The Shadow of Equestria
Chapter 24: Shade Vs. Shadow
Previous Chapter Next ChapterEric and Sombra stood at the edge of the Empire. Standing across from them were Cold Scale and his brother Obsidian Fury. Both glared in anger at the pair.
Cold Scale wore a pair of dark winter pants that had seen better days. Holes left very little to the imagination. He had dark grey armor that had dents and scratches covering it, it’s color faded from time. His brother wore only a pair of thick winter pants. A large scar adorned his chest as smaller ones covered the rest of his black and white scales.
“You’ve ruined everything!” Cold Scale snarled at the pair, shadows swirling in his hands.
"Everything!" Obsidian agreed, as a cold mist emanated from his body.
“You tried to destroy the place we call home,” Sombra spoke in a Royal Empire Voice. “And took the lives of countless innocent ponies!”
“Who cares?" Obsidian Fury growled, the frost on his body becoming like icy armor. "This place is nothing but a spawning ground for the army we need!”
“An army that is now decimated by my forces,” Eric dismissed, shadows pouring from his body.
“It doesn't matter,” Cold Scale growled, lifting the shadows from the ground. “Once we kill the two of you, I’ll not only possess your Power Fruits, but I will gain a pony capable of cutting my brothers ice!”
“I’d love to see you try, Dragon,” Sombra said, gripping the hilt of his swords.
"Do not speak to my brother like that!" Obsidian Fury snapped, glaring down at Sombra.
“Put a stop to this, dragon,” Eric ordered, lifting his Murakumogiri. “Turn tail and leave; this is your only warning!”
“I will not,” Cold Scale growled. The shadows pulsed and shifted violently. “I need loyal subjects to destroy that accursed island!”
And with that final vow, the Ice Dragon fired spears of shadow at the Shadow Man while his brother fired a wave of ice at the unicorn.
Eric and Sombra moved as one. They dodged the spears before Sombra unsheathed his sword, clearing a path to Cold Scale.
“Take the Ice Dragon,” Sombra ordered Eric, before rushing Obsidian. “I’ll handle his brother!”
“Don’t get yourself killed,” Eric replied. "I already buried Amber,” He added in a whisper. “I don’t want to bury you too.”
As Eric rushed Cold Scale, the Ice Dragon pulled a pair of daggers from his belt and matched his charge. Eric blocked the initial attack with his weapon, but failed to dodge bats of shadow, throwing him back several feet.
“Cute” Eric mocked, lifting his hand and creating several blobs of shadow from his shadows. “But let me show a real Shadow Bat.”
The shadows took the shape of large bats, staring at Cold Scale with burning red eyes
“These are Shadow Bats,” Eric growled, as the bats lunged for the dragon with dripping black fangs.
Cold Scale roared in defiance, and slashed. The first round of bats exploded in a burst of shadow. Eric’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the metal the daggers were made from.
“Hmm… Sea Prism Stone,” Eric mused, before tightening his grip on his weapon. “I can work around that.”
Eric rushed the dragon, swinging his Murakumogiri in an arc. However, Cold Scale jumped back and fired a series of Shadow daggers in retribution.
Eric matched Cold’s daggers with swords of shadow, the blades clashing and sparking as the two fighters closed the gap between them.
Eric thrust his weapon into the dragon, but the dragon turned black, swapping places with his shadow. As the dragon’s shadow smiled darkly, pain flared in Eric's shoulders. Cold Scale had stabbed him in the back with both of his daggers.
Grunting in pain, Eric fired a spike from his back. But Cold Scale swapped places with his shadow again. Making a shadow sword, the ice dragon slashed at Eric’s chest before grabbing the Sea Prism daggers and jumping back.
Breathing through his teeth, Eric’s eyes burned red as black veins formed turned the whites of his eyes to black. He dropped his weapon, and reached into his shadows, withdrawing a pure white mask and donning it with a growl.
“Okay Drake,” Eric seethed through his mask. “You want to fight like that?” The shadows boiled and bubbled around him. “Then why don’t we take this somewhere else?”
Shadow Dragon
From Eric’s body, a large dragon burst from the darkness. Biting down on Cold Scale’s shoulder, the shadow dragon flared a pair of massive wings and took off into the sky. As he carried Cold Scale from the Empire, Eric briefly turned to Sombra and Obsidian.
“Finish this quickly Sombra.” Eric muttered, before taking off after his shadow dragon.
Sombra went to speak to Eric, but another wave of ice cut him off.
“Your fight is with me, pony.” Obsidian said frost and ice covering the majority of his body.
“Oh trust me,” Sombra said, drawing Hard Tack’s sword. “This won’t be a fight.” The unicorn placed the sword in between his teeth, and drew his second sword. “It’ll be a butchering."
"Yes. Yours." Obsidian replied, lifting his claws. "Ice Saber!" A sword of ice formed in his claws.
Unintimidated, Sombra rushed forward. "Three Sword Style," he growled, before appearing behind Obsidian. "Oni Giri!"
Unfortunately, even as Sombra scored a hit, a painful freezing sensation caused Sombra to wince in pain. He backed up, looking at his ice covered arms in anger.
"All talk and nothing else." Obsidian remarked as he turned to Sombra, ignoring the wound across his scaly body. "Ice-Ice, Dragon Spin!" Obsidian spun into a ball of ice, spikes sticking out of the frosted surface before he cannonballed at Sombra.
Sombra rolled to the left, but Obsidian's ice still managed to catch his leg. Sombra barked as the flesh around the wound froze, and blood began to ooze across the frosted surface. Jumping back to his feet, the unicorn used one of swords to keep his balance.
“You’re a Logia type,” Sombra mused. “Just like Eric.”
Obsidian did not reply. His ice ball made a U-Turn back to Sombra, growing in size as it rolled across the snow. Just before it could hit Sombra again, the ice ball shattered like an egg, and Obsidian came out as a Frozen Golem. He carried twin Ice Sabers, as long as Eric's Mukumogiri and as big as Sombra himself.
Sombra barely managed to block a double strike from both blades. But it required all three of his own swords. And even as he valiantly held off the icy sabers, his own steel began to freeze and crack from the pressure. Jumping back, Obsidian shattered Sombra's left sword with a swipe. Another swipe claimed the sword in Sombra's mouth. Two more cuts caught Sombra across the chest.
Sombra staggered back, ice and blood painting his body white and red as the dragon bore down on him.
"What's wrong Prince? Oh wait, that title was revoked from you, wasn't it?" Obsidian mocked, kicking Sombra across the battlefield with a boot to the chest. "Don't you understand? You're doomed to fail! I have the territorial advantage: this icy wasteland was simply made for people like me."
Sombra looked down as Obsidian's words washed over him.
"What do you have?" the dragon demanded. "You have nothing! Your kingdom has been handed to Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. You slayed your best friend's mate. You took everything from him with just a snap of your finger. And Princess Celestia took away your everything with a snap of her fingers. Quite ironic isn't it?" Obsidian laughed.
“You’re right, Dragon,” Sombra said, lifting his head and his sword. “I have had everything taken away from me.” He pulled his sheath from his hip and put the sword in side. "And I will still fight to get everything back." He raised his sheathed weapon. "And if I die in the process... then so be it.”
Obsidian smiled at the pony. "How adorable," he mused. "Well then, let's get on with your demise." He rushed at Sombra, his blades held high. "Dual Ice Saber's Style; Dragon Claw!"
"One Sword Style” Sombra whispered as he matched the dragon's charge, his blade covered in Armament Haki. “Re-sheath: Lion's Song!”
"DIE!" Obsidian roared as they clashed with a brutal swing of their blades.
Sombra hit the ground, covered in blood and ice, his left eye the only thing unfrozen. Obsidian hit the ground next, his blades and golem shattering as he lay bloodied, staring in disbelief at a large cut carved deep into his body.
“Damn," Obsidian mumbled. "I… Lost...” Obsidian smiled before he fell to the icy cold ground.
A large shadow came from the body; a royal aura covering it as it's hair flowed in a non existant wind. Rather than return to its master, the shadow knelt down and placed a hand on the frozen stallion. The ice around Sombra melted, and the shadow was pulled back to its master.
An hour passed. Sombra did not move from where he had fallen. In all liklihood, he would have died there.
Had a strange figure not found him, and seized him by the ankle. Dragging the former king back to the Empire.
