The moon hung high over Equestria, it's dim glow brightening the otherwise dark nights in the peaceful land of Friendship and Harmony, all of its residents at rest from their busy days of work and play, that is all but two.
"Maintain your focus, Twilight," said Princess Celestia.
The lavender unicorn sat in front of the princess, eyes closed, beads of sweat trickling down the sides of her face, muzzle scrunched up in concentration and the sparking of magic at the tip of her horn getting brighter and brighter.
"That's it, keep your mind steady."
Twilight shifted uncomfortably under the pressure being triggered by the knowledge of her mentor's watchful gaze, her horn aglow with a bright purple light and with a flash, the spell in progress became less of a spell in progress and more a spell that went horribly wrong and exploded almost destroying the princesses' study.
"Ow..." Twilight groaned as she rose from the scorched spot on the floor, holding a hoof to her aching head as she surveyed the destruction caused by her less than successful spell. Much of the furniture was charred black and many pages from destroyed books were scattered around the study, some still in the air. Twilight watched a page float to the floor next to her mentor's hooves with a guilty look on her face. "I'm so sorry, Pri-"
Celestia held up a hoof to cut her off. "It's alright Twilight, furniture can be replaced but; what about your head?" She put a hoof to Twilight's chin, turning her head any which way looking for signs of damage. "When the spell backfired it looked rather painful, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I mean my head hurts a little, but other than that nothing major," Twilight said with a sheepish grin.
Celestia studied Twilight with a curious eye. "In any matter get some rest, we will continue to practice tomorrow, hopefully without blowing up my study a second time."
Twilight looked up at the Princess, her face full of embarrassment.
Celestia simply smiled at her student with a forgiving smile. "Now run along to your quarters, I have some cleaning to do."
"Are you sure you don't want me to help? I could arrange your bookshelves or-"
The Princess cut her off with her hoof again. "Twilight, please go and rest, I don't want you straining yourself after an accident like that, it would only make your head worse."
Twilight hung her head in defeat and walked towards the door to the hallway, opening the door she turned her head to Celestia. "Goodnight Princess."
Celestia smiled softly back at her. "Goodnight, Twilight." the lavender mare returned the smile before closing the door behind her and trotting off to her quarters. Celestia looked around the room and sighed as her horn lit up with a bright magical aura.
Twilight slumped on her bed sighing deeply and resting her foreleg over her eyes, Maybe I should have studied more before I came to the Princess for advanced spell training... She thought to herself, a frown forming on her face as she felt a sudden throbbing pain in her head. Oh great, now it hurts to think... She moved her hoof to her forehead and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes in an attempt to ignore the pain and get some sleep.
A couple of hours later...
Twilight shifted about uncomfortably in her slumber, her mind plagued by images of ponies living on the streets and in broken homes, with shadow like creatures floating about infesting the minds of the ponies and turning them against their family and friends, their shadows morphing into twisted versions of their host, mentally blinking she found herself stood in the middle of a familiar street. "Is this... Ponyville?" She looked around spotting a hooded figure in the distance, stepping cautiously closer Twilight spoke, "Uh hello? Where am I?" Upon closer inspection, the figure was wearing a long, brown, tattered cloak with grey hooves exposed at the bottom and purple hair hanging out of the face of the hood.
"You might want to wake up soon, we wouldn't want him to get to you now would we?" The figure said without turning to her.
"Pardon? Wouldn't want who to get to me?" Twilight asked curiously raising an eyebrow.
A dark laugh resonated through the air around her followed by a voice. "When the stars fall, the reign of darkness will begin!"
Twilight turned on the spot searching for the source of the voice, she looked to the figure for answers only to find the spot where it stood empty. "Who are you?!" The voice laughed again, this time it sounded like it was next to Twilight’s ear. as she spun around her mind went black, except for a pair of large purple eyes that stared longingly into her soul as the laughter continued to echo through her head. "Stop it! Stop laughing! STOP!"
