The Sibling Guardian

Chapters

Observations
New Friends
Another Day, A Few More Bits
What's A Sleepover?
A Normal Afternoon
A Scare of Pink
The Date
Interrogations
Life Goes On
A Bad Idea
Shadow's Story

Observations

Scootaloo sighed as she came up to the schoolhouse on her trademark scooter. It looked like another boring day was ahead of her. It was the first day of the new school year and she just wished school could be finished already so she could go crusading with her friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She let out a long sigh as she thought of how boring school was going to be.

Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant and a dragon to boot, had allowed them take one of Twilight’s precious books the previous day with a pinkie promise from them to bring it back in spotless condition. The book was at least somewhat interesting, it was about cutie marks, so for her and her two crusader friends it was a given that it was a book that they would actually read.

She was still lost in thought as she settled at her desk. She glanced around and saw that she was quite early today, something that didn’t usually happen, as none of the other foals were there yet. She frowned as she looked at the teacher’s desk and thought about what to do until her friends showed up.

Miss Cheerilee was already at her desk and was sorting though some papers that Scootaloo recognized as math tests, she quietly groaned as she thought that this was a horrible way to start the new school year. As she had come through the door her teacher had looked up and nodded at her with a bright smile in greeting before going back to her paperwork.

Just as she was about to get up and go wait for her friends outside and maybe play on one of the swings to pass the time, there was a soft knock on the door.

Miss Cheerilee called out it was open and after a moment the door opened with an unfamiliar dark grey pegasus colt, maybe three years older than her, standing at the door. He looked at miss Cheerilee expectantly with two fillies, probably about two or three years younger than her, riding on his back.

She didn’t know who he was but she had seen him around town a few times in the past months though she couldn’t remember exactly when or where she had first seen him. The colt’s coat was the same shade of grey as that of the darkest storm cloud she had ever seen. What was very strange was that his mane, tail and wings were pitch black. It was very rare for a pegasus to be born with wings a different color than their coat. He was also thin, very thin, he almost looked starved but there was a subtle hint that he was well built with a strong muscle structure. She could tell he did physical work every day, as she continued to stare at him she noticed that he was very attractive and she felt a light blush coloring her cheeks. The feathers on his wings was distinct and each one shined slightly in a prismatic glow, it was very subtle though but she knew miss Cheerilee could not see it.

Only other pegasi could see the slight glow, though it was very rare. Rainbow Dash, her idol, was the only other pegasus she knew of with such a glow to her wings. Each of his feathers stood out to her and she could only stare with amazement at the colt’s wings. She also noticed something else about his wings as one of the fillies, who were clearly his sisters, fidgeted with the wing on the side that was facing her. It was so subtle that she barely made the connection. The primary bone, she couldn’t remember what it was called, that connected his wings to his body had a break in it and had not healed properly. The more she stared the more she realized that it had not been set or treated properly or perhaps at all.

Staring openly now she realized that it was barely visible and even another pegasus would most likely overlook it. She only saw it because of Rainbow Dash, she had drilled the importance of caring for one’s wings into her. She couldn’t fly yet as she was still waiting for her growth spurt, Rainbow said she was just a late bloomer but her wings would soon be the proper size. She realized that he was just as ground bound as she was but for a wholly more terrifying reason.

As she sat there in shock the colt had calmly walked up to Miss Cheerilee and greeted her with a polite, "Good morning".

She smiled kindly at the colt and cheerfully said, “Good morning. What is your name?”

The colt’s lips twitched as he shortly but respectfully replied, “My name is Shadow. Miss Cheerilee, I take it?”

She giggled at the colt’s manners and gave him a single nod while looking at the fillies and waited for them to introduce themselves. His lips twitched again as he realized she was waiting for his sisters and gently swatted each of them with his tail. The filly on his right shoulder yelped and jumped onto his head, balancing there and boldly proclaimed with a smirk that would be a fit match on Rainbow Dash.

“My name is Windy Skies!” she exclaimed.

The other filly on his back hadn't moved when he swatted her and continued to fidget with his wing as she softly said, “My name is Clear Breeze.”

Her tone was almost as soft as Fluttershy’s. Scootaloo raised her eyebrows in shock at the way the colt didn’t even so much as twitch as his sister fidgeted and pulled at the broken wing, she could not even imagine how painful that must be, but the colt looked as relaxed as though nothing was amiss. Miss Cheerilee clearly saw none of this and just smiled as she cocked her head slightly to the side.

“Hmm, this is a bit unorthodox that a colt your age is here to bring his siblings to school alone. Shouldn’t your mother or father be here for this?” she asked.

Shadow’s smile slipped for such a brief moment that Cheerilee wondered if her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her and dismissed her confusion as he replied in a completely neutral tone, “My mother is at home as usual, but she trusts me with the twins.”

Cheerilee frowned and asked. “What about your father? Does he have a reason for not being here then?”

Shadow’s smile faded and with a dark expression on his face he said, “Yes, but the herd left us a long time ago.”

It looked like he wanted to added more but he didn't as his expression changed back to calm again. Cheerilee’s eyebrows shoot skyward before she could revert to her previous expression of mild interest.

“My apologies,” she stated with utter sincerity.

Shadow merely shrugged with disinterest and kept the neutral expression on his face.

“If I may ask, why is your mother not here then?” Cheerilee asked with confusion clear on her face.

Shadow slightly frowned again, but kept the rest of his face composed and said, “Well, with her injury she never leaves the house.”

Cheerilee wanted to ask more but felt it could wait for another time so she just gave a single nod.

Cheerilee’s expression brightened as she asked the twins. “And how old are your two?”

They smiled slightly and Windy said, “We turned seven a little more than two months ago.”

Cheerilee smiled widely and let out an excited giggle. “O, how I love having a pair of twins in my class,” she said.

Shadow merely raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

Cheerilee just continued smiling and addressing the twins she said, “Very well, you two can go and sit on the two seats to the left of Scootaloo, that is the filly over there behind you, those are the last two open seats I have in the class.”

Shadow nodded at the twins and they hopped off his back and leaned close as he whispered something in their ears, they each gave him a serious nod. As he tried to give them a loving nuzzle, they grimaced in the typical way of foals not wanting to be seen given affection by their parents in public.

They trotted off towards their designated seats while Scootaloo saw a brief flash of pain in the colt’s eyes, though he gave no outward sign of disappointment. As he turned around back to Miss Cheerilee, Scootaloo was still staring at him and had to stop herself from gasping as she saw a similar break in his other wing which was about a hoof length further down the margin - that's what it was called - and just as invisible as the other one.

She also saw that his feathers were clearly not being preened on a regular basis. Rainbow Dash had taught her how important preening was for pegasi wing health and flight. This colt could clearly not fly and any movement of his wings whatsoever should come with an agonizing pain, seeing as the most nerves reside in a pegasus’ wing.

Cheerilee then fiddled around in one of her desk drawers for a few moments then brought out a sheet of paper, held it out to Shadow and said. “Please have your mother fill out this form and bring it back tomorrow. It is just the basic school forms every parent has to fill out for their foals. Since they are twins there does not need to be two forms, just make sure that both their names are on there.”

Shadow gave her a respectful nod and put the paper in his saddlebag. He looked at the twins a last time then walked out of the schoolhouse without a backward glance.

New Friends

As the rest of the class started to arrive Scootaloo was still thinking about the strange grey colt who had shown up a few minutes ago.

She jerked as one of the twins gently prodded her, Windy had asked a question she had not heard, “Huh? What? Where...” Scootaloo stammered.

The twins giggled softly and Windy repeated her question. “Which seats can we take?”

Scootaloo smiled at them and with a wave at the appropriate seats said, “The two to my left are still open.”

Windy looked at her sister and took the seat next to Scootaloo while Clear took the other one in the back-left corner of the room. She looked a little relieved that she would be mostly hidden in the back of the class, the others would have a hard time looking at her here.

Scootaloo looked closer at the two smaller pegasi and kept her squeal of excitement locked up inside before she could embarrass herself in front of the foals who had already arrived.

She could not keep the excitement out of her voice as she quietly exclaimed. "You don’t have your cutie marks yet! This is so cool! Would the two of you like to join our club and become a part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Windy and Clear frowned as they quickly looked at each other and then at Scootaloo’s cutie mark, trying to wordlessly figure out what the Cutie Mark Crusaders are. He cutie mark was a shield with a wing and a lightning bolt inside of it. That didn't help them any as they still couldn't figure out what it meant or what her talent was.

After a moment they gave up and looked back up at Scootaloo as Windy asked. “What are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

Scootaloo beamed as she began explaining the purpose of their club where they helped other colts and fillies finding and/or understanding their own cutie marks. The twins looked at her with increasing excitement the more they heard, as Scootaloo finally finished her explanation she saw her two other friends walking through the door and make their way over towards her.

The twins looked at the two approaching new ponies. One was a yellow earth pony filly with a bright red mane adorned with a huge pink bow and a long red tail. The other was a white unicorn filly with a carefully groomed, dual colored purple and pink mane and a curled tail. Both of their cutie marks were similar to Scootaloo’s as they all had the same shield. The earth pony had an apple and a heart inside her shield, while the unicorn had a star with an eighth note inside of hers.

Windy and Clear were eager to make some friends and they thought this idea of being part of the Crusaders would be fun and that maybe, just maybe, they could get their cutie marks in the process. They knew their brother would be very proud of them when they did.

They both looked at each other for a moment and nodded in unison, they smiled widely at Scootaloo.

Windy said, “Sure! We would love to be part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Scootaloo beamed at them as her friends arrived at her table and she quickly gave introductions.

“Windy Skies, Clear Breeze, this is Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom,” said Scootaloo pointing to each as she gave their names.

They each said a quiet hello and then got very excited as they heard of the idea of them being inducted into the Cutie Mark Crusaders and neither Sweetie or Apple Bloom had any objections. Miss Cheerilee called the class to attention at that moment and they wouldn’t have another chance to talk until recess came around so they all sat to begin a day of learning.

“Good morning everypony!” Cheerilee happily called to the class.

“Good morning miss Cheerilee!” the class chorused.

She smiled at her beloved students with a warm smile and said, “As you all can see we have two new faces here this year. I’m pleased to welcome two new members of our class, Windy Skies,” - Windy stood up and energetically waved her hoof at all the foals looking back at her - “and Clear Breeze.”

Clear slowly stood up and shyly waved at the class and quickly sat down again amid a few giggles. The foals all waved at the two new ponies with the exception of two earth ponies. One was a pink filly with a tiara on her head and the other was a gray filly with glasses, who seemed to be following what the pink one did.

“Now as you can see they are twins, like Pound and Pumpkin, the Cake twins. I’m sure you will all be able to tell them apart after the end of the day,” Cheerilee said as the class looked a bit skeptical.

“Now that you two have been introduced would kindly tell us where you come from?” Cheerilee asked the twins.

Windy was still standing and glanced at her sister before speaking, “We lived in Hoofington before we moved to Ponyville. We were born in another small town that I can’t remember the name of. We moved out right after we were born and have moved a few times since. We’ve never stayed in a town for more than a year.”

Cheerilee saw the unhappy expressions on both the twins but before she could say anything Windy brightened and spoke with a big smile on her face.

“But my brother said we will stay here permanently, no more moving around,” said Windy with joy on her face.

Clear also looked happy and was smiling softly. Cheerilee nodded her head and brought the foals attention back to herself as Windy sat down again.

“Now then class, the first thing we are going to do today is a bit of math. I am sure all of you have forgotten at least something over the holidays,” said Cheerilee to the foals who all groaned in unison, with the exception of the twins.

She then started to hoof over the tests she had been preparing earlier.

When she reached the twins she said, “And with you two I need to see at what level you are compared to the others so I can plan my next lessons properly.”

They nodded at her with smiles as she hoofed over their tests. When the twins finally got their papers and read through them they just frowned in slight boredom and got started. When Cheerilee returned to the front of the room she looked at her students to make sure they were all busy working.

She noticed Scootaloo was staring to her left at the twins with her jaw agape. Just as the first word left her muzzle to call Scootaloo’s attention back to her own work she looked at what had caught the filly’s attention and her own jaw dropped.

The rest of the class had looked up to Cheerilee when she started to speak and then turned around to look at what had their teacher’s jaw on the floor. The twins each held their pencils between two of the primary feathers of their right wings and were writing using their wings, instead of their mouths like the rest of the foals. They were concentrating on their work sheets so hard that they didn’t immediately notice that everypony was staring at them.

Clear felt the gazes of the rest of the class first so she looked up and froze. Windy noticed this and then looked up at the ponies in the room.

“What?” Windy exclaimed.

Clear was just sitting there and quickly hid her head behind her left wing, the right was still holding her pencil.

Windy looked at their teacher in confusion and asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just I don’t think anypony has ever used their wings to write with,” said Cheerilee.

“Who taught you how to write like that?” Scootaloo shouted.

“A traveling pegasus pony our brother introduced us to when we were still living in Hoofington. He said that he had learned how to write with his wings in his own country, where most pegasi use their wings to write. He also said it was strange that Equestrian pegasi didn’t do it as well, seeing that it is good exercises for every single pegasus, but especially for foals who can’t fly yet. It strengthens our wings and increases our wing control and precision, because moving them in such small precise movements is difficult,” Clear explained.

The class was surprised, they were not expecting such a lecture from the quiet shy pony. Cheerilee was surprised at this new information and thought it could be very beneficial for the rest of Equestria if the ponies started teaching their pegasi foals to write with their wings. However, she still needed to figure out if it was really as beneficial as they claimed and planned to ask them about it later and then get in contact with somepony from the Canterlot Education System and the Canterlot Health Services to verify this information and get more precise data so that they could maybe start to implement it.

“I assume you two also write faster than if you were to use mouth-writing?” asked Cheerilee.

The twins nodded with a smile and went back to their work sheets as the rest of the class followed suit. The few other pegasi foals in the class looked at their pencils, then at their wings and sighed in disappointment. They knew they couldn’t just switch from their mouths to their wings immediately and expect to be able to read what they wrote.

Cheerilee chuckled as she saw this and then said, “I will be talking with CES and CHS about this and see if we can implement this, but only if it is a viable option and is proven to be beneficial and not harmful. I may even bring Princess Twilight Sparkle aboard. She will enjoy testing a new way to improve the education system.”

The foals nodded and went back to their work. She smiled at them and returned to her desk to prepare for the next activity after their math tests were done.

Another Day, A Few More Bits

Shadow heaved a long sigh in the cool early morning air as the school’s door closed behind him. He shrugged his shoulders a few times to try and work out the pain from his wings. He was used to Clear fidgeting with them like she did, but the pain was always excruciating. He had struggled to hide it from them and miss Cheerilee, luckily, he had been able to keep from giving any indication to the pain.

He started walking back towards the town as he thought, in the few seconds he had spent watching the filly named Scootaloo he had seen her honest curiosity and enthusiasm for new friends. She was also kind of cute and it seemed that she would one day be a very good flier with the athletic build she had, she clearly trained daily. He wondered if she was the filly that trained with the Bearer of Loyalty.

From what he had overheard Rainbow Dash had taken a liken to a pegasus filly a few years ago and had made her an honorary sister, she had also recently started training her to fly. According to what he had heard the filly was orange but had yet to have her growth spurt. It fit with what he had seen of her in the classroom. This could be problematic he thought.

For the past four months they had stayed in Ponyville he had successfully evaded the Element Bearers and kept them away from his sisters, or rather, kept his sisters away from them.

The hardest by far to evade had been the Bearer of Laughter, she had been a serious problem as far as he was concerned. Not only did she know everypony in Ponyville but she threw regular parties and invited almost the whole town. She also seemed to just know whenever there was a new pony or family in town and gave them a welcome party. It had been absolute Tartarus to not be noticed by her and keep his sisters in the dark at the same time.

At least that had faded with time, she no longer stalked the town looking for a new pony. He had even walked past her two days ago and she hadn’t even given him a second look, just a big smile and a happy “Hi!” and bounced on her way. She was no longer the biggest problem for him and his sisters, that honor was now reserved for the resident princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle was a big problem, as soon as she found out about the conditions of their home it was all over. He had heard she was very nice and friendly - he believed it - but that would not change a damn thing.

Some of the other younger foals walked past him, with a few curious looks, as they went to school but he barely paid any attention to them. As he thought about the new friend his sisters seemed to already have, he almost walked into a tree. He shook his head as he simply adjusted his path a small bit and walked around the tree. He knew he could not interfere if Scootaloo really was the honorary sister of the Bearer of Loyalty.

He knew his sisters would say nothing of their home life that would get them all in trouble but that did not really ease the worry in his chest. He stopped walking and tried to take a deep breath to calm down and relax. He had forgotten about his bruised ribs as he stopped due to the pain and had force himself to not start coughing. As he almost choked, he forced his worry for discovery down and when he could resume his shallow breathing, he pushed it all away and slowly drew as deep a breath he could without hurting his ribs any more. He chose to not focus on the worry, what will happen will happen, he thought.

For the first time his sisters would have friends and would be able to play with other foals their age. If they were discovered it would not be so bad. He knew Foal Services would try to keep any foals in the same town or city if they had friends there and it didn’t negatively impact their lives. So as long as they were happy here, they would be able to stay and they would be safe. He knew he would be taken away - but that was fine - as long as they were cared for, happy and safe.

His leg almost buckled as he stepped on a loose rock in the road. The lingering pain in his right back leg was still there after three days and he had to be careful that he did not limp. Ponies would notice if a colt his age limped everywhere. He was barely able to keep his on hooves with nothing more that a light stumble and quickly upped his pace to get to his shift at the hardware store.

As he was still a foal - even if he was one who had already earned his cutie mark - at only thirteen he could not yet work at a shop or other business full time. He also could not get an apprenticeship anywhere because of his cutie mark. He wanted to apply for the guard but he was still too young, so he had no choice but to take a few part-time jobs.

He walked into the store and saw the owner by the entrance. Torque Wrench, an older and irritable earth pony, clicked his tongue with a bit of annoyance and said, “You’re almost late.” A stallion of few words as usual Shadow thought. Shadow bowed his head in respect and replied, “My apologies sir, I had to drop my sisters off at school.” The stallion merely looked at him with sharp intelligent eyes, gave a low hum and a single nod of approval.

As Shadow stepped past the counter the stallion jerked his head to a few items lying on the counter. Shadow understood this message and gathered the small box of nails and hammer on the counter and proceeded around the store to put away all the items ponies did not put back on the correct selves.

As he worked, he thought of all the meager jobs he had to do around town just to put food on their table. He only worked in the hardware store every three days and it was always the morning shift. His other day job was washing dishes everyday just before the lunch hour. He would go to the Hayseed restaurant and wash the dishes they had used in the morning, for some reason it was a very popular place for breakfast. These two jobs were the easy ones, the days he didn’t work at the hardware store he was at the saw mill for morning shift. The miller - Sea Saw - an earth pony mare was a lot more pleasant to be around, but she was also a bit invasive. Questions upon questions she would ask while they worked. He had a hard time deflecting her more personal questions.

