Sanctified Absence

Shadow, perceptive and cautious as ever easily noticed the dimming in the light long before it turned entirely black. His initial thought was to lighten up the area with his horn, but to no affect. He tried again and again, getting slightly desperate in his attempts before calming himself. He knew there was nothing to be done, but the real question was why there was no light. How can this be possible? I know my magic was working, such a simple spell would be impossible to fail! He thought to himself, completely forgetting the other pony with him. Despite it already being pitch black, the Unicorn still felt it was necessary to shut his eyes in order to help his thinking processes. It's dark, that's for sure, so the lights have gone out? He shook his head, That would make sense, if it weren't for my Horn's inability to light up the place, His thoughts began to grow more and more dire So someone or something has stopped my magic working? I know for a fact I wouldn't have just failed a simple light spell. He placed his hoof upon a nearby wall, he was now completely out of reality and entirely within a state of consideration. That would make sense, assuming... In an attempt to either prove or disprove his hypothesis, Shadow lifted his own hoof with Telekinesis, it worked. So nothing is stopping my magic! Which means... He almost hit himself for not thinking of it before, he had been studying these particular spells for years now after all, although has never seen let alone used a spell of this kind as powerful as this. His eyes opened, out of natural instinct he readied himself for whatever was to come, his final thought slipping into the physical world with him. "Shadow magic."

"I thought we'd lost you," Shadow called over to where the noise had come from. He was currently uninterested in the Pegasus however, he needed to keep his mind to the task at hand. Well, time to see if I stabilized this correctly or not, he went straight for it, without any hesitation the helmet was properly fitted on. He begun to cast a simple light spell, no change in the helmet, good. It's not ready for the real test, but I guess it'll have to do. He took up his position beside Lunar, it was time to see how good of a bodyguard he really was.

Shadow opened his eyes at the sound of Luna's voice, he had finally gotten some sleep after all this time. "Finally," he grinned to himself as he grabbed his armour, including his now stabilized (but not finished) helmet and his sword. Watching it glow with his magic as he smiled like a maniac into it's reflection. "I suggest we move Lunar... Now." Despite his normally serious attitude, it was easy to feel he was in an even less "friendly," mood.

It was time to return to Lunar, he had what he needed. "Perhaps this time I won't be disturbed," he thought aloud, before trotting off to find Lunar, guided by his magical sense. On the way he payed closer inspection to his helmet, "What am I going to do with you?" He sighed as he approached the door to the room in which Lunar was residing.

Shadow nearly jumped at the notice of Steel behind him. "Hold your horses," he laughed as he began playing with his knife. "Might want to put those away." Ugh... Why did he have to notice?... Shadow picked up his helmet and began staring into it, more specifically into the vortex shaped rune carved on the forehead.

Shadow, still skirting through the book, retrieved his half-finished helmet, before heading off to find Lunar. It was much easier to find her now that he was more used to her aura, and Alicorns have a very strong aura. This is going to take forever... He sighed, placing the book within the case where he helmet was, while simultaneously removing the piece of armour. He followed Lunar's signal, before hearing the shouting coming from Aiko on the way. A wicked thought went through his mind, one that may have defied morality. Such anger... Such emotion. He drew his ritual knife and focused his attention to the helmet. I hope they don't mind if I... Borrow some of that excess rage. He thought to himself as he carefully approached the argument, trying his best not to be seen, or at least trying not to act suspiciously.

Almost instantly Shadow had the book within his grasp. He had a duty to Lunar, and was forced to follow her, that didn't mean he couldn't read it along the way did it? Like I said, nothing but primitive magic... Still Shadow read on, hoping to find at least something he didn't already know.

"I've spend the greater portion of my life on learning on Magic and the Occult, although the latter was restricted by Celestia's law... I had to do most of it myself." He was itching to get his hands on that book, it may have contained nothing, but even so... "Looks like Lunar is angry with you Stormwing..." Shadow pointed out as he heard the Alicorn shout, although secretly he was chuckling to himself in his head. "Perhaps you should go and see her."

"Hmph," Shadow came up to find Stormwing, taking note of the book. "Primitive Magic," he assured the stallion, "Why the sudden interest?" Secretly he was more interested in the book Stormwing was reading rather than the pony himself, despite it's "primitive," nature, it was still knowledge... The one true thing that irritated Shadow was knowledge he had not grasped yet.

It seems as though most of the posts in the Thread have been corrupted and were removed when the server was Re-booted.

Shadow drifted out of his half-consciousness. He learned many years ago that one could stave of fatigue for a day or two if they put themselves in a half-trance using meditation. "Hmm?" He looked around the room, to find Lunar had left, recently. The stallion walked out of the chamber, searching for any sign of where his charge might be. After some short while of looking, Shadow heard noises coming from what appeared to be a library, he poked his head through the door and took a look around. The good news was Lunar was in there, giving himself a small sigh of relief he looked around, there were books of many kinds scattered everywhere, Looks like someone's been doing some heavy duty reading. Picking up one of the books with his magic, a wave of memories flew through Shadow, it was not too long ago since this was his habitat, reading from dusk 'till dawn. "Whoever was in here sure had an... Interesting taste in books." He gestured towards the stacks of them while calling to Lunar. Some of these books are ancient... Nothing of any real interest but still. He thought to himself as he cycled through the various tomes, books, whatever he could find, often carrying and cycling through more than ten at a time with his magic.

"Sounds like our princess is angry," Shadow chuckled to himself, powering up his horn. With a small amount of energy, but no little measure of concentration, the black stallion used his proficiency with manipulating the dark and sank into the shadows, effectively dissapearing from sight. Now he had time "alone," he began to inspect the rune he accidentally burned onto the base of his hoof earlier, strangely the pain was still there, although at a much lower level than before.

OOC - Terribly sorry, it's been a busy few days, I'll try to post more often from now on. Shadow took notice of Blacklight's request, before cautiously examining every crack, every fine point of the Mountain's interior. "There is something wrong with this place," he sighed, "it's a chore just to keep track of what's where." He tried once again to get a sense of his surroundings, this time with magic instead of his own senses, he was met with similar results, only he realized something he had not before. "This place not only filled with Chaos, but plays hosts to other dark things, fear, jealousy... What is this place?"

OOC - Very sorry, been a busy few days, I'll try and post mroe often from now on. "Huh, you certainly are popular Lunar," Shadow decided it was time to speak, following Lunar back to her room. "I must admit, I've never cared for making friends, more interested in how the world works rather than the things in it." He thought back to the helmet he left in his room, deciding it would be best to retrieve it tomorrow, it's not like anyone knew it was there... Yet.

Shadow sighed to himself, it's always difficult for a Unicorn to follow a flying Alicorn after all. "Sithes Dra," he let out a small, slightly uncalled for phrase before using his magic to levitate himself up besides Lunar, noticing yet another pony he hadn't met before, one Lunar referred to as "Aiko." He didn't trust this one, it was turning out to be another Stormwing situation all over again.

Regardless of whether she approved or not, it was Shadow's duty as Lunar's bodyguard and have her in his sight at all times. He would carry himself with cold confidence when in public, more so when he was guarding his charge, caring little for Domino or any pony who would waste his time with questions.

Just realized, but to be honest Shadow would be too focused to care.

Giving a quick nod to Stormwing, Shadow left the room and took up his position outside the door. He made sure not to leave his post this time, everything depended on it. "I guess you're not so bad," Stormwing's comment flew through his head... He chuckled to himself, a wicked grin across his face.

"I never bothered with teleportation," Shadow replied, scanning the area with pin point precision. "But..." He thought aloud "I think I could get you up there." He began to muster his inner control, and with no real amount of effort, lifted Blacklight up to the entrance with his magic. Let's hope we find the ponies before he... Or anypony else finds us. He reached up with his hoof, seeing if he can get high enough for Blacklight to grab him.

(Terribly sorry for my absence, let's just say by this time Shadow has reached Lunar's room) The black stallion opened the door to find that all was not as dire as he had imagined. "I thought something had happened to you," he sighed, holding his head up as he took a few deep breaths. Still, that didn't explain what he felt earlier, "What happened?" He asked, "I thought I could feel Lunar's aura again, only... Darker."

Looking around, Shadow saw an entrance to the mountain. "Alright, there's a small entrance ove-" He looked back, only to find the entrance wasn't there anymore. What is this place? The air is filled with Chaos, more so that I thought possible, which means... Shadow tried to come up with explanation, one that didn't involve his fear. After but a few seconds of thinking, he realized there was no point in denying it. A look of half fear half doubt in his eyes he turned to Blacklight, "Are you sure you want to go in?"

As he approached the mountain, Shadow could feel a whole host of terrible things. This place was filled with chaos, fear, shadow and a whole assortment of other things, as if everything bad in the world was collecting about this mountain. "There's something in here," he whispered "and whatever it is, it's powerful, very powerful." Using his knowledge in slightly darker magic, Shadow cloaked his aura to take on a slightly more sinister feel, as though to mirror that of the mountain itself, this might reveal his location to the more skilled, but would conceal his aura from anyone else.

Shadow inspected the supposed guard closely. "Negative aura?" He chuckled to himself "First thing you should know about me, my aura is anything but positive, at any time." Something didn't feel right though, as if somewhere something was wrong. Lunar! He thought to himself as he sheathed his sword and dashed down the hallway, pushing past Domino as he went.

"Order of the guard?" Shadow questioned the other pony. Does this one even know who I am? Shadow decided it would not be for the best to simply go for a kill, he might be one of the guards, then again he might be an impostor. "Such an... Inefficient weapon you have there, not fit for a guard to a castle such as this now is it?" Calling upon a little bit of magic, Shadow prepared himself for whatever was to come next.