Twilight's Shadow

Twilight's Shadow

-Strange Visitor-

"Stay calm," Twilight told herself in the most un-calm tone she had ever spoken to herself in her entire life. "He's just some sort of odd, bipedal, black and red spiky thing sitting on your couch, reading a book. Everything is perfectly fine and normal and super duper with the world."

She turned to give him another inspection--her fourth inspection in just as many minutes--and her eye twitched. He just didn't seem natural. He was also looking up from his book and calmly meeting her gaze, which caught her off-guard.

"... Are you quite finished eyeing me, Equine?" It--he--asked. "I find it rather annoying."

Twilight blushed and hid her face behind her hoof. "Um, er, uh, y-yes, I guess so..."

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I'll just keep reading until you're done having a mental breakdown. Quite the collection of books you have here. You know, in your... library-house... tree... thing you have going on here."

She stood for a few moments, staring at him incredulously. He thinks I'm weird because of my house? she thought in aggravation. "Who do you think you are, showing up in my home and talking to me like that?" she shouted at him. "I should just inform the Princess of your little visit! I'm sure she'll love to hear all about how you broke into her own student's house and--"

He sat up at the word "Princess" and held up his index finger as if to stop Twilight from talking. She reluctantly complied. "... This 'Princess.' Who is she, exactly? You make her sound like your main authority here."

Twilight blinked in surprise. "You... you don't know about the Princesses?"

"Now there's two of them?" he muttered to himself. "You. Girl. Whatever your name is. Tell me about them."

Twilight huffed indignantly and turned away. "First of all, my name is 'Twilight Sparkle,' and you may address me as such."

"... Twilight... Sparkle..." the creature managed out, seeming somewhat repulsed by the words as they left his mouth. "Very... interesting name you've got there."

She glared at him. "First you insult my house, then my name. Wow. You're just delightful company, aren't you?"

"Hmph. I don't really want to sit here and listen to you whine. Either tell me about these Princesses or I'll just go ahead and find out some other way."

"... The Princesses are the rulers of Equestria--"

"Equestria... explains why the main intelligent species here is a bunch of pastel-colored horses. Seems childish to me."

"Ask me a question, and then you--oh, never mind. Princess Celestia is the older sister, she is an alicorn in charge of raising and setting the sun each day." She waited for a moment, but her company didn't interrupt this time. "Princess Luna, on the other hoof, is the younger sister in charge of the moon. She is also an alicorn, and was, until quite recently, banished to the moon."

He sat in silence for a few minutes, brow furrowed, in deep thought. Finally, he said, "So let me get this straight. This is some sort of torture I'm undergoing in one of the Doctor's research labs, correct? He seems to have finally found a way to work his way into my mind and--"

"What in the name of Celestia are you talking about?!"

"Everything happening right now. It's obviously some sort of sick dream the Doctor created to torture me. You sound like you're explaining some sort of back-story established on some sort of childish TV program. If I was anyone else, I'd probably be laughing right now at how ridiculous that all sounds."

"Well... well... you're the one who asked, Mr. Mysterious Dark Bipedal... Thing!"

He blinked, then sighed and shook his head. "My name is Shadow, girl. Shadow the Hedgehog. Best that you remember it."

Twilight raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Hedgehog? You look nothing like a hedgehog. Hedgehogs are small, and covered in small prickly spines th--"

"I am well aware of what a normal hedgehog in your world looks like, thank you very much. I could give you several reasons why you look absolutely nothing like a horse."

"I can give you one, too." Twilight retorted. "I'm a pony, not a horse."

"Of course you are." Shadow sneered. "Because 'horses' are just too mature, eh?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"I hate everything about this place, and I haven't even left this room. I'll bet that everything else in this world is just as disgustingly vibrant and pastel, and all your little... 'pony' friends are all nice and sickly sweet or something, and that these two 'Princesses' of yours 'rule the land with love and kindness' or whatever the government runs off of here." He sat down on the couch and folded his arms, facing away from Twilight. "I can't wait to get out of this stupid universe."

Twilight looked at him for a moment, then turned away from him and began walking toward the room where she had set up her living quarters. Suddenly, a small purple and green dragon entered the tree-house.

"Hey, Twilight!" he called, "I'm hom--"

The room was completely silent as the newcomer stared blankly at the strange thing he had spotted on the couch. He examined it for a few moments before excitedly exclaiming, "Cool!" and running up to him.

"Spike, could you please not--"

"Hey there! I'm Spike!" said the dragon to the hedgehog. "Who are you? What are you? You're pretty cool. What's with all the bands and bracelets and stuff, though? Ooh, right, name! What's your name?"

"Spike!" an exasperated Twilight called out. "Please, just... leave him be. He's not very good company. Come on, I need to write a letter to Princess Celestia, and I'll need you to send it."

Shadow turned and looked at Twilight. "Is he a dragon?"

"... Yes. Like he said, his name is Spike, and he's a baby dragon."

"Why is he here with you?" Shadow asked, apparently genuinely curious.

"I hatched him as a foal." Twilight stated simply.

"... A child?"

"Yes."

"So... are you his 'mother' or something?"

"Oh, no, she's nothing like my mother." Spike said with a frown. "She just feeds me, gives me a place to stay, sometimes tucks me in at night... huh..."

"I'm more of a mix between a big sister and a mother, I guess. We usually just go with 'sister,' though." Twilight added.

Shadow un-folded his arms as he processed this new information. "Huh... interesting. Maybe there's more to this world than I originally thought."

Spike and Twilight shared a glance as Shadow mulled over his thoughts.

"So, you were gonna write a letter to the Princess?" Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I suppose we should do that now. It won't be a very long letter, so we should be done in a few minutes."

"So who is he, anyway?"

"I don't really know the details, but I did get a name. He said his name was... Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Shadow, huh? And he's a hedgehog? Definitely not one from around here, that's for sure. I don't think hedgehogs around here look like that... or have fangs."

"He has fangs? I didn't even notice."

"Yeah. He looks like a pretty scary guy in general. Cool, but scary."

"Well," Twilight said, scratching her chin thoughtfully, "we could always ask Fluttershy to take a look at him for us. I'm sure she'd know something."

"I don't think that would work." Spike said flatly.

"Why not?"

"Fluttershy is a flying pony afraid of heights. He is a black and red hedgehog that stands on two legs and is as tall as you... and he has fangs. Think about it."

"Oh. I guess you're right."

"And here I thought you were the smart one."

Dear Princess Celestia,

Upon my return to my home from one of Pinkie Pie's latest parties, I discovered a strange, bipedal creature lying on my couch, reading one of my books. Apparently, his name is "Shadow" and he is another world's version of a hedgehog, though the resemblances to our hedgehogs are actually quite few and far between. His fur is mostly jet-black, with streaks of red adorning his hair, arms, and legs. He also has hands and fingers similar to Spikes claws. He looks to be a little over three feet tall, though I was unable to get any proper measurements.

I was just wondering whether you would have any advice on what I should do about him. He doesn't seem like he intends any harm to anypony, but just by looking at him you can tell he's out of place. He probably can see that better than I can, actually. So, any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated. The quicker the better! Thank you in advance!

... What do you mean, "I sound like I'm worried about him?" Why wouldn't I be worried about him!? He's in a place he's unfamiliar and uncomfortable with, it's only natural!

... Don't write this part down, Spike, just sign the letter!

... SPIKE!

Oh, right, sorry, Twilight.

~Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle