Shadows of the Night

(Author's Note: Prereader(s): Moon_Fire, Paw Print thank you)

           “I am in no mood for pranks Griffin, where is Rumor?” It’s hard to think of heat as something that comes off as cold, but Princess Celestia clearly was not in a good mood any more.

       ‘Should I panic now?’

       ‘Just keep calm sir, take a deep breath and…’ At that moment Caligo shut off contact from me, I started to feel my mind go all fuzzy like in that café, jeez wasn’t it like a week ago or something?

       ‘Caligo?’

       ‘Busy.’ Was all I got, and a further hardening of an already impressive glare from Princess Celestia as my mind began to feel more solidified.

       “You will tell me who you are. I am in no mood for tricksters or any other form of shape shifting today, and will not treat kindly to lies and deceptions that are said within my presence.”

       I shuddered under the weight of her gaze, but somewhere in the back part of my head, that was still mine, was the small golden nugget of my optimism that said if I just explained things to her she’ll understand, she is a benevolent monarch after all… right? But just to be safe I shrank further behind the piece of light blocking cloth that covered me from the ever increasing glowing ire of Celestia.

       “MynameisRumorma’am.Irecentlyfoundmyselfgiventheopportunitytocometoalandofdreamsandwasgivenpowersbeyondmy,old,bodiesabilities.ButuponarrivalIfoundmyselfdrawntothecastleoutintheEverfreeForrestandfoundawhitemaskthatbademetobethesovereignofdarknessandtofindhissisterhalfinorderformetofullyascendinpower.TurnsoutthatsisterhalfissomewhereinthiscastleofwhichI’vefiguredittobethesamestuffwhichledtoPrincessLuna’slessthanwellstateofbeingnottoolongagowithpromisesthatthebrotherhalfwouldbeabletobringthesisterhalfundercontrolsoIcanbringpeacetothedark.Pleasedon’tkillme.”

       That had to be the fastest I’d ever talked, and from someone who has tried to do so under normal circumstances (what can I say, the way bidder’s run their voice a-thousand miles an hour has always fascinated me), I can proudly state that fear and adrenaline work well in concert if you gotta say something, and say it fast.

       Though, while I had been too busy being in fear of  my life thinking on just how I could be punished from petrifaction, to blood-boiling, to asphyxiation on the moon it was only in hindsight that I realized that Celestia had shown a few changes in emotion during my little summary, not that I’d be able to easily name them besides saying that they weren’t strictly angry since the fur on Celestia’s face hadn’t become a vibrant red with steam about her, not that that was a good sign as even the show has proved her to keep a level, enough, looking head in the face of adversity.

       The point was made moot once she decided to give a reply after an uncomfortably long wait, of a few seconds.

       “You say you were given a new body, yet to me it looks remarkably similar to one I have just previously seen this very night. What were you originally, and what exactly have you become?” Again she ended with a hard stare, but some of the venom felt like it had been taken out.

       Ok, she wants to continue to talk, this is… probably a good sign. I wanted to question that last part, but was still in fear of my life, “My origin of species is human, a bipedal prime-ape, with absolutely no magic about or around us at all. Now, I am a creature known as a shade, a creature and wielder of darkness.”

       “And why would you wish to be such a creature?” The look of disgust hidden behind a mask perfected over years of dealing with nobles at court, but was still evident from the small amount she purposefully let out.

       “Well, for a few reason’s ma’am: One, I can see in the dark, something that has always bothered me and my toes whenever I have to get up at night. Two, I now have an even better immune system, being sick is never fun. Three, I can zip around, hopping from shadow to shadow like a teleporting wiz. And four, I’ve always been fascinated with shadow puppetry, and now I can make my very own.” I finished the last one off with a grin, which was still hidden behind my cloak that I still refused to come out from under.

       “May I see some?”

       “See some what ma’am?”

       “Your shadow puppetry.”

       “Oh, yes ma’am. But the light you’re making is killing away all the shadows I might use around us, could you please, possibly, turn it down some, please?” It felt weird asking anything of royalty, but Celestia acquiesced by completely turning off the aura around her, save the light that came from her ever-flowing mane.

       I immediately let out a sigh of relief as I felt darkness flow back into the room, much to a small stiffening disappointment from Celestia I, dishearteningly, noticed. But I wasn’t about to let that stop me, I still wasn’t dead or freezing. Pulling the shadows upon the desk in front of us I made the first thing I could think of, a bunny, except this one actually looked like a real bunny wiggly nose and everything. I gave him a few hops, on the last it shrunk into a dove in mid-air and tool a small flight around the both of us. It landed upon the desk, and in an explosion of shadow streamers and confetti left behind a black and grey, miniature, version of Princess Celestia upon the desk as she did a small bow and vanished.

***

       Deep within the mental construct of Rumor’s mind Caligo sits in the shifting shadow world of his preference, whilst deep in concentration.

I can’t believe Celestia is still trying to attempt to read my master’s mind even after he revealed where he found me. Guess she still hasn’t quite gotten over her sister’s breakdown after all these years… of being animate… and sentient, and thus able to have the time to DO IT!!!... Oh my, almost allowed her entrance in here.

       Still, he shows many qualities that will be of worth in the future. That need to be polite will be nicely turned into more diplomatic functions, though the way he is so eager to please is a tad troubling, that will have to be ironed out.

       As he watches on he notices just how keenly Celestia is steering the conversation, taking advantage of his master’s inexperience with such duplicit talkings as she tried to find his lies. But it gave Caligo all the more reason to smile because Rumor had practically no guile about him, especially when he didn’t have a week to come up with a simple lie to last him a few measly months, and even more especially when it came to his notions of honor and something that Caligo had just come across called ‘the golden rule’ which even in all the twisted working, of his own master’s mind, still had a place of importance, despite its slightly worn state.

***

       “So you’re not going to kill me then?” I asked, but having allowed myself to sit up… after having been asked to.

       “Of course not, you do not seem pose a threat to my little ponies, and your actions, despite their duplicit nature, have brought them some ease.” She said with a smile that filled me with a warm fuzzy feeling, despite myself.

       “So does that mean you’ll let me have… The Nightmare you called it?” A small beam of hope starting to grow.

       “I’m afraid not.” And there it went. “The Nightmare was too much for even my sister to fully handle, and that was even with the full aid of the thing you call Caligo, which you now possess. I cannot let it fall into anypony’s hooves lest they fall as my sister had.” Her eyes again set into a grim state.

       I was denied the one thing that would lead me to becoming some all power ruler of all where light was not, and an increase in power, and I smiled. I was free.

       “Well since that’s no longer an option, can I just stay, and continue working here?”

       ‘What?!?’

       “Pardon?”

       “Well if I can’t get The Nightmare, then I really don’t have anything else to do, I might as well keep at it with the job that I already have, if you don’t mind that is ma’am. I rather like it here.” Beneath my cloak a small blush began to grow upon my cheeks, much to my confusion.

       “That sounds most acceptable,” she said with a smile like a warm summer breeze, “But I warn you, do not do anything to endanger my little ponies, or I might just have to add you to my garden’s rock collection.”

       “Yes ma’am, wouldn’t dream of it.”

       And with that Princess Celestia bade me farewell, and left off saying how she hoped there was still some cake to be had back at the reception when she thought to be out of my range of hearing. I just sat there, in a state of shock, and relief, until Reginald came in the room to check up on some paperwork in his desk, presumably, luckily Caligo had snapped me out of it and I’d made my puppet enshroud me, before he passed the chair.

       When he noticed me, to his credit, he didn’t give a start, he merely sighed and said, “Indeed, she can have quite an effect on ponies.” Of which I only gave a small nod to, and finally got up to leave the room and go to my bed.

***

       Caligo hadn’t been happy with how I’d basically given our word that we would not go after his sister half, thus preventing my full ascension into darkhood. But he settled some when I explained that if worst came to worst, we could more or less wait it out till the whole castle became dust, I really wasn’t going to die from old age anymore. He acquiesced, but he still let me feel his misgivings at my rash actions.

***

       By my third week in, after my little talk with Princess Celestia, things had fallen into a comfortable routine for me. I’d wake up, take out the garbage for an entire castle, and then I could basically do whatever I wanted interspersed with eating with my buddies Twister, Vein, and the Clean Sisters. I still talked to Devil Cake, turned out to be no relation to the Cakes in Ponyville, but my lack of fine culinary skills soon put an end to me tempting fate to a point where some random gooey explosion would occur, and if anypony asks I was most definitely not in the room during the whole chocolate-decker incident, well, at least not any visible part of me or my puppet. I helped clean it up, so no worries.

       I even tried to help some of my buddies during their own jobs, but Weather Vein worked on the night maintenance for the weather, so that was out, and the Clean Sisters worked primarily in keeping the bathrooms clean, and since this was a castle for the two Alicorn Princesses, that was something I just wasn’t comfortable doing.

       That left Twister, who had the surprisingly gentle job of dusting sections of the castle she was assigned nightly. She was quite good, I know that sounds strange to say about something like dusting, but that’s the only way I could explain it. It was just so weird to see her doing something to delicate and slow when she worked to clean glass figurines, making sure not a single crevice had even a speck of dirt, though it did help to be able to reach up to the ceilings and make sure they were just as pristine too. But it was only when I saw her taking out the hallway rugs that I understood why she did what she did. It was quite… interesting to see a lone pegasus lay out a rug out on the ground outside the castle then slowly fly circles around it until the wind lifts it up and the air the rug begins to darken as micro-particles are pulled out of all the little fibers and weave until it’s pitch black, and then have that same vortex of filth, without warning, disperse and fill one's mouth. Twister got a good laugh at that and said that’s why no one helps her with this particular task. I heartily agreed, my whole body participating in a nod, as I bent over whilst trying to keep my lungs in my chest. I never did help her after that one time, but it was constantly brought up during meals as the dark color of my puppet was thought to now be a shade darker, and might never lighten. It was all in good fun though as even Twister would blush a little as her innocuous blunder was also brought up due to it and a general laugh would be had by all.

       I even got my paycheck once a week, being able to do the work of a few ponies had its benefits, though I still wasn’t quite sure if a’thousand bits a week was too small or too big a sum, not that it mattered. Since it was such a large sum, at least for the amount of bits it was in volume, Reginald had set up a direct deposit with the First Equestrian Bank, like many of the other servants in the castle, and told me where I could find the closest one in town after I signed a few forms so they could have my signature on record. It was a pretty normal set up, but there was one problem, the banks here still kept banking hours just like back home, so I was unable to reach them at night, and there was no way I’d make it there with a fully intact shadow otherwise, unless it was a cloudy day. But it never rained in Canterlot. All the plants were hand (hoofed?)-watered, or were just so near the stream they were fine.

       It wasn’t a big loss anyway, I didn’t need to be buying stuff and gathering crap anyway. There was plenty of free stuff to do, like how every two weeks there was a castle movie night. It was a little jarring to see a projector and sound systems set up from the more, I don’t want to say Amish, but the castle works on a pretty low grade of technology, though when you can fly and have magic to help out in more-or-less every facet of your life then it just becomes so much junk to get in your way. It was certainly interesting to watch ponified versions of movies I’d seen, it was interesting to note that many of the superhero movies were of Earth Ponies who became super powered and would then save a town, of a mostly pegasus and unicorn population from doom. And speaking of doom and all things negative, their horror films were an absolute joke. I was always surprised when everypony would scream at the monster on screen. It wasn’t that it wasn’t well done, some really nice illusion magic had been used, I’d been told, but they just couldn’t compare to some of the things humans can come up with, in fact I could have definitely seen a few of the people I knew back on Earth easily making a few of those things as pets, of which their dog would easily intimidate.

       I’d even had spent some time with the group, tried really hard not to make a joke and calling them the breakfast club and my head has still yet to explode so everything seems to be evened out. When they weren’t busy at work, they were all pretty chill, the Clean Sisters were definitely the biggest surprise, when they weren’t at work they were yuking it up with Twister, who had no personality change between work and play, and would constantly try to find ways to mess around with Weather Vein, who in turn would use his ability to manipulate clouds to rain cold vengeance upon them. They’d even invited me to come swimming with them, I’d go, but never into the water, I’d stay on shore and either dig massive holes in the sand or make giant sand mounds and do my best to make them resemble a structure of some kind, usually both at the same time from the displaced sand.

       It was all really… nice, to tell the truth. We’d even stay up and watch the stars whilst drinking warm beverages of some kind. I’d even gotten to try some of Applejack’s famous apple cider, it was alright, though a tad too sweet for my taste. My personal favorite apple is the granny smith, I really dig that bit of a sour tang.

       This went on for weeks. Just me hanging out with a group of ponies I soon came to call my friends. Though there was only so far that friendship could go since I wasn’t ever really there at all, but a shadow proxy. While my conscience had long since given out to caring, it didn’t stop me from making sure none of them ever got too close to me, which they wrote off as me being shy, but since I didn’t act like a doormat it never really seemed a problem for them.

       I tried keeping up with more of the local gossip, but so much of it would always revolve around that griffin that nopony seemed to bother to want to name, so I quickly grew bored of it all. Turned out he started up a pirate crew of all things, but only as much that he was supposedly fighting “outside the law” to help free something I soon learned about, someplace called Gem Fido, where a vast swath of diamond dogs lived. Slavery and cruelty were rampant, to the point where the old Griffin Nation had been reduced to slaves themselves. It was a huge shock to me that this was just becoming news to these ponies, and worse that the Princesses hadn’t done anything about it. I know they have a country to run, but why not at least attempt to keep them in line by threatening them with your control over the sun or something? At any rate the griffin was going through Equestria on a music tour to collect ponies to help him out, mostly hoping to find ponies gifted in communications, and the last one was going to be in Canterlot. This would normally cause enough of a stir, but a few of the more brainy math whizzes had run a few sets of data and predicted that they may show up close to the Grand Galloping Gala, if not the day of. Considering what sort of world this is and how strictly it seemed to follow rules of letting the coolest, most interesting, or contrived things take precedence, I personally placed my money on him showing up right the night of the GGG.

       I didn’t really care too much myself, I couldn’t possibly see them playing anything of worth with the only two big genres of music around here being classical and techno, when ponies weren’t singing themselves. I was just too happy to be able to go along and just relax into a daily grind where I had nothing to do but relax and enjoy, harmony, of all things. Something of which, for the first time in my life, I actually had the privilege of enjoying.