Cold Scale got his arm loose from the dragon's jaw. With a snarl, he stabbed the dragon in the head with his dagger, causing it to explode in a burst of darkness.
Falling to the ground, Cold Scale formed a pair of wings over his ripped and torn pair, allowing him to glide towards the ground.
However, without warning, Eric appeared, slicing through the dragon’s right shadow wing with a scythe.
Cold Scale hissed in pain as his wing evaporated into thin air, causing him to hit the ground with a loud THUD. He struggled back up to his feet as Eric landed before him.
“I won’t let you take this chance from me!” Cold Scale hissed, forming two Shadow Swords and lunging, only for his blades to be deflected by a pair of shadow swords.
The Shadow Man and the Ice Dragon slashed, hacked, parried and thrust. Though Cold Scale had years of experience with his Devil Fruit, Eric was more skilled in swordplay. And Cold scale lacked Eric’s intangibility.
A fact that was made clear as slashes and cuts began to litter the dragon's armor, followed by blood as Eric carved his swords through the dragon's scales.
Finally, with a brutal kick, Eric sent the dragon to the ground, Cold Scale's blood turning the snow red.
“I will only say this once more,” Eric spoke to the downed dragon with an intimidating glare. “Stand down. Surrender your arms and face your judgement.”
“Never!” Cold Scale yelled, forcing himself up and rushing the Shadow Man. “Those creatures must DIE!!!”
Cold Scale conjured up a mass of shadow tigers. In turn, Eric dispelled his shadow swords and raised his fist. Cold Scale’s tigers lunged at the Shadow Man, but he punched each and every one of them with blinding speed. In seconds, the pack of tigers exploded in a burst of shadow vapor.
Cold scale stared at Eric with disbelief plastered on his face. Eric grinned as he lifted his glove covered fist.
“You're not the only one who has Sea Prism Stone,” Eric noted, the Sea Prism Knuckles glittering in the sunlight.
“Damn… Damn you...” Cold Scale growled, more shadow tigers clawing out of the ground. “Damn you Reaper!”
Eric summoned forth shadow jaguars in turn. However, he failed to notice the Armament Haki covering Cold Scales' hands and shadow swords.
Eric and Cold rush each other, but when Eric moved to clash swords with the dragon again, Cold Scales swords cut right through and carved two deep gashes into his chest.
Eric faltered, and Cold Scale took advantage, attacking with a flurry of furious slashes. Eric quickly jumped back, putting distance between him and his opponent.
“Damn, Armament Haki,” Eric muttered to himself, touching his guts and grimacing at the blood on his hand. Sliding his right leg back, Eric sent a kick forward. “Tempest Kick!”
The pressured air blade clashed into Cold Scale’s chest. His armor and shirt were torn away from the impact, revealing a body covered in deep old scars. Eric paused, noticing a strange scar among them: a burn scar in the shape of a upside down triangle with a pair of horns on the top.
“You were a slave?” Eric asked.
Cold Scale paused, his shadows halting as he glowered at the human.
“I was,” Cold Scale answered. His grip on his blades tightened. “My family and I lived on one of the islands bordering the Dragon Lands and the Minotuars capital island of Minos.”
His head dropped, bitterness and anger darkening his voice as he regaled the Shadow Man with his past.
“A single iron ship hit our shores. Hundreds... thousands of minotaurs came. They killed the drakes. Captured the dragonesses. And their hatchlings with them."
Cold scale moved the shadows, recreating the scene from that day.
“We were taken to Minos and auctioned off to the vile creatures there.”
Eric watched, frowning in subdued horror, as a shadowy horned creature stabbed a shadowy dragon with something glowing.
“They branded me," Cold Scale whispered. "My brother. My Mother. For years, we were forced to serve under the royal family." The images showed more as he spoke. "We were beaten... tortured for the children's enjoyment.”
Cold Scale seethed in anger before grinning. “Then my brother and I were saved.”
It was like clockwork: wake up, tend to the king and his children, receive the daily beating from the guards, be bound by the children and awaited their torture.
Each and every day was the same and every day there would be a new scar adorning the dragons' bodies. That was just the way it was for a slave to the Royal Family on Minos.
Just. Like. Clockwork.