Twilight shot upright in her bed, panting heavily with her eyes wide open in fear. She held a hoof up to her still aching skull and laid back slowly onto her soft pillow. That spell really did a number on me, never had a spell give me nightmares before, first time for everything I suppose... She thought to herself, resting a hoof on her stomach.
Twilight closed her eyes yet again in hopes that she could sleep without her dreams being invaded by shadowy figures speaking dark prophetic nonsense. Her hopes were soon dashed by the chatter of a couple of guards stationed outside of her room. Lifting herself out of bed, Twilight shuffled lazily towards the door. Darn guards, don't they know somepony is trying to sleep in here?! She thought to herself as she brought her hoof up to the door handle.
"He's speaking with the Princess now," One guard said nervously.
This caught Twilight's interest. Not that she was one for eavesdropping on other pony's conversations, but she couldn't just ignore something involving the Princess, after all, it was these jerks that woke her up so it's their fault if she hears anything she shouldn't hear, right? Lowering her hoof from the handle, she pressed her ear against the door.
"What are you so worried about? You said he was just a messenger," The other guard said.
"I know, but everything about him just felt... Wrong. His presence made me feel so uneasy and it felt as though his very shadow was... Alive," The first guard said as he shivered.
Twilight's eyes widened slightly as she thought back to the dream she'd just had and how the guard's description sounded similar. There can't be a connection can there? Don't be silly Twilight, it was just side effect of the spell exploding in your face, that's all. She thought to herself, her eyes returning to their normal size as she listened on.
The first guard continued, "That cloak and hood didn't exactly make him look like a saint either."
Twilight's eyes widened once again this time a little wider than before, she slammed the door open causing both guard's to jump, grabbing the first guard's shoulders she asked, "What color was the hood and cloak?!"
Recoiling back a little from the sudden surprise the guard replied, "Uh brown I think, why? Is something wrong Miss Sparkle?"
"Was it a worn cloak?! Did it look tattered?! What color was his coat?!" She asked, desperation present in her voice.
"Yes it was rather tattered in fact and I believe his coat was grey."
Twilight's jaw dropped so fast she was sure it hit the floor, letting go of his shoulders she stepped back. This can't be right, it's just a coincidence, right? It's gotta be, it has to be! She thought, her mind running wild.
"Miss Sparkle, are you alright?" The guard asked stepping closer.
She simply shook her head slowly and darted in the direction of the Princesses' study as fast as her hooves could carry her. The memories of that dream playing over and over in her head. That pony... That voice... All of those shadowy apparitions... Oh Princess I hope you're okay! Soon enough she found herself outside of the study, taking a deep breath she barged in. "Princess!" The study was neat and tidy again, just the way it was before the incident with spell.
The Princess was seated beside a small coffee table with a teacup held in her magical grasp. "Twilight? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I uh-" Twilight glanced over to the other side of the table to see a grey stallion with a purple mane, deep purple eyes and the same tattered brown cloak from her dream draped over his back. He was staring at her with a surprised look on his face. "-I couldn't sleep..."
"Well then, come sit with us my student, we have much to discuss." The Princess patted the pillow next to her with a hoof, gesturing her over.
Twilight walked cautiously over to the spot next to the Princess, the whole time keeping eye contact with the strange pony from her dream. "Who's our guest?" Twilight asked with a serious tone.
"This is Shade, a messenger from a distant land, he has brought me urgent news of which we were discussing before you 'walked' in." Celestia gestured a hoof over at him.
Standing up Shade stuck out a hoof to Twilight and grinned widely. "Hi, I don't believe we've met."
Shade picked up his cup filled with the hot, herbal tea, recently poured by the Princess and took a sip, setting it down he looked over to Twilight, who was glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "You've been staring at me for ten minutes now, what's your problem?"
She continued to stare as she grasped her own cup of tea in her magical aura, wincing slightly from her still aching head. "You're the problem, why were you in my dream?" Taking a sip of her tea, she set her cup down again and continued to stare at him, this time with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about; I think maybe that spell frazzled your brain," He said with a snarky grin.
