Epilogue: Shadow Swirl The Warrior

120 Years Later

And so, the pony of shadows came to be the absolute bane of darkness in Equestria. She trained nonstop along side the prince, Crystar, and even Necrid Ghoul at times. The king only watched from the shadows of his castle, watching the warriors grow to what they were now. Warriors for the people, and the protectors of the home they loved and cherished. Defending it from all internal affairs, and putting all dark influence in the mother of all choke holds.

This was all thanks to Shadow Swirl, her hunts for dark magic users and enemies to Equestria. Children were told stories of her, knowing they were being watched by a mare of great love. A gentle shadow became their friend, knowing the queen of darkness resided in them. Protecting the innocent from all things vile and evil, consuming and destroying anything that tried to harm them. Within a hundred years she was a legend among the ponies of the ancient city.

Even if one has so much as stolen a priceless heirloom or precious item. Ponies feared what would happened if they saw Shadow Swirl looming from within the darkness for them. It was like they were staring into the face of the grim reaper, about to pay the price for their crimes. Their death brought happiness to Shadow, it was as if each scumbag's death brought her just a little closer to peace. Which was how she was feeling right now, as she sat on a bench within the castle training grounds.

Watching as a familiar gray unicorn stallion with a mane and tail as black as the night sky was cracked in the nose. Falling to his back into the sand with a now bloody nose, and tingling jaw. Shadow couldn't help but chuckle a bit, seeing as the red eyes unicorn quickly got up. Showing his will to keep fighting burning like a furnace, even as he faced his mentor, prince Orion. A now full grown human pony, powerful and famous throughout the land of Equestria, much like herself.

"Very good, Sombra! The enemy will not stop till your dead. So you must be ready to never give up, and keep fighting,"Orion yelled while wiping a line of blood that ran down the side of his mouth,"You got me bleeding! That means your attacks and style of combat is becoming refined and sharp. Just like a warrior's mind should be!"

"Very good, mentor! Then I will not stop! I will keep fighting, no matter what!"Orion liked his pupil's spirit as he charged at the prince once more.

At the same time, they pulled out red crystals shaped like daggers for a dance of blades. Their crystals slammed together, becoming a momentary battle for power. Only for Sombra to crouch down and doing a spinning leg sweep with both legs, to sweep out the human's legs. Orion managed to back step away, only for Sombra to jump with a hoist of his front legs. Allowing him to bring down a hard right swing that managed to slash cuts into Orion's thighs.

Seeing that injury gave Sombra the confidence to for another cut to the shoulder. However that proved to be a big mistake, as Orion used a blade of his own to block the strike. Sombra lit up his red crystal eyes, foreseeing his master's next move to be a strike to his shoulder in return. He was able to block that incoming attack, but now they were once again locked in a stalemate. Or so he thought, before a rising knee from Orion smashed right up the side of Sombra's jaw.

Lifting Sombra up into the air a good ten feet, just long enough for the prince to make a full back flip in the air. Before landing on his feet and performing an X slash with both crystal blades. Cutting a solid X shape wound into the gray stallion's chest, forcing him to roll in the sand. Till he came to a stop right at Shadow's hooves, he felt a bit dazed, but it wasn't hard to recognize her face. Sombra chuckled, still a bit of a young stallion, even after the blessings of immortality, given by the king to all his warriors.

Shadow responded by shaking her head and giving a respectable chuckle right back. Before she looked up to see a slightly sweaty prince Orion approaching with both blades at the ready. But all it took was a raise of her hoof to get the prince singing a more gentle tune with her.

"Not bad…! But never be over confident, and don't ever let an enemy surprise you with something out of the blue,"Orion panted while retracting his crystals back into the safety of his hands,"Anything new and surprising should be handle with a calm mind. For it is simply something new to learn…!"

"Alright, coach. Now that you two decided to cut yourselves up a bit in that tussle,"Shadow sighed before tapping her left back hoof to make a bottle of alcohol and bandages appear,"I gotta get the both of you back into proper condition. Last thing you two crystal heads need is to lose some legs or a piece of your chest to infection…!"

"Right… That's one of the many perks to having you with us, doc…!"Orion mixed a compliment with a joke while helping Sombra sit up on the bench.

"I'm sure it is…! Not sure whether to call you spoiled or a flank kisser."Shadow chuckled and got to work by pouring some alcohol on Sombra's chest wound.

"So… Mentor? Aaagh! Stings,"Sombra groaned from the burn of alcohol on his open wound,"I was wondering…! Is it possible that we may be able to visit that crystal settlement of yours? There's so much more I wish to study off the ponies that live there…!"

"I don't know… It's an awful long journey, and frankly I feel you could use more training…!"Orion's blatant response was met with a snicker from Shadow as she used a rag to clean off Sombra's chest.

"I swear… You're just like me and Dusty… Stop bull squatting and just say yes,"Orion huffed at first, but then sighed before giving her a sly smile,"You just can't stop being a tease about what comes next, I swear…!"

"Are…we really going mentor?! If we aren't, I understand if we can't go at the moment,"Sombra decided to be the respectable one to his master's wishes,"I'll be ready to train even harder tomorrow if that's the case. Till I have truly-"

"Sombra…! It's fine. Of course we can go to the crystal settlement tomorrow,"Orion finally stopped being a tease and strict mentor to his ambitious student,"Just make sure you remember to demonstrate patience and understanding. Those crystal ponies have proven to be quite the emotionally fragile breed of people."

"I will mentor! And who knows, maybe they carry some sort of light magic about them,"Sombra thought while his cleaned up wound received a square patch bandage since the cut wasn't too deep,"I mean their crystal coats came from somewhere, right?"

"Every pony has a special something that makes them shine. But it's what you choose to do with that something that truly matters…"Shadow decided to give Sombra a little bit of important knowledge among her and her fellow warriors.

"So… Maybe their beautiful crystal coats appear because of something beautiful they do…!"Sombra suddenly realized and interesting thought when it came to crystal ponies.

"Sure… Lets go with that one Sombra….!"Orion snickered while Sombra got his legs wrapped up in bandages.

"Alright, take a break until the numbness in your chest and legs goes away,"Shadow explained before putting an ice cold wet rag to Sombra's muzzle,"And keep that against your nose and mouth till the bleeding stops. Then wash it off with some more water."

"Yeah… That would be a good idea…! Head inside, rest up in your dorm."Orion instructed while helping his student to stand up properly.

"Yes…mentor…! I'm looking forward to tomorrow now…! I promise to bring my all to the settlement."Sombra bowed and slowly began to stagger a bit while making for the iron gate.

To think that such a young warrior had come so far from the day they took him from the Loubrim clan. Sombra was growing to become quite the compassionate and ambitious warrior. As the third red crystal bearer, it became all too vital that Sombra was raised properly as a warrior. For red crystals were one of the most prized abilities in all of Equestria's creation. It was so very fortunate that they laid waste to the Loubrim before they could have done something terrible to him.

"To think that stallion was a little colt under the capture of those dark magic fools,"Orion decided to strike up a most interesting conversation with Shadow, regarding the Loubrim,"You uh… You showed a lot of control and by the book actions in that village… I would have thought you would have taken the deed a bit more personal…!"

"Well… All that matters is that their all dead. And they can't do what they did to us to any pony else,"Shadow wanted to be a bit cut and dry as she slowly pulled out her necklace to hold it a bit,"There wasn't much to say or do any more with them… My brother is at peace, and dark magic has been pushed back into my shadows… Where it belongs…"

"That's a hay of a thing to say… I…never forgot those moments before you joined up,"Orion looked to Shadow, seeing her twiddle the locket on her necklace got him thinking,"Do you forgive me…?"

"I…beg your pardon…?"Shadow asked after hearing that sudden question.

"Do you forgive me? After everything I've done…? All the things that happened to you… Is there a chance that you can forgive me?"Orion specified his answer before Shadow lowered her head for a moment to think.

Everything he ever did in her life had lead Shadow to the pony she now was. A fighter for the ponies and children, a slayer and hunter to all evil beings throughout Equestria. She may have been forced through a lot of pain and sorrow, losing love ones and enduring the demon within her. But now she was making a difference, and to this day, she was keeping her promise to Dusty. With a sigh, she lifted her forearm up and gave Orion a punch to the arm.

"Yeah… Just don't ask me that again if you want it to stay that way…!"She warned before chuckling a bit with Orion, even though he almost looked a bit nervous.

"I'm glad… You really have grown to be a trusted frie-"Orion started before he and Shadow saw her own shadow wriggling and squiggling like goo.

"Well well well…! Two of them are currently shaking down a mother and daughter huh,"Shadow read the vibes that her magic relayed from the way her shadow wriggled,"Looks like another day at the office… You think you can patch yourself up this time around?"