It was hard physical work to cut the logs she dragged in from the edge of the Everfree. Not all the logs could be sawed the same length, but he had about three months experience now working for her so he knew when to cut what logs to the right lengths and who they had to go to. He even sometimes delivered the cut logs to some regular customers. The wagon she had for deliveries was the same one she used to haul the logs to her mill. It was an old heavy solid oak wagon that was difficult to pull. With the weight of the logs he carted as well it was a struggle, especially since he wasn't very strong physically. He was glad it was a saw mill and not a grain mill though. Those mills were dangerous and he didn’t want to lose a hoof in one of the grindstones. He much preferred to work with Torque Wrench when it came down to it. The irritable stallion was normally quiet and liked to work in silence and never asked questions.

His last job was the one he hated the most, but it also paid the most, he worked as a farmhand from after lunch to the end of the day on some of the smaller farms around town. Primarily he was on Carrot Top’s farm, it was backbreaking work, picking carrots and a few other vegetables. He was always sore and his wings ached worse after a half day of picking. He had no idea what sorcery Carrot Top worked to grow her crops so fast, but there was always more work to do. At least he didn’t have to go to the market to get fruit and vegetables. He normally made his deals with Carrot Top, she was in the market every second day to sell her produce. She bought her apples from - Applejack - the Bearer of Honesty or her brother and Shadow usually made a deal with Carrot on the stuff she brought back. Sweet Apple Acres apples was both of his sisters’ favorite fruit and he made sure to get them each a fresh one every day.

The only problem with these part-time jobs was that they just didn’t pay enough. They still didn’t have enough bits for full meals for all three of them every day. He made sure his sisters were fed properly, but he only ate every second day, sometimes only every third day. He could not even remember the last time he had had a full stomach, he was well used to the hunger pains, but he kept it well hidden from his sisters and everypony else. He had become used to the reduced stamina and weight loss that came with not eating, but that sick gnawing pain was always there. It complements the pain in my wings nicely he thought with a dark chuckle.

He always tried to stay as far away from the market as he could. Not only because it was an easy way for him to get spotted by Pinkie Pie but most of the Bearers were around there on most days, either in the market itself or in one of the restaurants around the market spending time together. He had to avoid them for as long as it was possible. He knew it was a problem now that his sisters were supposedly friends with one of the Bearers sisters, but so far it was only one of them and it would still be possible not to attract attention if he was careful.

Two years, just two more years he thought.

What's A Sleepover?

As Scootaloo and her friends left the school house they saw some of their classmate’s parents or siblings waiting for them which included Rarity and Applejack standing under the shade of a nearby tree exchanging gossip. Rainbow Dash was also hovering next to them but not looking very interested in what was being discussed.

Scootaloo rushed over and jumped as high as she could with her wings buzzing and glomped Rainbow Dash’s fuzzy chest. She always loved it when she hugged Rainbow or when Rainbow hugged her. Rainbow's fur was always so soft, the only other pony she knew such soft fur was Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl was technically her mom by adoption, but she had always been more of a big sister.

“Hi Rainbow!” she exclaimed, hugging her as tightly as she could.

Rainbow Dash merely chuckled and squeezed the filly in a loving embrace.

“Hey squirt. How was school?” she asked.

Scootaloo wrinkled her nose, stuck out her tongue in distaste and said, “It was so boring. It was only the first day of the new year, we never do much the first few days. But we always seem to do math first.”

Rainbow just started laughing.

Her friends had trotted over in the meantime and gave their respective sisters a greeting and a hug. The twins were standing a bit to the side with identical expressions of awe on their faces. They probably didn’t expect to see even one Element Bearer but now there were three just standing there casually outside their school. Even more jaw-dropping was that their new friends seemed to be their sisters.

Scootaloo wanted to burst out with laughter but her attention was drawn back to Rainbow Dash as she put her down on her own hooves. She looked up at Rainbow Dash with a pout. Rainbow only smirked and gave her a quick wink.

She understood this for what it was, Rainbow didn’t have a problem carrying her but she wanted to maintain her image of coolness in front of everypony. She knew that if they were alone Rainbow would have put her on her back and gone for a quick flight.

The twins were still standing a bit off to the side, they looked as if they wanted to come over and talk but were still a bit shy. Clear Breeze looked a little like Fluttershy did when she tried to hide in her mane.

Scootaloo stifled another laugh at that and waved them over. They hesitantly came closer and waited with bated breath as the three mares looked them over. Applejack smiled at them while Rainbow Dash looked at them critically with an experienced flyers eye, probably trying to determine how well they could fly.

Rarity on the other hoof gasped and exclaimed. “O darlings! You must allow me to design you both a dress.”

The two young fillies both backed up a step and glanced at each other as this strange mare walked around them talking to herself about cut and colors.

Rarity was off in her own world as she walked around the twins and continued to mutter. She was broken out of train of thought when Rainbow Dash laughed loudly holding her stomach. Applejack was holding a hoof to her mouth trying to keep from laughing at the look on the twins faces.

“Don’t mind my sister you two,” said Sweetie Belle. “She does this kind of thing a lot.”

The twins both had expressions of relief on their faces.

“O my gosh darlings! I am so terribly sorry, but I had an idea!” Rarity sang the last word.

She looked at their light purple coats, two tone light green manes and tails again and said, “Please forgive me for my outburst, but I really want to fit you both for a dress. Your mane, tail and coat colors will work perfectly with my latest design.”

“Now just hold on a minute sugercube,” said Applejack. “Ah know ya get mighty excited about them ideas for new designs and stuff, but ya don’t even know their names yet.”

“O my gosh Applejack you're right. How could I be so thoughtless,” Rarity exclaimed. “What are your names darlings?”

The twins glanced at each other and looked back at Rarity.

“I’m Windy Skies!” The filly on the left loudly proclaimed with confidence.

“My name is Clear Breeze,” the filly on the right said with a soft tone.

Rarity almost had to strain her ears to hear the quiet tone of Clear. All of them were reminded of Fluttershy when she spoke.

Scootaloo jumped between the twins and put a wing over both of their backs.

“They are new ponies in school this year and they are already our new friends. We also made them Cutie Mark Crusaders and we will help them find their cutie marks!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

Applejack and Rarity smiled with a bit of trepidation as visions of the disasters of numerous crusades flashed through their minds. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof belted out her rough laugh again and had to wipe a tear from her eye.

“This is gonna be so awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “They are gonna wreck so much stuff again.”

Rainbow was chortling while the Crusaders looked embarrassed as they thought back on all the bad things they had done accidentally over the years. They didn't mean to break things or get a few ponies hurt, it just happened.

Rarity raised her nose a bit at Rainbow’s cavalier attitude, sniffed and said, “I hope you girls have learned your lesson after all the things you had done to the ponies and town.”

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle all looked at the ground and sheepishly scuffed their hooves along the ground.

They spoke in unison, “Yes Rarity.”

“Hmm…” Rarity said with narrowed eyes.

Light hoof-steps drew their attention towards the path leading towards town as a dark grey colored pegasus colt walked towards them. The twin’s eyes lit up and they rushed at him. Clear jumped onto his back and settled down there nuzzling and hiding her head in his black mane. Windy simply glomped his chest and hugged him with her forelegs reaching around his neck as far as they could go.

Shadow simply smiled and gave windy a neck hug. He then lifted his head and turned it slightly towards his back while lifting a shoulder and giving Clear a light hug as she was still on his back.

The three grown mares gave a gentle smile at this touching scene while the Crusaders lightly giggled. The twins heard the giggling and immediately jumped off and away from Shadow with identical blushes on their faces.

“And who might this handsome young colt be?” Rarity asked the twins.

“This is our brother, Shadow,” replied Windy.

O crap! Three Element Bearers! What happened?

“How was your first day of school?” asked Shadow.

His tone was soft but they could all hear his voice clearly. He was extremely nervous and even afraid, but he hid it well. Considering that there were three Element Bearers currently looking at him and his sisters he felt it was a reasonable reaction.

“It was okay, I guess. We didn’t do much, just a bit of math. That was easy enough though.” said Clear Breeze.

Shadow nodded and stroked his sister's mane with his muzzle with a hum.

He looked up and saw the cute orange pegasus filly he had seen with the twins that morning standing next to the one and only Rainbow Dash.

So, I was right about her. But now there are two others as well. Looks like all three of them are sisters of the Bearers. Damn! This is getting complicated fast. I hope I can stave their curiosity and attention off for long enough. But if not, no big loss, it seems that Windy and Clear will be fine if everything were to come out right now. Whatever comes, I sure as Tartarus will try to stay with them for as long as possible.

As his attention was drawn back to the orange filly, he could see her giving him a curious look every few seconds. He saw that Rainbow Dash had seen this and was smirking at the little filly. He suddenly realized that it was not curiosity but attraction.

She likes me? How? We had only seen each once before. Wait a minute. It’s probably only a crush. Hmm… interesting, but could cause even more problems in the near future. However, I’m going to go along with whatever happens and let the chips fall where they may. I know my sisters berate me for not having any friends. They will probably tease me everyday for this but l don’t care. I am already so alone. Maybe, just maybe something good can come from this.

As he was talking to himself Scootaloo was looking at him every few seconds. She was trying not to stare at him and make it obvious to the others that she had a crush on him.

Rainbow Dash saw this easily as she knew the filly very well and snickered softly so that only Scootaloo heard her. Mortified and blushing she looked up her hovering idol and big sister.

Rainbow Dash lost her composure at the look of horror on Scootaloo’s face and dropped to the ground, landing on her back and laughing boisterously with her legs and hooves kicking in the air.

“What’s so funny Rainbow?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow Dash righted herself after a few more laughs and was about to reply but looked down at her little sister to see her begging her not to say anything. Scootaloo was giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen, her lip was even quivering.

“Ugh, fine… please just stop with those eyes.” she whispered to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo perked up again and gave Rainbow Dash a loving nuzzle.

“It was nothing Applejack,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack raised an eyebrow but let it go. Everypony was looking on in confusion as Scootaloo glanced at Shadow with embarrassment again. He was looking at her, her eyes went wide as she saw the look in his eyes. He knew! He knew she was looking at him before. He gave her a slow exaggerated wink. Her mouth fell open and the brightest blush she had ever had erupted on her face and even her ears and neck turned red, it made her look more like a tomato than a pony.

All of the ponies in their little group saw this and broke out in loud laughter. The only two who were not laughing were Scootaloo and Shadow. Her blush was slowly fading as anger took over in her heart.

She then saw him give her a small genuine smile. She realized he was not being malicious and really meant that wink.

Her blush broke out in full again as the rising anger was replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest. She was a bit confused as to what this feeling was. She looked up at Rainbow and opened her mouth to ask but snapped her muzzle shut again as she realized that she had forgotten there were other ponies around.

She knew she could not ask her sister about this here, she had to wait until they were alone. This was actually not that bad a thing as she remembered that they had had a flight training session scheduled after school. She resolved to ask Rainbow about it then.

The tension was broken as Sweetie Belle gave a sharp gasp.

“Rarity, can they come for the sleepover too? Please!” Sweetie Belle asked her sister as she gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes she could.

Rarity sighed as she thought about the dreaded sleepover the Crusaders had been begging her to host for the past month.

“O alright! If they get permission from their parents then it won’t be a problem,” Said Rarity.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Sleepover Yay!” the three Crusaders squealed in unison.

The twins frowned at each other for a moment but none of the others noticed.

“What’s a sleepover?” Clear asked her sister quietly.

Windy just shrugged with a confused look on her face. But they seemed eager to spend more time with their new friends, so they would go along with whatever the hay a sleepover was.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at the twins with expressions of hope. They really wanted their new friends to come. They knew they could use this sleepover as a means to try and find the twin’s cutie marks.

Rarity and Applejack glanced at each other and frowned as both of the twins turned to their brother and just stared at him with pleading eyes. Why would they ask their brother and not their parents for permission and how did a colt only a few years older then them have the right to decide that for them? The colt kept looking at them for a few more moments before he transferred his eyes to Rarity and narrowing them slightly as if he was appraising her. Rarity looked a bit affronted at the bold gaze of a colt looking at her like that, but kept her composure and lifted her head a little higher as if she was a true upper-class Canterlot mare. Applejack and Rarity could see the colt considering and Rarity sighed softly with relief as he looked back at the twins and gave a small nod of assent.

The twins squealed and gave him a big hug, he merely smiled down at them lovingly and turned his gaze upon Rarity.

“Will you be providing them with dinner Lady Rarity?” asked Shadow.

They could all clearly hear him as he spoke in the same soft voice as before, even though there were still a few other parents with foals making noise in the background.

“But of course, darling!” exclaimed Rarity.

Shadow nodded and asked, “What time should I deliver them to the boutique Lady Rarity?”

“My my, what manners. Anytime after six, darling,” replied Rarity with a bright smile.

Shadow gave her a respectful bow of his head and a smile, then tilted his head back towards the town at his sisters and started walking. His sisters waved at the gathered ponies and followed their brother.

After they were gone from sight Scootaloo realized that she had forgotten something. She had wanted to quietly tell Rainbow about her suspicions that his wings were broken. She wanted to see if she was right and try to figure out why he would walk around with that kind of pain every day. But it had completely gone out of her head as soon as she had seen him. She didn't even think Rainbow had noticed his wings at all.

She had not even inspected his wings as she had with the twins. Why would she not do that? She does it with every other pegasus she sees. It's like she couldn't even see he had wings.

“Did you see his cutie mark?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Her two crusader friends looked at her then back at the path to town that Shadow and his sisters had taken.

That’s two things I forgot. Scootaloo thought, her eyes widened as she realized that she had not even once so much as looked at what his cutie mark was.

“It was just a plain old silver shield,” said Apple Bloom.

“I know, but aren’t you curious how he got it?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Not really, but it could be an interesting story,” replied Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo didn’t say anything to her friends but she knew she would like to know how he got his cutie mark.

Two of the three Element Bearers walked away with their respective sisters. The third one flew.

Scootaloo was riding on Rainbow Dash’s back as they flew to the park for their training session. She had quite a few questions to ask her big sister.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle walked sedately to the boutique. Rarity had a few more dresses to modify for clients and Sweetie had homework.

Applejack and Apple Bloom walked back to Sweet Apple Acres for their work and chores/homework respectively.

Applejack had had a funny feeling about the colt and had kept her eyes on him as he and his sisters left. She had seen a flash of something in his eyes, when he had first looked at him. It only lasted for a brief moment before it was gone. But she knew she had seen something strange.

She vowed to keep a very close eye on him as she felt that he was hiding something. She didn’t know what is was but she was going to find out.

A Normal Afternoon

“So tell me squirt, do you like him?” asked Rainbow Dash.

It was a clear, warm spring afternoon with a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves in the park. It was perfect weather for flying practice and Rainbow and Scootaloo had been training hard for over an hour now. Rainbow had finally decided on a break and Scootaloo was laying on the ground panting.

“Well yeah, a bit, but I haven’t met or even talked to him yet. I only got to know his sisters and they haven’t really said anything about him,” said Scootaloo.

“So? You going to ask him out on a date and find out if you like him?” Rainbow asked with a smirk.

“Rainbow!” Scootaloo exclaimed with a long whine. “Do you really think I should? Isn’t that part of all that mushy stuff?”

Rainbow held her sides as she chortled while still hovering a few hooves above the ground.

“Nah squirt, dating and love isn’t mushy. Well, as long as you don’t act like Bic Mac and Cheerilee did when you and your friends gave them that love poison. That was one of the funniest pranks ever!” exclaimed Rainbow while laughing even harder as she remembered that day.

Scootaloo had a mortified expression on her face and blushed hard from the embarrassment. She buried her head under her forehooves as she was reminded of that day and the trouble they were in afterwards. Rainbow landed and started pounding on the ground with her hooves as she saw Scootaloo’s face. She even had tears coming out of her eyes from all the laughing.

“Ah squirt, that made my day.” Rainbow said with a last chuckle.

Scootaloo just grumbled and stood up shaking out her small wings. Every single one of her wing muscles were aching, luckily, they didn’t hurt as bad as the first few days when Rainbow had started working her on training.

“Time for cool down stretches squirt,” said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo nodded as she followed Rainbow’s example and stretched her wings to get the lingering soreness out of them.

“Why are we training when my wings are still too small for flight?” asked Scootaloo.

Rainbow smirked and said, “Remember squirt, the sooner you work on your wing strength and learn wing positions, the sooner you will be able to fly. It’s especially important for you, since you haven’t had your last growth spurt yet. Trust me, it’s gonna hurt like Tartarus for a few days and afterwards you are going to thank me for all this. You will be able to start flying sooner with this training. Tomorrow we are going to work on wing positions. That will also be a tremendous help after your wings are ready.”

Scootaloo’s mouth hung open as she had never heard Rainbow say so mush in such a short time.

“What? You think just because I’m not an egghead I don’t know a lot about flying? I am the best flier in Equestria, of course I know all this stuff,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I guess you’re right, I just wish I could fly already. It’s been hard you know,” said Scootaloo while looking at the ground.

Rainbow walked over and started stroking Scootaloo’s mane.

“I know sis. Me, Vinyl and Octi talked about it a few weeks ago. It seems they’re glad we are so close, they feel like they have been leaving out something important to you that they couldn’t give,” said Rainbow Dash with genuine affection.

Scootaloo smiled up at her big sis and leaned into the hoof.

“It’s ok Rainbow, I’m getting flight training from you and I couldn’t be happier about it,” said Scootaloo.

Rainbow smiled down at her with sisterly love and pulled her into a tight hug. Scootaloo melted into the hug and a few happy tears came out of her eyes. I am extremely lucky that I have such an awesome big sister. She is somepony who will ALWAYS be there for me when I need her.

Rainbow Dash let her go after a few seconds and cleared her throat a few times while looking up at the sky. She knew her big sis also had tears in her eyes and just smiled at the thought that she cared so much about her.

“Anyway, how are Vinyl and Octi doing? Have they found a stallion to court yet?” Rainbow Dash asked with a wry grin.

“Nah not yet. They have been dating since before Vinyl took me in. I actually overheard them talking to Lyra and Bon-Bon about it the other day. They were talking about maybe merging, but Lyra and Bon-Bon also don’t have a stallion yet. I guess it’s kinda hard when there are so few stallions in Ponyville,” said Scootaloo.

They both laid down on the cool grass and relaxed as they talked. The soft breeze was helping Scootaloo’s wings to recover a bit faster as she felt the wind ruffling her feathers.

“Yeah I can see that being a problem. You think Octi wants foals of her own?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo looked a bit sad when she said, “Yeah, she, Lyra and Bon-Bon all want foals. Vinyl is still on the fence about it but she will probably also want one of her own when they actually find a stallion.”