But one day... a pony showed up. Male from the looks of it. His fur light brown. His eyes a darker brown. He wore a white shirt underneath a blue striped buttoned shirt with a red tie around his neck. Around his body was a brown trench coat. Blue striped pants covered his lower body, and he had a pair of red and white shoes on his feet. Near one of the buttons of his coat was a pin in the shape of hourglass.
From his coat he pulled a glowing rod before pointing it at our cage. The cage holding me and my family opened with a loud click
“Quickly now,” The pony said, ushering us and the other dragons out. “Before the guards return.”
Many were hesitant to listen to the pony. They feared angering our masters. But I took the chance. Pulling my brother and mother by the arms, I ran out of that cell. Too desperate to leave.
“Stay if you want," I growled at the others. "But we’re getting out of this nightmare.”
I ran after that pony. My brother and mother claw in claw.
“I’m sorry.” The pony whispered as he ran. “I’m so sorry.”
The pony knew the way. Left, right, another right, left, another left. Finally, we exited the castle. I smiled. I felt the warmth of the sun on my scales, and for the briefest of moments... I thought I was finally free.
But then my smile faded... as I heard the voices of the guards.
“Someone is setting the slaves free!”
I turned, hearing the cloven hooves already approaching. But my mother slammed the door shut. She breathed ice over the door.
"Hurry," the pony said. "We need to leave!"
Not questioning him, we turned tail, and ran to the island's edge.
But at every turn, the minotaurs tried to stop us. But we had the pony. At every turn where the minotaurs cut us off, he found a way for us to slip by or dodge them. But though he could dodge them, he could not fight them.
And by the time we reached the island's edge, we had attracted the attention of every minotaur in the kingdom. And it was on the edge of the island that our savior's luck finally ran out.
A minotaur seized him, lifting him off the ground. The minotaur's muscles pulsed as he pressed down, and I heard the pony's bones begin to break.
“I’m sorry” The pony gasped out, before his body lit up in blue, and he disappeared in a flash of light.
My mother didn't let despair bring her down. "Cold Scale," she hissed. "Protect your brother!" With a roar of ice, she forced the minotaurs back, while Obsidian and I took to the skies.
I tried not to look back. But when I heard her scream, I couldn't stop myself. I saw her face bleeding, the back of her head held by the King of Minos, King Strong Arm. He glared at us with rage in his eyes, and I knew that it was either escape... or a fate worse than death.
“I want those dragons back on this island,” Strong Arm bellowed, before glaring at my mother in his hand. “And remove the element gland in the other slaves!”
His subjects flinched and winced, uneasiness in their eyes. But King Strong Arm's glare proved to be far scarier than breaking moral boundaries.
"Are you waiting for an invitation?" he demanded. "GO!"
It didn't take long for the guards to reach the ships. Boarding their fastest vessels, Obsidian and I once again found the minotaurs on our tails.
Their vessels ran on steam and fire rather than wind. And to us, we were not living creatures deserving of freedom. Just property that had forgotten its place.
For days, we flew. We couldn't rest; not with the minotaurs after us. Exhaustion crept up on us like an icy serpent, dragging our wings down, pulling our bodies to the sea. When the violent dark clouds began to swirl in front of us, my brother began to falter.
"It's no use," he whispered. "We can't do this!"
“Come on Obsidian," I begged my brother. "Don’t give up! We need to keep going!”
Somehow, my voice and the desperate gaze in my eyes got to him, and we continued. But just as we dove into the pounding rain, ready to endure the storm...
A harpoon hit my brother in the chest. I spun back, seeing the minotaur's ships. In my moment of disbelief, another harpoon hit my wings. Together, we plummeted into the water.
"Obsidian!" I screamed, paddling for my brother. Though he still breathed, the harpoon was attached to a wire. And I feared that if I tried to remove the harpoon, I'd only do more damage to my brother than if I left it in.
“HA!” The Minotaur manning the harpoon launcher shouted with glee. “Got the little shits.” The Minotaur laughed as he began to reel us in.
However their victory was short lived. A massive bolt of lightning struck the metal ship. A sick bit of catharsis swelled in my gut as I watched the metal ship tear asunder and ignite in a blaze of light.
But my catharsis and relief was short-lived, as even as the ship sunk, a massive wave rose over my brother and me. And with exhaustion and the rain already beating us down, the wave provided the final push, and we let the brutal world push us down into the depths of the sea.