"I suppose so… I have a crystal vial to spare for these minor wounds,"Orion replied before she nodded and immediately turned pitch black to sink into her shadow,"Go show them scum bags what happens to everything vile and evil in Equestria…!"

With that, Shadow gave more of a giggle before disappearing into her shadow. The pony of darkness then slithered her way out of the grounds at impressive speeds. She was out of the castle within mere moments and converging towards the edge of the west district. The shadows were her guide, her power, her reason to slaughter any pony that dared to abuse it. As she traveled to the place she was beckoned to, victims of common Pegasus thugs were truly shaking down a mother and daughter.

The filly screamed, being held by her mane while her mother was being pinned down. They were emptied out of any money and special belongings the thugs could want. Though that still proved to not be enough to satisfy the thugs lust and greed that always hungered for more. So there was only one more thing that they could take from the mother and daughter, their innocence. The mother was up first, but she was putting up a fight, and begging for her daughter's life.

"Please…! Do what you want with me, just let Tulip go!"The mother begged and was promptly slapped across the face for pleading to them for mercy.

"You don't have any room to be asking for anything…! You two had next to nothing to hoof over,"The pinning thug growled while tossing the mother's dress aside,"So we need to take what's left from you bone dry chumps…!"

"Take a good look child…! Because this will be your future with time."The second thug incited as his partner wrestled to control the filly's mother.

"Yeah… Pucker up there, we're suppose to be putting on a show here lady…!"The stallion was forceful and trying to take full control of her before they could engage in unsavory actions.

However, before he could land a kiss, the Pegasus felt the sharp burn of something piercing through his gut from behind. He gritted his teeth before four more sharp jabs skewered right through him. Blood oozed as he yelled and growled with pain as they all froze. His blood splattered all over the mother before he was lifted into the air by well known black tentacles. The motion of the tentacles were slow at first, but they had then turned wildly violent.

He screamed, as the creep was then violently swung and flailed all over the place. His body met with many stone and houses, his blood stained the walls and splashed all over the ground. His screams were in vain as he was treated like a rag doll forced into a wild ride. It was a scary couple minutes before he was slammed onto his stomach and face, allowing him to spit out teeth and blood.

He looked up to the mare he tried to soil, but was derailed by the terrified look on his partner's face. He sighed, looking own to the puddle of blood he was making around himself. All made from the wounds that opened up all over his torso and face. Before he turned to look behind him, seeing the source of the black tentacles hidden within the darkness. He would soon meet his maker, the moment he was then forcefully dragged across the stone ground towards the shadows.

He panicked, gripping and scraping at the stone ground to wrestle himself free. But any pony who has seen the dark magic of Shadow Swirl knows that when you're caught in her grasp, you're dead. It did not stop the stallion however from resisting and screaming all the way into the shadows. The moment he finally disappeared with a scream into the darkness, his screams faded. Turning to the sound of flesh tearing, bones breaking, and blood spilling violently from within the shadows.

"Oh…no…! The queen of shadows…!"The remaining stallion spoke with chilling fear running from his tail bone to the top of his spine.

He slowly released the filly, raising his hooves in surrender while the filly ran to her mother. He swallowed, knowing that she could be hiding within any patch of shadow. Every ally way, every curb, every over hanging area housed a shadow for the pony of darkness to hide in. All he could think of doing was escaping, hoping that the embrace of the mother and daughter was enough to distract her. So he chose to turn around to make a run for it, and rammed his muzzle right into the steel muzzle of Shadow Swirl.

"Another day… Another bit of evil pulled back into the darkness…!"Shadow spoke in a blank and hidden hatred for a stallion of such a high scummy level.

With that said she twitched a bit before black tendrils raised out through the back of her cleric's robe. The stallion thug tried to back away, but her shadow was already connected with his own. He could no longer move, he was under Shadow's full shadow possession. He could only tear up with fear as Shadow looked him did in the eyes while pulling him into the darkness. Where she could promptly tear into another piece of evil, and expunge it from the beautiful world she would create, one vile being at a time.

I know this might feel a bit rushed, but I honestly couldn't feel like there was a better way to conclude it. As I said, remember what you learned from this story to understand Shadow in the future. With that said, I hope you're all ready for season 2 of Equestria's Warrior Returns! I'm very excited to begin making season 2, and believe me when I say, I will make season 2 all it can be. Till then, stay pony every one.