A few days after the attack on Canterlot, I found myself searching the royal library for information. Up until now I've been using the Shade lie - saying I was born of Umbra's magic - and for some reason, Celestia kept looking at me like she wanted to run a blade through my heart. But all I had on Umbra was that he was a pony who turned evil. Aside from that, I knew next to nothing about him. It was time for some research.

Sadly, Umbra wasn’t the only research topic on hand. I had just managed to find a book on him… when I felt someone staring at me.

Sighing I turned, seeing a flash of dark blue hair vanish behind a book shelf. I sighed.

"I know you’re there,” I called. “Come on out!”

Reluctantly, Twilight Sparkle came into view, a quill and parchment pressed to her chest. Her eyes were guilty, but also glistening with unsated curiosity.

"So,” I asked conversationally, turning back to the books on Umbra. “Is this spying… or research?” I quirk an eyebrow. “Or both?”

“Eh… a bit of both, I’ll admit,” Twilight admitted, her cheeks a bright red. She glanced at the bookshelf that had poorly served as her hiding place. "How did you know I was watching you?”

"Sixth Sense,” I replied, flipping open my book. “It lets you know when something doesn’t seem right. Whether it’s someone following you… or something bad about to happen.”

"Like my Pinkie Sense?" a voice asked out of nowhere.

Without hesitation, I whirled on the new voice, shadow spikes ready to impale the intruder. However, I stopped short when I realized it was only Pinkie; her head stuck through the bookshelf. Despite my spikes only managing to stop mere centimeters from her body, she still had a blissful smile on her face.

"Pinkie,” I growled, retracting my shadow spikes. “I'm only going to say this once!” I pointed at her. “Don't EVER do that again if you want to live!"

“Oh, come on,” Pinkie said happily, stretching her face like putty. “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Well, you’re not glue – you’re shadows. But…”

"Even with the powers of the Gum-Gum Fruit,” I insisted. “You can still be killed by slashing and piercing weapons. You are in no way invincible."

"What's the Gum-Gum fruit?" Twilight interjected.

“The reason Pinkie is able to stretch like that,” I explained, trying to ignore Pinkie as she continued to stretch and pulled at her face, making very odd looking expressions. “The Gum-Gum Fruit is a Paramecia Type Devil Fruit that turns the users entire body into rubber, allowing them to stretch their body to incredible lengths and making them immune to falls, lightning, and cannonballs."

When stars lit up in Twilight’s eyes in response, a part of me wondered if I had made the wrong decision explaining all that. In a flash, she wrote down everything I had said on her parchment, and right as she looked back up, questions loaded like cannons on her tongue, Pinkie chose that moment to interject with her own squirrel-like chatter.

"What-does-yours-do-can-you-control-someone’s-shadow? Can-you-travel-around-the-world-instantly?” mixed up with "How-do-devil-fruits-work? Can-you-have-two? Do-devil-fruits-have-any-weaknesses? What-happens-when-a-devil-fruit-user-dies?”

I had no idea who was saying what. And honestly, I didn’t have the patience to decipher or wait for their excitement to die down. Using my powers, I dropped into the shadows of the library, exchanging the relentless chatter of the two ponies for the quiet of the castle dungeons.

Problem was, I had left my books behind. With a grumble, I closed the door, ensuring those two couldn’t follow me. Then, making sure no one else was in the room, I reached out to the shadows. From my shadow came that pony pirate captain. Lightning Dust. Gasping for breath, she tried to use her power. But my shadows pinned her to the ground.

"Still trying to break out?" I asked, crossing my arms. “I expected more gratitude, considering I let you live.”

"You say that every time you let me out to eat," Lightning Dust snarled sarcastically. "Where's my food?"

I pulled a pineapple from my coat. Her mouth watered like a dog eager for its treat, but I kept it far out of her reach.

"Where did you get it?" I asked.

“Get what?” she demanded, her eyes still tracing the fruit.

