Pinkamena returned around lunchtime, wiping blood off her body with an already stained red rag. Her smile remained stuck on her face, making the others shudder.

"Is it me, or is her smile more unsettling then her glare?" Rainbow whispered to Rarity.

"It's not just you," Rarity assured her blue friend. "I think I might get nightmares from this."

"Well?" I asked Pinkamena over them.

"I won't lie," Pinkamena said, wiping off her fist as she sat before me. "This is probably the first time since I was born that I've felt truly happy."

The three fillies inched closer to me, having chosen to eat by my side rather than their sisters. I, however, merely hummed, chomping down on a Tundra Dragon meat sandwich.

"Is she still alive?" I asked.

"Define 'alive?'" Pinkamena asked, tossing the rag in the trash and letting us get a good look at a necklace around her neck.

The prisoner's teeth jangled like jingle bells on the necklace. Honestly though, after the crap Silver Rain put me through, I just found it amusing.

"Is she still breathing?" I clarified.

"Barely," Pinkamena commented. "But I did get quite a bit of useful information."

"Like?" Shining Armor prompted.

"Her masters name is Cold Scale," she explained, picking up an apple from Applejack's tray. "He's an Ice Dragon. And as Eric already said, his Devil Fruit allows him to control shadows." Her smile faded back to her glare. "Unfortunately, he's also got three-hundred zombies under his control. And 73 of them have Devil Fruits."

"Which ones?" Twilight asked.

Pinkamena huffed. "She didn't know all of them," she replied, biting out of the apple. "But the ones we need to worry about are the ten generals."

"Okay," Shining said, the tone of a military general entering his tone. "What are we dealing with?"

"All of them are pegasi," she continued. "And all of them have numbers tattooed to their body. Ranking them in terms of strength." Pinkamena lifted the tooth necklace with her unsettling smile. "I had to pull a few teeth, but I got their names and ranks."

"Tell us," I ordered.

She glared at me, but I stared her down. Her eyes widened in surprise, before she chuckled darkly.

"You certainly aren't like most," Pinkamena commented, running her finger along my jaw. "You'd make the perfect stallion for me. If I didn't have to give my body back to Pinkie."

"Pinkamena," I said softly but firmly. "The ranks. Now."

She rolled her eyes and continued.

"Rank Ten belongs to Ivory Rook. His Devil Fruit lets him make monsters out of whatever he touches."

"The Golem-Golem Fruit. Paramecia Type," I commented. "He'll be easy if we can get past his Golems. A guy like that will probably try to let his monsters fight for him."

"Radiant Faith? She's Rank Nine. Her Devil Fruit lets her fire some kind of beam that slows down time on anything it hits."

"Slow-Slow Fruit," I responded. "Another Paramecia Type." I grinned. "Sounds like our prisoner forgot to mention how the effect only lasts thirty seconds. And that any damage done to the slowed target happens all at once once those thirty seconds are up."

"Next we have Rank Eight," Pinkamena continued. "Sapphire Joy. Her Devil Fruit turns her into a wolf."

"Zoan Type," I listed instantly. "Mutt-Mutt Fruit. Model Wolf or Artic Wolf. Both are equally powerful in an area like the Frozen North."

"Rank Seven: Night Knight. His Devil Fruit turns his body into smoke." She lifted a hand before I could comment. "Let me guess... Logia Type? Smoke-Smoke Fruit?"

I grinned. "Right on the money," I praised.

She didn't grin, but her eyes sparkled for a brief moment.

"Rank Six is Lavender Crystal. Only thing our prisoner knew about her Devil Fruit was that it had something to do with stone."

My grin faded. "That's not much to go on," I admitted. "There are plenty of different types of Devil Fruits that can control, manipulate or effect stone." I sighed. "I don't like going in without much information, but we'll probably have to wait and see what Fruit she's got before we take her on."

"Rank Five's Amethyst Shard. Her Devil Fruit lets her control others."

I shook my head. "Still doesn't narrow it down," I commented.

Pinkamena shrugged, her glower returning. "I got that mare barely breathing in the cell," she growled. "Don't tell me I didn't try hard enough."

"I'm not," I replied. "What else did you learn?"

"Rank Four is held by a pony named Lavender Lily," she replied. "Her fruit lets her manipulate and control emeralds."

"Paramecia Type," I replied, grateful for more information. "The Emerald-Emerald Fruit." Despite the extra information, I leaned back, my heart jumping. "These are powerful Devil Fruits," I commented. "And two of them I don't even know about."

"You're gonna want to hold your horses then," Pinkamena replied with a grin. "We're not done yet."

Remembering that she spoke of ten generals, I nodded and motioned for her to continue."

