Night had once again fallen over Ponyville. The moon was hidden behind dark grey clouds and a light drizzle fell over the town and Everfree forest. The rain stuck to the undergrowth and leaves and it brought with it a chill that shook ponies and changelings alike to their core. Mute wished that they all could just go inside and warm themselves before the fire, but that was not an option. Tonight they hunted shades.

“I think we’re walking over a nest right now…” Holy Vow mumbled and eyed the ground under his hooves.

Mute nodded at the pegasus’ assessment as his hooves sunk into the dirt. They stood on a large one, a nest that likely housed hundreds of shades during the day. Mute let out a disgusted grunt as his hoof sunk through the ground and touched something slimy. He pulled it back and urged Holy to walk forward.

“The entrance must be close-by… There are some shades around but they have not noticed us yet. Walk with caution and tell me when you find the entrance,” Zarathon said in a hushed whisper.

They worked their way forwards through the undergrowth until they saw the black pit in the ground. Holy backed away and covered his snout in disgust as a deathly stink flowed out from the hole. Mute on the other hand felt his stomach curl at the smell of despair and sorrow that seemed to seep out of the ground. The changeling removed Zarathon from his horn to light the entrance on fire when a waft of rage came up from the nest. The smell made the changeling hiss and gag. Mute backed up and took desperate deep breaths to clear his mind. The putrid rage of the shades felt like a disease crawling beneath his chitin. Mute imagined small and malicious ants crawling through his nostrils and he snorted.

“Feel the Ember, Mute. Concentrate on its warmth,” Zarathon instructed calmly.

Mute nodded and closed his eyes. He reached for the bond he shared with Zarathon, the magical presence in his mind that was always there. He felt warmth stream from the bond into his body, the warmth of the Ember. He heard the crackling of flames and he felt the air clear. He opened his eyes and he was keenly aware of the shades that crawled around them. They kept away thanks to the light of Zarathon’s flames, but they hissed and sounded agitated. Holy Vow anxiously eyed the writhing shapes in the dark forest.

“I wish I had some magical ember to calm down…” the pegasus mumbled.

Zarathon scoffed. “You have wings, private. We’re stuck on the ground should the shades decide to attack. And they do want to attack. They know why we’re here.”

“Good, let them know they’re not gonna sleep anywhere when morning comes,” Holy said through gritted teeth as a shade hissed at them from the woods.

Mute walked up to the entrance and held Zarathon against the dark liquid that coated its sides. The liquid caught fire almost immediately and the changeling ran away from the nest with Holy right behind him and Zarathon behind his horn. The flames flowed into the nest and the ground rumbled before the fire erupted out of the entrance and lit up the woods. Holy and Mute watched from the trees as the ground collapsed into the nest and shrill shrieking filled the woods from angry shades.

“And so a third nest has been destroyed. Hopefully, many shades will perish when morning comes. Let us regroup with the duchess and lieutenant and hear how they have faired this night,” Zarathon said.

Mute nodded though his gaze fell on the many shades that crawled around them. He shook his head to get Zarathon’s attention and nodded at the many shades.

“We come out here every other night and I always feel like there are more of these things around our hooves…” Holy Vow mumbled dejectedly.

Zarathon’s flames grew larger and brighter and it looked like Mute wore a crown of fire. The shades fled back at the sudden bright light and Mute began to walk forwards. Holy followed behind them and peeled his eyes for any movements around them.

“Private Vow, you are more correct than you could possibly imagine…” Zarathon said. “We are thinning the herd near Ponyville but that will only do so much. Even when Mute and I place wards they are only effective at keeping shades away from a small area. I fear this work of ours is merely treating the symptoms, not curing the illness.”

Mute nodded at Zarathon’s words. This nightly hunt would keep the population of shades near Ponyville small, but it would not help in the long run.

“So how do we cure the illness then?” Holy asked and walked up alongside Mute.

Mute shrugged and kept an eye on the shades. The creatures followed behind them at a distance. They waited for an opportunity to strike. Not that they would get one without any force to throw at them.

