Have I not been too long in the Shadows

                “Come on ya’ll, we gotta’ get to the meetin’ and see what our destinies’ll be and get our cutie marks!” said Apple Bloom to her friends as they hurried to the C.M.C. meeting.

“How are we going to get there when we planned too now?” complained Sweetie Belle as they ran through town, “Hey, why do we have to hurry anyway?”

“Because SOMEpony decided to sleep in like a lazy good-fer-nuthin’!” replied Apple Bloom.

“HEY! I heard that!” yelled Scootaloo, who was still waking up, from her new scooter.

“Well you did happn’ to pick today to sleep in.” Apple Bloom retorted. “And today happn’s to be the day we were gonna bring in more members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders! So sor-ry for bein’ a little..” she trailed off, not knowing quite the word to say.

“Prudent?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Yeah, prudent in this.” AB finished.

“Alright already. Geez, I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?” Scoot’s lamented.

“For you too wake up and hurry!” AB replied.

Today was as they said. It was in fact an important day for them, as they were going to try and bring in new members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had been planning on doing this for a week now and they weren’t going to screw it up.

Ever since Twilight was coronated six months ago, new ponies have been arriving in town, either moving in or visiting for a while to see the place. Something about it being significantly historic now. That means families were moving in, which means they have children, which potentially means new blank flanks, and more potential new members. This was a chance to expand the C.M.C. even further, remembering about Babs Seed’s progress in Manehatten. So, in order to accomplish this goal, they need to recruit new members. And so they decided to set up a meeting in town hall, see what would come of it, and try their best! And maybe see if they get their cutie marks. You never know.

“Again, why do we need to arrive early?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom replied. “So we can see who came and how many. That way, we won’t feel so overwhelmed if there are a lot, or seem disappointed if there aren’t that many. A way of composing ourselves for meeting them.” was her explanation.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “that sounds good. Hey, can we rest a sec? I’m still waking up here.” said scootaloo as they entered the park, the meeting spot still a ways ahead.

Apple Bloom thought about it for a second, then replied, “Ok, just a sec though.”

They slowed to a halt, pulled over and stopped by a bend in the paths. They all then, simultaneously, fell over and began to pant with exhaustion. They ran too much, too hard and too fast. They’ve burned up all their energy and are tired.

“Whoa, *pant* didn’t think we’d get this tired. *pant* Guess we should’a *pant* gone at a slower pace, *pant* huh?” asked Sweetie Belle, realizing how exhausted she really was, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Come to think of it, *pant* I still had a bit of energy in me *pant* then suddenly i’m exhausted.”

“What?”, said Apple Bloom. “You too?”

“Yeah,” replied Sweetie Belle, “I guess so. *pant**pant* Hey, do you hear somepony coming?” The others perked their ears up and listened. And, lo and behold, somepony was indeed coming closer. Running closer, actually. Sudden, irrational fear gripped them.

“Some pony is coming! Quick, hide!” said Scootaloo. They got up and found that it was coming from around the bend ahead. Wondering who else seemed to be in a hurry, but not wanting to be seen spying on them, they hide in the bushes and peaked to see who it was.

“Wait, why are we hidin’?” asked Apple Bloom as she turned to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo thought but couldn’t think of a reason why. “I don’t know why. I just had this sudden urge to hide and-”

“Aww, did some little pony get scared? playfully teased Apple Bloom.

“No. Shut up.” she retorted

“Hey, who is that?” Sweetie Belle asked, cutting off Apple Bloom who was going to say something.

They looked out and saw an unusually tall pony leaning on a bench, tired and out of breath. A red stallion with a dark brown, messy mane, scars, tattoos and wearing a black robe. This colt looked as tall as Princess Luna almost, which fascinated the three. But the mane, scars and tattoos make him seem menacing, so they refrained from approaching. He seemed frightened or agitated, like he’d been spooked or scared or something.

“Why was he runnin’?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Dunno. Let’s see.” replied Sweetie Belle.

“Damn it, gods DAMN IT!” he yelled to himself, then kicked the bench. “Why does it have to be now? *hnff* Of all times for me to go through the Flux, it had to be now. Why not happen, oh, I don’t know, a month ago. When I DIDN’T have some important shit that I was doing.” The three were immediately taken aback as they never heard anypony say that out in public. He sat down at the bench and held his head in his hooves, apparently very stressed.

“Have you ever heard anypony say any of that stuff before?” asked Apple Bloom.

The others shook their heads in the negative.

“OK Moonsorrow,” continued the colt a few moments later. “calm thy fury. You need to think clearly, not angry.” He did some deep breaths and it seemed to calm down a bit. Then at the same time, a sensation of calm and relaxation swept over the three.

“Hey, I feel a bit less tired all of a sudden.” whispered Sweetie Belle, seeming to relax a bit.

“Wait you feel that happen too?” Apple Bloom asked, puzzled as she also felt a feeling of less fatigue.

“Hold on, how’d we all feel that at the same time?” asked Scootaloo, evidently more awake now. “Was-was it...” she stopped realizing that he infact was the cause. “How did he do that?” she asked looking toward the strange stallion. He lifted his head up, seeing if anypony was around evidently, then went on. They had quieted down to listen, as he didn’t seem to notice them.

“Ok. So, the tarot reading Fable gave me has been accurate so far. That first pony I met in this friggen town, what’s her name again... uhh, Pinkie Pie? Yeah, that’s it.”

