Rising Shadows

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.