Final Chapter: Dead Eye

[Note: When I say stomach, I mean the general area, not her actual stomach. That would be silly]

March 28, outskirts of Cloudsdale

Temperature: -38 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:28 A.M.

Shadow materialized in the air, landing on a small cloud beneath him. Shadow got up and looked down at the mountains below. There was a faint sound of an explosion in the distance, and Shadow’s heart sank.

“Specter...” Shadow said quietly to himself, staring off into the blizzard. Shadow turned around to face the city in the sky behind him, Cloudsdale. The city of clouds appeared normal, but there was no pegasi visible in or around the city from where Shadow was standing. Shadow glanced back at the mountain ranges for a second, hesitating to see the aftermath Specter’s sacrifice, but Dusk and Clarity were still in need of assistance. Shadow lifted off the cloud he was on as he flapped his wings, taking the cloud with him as cover in case an Equestrian Saint operative should see him. He held the cloud out in front of him as he flew closer to the city.

The sounds of machines running started to come into earshot as Shadow neared the edge of the city. Shadow lowered himself and set down on a cloud attached to Cloudsdale, planting the cloud he was carrying down in front of him. Shadow peaked over the top of the cloud. The city was silent aside from the sounds of distant machines operating, producing clouds for the winter. A lone Equestrian Saint operative walked out from one of the cloud structures next to the platform Shadow was sitting on, a cigarette in his mouth. Shadow dove under the cloud he was on and made his way under the area the operative was. Shadow reached up through the cloud and grabbed onto the operative’s hind legs, pulling the operative down to him. Shadow quickly covered the pegasi’s mouth and put his other leg around the operative’s neck. The operative desperately tried to slip out of Shadow’s grasp, waving his front legs randomly in the air.

“Stop moving around and keep quiet if you want to live.” Shadow said quietly in the operative’s ear. The operative put his front legs at his sides and stared out in front of him at the underside of Cloudsdale.

“There are two pegasi in the city that are not from Cloudsdale, do you know where they are?” Shadow asked. He partially lifted his hoof off of the operative’s mouth to allow him to speak. The operative started to yell for help, but was interrupted by Shadow covering his mouth again. Shadow grabbed the operative’s wing and twisted it sideways, a sickening crack coming from the wing. The operative moaned in pain, muffled by Shadow’s hoof.

“Try anything like that again and I rip it off. Where are the two pegasi?” Shadow asked again sternly, grabbing ahold of the operative’s wing again and partially uncovering the operative’s mouth. The operative hesitated to answer.

“We... sent a search team for them a little bit ago... we’ve already lost contact with most of the operatives in Cloudsdale...” The operative spoke quietly, his voice quivering with fear.

“So you don’t know of their exact location?”

“Well... they are somewhere-” Shadow twisted the operative’s wing again, another crack coming from the wing.

“AH-... they have been... spotted around the weather factory...”

“When?”

“Around... two minutes ago... please, let me go.”

“Oh you’re getting let go alright...” Shadow let go of the operative’s wing and grabbed his knife. He covered the operative’s mouth again and stuck the knife into the operative’s neck. The operative’s eyes opened wide and they rolled back in his head. Shadow released the operative and he fell to the mountains below, a trail of blood following him down. Shadow wiped off his knife on his cloak and put it back in its sheath around his hind leg.

“The weather factory...” Shadow thought to himself. He raised himself up, sticking his head out from the foundation layer of Cloudsdale. He could see the weather station in the distance through the heavy snow fall. Shadow cautiously raised back up onto the foundation layer of clouds and looked around again. There was still no pony in sight, the pathway to the weather factory clear. For now.

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Shadow came up to the entrance of the weather factory. Clouds were pouring out of the ceiling of the factory, billowing into the atmosphere. Shadow walked up to the entrance of the snow flake room and the door opened. He peered inside, no pony in sight. Shadow shrugged slightly and walked into the room. The posts where the snow flakes were made were abandoned, a copious amount of snow flakes on the floor and work tables. A blinding light came on from the ceiling of the room, followed by the sound of multiple guns being prepared to fire. Shadow raised his hoof to cover his eyes.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.” A voice said. Shadow lowered his hoof to see who it was. Persistence came out from behind the pillar on the other side of the room, staring angrily at Shadow as he came into view. Persistence had a spell on him that allowed him to stand on clouds.

“So you managed to find the bomb. I would only have to assume that you detonated it, we are not getting any reports from headquarters. Where is Specter?” Persistence asked, looking past Shadow. Shadow stayed silent, glaring at Persistence.

“He didn’t make it.” Shadow said finally.

“...Well, that’s one problem out of the way for now. Bring them out.” Persistence said to the operatives in the room. Clarity and Dusk were pushed out from behind the other pillars in the room.

“You were so close, Dead Eye, but in the end, I will always win.” Persistence said with a hint of smugness in his voice, a smirk on his face. Persistence and the operatives in the room guided Dusk and Clarity over to Shadow.

“Let’s go for a little stroll before I put a bullet in each of your heads. Shall we?” Persistence said, motioning his hoof towards the door behind Shadow. The three captives turned around and started walking down the bridge from the weather factory back to the main Cloudsdale area.

“Shadow... I’m sorry, they took us by surprise.” Clarity said.

“It’s not your fault... this was bound to happen anyways... but, hell, we gave it our best shot, didn’t we?” Shadow said, a slightl smile on his face. Clarity’s mouth curved into a smirk as they arrived at the end of bridge.

“Walk over to the edge of the cloud.” Persistence ordered. Clarity, Shadow, and Dusk walked over to the left side of the cloud, a straight drop into the mountains from where they were. Persistence walked up behind Shadow and took his pistol out from it’s holster around Shadow’s hind leg.

“In case you get any ideas.” Persistence walked back over to the operatives and one of them handed him another pistol. He cocked the gun back and aimed it at Shadow.

Persistence’s fore leg was jerked sideways, the force of a bullet making Persistence drop the pistol in his hooves.

“What the hell!?” Persistence yelled, turning to look at the group of operatives he was with. Three of the operatives were laying on their sides, their necks slit open. Caliber was aiming his rifle at Persistence, the tip of the gun smoking.

“Warrant Officer Caliber, I order you to put that weapon down!” Persistence said as he got up, trying to ignore the pain as best as he could. Shadow, Clarity, and Dusk turned around to face Persistence. Caliber shifted his eyes to Shadow, slightly nodding at him.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, sir.” Caliber said, looking back at Persistence.

“Then I guess I’ll have to make you by force.” Persistence raised his hoof in the air and signaled at a building in the distance. Caliber turned to look at where Persistence was signaling, only to have his head jerk sideways, a bullet racing into his head after a distant crack of a sniper in the distance. Caliber fell to the floor, a bullet hole in the side of his head.

“Dusk, Clarity, run!” Shadow yelled. The three pegasi launched off of the cloud with a powerful swing of their wings, heading in different directions.

“Shoot them!” Persistence yelled through his headset as he picked up the pistol from the cloud. More cracks of a sniper firing came from the distance, the bullets aiming for the three pegasi flying through the air. Dusk and Clarity came together and started flying back towards the weather factory to get out of the line of fire. Shadow started heading for the building the sniper was in, Persistence chasing after him on the clouds below. The sniper continued to fire at Shadow as he maneuvered through the air. Shadow dived down at the building and tackled the sniper. They rolled off of the edge of the cloud and onto another cloud below the building. Shadow got up and ran at the sniper as he regained his composer, the sniper trying to get a grip on the pistol around his hind leg. The sniper jumped over Shadow with the help of his wings, Shadow running beneath him.

Shadow slid to a stop and looked up at the sniper. He was falling towards Shadow, his hoof out in front of him. Shadow backed away and the sniper landed back on the cloud, his hoof landing where Shadow was. Shadow ducked as the sniper jumped at him, the sniper jumping over Shadow. The sniper turned around as Shadow swung at him with his hoof. The sniper held up his hoof and Shadow’s swing stopped against it, the sniper kicking Shadow with his hind leg a second later. Shadow stumbled backwards, a bit of blood falling out of his mouth. He ran towards the sniper and dodged out of the way of the bullet flying out of the sniper’s pistol.

Shadow hit the pistol out of the sniper’s hooves and it fell off of the cloud. Shadow latched onto the sniper’s wings and kicked the sniper’s body with all of his force. The sniper’s wings snapped off, a spray of blood coming from each ripping point. The sniper yelled in pain and he flew backwards from Shadow’s kick, following his pistol down towards the mountains. Shadow gave a disgusted look at the wings in his hooves and he threw them off of the cloud.

A faint yell came from the distance behind Shadow, followed by the crack of a gun shot. Shadow turned around quickly and stuck his wing out, the bullet implanting in his wing. Shadow yelled in pain and stumbled backwards a little.

“You KILL my brother!” Persistence yelled as he came into view from the white out around them, a pistol in his hooves aimed at Shadow. The tip of the gun was smoking slightly, the smoke dissipating into the wind.

“You DISBAND the Spec Ops!” Persistence pulled the trigger again as he got closer. Shadow lifted his other wing and the bullet stopped against the bones inside of his wing. Shadow yelled in pain again and stumbled backwards further, his back hoof scraping against the edge of the cloud they were standing on. Shadow glanced behind him and looked down, a straight drop into the mountains below from Cloudsdale. Shadow looked back up at Persistence. He was standing right in front of Shadow, the tip of the pistol almost touching Shadow’s head, Persistence ready to pull the trigger.

“And yet here you are, disbanding the Saints. While you may have destroyed the Saints headquarters and Dusk and Clarity killed all of the remaining operatives in Cloudsdale, that doesn’t mean I won’t stop to bring you down. You won’t be surviving this time.” Persistence said. Shadow quickly lifted his hoof up and hit Persistence’s hoof out of the way, the gun firing only a second later. The gun flew out of Persistence’s hoof, falling from Cloudsdale.

“You are not getting away!” Persistence yelled. He kicked off from the cloud and tackled Shadow. They both fell from the cloud they were on, plummeting to the snow covered mountains below. Faint yells came from the distance, Clarity and Dusk jumping off the cloud and diving after the two stallions. Shadow and Persistence continued to fight as they fell, both of them swinging their hooves at the other as they descended towards the mountains. Clarity and Dusk slowly gained on them as the mountains drew closer, diving as fast as they could. Shadow grabbed onto Persistence and twisted around, holding him out in front of him as they fell into snow covered mountains.

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Shadow dug his way back up to the surface of the snow, frantically looking around as he resurfaced.

“Dusk, Clarity, where-!” Shadow started to say. He stopped at the sight of Persistence holding a gun to Dusk’s head, his other leg around Clarity’s neck. He was holding Shadow’s pistol, his hoof on the trigger, ready to fire.

“Why can’t you just die already!? While my brother may have failed to kill you, I will not let you escape!” Persistence yelled. A loud rumbling sound came from the distance and Shadow looked at Clarity, who was pointing higher up at the mountain. Persistence, Dusk, and Shadow turned their heads to look where Clarity was pointing. An avalanche could be seen higher up in the mountain, racing down the mountain side towards the four ponies. Persistence let go of Clarity and he started to run down the side of the mountain, occasionally slipping.

“I think he has the right idea right now, RUN!” Shadow yelled at the top of his lungs. Dusk, Clarity, and Shadow began to descend down the mountain side, the avalanche quickly gaining on them. They didn’t get very far before the avalanche had caught up to them, the avalanche swallowing them whole as it continued to tumble down the mountain.

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March 28, base of the mountains below Cloudsdale

Temperature: -34 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:57 A.M.

Clarity opened her eyes, the cold air and light making her squint. The sun was high in the sky, the cloud layer above the mountains blocking the sun’s light. Clarity was partially covered in snow, brushing it off of herself as she got up. Clarity had made it out of the way of the avalanche, the others somewhere higher up in the mountains.

“...Shadow! Where are you!?” Clarity yelled, putting her hoof up to protect against the strong winds. There was no answer. Clarity started to walk up the mountain’s base. The click of a gun came from behind her and Clarity slowly turned around. Persistence stood a few meters behind Clarity, aiming Shadow’s pistol at her. The strong winds kicked up massive amounts of snow, barely anything visible past Persistence.

“I never should have let you into the Saints. Something inside me told me that this would happen, but I didn’t want to listen to myself. You were one of the best operatives in the Spec Ops, but now you’re worthless in my eyes.” Persistence said. He put his hoof on the trigger, and fired.

Clarity flinched slightly, but nothing hit her. Persistence looked at the gun, a confused expression on his face. It had a red light on the top of it, and the gun handle bursted. Persistence’s front legs flew backwards and he fell to the ground. Clarity stood in shock, not sure about what had just happened. She walked over to Persistence. His front hooves were gone, the snow around him stained with blood as he laid on the ground, breathing heavily. A puff of snow came from a few feet away from Clarity and Shadow stood up from the snow he was buried under.

“Shadow! You’re alive!” Clarity said as Shadow walked closer. He stopped in front of Persistence and looked down at him.

“Shadow... you... how...” Persistence said through the pain of his hooves blown off and the shrapnel from the gun in his body.

“Just a little trick I picked up from the Spec Ops. Your brother taught me that one.” Shadow said. Persistence glared weakly at Shadow and he fell limp. Clarity put her front leg around Shadow.

“How did you know he was going to take your gun?” Clarity asked.

“Persistence wasn’t exactly the best at thinking things through. I knew he would’ve saw something special in using my gun to kill either one of us.” Shadow said.

“So what do we do now?” Clarity asked, looking at Shadow.

“Well... the Equestrian Saints are done for, the winter can finally come to an end, and both of the princesses are safe and... mostly unharmed. I think we can finally go home.” Shadow said, turning to face Clarity. She took her leg off of Shadow and they started walking back to Canterlot, Cloudsdale high in the sky above them.

“Dead Eye!” A voice called out from behind Clarity and Shadow. They turned around to find the sniper Shadow had thought he killed standing by Persistence’s body, aiming a rifle at them.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this alive.” The sniper said. Shadow quickly dashed in front of Clarity as the sniper fired the rifle. Five of the shots soared through the air and fell into Shadow, the other bullets landing in the snow around them.

“NO!!” Clarity yelled. The sniper stopped shooting and his gun clicked, running out of ammo in the rifle. Clarity took out her pistol and opened fire on the sniper. The sniper fell to the ground, multiple shots implanted into his head. Clarity dropped her pistol and looked at Shadow, who was laying on the ground, the five shots laying in his body.

“Shadow! Shadow, look at me.” Clarity said quickly, lightly shaking Shadow Rider. Shadow opened his eyes weakly and looked at Clarity, tears forming in her eyes. Clarity exchanged a sad look with him, a feeling of sorrow building inside of her.

“Clarity... I’m sorry...” Shadow said, reaching to put a hoof on her. Clarity bent down, Shadow’s hoof brushing against her face. Shadow’s lips quivered a little, trying to form into a smile at the feeling of Clarity.

“For what?” Clarity asked, sniffling.

“For the times... I broke your heart...” Shadow said, his eyes starting to water.

“Shadow... I... I don’t know what to say...” Clarity said, her tears falling into the snow.

“You don’t have to... say anything...” Shadow said. Clarity sniffled and held onto Shadow’s other hoof.

“I love you... ” Clarity spoke through her tears. Shadow tightened his grip on her hoof and muttered the last words he would speak.

“I love you... Clarity...” His hoof fell from Clarity, a puff of snow coming off of the ground. Shadow’s eyes closed and he fell limp, slipping from life. Clarity cried harder, her tears falling onto Shadow’s coat. She wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing. Clarity opened her eyes and looked down at Shadow. He wasn’t breathing, Shadow laying lifeless in the snow around them. The snow falling on the mountains started to lighten up, the pegasi in Cloudsdale finally beginning to end the winter. Clarity looked up at the sky, the clouds slowly fading away and the snow fall slowly disappearing. The sun came into view as the clouds dissipated and faded away, the warmth of the sun making contact with the ground after over a year of the winter.

“Goodbye... Shadow Rider...” Clarity said through her tears.

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The Equestrian Saints had been defeated; Shadow Rider, Dusk, Clarity, and Specter bringing them to a stop. With the Equestrian Saints gone, the princesses were finally safe and Cloudsdale could return to normal, the weather returning to its normal cycles through the seasons. Dusk was found a day later after the avalanche by Clarity, buried in the snow. She was alive and grateful to have been found. When the news reached Luna and Celestia that Shadow had died saving Clarity and helping bring the Equestrian Saints to an end, something inside them felt sorry, even if he had turned against them. Dusk and Clarity were let go of their ‘criminal’ charges in respect of Shadow. His sacrifice to save Clarity’s life would not go unnoticed. With all that Shadow Rider had taught Clarity over their relationship and afterwards, Clarity was given the title of “Dead Eye”. Although the Equestrian Saints were defeated, a war was brewing between the other nations and Equestria. Dusk joined the Equestrian military, hoping to help end the conflict between the nations. Although new feuds began to form, Equestria was restored back to normal.

The winter’s wrath was finally over.

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[Six months later]

September 27, Canterlot royal palace garden

Temperature: 63 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:07 P.M.

Clarity walked through the entrance of the palace garden, the orange and red leaves on the trees swaying back and forth in the gentle breeze. The moon was high above the garden, a few clouds moving their way across the clear night sky. Clarity set down the bouquet she was carrying down in front of Shadow’s grave. Roses, the first type of flower Shadow had ever gotten Clarity for her birthday. Clarity sat down and looked at the headstone that stuck up from the ground.

“Shadow Rider. His actions will never be forgotten.” The words engraved in the stone read. Tears started to swell in Clarity’s eyes, reminiscing on the days they were together and thinking of what could have been if he hadn’t have passed away.

“I miss you... Shadow. But, hey, at least I get permission into the garden so I can see you.” Clarity said, laughing weakly to herself. The smile on her face quickly faded as she looked back up at the headstone. Clarity tilted her head up at the moon, a small cloud moving in front of it.

“Dusk is in Germaney right now, she wasn’t able to make it here with me, but I’m sure she misses you too.” Clarity said, looking back down at the grave. Clarity sniffled and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“I just wish you could have lasted a bit longer to see your foal grow up.” Clarity said, looking down at her stomach. She took something off of her hind leg and set it down in front of her.

“Before Dusk and I left for Cloudsdale... Specter gave me this. He said he found it at the base of the mountain after the explosion during Operation “Revival”. He told me to give it to you when the mission was over... It was buried in the snow under the avalanche, I found it when I went back for Dusk.” Clarity said. She took the knife out of the sheath and stuck it in the dirt in front of the headstone. It was the knife Clarity had made Shadow for his birthday, Shadow’s last birthday while he was with Clarity. More tears fell from her eyes, Clarity wiping them away a second later.

“I should be getting home... it’s getting pretty late.” Clarity said as she got up. Clarity turned around and started to walk to the exit of the garden. She stopped at the entrance of the garden to look back at Shadow’s grave.

“Thank you...”

The End