got a well-spoken Princess that had decided to compliment me. The only look I could keep on my face was one of confusion.

Luna sighed.

"You could have thanked me for that compliment. Although, you could have interrupted that as sarcasm and if so, I apologize for that as well."

This only caused me to become even more confused.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I just wanted to come talk to you. It's not every day that somepony get to talk to a human. Even if that human has done some bad things and allied himself with a malicious entity whose only goal is to kill and destroy."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said.

"Do not take me for a fool Zhane Black." said Luna in an angry voice. "I know what you harbor inside yourself because he was once a resident of my body. I know how he works and acts."

There was a pause.

"I don't know why Tia decided to put you in here. We could have easily pulled him out of you and save you from spending your days like this. But it doesn't matter now because Tia has made her decision and her word is final."

"It sounds like you're a Princess with no power." I remarked with a smile.

"No." she replied. "Tia and I rule differently and thus we employ different tactics. She looks to assert her power while I like to take a more alternative solution. One that I'm sure will work far greater than my dear sister's style."

Luna looked at me and smiled.

"I'll make you a deal Zhane, one that would beneficial for us both."

I leaned forward.

"What kind of deal?"

"You've been locked in there for quite some time and you probably would like the chance to walk around. I only want one question answered and I will order somepony to take you to the gardens and let you stretch your legs."

I leaned back in my chair thinking about the deal. I really wanted a chance to leave that cell, even if I was under heavy supervision; a chance to go outside was too great to pass up.

"Alright." I said. "I'll answer one question."

Luna paused before beginning.

"Nightmare Moon wanted to make night eternal. This motive along with revenge against Celestia was the biggest thought in our... I mean her mind. However, all she wanted to do was make night eternal. She didn't want to cause anything major to happen nor too many ponies to die. Only those who needed to be examples for the others were exempt from this desire. Finding you somewhat complicated her plans. She desired the destructive power of a human but looking at the things you did in your life, she was afraid that you would cause too much damage."

"Lying isn't the best way to get a question answered." I immediately replied.

"Who said I was lying." Luna replied. "Even though I was not in control of my body, I saw and heard everything Nightmare Moon did, said, or thought. It turns out its kind of hard to keep secrets while sharing a body."

"Why the hell did she save me if she was afraid of me?" I asked.

"She wanted to see how far you would go to serve her. Did you ever really think what would have happened if she successfully obtained the Elements of Harmony? I knew what her plan was and the sad part is that your loyalty was very misguided."

"You're starting to piss me off." I stated as I began to tug at the collar around my neck.

"She was going to get rid of you the second she had the power to get revenge on Celestia for all of those years of entrapment. She had a feeling that you had a secondary motive, one beside that of remaining loyal, one that would have caused a great amount of chaos. I could never tell what this motive was but Nightmare Moon seemed to be constantly afraid of it."

"Get to the damn question already!" I yelled.

"My question to you is one that you should also ask yourself. What is your true motive Zhane Black? Is it to constantly be a thorn in my sister's side, to be a dangerous creature wanting to do nothing but damage? Now that you know the truth about Nightmare Moon, I imagine that your sense of revenge has quelled and this question has taken a firm rooting in your mind."

Luna leaned away from the cell and towards the door.

"Guards, I require the services of Captain Agliss and Captain Yamato immediately."

One of the guards nodded and left the room in search of the two humans.

"What kind of question was that?" I asked.

"One that I hope would get you thinking. If we are lucky, maybe you'll come to resent your previous actions."

I leaned back and sneered as I watched the door open and the two humans who brought to the castle walk in. They gave a small bow before returning to their upright position.

"You called Lulu?" asked Agliss.

"Yes Captain, I would like you and Yamato to take Zhane out to the gardens for a while, let him stretch his legs and get some fresh air."

"Any particular reason in deciding this Luna?" asked Agliss.

"I made a deal that if answered some questions he would get some time out of his cell. There is no need to worry about him running off because the collar he wears has a proximity ward on it."

Luna then proceeded to walked past the two and stopped at the door.

"Bring him back once you feel he has had enough time in the gardens."

With that, Luna left the room, leaving me alone with Agliss and Yamato.

"Yamato." said Agliss. "You can go back to your quarters. I'll handle him."

Yamato gave Agliss a stern look followed by an understanding nod. He then turned and walked out the room and returned to his quarters. After he left, Agliss turned to me.

"Alright Zhane, let's get moving."

Even though I hate to admit it, the garden was beautiful. Statues littered the grounds, a nicely trimmed hedge kept the entire garden fenced in, and the plant life growing there was simply amazing. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed my time out of my cell, even if it was only for about an hour.

Once my time was up, Agliss took me back to my cell and left me there for the night. I had trouble sleeping because of Luna's question.

The next morning I awoke to the familiar sound of clanking as Celestia had set her tea tray on the table.

"Good morning Zhane, would you like some tea?" she asked.

After about ten seconds of silence, Celestia withdrew the offer, already knowing the answer.

"Give my compliments to your sister, Celestia." I said as I dragged my chair to the bars. "She sure knows how to get someone thinking."

"I take it you've met her?" she asked.

"I your absence, she decided it would be the perfect time to introduce herself. She has a very weird way of thinking." I implied as I leaned back in my chair.

"She's always been a deep thinker." Celestia said. "Anyways, I apologize for not visiting yesterday; I had many preparations to make for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala."

I turned my head.

"Having a party are you?" I asked.

"You could call it that. The Gala is more of a ball and social meet for the citizens of Equestria. It's quite spectacular."

"So I can assume that Twilight Sparkle and her friends will be here?" I asked. "I would love a chance to meet them."

I was trying to do my best to unnerve her but Celestia somehow kept her nerve simply looking through the bars with a blank expression.

"Sorry to crush your dreams but this part of the castle will be closed down and guarded by some of my best. Even your friends Agliss and Yamato will be able to keep you company all night."

I cringed. The mere mention of their names caused my shoulder to hurt.

"We simply do not need another jailbreak courtesy of your little friends in the Dark Hooves."

Celestia sat her tea cup on the tray and stood up out of the chair.

"Well, I can't waste my time here all day. There are things that must be done so I bid you a farewell for now Zhane."

Celestia picked up the tray in a glow of yellow magic and started to walk to the door before I stopped her.

"Hey Celestia." I called.

"Yes Zhane?" she replied.

"Could you tell Luna that I have found the answer to her question and I am very thankful that she reminded me of something that was almost lost to me."

Celestia smiled.

"Maybe there has been some progress made with you Zhane. I'll tell her when I see her."

With that, Celestia walked through the door and closed it shut softly.

I really was surprised I had almost forgotten about my purpose. I hadn't even made a name for it yet. That just proves that I need to go out there and make the ponies of Equestria know. Know how deadly a Shadow can really be.

Here's Chapter 14 for everypony. Enjoy!

As soon as the chapter goes up, a poll is going up on my profile page to help me decide what I should spend my time on after this story is finished. I plan on letting it go for a while until it's clear what you guys want to see more. So go vote now!

See you guys next Monday!