A Lighter Shade Of Darkness

by veteranO'awesome

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Sad, Lyra, Romance, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 11411

2042. Some of us would have called it the end of days, but I called it a new beginning.

20 years later, things changed. Never to be known, the Earth has crumbled. No one was supposed to know who did this, unless someone escaped to tell the story. I will do whatever I can to let inhabitants of my new home know of the danger that is soon to consume them. I must stop it.

Rated teen. Includes strong language at times. Also includes violence. Will add characters as the story progresses. Switches from first-person to third-person ever now and then.

Picture ONLY to show what Shade looks like with his armor on. Shade is a character that I created, and yes, I know that is a Hellgate London soldier. I've never played it before and just searched up "hunter" for some reason and found this.

Published 2012-05-14 07:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-28 00:50:55 UTC

Chapter 1

(A/N) The first chapter of my first fan-fic ever. I'm SO EXCITED. I appreciate any notices if there are any errors within my story. I will also need a proofreader. (Recently added note) It may look bad from the start, but in the third chapter, it turns into a story worth liking and/or favoriting. And if you already like the story, you'll love it as it progresses.

My legs felt like they were going to snap in half. I had run over a mile trying to get away from the APM (Archimedes' Personal Military (A/N: All will be explained, my children)). My current idea of keeping myself safe was sprinting though a park blasting off random shots with my gun, whilst holding a glowing helmet in the crook of my other arm, trying desperately to stop the armed mob coming after me.

As I ran, I looked at the dead trees and plants and started to remember what things were like when I was a kid, before the world died. I started to get lost in my memories and didn’t notice the twisting shape on the ground. “Shit!” I shouted as I tripped on a dead tree’s root. The helmet I was holding rolled out of my reach.

I laid on the ground, clutching my leg as the mob moved closer. My weapon had been thrown a few feet away, so I was defenseless. They stopped a few feet away from me as I lay helpless on the ground. Someone in a black suit similar to the one I was wearing, but nowhere near as advanced, stepped to the front of the mob and looked at me as I started to stand up. I put on the helmet I was carrying, hoping that he wouldn't recognize me.

“You cunning little prick, do you think you’d live long enough to see the ruler’s plan. Sadly though, you have to die.” I recognized this man. His name was Kyle and I had grown up with him before the beginning of the New World. He was also one of our 'ruler's, Archimedes, mercenaries and was never one to be nice or patient.

He lifted up his rifle and brought to the center of my forehead.

“Why should I have to die? I needed to know why Archimedes had his soldiers invade North Korea, steal a thermo-nuclear bomb, and make about a thousand more. I also know that he put them miles inside of Earth. Does that not peak your curiosity at the slightest? ” I said to him monotony. Even though I honestly wasn't scared of death, I needed to try and reason with him. Starting a fight would not be good right now.

Saying nothing, he brought his rifle down from my head and turned away from me. I sighed in my head and started to talk. “I knew you would see-“My sentence was interrupted as he quickly turned and bashed the butt of the rifle into the side of my head.

As I fell out of consciousness, I heard him say “You’re going to be on this sorry-ass planet when Archimedes makes it crumble.”

Elsewhere

“Come on Twilight! Let’s try this out!” “Hold on Rainbow, I’m still trying to calibrate the dimensional viewer. If I mess this up, who knows what could happen.”

Earth

I awoke to find myself strapped to a table and with dark silhouettes of people all around me.
“How this one remains alive, I do not know.” Said of them.

“He has hope for the resistance, a disgusting trait that will get you nowhere and is only a burden.” Said another one. I let rage take over and decided to spit in this one’s face.

“You little son-of-a-“He started walking towards me with his fist in the air, but was stopped by the arm of another one of the silhouettes. “It seems he is awake.” He said.

“No shit.” I said to him, with a huge grin on my face. At times, I try to look at the brighter side of things. If I didn't, I'd most likely be under under the freeway with a bullet in my head.

“Why are we going to keep alive? We have no use for him.” This one sounded female.

I shifted my eyes directly to her. "I beg to differ, madam." Even though it was dark, I could tell she was scowling at me.

I continued talking again. "You seem to have forgotten that I was a little side project of yours. You called me 'The Shade' and I am going to logically assume that you wouldn't want to waste the taxpayers' dollars at work by just simply killing me."

"Agent Shade." One of the scientists gasped. "We've been looking for you for a long time."

"Well...you found me." I looked down at the braces.

"I have a question though. How did you live for so long?"

"You know, normally I wouldn't answer crap for you guys, but your lucky I'm bored." I said. "I managed to hold my own in this trash-heap of a world even before I got the suit."

"I'm intrigued." One of them said.

I glared at him. "Shut the hell up and let me finish my story." I felt a jolt of electricity course through me as everything became blurry.

"We don't need your stories, we can figure out a way to get them out on our own. By the way, your optimism is useless."

I looked at him and said with anger showing in my voice “Not really, seeing as how I’ve been kidnapped by a few soulless slaves of 'Archy' and managed to piss you off to near-breaking point.”

“That is rather insulting.” He said as he walked to what looked like a control panel and turned the lights on. I turned my head to look around the newly lit area, but what I saw next made me want him to turn the lights right back off.

Elsewhere

“Come on Twilight! Is it ready yet?” “Not yet Rainbow. I still need to make a few preparations for the spell. Now be patient or we won’t do this at all.” “Fine. I just can’t wait to see this. I mean, peaking into a new dimension, SO AWESOME.”

(A/N) How'd you like it? Post in the comments. Be gentle with you criticisms.

Chapter 2

(A/N) Well, here's another chapter!

As one of my “examiners” turned the lights back on and the others left, I tilted my head so I could get a better look at my surroundings.

Giant screens circled the room facing towards the ground. Below them were keyboards, which I assumed to be the controls. The seemingly endless amount of computers was not what worried me. It was the fact that on the screens were what looked like maps to other worlds (It was the year, 2042, so we had discovered other planets that we could access).

I already knew Archimedes’ plan was to destroy Earth and go somewhere else, but according to these, he wanted to take over other planets and destroy them as well.

I knew I had to do something, but I was strapped to a damn table! I continued to get frustrated with my thoughts that I didn’t notice one of the what-I-assumed-to-be scientists walking over to me with a rather pointy syringe in his hand. “I’m going to clean out that head of yours.”

Elsewhere

“And…there! The trans-dimensional viewer is ready to go.” “Oh, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see this.”

Earth

He was about a foot away from my face with the syringe before I came back to my senses. With in-human reaction time, I spit in his face which caused him to turn the syringe away from mine.

I then immediately lifted my head, pushing the syringe into his eye and hitting his brain. He fell over, dead, and I took this time to free myself.
“Jackie?” I asked. Jackie was my helmet’s AI. Even though the helmet was sitting on a table away from me, I could still talk to it.

“Yes, Shade?” It said.

“I need you to scan these braces and see what they’re made out of.” About a second after I said that, a red light shined on the table I was laying on.

“Your braces are made of leather.”

Jackie said. “Do you still have a connection to my suit?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then expand the fibers of my suit for a few seconds."

“Yes, Shade.”

I suddenly felt a sensation in my chest, arms, and legs as my muscles tightened. I easily broke the straps and stood up. “Feels good to be ‘free’ for a while, huh Jackie?” I said as I put my helmet back on. “I guess so.”

Our lovely conversation was interrupted when a squad of APM’s showed up in the room. “And I thought I wouldn’t get to have any fun.” I said, cracking my knuckles.

Elsewhere

“Alright Rainbow, it’s ready. I just need another unicorn to help me out. Can you go get Rarity?” “Sure thing, Twilight! I’ll get her to ya in ten seconds flat!”

Earth

"Let me guess, I'm under arrest." I said. "Yes. By order of Archimedes." Said one of them. "Then bring it."

I ran at one of the guards and jumped in the air. While going up, I turned upside-down and grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up with me. I flipped him over my head, putting him into the ground and knocking him unconscious.

I grabbed his pistol from his holster and sent three bullets barreling into the rest of the guards' heads before they could even un-holster theirs. I reached down and grabbed a belt full of frag grenades, an assault rifle, and a load of ammunition for good measure. I walked out of the room and onto a thin bridge. "Fuck you, Archimedes. You may have already destroyed Earth, but no other world will suffer your reign." I said under my breath.

I tossed the grenades into the room, not even looking back. I continued to walk until the bridge started to shake. Apparently, the combined power of the grenade cluster and the super-computers made a very large and powerful explosion. The bridge crumbled and I fell off. I activated my rocket boots, but a chunk of the bridge fell and started heading straight towards me.

"I'll be damned. More bad luck!" I shouted to no one in particular as the piece of the bridge hit me in the head and caused me to fall into the black pit of unconsciousness.

Elsewhere

"Thank you for coming Rarity. I appreciate the help." Twilight said. "It's not like I had a choice." Rarity mumbled, glaring at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow just put on a sheepish smile and shrugged. "I am rather excited about seeing a new place, though. What do I need to do? I don't know any complicated spells like this." " All you have to do is channel your magic into the viewer to stabilize it. Rainbow Dash, would you count down for us to start the spell?" "Sure thing Twilight! 3....2....1....CAST IT!"

Sparks came out of the two unicorns' horns as they started the viewing spell. A large circle appeared in front of them and started to swirl. After what seemed like hours of getting the viewer ready, it finally presented something. In the square, a man in bluish-grey armor and a helmet was falling into the unknown.

(A/N) So as you can probably tell, the ponies are coming in on the next chapter. I will wait for a few comments before I make another chapter. I also need a proofreader. Comment and I will pick one!

Chapter 3

(A/N) I see you liked my story, so I will do something extra special. PROLOUGE TIME! I will put the stuff that happened to Shade before this in some dialogue. Confused? You'll seeeeee.....

"We have to save him Twilight!" Rarity shouted. "No we don't Rarity. We don't even know what he is." Twilight said. "I guess you're right, but what about Rainbow's opinion? Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash walked up to the viewer and stared at it, remaining silent. "I know what he is." She said quietly. "What? You do? Tell us, darling." "He's a human. His name is Shade, and I have to save him."

That was all Rainbow said before she flew out of the door of Twilight's. "What in heavens is she doing?!" Rarity screamed. "I don't know." Twilight said. "Rainbow, come back!" Not a second after she said that, a blur flew back into the library and straight into the viewer.

Earth

I slowly regained consciousness and came back to my senses. "What the hell? What's going on." I looked down. "Oh yeah, I'm falling." I said. "Jackie, could you activate my rocket-boots? Jackie?" I didn't get an answer. "Looks like her battery's dead. Great, I'm gonna die."

The bottom of the pit contained a green liquid that was apparently highly toxic. I could tell because every piece of the bridge that landed in it instantly melted.

"I think my life is flashing before my eyes. No? Screw you brain. Make me happy before I die." I started thinking about my life and the Old World until a rainbow blur appeared under me and started lifting me up and away from the toxic chemicals at the bottom.

"Hello there! Are you here to kill me too?" I asked it. "N-n-ope. I-I'm trying to save you." It replied. "Well then, let me help." In my mind, I told my suit to decrease my weight. Over time, I had grown a special connection with my suit, but I could only control biological things (Heh...I could have sworn a saw a damned manual on the table. Maybe I should have grabbed it before I hauled ass). It sort of bonded with me. I can still take it off, though.

So if I thought something, my suit would try its best to do it. My weight slowly decreased and the rainbow creature lifted me higher. She eventually got to a part of the bridge that wasn't destroyed and set me down. I stood up and got a good look at it....or her.

She had the face and voice of a female. That wasn't the weird part. This....thing was a pony, with wings! Horses had been extinct for the last ten years. It had a cyan coat and a rainbow mane and tail. For some reason, even though she wasn't human, she wasn't exactly an eye-sore...NO! BAD BRAIN! Neither of us said anything until the building started to shake.

"What's going on?" She said frantically. "Building's crumbling, the ground is fracturing.....we're going to die." I said in the most smart-assed voice I knew possible, trying to cheer myself up a bit.

"WHAT?!" She screamed. "We have to get out of here!" She didn't get the sarcasm, sad face.

"I don't think that's going to work." I said back.

"Why not?"

"Because nowhere is safe now. The whole planet is falling apart, which means Archimedes is gone." I said in a defeated tone.

Elsewhere

"Can you still see them, Twilight?" "Yes, which means I should be able to teleport them here." "But....that.....thing! We don't know what it is!" "If Rainbow tried to save him, I trust him." Twilight said as she charged up her horn.

Earth

"At least I'll die with the rainbow thing that saved me....er...tried to."

"I'm not a rainbow thing! I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria!"

"I don't think that's going to be the least bit relevant to your survival."

"I don't see you doing anything to help."

"..."

"I told-"

"Shhh! I hear something!"

I heard a distant voice, and it was saying something. "Rainbow, hold on to Shade. I'm going to teleport you out of there." While I remained confused as hell, Rainbow Dash ran over to me and grabbed a hold of my leg.

"I guess I wasn't going insane." I said. "Nope." She replied back. Those were the last things that were said before we were teleported out of the the building we were in.

The light around us shifted colors as the atmosphere started to swirl. I looked down and saw the cyan pony trembling. Apparently she had not done this before. I reached down and picked her up in one arm and she looked into my face...helmet...and smiled lightly. Even though my heart had hardened over the years, I still had one. I pulled my rifle off of the clips on my back in case we appeared into a troublesome situation.

Elsewhere

"Alright. There on their way." Said Twilight. "How do we know he isn't evil?" Rarity asked. Before her question could be answered, there was a bright flash in the room and a man in a suit of futuristic armor appeared holding a quivering Rainbow Dash in one arm, and a rifle in the other.

He set Rainbow on the floor and put the gun on his back. The ponies were too scared to say or do anything. He was at least two or three feet taller than any of them. Saying nothing, he stuck out an open hand, apparently signaling a hand shake.

The purple pony with the horn on its head cautiously stepped forward and put her hoof in his hand. "It's wonderful to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia." The tall thing finally spoke. "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Sparkle. My name is James, but everyone calls me Shade. I would be much obliged if you would call me that, I don't like my other name too well. Bad memories and all that."

Twilight sighed out of relief that this thing wasn't evil. It actually seemed pretty nice. She looked around the room, due to the fact that nopony else was talking. Rainbow stopped quivering, but was sitting on the floor staring. Rarity was nowhere to be found. "It seems your other friend is missing. Can I help look for her?" Shade asked.

"No thanks. We'll find her later. Meanwhile, could you tell me where your from and how you got that stuff that your wearing? It's glowing, like magic." Not a second later, Rainbow Dash was right next to Twilight.

"Yeah! That thing is awesome!" A voice talked to Shade, and it wasn't his A.I. It was a voice that he hadn't heard in a long time. A soft and calm voice, that was reassuring. It told him to trust in these creatures. It said that everything would be alright, and this place was safe for him. A feeling a warmth and comfort echoed throughout his body, and he felt differently.

"Sure." Shade replied. "It's the least I can do for someone that saved my life. Take a seat." The two ponies sat on the floor right where they were standing. "Is it alright if I use one of your chairs, Twilight?" She nodded and Shade pulled out a chair from under what he assumed to be the dining room table and took a seat. "Here's my story form the part where it got interesting. But first, I need to tell you about Earth."

"The New World wasn’t at all what I expected it to be. Things changed, quite a lot actually, but not in good ways. Similar to yesteryear, most humans were creatures of only hate and greed. Most people hate their lives and don’t even care how they live them; they just do menial labor for just enough profit to barely sustain their horrible lives and scrape by, but that’s only the people like us, the people that aren’t important. In this new world, the only people that matter are the rich people with more money than everyone else. They get what they want by taking it from us “bottom-feeders”. We are nothing but the underground of society. It used to be good here. Everyone got along, no-one in the same area was more important than the other. All of that has changed now. Now, the only way you can get what you want is by stepping on others. All of that is horrible, but what I really hated was our so-called ruler, Archimedes. He took over and changed everything. Some say he's the reason there's no life other than humans. He gave rich people power and they put the work on low lives and took whatever they wanted, no penalty.

It was the year 2042 and I had finally done it. I had fulfilled what I wanted to do my whole life. I got a million dollars. I was 15 and on the verge of being homeless, so I used what little bit of money I had left to buy a lottery ticket. I scratched it off, knowing I was going to lose, and I did lose. Angered, I stomped out of the store. For the next few days, I was depressed, until something amazing happened. I was walking by the same store when out of nowhere, I heard "I did it. I won!" A very old-looking man had a ticket in front of him and was shaking with excitement. He looked around and stopped at me, and I saw him become a little sad. He walked up to me and wiped some of the dirt off of my cheek. "You know, I'm 78. I don't have much time left. You though, you've got your whole life ahead of ya. Take this, do what you want with it." He put the check in my hand and walked away as I whispered "Thank you."

I used my million to take part in a group of scientists’ experiment. They were working on making humans better. I it was something about accessing the other parts of our mind. I was biologically enhanced in every way possible. I was stronger, faster, smarter, and everything in between. I was also given a suit of bulletproof armor. It was extremely light, compared what I’ve seen in the bulletproof business, but I guess that was my enhanced muscles at work. I thought it was pretty nice and I would get to help people. What I didn’t know was that had to be Archimedes’ personal guard. I was not going to work for him, let alone be his personal guard. I told them no and they got pissed. They said they would make me loyal by force if they had to. I told them to try it. Let’s just say I shouldn’t have said that. They tried to use some sort of chip they put in my mind to control me, but my AI, Jackie, betrayed her master and destroyed the internals of the chip so I could be a free man.

I beat the stuffing out of the scientists and escaped. I eventually found a group of people that were rebelling against their ruler. We were the resistance. I lead the resistance to fight against Archimedes because we knew his plan. It was to destroy Earth and move somewhere else. Eventually, the resistance died off....as well as my loved ones. My mother, father, brother, and sister were killed. I had no lover because I knew she would only be hurt. I had nothing to live for anymore, so I went on suicide missions. I retrieved data, killed important people, and protected the last of true humanity. I was hunted like an animal, captured, and brought to a strange building. You know what happened from there."

(A/N) Back to first person for a bit!

The ponies were left in tears and it may have actually cracked the barrier that had formed around my heart from years of pain. I felt guilty for making them cry, but happy at the same time. I walked over and picked both of them up in each arm and Twilight nuzzled against me. "That was a wonderful story, Shade. Thank you." Said Twilight as she hopped out of my arm and out the door. "I need to find Rarity. You should stay here."

I just shrugged ans sat back in the chair, Rainbow Dash still in my arms. I decided to take off my helmet, revealing my bright blue eyes and shiny, somewhat long blond hair, to get some fresh air. I breathed in and was taken aback. This is the cleanest air I had ever been in, considering I was used to breathing the air of a dying world. I closed my eyes and before I could admire the air more and I felt lips press against mine.

I couldn't open my eyes to see who was kissing me, but it was actually rather enjoyable. They were extremely soft and felt very nice. The touch went away and I opened my eyes, only to see a rainbow blur flying out of the door and into the sunlight. I don't know how, but I had this feeling in my gut that she knew me before she saved me.

(A/N) What do you think happened??? Did you like my twist in the "prolouge"? Comment belooooooooowwwwww!

Chapter 4

(A/N) Eh... Nothing to really say about this one. Fun to write? I dunno. Enjoy!

I just sat there in the chair, dumbfounded and completely silent until a familiar voice giggled. "Somebody likes yooouuuu!" Said Jackie. "Apparently." I said, getting up from the rather comfy chair. "I'm gonna go find her. You stay here." "Awwww." whined Jackie. "I wanna check out this new place." "Your being rather laid back today. That's good, but still unusual. Just stay there and...scan your surroundings. I expect a full scale report once I get back." I said while walking out the door of the building I woke up in.

I was greeted with a blinding light, which I assumed to be the sun. "Damn, you're bright!" I mumbled, covering my eyes. I just sat down right there and eventually, my eyes adjusted to the blinding sun. I looked at my surroundings with extreme awe. Around me were buildings and ponies of hundreds of different colors. "Jesus. It's like a rainbow exploded in the sky." I walked further out of what I could now tell was a library and into the town.

Elsewhere

"Why did I do that?!" screamed Rainbow Dash as she flew to one of her friends' cottage. "He probably doesn't even like me back." She said glumly. She continued to think on the subject of the mysterious and now-she-knew beautiful creature until she crashed into the door of a house and fell onto her back into the dirt. She laid there, dazed, as she heard hoof-steps get increasingly louder, most likely coming to get the door.

Rainbow's "knock" was answered with an opening door and a yellow, shaking pegasus with a pink mane stepped out and looked directly at Rainbow, who was still laying on her back in the dirt. "Oh my goodness!" She said in a barely audible voice. "Are you ok?" To which Rainbow replied, ".....so sweet and tasty. Cupcakes. Don't be to hasty...." That was all she was able to get out before she blacked out and was dragged inside the rural-looking cottage by a certain concerned pony.

Elsewhere

"Wow. I'm surprised. No one is scared of me." Shade said walking through town.This was true. Nobody was scared of him. They just acted like he was another pony. He eventually approached a pony to talk. She was a pegasus pony (He talked with Twilight about Equestria, remember?) with a light grey coat and a blond mane and tail.

She did not notice him striding towards her. Most likely because she appeared to be sorting mail. Shade quietly approached her but soon realized that stealth was not needed. He got close to her and tapped on her shoulder to get her attention, still trying not to scare her. She turned around and looked at him with yellow eyes that went two different directions

"Wow, you ARE tall." She finally said, looking up at the part of his face that she could see, which was mostly his chin. Shade was indeed tall to the ponies. He was about three feet taller than this pony, and she was a full-grown mare. Shade noticed her struggling to see him and crouched down so his face would be level to hers. "Nice to meet you too, but how have you heard of me already? I've only been here for an hour." He said to the still staring pony. She said nothing and Shade began to get annoyed. He waved a hand in front of the pony's face, which did nothing at all.

Suddenly, the realization hit him. He should have put his helmet back on. She was staring not at, but into his eyes. Shade remembered another thing that those scientists did to him. Anyone who looked in his eyes would see what he has seen, from all the good things to the things that he regrets not stopping to this day. They said it was a 'defense mechanism' and it would protect him, but he hated it. He knew these innocent ponies would not be able to handle the emotional trauma that he felt so long ago, so he moved his face away form hers. It was too late though. The pony's criss-crossed eyes began to water and she wrapped her forelegs around Shade, and hugged him.

The pony had his face in Shade's chest and was crying. She pulled her face away so that she could talk. "H-how could you live...knowing all this?" She said with a quivering voice. "I just got over it eventually." He replied. His words were doing nothing. She was still crying, so Shade decided to go to the extreme. He pulled the grey pony into a deeper hug and started stroking her mane. "You don't have to worry about any of that. Those things will never happen to you." Shade said in the calmest, lightest voice he knew. It wasn't very comfortable getting hugged by a guy in a wierd, futuristic armor, but she didn't say anything. Her crying lightened and she crawled out of Shade's embrace. Her face was beet red.

"I'm sorry about breaking down. It's just that....that was horrible." She said. "My name is Ditzy Doo, by the way."

"No problem. That's nothing compared to my breakdowns. I usually go into fetal position." Said Shade, sarcastically. This got a few giggles and less redness on Ditzy's face. "And my name's Shade."

He held out his hand, obviously signaling a hand/hoof shake. Ditzy timidly held a trembling hoof and shook it. Their hooves were much softer than the average horse. "By the way..." Shade asked her, letting go of her hoof. "Why is everyone not frightened of me? Not that it's a bad thing, of course." He backpedaled. "Rarity told all of Ponyville about you. She said that Rainbow Dash knew you and that you were a friend." Responded Ditzy,
not shaking anymore. Friends. He thought. Those are something I haven't had in a while.

Elsewhere

"Huh?" Said Rainbow Dash. "Where am I?" She looked around the room to find that she was on a sofa with a pink-maned pegasus standing in front of her.

"Oh, hello Rainbow. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'm feelin' a little better. What happened anyway?"

"Well, I was feeding Angel when I heard a bang on the door." Said Fluttershy in her usual, timid voice. "I opened the door and I saw you laying on the ground, so I brought you inside and put you on the couch until you woke up."

"Thanks, Fluttershy. Thats the....7....8...9th time you've saved my flank."

"Oh it was nothing. I always love helping my friends."

"By the way Fluttershy, I need some advice."

"Sure. What is it?"

"How do I figure out if somepony likes me in...that way?"

Elsewhere

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Ditzy." Said Shade. "You too...DYLAN." Ditzy burst out laughing, which brought a lot of unwanted stares their way. Shade shot her a death glare and Ditzy just stood up and her laughing trailed off. "Welp, I gotta go deliver mail. See you later." With that, Ditzy flew off into the sky, not exactly straight, but it looked pretty majestic to Shade.

"I guess I should try to make more friends if I want to fit in here." Said Shade to himself. He walked off randomly in search of Rainbow Dash. Little did he know, a certain human-obsessed, mint green unicorn was watching him from the dark with a happy grin that spread across her face.

Chapter 5

(A/N) Sorry about the wait everyone! I had to go to New York for a bit for a school trip, so it took forever (I live in Florida). Enjoy!

"Don't worry about him Rainbow! I'm sure he likes you too, I mean, you saved his life didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess." Rainbow Dash re-adjusted herself on Fluttershy's couch and glumly looked at the floor for a few seconds before perking up.

"Hey, I know!" She randomly yelled out, causing Fluttershy to let out a shrill 'EEP' and sink to the floor.

"I should take you to meet Shade!"

"That would be nice, I guess."

"Then let's go!" Rainbow said as she grabbed Fluttershy by the hoof and pulled her out of her cottage and towards town.

Ponyville

Shade strode across town. Nopony wanted to approach him, to which Shade wasn’t surprised, but they were still smiling and waving. He had never felt this happy before. He saw a nearby carrot stand and he decided to stop and get some with the bits that Twilight gave him.

“She's been too kind.” Shade thought, “I should do something for her”.

Shade approached the stand and was greeted by a tan coated, female earth pony with an orange mane and carrots on her flank.

"Hello! What can I get you? “She happily said with what sounded like a slight German accent and a smile on her face that said 'I love my life'.

"Hi, I would like to buy some carrots please” He said the friendliest voice he knew.

"Sure thing Hun how many would you like”

“Erm…just one for now if that’s ok.” he answered.

“Of course, that’ll be one bit”.

Shade nodded and took two golden coins out of the small pocket-sized bag. He was in a good mood, so he placed them both on the counter.

"The other bit is so you can have one and not lose any profit when you want to eat." He happily said.

"Well that’s very kind of you”. She replied, handing him his healthy snack. "I'm surprised everpony isn't used to you yet. My name’s Carrot Top by the way.”

"It was a pleasure to meet you. I am Shade." He said as he waved back to the kind mare while getting back on course. Shade wasn’t going anywhere specific, just wandering around and chatting with the locals.

Shade quickly ate the carrot with smile on his face and a comforted mind. His smile suddenly and slowly disappeared as confused looks replaced the smiles of the multicolored ponies around him.

Shade knew what was wrong and quickly turned around, emitting a shriek from a green unicorn as she fell on the ground.

"Hi there!" said Shade to the unicorn that was most likely in shock.

"H-hello?" She replied. Shade stuck out his hand to help up the terrified pony.

"Thanks." She said as she pulled herself up.

Now Shade could get a better look at her. Her coat was minty-green as well as her mane, but it had a streak of light grey in it. She had a lyre on her the side of her flank, apparently meaning that she had some special talent with it.

"I'm Lyra, Sorry about freaking out”. She said as she stuck out her hoof.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Shade”. He replied, grabbing and shaking it.

"If it's not too much trouble, might I ask what you were doing following me?" Shade said with an annoyed look on his face, she blushed and looked at the ground.

"Well, I heard that there was a thing with two legs walking around town and I thought everypony was just trying to make fun of me so-"

"Wait a second." Shade interrupted.

"Why would the other ponies make fun of you?"

"Well, it's just that I've been, quote, 'obsessed' with humans for a while, so everpony thought I was insane for trying to prove their existence”.

"That makes sense” he said whilst scratching his chin in thought. “But it doesn't excuse bullying. I have an idea."

"What would that be?" Asked Lyra curiously.

"I'm gonna let everyone that hasn't already seen me really know that I'm here and you weren't wrong. But first, do you have a stage and a DJ?”

“You’re lucky. Our DJ, Vinyl is only in town for a few more days.” replied Lyra.

“That’s good to know, well then, let’s go and meet her.” “This is gonna be fun" He thought.

Elsewhere

A dark room that was clearly moving had the voices of evil itself echoing around its stainless steel walls.

"Have we found our next destination?"

"Yes……..but it will take us a week to get there."

"That doesn't matter………..What's the name of this place and what are its inhabitants?"

"It is a planet filled with mythological creatures, like unicorns and pegasi, called Equestria."

"How devilishly fun that sounds. Alakii needs a snack anyways."

As if on cue, two bright red circles with small black dots appeared along with glowing red Egyptian symbols around what looked like a face filled with razor sharp teeth that had devoured countless innocent creatures.

Ponyville two hours later

Rainbow Dash finally let go of Fluttershy and she was slowly trailing behind to town.

"Hurry up, Fluttershy!"

"I'm right behind you." Fluttershy said back. She was right behind Rainbow Dash, but Dash was really anticipating Fluttershy meeting Shade.

"We have to get to Shade while I still know where he is!" She shouted back.

"I know, but can't we go a little slower?" Fluttershy sort of yelled.

"Not really, we need to-WHAT THE HAY IS THAT?!" Rainbow screamed. She and Fluttershy were looking at a large stage with many neon lights coming off of it. With the time being the dusk, the lights were very much visible.

On the stage were Lyra Heartstrings and Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl was behind a DJ's station and Lyra was standing in the middle of the stage with a smile on her face.

"Attention, mares and stallions!" Lyra announced through a microphone as music began to play.

"Today we have a special show put on by a very special guest for you all…….he is…..the one…….the only…… Shaaaaaaaaade!!!”

(A/N) OHHHHHHH!!! This next chapter's gonna be fun to write! Shade helps Lyra and everyone will know who he is. I need a decision made though. Shade needs some awesome entry music. I would prefer something by Skrillex because I have a few songs in mind, but my goal was to see what you guys think. Post in the comments and I will make a decision. Next chapter should be out in a few days. Be sure to thank my proofreaders who checked my spelling, added ideas, and a bunch of other stuff, Deadsteel and RainbowMissile97. Visit their pages and.....do whatever the hell you do.

Chapter 6

(A/N) Got a LOAD of pm's from people (and maybe a vote from myself, hehe.), so I took tally and figured out what song to play. What? You want to know the song now, sorry! Trololo. Enjoy!

Ponyville, one hour before the end of the last chapter

"Alright." Shade said to the mint-green unicorn at his side. Once again they were walking through Ponyville, now getting smiles and stares from the ponies around them. "The DJ's name is Vinyl Scratch?"

"Yep. We're about five minutes away from her place." Lyra replied.

"Good. Say, do you think you can get her and explain everything? I have to go get something from Twilight's place."

"Sure. But how do you know Twilight?" She asked.

"Weeellllll." He said whilst scratching his head. "She kinda one of the ones, along with Rainbow Dash, that saved my ass."

Lyra cringed at the use of the word. Living in Equestria, she had not heard any swears, but this one just made her feel strange. Shade took notice and decided to keep an eye on his language. "Sorry about that." He said, now full of regret.

"It's fine." Lyra said back with a smile now on her face. "Just don't do it around anypony else. They might take it the wrong way."

"Can do. See ya later!" Shade said, going off path and towards Twilight Sparkle's tree library.

Elsewhere

"Have you identified anything about that planet yet?"

"No, sir. I'm still working on it."

"Alright then. Send a few recon to see what we are soon to arrive on."

"Already done, sir. I sent two."

"Good."

Ponyville

"So, time to go over what I need to do." Shade said to himself. "I need to stop by Twilight's to talk to Jackie, then I need to head to the stage in town without being seen. I can probably do that pretty easi-OOF!" Shade's lack of attention had caused him slammed into Twilight's door. He rubbed his head and cursed to himself and slowly opened it, not wanting to startle anything that he hadn't already.

He peaked inside the barely lit room, only to see a small purple and green thing covered in scales poking his helmet. It had the shape of a humanoid, but lacked the typical stature of a human. Maybe it was a dragon, but just a baby.

"Quit touching my helmet!" He shouted at the supposed dragon. It screamed, dove under a nearby chair and put it hands over its head with its eyes closed. It doesn't matter if that thing (apparently a male due to the pitch of the scream) was touching his helmet, it hurt Shade inside to see anything like that. Plus, the dragon was probably just curious about the strange thing on the table.

Even though Shade had seen countless horrible things, he couldn't stand to see anything scared of him, which is why he was so happy that he had the ability to walk through Ponyville and not get screamed at by locals, even though they were slightly afraid.

The dragon started to whimper, which made Shade feel even worse. He walked over to the chair he was cowering under and sat on the floor to make him seem less intimidating. "Hey there buddy. You alright?" Shade asked him. It opened one eye, saw Shade's eyes, and immediately closed his.

"I have got to get Jackie to disable the damn functions in my eyes." He muttered to himself. "It's OK little guy. I'm not gonna hurt ya." The dragon instantly opened both of his eyes and said right to Shade's face, "Who are you calling little?" Shade just grinned and stood up, showing his normal height.

"Oh." He said, a look of sheer terror on his face.

"You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you. Who and what are you?"

"My name's Spike. I'm a baby dragon." The little green and purple dragon said back, puffing out his chest.

"Nice to meet you." He chuckled. "I am Shade. I was brought here by Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Also, sorry about yelling at you, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions without knowing what was going on."

"It's all cool. What is that thing on the table anyway?" Spike said, pointing at the table in mention.

Shade walked over to the table and picked up the round glowing object. "This thing?" Spike nodded. "This is my helmet. It protects my face, allows me to see things better than the average human, and a whole bunch of other stuff I'd rather not go into right now." Shade explained. "What's a.....Hoo-man?" Spike had trouble pronouncing the word because he had never heard it before. "Well...I...err....Jackie!" He shouted at the helmet. He didn't want to remember the hate he felt towards most people. Spike looked at Shade like he was insane until the helmet spoke back.

"Yes, Shade?" It asked. Spike started to stutter and mumble to himself, but they both ignored it.

"How did your batteries recharge?"

"It seems that in the presence of magic, I can absorb its energies."

Spike had stopped making noises and was actually listening to and hopefully studying the conversation , so Shade decided to educate him a bit. "Spike..." Shade said. "This is Jackie, my helmet's A.I." Spike nodded in understanding. "What's an A.I.?" Spike wanted to know more. It was one of the few times he had been interested in learning something. "A.I. stands for Artificial Intelligence. It-" *Ahem* "SHE assists me with the uses of my suit."

Spike nodded again. "Jackie, can you give me full control of my suit's abilities for a while?" Shade asked the helmet.

"Yes, Shade." He set the helmet on the table and a bright red beam of light appeared out of it. It scanned Shade and covered his whole body, head to toe. "GAHHHH!!" Shade screamed out, latching on to his head. He screamed for a few minutes while all Spike could do was sit and watch, horrified by it.

Shade eventually started breathing normal again and he let out a sigh of relief. "That. Sucked." He said. "Let's see what I can do... Boots, activate!" Steam came out from under his feet and lifted him into the air about a foot off of the ground.

"Awesome!" Spike said, filled with awe.

"I know right?" Shade said. He was still hovering and decided to try something else. "Let's see here....I want to go a little higher. So...Up!"

*FWOOSH*

"It's working! This is awes-BAHH!!"

Shade was on the ceiling, still being pushed into it until either the ceiling broke, or he broke. "Son of a-OFF!"

The stream disappeared from his feet and he came crashing to the floor. "You look like you need some help." Spike walked over to Shade, who was laying on the ground incoherently mumbling swears to himself, being extra careful not to let Spike hear any of them. "That would be nice."

(A/N) Well then, it looks like the NEXT chapter has the fun stuff. Already working on that one. P.S. I'm changing the name of the story to 'A Lighter Shade Of Darkness'. Lemme know if that's alright.

Chapter 7

(A/N) ATTENTION! I have decided that there will only be author's notes in the beginnings, if there are any more at all. I just need to use this last one to say...er...type something. My mother is in the hospital getting surgery so it took a bit for another chapter for a bit. Had to take care of her for a while.

Lyra put a hoof on the door of the house and thought for a second. Why would Vinyl Scratch believe a word she was about to say? As a matter of fact, Vinyl was one of the ones that thought she was insane because of her belief in humans.

Now that she thought about it, most ponies questioned her sanity. All but a one, her best friend, Bon Bon. Although Lyra's obsession annoyed her, she never would think of Lyra to not be normal in other ways. When not thinking about humans, Lyra's was actually quite a laid back and comical pony. She was always one to joke around and be happy.

Her train of thought was broken by a white unicorn opening the door and nearly knocking Lyra over. The unicorn's mane was two shades of blue, one dark and one light, and it went in a zig-zag/electric pattern. She wore sunglasses that completely covered her eyes with had purple lenses and black trim.

"Lyra?" Vinyl was not amused. "Come inside and chill so we can talk comfortably." They went inside Vinyl's house and Lyra sat on rather uncomfortable sofa.

"Hi Vinyl." Lyra said with a sheepish grin on her face.

"You need something?" Vinyl asked.

"You aren't gonna believe this, but a human is in Ponyvi-"

"I know." Vinyl interrupted.

Lyra was flabbergasted. "What?! How did you know?"

"Word spreads pretty quickly here." Vinyl said.

"That's wonderful" Lyra said happily.

"Erm...." Vinyl's expression shifted into one of nervousness.

"What's wrong?" Lyra asked.

"Well...It's just that everypony is still scared of him, they just try to hide it so they won't make him feel bad. They think he's going to hurt everypony." Vinyl closed her eyes, expecting something foul, but she never got it.

Lyra stood up from the sofa and walked to a room with glass windows so that someone could see what's inside.

"To be honest..." Lyra said. "I thought so."

"You did?" Vinyl was extremely confused.

"Yes. That's why I need you to set up your DJ equipment in the stage at the center of town." Lyra said, opening the door and revealing musical supplies ranging from microphones to instruments. "The human and I have a plan."

Elsewhere

Spike and Shade had chatted a bit, so you could call them friends now. Shade promised the dragon that they would hangout some time. Shade walked out the door again, waving at Spike.

"See ya, man, er...dragon. I promise that we'll go exploring a cave or something later. Take care of Jackie!"

"That sounds cool. I'm gonna take a nap." Spike walked upstairs and disappeared from view.

"Activate cloaking." Shade said quietly. From the bottom up, he blended in with the background behind him.

"This is awesome." He said to himself quite loudly, making an orange pegasus filly question her sanity.

The Everfree Forest

Dirt flying into the air could be seen as a pod landed quietly in the ground. Two tall creatures, about a foot taller than Shade, stepped out. They had the head of jackals and scrawny looking bodies.

Both of them were armed with a spear with a pulsating purple light on the tip. Urak nuhk tai. One of them made deep, barely audible noises. Hallak ti nos. The other one replied. They started walking towards an area with buildings and busy ponies about a mile away.

Ponyville

They Ponyville stage was littered with wires. Vinyl had brought her mixing table and some large speakers. Lyra helped her hook them up and they waited for the creature of the hour to show up.

Another area of Ponyville

"Almost there...I can see the stage in the distance." Cloaking was very helpful to Shade right now. It was allowing him to vault houses and shops without being seen.

He eventually reached the stage and jumped down behind Lyra with a low pitched thump. He uncloaked himself and grinned. Shade lifted a finger and tapped Lyra on the back, which was probably not a good idea in retrospect. She screamed and turned around instantly.

Shade burst out laughing at Lyra's dismay, to which she lifted and hoof and clocked him on the side of the head. Even with the helmet on, that still hurt.

"Owwww...Why'd you do that?"

Lyra giggled. "You're a jerk, you know that."

"Yo, Lyra! What's goin' on?" A nearby voice shouted. Vinyl walked around the speaker Shade and Lyra were behind and stopped dead in her tracks.

"You...y-you're real." She was shaking, which made Shade feel bad. He walked over to her and extended his hand. "My name is Shade, and you are?"

Vinyl had stopped shaking and looked at Shade's hand. She put a hoof and it and shook it. "Vinyl Scratch, Equestria's finest DJ. I heard you had a plan to introduce yourself?"

Shade stopped shaking her hoof. "Yes. It is a rather brilliant one if you ask me. We're going to need music, though."

A proud look instantly spread across Vinyl's face. I think I got what you need." She walked over to the mixing table and motioned for Shade to come over.

Vinyl turned on some dubstep at a low volume so that they could barely hear it. Shade uttered words of disapproval with each track.

"You know what..." Shade said. "I think I have just what I need. Hand me that cord." Vinyl complied and somehow picked it up. Shade took it and plugged it into his helmet.

It played music that was wonderful for dancing to, which is why Shade picked it. Both Lyra and Vinyl danced averagely as Shade was expertly busting moves. They mares stopped dancing and stared at Shade, mouths agape as his dancing seemed to defy gravity.

Shade continued his insanely amazing dancing until the very end of the song. He finished of by jumping into the air and doing a front-flip.

Both Lyra and Vinyl still couldn't speak. Shade looked over and said, taking of his helmet and shaking the sweat out of his bright hair, "I was a good dancer back on Earth."

Chapter 8

(A/N) This chapter will contain a lot of action and some descriptive violence. Enjoy

"Are you ready?" Shade asked Vinyl. She was behind the mixing table with a huge grin on her face.

"Hell yes, I am."

"Alright. I'm gonna go up about a hundred feet and stay there till the good part. Sound alright?" Shade said, fiddling with his boots.

"Yep, let's do this."

"Good luck." Lyra was just as excited.

Shade's mouth contorted into a twisted smirk as he put on his helmet. He slammed the heel of his boots on the ground and shot straight into the low-lit evening sky. Lyra walked out to the front of the stage and tapped the mic.

"Ponies!" Lyra shouted, capturing the attention of the citizens around her. In the distance, two pegasi flew to the scene as more ponies gathered in front of the stage now shining moving spotlights everywhere.

Meanwhile, Shade waited one hundred feet in the air for the signal from Lyra.

"Attention, mares and stallions!" Lyra announced through a microphone as music began to play. "Today we have a special show put on by a very special guest for you all……he is…..the one……the only…… Shaaaaaaaaade!!!”

For a few seconds, nothing happened...or at least right before the first climax of the song. A loud whirring sound could be heard, then the bass dropped. Shade slammed into the ground right on time, kicking up dust and dirt around him.

He did a back flip onto the stage as Vinyl turned up the music. Shade slid around the stage, practically giving physics the finger. Lyra and Vinyl noticed that he was slowing down a bit, so they started dancing with him. His movements could only be described as magnificent. The ponies in front of the stage were astonished at the beauty of the Shade's choreography. One of the thoughts going through his head at the time was It looks like those Michael Jackson videos I scavenged back on Earth are paying off.

The audience began to move with the beat as the bass dropped once again. Soon, everypony was dancing.They weren't caring if they looked stupid, because they were having fun. Even the rich, snobbish ponies just coming to see what all the commotion was about had been influenced by the rhythm and were now grooving. Class or popularity didn't matter right now, only happiness.

The music eventually ended as Shade and all of the ponies settled down. For a few minutes, nopony said anything. The crowd erupted into a fit of cheers, whistles, and quite a few fillies screaming incoherent nonsense. He half expected to get a pair of panties flung at him, which made him chuckle.

Elsewhere

"Sir, we have an issue with our ship."

"What is it?"

"It seems the engine is in need of repair. It will add on another week of our expected arrival."

"Fine with me. It will only make it all the more exciting when we arrive."

Ponyville

Shade, Vinyl, and Lyra all took a bow and retreated backstage behind the curtains. Shade took off his helmet, revealing a sweat covered face and bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the low lit atmosphere.

"That was the most fun thing I've ever done!" Vinyl shouted after catching her breath. Meanwhile, Lyra said nothing which started to worry Shade. He knelt down right in front of her face, but she was still just staring off into space.

Shade waved his hand in front of her face. Still no reply. He looked at Vinyl, who was for some reason trying to stifle a laugh. "Looks like she daydream-" "BOO!" Lyra suddenly shouted out.

Shade launched into the air and landed on his ass, successful in looking like a total idiot. He remained on the floor of the stage and breathed heavily. Lyra walked to him and stopped at his feet. "You're scared pretty easily, you chicken."

Before Shade could say anything, Lyra tripped and fell on him. He looked to his side only to see Vinyl grinning with her horn alight.

Lyra was blushing profusely. "I-I'm sorry about that. I get kinda klutzy at times."

"That's...OK." Shade spoke in a soft voice.

They stared into each others' eyes as their faces got closer, inch by inch. Lyra's golden eyes looking into Shade's bright blue ones. Nopony or person said a word, including Vinyl, who was watching them. Being a good friend along with Bon-Bon, she had been trying to get Lyra a colt-friend for a while now so that she would lay off the human nonsense, but it would be pretty ironic should she actually get together with one.

Shade's and Lyra's lips were now just a few centimeters apart. "That was wicked!" Rainbow Dash had flown in behind stage and was now shouting at Vinyl. She couldn't see the embarrassed pony and human a few feet away.

Lyra and Shade stopped moving as Lyra back off and stood up. "Sorry about that." Lyra looked at the ground.

"You don't have to be sorry." Shade replied, getting up and dusting himself off. He looked at Lyra and started blushing.

"Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash suddenly said Shade and Lyra.

Lyra was extremely nervous whereas Shade couldn't be more content. "What's up, Rainbow?"

"Oh...um...nothing." Dash was still incredibly nervous about talking to Shade right now.

"OK then...I guess I'll just go and-" Shade's sentence was interrupted by the screams of nearby ponies.

Shade, Rainbow Dash, Lyra, and Vinyl ran out onto the stage only to see two tall jackal-headed creatures walking through the crowd and ponies scattering. One of them had some sort of object in their hands and was swinging it around, trying to hit any nearby ponies.

Lyra, Dash, and Vinyl just sat there staring, but Shade was already on the ground running at the one that was in the midst of the ponies. It turned around and swung the glowing stick at him, flinging him back onto the stage. Shade growled as his eyes started to change color.

They shifted from light blue to crimson red. He seemed to not notice this, so he was still in the game. He jumped back up and ran again at the thing. It turned around and again swung the stick at him, but Shade grabbed it and snapped the end of it off. Being at least two feet taller, the creature had an advantage over Shade, but he didn't think so.

It swung its arms down but before they could make a deadly impact, Shade caught them. He jumped and put his feet to the thing's chest. He pulled until he heard two rather loud snaps, signalling that they had come out of their sockets.

Shade jumped down from the creature as it roared in pain. It fell onto the ground and Shade lifted his leg above its head. He thrust it downwards with the force of a car falling from cliff. The creatures head exploded, leaving only a gooey mess.

He heard another scream and looked over to the source. An orange, purple-maned pegasus filly was cowering on the ground with one of those things above her. It held a spear with a light purple tip and thrust it towards her.

Right before it hit, Shade appeared in front of it and instantly grabbed it, snapped it in two, and shoved the sharp end in into the creature's stomach. Its head went up into the air as it howled. It tried to punch Shade but he dodged every attack. He turned sideways and kicked both of its kneecaps, shattering them to pieces.

The creature fell on its knees as Shade grabbed his head with both hands.

"YOU. WILL. NOT. HURT. AN. INNOCENT. CHILD." His arms became engulfed in fire as smoke came from the jackal-headed thing that was now burning from the inside-out. Its yellow eyes rolled back into its head and its skin turned from gray to charcoal black.

The flesh on Shade's arms turned into pure flame as the creature actually melted. The fires could be seen channeling from his fingers into the side of the monster's head, boiling its brain and blood. He let it go as it fell to the ground.

The fire on Shade died down and was only left on one hand. The ponies watching him, including the filly that was previously near death, cheered again. Shade turned his head towards them. His eyes changed back to blue and he held up his fiery hand to show to the ponies. The fire got larger as he bent it to his will. It twisted and turned and became small heated twister.

"Well this is new."

Chapter 9

(A/N) Some new things will be happening. First of, when you see a few of these ,------, that means that I'm changing the point of view. Second, a few days ago, I read a story called Monster. I feel that the name 'Shade' is WAY to similar to 'Nightshade', so guess what? Due to his discovery, Shade is going to change his name. Enjoy!

The flames continued to bend and contort around Shade's hand as the ponies just silently stared at him. He looked at the confused crowd and the fire disappeared instantly.

"Hey Lyra?" He suddenly said. The green unicorn slowly walked out from behind a tan earth pony and stopped right in front of Shade.

"Yeah?" She nervously replied.

"Could you bring me my helmet? I need to do something." Lyra said nothing, just trotted to the stage to get the object in question. Shade heard someone...or somepony clear his throat and was reminded of the eavesdropping ponies. He was beginning to get annoyed with them listening in on his conversation.

"Don't you have things to do?" Shade asked. His question was answered with the clopping of hooves scattering and grumbles, along with somepony mumbling something about cake. The crowd cleared, but one pony still remained. The tiny, orange pegasus stood there, staring at him. Shade immediately recognized her as the pony he saved...the one that was nearly impaled just minutes ago.

She had no expression on her face, but Shade could tell she was frightened.

"Hello there." He quietly said. He got no reply, so he crouched down. "Are you OK?" Nearly scaring Shade to death, she ran towards him, jumped in his arms, and hugged whatever part of his chest she could reach. Shade was surprised for a moment, but wrapped his arms around her and gave her a real hug.

"So....What's your name?" Shade asked randomly. She looked up at him with big, tear-filled purple eyes and said "Scootaloo. I'm the one you saved. Remember?"

"Of course I do. What are you still doing here?" He gave her a comforting smile.

"I just really wanted to talk to you is all. I had heard things from other ponies that said you're mean, but you seem really nice to me." She had stopped crying and he set her down so they could just have a normal conversation.

"Thank you sweetie. You really need to get home though." A look of disappointment spread across her face and she looked at the ground.

"OK." She sad sadly as she kicked the ground lightly. Shade thought for a second and considered something.

"Tell you what..." He put a hand under her chin and lifted her head up to look at her. "You can hang out with me for a little bit, but not too long. Alright?" Scootaloo responded by leaping back into his arms again. Shade put her on his shoulder and laughed quietly to himself.

"This'll be awesome! I can go show you to my friends so they can see how cool you are!" She shouted.

"You bet, but first I have to do something very important." And as if on queue, Lyra came trotting back with a round metal object floating in front of her.

"I got your helmet, Shade. What is it that you needed to-" Lyra stopped when she saw Scootalooo on my shoulder. "Why is one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders on your arm?"

"The what?" I turned my head to get a better look at Scootaloo.

"Oh yeah!" She said. "I totally forgot to tell you about us! My friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, and me are always looking for ways to get out cutie marks." Her ears suddenly drooped. "But we can never find our special talent."

"Hey, don't be sad. You'll find your special talents eventually." I tried to cheer her up.

"You think so?" She asked.

"I know so." I gave her a reassuring smile and she hugged my head.

"Ahem." Lyra was just patiently listening, my helmet still floating in front of her. We both grinned as I grabbed the helmet. I tapped the top of it with my finger.

"Jackie?" I asked.

"Shade....I......FFFRRRRRRZZZZ...."

"Hmm...Lyra?"

"What?"

"Can you channel raw magic into my helmet?" A look of nervousness appeared on her face.

"Sure..." Lyra's horn lit up as a stream of golden light flowed through the air and into my helmet. She did this for a few seconds before the 'eyes' on the helmet lit up bright blue, signalling that it was recharged.

"Shade? Hello." It finally said, making Scootaloo gasp.

"Your helmet talked! That's so cool!" She was staring at it with wide eyes.

"Yeah...it does that. Scootaloo, meet Jackie, my helmet." I gestured towards it with my hand.

"Umm....Nice to meet you?" She said with confusion in her voice. I just chuckled.

"The pleasure is mine. Scootaloo, was it?"

"Yeah." Now she spoke with a smile on her face.

"Alright then." I decided to interrupt. "I need you to diagnose something for me." I held out my palm and a small flame rose up. "Scan this fire. I need to know if it's normal, or something relative to this world." The usual scanning light appeared and sat on the fire for a few seconds before disappearing.

"This is incredible!" Jackie shouted. "These are just average flames. It seems that when you were teleported here, you absorbed some of the magic, thus giving you the power to manipulate fire. You can do anything you want with it."

"Well then....I left my world only to be brought into another and I have new powers. If I'm a whole new person, then I'll need a new identity."

"Really? Everyone just learned your name, so now your going to change it?" A random voice spoke from above me. I looked up.

"Hey Rainbow Dash. Been eavesdropping on our conversation, have you?" I asked with annoyance in my voice. After all, this was supposed to be a private matter.

"Yeah...." She put on a sheepish smile.

"It's alright." If I wanted to everyone to trust me, I did NOT need to be a total ass. " In fact, I think I'm going to name myself...

(A/N) OK then...this is the part where my readers have to help me figure out a new name for Shade. Preferably something that has to do with his new power. I will pick the best one from the comments (No PM's this time. My inbox got FLOODED last time.). I really appreciate everyone's input on the story by the way. The only way I'll get better is if you offer your suggestions and criticisms. Thanks!