"Artic Lily is third ranked. She has a Devil Fruit that lets her control bubbles."

"Bubble-Bubble Fruit." I huffed. "So, we've got a wolf and a bubble girl." I grinned. "All we're missing is a leopard, a giraffe, and a Door-Door user. Then we'd have all the Devil Fruit users of CP9."

"CP what?" Rainbow questioned

"Nothing," I said, waving the cyan pegasus off. "Continue, Pinkamena."

"Number Two belongs to a pony calling himself Ronin. He has a logia type which I'm assuming is called the Sand-Sand Fruit."

I nodded, eliciting another sparkle from her eyes.

"Finally, the Number One Ranked General, Emerald Dream..." Pinkamena sighed. "Our prisoner had no idea what his Devil Fruit was."

"Darn it," Rainbow Dash spat.

"All she'd say was that he went up against twenty Tundra Dragons and won. Without a single scratch."

I nodded. "Thank you, Pinkamena," I declared, rising up and moving to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Rainbow asked

"We," I replied. "Are going to the south-east end of the empire. To get the Princess back." I turned to Shining and Cadence. "If anything causes us to leave the Empire, you need to be prepared for an assault by the enemy."

They nodded in confirmation, and I dropped into my shadow, pulling Pinkamena, Rainbow and Applejack with me.

We surfaced in the streets of the Empire.

"Hey, Captain Von Shadow," several crystal ponies greeted happily, an excellent far cry from the fear and terror the ponies of Canterlot would give me. Then again, the crystal ponies had been exposed to me doing this for ten years. So they were definitely more used to it.

As we walked to the south-east commoner district, I felt a presence. He was trying to blend in with the crowd, but I knew this pony didn't belong among them. I stopped in my tracks, causing the others to stop as well.

"You noticed it?" Pinkamena asked

"Yeah." I turned to the crowd. "Come out now. Otherwise, we send you back to your master in pieces."

The crystal ponies parted, revealing a pale white pegasus making his way into the crowd from the border to the Frozen North. He wore a brown, fur trimmed vest and a pair of emerald green pants. Scales and leather skin adorned his body along with numerous stitch marks. On his left arm a black 10 was engraved like a tattoo.

"Ten?" I noted. "So... Ivory Rook. General to Cold Scale."

The pegasus made a small bow of acknowledgement. "And you must be the Shade that Amber was supposed to kill," he noted, shaking his head with disappointment. "That woman was always such a failure."

The insult to my wife sent a throb of anger through my veins. Before I could stop myself, I used the Shave Technique, catching the dead stallion by the neck. I prepared the Finger Pistol, ready to stab him in the heart. But he merely grinned... as I heard screams.

I turned, careful to keep my finger pistol trained on his heart. AJ, Rainbow and Pinkamena were all being held by black golems wearing even blacker gauntlets. All three - even Pinkamena - were struggling and gagging in pain. Briefly, I saw Rainbow Dash flare her flames, trying to phase through the golem's grip. But the tactic didn't work.

"Sea Prism gauntlets," I growled, turning back to Ivory as my hand formed into a large claw. "Let them go!"

Ivory merely glanced at his golems. "If I die, kill all three of them," he commanded.

The golem's grip tightened, but I didn't let him notice my fear.

"Not bad," I admitted with a grin. "But you overlooked something."

He raised an eyebrow as my shadow stretched towards the captive ponies. Lunging out from the darkness, my shadow formed a scythe and swung at the golem's arms.

The shadow burst apart into dark shards, while the golems merely shrugged. If they were capable of laughter, I'm pretty sure they would've been howling in amusement.

"You didn't think I planned on that?" Rook asked with a laugh of his own. "My monsters are made from obsidian stone!"

I nodded. "Good to know," I replied, before enacting my backup plan. Nodding to my shadow, it pulled out the Murakumogiri.

Rook briefly widened his eyes at the weapon, before the shadow clone took another swing at the golems. This time, the Murakumogiri cut through them like a hot knife through butter, allowing Pinkamena, Rainbow Dash and Applejack to spring free. Rook somehow got even paler, as my shadows coursed around him in thick ropes, binding him tight. As the shadows curled around his neck, he turned to me with a pleading expression.

"Y-You know, with the benefit of hindsight," he noted. "M-Maybe there's a way we can have this work out for everyone!" He choked as the tendrils tightened around his neck. "P-Preferably without me having to die a second time."

"You don't want to die?" I asked. "Take us to your master. Now."

He nodded, and spun around. Using my shadow rope as a leash, and with the trio of ponies following me, we trekked into the Frozen North to retrieve Princess Celestia.

However, barely a mile into the snow... a voice echoed above us.

"You pitiful coward," the voice boomed, followed by the sound of wings.

I looked up, seeing something dive-bombing Ivory and me. Seizing the general, I leaped back as the object hit the ground. Snow and debris briefly hid it. Yet, as the snow and vapor cleared...

"Oh, great," I muttered.

It was a dragon. White and black scales covered with the usual stitchmarks of Scale's zombies. An open coat exposed his stitched up yet still muscular chest, and a pair of black pants accentuated his powerful legs.

"Obsidian," Rook stammered in delight. "Thank the Master you're here. Quick, help me..."

"You're such a disgrace," The dragon - Obsidian - growled.

Then he vanished. Before I could even look around, he reappeared in front of Rook. He was holding a heart in his claw, the muscle slowly ceasing it's beat.

Rook and I briefly backed up, before we both looked down at the hole in the pegasus chest. Rook briefly looked up at me with fear, before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he hit the ground dead.

Was that the Shave Technique? I thought in horror. Despite my own heart starting to hammer, I forced my fear down.

"I see there's no honor among thieves," I growled, even as my hand trembled.

"His tactics were weak," Obsidian replied. "And he surrendered without a fight. He didn't deserve a second chance at life." He lifted his claws, and grinned ominously as blue and white smoke lifted from his claws. "And neither do you."

My hands trembled. I couldn't hold back my fear. If that was the fruit I thought it was... combined with his mastery of the Shave Technique...

"Girls..." I whispered as my trembling got worse. "Warn the Empire."

"But Eric..." Applejack said.

"Applejack, look," Pinkamena said, probably pointing at my trembling body. "We need to go."

I heard them running, but Obsidian's grin didn't fade.

"They won't get far," Obsidian noted, cracking his knuckles as they formed a fist. "Not once I kill you."

'I've got no choice'

Pulling out one of Amber's Sea Prism Stone daggers, I cut deep into my arm and begin pouring shadow into the cut. But before I could get too far, Obsidian reappeared in front of me. My vision went dark as his black palm covered my face.

"Goodbye, Shadow Man," Obsidian said, before everything went cold. Colder than I ever thought the Frozen North was capable of.

Fluttershy gazed out from the lookout tower of the castle. Her eyes widened as the south-east area was suddenly covered in blue crystals. Looking into a nearby telescope she saw... something attack a trio of orange, blue and pink ponies, dragging them away from the Empire.

"Girls..." Fluttershy whispered in horror, turning to a nearby owl that had been living in the lookout tower. "Please," she begged the owl with her Devil Fruit. "I need you to follow them. Find out where they took them."

The owl gazed at the Frozen North and blue crystals before turning to Fluttershy with a wide eyed expression.

"Honey, you must be joking?" the owl hooted.

"I'm not. Please." Fluttershy begged. She gasped, remembering that it was almost owl mating season. "I'll introduce you to a handsome owl I know."

The owl narrowed her eyes. "You better not be tempting me with a man," the owl hooted, waving a wing at the pegasus. "I'll carve your eyes out and use them to line my nest."

"Will you at least look for my friends first?" Fluttershy asked, batting her eyes.

The owl rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Yes," she muttered, taking flight after the figure that had taken Fluttershy's friends.

Turning from the telescope, Fluttershy ran down the stairs, using the technique Eric had taught her to increase her speed. Fluttershy raced to the throne room, where the royalty awaited.

"They're gone," she called out as she burst in. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash. E-Even Pinkamena. Something attacked them and dragged them away from the Empire!"

"What about Eric?" Luna and Sombra asked in unison.

Fluttershy said nothing, fearing that he was killed in the blue crystals storm.

Without hesitation, Luna and Sombra's horns flared, and they teleported to the south-east area of the Empire.

The two gaped at the wide spread cluster of blue crystals that awaited them.

"What are these?" Luna demanded. "Baby blue sapphires?"

Sombra placed his hand on one, narrowing his eyes at it's cold feeling. And the dampness already spreading across it.

"No," he said. "It's ice."

Seconds later, Shining and Cadence appeared, along with the rest of the Mane Six.

Ignoring them, Sombra moved deeper into the ice formation, using a fire spell to melt his way through. However, not too far into the ice formation, Sombra came across something that made his eyes widen in horror.

"No..." he whispered as the others joined them.

"Oh, Faust!" Shining stammered.

"Eric!" more than a few screamed, Luna's voice the loudest of them all.

The Shadow Man was frozen before them, his head reared back and an expression of horror frozen to his face.

"Oh..." Luna cried, turning away and trying not to be sick.

