The Begining of a New Lifeby ThePastChaptersChapter 1- PrologueChapter 2- Blending InChapter 3- What's the Truth?Chapter 4- MistakesChapter 1- Prologue"This is weird… Why would the Tardis teleport me back here? After I was able to return to reality or well London to be precise, the Tardis decided to bring me here? There must be something fishy going on in Equestria again..." said Doctor Whooves as he stepped out of the Tardis and had a look around the city. "I think I remember this place…I was here with my temporary helper… Ah Yes Ditzy! I would guess this is Canterlot then? I should find her and try to see what time is it." As the brown pony walked down the streets of Canterlot, capital of Equestria, he notices the streets are quite empty for the most populated and most guarded city in Equestria. "Where is everyone? Ohh! I remember it’s everypony! Hehe everypony… never gets old. Ohh getting out of the main subject! The Tardis sent me to this exact same time, strangely… so there must be something real important that is going to happen..." stated Doctor Whooves. "Excuse me sir would you know the way to the part---- Doctor??? Is that you??? What are you doing here??? It’s been around a year without seeing you!" asked a very similar voice walking up from behind Whooves. "Oh, Hey Ditzy! Well you might think it was a year without seeing you, but we talked yesterday after we went on a small adventure! You know… 5th Galaxy? Ice monsters remember?" Exclaimed The Doctor as he saw his old friend come close. "It is still hard to believe but after the last time you showed me I just have to live with it hehe." replied Ditzy in a soft, nice way as her golden eyes looked at the Doctor. "Well the Tardis sent me to this specific location, so there must be something I must do or solve in this time zone. Anything important going to happen?" Replied the Doctor as he waited for a response from his old friend. "Well the Princess was throwing Luna a Birthday party today, it’s a surprise! But I got lost on my way to the castle…" replied Ditzy in a low, embarrassed voice as her face plopped down. "Ah yes I remember your bad navigational skills." Admired Doctor Whooves not noticing he had said that out loud. "HEY!" exclaimed Ditzy after the comment looking quite angry with her face turning red. "Umm... Ah yes we were going to the party!" replied the Doctor scared that Ditzy might leave him stranded there. After several minutes of walking both Ditzy and the Doctor made it in time before Princess Luna had arrived at the scene. Doctor Whooves started to look around to see the really nice and well-crafted decorations all around the place. The ceiling was painting so it looked like the night sky and in the darkness of the room it looked like the actual sky. This was Luna’s first ever Birthday after she came back from the moon. They both made their way to the middle of the room and heard someone screaming. "Luna will come in the room in any second, everypony get ready!" exclaimed a Guard next to the principal door. "Psst… hehe… everypony…" whispered Whooves to himself as he tried not to form an outburst of laughter. "Shh be quiet mister" whispered Ditzy back at him; she looked quite angry at his laughter. You could hear the background talk between Celestia and Luna and why they should go into to the ball room in the first place. "I still don’t get why you----" said Luna as she was cut off by the screaming crowd saying either 'Surprise' or 'Happy Birthday' "Ohh my!!! You did not have to do this!" said Luna with a couple of Joy tears in her face. "It was not a big deal Luna… don't worry... Enjoy you birthday party." replied Celestia. Just as Celestia finished everyone headed their attention to a grayish pony with charcoal main with the name of Octavia who was about to talk threw the microphone. "Well we have a small presentation tonight for all of you… although many of you can see us as rivals… Today we will show all of you what friendship can do… Please welcome Vinyl Scratch or DJ PON-3!" said Octavia threw the microphone… "Classical and Modern will unite for a special mix for this special day" Vinyl stated after Octavia finished. The 2 pony musicians started to play and the whole place started to clap and cheer for the two mares playing their hearts out on stage with a never before seen style of mixing Classical and Modern. -MEANWHILE- "Stay alert everyone… Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s crowns must be safe at all cost. No one can go in or out this room. Is that clear?" said the captain of the five ponies who were in charge of protecting their princesses crowns. "Relax Star it's the fifth time you repeat the same thing, nothing’s going to happen… Why would anyone try and steal these crowns? I mean they are both the rulers of Equestria… Who would dare steal from them" replied Glare. "I don’t know but you can never be too sure Glare, just stay focused and don’t goof around." assured Star. -MEANWHILE- (Pretty close to the last conversation) "Ok so there are 5 guards and the princesses’ crowns are in the crystal protection in the middle of the 5. I just need to take down the unicorn since these 'royal guards' were stupid enough to put 1 unicorn and 4 earth ponies to protect such a valuable item. I will just knock him out with a quick blow before he can use his magic against me." A mysterious pony thought outside the window, then he gave a long sigh as he looked outside to see if anyone outside could see him next to the towers window. "I will just go in when the unicorn loses just little bit of concentration... even if it takes all night." the pony continued to think as he looked inside the room again. A couple of hours passed and the 4 guards under the control of Star were getting very bored with nothing to do but watch the crowns. "Ahh this job is so boring, there is a massive party going on, or maybe even the biggest party in history, and we were chosen to do this." Glare broke through the eternal silence between the guards. "this is the worst…" "Shut up Glare this is a really great responsibility that the princess gave us and I really, REALLY don’t want to mess up." replied Star as he kept his position. "Too bad buddy… but you are going to mess up today buddy." Whispered the pony from outside the castle window, but no one really heard him. "Hey guys lets----" said Raven as he turned around to face his friends, he then faced away from the window and the pony had a clear hit on the back on his neck which knocked him down. "What’s happening??? Raven what’s wrong??? WHERES THE CROWNS!!!????" screamed Star. "Turn on the sirens!" As Fierce turned on the sirens… Glare, Star and the mute pony Seren went to check If the friend was ok. "Raven are you ok?!?" asked Glare -MEANWHILE- "Yea Sirens! Raising the beat!! Octy play alittle faster!!" screamed Vinyl through the heavy music and now heavy sirens. "Okay Vinyl!" replied Octavia as her cello started to play at a faster rhythm. The crowed started to cheer louder so the other guards were not able to hear the sirens coming from the first room. Princess Celestia then started to feel a weird feeling, so she decided to go check on their crowns. She took a couple of guards with her to be safe including Shining Armor. The wonderbolts then appeared with the leaders of Cloudsdale to celebrate the Birthday Party of Luna; Celestia’s absence was not noticed by many. After some time… Octavia stopped playing… and simultaneously Vinyl did as well. "Vinyl! Turn of those Sirens, the song ended." said Octavia as she looked back at her friend. "It’s not me Octavia, I do not know where they are coming from!" screamed Vinyl due to the large sound created by the sirens. As Vinyl finished that sentence Celestia crashed through the door and screamed "The royal crowns are missing!" All the partying stopped after Celestia’s statement. Everyone then waited Celestia’s commands. Royal guards off duty started getting ready just in case they were going to face a large opponent. "I want every royal