Rising Shadows

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1 Distant Memories
Chapter 2 Shadow's Finished Project
Chapter 3 Awakening Darkness
Chapter 4 Preparations
Chapter 5 Spare Time
Chapter 6 Proposing
Chapter 7 Having Fun

Prologue

'Long ago there were two Alicorns of great power, one of good known only as Nightshade, the other a being of evil known as Strife. They fought for hundreds of years before Nightshade triumphed over Strife, he fused himself with Strife in order to keep him from ever rising again, however, while the fusion was still newly formed somepony Nightshade cared for and trusted with his life betrayed him, causing them to split back into two separate beings where they had one final battle, a battle, however, that neither of them would walk away from.'

"This is were it ends, Strife, I won't let you hurt anypony ever again," Nightshade shouted.

Strife let out a maniacal laugh, "You think you can stop me again, don't kid yourself," he shouted as he lunged at Nightshade.

The battle went on for hours and seemed like it would never stop, that is, until Nightshade managed to strike a fatal blow on Strife, but not before receiving one himself.

"I will return, Nightshade, in a thousand years, after the sisters of the sun and moon are reunited, the God of Chaos has been defeated by the magic of friendship, and the empire of crystal has been reunited with it's crystal heart, I will be reborn and then I will have my revenge," Strife said as his body fell limp, he was dead.

Nightshade was severally wounded and didn't have long to live, so he decided to head to his village, which was nearby, to warn them of Strife's passing words.

When he got into the village he was greeted with happy faces until they saw how badly he was injured, they then wanted to tend to his wounds but he refused, telling them it was already too late, he told them to gather round and listen to his final words and they complied.

"Strife will be back," he said, "In a thousand years, after the sisters of the sun and moon are reunited, after the God of Chaos was defeated by the magic of friendship, and the empire of crystal has been reunited with its crystal heart, Strife will return to seek out his revenge."

Nightshade then went on to tell them to pass the story down through the years and started to explain what needed be done to be prepared.

While he was doing this, two little Alicorn fillies were listening at the front of the crowd, two sisters, one with a coat as white as snow, the other with a coat of dark blue like the night sky itself.

When Nightshade had finished explaining he gave a smile to everypony thanking them for listening to his final words, he laid down his head to rest, everypony had tears in their eyes as they watched him take his final breathe.

The white filly turned to look at her younger sister, "I think we should go Luna," she sniffled, trying her best not to cry, the younger filly looked back at her older sister with tears flowing from her eyes and nodded and followed her sister home.

"Gah," Shadow shouted as he quickly shot up in bed, "That same bucking dream again," he said getting up and moving over to his bedroom window, "I wonder what the hay it means."

He shook his head to take his mind off it and turned to look at the clock on his wall, he couldn't see it since it was too dark in his room so he used his horn to light up the room just enough to read the time on the clock, it read 3:15am.

Shadow stifled a yawn as he stopped illuminating the room, he used his magic to levitate a glass of water he had put on his nightstand before going to bed, after taking a few sips he laid back down and quickly fell asleep.

Shadow was enjoying the comfort of his bed when the knocking at his door finally awoke him, mumbling to himself he went downstairs and answered the door.

"Well it's about time you woke up," Twilight said standing at the front door, "I want you to come to Sugarcube Corner, I have something to show you."

Shadow gave out a small yawn and nodded his head deciding it was too early and he was too tired to try to get her to just show him what it was there instead at Sugarcube Corner.

"Did you have that dream again last night," Twilight asked, "Yeah, but this one was different, there were two young filly sisters, one called the other by name but I couldn't make it out," Shadow shrugged dismissing it as nothing more than a dream, "Let me go get ready and I'll meet you there."

Twilight smiled, gave a nod, and left.

Shadow went into his bathroom and took a shower, after getting out and drying off with a towel, he brushed his teeth and combed his blue mane and tail.

He went back upstairs and grabbed a pair of his dark blue DJ sunglasses and put them on, hiding his deep blue eyes, next he grabbed one of his blue vests and put it on.

"I'm so glad I had these vests custom made for maximum comfort," he said enjoying the comfort they brought him.

He went back downstairs, took his house key off the wall and walked outside, he then closed the door and looked it, putting the key in one of his vest pockets, he then left for Sugarcube Corner.

Upon arriving he noticed that he hadn't seen anypony the entire way and figured that they were probably still asleep, something he wished he could be doing, he then opened the door and walked inside, he tried to look around but it was pitch black.

"Twilight tells me to come here so she can show me something and she doesn't even show up," he mumbles to himself.

He was just about to turn and leave when the lights flashed on and everypony jumped out of hiding, "Surprise," everypony shouted in unison, "Happy 20th Birthday, Shadow," they shouted together.

Shadow was stunned, he had forgotten that today was his birthday and was overjoyed that all his friends had remembered.

Twilight saw the look on his face and decided to say something, "What? You didn't think we would forget your birthday now did you? Like I would forget my cousin's birthday, and I know that they wouldn't either," she said pointing to her friends who nodded in agreement.

"Well are you going to blow out the candles on your birthday cake," Pinkie asked pointing to the cake on the table in the center of the room.

Shadow moved over to it and thought about what he wanted to wish for, "I wish that me and my friends can stay friends forever," he thought to himself as he blew out the candles.

"Well what did you wish for," Pinkie asked smiling ear to ear.

"If I tell you that then it won't come true," Shadow said teasingly.

"Oh yeah," Pinkie said giggle snorting, "Hurry and open your gifts," Pinkie said bouncing excitedly.

Shadow walked over and picked up the first of the gifts in his magic.

"That one is from me," Twilight said as he opened it.

When he finished opening it he took out a book, "What's this," he asked reading the title, "Advanced spells for the magically talented?"

He looked at Twilight, grinning ear to ear, as he spoke, "This is so awesome!"

Twilight smiled, "I thought you'd like it, since you're always coming around the Treebrary checking out spell books, and since you've mastered almost every spell in the ones I had, I requested a copy of that book from Celestia to give to you as a gift, and she sent it to me the next day, she also said that she placed some ancient spells in their just for you" Twilight said still smiling.

Shadow nodded and sat the book down on the table and proceeded to open the next gift, which was also the largest and heaviest.

"That one is from me, you know, cause I'm so awesome," Rainbow Dash said, Shadow giggled a little as he finished opening it, he found a bunch of metal, he looked at Rainbow Dash with a puzzled look on his face, "Is this what I think it is," he asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yep it's Mithril alright, I had an old friend of mine from flight school find me some, I figured you could use more for that project you've been working on."

Shadow gave her a hoofbump as thanks and then opened the third gift.

"That one is from me, darling," Rarity said as Shadow was looking at its contents confused.

"Those are magical gems, two thousand to be precise, I found them when I was looking for some rubies and saphires for my new dress, I have no use for them but I figured you would, darling," she said.

Shadow put down the box and gave her a hug, causing her to blush, "Thank you, Rarity, I can definitely use those."

He turned and opened the fourth gift, this one was from Fluttershy, when he got open and looked inside he took out the contents.
"A-a poster of Neon Lights and Vinyl Scratch, and it's autographed by both, getting Vinyl's autograph is pretty easy but getting Neon to autograph anything is nearly impossible," he said as he turned to look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane, "D-do you like it?"

Shadow shook his head, "No, I love it, how did you Neon to sign this," Fluttershy smiled, "I know Neon has a crush on me so all I had to do was ask," Shadow just sat there looking at her in awe.

After a couple minutes he finally snapped out of it and opened his fifth gift, this one from Applejack.

"Hope ya like it, Sugarcube," AppleJack said.

He looked in the box before looking back at Applejack, "Zap apple jam," he asked excited, Applejack nodded and giggled as Shadow gave a hoofpump.

Shadow set down the box of Zap apple jam and picked up the sixth and final gift.

"Open it, open it, open it, its from me and Vinyl," Pinkie said bouncing around out of excitement.

Shadow giggled as he finished opening it and looked inside and pulled out one of the thousands of similar strange devices.

"Vinyl told me you could use that for your project, she said she used them for her Bass Cannon and a few of her other inventions," Pinkie said.

Shadow smiled and gave a hoofbump before grabbing all six of them into a group hug, "Thank you all so much, this is the best birthday ever," he said as he let them go.

They spent the rest of the day enjoy the party and when it got dark Shadow told everyone good night and went home and went to bed.

Chapter 1 Distant Memories

Shadow once again found himself having that same dream, this time was different, however, because he found himself watching it play out as though he was watching from just above them.

He saw the two Alicorn fillies standing at the front of the crowd that was gathered around Nightshade as he took his final breathe.

"I think we should go Luna," said the oldest of the two.

"There's that name again," he thought to himself.

"I wish I was closer to hear what she said," almost as if responding to his wish, he found himself standing next to the white filly as she turned to look at her younger sister, "I think we should go Luna."

Shadow was taken aback by what he heard her say.

He shook his head, "No, its just my ears playing tricks on me," he looked back down to see it play through again.

The white filly once again turned to her younger sister, "I think we should go Luna."

Shadow knew that he heard her correctly this time, he was pondering on what it meant when his alarm clock went off.

He lazely opened his eyes, shut off the alarm, and got out of bed still pondering what had just happened in his dream.

"Only one way to find out I guess, if I hurry I should be able to make the 8:30am train to Canterlot," he quickly ran into the bathroom and took a shower, dryed himself and brushed his teeth, he then went back into his bedroom and put on a fresh vest and a pair of sunglasses.

He looked at the clock, 7:15am, "Good, just enough time to stop by Twilight's and ask her to send a letter to Princess Celestia asking if I can speak with her."

He ran downstairs grabbed the key and locked the door behind him, it didn't take him but a couple minutes to arrive at the Treebrary, as he walked in he noticed Twilight sitting at the table reading.

"Twilight I need to ask a favor of you," he said, Twilight put the book down and looked at him with a smile on her face.

"Sure, what do you need," she asked.

"I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her if I can have an audience with her when I get to Canterlot," he said.

Twilight looked at him puzzled but started to write the letter non-the-less, "Why do you need an audience with Celestia," she asked.

"It has to do with the dream I've been having, I think her and Princess Luna are directly involved," he said completely serious.

Twilight looked at him completely confused, "I-it does, how do you know?"

Shadow took in a deep breathe before he replied, "When I had the dream again last night, it was different, it was like I was watching the events play out like I was there watching, when the filly said her sisters name in the dream, I said I wished I was closer to hear what she said, almost immedialely I was next to them and she said, 'I think we should go Luna,' to the younger filly, I didn't believe thats what she said and then it started from the beginning and she said everything the same word for word."

Twilight had finished the letter and was shocked by this, "What did the fillies look like," she asked.

Shadow thought for a moment, "They were Alicorns, the oldest had a snow white coat and pink and blue mane, the younger had a dark blue coat and dark blue mane."

Twilight took a moment to process the information before she could reply, "That sounds exactly like the Princesses," she turned and added another line of text to the letter.

Shadow, however, couldn't make out what she put.

She then turned back to him, "Okay I'm coming with you, and don't say I don't need to go, I want to find out about this as much as you do."

Shadow decided it was pointless to argue and just nodded his head.

"Spike can you come here for a minute," Twilight said calling to Spike.

Spike came out of the kitchen to see what she needed.

"Whatcha need Twilight," he asked.

"Can you send this letter for me and make two bag lunches, one for me and one for Shadow, please," she asked.

Spike nodded his head, took the letter, and fireblew it to the Princess, he then went back in the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two bag lunches.

"Anything else you need Twilight," he asked.

"No, thats all, I'm going with Shadow to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia," she said.

Almost immediately after saying those words, Spike let out a breathe of flame in which a letter formed from.

Twilight took it in her magic and read it out loud, "Dear Twilight, I await the arrival of you and Shadow, I hope you have a safe journey here this morning, your mentor, Princess Celestia."

Twilight sat the letter down, "Well looks like its settled then, lets get going Shadow, and you're in charge while I'm gone Spike, but stay outta trouble while I'm gone."

Spike nodded before returning to the kitchen.

Shadow and Twilight boarded the train when it arrived at exactly 8:30am, after a couple of hours they arrived in Canterlot.

They left the train station will full bellies since they had eaten their bag lunches along the way, they went straight to the castle where the guard then escorted them to the throne room like Princess Celestia had asked them to.

When they entered the throne room they saw Princess Celestia sitting in her chair with a smile on her face, Shadow removed his sunglasses and bowed with Twilight.

"Good morning you two, I hope you had a pleasant trip," Celestia asked.

Shadow and Twilight nodded in unison.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend your birthday party yesterday Shadow, I hope you're not upset about that," Celestia said with a apologetic frown on her face.

Shadow shook his head, "It's okay Princess, I know you were busy."

Celestia smiled and nodded, "So what can I do for you this morning," she asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me what you now about the night that Nightshade died," he said.

Celestia frowned for an instant but quickly put a smile back on her face.

"I'm sorry, I do not know anything about that night," she lied.

Shadow frowned, "I know you and Princess Luna were there that night, you both were young fillies, and you both listened to his final words which warned of the return of Strife."

Celestia frowned, for she knew that he had seen right through her lie.

After letting out a sigh she spoke, "Yes I was there, as you said I was merely a little filly, Nightshade was mine and Luna's uncle, and a hero to our village."

Celestia had started to tear up so she wiped the tears away, "It was a sad day the night he died," Celestia took in a deep breathe, "May I ask how you knew I was there," she asked.

Shadow then began to explain the recurring dream and how last night it revealed her saying her younger sister's name and that he wanted to find out more about it.

Celestia looked at him shocked.

"So it's you," she said with a kind smile on her face.

"Huh," was all Shadow managed to say since he was completely puzzled by what she said.

"You're the reincarnation of Nightshade, just like how Strife was going to be reborn, so would Nightshade, but unlike Strife's reincarnation, the reincarnation of Nightshade would have a will and life of their own, free to make their own choices, I know that this wasn't revealed in your dream, that's because only those of us close to Nightshade knew."

Shadow was taken aback by this new information, "So I'm not Shadow Volt, I'm just Nightshade's reincarnation," he said with worry clear in his voice.

Celestia shook her head, "No, you are Shadow Volt, you just carry Nightshade's memories, will, and power within you, don't for one moment believe that you're not Shadow Volt."

With those words Shadow had calmed down, "I-I understand, thank you Princess, so what do I do now," he asked.

Celestia thought for a moment before letting out a giggle, "Just go about your life as you normally would, if Strife really does return then you'll be the first to find out, only you can defeat him though, if you ever need help just send me a letter and we'll come as soon as we can get there."

Shadow nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Twilight I also want you to help Shadow when he needs it," she said looking at Twilight with a smile still on her face.

"Ofcoarse Princess, leave it to me," Twilight said smiling.

"Is there anything else you need Shadow," Celestia asked once again turning her attention to Shadow.

"No, thank you for your time Princess," he said.

Celestia nodded, "It was a pleasure, Shadow," she said smiling.

Shadow and Twilight bowed and left the throne room, Shadow put his sunglasses back on and they then proceeded to head back to the train station.

"Are you going to be alright Shadow," Twilight asked walking next to him.

"Yeah, kinda shaken up, but finding out that your the reincarnation of a legendary hero and uncle of the Princesses will do that to a pony," he said giggling.

Twilight returned his giggle with her own, "Yeah, that was quite a shocker to find out," she said still giggling.

They soon arrived at the train station and boarded the noon train for Ponyville.

When they got back to Ponyville, Shadow thanked Twilight for coming along with him and returned home and started working on his project again, thankful that he got a bunch of Mithril from Rainbow Dash and a ton of magical gems from Rarity.

He looked over at the autographed poster of Neon and Vinyl he had hung on the wall and placed a protection spell on to keep it from getting damaged.

He then looked at the strange devices he got from Pinkie and Vinyl, he wondered how he could use them to finish his project, after a few minutes of tinkering with one he realized what they were for and quickly began working on his project again.

He had worked all day and looked at the clock, which now read 1am, he looked back and smiled, for he had finally finished his creations, he decided to reveal them to his friends tomorrow.

He stifled a yawn and decided it was time to call it a night, after brushing his teeth and taking his sunglasses and vest off, Shadow laid down in bed and quickly fell asleep.

Chapter 2 Shadow's Finished Project

Shadow had a restful night sleep and was enjoying the comfort of his bed when his alarm went off, he quickly got up, shut his alarm off, and went about his daily routine to get ready.

He went downstairs and gathered up his finished project, placing them inside the carrying case he had created a week earlier, he placed the carrying case on his back and adjusted the strap until it was comfortable and wouldn't slip off.

He left his house locking the door behind him like he always did, he went to Sugarcube Corner first.

"Hey Pinkie you here," he asked as he walked in.

"Yeah, whatcha need," she said as she bounced from behind the counter.

"Can you go get Twilight, Vinyl, and the others and come meet me at my training field just outside Ponyville," he said.

"Sure thing, but why do you want us to meet you there for," she asked.

"Its a surprise," is all he needed to say before Pinkie shot past him to gather up their friends.

Shadow let out a little giggle and then left to go to the meeting spot.

After setting up a bunch of practice dummies and waiting for about fifteen minutes Pinkie finally arrived with the others behind her.

"So why did you want us to meet you here Shadow," Twilight asked, "Does it have anything to do with what the Princess said yesterday?"

Shadow shook his head, "Nope, I finished my project and wanted the seven of you to be the first to see them."

Twilight and the others eagerly watched as he removed the carrying case and removed eight slender pen looking objects, to say they were dissappointed would be an understatement.

Almost as if he had read their minds he let out a small giggle before speaking, "No, thats not all."

He used his magic to press a button on all eight of the pens, while holding them away from the him and his friends, the pen like objects quickly started transforming and after a few seconds the pens had become eight swords.

"The devices that a Pinkie and Vinyl gave me along with the some of the magical gems from Rarity allow the swords to super compress then into the pens like before, I also installed a gem in each of them and placed a messaging spell on them that I found in the advanced spell book Twilight gave me, I also made these," he said pulling out a small sphere from the case and pressing the button on it as he did.

It quickly transformed into a pyramid with a magical gem at the top.

"I call it a Beacon, you can use this to send messages to other Beacons and to my swords," he pressed another button returning it to its sphere form, and tossed it to Twilight.

"Keep it safe just incase what Celestia said was true," he said as he turned back to the swords, "Each set of swords have a unique attribute assigned to them, blue for speed, red for power, gold for magic, and silver for elemental," he said this as he pointed to each set, showing the colored ring on the hilt of each sword.

"Besides that they can also be combined together," he said.

He then picked up the set of speed swords and placed them together, the swords quickly combined from a set of dual wieldable swords into a two handed sword, he then moved to the other and did the same.

"On top of that, well just watch this," he said as he took the four swords and turned them into two swords.

"Now here's the best part," he said as he looked at the group of his awe struck friends with a wide grin on his face, he look back at the two swords before combining them.

The sword that was produced was huge and looked heavy and was letting off a blue aura.

"I think I should also mentioned that they're powered by dubstep like Vinyl's inventions are, I tried a few other power sources but nothing else worked like dubstep did," he said looking back at his friends.

They just sat there with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

After a few moments Shadow decided he need to snap them out of it, and was glad he carried an air horn in his vest pocket for such cases.

After pulling it out he used his magic to sound it, the sound immediately snapped his friends out of their daze and made them jump.

He quickly put the horn back in his pocket before speaking, "Sorry but I had to get your attention somehow," he gave a nervous laugh, "So what do you think," he asked.

Vinyl stood next to Pinkie with her sunglasses barely hanging on.

Twilight was about to speak when Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"That was so AWESOME," she said, "How did you get them to become so small?"

Shadow laughed for a second, "Like I said, the devices that Pinkie gave me as a gift from her and Vinyl combined with some of the magical gems Rarity gave me, allow the swords to super compress into their pen forms."

Twilight spoke up next, "You placed a gem with a messaging spell inside each of the swords and Beacons," she asked.

"Yeah, here I'll show you," he said walking over to the sword pointing a hoof at the the gem inside the blade guard before pressing it with his hoof.

"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3," he said before removing his hoof.

After a few seconds the Beacon Twilight was holding in her magic started to vibrate, she looked it over and press the button on it causing it to once again transform into a pyramid, the gem at the top was glowing this time.

Twilight looked at it for a moment before touching the gem with her hoof causing the message to play.

"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3," the message said in Shadow's voice.

"This is an amazing invention Shadow," Twilight said praisingly.

Twilight then pressed the button returning it to its sphere form before putting it away.

"So what's with the practice dummies," Twilight asked.

"I haven't had a chance to try out my swords yet and I've also gotta come up with a name for them," he said picking up the huge sword in his hooves.

"Let's see how well this thing performs in its strongest form," he said as he lunged toward the practice dummies.

As soon as he got in range pf the first dummy he swung the sword.

To both his and his friends' surprise, the sword let out a large flash of blue energy, completely enveloping all the practice dummies.

After a few seconds the blue energy disappeared revealing that all the practice dummies were destroyed.

Shadow swung the sword a second time to see if it would happen again, however, nothing happened.

"Well, that was unexpected," Shadow said completely stunned by what happened

He focused his magic on the gem in the sword causing it to split back into eight swords, and then again on the gems in each of the swords, returning them into their pen forms.

He then put them back into his carrying case before placing the case back on his back.

He looked at his friends to see that they were once again shocked by what happened.

"Oh, come on, do I have to use the air horn again," he said teasingly as he reached into his vest pocket with his magic.

Just by having mentioned using the air horn again snapped them out of their daze.

"I think it'll be best to keep practicing here where its safe until you've mastered those swords, Shadow," Twilight said.

Shadow nodded in agreement.

"Now to just come up with a name, hmm, ooh I know, I'll call them Treble Makers," he said while moving his hooves through the air as if to make the name sound cooler.

"Treble Makers," Rainbow Dash repeated, "Sounds good, but are you naming all of them that together or what?"

Shadow thought for a moment.

"I'll call them all Treble Makers except for that last form, I'll leave that unnamed for now," he said said turning back to the group, "As for the wave of blue energy, that can come out of the sword, I'll call that the Bass Wave."

Fluttershy peeked out from behind the group where she had been hiding since the wave of blue energy shot out of the sword.

"So, uh, i-is there anything else y-you wanted to show us," she asked still shaking from being scared by the Bass Wave, "I-if you don't mind me asking that is."

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, just one last thing, and sorry for scaring you, Fluttershy, I didn't know that was going to happen," he said with a sheepish grin on his face.

"I-it's okay, it's not your fault, so what is the other thing you wanted to show us," she asked now sitting next to Twilight.

"I apologize in advance if this scares any of you," he said taking of his sunglasses revealing his deep blue eyes and placed the sunglasses on the ground.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, after a few seconds he opened his eyes revealing they were now red.

After a few seconds his blue mane and tail also turned red and moved as though it was fire.

He had entered Rage Shift, a state in which a unicorn enters after their rage has flowed and mixed with there magic, causing them to take on a terrifying appearance.

"Why are you so angry that it would make you Rage Shift in front of us," Twilight said starting to get nervous.

Shadow giggled, "I'm not angry, I'm completely calm, this is what I wanted to show you, I can now enter Rage Shift at will," he said giggling again.

Twilight looked at him stunned, "How did you do that," she asked.

"I've been out here practicing since I first Rage Shifted last year, I perfected it after a couple of months but I also went a little further with it and that's something else you need to see," he said.

He once again closed his eyes and strained his muscles and focused, after a few moments his mane and tail extended and became more like a raging fire than a simple flame, and his muscle mass also increased slightly.

He finally opened his eyes revealing that they were still red.

"What just happened," Twilight asked as she looked over Shadow's new form.

"I don't know, it just happened one day when I thought about what would happen if I got even more angrier than what was required for a normal Rage Shift while I was already in Rage Shift, and it just happened," he explained.

He took in and let out a deep breathe completely exiting Rage Shift.

"Although going into that part of Rage Shift really tires me out," he said breathing heavily.

"Are you ready to head back into town," he asked finally catching his breathe.

"Yeah, lets head back, its almost lunch time," Twilight said as they all started to head back into town.

"So what does it feel like to enter Rage Shift at will," Twilight asked walking next to Shadow.

"It feels incredible, like I can do anything, and since I enter it at will and not out of anger I can stay in that form for as long as I like without any negative side effects like entering normally would cause," he said as he walked.

"What about that second form, what does it feel like," Twilight asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"It feels, well, like I'm unstoppable, however, due to the fact it still takes a large effort on my part to not only enter the state but also maintain it, it leaves me exhausted when I do leave it, however, this time I wasn't exhaust but merely out of breathe, I think I may be getting used to it," he said with confidence.

Twilight giggled, "Well as long as you don't strain yourself too much and get yourself hurt."

As they got into town they all waved goodbye to each other before they heading home, everypony except Twilight that is, she waited until the others where out of sight before she spoke.

"Have you thought about what Princess Celestia said," she asked looking at Shadow concerned.

"Yeah, I don't know what she meant about me being the first to know of Strife's return though," he said looking up at the sky.

"Maybe she meant that you'll be able to sense it or something, like how Pinkie has her Pinkie sense," she said.

Shadow thought for a moment before he started to giggle.

"Me with a Pinkie sense for my eternal enemy," he continued to giggle only to have Twilight roll her eyes.

"You really hate being serious, especially when there's a chance to fight against someone strong, huh," she asked.

Shadow looked back down at her and smiled, "Pretty much."

Saying that caused Twilight to burst out in laughter.

"Well," he continued, "Except when I'm in the actual fight, that's when I get serious."

Twilight finally managed to stop laughing.

"Only you can take something as big as a being of pure evil and immense power that even the Elements of Harmony are useless against and make them seem like they're no big deal," she sighed, "I just hope that if Strife does return, that you won't take him likely and won't make any foolish decisions that could lead to you getting hurt or killed."

Shadow looked at her like he had been injured by what she said.

"I'm hurt, Twilight, you know I would never endanger anypony by making foolish decisions," he paused.

"Okay I made one bad choice one time and somepony got a bruised nose, it's not like I'm going to hold my sword like I did that bokuto and let it slip out of my hooves when I swing it causing it to fly hilt first into somepony's face, I'm sorry already okay," he said before finally taking a breathe.

"That somepony has a name you know," she said.

"Yeah, I know, I still can't believe Shining Armor would duck behind cover everytime I went to pick up my bokuto, I'm glad he stopped when he realized that it was a one time slip up and that I've mastered most sword arts," he said causing Twilight to giggle a bit.

"Well he did get a flying bokuto to the nose," she giggled some more.

Shadow looked back up at the sky looking at the clouds once more.

"Yeah, it's good to see that him and Cadence finally got married," he said looking back down at Twilight.

"Oh yeah, I was wondering why you weren't there, did they not send an invitation to you," she asked while making a mental note to give Shining Armor a lecture if he hadn't given Shadow an invitation to his wedding.

"No, I got one, I was busy with work though, being a DJ kept me pretty busy, I'm just glad to be home and not have to do anything but what I enjoy doing," he said with a sigh of relief.

"At least now I can be a DJ without getting overworked, don't get me wrong, its fun but when you barely get any sleep or any time to work on new songs, it just becomes too stressful," he said.

Twilight nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, even though I don't personally know how it felt, well I'm gonna set this Beacon up in the Treebrary and I want you to send me a message on it as soon as you even think you sense that Strife has returned, got that," she said while giving him a serious look.

"Got it, I'll report any ominous feelings to you immediately," he said while giving a salute which only earned him a punch in the shoulder, "Hey I was being serious that time."

Twilight rolled her eyes and let out a small giggle.

"Well I'm gonna head home and set up one of my Beacons just incase then eat lunch," he said turning to head home.

Twilight nodded and waved goodbye as she also went home.

Shadow did just as he said he would when he got home, he decided to eat some Zap apple jam and lettuce sandwiches for lunch.

Chapter 3 Awakening Darkness

About a week later Shadow had gotten back from helping Pinkie throw another party in which he promised to DJ for since Vinyl was too tired from throwing her own raves that week, between that, teaching Twilight how to make a Beacon in case of an emergency, and him practicing using the Bass Wave all week he decided to call it a night even though it was still early for him even at 9pm.

Shadow slept comfortably through the night, that is, until he was plagued by a nightmare, in his nightmare Equestria was in ruins, his friends and cousin Twilight were all badly injured, the Princesses had fallen and Canterlot was destroyed, Ponyville was intact for the most part, but only because the dark figure in his nightmare had been using it as his kingdom, for there was a large and ominous castle erected next to the town with a red eyed figure watching from a balcony on the tallest tower.

Everywhere Shadow looked he either saw lifeless bodies, injured ponies, or ponies in chains being forced to work, all of which caused his blood to boil.

The dark figure let out a dark and evil laugh that made Shadow snap awake, he shot up in his bed in a cold sweat.

At first he figured he had the nightmare from being worried about Strife's return, that is, until he felt a tightness in his chest, and felt a dark and ominous presence, even though he could sense that it was far away from Ponyville, it still caused Shadow to worry.

Remembering Twilight's words he got out of bed and quickly sent a message to Twilight to let her know that he could sense that Strife had returned, he looked over at the clock before he got ready to leave, noting that it was 2am.

Twilight was awoken by the bright light that was being produced by the gem at the top of the Beacon, Twilight was about to ignore it when she remembered that she told Shadow to send her a message if he sensed Strife's return, when she touched the gem her fears were confirmed.

"Twilight, you need to send a message to Princess Celestia and tell her that Strife has returned, this isn't a false alarm, I know for a fact it's him, I don't know how but there's no mistaking it, I'll be over there as soon as I get ready," the message said in Shadow's voice.

Twilight quickly wrote a letter to Princess Celestia and woke up Spike and told him what was going on and had him send the letter, about a minute letter she got a reply from Princess Celestia.

Twilight decided to wait for Shadow before she read it, just as she made that decision she heard Shadow knocking at her door, she ran downstairs and opened it, when Shadow walked in he had on his normal clothing and his carrying case.

Twilight told him that she had received a reply from the Princess and was just about to read it, Shadow nodded and listened as she read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight and Shadow, thank you for alerting me to Strife's return, we had already made preparations last week when you and Shadow came to visit and we will arrive in Ponyville with some troops to protect Ponyville, I fear that Strife will go after Ponyville first since that is were Shadow has made his home, your mentor, Princess Celestia."

Shadow nodded before speaking, "Lets split up and get the others, I'll go tell Pinkie, Vinyl, Dash, and Fluttershy."

Twilight nodded and they both left, about thirty minutes later they arrived back at the Treebrary together with their friends.

Just as they got to the door they saw Princess Celestia and a large squad of guards, among them was the Captain of the guard himself, Shining Armor, riding next to Celestia in her carriage.

As Shadow stood there watching watching their approach his head started to feel as though it was about to explode as it was filled with noise like thousands of voices all trying to speak at the same time.

Shadow fell against the Treebrary and couldn't hear as Twilight and the others asked him what was wrong.

Shadow couldn't fight the noise any longer and passed out, Celestia could see what was happening and took flight, she landed just as Shadow fell unconscious, immediately picking him up with her magic and carefully carried him inside.

Twilight was worried for her cousin and kept asking what was wrong, after Princess Celestia had placed Shadow in Twilight's bed she decided to finally answer.

"He's fine Twilight, its probably just Nightshade's memories of Strife flooding Shadow's conscious mind at the same time, now that he's unconscious the memories will flow more smoothly as Nightshade share's his knowledge of Strife with Shadow," Celestia said.

Twilight looked at Celestia confused, "What do you mean Nightshade is sharing his memories with Shadow."

Celestia understood why she was confused, "Nightshade and Shadow are one in the same but have separate souls and minds, when Nightshade died his son was the next to carry his soul, this continued over the past thousand years until Nightshade's and Shadow's souls came to share the same body, Nightshade decided it was time for him to guide Shadow and share his memories and experiences from fighting Strife for so many years."

Twilight came to understand this new information but was puzzled by one thing, she looked back at Princess Celestia and began to speak.

"I thought Nightshade died before he had any foals of his own," she said.

Princess Celestia shook her head, "No, after he finally defeated Strife the first time he got married to somepony he cared deeply for, they were married for two years and she had given birth a year before she was forced to betray him by a few remaining Agents of Strife, they forced her by threatening the life of their newborn foal, after Strife had taken over his and Nightshade's fused body, the Agents of Strife left the newborn foal in the village unharmed with his mother, who was heartbroken at what she was forced to do. It's thanks to Nightshade's son that we were able to learn of Nightshade's soul being apart of his reincarnation, besides Shadow, Nightshade's son is the only other pony to ever be able to communicate with Nightshade after he died. So even after death he was still able to guide and watch his son grow."

Twilight nodded and looked over at Shadow's unconscious figure.

Shadow was standing in an all white world inside his mind, he was processing all of the information that Nightshade was sharing with him at a faster rate than even Nightshade could believe, Shadow figured that it had to be because he was a fast learner, after a few more minutes he had processed all of the information that Nightshade had shared with him.

"Next time can you warn a pony before you try to cram a ton of information into their skull all at once," he said.

"I am sorry but I had to share the information with you as soon as I could, and I didn't think you would be asleep anytime soon so I had to take my chances," Nightshade replied.

"Well you got a point there, with this knowledge of how he fights and with my new swords, he won't stand a chance," Shadow said confidently.

"I don't think your new swords will be able to help against him," Nightshade said.

Shadow stared blankly at where he hoped Nightshade was watching from.

"Can I share some information with you," Shadow asked.

Nightshade was silent for a moment before speaking, "You may, just concentrate on the information you want to share."

Shadow nodded and then began concentrating on all the information about his swords, specifically their final form and the Bass Wave.

After a few moments of silence Nightshade finally spoke again, "I stand corrected."

Shadow burst into a fit of laughter. "If you think that was awesome then check this out," he said.

He then began to concentrate on his two Rage Shift forms and the fact that he can enter the first at will.

After Nightshade had processed the information he finally responded, "Hmm, impressive, that should put you on even ground with Strife until you unlock your hidden powers."

Shadow was too busy still laughing to hear what Nightshade said about him having hidden powers.

"So what now, Nightshade, do we wait for Strife to come to us, or do we go to him," Shadow asked completely serious now.

"We wait for him, I have no doubts that he can sense us and is on his way here already, here you have the advantage of being ready for him," Nightshade replied.

Shadow nodded in agreement before letting a look of complete seriousness appear on his face, "I'll make sure to kick his plot so hard that he'll never attempt to be reborn and carry out his revenge again."

Nightshade gave out a small laugh, "He's a stubborn one that doesn't know when to give up, however, I have faith in you because you're stronger than I ever was, you also have the support of your friends and family behind you, before you go I have a favor to ask of you."

Shadow's face now showed the kind expression it normally did.

"Name it, dude," he said with a smile on his face.

Nightshade was silent for a moment before he spoke, "Can you tell my nieces Celestia and Luna that I'm proud of who they have become, also let Luna know that I was never disappointed by her even when she became Nightmare Moon because I always knew that she would find her way back in time, and have watched them grow over the years, and that I will always love them."

Shadow nodded, "Ofcoarse, you have my word, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," he said while making the appropriate actions.

"Thank you," was all Nightshade said before Shadow woke up in Twilight's bed.

Shadow could hear everyone downstairs talking, he picked up his sunglasses and carrying case, both of which Celestia had placed on the nightstand after she had finished answering Twilight's questions, and put them on.

He then decided to join everypony downstairs, when he got downstairs he noticed that had gotten quiet and that everypony was looking at him.

"Okay whatever it was, it wasn't me, I have an alibi, I was unconscious upstairs," he said.

This made Twilight roll her eyes but managed to get Celestia to giggle.

Shadow turned to Celestia and began to speak, "I have a message from your uncle for you and Princess Luna, and no this is not a joke."

Celestia nodded and Shadow continued to speak, "Nightshade says that he's proud of the mares that you and your sister have become, he also wants Luna to know he was never disappointed by her becoming Nightmare Moon because he knew she would find her way back, and he has watched you grow over the years, and that he will always love you."

After he finished he noticed that Celestia had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Are you okay Princess Celestia," he asked.

Celestia nodded before wiping the tears away and speaking, "I'm just so happy to hear those words from my uncle, I've always looked up to him, even now I still think about what he would do in a situation, you're a lot like him in a way, Shadow, he always liked to make everypony laugh."

Shadow nodded, "So here's the plan, Nightshade says it's best to wait for Strife to come to us, that way we'll be ready and we'll have the advantage."

Celestia nodded, "I agree that that is our best option. Shadow, you should go retrieve the swords you spoke of from your home and have them ready."

Shadow smiled before replying, "No need, Princess, I have them right here," he said levitating the eight pens out of his carrying case.

Celestia looked at him confused, so he decided to show her instead of explaining, he used his magic to press the button on each pen at the same time, all eight pens quickly transformed into swords which he then stabbed into the ground so he would not have to levitate them anymore.

"Before you ask, its thanks to magical gems from Rarity and special devices from Pinkie and Vinyl that allow them to not only compress into a pen but also combine together to form more and more powerful swords. Each color indicates their attribute, blue is speed, red is power, gold is magic, and silver is elemental. Each sword has a gem inside it with a messaging spell placed on it, allowing me to send messages between the swords and Beacons such as the one upstairs. Also when all eight swords are combined I can swing the sword creating a wave of blue energy and can destroy several targets at once, I call this attack the Bass Wave. Any questions," he asked trying to catch his breathe.

Celestia quickly recovered from her stunned state and replied, "No, I think you covered everything."

She let out a small giggle, "Do you know how far away Strife is?"

Shadow closed his eyes and tried to focus on the ominous presence.

"He's pretty far away, it should take him a day or two to get here even at the speed he's traveling at," Shadow then opened his eyes, "But we should be prepared incase he arrives sooner than that."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "I think the seven of you should get some rest, my guards and I will keep watch while you sleep, I had my guards set up some beds for the rest of you downstairs, and if Strife arrives while you're still asleep then Shadow will wake up anyway so there's no need to worry."

Twilight wanted to refuse by she was too tired to argue, Twilight went back upstairs to her bed and the rest went downstairs to the beds that the guards had set up.

Shadow moved over to the closest bed and layed down after taking his vest, sunglasses and carrying case off, when his head hit the pillow he was almost immediately asleep.

Chapter 4 Preparations

To say that Shadow's sleeping was uneventful would be an understatement, not with him and Nightshade having a conversation all night inside the all white world while he slept.

"So why does it feel like its been a whole day in here, "I haven't been a sleep for a whole day have I,"Shadow asked.

Nightshade laughed before replying, "No you haven't been asleep for a whole day, since your unconscious mind processes things faster, time itself moves faster in this world, this means a few hours here is about half an hour in reality."

Shadow nodded his head to indicate that he understood.

"So is there anyway I can enter this place with having to be unconscious or asleep first," he asked.

Nightshade was silent as he thought about it.

"Well you can probably enter by meditating, but I doubt you could sit still long enough," he said before letting out a small laugh.

"Eh, you got me," Shadow said scratching the back of his head, "So do you also have to be a disembodied voice or can you also have a body when we're in this world," he asked.

Nightshade was silent for a moment, Shadow felt something tap his shoulder, when he turned to see what it was he saw an Alicorn the same height that he was and who also had a black coat, but the Alicorn in front of him had a mane, tail and eyes all purple instead of blue.

"Does this answer you question," the figure said, causing Shadow to jump a little.

"Next time warn a pony before you sneak up on them," he said causing Nightshade to giggle.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Nightshade said.

Shadow rolled his eyes and laughed a little, "So since I'm also a decendent of your's, why aren't I an Alicorn like you?"

Nightshade thought for a moment before deciding not to tell Shadow the whole truth just yet.

"Its because of the Alicorn blood running through your veins isn't enough for you to actually be an Alicorn, Nightshade said, "You understand what I mean right?"

Shadow thought about that for a moment, he had a feeling in his gut that something was being left out but decided it was probably nothing.

Shadow nodded to indicate that he understood, "So is the Alicorn blood that I have the reason why I'm so skilled in magic?"

Nightshade smiled before he replied, "Well yes and no."

Shadow raised an eyebrow and waited for Nightshade to continue.

"It does give you an advantage but its your understanding of the arcane that allows you to use even the most advanced spells with ease," Nightshade explained.

Shadow thought for a moment.

"I see," he said letting out a relieved sigh.

If there was one thing that scared Shadow, it was feeling as though his existence wasn't his own.

"I really need to get a grip," he thought to himself.

Nightshade looked at him concerned, "What's wrong, for a moment there it looked as though the life had been sucked out of you."

Shadow nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, it's just I don't like feeling as though I don't truelly exist, you know what I mean?"

Nightshade chuckled a little, "Yeah, I think I understand, however, just because you are my reincarnation doesn't mean that you aren't Shadow Volt as well, you are who you choose to be," Nightshade said moving over and putting his hoof on Shadow's shoulder.

"And don't ever let anypony tell you otherwise," Nightshade finished.

Shadow nodded.

"Good, so have you perfected the Bass Wave yet," Nightshade asked hoping to raise Shadow's spirits.

Shadow smiled his trademark smile, a smile he used when he was about to amaze somepony.

"Oh yeah, I figured out how the Bass Wave works as well, the Bass flows through the gems which gives each sword their attribute, but when the swords are all combined all eight gems are perfectly aligned with each other, as the Bass travels through them it amplifies and when combined with my magic allows it to be released when swung, I've also been working to see if I can fire it like a beam without swinging the sword but haven't gotten it to work yet, as for using the Bass Wave itself, I can use it at will now," Shadow explained realizing when he explains anything he sounds like Twilight when she does.

Nightshade chuckled again, "That is impressive, have you tried using your magic like you do with the Bass Wave?"

Shadow sat there in silence for a moment before he facehooved.

"Why didn't I think of that," he groaned.

Nightshade chuckled before his face went serious, "Shadow, whatever you do, do not drop your guard around Strife."

Shadow nodded, "Ofcoarse, he won't have time to think before I've kicked his plot."

Shadow and Nightshade both laughed as Shadow was pulled from the all white world and back into the bed he was sleeping in.

Shadow sat up and looked at the clock hanging from the wall.

"Only 7am," he said stifling a yawn and looking around at the empty beds.

He was shocked to see that even Rainbow Dash was already out of bed.

"Might as well head upstairs with everypony else," he said stifling another yawn.

He got up out of bed, put his normal attire on, which now included the carrying case, and went upstairs.

"Good morning everypony," he said as he walked through the door, "What's for breakfast?"

"Morning Shadow," Twilight said giving him a good morning smile, "Spike is still cooking but its pancakes with Zap apple syrup."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Shadow was at the table ready to eat as soon as the food was done, anything made from Zap apples was his favorite, he sat there waiting patiently, which, for anyone who knew him, came as a surprise.

"Well you're being.....uhm.......," Twilight said surprised.

Shadow looked at her with a sly smile on his face, "I think the words you're looking for are 'well mannered'."

Twilight rolled her eyes while giggling.

"Yeah, so why are you being well mannered," she asked.

Shadow thought for a moment.

"Zap apples," he simply replied.

Twilight looked at him trying not to laugh, "Zap apples?"

Shadow nodded, "Zap apples."

Twilight couldn't hold in her laughter any longer and just sat there laughing until Spike brought them both out a plate of pancakes covered in Zap apple syrup.

Shadow and Twilight thanked Spike before they began to eat, Shadow finished eating before Twilight did, cleaning his plate completely, without leaving a drop of syrup, he then took his plate into the kitchen and put it with the other dirty dishes and went back and joined Twilight at the table.

"So where did everypony go," he asked.

Twilight took a moment to finish eating before she spoke.

"The girls went to work, Princess Celestia went back to Canterlot until Cadence arrives from the Crystal Empire, Princess Luna came in this morning to take Princess Celestia's place until she gets back, she's currently at town hall speaking with mayor Ivory Scroll, Shining Armor has set up patrols for the guards and is coordinating them from town hall, and I'm here studying like normal," Twilight said with a small laugh.

Shadow nodded his head, "I'm gonna go see how Shining is doing and then head over to the practice field for a bit, need me to do anything while I'm out?"

Twilight thought for a moment.

"Could you pick up some eggs on your way back," she asked still reading her book and eating.

"Sure thing," Shadow said as he left.

After adjusting his shades he headed straight to Town Hall, and arrived after a few minutes of walking.

Shadow sat in the lobby waiting for a few minutes until Shining Armor finished listening to the latest report from some of his guards, after they left Shadow finally walked over to Shining Armor.

"So how have you been, you know, after defeating Chrysalis, marrying Cadence, moving to the Crystal Empire, and helping save the Crystal Empire from Sombra, and how is Cadence by the way, I haven't seen her in a few years, oh and sorry for missing the wedding, you know how crazy work can get in Manehattan," he said.

Shining Armor nodded as he smiled, "Cadence and I have been doing well, she slept for about a week after Twiligh, Spike, and the others defeated Sombra, and yeah I heard you were so busy you barely had time to eat let alone sleep."

Shining scratched the back of his head, "So how have you been, also why were you in Manehattan working when you live here in Ponyville, just wondering cause that seems to be a long ways to go for work."

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, I was up there to do a gig with DJ Pon-3 but after it was over I kept having ponies hire me for more gigs, what was supposed to be a one week trip turned into months, atleast I made some decent money out of it, came back got a house of my own and still got quite a bit left in the bank, when I got the invitation I took the very next train but I arrived too late though," Shadow said looking at the ground with a frown on his face.

Shining let out a small laugh, "Don't worry about it, water under the bridge, so what can I do for you?"

Shadow smiled, "I just came to see how you were doing, about to practice some more with my new swords at my training field, then pick up some eggs for Twilight on the way back."

Shining Armor nodded his head, "I won't keep you then, you need to train as much as possible while you have the chance, but before you head out, Princess Luna wanted to see you, she's in the Mayor's office."

Shadow nodded and went to see what Luna wanted, when he entered the Mayor's office and closed the door Luna was sitting behind the desk, "Shining Armor said you wanted to see me Princess, is there something you need me for?"

Luna looked up at Shadow and smiled, "I just wanted to thank for delivering my uncle Nightshade's message to me and my sister, you don't know how much it means to hear those words even after I became Nightmare Moon."

Shadow smiled at Luna, "Ofcoarse Princess, I know you and Princess Celestia would do the same thing for me."

Luna nodded her head, "Ofcoarse, now don't let me keep you from what you were doing," she said smiling.

"Goodbye Princess, just call for me if you need me," Shadow said as he left.

Shadow arrived at his training field and quickly set up some practice dummies, "Okay let's see if Nightshade suggested will work."

Shadow took out the eight pens and after a few swift movements he had his swords in their final form, which he had dubbed the Bass Buster, he closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, focusing his magic through his hooves and into the sword itself, he then opened his eyes and pointed the tip of the blade at one of the dummies.

He took another deep breathe, "Here goes nothing!"

He focused his magic through the blade and after gripping the hilt tightly a sphere of blue energy formed at the tip of the blade, it quickly grew bigger and bigger and after a few moments reached its largest size.

He gripped the hilt even tighter and focused his magic through the sword and out the tip of the blade causing it to fire the blue energy in a large beam, once again taking out all the dummies in one attack, backwards force caused Shadow to slide back several feet.

"Now that was awesome," Shadow beemed.

After a couple of hours training Shadow decided to call it a day and went back into town.

"Better not forget to pick up the eggs like I said I would," Shadow said as he got back into town.

After getting a couple dozen eggs from the General Store, Shadow went back to the Treebrary and placed them inside the refrigerator.

He then returned home and began working on a new secret project, hoping that he had time to finish it before Strife arrived.

Chapter 5 Spare Time

Shadow had been working on his new project all day and was nearly complete.

"Just a few more adjustments and it'll be finished," he said wiping the sweat from his brow.

He took a moment to look at the clock on the wall to see how late it was, the clock read 7pm.

"Still pretty early, hmm, I think I'll add a few more features to this before I call it good."

Shadow turned back to his project and proceeded to do just that, after a couple more hours he was finished and the entire project was done, he placed it in a secret pocket inside his vest before heading into his kitchen to make himself supper.

"Let's see, I think I'll just make a couple Zap apple jam and lettuce sandwiches and call it good," after a few moments he had his sandwhiches and ate them.

After eating and cleaning his plate in the sink, Shadow decided to try meditating to enter the all white world like Nightshade said he probably could.

After getting comfortable on the floor, he began to meditate and after a few moments he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you just gonna sit there with your eyes closed," Nightshade said causing Shadow to jump before landing on his hooves.

"You really have a bad habit of sneaking up on ponies," Shadow said readjusting his sunglasses that were surprisingly still on despite being inside the all white world.

Nightshade laughed, "Sorry. You wanted to talk about something?"

Shadow finished adjusting his sunglasses, "Yeah, I finished practicing earlier and what you said about focusing my magic through the sword worked, ofcoarse the beam it produced was bigger than I expected it to be, which was awesome, also it seems meditating doesn't take long to enter here, whatever this world is, also I wanted to know if there was a way to sense Strife's exact location and distance from Ponyville."

Nightshade pondered for a moment, "Hmm, well we could try focusing on his presence together, also this world is called the Inner Sanctum, its white because you have yet to fill it with anything but don't worry you'll fill it soon enough, now are you ready to locate Strife?"

Shadow nodded and they both focused on locating Strife's exact location and after a few minuted they had found it.

"Okay, so he's about two hundred miles Southeast from here, and he doesn't seem to be moving, is that because we're in this world or has he stopped moving for some reason," Shadow asked.

Nightshade was silent for a moment, "No, even in this world we would still be able to sense him moving so he has stopped, I don't know why though."

Shadow nodded in agreement, "Well at least there's no cities or towns near him, and it gives us some more time to prepare, which is something I think he's also doing."

Nightshade nodded in agreement, "I think you're right, anyway, did you name that new attack yet?"

Shadow thought for a moment, "I've been thinking about calling it Bass Blast or something, but I don't know."

Nightshade thought for a moment, "Hmm, Bass Blast sounds like a good name to me."

Shadow smiled, "So why is that you seem to not know what I do during the day even though we share the same body?"

Nightshade thought for a moment, "I can know everything that goes on around you but I don't want to invade your privacy."

Shadow looked at him like he had said something weird.

"I don't mind, in fact it might help in the long run," Shadow laughed, "also do we have to come here everytime in order to talk?"

Nightshade smiled, "Okay then, and no I can speak to you as a voice in your head if you want," Nightshade laughed, "ofcoarse if you reply out loud somepony might think you've gone crazy so I think it'll be best if you just reply inside you head."

Shadow rolled his eyes but nodded his head in agreement none the less before finding himself sitting in his floor, legs starting to get stiff.

"Now I remember why I hate meditation," he said.

"That and you can't stand sitting still," Nightshade retorted inside Shadow's mind.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Shadow replied stretching out and glancing at the clock.

"Hmm, only 8pm and I'm not even tired," he said but his yawning betrayed him, "Okay I guess I'm a little tired, might as well get some sleep then, hopefully I can actually get some rest tonight."

Shadow got ready for bed before laying down for the night.

"It seems Strife is on the move again, huh," Shadow asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be long now, maybe a day or two at the most, well let's get some sleep," Nightshade replied.

Shadow nodded before snapping to attention.

"Wait you sleep," Shadow asked surprised. "Yeah, although I can still sense everything that's going on," Nightshade replied.

Shadow nodded and rested his head on his pillow once again and drifted off to sleep.

Shadow was woken up at 7am by his alarm clock, after shutting it off and getting ready he left his house.

"Hmm, what should we do today," Shadow thought to himself.

"Well we can go ask Shining Armor how preparations are coming along," Nightshade answered.

Shadow thought for a moment before replying, "Good idea."

Shadow began walking towards Town Hall.

After walking for a few minutes Shining Armor stopped him before he got half way.

"I was just on my way to see you Armor," Shadow said coming to a stop infront of Shining Armor.

Shining Armor smiled, "Let me guess, you wanted to know how preparations are coming along."

Shadow stood there completely bemused to as how Shining Armor had known that.

Shining Armor laughed, "I take it I was right. I was on my way to inform you that all preparations are complete and the citizens of Ponyville have been moved to Canterlot. The only ones left are you, me, the guards, the Princesses, Twilight and her friends, and a few other ponies."

Shadow regained his composer, "Okay that's good, but why are Twilight and the others still here? Shouldn't they be moved to Canterlot where its safe? I doubt the Elements of Harmony will be of any use against Strife." Shining Armor nodded in agreement, "Yeah but they refused to leave, and let's face it, not even all of the Royal Guards combined would be able to force them to leave once they've made up their minds."

Shadow laughed, "Yeah, although they would have their hooves full with Pinkie Pie alone."

Shining Armor joined in on Shadow's laughter, "I doubt anypony could handle Pinkie Pie."

Shadow nodded, "Well anypony besides Vinyl."

Shining Armor looked at Shadow confused, "Vinyl? Who's he?"

Shadow stifled a laugh, "Well she was the DJ at your wedding."

Shining Armor thought back to the white unicorn DJ at his party, "You mean DJ Pon-3 is this Vinyl?"

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, her DJ name is DJ Pon-3 but her real name is Vinyl Scratch."

"Ah, I see now. But what does that have to do with being able to handle Pinkie," Shining Armor asked.

Shadow and Nightshade both mentally facehooved.

"Well you weren't really clear on that part so it is kinda your fault," Nightshade said.

"Yeah, but I thought he would have realized what I meant, though I do admit I never would have guessed that Pinkie was into mares if she didn't tell me, but there's nothing wrong with that, in fact they really are a perfect match," Shadow thought.

"Well Pinkie and Vinyl are..........well," Shadow began, "they're more than friends."

Shining Armor thought about what Shadow said before facehooving.

"So that's what you meant by Vinyl being the only pony to be able to handle her. Although based on what I've heard about DJ Pon-3, her and Pinkie seem like a perfect match. Though I never saw Pinkie being into mares, not that there's anything wrong with that," Shining Armor said sincerely.

Shadow gave Shining Armor a blank stare.

"What," Shining Armor asked.

"I seriously just said basically that same thing to Nightshade before I explained about Vinyl and Pinkie to you," Shadow answered.

Shining Armor started laughing before going silent, "Wait, who?"

Shadow began to explain about Nightshade and him sharing the same body and how they can communicate inside of his mind.