Eric looked up at Cold Scale, who watched the shadowy recreation with bitterness.
“...We washed up on the shore of this island over 900 years ago," he mumbled. "My wings were torn and my brother lost... so much blood.” Cold Scale looked up. “There was no hope of him surviving without food, and because of the Tundra Dragons, I couldn’t leave his side.”
Eric nodded as it all came together. "And then you discovered the fruit," he guessed.
Cold Scale nodded. "I tried to feed my brother with it... but he was already dead." Cold Scale shook his head. "Eating it was worse than any 'food' the minotaurs gave us... but the power..." he smiled grimly as the shadows lifted behind him. "The power was more than worth it." He looked back at his shadows. “With this power, I could wipe that miserable island off the face of this planet.”
Eric sighed, shadows converging on his own body. "You have every right to be angry at them," he admitted. "But that doesn't give you the right to ponynap and kill the innocent.”
"Maybe," Cold Scale admitted. "But I've come too far. And I am not giving up until that island burns in the infernal realm of Tartarus! Brick Bats!" Bats of shadow were sent Eric's way.
Eric raised a hand and stopped the bats in their tracks. “This is your final warning Scale, Leave… or Die."
Cold Scale laughed. "Die? I've been dead before I got onto this filthy island. “SHADOW'S ASGARD!!!!”
Countless shadows crawled through the ground below Cold Scale before attaching to the dragon, the shadows entered his body increasing his size with each shadow.
“Three Hundred and Seventy-six. The Shadows of my entire army are mine to command.” Cold Scale said, his voice taking a much deeper and menacing tone. “And with them I’ll add your shadow and your corpse to my army.”
Cold Scale rammed his fist at the Shadow Man at a blinding speed, Eric barely managed to dodge the attack with the Paper Art Technique. With the Shave Technique, Eric put some distance between himself and the enlarged dragon. Sliding to a stop Eric gritted his teeth.
“Got no choice.” Eric muttered as Cold Scale threw another fist. Slamming his hand into the ground, Eric created a shockwave, knocking Cold Scale off balance. “Looks like I need to kick things up a notch.”
Shadow Soul: Soul of the Reaper
Eric’s size increased by an additional five feet as his skin melted from his bones. Forming a puddle of darkness below his feet, the shadows below Eric formed a robe of shadow. In his hand a large scythe emerged.
Tightly gripping his weapon, Eric shot into the air with the inferno rocket.
Cold Scale tried to track him, but the Shadow Man moved at unimaginable speed. Before he could react the Ice Dragon was slashed across his shoulder. Another gash was cut into his back. Cut after cut, gash after gash Cold Scale soon had more cuts than scales.
As Scale roared in frustration, Eric slid across the snow before stopping to turn to the dragon with blood dripping from his scythe. Racing forward, Eric delivered a devastating kick to the dragon's stomach. As Cold Scale fell, he lost his grip on the shadows in his body, and shrunk in size until he was back to his normal form.
He fell to his knees in defeat. “I was so close...” he whispered. "So damn close..."
“I gave you plenty of chances,” Eric said to the dragon with remorse. “I understand your pain, I have been where you are before.” The scythe blade grew larger as he spoke.
“They took everything from me. They must perish!” Cold Scale seethed, looking up at Eric.
“And they will, by my hand,” Eric's eyes narrowed behind the sockets of his skull “However, you’ve defiled the dead of the Crystal Ponies and the Tundra Dragons.”
Cold Scale frowned. “You’re going to kill me… aren't you?”
Despite his eerie voice, there was sympathy in his tone. “You’ve suffered enough in life.” He lifted his scythe. “You will feel no pain.”
Cold Scales' eyes narrowed. "So kind," he mused. "Why? I used your wife to try and kill you."
“But I’ve been where you are. Suffering at the hands of others,” Eric said, his grip on his scythe tightening. “However, when I was saved, I didn’t use my power to hurt the innocent. That’s a line I don’t cross.”
Cold Scale sighed, lowering his head. "Then thank you... for a painless release," he whispered.
“Don’t thank me,” Eric said, before slicing his scythe through the dragon's neck. “I’m just sparing you from the pain.”