guard ready just in case someone wanted a fight; I also want a large amount of royal guards looking around town for something suspicious. Twightly Sparkle, I want you and your friends to see if you can find out who did this and why would they steal Luna’s crown and my crown." Continued Celestia in a strong but calm tone. "Ok your highness, we will get right too it." Answered Rainbow Dash as she busted threw the main door in an unknown speed. "Your majesty with all due respect…" started to speak a now very pale Star who couldn't even look up at the princess, "Umm… The subject who hit Raven in the back was not seen by us… 'It' went at extremly fast speeds, and was also a Pegasus… I am not going to accuse Rainbow Dash of this… Especially seeing she’s the Element of Loyalty but it matches her speed…" "I see… thank you for telling me this Star…" replied Celestia in a humble tone. -MEANWHILE- Later that same night… "What do you mean I have to wait for you for ten days? How am I going to hide the crowns for ten days?" said the mysterious voice in a very dark alley so no one would see him. "Hide them. I do not care how but you know what is coming if you fail." Replied another unknown voice into the pony’s mind. "Yea, yea… I will probably fail though so get the 2 ropes ready." replied the pony in the alley humorously while his ears perked trying to hear if anyone was close. "Do not mess with me Shadow." replied the voice sounding a bit harsh. "At least I have a way of communicating with you, you can’t just insert these powers to any other pony can you?" Whispered Shadow to the voice in his mind. "No I can’t insert dark magic to anypony else, he or she would die instantly as it starts to run through his veins. Hide the crowns and whatever you do… Do not let the princesses find them." replied an angrier voice. "Fine I will see what I can do--- Somepony is coming." Said Shadow as someone walked towards him in a slow and defensive position. "Is anyone there?" asked a Royal Guard looking into the alley. Chapter 2- Blending InAs the royal guard finished his small question, Shadow hesitated in his own fear and immediately tried to fly away. In Luna’s dark and silent night, Shadow’s vision was blurry and he couldn’t see the direction he was flying too. As he almost reached the top of the building, Shadow's right wing bumped into an unknown object which made him twitch and immideatly fall and land on the roof of the house. “Ahh my wing! Great now my wing is busted… dammit what did I hit?” continued Shadow as he looked at his hurting wing, “wait now that I think about it... where I am going to sleep? I do not think these people would let a stranger enter their house… Busted wing, nowhere to sleep… great… definitely not going to hospital to bring attention to me either.” Shadow sighed after finishing the sentence and looked around the city from the rooftop. His eyes then locked to the skies looking at the beautiful night sky above him. His eyes then lock on a cloud he saw pretty close by. “Ok here goes nothing.” Shadow was able to reach a small cloud which was floating above a big tree which looked like a house. Shadow knew he was safe for the night in the soft cloud so he hid his bag in the cloud and closed his eyes as sleep conquered his body. Around thirty minutes later, he was awoken by an angry voice of another pegasus flying next to him. “Well I don’t know who you are but this is my cloud! You should leave!” said a Pegasus with a rainbow mane looking viciously angry next to him. “Umm… can I stay here for tonight? I don’t have a place to go… and my wings busted so I can’t fly to any other cloud… I know you probably don’t trust me but I am really tired…” Replied Shadow as he looked up at the now calm rainbow manned Pegasus. “I don’t really let people sleep in my cloud but umm you seem like you really need it… Uhh, if you need anything else call me? I will lower another cloud for me...” The pegasus replied sort of confused but she just rolled her eyes and flew higher to bring down another cloud. “Ok thank you miss……” Shadow then open his eyes wide waiting for an answer from the mare who did not seem to take the message at the beggining. “Rainbow Dash! Fastest Flier in Equestria! Haha, most people from the area know me so I would guess you are from far away? What’s your name?” after she had answered him, she asked two quick questions to Shadow before he had time to blink. “Well you could saw I am from far away and my name is Shadow.” He replied in a soft tone. “Oh… Ok--- Hey wait a minute! You don’t have a Cutie Mark!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she looked for his Cutie Mark. “Umm no… Miss Dash sorry to interrupt but I am really tired and it has been a long day and… I also don’t like people looking at my flank trying to find some picture in it…” replied Shadow looking the other way lightly hesitated, “umm also sorry for my tone… it has been a really long day… I feel really mean telling you this, but I really need to rest...” his eyes looked down at the cloud as his voice started decreasing. “Oh umm sorry… I will talk to you tomorrow then... Shadow?” Replied Rainbow Dash embarrassed a bit at what had just happened. Rainbow Dash looked at the other Pegasus in the small cloud and noticed he had already fallen asleep. “He is kind of cute… and I am glad he’s asleep so he couldn’t hear that...” replied Rainbow as her face flushed red in embarrassment. -The Next Morning- “Wake up Shadow! I wanted to show you around town… since your new and all…” said a distance voice getting closer by the word. “Umm… ok I will go… so early though... [Don’t want to draw negative attention to me]” replied Shadow as he also thought to himself. He then stood up and started to strech while somepony in the distance started to appear. “Hey Rainbow Da---- Who’s the pony behind you?” said a voice from a distance as she approached the two having a western styled tone. “Oh, hey Applejack. This is Shadow! He’s not from around here and he has a busted wing, so I let sleep in my cloud yesterday…” Replied Rainbow Dash with a smile a little bit forced remembering the starnger had slept in her cloud. “And how did he get that busted wing?” then asked Applejack with curiosity as her ears perked up to hear Shadow’s embarrassed tone. “Uhh... I was flying at night and I hit a umm something...” Shadow's cheek blushed a bit in embarrasement as he looked down at the earth pony. “You seem sort of strange in a way… but not everyones alike? Well I will be meeting with everyone back at Twilight’s house, you should go over there Dash.” Applejack then just turned around and walked towards Twilight's house not putting much interest into the new pony. “We should go Shadow so you can meet all my friends! You are going to feel very welcomed with them around” replied Rainbow Dash as she elevated her eyes to Shadows’ way to over-enthusiastic. “If you insist… I have to go in a couple days though, I am leaving back to… well I don’t know if where I come from actually has a name bu---.” Shadow started to think about where he came from, it was very different from Ponyville but he got cut off by Rainbow before he could finish. “Come on! We will be late! You can explain all of that later." the enthusiastic “friend” Shadow had just met the day before replied without even letting him finish, or actually pay attention to him. Shadows wing still was in some pain so he decided to just glide to the floor, and walk to the tree which was a house. Rainbow Dash was flying by him asking different questions which he didn't really have an answer to most of them. He placed the bad a bit deeper in the cloud so no one was able to see it, and after jumping to the floor; both pegasi headed towards the house in a tree. -MEANWHILE- “No signs of anyone yet?” asked Celestia in a sad voice and deep tone, looking at the majestic stars which Luna had risen to the sky that night. “No but we had a guard who thinks he saw the person who did it, he said don’t trust his vision at a 