A shadow in the light

The door to the cottage flung open with a thump as Shadow and Twilight strolled through the entrance. They arrived in a small living room with a bright red couch hugging right wall of the room sitting behind a small brown table which was used for drinks and snacks if guests were to arrive. The living room floor was covered in a dull grey carpet stopping it's advance at the stairs and at the kitchen entrance. Looking to the left was the entrance to the kitchen which was relatively spacious, enough room for at least two ponies to maneuver around each other while cooking. The kitchen was sparkling white with pans, cutlery and dishes all placed neatly in the cupboards above. Opposite to the front door, at the end of the room was also the stairs to the upper floor which held only one amazingly large bedroom furnished only with a single relatively simple bed, large study desk, empty bookshelf that reached the ceiling and a cupboard that also held drawers within to hold both clothes (if any) or any other items the owner may have.

After adventuring through the house Shadow dropped his saddlebag at the foot of his bed and crept his way downstairs to see what Twilight was up to. As he had suspected, Twilight was prodding every nook and cranny of his home, supposedly looking for death traps or secret levers. She obviously didn't trust him fully yet, however she did trust him enough to be with him alone which was a good sign, he concluded that the more comfortable other ponies were around him, the more likely he is to make friends. 'Still, when am I able to go back to Canterlot? I miss my room and Luna already,' he silently moaned.

"Looking for something?" Shadow said interrupting her search and startling her slightly.

"Oh, umm nothing!" Twilight ended her raid with a sheepish smile. "I'll just let you settle in," She spoke before heading for the door at a quick trot.

"Wait, where are you off to?" Shadow called after her. She stopped and turned her head to reply.

"Oh not much, since you woke me up so early I thought I'd just get an early start on my schedule today," She informed him sounding slightly displeased about bringing up this mornings events.

"So you're meeting other ponies?" Shadow asked almost as if it were a new concept and technically it was for Shadow, his somewhat sheltered life having abandoned nearly all social interaction.

"Well, yes," Twilight turned to move on, until a question brought her to a stand still.

"I know this may sound silly but may I come with you?" Shadow pleaded. "I kinda need to get out to meet the town and it would help me a lot if I could follow somepony I already knew!" Twilight and hung her head slightly thinking up excuses about why he shouldn't follow her. Unable to think of anything she gave into his request.

"Fine, just come with me," She replied with an exasperated sigh. She was obviously not please about having somepony besides Spike tagging along with her all day, not to mention a pony she just met and had also woken her, scaring her half to death. "Firstly I need to go and pick up a saddlebag from my house, I'll be buying up a few things from the market," She lead the way as Shadow followed, locking up before he ran after her.

When in town Shadow saw everything in a whole new light, the busy noise and the bustling ponies all created a professional atmosphere. Stalls were posted up along the side of the road, each selling different day to day items from kitchenware to fruit and vegetables and even house decorations. As Shadow examined his surroundings he noticed he was receiving a few questionable glances from some of the stall owners which made him uneasy.

"Twilight, why are they staring at me? Do I stand out for some reason?" Twilight just turned her head slightly taking no notice of his concern.

"There aren't too many ponies in Ponyville, so every newcomer is recognized pretty easily," She snickered. "When I first arrived nopony knew me, but soon enough they'll have to meet you, for better or worse," she whispered to herself. "Hey, there's Applejack," She gestured towards an Apple stall. "She works on Sweet apple acres which farm responsible for producing apples for our entire town!" She exclaimed while proceeding to force Shadow to follow suit. "I'll introduce you to her, don't worry she won't bite,"

Shadow's ears perked up as he had never heard that expression before, Canterlot neither guards nor Luna used commercial expressions to introduce him to others. That and he had never been introduced to anyone before. He hid himself behind Twilight as they approached the orange mare.

"Oh hey Twilight!" Applejack waved to her not noticing her shadow in pursuit. "What can I do fer ya?"

"Morning! Can I have 5 golden delicious please?"

No worries Twilight!"

"Also I would like you to meet a new pony in town, his name is Shadow, he arrived yesterday as far as I know," Twilight looked around for a second before finding him hiding behind her letting herself cut any eye contact between him and Applejack. "Really?" she rhetorically questioned before levitating him past the apple stand and plonking him down in front of Applejack.

Shadow raised his head as he inspected Applejack. Nothing seemed particularly intimidating about this orange earth pony. She had a blonde mane that was bunched up numerous times down her neck and wore a noticeable brown stetson hat. Her cutie mark consisted of three red apples each with a green leaf and stem.

"Well howda do mister Shadow! Name's Applejack, I sure do like making new friends!" She stated all the while vigorously shaking his hoof vibrating his entire body in the process.