“He saw Pinkie earlier?” they all thought aloud.

“So, according to the tarot, she’s the Fool. The one i’d meet first, the one who will herald my arrival to my destination. Heh, she certainly seemed fit the part alright.”

“Did he just make fun of Pinkie Pie?” said Sweetie Belle, a little ticked.

“Quiet, he’ll hear us.” urged Scootaloo. Sweetie settled down. “Wait,” asked Sweetie Belle, “why are we watching this guy?”

“He seems suspicious, now shut up.” snapped Apple Bloom. They shut their mouths.

“OK, so first the Fool, then Strength. *sigh* I’ve definitely met that one, the orange mare who sold the apples. She was Strength.”

“My sister?” said Apple Bloom.

“God I hope I don’t see her again. I really don’t want to explain the flare up that occurred back there. I can’t attract too much attention to myself. Can’t afford it.”

“Wait, what? D-did he do something to my sister?” said Apple Bloom with worry in her voice.

“Oh hell, I am not looking forward to meeting the Charioteer. The predicted encounter with Strength was murky, but Charioteer... *sigh* that’ll not end well.” He said solemnly.

What the heck is he talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom asked, starting to panic. “Did somethin’ happen to my sister?” She was getting worried. Did she get hurt, was there some accident, was this guy involved? The thoughts were racing through her head.

“Calm down Apple Bloom, I’m sure nothing has happened.” Sweetie Belle said to comfort her friend.

Then, before she could panic more, they heard a thud from the stallion and saw he had fallen over, clutching his head.

“Aahhh! Ngh, gah... AAAHH!

They knew now he was in immense pain.

“Hey, he’s hurting! We gotta help him.” said Scootaloo, seeing him in pain.

“What’s wrong with-” Apple Bloom was cut off as the pony jerked up and they saw what was happening.

He was clutching his tattoo’s, and they were GLOWING now! He let out a curt yell and suddenly his pupils went from what appeared to be hexagon, which they didn’t notice before, to cover his eye’s. The dark spread like inky tendrils and covered his eyes, and made them turn completely black. Wind began blowing, and wailing, and noises were being heard. It took a second to realize they were whispers. The three of them were petrified with terror at what they were witnessing.

“The heck's going on here!” yelled Scootaloo, as they were huddled together, fearful of letting go.

“I don’t know- What’s he doing!” exclaimed Apple Bloom as the tree behind the bench became old, then ancient. The leaves were withering, falling, disintegrating, disappearing. The bark peeling off and falling to the ground. The tree was dying.

“Oh god, crap! Crap!” now he saw what was happening, still clutching his head. He was himself freaking out over what’s happening. He then crawled over to the tree, which looked ancient now, and placed his hooves together. The three saw him doing something, it looked like he was saying something, a spell maybe? They came apart and were placed on the tree. His face grew an expression of determination, and his tattoos glowed even brighter. And then, suddenly, the wind stopped, the noises went silent and the tree stopped aging. The CMC’s looked on, curious at what he was doing.

“Live. Live you stupid tree! Live!” He lifted a hoof of and punched the tree, and the tree then came back to life! Really! The branches grew back, the leaves too. The bark came back, and the whole thing looked as it did before in a matter of seconds.

“Wait a sec, what happened?” said Scootaloo. This was a legitimate question. What the heck just happened?

His head jolted up, and he looked over. He’d noticed them. They would have reacted, but they were transfixed. His eyes, they were terrifying. They weren’t just black, the seemed to radiate darkness as if it were like heat from a radiator. The color of them spilt out and spread just immediately away from their place in his head, the images around distorting what was being see. He knew they were there, but they were scared stiff. The feeling they got from being seen with those piercing eyes. It was as if he saw their souls...

“LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!” they screamed in unison, and they bolted. Scootaloo grabbed her

“What. No wait-Gahhhghng...” He got up but then fell over, in pain, clutching his side. “Please. done run...” He couldn’t say more, it seemed to pain him, and there would be no point they were already way out of the park and into town.

After a bit of that they pulled over and waited a moment.

“Dude, what the hay happened back there?” asked Scootaloo, catching her breath. They had not seen something like that before and they needed to figure out what that was.

“I dunno. Maybe he’s some kind of sorcerer or somethin’. Like Zecora.” suggested Apple Bloom.

“Nu-uh. Zecora’s never done anything like that before.” replied Sweetie Belle. “Whatever that was, was something else.”

“What was all that stuff he talked about? Like ‘tarot’ or ‘flux’ and all that?” asked Apple Bloom, intrigued about all this.

“How about we talk about it later, huh?” suggested Sweetie Belle. “Were going to be late for our arrival plan.”

“What? Are you insane!?” said Scootaloo indignantly. “A guy talks about weird, rotally bizzare things, killed and brought back a tree, scared the living heck outta us, and you want to wait to talk about it?”

“She’s right.” replied Apple Bloom. “We got to go, we can’t just sit and talk about it right now. We got to do what we need to do. We’ve got to think about the C.M.C. for now. We can figure that stuff out later.”

“But- but... *sigh* ok.” Scootaloo agreed in defeat. “ I gotcha’. Let’s go. But afterward, we try and figure out what that was. Got it?”

“Agreed” the other replied.

They then started back on their path. They still had a bit of time to prepare for the meeting.