“My people asked for hundreds of years ‘how do we rid ourselves of the shades?’ and never did we find an answer. Our solution—as imperfect as it was—was to monitor and guard their spawning grounds. We built several rings of walls and fortifications around the Blackpit which was guarded by mages and accomplished soldiers at all times. Many times my people tried to build structures over the Blackpit itself—a tower, a dome, a forge—and every time they would crumble into the Blackpit. Keeping them confined to a kill zone around the Blackpit was my grandfather’s solution and both my father and I followed it. It allowed us to use the Everfree for lumber and other things, but some shades would always slip out. Even during my reign when the fortifications around the pit were improved and our arcane expanded some shades still escaped. Simply put there is no way to cure the disease, just treat it,” Zarathon said.

Holy Vow nodded and looked thoughtfully into the woods. “You said you couldn’t build anything over the Blackpit to keep shades from leaving it. But wasn’t there a seal or something on it the last thousand years?”

Zarathon hummed. “I still have yet to verify the existence of this seal. But seeing as no shade had been seen in a thousand years I must assume there was something done to the Blackpit. Whatever it was is gone now, but if it could be recreated… No matter, we will find out eventually what was done to the Blackpit.”

“Let’s just travel to it during the day. We should be safe then, right?” Holy asked.

Mute shook his head in response. He motioned to where they stood and then tried to point far into the woods.

“Mute is correct, the Blackpit is far away. It would take us a day of flying to reach it and a few more to walk there. And even if we investigated during the day it would still be dangerous. Elder shades would guard it and we struggled to defeat one when it attacked Ponyville. Furthermore, I am not powerful enough to face the Blackpit, not when I am in this form. Its master would destroy me. If we traveled to the Blackpit it would be suicide. We’d need an army just to ensure our safety.”

Holy Vow eyed the pebble in curiosity. “The shades have a master?”

Mute nodded grimly and drew a large eye into the ground. He wrote 'master' next to it.

“They have a king of sorts. The oldest, or perhaps the largest, shade in the Blackpit directs and commands the rest. My ancestors speculated that this shade was the first spawned from the pit, but that was a guess. In truth, I have only seen it once, a large dreadful eye at the bottom of the Blackpit. Though it is hard to say if the Blackpit has a bottom…” Zarathon responded.

Holy Vow shuddered. “How do we kill it?”

“I don’t know. And neither did my father or his father before him.”

Mute felt a chill in the air as the rain began to pick up and it pelted them. Zarathon’s flames hissed as the rain hit them and their light slightly dimmed. They began to hurry their steps and walked in the direction from whence they came.

“Let us hope Duchess Will did a thorough job,” Zarathon mused.

When the Ponyville Guard regrouped in a clearing not far from the Castle of the Two Sisters they were all drenched and looked weary. Many were covered in black sticky tar from the shades and Adamantine Will had a wound on her leg. The group tallied the number of nests they had burned and the shades they had killed.

“The lieutenant and I found five small nests and two dozen shades,” Iron Hoof grunted and tried to wipe his old dirty armor.

“Arcane and I found two nests of medium size and killed about sixty shades I think?” Throne said.

Arcane Song nodded. “And we ran into a traveler in the woods as well. He claimed to want to sleep in the old castle but we led him back to the main road. We explained that the woods were dangerous at this time of day but he did not believe us.”

Zarathon chuckled. “Hubris shall become that pony’s downfall then. What about you, duchess?”

Adamantine Will was the dirtiest of all of the guards. Grime clung to her white mane and normally spotless armor. Her fur seemed completely drenched and she shivered whenever a gale flew through the clearing. Adamantine spoke through gritted teeth when Zarathon addressed her. “Seven nests, four small and three large. I must have killed over a hundred shades. But they never stop coming! Are we truly doing anything by burning these nests?”

“As I explained to Private Vow, we are merely thinning the population. Until we can do something about the Blackpit—the shades' spawning ground—then shades will continue to be an issue. Unfortunately, we can not get to the Blackpit for some time, so continuing these hunts will be the only way to mitigate the shades near us.”

Mute eyed the castle not too far away from them and he noticed movement in its dark and decrypt windows. He nodded at the castle and everyone turned to look at it.

“Are there shades in there as well?” Adamantine asked.

“There are,” Zarathon said. “But I believe we have done enough for one night.”

“No. We clear out the castle too. Twilight Sparkle has expressed her wish to explore it and I will not let any harm befall the princess’ student,” Adamantine huffed.

Mute rolled his eyes before he nodded and began to walk in the direction of the castle.

“Mute! Stop there is no need! We tell miss Sparkle to keep away from the castle and all will be fine.”

Adamantine laughed at the pebble’s words. “You think she would avoid the castle just because it was dangerous?”

Mute stopped to think and then shook his head. The purple unicorn’s appetite for knowledge was insatiable and danger alone would likely not make her reconsider.

Zarathon muttered under his breath. “Fine. If the sun goddess’ pupil is hurt Mute and I will suffer for it. Lead the way, duchess.”

The mare smirked and brushed past Mute as she headed for the ruined castle. The rest of the guards followed and Holy flanked Mute as they walked through the woods.

“Do you think that are any elder shades in there?” Holy said in hushed whispers to Mute.

Mute shook his head in response and kept an eye on the shades that followed them in the underbrush.

Zarathon on the other hand scoffed at Holy's words. “We would know if an elder shade was nearby. The air gets a distinct deathly smell and there is pressure on your mind. We will tell you if one is near.”

“Oh, well that’s good. I’d rather not fight an elder one…” the pegasus mumbled.

“You will have to eventually, private. We will have to travel to the Blackpit if we wish to contain the shades. So far we have done a good job at culling them here in the Everfree, but they will spread far beyond here. In fact, I am surprised we have not received reports of them appearing elsewhere. They are not normally restrained…”

Mute looked at the shades that followed them with a worried look. Abnormal behavior in shades was a bad thing. When the shades were predictable one could fight them and keep them at bay. When they changed their behaviors it meant a lot of unnecessary suffering.

The rest of the walk to the castle was a quiet affair.

The halls of the ruined castle were not filled with hundreds of shades nor possessed ponies. It was eerily quiet with only one or two shades coming out from the shadows to attack them. Mute did not like the fact it was quiet. He liked it even less that there seemed to be so few shades when Zarathon insisted he’d felt many. And Mute hated the fact that the air felt wrong. There was a strong smell of decay and misery around them. It was not the smell of an elder shade (Mute thanked Arachia for that) but it was different from the usual stench that came from shade nests.

“Can we please leave?” Squeaked Arcane Song as they rounded yet another corner. “Something feels very wrong…”

“I agree. I think we should leave and forbid ponies from coming near this place…” Iron Hoof mumbled.

Lieutenant Sword tsked at the two. “We’ve killed many of these things before and burned many nests. Just keep your eyes peeled and watch over each other.”

Holy Vow shook his head at the lieutenant’s words. “Sir, I think they’re right. We should leave.”

Adamantine growled at them from the front of the group. “We don’t leave until these ruins are secured and warded.”

Zarathon was quiet. The pebble’s flames flowed back and forth in an absentminded manner and Mute had the distinct notion that Zarathon listened for something. Mute however felt a chill throughout his body the further in they got.

Thorne would silently join Mute’s side and lean in so she could whisper. “Do you know what is in here?”

Mute shook his head and peered down the long stone corridor they found themselves in. For a split second, he swore something moved at the end of the corridor and he hissed. The rest of the group stopped and they held up their lanterns to see better, but there was nothing there.

“Quit it, changeling! I don’t need you scaring the soldiery!” Adamantine growled.

Mute glared at the mare and pointed into the darkness before he rummaged around his saddlebags for his notebook. He pulled it out and stared as water poured from it like a faucet. Adamantine scoffed in amusement at the sight and Mute let out an annoyed breath. He put the notebook back into his bag and secured it properly with the hopes it would keep out some of the rain when they returned outside. Mute then tried to gesture that he’d seen something, but the duchess would not have it.

“We have Zarathon’s special fire, correct? That can take care of anything that is hiding here. Or would the great Lord Zarathon like to admit that something here is beyond his capabilities?” Adamantine smirked.

Zarathon’s fire bristled and crackled red. “Nothing is beyond me, pony. Onwards, Mute, we must prove this mare is beneath us.”

Mute peered into the darkness and swallowed thickly. He did not like this but Zarathon seemed determined. Furthermore, he could feel that there wasn’t an elder shade nearby, so there should not be any real danger to him or his companions. Yet Mute felt cold in every part of his body and his legs would not move.

“Mute, I said onwards.”

The changeling took a calming breath and walked forwards. As he reached the end of the corridor he saw no signs of any creatures and he could not hear anything out of the ordinary. There was the occasional hiss of a far-off shade, but that was to be expected. Yet the air still felt heavy. Mute grunted as Adamantine bumped into him and walked past him down yet another corridor. The changeling bared his fangs and took a step toward the pony before he calmed his rage. It would not be worth it.

