Once a Shadow

Oh God, I feel so awesome right now. Five rounds. I smiled to myself. I snuck out of bed and trotted downstairs. I'm not really hungry, so I think I'll skip breakfast today. I trotted outside and took flight to Cloudsdale. I went through the secret entrance and trotted downstairs to the sanctuary. Everypony was there, including our new member Solemn Justice.

I went over to the round table and took a seat one space away from Ni, and one space away from Soarin. Ni rolled his eyes.

"Good morning Shadow, feel better?" Spitfire asked.

"I guess." I turned to Blaze, who didn't have any signs of injury except a few bruises. "What about you Blaze, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm going out to the training area." She said before storming off.

Spitfire sighed.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"She's probably jealous of you." Spitfire said.

"Why would she be jealous of me? Why would anypony be jealous of me?"

"Think about it Shadow. She's taken a year to become a full fledged member of the Mones, while you took less than a month, and you're not even originally a pony. You're superior at fighting in every way, and her loss against that demon only damaged her pride further."

"Why doesn't she get her armor enchanted?"

"She says it's because there aren't any that suit her personality."

I thought for a moment. "What about fire control?"

Spitfire facehoofed. "Why didn't I think of that before..."

I smiled and rose. "I'll go talk to her. We'll be back shortly." I turned to Solemn Justice. "And we'll discuss a few things as well."

The green and purple filly nodded.

At that, I left the sanctuary and trotted upstairs. I went around back and found Blaze on the bleachers with her face in her hooves.

I flew down next to her. "Blaze, you okay?"

"What do you want?"

"C'mon Blaze, I'm sorry if I've upset you. We're family, remember?"

"Would a family member make another member ashamed? Go away."

"Blaze...I can't help what I am. While I had every intention of wanting to go to Equestria, I did not see this coming. The last place I thought I'd be is a secret sanctuary for an ancient order of assassins working for Princess Luna."

Blaze smiled a little.

"I can understand how you feel. I'm only one or two years older than you after all. I completely understand what it's like to feel like you're left in the shadow of another."

Blaze looked at me. "Thanks Shadow."

I smiled. "No problem." I held my forelegs out. "Hugz?"

She laughed and hugged me.

We broke the hug and I spoke up. "Come on, I helped think of an armor enchantment for you."

"Really? What is it?"

"Well, if Princess Luna can do it, fire control."

"Fire control?"

I nodded. "That's right. If the enchantment does what it's supposed to, you will be able to control fire."

"Awesome! Let's go!" She said before flying off back towards the sanctuary.

I smiled and flew back as well. When I trotted downstairs, everypony was chatting. Princess Luna was there as well.

She saw me and smiled. "Come, Shadow Flash. We would like a word with you."

"Yes Princess." I said before trotting next to her.

"Spitfire tells us your last mission was a failure."

I looked at the ground. "She's right. Our target got away, and two civilians died in the process."

"While we are deeply sorrowed by the loss of innocent lives, was your mission truly a failure?"

"What do you mean Princess?"

"It looks like none of you died, and it also looks like you even managed to save a little filly, and recruit her at that."

"I guess..."

"Do not be so hard on yourself Shadow Flash. There are some things that are just out of anypony's conrol, even mine. If Captain Spitfire said there was nothing that could have been done, she meant it."

I sighed. "You're right..bu-" I was cut off by Blaze.

"Hey Princess Luna, do you think you could do that enchantment now?"

Princess Luna smiled. "We'll talk later." She turned to Blaze. "Coming."

Luna walked over to Blaze's Wonderbolt uniform, and touched it with her horn, causing it to glow. When she finished, Princess Luna backed up. "There you are, one enchanted uniform."

"Thank you Princess." Blaze said.

"It was no trouble. We need to get back to Canterlot, but we will be back." Princess Luna said before disappearing.

"Congrats Blaze." I said.

"Thanks." She replied, smiling.

I turned to Solemn Justice. "Come with me."

"What for?" Ni asked.

