Shadowborn

[Talemage 47]

I wrote this a while back, and I'm not going to change any part of it now that I finished it. It was a simple story to keep myself occupied. Call it a one-shot, if you want to, if that's what it's actually called.

 

The reason I chose "Shadowborn" as the title is because i have nothing else to call it, and it's part of the ending. More notes at the end.

 

Any comments, feedback and possibly your thoughts about what you expected to happen would be great.

 

 

 

 

 

“This isn't Canterlot,” Twilight said as she looked around. The others looked around and nodded. They were in a forest, but it looked nothing like the Everfree Forest or any other place in Equestria. Rainbow Dash flew up and shouted, “This doesn't look like any place I've ever been to,” and went back down. Rarity looked at Twilight and asked, “Are you sure you were trying to teleport us to Canterlot and not some far away forest?” Twilight nodded.

 

“Well, this certainly isn't getting us anywhere,” Applejack said, looking around. “We'd best be looking around,” and walked forward, into the forest. The others followed. Fluttershy walked nervously, looking around at every step.

 

Suddenly, Twilight stopped and motioned for the others to be quiet. There was the faint rustling of nearby leaves. A figure stepped out of the leaves, and stopped to look at them. The creature was wearing strange armor, with a brown cape dropping behind.

 

“Name yourselves!” The creature said, drawing a hand up towards them, palm facing them. Rainbow Dash crouched, about to jump onto him, but Twilight stopped her. There was some silence for a while, and none of them moved. The creature spoke again. “Name yourselves and what you are, I won't ask again.”

 

Pinkie Pie jumped up in front of her friends and said energetically, “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. What's your name?”

 

The creature, not expecting a reply like this, lowered his hand and tilted his head. “Uh... I'm.. Sorvari. What.. what are you things?”

 

“We are not things,” Rarity scoffed. “We are ponies. Now could you be so kind as to tell us what you are and where we are?”

 

Sorvari stood upright again, and raised a hand to his helmet and pulled it off. Twilight and the others gasped. Sorvari had a dark purple head, which seemed to be covered in fur, with two drooping things that Twilight could only describe as prongs on each side of his head. Two light blue eyes were positioned in front of the prongs, and there was a lighter patch of fur where his forehead would be.

 

“I am a phiarlon, wielder of magic and currently scouting the forest for enemies,” Sorvari replied.

 

“Enemies?” Fluttershy quietly asked. Sorvari looked at her for a few moments before replying. “Strange malevolent creatures called thoarim. They are black, and can take the form of another. The only difference is that the thoarim cannot change their color, they remain a dark red, and you can see through them like stained glass.”

 

“I don't understand. Why do they attack you? What do they have against you?” Twilight asked. Sorvari shook his head. “We don't know. They don't seem to be able to speak, and they attack us whenever we get close. There's no reasoning with them, they seem corrupted, filled with darkness. Even the strongest of our magic cannot get rid of them or help them if they have a different reason for attacking us.” At the sound of the word 'magic,' Twilight looked up at Sorvari. “Did you say magic?” He nodded. There was another rustle of nearby leaves, and Sorvari looked around quickly. “We better move to a better place. Vaireska is nearby.” When the ponies looked at him with puzzling glances, he explained, “A city, one of the places the thoarim didn't destroy.”

 

The ponies looked at each other, nodded, then turned to follow Sorvari. After a few minutes of walking, and the ponies introducing themselves to Sorvari, and in turn, him telling them about the place where they are, Rainbow Dash asked, “Where is this city you're talking about?” while looking around. Sorvari chuckled and turned. Applejack crouched, thinking Sorvari would attack them.

Instead, he stood, arms outstretched, and said, “This is Vaireska. Take a step and take a look again.”

 

Puzzled, the ponies did what he said and gasped. Several gasps were returned. They were looking at a hidden city in the forest. The trees were hollow, some were shaped to have space in them, much like Twilight's library. All in front of them, there were several more of Sorvari's kind, which were a mix of eranni, phiarlon and alastra. The latter had wings, while the first had no significant change. All in all, they were all the same species, lirandar.

 

Sorvari turned his back to the ponies, and spoke to the people. “You have no fear of these. I found them in the forest all on their own, and they don't seem to be our enemy.”

 

The lirandar nodded and spoke to each other, and one left. They carried on with their business, while some just continued staring at them while Sorvari led them through the city.

 

Soon they were surrounded by phiarlon who gazed at them with an unwavering stare. The ponies payed no attention until one of them shoved Twilight toward Rainbow Dash.

 

After they got up, Rainbow Dash stared angrily at them and was about to jump on the one who pushed Twilight, when Twilight stopped her. “This could be some sort of test. You know, to see if we're their enemy. Pay no attention to them, and don't reply to their taunts,” she whispered. Rainbow Dash nodded, and turned to look at Applejack, who looked as if she was about to jump on one of them. Rainbow Dash shook her head, and Applejack saw this and just stared ahead. Some of them started taunting them, and one tripped Rarity when she passed by. Fighting the urge to reply, she said, “I am sorry, kind phiarlon, but we are lost and are looking for a way back to our home.”

 

The phiarlon surrounding them looked at each other, then nodded. One stood forward and said, “You have shown control of yourselves by not responding to the Taunt, and for that we apologize for tripping your friend there,” gesturing to Twilight. She replied,“Not at all. All we ask of you is to help us get back to our home.”

 

The surrounding phiarlon nodded, and one was about to say something, when an alastra flew down from the trees and shouted, “The thoarim have reached the view of the outpost and are beginning to assault our front defense.”

 

Sorvari turned to look at the alastra and nodded. He turned to the ponies and said, “Very sorry, but we cannot allow the thoarim to attack our last standing city.”

 

Applejack replied. “We completely understand that your last home is more important, and we can wait.”

 

 

Soon, Vaireska was half deserted, most of the residents out defending their home. Just before that, Rainbow Dash was about to fly up, saying that she'd love to show the thoarim a piece of her mind, when a phiarlon said, “I don't think you'd fare very well on the battlefield. The thoarim attack with a speed so quick that you'd only have a second or two to respond.”

 

Rainbow Dash laughed and said, “You've never seen me, then. I'm the fastest flier to come out of my home,” and before anyone could reply, she dashed off.

 

“There goes a very foolish pegasus,” Rarity said. Pinkie Pie, who had suddenly appeared beside her after saying she wanted to be friends with everyone in Vaireska, replied, “Or a very brave one. Maybe even both!”

 

Fluttershy, who had finally gathered the courage to talk several moments ago, said, “Um, Twilight, I don't think you can ask anyone who's still here to help us go home?”

 

“I could try,” Twilight nodded.

 

 

 

 

 

Rainbow Dash was flying high above the skies of the battlefield, so high that the thoarim ignored her, and stayed there. She then started flying downward with an alarming speed, hoping to pull a Sonic Rainboom. She had told one of the eranni to inform the others to use whatever happened in the sky as a distraction.

 

Soon, there were some of the thoarim noticed the blurry object coming down at them and tried to attack it. Rainbow Dash easily evaded the attacks, and soon managed to break the barrier. A colorful Rainboom filled the air, causing most of the thoarim to look up, and in a panic, caused them to forget about the approaching attacks from the lirandar.

 

On the ground, Sorvari made a note to thank Rainbow Dash, then went forward and attacked the dazed thoarim.

 

Using her speed, she managed to knock out several thoarim, though she disliked the feeling of nothing when she touched them. She noticed that most of the thoarim were running away in fear, but the lirandar didn't notice. She shouted for them to look, and they stopped.

 

The thoarim who was about to be attacked by Sorvari suddenly shouted, “Stop!” Surprised, Sorvari stopped, but still kept his guard up.

 

The thoarim looked different. Instead of the usual blank stare in their red eyes, he could see a look of sentience. Whatever must have caused it, Sorvari decided that it must have been something from the colorful blast of color from the air.

 

“I beg for your forgiveness, but we have been in the darkness for several years. That blast of light, I don't know what magic caused it, but it seemed to clear our thoughts and gave us back our reason. And sentience, apparently,” the thoarim continued. “During those years, we had no memory of what happened, so can you be so kind as to tell us what damage we've caused?”

 

Sorvari gave a half-smile. So they were only in the darkness, he thought.

 

 

 

Hours later, Twilight and her friends still had no progress. There was the sound of moving branches, and Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash fly down.

 

“Rainbow Dash! How did it go?” Pinkie Pie asked, jumping up and staring inches away from Rainbow Dash's face, only to fall down face first on the ground. Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, and said, “The Sonic Rainboom seemed to give them their intelligence back. They were only attacking because they were in darkness.”

 

“That is true, blue one,” a voice said behind them. They turned and saw one of the thoarim, standing next to Sorvari. “We are in your debt for returning us into the light, and Sorvari told us that you're trying to get back to your home. I can help.”

 

Applejack stared at the thoarim in surprise. “How?” she asked. The thoarim seemed to chuckle, and said, “I am Vana, one of the Shadowborn. I am one of the strongest of my kind in magic, and though our ways may seem dark and evil, it is our magic, and works just like yours, or the phiarlon's. With the help of some of their magic, and yours, A small memory of your home will take you back there.”

 

Applejack, still not content, asked, “Is that all? Is there a catch?”

 

It was Sorvari's turn to laugh. “There is none. A simple teleportation only needs the memory of your home. It has to be the same memory, not different ones, else you'd end up between those places.”

 

Twilight nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to the others, and to Pinkie Pie, who had appeared out of nowhere again after wandering off, and said, “Let's go back to Ponyville.” They nodded and Pinkie Pie cheered.

 

 

Soon, they were surrounded by Vana and several of the phiarlon's most talented, and Twilight and her friends closed their eyes and thought of home.

 

The phiarlon and one thoarim chanted arcane syllables, growing louder and louder as Twilight and her friends were surrounded by a bright light. Twilight's horn glowed, and they disappeared in a flash of light.

 

 

----

 

 

They landed a few feet away from the outskirts of Ponyville, standing in the same position they left.

 

Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight, and said, “Your spells should go wrong more often, Twilight!” Which made everypony laugh.

 

Twilight felt something leaning against her front hoof. She looked down, and saw a stone, as black as the night, with several shining points, making the stone look like a piece of the night sky.

 

 

 

 

 

The characters and their race is entirely made up by me(unless you can find a similarity to something[isn't it obvious?]), and I'm going to use the characters, the idea of a Shadowborn, and Vaireska for another story. Possibly even a series.

 

Oh, and I call the land where that took place Feldun. You know where I got that one