“Hey! Vinyl considers you her daughter squirt, don’t forget that,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I know, but she has always been more of a sister than a mom. Octavia’s been my mom for the most part, but she is not my real mom. No matter how much she acts like it. I respect her like a mom and I really love her for it but it’s just not the same,” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah. But always remember, you have an awesome pony like me as your sister who will never leave you hanging,” Rainbow Dash said with a wink.

“I know Rainbow!” Scootaloo exclaimed with a large smile.

Shadow smiled gently as he walked down the road on his way to Carrot Top’s farm, his sisters trotting alongside him, happily chattering about their first day of school and the friends they had made. He looked at them with a fond smile and thought that they have never looked happier. Not even when he had given them coloring books and pencils for their last birthday. It had cost him two days of hunger but the looks on their faces were well worth it when they saw it.

It was smiles and happiness like that that made it all worth it.

The day was warm and the air fresh as they made their way down the dirt path towards the outskirts of town were most of the farms were located. When they arrived at Carrot Top’s farm the mare already busy walking through her numerous lines of carrots.

So, it's gonna be carrots today again Shadow thought with an amused sigh.

The twins waved at Carrot Top when she saw them and made their way towards a big tree close to the farm house and sat on the bench beneath it. They pulled out their homework, laid it on the table and were about to start. Shadow stopped next to them and hoofed Clear a sheet of paper that she recognized as the school form that Cheerilee gave him that morning.

“Remember the address?” Shadow asked quietly.

Clear nodded and said, “Yup, I remember big bro. I’ll do this before our homework.”

He just nodded to her and gave her a smile of thanks. She returned his smile and got started on the form.

Carrot Top had come over while he gave her the form and asked, “They finally going to school then?”

Shadow nodded and said, “Yeah, today was their first day. It seems like they enjoyed it a lot.”

Carrot nodded thoughtfully and was silent for a few seconds as they walked back towards the rows of carrots.

“So, they are not going to be a menace on my farm today again?” asked Carrot Top.

“I don’t think so. They have homework to do. Having said that I don’t know how long they will be busy. They normally are bored and play to pass the time. It’s not like they go out of their way or mean to make a mess of things,” said Shadow.

Carrot Top merely snorted in amusement and waved a hoof at the rows of carrots, she turned to get her saddlebags off the fence that kept the path between her carrots and her other vegetables clear and slung it over her back and started walking towards Ponyville so she could get to the market.

Shadow was long used to her antics and merely started working.

It was just after six when Shadow and his sisters made their way into Ponyville, it had been another hard day of work on the farm and he was tired. Their destination was Carousel Boutique and Shadow was a bit nervous again. The Bearers still unnerved him, but at least he hasn’t met Princess Twilight or the pink one yet. Those two scared him the most, he knew they both were very perceptive in their own way and each spelled trouble for him.

His sisters were bouncing around like he had never seen before. They were clearly ecstatic about the sleepover tonight. He stopped them a few hooves from the door of Carousel Boutique.

“Now girls remember, this is Lady Rarity’s home. Do not make a mess or irritate her. Be respectful, mind your manners and listen to her when she speaks to you or asks you to do something,” said Shadow.

They both nodded solemnly and he gave him a small smile.

“One last thing…” he paused here and they got a bit nervous, “Have fun!” exclaimed Shadow.

“Sure thing big bro!” they exclaimed in unison.

He smiled at them and walked the last few hooves and knocked on the door. The door opened almost immediately, in the doorway stood Applejack with a slight smirk on her face. Shadow quickly controlled his expression but it was not fast enough for Applejack to miss the panic he showed for a second.

He was silent for a few heartbeats then regained control of his voice.

“Good afternoon miss Applejack,” Shadow respectfully said with a small bow of his head.

“Now sugercube, none ah this miss business. Just call me Applejack,” she said with a genuine smile.

Shadow gave her a small uncertain smile and a nod. At that moment the three Crusaders appeared in the doorway next to Applejack.

“You’re here!” All three of them shouted in unison.

They pulled the twins inside and started babbling while Applejack just chuckled and held the door open for Shadow to enter. He did so with a nod in thanks and saw that Applejack was not the only Bearer in the room. Rainbow Dash was hovering a few hooves above the ground and was talking to Rarity and a beautiful yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. She was sitting on a red couch with Rarity. There was still a space left open where Applejack had obviously been sitting before she answered the door.

As Applejack closed the door the attention of the room was drawn to the Crusaders and the twins as both Rainbow Dash and Rarity stood up and made their way over. Shadow recognized the yellow pegasus as Fluttershy, the Bearer of Kindness. Four Bearers! This is getting ridiculous, if this keeps up I am going to be surrounded by all six Bearers tomorrow or the day after. Okay, just deep breaths. Just keep calm and nothing will happen. He repeated in his head a few times as he struggled to keep his composure. Both of his wings flared with a sharp spike of pain as he tensed as they came closer. He forced himself to relax and the pain receded to the dull throbbing he was used to.

“Lady Rarity, Miss Rainbow Dash, Miss Fluttershy,” Shadow greeted politely, he gave them a bow of his head as well.

Rarity tittered behind a hoof at his manners while Rainbow scowled. Fluttershy just smiled softly and hid in her mane.

“Just Rainbow squirt, don’t call me miss. Makes me feel old,” said Rainbow Dash.

Shadow was about to reply but Fluttershy softly said, “You can just call me Fluttershy, if that’s alright with you.”

Shadow gave them a nod and said, “As you wish.”

Rarity said nothing seeing as she quite enjoyed it when he called her lady. She looked over at the five fillies and gave a shudder as she hoped that her boutique would still be standing the next day. Her attention was brought back to Shadow as her spoke to her.

“Lady Rarity, I just want to confirm the plans for tomorrow morning. Will you be escorting the fillies to school or do I need to come by early to pick up my sisters? Also, will you provide breakfast for them or should I prepare something beforehoof?”

Rarity smiled at him and said, “You need not worry darling, I will provide them both with dinner tonight and a healthy breakfast and lunch for school. I will also escort all five of the girls to school tomorrow morning.”

Shadow smiled at her and gave her another small head bow.

“Thank you, Lady Rarity, your generosity is truly appreciated,” Shadow said with a small knowing smirk.

Rarity smirked right back and reached out to stroke his mane. Unfortunately for him all four of the Bearers noticed his small flinch. He stood completely still and allowed Rarity to stroke his mane but Applejack and Fluttershy noticed the tension in his stance. It was like he was expecting and was ready for pain instead of affection.

The five Crusaders saw none of this and were still happily talking to each other about all the things they could do tonight to help the twins get their cutie marks.

After stroking his mane a few times Rarity strode over to the girls to try and get rid of the sudden tension between the older mares and the young colt.

“Now now girls remember, it’s a school night so you can’t go to bed too late. Is all of your homework completed?” asked Rarity.

The five fillies all nodded. Rarity gave a single nod and a hum of approval and turned around to walk back to her friends. Shadow chose this time to get out of there as fast as possible.

“Lady Rarity, I am very grateful to you that my sisters can spend the night here with their friends. I will be on my way and get out of your manes,” said Shadow.

Rarity and Applejack both had small frowns on their faces after he was done talking. He saw non of this though as he had already turned and walked over to the twins and leaned down and gave them both a nuzzle.

“Now you listen to miss Rarity and behave. Also remember to give miss Cheerilee that form. Have fun.” Shadow said in a serious voice but still with a smile on his face.

They both nodded and in unison said, “Yes big bro.”

He nodded to them and saw Scootaloo standing next to them looking at him with curiosity in her eyes. He gave her a genuine smile and inclined his head in a respectful bow. Scootaloo blushed again, even as she smiled at him and gave him a nod of her own head.

Shadow smiled at her one last time and walked over to the door and closed it behind him.

The five fillies immediately stared talking again while Scootaloo stared at the door for a few more seconds before her attention was drawn to Apple Bloom who was trying to tease her for having a crush.

Applejack was standing with all three of her friends who were still looking at the door in concern.

“There is something off about that there colt. Do ya girls agree?” asked Applejack.

She kept her voice low so the fillies couldn’t hear. Rarity and Fluttershy both nodded in concern while Rainbow scoffed.

“But it’s not really any of our business,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Hmm, perhaps you are right darling,” said Rarity.

Applejack was not convinced but kept her opinions to herself.

Shadow was almost home, he hoped his flinch and the tension wasn’t too obvious to the four Bearers. If it was, he just hoped they thought it was something totally unrelated to his situation. He didn’t want to say goodbye to his sisters yet. For the first time ever, they were truly happy and he really didn’t want that to change.

His home came into view, the one-story house was in the older part of town and it was a bit rundown. Nothing too obvious, other ponies didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary was going on there. The garden was none existent but luckily it wasn’t that odd for a family consisting only of pegasi.

He hated, truly hated this house with a passion. Not so much the building itself but he hated what was in it. If there was any other way, he would have slept outside that night – even in the rain that was scheduled if he had to, just as long as he wasn’t in there – seeing as the twins weren’t there, but he knew he couldn’t.

He made his way into the building and to the small dilapidated kitchen and made himself a rare meal with the few things he gotten from Carrot Top that afternoon when she had returned from the market. He pulled out a single apple and two carrots from his saddlebags.

He ate slowly, savoring the food. It was rare that he had so much he could eat in one meal. Normally he ate this much food in two or three days. He knew he actually needed to eat more, there just wasn’t enough for all three of them for proper meals.

When he had finished his food, he made his way to the room he shared with his sisters. The small single bed’s sheets were still messy from this morning. His thin small blanket serving as his bedroll was on the floor to the side of the bed. He made his way to the bed and slowly climbed up and relaxed for the first time since that morning.

He looked at the small desk on the other side of the room. It only had a single chair that his sisters had to share if they were busy on the desk. His sister's coloring books were there along with their coloring pencils scattered about the desk. They truly loved those books and he loved seeing their genuine smile when he complimented them when they had finished with a picture.

He gave a long sigh as he tried to get comfortable on the small bed. Sadly, it was not to be as he heard an ominous stomping, snorting and growling coming through the walls of the living room. He grit his teeth as the noise became louder and the growling increased.

He frowned, it was still early and the sun had barely set. Suddenly he was very grateful that the twins were not here tonight. They would still have been awake at this time.

He jumped down from the bed and made his way out into the short hallway. He stopped in front of the door that lead to the living room. He just looked at it for a few seconds as the noise also reached the other side of the door. There was silence for a few seconds but it was soon interrupted.

Suddenly the door shook and rattled in it's frame from the force as it was hit hard. He didn’t so much as flinch, the door shook with another harder impact. He grimaced as he unlocked the door, he then yanked the door open with a growl and charged through into the dark room beyond.

A Scare of Pink

Shadow was trying not to limp as he slowly made his way to the school house. His body was protesting every movement he made. That mare had really done a number on him last night. His left eye would have been blue if his coat was another color, thankful that his coat was a dark grey so his eye was only a slightly darker grey than normal. Most ponies would not notice something small like that.

His right side was aching with every breath he took. He was glad his ribs weren’t broken. She had bucked him hard enough that they could have punctured a lung. He was lucky that he wasn’t coughing up blood.

His right hind leg had taken the worst injury though. She had stomped down on his leg after she had bucked him in the ribs, he had flown into a wall from her buck. His leg had not been broken but it had hurt like Tartarus to pop his cannon bone back into place.

She still had a lot of power in those legs of her, even if she hadn’t really done anything in years. She was a very fit and strong mare in her glory days and it didn’t seem that she had lost much muscle since she started hitting the bottle.

A cool breeze gently ruffled his mane as he stopped and closed his eyes. He lifted his head a bit to try and forget his pain and focus solely on the wind. It only partially worked as he started to long for the feeling of freedom that all pegasi got from flight. He had never flown or been flown before, he also knew he wouldn’t ever be able to fly. His wings had been broken in the first year he was thrown out and living with that mare.

He had lived with the pain for five and a half years already. Way too much time for his wings to be fixed, even if he went to the hospital right now, he knew that it would be the worst thing he could do to his sisters. He had no choice but to continue on the path he was on. It was clearly the lesser of two evils.

His musing came to an end when he felt the breeze stop. He opened his eyes and started to slowly walk towards the school again. He was not looking forward to washing dishes at the restaurant this afternoon. He just hoped his sisters had made plans to play with their friends this afternoon. Them playing would make it a lot easier to hide his injuries from them.

He stopped under the same tree that he had stood under the previous day to wait for his sisters.

At that same moment the school door burst open with a horde of laughing foals rushing out. His sisters were a part of the small crowd of foals and immediately made their way over to him. The three Crusaders were with them as well, they all made their way over to him. He saw Scootaloo had a small blush on her face as they came closer. She was clearly trying to not look at him, but she couldn’t keep it up for long.

Her friend Apple Bloom nudged her and whispered something to her with a giggle. The twins suddenly got huge grins on their faces as they watched expectantly. Scootaloo sighed and finally looked up into Shadow’s eyes. Her muzzle turned completely red as she scuffed a hoof on the ground.

“Hi,” whispered Scootaloo.

It was so soft he almost missed that she spoke at all. This time Sweetie Belle nudged her.

Scootaloo flinched slightly and cleared her throat.

“Hi. I don’t think we have been introduced yet. My name is Scootaloo,” said Scootaloo.

She shyly held out her hoof for a bump.

He gave her a small genuine smile and hooked his hoof under hers and gently lifted it while bowing his own head to give her hoof a kiss like a proper gentlecolt should.

“My name is Shadow. It’s nice to finally meet you in pony,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo sputtered with a red face as she tried and failed to speak. The faces of her two best friends each broke out in identical blushes as they saw this. They immediately started whispering together excitedly.

The twins on the other hoof, broke down into giggles as they saw Scootaloo’s face. They had clearly been waiting for this moment since this morning. He was suddenly glad that he didn’t get embarrassed by ponies showing emotions. He had dealt with a lot of pain and abuse for most of his life. When something like this happened, he just enjoyed the happiness and excitement those situations brought.

“Ah’m Apple Bloom,” the yellow filly introduced herself.

“My name is Sweetie Belle,” the other filly said.

“Shadow,” he said with a slight bow of his head.

The twins were still giggling. He started berating himself for telling his sisters early on that it was okay to tease him or their friends. He had made sure to drive the point home that they should never go overboard with their teasing or actually hurt others with their words.

“You two are enjoying this aren’t you?” Shadow asked the twins with a raised eyebrow.

They nodded and started chuckling again. Scootaloo had finally found her voice again.

“Uhm… Anyway. I was wondering… um, if maybe you wanted to join me at Sugercube Corner tomorrow after school? My treat of course,” Scootaloo asked haltingly.

“Sure, I would like that,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo’s face split into a gigantic grin and she jumped with a loud “Yes!”

When she landed, she immediately blushed again and smiled sheepishly at Shadow. He merely chuckled and gave a wink to show he wouldn’t tease her. Scootaloo’s smile turned grateful, but it seemed she had forgotten her friends behind her as they broke out in loud guffaws.

Scootaloo just ignored her friends and smiled at Shadow happily. The twins had finally stopped giggling and were standing next to their big brother looking rather happy. After a few more seconds one of them spoke.

“Miss Rarity asked us to tell you that she want’s all of us to go to her boutique after school. She said something about measurements,” said Clear Breeze.

“Very well. Let’s be off,” said Shadow.

He turned the side and raised a foreleg so the fillies could all go first. They all started trotting past him, but Scootaloo stopped when she drew level with him and he fell into place at her side.

As they made their way back towards the small town Scootaloo looked at him and smiled softly.

“Thank you for agreeing to the date,” she said softly with a genuine smile.

Shadow looked over into the eyes of the beautiful filly at his side.

Wait! Did I just call her beautiful? He thought slightly surprised at his thoughts. Well, she really is kind of beautiful. All three of them are in their own way. Her eyes just immediately catch my attention. He slowly calmed down and tried to make his voice work.

“Anytime Scootaloo. I’m really glad you asked,” Shadow gently said.

Scootaloo just continued to smile happily.

“They bullied you into this, didn't they?” asked Shadow.

“Yup. All five of them, if you include Rarity. But I’m also kind of glad they did,” said Scootaloo with a small blush.

Shadow just chuckled and shook his head while still struggling to hide his limp.

Wait a minute! He screeched at himself. It took all of his willpower to continue walking with the filly next to him and not just freeze. Sugercube Corner is where the Pink One normally is. Buck me!... Calm, just stay calm, that’s tomorrows problem. Focus on the now.

They walked in relatively comfortable silence until Rarity’s boutique came into view. Sweetie Belle opened the door and they all filed in.

“Rarity! We’re here!” shouted Sweetie Belle.

“Coming darlings,” Rarity sang.

A moment later Rarity trotted out of her kitchen. The smell of tea was still on the air. Shadow was busy wondering who she was entertaining when he saw a ball of fuzzy pink bouncing up and down behind Rarity.

Shadow’s eyes shot wide open, his wings twitched and a jolt of agony spiked through them. His wings would have splayed out if they weren’t broken. Normally that was a sign of stress or excitement for pegasi, but in this situation he was grateful that they were broken and they couldn’t give him away.

The Pink One was here and he could barely hold on to his panic as it strained to get away from him. His body instantly froze as he moved his attention inward, he focused on his pegasus magic and changed how it flowed like he had taught himself. He focused his magic solely on the pink mare and himself, erasing himself from her senses.

She could now be standing right in front of him and staring at him, but she would not remember seeing him. He had used this magic to keep himself and the twins away from her for the past four months. It had taken a lot out of him, but he could not risk her throwing a party at their house. He could not even let her throw a birthday party for the twins as that would start ponies thinking about their mother and why she was not there with them. He could not risk any investigations by foal services yet.

“Hi girls! I hear you have a date tomorrow Scoots. I can’t wait to see who the lucky colt is. I’ll make you some of my special triple chocolate cupcakes for the date. It’s gonna be awesometacular,” the pink mare said all in one breath. She continued to ramble on and on the words all blurring together. Shadow had tuned her out by the second sentence and was just trying to keep his magic flowing to keep him unnoticed.

All of a sudden Pinkie looked at her flank, gasped and disappeared in a dust cloud as she shot out of the boutique faster than anypony could react.

Everything was frozen for a moment before Pinkie reappeared and yelled at Rarity.

“Come on Rares! Twi is waiting for us at the castle,” said Pinkie.

Rarity cocked her head in confusion that cleared when she saw Pinkie’s cutie mark pulse with a soft glow. Pinkie disappeared again in another puff of dust.

Rarity then looked at her own mark and saw that it was pulsing as well. She heaved a heavy sigh. The thought of her needing to go with Pinkie of all ponies was not entirely welcome. Pinkie could just be too much sometimes.

“Girls, it seems that there is a friendship problem that me and Pinkie have to go deal with,” Rarity said with a shudder. “I will take your measurements when I get back. And as for you Scootaloo, I will make you a dress for your next date.”

Scootaloo nodded and looked mostly happy with just a hint of disappointment.

When Shadow was sure that the Pink One was gone, he released his magic along with the breath he had been holding.

“Another sleepover! Awesome!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

The three Crusaders were looking at each other with excitement. The twins looked kind of sad until they saw that their friends were looking at them expectantly.

“Can you two come to another sleepover?” Sweetie Belle asked.

The twin’s faces lit up in excitement as they looked over at their brother and saw him give them a loving smile and a nod.

“Yes!” all five of them chorused.

During all this Shadow looked up at Rarity and realized he had made a mistake. He had focused his magic so hard on the Pink One that he had completely forgotten that Rarity was also there and he didn’t use his magic on her.

She was looking at him with a confused frown on her face. It was clear she now suspected something. It was unusual for Pinkie to not notice a pony, especially when said pony was in her direct line of sight.

She wanted to start questioning the colt but she had other more important priorities at the moment.

“Come along girls. We will go to Twilight’s castle and sort out at who’s house you will be having the sleepover,” said Rarity.

They all trotted outside and started to walk towards the beautiful crystal castle on the edge of town.

“I’ll see you lovely fillies later,” Shadow said with a small head bow. “Clear, Windy, come tell me at whose house you will be sleeping over tonight. I’ll be at the restaurant until closing.”

The three Crusaders blushed at his compliment while Rarity hid a titter behind a hoof.

Windy and Clear both nodded happily and cantered off with their friends and Rarity.

Rarity shot a last look over her shoulder at the colt as he slowly made his way towards the center of town. She frowned as she saw his back-right leg buckle slightly as if it was injured.

Rarity felt a sense of dread creep over her as she walked away. She knew that she would have to keep a close eye on the foals when she came back.

Rarity kept her gaze on the colt for another few seconds then shook her head and looked towards her friend’s castle, she mentally prepared herself to face pinkie’s energy and the friendship mission she would be going on with her.

The Date

Scootaloo sat impatiently at her desk in the school house, listening to Cheerilee drone on and on about history that nopony would ever need to use.

She glanced over at her two best friends, Sweetie Belle was listening and taking careful notes. Apple Bloom was staring at the blackboard without really seeing anything, she was just as uninterested in history as Scootaloo was. She looked over at the twins, they were listening with half an ear to Cheerilee but most of their concentration were on each other as they stealthily passed notes to each other.

They were clearly plotting something and Scootaloo had a pretty good idea that it involved her and their brother. They had been oddly eager these past two days, it seemed as though they wanted their brother to make more of an effort to interact and make friends with other ponies.

She had come to the conclusion that he preferred to avoid other ponies except for his sisters. It was a bit strange though, ponies were tactile creatures. They needed to touch and be touched.

Short nuzzles were common for greeting others, longer nuzzles were more intimate and used for family only. Neck-hugs were more personal and were usually only used between couples. Kissing on the other hoof were only for special someponies, shared between herd members or for parents and their foals.

Scootaloo was used to constantly getting long nuzzles from Octavia and only a rare kiss, whereas Vinyl would give a kiss on the head every day before school. She knew Octavia loved her as her own but she had never been so open with her emotions as most ponies.

Shaking her head as she realized she was daydreaming she focused her attention back on the twins. They were glancing over at her every few seconds and would stifle a giggle every time. Having had enough of this she scowled at them with a raised eyebrow as they glanced at her again.

They instantly realized they were busted and tried to cover their scheming with innocent grins. Scootaloo only narrowed her eyes even more in response.

They looked guiltily down at their desks but before they could make another move Cheerilee spoke up.

“Alright my little ponies before you all head out to recess I would just like to tell you that I have rounded up everything you all had written within the last two days. This was to see if wing writing really is better than mouth- or hoof-writing. Windy, Clear, I must say that I am quite impressed at your wing-writing skill. I am currently busy putting all my findings into a presentation for princess Twilight. I will be going to her with this at first to see if she comes to the same conclusions I have before involving any pony from the Canterlot Education System. Now run along and go enjoy recess my little ponies,” Cheerilee finally finished her long-winded explanation.

Windy Skies nodded happily while Clear Breeze just smiled. The rush of giggling foals was music to Cheerilee’s ears as she watched them storm out of the school house and into the playground. She sat down at her desk unaware of the confrontation that would soon take place.

Shadow was sweating and in a lot of pain as his body burned. His injuries were restricting some of his movements but he hid them as best he could. He was busy hauling heavy planks of wood out of the wagon and carrying them into the hardware store. It seemed that Torque Wrench had bought a few more planks than he said they would need to restock. When asked he had simply said “just in case” and left it at that. He would need to go jump in the lake before he headed for his date with Scootaloo.

Shadow suddenly felt a hint of unease in his chest, he looked up and towards the school house. He had a bad feeling that something had happened with the twins. They are still in school. Cheerilee will sort it out, if it was something like a bully then I know Clear won’t take it sitting down, she’s a real spitfire when provoked. Pushing those thoughts out of his head he focused on his work again.

Scootaloo was sitting under the tree with her friends, all of them eating their lunch. She groaned when she heard the voice of the school bully ring out.

“Well well well. What do we have here? Two more worthless blank flanks who think they deserve attention,” Diamond Tiara then looked at the Crusaders with a smirk, “and do you three always associate yourselves with noponies? I mean really! You may have your cutie marks but you are all still as worthless as these blank flanks,” said Diamond Tiara.

The three Crusaders just rolled their eyes and ignored the bully as they started to talk with each other again. Clear frowned slightly at the bully but kept her silence. Windy’s expression on the other hoof turned furious.

Windy jumped to her hooves but before she could start to shout Sweetie Belle spoke, “Just ignore them. And Diamond what is your problem? You know as well as I do that they are still a bit too young to get their cutie marks. They could get them but it’s unlikely.”

Diamond Tiara’s just frowned as she harrumphed.

“Whatever losers!” Diamond turned to the twins and said, “You two just remember that I am the most important filly in the town and my dad is the richest pony in Ponyville.”

Windy raised an eyebrow and said, “So?”

Diamond looked bewildered for a moment but then she looked even angrier than before.

“That means that he owns this town and I can have you and your pathetic family thrown out of town today if I asked him to!” Diamond shouted.

All the foals in the vicinity had gathered around by now and were watching with uneasy expressions.

Windy just snorted and turned back to the tree with a flick of her tail, dismissing Diamond as if she was not worth listening to.

Diamond’s face was shocked for only a moment but then turned into rage. Diamond let loose a shrill scream and rushed at Windy intent on pushing her into the ground with a body shove and asserting her dominance over the smaller filly. Before any of the foals could react, it was over, but not like they were expecting.

Diamond Tiara was on her stomach with her legs spread out. Clear Breeze had one of her forehooves on Diamond’s knee and the other on the back of her neck. Clear’s expression was still calm as she pinned the bully on the ground.

“Try and touch my sister or any of my friends again and I will break your leg, understood?” Clear slowly said.

She had spoken loud enough for all the foals to hear. Diamond nodded rapidly in fear. Clear slowly stepped off of the bully and started back to the tree her friends were under. She looked over her shoulder and had the last word.

“Just so you know, you and your family hold no power over ours. Our mother” – she gestured with a foreleg to her sister – “is a retired Wonderbolt. Remember that before you try to mess with us again,” said Clear Breeze.

At this news all of the foals broke out in gasps and started to whisper among each other. Diamond had an even more fearful look on her face at this news than she had when Clear was standing on top of her.

It was common knowledge that the Wonderbolts were part of the Royal Guard. They were a separate unit and were stunt fliers first and foremost, but they still responded to any natural disasters or threats to Equestria as an advanced first response team. The ‘Bolts took such orders directly from the Princesses. Everypony knew that an attack on a royal guard was as good as to attack the princesses themselves.

Furthermore everypony knew that you do not mess with a retired Wonderbolt or their herd.

Diamond quickly trotted away, with her silver friend struggling to keep up, to the other side of the playground where they tried to make themselves invisible. The rest of the foals were still talking to each other about what just transpired. The five Crusaders started on their lunches again.

“That was so awesome!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“I just hope you don’t get in trouble Clear,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Nah, even if somepony said anything to Miss Cheerilee we all saw what happened. We will back ya up and say Diamond started it,” said Apple Bloom.

Clear thanked her friends and went back to her juicy apple. They all started talking as if nothing happened for a few more minutes before Cheerilee called the foals in for the end of recess.

Shadow stood under the same old tree while he waited for school to end. He looked over where he had seen the Bearers yesterday and saw a very big red earth pony stallion standing there gazing patiently at the school house. He recognized him as Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Applejack’s brother. As if feeling his gaze, the big stallion looked over at Shadow and gave him a friendly nod. Shadow was a bit bewildered but gave him a respectful nod in return.

The big pony thought for a moment and then walked over. As Big Mac looked the colt over, he could see that he was very thin and looked half starved. He frowned but decided not to say anything about it.

“Ya the colt having a date with Scootaloo today?” the big pony rumbled.

Shadow replied with a nod of his head and said, “Yes sir.”

“Hmm, ya treat her right ya hear? Don’t be too surprised when all three Crusaders want a date. They have already decided to be a herd a while ago, they were already best friends but they got their cutie marks together. Just treat them right or ya will answer to me,” said Big Mac.

Shadow knew that the big red stallion had the reputation of being one of few words, he obviously cared about his sister and her friends a lot and was trying to look out for them.

With a small smirk on his face Shadow said, “Sibling threat received and accepted. You have my word that I would never hurt them and will protect them to the best of my abilities. If this becomes something more, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make them happy.”

Big Mac leaned down and stared into the colt’s eyes. He stared for a long five seconds trying to discern his honesty. Big Mac appeared to like what he saw, he hummed and stood back up with a nod.

“Ya have my approval,” Big Mac said.

Shadow smiled and said, “Thank you sir.”

“Eeyup, but just call me Big Mac,” was the only response he got.

The door of Sugar Cube Corner opened and Scootaloo walked in first with Shadow close behind her. There were a few other ponies sitting around by some of the tables eating and talking with friends or special someponies. There was even a herd of five at one table. A stallion with three mares and a newborn filly in one of the mother’s hooves. They all looked like a very happy family with smiles all around as they cooed at their newest member.

Scootaloo and Shadow walked up to the counter and saw Mrs. Cake busy wiping the counter top with a rag. She looked up at them with a smile when they reached her.

“Pinkie told me you had a date today Scootaloo. Is this the lucky colt?” asked Mrs. Cake.

Scootaloo stammered with a bright blush on her cheeks as she said, “Yeah this is Shadow, Mrs. Cake.”

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shadow," said Mrs. Cake.

"Likewise Mrs. Cake," Shadow replied.

Mrs. Cake chuckled and said, “What can I get for the two of you?”

Scootaloo looked over at Shadow and asked, “What do you want?”

“I’ll have what you’re having,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo tilted her head and said, “Are you sure?”

Shadow nodded at her with a smile. He kept it to himself that he had no idea what most of the things in the bakery would taste like. He had never even had a cupcake. He saved things like that for his sisters as a rare treat.

While he was lost in his thoughts for a moment Scootaloo had turned and said, “Two strawberry milkshakes please Mrs. Cake.”

Mrs. Cake nodded with a bright smile and turned around and went into the kitchen to make their drinks. Scootaloo led Shadow over to one of the unoccupied tables in a corner. She made sure that there were a few tables between them and any other ponies.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they waited for their drinks. They were also looking everywhere except at each other. Shadow wanted to start a conversation a few times but had no idea how to begin. He glanced over at Scootaloo and saw that she was doing the same as him, he chuckled and she looked up at him instantly.

“Look at us, trying to come up with something to talk about,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo laughed with a bit of red in her cheeks again. Shadow decided to tease her a bit.

“That red in your face is really pretty every time I see it,” Shadow said with amusement.

Scootaloo flushed bright red again and sputtered for a few seconds before regaining her composure.

“You really think so?” Scootaloo asked bashfully.

Shadow nodded with a genuine smile. Scootaloo beamed and sat up a bit straighter. Before she could say anything else Mrs. Cake trotted up with a tray on her back.

She stopped at their table and smoothly slid the tray onto the table. There was a plate with four dark brown cupcakes on the tray as well as two pink milkshakes. She put the two milkshakes in front of the foals and slid the plate of cupcakes between them.

Shadow looked a bit bewildered as he clearly remembered Scootaloo not saying anything about cupcakes.

Scootaloo also frowned up at Mrs. Cake, then she shook her head with a smile, “Pinkie made those for us didn’t she Mrs. Cake?”

Mrs. Cake tittered behind a hoof and nodded with a fond smile.

“Yes, she also told me that it was all on the house. Enjoy your date and let me know if you need anything else,” Mrs. Cake gave a jolly wink and walked back into the kitchen.

The ice being broken, Scootaloo and Shadow glanced down at the plate with a smile and started to talk while eating and drinking their treats.

“I’m kind of glad Pinkie Pie isn’t here today, she wouldn’t have left us alone for a single minute,” Scootaloo said with a snicker.

Shadow nodded solemnly, the Pink One was scary and to be avoided at all costs.

After they had talked for about half an hour, their milkshakes long since finished, Scootaloo asked, “So what do you want to do for a job when you are old enough?”

Shadow frowned in thought for a few seconds but then said with certainty, “I’m going to join the town-guard when I turn fifteen.”

“The Town Guard? Why not the Royal Guard?” asked Scootaloo.

Shadow thought of his broken wings and knew he would never get in the Royal Guard if he could not fly. That was not the only reason though, so he gave his primary answer based on that fact.

“I love this town and my sisters are here. I could never leave them here alone like that,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo smiled at that and thought that was an admirable trait to have. Family is very important, especially for me. Apple Bloom would say the same.

Her attention was drawn to the fact that she had forgot something she had wanted to ask Shadow earlier. But maybe it was a good thing I haven’t asked this yet.

“Uhm Shadow… I wanted to ask you what you thought about me and my friends? See the thing is me, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle have been best friends for a very long time and we decided a long time ago that we would always be together. We even got our cutie marks together. So, our sisters talked to us about it and helped us with the paperwork. We are already legally registered as a herd and I was wondering if you would have a problem being in a herd with all three of us?” Scootaloo rambled nervously.

Shadow was trying to mask his smile but was not fully successful. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at him and gestured with a hoof for him to explain himself.

Shadow finally gave in to a smirk and said, “Big Mac talked to me before school ended and he already told me you three were in a herd. He threatened me like a big brother should. He also approved of me for some reason. I am aware of the bond you three share. So, no I would not have a problem having you three as fillyfriends and I would be honored if I could be a part of your herd.”

Scootaloo beamed and wanted to start hopping around yelling in joy but she contained most of her enthusiasm. The happiness shined through her eyes for anypony around to see. I am finally getting a REAL family of my own. She loved Vinyl and Octavia as much as she had loved her parents but it just wasn’t the same.

She was so lost in her giddiness that she missed the next question that Shadow asked. She blushed as she realized that he had asked her the same question twice already. It seemed as though every time he so much as looked at her with his caring eyes she started to blush.

“Huh? Sorry I was lost in thought,” Scootaloo said with embarrassment.

Shadow chuckled and just repeated his question for the third time.

“I asked who will be the lead mare? I don’t really mind who it will be, I'm just curious,” said Shadow.

“O, uhm well, I will be lead mare because I was the one who asked you out first. Me, Apple Bloom and Sweetie talked about it and they told me they have no problem with it. It was also what we all agreed to when we made the herd,” Scootaloo nervously explained.

Shadow smiled at her and nodded to show that he understood.

Scootaloo sighed in relief that he was so understanding. She had heard that some stallions could be very difficult in how a herd is managed. Some of those stallions wanted to be in control of and have a say in every little thing that goes on.

She was glad Shadow did not seem to be one of those control freak stallions. He looked like one who lets the mares decide how to manage their own affairs and only weighed in when appropriate.

It was about an hour later that Scootaloo and Shadow walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and started to make their way towards Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was still in the sky but slowly lowering towards the horizon. It wasn’t late yet but it was early evening. They walked close together, almost touching, but still a bit unsure and new to this experience.

The twins along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had spent the afternoon there playing after school. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle did not try and Crusade with the twins to find cutie marks seeing as Scootaloo was not there with them and it would not be right to exclude her, especially when she was on a date with their brother.

Scootaloo and Shadow talked the whole way and when they finally arrived at the apple farm, they saw the four fillies playing tag under the supervision of Applejack and Granny Smith as they both relaxed on the porch with mugs of apple cider after a hard day’s work. Granny Smith was the first to notice the two foals walking up the road towards the farm house.

She nudged Applejack and said, “Ah’m gonna check on dinner, make sure they all stay, ah wanna meet that there colt.”

“Yes granny,” Applejack said.

She stood up as Granny Smith walked back into the farm house and made her way down to the foals still playing next to the barn. She arrived about the same time as Scootaloo and Shadow.

The four fillies who were busy playing tag stopped as soon as they saw the two new arrivals. The twins immediately shot forward and glomped onto Shadow and started yelling in unison. They tried to ask him how the date had gone but spoke over each other in a confusing cacophony of words.

Applejack threw back her head and laughed loudly at their antics but she also saw that Scootaloo’s face was as red as Big Mac. She was still chortling as trotted closer and ruffled Scootaloo’s mane in affection.

“Come on you lot. Dinner is almost ready and you need to let yer family know that ya will be staying for dinner,” Applejack said with mirth still evident in her tone.

Shadow tilted his head in confusion. Dinner? That’s a good idea for the twins, we haven’t ever had a proper family dinner. But how will Scootaloo let her family know where she is from the house? Are they also in there?

His answer came in the form of a colored letter. Applejack gave a gray colored letter to Scootaloo. She took out a pencil from her saddlebags and wrote a quick message then folded the paper and tossed it into the flame of a small green candle that Applejack had set up and lit.

The letter flashed green and turned to smoke that flew out of the window. Shadow and the twins watched this with fascination. Applejack chuckled at their expressions as she blew out the candle and put it back in a cupboard.

“Those there candles were made by Twilight and Spike. They let us send instant messages to each of our friends to let them know if something happened. Mostly we use them to send word when the Crusaders here get in trouble or if they stay for dinner at one of our houses,” Applejack explained.

All three Crusaders hung their heads in embarrassment because of what Applejack said. They perked up when neither Shadow or the twins said anything about that.

Shadow nodded and said, “Impressive.”

Applejack and the three Crusaders nodded and started to talk with each other. The twins rounded on their brother again to interrogate him about the date. He was saved from the fillies’ exuberance from an unexpected source.

“Soups on everypony!” exclaimed Granny Smith

Author's Note

Hey guys.

I'm not a big fan of Author's Notes, mainly because I feel that it interrupts the story.

The reason I'm putting it up is because I'm looking for feedback/comments on the story. If there is something that I miss please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP.

I also changed the way I wrote this last chapter. It seems to be working better to write it out in segments and not all in one go at 2 or 3 AM.