"It's~nice~to~meet~you~miss~Applejack, could~you~please~let~go~of~my~hoof~now?" He pleaded. Apple jack released her hold looking at Twilight who seemed to be failing at holding back a hysterical laugh.

"So where ya from?"

Shadow cleared his throat before replying. "I've lived most of my life in Canterlot, this is my first time out of the city so It's a bit nerve racking," Both Twilight and Applejack looked at him in bemusement as if he had just told them he was a Pegasus pony.

"Really, WOW?!" Applejack started before Twilight could. "Why didn't ya ever leave? I know I couldn't stand it there with all those posh, stuck up fru fru ponies, not even fer a week!"

"Well I never really wanted to leave, I was happy just where I was!" Shadow expressed with a little more confidence than he had in the past. "I never conversed with the stuck up rich ponies, I had some great friends and mentors with me to make sure I wouldn't become like them!"

"Well it seemed like it worked, ya don't seem too bad, we might get along just fine!" Applejack put a big honest smile in which Shadow took comfort in.

"Thank you, It's nice to know that I can be welcomed here, even on my first day," Shadow felt a wave of relief fall over him as the pressure of meeting somepony new past and the comforting feeling of a new friend warmed his gut. He looked Applejack in the eye noticing that her eyes had wandered off to his flank.

"Umm, ah don't mean to be rude and ah would understand completely if ya didn't wanna talk about it," Shadow was sure he knew where this was headed. "but why don't ya have a cutie mark?" For the first time since arriving in Ponyville somepony actually asked why it seemed like he didn't have a cutie mark. He looked over to Twilight who seemed just as surprised as Applejack at the lack of a mark, the wide eyes and agape mouth told all to him. He decided to brush it off with a joke.

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was stolen by an angry spirit bent on destroying all cutie marks in the world?" Shadow whispered while at the same time, having  trouble keeping a straight face. He looked over to Applejack who seemed to be a little frightened, on the other hand Twilight just stared at him unamused by the joke. "Haha.. didn't think so," he continued letting on to Applejack that it was all in good fun. "The truth is, I have my cutie mark it just happens to blend in with my coat, it's a black blot that looks like somepony spilled ink on me,"

Applejack calmed herself and took a closer glance at the cutie mark before she acceptingly nodded in approval, allowing Twilight to get a word in. "Okay, well? Aren't you going to tell HER what is signifies?"

"You already know?" Shadow sounded astounded with a slight gasp.

"Well I can make a possible guess from what you've told me but you're going to need to be honest with us if you're going to make friends,"

"Is that how friendship is usually made? By being honest with ponies?" His eyes wandered over to Applejack for a moment. "Even if you don't want to tell them?"

"Now ya catchin' on!" Applejack interrupted. "So you gonna tell us or what?"

Shadow shot a worried look over to Twilight hoping for some comfort, however it seemed that Twilight wanted him to be open so that she would be able to find out more about him. She still didn't trust him enough to allow him to mask his identity from the rest of society, placing him in a tough spot.

"Please don't judge me because of this," He began. "but my cutie mark represents my skill in dark and forbidden magic which I am currently studying," Shadow scrunched his eyes and lowered his ears, waiting for a hoof to come reigning down on him or for Applejack to tell him to leave town, but none of these came to pass.

"Well i'll be, that certainly is a special talent!"

Shadow's ears raised, twisting and turning. Opening his eyes he held an expression somewhere between confusion and relief, a disturbing look but Applejack could tell it was a better response than he was expecting. "Your not mad or angry that I study dark magic?"

"Hey, I just met ya and you don't seem evil or dangerous, sure it's not a talent ya'll see everyday but I'm sure we can trust ya to be honest, and not mess around with that stuff. I don't read much but I do know it's dangerous voodoo, so as long as ya'll be responsible I'm sure we ain't got anythin' to worry about! Right, Twilight?"

"Of course Applejack. And just so you know, he has permission from Princess Celestia herself to do so!" Bringing up the fact that Shadow had permission from Celestia made Twilight rethink her motives for suspecting him in the first place. Sure he didn't exactly make the best first impression, nor did he seem to like confessing information about himself, but Princess Celestia herself, the over ruling and most wise pony, had given his teacher special permission to teach him. "Well if it's alright with you I still need to meet Rarity so we'll be going now, coming Shadow?"

Shadow was still bewildered by Applejack's understanding of his skill. Dark magic was usually no laughing matter in terms of it's potential disastrous affects and how in the past, evil ponies had risen using by harnessing it's power. How she had just brushed it off saying 'as long as your responsible' astonished him, practically imploding his mind, she was beyond trust worthy. All of that or she just didn't know much history before making her comment. None the less it wasn't the reply he had expected. Shadow said nothing as he trailed off towards Twilight direction only waving goodbye to the farmer. He could only hope that the other ponies in town would be just as kind.