Sombra, however, clenched his fist, an ominous growl bubbling up from his throat. His hands started to glow bright purple. Aiming both his hands at the large clusters of ice, Sombra released a torrent of black flames. The ice disintegrated, and purple wisps formed in his eyes.

A mad cackle escaped him, growing into the laugh of a very familiar tyrant. The others turned, watching as he was bathed in black flames.

"Sombra?" Luna stammered. "Sombra!"

"He's returning to his old ways!" Shining warned, grabbing his sword.

"Wait!" Fluttershy yelled, jumping between them and the dark king. "He's doing this to help Eric!"

But Shining shook his head, unconvinced, as Sombra suddenly stopped. The flames died down, and the former king fell to his knees, clutching his head as tears began to roll from his dark eyes. Yet, his sobbing was still intercut with that horrible, mad laughter.

Ignoring the warnings of the unicorn, Fluttershy approached the stallion. Settling herself on her knees in front of him, she gripped Sombra's cheeks with a firm but gentle touch.

"Sombra," Fluttershy said softly. "You need to focus. Focus on my voice."

Sombra's laughter started to cease. His eyes gazed out from the purple wisps, focusing on her eyes.

"We need to save Eric and the others," she reminded him. "You need to steel your mind and save Eric."

The purple wisps dissipated. Sombra's laughter and tears slowly stopped. Taking a deep breath, Sombra smiled gratefully at the pegasus.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Sombra whispered, rising up with her.

With Fluttershy by his side, Sombra's magic gained a softer glow, and he pulled the water from the melted ice, swirling it around Eric and forming a sphere around the frozen Shadow Man.

"We need to thaw him out," Sombra ordered. "He may be the only one to stop this dragon from freezing all of the Empire."

Twilight, Rarity, Shining and even Cadence and Luna obeyed the former king. Grouping around the sphere, their own horns began to glow as they added their own magic to the spell.

"Not too hot," Sombra warned. "We need to slowly thaw him out. Otherwise, we'll just injure him further."

Bit by bit, the jagged pieces of ice snapped off. Eric's skin slowly became visible. After almost an hour of swirling the hot water around, his body began to drift in the water, more like a rag doll than a statue.

As bubbles began to rise from the water, the unicorns quickly dissipated their spell. Lunging forward, Sombra kept Eric from hitting the ground. Eric took a breath; though it was slow and ragged, the sign of life from his friend brought a smile to the former king's face.

"We need to get him back to the Castle" Sombra said. Yet, as he flared his magic in preparation for a teleport spell... an odd purple glow surrounded his horn.

'Kill Him,' another voice growled. 'He's the only thing stopping me from reclaiming MY empire...'

Sombra blinked before shaking his head, violently trying to purge the voice from his head.

"Sombra?" Luna asked. Fluttershy rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Sombra insisted. Flaring his horn again (thankfully without the red glow), he teleported Eric to the medical ward of the castle, the others following shortly afterward.

Handing him over to the doctors, Sombra quickly backed out of the room. Fluttershy followed after him, watching him with caution as he checked his hands and horn for any more signs of effects from the dark spells.

"Sombra," Fluttershy asked. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Fine," he replied gruffly. But Fluttershy moved in front of him before he could walk off.

"Don't lie to me, Sombra," Fluttershy said sternly. "I may not have Applejack's Element of Honesty, but I know when someone needs help."

Sombra tried to look away, but her gaze caught his own. And his resolve crumbled in the face of her genuine desire to help.

"I'm not okay," he admitted. "I'm starting to be effected by Umbra's dark spells." He clenched his head. "I-It was only one spell." He gazed up at her with fear. "If I have to tap into that kind of magic again... it may... it..."

Fluttershy took his hands, gently pulling them away from his head. "I know you'd give up your life to protect your friends," she said with a compassionate smile. "But you need to protect yourself as well. Please?" Her thumbs ran over his fingers. "You may not believe it, but there are some ponies that care for you."

Sombra gazed up at her with a look that made them both blush. Fluttershy turned away, walking ahead of him. As Sombra watched her go, another voice came to him. Not dark and evil like Umbra's. Instead, it was the gentle and soothing tone of a memory.

'Sombrahesta,' his mother had once said to him, 'When the time comes, you will find a mare who doesn't care about the crown. Only about you. Just like your father found me, there will be a mare that will find you.'

"You were right, Mother," Sombra whispered to himself, smiling as he watched Fluttershy go. "Though... I think I found her."

The War of Shadows Arc Ch. 7

Once again Eric has found himself in the Empire's Medical Wing, and Pinkamena, Rainbow, and Applejack have been captured by the enemy. Will they have their shadows removed and turned into Zombies or will they be killed and their Devil Fruits taken find out next time on The Shadow of Equestria