Comments/Feedback appreciated and wanted. :scootangel:

Interrogations

Shadow and his sisters joined the Crusaders and the apple family around their table. It was a bit cramped as they were so many but at least they all fit. Shadow was seated between Granny Smith who was at the head of the table with Big Mac next to him, Apple Bloom was sitting on Big Mac's far side. The twins and the other two Crusaders were on the other side of the table talking excitedly. Applejack was at the counter busy loading up and depositing their food on the table. Her empty seat was opposite Granny’s.

Applejack loaded the last dish onto the table and then sat down with a bright smile.

“Tuck in everypony.” said Granny Smith.

They all started loading food onto their plates and digging in. Granny and Big Mac noticed that the colt between them was keeping his eyes on the twins and only reached for the food once they had taken their own food and started eating. Granny frowned at this and again surveyed the thin colt on her right.

“Ya look a might peckish there little one, what ya waiting for?” said Granny Smith.

She spoke softly so only Shadow and Big Mac would be able to hear.

“The twins eat first missus Smith,” Shadow solemnly replied.

His resigned tone and the double message was not lost on the two grownups. He had decided to be as honest as he could to the apples even if it led to his removal from the town and his sisters’ lives. He would not yet divulge details of his home life if he could. If they asked him, he would try and divert their attention or say that he didn’t want to talk about it yet. He just hoped they accepted that and didn’t pry.

Both of the adults frowned at this and wanted to start questioning him but held their tongues as they saw the blissful look on his face as he started scarfing down the food on his plate. Granny Smith’s glanced at the twins and saw their still wide eyes as they took in the enormous amount of food on the table. Shadow made sure not to eat too fast, he didn't want to attract their attention to his hunger, but he just couldn’t help himself.

Granny reached over and ignored his small flinch as she stroked his mane a few times looked at him with kindness in her eyes. He forgot about his food as he stared into her eyes. Granny could could see a lot of pain behind those eyes but she could also see a fire that burned within them. She knew instinctively he would fight till his last breath to protect the ones he cared about.

Granny nodded at him with a kind smile and said, “Ya'll are welcome here any time. Ya will always find food and a home here. Ya just need to ask.”

Granny could see the start of tears in the thin colt’s eyes. He swallowed but kept them at bay so nopony else would see.

“Thank you, missus Smith. That really means a lot to me,” said Shadow.

“Family first young’un, that’s the Apple way. Now tell me why ya are so skinny and don’t have enough to eat. Don’t yer ma take care of y’all?” asked Granny Smith.

She spoke quietly so the foals and Applejack could not hear. Big Mac didn’t say anything as he slowly ate but he was listing to the conversation. The foals along with Applejack were excitedly talking about cutie marks. Shadow also made sure to keep his voice low so only the two adults next to him could hear.

Shadow used his magic to subtly direct their attention away from her last question and make the two adults only concentrate on what he said, he knew they would not forget asking about that mare, but the subtle usage of his magic would make them (falsely) remember that he gave an answer that was satisfactory and they would forget about it.

“I’m still too young to earn full wages so I can only work part-time and the pay is simply just not enough for all three of us, so they eat first,” explained Shadow.

Granny Smith looked sad for a moment but was broken out of her thoughts as Big Mac spoke for the first time.

“Where do ya work then?” asked Big Mac.

“I work the morning shift with Torque Wrench at his hardware shop. The next day I’m at the Hayseed restaurant washing the dishes just before the lunch rush. The next day I work the mill with Sea Saw. In the afternoons I’m working on some of the farms around town, mostly Carrot Top’s but sometime one of the others if they need another farm-hoof, and when nopony needs me at a farm I wash dishes in the restaurant till closing time,” Shadow explained.

Big Mac frowned as they heard his explanation. Granny also had a frown on her face, but it changed into a thoughtful expression as she reasoned out an idea in her head.

“All tha and ya still don’t get enough bits for food?” Big Mac asked incredulously.

“It’s only part time jobs and I’m not old enough for full wages. I’m also not old enough for the town guard so my cutie mark can't help me getting an apprenticeship,” Shadow explained again.

Big Mac shook his head in bafflement while Granny Smith was still looking thoughtful. Granny saw that Shadow’s plate was empty but he still looked hungry.

“If yer still hungry ya can take what ya want,” – Granny said gesturing to the rest of the food still on the table – “there is still a lot ah food there so fill yer boots.”

Shadow looked at her for a moment before he gave her a nod of thanks and piled his plate high with food again. They finished the rest of the meal in silence. As the last scraps were finished Granny leaned back and sighed contently. It was a good and enjoyable family dinner, it seems that they even had a few possible future members of family with them.

Granny liked this little colt a lot, he was respectful, well mannered and honest. Sure, he was a bit on the thin side but she made a vow to herself that she would help him get his strength back even if she had to force-feed him.

“Thank you for the lovely dinner missus Smith, Big Mac, Applejack. It was amazing and we really appreciate it,” said Shadow with a hoof gesture to the twins.

They both nodded and thanked the adults profusely.

Applejack smiled and said, “Aww shucks sugercubes, it was no trouble. Ahm real glad ya were here to share it with us.”

The adults all stood up and started clearing the table. The Crusaders dragged the twins into the living room and Apple Bloom took down a few board games for them to play from one of the shelves. Applejack soon joined them as Granny Smith told her that she, Big Mac and Shadow would clean the dishes. It was actually an excuse as she still wanted to talk to the thin colt.

Shadow was aware of this and made himself useful by starting to wash the dishes, he had to stand up on his hind hooves and brace himself on the counter-top with his chest to reach the sink with the plates. Big Mac saw this and silently shook his head. He walked up to the colt and reached a hoof around him and picked him up. Shadow softly yelped as he did not expect this and did not see it coming. Big Mac lifted him up onto the counter-top on the side where the dishes were dried.

Shadow made sure that no other sound escaped him after the yelp even as Bic Macs hoof was placed directly over his bruised ribs. It was painful as his weight, slight as it was, put pressure on his ribs. Shadow tensed up his whole body and made sure to not show that he was in pain.

“Ya can dry the plates, I’ll wash,” said Big Mac.

Shadow nodded once and waited for the first dish to come his way as Big Mac started washing. The pain finally faded and Shadow slowly relaxed his body so the two grownups would not see he was in pain. Granny Smith took this opportunity to tell them of her idea.

“How about ya come work this here farm with us?” asked Granny Smith.

Shadow and Big Mac’s heads both shot up to hers and stared, the plate Big Mac was about to give to Shadow fell back in the sink with a soft plop.

Granny chuckled and said, “We will pay ya full wage as is proper for a hired farm-hoof and it will include meals for ya and yer sisters when they come with ya.”

Shadow could only stand there with his mouth hanging open. Big Mac cocked his head with a thoughtful look on his face, but after a moment he nodded his head in approval and turned back to the dishes. Shadow was knocked out of his shock by a prod from the plate Big Mac had dropped earlier. Shadow wordlessly took the plate and started to dry it. After he had placed it on the drying rack, he looked back at Granny Smith and finally found his voice again.

“Are you sure about this missus Smith? I don’t wanna be a burden,” Shadow said with a soft emotional voice.

“Aww shoot sugercube, ya’ll are welcome here anytime. Ya are courting Scootaloo aint ya? Bloom will probably soon join in along with Sweetie Belle. So that makes ya family and I can’t help but approve ah ya. Yer a right decent colt,” said Granny Smith.

Shadow heard her mumbling something about being too skinny after she explained but ignored it. Big Mac was slowly nodding along with Granny Smith as she spoke. Shadow accepted another plate from Big Mac and silently dried it as he thought it over. It would be tricky, very tricky, working with the Bearer of Honesty. But if she doesn't start asking too many intrusive questions it may very well be better than what I've been doing. If I take the Apples up on this it will mean that the twins will be able to eat more, never mind having more bits on hoof for when they need something. It would be worth it just for the three full meals a day.

A few more plates passed through his hooves is silence as he thought. It was mostly quiet in the kitchen save for the soft sounds of dishes being washed and faint noise of the foals and Applejack playing in the living room. Granny Smith was quietly watching Shadow all through this as she sat by the table waiting for the plates to dry.

When the last plate had passed to Shadow and he had placed it on the drying rack he looked at Granny Smith and finally spoke.

“Thank you, missus Smith. I accept. When do I start?” said Shadow.

Granny Smith chuckled, gave him a fond smile and said, “Ya can start tomorrow if ya want. Ya probably should to go into town first and tell all them places ya worked at whats happening.”

Shadow nodded and said, “Yes, that would be proper, first thing tomorrow morning I’ll go to the mill and talk to Sea Saw, then swing by the restaurant. Torque Wrench won’t really say anything but I’ll stop by anyway and tell him. I will probably find Carrot Top at the market so I’ll tell her last.”

Granny Smith nodded as Shadow hopped down from the counter and sat next to her, she reached out and started stroking the thin colt’s mane and ignored his small flinch. After a few passes he started to lightly lean into her hoof and a small smile appeared on his face as he could feel the affection she had for him.

“Good. Now, ya will need to be here at daybreak to start, except tomorrow of course. Ya’ll gonna be joining us for breakfast in the mornings?” asked Granny Smith.

Granny Smith smirked as Shadow nervously fiddled with his hooves and looked away from her and opened his mouth to only close it again a few times.

“Ya and yer sisters are welcome to come for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday if ya want,” said Granny Smith.

Shadow looked up at her with hope shining in his eyes.

“Are you sure missus Smith?” asked Shadow.

“Sure as sugar sugercube, and ya can just call me granny,” said Granny Smith.

“Thank you granny!” Shadow said with veneration.

He was enjoying the affection Granny Smith was giving him and didn’t want her to stop, he had never received affection from anypony besides his sisters, but it just wasn't the same when it came from them. He hesitantly leaned into her side but almost flinched away as she reached her hoof over him and brought him into a hug. Is this what it feels like to have somepony care about you?

Shadow melted into the embrace and closed his eyes in content. Granny Smith hummed as she held the thin colt, she could feel him slightly shaking in her embrace and held him tighter. Shadow had never before felt such affection from anypony and could feel his eyes start to water. He stopped himself from outright bawling but could not stop a few tears as they slipped out.

Big Mac had stepped out of the kitchen as soon as the dishes were finished. Shadow heard him and Applejack talking about it being the foals bed time, the foals all groaned and started packing away their game. Shadow pulled away from Granny Smith and quickly wiped his eyes to remove any traces of tears.

Granny Smith smiled down at him and ruffled his mane, she noted that there was no flinch this time. She made her slow way to the living room with Shadow following behind her. The Crusaders and the twins were standing next to Applejack and Big Mac as they said goodnight. The twins came over to Shadow and gave him a goodnight hug.

“Sleep well,” was all that Shadow said to them.

Scootaloo also came over to him after the twins stepped back to thank Granny Smith for dinner again.

“Good night Shadow,” Scootaloo said softly as she gave him a nuzzle.

Shadow returned the nuzzle along with a soft kiss to the cheek. Scootaloo blushed bright red but smiled and leaned her head against his for a few seconds. Her friends and the adults tittering snapped her out of it and she felt flustered at the attention.

“Good night Scoots,” said Shadow, a soft smile on his face.

“Scoots huh? Only Rainbow and the Crusaders call me that,” – she saw Shadows face fall the tiniest amount at that – “but you are more than welcome to call me that,” said Scootaloo.

She then returned the kiss he had given her, only not on the cheek as he did to her, she kissed him full on the lips. Shadow eyes shot open in surprise but then he smiled softly and rested his head against hers. Their eyes closed as they enjoyed the close contact and content they felt.

The sound of her friends and Applejack aww’ing and Granny Smith cackling eventually intruded on them and they slowly drew away from each other.

“Alright ya lot, bed time, ya’ll have school tomorrow,” said Applejack.

Shadow looked out of the windows and saw that darkness has fallen. He waited until the foals had trooped up the stairs, sharing one last smile with the twins and a wink with Scootaloo, he then made his way to the door.

“Thank you again for dinner and the job granny,” Shadow said with a respectful head bow.

Applejack looked confused but Big Mac tilted his head to her and they walked into the kitchen to talk. Granny Smith smiled affectionately at the thin colt.

“Ya can stay the night if ya want, yer always welcome here,” said Granny Smith.

She gestured towards the couch and walked to a cupboard in the hall, took out a thick blanket and threw it over the couch, she also pulled out a thick pillow.

Shadow was unused to such kindness and felt his respect for the old mare increase even more. He slowly made his way over and hopped onto the couch and settled down. He looked up at the old green mare with sparkling eyes.

“Thank you! For everything granny,” said Shadow.

Granny Smith leaned over and kissed him on top of his head.

“Yer very welcome sonny,” said Granny Smith.

Granny Smith walked up the stairs to her own room as he watched silently. A few moments later Applejack and Big Mac left the kitchen and made the way to the stairs. Shadow watched them quietly from the couch. Big Mac nodded to him as he passed while Applejack gave him a smile.

He uneasily settled under the soft blanket and tried to relax on the comfortable couch. His wings gave him a bit of trouble to find a comfortable position, normally he wedged his lower half in the underside of his sisters’ bed to keep him upright and off of his sides. It was uncomfortably in the extreme but it was either that or painfully jolt himself awake by falling or pressing on one of his wings.

He finally got comfortable and soon fell asleep without any anxiety or fear for the first time in years.

Scootaloo jolted awake with her heart pounding. She had dreamed of her parents again, every few months she had that dream again. She sighed softly and stealthily made her way out of the pony pile she and her friends had fell asleep in. She hopped down onto the hard wood of Apple Bloom’s room. She looked back at the bed and saw that the twins had looks of content on their faces as they slept, they were tightly pressed against Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle enjoying the warmth of shared body heat.

Scootaloo shook herself out and softly made her way down the stairs to the kitchen for a glass of water. It was dark downstairs but she made do and chugged down a second glass of water. She sighed as she thought of her parents and what she had been told of them. She was just a year old when they died. She only had a few pictures of them that Vinyl had given her.

She shook her head and slowly made her way back to the stairs yawning softly. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she her the soft snort of somepony who was asleep. She looked over to the couch and saw a bulge in the blanket that was slowly moving up and down. She cocked her head to the side and walked closer. As she stopped next to the couch, she saw Shadow was sleeping on the couch, the moonlight shining through the windows was just enough to illuminate his face.

Scootaloo bit her lip as she looked back at the stairs then at Shadow again. She then decided it didn’t matter and moved the blanket and hopped onto the couch. She froze just before she could press her side into Shadow’s as she saw his eyes had opened.

“Scoots? That you?” Shadow asked tiredly.

“I… uh… I had a bad dream. Sorry, I’ll go back upstairs,” stammered Scootaloo.

She made to jump off the couch and go back upstairs but felt a hoof touch hers. She looked back at Shadow and saw him softly smiling at her. He opened his left wing for her and she immediately pressed her side up against him as she felt his wing settle over her. She heard his pained grunt even as he tried to suppress it. She laid her head next to his and snuggled into his soft fur. She also felt him nuzzle her cheek softly and reciprocated.

“You didn't have to, but thank you,” said Scootaloo.

“Anytime Scoots,” Shadow replied.

She fell asleep quickly, his warm side and his wing over her made her feel safe and content. She had a smile on her face even in her sleep.

Shadow looked at her smiling face and sighed in happiness. Putting his wing over her had hurt like Tartarus but it was well worth it to see her smile like that. He closed his eyes even as he felt her cheek pressed against his and fell asleep with a smile matching hers on his face.

Author's Note

Please comment on the story and let me know what you think. I would really appreciate comments or questions and I’ll reply to any and all comments or questions as long as it doesn’t spoil anything. I will give a reason for not answering a question if it comes to that.

Life Goes On

Scootaloo was sitting under their tree in the school’s playground with her four friends all contently eating their lunch. It wasn't really their tree, they had just claimed it and ate their lunch in it's shadow everyday. The twins had become fast friends with them and were happily chattering away about cutie marks with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She was silently thinking about the last two months.

Ever since that morning when she had been awoken by Applejack’s breathing while she was snuggled up and sleeping against Shadow on the Apple family’s couch. Applejack was seemingly sniffing as if she was trying to detect some scent, much like Winona would do on occasion. It seemed she had been satisfied and had asked why Scootaloo was not in Apple Bloom’s room.

Scootaloo had explained that she had had a nightmare and that she went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She had come across Shadow sleeping on the couch on her way back to Bloom’s room and decided to sleep with him. Her answer appeared to satisfy Applejack and she had smiled and said that breakfast would be ready soon.

The past two months had been very enjoyable for all five of the fillies. They had been on numerous crusades to try and find the twins cutie marks. There had been a few close calls but nothing bad had really happened like it used to when the three older fillies had been looking for their own marks. They had been grounded only once in the last two months, that was a record as far as she was concerned. They used to get grounded every second week. It seemed that the twins did not just try things willy-nilly like she and her two oldest friends used to. If a crusade was not something they wouldn’t really enjoy or like they refused to try it.

The twins were both also not so skinny anymore. They had never really been as thin as Shadow was, but they had still been a slight bit underweight. Shadow also looked a lot better now and actually had a really good physique for a colt. He was well built with a solid layer of muscle gained from his constant work. Since he began working for the Apple family and eating meals with them his weight had improved by a lot. He was even bucking the apples out of their trees on par with the two older Apple siblings.

Scootaloo had a hard time keeping her temper whenever she saw some of the slightly older fillies eyeing Shadow as they walked around in town. They all knew he was the Crusaders’, but it didn’t seem to stop them from giving him lingering looks. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were all thankful that Shadow seemed to know when he was being watched, he simply rolled his eyes every time that happened and gave the filly he was next to a nuzzle. He made it clear that he was not interested in others. It always made Scootaloo’s insides feel warm and fuzzy when he showed his affection for them.

It was just a shame that his wings didn’t look as impressive, she knew it was because they were broken but it would have been nice if they also looked as good as the rest of him did. They did not look too bad, just as if they have never worked a day in their lives. As Scootaloo thought of this she felt a faint tingle in her head, almost like a faint headache, but she disregarded it and brought her focus back on what her friends were saying.

Before she could gain any idea of what her friends were talking about, she heard a snobbish voice call out. She sighed as she mentally prepared herself for the obnoxious bully trying to have a go at them again.

“Hey losers…” Diamond Tiara started to say but she was interrupted by a younger voice.

“Are you really that stupid? Or are you just slow?” asked Windy Skies.

Diamond Tiara was taken back by this and looked startled for a second but before she could speak again Windy continued.

“Here you are trying to bully three fillies who have better connections than you or your family ever will. They are literally the sisters of the Bearers of Harmony. They spend time with one or more of the Princesses of Equestria as personal friends. You should have been trying to be friends with them purely for status as it is all you seem to care about. So, I ask again, are you stupid or just slow?”

Windy’s rant over with she just looked at the bully who looked flabbergasted as she had never thought of this fact and had just continued to try and bully the three original Crusaders. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at Windy in surprise as they also had never thought of it like that.

Diamond Tiara was still trying to close her mouth when Miss Cheerilee’s voice rang out to call the foals back to their lessons.

Shadow’s hooves slammed into a tree trunk and he heard the apples fall into the bucket. He closed his eyes and smiled softly as he stretched his sore body. The past two months had been amazing, the twins were properly fed, they had wonderful friends and they were happy with life. His own needs came second to theirs as usual, but for first time in eight years he was also properly fed, he had picked up a decent amount of weight, his muscles had developed nicely and he was happy with how things were going.

That mare was still an issue, but not nearly as bad as it was. Since he had started eating properly and started bucking apples with the Apple family for work, his strength had increased drastically and he no longer got the worse end of the stick every time that mare wanted to go at it. He kept these fights as far from his sisters and his three fillyfriends as possible. It was also not a good idea to let anypony else catch wind of what his home life was like, especially one of the Bearers.

Shadow was extremely lucky to have found three fillies who were such good friends with his sisters. The five of them did everything together, sleepovers were an almost constant thing and he had not once denied his sisters from having a sleepover with their friends. He had even had a few sleepovers with the five of them at the Apple family farm house.

Big Mac and Applejack had each given him a separate talk before they had allowed him to sleep over. They had been adamant that there be no funny business, he had known what they meant and promised that nothing like that would happen. It was really comfortable and warm to sleep snuggled up in a pony pile.

The Bearer of Loyalty had been around a lot lately and had even slept over a few times, he knew Rainbow Dash and Applejack were very close and he suspected that they were part of a herd. He wondered if Princess Twilight was also a part of their herd, they had stayed over at her castle a few times too. He had no idea if any of the other Bearers were a part of the herd but he had his suspicions. Not that it bothered him or had anything to do with him. He was just a bit curious because his fillyfriends were the Bearers' sisters. He loved listening to their adventures and how they had saved Equestria many times over.

It was a bit of a problem that Rainbow Dash was over at the farm so much. She seemed very interested in his wings and it was very taxing on his magic to keep her curiosity away. He hated having to use his magic in that way, keeping secrets from his fillyfriends, sisters and the Bearers, they were all genuinely good ponies. But he didn’t see any other way this could go. He just had to hold out until he looked fifteen so he could get custody of the twins and finally try to get that mare out of their lives.

A gentle breeze blew through the trees and he opened his eyes. He hauled the basket of apples onto his back and made his slow way towards the barn. His front left leg buckled slightly as he put his weight on it for the first step. He grit his teeth but made sure to keep his mouth closed, even though he was now stronger that mare was still bigger than him and she had been a top athlete once upon a time.

She still gave as good as he could and won most of their fights, but she no longer just beat him to a pulp. He still walked away with bruises every time they went at it, but she was always pretty wasted and couldn’t really properly focus on the fight, she just went at him in a blind rage.

He had learned how to fight better from every skirmish they had and no longer just waited it out, he had started to fight back. The next day was always a good one when he could knock her out fast enough and not take any hits himself. It rarely happened that he didn't take any damage but it was slowly becoming more frequent. The only reason he stayed and fought was so she would not destroy the house in a fit of rage because he wasn't there to take her rage out on. He knew it would draw the attention of the other ponies in town.

If Foal Protection Services were to get wind of what was going on, he knew he would not get to see his sisters again for a few years and he had no intention of putting them through that kind of trauma.

Shadow slowly continued towards the barn with his last basket of apples for the day. He was looking forward to dinner with the apple family, his fillyfriends and his sisters were going to sleep over at Rarity’s boutique tonight. He had something he wanted to ask Granny Smith anyway.

He finally made it to the barn and put away the basket and closed the heavy barn door. He trotted over to the house with a content smile on his face. He let himself in and walked into the kitchen to see Granny Smith still busy with dinner.

“Granny, may I ask you something?” asked Shadow.

Granny heard his hesitant voice and turned to look at him. She frowned as she saw the worried look on his face.

“Wha’s the matter young’un?” asked Granny Smith.

“I… I wanted to ask a favor Granny,” Shadow hesitatingly said.

Granny Smith gave him a nod to continue. It was clear that this was important to him, she had only seen him so serious a rare few times.

“If something… were to happen to me, can you promise me that you would look after the twins. And give them a home if they need it,” said Shadow.

Granny Smith frowned as she brought her head down to his height and looked him straight in the eyes.

“They hav’a home here, as do ya. Ya know that young’un. But seeing as it’s important ta ya, I give ya mah word that ah will look after them,” said Granny Smith.

Shadow sagged slightly in relief as she watched him. She shook her head with amusement and turned back towards the stove. She was just about to start another conversation with Shadow when Applejack came into the kitchen with saddlebags on her back.

“Shadow, come with me. We need ta go git the fillies, they are sleeping over here tonight. Ya gonna be escortin’ them back here,” said Applejack.

Shadow frowned at this but quickly made his way over to Applejack and gave her a respectful nod.

Applejack smiled at him and stroked her hoof through his mane with affection. Her smile widened as she saw he didn’t flinch at the contact as he used to and even leaned into her hoof a bit. She felt the affection she had for him rise in her chest and wondered if that was what it was like to have a son. She hesitated slightly as she bent her head down but when her head was just above his, her resolve was strong. She gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.

Shadow’s eye’s widened as he felt the Bearer of Honesty kiss him like he seen other parents do for their foals. That was the first time anypony had ever done something like that for him. He felt the tears start to roll down his face and buried his head into Applejack’s soft chest fur as he gave her the strongest hug he possibly could. Applejack was surprised but soon smiled and just held him close.

“Aww just look at that Applejack. Ya made him cry,” a rough scratchy voice said.

Shadow just lifted is head and raised an eyebrow at the beautiful sky blue pegasus who was hovering a few hooves above the ground as she looked on in amusement. His smile turned mischievous for a short second then he pouted with fake sorrow at Rainbow Dash.

“Gah! Please no. Not the eyes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

She turned away but she kept looking at the colt from the corners of her eyes. He smirked internally and tilted his head ever so slightly to the side while turning the fake sorrow to eleven. Rainbow Dash shut her eyes tight for a few seconds then glanced at him again briefly.

He knew that he had her with that last glance, they played this game often. They were always competing to see who’s will was stronger, as pegasi often did. Rainbow won most of the time, but she respected him for being able to get one over on her sometimes.

“Gah! Fine. You win this one. Just please stop with those eyes,” said Rainbow Dash.

The fake sorrow vanished from Shadow’s face as he smirked at Rainbow Dash. He held his forelegs out to her and she groaned with fake exasperation. She zoomed forward and scooped him up and gave him a hug, she let go very quickly and put him down and landed next to him.

Rainbow tried to hide her smile, but soon realized everypony could see through it. She just rolled her eyes at Applejack’s smirk and stroked Shadow’s mane with affection as she put her wing over his back as well. She saw Applejack raise her eyebrows at this action but she also smiled. Rainbow Dash leaned down and gently nuzzled Shadow.

“You’re a good colt and I’m glad Scoots, Apple Bloom and Sweetie have such a good coltfriend,” said Rainbow Dash.

Shadow smiled widely at Rainbow Dash and returned her nuzzle. She pulled away and snorted once then launched herself up and started hovering again.

“Okay enough time has been wasted. Let’s go AJ,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack nodded and trotted out the door with Rainbow hovering beside her while Shadow broke into a canter to keep up with the larger mares. Applejack and Rainbow Dash made small talk all the way back to town and Shadow kept silent. It seemed that something serious had happened so he knew they could probably not tell him what was going on even if he asked.

As they came up to the door of Carousel Boutique, they could hear the faint voices of five fillies who were talking excitedly. Applejack reached up and knocked on the door three times. After a few moments they heard small hooves on the floor and the door swung open to reveal Sweetie Belle.

“Hi Applejack, Rainbow, are you here for Rarity?” asked Sweetie Belle.

She had not yet seen Shadow standing slightly behind the two mares.

“Yes Sweetie, did she not tell you that we had a friendship mission?” asked Applejack.

Ah. It's only a friendship mission. Shadow thought to himself.

“No, she didn’t say anything. But now that I think about it, she has been really busy this past hour. It sounded like she was packing but we didn’t see her. We were coloring in our new books,” explained Sweetie Belle.

The five fillies were at the dining table all with coloring books open. They were looking at them and smiling. Scootaloo shifted her gaze from Rainbow as she saw the mostly unkempt black mane of her coltfriend.

“Shadow!” shouted Scootaloo.

There was an orange and purple blur that streaked across the room and slammed into the colt. He was lucky to keep himself from being tackled to the ground from the energetic Scootaloo, but only barely. Sweetie had let out an exclamation and had joined the hug. Apple Bloom just shook her head and trotted over to join in the hug. The twins just smiled and went back to their coloring.

There was a tittering from the stairs as they all looked over and saw that Rarity had come downstairs with a large suitcase held in her magic and saddlebags on her back.

“Ah to be young and in love,” snickered Rarity.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but had a small smile on her face and Applejack just chuckled.

“Ya ready Rare?” asked Applejack.

“Of course, darling. I just have to stop by Fluttershy’s cottage and ask her to come by tomorrow and get Opal,” said Rarity.

Rarity gestured to the white cat who had slunk into the room and made a beeline towards the colt and fillies who were still hugging. As the fillies heard Rarity say “Opal” they all looked over and jumped out of the way of the cat. Shadow merely cocked his head as the large cat came closer.

“Big bro, get away! Demon cat! Demon cat!” shouted Windy Skies.

Shadow looked at his sister for a moment then reached out a hoof for the cat to sniff. The fillies all flinched as the cat came within claw swipe range of shadow. Then to their and the three grown mare’s astonishment Opal didn’t take a swipe at him but sniffed at his hoof. She then started purring as she walked around his front legs and rubbing her body against them. The large cat’s purring increased and after a few seconds jumped up onto the colt’s back and settled down.

Shadow had turned his head to smile at the feline and gently gave her a nuzzle as she closed her eyes still purring.

It was silent in the boutique for a few moments as Shadow looked over towards his sisters and saw that they were busy coloring in the new books he had gotten them.

“Well that's a surprise. Opal usually doesn’t like anypony, even Fluttershy has had some trouble with her attitude before,” said Rarity.

“Yeah yeah whatever, come on we’re gonna be late for the train!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Applejack shook her head and said, “She’s right Rare, we gotta git ah move on.”

“Yes, of course. Gather your things fillies. Your sleepover is going to be at Applejack’s farm tonight,” said Rarity.

“Big Mac and Granny Smith are in charge and you five be sure to listen to them,” Applejack said sternly.

The fillies all nodded happily. They knew there was more space at the farm for all five of them than in the boutique. They started happily packing up their books and packed them into saddlebags that they then slung over their backs.

“Where are ya’ll headed?” asked Apple Bloom.

“We’re going to fix on a friendship mission in Seaquestria! It’s gonna be awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

The fillies all gasped loudly and started immediately asking questions. Rainbow Dash and Applejack happily answered what they could while Rarity just tittered behind a hoof.

They were walking along the road towards the train station. There was a fork in the road up ahead where Shadow and the fillies would take a left towards the farm, the mares would go straight and stop at Fluttershy’s cottage before they continued on to the train station.

Rarity looked at the colt and saw that he was smiling softly at the fillies’ antics. Opal had jumped off of his back as soon as he came close to the door of the boutique.

“Are you also sleeping over at the farm tonight?” asked Rarity.

Shadow looked over at her and nodded with a smile.

“Will you be sleeping with the fillies or on the couch?” asked Rarity.

“Probably with the fillies, Lady Rarity,” said Shadow.

“Hmm, very well. I suppose I don’t have to worry that anything inappropriate would happen while your sisters are also there,” said Rarity.

Shadow shook head earnestly as she looked into his eyes. She saw nothing that would have worried her. She knew he was a good gentlecolt who would never take advantage of her sister or any other filly.

“You are a good colt. I’m very glad my sister has such a gentlecolt as a coltfriend,” Rarity said to him with a proud smile.

Shadow smiled back at her in thanks but still felt the sting of shame for all the lies. He knew he wasn’t as good as she and the other Bearers thought him to be.

They reached the fork in the road and the mares all hugged their respective siblings and told them to behave. Shadow bowed his head in farewell and they started the short walk to the farm. He was looking forward to sleeping in a pony pile again after two weeks of spending every night at home with that mare.

As they came to the farm, he felt that sick sinking feeling in his stomach that something was going to go wrong soon. He bit his lip as he looked back at where he had last seen the fillies’ sisters. He silently wished them a safe journey and return.

A Bad Idea

The sweat was pouring off of Shadow as he hauled his latest basket of apples to the barn. It was one of the last few hot days of summer before the running of the leaves next week. The fillies had talked about joining in this year with the group of other foals who ran a shorter race just before the big ponies had theirs. There had never been prizes for the winners, but this year Pinkie Pie had made an agreement with the mayor to turn the day into a festival. They had even made the arrangements that the winners of the races would receive some bits. It promised to be heaps of fun everypony had agreed.

As he emptied the apples into a barrel and pounded the lid securely, Big Mac wandered into the barn with a basket of his own on his back. Big Mac smiled at the colt as he emptied his own basket.

“How much ya got left?” asked Big Mac.

Shadow smiled at the big stallion and said, “Just four more trees left then I’m done for the day. How about you?”

Big Mac nodded once in approval and said, “Tha’ was the last of mah chores. I’ma go get granny and the wagon from the market. Will ya go get the fillies when yer done?”

Shadow just gave Big Mac a nod and made his way back to the west orchard for the last of the apples he had to harvest today.

Shadow absolutely loved it on the big apple farm. It was quiet, smelled strongly of those wonderful apples and it felt safe. His sisters both loved it there as well, there was so much room for them to run around and play with their friends. If he could have moved them to the farm permanently, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

The twins had already mostly moved in, they slept at the red farm house every single night, except when they had a sleepover at Lady Rarity’s boutique or at Scootaloo’s house. They only had a few spare coloring books back at the house where he spent most nights.

Shadow knew that if any of the Apple family knew what happened in that house on an almost daily basis, they would throw a massive fit and have him move to the farm immediately. He sighed as he thought about why he still put up with that mare.

I do it for my sisters, they deserve a better life.

Shadow repeated that mantra a few times. He then shook himself and got back to work. If he remembered correctly Princess Twilight was supposed to visit the school today to evaluate the twins and their wing writing. He chuckled at the mental image of the purple alicorn showing up at the school with a few dozen charts and graphs along with three empty notebooks that would be full when she left.

He had only met her a few times when the fillies had a sleepover in the castle after a day of Crusading. Apparently Princess Twilight had thought ahead and cast a sap repelling charm on the book she had lent to the fillies as they tried to get the twins some cutie marks. It was good foresight on her part because for the first and only time since they he had met the three original Crusaders, the five fillies had been covered head to hoof in tree sap.

It had taken three hours of scrubbing to remove all the tree sap from them. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had delegated most of that task to him to the immense amusement of the adult mares. He shook his head in amused remembrance of that day and made his way back to the barn with the last haul of apples. He made sure to shut the barn door tightly as he stretched and started down the road towards the school house.

Scootaloo was vibrating in her seat as she tried to not start bouncing with excitement. Twilight was supposed to show up at school today to officially test the wing writing the twins had shown miss Cheerilee that first day.

Even though the three original Crusaders had gotten their cutie marks, they still went to see Twilight at her castle every week for Twilight-time. They had brought the twins along ever since they had become friends and they loved spending time with Twilight just as much as the three older fillies did. It seemed as though Twilight enjoyed their time together even more than the fillies did.

Twilight had calmed down a lot since she had become a princess. She was still bound to start panicking whenever Princess Celestia asked something of her or when she came to visit, but with the rest she had calmed considerably.

Scootaloo couldn’t wait for Twilight to show up and finally approve of wing writing in her official capacity as princess. Scootaloo wanted to be able to use wing writing in school, something she couldn’t yet do as it was not yet allowed, Miss Cheerilee was very strict like that. At least she could use it to do her homework, but it would be so nice to finally use wing writing in school. Even the other pegasi foals looked excited, but Scootaloo had a distinct advantage, the twins had already taught her how to wing write.

It looked as if Miss Cheerilee was just about to reprimand Scootaloo about her lack of attention when there was a knock on the door. Miss Cheerilee frowned at the interruption and glanced back at Scootaloo with narrowed eyes. Scootaloo gulped in relief when her teacher said nothing and walked over to answer the door.

“Hello. Come in, come in,” said Miss Cheerilee.

In walked an off-white pegasus with a yellow mane and tail. Scootaloo was confused for just a second, but before she could even ask a question in her head, Princess Twilight walked in behind the new mare. A huge smile spread across Scootaloo’s face and she started bouncing in her seat.

“What is your name miss?” asked Miss Cheerilee.

“This is Inked Feather of the Canterlot Education System. Hi Cheerilee,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle.

The mare nodded politely at Cheerilee and turned her gaze to all the foals present with a happy smile on her face.

Cheerilee smiled at her friend and said, “Hi Twilight. I think a certain somepony simply couldn’t wait for you.”

Twilight cocked her head to the side as she looked over at the foals sitting at their desks and saw that Scootaloo was bouncing in her seat with a wide smile on her face, Twilight just rolled her eyes in amusement.

Scootaloo saw the new mare was startled when Miss Cheerilee had talked so casually with Twilight but she didn’t say anything. All five of the Crusaders then got mischievous smirks on their faces as they could see that this new mare would be fun to mess with.

“Hello, my little ponies,” said Princess Twilight.

“Hello Princess Twilight,” the foals chanted back.

The three original Crusaders and the twins just smirked and called out after the other foals. “Hi Twilight!”

Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement and said, “Hello Crusaders.”

The new mare from Canterlot looked at the five fillies with wide eyes, she was about to scold them for not showing respect to a princess but by the time she wanted to speak Twilight had already started her explanation as to why they were there.

“We are here today to officially evaluate the wing writing the twins have displayed. I have already done a few examinations and tests on this on my own in the castle but I need a pony from the education system to also witness these evaluations in pony. Therefore, I would like all the pegasi to come with us to the playground where we won’t disturb Cheerilee and the others from their lessons,” explained Princess Twilight.

There was a stampede of foals as all the pegasi in the class charged outside, Scootaloo in the lead and the twins hot on her hooves.

Cheerilee chuckled and shook her head in amusement as Princess Twilight and miss Inked Feather followed the pegasi foals. She turned back to the foals that remained and continued her lesson.

Scootaloo was bouncing as she sat in the shade of their tree while the twins were demonstrating their wing writing to the new mare. Twilight had already done her tests in the second week of school when the Crusaders dragged the twins along for their Twilight-time.

Scootaloo knew Twilight loved it when they came to visit and had something new for them to do every single time. At first, she had to constantly scold them until they learned that she hated being called princess, to them and the all of her friends she was just Twilight. She said she didn’t want them to treat her any different.

