A black coated stallion garbed with a soft blanket sits at a wooden desk, looking at a blank page of an empty journal. He turns to the black front cover, staring absently at it, noting how empty and dull it is. With a smile, he dips the tip of a quill into an inkwell, then begins to write on the blank page. He replenishes the ink as needed, and is not bothered by the weak torchlight on the wall in front of the desk. His hoofwriting is kind of messy, but still legible to anyone who cares enough to read it.

8/8/0002

Cyrus distributed a metric shitton of notebooks to all of us in this base. Most of us questioned why, and his response was that ‘it would serve as a far better emotional outlet. While talking one-on-one with the other Shadowbornes is effective, sometimes they are just too busy. Besides, it is sometimes good to look back and reflect on good times and mistakes.’

So uh, here I am! I don’t really know where to begin. The past six months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. It started out just plain weird. One moment, I felt absolutely nothing. The next instant, everything around me was loud and bright. I went from smelling nothing to smelling all sorts of things. I smelt the fresh grass, the flowers whose scent was carried by the wind, and I smelt the rain in the air. I felt a broken shell under my ass, and I felt the tickle of grass by my hooves. The first thing I did was giggle at the feeling. A shadow loomed over me and I looked up. The amalgamation of creatures that made up of the guy that created me held me close. His name is Discord, and he absolutely loves chaos. The one thing that he neglected to tell us was about our purpose.

Discord did not name me, nor did he say anything about why I was here. Hell, the pony that I came with named himself. He says he was the first, and I don’t have the knowledge to dispute that claim. I wanted to name myself, but I suck at names. Cyrus’ name was very hard for me to remember.

Heh… for the first time, an outsider came into our base. The pegasus claimed to represent justice, fire, and even chaos. I like fire and justice. Yet, the strange juxtaposition of order and chaos struck me as very odd and even somewhat endearing. He came with a large black book. The guy titled it ‘The Black Book ‘O Rules’ which made everyone very amused. I’d wager that he has a sense of humor. A sense of humor and charisma can get someone so far in life. His words, not mine. Anyway, we changed from a lawless group to something more… a society. We’re a society now, guys. We made it. The sexless, chaotic, short, and red-eyed horses with no identity made it. Haha, we were born from a CHAOS god of all beings. If my writing sounds elated, that means I am. I get all giddy thinking about all the possibilities. Months and months of not knowing what to do finally ends today.

How will daddy Discord take this though? That draconequus always wanted control. I like the guy, and I can’t blame him for wanting control over his own spawn. I don’t have a name or an identity. I… I need one. He didn’t give me one.

Peace.

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

The pony stops writing, wiping his forehead with a hoof and standing up. He’s small for a Shadowborne. His friend and leader, Cyrus, stands a head taller than him. The pony takes a look around the room. A portrait of Discord holding him with a smile hangs above his bed. He trots over to it, the ring on his back left leg glowing. He levitates up to it. Cyrus created this picture not too long after he saw Discord holding him. Cameras were not invented yet, and the technology was centuries away. He runs a hoof down it, his gaze softening.

“How well are you going to take this, Discord?” His voice is soft with a gentle quiver to it. “How… how well?” With a soft sigh, he looks at his other possessions. He does not have much at all. In his room is a table, a chair, and a bed. The bed is just big enough to fit him and one other Shadowborne comfortably. He never imagined anyone else sleeping in it, though. Sighing, he trots to the wooden door and opens it, peering down the hall.

“Where to? Cy?” The pony mutters. He shrugs, starting to trot down the hall. Most of the rooms he passes by are empty. Slowly, he makes his way to the center of the base. Cyrus and other high-ranking officials do their business and live in the rooms there. The center-most room is where the leader lives. Once he reaches the center of the base, he is greeted by a group of other Shadowbornes. They are all larger than he is, so he feels quite intimidated by them. He pushes past them and apologizes if the others get in his way.

Once through the group, he looks up to see Cyrus and the pegasus that dropped off the rulebook. He catches the tail end of their conversation.

“Sorry, but no thanks Cy. Not really my kinda thing,” the blue-eyed, brown-coated; and black-and-red-maned pegasus says with a frown. “Thanks for the offer, though.” He then growls, motioning towards a scratch on his cheek.

“What happened there?” The Shadowborne says. Cyrus has a grey ring, as opposed to the other pony’s gold one.

“Discord clawed me. Dumb fuck. It stings, y’know? Permanently disfigured now, all over a fucking book...Ugh. Next time, he’ll meet my good friend, Six.” He motions toward a holstered revolver on his right hind leg. The pegasus is not too sure how he got it far earlier than he should have.

Cyrus looks past the stallion and sees the smaller Shadowborne. He smiles as that catches the pegasus’ attention. The Shadowborne nervously takes a step back. Wait, why am I so nervous? After looking at the pegasus, the nervousness increases tenfold.

The pegasus trots up to the Shadowborne, looking at him from his face to his forehooves. “Heart,” He grunts. Reflecting back at Discord’s scratch put him in a sour mood. Yet, seeing the little Shadowborne lightened the mood just a little. “The name’s Storm. Desert Storm.,” He says. The Shadowborne didn’t say anything. His head was busy putting the pieces together.

He looked me up and down, then said something. Was that a name? The… the fuck? It took MONTHS for this? The Shadowborne, now named Heart is genuinely surprised by this. He is so surprised that Desert has to close Heart’s open mouth. The pegasus chuckles, then trots away and waves at them with a wing before folding it up. His gaze hardens at the thought of the scratch.

Cyrus waves back at Desert, gazing back towards Heart. “I see you’re surprised. Don’t be. Everyone has to get a name eventually. Yet, why was he the pony to name you?”

Heart shakes his head with a frown. “T-that’s what I’m trying to figure out. What did I do to earn this? Hell, why was he here in the first place? Already delivered the damn rulebook. I-I’m not mad at all… just curious as fuck.”

“Well, I can answer that second question,” Cyrus pauses. “He was here asking about his gun. Claimed that ah… that he shouldn’t have it by now. I was very very confused. Don’t often get this confused. Yeah, I also believe the nice stallion. Told the guy that something felt off about him, which he actually acknowledged. Same for the empathic brother he holds quite close. Felt the same thing from those two. However, there was nothing for Riloxia or Solacia. Anyway, about the gun… well… he said he knew where and when he got it. When he took me to where he got it, the specific things he was looking for wasn’t there. Everything wasn’t there. Not only that, but when I asked for any details that led up to and even after the acquisition, he just stared at me blankly. Poor bastard couldn’t remember anything before or after it. He couldn’t remember using it, and he was even more confused when he saw that the chamber was missing a round.”

“He didn’t fire off a round?” Heart asks, tilting his head. A shake of the head answers the question easily. With a sigh he says, “Did he load it?”

“Didn’t have the ammo, and I could not create it for the life of me,” Cyrus says. “He swears that he did not load it. It was getting on his nerves too since it came with all the rounds loaded.”

“What the… what the actual fuck? Sounds like we have a mystery on our hooves,” Heart says, rubbing his head. All these explanations have been giving him a headache.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Cyrus says with a chuckle. “I’ll take care of this for you. I know how you get, so don’t even try to fight it.” He assumes Heart concedes by seeing his ears flatten. “Thank you. Now, I’m assuming Desert is getting his brother. He rejected the position I offered him and he offered up someone better. To be honest, I wouldn’t have expected much out of either option.”

“Why?” Heart asks with a tilt of his head.

“They aren’t really needed right now,” Cyrus says. “We’re at a time of relative peace and our population can easily fit in one base. In fact, since it is right now, I’m the de-facto ruler. Check the records!”

Heart frowns, looking around. “But Cy, I don’t have access. That’s above me, and I’m not really that-” He is cut off as Cyrus covers Heart’s mouth.

“Shut up, you are. In fact, I’m promoting you. Ponies have been singing your praises for months and you haven’t reaped the rewards,” One of Cyrus’ forehooves glows and he presses it on Heart’s chest.

Heart grunts, feeling heat radiate from the hoof. It spreads through his body and concentrates at the ring. It glows and an off-gold stripe appears in the center. It runs around the diameter of the ring. He feels the change and sighs shakily.

“Congrats,” Cyrus says with a smile. He offers his hoof and watches as Heart takes it. “You now forward suggestions from other Shadowbornes to me. You also keep track of the population.” Cyrus chuckles. “You’re well on the path of becoming a leader like me!”

Heart giggles, feeling pride in himself. I’ve gotten better. Ponies are trusting me more and more. It legitimately looks like I have a shot at doing something with my life. He hugs Cyrus tightly and beams at him. Then, the Shadowborne rests his head on Cyrus’ cheek.

“Okay friend, you can let go now,” Cyrus says with a chuckle. Heart blinks, apologizes, then releases Cyrus. He paws the ground and shakes his head. “And no, don’t be sorry,” He says.

“C-can’t help it,” Heart quips. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to intentionally hurt anyone.” He then looks away.

Cy’s gaze softens. “I realize that,” He says. “You gotta know when to protect those you love. What if you see them get hurt?”

“I-I don’t know what I would do, Cyrus.” Heart closes his eyes and rubs his head. He didn’t even want to entertain the thought that someone would go out of their way to hurt someone else close to him. To him, everything would be all right and nothing would go wrong. “Who would even… harm me? Who would harm you?”

Cyrus chuckles. He knew exactly who would have the power to harm them, but he knew Heart would not like the answer.I like the guy, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to hear that Discord has the power to wipe us off the map. He could nuke this place and nopony here would survive. Nopony outside the base would even bat an eye either, save for Desert and his brother, Golden. At least they care. At least they care for each other, too. Besides, when are they coming back. Des said he’d bring him. He shakes his head. Ah well. Be patient.

When Cyrus does not respond, Heart tilts his head. “Is there something on your mind? You’re being awfully quiet. If you don’t want to tell me, then that’s cool too. I know there are some things that are confidential around here.”