‘Thank you...’ Cold Scale whispered out one last time, before his head slid off his neck, and hit the snow covered ground.
Exhaling heavily, Eric returned to normal before dropping to a single knee. “D… Damn," he muttered. "Not… as bad as… last time but still...”
He forced himself to his feet, and trudged towards the Empire.
After an hour of walking to the Empire, Eric found both Sombra and Obsidian laying down in the snow. Thankfully, Sombra still drew breath. Unlike Obsidian, who lay unmoving in circle of red snow. Walking past the dragon, Eric grabbed Sombra by his ankle and dragged him back to the Empire.
“It’s over, brother,” Eric said, a bed of shadows forming around Sombra as they crossed the border. “This war is over.”
Eric felt a pain of guilt of sadness and regret was he watched several soldiers removing silver tags from the dead soldiers. One of the Crystal soldier spotted Eric and went up to the Shadow Man before standing at attention.
“Captain," the pony reported. "All the citizens are safe and sound within the castle walls."
“Any casualties?” Eric asked the pony
“Zero civilian casualties. However..." The soldier showed the silver chains in his hands. “We’re still counting the dead, I’m sorry sir, we lost a lot of good stallions today”
“Don’t apologize. You and the rest survived,” Eric said offering a warming smile to the soldier. “I’d call that a victory anyday.”
Despite his words, Eric's smile faded for a grim look as he reached the Medical Wing.
“Dammit all” Eric whispered.
After setting Sombra down on one of the beds, Eric looked around and found the others being treated. All eyes were on him, but Eric said nothing as he removed his coat and sat down on the last bed left.
Hesitantly, a few doctors ran over, stitching up his shoulder as Rarity cautiously approached.
“Eric...” Rarity spoke up drawing the Shadow Man’s attention. “Is..is it over?”
Eric grunted at first, as the doctor's pierced his shoulder. "It is," he said, offering a grin. “And I’m proud of all of you”
“Why?" Rainbow asked, pulling her shriveled arm from a tub of water. "We got our flanks handed to us."
“You survived,” Eric said with a genuine smile. “And that’s more than I can say about some of my soldiers.”
Fluttershy gasped. "How... how many did we lose?"
Eric shook his head. "I'm not even sure. My men are still retrieving their tags." He winced as the doctor sealed the wound in his lower shoulder.
As if on cue, the doors opened. Several guards holding chains walked in.
“What are those?” Twilight asked flinching when she tried to lift her arm.
“Dog Tags,” Eric explained, taking them from the crystal ponies. “I had every guard and soldier wear one. In case they were injured so badly nopony could Identify them.” He looked over the tags with a twinge of pain. "Fifty two..." He paused, seeing a tag split in two. "Fifty three... soldiers lost." He read the split tag. "Second in command... Hard Tack."
He lowered his head, as the guard who brought them glanced around worriedly.
"Sir?" the guard asked.
“I want you to inform the families,” Eric ordered the soldier. “In 3 days time we will hold the funeral for the fallen.”
“Yes, sir.” the pony saluted before leaving the medical wing. Eric rose and donned his coat again.
“Rest up, ladies,” Eric said. “We leave once we put the lost to rest.”
~Ponyville that Night~
Aloe was repeatedly tapping her filed nails against the counter of her and her sisters spa. Her sister should have been back by now. Sure, that stallion she had met earlier that day had sounded attractive, but she had promised she would be back by now.
Minute by minute, Aloe felt her worry increase like a bubble in her heart.
The door opened, ringing the bell above it. Aloe jumped up. Was she back?
Unfortunately no. It was only Octavia Melody.
Aloe nearly slumped back in disappointment, before intrigue took over. Why was Octavia here? Normally she would come in the spa in the morning. She never came in at such a late hour.
She looked up... only to see Octavia holding a shockingly familiar headband. The one belonging to her twin sister.
“Octavia...?” Aloe stammered, walking from behind the counter and taking the headband from the cellist’s hand. “Where did you find this?”
“I found it at the sea train station…” Octavia said before pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket. "Along with this."
The initials BB were embroidered on the corner, and several locks of pink hair were carefully folded inside.
Tears began to well up in spa ponies eyes. She raced outside, denial insisting she'd find her sister. Unfortunately, Aloe would never find Lotus In Ponyville.