100% because this was at night in an alleyway. He then said that there was a pony talking to some other pony in an alley. He was just able to see the first one which was a Pegasus. When he called out to it… it flew off, then he entered looking for the second pony but no one was there.” After that long explanation Shining Armor sighed and his ears dropped. His sad tone and voice made the princess notice he was mad at himself. “Don’t beat yourself u Shining… You are trying your best, and I know we will find whoever did the crime. What purpose would somepony need with our crowns though...? That's what worries me...” the princess gave a encouranging talk to Shining as he smiled and was able to raise his head again. -MEANWHILE- “Doctor! What are you doing? What new adventure are you going to start?” asked Ditzy with a cute smile. “I am going to try to find the person who stole the princess’ crowns. They might be used for evil!” replied Doctor Whooves as he ran off and Ditzy followed in a slightly slower pace. “the pony who is pretty powerful himself and wears any of these crowns might actually gain enough strength to over-pass both Luna’s and Celestia’s power! Like what happened 1,000 years ago with Sombra. He invaded the Crystal Empire and took over it because neither of the Princesses had their crowns, sometime after though, the crowns were found. The princesses then used their powers to lock Sombra up. The Princesses have alot of power, but the crowns give them that extra boost needed to overpower other strong beings.” "You will find him Doctor!" Ditzy looked at the Doctor but he still looked very worried. "I hope so Ditzy..." The Doctor then looked up to the night sky in such a dark day. Not many stars were risen that night, so it was just looking at the black, night sky. Chapter 3- What's the Truth?-2 DAYS LATER- "Rainbow! today has been a really nice day... Thanks for showing me Ponyville and Canterlot at night... Was a beautiful sight..." Shadow said those last words slowly as he then trailed off into his thoughts. "No problem Shadow... Glad you liked it... I also enjoyed it... Seeing the sight of both cities at night from high above always makes me happy..." "Thanks..." Shadow again trailed off into his thoughts and looked at Rainbow Dash again... in his mind he thought she was a very nice mare and he wanted to say other words to her but they wouldnt come out. The rest of the flight was pretty silent as both of them were just lost in their thoughts about each other. As they reached the clouds they usually slept in, Shadow laid down and in his thoughts he had happy memories about the day he just had with Rainbow Dash. He had completely forgotten what his main goal in coming to Equestria was. Shadow was starting to forget where he came from, what he did, who his leader was... but he still didn't know what he was, his true being was still unknown. -3 DAYS LATER- “Celetsia there are only 3 suspects that could have stolen your crown but the one that I am almost sure that did the crime is your very own loyalty element... Rainbow Dash is a pegasus fast enough to break into the place and attack the only unicorn and then fly off the window without being seen. I believe no living pony can match those speeds. She already proved she is faster than all the Wonderbolts.” The pony who started the meeting was a brown earth pony with a black mane, his cutie mark was a magnifying glass with a footprint in the middle. It was fairly obvious he was some kind of detective the princess had hired. “But it couldn’t be Rainbow Dash, she couldn’t have done this! I just KNOW your wrong.” Exclaimed Doctor Whooves angrily at the detective. “She is the highest suspect, there is simply no files of any living pony who can match the speed required to do this crime... so I want her arrested until further proof." The dective then gave a long stare to Whooves but just kept walking towards the princess. “Can’t believe I am saying this but guards get me Rainbow Dash! Detective I want you to go with the guards to see if everything goes ok and to check if it was actually her.” The princess then replied looking away from the doctor and looking to the floor. “Princess you’re not really---“ Whooves couldn’t finish before getting interrupted very harshly by Celestia. “Go get her NOW!” she screamed with the royal voice. -SEVERAL MINUTES LATER- “Wow Shadow your pretty fast, but I can still beat you haha! Still fastest flier in Equestria!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she passed by him with ease. “Haha yea yea Rainbow… I think I might surprise you one day though.” Shadow laughing at her comment but then concentrated on flying again to try and pass her. All of a sudden, the two pegasi were surrounded by a lot of guards in silver or golden armor. Shadow got really nervous seeing all the exits and escape roots were blocked by either other pegasi or unicorns. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to stressed or nervous about the royal guards surrounding them. “You are placed under arrest for crimes against the princesses.” A royal guard with golden armor spoke up as all the others just looked at the hovering ponies. Rainbow Dash quickly thought they were going to arrest Shadow for some reason... she panicked and decided to stand in the middle and say, “No he couldn’t of done it! He is not the thief!” “Sorry Dash but we did not come for him” said another guard as 2 unicorns used their magic to trap her. “HEY! Leave her alone!” screamed Shadow as you could see his anger starting to appear in his face. His voice sounded very serious and he was definitely ready to defend her. “We don’t need this we got the pony who stole the princess’ crowns. No need for you.” Replied the dective as they walked away carelessly ignoring him. “What if I know she did not do it? I stole the crowns of the princesses and it was pretty easy stealing them. Had no trouble in escaping either. Poor guarding, lack of effort, leaving position, not being alert... so many errors came from your men.” Shadow replied with a smirk as one of the 5 guards was there. “hehe… I also remember you… “I don't want to ruin this job!… Well you definitely failed at an easy job.” he continued practically making fun of Star. “We were told to come for Rainbow Dash and that’s what we intend to do.” Replied Star which was the leader of the five ponies which were guarding the princess’ crown at the event. “Ok then I will just have to prove it the hard way…” whispered Shadow to himself. As he finished the sentence he dashed towards one of the guards which was a unicorn and hit the unicorn in the middle of the back, knocking him over, as a unicorn reacted and pointed at him, he quickly dashed behind him and flipped the unicorn over. Finishing that he saw some unicorns request backup and he decided he’d let himself get captured so Rainbow Dash would not have to see him more as a bad guy. “Sh—Shado---ow?” Rainbow Dash started to have trouble talking... with tears in her eye, she looked at the pegasus get trapped and tumbled by the guards. As the guards took him away, Shadow looked away from Rainbow Dash because he was embarrassed she had to find out the tough way. Rainbow Dash did notice something before he looked away… He had tears in his face aswell. “Twilight!!! Twilight!!! Shadow was captured by the Royal Guards because… because… because he was the one who stole the princess’ crowns… I believe he had a reason though… The guards were going to take me... and he got in the way...” Rainbow Dash flew through the 'Library' doors and started crying towards Twilight which was in the middle of a highly dangerous experiment. “AH!