"Relax, I just want to talk to the kid."

The fillygot out of her seat and trotted over. "Sir?"

"Let's go upstairs. Here, climb on my back, it will be quicker."

She nodded and climbed on my back. I went upstairs and went over to the bleachers behind the HQ building.

I set the filly down and looked at her. "So lets start with formally introducing ourselves. I'm Shadow Flash, originally a different creature from a different universe, died, and got sent here. Oh, and I'm 17. How about yourself?"

The filly looked shocked for a moment, but shook it off. "I'm Pe- I mean Solemn Justice. I lived with my grandpa most of my life. My real parents died in a train accident when I was just a foal, so my grandpa took me in. I'm nine years old."

"I'm sorry to hear that Solemn. Away from that depressing subject though, Spitfire tells us you're very mature for your age."

The filly blushed. "I guess."

"Have you made any living arrangements yet?"

"No, I haven't, why?"

I smiled. "Great! You can come live with me and my fiance!"

If she had water or any beverage in her mouth, she would have spit it out in shock. "What?!"

"You don't have to. I just thought I'd throw that offer out there. We could officially adopt you. You'd be an official member of my family. I guess you could say you already have a family with us, but I'm talking about an official family, with a dad and mom."

The filly started tearing up.

"What's wrong? You don't have to come live with us if you don't want-" I started to say.

She shook her head. "That's not it. It's just that anypony who looks after me seems to die. I don't want anypony to die because of me." She said before she started to cry.

I put my foreleg around her. "Don't say things like that. We're not going anywhere, I'll make sure of that. Besides, I've had my fill of death to last me for a long, long time." I smiled. "You'll have a family with us. You won't go hungry, you'll be well protected, and most importantly, you'll have me!" I finished with a large grin.

Solemn stopped crying and laughed.

"Whad'ya say Solemn? Wanna be my daughter?"

I didn't get a yes, instead, she jumped over to me and gave me a big hug which I returned.

"Welcome to my family Solemn."

"Thanks...Dad."

That word made me ridiculously happy. Dad...sigh*...I guess I'll go see where I can find him and invite him to the wedding. I've been putting it off for a while now.

We broke the hug, and I let Solemn climb on my back again. We went downstairs again, and trotted over to the round table, where I let Solemn off.

Ni noticed how happy we were and spoke up. "You two seem pretty happy, what did you talk about?"

Solemn bounced up and down. "I get to go live with dad now!"

"Dad? You mean Shadow?"

The filly nodded. "That's right! He offered to adopt me, and I said yes!"

Everypony smiled.

"That's great! We're all happy for you Solemn." Ni said.

"Yeah, that's great kid." Soarin said.

Ni walked over to me. "So why did you offer to adopt her?" He whispered.

"Because she obviously needs a real home, and also because she's friggin' adorable!"

"Is there any other reason?"

"Yeah, there is. I think I'm the only one here that might be able to make a parental connection with her. I grew up hating my dad Ni. I don't want her to not even have one. It's more than just an obligation, I want to do this. I want to raise her."

Ni smiled and patted my back. "That's probably the most mature thing I've ever heard you say."

"Yeah, try and keep what I said secret."

"I'll try." He said, rolling his eyes and trotting back to the table.

"Well guys, I guess I should go now. Come on Solemn, I'll let you see your new home and mom."

She smiled really big and I let her climb on my back again. "We'll be here again tomorrow."

"Good, because she starts her training tomorrow." Spitfire said.

I nodded. "Understood."

I trotted out with the filly on my back and took flight towards home.

Solemn spoke up about halfway there. "So did you really mean what you said to Mister Ni?"

"You heard that? I thought I was whispering."

"I picked up bits and pieces. I have really good ears."

I shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter if you heard. Yeah Solemn, I meant every single word."

She didn't say anything else, but I could tell she was on the verge of crying from happiness. I'm glad I decided to offer. There's just the question of what Rainbow's reaction will be. I swear to God if she hits me over the head again...I'll...I'll bitch! I mean it!

We arrived back at the house of cloud, and I let Solemn off, who was looking at the place in awe. "This place is huge!" She said.

I smiled. "Glad you like it. C'mon, I'll introduce you to Rainbow Dash."

I opened the door and trotted in with Solemn. The living room was empty, so I called out. "Hey Rainbow, you here?!"

"Yeah, I'm upstairs!" She called back.

"Come downstairs then! I have a surprise for you!"

I heard trotting, and Rainbow soon emerged from the stairs. She saw Solemn and spoke. "Is this one of your special fans Shadow? She sure is a cute little filly."

"Mind if I speak to you for just a sec Rainbow? Solemn, you wait here for a second."

Solemn nodded and Rainbow trotted with me over to the kitchen.

"So what's her name?" Rainbow asked.

"It's Solemn Justice. I guess I should explain things. On my mission yesterday, myself and a few other ponies went to infiltrate a base where somepony evil was hiding. While we were there, we faced gruesome challenges, such as creatures called abominations. Well, when I finished up with my fighting, Ni comes up along with the rest of the group, but he's holding a little filly, her. Ni said that her grandpa had given her to him just before getting killed in order to save her. We asked if she wanted to go live with some kin, but she refused, saying she wanted to join us. Spitfire let her join, and today, well...I sorta' offered to adopt her."

"...That's a long story Shadow. Let me ask this; why do you want to adopt her?"

"Like I told Ni, I'm the only one there that could have probably made a parental connection with her, and I grew up hating my dad, so I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up without one altogether. I really do want to raise her Rainbow."

"..Okay."

"Really?"

"C'mon Shadow, I'm not going to turn down the kid a new home and life after what she's been through. We'll raise her together, okay?"

I kissed her and smiled. "Okay."

We trotted back to Solemn who had taken a seat on the couch.

Me and Rainbow extended our hooves. "Welcome to the family Solemn." I said.

The little filly smiled larger than Pinkie Pie herself and ran over to hug us. We had a good group hug, then parted.

"Now there's the matter of a room. Would you rather have your own room, or would you rather sleep with us?" Rainbow said.

"I'll take my own room if that's okay."

"Sure is, right this way." Rainbow said, leading her off.

I smiled. This is going to prove to be a good decision.

I waited around for about another minute before Rainbow and Solemn trotted back.

"Hey you two, I need to go take care of something, I'll be back in a bit." I said.

"Alright Shadow, see you then."

"Bye Dad!"

It's going to take some getting used to being called that. I used to associate that word with jackass, but not anymore. I nodded and left Rainbow and Solemn to get to know each other better, and flew to Mayor Mare's home. I gave a knock, and she answered.

"Hello? What can I do for you?"

"Yeah, is my dad here?"

"Your dad? I don't think-"

"Junior! There you are!" My dad yelled from inside.

"Hey, can you come outside for a sec? I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course." He said, trotting over. "Please excuse us Miss Mare."

The Mayor nodded and left me and my dad alone.

"I haven't seen you in a while junior."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been...busy."

"So I've heard. It sounds like you've found this place's equivalent of NASCAR. At least they have some form of it here. But that aside, what's on your mind son?"

"Well, I have two things to tell you. The first is...I'm getting married."

I expected him to blow up again, but was surprised when he smiled and hugged me. "Congratulations son! I'm proud of you!"

"You're not upset?"

"I've grown to accept everything the way it is now. Just ask the Mayor in there, because we like to-"

"Nonononononooooooo that's okay dad, you don't have to tell me. The other thing I wanted to tell you is that I just adopted a little filly, or girl. She's nine years old, and her name is Solemn Justice."

"So, I'm a grandpa now?"

"Technically, yes."

"She's cute though?"

"Exceedingly. She's my new daughter after all."

"I can't wait to meet her. When is the wedding?"

"It's six days from now, in the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. I'm sure Mayor Mare would be glad to show you the way. You can tell her she's invited as well."

"I will. Is that all you wanted to talk about son?"

"Yeah, that's it. I'll see you later though."

"Alright son, take care."

I nodded and flew off back home. When I walked inside, Rainbow and Solemn were chatting on the couch. They looked up at me when I trotted in.

"Hey Shadow, I guess we should go ahead and go over to the adoption agency huh?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You ready Solemn?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Alright, hop on." I said, kneeling down so she could hop on my back.

When she climbed on my back, I trotted outside with Rainbow.

"It's this way." Rainbow said, taking flight.

I jumped up and flew behind her. We arrived at a fairly large building that looked to be made of marble on the outside. We trotted in, and there was a red coated mare with a blue mane and tail to greet us behind a table. She had a motherly feeling about her.

"Hello, welcome to the Ponyville adoption agency! My name is Tender Heart. How may I help you?"

"Me and my fiance here would like to adopt the cute little filly on my back." I said, kneeling down so Tender Heart could see her.

"She is cute. All I'll need is consent from her parents, and we can begin the paperwork."

"That's the thing, we found her all alone in a Baltimare alley. We thought about it, and decided we should give her a good home."

Tender Heart looked at us for a moment before speaking up again. "Well, you two certainly don't look like you're dishonest, and the little one does seem to be quite happy. Very well, I'll go get the paperwork." She said before trotting through a back room.

She came back a few minutes later with a clipboard and a pen and set it down on the desk. "If you two will just fill that out, you will officially have a new daughter." She finished with a smile.

Rainbow and I took a look at the paperwork. It wasn't much. I decided to let Rainbow fill out most of it, and all I had to do was sign my name. When the paperwork was done, Rainbow gave the paperwork back to Tender Heart.

While reviewing it, her eyes shot wide. "I didn't realize you two were Wonderbolts! I remember now! You two were in Baltimare! I loved your performance."

"Thanks." Rainbow and I said in unison.

"You also work at a foster home don't you Tender Heart?" Rainbow asked.

"I do, why?"

"How many kids live there?"

"About twelve, why?"

Rainbow nodded to me, and I got what she was saying. I reached into my saddlebag, and pulled out six more season passes for the Wonderbolts. Rainbow pulled out seven, one extra for Tender Heart. We set them on the table.

Her eyes went wide. "These...these are-"

"Thirteen season passes to the Wonderbolts, all for you and those kids." Rainbow said.

"I...this...thank you. Thank you so much! The kids will love this!"

"I'm sure they will. Take care." Rainbow said as we trotted out.

"You three as well!" She called back.

When we got outside, we took flight back home.

"That was really nice." I said.

"Those kids deserve a kind gesture." Rainbow replied.

"Yeah, you're right. So are you excited Solemn? You're officially a member of our family now."

"I am. Thank you two so much!"

"No need to thank us Solemn. You're our daughter after all."

She responded by hugging me tighter.

When we arrived home, we all took a seat on the couch. We were all tired, it was probably around 8:30 now.

"How about we go to sleep now?" I suggested.

"Is it okay if I sleep with you two for tonight?" Solemn asked.

"You know you don't have to ask. Come on, lets go to bed." Rainbow said.

Solemn smiled and we all trotted upstairs and got in bed. She made herself comfortable in the middle. I've never been so happy to be cock-blocked in both of my lives.

There's a dawww chapter for you guys :P. What do you think about what went down? Do you like the conversation with Blaze? Like her new power? What about adopting Solemn Justice? Going to the west coast tomorrow! (Shadow is, not me. No, I get to stay where all of the hurricanes are on the Gulf Coast xp)(Another side note, for those who read my other story, Bleach: Equestria, I'm putting it on a hiatus. I'll get back to it eventually, but I'm considering starting up a side project. Anywho, I won't be submitting too many chapters very fast for the next few months. SO MANY NEW GAEMZ TO PLAY.

Chuck Norris Fact of the day: Chuck Norris's beard is pure matter, while his chest hair is pure antimatter. If the two ever meet, the universe will explode.