Twilight's eyes shot open wide with surprise for a second before her face scrunched into a scowl. "How do you know about that?" She muttered.
"Oh you know, it's kind of hard to miss a bright flash of purple light shining off of the mountain side, in the dark of the night might I add. when I arrived, I asked the Princess here what had happened and she told me of your little... 'accident'," He teased, his grin only growing wider.
Twilight's face drooped as she turned to Celestia, "You told him?! A stranger?!"
Celestia simply looked curiously at her. "You expected me to lie, Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight looked down at her hooves, an annoyed look pasted on her face. "No Princess..."
Shade chuckled under his breath. "Can we please get back to what I came here to discuss?"
Celestia looked to him and nodded. "You were explaining how you got here?"
He took a small, golden, shield-shaped clasp off of his cloak and placed it on the table. "This was given to me by my father a long time ago, he said it would allow me to traverse the barrier you set in place around my land, he wanted me to use it and get out of there before things got worse... Of course, I didn't listen; I stayed there and helped protect my people until the barrier started fading, that's when I left to come seek your aid."
Twilight looked over to Shade with a raised eyebrow yet again. "Barrier? What barrier?" She looked back and forth between the two ponies for an answer.
Shade threw a hoof to his face. "Were you not listening earlier? Oh wait, of course, too busy staring at my handsome visage, am I right?" He said as he ran a hoof down the side of his face while wearing a cheesy grin.
She scrunched her muzzle and was about to speak before Celestia interjected, "I placed a barrier over part of Equestria a long time ago, to prevent the shadows from invading the majority, needless to say I’m not proud of my actions but, as ruler I had to make that choice..."
Twilight thought back to her dream or should she call it a nightmare, Shadows? It has to be linked somehow... Maybe it was the spell... She shook her head free of her thoughts and spoke. "Where did these 'shadows' come from?"
Shade took another sip of his tea before answering, "A place called the Echo, it sits on the very edge of Equestria and nopony knows where it came from, one day it just popped up and the shadows or the Vaash as we call them, started pouring out nonstop, ever since then we've been sealed off due to the barrier and we've had to defend ourselves from oncoming attacks and to make matters worse, some of the ponies saw it as an opportunity to prey on the weak, forming gangs and terrorizing the poor..." He placed his cup down and stood up. "I've come here with the simple request that you strengthen the barrier, Princess, I believe I know how to stop the shadows, I just need more time. If I can stop them we won't need to be sealed off from the rest of Equestria anymore and my people can finally live in peace..."
Celestia nodded a sincere look on her face, "I can give you more time, but, you have to understand that I've kept a watchful eye on that barrier since the day I put it in place, I give it a regular surge of magic to strengthen it. However I am afraid to say that each time I do, it only gets weakened faster..."
Shade took an anxious step towards her. "How long can you give me?"
"If my observations of the barrier's degradation periods are accurate, about a year..."
"Damn. That might not be enough..." He slumped onto his hind legs and hung his head in defeat. "I'll have to take some serious risks to get by with that kind of a deadline."
Twilight watched him with pity, maybe she had him all wrong, he just wants to protect his land and even hers for some reason, he was going out of his own way for everypony else's sake, she could relate to that. "What if you had help? I'd love to explore a new part of Equestria, take notes of the local flora and fauna and perhaps learn something about these Vaash."
Shade's ears pricked up, "Why would you help me? Is it something to do with this dream of yours again?" He said whilst he rolled his eyes.
"No, you're going out of your way to help others, I like that, i'd be happy to assist you any way I can."
"Oh gee, thanks, i'm so glad I have your approval but, where I’m from you won’t last a second little miss teacher's pet," He shook his hoof at her sarcastically, a small frown stuck on his face.
Twilight fumed with frustration and stood up. "I'm just trying to help! Why do you have to act like an immature foal?!"