"The Devil Fruit that gave you your power,” I clarified, setting the fruit on the ground, and placing myself between her and the treat. “Tell me and you're free to go.”

Lightning Dust gave the fruit a desperate look, before sighing.

"A few months ago,” she explained. “I came across some guy wearing a black cloak with severed chains on his wrists. He gave me the fruit and told me to master its power. Only then could I get what I want."

"That all?" I asked, a hand reaching into my coat

"Yeah,” Lightning Dust insisted. “Now am I free to go?” She gazed at the pineapple. “Am I at least free to eat?”

"Yes, you're free to leave," I replied. Her smile didn’t last long when I pulled out my gun and rested it on her head.

“W-Wait, but…” Lightning started to stammer.

"In spirit, that is,” I clarified, before pulling the trigger.

The impact threw the pony against the wall, leaving the contents of her head painted across the wall like a depiction of a sunset in Tartarus.

Glancing down at the floor, I watched as the pineapple turned purple. The purple turned into whirling swirls around the whole fruit. Picking up the Chop-Chop fruit, I left the dungeon through the shadows.

As the light returned, I found myself outside the room Princess Luna had given Sombra and me, despite her sister’s objections.

Ironically enough, said sister was sitting outside the doorway, her eyes fixed on me as if she had been awaiting my arrival.

"Von Shadow,” she said, her voice like an icy dagger.

"Princess," I replied with a coy bow. Her eyes narrowed, before darting down to the devil fruit in my hand.

"Is that…?” she started to ask.

"The Chop-Chop Fruit,” I said before she could finish. “The Devil Fruit that Lightning Dust used."

She stretched out her hand to take it, but I pulled it back.

"Hand it over," she ordered. "The power of that fruit can help my navel guard and stop these pirates before more of my citizens die by their hands."

"With all due respect… no," I said, the fruit vanishing into the shadows that made up my body. "The powers of a Devil Fruit are not something you can just hand out to anyone. Power changes people, and not in a good way."

"I wasn't asking," Celestia growled, stepping closer. "I'm ordering you as a Princess of Equestria; give me that Devil Fruit!"

"I'm sorry, your majesty,” I replied, stepping into the room as shadows blocked her from following. “But I serve Sombra. Not you.” With that, the shadows blocked her from view, forming a wall of solid black.

“Making friends?” I heard Sombra note. I glanced over; he was sitting at a nearby desk, a book open before him. Medical Herbs and Their Uses was scrawled across the front of the book.

“As always,” I replied, throwing myself down on my bed. With a grin, I cracked open a book I had snagged from the royal library: History of Equestria. Written by Stygian Green.

It took me a bit of time to scroll through the table of contents, but eventually, I found what I was looking for. Equestria’s Greatest Threats. Flipping to it’s respective page, I began tracing down the list of things that had threatened Equestria.

Changelings. Lord Tirek. Discord. Eris. Cosmos. Finally, I found him: King Umbra.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on his section; decorated with a profile picture of the stallion himself; an ink-black stallion with cruel green eyes and a flowing dark mane.

Umbra The Dark King. Third king of the Crystal Empire, and the First Tyrant King of the Frozen North.

Umbra the Dark was feared throughout the world, not just for his brutality to his enemies, but his cruelty to those he called allies.

A vindictive King obsessed with preserving his legacy, it was not uncommon for Umbra to take many of the females under his rule as his personal concubines, slaughtering any man who objected, and adding any woman who objected to his massive harem. Any who tried to reject him were 'conditioned' through dark magic to accept his rule. Virginity, chastity and even individuality soon became foreign concepts to the depraved King and those brainwashed into following him.

Not even the denizens of Equestria were safe from his madness. When Queen Lucinda, the first Queen of Equestria, attempted to negotiate with the Dark King under a flag of parlay, he broke faith with Equestria and took Lucinda for his concubine.

The depraved act was a declaration of war, and Queen Lucinda’s husband, King Solis, led a brutal counterattack. After seven days of gruesome and brutal fighting, King Solis stood mortally injured but victorious.

