Shadow's Tail: A Dark Hero

“Humble my ass,” shouted Stony as he gazed upon Shadow’s ‘Manor.’

Shadow shrugged at Stony’s statement, “This is actually my smallest house.”

Stony seemed more than a little upset, “Well aren’t you just the coolest cat in tabby town.”

Tidy lowered the drawbridge for them. “Oh, mister Stony. I wasn’t expecting you till next week. Did I accidently give you the wrong date?”

Stony was definitely upset, “Well buddy, not going into too much detail, but you won’t have to go very far for our appointments anymore.”

Tidy looked past them to see the pillar of smoke, which now rising to the clouds, “Oh Master Shadow, you didn’t.”

Shadow held his straight faced composure, “Technically, I did nothing.”

Stony turned to face Shadow, “Technically, you can go fuck yourself.”

Shadow returned his gaze with a slight grin, “Technically, I just might.”

Tidy raised the drawbridge once the two were across, “Mister Stony, since you will be living with us I should inform you of the various facilities on the grounds. The West Wing holds the Library, Laboratory, and other such rooms to raise one’s intellectual standing. The Main Hall holds the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Bedrooms. The East Wing holds the Gymnasium, with all the bells and whistles of course, various places to relax with friends and family, and the Smoke Room. There is a Zen Garden behind the property with various places to hide and be alone for however long one wishes. And finally, the property extends several miles into the Everfree Forest, any questions?”

Stony seemed focused on one room, “So, uh, what’s this I hear about a smoke room?”

Tidy chuckled, “Those are only the basic rooms, there are many more, but I see you're interest is only on the one. I shall take you there immediately, and prepare you a room across from Master Shadow’s.”

Tidy led Stony and Shadow through the massive, winding, corridors of the tremendous building. They walked for what seemed like hours to Stony. Tidy stopped in front of a room with a big red door, “This is the Smoke Room. I hope everything is to your likings. Now I shall go and prepare your room.” With that Tidy bowed and departed.

Shadow pushed open the large, red, cushiony doors for Stony. Stony entered the smoke room and had one thing to say, “It’s like one big, red, satin, couch!”

Shadow sat on a pile of pillows on the soft floor and looked out the only window in the room, which was facing south, “It’s nothing special.” Shelves lined the wall, holding pipes and bongs of various shapes, sizes, and colors. A large multi-piped hookah towered in the center of the room. There were several piles of pillows scattered across the floor and along the couch. The couch itself, lined the base every wall, and had curtains to hide whatever was under it. . Shadow reached past the curtains and under the couch. From it, he pulled a large bag of marijuana, “Why are you standing there? It’s called the Smoke Room for a reason.”

The next several weeks were nothing special for Shadow. Shadow received tickets to some gala, and gave his plus one to Stony. Twilight and the gang asked Shadow and Stony to help Applejack with apple bucking, which went almost too smoothly. And finally, one of Dash’s old friends, Gilda, came to town, but was run off for being a bitch to everyone. Shadow actually kind of liked her, they even flirted a bit. He got her mailing address, but hadn’t written her yet.

Shadow and Stony were relaxing in the Smoke Rook as they now did almost every day, but this time they were accompanied by the green Pony, that Stony was apparently dating. Shadow finally found out her name, Treehugger, and she was the essence of hippie, “This place is doing wonders for my aura, man.”

Stony was staring at Treehugger’s flank, Treehugger was studying all of the tools along the wall, and Shadow was staring out the window again, “It’s nothing special.” After all the excitement from several weeks ago, or what he thought was several weeks ago, he became bored. By now, he even found smoking to just be a filler between boring days. Shadow stood up, “I’ll be back later. I'm going to my garden.” He stood up and left the room before either of his companions could say a word.

He wandered around for a while before sitting on his favorite bench in the dead center of his massive garden. He wished he had someone to talk to, someone who knew him better than anyone, “Feeling lost again, Shadow?”

Shadow turned to see his ‘imaginary’ friend from his childhood, “Hey. I haven’t seen you in a while. Why haven’t you been around?”

The creature looked like any normal Drakonian, but was made of black smoke. He gazed at Shadow with eyes that burned with hellfire, and scratched his long, ram-like horns. The figure then dissipated and reformed next to Shadow, “You did not want me here till now.”

Shadow stared up at the clear blue sky with longing, “Who says I want you here now?” His words came out harsh, but the being knew Shadow was only putting on his typical loner act.

The figure looked up as well, “Why not fly Shadow? You love flying more than anything in the world, so why not take off, leave Drakonia and Equestria far behind you? If you truly wished to be alone you would leave, so just leave.”

Shadow truly did want to fly more than anything else. He began pulling off his black hoodie, but he stopped, “What game are you playing this time?” The figure laughed.

His voice was much deeper than Shadow’s, but he had a high pitched laugh that almost sounded demonic, “You are a quick one, but who says I’m playing a game this time?” With that, the wind blew, and he was gone. Shadow returned to the smoke room and could already see Stony and Treehugger eyeing each other lustfully.

He took one last look out his window to see the sky. He didn’t want to be alone, but he also couldn’t bring himself to ruin their moment, “I'm going to invite the others and show them around. You two have fun.” With that, he left the room and began his long journey to the Library. He went up three stories to reach the floor that contained his private Study, and headed to the northernmost corner. There were no walls to his Study. It was just an empty corner with a couch, a desk in front of a window, two nightstands on either side of the couch, and a small fireplace built into the wall near the couch.

He sat at his desk, feeling the warmth of the fireplace against his back, and began writing invitations to his six friends. As he finished writing each letter, he tossed them into the fireplace. The fire turned bright blue, and shot up the chimney, before slowly dying back into its normal red glow. From his window he could see the drawbridge, and decided he would wait up here and head downstairs once he saw them. Shadow had accidentally grabbed an extra sheet of paper, and began eyeing it, “Maybe you should write her.” Shadow turned to face the familiar voice as the smoky figure walked from the fireplace, “Forgive her or not, you should write to her.”

Shadow looked to the paper once more, “If she couldn’t find me important enough to speak with for… however long it has been, then why should I find her important enough to speak with now? Besides she already knows I despise her. I’m still trying to figure what angle she’s playing.”

The creature grew close to Shadow, and began whispering into his ear, “Invite her over. Ask that she speak of the meeting to no one, you wouldn’t want gossip spreading about the two of you. You both know what Drakonia would do if they found out you were alone with the leader of the Ponies,” Shadow’s eyes slowly turned red. “When she gets here tell her how happy you are to see her. ‘Tia’ you’ll call her, just like you did when you were kids. You’ll start to lull her into a false security,” Shadow grew an evil grin, “Finally when she says how happy she is that you forgive her,” Shadow lifted the quill above the paper, “You rip out her throat with you bare claws. Tear her wings from her body. Feast on the blood of the one who left you when you needed her most.” The creatures tone was near emotionless. Shadow was about to touch the paper with the quill, but he noticed a speeding, bouncing, pink Pony racing through the path from the corner of his eyes.

Shadow closed his eyes, and his grin faded. He forced himself to return to his usual composure, and he spoke one more word to his old friend, “No.” When he re-opened his eyes, the creature was gone, and his eyes were blue once more. Shadow saw the rest of the gang slowly walking along the path behind Pinkie, and left for the drawbridge, “Tidy! Please lower the bridge and raise it once I’m across. We’ll be having guests over for the night, so prepare a large dinner.”

Soon the whole gang, minus Stony and Treehugger, were all standing on the other side of the drawbridge. “How do you raise and lower that bridge?” Twilight asked, “I the mechanism over there, but there isn’t any crank.” Shadow pointed to Tidy, who twitched his mustache. The bridge lowered itself, and Shadow led the Ponies halfway across the bridge. Just as Shadow was about to speak with his guests, Tidy twitched his mustache again, raising the drawbridge once more, causing them all to fall in a pile. Tidy laughed while the group glared at him. Shadow knew he had landed on one of his friends because the ground beneath his back was exceptionally soft.

When the rest of the group climbed off, he found himself lying on top of Rainbow Dash, “Dude, get your bony ass off me!” Instead of listening to Dash, he wiggled his body and applied more pressure, pressing his spine against what he assumed was her back. It didn’t take long for her to buck him straight off of her.

“Well that was rude,” Shadow said, picking himself up. “Anyway, which room should I show you first, the Library, the fully loaded Gym, the Grand Ballroom, the Clothing Room, the Garden, or the Pet’s House?’ Shadow named off these rooms knowing they would pique the interest of each of his companions, hoping it would begin a small argument amongst his friends. Just as planned, all of them began speaking at once, except Fluttershy who was a complete doormat as usual.

It was Tidy’s voice that silenced them, “Now ladies, please no arguing. Shadow will take you to each of the rooms in the order he spoke them.”

Shadow nodded and gestured his friends to enter the massive building, “I agree with Tidy.” As they approached the doors, Shadow pulled Dash to the side, “Remember Dashy, ladies first.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with annoyance, “Oh har har har. That’s even funnier the second time around.” She elbowed Shadow in the ribs and leapt inside.

When everyone was finally inside he heard Rarity speaking in awe, “Marvelous, Simply marvelous.”

Shadow took the opportunity to take center stage, “I know I am,” he walked past her and slid his tail under Twilight’s chin, making her head follow him as he walked by, “This way to the library.”

Twilight blushed and remained silent as the group followed Shadow to the first floor of the library. Once there, Twilight’s blush was replaced by awe, “Sweet Celestia! You literally have an entire library in your house!”

Twilight began zooming around reading titles aloud, most were in Drakonian, but that didn't matter to Twilight who could speak, and apparently read it. Shadow took a moment to interrupt her, “I told you I had a library. What, did you not believe me, or something?”

Twilight was too consumed in the library to pay attention to a word he said, before suddenly stopping, “Wait. These. None of these are organized, in any way.”

Shadow shrugged, “I can find any of my books perfectly fine.” Twilight ignored him, and began rearranging all of his books in, what Shadow assumed was, alphabetical order.

Shadow watched her frantically run around, trying to make order from the chaos. He held back a grin, “You know there’s a lot more than just this one level, right?.” He led the gang away as Twilight let out an obnoxious grunting sound. Once outside of the Library, Shadow spoke to the group again, “Next stop is the gymnasium, which is on the exact opposite side of the manor.”

After the made it back to where they began, he heard Rarity whine out, “It feels like we’ve been walking forever.”

Shadow shrugged continued walking, and without batting an eye, “Lots of people say it’s a big house, but this actually my smallest home. Well, second smallest if you include my childhood home, but that place has been abandoned for a very long time. I have no clue how any of you can stand those tiny buildings you generously refer to as, ‘homes’.”

The jaws of all the Ponies dropped, and they stopped dead in their tracks. Rarity was the only one who managed to speak, “Sm-m-m-smallest home? The only thing that could out-do this is a castle!”

Shadow stopped, and turned his head to Rarity, “Yeah. I know.”

When they finally arrived to the Gymnasium, Rainbow Dash looked like she had found Heaven, “This place is so awesome!” She zoomed around the gymnasium, saying the names of each piece of equipment as she passed them, but Shadow only knew ‘track’ and ‘pool.’

With Rainbow Dash was occupied with all of the mostly unused equipment, Shadow led the remaining four Ponies down the hall to the grand ballroom, “Okay Pinkie, since the others are making my home their home, you can do whatever you want with this room.”

Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, and a massive grin spread across her face, “Aaaaanything?”

Shadow nodded, “Yes Pinkie, anything.”

Before Shadow could even open the door, Pinkie zoomed in and locked them out, “I’ll tell you when you can come back in!”

Shadow led Rarity to the top floor of the Main Hall, which was basically one giant closet, and then took Applejack to his Zen Garden filled with various exotic plants. While he was occupied with that, Twilight finished organizing the entire Library, “There. Now I can think straight.” She was on the same floor as Shadow’s Study, and now that her mission was accomplished, she noticed something. This floor wasn’t as long as the others. She wandered around before bumping into Shadow’s Study, “This window shouldn’t this close to the edge of the building. What’s going on?” She walked along the west wall, studying the bookshelves, “I pulled all the books and these shelves seem built into the walls.” She finally got back to the Study. She stared at the fireplace, “I wonder?” She stood close, and peered through the fireplace. There was no wall behind the fireplace, only a faint blue glow.

Finally, it was Fluttershy’s turn to be entertained. Shadow led her to what looked like a pool house near the moat behind the house, “So Shadow, what kind of pets do you have.” Hearing her master’s name, what looked like a winged, black cat leaped from the roof of the Pet’s House, and into Shadow’s hood.

She would have completely blended into the hoodie if it weren’t for her bright yellow, cat-like, eyes, “Come to introduce your worthless Pony friends to little old me.” Fluttershy took a closer look and realized it was actually a miniature cat-like dragon.

Shadow scolded the small, black, dragon, “Kitty! Be nice to our guests.”

Kitty hopped out of Shadow’s hood and approached Fluttershy, “The pleasure is all yours, I assure you. Shadow forces me to use the name ‘Kitty,’ but that is not my real name. I am the current Dragon Queen of Drakonia, and I.”

Shadow looked around, and interrupted her, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where’s Balthazar?”

Both Kitty and Fluttershy ignored him. Fluttershy stared at Kitty in a mixture of glee and awe, “I've never seen anything like you. You truly are amazing.”

Kitty glared at Shadow, “Glad someone appreciates me.”

Twilight stared at the blue glow before standing upright again. She closed her eyes and channeled as much of her magic as she could. With a bright flash of light, she was teleported to the other side of the fireplace. It was a dark room, lit only by a single fire pot in what looked like the center of the room. “What is this place?” She asked in wonder. She approached the blue flames when suddenly; many lanterns lining the top of both walls lit themselves, and illuminated the room. The walls were covered with pictures, well-preserved trophies of strange creatures, and several bookshelves. She stared in a mixture of awe, wonder, and disgust. She approached the nearest shelf, and read the title of an ancient looking book, “Starswirl’s Corruption.” She began to levitate the book, when images of a crystal kingdom and dying slaves flashed through her mind. The book fell to the ground with a heavy ‘Thud’, “W-what….What was that?” She turned her head and noticed an old, black, desk at the end of the room.

Shadow listened to Fluttershy dote over Kitty for several minutes before shouting, “Where’s Balthazar?!” The sudden shouting startled Fluttershy, who went silent. Kitty rolled her eyes, and flew to the roof of the Pet’s House. When she returned, there was a small, fluffy, grey speckled, hen riding her back. When Shadow saw the small hen, he gleefully shouted, “Balthy!” He snatched the hen off Kitty’s back with his tail and dropped her in his hands. This time Shadow was the one doting while Fluttershy and Kitty looked on in silence. “Who’s the cutest little chick in the whole world? You are. That’s right, you,” The hen showed no expression and remained as still as stone.

Kitty answered Fluttershy’s question before she could even ask, “She’s alright. She never moves or makes a sound, but she’s always nearby.”

Twilight approached the desk with caution. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened last time. The first thing she noticed about the desk when she got closer was that there was a golden picture frame with a necklace and two rings hanging from it. The second thing she noticed were the water stains. She sat in front of the desk, staring at the stains. She put her front legs up and laid her head down. The stains matched where her eyes were. So many tears had fallen upon this table that it was permanently scarred with sorrow. She looked to the frame and saw a smiling Drakonian who looked exactly like Shadow, but with long black ram horns with the points ending just below his eyes. He had on a red and gold suite, which reminded Twilight of the suit worn by Prince Charming in the old fairy tales. Next to him was a female Drakonian, making silly faces and flashing peace signs, and a small Drakonian child who held herself much like Shadow did now. The woman was a grey blue and had short, spiky, maroon hair with two odd shaped horns poking from it, and was wearing a tie-dyed hoodie. The younger one looked like a darker version of Shadow with longer hair, and was wearing what looked like golden armor made in a style Twilight wasn’t familiar with. Twilight couldn’t help herself. She focused her magic on the frame, but saw nothing. The frame lifted into the air, and with slight disappointment, Twilight left the hidden room with the picture.

A voice rang throughout the entire house and the grounds, “Attention everyone. Dinner shall be served shortly in the Main Hall. Simply follow the smell of food to find the Dining Room.”

Twilight headed followed the strong scent of fresh fruit toward the Dining Room, before Stony saw the picture levitating. With fear in his eyes, he sprinted toward her, “Oh man, no. Please no. Please tell me you didn’t. Please tell me that’s not what I think it is, and you didn’t find it where I think you did!”

Twilight was very confused, “You mean the picture? I was going to ask Shadow about it. I thought.”

Stony cut her off, “No, man. You gotta put that back! That is not a can of worms you want to open. That is like a can of razor blades with a worm at the bottom. That is like a whole factory full of razors and a worm in the dead center man, but in this, like, scenario, you're that worm.”

Twilight was more confused now than ever, “Who are these.”

Again, she was cut off, “Listen man. You HAVE to put that back right now and never tell Shadow you know anything about it. I promise I’ll tell you later, but right now just forget about it. Kay?”

One by one, the Ponies and Shadow made their way to the Dining Room. The massive table Shadow usually sat at alone still wasn’t even a tenth of the way filled. Twilight was putting the picture back, and realized what the female Drakonians horns looked like. They each looked like an ancient sword called a Khopesh. Twilight stared at the rings, and simply couldn’t help herself. She studied the two rings and the locket, and she noticed engravings on the inside of the two rings. The room didn’t have quite enough light to read it, so she brought them closer to the fire pot in the center of the room, and held them close to it. Stony’s voice rang through the Library, “Just put it back, man!”

The sudden yelling startled Twilight, who then dropped the rings directly into the pot, “NO!”

Stony cried out again, “Come on man. He’s gonna get suspicious if we’re not there soon.”

Twilight acted like nothing was wrong, but Stony could see the panic in her eyes, “Oh shit. Sparkle, you done fucked up, didn’t you?”

Twilight tried smiling through her panic. It wasn’t too convincing though, “No. I put the picture back, just like you said.”

This time Stony looked worried, “Look man, if you did something and he finds out, you are going straight under the bus.” They entered the Dining Room at different times so hopefully no one would be suspicious. Shadow sat at the head of the table like usual. On his left side were Stony, Treehugger, and Fluttershy, and to his right, were Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight. Silver trays descended from the ceiling and placed themselves in front of each of them. Tidy took a seat next to Fluttershy, and a plate descended in front of him as well. With a twitch of his mustache, the tray lids rose to the ceiling and flew toward the kitchen.

“Dinner is served. For the non-Drakonians, I have prepared a special vegetarian plate made from many Drakonian fruits and vegetables called, ‘Saofthgo’. For the omnivores, master Shadow and I, I have prepared a local dish called ‘Fish and Chips.’ Do you have any words to say before we eat, Master Shadow?”

Shadow was staring at his plate of food with hunger, “Thank you all for coming. Thank whatever deity you believe in for the food, and let’s eat.” Everyone immediately began digging into their plates, except Twilight. She poked her food around feeling too guilty to eat anything. Shadow took a break from attacking his food to look around the table. Everyone was enjoying their food, except Twilight, “Something wrong Twilight?”

Shadow suddenly addressing her, startled Twilight, “What, of course not? Nothings wrong. Nothing happened. Why would anything be wrong? I'm fine, see.” She viciously attacked her plate of food and gave a crazed smiled.

Everyone looked to her with concern and confusion. Shadow had a feeling something was concerning her, but ignored it. “Well, okay,” Shadow stated blankly as he returned to eating, and slowly everyone else followed suit. Across the building in the West Wing, the rings Twilight had dropped began quickly melting. The fire pot let out a bright silver smoke as the rings finished melting. Shadow sniffed the air, and stopped eating suddenly. Stony was watching him closely. Shadow sniffed the air again, “Excuse me; there’s something I have to check.” Shadow stood up and rushed away, but when he got to the door, he turned around to see everyone staring at him. His eyes flashed red, “Yoarnounmyco.” A flash of red filled everyone’s vision, forcing them to blink. When they opened their eyes, Shadow was gone.

Stony instantly knew that Shadow had figured out whatever Twilight had done, and didn’t want to be there when Shadow exploded, “Oh shit. Tidy, Treehugger, anyone who doesn’t want to die, let’s go.” The three quickly left the room, leaving the six Ponies in wonder, but Treehugger quickly ran back in and pulled Fluttershy out with them.

The remaining five Ponies remained seated, too confused by what had happened to move. Then, a purely demonic voice trembled the building, “WHERE ARE THEY!!!”

The five Ponies snapped from their confusion, and ran for the door in fear, but suddenly every door in the room slammed shut. “What in tarnation is going on,” shouted the terrified Applejack.

Twilight muttered under her breath, “Sweet Celestia, what have I done?” The group formed a defensive line and backed away from the door that were running to. That door suddenly shattered, sending fragments of wood throughout the room. A red fog rolled in through the cracked door frame.

Again the deep voice echoed through the halls, “WHERE ARE THEY?!” A figure slowly emerged from the fog. It was Shadow, but fire lashed from hollow eye sockets, two streams of red fog poured from his head, and black smoke surrounded his body. “I SAID, WHERE ARE THEY?!”

Twilight took a step forward, and stood in front of the group, “I’m so sorry Shadow. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I dropped them in the fire pot on accident. I didn’t know what they were, and I just wanted to know. Please Shadow, I'm sorry.”

“THEY WEREN’T YOURS TO TOUCH! THAT ROOM IS MY SANCTUM, EVERYTHING IN THERE IS SPECIAL TO ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE JUST DESTROYED? THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN EVER DO TO MAKE UP FOR THIS! JUST LEAVE. LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK! I HATE YOU! I DESPISE YOUR VERY EXISTENCE! SO JUST LEAVE!” With every word, he spoke the house shook. The ground beneath Shadow’s claws became corrupted with darkness, slowly growing outwards like veins. Crystals of red and black grew from the corrupted ground, glowing in the fog like the eyes of a demon. Tears filled Twilights eyes and some of the other Ponies stepped forward to yell back. Before they could utter a word, the air filled with a whooshing sound. Shadow’s tail was stopped, inches from Twilight’s face, and the power from the sudden stop blew away most of the fog. I thin line of black blood dripped from Shadow’s tail, and he turned to see Tidy in the doorway with a stern look upon his face.

The group saw the blood drip along a nearly horizontal, invisible line. Tidy began shouting at Shadow with anger and concern, “Master Shadow! You will never strike a lady outside of a duel for as long as I live, no matter how much they enrage you! You are a prince, start acting like it.”

Shadow slammed his tail to the ground, cracking it, and pulling Tidy slightly forward, “YOU’RE RIGHT TIDY! I AM A PRINCE, A WAR PRINCE!” He dashed towards Tidy with blinding speed, and wrapped his tail around his throat. Tidy, however, didn’t flinch.

Tidy stood tall and proud in front of Shadow, “What would Khopesh and Khôra think of you acting in such a manner.” The name gave Shadow pause. His face twisted from anger to a confused realization, and he stared back at Tidy for what seemed like hours.

The group watched in silence. Shadows tail uncoiled itself from around Tidy’s neck, and fell back behind him, “I need to be alone right now.” The fog and smoke slowly dissipated, and Shadow’s eyes became their normal, sorrowful, blue. He left the room in silence as a tear fell from Twilight’s face.

Tidy approached her, “Please Miss Sparkle, do not cry. Although Shadow doesn’t think so now, you just released him from a terrible memory.” He put up his claws and wiped away her tears, “You should all go to him in a few minutes. Shadow can hold grudges against many things, but I can tell you five, and the three Ponies who are currently unavailable, aren’t one of them.”

Twilight shook her head, and accidentally flung several tears around, “He hates me. He never wants to see me again. I screwed up too big this time.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Besides, if that asshole wants to scream and try attacking us, he can drop dead.” The rest started talking together. Some were defending Shadow, some Twilight, but none were the voice of reason.

“Silence, please.” Tidy’s voice was kind and caring, but thunderous. “Whether or not you agree with his actions, please check on him, if not for him, or your friendship with him, then for me.” The group exchanged looks and turned to Twilight.

Twilight’s voice was shaky, “I want too, but how will we find him?”

Tidy chuckled, “I know him well enough to say, with absolute certainty, that he’ll be in the Smoke Room.”

Stony’s head popped into the doorway, “Did someone say Smoke Room. I’ll. I’ll go make sure it’s safe for everyone.”

He zoomed down the hallway as Fluttershy and Treehugger entered the Dining Room. Fluttershy could see Twilight had been crying, “Oh my. What happened here?”

It was at this point that Rarity’s attention to detail, and belief that the whole situation was Twilight’s fault, made her realize something. She waved her hoof to draw everyone’s attention, “Where are the evil crystals? Where’s the nasty black ground? Even the door is back to normal.

Tidy quickly lied, “If I couldn’t fix the fallout of an enraged Shadow in mere seconds, then what kind of butler would I be?” He held his poker face until the Ponies finally believed him.

Tidy gestured for the Ponies to follow, and led them to the Smoke Room. When Tidy opened the door, they saw Shadow lying upside down on the large, red, cushiony, couch. He had a hookah pipe in his hand and smoke pouring from his mouth. Stony was in the room as well but no one paid him any attention. Twilight was the first to enter, and she approached Shadow, “Hey Shadow?”

His eyes were bloodshot, and they peered straight through Twilight, “What.” His voice was cold and distant, but not angry.

“I am truly sorry for destroying those rings. I just wanted to get to know you better because you’re my friend. But if you never want to see me again, I understand.” She pointed her head to the ground as the rest of the group entered and sat on various spots on the couch.

They looked on in silence. “It’s fine. They were nothing special anyway,” he let out a heavy sigh, “And I guess I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Stony smiled, and pointed two hooves up, then fell to the ground. Treehugger helped him up and sat down next to him. Twilight stared back at Shadow with teary eyes. Shadow saw the tears and his voice grew much kinder, “Don’t cry, smile instead. You’re a lot prettier when you smile.” Shadow saw the looks the other Ponies were giving him, and decided to quickly change the subject, “Besides is no one going to comment on the fact that I'm a prince?”

Twilight sat next to him, and the group all began asking questions at once. Shadow raised his claws to the air, “I will explain it, if and only if, you don’t interrupt me until I’m finished speaking.” The group stared at Pinkie who pulled her hoof across her mouth. “I didn’t start out as a prince. However, things happened, and we are no longer royalty. I returned to being a soldier, and I was good at it. I was ruthless, creative, and unbeatable. I won so many wars, spilled so much blood, that I was declared the next War Prince. However, things happened, and I am no longer next in line for the throne. Any questions?”

Twilight was the first to speak, “Who was in that picture?”

Shadow stared at the ground and a took a long hit from the hookah. He exhaled, and his eyes filled with tears, “They, they are an old memory. That’s all I want to say about them.” He jumped up, which pulled his hoodie slightly upward, and landed next to the door, “Wait here, I’ll be right back. Stony, you answer questions till I’m back.”

As he left, they all got a glimpse of his Destiny Mark. Stony shouted out, “Nice ass, bro!”

Rarity turned to Stony with curiosity in her eyes, “What does his Cutie Mark mean?”

Stony turned to her, “Well, there’s two ways it could go. Let’s just say he’s half of this two part Yin-Yangy spectrum. He could be bad, or he could be good. We’ll just have to wait and find out. By the way, it’s a Destiny Mark, not a Cutie Mark. Huge difference.”

Fluttershy spoke next, “What about yours Stony. Aren’t you from Drakonia? Does that make yours a Destiny Mark?”

Stony turned to her after taking a long draw from his pipe, “Let’s just call it a picture on my ass and be done with it.” He waved the pipe around, “Anyone else?” surprisingly Applejack took it from him and took a longer hit than Stony did.

The group looked on in shock as she exhaled. She looked around at the surprised Ponies, “What? It’s a plant, I'm a farmer. The two almost go hoof in hoof.”

Stony casually levitated a card from his hoodie’s pouch, and floated it to Applejack, who tucked it into her hat, while saying, “Good to know partner.” Fluttershy and Treehugger started helping themselves. Fluttershy grabbed a Rainbow colored bong off the wall, and Treehugger grabbed Shadow’s hookah pipe.

Twilight spoke in exasperation, “You two, Fluttershy?”

She looked at Twilight while packing a bowl, “Why do you think I'm so quiet all the time?”

Shadow entered the room in a black suit and sat on his pile of pillows, “Sweet, I didn’t know Applejack smoked. How about the rest of you?” Rarity shook her head, claiming it was unladylike, Rainbow Dash claimed she had to stay clean for work, Pinkie shrugged because she never had a reason too, and Twilight shook her head, listing all the things medically wrong with it.

“Yeah, but like, have you ever tried it?” Stony asked Twilight.

She shook her head no, “Weren’t you just listening to me? It's terrible for you.”

At this, Treehugger chuckled and decided it was time for a joke, “That’s the reason you’re still a virgin.”

Fluttershy turned to Treehugger, “But we smoke and we’re virgins.” As she said this she turned and winked at Shadow, who not knowing what she meant, ignored her.

Treehugger sat in Stony’s lap, “Of course, Flutters.” When Fluttershy turned away again, Treehugger shook her head and mouthed the words ‘no.’ Stony had a massive grin on his face, and winked to everyone

Applejack shook her head with a smile, “Yer one bad apple Stony.”

Stony nodded with glee, “Yeah, I'm the apple you smoke out of.”

Applejack laughed, “Yeah, an apple a day, sure does keep the doctor away.”

Shadow took a hit from a second hookah pipe, “An apple a day keeps everyone away if you throw it hard enough.” The rest of the group laughed at this.

Stony turned to Shadow, “We all know you’d never throw an apple, you love them to much.”

Shadow reached into the pillow pile, “That’s why I keep pears around me at all times.”

Stony was about to say something else when a pear impaled itself on his horn. “Ohhhh, you’re a dick.”

There was a knock on the door and Tidy entered, “Miss Applejack, there is a Mister Tosh here to see you.”

Applejack faced Shadow, “Mind if ah send em here.”

Shadow nodded and a few moments later, a massive red Pony entered the room, “Please, just call me Big Mac, Tidy.”

Stony pulled the pair from his horn, and began eating it, “You mean like the cheeseburger?” Everyone looked at him in confusion, “Eh, just forget about it.”

Big Mac stood in the doorway, “I just came to check on ya sis. Make sure you were doin alright, but now ah can see yer doin just fine.”

Applejack grinned, “Eeyup.”

Shadow crawled over, and whispered to Stony, “Am I supposed to invite him or something?”

Stony whispered back to him with a straight face, “You do you, fam.”

Since he didn’t necessarily have to, Shadow remained silent and took another hit from his hookah. Unfortunately, Applejack took it upon herself to invite him in, “Why don’t you stay for a while, brother?”

Shadow mumbled under his breath, “Eternal Damnit.”

Big Mac shook his head, “I got chores to do back at Sweet Apple Acres, maybe next time.”

Again, Shadow mumbled under his breath, “Don’t count on it.”

After Big Mac left, the group chatted for a while, and Shadow stared out his window in silence. “So why exactly is Stony living with you?” Rarity questioned Shadow. Of course, Shadow pretended not to notice.

Stony answered for Shadow, “Shit happened, people went home, and my house burned down. End of story.”

Treehugger turned on Stony’s lap to face him, “But don’t you have.”

Stony cut her off and whispered, “Have you seen this place babe. I’m never leaving. Give me by the end of the day and I can get you here too. Just trust me.” Treehugger nodded and turned again, making sure to rub against him as much as possible. The room was filled with smoke by now.

Rarity slowly turned to Stony with slightly bloodshot eyes, “How did you afford that big house anyway?”

Stony chuckled and messed with his hoodie, as if it were a tie, “Please.”

Shadow stared out his window, but could tell by Rarity’s lack of finesse, she was feeling the burn, “Gotta love secondhand smoke.”

Rainbow Dash stood up, wobbled, and sat back down, “Wait, that’s an actual thing?”

Stony and Shadow looked at each other and Stony laughed. Stony grinned and nudged Rainbow Dash, “Since you’re not passing any drug tests soon, why not join in?” Shadow grabbed a cloud shaped bong off the wall with his tail, and handed it to Rainbow Dash, who begrudgingly joined in. “Just say you ate some poppy seed muffins. Trust me. How do you think the Force?”

Treehugger elbowed Stony, “You’re not supposed to talk about that. Remember?” She got close to his ear and whispered, “We’re all running a pool on how long it’ll take Shadow to find out you’re from Drakonia. Wait two more months for me, okay babe.”

The rest of the day went by smoothly. The group hung out together, Shadow avoided personal questions, and at one point Stony and Treehugger snuck off together. Everyone was still pretty blasted, but when Stony and Treehugger snuck back in, they all set out in groups. Stony, Treehugger, and Fluttershy stayed in the smoke room, Rainbow Dash and Applejack decided to compete in the gym with Pinkie and Rarity watching, and Shadow and Twilight went back to the newly organized Library. Twilight finally took the opportunity to ask, “This place is pretty big, how many floors are there?”

Shadow proudly answered, “Above ground, or below?”

Twilight laughed, “And you’re a prince huh? Why aren’t you back there, leading your people?” Shadow walked to his corner and jumped through the fireplace.

When he returned he was holding the picture in his tail, “I’m not the only war prince.”

He handed the photo to Twilight, “Is this the other one?”

Shadow sighed, “And people say I’m dense. That’s me.” She looked back to Shadow and stared at his head. Shadow sighed again, “We had to battle each other to see who would be next in line for the throne after… the princess died. He won, and he took my horns with him as a prize. Let me see your hoof.” He grabbed Twilight’s hoof and rubbed it on his head. She could feel two little sharp, broken, nubs on his head, “Those are what’s left of them. Since I have no immediate claim to throne, I am not considered a true prince, only a War Prince. Of course, if I said something, the people would obey, but I respect the laws of Drakonia.” Shadow could tell Twilight wondered why he was here still, so he skillfully lied, “When I received the invitation to the Summer Sun Celebration, I accepted it, wanting to get a fresh start for a while.”

This seemed to please Twilight, who began browsing his Library once more. Then Shadow’s old friend appeared next to her, “You should have killed her, you know. You should have killed them all. She destroyed your and yours’ and Khopesh’s wedding rings, and they all defended her, or did you not know that part.” Twilight turned and walked through him. “You could do it now. They are divided, weak; it would be like taking candy from a dead baby.” Shadow remained silent, making sure Twilight didn’t notice him disappear to the bottom floor.

Finally when he was alone, he addressed the figure, “Leave me be. I will not obey you this time. You can not corrupt me any further, for I know what you really are.”

The figure smiled, his mouth full of bloody razor blades instead of teeth, “What am I then, Shadow?”

Shadow whisked his tail through him, blowing him away, “A nuisance.” He returned to see Twilight staring at the picture Shadow had forgotten to put back.

He saw the sorrow on her face, “If that’s really you, this must be your wife and daughter.” Shadow approached and nodded, “If there not here, then that means,” a tear fell from her face as she finally realized what she had destroyed. She jumped up and hugged Shadow, “I'm so sorry.”

Shadow let her hug him for a bit. It was warm. “Look, Twilight, I'm telling you, forget about it. That was all a long time ago. It really would be better for me to leave all that stuff behind me, move forward and stuff. So remember what I said before and smile okay, you're a lot prettier when you smile.”

As day set to dusk, Shadow’s friends left. Stony and Treehugger had disappeared together again, but Shadow had forgotten they were even here. All he could think about were his rings. He lied when he said he wanted to forget. He placed the photo back on his desk and finally noticed the book on the ground, “Starswirl… You fool.” He placed the book back on the shelf and sighed. “Hopefully tomorrow will be an easier day to handle.” He left his study after glancing at his photo one more time. He walked to his room and looked at the photos on his wall.

The shadowy figure appeared once more, “If you aren’t going to kill them, then let me.” Shadow was getting angrier with the figure, and glared at him, “Oh how menacing, you really terrify me with your powers of.” Shadow’s eyes went red and the figure became more solid.

Before it could say anything Shadow had it pinned, with his claws on its throat, “Speak to me again without my permission, and I’ll gladly give up the power you gave me. I will enjoy ripping you into pieces. I will be the first one ever to slay an Eternal Element. Then I’ll find all your friends and do the same thing to them. Is that clear?”

The figure ground its razor blades together, “Crystal.”

Shadow pulled his claws from the creature’s throat and his eyes returned to their normal blue, “Now get out of my sight.” With that the creature vanished, and Shadow entered his messy room and retired for the night. As usual, he did not sleep, instead; he looked up at his ceiling, waiting for daybreak

Shadow began daydreaming before his silence was destroyed by the sound of Stony screaming. He turned to see Stony in his doorway, “How the fuck do you live?!” Shadow rolled out of his bed and over to the door. He raised his claws and slowly closed it. He looked at his ceiling for a while before grabbing a hoodie from a pile of clothes on the floor. It was a small, old, faded, blue hoodie. He stripped off his suit, and pulled on the hoodie. It covered most of his body, but exposed his Destiny Mark and most of his front legs. He opened his door to Stony, still in shock from the traumatic experience. Shadow walked by him, snapping Stony from his dazed and confused state, “Hey, nice ass dude.”

Shadow turned with a slight grin, “If you like it so much, you can kiss it.”

Stony chuckled, “I don’t like kissing Clyde, man.”

Shadow stopped and turned around, “Clyde? Who’s Clyde?”

Stony sighed, “Really man, Clyde. He’s German, always yelling at you, donkey Gardner.”

Shadow rubbed his chin and looked up, “I feel like I would have remembered someone like that.”

A voice yelled from outside with a thick German accent, “Fuck!”

Shadow raised one claw to the air, “Oh Clyde,” He paused and lowered that claw, “Wait. How do I know him?”

Stony walked past him, “Remember that sick as sativa. It may or may not cause short term memory loss. Don’t worry; it’s only temporary, maybe.”

Shadow eventually caught up to Stony who was having breakfast with Treehugger, “Well you got here early.” They looked at each other and giggled. After an egg and bacon breakfast, which both Stony and Treehugger grimaced at, he headed into town. He saw a large crowd of Ponies in front of what looked like a stage. Shadow was never one to sit near the back, so he crouched down and leapt over the majority of the crowd. When he landed he found himself next to his group of friends. Ponies around him fell backward or gasped at this strange creature suddenly landing next to them.

Applejack gave Shadow a stern look, “Now Shadow, what in tarnation are ya doin jumpin around an scarin Ponies like that for?”

Shadow rolled his eyes at Applejack, “I’m royalty, remember, I don’t sit in the back. That is for the common Ponies. I’m better than them.” A blue Pony with an absurd hat and cape combo took center stage. Her name was Trixie, and she, she was stunning.

She performed a small magic and firework show. Shadow loved everything about her little performance until his friends got upset with her bragging. They challenged her, and obviously failed miserably. Shadow believed they failed so horrendously because they sucked at just about everything besides being his background characters, and he thoroughly voiced this opinion. Trixie roared with triumph, “See, is there anypony who can match the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Shadow casually made his way on stage and sat down, “What are you?!”

Shadow addressed Trixie’s rudeness, “It’s ‘who are you’ not ‘what are you.’ I am Shadow, and believe I can do something that even you can not.”

Trixie laughed and gave Shadow a challenging stare, “And what might that be?”

Shadow acted like he was inspecting his claws, but looked around for Ted. Shadow spotted him in the place he was standing in the crowd. Ted nodded, and Shadow looked up, "I'll show you." With all eyes on him, he whispered, “Yoarnounmyco.” Ted whisped into Shadow. Shadow looked up, eyes turning red, and opened his mouth. Smoke bellowed out, and flames erupted from it, spiraling upward into a massive swirling tornado of flames. As Shadow closed his mouth the flames died out, and he turned cockily at Trixie.

Trixie smiled, "Seriously? Is that all I have to beat?" With a small glow from her horn a dazzling display of fireworks filled the sky. Shadow sat in awe of the beautiful explosions of flame and color filling the sky.

Trixie smiled at his response, “See, nothing can beat The Great and Powerful Trixie!” She laughed boastfully, and waved Shadow off the stage. As he fell back into place, his red eyes faded back to blue.

She continued boasting and performing for a while. If all the tales Trixie claimed she did were true, then she was indeed great and powerful. The others thought she was full of it and hated her bragging, but Shadow loved everything about her performance. “Okay, okay okay, so even if everything she said was a complete lie, she did put on an outstanding performance. Can we agree on that at least?” apparently they couldn’t. Shadow was on the wrong end of a losing battle. They couldn’t even see how good she was because they were all too focused on her being rude and braggy. Shadow believed they were all just too proud of themselves to see how great she was, and he thoroughly voiced this opinion as well. It wasn’t long till he had them all against him instead of against Trixie. “Can we please get back to the topic we were discussing, Trixie?”

Applejack’s eyes went wide, and she grew a devilish grin, “Well why are ya defendin her so hard, Shadow? Does a certain Drakonian got a li’l crush on a, what did ya call us a last week? Right, worthless Ponies?”

Shadow’s face remained straight, but his cheeks turned slightly pink, “Of course not, I am a prince of Drakonia. Not only is she a commoner, but she’s not Drakonian. How could I ever fall for such a creature? She’s nothing special.” He was lying of course. The grin spread to everyone else, except Fluttershy, who remained spineless. When he saw the Ponies walking toward him with those devilish grins, he took off, “I just remembered I left the oven on, or something.”

Stony and Treehugger were just about to go for another round before he paused and poked his head up, “I feel a disturbance in the force. Someone, who’s not us, is going to get laid within twenty-four hours.” Treehugger looked confused, “Just trust me babe, I think Shadow’s gonna have a good night.” Shadow wandered through the town, not wanting to go home. He tried his best to avoid his friends, and anyone for that matter. Every now and then he’d get stopped by a curious Pony or two, and he would have to explain that he was a Drakonian, and what a Drakonian was. Of course, when a Pony asks one question, it leads to another, and another, and another. Somehow he got caught up in some spa treatment. He couldn’t remember the events leading up to it, but now that he was here, he didn’t care. The two spa Ponies were named Aloe and Lotus, and they were good at what they did.

They gave him the full treatment, on the house! Shadow couldn’t believe it. It was so amazing, and free! All he had to do was keep coming back, and eventually bring more Drakonians with him. “Good for business I guess, have me at your spa and give it great reviews to all of my people back home, you two will eventually make a killing.” They smiled and thanked him for coming to them. As he left, Shadow looked to the sky, “It’s almost twilight, my favorite time of the day, because it’s finally over.” He roamed around Ponyville before he realized he was walking on some dirt road. He sat outside watching the blinding sun set, and the gorgeous moon rise. He watched the stars twinkle for a while. He looked around to see if anyone was nearby. He couldn’t see anyone, so he pulled of his hoodie and wing bindings, and stretched his wings. Shadow looked upward, and grinned. With one powerful thrust of his wings, he launched himself into the air with blinding speed. He flapped his wings a few more times, and flew up till it became hard to breathe. He closed his eyes and went limp. He felt the wind whipping through his hair, the moisture collecting on his wings and tail, and his body becoming completely relaxed.

He felt the wind shift slightly and burst his wings back open. When he opened his eyes he saw he was inches from the ground, and gliding above the road with tremendous speed. He started smiling and made a sharp turn into the woods. He zipped through the trees, narrowly dodging each one. He could feel himself decelerating, and prepared to land. At the first sight of a path, he turned to face it and tried landing. His foot caught something and he began tumbling down the road. He felt rocks digging into his skin as his fur and flesh being ground off by the force of his slide on the gravel path. He stood up, black blood dripping off various parts of his body, but Shadow was still smiling, “Come on out, I know you’re watching.” The shadowy figure wisped out of the darkness and into the moonlight.

He remained silent until Shadow finally gave him permission to speak, “I knew you would fly, those wings aren’t such a curse after all, huh?”

Shadow was in tremendous pain, but still smiling, “Leave me.”

The figure stared at Shadow, “No. not until you admit I was right and ask me politely.”

Shadow glared at the figure and clenched his teeth together, “It is still is a curse. I hate them with every fiber of my being. Yes I love flying, but I will never forgive the monster that gave them to me. Now, please leave me.”

The figure shook his head, “I don’t like how that sounds, ask me again, but use my name.” Shadow’s eyes turned red, but he didn’t attack him. He knew when he attacked the figure earlier, it was only humoring him.

He could destroy Shadow with the blink of his eyes, so Shadow did as it asked, “Please, The Eternal Darkness, leave me be.” The figure disappeared. With the figure gone, Shadow stretched and took off one more time. He whisked through the woods, dodging tree after tree. He saw a waterfall off in the distance, “It’s technically running water.” He blazed toward it. As he approached it he let his entire body run through it, washing away all the blood. When he opened his eyes he saw the world in slow motion. The droplets of water glistened in the moonlight.

It was the prettiest thing he had seen in a very long time. He followed the glittering light with his eyes and saw the night sky twinkling. He shot upward, eyes closed, blasting all the water away. He rose higher and higher until finally he had a hard time breathing. Again he let his body go limp, but this time when he felt the change in the wind, he did nothing. His body crashed into the ground with enough force to create a decent sized crater. He opened his eyes and saw a large rock where his stomach should be. He looked around and saw his bones shattered and ripping through his skin. He looked down to see several intestines adorning the rock. He laughed and soaked in the pain. He felt every fiber of his being screaming with pain, and all he could do was smile and laugh. He raised his broken arms and pushed against the rock. The pain was agonizingly euphoric to him. He kept pushing until he felt himself sliding away. His entire lower half had now been ripped off of him. He moaned with his pain. He put his arms down as a cloud covered the sky, he was in complete darkness, surrounded by his black blood, bone shards, and entrails, but in that darkness his pain vanished.

When Shadow opened his eyes, he was standing on the same path. There was no crater, no rocks, no blood, just him and The Eternal Darkness. All of Shadow’s wounds were gone, and he felt no more pain, “Shadow? What is your fascination with pain? I don’t understand it.” Shadow’s smile faded, he knew The Eternal Darkness had taken control at the last second, and landed safely. He used the same illusion spell Shadow used so often.

It had all been in his head, “How do we know we are truly alive, if we do not let ourselves feel pain? If we only feel joy, how do we not know we are truly already dead?” Shadow turned from him, and looked down the path. A short walk ahead of him; he saw some kind of cart. It was solid wood and didn’t look like it had anywhere for a Pony to attach itself to.

He slowly made his way over to the cart and saw a Pony glaring at a fire, “I will become stronger. I have to become stronger!”

Shadow walked over to her, now realizing it was Trixie, “Don’t you mean ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ must become stronger?” He rolled his tongue on the ‘r’ in her name.

She was so startled she almost jumped into the fire, “Who’s there?” After seeing Shadow her face returned to anger, “Have you come to mock me like the others have?” Shadow walked over and set next to the fire.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but I’m gonna comment on the whole switching from third to first person speaking. Do you only speak like a normal person when you’re pissed or something?” he let out a light-hearted chuckle which seemed to relax Trixie, “Anyway, I was just in the neighborhood and heard a damsel in distress.” He saw the small wet spots on the dirt, but pretended not to notice.

Skeptically Trixie sat to the right of him, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not a damsel in distress. She is a powerful Unicorn, a gifted Unicorn. She was in Celestia’s school for fucks sake! She is strong!”

She was huffing in rage, so Shadow tried to defuse her, “By the Eternal, calm down. Tell me what happened. I promise not to belittle you, okay?”

He saw her eyes water up, “They ruined everything. Trixie is just a joke to them now, but she’s not. She is strong, she is great, and she is powerful. Isn’t she?” she looked to Shadow, “She isn’t a failure right? She has tried so hard. Sure she couldn’t graduate from Celestia’s school because of financial reasons, but she was top of her class in her other one. So why don’t they like me?” Tears were now streaming down her face.

Shadow wrapped his wing around her and pulled her close, “Shh. No tears, okay?” She sniffled and obliged.

“I can’t answer all your questions. I don’t know these Ponies, but I can tell you a tale of my hardest time here, or rather, of here.” She looked up at him, her eyes still watery, “I was just a kid. My brother gave up his life to save me after some stupid stunt we tried pulling, and I wound up in Equestria. I thought I made friends with two Ponies, and because of them I believed every Pony was truly kind. I had even given them a special seed that had been in my family line for generations. But one night, the townsponies gathered up with torches, clubs, knives, and of course, pitchforks. They tried to kill me and the two Ponies. I, as the hero, saved the day, by killing every single one of them.” Trixie looked shocked and scared, but when Shadow looked down at her, it slowly faded into something else. Shadow wasn’t sure what it was, so he continued his story, “Anyway, the parents of the two Ponies pretty much banned me from Equestria, even though I had saved their children’s lives. We were still friends though. We wrote each other all the time, sent drawings and pictures to each other. A long time passed, and the older sister was over shadowing and neglecting her sister. Nothing I did made her realize she was about to lose her, and nothing I said to the younger one made her hatred go away. Eventually the younger sister’s hatred took control of her, changing her. She tried to end her sister, but the older sibling used a weapon that nothing could stop. My gift to them. That seed created a weapon that banished her sister to a cold and dark place.”

Shadow looked back to the sky, “She then abandoned me. That’s when I realized how truly evil Ponies are, but don’t worry, the story gets better.” He pulled Trixie closer to him and closed his eyes, “I eventually found myself forced back here, but it had changed. I had grown dark and cold, but here it was warm and bright. I met six Ponies who changed my life forever. They helped me bring the younger sister back, and I look forward to seeing her soon.” He looked down at Trixie who still had that look on her face, “The moral is this: Things will get so dark, it seems hopeless, but no matter how deep that pit of evil is, somewhere, deep down, there is a light, and when you reach that light, the whole world will shine with the beauty of a thousand suns. So keep your chin up, okay?” He looked deep into Trixie’s eyes, “If not for you, then for me. I see something great in you. So hang in there.”

They sat next to each other, feeling each other’s warmth. After what seemed like hours, Trixie stood up, “It is getting very late, Trixie thinks it is time to get out of the cold.” She headed towards her huge cart, but stopped halfway there and turned around. That look was on her face again, “Do you? Would you like? If it’s alright with you that is. Could you please?” She kept stammering, never finishing a sentence.

That’s when Shadow realized that look, “You’re right it is pretty late. It’s a long walk back to Everfree Forest. If it’s alright with you, could I stay the night?”

Trixie turned pink, “Y-yes, of course, but there’s only one bed.”

Shadow stood up, smiling, and walked past her, “I don’t mind sharing if you don’t, but watch out. I’m a cuddler.” Trixie was nearly maroon now.

He entered her cart and crawled into her bed, “Trixie does not like staying in one place for too long, so when the sun rises, she leaves.” She crawled next to Shadow and scooted closer, this time Shadow was the one turning maroon. She stared into his eyes, “Do you really believe Trixie is special?”

Shadow smiled, still blushing, “Of course I do. Oh, and I'd consider it a huge favor if you never mentioned my wings to anyone” Suddenly Trixie crawled as close to Shadow as she could, “What are you doing?”

She smiled and gave him a kiss, “Something special.”