…” Twilight screamed as she almost dropped a vial with a red bubbling liquid inside it. When she was able to secure it, she gave out a long sigh and looked at her friend with a no emotion. "Sorry..." Rainbow looked down for a moment as Twilight regained her posture, after a couple of seconds she perked up her ears as her friend started to speak. "Sorry to hear that Rainbow... He might of had a reason why he did it... Could be good or bad... But stealing the princesses' crowns doesnt help his case much. I knew you liked him... We just have to see what happens in the next few days." Twilight's was emotionless, she did feel really bad for the pegasus sitting in the library, but she was also paying attention to the highly dangerous experiment in her hooves. As she placed it in the holder, she walked towards Rainbow and patted her back, she noticed Rainbow smiled because of her friendly gesture. "I just hope he wasn't anything evil..." Rainbow stopped smiling and again just looked to the floor as she thought about what was going to happen to Shadow. Chapter 4- Mistakes“Tie him up in this chair Guards.” Said Princess Luna as they waited the arrival of Celestia. “Finally we found the culprit for the crime of stealing the our crowns!” exclaimed Celestia as she opened the main door and walked into the small room. Shadow then tried to communicate with Sombra while everyone was not paying attention to him. “Is everything going according to plan?” asked Sombra from the other side. “No, I was captured but the crowns are still hiding so now you have to complete your side of the deal, after the invasion I want you to give me my brother.” Whispered Shadow to King Sombra. “Yes, do you recommend starting to prepare or wait a bit more?” asked Sombra again with no emotion in his words. “I am not sure. I do not know what kind of methods these people are going to do to squeeze information out of me. I think you should wait for the correct day .” Shadow quickly snapped out of the conversation as Celestia walked over towards him. “What is your name?” asked Princess Celestia in a curious way. “It is Shadow your highness.” Shadow replied emotionless and sort of uninterested at the question the princess had just asked. “I do not believe you. ANSWER ME!” then replied Luna using her Royal Canterlot voice which completely scared every pony in the room. “Actually your majesty with all do respect, it is Shadow. I heard Rainbow Dash call him by that at least.” Replied Star which had a fair grudge with Shadow. “Oh, sorry about the voice then everyone!” replied Luna in her normal voice which she was a lot better at controlling. “Your majesties I am going to be honest, a giant army will to destroy Equestria if you do not stop it, I have other reasons why I stole the crowns though.” Shadow's form of expressing what he had in mind was a bit too harsh since he was talking to the rulers of Equestria... his expression was still emotionless, but deep inside he knew he needed to leave and not let anyone find the crowns, or atleast not yet. “Umm, Oh my.” Replied Celestia as her eyes opened widely. “So please just let me go so I can finish my business, you are wasting your time if you try and get more information out of me.” Shadow continued as he rolled his eyes and looked towards Luna. “Shining prepare the army… And give me some time to pull this all in…” Celestia continued with her shocked face, the princess walked a few steps then turned around towards the walls of the castle. “You have a couple of days before he appears.” “Who leads this it may I ask?” asked Princess Luna in a curious way as she looked down to the tied pony. “You should know him really well… just think about my name and compare it to 1,000 years ago. Shadow” replied Shadow as if he was late for something “now I really have to go! I need to get my brother which is trapped with it.” as he continued, Luna noticed his forced tone and decided to stop asking him questions. “Umm… I think he is saying “IT” returned…” Luna's reply was pale, as she remembered the time of Sombra's rule over the Crystal Empire. “Well Guards I need all the guards on duty 24/7 for these next days… We need to take every precaution on this matter.” Celestia replied not looking at the group, “Shining prepare the whole army and get my Twilight and her friends also, we need to be ready for this great threat.” “Could I be free now? I can’t return your crowns at the moment because then Sombra will know I have joined you and told you his plans, but like I said before he has my brother trapped..." Shadow replied with a forced voice as he remember in the next few days he would have to return to "The Void" to get his brother back. “Untie him.” Celestia then had a long sigh before she was able to turn around towards Shadow. “I will try and help in anything else I can." Shadow looked away and towards the window, he then looked back at Star who looked a bit mad at him being free again. -MEANWHILE- “I can’t believe it was Shadow! And I was falling for him…” Rainbow Dash started to sob as she said incorrectly a couple of words. “I still think he had a reason… but it was him!” She continued to sob, as she remember again when he was taken away. “D—don’t worry Rainbow… We are here to support you.” Twilight tried to confort Rainbow as she thought for the correct words to say to calm her down. *Knock Knock* “Looks like someone’s at the door?” asked AppleJack. “SHADOW!?” screamed Twilight from the door as she opened it carelessly. “Hey…” relied Shadow as he looked inside the room. “How DARE YOU!” screamed Rainbow Dash as she bolted down from the second floor towards the door, “steal from the princess then come back to even look at us in the face.” “Well I can explain!” replied a very nervous and scared looking Shadow. “I-I… I worked for King Sombra—“ as Rainbow tried to cut him off, he forced his way through the conversation, ” BUT I was just doing it trying to save my friend… Sombra has him, I talked to the princess and well she let me free… There is a war about to happen and I would like for you all to go to Canterlot… where it is safer... I really need you to go to Cante---" Before Shadow was able to finish what he was saying; Rainbow Dash cut him off with a strong increase in tone. “I DON’T believe you!” Rainbow Dash slapped Shadow as hard as she could before he could even react. This left Shadow a bit dazed but after a second he was able to regain posture. “RAINBOW DASH!” screamed Fluttershy from inside the house in an outburst of pure fear. Rainbow Dash was paralyzed. She did not know why she had just slapped Shadow after he had tried to explain why he had done what he did... that's what she wanted, answers. He looked really mad and unwilling to keep explaining what he had to say. “Actually its true I need you all in Canterlot, now.” Shining appeared from behind Shadow and looked awkwardly at Twilight as Shining noticed she was mad at him. “Sh-Sh-A-Sha-Shadow…” Rainbow Dash flushed with sadness, angriness, and embarrassment as she wouldn’t dare look up. Her emotions were all mixed as she thought about what she had just done. Shadow did not say anything or did not look at her, he just took off into a random direction so no one would follow him. “Shadow!” screamed all the girls in unison but he just left the group and flew off to the clouds of a nice afternoon. Close by the Evergreen Forest, Shadow landed as he found a nice shade, he started to think about where he came from. "The Void" was a dark crystal like kingdom away from Celestia's power. It was crowded with ponies, some who had ancestors from the Crystal Empire who liked being under Sombra's rule and others who were brought in as slaves from wars or raids. Sombra's wife was from a small family who liked being under the control of Sombra. They were a poor family, had a small house in the outskirts of the city, but they lived a nice life. The dad went to work for Sombra's army and proved his commanding skills to Sombra, so he was made a captain in the army. The mom usually stayed at the house, cleaning up and cooking for when he returned. Silver (Shadow's mother) was a young mare at the time, she started to work as a secretary but had a deep crush on the ruler of the Crystal Empire. One day they met... and Sombra noticed how nervous Silver was talking to him, they started hanging out... Before they could become anything though, Celestia and Luna banned Sombra into the void.
Chapter 1- Prologue"This is weird… Why would the Tardis teleport me back here? After I was able to return to reality or well London to be precise, the Tardis decided to bring me here? There must be something fishy going on in Equestria again..." said Doctor Whooves as he stepped out of the Tardis and had a look around the city. "I think I remember this place…I was here with my temporary helper… Ah Yes Ditzy! I would guess this is Canterlot then? I should find her and try to see what time is it." As the brown pony walked down the streets of Canterlot, capital of Equestria, he notices the streets are quite empty for the most populated and most guarded city in Equestria. "Where is everyone? Ohh! I remember it’s everypony! Hehe everypony… never gets old. Ohh getting out of the main subject! The Tardis sent me to this exact same time, strangely… so there must be something real important that is going to happen..." stated Doctor Whooves. "Excuse me sir would you know the way to the part---- Doctor??? Is that you??? What are you doing here??? It’s been around a year without seeing you!" asked a very similar voice walking up from behind Whooves. "Oh, Hey Ditzy! Well you might think it was a year without seeing you, but we talked yesterday after we went on a small adventure! You know… 5th Galaxy? Ice monsters remember?" Exclaimed The Doctor as he saw his old friend come close. "It is still hard to believe but after the last time you showed me I just have to live with it hehe." replied Ditzy in a soft, nice way as her golden eyes looked at the Doctor. "Well the Tardis sent me to this specific location, so there must be something I must do or solve in this time zone. Anything important going to happen?" Replied the Doctor as he waited for a response from his old friend. "Well the Princess was throwing Luna a Birthday party today, it’s a surprise! But I got lost on my way to the castle…" replied Ditzy in a low, embarrassed voice as her face plopped down. "Ah yes I remember your bad navigational skills." Admired Doctor Whooves not noticing he had said that out loud. "HEY!" exclaimed Ditzy after the comment looking quite angry with her face turning red. "Umm... Ah yes we were going to the party!" replied the Doctor scared that Ditzy might leave him stranded there. After several minutes of walking both Ditzy and the Doctor made it in time before Princess Luna had arrived at the scene. Doctor Whooves started to look around to see the really nice and well-crafted decorations all around the place. The ceiling was painting so it looked like the night sky and in the darkness of the room it looked like the actual sky. This was Luna’s first ever Birthday after she came back from the moon. They both made their way to the middle of the room and heard someone screaming. "Luna will come in the room in any second, everypony get ready!" exclaimed a Guard next to the principal door. "Psst… hehe… everypony…" whispered Whooves to himself as he tried not to form an outburst of laughter. "Shh be quiet mister" whispered Ditzy back at him; she looked quite angry at his laughter. You could hear the background talk between Celestia and Luna and why they should go into to the ball room in the first place. "I still don’t get why you----" said Luna as she was cut off by the screaming crowd saying either 'Surprise' or 'Happy Birthday' "Ohh my!!! You did not have to do this!" said Luna with a couple of Joy tears in her face. "It was not a big deal Luna… don't worry... Enjoy you birthday party." replied Celestia. Just as Celestia finished everyone headed their attention to a grayish pony with charcoal main with the name of Octavia who was about to talk threw the microphone. "Well we have a small presentation tonight for all of you… although many of you can see us as rivals… Today we will show all of you what friendship can do… Please welcome Vinyl Scratch or DJ PON-3!" said Octavia threw the microphone… "Classical and Modern will unite for a special mix for this special day" Vinyl stated after Octavia finished. The 2 pony musicians started to play and the whole place started to clap and cheer for the two mares playing their hearts out on stage with a never before seen style of mixing Classical and Modern. -MEANWHILE- "Stay alert everyone… Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s crowns must be safe at all cost. No one can go in or out this room. Is that clear?" said the captain of the five ponies who were in charge of protecting their princesses crowns. "Relax Star it's the fifth time you repeat the same thing, nothing’s going to happen… Why would anyone try and steal these crowns? I mean they are both the rulers of Equestria… Who would dare steal from them" replied Glare. "I don’t know but you can never be too sure Glare, just stay focused and don’t goof around." assured Star. -MEANWHILE- (Pretty close to the last conversation) "Ok so there are 5 guards and the princesses’ crowns are in the crystal protection in the middle of the 5. I just need to take down the unicorn since these 'royal guards' were stupid enough to put 1 unicorn and 4 earth ponies to protect such a valuable item. I will just knock him out with a quick blow before he can use his magic against me." A mysterious pony thought outside the window, then he gave a long sigh as he looked outside to see if anyone outside could see him next to the towers window. "I will just go in when the unicorn loses just little bit of concentration... even if it takes all night." the pony continued to think as he looked inside the room again. A couple of hours passed and the 4 guards under the control of Star were getting very bored with nothing to do but watch the crowns. "Ahh this job is so boring, there is a massive party going on, or maybe even the biggest party in history, and we were chosen to do this." Glare broke through the eternal silence between the guards. "this is the worst…" "Shut up Glare this is a really great responsibility that the princess gave us and I really, REALLY don’t want to mess up." replied Star as he kept his position. "Too bad buddy… but you are going to mess up today buddy." Whispered the pony from outside the castle window, but no one really heard him. "Hey guys lets----" said Raven as he turned around to face his friends, he then faced away from the window and the pony had a clear hit on the back on his neck which knocked him down. "What’s happening??? Raven what’s wrong??? WHERES THE CROWNS!!!????" screamed Star. "Turn on the sirens!" As Fierce turned on the sirens… Glare, Star and the mute pony Seren went to check If the friend was ok. "Raven are you ok?!?" asked Glare -MEANWHILE- "Yea Sirens! Raising the beat!! Octy play alittle faster!!" screamed Vinyl through the heavy music and now heavy sirens. "Okay Vinyl!" replied Octavia as her cello started to play at a faster rhythm. The crowed started to cheer louder so the other guards were not able to hear the sirens coming from the first room. Princess Celestia then started to feel a weird feeling, so she decided to go check on their crowns. She took a couple of guards with her to be safe including Shining Armor. The wonderbolts then appeared with the leaders of Cloudsdale to celebrate the Birthday Party of Luna; Celestia’s absence was not noticed by many. After some time… Octavia stopped playing… and simultaneously Vinyl did as well. "Vinyl! Turn of those Sirens, the song ended." said Octavia as she looked back at her friend. "It’s not me Octavia, I do not know where they are coming from!" screamed Vinyl due to the large sound created by the sirens. As Vinyl finished that sentence Celestia crashed through the door and screamed "The royal crowns are missing!" All the partying stopped after Celestia’s statement. Everyone then waited Celestia’s commands. Royal guards off duty started getting ready just in case they were going to face a large opponent. "I want every royal guard ready just in case someone wanted a fight; I also want a large amount of royal guards looking around town for something suspicious. Twightly Sparkle, I want you and your friends to see if you can find out who did this and why would they steal Luna’s crown and my crown." Continued Celestia in a strong but calm tone. "Ok your highness, we will get right too it." Answered Rainbow Dash as she busted threw the main door in an unknown speed. "Your majesty with all due respect…" started to speak a now very pale Star who couldn't even look up at the princess, "Umm… The subject who hit Raven in the back was not seen by us… 'It' went at extremly fast speeds, and was also a Pegasus… I am not going to accuse Rainbow Dash of this… Especially seeing she’s the Element of Loyalty but it matches her speed…" "I see… thank you for telling me this Star…" replied Celestia in a humble tone. -MEANWHILE- Later that same night… "What do you mean I have to wait for you for ten days? How am I going to hide the crowns for ten days?" said the mysterious voice in a very dark alley so no one would see him. "Hide them. I do not care how but you know what is coming if you fail." Replied another unknown voice into the pony’s mind. "Yea, yea… I will probably fail though so get the 2 ropes ready." replied the pony in the alley humorously while his ears perked trying to hear if anyone was close. "Do not mess with me Shadow." replied the voice sounding a bit harsh. "At least I have a way of communicating with you, you can’t just insert these powers to any other pony can you?" Whispered Shadow to the voice in his mind. "No I can’t insert dark magic to anypony else, he or she would die instantly as it starts to run through his veins. Hide the crowns and whatever you do… Do not let the princesses find them." replied an angrier voice. "Fine I will see what I can do--- Somepony is coming." Said Shadow as someone walked towards him in a slow and defensive position. "Is anyone there?" asked a Royal Guard looking into the alley.
Chapter 2- Blending InAs the royal guard finished his small question, Shadow hesitated in his own fear and immediately tried to fly away. In Luna’s dark and silent night, Shadow’s vision was blurry and he couldn’t see the direction he was flying too. As he almost reached the top of the building, Shadow's right wing bumped into an unknown object which made him twitch and immideatly fall and land on the roof of the house. “Ahh my wing! Great now my wing is busted… dammit what did I hit?” continued Shadow as he looked at his hurting wing, “wait now that I think about it... where I am going to sleep? I do not think these people would let a stranger enter their house… Busted wing, nowhere to sleep… great… definitely not going to hospital to bring attention to me either.” Shadow sighed after finishing the sentence and looked around the city from the rooftop. His eyes then locked to the skies looking at the beautiful night sky above him. His eyes then lock on a cloud he saw pretty close by. “Ok here goes nothing.” Shadow was able to reach a small cloud which was floating above a big tree which looked like a house. Shadow knew he was safe for the night in the soft cloud so he hid his bag in the cloud and closed his eyes as sleep conquered his body. Around thirty minutes later, he was awoken by an angry voice of another pegasus flying next to him. “Well I don’t know who you are but this is my cloud! You should leave!” said a Pegasus with a rainbow mane looking viciously angry next to him. “Umm… can I stay here for tonight? I don’t have a place to go… and my wings busted so I can’t fly to any other cloud… I know you probably don’t trust me but I am really tired…” Replied Shadow as he looked up at the now calm rainbow manned Pegasus. “I don’t really let people sleep in my cloud but umm you seem like you really need it… Uhh, if you need anything else call me? I will lower another cloud for me...” The pegasus replied sort of confused but she just rolled her eyes and flew higher to bring down another cloud. “Ok thank you miss……” Shadow then open his eyes wide waiting for an answer from the mare who did not seem to take the message at the beggining. “Rainbow Dash! Fastest Flier in Equestria! Haha, most people from the area know me so I would guess you are from far away? What’s your name?” after she had answered him, she asked two quick questions to Shadow before he had time to blink. “Well you could saw I am from far away and my name is Shadow.” He replied in a soft tone. “Oh… Ok--- Hey wait a minute! You don’t have a Cutie Mark!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she looked for his Cutie Mark. “Umm no… Miss Dash sorry to interrupt but I am really tired and it has been a long day and… I also don’t like people looking at my flank trying to find some picture in it…” replied Shadow looking the other way lightly hesitated, “umm also sorry for my tone… it has been a really long day… I feel really mean telling you this, but I really need to rest...” his eyes looked down at the cloud as his voice started decreasing. “Oh umm sorry… I will talk to you tomorrow then... Shadow?” Replied Rainbow Dash embarrassed a bit at what had just happened. Rainbow Dash looked at the other Pegasus in the small cloud and noticed he had already fallen asleep. “He is kind of cute… and I am glad he’s asleep so he couldn’t hear that...” replied Rainbow as her face flushed red in embarrassment. -The Next Morning- “Wake up Shadow! I wanted to show you around town… since your new and all…” said a distance voice getting closer by the word. “Umm… ok I will go… so early though... [Don’t want to draw negative attention to me]” replied Shadow as he also thought to himself. He then stood up and started to strech while somepony in the distance started to appear. “Hey Rainbow Da---- Who’s the pony behind you?” said a voice from a distance as she approached the two having a western styled tone. “Oh, hey Applejack. This is Shadow! He’s not from around here and he has a busted wing, so I let sleep in my cloud yesterday…” Replied Rainbow Dash with a smile a little bit forced remembering the starnger had slept in her cloud. “And how did he get that busted wing?” then asked Applejack with curiosity as her ears perked up to hear Shadow’s embarrassed tone. “Uhh... I was flying at night and I hit a umm something...” Shadow's cheek blushed a bit in embarrasement as he looked down at the earth pony. “You seem sort of strange in a way… but not everyones alike? Well I will be meeting with everyone back at Twilight’s house, you should go over there Dash.” Applejack then just turned around and walked towards Twilight's house not putting much interest into the new pony. “We should go Shadow so you can meet all my friends! You are going to feel very welcomed with them around” replied Rainbow Dash as she elevated her eyes to Shadows’ way to over-enthusiastic. “If you insist… I have to go in a couple days though, I am leaving back to… well I don’t know if where I come from actually has a name bu---.” Shadow started to think about where he came from, it was very different from Ponyville but he got cut off by Rainbow before he could finish. “Come on! We will be late! You can explain all of that later." the enthusiastic “friend” Shadow had just met the day before replied without even letting him finish, or actually pay attention to him. Shadows wing still was in some pain so he decided to just glide to the floor, and walk to the tree which was a house. Rainbow Dash was flying by him asking different questions which he didn't really have an answer to most of them. He placed the bad a bit deeper in the cloud so no one was able to see it, and after jumping to the floor; both pegasi headed towards the house in a tree. -MEANWHILE- “No signs of anyone yet?” asked Celestia in a sad voice and deep tone, looking at the majestic stars which Luna had risen to the sky that night. “No but we had a guard who thinks he saw the person who did it, he said don’t trust his vision at a 100% because this was at night in an alleyway. He then said that there was a pony talking to some other pony in an alley. He was just able to see the first one which was a Pegasus. When he called out to it… it flew off, then he entered looking for the second pony but no one was there.” After that long explanation Shining Armor sighed and his ears dropped. His sad tone and voice made the princess notice he was mad at himself. “Don’t beat yourself u Shining… You are trying your best, and I know we will find whoever did the crime. What purpose would somepony need with our crowns though...? That's what worries me...” the princess gave a encouranging talk to Shining as he smiled and was able to raise his head again. -MEANWHILE- “Doctor! What are you doing? What new adventure are you going to start?” asked Ditzy with a cute smile. “I am going to try to find the person who stole the princess’ crowns. They might be used for evil!” replied Doctor Whooves as he ran off and Ditzy followed in a slightly slower pace. “the pony who is pretty powerful himself and wears any of these crowns might actually gain enough strength to over-pass both Luna’s and Celestia’s power! Like what happened 1,000 years ago with Sombra. He invaded the Crystal Empire and took over it because neither of the Princesses had their crowns, sometime after though, the crowns were found. The princesses then used their powers to lock Sombra up. The Princesses have alot of power, but the crowns give them that extra boost needed to overpower other strong beings.” "You will find him Doctor!" Ditzy looked at the Doctor but he still looked very worried. "I hope so Ditzy..." The Doctor then looked up to the night sky in such a dark day. Not many stars were risen that night, so it was just looking at the black, night sky.
Chapter 3- What's the Truth?-2 DAYS LATER- "Rainbow! today has been a really nice day... Thanks for showing me Ponyville and Canterlot at night... Was a beautiful sight..." Shadow said those last words slowly as he then trailed off into his thoughts. "No problem Shadow... Glad you liked it... I also enjoyed it... Seeing the sight of both cities at night from high above always makes me happy..." "Thanks..." Shadow again trailed off into his thoughts and looked at Rainbow Dash again... in his mind he thought she was a very nice mare and he wanted to say other words to her but they wouldnt come out. The rest of the flight was pretty silent as both of them were just lost in their thoughts about each other. As they reached the clouds they usually slept in, Shadow laid down and in his thoughts he had happy memories about the day he just had with Rainbow Dash. He had completely forgotten what his main goal in coming to Equestria was. Shadow was starting to forget where he came from, what he did, who his leader was... but he still didn't know what he was, his true being was still unknown. -3 DAYS LATER- “Celetsia there are only 3 suspects that could have stolen your crown but the one that I am almost sure that did the crime is your very own loyalty element... Rainbow Dash is a pegasus fast enough to break into the place and attack the only unicorn and then fly off the window without being seen. I believe no living pony can match those speeds. She already proved she is faster than all the Wonderbolts.” The pony who started the meeting was a brown earth pony with a black mane, his cutie mark was a magnifying glass with a footprint in the middle. It was fairly obvious he was some kind of detective the princess had hired. “But it couldn’t be Rainbow Dash, she couldn’t have done this! I just KNOW your wrong.” Exclaimed Doctor Whooves angrily at the detective. “She is the highest suspect, there is simply no files of any living pony who can match the speed required to do this crime... so I want her arrested until further proof." The dective then gave a long stare to Whooves but just kept walking towards the princess. “Can’t believe I am saying this but guards get me Rainbow Dash! Detective I want you to go with the guards to see if everything goes ok and to check if it was actually her.” The princess then replied looking away from the doctor and looking to the floor. “Princess you’re not really---“ Whooves couldn’t finish before getting interrupted very harshly by Celestia. “Go get her NOW!” she screamed with the royal voice. -SEVERAL MINUTES LATER- “Wow Shadow your pretty fast, but I can still beat you haha! Still fastest flier in Equestria!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she passed by him with ease. “Haha yea yea Rainbow… I think I might surprise you one day though.” Shadow laughing at her comment but then concentrated on flying again to try and pass her. All of a sudden, the two pegasi were surrounded by a lot of guards in silver or golden armor. Shadow got really nervous seeing all the exits and escape roots were blocked by either other pegasi or unicorns. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to stressed or nervous about the royal guards surrounding them. “You are placed under arrest for crimes against the princesses.” A royal guard with golden armor spoke up as all the others just looked at the hovering ponies. Rainbow Dash quickly thought they were going to arrest Shadow for some reason... she panicked and decided to stand in the middle and say, “No he couldn’t of done it! He is not the thief!” “Sorry Dash but we did not come for him” said another guard as 2 unicorns used their magic to trap her. “HEY! Leave her alone!” screamed Shadow as you could see his anger starting to appear in his face. His voice sounded very serious and he was definitely ready to defend her. “We don’t need this we got the pony who stole the princess’ crowns. No need for you.” Replied the dective as they walked away carelessly ignoring him. “What if I know she did not do it? I stole the crowns of the princesses and it was pretty easy stealing them. Had no trouble in escaping either. Poor guarding, lack of effort, leaving position, not being alert... so many errors came from your men.” Shadow replied with a smirk as one of the 5 guards was there. “hehe… I also remember you… “I don't want to ruin this job!… Well you definitely failed at an easy job.” he continued practically making fun of Star. “We were told to come for Rainbow Dash and that’s what we intend to do.” Replied Star which was the leader of the five ponies which were guarding the princess’ crown at the event. “Ok then I will just have to prove it the hard way…” whispered Shadow to himself. As he finished the sentence he dashed towards one of the guards which was a unicorn and hit the unicorn in the middle of the back, knocking him over, as a unicorn reacted and pointed at him, he quickly dashed behind him and flipped the unicorn over. Finishing that he saw some unicorns request backup and he decided he’d let himself get captured so Rainbow Dash would not have to see him more as a bad guy. “Sh—Shado---ow?” Rainbow Dash started to have trouble talking... with tears in her eye, she looked at the pegasus get trapped and tumbled by the guards. As the guards took him away, Shadow looked away from Rainbow Dash because he was embarrassed she had to find out the tough way. Rainbow Dash did notice something before he looked away… He had tears in his face aswell. “Twilight!!! Twilight!!! Shadow was captured by the Royal Guards because… because… because he was the one who stole the princess’ crowns… I believe he had a reason though… The guards were going to take me... and he got in the way...” Rainbow Dash flew through the 'Library' doors and started crying towards Twilight which was in the middle of a highly dangerous experiment. “AH!…” Twilight screamed as she almost dropped a vial with a red bubbling liquid inside it. When she was able to secure it, she gave out a long sigh and looked at her friend with a no emotion. "Sorry..." Rainbow looked down for a moment as Twilight regained her posture, after a couple of seconds she perked up her ears as her friend started to speak. "Sorry to hear that Rainbow... He might of had a reason why he did it... Could be good or bad... But stealing the princesses' crowns doesnt help his case much. I knew you liked him... We just have to see what happens in the next few days." Twilight's was emotionless, she did feel really bad for the pegasus sitting in the library, but she was also paying attention to the highly dangerous experiment in her hooves. As she placed it in the holder, she walked towards Rainbow and patted her back, she noticed Rainbow smiled because of her friendly gesture. "I just hope he wasn't anything evil..." Rainbow stopped smiling and again just looked to the floor as she thought about what was going to happen to Shadow.
Chapter 4- Mistakes“Tie him up in this chair Guards.” Said Princess Luna as they waited the arrival of Celestia. “Finally we found the culprit for the crime of stealing the our crowns!” exclaimed Celestia as she opened the main door and walked into the small room. Shadow then tried to communicate with Sombra while everyone was not paying attention to him. “Is everything going according to plan?” asked Sombra from the other side. “No, I was captured but the crowns are still hiding so now you have to complete your side of the deal, after the invasion I want you to give me my brother.” Whispered Shadow to King Sombra. “Yes, do you recommend starting to prepare or wait a bit more?” asked Sombra again with no emotion in his words. “I am not sure. I do not know what kind of methods these people are going to do to squeeze information out of me. I think you should wait for the correct day .” Shadow quickly snapped out of the conversation as Celestia walked over towards him. “What is your name?” asked Princess Celestia in a curious way. “It is Shadow your highness.” Shadow replied emotionless and sort of uninterested at the question the princess had just asked. “I do not believe you. ANSWER ME!” then replied Luna using her Royal Canterlot voice which completely scared every pony in the room. “Actually your majesty with all do respect, it is Shadow. I heard Rainbow Dash call him by that at least.” Replied Star which had a fair grudge with Shadow. “Oh, sorry about the voice then everyone!” replied Luna in her normal voice which she was a lot better at controlling. “Your majesties I am going to be honest, a giant army will to destroy Equestria if you do not stop it, I have other reasons why I stole the crowns though.” Shadow's form of expressing what he had in mind was a bit too harsh since he was talking to the rulers of Equestria... his expression was still emotionless, but deep inside he knew he needed to leave and not let anyone find the crowns, or atleast not yet. “Umm, Oh my.” Replied Celestia as her eyes opened widely. “So please just let me go so I can finish my business, you are wasting your time if you try and get more information out of me.” Shadow continued as he rolled his eyes and looked towards Luna. “Shining prepare the army… And give me some time to pull this all in…” Celestia continued with her shocked face, the princess walked a few steps then turned around towards the walls of the castle. “You have a couple of days before he appears.” “Who leads this it may I ask?” asked Princess Luna in a curious way as she looked down to the tied pony. “You should know him really well… just think about my name and compare it to 1,000 years ago. Shadow” replied Shadow as if he was late for something “now I really have to go! I need to get my brother which is trapped with it.” as he continued, Luna noticed his forced tone and decided to stop asking him questions. “Umm… I think he is saying “IT” returned…” Luna's reply was pale, as she remembered the time of Sombra's rule over the Crystal Empire. “Well Guards I need all the guards on duty 24/7 for these next days… We need to take every precaution on this matter.” Celestia replied not looking at the group, “Shining prepare the whole army and get my Twilight and her friends also, we need to be ready for this great threat.” “Could I be free now? I can’t return your crowns at the moment because then Sombra will know I have joined you and told you his plans, but like I said before he has my brother trapped..." Shadow replied with a forced voice as he remember in the next few days he would have to return to "The Void" to get his brother back. “Untie him.” Celestia then had a long sigh before she was able to turn around towards Shadow. “I will try and help in anything else I can." Shadow looked away and towards the window, he then looked back at Star who looked a bit mad at him being free again. -MEANWHILE- “I can’t believe it was Shadow! And I was falling for him…” Rainbow Dash started to sob as she said incorrectly a couple of words. “I still think he had a reason… but it was him!” She continued to sob, as she remember again when he was taken away. “D—don’t worry Rainbow… We are here to support you.” Twilight tried to confort Rainbow as she thought for the correct words to say to calm her down. *Knock Knock* “Looks like someone’s at the door?” asked AppleJack. “SHADOW!?” screamed Twilight from the door as she opened it carelessly. “Hey…” relied Shadow as he looked inside the room. “How DARE YOU!” screamed Rainbow Dash as she bolted down from the second floor towards the door, “steal from the princess then come back to even look at us in the face.” “Well I can explain!” replied a very nervous and scared looking Shadow. “I-I… I worked for King Sombra—“ as Rainbow tried to cut him off, he forced his way through the conversation, ” BUT I was just doing it trying to save my friend… Sombra has him, I talked to the princess and well she let me free… There is a war about to happen and I would like for you all to go to Canterlot… where it is safer... I really need you to go to Cante---" Before Shadow was able to finish what he was saying; Rainbow Dash cut him off with a strong increase in tone. “I DON’T believe you!” Rainbow Dash slapped Shadow as hard as she could before he could even react. This left Shadow a bit dazed but after a second he was able to regain posture. “RAINBOW DASH!” screamed Fluttershy from inside the house in an outburst of pure fear. Rainbow Dash was paralyzed. She did not know why she had just slapped Shadow after he had tried to explain why he had done what he did... that's what she wanted, answers. He looked really mad and unwilling to keep explaining what he had to say. “Actually its true I need you all in Canterlot, now.” Shining appeared from behind Shadow and looked awkwardly at Twilight as Shining noticed she was mad at him. “Sh-Sh-A-Sha-Shadow…” Rainbow Dash flushed with sadness, angriness, and embarrassment as she wouldn’t dare look up. Her emotions were all mixed as she thought about what she had just done. Shadow did not say anything or did not look at her, he just took off into a random direction so no one would follow him. “Shadow!” screamed all the girls in unison but he just left the group and flew off to the clouds of a nice afternoon. Close by the Evergreen Forest, Shadow landed as he found a nice shade, he started to think about where he came from. "The Void" was a dark crystal like kingdom away from Celestia's power. It was crowded with ponies, some who had ancestors from the Crystal Empire who liked being under Sombra's rule and others who were brought in as slaves from wars or raids. Sombra's wife was from a small family who liked being under the control of Sombra. They were a poor family, had a small house in the outskirts of the city, but they lived a nice life. The dad went to work for Sombra's army and proved his commanding skills to Sombra, so he was made a captain in the army. The mom usually stayed at the house, cleaning up and cooking for when he returned. Silver (Shadow's mother) was a young mare at the time, she started to work as a secretary but had a deep crush on the ruler of the Crystal Empire. One day they met... and Sombra noticed how nervous Silver was talking to him, they started hanging out... Before they could become anything though, Celestia and Luna banned Sombra into the void.