“Remember when I suggest you seduce her? I deeply apologize for ever suggesting such a heinous thing,” Zarathon whispered quietly to Mute.

The changeling chuckled and followed Adamantine. The rest of the guards followed behind with their lanterns held high to chase away the shadows that clung to everything in the stone corridors. Old rusty armors were on display near some of the walls and Mute felt like they moved with the shadows. Normally he did not fear dark places, especially since he could see better in darkness than any pony, but today he truly felt unnerved.

The winding stone corridors looped around again and again. Some passages had caved in and the group was forced to find ways around them and others lead through large desolate halls that had probably not been opened since the castle’s abandonment. Yet even though they drew wards with chalk and secured every room and corridor they passed through the unease never left them. In fact the closer they got to the largest part of the castle, the throne room, the worse it got.

After many wards had been drawn and a few more shades burned they arrived before two large oak doors. The old wood looked ready to fall apart and rot ate into it. Whatever enchantments that had once rested over them were long gone. However Mute was more aware of how warm and putrid the air felt. It reminded him of the stench that came from a rotting animal. Zarathon’s flames grew brighter and fear and anticipation were palpable in the air.

“We should leave. Now,” Holy said and readied his spear.

Radiant Sword eyed the doors scrupulously and gave in. “Leave some wards in front of the doors and then let us leave.”

But their words fell on deaf ears as Adamantine Will pushed open the doors with a firm magical push. “We burn this room.”

As the light of their lanterns and Zarathon’s fire fell over the old throne room the soldiers' eyes widened. Adamantine took a step back with a look of pure disgust on her face. Holy Vow stepped back and shook his head in fear.

“Please let us go!” Arcane Song said with a near sob and she looked ready to pass out from terror.

Mute just stared with a shuddering breath.

The room was filled with cocoons. The dark fleshy pods were twice the size of a pony and they wriggled as the light hit them. The cocoons were covered in a slimy secretion that pooled around their base and seemed anchored in the stone floor with fleshy protrusions. The floor itself was covered with shades, but they did not move. In fact, the shades seemed grey and decayed—as if they’d died from natural causes—and they created a webbing that bound the cocoons together. But by far the worst aspect of the room was the towering fleshy structure that grew in the middle of it. It was attached to a stone diorama with several pedestals. The tower itself was made up of hundreds of shades that had fused together into one being.

“What is this cursed thing?...” Adamantine asked and observed the tower as it pulsed. “That diorama was used to store the elements of Harmony. Whatever that thing is, its draining power from it.”

Even Mute with his broken horn could feel the residue of the magical power that flowed from the diorama into the black tower of shade-flesh. The magic was palpable in the air, corrupted by Darkness and lies.

Mute swore the Ember screamed at the sight.

“That’s impossible… There hasn’t been enough time,” Zarathon said in disbelief and his flames took on a white color, “No matter! Mute, burn it all!”

The changeling nodded and hurriedly began to draw up quiran wards on the ground. That was when one of the cocoons made a squelching sound and moved.

The ponies stared in fear and disgust as a dark liquid began to pour from the cocoon and it unfurled like a flower, spilling liters of the dark liquid onto the ground. A figure fell from the now-opened cocoon and landed on the shade-covered stone floor. It looked akin to a pony, but it was malnourished and completely black without any fur.

“Are there civilians in those pods?” Adamantine asked through gritted teeth.

Zarathon’s flames shook quickly from side to side. “Those are no longer ponies. Whatever they were before they are no longer your citizens. I can not purge the darkness from them.”

Adamantine turned to look at Zarathon with a snarl. “Why not!? We can not leave them here to die!”

“They are already gone! There is nothing left of the host. The parasite has completed its transformation. Mute, burn the damn room!” Zarathon commanded.

Mute hurriedly drew more and more wards as the figure in the room stood up. Mute’s eyes stung as he looked at the creature and its inky black eyes peered at them from the darkness. The other cocoons began to shudder and unfurl as well, adding more and more shadow ponies to the room. Arcane Song was inconsolable at this point, screaming that they had to run. Lieutenant Sword gave the order to pull back and Mute let out panicked breaths as he kept working on the wards. The room needed to be completely cleansed or the Darkness would remain.

That was when the fleshy tower shuddered and liquid began to pour from its top.

Mute stared in horror and he dropped the chalk.

“Ember save us all…” Zarathon mumbled.

Eight long legs, each with eight joints, pushed out through the fleshy top of the tower. They grabbed onto the sides of the flesh tower and pulled out the rest of the monster's body with a disgusting squelch. It was truly a grotesque creature. With eight spider-like legs and a distorted and oblong pony body, the creature was unlike anything Mute had ever seen. The thing landed on the floor with a disgusting wet smack and it stared at them with the same inky eyes as the shadow ponies. Though, unlike its brethren, the spider-pony smiled and revealed needle-like teeth.

“We should not have come here, this foe is beyond you all. Run. Run!!!” Zarathon yelled.

The ponies set off and Mute hurriedly grabbed the chalk and finished the last rune. The monsters shrieked and ran toward him. Mute dropped the chalk and ran. As he did so Zarathon’s fire streamed into the wards and lit them with a red glow. The wards exploded with flames that washed into the throne room. The creatures inside screamed in pain as the fire consumed everything in its path and lit up the castle with a yellow light.

Mute ignored the frightening shrieks from the shadow ponies behind him and followed the ponies down the corridor. That was when a large cry tore through the air and Mute looked behind him to see the spider pony jump over the flames and land in the corridor. Its legs thundered against the floor as it followed them and it opened its maw to reveal a long forked tongue.

“Run, Mute! We must fight it outside! We have no room to maneuver in here!”

Mute nodded and threw himself to the left as the corridor curved westward. He heard the spider-pony crash into the stone wall behind him and screech, but he had no time to focus on the abomination. Mute and the others would continue running until they returned to the door they had used to enter the castle. They practically crashed through it and piled outside into the rain.

“Form up! Be ready to kill this thing!” Lieutenant Sword yelled and the ponies readied their weapons just in time for the beast to emerge from the castle.

“Do not let it touch you!” Zarathon yelled. “You are not immune to its poison!”

“That thing is poisonous!?” Adamantine yelled as the spider reared back.

“Shield up!” The lieutenant screamed and Arcane Song cast a pink bubble shield around them all.

The spider pony crashed into the shield and the impact made Arcane cry out in pain. Cracks formed in the shield and Adamantine quickly cast another white shield beneath it. As the spider crashed into them once more it broke Arcane’s shield and crashed straight into Adamantine’s. Small cracks formed in the duchess’ shield from the first strike and she gritted her teeth.

“What do we do, Zarathon!?” Holy yelled and held his spear up against the beast.

“Give Mute time to draw the wards! This damn mud is hard to work with!” the pebble yelled back.

Mute quickly drew wards into the muddy ground and growled in frustration and panic as the mud and water broke them. The spider slammed into Adamantine’s shield once more and this time riddled it with so many cracks it looked ready to fall apart.

“Lieutenant!” Adamantine said with a wheeze and Radiant Sword formed a golden shield underneath Adamantine’s.

This time the spider-pony broke through Adamantine’s shield and as it crashed into the lieutenant’s it riddled it with cracks almost immediately. Radiant Sword grunted in pain and looked at Arcane. “Song!”

The pink unicorn shook and formed a new shield underneath the lieutenant's shield. The unicorn mare looked ready to collapse already. “Please hurry!”

Adamantine also formed a shield underneath Arcane’s and stumbled as she did so. “Zarathon you better not be stalling!”

Mute finally managed to complete the ward and threw Zarathon at it. The same second Zarathon hit it the ward lit on fire. It happened just in time as the spider reared back and slammed six of its legs into Sword’s shield. The spider pony shattered the shield and then its legs impacted the second shield and shattered it too. Then its legs went straight through Adamantine's shield like paper. The lieutenant grunted in pain, Arcane’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she passed out, and Adamantine fell to her haunches with a pained cry as her shield was destroyed. But it had bought valuable time as the spider-pony landed right on top of the ward.

“Perish,” Zarathon said underneath the spider pony as a column on fire erupted from the magic circle.

The spider-pony shrieked and tried to get back as the fire burned its body but Mute threw himself at it with a growl and held down its neck and head. The monster bit into the changeling’s shoulder and he let out a scream, but Mute slammed the monster right onto the ward. The beast screamed as it burned and its legs flailed as they caught alight. Its legs eventually snapped like burnt twigs and the monster let out a final screech as it turned to ash. The fire stopped burning and only lantern light fell over the group.