Scootaloo’s attention was drawn back to the present as Twilight called her and explained to the Canterlot mare that the twins had already taught Scootaloo how to write with her wings. She then had Scootaloo demonstrate and she did so with gusto. The mare seemed satisfied and she was allowed to sit under their tree and relax with the twins as Twilight made some papers appear and started to teach the rest of the foals how to write using their wings.

A few minutes later the other foals were spread out in the playground, each with a quill held in their wings and practicing writing. Twilight and the Canterlot mare were walking among them, helping here and there if a foal struggled.

Scootaloo was quietly talking with the twins when she became aware of attention focused on her and the twins. She made sure to keep talking but looked around subtly and spotted the pony watching them. It was a grey pegasus colt with a grey-blue mane and tail, he was a year younger than her and his name was Rumble. It seemed his attention wasn’t on her but the twins. Scootaloo watched him and saw him slightly blush and quickly look down at his practice paper as one of the twins looked in his direction.

Scootaloo smirked evilly and chuckled at the twins. They both cocked their heads to the side with raised eyebrows at her.

Scootaloo shook her head and said, “It looks like the two of you have an admirer.”

Scootaloo tilted her head at the colt sitting a few pony lengths away who jerked his head up as soon as he heard her. The twins looked over at the colt who blushed a bright red as soon as he realized Scootaloo was talking about him and the twins looked at him. He hastily dropped his head and tried to go back to his wing writing practice.

Scootaloo snickered softly and called out, “Hey Rumble, wanna join us? I’m sure the twins can give you a few pointers.”

Rumble looked back up so fast it seemed as if he was one of those bobble-head ponies she had seen in some of the tourist shops when she went to Couldsdale with Rainbow.

“A-are you sure?” asked Rumble.

The twins looked at him with interest and nodded, Windy waved him over with a wing. The twins moved a bit so that there was a space for him in between them. Rumble blushed brightly as he settled down between the twins. Scootaloo had to hold a hoof to her mouth to hide her grin and laughter. Scootaloo saw that Twilight had seen the whole thing and had a hoof to her own mouth as well.

“I’ll be right back, just need to ask Twilight something,” said Scootaloo.

Scootaloo stood up and made her way over to Twilight. Twilight’s eyes were still on the twins and she saw that the twins had both leaned against the colt who had frozen and was again beet red.

Twilight chuckled and affectionately ran her hoof through Scootaloo’s mane. Scootaloo leaned against her enjoying the affection.

“How you doing Scoots? No growth spurt yet?” asked Twilight.

“Naw not yet, I’m hoping for next month,” replied Scootaloo.

“Hmm. That seems promising,” said Twilight while gesturing to the twins.

“Yeah, he’s a good colt. Rainbow knows his brother well,” said Scootaloo.

Twilight nodded and looked down at the filly who was leaning against her.

“So, what’s up?” asked Twilight.

“Just wanted to ask if Twilight-time is still on for today?” asked Scootaloo.

“Of course it is. Just come an hour later than usual. I have to talk to miss Inked Feather and walk her back to the train station,” said Twilight.

Scootaloo nodded and contently nuzzled into Twilight’s side with closed eyes. Twilight wrapped a wing around the filly and happily gazed out at the other foals who were learning to write with their wings.

The five fillies were sitting on the warm grass in the park. Shadow had met them after school and he had taken them back to the farm to eat, afterwards they went to play in the park. They had just finished a game of tag and all five of them were panting from all the running. Sweetie Belle looked up at the sun and then looked over at towards the town hall to see what the time is.

“It’s about time for us to go to Twilight’s castle, you fillies ready?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Four agreements were her answer. They all stood up, shook themselves and started towards the scooter and wagon parked in the shade of a nearby tree. Their saddlebags were also there in the shade. Scootaloo strapped her helmet on and waited for the other fillies to pile into the wagon and put on their own helmets. Once they were all inside, she pushed off with a hoof and started buzzing her wings to move them.

It was even better exercise when the twins started riding in the wagon with the other two, it was now actually difficult for her and took a while longer for her to get up to the speed she was used to. She absolutely loved it and even Rainbow was impressed with her when she saw her pulling all four of her friends the first time. Before she could even get enough speed to stop pushing with her hoof Apple Bloom spoke up.

“Wait! Do ya fillies have yer coloring books here? I remember Twilight saying she wanted to see ya three feather-heads using yer wings to color today,” said Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo looked back at her friends and nodded her head. Sweetie Belle also nodded, but the twins shook their heads.

“Our coloring books are at home,” said Windy Skies.

“Well, let’s go get them then,” said Scootaloo.

She had already turned and started to push with her hoof again when Clear Breeze stopped her.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Our brother said to never be in the house if he is not there with us,” said Clear Breeze.

Windy nodded along with her sister, but the looks of confusion on her three friends faces made her frown.

“Why not?” asked Scootaloo.

Clear Breeze shrugged as Windy spoke, “I’m not sure why he said that, but we promised.”

“O come on! We will be quick, I’m not going all the way to Sweet Apple Acres just to have to go all the way back to town when we are already so close,” complained Scootaloo.

Her friends were nodding along as the twins looked at each other. They sighed but quickly agreed that it wasn’t necessary to go get their brother.

“Fine! But we are going to be super quick,” exclaimed Windy Skies.

“Alright! Um, where is your house?” asked Scootaloo.

Scootaloo had a huge smile on her face as the wind blew through her mane as they made their way towards the twin’s house. As they slid to a stop next to a well-worn house Scootaloo’s smile fell. There was no garden, only a bunch of weeds in the unkempt grass, the house itself looked a bit imposing and had there was a feeling of unease when she looked at it. The twins and her other two friends seemed to be fine and quickly hopped out of the wagon and put their helmets inside.

As they reached the front door Clear stopped and looked over at the three older fillies.

“Two things before we go in, quick and quiet. We go in quickly and get our coloring books, it’s in our room. Now we don’t make a sound after we go in okay? Not a sound!” explained Clear Breeze.

The three older fillies gulped at her serious expression and nodded to show they understood. Clear gazed at them for a few more seconds then reached out a hoof and opened the door. As all five of them trotted in and the front closed all other ambient sound was cut off. The house was as quiet as tomb and pretty chilly.

The slight unease Scootaloo had felt when she looked at the house was now an almost oppressive force, even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nervously glanced around. Clear Breeze stepped in front of them, turned and placed a hoof over her mouth. The three older fillies nodded and followed her as she led them past the kitchen. There was a door to their right that the twins went through that turned out to be their bedroom.

Scootaloo saw a closed door that probably led to the sitting room further down the hall before she also walked into the room but stopped just inside the door. As soon as she saw the bedroom of the twins her jaw dropped. It was the most bland and depressing bedroom she had ever seen. There was only a single bed in one corner without even a pillow on it. The sheets on the bed were so thin that they would not provide any amount warmth in the winter whatsoever.

The walls were barren and there were no toys anywhere she could see. The twins had decorated Apple Bloom’s room with most of their drawings, that is where they spent almost every single night and Apple Bloom loved it that the twins were there.

She looked over at the where her friends were and she saw the twins putting their coloring books in their saddle bags. They smiled at turned towards the door to make their way back outside when a door slammed loudly in the hall. The twins had frozen with unreadable looks on their faces while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had jumped at the sound.

All of a sudden there was the sound of heavy breathing and angry snorting coming from the door. Scootaloo’s back was still to the door, but before she could turn around, she saw her friends looked scared. She turned and saw a grey pegasus mare with a silver mane and tail. The mare looked extremely dirty and had bloodshot eyes. She gazed down at Scootaloo with a deep scowl on her face.

“Uhm… hi ma’am. My name is Scootaloo and this is-” Scootaloo started when the mare interrupted her.

“You…” came a hoarse whisper from the mare.

Scootaloo frowned as the mare seemed to recognize her, but she was sure she had never seen this mare before in her life.

Before she could say another word, there was fire in the mare’s eyes and she started shouting, “You! You cost me everything! You will pay!”

The mare lifted a hoof as if to stomp down on Scootaloo. Scootaloo’s ears fell down and pressed tightly to her head as fear filled her heart. She and her friends were all frozen in fear as the hoof descended.

Before the hoof had even made it halfway to her a dark grey blur slammed into the mare’s barrel and she was thrown down the hall along with the blur. Scootaloo sank down on her haunches in relief as the immediate danger had passed. Suddenly Shadow was in the door yelling at them.

“Go! Get out of here, now! Go get one of the Bearers,” shouted Shadow.

Clear Breeze immediately turned to the window and opened it. Windy grabbed Apple Bloom and pushed her to the window and forced her through it. Clear had stepped back and grabbed Sweetie Belle as she sat frozen on the floor still looking at the door. Sweetie Belle yelped as Windy helped her sister to throw her through the window. The twins both ran back to the door to get Scootaloo as she was still on the floor where she sat and looking at Shadow.

“Shadow-” whispered Scootaloo.

She was still in shock and couldn’t get anything else out. Shadow looked at her with a quick smile and gave her a quick kiss.

“Go, I’ll buy you some time. Just go get one of the Bearers,” said Shadow.

There was a loud groan from the hallway and the sound of a pony getting to her feet. Shadow glanced back to the hallway and looked back at the twins and gave them a quick jerk of his head towards the window. The twins immediately started dragging Scootaloo to the window and jumped through with her. Just before she lost sight of Shadow, she saw him charge back out the door and to the right down the hallway towards that terrible mare.

Scootaloo was aware of the twins shouting at her but didn’t respond until a hoof met her cheek. With a yelp she shook her head quick and looked at Windy who had just hit her.

“Come on Scoots! We gotta go!” shouted Windy Skies.

The twins shoved her towards her scooter while the two older fillies followed quickly.

“Who are we supposed to get? Ah’ll our sisters are not here and ah have no idea where we could find Pinkie,” said Apple Bloom.

“Twilight! We go to Twilight. We were on our way to see her anyway and the castle isn’t that far,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Okay. Twilight. Sure,” stammered Scootaloo.

The fillies all piled into the wagon while Scootaloo got on her Scooter. Luckily as soon as the scooter and wagon started moving, she seemed to snap out of it and then she really picked up speed. She wanted to get to Twilight as soon as possible. Her worry for Shadow now took over everything else.

None of the fillies said a word as they almost flew towards the castle. For Scootaloo it was all a blur, she didn’t see or hear any of the things the ponies in her way shouted as the five fillies blasted past them. The next thing to register to Scootaloo was that they were at the castle and the scooter skidded to a stop. As soon as they stopped moving, they were all charging into the castle ignoring the two guards stationed next to the doors. The guards were well used to their shenanigans and knew they were allowed into the castle at any time.

“Twilight!” rang out through the crystal hallways as the five fillies frantically shouted.

There was a flash of purple light and Twilight was suddenly in front of them.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight called out.

The five fillies were shouting over each other but Twilight only heard Scootaloo over the others because she was closest and the loudest.

“Twilight! She’s gonna hurt him. Please, we need to go help Shadow!” shouted Scootaloo.

“Show me where!” Twilight called out.

Twilight levitated Scootaloo onto her back and galloped back towards the front entrance. Twilight skidded to a stop at the doors and barked at the guards stationed there.

“Captain! Gather a squad and follow the four fillies.” – She gestured towards the four foals who were still galloping towards her, as they reached her, she said, – “Fillies tell him and the other guards where to go. Lieutenant you’re with me,” ordered Twilight.

Twilight spread her wings and took off with the pegasus guard hot on her hooves.

“Where to Scootaloo?” asked Twilight.

The filly on her back shook in fear, but could still direct them towards that dreaded house.

Time slowed as the hoof descended, Shadow heart clenched as he thought of his sisters and his fillyfriends. He knew he would never see them again, at least he had the consolation that the twins would be properly looked after. There was a flash of light and a loud bang. The hoof froze in it’s decent and time resumed.

He looked over at the door and the first thing he saw was Princess Twilight. Her wings were flared wide and there was fire in her eyes as she took in the scene. The next thing he saw was that Scootaloo was on her back and she was looking at him with fear still in her eyes. The third thing he saw was one of Princess Twilight’s pegasi guards, his spear drawn and he was shouting at the mare standing over him.

He looked up at the mare again and saw that she had looked back down at him and drew her hoof back to end what she had started. A blast of purple magic hit her in the side threw her away from him and she crashed through a wall.

Scootaloo jumped down from Twilight’s back and charged over towards him. She was fully intending to glomp onto him but before she could get too close the pegasus guard caught her and held her away from Shadow. She was struggling and kicking to get to her colt but the words from the guard stopped her cold.

“Wait little one. If you so much as touch him you can hurt him worse than he is,” the guard said.

She stopped struggling and the guard put her down next to Shadow. She looked down at him and brought her face as close to his without touching him as she could.

“Shadow, are you ok?” Scootaloo asked with tears streaming down her face.

Shadow knew he shouldn’t speak and just gave her a slow wink. The ghost of a smile spread across her face for a moment before it turned back to worry. The guard was already busy examining his injuries.

Twilight had meanwhile walked over to the hole in the wall and looking through at the mare who had scared the fillies and hurt Shadow. Before she could really examine the comatose mare lying in the rubble her guard got her attention.

“Princess! He needs immediate medical attention. A stasis spell is required right now or we are gonna lose him,” the guard shouted.

Twilight immediately turned around, jerked her head at the hole in the wall and said, “You take care of that, I’ll get him to the hospital.”

Twilight trotted up to Shadow and her magic surrounded him and gently lifted him into the air. At the same time Scootaloo was levitated to her back again as she teleported to the hospital entrance.

“Medic!” Twilight yelled as soon as she appeared.

The reception nurse looked startled as Twilight teleported in but was quickly shaken out of it as a doctor galloped out of one of the rooms down the hall.

The doctor took one look at the colt held in Twilight’s magic and started yelling, “Nurse! Get a surgery team to ER one, stat!”

“Yes doctor!” the nurse called back.

“Bring him this way Princess,” said the doctor.

Twilight nodded and trotted after the doctor as Scootaloo felt even more tears spill down her face.

Author's Note

It's been awhile since the last update. I'm sorry to say that this chapter was supposed to be out last week. It seems like life just wants to get in the way.

Please leave some comments or questions and I will probably reply if the answer isn't a spoiler :scootangel:

Shadow's Story

Scootaloo was sitting off to the side of the operating room as the doctor and nurses rushed around getting everything ready. She had not expected the room to be as spacious as it was, but considering that a patient and quite a few ponies would sometimes need to work in here together she realized it was actually rather small. Ponyville was only a small town compared to the rest of Equestria.

Scootaloo’s attention was brought back to the doctor she and Twilight had met when they arrived. She thought his name was doctor Stable or something like that, but she couldn’t really remember. The doctor had just finished with an in-depth scan of Shadow with his magic. To her frustration they all moved slowly, as if Shadow was not even hurt or on the operating table.

Shadow was completely immobilized by Twilight’s stasis spell and could only move his eyes and lips. He could softly speak like that but the doctor had asked him to keep silent until he could verify that there was no damage to his vocal cords or throat.

“Okay. I have a pretty good idea of what has been done to him. Princess if you wouldn’t mind, I would like you to stay. I don’t want to risk any other stasis spells while this one is perfect, it would just create unnecessary risk,” said the doctor.

Twilight nodded with a smile and said, “Sure thing doctor. Scootaloo I want you to go wait in the waiting room please.”

Scootaloo started to slightly panic, she didn’t want to let Shadow out of her sight, not when he was hurt like he was.

“What? No! I don’t wanna leave Shadow. He-” said Scootaloo.

The doctor gently interrupted to reassure her, “It’s okay filly, he is perfectly stable in that stasis spell and we can heal everything I found with my scan. He will be just fine.”

Scootaloo sagged slightly with relief and slowly nodded as she understood their lack of urgency. She jumped off her chair and started to make her way out of the room. Before she got to the doors Twilight stepped up to her and gave her an affectionate nuzzle.

“Don’t worry Scoots. I will make sure he is ok,” said Twilight Sparkle.

Scootaloo returned the affection and nodded to Twilight and walked out the door, she made sure to look back at Shadow before the door could close and saw him give her a wink. She smiled sadly at him and slowly went over and sat on one of the chairs in the waiting room. After a few moments she lay down on the large chair and softly started to cry again.

A few minutes later she felt a pair of hooves and soft forelegs wrap around her and pull her into a hug. She opened her eyes and saw the pink forelegs of the pony hugging her. She turned around in the embrace to return the hug and buried her face in the soft chest of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie just held her for a while and stroked her mane.

Scootaloo finally got her tears under control and looked up at Pinkie Pie to thank her. She was taken aback for just a moment at Pinkie’s flat mane and tail. But wisely she didn’t comment on it.

“How did you know Pinkie?” asked Scootaloo.

“O silly, aunt Pinkie knows when she is needed,” Pinkie Pie said sadly.

“Shadow will be fine though. The doctor has Twilight in there keeping him in a stasis spell and he said he can heal everything,” Scootaloo said with a more genuine smile.

Pinkie’s mane and tail perked back up to their normal curliness and gave Scootaloo a huge smile in relief.

“That’s good. I will go get Flutters, Big Mac and Spike as soon as the rest of your herd arrives,” said Pinkie Pie.

She had barely finished her sentence before there was a stampede of hooves echoing through the corridors. A moment later the door burst open with four fillies charging in before they slid to a stop upon seeing Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie jumped off the chair with a giggle and bounced out the door with a wave of her hoof. Before the door swung shut one of Princess Twilight’s guards walked in and stood by the doors, watching over them.

The Twins and her two herd mates jumped up on Pinkie’s old spot and brought Scootaloo into a hug.

“How is he?” asked Sweetie Belle.

With a sniffle Scootaloo said, “He will be fine, the doctor and Twilight are healing him now.”

The four foals all heaved a big sigh in relief. Scootaloo then went on to explain where Pinkie Pie went as they all settled in to wait for more news.

The door silently swung shut behind Scootaloo. Shadow looked over at Princess Twilight and tried to get her attention as she was once again in conversation with the doctor.

After a few muffled words and grunts she finally looked over at him and saw he was trying to speak. She trotted up to the bed and softly talked to him.

“Easy Shadow, don’t speak yet. Let the doctor heal you first,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Have… to ask… you…” Shadow softly forced out.

The stasis spell was keeping his jaw in place and only his lips could move. For anything he wanted to say he had to speak slowly so he could be understood.

“What is wrong Shadow?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Want you… to see to this. Please… don’t involve… Foal Protections. See to it… that my… sisters… can stay in… Ponyville. Please!” begged Shadow.

Twilight looked bewildered for a second as she processed his words. Her head jerked back a bit as she finally understood why he was asking her to keep Foal Protection Services away.

With quiet fury in her voice he had never heard from her before she asked, “Shadow, was the mare who did this your mother?”

The doctor and nurses all looked at the colt on the table in shock when they heard that. They all stayed frozen for a second before they started to get back to preparing the healing spells about to be used.

“Their mother,” Shadow was able to force out.