"You know, if I didn't know you, I'd say you were crazy, but based on everything that's going on, I think you're the most sane pony here right now," Shining Armor said.

"You didn't really understand a thing did you," Shadow asked.

"Not a thing," Shining Armor replied, "I'm just messing with you, I got what you said. Two souls one body, your's and Nightshade's, you have an inner world called the Inner Sanctum, and you can communicate with Nightshade inside your mind, did I miss anything?"

Shadow was surprised that Shining Armor caught everything, "Nope, that's everything."

Shining Armor laughed a little, "Speaking of Vinyl and Pinkie, didn't you have a crush on both of them?"

Shadow blushed but it was barely visible through his black coat, "N-no! Who said I did?"

Shining Armor laughed, "You just did. I thought you had one on Pinkie for a while now but you just confirmed it."

Shadow stared at him blankly before punching him in the shoulder.

"Okay smartplot, and besides, I like Rainbow Dash as we-," Shadow quickly cut himself off but it was already to late.

Shining Armor had a sly but devious smile on his face.

"Don't you even think about it, Armor, don't you dare speak a word of this to anypony, not even Cadence," Shadow said.

Shining Armor let out a sigh, "Fine, I won't say a word, but why can't I tell my wife?"

"Because if you do she might use her love magic to help out, and I don't want her to cause Rainbow Dash is seeing somepony already, and also I want you to Pinkie Promise," Shadow said.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Shining Armor said making all the appropriate actions.

Shadow's ears perked up from a sound coming from a nearby bush.

Shadow turned his head and looked at the bush that the sound was coming from.

"That includes you too, Pinkie," Shadow shouted.

Pinkie jumped out of her hiding spot.

"Okie dokie lokie, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she replied.

Pinkie bounced over to join Shadow and Shining Armor.

"How did you know it was her," Shining Armor asked Shadow.

"She's the only pony that can be found in random hiding spots, that and she's almost always around when a Pinkie Promise is made," Shadow replied.

"Hi Shining Armor. And Shadow I'm not just into mares, I'm into stallions also and so is Vinyl," Pinkie huffed.

Shadow's face went bright red, "I didn't mean to make you angry, I'm sorry."

Pinkie giggled, "I'm not angry silly, and it's okay, and why didn't you tell me you had a crush on me?"

Shining Armor decided it was best to let them talk this out in private and quietly slipped away, neither Shadow nor Pinkie noticed him leave.

Shadow blushed even more, "Well I was going to, but then you told me that you and Vinyl started dating so I thought you were only into mares."

Pinkie giggled, "You should have just came out and said it silly, though I'm with Vinyl now, and I'm happy with her, I'm sorry for not telling you I was into both sooner."

Shadow giggled, "Don't worry about it, as long as two of my best friends are happy together, I'm happy, besides it was only a crush, I'm barely in my 20's so there's always time to find that special somepony."

Pinkie smiled, "Well what about Rainbow Dash or Derpy? You still have a crush on Derpy right?"

Shadow sighed, "Yeah, but Derpy is with Doctor Whooves and Rainbow Dash is with Soarin of the Wonderbolts."

Pinkie nodded, "Well I'm sure you're bound to find your special somepony someday." "So how is Vinyl doing anyway? I haven't seen her in a while, I'm sure Shining here would li-," Shadow paused when he noticed that Shining Armor was gone.

"Guess he decided to leave," Shadow scratched the back of his neck, "anyway, how are things between you and Vinyl going?"

"Vinyl's good, she's at home right now, and things have gotten quite serious between us over the past year," she said smiling.

Shadow thought about how long its been since Pinkie and Vinyl started dating, which had been three years now.

"Your third year anniversary is tonight isn't it," Shadow asked.

Pinkie smiled and nodded, "Yeah, Vinyl said she's made special plans for us at a restaurant here in town, I also found a little black box but she put a spell on it to keep me from opening it and won't tell me what it is, guess I'll have to wait until tonight to find out."

"So Vinyl is planning on asking Pinkie to marry her, huh," Shadow thought to himself.

"Yeah, but it also looks like Pinkie is oblivious to that," Nightshade replied.

"That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, I'm sure a part of her knows but she's more focused on being Pinkie Pie to realize it," Shadow thought.

Shadow smiled, "I think I'll pay Vinyl a visit to catch up while we've still got time, if that's okay with you ofcoarse."

Pinkie giggled, "Ofcoarse it is silly, I'm gonna go see if Rainbow Dash wants to pull some more pranks."

Pinkie giggled and bounced off to go looking for Rainbow Dash.

Shadow watched her leave before heading for Pinkie and Vinyl's house.

Chapter 6 Proposing

Shadow had been walking for a few minutes and was thankful that it gave him some time to think about what to talk about with Vinyl.

"Should I go ahead and congratulate her? I know Pinkie will say yes but I don't want to jinx it," Shadow thought to himself.

"I'd wait to see if Vinyl brings it up first, you did say that her and Pinkie are your best friends, so I think she'll bring it up first," Nightshade replied.

"Yeah you're probably right," Shadow thought while giving out a relieved sigh.

After a few more minutes he finally arrived at Pinkie and Vinyl's house and knocked on the door.

A familiar white unicorn DJ answered the door and after seeing who it was smiled and asked him inside and they both took a seat on the couch.

"What's up dude? How have you been with everything that's been going on," She asked.

"I've been good, I just wanted to come and chat for a while," Shadow answered.

"Well I've been meaning to speak with you anyway, as you know mine and Pinkie's anniversary is today, I've got reservations at a restaurant for us tonight," she said as she levitated a small black velvet box over to her, "and I'm planning on asking her to marry me. Will you be my best stallion at the wedding?"

Shadow smiled, "Ofcoarse I will Vi, the both of you are my best friends after all. And I'm sure Pinkie will say yes cause she loves you a lot so let me be the first to congratulate you."

Vinyl blushed while smiling, "Thanks dude, I hope you're right, I hope Pinkie hasn't figured it out yet cause I want it to be a surprise."

Shadow laughed, "Pinkie hasn't realized it yet as far as I could tell."

"What do you mean," she asked confused.

"Well she mentioned finding a little black box and wasn't able to open it but she doesn't know what's inside," he answered while scratching the back of his neck.

"So you knew I was planning to ask her to marry me tonight before you even came here," she asked punching him in the shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, but I figured you would tell me if you wanted me to know," he answered. Vinyl laughed before flicking Shadow on the horn.

"You know full well what that does to a unicorn, Vi," he said while trying to ignore the sensation it caused.

"Yeah I know, and that's what you get for not saying something," she replied flicking his horn again.

He flicked her horn in return, "You will never change, will you Vi?"

Vinyl laughed at the question, "Ofcoarse not dude, it's too much fun being me, and besides you like it."

She started to try and tempt him by giving him bedroom eyes.

"Not gonna work Vi, just because you've known about my crush on you doesn't mean you can tempt me that easily, especially since you're with Pinkie," he said trying his best to hide that he was tempted anyway.

Vinyl laughed, "Fine you win, but I know you're tempted anyway."

Shadow knew he was caught, "Well you flicking my horn doesn't help any."

Vinyl laughed again before flicking his horn, "You mean like that?"

Shadow gave her a blank stare before he flicked her horn several times.

"You tell me," he said with a devious grin.

Vinyl was openly enjoying the sensation.

"Want me to show you how Pinkie does it," she asked returning his devious grin.

Shadow was very tempted but shook his head, "No that's between you two."

Vinyl giggled, "Suit yourself."

They sat there for hours talking and joking before Vinyl noticed what time it was.

"Well it's time for me to get ready for my anniversary dinner," she said getting up.

"I'll wait nearby so I can come and congratulate you two when she says yes," Shadow said getting up.

"Sounds good, I'll see you there then," she replied brushing his nose with her tail before going upstairs.

Shadow took a moment for his blush to subside before leaving.

"Okay I've got an hour before I gotta be at the restaurant to wait to congratulate them so what should we do," Shadow thought only to be interrupted by his grumbling stomach.

"I think that answered your question," Nightshade replied.

"Yeah, lets go get something to eat," Shadow said as he began to walk to the restaurant, "I'll just eat at the restaurant Vi and Pinkie are going to so I'll be nearby."

After arriving at the restaurant and eating a big meal, Shadow noticed that he still had thirty minutes of spare time.

"Guess I'll go sit on the bench across the street until it's time," Shadow thought to himself as he went to just that.

Shadow felt like he had been sitting there forever when Pinkie and Vinyl arrived, Vinyl looked over and saw him sitting there and smiled.

It was about ten minutes later when he watched take out the velvet box without Pinkie seeing, he got up and started walking towards the restruant.

He watched as Vinyl proposed and took it that Pinkie said yes since they were kissing, he walked in and up to the happy couple.

"Congratulations you two, I bet it'll be the best wedding ever," he said smiling.

Pinkie looked up at him, "You knew that she was gonna ask me?"

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, and I'm gonna be the best stallion at the wedding."

"Yeah, you'll also be my best stallion as well," Vinyl joked.

"That too," Shadow retorted.

"Awe, I wanted you to be my best stallion though," Pinkie said sadly.

"Who said I could only be the best stallion to just one of you, why can't I be best stallion for of you," Shadow asked.

"I agree," Vinyl replied.

"It's settled then, I'll be the best stallion for both of you," Shadow teased, "and the best stallion for both of you at your wedding."

Pinkie and Vinyl giggled.

"Can't argue with that," Pinkie replied.

The three of them laughed together.

Vinyl whispered something in Pinkie's ear and after listening to what Vinyl said, Pinkie nodded.

"Shadow would you like to give us away at the wedding as well," Vinyl asked.

Shadow was confused, "Give you both away? You mean you're both gonna walk down the aisle?"

Vinyl giggled, "Ofcoarse we are, we're both brides afterall. All you have to do is walk one of us down and then head back to walk the other down and then take your spot as best stallion."

Shadow smiled, "Ofcoarse I'll give you both away at your wedding. Like you even had to ask."

Pinkie beamed, "It's settled then, I want you to Pinkie Promise that you'll be at the wedding, give us away, and be our best stallion."

Shadow made the Pinkie Promise.

"Okay now I want you two to Pinkie Promise me that you won't have the wedding without me," he teased.

Pinkie and Vinyl made their Pinkie Promise.

"I was only joking," Shadow laughed.

"We know, but neither of would want to go through with it without out best friend there," Vinyl replied.

Pinkie nodded in agreement.

Shadow smiled, "Fair enough."

"I also want you to Pinkie Promise that you'll beat Strife when he arrives, and survive," Pinkie said completely serious.

"I don't plan on losing or dying anyway," Shadow said before making his Pinkie Promise.

"If it looks like you're in trouble, I'll use my Bass Cannon," Vinyl teased.

Shadow rolled his eyes and laughed, "I think we both know that won't be needed after I showed you the Treble Makers and Bass Buster."

Vinyl began to nod but a look of confusion grew on her face, "Bass Buster? I thought you were calling that blue wave the Bass Wave."

Shadow laughed, "I am calling that the Bass Wave, but I'm calling the final form of the sword the Bass Buster," Shadow replied, "plus I also developed a few new special attacks with it."

Vinyl nodded, "Oh yeah, I finished the special sunglasses you wanted me to, you can personalize the HUD, it has infrared, heat vision, and X-ray vision, and you can take photos and videos with it."

Shadow took the sunglasses and put them on after taking the ones he was wearing off.

"Sweet," he said while going through the features.

He switched them to heat vision and started looking around.

"Hey! Don't get my hopes up by saying it has heat vision," he teased before sticking out his tongue.

"Okay so it's only thermal vision," Vinyl giggled, "I couldn't figure out how to get it to shoot lasers at will, so I didn't include it."

Shadow laughed before putting the sunglasses away in his vest and putting back on the sunglasses he had been wearing.

"That's probably for the best anyway, it could have ended badly otherwise," he replied, "Okay so let's get back on topic, let's go back to your house and get started on your wedding plans, because I'm also gonna DJ for it."

Vinyl looked at him confused, "Wait, you want to help with the wedding plans?"

Shadow nodded, "It's the wedding between my two best friends, ofcoarse I'm gonna help with the planning, otherwise who'll be able to keep the two of you on track?"

Vinyl laughed, "You're gonna leave most of it to Twilight aren't you?"

"Only the stuff that needs a mares touch," he retorted.

"Well I know something that could use a stallions touch," Vinyl teased.

Shadow rolled his eyes and the three of them left and headed to Pinkie and Vinyl's house.

Shadow spent most of the night going over most of the details while making a list of the things that was better suited for a mare to take care off.

"Okay, so for the music, what would you like," Shadow asked them.

Pinkie and Vinyl thought for a moment.

"Anything romantic," Pinkie said.

Vinyl nodded in agreement.

Shadow wrote that on his list even though he should have seen it coming.

"That looks like everything I can help with," he said putting his list away, "I'll let you handle the other stuff."

Shadow thought for a moment.

"Too bad I don't get to throw a bachelor party," he teased, "unless you two wanna just have one big party instead."

Pinkie and Vinyl thought for a moment and nodded.

"That sounds like a super-duper fun idea," Pinkie beemed.

"Yeah, and if you set it up I'm sure it'll the biggest party ever," Vinyl said nudging Shadow.

"It's settled then," Shadow said nudging her back, "So have you decided on a date yet?"

Vinyl and Pinkie shook their heads in unison.

"No, we're gonna wait until all this stuff with Strife is taken care of before we think about that," Vinyl replied.

Shadow nodded.

"Listen if something happens to me," Shadow began, "I want you to go through with the wedding."

Vinyl was about to shake her head when Shadow stopped her.

"Promise me," he said firmly.

Vinyl thought for a moment and nodded.

"Okay, but we will wait one full year before we pick a date," Vinyl said firmly, "right Pinkie?"

Pinkie nodded her head in agreement and they set it in stone with a Pinkie Promise.

"Cheaters," Shadow said starting to laugh.

Pinkie stuck out her tongue before giggling.

Vinyl just gave a devious grin and flicked Shadow on the horn.

Shadow stared at her for a moment before returning her devious grin then proceeded to rapidly flick her on the horn, Vinyl tried her best to resist the sensation.

Pinkie joined in and it wasn't long before Vinyl couldn't resist any longer.

"You give up yet," Shadow asked.

"N-never," Vinyl groaned.

After a few more horn flicks from both Pinkie and Shadow, Vinyl admitted defeat.

Shadow pumped his hooves in the air to symbolize his triumph.

"You had help," Vinyl said trying to catch her breathe.

Shadow stuck out his tongue.

"Like you didn't enjoy it," he teased.

"Totally," Vinyl retorted.

"I'll save the real 'fun' for later," Pinkie teased Vinyl.

"Don't leave Shadow out of the 'fun' or he might feel left out," Vinyl teased.

"I'm good," Shadow replied.

"Oh I bet you still are," Vinyl teased.

Pinkie giggle snorted.

"There's just no winning with you is there," Shadow asked.

"Depends on what you mean by 'winning'," Vinyl teased again.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Maybe after the issue with Strife is taken care of," Shadow teased back.

"I'm okay with that," Vinyl replied completely serious.

Shadow blushed when he realized that she meant it.

"Well you may be okay with it but what about Pinkie," he asked still blushing.

"Sounds fun," Pinkie said before giggling.

"What have I gotten myself into," Shadow thought to himself.

"Sounds like a threesome to me," Nightshade said starting to laugh.

Shadow facehooved.

"You two are going to be the death of me," he groaned, "that's if Strife doesn't beat you to it."

"That's cold dude," Vinyl replied frowning.

"I was only kidding, I think we both know that Strife doesn't stand a chance," Shadow said confidently.

"You better win, I'll kick you plot if you lose," Vinyl scolded.

"Anyway the first line of defense has to be the Elements of Harmony, I doubt they'll work but we've gotta try anyway," Shadow began, "if they fail to work then I'm up next, and I'm going all out from the very start."

Shadow looked at the clock on the wall.

"Well its after midnight so I'm gonna head home and get some sleep," Shadow said as he stretched out.

"Why not just stay here tonight, it beats walking all the way to the other side of town," Vinyl replied.

"Only if you Pinkie Promise to not try anything while I sleep," Shadow teased.

Vinyl and Pinkie both Pinkie Promised to not try anything while Shadow sleeps.

Vinyl waited a few seconds and started flicking Shadow on the horn.

"You never said anything about while you were awake," she replied with a devious grin.

Shadow regained his composer from the assault long enough to teleport out of Vinyl's reach.

"Would you stop that," Shadow asked.

"Awe, come on dude, it's all in good fun," Vinyl pouted.

"It may be but you know what that does, and besides you're gonna be a married mare soon," Shadow said firmly.

"Yeah, but Pinkie doesn't mind, right Pinkie," she asked.

Shadow turned to look at Pinkie just as she launched her own horn flicking assault.

"Not you too," Shadow shouted.

Shadow spent the rest of the couples assault teleporting around their house until they gave up.

"Fine we'll stop," Vinyl clearly bluffing, "aren't you tired from all that teleporting?"

Shadow stayed on defense just in case, "Nope, teleportation is as easy as levitation for me and Twilight."

Vinyl knew he was telling the truth because he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"Fine you win, this time," Vinyl replied.

Shadow looked around for Pinkie before he found he laying on her stomach completely exhausted.

Vinyl yawned, "Okay Pinkie lets go to bed, we need to get some sleep and I think Shadow does too, you can use the guest room upstairs Shadow."

Shadow nodded and followed the two of them upstairs, he went into the guest room as Pinkie and Vinyl continued down the hall to their bedroom.

"I really hope they plan on sleeping," Shadow thought to himself.

"And you're telling me that you don't find it at all tempting," Nightshade asked.

Shadow gave a blank stare, "Oh shut up."

"That's what I thought," Nightshade managed to say through his laughter.

"Like you don't wish you were in my horseshoes right now," Shadow mentally retorted.

Nightshade went silent.

"Uh huh, thought so," Shadow jested.

"Just go to sleep," Nightshade replied.

"Two words: I win," Shadow replied as he laid down on the bed.

"Yes, you win," Nightshade finally admitted.

"I can't believe I walked right into that earlier," Shadow thought.

"Wait are you complaining about being invited to that," Nightshade asked.

"No, I just can't believe I walked into it. It is tempting and all but they're my best friends and they're getting married," Shadow answered.

"Are you sure she wasn't just joking some more," Nightshade asked.

Shadow shook his head, "No, I've known Vi for years and I can tell when she's dead serious, and she was dead serious."

Shadow stifled a yawn.

"Just tell her 'no' then," Nightshade replied.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on doing anything like that with the happy couple, even if they try to make me," Shadow replied, "besides, I think Vinyl was doing that to see how I would react, there have been a few times where I've thought she was dead serious and she was only acting to see what I'd do."

"Yeah, well you better get some sleep. Good thing you made them promise not to do anything while you slept," Nightshade replied.

Shadow yawned.

"Well good night," Shadow said as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 7 Having Fun

Shadow slept soundly during the night and woke up early the next morning.

He got up and put his sunglasses and vest on and went downstairs.

Vinyl was sitting on the couch listening to some music playing through her headphones with her eyes closed.

Since she didn't see him come downstairs, Shadow decided to sneak up on her.

He crept closer and closer as quielty as he could until he was behind her and then scared her.

Vinyl jumped off the couch from being scared by Shadow and landed upside-down on the chair across from it.

"Nice trick," Shadow teased.

"Oh, ha ha," Vinyl replied, "I meant to do that."

Shadow laughed, "I'm sure you did."

"You know you just wanted to get a good view of 'it' down there," Vinyl teased while shaking her flank.

Shadow looked away.

"We both know I've seen 'it' plenty of times," he said moving over to her.

"Considering I was the one that took your cherry," he whispered into her ear.

Vinyl blushed as she remembered the details of that night.

Shadow took a seat on the couch with a smirk on his face.

"Then why won't you join me and Pinkie," she teased.

"Because you're in a relationship together, and speaking of Pinkie did she already leave for work," he asked.

"Yeah, she left about thirty minutes ago," she replied, "and that's no excuse, you and I both know that you want to so why not?"

"I don't know, it's just," he paused, "What would the readers think?"

Vinyl looked at him confused, "Readers? What readers?"

"Nevermind," Shadow said waving his hoof dismissively.

Vinyl shrugged, "I'm gonna keep pestering you until I get a direct answer."

Shadow sighed, "Fine, after Strife is taken care of and if I haven't started dating somepony in a month, then I'll agree to it."

Vinyl smiled, "Deal."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "That's the only answer I could give that you would accept isn't it?"

"Pretty much," she answered, "And I want you to Pinkie Promise."

Shadow knew he had been caught and couldn't get out of it now and went ahead and Pinkie Promised.

"I really hope she forgets about this," Shadow thought to himself.

"I doubt it," Nightshade replied, "you've pretty much trapped yourself."

Shadow just gave a blank stare.

"Why are you just staring off into space," Vinyl asked.

"Nightshade is being a smartplot," Shadow answered.

"Wait how are you talking to him if you're still conscious," she asked.

"Oh, I can speak with him inside my mind," Shadow answered.

"Ah," she replied, "Wait he's been listening in?" Shadow nodded.

"Nightshade stop listening in on our conversations about stuff like this please," she asked.

"Tell her I won't listen in on stuff like this anymore since its a private matter," Nightshade replied.

"Thanks man, she's not trying to be rude," Shadow mentally replied.

"It's okay, I'm not upset," Nightshade said laughing a little.

"He said he won't listen in on our conversations anymore," Shadow said.

"Good," she replied.

"Are you just gonna sit upside-down in the chair," Shadow asked.

Vinyl flipped upright in the chair and sat down, "Better?"

Shadow nodded, "Better."

"How can it be better if you can see 'it' anymore," she teased.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"I think we both know that all I have to do is ask," he retorted.

Vinyl giggled, "Obviously."

Shadow closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate on Strife's location.

"Hmm, he stopped again, what the hell is he planning," Shadow thought.

"Is Nightshade being a smartplot again," Vinyl asked.

"No, I was just checking to see how far away Strife is, this is the second time he's stopped moving," Shadow answered opening his eyes, "That just buys us more time."

Vinyl smiled and nodded.

"I hope you don't mean that it also means that you get more time before our 'fun'," she teased.

"I said one month," Shadow sighed, "even if Strife doesn't show up at all, the time frame is still one month."

"Should have chose your words more carefully," Vinyl teased.

"How do you know that I didn't plan that," Shadow bluffed.

Vinyl giggled before tackled him.

"Well then make good on your word," she teased calling him on his bluff.

"Well that backfired real fast," Shadow admitted.

"Well what are you going to do," she teased, "you can't teleport out of reach this time since we're making physical contact."

Vinyl smiled a devious grin.

Shadow returned her devious grin and flipped their positions.

"What would Pinkie say if she caught us like this," Shadow asked.

"I'd say 'don't leave me out'," Pinkie answered bouncing from behind the couch.

Shadow got off Vinyl and rolled his eyes, "You two are like two sides of the same coin."

"You know that's what you love about us," Vinyl said nudging him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work, Pinkie," Vinyl asked.

"Oh yeah," Pinkie giggled, "don't have too much fun without me though."

Shadow rolled his eyes as Pinkie bounced out of the house.

"Now where were we," Vinyl asked as she tackled Shadow again.

"Definitely not here," Shadow asked.

Vinyl rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure we were."

Shadow smiled a devious grin and flipped their positions.

"I think you'll find that this is where we were," he teased.

"Well are you gonna go through with it," she teased, "or can you not get it up anymore?"

"You asked for it," he replied before going through with it.

Nightshade sat in the Inner Sanctum keeping track of Strife's location and was growing concerned that he had once again stopped moving.

"What is he planning," he wondered, "I should have Shadow check some maps of the places Strife has stopped at to see if anything is there."

Nightshade went through the plans that him and Shadow came up with.

"I guess I should check in with Shadow, it's been a while since Vinyl asked me to stop listening in," he thought to himself.

Nightshade reconnected his soul to the material world to see the world around Shadow, what he saw Shadow doing made him blush and he quickly disconnected.

"Well, I didn't expect that to happen," he thought out loud, "how in the world am I blushing?"

Nightshade tried his best to keep his mind off of what he saw, "I better not mention that I saw that or they'll both try to kill me. But the jokes on them, I'm already dead."

Nightshade sat in silence for a moment.

"Okay that was a bad joke," Nightshade said facehooving.

"I wonder why he decided to go through with it," he pondered.

Nightshade facehooved again.

"Stop thinking about it," he told himself.

Nightshade sat there for half an hour keeping his mind on other things.

"Okay they have to be done by now," he told himself, "I'll wait til later to be on the safe side though."

Vinyl was sitting in the chair once again and was out of breathe.

"I take back what I said," she began, "that was amazing."

Shadow sat on the couch grinning, "Who can't get what up now?"

"You don't have to rub it in," she giggled, "well more than you just did."

Shadow rolled his eyes as he laughed.

"You asked for it," he smirked, "and I mean that literally."

Vinyl giggled, "Pinkie sure missed out on the 'fun', unless you wanna go another round after Pinkie gets home," she teased.

"You know what, hell yes, I might die in the fight against Strife, so yes count me in," Shadow said flopping down on the couch.

Vinyl stared at him with wide eyes.

"I honestly didn't expect you to say yes to that," she admitted, "are you really that nervous about confronting Strife."

Shadow sighed, "Don't get me wrong, getting to fight somepony really strong is awesome, but if I'm not strong enough, then everything and everypony I want to protect will be in danger."

Vinyl nodded.

"I can understand how you feel, I'll let Pinkie know about tonight then," she giggled.

"I'm gonna take a nap, I'm tired after all that 'fun' and I need to go over some plans with Nightshade, I'm not gonna tell him about what happened though," he said.

"Okay, I'm gonna go hop in the shower, if you get cold just use the blanket hanging on the back of the couch," she replied heading upstairs.

Shadow covered up and quickly drifted off to sleep and found himself in his Inner Sanctum.

"Nightshade you here," Shadow asked.

"Yeah, I see that you're finished," Nightshade replied.

Nightshade realized too late that he had let it slip that he knew what Shadow did.

"Finished," Shadow asked, "what do you mean finished?"

Nightshade began to blush, "N-nothing! I didn't see anything, I swear!"

Nightshade realized that he had once again let it slip.

"You were still listening in even after Vinyl asked you not to, weren't you," Shadow asked with a blank stare.

"N-no I really wasn't, I reconnected to ask you something and I saw you two, well you can guess, and then disconnected almost immediately," Nightshade said still blushing.

"It's fine dude," Shadow said waving his hoof dismissively, "And before you ask, she issued a challenge that I couldn't turn down."

"Oh, and what was that," Nightshade asked.

Shadow blushed, "She said 'Are you gonna go through with it or can you not get it up anymore?', so you can see that I had to show her."

"That and you gave into your temptation didn't you," Nightshade asked firmly.

Shadow stared at him blankly.

"Are you trying to scold me for that," Shadow asked.

Nightshade was silent for a moment.

"Truth be told, I want to give you a brohoof," Nightshade admitted.

Shadow laughed, "So what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh yeah, I wanted to know if you can get some maps of the areas that that Strife has stopped in, I have a feeling there's something out there," Nightshade answered.

"Wow, I was seriously gonna talk to you about that, I had a feeling there was another reason that he was stopping at those spots," Shadow replied, "I'll get to then."

Shadow woke up on the couch and noticed that Vinyl was sitting in her chair, her mane and coat were still slightly damp.

"How long was I asleep," Shadow asked as he stretched out.

"Only for a little bit, I just got out of the shower just a couple minutes ago," she answered.

"I need to get around to finding some maps of Equestria, I'll be back in a little bit," Shadow replied getting up.

"I've got some maps I borrowed from Town Hall awhile back when I was planning the New Year's party," she replied.

"Do they show the land Southeast of Ponyville? Up to two hundred miles in that direction," he asked.

Vinyl thought for a moment.

"I'm pretty sure they do, they showed a lot of weird places out in the middle of nowhere in that direction, hold on I'll go get them," she said going to get the maps.

"Hmm, weird places in the middle of nowhere, Nightshade you there," Shadow asked mentally.

"Yeah, I'm here, and I think that might be what we're looking for," Nightshade replied.

Vinyl soon returned and placed the maps on the floor, after placing all the maps down she pointed out the 'weird places' she was talking about.

"Are those ruins," Shadow asked. Vinyl nodded, "That's what it looks like to me. I asked Twilight about them when I first noticed them but she couldn't find anything on them."

"Those look like the old bases of the Agents of Strife, they disbanded a few hundred years after Strife's death though," Nightshade told Shadow.

Shadow looked over all the ruins noting their distances.

"Okay the first one was two hundred miles, the second is about one hundred and fifteen," Shadow said, "both of them look completely, well, ruined by the looks of it."

Shadow traced the line between the ruins and Ponyville before coming to an abrupt stop.

"What's wrong," Vinyl asked.

"How long ago were these maps made," Shadow asked.

"Only last year, why," Vinyl replied.

"These ruins are the old bases for the Agents of Strife, and that's not all there's another one on the map, it's only fifty miles from Ponyville," Shadow began, "and that's not all, it's not in ruins."

Vinyl looked at the map at the base in question and noticed that it looked like it was well maintained.

"Do you think that there are still Agents of Strife around and they're in that base," Vinyl asked.

"What do you think Nightshade," Shadow mentally asked.

"I think there are, but I wouldn't worry, when I was fused with Strife, they were nothing but pests when I was alive," Nightshade answered.

"Uhm, not trying to be a jerk but, didn't they threaten to kill your newborn son in order to get your wife to betray you," Shadow asked.

"Yes, they did," Nightshade admitted.

"I'll be right back," Shadow said getting up and taking the maps with the three bases, "I'm going to let Shining Armor know and come back."

Vinyl nodded as Shadow left, it didn't take long for Shadow to find Shining Armor at Town Hall.

Shadow walked over to Shining Armor and showed him the maps and and explained what he had found out.

"I see," Shining frowned.

"What's the plan," Shadow asked.

"Well there's a chance that he could be using it as bait to lure you out, we a battalion mostly pegasi and unicorn guards arrived this morning so I'll send them to check it out. We need you here just in case he attacks here while they're gone," Shining answered.

Shadow nodded, "Sounds good to me, he still hasn't moved so that'll give your guards a pretty big head start."

Shining Armor nodded his head in agreement.

"Do you need me for anything," Shadow asked.

"Nope, I'll call for you if I do though," Shining answered.

"Okay, I'll be at Vinyl and Pinkie's house til tomorrow," Shadow replied.

"Oh, doing what," Shining asked with a sly grin.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Like I'm gonna give those kind of details, and we're just catching up that's all."

Shining Armor kept his sly grin.

"Uh huh, sure you are," Shining said moving closer to Shadow, "That's not what I heard coming through the window of their house earlier during my rounds."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell anypony," Shadow said firmly.

"Don't worry I won't, I'll even Pinkie Promise, Shining said before making his Pinkie Promise.

"So how about making me a Royal Guard," Shadow joked.

"No can do," Shining frowned, "you've already got a good job, and you don't have your Cutie Mark yet."

Shadow gave him a blank stare, "Just because I don't have my Cutie Mark and already have a job is reason enough not to let me be a Royal Guard?"

Shining shook his head, "The truth is, Princess Celestia ordered me to keep you from becoming a guard, she believes that your destiny lies elsewhere and becoming a guard will make it harder to find."

Shadow thought for a moment, "Fair enough, and we both know I wouldn't be able to stand still long enough."

Shining Armor laughed, "That too."

"Well I'm gonna head back to Vinyl's," Shadow replied.

"Uh huh, planning on doing anymore 'catching up'," Shining asked with a sly grin.

Shadow gave him a blank stare, "Keep it up and the next bokuto that hits you in the nose, won't be on accident."

"I'm just messing with you," Shining replied while nudging Shadow.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Well let me know how if you need me," Shadow said turning to leave.

"Sure thing," Shining said going back to his makeshift desk.

Shadow left and went back to Vinyl and Pinkie's house.

"So what did he say," Vinyl asked.

"He's gonna send the battalion of guards that came in this morning to go check it out," Shadow answered as he sat down on the couch.

"So what are you gonna do," she asked.

"I'm gonna stay here until they call for me, and that's if they call for me," Shadow answered.

Vinyl moved over and started whispering into his ear, "You wanna have some more 'fun' before tonight?"

Shadow thought for a moment, "Sure, but let's go upstairs this time."

Vinyl was surprised that he agreed but was happy anyway.

"Nightshade, can yo-," Shadow began.

"Say no more," Nightshade replied before disconnecting.

Vinyl headed upstairs with Shadow following her.

They went into her and Pinkie's bedroom and shut the door.