“Are you alright, Mute?” Holy asked and walked up to the changeling on shaky legs.

Mute nodded and placed a hoof on his shoulder. He felt warm blood pour from the wound and he hissed in pain. The poison in his blood quickly burned away, but the wound would not do the same. Mute pointed to Zarathon and Holy nodded.

“Of course,” the pegasus said and hurriedly retrieved Zarathon for Mute.

Zarathon sounded horrified upon seeing Mute’s wound. “That fiend! I wish I could burn it twice over for this insult! We must draw the wards quickly and seal the wound!”

Mute nodded and placed Zarathon behind his horn. He looked to the others and saw Iron Hoof and Thorne helping Arcane stand and Adamantine remained on her haunches, breathing deeply to calm herself. Radiant simply stood and watched the ash of the monster, a disgusted and rage-filled expression on his face.

“What was that!?” Lieutenant Sword yelled and turned to Mute.

“That was what happens when you leave a possessed pony for too long! This is how shades procreate, by taking the body of a living sapient creature and using it to strengthen themselves. They can use their new body to sire more normal shades,” Zarathon said.

Adamantine growled. “And why were we not told about this before!?”

“Because you did not need to know at the time! And because the risk of meeting such creatures was near impossible! Shades only appeared in this area recently! They have not had time to turn any hosts!” Zarathon said. “They must have come from somewhere else. They were attracted to that stone diorama. Magic had seeped into its very being. Why was that there!?”

Adamantine grumbled under her breath and watched as the ash became part of the mud in the rain. “As I said, the elements of Harmony were kept on it.”

“The sun goddess kept her most powerful weapons on display in an abandoned castle!? The fool! No wonder the shades were attracted to that damn stone! They must have been able to siphon arcane energy from it. That is how they were able to create such a hideous creature,” Zarathon said.

Lieutenant Sword growled and walked up to Mute. He pointed his hoof at the pebble behind Mute’s horn and scowled. “Do not insult the princess! This could all have been avoided if you had told us everything about the shades beforehand! You will tell us everything from now on, is that understood!?”

“I will call on the princesses if you keep information from us in the future,” Adamantine growled.

Radiant Sword turned his gaze to Adamantine and his scowl deepened. “And you! I did wrong by agreeing to explore those ruins, but we should have immediately pulled back when something was wrong! You are equally responsible for getting us so close to the throne room! Your and Zarathon’s pride could have cost me the lives of my soldiers!”

Adamantine looked stunned and she scowled back at the stallion. “Do not insult me. I bear no responsibility for what happened here! If the gracious lord in our company had cared to inform us more on shades we would have been fine!”

“You are both equally responsible for us ending up there! You two must stop fighting like foals!” the lieutenant said. “But that will have to wait until later. We must get back to town and rest.”

The group nodded. Deep exhaustion hung in the air and Mute drew a healing ward into the dirt. Zarathon’s fire lit the ward and Mute felt the chitin close over the wound, though the muscle underneath would need some time to properly heal. They would slowly make their way back through the forest, accosted by hissing shades on all sides. The group looked ready to collapse and Arcane Song clung to Iron Hoof’s side, hushed whispers passing between them. The ponies were scared of what other horrors awaited them in the woods. And perhaps they were scared for what other things Zarathon had not told them.

Holy Vow would join Mute’s side and he let out a tired yawn. “Will it always be like this from now on?”

Mute nodded. Shade hunting was a dangerous and unpredictable thing.

Holy sighed and nodded at Mute’s words. “Then maybe we should look at hiring more guards…”

“You all did fine, private. Tonight is a good night. You helped kill a creature that would have preyed on many innocents. Not to speak of the many nests you destroyed! I think this was a success. I even showed you more of my true power. I could have killed ten of those things if need be!” Zarathon boasted.

The group gave the pebble a tired look and continued walking. Mute just found their annoyance a much-needed amusement after the horrible encounter. In fact, he was reminded of an empress spider when he thought of the monster. A corrupted perversion of an empress spider that had needed to die.

All in all Mute thought it had been a good hunt.

I felt there needed to be more shade hunting and information on the shades this chapter as well as shows just a bit of what they can do with the poor ponies they corrupt. (And why Zarathon is absolutely needed). I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a nice day!