James now had three new additions to his harem and he couldn’t he happier. James could see that the mares were a little nervous of Aloe, Lotus, and Rose but James was just going to let them be paranoid. As James continued to hug the three mares he was brought out of his thoughts by a tap on the shoulder. James turned around and saw Jack Hammer standing behind him. James greeted Jack Hammer with a high five and he returned it. After James was done rubbing his hand to get feeling back he asked what Jack Hammer was doing here. Jack Hammer explained that he got James’ house done early and actually made some additions to the house. Jack Hammer added a few stories to the house so James had extra rooms.

James could see that Rose was slightly blushing and nervous for some reason. James followed where her eyes were looking and saw that they were looking at Jack Hammer. James started thinking that he may have some relation to Rose because he did share some similar features as her. Jack Hammer could have been a brother or father to Rose. Instead of letting this fester in his brain James asked the question to get his answer.

“Hey Jack Hammer what is your relation to Rose?” As James asked Rose hid behind him some more as Jack Hammer looked at him and smiled.

“Well James my relation to Rose is that I am her father. So after she explained that she met you I decided to expand on your house as a favor to the both of you. There are extra bedrooms that you will need to personalize yourself but they are there. You also have some extra bathrooms, shower rooms, and a few training rooms. You also don’t have to worry about paying me either since we had the project done early. So usually if we finish early we can add to the house a little more.” James gave Jack Hammer a hand shake to show his gratitude for everything he has done. James completely forgot to check on his house when he was being watched over.

After James and Jack Hammer were done talking and catching up James took the mares out so they could see his house. Before they headed off though James left for Fluttershy’s cottage. James arrived at the cottage and grabbed Lightning Bolt and Braveheart. James rejoined the mares and they headed off for the house. When they arrived the mares didn’t say anything because they were at awe with the house. The house was a simplistic modern look and was white with some pillars around the house giving it support. James let them take it for a few minutes before opening the door and letting them all in.

They entered the house and started looking over. James went off on his own to see if the rooms were placed in the correct area that his blueprints had them placed. Finding the rooms wasn’t hard since they had name plaques next to them to show which room it belonged to. The rooms where they belonged and called the mares to come see their rooms. When the mares showed up they went to their rooms to see what they looked like. As the eleven of them looked around the room James lead Aloe, Lotus, and Rose upstairs so they could pick out their rooms. The rooms were easily picked since they took the two that were closest to the stairs. James gave a little chuckle since he knew that they would do that so they could reach his room faster.

James entered Rose’s room first so they could plan out the details of it. As they were inside James could see that out the corner of his eye Vinyl was standing in the hallway watching Rose. James just slightly shook his head that they were so worried but was going to let them see that there was nothing to be worried about. Rose wanted her room to be colored like her mane and she wanted some flower pots to be placed near the windows so she could it some character and beauty. James wrote down all she wanted so he knew what to buy when they headed for the market tomorrow.

James was now in Aloe and Lotus’ room but James said that they could have their own room. They wanted to share a room because they just don’t like being away from each other. James just nodded since it was their choice of where they wanted to sleep and he was happy either way. James could see that Rarity and Fluttershy were standing in the hallway just like Vinyl as they watched the two mares. James really hoped that this would end soon because he didn’t want this intense problem to get any worse. As Aloe and Lotus talked James took notes to make sure he had everything they wanted. Their room was to be colored blue like Lotus and the bed was to be pink as Aloe. They also wanted their cutie mark to be painted on the walls.

Once that was all done James went to the farther back and looked at the two empty rooms that could be used for anything. They were both very well sized rooms and James was happy that they were so spacious. James planned on using one of the rooms as a special room that he would bring in a T.V. and his gaming systems and make it an entertainment room. The other he had no idea on what to make it until Aloe showed up and scared him a little when she spoke.

“I think I know what we should turn this room into.”

“What do you think it should be? I really don’t have any idea what to turn it into.”

“I believe that it should be turned into a little spa room. So instead of having you or the other mares come all the way to the shop it can be done here. My sister and I can service you and the other mares as much as you want and then some more.” Aloe suggested suggestively as she rubbed her index finger in a circle on his chest. James could also feel her hot breath on his neck as she spoke. James tried his hardest to keep himself under control because there is a time and place for everything.

Rainbow Dash was in the hallway trying to keep in her laughter at how James was acting. She was keeping an eye on Aloe but she just couldn’t help but give out little giggles. James saw Rainbow standing there and he just looked at her with her eyes saying that she better not say a word. After that Rainbow walked away and so did Aloe leaving James alone with the potential spa room. James walked over the window to look outside as the sun was slowly setting giving the town a slight golden hue to it. As James enjoyed the sight of the town he could see some sort of shadow standing next to the trees. The shadow stared back at James as he was trying to figure out what he was seeing.

James left the room and headed downstairs so he could get outside. As James exited his house he was followed by Trixie outside. James reached the tree where the shadow was standing but couldn’t find him. Trixie watched James as he was running around the tree and looking everywhere for something. Trixie didn’t want another incident on her hand so she checked up on him.

“James is everything alright? You are acting kind of strange.”

“Yeah Trixie I’m fine. I just thought that I saw something but I guess I just need some sleep. Applejack loves to put ponies to work when they help her. I didn’t mean to scare you.” James hugged Trixie as he looked around one last time before heading inside. When they entered the house James headed for his room to get some sleep. As James went to his room the other mares gathered around Trixie to see if everything was okay. Trixie assured them that James was okay but he was just tired after they had him sent to Applejack’s place. James laid on his bed and went to sleep thinking that he was just seeing things.

Dream Realm

Shadow was sitting on the ground as the last chain on his back was flashing. Nightmare Moon was standing next to him channeling her magic through him to help break the chain. Nightmare was happy that James was now coursing with magic in his veins. Thanks to that she was able to feed on more energy to bring back her own powers. As she fed on the magic she could feel that he had dark magic run through him and she couldn’t help but smile. Magic was nice to feed off of but when it is dark magic it is just delicious. Dark magic helped to fuel her nightmare powers so she could use her magic.

Nightmare was now at the peak of her power and she couldn’t wait to unleash it. She and Shadow have been talking about what to do with James. Shadow wanted to kill James for everything that he did but Nightmare wanted to keep him around and continue to feed off of his dark magic. They finally agreed that James could live to feed her as long as Shadow could torture just for the fun of it. Nightmare smiled that Shadow could see reason and was more understanding than anypony else.

The chain finally shattered into golden dust and finally allowed Shadow freedom. Once he was free he got to his feet and floated off the ground. Shadow was floating in the middle of the room and decided to have some fun. Darkness was slowly filling the room and covering it in nightmarish monsters that he started conjuring up. Shadow enjoyed his freedom as he just looked over everything that he had control over now. Shadow grinned as he thought of a way to completely fuck with James. Shadow walked up to the brain and placed his hand inside. Shadow was going to destroy James mentally in the worse way possible.

Shadow was going to make James hallucinate different images and make him go crazy. James would not be able to handle all the stress that he was going to end up going through. It was going to start out small where there would be some sort of shadow standing around and James would notice it. James would then go out to investigate it and see that it is no longer there. From there it would get progressively worse to hearing noises and seeing even more shadows. Shadow would then bring up things from James’ past to help even push it further. These shadows would force James to attack them and only end up hurting himself. The plan was made even more fun because of the three new mares. Shadow didn’t really care about the new additions but he saw how the original eleven saw them. So not only would he destroy James but he would get the eleven mares turn on the three new ones. Shadow could feel that James was asleep and the fun was now going to truly begin.

Real World

James was asleep and was starting to toss and turn in his bed. He was sweating profusely and his breathing was getting shallow. Rose was walking by when she saw that James’ door was open. Trixie may have said that James was doing okay but she needed to make sure for herself. She opened the door and she could hear James and his shallow breathing. She walked up to James and put her forehead on his. She could feel his sweat and he had a slight temperature. She got up and walked over to his bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. She wet the washcloth and went back to James. She placed it over his head and sat down next to him.

Spitfire was walking by after she tried out the new training room that was installed. She saw that his door was open and walked over. She knew that James was in bed asleep because he needed to get some sleep. When she reached his room she saw Rose sitting on the bed patting James’ forehead with the washcloth. Rose saw Spitfire standing in the hallway looking at her. She got up to join Spitfire outside because there might be something that she wanted to say.

“So what exactly are you doing in their with James?”

“Well even after what Trixie said I just wanted to make sure that he was okay. When I went in he had some shallow breathing, sweating, and a slight temperature. He may also be having a nightmare because he keeps muttering about some shadow.”

“Okay then just make sure that you keep a close eye on him because he may be having a slight reaction now that he is off his drink.” Rose nodded as she went back in to check on James. Spitfire was worried letting Rose look after James but felt that it might do her some good to at least try and trust her. She seemed very devoted to show that she could take care of James and the same could be said about Aloe and Lotus. Spitfire walked back to her room to take a shower and head for bed.

James woke up in the morning to see that Rose fell asleep next to him. James smiled as it looked cute on how Rose was asleep. She held a pillow close to her as she snuggled it thinking that it was James. James stroked her mane before getting out of bed. James stretched his arms and back as he tried to get himself awake. James headed for the shower so he could head to the market and buy the supplies. As the water was cascading over James he felt a sudden pain in his chest. James fell to his knees and started coughing. As he was coughing he ended up spitting blood. Once he was done coughing and he could breath James cleaned up the blood and didn’t say anything about it.

James was walking around town with the mares and was getting all the paint, beds, and sheets for the rooms. Some of the mares were giving him dirty looks and that was mostly because he wasn’t carrying all the stuff himself. Stallions in this world were meant to do all the heavy lifting and if they didn’t then the mares would not be happy. James offered them that he would carry all the stuff but they insisted that they carried some of it. They reached the library without incident and the mares took the stuff to the rooms so James could study with Twilight, Lyra, Rarity, and Trixie.

Twilight was his main teacher but the others could help offering their own little magic insights. Twilight was able to get some books on illusionary magic but only the really basic stuff. Celestia didn’t want James learning something so dangerous but he could understand why. James learned basic shadow control and mind confusion but that was it. James kept practice with those so he wouldn’t get rusty. Most of his training time was spent learning shields and deflection techniques. James was learning at a slow pace but he was making some progress.

Time was going by and James was able to get the rooms in order and everything was going okay. That was at least how he presented himself to the mares. James was going slightly insane and thought that he saw Shadow everywhere that he could see. James was able to put on a fake smile to hide his nervousness. James was in the training room with Aloe, Lotus, and Rose as they were just working off some steam and talking. As they were working James saw Shadow again and this time he wasn’t going to let him get away. The other mares weren’t at the house since they went off to their jobs. Aloe, Lotus, and Rose chased after James so he wouldn’t hurt himself.

James was chasing Shadow and he was determined to get him. Shadow went on the other side of the window and James jumped out. James fell from the top of his house and hit the ground. James groaned in pain as he shattered his left leg and right arm. James tried to get up but went back to the ground as pain was shooting through his body. James could see Shadow laughing at him and he extended his arm to try and get him. James went black as he was taken back inside by the three mares. They laid him on the bed and when they were able to get him situated the other mares showed up. When they saw James in the state he was in they looked at the three of them and were very pissed. Spitfire came in and then looked at the three mares and walked towards them. Twilight brought out her fire extinguisher that she bought just in case of this emergency.

“What the hell happened to him? You were supposed to be watching him and now he is a complete mess.”

“We don’t know we were just training and he just ran out of the room. He kept mumbling about some shadow but we don’t know what it means. He is also not looking very well either and he is having a high heart rate and is breathing very heavily.”

“Well we are going to help him and you better hope there is some kind of explanation for all of this. Trixie heal James and Lyra I want you to enter his mind and see if everything was okay.” The mares nodded as they got to work and kept their eyes on Aloe, Lotus, and Rose.

Dream Realm

Lyra was now in James’ deep mind and was a little frightened. All she could see was darkness and nothing more. She lit up her horn and hands and traveled forward. As she went forward she could hear a faint noise. The noise was getting louder and it was starting to become more evil. Lyra reached the deep part of his brain and there she saw two figures staring at her. She was looking at Nightmare Moon one that she thought that was banished. Then there was a second figure that looked like living shadow.

“Well who do we have here? Can I help you little lady?” Nightmare Moon asked as she walked closer to Lyra. Lyra could feel the fear in her chest as she backed away. The two figures walked closer and she turned around and ran.

As she ran though she didn’t know where she was going. Lyra just ran as fast as she could fear of what the two evil entities might do to her. Lyra was running out of breath and the two monsters were getting closer. Lyra was afraid that she was going to be captured and tortured. Lyra then reached a corner and was now trapped. Lyra got down on the ground and started yelling for James. As the two of them got closer Lyra thought that this was the end for her. Before they touched her there was a flash of light.

James came running down the area and grabbed Lyra. James lead Lyra through a door so they could hide. James was wearing a white and red cloak that kept his eyes covered. James looked over Lyra to make sure that she was okay. After everything was done Lyra started to focus her magic and pull them both out of the dream.

Real World

James and Lyra both shot their eyes open as they came out of the dream. The mares were over both of them as they tried to catch their breath. Once they were calm Lyra started to explain what she saw. The mares turned to Aloe, Lotus, and Rose and apologized to them for blaming them for this. All the mares knew about Shadow and his existence along with Nightmare Moon. Twilight was wondering why they didn’t break free but the main reason was because they needed a stronger source of magic.

James looked out at the window to not see any shadows there. There were also no voices in his head. James knew that Shadow was done for now messing with him but was going to come back angrier than before. James knew that before Shadow and now this Nightmare Moon was in his head so he could fight them. James was going to need to speed up his magic training and he was going to need Celestia’s help in bringing in a few weapons. James knew this was only the beginning but he was going to be ready for this before it got out of hand.

Author's Notes:

Sorry everyone for the late chapter update. Was out having lots of fun with family for Thanksgiving and I hope that all of you people did to. Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the idea on this chapter. Also if this chapter looks weird from the others let me know and I will fix it since I did this on a terrible computer.