Drowning in Shadow

Umbrum have posessed many of those infected by the crystal plague in the Crystal Empire and are attempting to siege the Crystal Heart!

 Pas D'arms was bitten by an Umbrum, and startled by their voice in his head, causing him to fall prey to their illusions. 

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The shadowy voice crawled in his head like a vivid waking nightmare, clicking across his thoughts in the way something might that could be either razor talons or simply a dry branch against a childhood window. 

You can not stop us. You can not win, for we are many, and we are eternal. We shall be free once more.

He knew what they were then, or suspected, their oily shadow thoughts had haunted his nightmares since he'd trailed at Belle's withers. 

They'll take you, you know. They like dark ponies, they'll make you into one of them and THEN you'll leave us alone!

And in that moment it seemed to be true, shadows crawling out from the bite as though he were bleeding darkness. As though he'd been terrible darkness inside all this time and only pretending to be a knight. Maybe they were right, maybe he couldn't win, maybe he would inevitably help them because maybe secretly he was one of them under his coat of shadow grays. 

He could feel his own body withering into shadow under their teeth and screamed. Only in terror, there was nothing in this moment in which he could have found space to be shamed. 

Belle.

Belle and Brave and that lumbery, pampered Gold Standard... Velvet Wing and ... even Frost were all there fighting and he was 

Was...

failing. 

His teachers would be so ashamed, he was supposed to be good at fighting and he'd failed this fast.

 I don't need to win.

He wasn't sure where the thought came from, or from specifically who. It was just a tiny thread in his thoughts that he grabbed onto to keep from drowning in shadows. 

 I don't need to win.

And that was true wasn't it?

He was ONE soldier on the field. Even if he, Pas, fell...

"I DON'T NEED TO WIN!" He howled, lashing out with hooves and horn. He had no faith in his magic in this moment, or a thought for it.

"I JUST NEED YOU TO LOOSE!"