[My conscience Kill writes in the brackets and bolded]

    <  My conscience Joy writes in these and  Italics>

~ Grace talks in these and underlined~

         { I respond in these}  

-----------------------------------------------------------

In his battle stance, Principal Shadow Mark glanced back at white and yellow striped alicorn behind him, "What do we do with him? Is he okay?"

"He appears to be unconscious, no vital signs or anything though," Cross gave a stats report.

None moving an inch, both sides of the field stared at one another with intent to kill as they patiently awaited for the first move. The area darkened as pits and pats of water drizzled from sky. Enemies and teachers alike all looked towards the sky wondering what could have caused the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Uhm, wasn't it like sunny and clear just now?" Omnius asked the entire group.

"Things don't just change like that man, and I don't see any pegasi up there, do you?" Chaser asked the janitor.

"Nope."

"Whatever it is, I don't like it," Cross replied. "What's happening Charge? You mentioned something about a Kill and Joy?"

"Yes," he answered seriously, "They are Graze's multiple consciences."

"Multiple consciences?" Chaser was appalled at this, "Dude seems pretty messed up."

"No Cloud, the dude is dead," Charge then sighed a breath of grief and sorrow.

"WHAT?!" They all shouted in unison.

"I am going to kick his ass!" Chaser exclaimed abruptly galloping onto the field, only to be held back by a certain principal. "Hey! Let go of me Mark! He took Graze's life and I'm taking his!"

"Yeah, you do that and get yourself killed, we can't just run in their willy nilly. It was only a miracle that does kids survived and now you want to test your luck?!" Shadow Mark asserted himself, "What we need is a plan."

"Listen!" Cross gathered the entire attention of the group, "I say we attack from all directions aiming for only his vital points. We're talking about breaking bones here!"

"I'm up for that!" Chaser agreed.

"Finally my sweet knife-wrench, today you taste blood," Omnius slid his hoof against the edge of his creation.

"Ha! A plan?!" Charge laughed at the word, "This is what I think of your plan!" He then looked towards the suited, faceless pony, "Slender, you know what to do."

Taking one step forward, the Slenderpony waited ten seconds, feeling the drops upon his back. The waiting game was his favorite. Using and mastering this technique to stalk his prey, he analyzed every detail of Shadow, the dark aura, the blood red eyes and yet, he couldn't put his hoof on something. "........"

"Yeah, I know, he is playing that same old defensive game. Waiting like a fucking pussy," Charge cursed. "You know what to do."

From afar, the folklore pony sent out a curious tentacle, making it's way to Shadow. Unable to move any further, a few metres away of Shadow, the black tentacle was stopped right in it's tracks coming in contact with the renewed Force Field.

"What is he doing?" Shadow Mark questioned Charge.

"Just wait."

An audible hiss came from the tentacle as it took the battle stance of a snake ready to attack but yet, it had retreated back to its owner.

"Nothing breaks through this shield, not even your pathetic student Graze could have, and guess what? He is dead," Shadow continued his boast. "Does the school's budget allow for the burial of their students? Well, it won't matter anyway becau--" The alicorn's sentence was stopped mid speech as the tentacle came back with a whiplash strong enough to break the barrier in one quick sweep. Stunned by the loss of focus of his spell, Shadow watched as shards of the glass like barrier fell upon the ground shattering into even smaller pieces. The tentacle made a quick U-turn hitting Shadow across his cheek, pitching him directly into the walls of the stadium, creating a crater on impact.

"Holy shit!" Chaser exclaimed, "Did you guys see that?!"

"No Chaser, I happened to blink exactly at that point in time," Omnius sarcastically said.

"Yeah buck you too man."

Rubbing his head from the pain of the crash, Shadow used his remaining hooves trying to come to a steady position. Looking forward now, Shadow gasped at the creature before him. Shadow retaliated by throwing out a powerful punch only to be held within the grasp of Slender's hoof, only pushing him a few inches back. Coming out of the grip and throwing another punch, Shadow failed miserably as the suited pony merely blocked and flickered it away, countering with a hook punch to the face. Not stopping there for the lest, Slender tripped Shadow with a tentacle as he fell point blank to an uppercutting knee and a double buck from his hindlegs sending the alicorn to the other side of the stadium, against a wall.

Only wanting a breather, Shadow laid his back against the wall keeping a careful eye out for his enemy. It was too late when he decided to even blink. By some mystical force, Slender didn't need to trot towards him, his hooves had dragged along the surface of the field making a close and life threatening appearance by Shadow.

The alicorn's eyes opened wide with a gasp as the Slenderpony pivoted on his front legs bucking him directly to the wall, creating another crater as concrete and smoke pitched and diffused into the air. Not allowing chance to breathe, Slender released another tentacle wrapping around his enemy's neck as it forcefully dragged his body making it squirm like a worm.

Brought face to face, Slender watched the alicorn into his eyes and whispered one word. "D..i...e"

"Did he just talk?" Chaser confusedly looked at Charge.

"Yup, it's over."

---

Hearing the audible beep, I turned my back on my friends not wanting to see their reaction. It was already too obvious that they were going to be filled with sorrow and grief and I didn't want to see them in such condition. I didn't need to be told twice. The area before me flashed a bright white soon becoming a permanent scenery shared among four other ponies, Kill, Joy, Grace and my mother.

Walking up to my mother with near to no emotion, I watched her in the eyes, "You wanted to talk?"

As if by instinct, she quickly grabbed me with her hooves pulling me into an embrace. "Why Graze! Why?!" She cried tears flowing onto my coat.

"Why what?"

"Don't why what me young man! Why'd you have to get yourself killed like that! Don't you think I could have waited sixty more years to see you?! I wanted to watch you grow up a stallion! Have a family and kids! And this is how you do it?! This is what you choose to do with it?!" She shouted at me.

"I gave my life so my friends could have done that! I gave my life so my sister could have done that! And you ask me why?!" I shouted back. "You think I love to die?! You think I wanted any of this to happen?!" She opened her mouth to answer, but I quickly shut her off, "NO! I DID IT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! NO PONY DOES!"

"So why did my son have to be the one? Why does he have to get his wing ripped off?! Why did you have to die!" She shouted back matching my levels, "You don't think you could have dealt with it otherwise?!"

"No mom! Have you not been paying attention to what he did?! He killed and was willing to kill all of us including your daughter! My sister! Our flesh and blood!" I replied with tears hating to fight against my mom, "Would you have rather both your children here?!"

"Hey Graze, take it easy," Kill said placing a hoof on my shoulder only to be quickly slapped off.

"No dammit! I would give my other wing just to see my friends in real life for one more minute and tell them how much they mean to me! Like giving my life wasn't enough?!" I then faced my mother with my head to the floor as my tone calmed down, "I kept your promise to protect her, does that mean nothing anymore?!"

"........." She stayed silent remembering her promise she made me keep.

"Are my words just useless to anyone these days? Do they have no meaning?! Please tell me, because I just gave my bucking life for not only her, but for them!" I then sighed for a short moment, "I thought you would have been proud of me, rather than to start all of this. I should have thought different."

"Graze," she called my name through the silenced air, "One thing I shall forever be, is proud of you." My ears cocked up hearing that last sentence, yet, I still didn't want to show I was paying any attention, yeah, I was that foalish. She placed a comforting hoof around me, wiping my tears with another. "I'm proud of all the lovely friends you made, they are truly the ones you should keep. They stood by your side through everything in life, even in your last minutes and I'm pretty sure they are doing that now as we speak. You have a beautiful marefriend who even risked her life just for you."

"And I died."

With a sigh she then looked at me, "Graze, it's never how you die, ponies aren't going to remember you because of a ripped wing. It's how you live, what you've accomplished, the ponies lives you've affected. Even that Light pony! I'm sure if it wasn't for you, Shadow would have still been roaming around the school causing more destruction and because of that, that few months you helped hold him off, you managed to make newer friends and change lives. You've permanently purged the evil from him truly living up to your cutie mark, and for that, I am proud of you. "

"No mom, I failed. We failed. We still didn't get rid of Shadow, he is still out there fighting with the teachers," I informed her.

"Graze, I have to admit and I am sorry to say this, but all of you are pretty clueless."

"Thank you!" Grace randomly said and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"What?" I looked her confusedly with Kill, Joy and Grace who was pretending.

"He is not your problem, and whether you like it or not, you can't get rid of him,'' she had now informed us. "He is not your problem, he is Light's. All you did up to now was help him to make the final blow, Shadow will keep on coming back until Light finishes him off. I'm sorry to say, but that's the way how life works."

"Pftch, my life is nothing but unexpected, and it continuously taunts me."

"Hahaha," Melody laughed, "you honestly don't know, do you?"

"Don't know what?" Joy asked her.

"Yeah Miss Killjoy, what are you holding back from us?" Kill questioned her by the wrong name.

"Let's just say this," she brought out her wing and flared a black tribal flame, "is like a family's trademark, or you can say curse. This is our tribal flame, and do you know what it means?"

"No, not really, I just thought it was like, more of an offensive fire," I honestly admitted.

"That too, but if you didn't know, tribal is an art style, a very abstract one at the least." Behind her, she showed the true magic of tribal as one lone organic figure was drawn onto the white canvas background. "It starts off small and random, you don't know where it will take you." She said as more pieces of organic shapes were drawn closer to one another forming a heart. "But everything perfectly matches with one another at the end product." She then looked at me while I held a confused expression. "Basically Graze, what I'm trying to say is, the best things in life are unexpected."

Seeing that I've dramatically calmed down, Melody offered a suggestion. "Would you like to see your friends from where you left? I'm sure you won't want to miss all the cool stuff they will say about you," she joked getting a single chuckle from me.

"Sure, why not."

---

Watching my friends in the background once more, the line on the heart monitor ceased to move, and a strident tone filled the silent hospital room as my heart finally failed.

Dark being the closest was the first to react, "No! Nonononono! Graze! Someone call Cross!" He panicked. "Graze! Wake up man! Wake up!" He shook my body hoping for an answer. "C'mon someone call Cross!"

"We can't Dark! Graze is dead!" Legit shouted at him, "It's too late for anything now!"

"Don't say that!" Dark shouted to Legit being the one to react perfectly to this situation." Stay with us Graze!" He continually shook my body.

"What are you doing Dark?!" Grim shouted trying pull him away with force.

"GET OFF ME!" Dark pushed released my body for a split second only to push Grim away. Back to me now, furious as he was already, Dark vented out his rage upon my body as he unknowingly sent a surge of electricity through my system upon contact.

This time seeing my back arch upon contact, Ditzy was the one to forcibly push Dark away. "Leave him alone! You're only making things worse!"

"Yeah Dark! What the buck is wrong with you! Just let him rest in peace!" Vinetion had taken the offensive now. "Graze just died and this is how yo--"

*Beep* The machine sounded off once more filling the room with silence through every repetition.

"No bucking way," Vinetion heard the oscillations of beeps once again.

'What did I tell ya? The best things in life are unexpected.'

-- Shadow's Mind--

Within the machinations of Shadow's mind, what was supposed to be a simple seventy two hours of torture had turned out to be quite different. Slender had stood still, confused of what was going on.

"You know, I've grown tired of these mind games, you, Charge, Graze and Grim? This shit is getting old," a voice bellowed through the semi-black sub conscious from where the suited pony perfectly contrasted with his white coat. "They say the purest of minds are easiest to corrupt, let's say how much you can take." In that moment as the sentence was finished, the taints of black from his mind viciously attacked the Slender pony's conscience, slowly corrupting him with every thought of murder, profanity and sin.

--Back on the Stadium--

Everypony stood in the rain, slowly dying down as they watched the scene before them. Cloud, Cross, Charge, Omnius and Shadow Mark observed as Slender released his grip of Shadow's neck, soon bending to his knees as his hooves held onto his head, going mad on the inside.

"Slender! What's wrong!?" Charge shouted from afar.

"What did he say?" Cross asked the bat winged pony.

"He's not even replying!" Charge exclaimed. Abruptly, a tentacle whipped across the heads of the teachers as they all ducked luckily dodging the fatal attack.

"Hahahaha, he' mine now," Shadow laughed.

Next Chapter: Let Me Teach You How to Fight Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes