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In my continued collab shenanigans with my good friend (https://www.deviantart.com/orin331) working on AU related stuff, I decided to take the reigns this time and do some redesign concept work for one of my favorite lesser known canon characters while Ori was gracious enough to help vector my finalized design.

Shadow Lock is a character that appears in the IDW MLP comic issues #51-53 as a temporary antagonist to the mane 6 and when I found out he was related to Stygian as a direct descendant, I had to include him in my “Living Harmony” AU. (My gallery folder has more information and images about the AU). For those that don’t know anything else about him, his story arc in the comics deals with him trying to erase any mention of the Pony of Shadows from history in a misguided attempt to prevent it from returning to Equestria. This happens before the Pillars of Equestria and the Pony of Shadows, who is possessing Stygian, return from limbo in season 7 of the show. I thought his abilities were really cool and his character has so much potential that was never explored again in the comics or in the show. So now he’s another important figure in my story along with Stygian and the Pillars. His full range of abilities have been expanded upon in this headcanon:

Shadow Lock is Stygian’s distant descendant and the last living branch in his family tree.
He believed he was descended from a monster and desperately tried to erase any mention of the Pony of Shadows from written history. He was eventually talked down from his history erasing spree by Twilight and ends up traveling around Equestria to find out more information about the Pony of Shadows, without trying to erase the knowledge this time, and prevent it from returning.
His family owns an old castle passed down through the generations which he resides in by himself after his parents retire to the town of Somnambula. The castle used to be considered quite “haunted”. It’s quieter nowadays, but he does have a large collection of miscellaneous items that most ponies would consider “cursed…” in different chambers.
The symbol on the front of Shadow Lock’s cloak is his family crest. The depiction of a unicorn on the crest has been prevalent all the way back during Stygian’s time period up to present day in his family line, though the origins of its symbolism are unknown even to Shadow Lock…
There’s a magic glamour woven into Shadow Lock’s cloak that enshrouds its wearer’s face when active. He isn’t sure why his inherited family cloaks have a spell like this attached to them, but it proves to be quite useful from time to time.
Shadow Lock’s special talent is the concealment and binding of dark magic. In practice his magic is very similar to exorcism, as he can effectively bind malevolent spirits into vessels where they’re unable to cause harm. This can also be reversed as an unbinding spell if necessary.
Since his other spells require books, he always carries a healthy stack of reading material in his saddlebags to use as a weapon. One of these spells can pull fictional characters and monsters from stories to fight for him. Another spell at his disposal can trap a creature into experiencing a historical event on loop by using a small amount of written text. The spell can be broken by causing a change significant enough that did not occur during the looped event in history.
Shadow Lock and Stygian are extremely hesitant to meet each other at first in the present time. The mane 6 or Harmony (or possibly both) step in as mediator eventually to help them work out their issues so they can reconnect as family.
He later invites Stygian to live in his castle once their family relationship is repaired, the two becoming inseparable.

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In my continued collab shenanigans with my good friend ([https://www.deviantart.com/orin331](https://www.deviantart.com/orin331)) working on AU related stuff, I decided to take the reigns this time and do some redesign concept work for one of my favorite lesser known canon characters while Ori was gracious enough to help vector my finalized design.

Shadow Lock is a character that appears in the IDW MLP comic issues #51-53 as a temporary antagonist to the mane 6 and when I found out he was related to Stygian as a direct descendant, I had to include him in my "Living Harmony" AU. (My gallery folder has more information and images about the AU). For those that don't know anything else about him, his story arc in the comics deals with him trying to erase any mention of the Pony of Shadows from history in a misguided attempt to prevent it from returning to Equestria. This happens before the Pillars of Equestria and the Pony of Shadows, who is possessing Stygian, return from limbo in season 7 of the show. I thought his abilities were really cool and his character has so much potential that was never explored again in the comics or in the show. So now he's another important figure in my story along with Stygian and the Pillars. His full range of abilities have been expanded upon in this headcanon:

- Shadow Lock is Stygian’s distant descendant and the last living branch in his family tree.

- He believed he was descended from a monster and desperately tried to erase any mention of the Pony of Shadows from written history. He was eventually talked down from his history erasing spree by Twilight and ends up traveling around Equestria to find out more information about the Pony of Shadows, without trying to erase the knowledge this time, and prevent it from returning.

- His family owns an old castle passed down through the generations which he resides in by himself after his parents retire to the town of Somnambula. The castle used to be considered quite “haunted”. It’s quieter nowadays, but he does have a large collection of miscellaneous items that most ponies would consider “cursed…” in different chambers.

- The symbol on the front of Shadow Lock’s cloak is his family crest. The depiction of a unicorn on the crest has been prevalent all the way back during Stygian's time period up to present day in his family line, though the origins of its symbolism are unknown even to Shadow Lock...

- There’s a magic glamour woven into Shadow Lock’s cloak that enshrouds its wearer’s face when active. He isn't sure why his inherited family cloaks have a spell like this attached to them, but it proves to be quite useful from time to time.

- Shadow Lock’s special talent is the concealment and binding of dark magic. In practice his magic is very similar to exorcism, as he can effectively bind malevolent spirits into vessels where they’re unable to cause harm. This can also be reversed as an unbinding spell if necessary.

- Since his other spells require books, he always carries a healthy stack of reading material in his saddlebags to use as a weapon. One of these spells can pull fictional characters and monsters from stories to fight for him. Another spell at his disposal can trap a creature into experiencing a historical event on loop by using a small amount of written text. The spell can be broken by causing a change significant enough that did not occur during the looped event in history.

- Shadow Lock and Stygian are extremely hesitant to meet each other at first in the present time. The mane 6 or Harmony (or possibly both) step in as mediator eventually to help them work out their issues so they can reconnect as family.

- He later invites Stygian to live in his castle once their family relationship is repaired, the two becoming inseparable.

https://www.deviantart.com/heilos/art/Shadow-Lock-1031858395

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