Cy smiles gently and boops his nose. “And of course, you will get to the point where you can see it all. I know ya can. Everyone says it.”

Heart frowns and boops him back. “Bad Cyrus. Bad. Don’t boop me, or else there will be consequences,” He smirks at Cyrus and nuzzles his cheek. They are then interrupted by the arrival of both Golden and Desert. Desert’s wing is wrapped around Golden, and they look at him.

Golden stares at Cyrus with his brown eyes. He ruffles his wings in nervousness and smooths back his gold and light blue mane. He then rubs his cheek somewhat nervously, then makes sure none of his dark blue hairs touch the ground. He does not want the floor to be dirtier because of him.

Desert lifts his wing, and gently pushes his brother forward. He nods to Cyrus, and Cyrus presses his hoof to Golden’s chest. Cyrus shuts his eyes and focuses as he sends two things into his body. He sends a small chunk of his own DNA into Golden’s body, but he strips all of the identifying information out of it such that it can’t be traced back to Cyrus. After that is finished, he presses his hoof harder onto Golden. Cyrus taps into the chunk of DNA that he sent in and uses it to grant Golden their powers. This naturally causes a lot of pain for the Pegasus. He yips and takes a few steps back.

“W-what the fuck?” He asks Cyrus, shaking his head. “What was that? I wasn’t aware this procedure involved pain. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You would shy away from it,” Cyrus says with a sigh. “Des told me that you definitely don’t like pain. Hell, he saw how you got worked up when Riloxia and Solacia bickered over every little fucking thing. To be fair, so did he. Give the powers a good hour or so to set in. Once they do, you’ll feel a little chill, and the ring will form around a hind leg. After that? Come to me and we’ll get you set up.”

Golden shakes his head, his head swimming. He growls, then tries to get his bearings. “Right. Right right right okay. Thank you. Time to nap this shit off on a cloud or something.” He smiles and trots away, poking Desert’s side with a wing as he passes by. Desert stares at him blankly, shrugs, then follows him.

Cyrus frowns, summoning a checklist from his personal pocket dimension. He reads through it with a hum, then checks off an item titled: Follow what Desert suggests and make his brother a leader. Once he sends the list back to where it came from, he opens a portal and steps through it.

As Cyrus is now gone doing his own things, and nothing else is to be done, Heart decides to retire to his room for the time being. He hops onto his bed and chuckles. He isn’t sure about how much further he would go in the Shadowborne ranks.

Cyrus emerges through the portal a few moments later, a similarly-sized Shadowborne trotting alongside him. Cyrus frowns, then shakes his head. “How much longer do we have until Discord wisens up and decides to rip us out of existence? All he has to do is just blast this damned base with his chaos magic. Boom. Out of existence. I’m giving him approximately ten minutes until he gets here.”

“Oh you absolutely wonderful piles of fluff. I was never going to give you ten whole minutes,” The draconequus appears in a puff of glitter and pink smoke. He raises a talon to his chin and rubs it. “Now what can I do to you guys? I can turn you into a sheep.” He snaps the talon and the Shadowborne beside Cyrus promptly shifts into a sheep. It then shifts into a bear and swipes at Cyrus in anger. Cyrus leaps to the side and glares at the bear.

“Fucking great,” He groans. The bear does not head towards Cyrus, instead electing to stay by Discord’s side. Discord chuckles and points to the bear. It shifts back into a Shadowborne. Said Shadowborne looks very dazed from the sudden transformations. The pony then collapses with a grunt.

“Now, are you going to listen to me and do as I say?” Discord smirks at Cyrus. “Or am I going to have to teach you guys a lesson in obedience? You’re my creation. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even be here!”

“I’ll be blunt, Discord,” Cyrus says. “If we are to function properly, we need-”

“You don’t need anything,” Discord takes a step further towards him. “Now obey me.”

With a sigh and a pause, Cyrus looks at Discord and smiles very softly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Discord.” He sees Discord’s face contort in rage and is strangely comforted by it. If he gets this angry if he doesn’t get control, then he never cared about us in the first place. Cyrus chuckles, forming a pistol and pointing it at the chaos god. He knew it wouldn’t do anything, but he doesn’t really care about that. He depresses the trigger and the bullet phases through Discord.

“You were going to attack us anyway, dear daddy,” Cyrus chuckles. “Bet you didn’t expect your own children to grow up this fast. Meh.” The gun crystallizes in his hoof and a vibration courses through it. The gun shatters and causes Cyrus to step back. “Now fuck off!” With a stomp of a hoof, Discord is forced out of the base and the base is sent into lockdown. Steel bars block every entrance and emergency exit.

Heart sits up and his ear flicks. He receives word of the lockdown, then heads out of his room. Confused ponies poke their head from their respective rooms, questioning why there is a lockdown. Heart makes his way towards Cyrus, who now has three guards surrounding him. Their rings menacingly glow red.

“Cy? What the hell is going on?” Heart asks.

“Discord happened,” Cyrus says. “That is all. You won’t need to protect me. The guards will watch over me and keep me safe. Go round up a group, and head to the command center. You’re working logistics. There isn’t anyone else I trust with that job. Besides, you’re already amazing at getting others to do what you want. Just go.” Cyrus opens a portal for him and watches Heart step through it.

“Take me to safety,” Cyrus says. The guards do exactly that by sending him into a pocket dimension, then sending themselves after Cyrus. Inside the pocket dimension is a white two story house. It floats above empty space. With a flash of bright light, Cyrus and the guards appear on a couch, and a guard turns on the television. On the screen is Heart. The Shadowborne is sitting in a circular room with a number of other ponies.

A wide variety of screens mostly display a map of Equestria with a number of different overlays. One sizable segment of the room is solely dedicated to weather in Equestria. The maps have temperatures, pressures, vectors representing wind, and the largest screen in that segment shows a radar loop over the whole of Equestria. Heart’s section details the locations of every Shadowborne in Equestria. He’s looking at the largest screen in the room and giving guards some orders through a headset. He summons some papers and begins to draft up a plan.

“Can’t believe this is actually happening,” Heart grumbles. “Ugh. I get a promotion and terrible shit happens next.” He quickly maps out an area around the base. They are the safest here. The base is good at keeping outsiders outside. Discord is Discord though. I don’t know what he has planned, or if he is colluding with anyone. Do we have intel on that? He taps the quill on the console he sits in front of. “Do we do we do we? Yo,” He unmutes the microphone and starts to speak through it. “Hey Crys, do you have any information regarding Discord’s connections? I want to be sure we are playing this as safe as possible. Not only that, but tell Golden and Desert to get the hell out. I don’t want casualties.”

Heart leans back, spawns a cup, and fills it with a spawned coffeepot. He takes a drink and shudders at the very faint generic taste it has. Instant coffee is better than this. “Fuck spawned coffee,” He yawns, then adds more details the map. He uses his magic to press a button on the headset to change who he will talk to.

“Yo Mil. Yes, I know you hate that nickname. Would you like me to call you ‘commander of the army’? No? Thought so. I have a map and I’m sending it to you now. Mark it with red ink, then send it back. Thank you. Love and kisses,” He sighs and presses the button again before writing numbers on the map and sending it to the army commander. He switched channels just in time.

Yeah, I do have information. Uh… I’m not sure exactly how this came under our radar, and I know I’m going to be chewed out by Cyrus for this.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Do tell,” Heart says. He softens up a bit, the gravity of the current situation setting in. If he was to get ponies to listen, he would have to be less abrasive. Guilt courses through at the thought of the commander being frustrated at him. He sighs and shakes his head. “Please,” He adds.

The phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is applicable as fuck here. I know you don’t know this, but a group of unicorns seemingly hold a grudge against us. They don’t have the power to beat us down alone. However, uh… um… Crys trails off.

“What is it?” Heart leans forward, now becoming nervous. “Is it serious?” Silence on the line is not helping his nervousness. He shifts in the seat as his ears flatten.

They can now… uh… destroy us. Their magical capabilities have been augmented by Discord to the point of death if their beams hit us. Crys was never going to say how he knew that. The stallion gazes outside the Everfree forest.

Instead of Ponyville being a bustling village filled with all sorts of ponies that get along perfectly, Crys just stares out at an empty field. His eyes move toward the mountain that will hold Equestria’s capital city. Unlike Ponyville, there is a budding village of grounded pegasi there.

“Two years and this is all we have,” He says with a sigh. “Two years.” With a stomp of his hind leg, a blank piece of paper appears in front of him. He starts to write on it, using his space bending magic to keep it afloat in the air.

Twenty, possibly thirty unicorns. No organization whatsoever, but they look strong enough to cause us issues. They have the capabilities to wipe us out even though they are grossly outnumbered. Surprise attack absolutely has to succeed here or we are screwed. He then starts to write more information down, humming softly. He relays information to Heart as he writes. They will likely rally around Discord. I will be expecting them to start to organize further. Yet, why aren’t they getting the jump on us? He tilts his head, gazing at the movement across the field.

Discord glides across what would become the Ponyville town square. He licks at a talon, then spawns in a long-haired brush. Starting to hum, he gently brushes his paw. The draconequus looks around the field, then chuckles and snaps his talon. A white coated unicorn with blue eyes blasts an Everfree tree. It turns to dust, then catches on fire. Immediately, the fire spreads to other trees. A soft smile comes across Discord’s face as he sees the flames.

“Sweet sweet chaos,” He purrs. “If I can’t subdue them properly with my magic, then I will just have to tell others to do it for me.” The draconequus growls as he recalled feeling a very cold sensation, feeling the pain as he tried to fire a beam of literal death and failed. He did not get the memo to calm down. He was not calm since he learned that Desert gave them the lawbook. He scratches his head with his talon.

“Funny, I didn’t know he was doing it,” He says. “And I know everything. I was there when everything was being made? Why the secrecy?” He thought that the gods were meant to do everything out in the open. Little did he know that he was right in that assumption. A giant brown book appears right above his head. Gravity takes its hold on it and Discord then receives quite the bump on his head. With a low growl, he looks at the book. The numerous pages and the ink on them are very new. Circled in red is the following passage:

08/02/0020 - After listening to his case, Raikia, The Goddess of Life and Love gave Desert Storm permission to create the black rule book for the Shadowbornes.

The book disappears before Discord could properly tear it to shreds. The unicorn trots up to Discord and smiles up at him. He shakes the ash out of his mane. Nodding to the draconequus, his horn sparks and the group of unicorns he came with all get the signal to group up with him.

As soon as Crys spots the movement, he withdraws deeper into the Everfree. He speaks as he trots. “Heart, they’re grouping up. It’s your time to shine.” He cuts the channel to Heart, then teleports right next to the forest base. The Shadowborne looks at it fondly.

Various pieces of well cut stone fly around the air, carried by a combination of heavy breezes and their own form of magic. Crys did not know how it worked. Yet, he watched the base slowly be built from the ground up and the center out. He watched Cyrus and a Shadowborne he hadn’t met argue civilly over what should be in the center-most room. He figured they disagreed on what was too opulent for that room. After the unknown pony shakes his hooves with Cyrus, he trots over to Crys. He offers his hoof.

*“Hiya! The name’s Heart!” The pony said. Crys is not exactly sure how to handle it. After a brief moment of internal struggle, he decides to shake the hoof. Heart did not let up with the offering. It was as if he knew ponies would shake the hoof. *

“You’re… very persistent, you know that?” Crys says. “The name is Crystal. Just call me Crys. It’s what everyone here calls me anyway.” Crys shrugs. “I saw how you handled Cyrus over there. You have far more patience than I. That is commendable.”

*“I think you mean normal,” Heart chuckles. “I don’t think that what I do is worth talking about in any way. If I make someone’s day, then so what? There aren’t enough ponies here to both care or think it’s a big deal. Shadowbornes can be patient. They just let work take precedence, which is not a bad thing at all. Less time working and more time with family.” *

“If they even have families,” Crys rolls his eyes. “Unless you consider Cyrus as a family member.” He sticks out his tongue. The word ‘family’ is extremely foreign to him. Unbeknownst to him, Heart feels the same way. The smaller Shadowborne shrugs, glancing over at Cyrus. “Why use words foreign to you? Do you even know what family means?”

Heart tenses up just a little. He thinks about it for a while, then responds appropriately. “No, I don’t.” He motions over to Cyrus and the group that is constructing the base. He highly doubts the others here know about family.

“And friendship?” Crys continues.

“I know about friendship,” Heart quips. “Closer than acquaintances, but not close enough to be coltfriends or marefriends. You have something in common with your friend. Cyrus is my friend. Hell, you can be mine too!” The smaller Shadowborne grins at Crys. Crys returns it with his own smile. He admitted in his head that it was a warm and inviting grin. He even further admitted that Heart seemed like an all-around nice guy, yet he was unsure as to how Heart became Cyrus’ friend.

Crys snaps out of it as five Shadowbornes with red rings appear in front of him. He steps back in surprise, then looks around. He stops looking as he sees the air shimmer a few feet ahead of them. This shimmer extends around the entirety of the base. Crys picks up a rock and tosses it at the visible distortion. The rock is reflected back at him so he makes sure to dodge quickly.

“Sir, we are with you,” One of the Shadowbornes says. Crys does not question Heart’s judgment. Heart’s friend cracks a small smile, nodding and indicating towards the newly erected barrier. He hears fifteen other Shadowbornes pop in next to the guard. Their rings are gold with a red stripe. “

“His orders take priority. Everything I say goes through him, okay?” Crys then reopens the connection to Heart. “We only have twenty?”

Our forces are underdeveloped. I know it’ll be a hard fight. I believe in you, the Guard, and the drafted Shadowbornes though.

“Isn’t this a little excessive from Discord though? Where’s Desert?” Crys frowns as he asks those questions.

Let’s just say that you now know what chaos does to a guy. As for Desert? The radar showed that they left. This conflict could adversely affect him and his brother. At least, that’s what they told me. We have radar contact. The unicorns are on the forest border and moving in. Two minutes out, okay?

Crys barks out some orders and the Shadowbornes disappear into the forest. Some decided to leap up onto trees, while others decided to take refuge in bushes. Crys himself decides to hop up into a tree. He spawns himself a set of armor. He knew it wouldn’t protect him against the raw magic. The Shadowborne figured that if he had to go, he wanted to go looking cool. He looked out deeper into the forest, then smelled the air.

Smells… smells like smoke. Wait a minute… they’re burning down the fucking forest. Fuck. He mumbles orders into the mic and the Shadowbornes closest to the unicorns begin their attack despite the flames raging in front of them. Suddenly, a sizable assortment of things began to rain from the sky. Some of the unicorns did not expect this and was hit or crushed by the deluge of stuff. One got a shield up and grunted as a couch crashed into the shield. With a flick of his tail, the couch is obliterated in a blue beam. The blow left the unicorn weakened but very annoyed. He points his horn towards one of the many trees and obliterates it. With a huff, he then starts to wipe out trees that have Shadowbornes in them. As soon as he sees movement, he blasts at it.