“I don’t understand,” said Twilight Sparkle.

Shadow was about to reply but the doctor interrupted, “Princess we are ready to begin. It would be best if we can proceed as soon as possible. Can you keep him talking while we work?”

The doctor then shifted his attention to Shadow, “This is going to hurt Shadow, and I mean a lot. The stasis spell interferes with any painkillers and we can’t put you under, not with that head wound. The risk for you not waking up again is too great. So, are you ready?”

Shadow’s lips twitched and he said, “Sure doc… go ahead.”

The doctor nodded and moved out of Shadow’s line of sight and started to give the nurses instructions. Shadow felt a sharp poke on each of his legs as the nurses slipped needles attached to magically enhanced IV drips so they could keep him nourished while the spell worked its way through his body. The spell would take the needed energy directly from his body’s reserves.

Shadow could feel the moment the doctor started the spell. His energy dropped like a stone before the IV drips could restore some of the energy as they pumped their potent mix of fluids into him.

As he felt some of his strength return, he felt the stasis spell remove itself only from around his mouth, Twilight spoke as soon as she finished freeing his mouth.

“What did you mean when you said she was their mother?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

He felt every single one of his wounds flared with a sharp spike of pain all at once but he decided to start speaking to distract himself from the pain.

“It’s a very long story Twilight,” said Shadow.

“We are not going anywhere anytime soon. And I need a good reason why I shouldn’t involve Foal Protection Services,” replied Twilight Sparkle.

Shadow frowned slightly but sighed as best he could while not being able to move. He knew the doctor and his nurses were listening closely and would keep meticulous records.

“I was born to a wealthy noble herd, I can remember that much at least. I was born a pegasus while they were three unicorn nobles in Canterlot. You can probably imagine why I was not wanted. I think they were pretty big tribalists, they didn’t really like ponies who were not unicorns,” said Shadow.

Twilight frowned at this but nodded as she knew most of the unicorn nobles in Canterlot were unicorn tribalists. Even with Princess Celestia trying to curb their ways they still held out in their stubbornness.

Shadow continued his tale, “After I was born, they courted a pegasus mare into the herd to make it look like she was the one who birthed me. I don’t know how they thought they could get away with it but they did. That mare was the one that you saved me from earlier.”

He could see the rage in Twilight’s eyes again at the mention of that mare. He heard a few disgruntled noises coming from the doctor and the two nurses who were not in his line of sight.

“Her name is Storm Chaser. She was one of the best Wonderbolts had to offer a few years ago. That’s why they chose her to take the place of my mother. She gave a big boost to their status. Shadow is not really my birth name, actually I cannot remember what it was, my sisters gave me the name Shadow. But they and she never really cared for me, she was always busy with the ‘bolts and preparing for a show. They never spent any time with me or even played with me. When I was about six, she came back one day with a missing wing. I never found out how that happened. The herd turned on her and threw her out that same day, for good measure they threw me out with her,” explained Shadow.

Twilight was shocked going by the way her jaw was almost touching the floor.

“They dared to treat a foal that way!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight’s mane and tail had started to move on their own, reflecting just how angry she was. Her mane and tail looked a lot like Princess Celestia or Princess Luna’s from the way they moved, but there was none of the gentleness present like Princesses. A feeling of danger filled the room and Twilight’s mane and tail had small sparks running through them and her magic could almost be tasted on the air.

No pony dared to say anything, they all just froze and waited for Twilight to make the first move. She clenched her eyes closed and lifted a hoof to her chest and moved it away from her and back in time with her breathing. It was clear she was trying to calm down and it seemed to be slowly working. First her tail, followed almost instantly by her mane, slowed its movement and finally went back to how it normally looked.

After a few more seconds she finally opened her eyes and looked at Shadow. He could still see the anger there, but she seemed to have it under control now. His lips twitched with amusement, but all of a sudden two sharp cracks were heard in the room, everypony flinched at the sound. Shadow let out a wheezing sound as his mouth opened in a silent scream.

“What was that?” demanded Twilight Sparkle.

“His wings,” the doctor replied with a wince.

The doctor was using his magic to keep close watch on the spell and its progress. Twilight only spared a glance for the doctor before she brought her attention back to Shadow. She did a double take as she looked at him and saw his wings.

“Your wings are black! But your coat is grey. How did I never realize that? What is going on?” stammered Twilight Sparkle.

With another grunt that was forced out through clenched teeth Shadow spoke, “I normally use my magic to keep attention away from them seeing as they were merely decorations.”

“Decorations? What do you mean?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“I’ll get to it, its part of the story,” said Shadow.

Twilight huffed but finally nodded and waited for Shadow to continue.

“Not even a month after we were thrown out, her anger started to consume her, she started blaming me for her losing her wing and she got into salted drinks.” – Shadow paused at Twilight and the nurse’s gasps – “We were living in a very small run-down house in a small town. I can’t even remember what the town was called though. She started getting abusive and taking out her rage on me. Before the next month was out, she started refusing to buy food for me. She still got herself food but I had to fend for myself. To this day she is still receiving her pension from the ‘bolts but I haven’t even seen a single bit of it in years,” explained Shadow.

Twilight started breathing heavily again, but she didn’t let her anger manifest again.

“She refused to feed the foal she was supposed to take care of?” asked Twilight Sparkle, her voice deadly cold and calm.

“Yeah, that first week was bad. But I was lucky and got a part time job at the town’s restaurant washing their dishes. I told them it was for extra allowance, even though I have never received a single bit in allowance. Now I was just a foal at the time and didn’t know any better, I just thought that was how life was for a foal. Even when we were with the herd I have never been cared for, so I didn’t have any other comparisons to make with how life was supposed to be. That was all during the winter months so the bits from the restaurant helped, but it was just not enough to pay for three meals a day,” said Shadow.

Twilight was running a hoof through his mane by this point and was silently sniffling. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more but knew she would have to listen to all of it.

Twilight wasn’t sure if it was the pain from the spell or memories as Shadow continued his tale in a soft pained voice, “I started eating only when I had the bits for food. Which wasn’t very often, but at least once a day. By the time spring had come she had started to give out beatings that were slowly getting worse. At that time, I had realized I could use my magic to make other ponies ignore the cuts and bruises. With practice I could even make them forget about seeing me that day. I was so happy when I figured that out. I thought that I could also use it on her so she would stop hurting me,” – A bitter smile and an eye-roll was the only reaction Shadow gave to his younger self’s thoughts – “Didn’t really work, it seemed the salt made my magic ineffective on her. But what came next was probably the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“The twins!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.

“Yes. Three days into her heat I heard her coming into the house late that night shouting about being pregnant. She was out of the house for those three days, I don’t think even she knew where she went. She was out of her mind drunk and I did not want her to so much as hear me. That would have just resulted in another beating so I hid behind the couch for the whole night, even as she finally fell asleep on that same couch. I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, I was worried that she would just continue to take in the salt while she had a foal in her. I had heard it in the restaurant a few times that a mare who was pregnant shouldn’t drink anything with salt in it, otherwise the foal would be hurt or even killed. I didn’t really understand why at the time, but I know now what would have happened if I did nothing,” Shadow said with a shudder.

Twilight nodded slowly and still stroked his mane softly. She had tears in her eyes at this point and was trying her hardest to not start crying, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop if she let go now. Shadow was staring into her eyes and seemed to be getting the strength to continue with his tale from her. The two nurses and the doctor were all silent as they listened as well.

“The next day I snuck out of the house and made my way to a pony who worked in Foal Protections and explained everything to her, I was cautious though and didn’t trust her, at that time I didn’t trust any grown up. I used my magic on her the entire time while we talked to keep her from remembering anything afterwards. I just wanted to know what would happen if I let her act with that information. What she said was not really promising. The procedure for something like that was to take away the foal, meaning me, as she was not my birth mother and place me in foster care. What would happen to the unborn foal was that she would be put into foster care once born. Storm Chaser would be put in a special hospital if she was found unfit to be a mother. I knew she would refuse to stop with the salt so I had to do something. I didn’t want the foal to be taken and put in foster care too. So, I before I went back to that Foal Protections mare, I decided to try one last thing. I went to Storm Chaser and waited for her to wake up and be sober so I could try to make a deal with her.” – Shadow took a deep breath, looked down and away from Twilight’s eyes – “I told her that if she stopped with the salt until the foal was born, she could take out her anger on me and do whatever she wanted to me,” said Shadow.

Twilight’s eyes widened and the tears finally spilled down as she started to sob. She moved closer to the dark grey colt and wrapped her hooves around his head and hugged him as best she could while trying to not hurt him anymore than he already was.

“O Shadow!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.

His breath stuttering a bit he said, “I haven’t ever talked about this with anypony. It hurts so much, but I want to get it all out.”

Twilight nodded gently and sat down in front of him and placed her face down on the table directly in front of his, she resumed stroking his mane softly as he started talking again.

“That year was the worst of my life, she broke both of my wings in the first month. My wings never healed right and I couldn’t go to a hospital. That’s why I tried to hide them from ponies with my magic. Not only because they are a different color but because any pegasus can see they are broken and would probably try and find out why. She gave me even more bruises and broke a few ribs and other bones. I still had to fend for myself for food, but I made sure she ate enough. I had talked to a pony at the town’s small library, again using my magic to make her forget everything, on how to care for a foal and what was needed to care for them. O yeah, speaking of the library, the reason I have not yet filled in the paperwork to legally be a part of Scoots’ herd is because I don’t know how to read or write,” said Shadow.

He closed his eyes for the inevitable explosion from the purple Princess who was at heart still a bookworm. It never came, he looked back up at her after a few moments of silence. She had her eyes clenched shut with sorrow and anger written clear on her face. She slowly opened her eyes and affectionately looked deep into his eyes.

Twilight softly kissed him on his forehead and said, “Don’t worry about that right now Shadow, I will help you with the papers and teach you to read and write myself.”

Shadow felt his eyes moisten again and tried to lean into her but was stopped by the stasis spell still holding him still.

Shadow gave a soft snort of annoyance and started speaking again, “It was a big surprise that there were two of them when the nurse told me in the hospital when they were born. I named them you know, I am the one who fed them, changed them and took care of them. She just went directly back to her salt as soon as she was out the hospital, she didn’t even come home for three days. When she finally did come back, she tried to punish the twins for her having to go so long without her salt. I put myself between them and she went absolutely berserk. That was the second worst beating she ever gave me. I couldn’t believe I was still alive when I woke up the next day. It seemed she had exhausted herself taking it out on me and had left the twins alone.” – Twilight let out a silent sigh of relief at hearing that – “After that I made sure she never even saw the twins again, I kept them away in another room and took them with me whenever I leaved the house. I couldn’t work for bits for food while the twins were still so small, so I snuck into her room while she was passed out and stole the bits she used to buy her own salt, I think she finally noticed it by the time the twins were two years old because she didn’t keep her bits in the house anymore. So, I started working at a restaurant washing dishes again. We had already moved to another small town by that time and nopony knew us there,” explained Shadow.

Doctor Stable interrupted at this time and said, “Princess the spell is just about finished. Just a few more moments and then we can move him to a recovery room.”

Twilight nodded and silently sat with him and continued to stroke Shadow’s mane. She didn’t say anything and Shadow just stared into her caring eyes. Twenty seconds later Shadow felt the spell leave his body and the IV needles were removed as he was picked up by Twilight’s magic, after she got the okay from the doctor. She placed him on a bed with wheels that one of the nurses had just brought in.

“We are taking him to room six Princess,” said doctor Stable.

Twilight nodded and used her magic to push the bed out the doors. As they left, she saw the two of her friends who were still in town, Big Mac who was holding Apple Bloom, Spike just sitting close to the Crusaders and the guard standing by the door, all waiting for them.

“Shadow!” five voices exclaimed.

The five fillies rushed over and stood with their forelegs on the side of the bed as they looked at the colt laying there.

“He is healed fillies, he just needs some good rest and a few meals. Hop on, we are taking him to room six,” said Twilight Sparkle.

They all gave sighs of relief and jumped onto the bed and settled down, all of them pressing against him. They heard Twilight and her two friends tittering behind their hooves but didn’t pay it any mind.

Shadow stretched his wings without pain for the first time in years and moaned softly at how good it felt. They all looked at him as he wrapped them around the fillies.

“Wait! Your wings! They’re not broken anymore! Why are they black?” asked Scootaloo.

“I will explain later Scoots. I still need to talk with Twilight,” said Shadow.

Scootaloo just nodded and pressed in closer against him. They heard Twilight talking with her friends and as they left the waiting room, she spoke with the guard who was keeping pace with them.

“Send word to secure that house so we can get any and all evidence related to foal abuse and take the mare into custody. Make sure she is restrained, she is most likely still under the influence of heavy salt use,” said Twilight.

The guard saluted and left at a quick trot. The four ponies, one baby dragon and a bed filled with foals finally entered a normal hospital room. The adults all settled down next to the bed and waited to hear what happened.

“Before I resume my tale Twilight, I think I should get one thing out of the way first,” said Shadow.

Everypony had looks of confusion on their faces before Shadow softly spoke.

“I apologize miss Pie,” said Shadow while bowing his head to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie cocked her head to the side and asked, “For what silly?”

“For using my magic to hide me and my sisters from you when we first moved to town. Any attention would have only harmed us and caused us to be taken away,” explained Shadow.

Pinkie’s mane and tail had deflated and gone straight. There were also tears in her eyes that threatened to fall. It was a very scary sight, Shadow felt cold in his chest as he looked upon her. It was just fundamentally wrong to make Pinkie Pie sad.

“My welcome party would have hurt you? How?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Shadow knew he had to talk fast to make her understand and he couldn’t take the look on her face.

“It would not have the party that was the problem miss Pie, but the ponies at the party,” said Shadow.

“Explain!” demanded Pinkie Pie.

“I think I understand what he means Pinkie,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Huh?” was the only response from Pinkie Pie.

“If Shadow, the twins or their mother were to have a welcome party something bad would have happened. Either the ponies would see that Shadow was being abused or Storm Chaser would have made a scene seeing as she would have probably been so drunk, she wouldn’t even have known where she was. Then ponies would get Foal Protections to look into their living circumstances and would have taken Shadow and the twins away,” explained Twilight Sparkle.

“Exactly that miss Pie. So, for that I apologize,” said Shadow.

Pinkie’s mane and tail had inflated back to what it normally looked like and she was bouncing around again.

“It’s ok Shadow, I understand that would have been bad. And call me Pinkie, miss makes me feel old. But I WILL throw you all a party after you are out of the hospital. You can be sure it will be a big one too!” Pinkie said happily and disappeared in a poof of smoke and the sound of confetti.

Twilight shook her head while holding a hoof over her eyes, “That mare.”

The fillies and her friends all giggled as Shadow shook his head.

“Anyway, as I was saying. While we were living in that town there was a pegasus stallion that I helped with something, I’ll not say what, he then offered to teach the twins how to read and later write with their wings as thanks. I never learned how to read from him, seeing as I was busy working. I don’t think he was from Equestria, he had a strange accent. After a few years of living there we moved again to Ponyville where I went to great lengths to avoid the attention of Pinkie Pie. At the beginning and before I started working for Applejack, I had three jobs here in town. The beatings were still almost daily so I managed to get the twins into school so they could make some friends and spend as much time as they could with them and so they could stay away from the house as long as possible,” said Shadow.

“Big bro, I remember it now, you were always so hurt and hungry. Why did we not realize it and why would you let us eat but not eat yourself?” asked Clear Breeze.

“I’m sorry everypony. I used my magic on everypony, even you five, to make you not pay attention to some things. The biggest thing was that my wings were different and broken. The rest was only small things, like the bruises and not eating,” explained Shadow.

The twins both looked like they were about to ask why but somepony else asked before they could.

“But why?” asked Scootaloo.

Shadow sighed heavily and said, “If anypony were to realize something was wrong with our home life they would have brought it to the attention of Foal Protections. If that happened me and the twins would have been split up, taken away and placed in different foster homes. But after I started working on the farm, I made sure that if our home life was made public the twins would be staying here in Ponyville. They would then have only taken me away. Doesn’t really matter now though, the cat’s out of the bag and I expect they are already on the way here.”

“No!” the voices of five fillies rang out.

“We won’t let them take you!” Scootaloo continued as the other fillies agreed with her.

“No, they are not, not yet at least,” said doctor Stable as he walked into the room.

Confused glances were all that answered him. He sighed and shook his head in amusement. He floated a folder over to Twilight in his magic.

“I haven’t yet sent Shadow’s report to any of the authorities. He has asked Princess Sparkle to take of it and until she says otherwise, she is in charge,” said doctor Stable.

“Thank you, doctor. I don’t have any authority within FPS yet, but I will send your report and a letter to Princess Luna at once. I’m sure she will want to have a hoof in this case herself. I have no doubt she will come as soon as she hears of what happened,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Thank you, doc,” said Shadow.

The doctor smiled at him and gave him a nod, “Now, you will be confined to bed rest for the next three days, just to be sure that there were no complications with the healing spell or your recovery. You will also need to stay under close observation until this foal abuse case has been resolved. That’s standard procedure required by Foal Protections and I am obliged to inform you and any other ponies in your company. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem seeing as you have a princess looking after you.”

The doctor gave them a wink and left the room again. Twilight was busy writing a letter for Princess Luna while the doctor spoke and she only looked up when he mentioned her and gave him a nod.

A few minutes of silence followed the doctor’s exit and the fillies used this time to just press against Shadow and be close to him. Twilight finished her letter and was about to ask Spike to send it when her guard captain knocked, walked in and saluted Twilight.

“Your Highness. We've restrained and brought the mare to the hospital as instructed. She is currently being examined by a doctor and any injuries will be taken care of shortly. However, there seems to be something else. When she woke up, she started ranting and raving about how a filly ruined her life and cost her a wing. From what she was shouting it seems that she thinks it was the orange pegasus currently on the bed there,” said the captain while motioning to Scootaloo.

Twilight frowned and turned to Scootaloo, “Scoots, do you know that mare?”

Scootaloo looked a bit scared but spoke with certainty, “No Twilight. I’ve never seen her before.”

Twilight looked at the fillies and saw Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shake their heads. She looked down for a moment and then sighed.

“Captain, I think that she is delusional. From what I have been told Storm Chaser had started heavily abusing salt a few years ago and never stopped,” said Twilight Sparkle.

There was silence for a few moments before there was a gasp. Twilight looked back at the bed and saw that Scootaloo’s face was pale, her mouth was hanging open and her eyes had shrunk to mere pinpricks.

“Scoots. Do you know that name?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

Scootaloo was still pale and slowly nodded, “How can it be her? Wait! Is this all my fault?”

Author's Note

Hey everypony!

Finally huh? This chapter was a real bitch to get right and I'm still not completely happy with it. It just feels as if I'm still missing a few things. Shoot me a pm or comment if you catch anything I missed and I'll fix it.

I love it when you guys comment and I read each and every single one. :scootangel: