Paths End

A sudden gust of wind passed by Synth’s ears as realized his descent was slowing. Opening his eyes, he saw Fluttershy grabbing him by his cloak. She didn’t stop him completely, but it was enough that if he hit the floor, he wouldn’t die. He smiled at her so she’d let go. At the rate they were falling, she’d still get hurt if she didn’t let go. She released her hold on the cloak and Synth turned his face away from the floor as he made impact with the ground.

He could feel the pain in his thighs and his leg felt like it broke. He could tell that he made a small indentation in the floor. ‘At least I’m alive.’ He thought as he groaned in pain. It would probably be a while before someone came to help him. Fluttershy most likely went to help Twilight, and the others probably didn’t know he was injured. He knew at this point that something must have been broken. Wondering where his suitcase was, he tried to pick up his head and turn towards the cliff. As he moved his head and managed to get himself on his back, the suitcase landed right where his head was before.

Wide eyed, Synth finally felt the adrenaline of what just happened and his suitcase caused him to pass out from relief. The suitcase landed on its locks and it busted open. The contents were scattered around the grass, including the flower that was now crawling away from its prison. Small animals came out of the forest and began feasting on the seeds and flower petals. It wasn’t until five mares came rushing toward him, that the animals rushed away finished with their meal.
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Fluttershy had to let go of Synth or else he’d drag her down with him. She knew he would live, but she didn’t want him to feel pain. Then, he smiled at her and she understood. Letting go, she made a mental note to make it up to him. She heard a chilling crack as he hit the ground and she was on the verge of tears. Turning away, she hurried to help Twilight who was the last one that needed saving. With Rainbow’s help, she managed to grab a hold of her about half way.

When she had Twilight firmly, she almost couldn’t hold her. Even with Rainbow’s help, Twilight felt really heavy. “Sorry girls, I’m not used to holding more than a bunny or two.”

Rainbow grinned. “Geez Twilight, You gotta lose some weight.” Twilight blushed and then remembered the situation at hand.

“What about Synth? Is he okay?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy flinched a little, remembering the crack sound. Rainbow was the one who spoke up though.

“Synth’s tough, he wouldn’t let a little fall stop him.” But her nervous look betrayed herself as Twilight gulped.

They lowered Twilight a good ways away from the cliff wall. Rarity and Pinkie were waiting as well. “That was amazing, let’s do it again! Hey Twilight, where’s Applejack and Synth?” Pinkie said her smile only getting bigger. Applejack came running over after she jumped down the last rock.

“Which one of ya’ll caught Synth? Where is he anyways?” Applejack asked looking around. Fluttershy had to help Synth; he could be in pain right now. So she decided to confess what she did.

“Synth…He’s over here. I couldn’t catch him…I only slowed him enough so…he didn’t…die.” She was about to cry, but Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy’s back.

“There, there. It’s not your fault. Let’s just make sure he’s not hurt before we talk about this.” Now, they all ran towards where he would have most likely have landed. They found his body unconscious with animals scurrying away from them. When they all stood above him, they gasped. The indentation of where he landed could be seen clearly. Blood from the corner of his mouth was slowly leaking into the indentation. His suitcase lay open inches from his face but its contents missing.

The only thing still there was the flower that hid the scent of his blood. It didn’t disturb the little animals, but they didn’t want to chance taking a bite out of it. Twilight put her hoof on his throat and she felt a pulse. “He’s breathing. I think he just lost consciousness. We probably shouldn’t leave him here like this.” Twilight felt sorry for the colt, but knew that they had to continue.

“Ah’ll carry ‘im. Ah’m strong enough.” Applejack walking up and without any arguments from the others, slowly lifted Synth onto her back. She took a step then looked at the others smiling.

“He’s pretty light for a colt. I wonder how he manages that.” Applejack said walking slowly towards the path. Remembering the suitcase, Rarity took it and the foul smelling flower with her as they turned towards the path to continue. It wasn’t until a few steps later, did they hear the scream of a Manticore. Unsure at the time, they continued anyways. Just as the Manticore came into view, Synth began to stir.
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It was dark. The air was humid and the floor was hard. Standing up, Synth felt pain in his legs. He groaned and tried to feel where the pain was coming from. The dark started to recede and he found himself inside of a stone structure. He could now see the entire room and the centerpiece of the room. It was five stone spheres and they looked like they had something inscribed on them. He started to walk up to them and heard a voice behind him. It sounded very familiar. Turning, he saw shadows in one corner of the room.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. If you thought it was that easy, those Elements would have been found already.” Now, a black hoof left the shadows. It took another step and Synth’s eyes widened. It looked exactly like him. But his colors were off. He was completely black and his cloak was pure white. Finding his voice, Synth spoke. “Who are you?”

Now the black colt laughed. “I am you, but you can think of my as your shadow.”

Synth now understood. “You’re that voice that was in my head… What are you doing here?” He was starting to get angry. Having an unwanted visitor in your head could really mess with your emotions.

“Please call me Shade, Shade Truth.” Now Shade was grinning. “I am the truth you don’t want to realize. I am a part of you. That’s one truth you have to understand. I’m sure you have many questions, but they will be answered in the near future. For now, I believe you have a Manticore to worry about.” Synth had a confused look on his face.

“Oh, well I simply can’t let you leave better than you came. You were injured in your fall. I helped you so we could talk, but now I think it’s time you took care of yourself and your so called ‘friends’.” Synth was going to respond, but the black colt disappeared and his leg suddenly felt broken. He looked down to see a black hoof retracting and turned to see Shade admiring his work. “Sorry about that, wrong leg.” Synth heard him say before he hit the other leg and Synth’s eyes closed. Pain engulfed his lower body.

When he opened them, he was surprised to see a dirt path underneath him. As well as an orange coat that he was hanging onto. His leg now felt unmovable

‘Probably broken,’ he thought.

‘That’s a good guess, but it’s actually sprained.’ He groaned remembering that mental voice anywhere. He rolled off of Applejack’s back and landed awkwardly on the ground. He looked up expecting a protest from someone, but was surprised to not get one.

He heard a roar as loud as a gunshot. Turning, he saw the Manticore charging in their direction. Synth could only roll out of the way as the others ran in different directions, the Manticore barely missing Synth. It wasn’t until then that they noticed he was awake. “Synth! Get up we need to stop this thing.” Rainbow said cracking her knuckles. Synth frowned.

“I can’t get up, my leg’s broken.”

‘Actually, it’s sprained. Get your facts right.’ Now Synth was getting really tired of this guy.

“Well then get outta the way, before he goes for you.” Rainbow said completely inconsiderate to his situation. Synth started to crawl towards the rock wall where Pinkie and Rarity were standing. He made it and he saw Rarity with his suitcase. He was filled with relief as he remembered all of the seeds that were inside.

“Rarity, could you give me my suitcase? I could really use the contents right now…” Rarity seemed a little nervous, but she levitated it to him.

As soon as he caught it in his own aura, he could tell how light it actually was. “W-what happened to the rest of it?” He said when he opened it. The locks were already broken open and the hinges on it were barely holding together. The only thing inside was the flower that he didn’t feel like looking at right now. Even the Wildfire Lotus was gone. He’d have to get another later, but right now he was panicking that all of the seeds that could have helped him were missing.

“We found it lying in the grass, darling. Some animals were eating it all. That was the only thing those scavengers didn’t consume.” Synth was in shock. At the very least, he didn’t bring his notebooks. It would have devastated him if he lost one of those. But still, the only seeds he could rightfully call his own now, were the ones he planted before he left the house. Every single seed he had, he either earned or bought for his research. If his professor found out he lost them all in one day, she’d probably freak out.

Synth was brought back to reality when he heard Rainbow hit the wall after a failed charge at the Manticore. Synth couldn’t tell what was wrong with this Manticore, but it shouldn’t have gotten so close. The flower he had was still giving off its foul scent. He had an idea. Grabbing his flower with magic, he started to creep up on the Manticore that was now looking in the other direction. He took quick but silent steps. Something he was used to doing on grass. It wasn’t until he stepped back on the dirt path that his leg started to complain about the weight it had to lift.

Synth had to duck before the Manticore’s tail took his head off. It still didn’t notice him, but that tail was still dangerous. He managed to get close enough that he could jump on the Manticore’s back. He knew he wouldn’t be jumping for a while, so he settled with poking the Manticore. To the others, Synth appeared to be filling out his death wish. They were distracting him with useless charges and it wasn’t until Synth poked it, that they realized he was right behind it. “Synth! What are you doing?” Twilight yelled still angry that the Manticore was trying to stop them. Synth didn’t reply, he just waited for the Manticore to turn in his direction.

As soon as he saw the nose, he magically shoved the flower into it. The beast seemed to gag at first, and then anger filled its eyes as it lifted a hoof to attack. Synth wasn’t prepared for this. That flower smelled bad from far away, but close up it was entirely different. That should have had enough odors to take down a hydra. The others could do nothing as the beast hit Synth and he was sent flying a good mile.

Now, Fluttershy had to intervene as Twilight and the others started to get in a charging position.
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Synth’s head was hurting, for two reasons. He had landed on his head, and it didn’t feel any better than his leg, and also because the voice was back. ‘I don’t know what you were thinking…’

‘Well I was thinking that I’d make him pass out from the smell.’

‘Maybe you should have realized that he probably couldn’t smell it, and that’s why he attacked you guys anyway…’ Synth didn’t feel like arguing right now.

‘Well I wasn’t thinking very well. My mind was still on the seeds.’ Synth said.

‘Yeah, she’s gonna kill us when she finds out. You were better off facing the Manticore.’ Shade said.

‘Us?’ Synth asked.

‘Yeah, us. If you die, I’ll die too. That’s why I’m trying not to bring you to the point of suicide. That’ll be pretty bad for me if you went emo.’ Synth thought about this.

‘How about we reach an agreement?’ Shade seemed to be thinking about this. ‘What kind of agreement?’ Synth had him interested.

‘Well, what would it take for you to shut up once in a while?’

Shade laughed. ‘That’ll cost you your “friendship".'

Synth sighed. ‘How about if I take your “advice” every once in a while?’ Shade sounded intrigued

‘Well, then I guess I could give you some pointers on what you’re doing wrong.’ That what wasn’t what Synth wanted, but it’d have to do.

‘Okay then, when I do what you ask, you have to help me in a bad situation. Sound fair?’ Synth asked feeling like he was dealing with the devil.

“Yeah, that’s fair enough. And you know what? I’ll even stay as quiet as I can until this little fiasco is over. See you soon Synth…’ Synth audibly sighed. That’s what he wanted, to get on his good side. Why have another enemy when a friend is in hooves reach. Speaking of friends…

He could hear voices approaching. They were shouting his name. He could hear all but one of them. Fluttershy of course, she wouldn’t be able to scream that loud. He was waiting for them to come, and could feel them getting closer. He tried to answer them back, but at that time something appeared in front of him. It was a dark blue smoke. It confused Synth at first, but then he remembered seeing this when he started to slide down the Cliffside.

Now, it took a shape of a skull and crossbones as it drifted away further on down the path. Synth would have taken this as a warning or a threat, but he still wasn’t in the mood to think clearly. His mood changed though, when he caught sight of the six mares. They were walking down the path quickly, calling his name as they went. He was glad to see them, and was relieved that they weren’t hurt from the Manticore.

He tried to call out, but his voice was inaudible and raspy. It felt like his throat was made of sandpaper. He could see them glancing in every direction as they walked, and none of them spotted him. He lifted his hand so he’d be easier to see. Now, he saw them walking forward past where his body lay. He couldn’t believe his luck. The cloak on his back was covering most of the green coat. And with the weird coloring of the Forest, any part that wasn’t covered was disregarded as just a patch of grass.

He knew that he would need to hurry before a predator smelled him. The flower he tried to shove into the Manticore’s nose was now gone. He only hoped he had the strength to stand. He put his uninjured hoof on the ground and started to lift himself slowly. He managed to get on his feet, with the pain in his left hind hoof only lessened to a small degree. He could feel the sprain from the leg healing with every passing second.

Now though, he didn’t have a second to spare. He began limping in the direction the others were heading. He made it a good few feet before Pinkie turned around. “Hey girls, I found him! What do I win?” At this outburst, they looked around and didn’t even bother to check behind themselves. Synth was glad that at least one of them noticed him. Pinkie began hopping back towards him, somehow she was making forwards progress as she hopped happily and smiling, now knowing he was more or less okay.
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Rarity was watching all that was happening with a small amount of disgust. They were trying to fight a dirty Manticore, and that wasn’t getting them anywhere except covered in dirt and grass. When Synth tried to attack the Manticore, she realized the importance. Even Synth understood when not to fight. He was apparently trying to get the Manticore to breath in the flower’s scent. It wasn’t working and she watched in horror as the already injured colt went flying as he was hit hard. This brought a tinge of anger in her as she got in line with the others to charge the beast.

Just as they were fully committed to begin their assault, Fluttershy stopped them in time before they could get close enough. “Fluttershy? Didn’t you see what he just did to Synth? This brute needs to be taught a lesson.” Violence coming from Rarity was rare, but it was necessary in times like this. She realized when Synth tried his tactic that it’ll take getting out of your comfort zone to save others. She was ready to get a little dirty to get payback for Synth, just a little dirty though.

Fluttershy was shaking her head. “S-Synth would not have wanted you to be violent though. He knew that violence w-wasn’t needed.” Now she turned to the Manticore and speaking softly, calmed it enough to find the problem. The dark blue thorn in his paw was huge. The others stared in horror as the beast roared after she took it out. When they realized he no longer contained malicious intent, they calmed down. Rarity was still staring however, at the way Fluttershy’s mane was being licked like a lollipop. It would take hours to get it back to its normal heart shape.

When Rarity turned back to the others, she remembered something important. “Does anyone know where Synth went to?” They didn’t know how far he was thrown, or if he was even okay at this point. They got into a group formation so they could see both sides of the forest equally. They continued the path calling out his name. Keeping her eyes on any different colored patches of grass, she was facing the opposite direction that Synth was.

So, when Pinkie called out that she found him, she took her time turning and cringed at the sight. Synth had his mane like he just got out of bed, and then decided to take a mud bath. His eye was scarred now, and he also had minor bruises all over his torso. His leg seemed to be getting better, as he was now standing but even that looked like it strained him. She looked back the scar on his eye. It was weird; the scar went over his eyelids and zigzagged down a few inches, effectively splitting his face. It was still red with a small amount of blood coming out.

Synth was smiling though, and he appeared glad to see them. Rarity didn’t want to tell him how bad he looked. He probably felt worse than that already, she didn’t want to add insult to injury. But now, she realized the others were staring too. Of course, Rainbow spoke next.
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Synth was confused. They were just staring at him. Except Pinkie had her eyes closed and just stood there smiling. He was gonna ask what was wrong, but Rainbow finally spoke.

“Y…you look like shit!” She said before laughing at his expense. He stood there looking less confused and more annoyed.

“I’m glad you’re so amused, I feel like shit too.” He said only a little sarcastically, now glaring at the Cyan Pegasus. She stopped laughing and mumbled an apology. “So, what happened with the Manticore?” He asked now mildly amused by how Rainbow awkwardly apologized.
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Twilight decided that it’d be better if they told him on the way. They were on a time schedule now. Although the moon wouldn’t move to tell them how long they’ve been in the forest. “Let’s get going, we’ll tell you about it on the way. Think you can walk?” Twilight now realized that Synth wasn’t as broken as she first thought. He was standing, and looked like he suffered more flesh wounds than mortal wounds. His nod only answered her question as she turned to the others who have now stopped staring.

“Well let’s get going. We need to get those Elements.” Twilight said as she started walking a little faster than usual. It wasn’t until she heard a grunt that she turned to see Synth struggling with taking steps. She decided he couldn’t do this himself, even though he tried to keep a straight face. “Synth, why don’t you let Applejack carry you? We could get there a lot faster that way. I mean, Applejack said you didn’t weigh very much."
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Synth took a step and instantly regretted it. He stepped with his still healing foot, and it didn’t appreciate the force. He let out a grunt of pain, and then turned his face back into a smile so he wouldn’t worry the others. Only Fluttershy and Twilight noticed though, and he tried walking forward with three legs. Twilight though, didn’t buy it. She suggested he get on Applejack’s back again. Only now, did he realize that she must have carried him when he passed out. He blushed a little and tried to turn down the offer.

“N-No thanks, I’m good. I-I can walk just f-fine.” He said taking a step forward, careful not to let the injured hoof touch the ground. Twilight didn’t look convinced and now Applejack was looking him in the eye. “Sure yah can, Sugarcube. Just not right now, so come on get mah back.” Applejack sat down and waited for Synth to hobble over. Synth’s face went instantly red. They probably weren’t around enough colts to realize how bad this situation was looking, although refusing would lead them to wonder why.

Reluctantly, he went over and got on her back in an awkward position that Spike would sit on Twilight’s back like. It was uncomfortable, but it lowered his embarrassment enough for no one to notice his red face. Applejack was still ignorant of the situation as she stood and continued walking. “There, that’s better. Yer pretty light fer a colt, yah know that?” Synth was glad for the conversation, he didn’t want to feel awkward the entire walk.

“Well, I try to eat healthy when I can, and exercise daily which is usually just a walk here and there although, I never did get lost in Canterlot.” This was news to Twilight who found that Synth found a way to change every few minutes.

“What do you mean you never got lost? Did you get lost when you got here?” Synth remembered he never told her about the way he got lost and met all of these new ponies. He decided now was a good as time as any.

“Okay, I’ll tell you the full story, all of you,” he shifted on Applejack back to see all of them at once as they walked. “When I first got here, I went to buy a house. After I finished, Rainbow here, tackled me into this fruit stand.” At this he saw Rainbow chuckle under her breath. “After we had some conversation, I continued walking and was pulled aside by Rarity here.” Now Rarity was remembering how she pulled a complete stranger from the street to model for her.

“After she had me measured and suited, I left and found myself lost, not knowing where I came from and where I was going-“

“But silly, you came from Canterlot. You were going to your house weren’t you?” Pinkie interrupted and Synth was only slightly annoyed. He was also slightly amused; she acted a lot like the voice in his head.

‘You called?’ “No, I didn’t.” He saw all of them looking at him with confusion. He realized he must have said his response out loud, and smiled sheepishly. “I mean I did, but… It didn’t feel like a home to me.” He ended only lying a little.

This must have been enough for the others, as they turned back ahead and he sighed. “Well anyways, I decided to pick a direction and run. I forgot to look up, and I hit a tree. I met the other three there and they helped me get my head together. After that, little incident, I spent some time in my house and then Pinkie invited me to your party. I couldn’t find your house so I had to ask somepony to help me. You know the rest.”

Twilight was intrigued at this; she didn’t know he was this uncoordinated. The others were wondering how their meetings compared to when they met Twilight. Both of them were new, yet Synth seemed friendlier at the time although now Twilight seemed like the better friend. Some of them were about to ask where he went to after he disappeared at the party, but it suddenly became dark. They made good progress while they talked, and they found themselves in the forest.

Now, the trees started to close in on them. The lights went almost completely out. Synth found he couldn’t keep his balance anymore as Applejack started to panic, her body trying to go in different directions at once. Synth fell off and looked up. He was staring at the face of an evil looking tree. His eyes adjusted to the light and he noticed the others were all screaming at trees that looked pretty menacing. All except for Pinkie, who seemed to be holding back her laughter.

‘Hey Shade, you say you know the truth huh?’ ‘Yeah, that’s right, but let me tell you now that some truths will cost you more than you expected.’ ‘Yeah, yeah enough with the riddle bullshit. What would it take for you to tell me the story behind Pinkie’s laughter over there?’ Shade paused. ‘I’ll tell you the story and the song that goes with it, if you sing it with her…’ Synth felt confused. ‘Sing it? She’s gonna-‘‘I’d make your mind up fast, she’s gonna start any second now.’ Synth was too curious to decline. ‘Deal.’ As he said this word, he felt the knowledge enter his mind.

Pure fear, that’s all that Pinkie felt when she was a filly, all it took was a story and a song to cure her. Now, his ears could hear the song. It was simple enough, he thought. Limping up to Pinkie, he smiled to her. “Mind if I join in?” Pinkie smiled even bigger as she nodded. “Pinkie!? What are you doing? Run!” Synth heard Twilight yell from a good few feet away. “No, silly. Don’t you see?” Now Pinkie motioned for Synth and together they started to sing.

At first Synth was glad to know at least a little of Pinkie’s life, it helped him understand her a little more. Even if he still didn’t understand her. Now though, he realized that he never tried singing before. His voice had to adjust to the high pitched tone of Pinkie’s and he saw Rainbow and Rarity laughing even before they were. It embarrassed him, but he was one for keeping his word. Even if it was with himself, he wasn’t going back on his promise.

When they were all laughing now, Synth more out of nervousness than actual happiness, he saw the trees faces disappearing and moving back into the shadows. Having one final laugh at the last tree, he calmed himself down. He was actually enjoying himself more than he thought. ‘Guess you’re not a total asshole.’ He thought towards Shade. ‘Well, I had my own laughter at your expense. Besides, it’s not over yet. Now you have to explain…’ Synth’s eyes widened. He turned towards the others and noticed Twilight looking at him quizzically. ‘Shit’ he thought.

He pretended like he didn’t notice her look and tried to change topics before they could ask questions. “So, those trees don’t look so menacing anymore. Nature is just misunderstood most of the time.” His plan worked as Fluttershy joined in. “Y-Yes, sometimes you just…have to listen to it…and give it a chance.” Synth was glad she was happy. He didn’t know why, but it made him feel good inside to see her smile.

Pinkie jumped in, unable to withhold her enthusiasm. “Like when Fluttershy stopped that Manticore! She was so understanding, if she didn’t do that we could have really hurt that guy for no reason…” Now, she smile faltered for a second before she turned to Synth. “We didn’t tell you about that yet, did we?” Synth remembered that they always got distracted before they could tell him about it. “No, I guess not. How did that go anyway? Fluttershy stopped him?” They continued walking while Pinkie explained it in her viewpoint and with her, colorful, word choice.

“…and then he was like *lick* on Fluttershy’s head. Rarity looked like she was gonna throw up!” Pinkie finished it on that, and Synth was fascinated. “So, you can communicate with animals?” He said turning to Fluttershy who was still blushing from the recollection of the story. She nodded slowly and Synth felt some warmth grow in him. “That’s amazing; can you talk to them whenever you want to?” Fluttershy was at first confused at this question, but seeing his face now beaming with joy, she nodded.

“Wow that must be amazing…” Synth’s voice now being lost on himself as he realized he was turning into another Pinkie at this point. However, Twilight heard his last question and felt a little sorry for him… She remembered how he said that the plants never talked to him on a regular basis. Now, there was Fluttershy whose special talent was understanding animals. She decided that he needed his spirits raised, so she decided to put something on the table to make him feel better.

“Well Synth, you can talk to the plants. Isn’t that like the same thing?” Twilight hoped he would agree, but he did just the opposite. “No, it’s not the same. Animals live normal lives; plants only talk about…death…that’s all they revolve around. Even when they do talk to me, I’d rather ignore them than try to engage in conversation. The only exception was-” Synth stopped, realizing he was saying all of this out loud. He nervously coughed, and hung his head lower than normal.

“That’s…different…” Fluttershy said unable to believe Synth could talk to plants. She didn’t hear what he said in response to Twilight though, so she didn’t feel very awkward. Twilight was confused, he said that they talked to him on occasion, but she never thought that it was something he didn’t enjoy. Since it was his special talent and all, she thought he would enjoy it like Fluttershy enjoyed talking to her animals. She decided to not continue to bring him down. After all, he was happy just a few moments ago when he was…singing…with…Pinkie…- Did she just realize that?

“Um Synth, Not that it was bad, but why were you singing with Pinkie just a few minutes ago?” Twilight asked, completely unaware he flinched slightly at this. Synth wasn’t prepared for this, he thought he avoided the subject and put away any excuses he could have used. Now, he was caught off guard. ‘I hope you get a kick out of this Shade…’ “Well, you see…Those trees reminded me of my childhood. I had a similar run-in with fear before, and I thought that since Pinkie was the only one not scared, she would be the one to laugh off the situation.”

He thought this would be enough to get him out of this, but he was mistaken. “Okay, but why did you sing?” Synth was now at a loss for words. He opened his mouth and nothing came out. He stared blankly at Twilight, now noticeably uncomfortable. He only had one thing to say, and it wasn’t very believable. “Spur of the moment?” Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked one of the questions that I ask whenever I see musicals. “How did you know the lyrics?” She asked.

Synth was cornered there. The only way he did know those lyrics were because he asked Shade to tell him about Pinkie’s fear story. That came with the song, and he memorized the lyrics at the time, knowing he’d have to sing with Pinkie at the time. He had no way to explain the sudden knowledge to the others. They all stopped apparently wanting to hear his reasoning. He looked at all of their faces only finding confusion on five of theirs, but his eyes landed on Pinkie who winked at him. She stepped up and began talking. “I told him those lyrics before we started singing, you girls must have been too busy screaming to hear. I thought I could get him to get rid of his nervousness by letting him sing.” She said this so cheerfully and giggled as well. Synth found himself believing it too, although he knew it was an all out lie.

However, even Applejack didn’t notice the lie as Twilight reluctantly nodded her head. “Okay, well why didn’t you just tell us in the first place?” Pinkie stepped in again to save Synth. “Well duh, he’s still nervous and apparently that song didn’t help. Want to help me sing another one Synth?” At this all of them shook their heads. They had enough singing for one day. “That’s alright Pinkie, It’ll be all gone eventually…Let’s continue shall we?” he said grateful Pinkie saved him. If he had to pick a favorite of the six of these girls, he’d pick her.

Sure, she could be random at times, or all the time…but she did show emotion and sympathy that others didn’t have. Also, he found she never let anything get to her. ‘You know, she’s not as different from me as you think. Why don’t you like me?’ Synth took in a deep breath before responding in his head. ‘Because, you’re a sarcastic asshole who I only agree to talk to because you’re in my head.’ ‘Ouch, that hurt. But at least you admitted you liked her.’ Synth gritted his teeth. ‘I never agreed, she’s a good friend, but I’m not interested in things like that.’

‘Do you want to know the truth?’ Synth raised an eyebrow, what he said was the truth, wasn’t it? ‘Not now, your truths lead me to more harm than good. You almost got me caught back there.’ Shade chuckled. ‘It was a fair deal, wasn’t it? I held my end of the bargain, and so did you. If you want to make another deal, let me know and I’ll be glad to oblige.’ Synth felt like the conversation ended and he looked up instinctively to see a fast moving current in the way of the path.

The others were examining ways to get across, but Synth was getting a smile on his face. “This river…” Synth whispered, but Twilight heard him. “Yeah, it’s too dangerous to cross right now. We need to go around, why couldn’t they have built a bridge here?” Synth’s memory came back even clearer. He’d been here before when he was a filly…It was so long ago, but it felt like just yesterday…

He’d been on a expedition with his professor, she’d brought him along when he refused to be left behind while Oliver came. They came to Ponyville but never stayed long enough to look around. The professor took them into the forest taking every precaution she could to keep them safe. When they walked around the forest a long time, the professor injured her leg and trying to find the way out, she got lost.

She’d stumbled on this river, but at the time there was a bridge. When the professor stopped to drink, the Sea Serpent came out and noticed she was injured. He gave them some supplies and, with Oliver’s help, they managed to amateurishly bandage the professor’s wounds. The sea serpent protected them from predators that tried to attack them while she recovered. After that, he gave them directions to leave and they thanked him. They left without finding the plant they came to look for. They asked the serpent about it, but he didn’t know where they could find it.

Now his stomach had butterflies, if that Serpent was still there, he could thank it again. Without his help, he wouldn’t even be here. They would have perished a long time ago without him. He heard the water splash and a squeal that sounded vaguely familiar. Turning, he saw the Sea Serpent stretch out of the water. He had a look of horror and was holding his face. Sobbing loudly into his hands, he didn’t notice the ponies watching him curiously.

Rarity was the first to speak though. Synth didn’t hear what they were talking about. Rainbow made a comment and Rarity looked her direction. The water next to Synth drowned out anything they were saying. He wanted to get closer, but as he took a few steps closer, the water went over the edge and poured over him. His mane was long enough to cover his eyes, and he was blinded for a few moments as he tried to recollect himself.

When he got the mane out of his eye, Synth saw Rarity cut her tail and levitate it towards the Sea Serpent. He didn’t know what to be baffled by first, the amount of hair missing from the Sea Serpent, or the amount of hair missing from Rarity’s backside. When she attached it to his mustache though, he had to admit it looked a lot better.

Now, he walked over to the others as his mane stuck to his skin from the amount of water it absorbed. When he got within hearing distance, the Serpent was cheering from the change of appearance. Now, Synth realized that it was the Sea Serpent’s anguish from losing his mustache that caused the river to be chaotic. With the serpent calmed, the river was turning back to a peaceful stream.

Synth was glad the volume of the water was lessened, maybe now he could talk to the Serpent. He was walking closer to the others so the Sea Serpent would acknowledge him, but he bowed his head and made his back into curved pillars that allowed them to jump across instead of wade through. Synth was the last in line, and made it clear he wanted to speak to him. *Cough* “Um, hello Steven.” Synth referred him to the name that he told him to call him by a long time ago.

He heard a gasp. “I-Is that you…Synth? My, how you’ve grown!” Steven raised his head as he looked closely at the old friend. “It is you! What brings you here? Is Blossom okay?” Steven hadn’t seen him since so long ago, he wanted to catch up. Synth understood his excitement, he was just as excited as when he first saw him. “We are both doing well, I’ve come with these six to find the fabled Elements of Harmony. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them?” Steven was sad to say he hasn’t, but knew that if he was looking for the Elements, there was only one reason why.

“Nightmare Moon is free then, isn’t she?” When Synth didn’t reply he nodded. “I thought so, the river wasn’t feeling the same as it did before, all I can do is hope you luck then. But, after you stop her, can you find the time to return? It is quite boring without a companion here.” Synth nodded at this and began to jump across his back to reach the others. Half way, he heard Steven gasp. “Not you again, get away you pest!” He turned to see Steven trying to swat a dark blue cloud that whizzed past the serpent.
Ignoring the purple serpent, it headed towards Synth. Barely managing to jump off the back and into the water, Synth was filled with fear. That was the same blue cloud from his earlier encounters. ‘It must really not want me to continue.’ He thought as he waded through the water that was at his chin. ‘You must have made an enemy out of someone.’ Shade said. ‘You’re the only one Enemy I know right now.’ He thought bitterly. ‘Hey, that hurts. I’d like to think of you as an accomplice.’ Synth went into his bitter mode. ‘Well I did make a deal with the devil.’ ‘Point taken, just remember, you’re better off with more friends than enemies.’
Synth sighed. ‘Don’t tell me that counts as-‘‘Yes, it does. So for that “advice” I gave you. You have to show a little of your bad personality. I know just how to do it too…’
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Twilight finished jumping across and turned to see the others made it safely across. All except for Synth, who seemed to be talking to the Serpent. She was going to call out, but it seemed he finished and started to jump across. She winced as he landed on his injured foot a few times. He didn’t seem to notice however, and continued. When he was about halfway, she noticed he jumped off. What she didn’t notice however, was the blue smoke that went past right where he was standing. He fell into the water and began swimming towards them.

At least, she thought he was swimming. It looked more like he was walking across without letting the water get above his chin. ‘It looked like he couldn’t swim…’ she thought. Oh well, everyone has their faults. She turned to the others who apparently didn’t notice Synth’s leap of faith. They were talking about how Rarity gave up her tail. With Rainbow holding back a laugh, and the others frowning at her tail, Twilight couldn’t resist the urge to look at her tail again. That was a pretty generous thing to do…

“Oh, that water’s cold.” She turned to see Synth coming out of the water, his mane twice as large having absorbed a lot of the water. He firmly put his hooves on the ground and she recognized what he planned to do. “No, D-“She didn’t get to finish as he shook himself dry of the water. “-on’t.” She finished as she spit wet hair out of her mouth. Synth looked a little embarrassed at what he did, but Rarity still glared daggers at him.
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He just finished humiliating himself like Shade asked. At first, he thought that Shade let him off the hook for giving him a task as simple as this. Now he realized that because Shade knew most of everything, he knew how they’d react to his bad manners. Rarity looked like she was about to kill him. Rainbow Applejack looked like she’d let her, more out of annoyance than appearance. Rainbow was helping Fluttershy get the hair out of face. Pinkie had a smaller smile than normal and was shivering slightly. “Yup, it is cold.”

Twilight seemed the least disturbed by this. Truth was, she remembered doing the same thing to Rarity earlier that day. But it was still a shock to see it done by Synth. He mumbled an apology and lowered his head slightly. There was an awkward silence where all that they heard was Fluttershy spitting out hair and the water slowly moving as Steven appeared to have went back down the stream, probably to his home.

“So anyways, I think we should get going.” Twilight said as she noticed Fluttershy’s face now devoid of hair and looking a little sad. Applejack nodded and they started heading off. Synth waited until he was at the back of the group and then started to walk. He made his hoof steps match Fluttershy’s who was right in front of him. Trying to make it seem like he wasn’t there at all, he also matched Fluttershy’s breathing. Of course he learned how to do this in a book, but it took a while for him to get used to staying like that.

When Twilight noticed the castle ahead, she began to gallop forward. Synth noticed the bridge was completely gone. She was almost at the edge; she didn’t realize the bridge was missing. Synth tapped into his magic as he realized that Rainbow’s wings were still wet and couldn’t catch Twilight if she fell. He was too far to grab her telekinetically, as that would use more magic than he had. He resolved to use his growing spell again. And he also resolved to make a name for his special spells.
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Twilight was running towards the castle in the distance. She could see them now, the Elements that would save Equestria. She just had to cross the- Oh Sweet Celestia, It’s gone! She realized this too late as her momentum kept her going. She was about to go over the edge… Suddenly there was a yank and she stopped her lower momentum. Her upper momentum continued though, and her face hit the ground. She opened her eyes and there was a pain on her nose. She turned herself over to find the grass gripping tightly onto her back hindhooves.

Synth, he must have saved me…She thought after she saw her other friends catching up to her and pulling her away from the edge. “What’s up with you and falling off cliffs today?” She heard Rainbow say. “Nice catch, Synth.” When he didn’t respond, she turned towards him and found him on the floor where he cast the spell. Twilight felt a little guilty that he overworked himself for her benefit. As Applejack and Fluttershy went to go check on him, Twilight freed herself from the now loosely hanging grass around her hooves.

“He can do some pretty amazing magic though…” Twilight didn’t realize she whispered this until Rainbow got closer to her. “ If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like him…” Rainbow snickered as Twilight’s eyebrow rose.”Oh please, I’m not looking for anything like that. I don’t even think I can call him a friend, not to mention a…coltfriend. “He’s saved you twice now, darling.”You should at least thank him…” Rarity asked now openly frowning at her friend’s statement.

Twilight just shook her head. ‘Need to stay on task.’ She thought as she stood up. “Anyways, how are we supposed to get across this?” Twilight asked as she turned to the bridge. Rainbow giggled, I’ve got an idea…
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‘See what happened? You just passed out again to save a friend. They are worthless, leave them before they get you killed.’ ‘Shut up, you wouldn’t understand. I can heal pretty quickly. I mean look, my leg already feels fine. I’ll get my magic back to full power in no time.’ Shade sighed. They were back in the room that Synth first saw Shade. ‘Did you forget? I healed you so we could talk in peace. But, I think that it’s about time I give the injuries back to you. Don’t want you to wake up completely healed…’ Synth heard this but before he could question it, Shade’s hoof was sent towards his leg.

He wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge. He closed his eyes and waited for impact. It never came. Water splashed him awake and he sat up, feeling completely recovered. “A little revenge never hurt anyone…” he heard Rainbow’s voice and he turned his wet face to Rainbow who just finished drying herself off. Synth got the brunt of the water as she squeezed her wings above his face. He was pushed back onto his back by Rarity who had a demonic look on her.

‘Karma’s a bitch, huh?’ He heard Shade say as the second wing dropped another bucket load of water on his face. “Just had to get it out of my system…” Rainbow said before Rarity let go of him and she flew off to the bridge. “Sorry about that, darling. You were just simply rude back there. Not like the gentlecolt I took you to be. I thought this might…clean up…your attitude.” Synth groaned. He had enough of bad puns while Shade was around, he didn’t need any more.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Rarity now had a menacing look on her face as Synth grew uncomfortable. “Uh, I said good one…Miss Rarity…” She smiled. “Why thank you, I thought you said that.” Now Synth turned to the others who were looking at the bridge that was now fully stable. He saw Rainbow Dash appear and, in an egotistic way, say, “I never leave my friends hanging.” Then one by one, they crossed the bridge. Synth was last, and as he made it about halfway, he noticed a dark blue smoke heading his direction.

Now he didn’t have anywhere to go. He thought about jumping, but decided he was better off facing it head on. He turned towards the smoke and smiled. “Come at me, bro.” It came at him all right. It felt like a train took him away. At first he thought he was thrown over the bridge railing, but soon found his vision returning to normal. His balance was another story as he was wobbling in place. He could see that Pinkie turned around after hearing his challenge and helped him to keep his balance so he wouldn’t fall.

Slowly, they reached the end of the bridge and Synth found himself back to normal. His head hurt now, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t handle. The others apparently thought he was scared of heights. “Synth you need to lie down, you didn’t look very good over there.” This was Twilight. “Just rest here on the wall, we’ll get the Elements then we can go back.” They laid him on the inside wall as Twilight walked over to the Elements.

Synth looked around from his sitting position. This place… This is the place where Shade talks to him in person… The others walked outside as Twilight lay down to concentrate. He noticed that there were five Elements, not six. When Twilight started doing her magic, he noticed the dark blue smoke was now next to her.

He got up and walked as fast as he could without disturbing her thoughts. He didn’t want to stop her in case she was making a break through. Now it was forming a tornado, taking the Elements with it. He was running now, as he called out Twilight’s name and ran towards them. She opened her eyes and realizing what was happening, jumped into the tornado. She didn’t want to lose her only chance to stop Nightmare Moon.

Synth saw her jump in and, hearing the cries of the others behind him, followed suit. When he did jump in though, he could hear evil laughter in his head.
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Her head hurt. She’d jumped through not wanting to be stripped of what she worked hard to get. She looked to her left and noticed Synth was also there, recovering from a head first plunge into the concrete floor. “Synth, where are the Elements? What happened?” She didn’t get a response; instead she looked up to see a Shadow move to stand atop of six spheres. The shape looked vaguely familiar as he disappeared as fast as he appeared.

She realized the spheres were the Elements and she reached out her hoof to touch them. Just before she could make contact, she was hit in the side of the face. “Not so fast, Twilight Sparkle…” Twilight’s eyes widened. That voice. It was Synth’s, but it had a malicious intent behind it. She got up and turned to him. His silhouette was standing with an evil posture, head tilted slightly obviously smiling. She couldn’t believe it, this wasn’t Synth… She heard a cough and turned to see him still on the floor, starting to get up now.

This…didn’t make any sense… He looked like Synth but… Now she realized something. That wasn’t a silhouette; it was his natural coat color. Behind him, she could see a white cloak similar to the black one that Synth wore. He now smiled showing his teeth, they were all pointed. She recoiled at this and he laughed.” I’m finally free… Now to show this asshole what it means to break a ‘friendship’.” He said this last word letting his sarcasm enter it.

He started to walk up to Twilight, murderous intent on every step. Lifting his hoof, he stopped five feet away from her. “Ever heard of speed magic?” Her eyes widened. He disappeared and reappeared in front of her in an instant. Hoof now right in front of her face. “I’m gonna enjoy this…” She tried to move, but he made contact before she could lift her hoof. She was sent crashing into the wall. Her senses filled with pain. “Before I kill you, let me tell you something. Synth there, he calls me Shade. And that’s because the truth is always covered up. SO IT’S ALWAYS DARK!” He picked her up in his magic and threw her to the other side of the room.
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Synth could hear voices, but the room was still spinning. Now, he heard a shout and looked up to see his nightmare. Shade was holding Twilight in his magic. He threw her and Synth felt his rage build up. “SHADE, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Shade turned to him surprised at his outburst. He soon composed himself as he tilted his head in his direction. “I threw Twilight, I’m sure you could see that.” Synth’s rage just got worse as he ran towards Shade. Shade dodged his punches as they came. “Blind rage, it’s easily avoidable.” Shade said as Synth tired and finished his punches. Synth understood the second meaning to that and tried to calm himself.

“Shade… How are you…out here?” Shade shrugged.” Ask her.” Now, Synth turned to see Nightmare Moon standing above Twilight. Apparently smiling at the work Shade did. “Well stop it… You’re a part of me, so you have to listen to what I say…” Synth knew this was a long shot, but he didn’t have another plan. Shade grew furious. “Not anymore, she freed me and Now I do what she says. That includes to wipe out your ‘friends’.”

“Well then, you’ll have to get through me first…” Synth knew he couldn’t stop him, but it would give the others time to come help Twilight. Shade chuckled,” I’m gonna have fun with this after all…” His horn glowed a dark purple. Suddenly the ground changed from concrete to grass. A sphere surrounded them both and then expanded to make a large battlefield. Where the sphere’s edges ended, the grass bordered concrete.

“Let’s do this in our own Element, shall we?” Shade said with an evil look in his eye. When things stopped changing, Shade got into a fighting pose and smiled. “Come at me, bro.”
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Twilight’s head was throbbing. She lifted herself up and looked into the eyes of Nightmare Moon. She screamed and backed away. Nightmare Moon frowned a little. “He didn’t finish the job…Oh well, if you want something done, do it yourself…” She stomped her hooves where Twilight once was and was surprised to see she wasn’t there anymore.

Turning she found her running towards the Elements, still stacked where Shade put them to have a grand entrance. Twilight was almost there, but Nightmare Moon was faster. She turned into her smoke form and flew in front of her. Twilight was feeling like she was at a loss. Not only was there someone very strong that looked like Synth, but she was supposed to beat Nightmare Moon too? Backing away, she turned to see Synth had taken a one v one with Shade.

He was losing badly though, as he was flung from wall barrier to wall barrier. She would have to hold her own until the others came. Together they would be able to distract Nightmare Moon long enough to get all six Elements. So, for now she just stood her ground and fired rapid weak magical bursts at Nightmare Moon to waste time.
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Synth couldn’t believe it. He was getting his ass handed to him. The punches didn’t stop and his eyes no longer kept up with Shade. He just started putting a defensive stance up, when he was hit from behind on the back of his left hind hoof. He crumbled to the ground and used his magic to encase his body to avoid any further beatings.

Shade was at an advantage here, he was faster, stronger, and a complete asshole. Synth could hear his comments coming from all around him as the voice played with his sanity. Now that he got a rest from the torment, he composed himself so he wouldn’t be easily beaten again. His back and hooves were on fire from the abuse, but his head was okay thankfully. He could do this if he didn’t give up. Removing the grass from above him, he saw Shade standing there with an evil look on his face.

“Are you ready to take this seriously?” Shade said. Synth nodded and prepared his magic. Shade took a step to the right as single blade of grass pointed straight up and stabbed the air. “Hm, didn’t think you had it in you to kill. That’ll make it even better when I take control…” Synth could only guess at what he meant. “So, you aren’t a fully materialized being yet? I guess as long as I’m still here you can’t have a mind of your own…”

Shade’s smile increased in size and viciousness. “Bingo, and just so you know…” Now Synth jumped out of the way as Grass Blades sprung up and sliced the air that he was standing in “…I can do that too…” Synth was surprised but not confused at this. Of course he could, they were the same person. Synth lowered his head ready for another attack. This time though, Shade walked quickly up to Synth and started to throw weak punches that Synth could easily dodge and block.

“I thought that while we had our little brawl, I could inform you of something you might want to know…” Synth was so surprised to hear him say that, he didn’t block the next punch that hit him in the gut. “You know, you really are pathetic. I don’t even know why I bother.” As Synth was recovering from the soft blow, he took a really hard hit across the jaw and was flung into the magic barrier. He was going to ask out loud his confusion but Shade didn’t stop there.

The grass grew around his hooves and lifted him from the floor. Shade got right into his face as he spoke again. “You made yourself look bad, and that made me look bad too.” Then the grass flung him into the other side of the barrier. Synth was wondering exactly how tough this barrier was if it could withstand almost as much abuse as he was taking. “You know, I didn’t expect you to make that deal with me, and I sure as hell didn’t expect you to bring me up on the offer so soon.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Synth said as his eyes flicked to Twilight before glaring at the black colt. Shade knew what he was worried about but sighed. “I thought you’d have more faith in me, Synth. This magic barrier here is also sound proof. I don’t want them to hear your screams and think you need help. That’ll make them get too close.” Shade grinned as he thought of what would happen. Synth was just confused. “What do you mean too close?”

Shade appeared in front of him again and started his slow punches again. “Well, the inside might be soundproof, but the outside is layered in something completely different… It’ll be a shock when they find out…” Synth registered what he said and what the joke implied. “It won’t kill them right?” Synth found himself regretting those words as they came out. “Let’s hope we don’t find out, it would be a shame to lose a toy before you get a chance to play with it…”

Synth was at a loss for words, Shade thought of this as a game and his smile was only widening before it started to look like he was born like that. He blocked the black colt’s punch and retaliated before he could start another one. His horn was inches away from Shade as he performed a magic blast. It wasn’t something he’d done frequently, and he knew he could barely cast it without completely draining himself. As the charge shot forward, Shade was hit full blast by it and was sent against the barrier. Synth found triumph filling his face. He turned to see that the other five were also arriving, in shock at what they were witnessing.
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Twilight was now dodging as blast after blast was sent toward her. They were a lot faster than her shots, and seemed to incinerate everything they hit. She could barely dodge them, let alone shoot some back. Nightmare Moon seemed to be toying with her as she stopped to charge up her magic for a bigger shot. Twilight found the opportunity to regain her footing and get a shield ready. She cast it just as the shot ricocheted off and flew towards the doorway behind Nightmare Moon.

Now, she saw the other five as they filed in the doorway. The charged shot whizzed past Fluttershy and she shrieked after almost being killed. The others looked towards Synth and then turned to Twilight seeing that Synth was in a weird magic bubble and apparently not in any danger. Twilight sighed thinking Synth was able to take down Shade somehow. She turned before she could see the black blob shoot from the ground and tackle down the standing green figure.

She saw three of the five run up to her side as Nightmare Moon resumed her barrage of shots. Now, she looked slightly worried at the group approaching her. Twilight saw after dodging another shot, that Nightmare Moon looked towards where Synth was fighting and a smile appeared on her face before disappearing and returning to a scowl as she moved her focus back on the four in front of her. “Need any help here Twilight?” She turned to see Applejack by her side in a fighting stance.

“We can take this big Meany, just count on us!” Pinkie said before jumping and landing in a pouncing position. Now Twilight turned behind her and saw Rainbow cracking her hoofs. “I’m gonna give her a piece of my mind.” Rainbow said flapping her wings and getting into a position to bombdive towards the tall alicorn. “Thanks, I’ll need all the help I can get.” Twilight now turned towards the cause of their problems and saw Nightmare Moon noticeably smiling.

“You fools think you can beat me? The night is where I am at my strongest, and now that will be forever!” She said before turning into blue smoke and reappearing behind them to stomp her hooves and cause the ground to quake.
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Synth was too distracted by two of the approaching mares that he didn’t notice Shade get up and bolt towards him lightning fast. He was hit and was forced towards the barrier, his face now forming an otherwise hilarious cartoon scene. His eyes were still open though, and he noticed the two approaching mares now galloping towards him. “You know, I’m glad Nightmare Moon gave me this opportunity. It’ll be fun watching you beg for mercy… Now Shade also turned towards the approaching pair. They would reach the barrier in no time. He could hear Shade’s laughter clearly as it boomed near his ear and then echoed off of the walls.

“You know full well what’s about to happen, I don’t think that killing off two of them would spoil too much of the fun. I won’t try to stop them; I would have killed them anyway…” Now Synth felt his anger boil. Shade was sounding really cocky now… “Not if I have something to say about it…” “You won’t, unless you accept a little…deal…of mine…” Synth was confused. “What kind of deal?” He was too worried about Fluttershy and Rarity to wonder what he would want.

“In return for saving your friends, I want to borrow that body of yours for exactly five minutes…” Synth only grew more confused as he heard the question. He didn’t know what intent he had, but the two were almost at the barrier. He made a decision. “Deal.” Synth sighed as Shade’s laugh engulfed him and the world turned black. This probably wasn’t the best move he’d made, but it couldn’t be that bad, could it?
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Rarity could see Synth as she trotted over to him. He looked like he was the only one in the slightly transparent green barrier. From her view, it looked like Synth tripped and went face first into the barrier. She started to go faster as Fluttershy gasped. “T-there’s something else in there, I saw it when he fell. It looked…evil.” Rarity was now galloping as she noticed Synth’s eyes widen when seeing them. She started to go faster as grass started to engulf the barrier and everything inside.

She saw the grass suddenly turn black and implode on itself and stopped around a single pony outline. It was on the floor, but now it stood and the grass rotted away that was on his body. The color of the figure became clear. It was light green with black stripes and markings all over his back. The figure stood and laughed his voice ringing clear to all those present.

“Let’s get started shall we?” He raised his horn and the floor changed, looking like the Everfree Forest spread to the inside of the building. Now, he had the attention of everyone, including Nightmare Moon. “First, to disconnect my ties with my previous owner…” Flowers reached out and grabbed Nightmare Moon’s hooves, rooting her in place. “What? You cannot do this! I control you!” Now the flower’s petals covered her mouth and she seemed to be succumbing to the fumes of the flower.

“Now while I wait for the poison to kick in, how about I toy with you six?” He turned to the group now huddling together in fear of what was happening. “W-where’s Synth?” Rainbow said almost losing her confidence. “He is but my pawn now, and I hope to keep it that way…” Now he growled and the group was individually picked up by grass as they grew to unbelievable heights. “Let’s see who will break last; they will die the least painful…” He put a hoof up for emphasis and then stomped the ground to command all of the grass at once.

The grass didn’t hesitate as it sliced and grazed them all. Fluttershy being the first to cry and Rarity next, after her mane was shortened to the unicorn’s dismay. After that, Pinkie was soon bawling and then it was down to three. Whenever one would cry, he’d stop the torture and begin to cover up the wounds, not so much heal them. It was still painful, but the black and green colt was enjoying every second of it.

That is, until time continued for a little longer than expected. Rainbow and Applejack now broke and soon after, Twilight. He decided to finish this. His magic sent six sharpened blades of grass towards each of them. They went off course and only barely missed them. His vision was starting to blur. He cursed himself for not finishing faster, the restrains on them were weakening and a voice in his head was slowly getting clearer. “Time’s up. A deal’s…a deal.” He screamed as his head back flipped. Not wanting to let this side win, he lost focus on the others.
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Synth was watching. Everything that took place, it was happening in front of him. It soon came clear to him Shade’s intention. He was twice as strong when he had Synth’s power too. That scared him. He knew it would be any moment now before he decided to finish them. But, he also that Shade only had five minutes to do it. Ever since he’d fused bodies, the green colt had been counting. Shade only had ten seconds left as Twilight finally gave in. He was surprised to see her last longer than the others, but saw the condition her body was in.

Five seconds… Magic was used and the grass was made lethal. Synth was counting down, four…three… Almost there… two… this would be close… one. Synth cast his magic at this point. It was now or never, and he must have used it at exactly the right moment because they went off course. He tried to take control after this, but Shade wasn’t having it.

Shade collapsed where he stood and managed to use his magic to bring Nightmare Moon’s now barely conscious body in front of him. Synth could still see though, and he caught sight of Twilight telling the others something. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he saw what looked like crystal shards floating around them. Twilight turned back towards Shade and Synth was shocked to see Twilight yell. “Give…us…back… Synth!” There was a white glow as Shade stumbled behind Nightmare Moon using her as a shield.

Synth knew Nightmare Moon would take most of the blow, but Shade would also take quite a hit. Shade was on his last legs, and this would let Synth take control again. “This isn’t over, I’m going to come back…but next time it’ll be for good.” With that, Synth felt the warm energy go through him. He passed out from exhaustion after that.
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The light was bright, but it was inviting… Synth opened his eyes wider. Light wasn’t common, In the Everfree Forest. He looked up to see six figures standing to face the source of the light. It was none other than the Princess herself. Synth was stunned at the sight in front of him. The princess was smiling at them each in turn, her gaze stopped on him as he tried to move. His body refused to be commanded. The pain he felt was intense and when she spoke, he couldn’t hear what she said. Everything was unbelievably quiet, except for a small voice in his head.

‘She’s asking for your name…’ Synth’s heart dropped as he recognized Shade’s thoughts. He did manage however to pay attention to what was going on, even though he could barely make out any sounds. Twilight apparently spoke out as they all turned to her and then Synth quickly. He didn’t know what to do, but Shade wasn’t going to be ignored in a time like this. ‘They don’t know your condition; maybe you should inform them before they find your silence to be rude…’ Now Synth found a good idea from Shade.

“I can’t hear anything…” He said this like he would normally because they started inching closer like he whispered it. ‘Honestly, that was like Fluttershy right there, you should pull yourself together before you wake up next time…’ Synth wasn’t as annoyed by his words as he would have been before, mostly because it had some advice in it too.

Now he spoke louder, clearing his voice before he said anything. “I can’t hear anything…” The looks on their faces confirmed his suspicions. He almost yelled his words out and they all recoiled in surprise. He knew that he should have tried so hard, but he needed to inform them of his situations. ‘Wow, that’s a lot better. Fluttershy could learn a thing or two from you…’ Synth ignored this and watched what they were about to say.

They all recovered from the near scream and started to talk to each other, every now and then looking his direction as faces went from fear to happy and then back to fear. Shade snickered, ‘I’ll tell you what they’re saying. It’s the least I can do…’ Synth could almost feel a tinge of sadness in his tone. ‘They’re retelling the stories of how they met you, and what you did for them… Now they’re talking about…me…’ Shade went quite as he saw the Princess’ face morph into…a smile?

Synth’s hearing was slowly recovering now. He could hear murmurs and voices, just not what they were saying. Shade continued, ‘they’re talking about Nightmare Moon now… and the Elements…’ Once again Shade went silent as they continued. They were now showing the Princess the necklaces they now wore. Synth flinched as the Princess apparently asked about the necklace Synth wore. Rarity shook her head and looked like she was explaining it. The Princess turned towards Synth and motioned for him to come closer. Synth tried to stand as the pain returned to his body, he fell back to the floor in a loud scream of pain.

This was the point his body began to recover at its usual rate. The Princess walked up to him clear sadness in her eyes. He could barely make out what she said but it hurt him all the same. “Just making sure…” Now her horn glowed and Synth’s body began to quickly recover. His hearing was fully returned as well. ‘You heard that, I don’t think you need me to tell you what she meant…’ Synth avoided the Princess’ eyes as he stood up now completely healed.

“Th-Thank you…” Synth bowed out of respect and her face changed. She was now smiling, and spoke with a calm gentleness in her voice. “Do not thank me; it was your friends who saved you both.” Synth turned and looked at the others now smiling and it was a few seconds before the words hit him. “Both?” Synth said surprised. “Yes, the magic of friendship has saved two today, isn’t that right Luna?” Now they all turned towards where Nightmare Moon and Shade were hit by the beam.

There now stood a short alicorn, looking over all of them and was ready to cry. The Princess walked over and put her wings around her. “It’s alright little sister, I do not blame you. It was the darkness that corrupted you. But now it’s gone…” Luna slightly flinched, but it seemed only Synth could see it from his angle. She cried into her sister’s wings as Celestia allowed her to return to the throne.
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While the others prepared to leave for the party Pinkie had planned at Ponyville, Luna approached Synth. He could see something in her eyes, but it faded after she started talking. “We know what thee went through…” Her voice was calm like Celestia’s but he still saw the sadness she felt when she said it all the same. “We put thee through hell, and we know thee can never forgive us… but we also know that…” She looked over her shoulder and then turned back seeing the coast was clear. Whispering, she continued, “Thou still contain some…residue…of that hell… Why? Why not tell the others and let them dispose of it?” She was pleading for an answer now, and Synth was going to give her one.

“Because… because I know that darkness can be destroyed…but it’ll just come back.” Synth didn’t even realize he was saying this but it just came tumbling out. “To truly destroy darkness, you need to overcome it yourself…” Luna gasped and her eyes were starting to water. “Then… in exchange for giving thee that darkness, allow us to help thee in thy quest… please…” Synth found himself nodding before the waterworks could infect him.

Luna dried her eyes and started to walk away. “We will call for thee in the near future, until then... say hello to Shade for us…” Synth smiled as she turned away. ‘We are a lot alike…’ Synth thought as he followed the others to head back to town. ‘More than you can imagine…’ Shade said making Synth feel confused until he remembered something. ‘Oh Shade, Luna says hi.’ Shade made a sighing sound. ‘Idiot…”

Author's Notes:

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