Book 3 The Shadows: obscured by the shadows

Tempest ran out of the front door of the castle.

She was grateful for Starlight’s talk and all of Twilight’s help, but she knew there was just one thing that she had to do, just one shadow over her mind.

She raced around the front of the castle, but couldn’t see him around anymore. But she began walking the streets with resolve.

If Second was still here in Ponyville, she’d find him.

She just didn’t know where to begin.

She found herself meandering through the streets in the hopes that she would just casually bump into him again. But once the afternoon went by and she was starting to feel hungry, she found herself settling in to a local diner, feeling a bit discouraged with herself for thinking that a miracle would just happen.

“And what will it be, Miss?” the waiter asked. He looked way too snooty, with his collar and mustache, for a Ponyville pony, but she briefly glanced at the menu and picked out a sandwich and some hay fries on the side.

“Make that two.”

She turned around at the voice.

Praise Celestia!, miracles do happen.

At a table somewhere behind her she saw the same grey stallion and purple and blonde unicorn!

It was the perfect chance for her to talk to them now that both her waiter and theirs were leaving. Taking a quick look around, she saw a pony couple that was slowing down and glancing around the tables. Tempest beckoned a hoof to them and they hesitantly took her table.

Shifting back to her goal, she took in a slow breath.

And closed her eyes.

And walked forward.

Starry Emerald stopped what she was doing. She had been so hungry after working in her shop all day that she had told Edgy she just wanted to stop by a diner and order everything on the menu. She almost did.

“I want a #11, #13, a little bit of the #12, and a whole lot of the #5! And I want a water...but some of that new smoothie and...”

“Star.”

Edgy stopped her just in time before the waiter ran out of paper to write it all down.

Edgy let Star make one more request, an order for hay fries. And, after telling the waiter to “make that two,” they let him go.

Starry thought she heard an unusual tone in Edgy’s voice, though. She took one glance at his face before swiveling her eyes around behind him to the object of his attention, who was getting up and walking their direction.

“Edgy...” she began.

“I know, Star.”

“Hello...,” Fizzlepop began, hesitating when she realized she didn’t know what to call the grey one. It occurred to her that calling him “Second” or anything else of the sort was not going to make sense to him anymore. The memory spell was supposed to be permanent. And she didn’t even know who the other pony was.

Edgy didn’t speak a word.

“There aren’t any tables and I...need food,” it wasn’t hard to convince them when her stomach growled.

“Hi!” Starry chimed in. She meant it to be cheery, but her own stomach and the hunger that was slowly working its way through her system caused it to come out sounding forced.

There was an awkward silence.

“You can come up and eat with us, if you’d like,” Starry tried to recover. Her tone still wobbled, remembering stories of Tempest’s Canterlot takeover, but she didn’t want to be rude.

“Thank you. I didn’t think I would be welcome.”

“Well, nah, it’s fine,” Starry quickly added, “Me and Edgy here were actually out of town during what happened, we...” Starry gasped and cut off.

Edgy was sitting like a rock.

Tempest awkwardly walked past Starry and sat where she would be farther away from Edgy. However, they were still almost facing each other. Edgy wished that he had a menu that he could hold in front of him or something, but the waiter had already left and taken it with him.

Thankfully, the snootier waiter had noticed Fizzlepop changed tables and came over with her food and water, temporarily distracting her.

A feeling Edgy couldn’t quite understand was taking over him.

“Star?” Edgy whispered, trying to get Starry’s attention but finding it taken by another waiter coming toward them.

Edgy tried to wait until he left, but he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Star, can you give us a moment?” he whispered, glancing at Tempest slowly chewing on her sandwich.

Starry didn’t understand. Seeing her confused expression, he gave up and firmly placed his front hooves on the table in front of him.

“Tempest,” he finally said, grimly, “it’s been a while.”

Tempest continued working on her food and swallowed.

“So you do remember?” she calmly responded.

“Every. Single. Thing. I noticed you were here in Ponyville the other week, too. I heard you changed,” he said with a growl in his throat.

Tempest nodded.

“The Storm King betrayed me,” she could already hear in his mind what he would respond with, “but it’s okay. I’ve come to apologize.”

“No need.”

“What?”

It wasn’t like Second to give her lip.

Starry made no comment in the middle of this, only half paying attention. Not wanting to interrupt, the waiter had set the rest of the drinks and the food down, before trotting away, giving such threatening sideeyes to the other guests who were looking on, that they all turned away and pretended not to hear.

“I said, ‘no need.’ No need, because, I really have to thank you.”

“What?”

“Let’s see, if you hadn’t left me there, I wouldn’t have made a change for the better,” he began to act out ticking them off his hooves, “You also would probably be the same pony, serving that idiot. And thank you, because, if I was there, I’d have taken over Canterlot just fine.”

“What.”

“You heard me.”

“You wouldn’t have been any more successful than I was.”

“Care to prove it?”

Starry felt herself tense up as she saw a light flare up in both their eyes.

“To combat it is!” the two finally said in unison, clapping their hooves together and giving them a brief shake.

Starry suddenly decided she was going to regret this.

*** *** *** ***

After Starry got a to go box for the rest of her food, she trotted after the two who had already gone ahead to an open clearing just inside of Ponyville’s park. They didn’t want to accidentally hurt anypony. The park had an open field perfect for running around and rough housing and there were few ponies walking around today.

“Star, be our witness. Then we’ll prove once and for all that I am the greatest fighter ever in Ponyville,” Edgy announced.

“I remember you hesitated the first time I had you lead your own regiment. You were a chicken then and you are still a chicken now,” Tempest scoffed.

Starry rolled her eyes, but hurriedly settled down on the grass to finish eating what she had brought as the two continued squaring off.

Finally, Edgy made the first move.

He sent a swiping kick toward Tempest’s hooves but she neatly glided over. Her back hoof connected with his left cheek and he found himself flying back.

“I wouldn’t have gotten you with that one a few years ago. Must be getting soft,” she mocked.

“You watch it,” he said, as his hooves slid onto the ground, throwing dirt and debris behind him.

The few ponies that were in the park tried to keep away from the goings on, but now some of them noticed the fighting and decided to find a comfortable place to sit and watch curiously.

Nopony could blame them, though.

The two continued sending kicks and swipes at each other. Though Tempest mocked Edgy for being out of practice, she couldn’t deny that she was as well. It was long since either had to fight like this.

Starry found a crowd gathering around them as they continued. She nearly forgot how awkward she had felt as she watched in awe, too. It was like some rhythmic dance. Neither could get ahold of the other.

Tempest was clearly avoiding using her horn for its magic, but that didn’t stop her from using it to ram into Edgy’s side, or from using all her hooves to batter into him.

All Edgy had going for him was his stockier body, his strength, and his perseverence.

But Tempest was swifter.

With one final wallop, Edgy was on the ground, face first.

The other ponies in the park cheered and clapped for her.

Starry was prepared to jump up and run to Edgy, but then she saw Tempest walk toward her defeated opponent. Tempest reached out a hoof and Edgy flatly denied it and slowly lifted himself up.

“255,” she said, bluntly.

“Really?” he said with annoyance.

“That’s how many times you’d lost.”

“You told me you stopped counting.”

“You told me you’d keep practicing.”

Edgy looked at the victor up and down, and, for a second, looked like he was a bit embarrassed.

But to Starry’s surprise they both grinned.

They had finally made up. For, in spite of past disagreements, orders were orders, bygones were bygones, and comrades once together, through shared trauma will be together again.

Starry turned away. For some reason, seeing them laugh together didn’t bring her any happiness. A part of her wanted to find out why, why she suddenly felt so alone. But looking back toward Edgy suddenly made her gasp.

Edgy looked toward Starry’s direction.

But she wasn’t staring back at his eyes.

She was looking at his flank.

At some point during the battle, the ponies had managed to tear at each other’s clothes. And before Starry’s very eyes, she realized another similarity they shared.

They were both blank flanks.