Crys scowls as he watches a few of the Shadowbornes get blasted out of existence. “This isn’t going well,” He grunts, leaping off the tree as a beam flies right past his face. He spawns a slingshot, fitting it with sizable rocks. He teleports onto another tree as he falls, steadies himself, then fires a rock at a unicorn’s horn just as a spell goes off. As he didn’t know the interaction between a magical discharge from a horn, and anything coming into contact with said horn during that period, he is very surprised at hearing a loud crack and a yell. The unicorn that fired the spell smacks into a tree directly behind him and collapses, unconscious. Crys blinks and shakes his head.

“Wait what? Yo, fire things at their horns!” Crys barks. He teleports off the tree as he sees a unicorn fire a spell toward it. The Shadowbornes’ attack changes to become more measured. As the unicorns kept up their forward march, they kept withdrawing and firing things at the attacker’s horns frequently. When Crys sees the unicorns adjust to the sudden change, he varies it yet again.

With a grunt, he spawns in a piano and breaks it into fifteen equally-sized chunks, swiftly firing them at one unicorn. It was quickly overwhelmed, collapsing with a grunt. Crys teleports to it and finishes it off with a measured kick to the pony’s neck. Before he registered what he did, a knife flies out of the chaos in front of him and hits him square in the side. His eyes widen as the pain causes him to tense up. No words come out of his mouth as he peers through the black smoke the new wound is spewing.

Crys watches as the Shadowbornes attempt to scatter after a final volley was completely wiped out by a wave of magic. Slowly, he sees each and every one in his sight get struck by beams of varying power and various small weapons. The screams of his fallen comrades ring in his ears, spurring him to try and get up.

“F-fall back,” Crys whispers. He himself attempts to teleport away, but failed the moment he tried to manipulate the space around him. He did not quite get what was going on, then came to the stark realization that they were trapped in battle. The unicorns seized the advantage when they spotted it. If Crys sounded the retreat a moment earlier, he would have been able to save them. Crys curls up, starting to shake. I failed, he thinks, ignoring the voice telling him to stay calm and help was on the way.I failed Heart. I failed my men. Crys shuts his eyes, waiting for the whole conflict to just be resolved. Crys latches onto the fact that he issued an order too late. He wanted perfection, and he definitely did not live up to it.

Eventually, the screams and the sounds of cracking wood around him fade away. His tormented mind and body do not register that the battle is over. He tries to move, but that causes him to twitch in pain. Crys grits his teeth, trying to call out for help. His cry did not fall on deaf ears.

“Where is he? W-where? O-oh god, Crys!” He dimly registers a pair of hooves wrapping around him. A faint gold glow envelops him as he is lifted off the ground. He stares straight into Heart’s eyes. What he sees pains him more than any knife wound ever can. What meets his gaze is sadness, pain, and anger. Crys has never seen Heart so angry. He has never even seen Heart remotely upset about anything. He coughs, then cries out sharply as pain courses through his body.

“S-shh Crys. Shh… I got you. You’re in good hooves. CYRUS, GET A MEDICAL TEAM OUT HERE! WE HAVE A SURVIVOR! The… the only one,” Heart trails off as he looks back towards the empty clearing that held the base. A few moments ago, Heart was trying hard to contain his joy at seeing Crys figure out a legitimate strategy. Reality set in as he watched the unicorns beat back the attack, and sorrow and distress set in as he watched his friends and partners get slaughtered. Eventually, he had to come to the hard decision of sending the base away. If the unicorns came in, the few that remain behind would have died. Heart knew that Cyrus would have approved of the action if he was around.

Three Shadowbornes appear around Heart. They then take Crys from him and teleport back to the base. Heart sighs shakily and sits down. He stares at the burnt grass at his hooves, then casts his gaze to the burnt trees. The only sound Heart hears is the sound of his breathing. His gaze shifts to where he saw friends of his fade away. He stands up, trotting over to where his gaze fell. He leans against a burnt tree trunk and stares at the scorch mark the magic left. He lays a hoof in a larger hoofprint and closes his eyes. A breeze blows through his coat and he growls at it. He then stomps the hoofprint, trying to calm himself.

“You couldn’t do shit, Heart,” Heart mutters. “You fucking tried. FUCK!” He tears up and lays on the scorch mark. He could not get the images out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. His sadness gives way to a pang of fear. Though he knew the thought was irrational, he doubted that Crys would survive the stab wound. Heart looks up at the sky and sighs softly. “Fuck.”

A small breeze and the pop of a teleportation alerts him to the presence of another pony. He glances towards the source and spots a pink coated and maned alicorn. The mare stares sadly at the destruction around her.

“It didn’t have to be like this,” She says, her voice soft. She trots over to Heart and hugs him tightly. “I did the most I could do, dear Heart.”

Heart returns the hug, always gladly accepting them. He nods and rests his head on her neck. “N-now who are you?” He asks her, trying to hold it together. He tries to relax as she strokes his back.

“My name is Raikia, and I’m the goddess of life and love,” She sighs softly before Desert appears next to her. “I-I know you met my brother.” She lets him go and takes a step back. “I-I can’t bring your friends back, man. I’m sorry.” Her ears flatten.

When Heart hears this, he nods. “It’s kind of what I expected. No souls or anything, and I highly doubt that is in your power. I-I’ll take this loss as well as I can.” Heart paws softly at the ground, staring back at the scorch mark. “W-we all will.”

“If you need anything, just let me know,” Raikia says. She kisses his cheek, strokes at it, then teleports away. Desert trots up to him and Heart didn’t even look at the stallion. The Shadowborne paws again at the scorch mark.

“Hey,” Desert grunts. Heart turns his gaze to Desert and tilts his head a bit. The stallion then pulls him into a hug. This surprised Heart greatly, as he didn’t think Desert was the type to just randomly hug ponies. He could tell that Desert felt bad though. Heart leans into the hug, taking solace in the unusual heat emanating from the stallion. He shuts his eyes and nuzzles at his neck. It felt like the right thing to do at the moment. “Relax, alright?” Desert says softly. Once Desert lets go of Heart, he turns and then flies away.

Heart takes a step forward, looking at him as he flies away. He blinks in confusion, wondering why he liked the hug so much more than any other hug he received. He looks down at his chest, trying to quell the feeling of nervousness.

Why am I so nervous? He thinks with a frown. W-why am I feeling these things? A-am I alright? I… I don’t know anymore. Even more confused, he glances at the direction Desert went. The Shadowborne felt a pang of soft longing, then another pang of nervousness. He shakes his head and rubs it. “G-get it together, Heart. C-c’mon man. Y-you’ll see him again, right? R-right?” He steps back as doubt seeps through him. He growls and shakes his head harder. “F-fucking hell. Why am I feeling like this?’ Before this train of thought could add irritation to the already long list of emotions he is experiencing, he teleports to a pocket dimension.

Surrounding Heart is the infinite darkness of the void. He pops into existence right next to their base, which is suspended very close to the theoretical center of the dimension. Cyrus stands on the center of the roof. As soon as he detects Heart, he teleports down to him. He has a look of concern on his face.

“We’re running out of options,” Cyrus explains. He licks his hoof and smooths back his mane, glancing at the base. “We can’t just send our base back there anymore. The unicorns seemingly placed down wards as we were fighting them. We got the base out in time though.”

“Well, we can’t just stay here!” Heart says, shifting a bit. He’s still fighting back his emotions, and that is easily picked up by Cyrus.

“I know. What’s up, Heart? We have all the time in the world here.” Cyrus spawns Heart and himself a chair, then promptly sits in his. Heart glances at the chair, shrugs, then sits on it. He looks into Cyrus’ eyes and sighs.

“I’m nervous, scared, and confused,” Heart admits. “And it came after well… after Desert gave me a hug.”

“Wait, he hugged you? As in all two forelegs?” Cyrus leans forward, shocked at this revelation. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious, Cy,” Heart says. His gaze softens and he sinks a bit in his chair. “A-after the battle, I c-couldn’t help but be sad. M-my friends and partners died, man. C-Crys might go too. I-if he does, then I-I don’t know what I-I’ll do! A-anyway, a m-mare gave me a hug, and so did Desert. I-I liked his hug and the h-heat. O-oh god the heat. I-it was warmer than my blanket!” He giggles, getting somewhat flustered now. He shakes his head. “G-get a hold of yourself!”

“Heart? Heart…” Cyrus gets up and places a hoof on his shoulder. “Chill. You’re getting worked up over little things. Do you need to lay down?”

“I’m fine,” Heart huffs and shakes his head. “Just f-fine. A-anyway u-uh… I-I felt a strange sense of longing when he left.”

“Longing? The hell?” Cyrus asks. He tilts his head. “Why would you feel that? You and him only met one other time.”

“T-the hug. T-the heat, man. I felt w-warm and comfortable. My blanket was the only thing that provided me with heat and comfort. You aren’t very warm. Hell, nobody here is.” He places a hoof on Cyrus, not feeling a lot of heat coming out of him. It was the one thing he missed. “He provided warmth during times of need. I-I have to repay him.” Heart looks back and tries to stand, only to be stopped by Cyrus.

“And you will repay him. Sadly, that time will be later.” Cyrus’ gaze hardens. “I’m sorry to have to bring it back to this subject, but we have an executive decision to make. As we can’t bring back the base, and we definitely can’t construct a new one there, we have to think outside the box.”

“Since when couldn’t we?” Heart asks in surprise. “Since fucking when?”

“They know what to look for,” Cyrus’ tail flicks in agitation. “If we were to reconstruct a base, we’d be wiped out. The gods know this, I know this, and you know this. We have to decide whether or not to enact Article twenty-four.”

Heart’s mind draws a blank at the mention of the article. He wasn’t fond of memorizing them at all, so he skipped over them thinking that he did not need them. After a few moments of confusion, Cyrus sighs and facehoofs.

“During times of great need, I have the ability to consolidate the race. It will save us from extinction, but it can only be acted once. In order to do this, we need an easily enchanted object. What’s easily enchanted?” Cyrus stares at Heart, wondering if he knew the answer.

“Runes, natural things, and various trinkets? Things that the gods hold close?” Heart answers, thinking back to where he learned such things from Crys. Heart’s ears flatten as he recalls what Crys taught him. His mind drifts back to Crys’ health, and then he falls back into the post-battle slump.

“Exactly. Golden has one, so we will use that,” Cyrus quips. “I will explain our situation, and will return with it when he gives it to me.”

“You sound pretty confident there, Cy. I trust you though.I’ll be in the hospital room if you need me.” Heart teleports into the base, then makes his way towards the hospital. As soon as he reaches the north-western corner of the base, he knocks on the door clearly marked “Hospital”, then opens the door.

Crys lies on one of the three beds. His side is bandaged up and he appears to be sleeping. His chest slowly rises and falls. Heart trots over and sits next to the bed. A doctor trots up to Heart and frowns at him.

“He will recover,” The doctor says. “The stab wound did not pierce anything vital. Far from it. It looks like the pony did not want him dead, only incapacitated. Perhaps for the purposes of capture or fair trial. Who knows? Anyway, I will clear him as soon as possible. I heard Cyrus wants to enact the article. I would call it a foolish move it we were in any other situation. Let him rest,” The doctor trots away. Heart did not leave Crys though. He rests his hoof on Crys’ chest and sighs.

As he watches Crys’ chest rise and fall, he reflects back on what exactly he felt when he hugged Desert. He would have to ask ponies about the more intimate emotions that they feel. He isn’t quite sure what to think of these combinations of emotions. He would ask Golden if it wouldn’t put him at risk for capture or death by the unicorns that attacked their base. Heart shakes his head and grunts.

“Won’t get my answer for a while, it seems.” He mutters. “Damn.” He spawns a glass of orange juice and downs it in one gulp. Heart did not care one bit for alcohol. He tried it one day and did not like what he tasted. He closes his eyes and sighs, waiting for Cyrus to return. He gets his wish a few moments later when he feels a hoof press down on his head. A notebook with a gold colored cover hits the ground next to Heart.

“We’re ready,” Cyrus says. “I can’t transport many ponies through. Me, you, Crys, and like three others if they so wish.”

“What about you?” Heart asks.

“Fuck me. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine.” Cyrus waves his hoof and spawns a piece of paper. He quickly scribbles on it and sends it throughout the base. He wishes to get a list of ponies that want to come. To his shock, it comes back empty. He looks at it in confusion. Surely some ponies would have wanted to come with. “Not sure if… depression or if they want to live out their lives alone.”

“May I remind you that we just fought a battle that ponies died in. I don’t blame them if they wanted to stay here. Maybe they can… I dunno… make history or something. Maybe they can hide away and disguise amongst the villagers outside of the forest. Let them go, Cy. Let them be free. You made your choice. I… just made mine. I’m coming with.” Heart hugs him.

“Are ya sure? You’re going to… well… forget everything you learned here. Go get your notebook and take it with you. This process is going to put you in stasis. You’ll be somewhere in the void between life and death. We all will be toeing this line. Where will you be going? Inside me, of course.” He winks at him and sends Heart to his room. “Literally.” Cyrus sits down, starting to focus.

The very first thing Cyrus does is kick everyone that wasn’t going out of the pocket dimension. He then starts to work on breaking down the base. Black smoke begins to rise up from the hospital floor and it sinks inside Cyrus. What remains is the same void that exists outside the base’s walls. This process seems to pain him more as he slowly increases the radius of the disintegration. As soon as it hits Crys, he fades, but his life is preserved. As the smoke flies into him, he gasps and tenses up. This clearly was not good for him, but he continues on. Once Heart returns with his notebook, he is promptly taken by the disintegration.

To Heart, the disintegration felt like nothing. One moment, he saw Cyrus. The next, his vision, hearing, breathing, and most of the other senses all cut out at the same time. He only felt his orientation in space, and he only heard his own thoughts. Heart did not feel like he was one being. Instead, he felt like he was spread out over far more space than he was meant to. As this process was painless, he did not cry out. He felt himself suddenly accelerate towards Cyrus, and as he enters, his last thoughts ring through his mind before the rest of the senses are cut:

Shit. What have I gotten myself into?

Cyrus tenses up further as he feels Heart enter him. He lets out a shaky breath as the feeling eventually subsides. He now focuses on the rest of the base. He ignores the growing pain inside his chest. As the radius gets bigger, so does the absorption rate. Once all of the smoke enters him, Cyrus reaches for the notebook and presses his hoof into it. His body glows and he seals off the process by sealing himself into the notebook. When he cried out in pain, nobody was able to hear it. As soon as he touches the pages, he seals himself in a pocket dimension. He places it between the back page and the back cover, then falls into a deep slumber.

Will I ever see the light of day? Will… will we? I don’t know anymore. Goodnight world. May I see you soon… sweet sweet Equus.