Standing up and storming over to her, his face painted with the same look of frustration. "I don't need YOUR help!"
"Enough!" Celestia shouted at the top of her lungs, "Arguing like foals will not fix the problem. Twilight I will not allow you to venture into a land as dangerous as Shade's, I have seen the evils at work there and they are some of the darkest..."
"But Princess, I-"
"No buts, you will return to your quarters until Shade has taken his leave."
Twilight recoiled slightly at the Princesses' response, flattening her ears against her head in defeat, she walked slowly across the candle lit study to the door. Without looking back, she spoke in a hushed tone, "Good luck saving your people Shade."
Shade was taken aback by her comment. "Uhm, thank you..." With that Twilight left the room, leaving only him and the Princess.
"So, shall we return to our discussion?" Celestia asked, pouring a fresh cup of tea for him.
Breaking free of his gaze on the door, he turned his head back to the Princess. "Ah yes-" His ears twitched as he heard a slight shuffle against the door, with a smile he said, "Now that I think about it, a year should be just enough time."
Shade breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he took in the cold night air, his business in Canterlot finished but his mission was far from over, as he left through the gates of the city and onto the steep rocky path that led down to the mountain side to the grassy plains below.
"A year to clean up this mess? I thought that Princess was supposed to be powerful, you would have thought she could hold the barrier for longer than a year," Said a dark, twisted voice.
Shade sighed as he opened his eyes. "She's held that barrier up for almost a thousand years, let's give her a break." Starting his walk down the mountain, he pulled up the hood on his cloak.
"A year will not be enough Shade, you said it yourself."
"We have to to at least try..." He thought about how Twilight had offered him her help, regardless of how dangerous he and the Princess had told her it was, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the voice agian.
"The purple one is trailing us."
"Is that so?" He said raising an eyebrow, with a smirk he purposely spoke aloud so that the offending mare could hear, "Well then, I suppose we'll have to stop her before we go much further, we wouldn't want the Princess finding out about this now would we?"
"No no no! Please don't tell the Princess!" Twilight shouted as she stumbled out from behind a large craggy boulder.
Shade turned to face her and pulled his hood back down, his eyebrow still raised as he slowly walked towards her. "What difference does it make? If you're intention was to follow me until it was too late to turn back, she would find out eventually and on your return you would be punished accordingly, I thought you were smart, Twilight Sparkle?"
She backed away slightly as he reached her, looking up and tapping a hoof to her chin she shrugged. "I thought I’d figure that out somewhere down the line."
"There isn't going to be a 'down the line', you aren't coming with me," He said, turning and walking back in the direction of the plains.
"Please!" Twilight shouted, running to his side and matching his pace. "Shade, I only want to help.
And even though you might not want it, I could see back in the study that you clearly need it..."
Shade sighed as he stopped to look at her. “Twilight if you get hurt or worse I’ll have the goddess of the sun bearing down on my flank, that’s something I really don’t think I could handle.”
“I can handle myself just fine, I've been in plenty of world saving situations already, what makes this one any different from the others?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.
“There is literally no getting through to you, is there?”
“Nope.” She said grinning.
Shade shook his head and smiled. "Fine, you heard the Princess, one year... Let’s get a move on."
"Wait, you mean I can come?!" Her eyes sparkling with joy and her mouth open with surprise.
Shade looked ahead, his smile growing wider, "You're going out of your way to help others, I like that," He said with a big, cheesy grin.
Twilight looked at him with through narrowed eyes and smiled. "Oh har har! You are so funny," She said sarcastically, chuckling under her breath. "Before we leave Equestria can we visit my friends? I'd like to see them before we leave."
Shade's smile faded. "I'm sorry, Twilight, we can't stop for anything."
She looked down at her hooves, a frown forming on her face. "I understand, we're on a tight deadline." She lifted her head back up and looked to Shade. "So who were you talking to before you called me out?"
Looking to her he smirked. "I'll tell you later."