Yet even then, hope was not certain. With the Dark King’s final breath, he gave a warning to the Equestrian King: “One day, I shall return. And all will know the name of Umbra the Dark!” Casting one last spell, his body turned into crimson crystal.

Though King Solis smashed the crystal statue to shards, he died seconds later. His wife followed soon after, passing away while giving birth to her second daughter.

I shut the book, confusion battling against disgust. No wonder Celestia had it out for me. The idea of Umbra getting to do all that over again filled me with dread.

Yet, confusion still poked at my brain: who the Hell were Lucinda and Solis? They had never been mentioned in the My Little Pony show. I walked back to the door, but found Celestia missing. Lost in thought, I left the palace, and wandered through the white and gold streets of Canterlot.

At first, nothing popped out to me. But then I saw them. Sitting inside a shop window. There was no mistaking the three Devil Fruits.

The Flame-Flame, the Heat-Heat, and the Wax-Wax. All sitting innocently together, like they naturally belonged there. Snapping out of my funk, I rushed inside and bought all three of them. I could have easily stolen them but I really didn't need Celestia to distrust me any more than she already did.

Leaving the store, I quickly started placing the fruits into my shadow. The Wax-Wax was the first to go, it’s white skin shining before being swallowed up by the darkness. Next was the Heat-Heat. But just as I threw the Flame-Flame in… a rainbow blur shot between me and my shadows. The Flame-Flame was gone, and I had a very bad feeling that it wasn’t in my shadow’s pocket dimension. I whirled around, seeing the rainbow blur heading right for Canterlot Castle.

"Not on your life, pony" I growled. I dove into the surrounding shadows, practically blasting out in front of the rainbow mare.

Tackling into her, I threw her into the walls of the palace, holding her down so she couldn’t escape.

"Give me the Fruit!" I snarled, claws forming over my arms and digging into her sides. Despite blood poking up from where my claws dug into her, Rainbow Dash held the fruit tight and glowered at me in defiance.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the royal guard surrounding me. From the sky, Princess Celestia smashed into the ground, her war-hammer appearing in her hands with a flash of light.

"Cease your assault, Shade!" Celestia demanded.

"Only once I get the Devil Fruit!" I insisted, my shadows binding Rainbow’s wings and legs before creeping up for her arms, both of which clung to the Flame-Flame Fruit like it was her own child.

The defiant look in her eyes faltered. They darted back and forth between me, the Princess and the Devil Fruit. Finally, just as my shadow tendrils reached up to take it, she shoved the whole thing in her mouth.

“NO!” I shouted, trying to pry her mouth open. Her jaws almost obeyed, her entire face puckering in disgust at the flavor. But she fought back against my claws, gave a massive ‘GULP’ and I moaned in sorrow as the fruit bopped against her throat before disappearing into her stomach.

"UGH!” Rainbow groaned. “That was so nasty!” Even as she spoke, her belly began to glow. Small tendrils of fire began spread across her body like the element was in her veins. Rainbow's eyes grew wide with horror as flames began to lick around her body

"Rainbow Dash, “I began, backing off as the heat grew too much for my shadows. “I want you to stay perfectly calm…”

But even as I spoke, I could tell she wasn't listening. Her wide eyes were locked on the flames, and her breath was growing more and more rapid. Then the Flame-Flame Fruit’s effects took hold, and she burst into flames.

“YEEAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!” Rainbow Dash wailed, stamping and flailing as she tried to put the flames out. However, all she accomplished was setting fire to the grass surrounding the palace.

"Rainbow Dash!” Celestia screamed. “Stop!”

But the blue mare was deaf to the pleas of others, panic clouding her mind. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" she replied.

Shaking my head, I formed a pair of wings over my back, and seized Rainbow Dash with twin claws of extra thick shadows. Though the light from the flames threatened to dissipate my shadows, I clung on all the tighter, and gave my wings a massive flap, taking us both to the skies.

“LEMMEGOLEMMEGO!” Rainbow Dash screamed, partially punching at me and partially trying to put her flames out. Ignoring the blows to my claws, I glared around for a source of water. Thankfully, I spotted a pool in the palace’s statue garden. Dive-bombing the water, I released Rainbow Dash just as she gave a particularly hard punch to my gut. My breathing managed to steady as she hit the water, going up in a cloud of steam.

Unfortunately, she didn’t come back up. Landing at the edge of the pond, I dunked into the bubbling water, my shadow claw searching through the water until it found her head. With a desperate pull, I lifted the pony out.

But my troubles weren’t over; she wasn’t breathing. Setting her down and overlapping my hands over her chest, I pumped down, compressing her chest before giving her mouth to mouth. After repeating this process two more times, Rainbow’s eyes bolted open. I barely managed to scramble away as she catapulted up to a sitting position, coughing the water out of her lungs.

"You're an idiot!" I said, patting her back as she got her breath back. "You know that, right?"

“Y-Yeah?” she muttered. “Whatever?” She gave one final cough, before looking up at the water in confusion. “W-Why couldn’t I swim? What happened?”

"That’s the curse of all Devil Fruits," I explained. Glancing around, I saw the Mane Six, both Princesses… even Sombra come into view. I raised my voice so I wouldn’t have to explain twice. "Anyone who eats a Devil Fruit, will sink like a rock in water.”

Celestia grimaced, while the rest gasped in shock. Turning away from Rainbow Dash, I glared into Celestia’s equally angry eyes.

“Another reason why I didn’t give you the Chop-Chop Fruit,” I snarled. “Because someone will get hurt if you can’t control it.” I got in her face, karmic satisfaction flooding me as her grimace faded into worry and a bit of fear. “Next time you try to take a Devil Fruit from me,” I growled. “Make sure I don’t see them.”

Turning away from her, I dove into the shadows and returned to my room.

I don’t know what happened after that; all I remember is my head hitting the pillow. What I remember after that is the sound of light knocking, rousing me from the nap I had fallen into. Stretching, I opened the door, finding a yellow mare with pink hair waiting for me. One I recognized from the Princesses’ court.

"F-Fluttershy, right?" I asked.

The pony looked down. “Y-Yes,” she whispered, barely audible, with a voice like a light breeze. I leaned against the door, waiting for her next move.

For a moment, she was silent, though the constant darting eye she gave me implied she wanted something.

"Umm...,” she finally got out. “I was wondering… if you could… answer a question? About those, um… Devil Fruits."

The poor thing looked like I was going to eat her. My look softened, and I moved out of the way.

“Sure,” I said. “C’mon in.”

Bowing her head gratefully, Fluttershy moved inside, and settled herself in Sombra’s chair. I shut the door and leaned against it, waiting.

For a moment, there was just silence again.

“So…” I prompted. “What was your question?”

“Oh! Um…” Fluttershy squeaked, rocking on her chair. “Just… um… is there a… Devil Fruit that…” She lowered her head. “Let’s someone hear and talk to animals?”

"The Whisper-Whisper fruit," I replied.

"So,” her head dipped lower, almost concealing her face in her mane. “Does that mean I'm… cursed?"

"No" I said, crossing over and brushing her hair out of her face with a grin. "If anyone's cursed, it’s me," I said.

She returned my grin meekly, before sighing in relief.

“Thank you,” she said, before standing up and moving to leave.

"Do yourself a favor, though,” I called after her. “And stay away from deep sources of water."

Her smile brightened. “Thank you,” she said again, before walking out and softly shutting the door behind her.

Now alone, I stared out the window, the realization of what I would have to do sinking in.

"This is just great,” I realized. “Now I need to teach Rainbow Dash how to control her Devil Fruit!”

If you would like your Oc in this fanfiction simply put their name, race, description and the devil fruit you want them to use, However the Rumble-Rumble, And Dark-Dark fruits are already taken.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think