A Pair Within The Two

The sun was always shining during the day, as was the moon glowing at night. Everything was born in chaos and died in chaos. Chaos was the world, as it was us. - Shadow Flames, 120 B.S.

Typical days then were spent playing in the forests of the abyss, since there was nothing else with a similar challenge of obstruction. We had no magic, nor flight, as there was only Earth Ponies. The colors of the ponies, varying from black to brown inhabited the large fields of the world. We were a simple race, with no real purpose of existence. Our entire reason for being here was unknown but we continue to live on no matter what.

I was but a colt when these days were present, a medium size gray earth pony colt. My name was " Shadow Threads", after my father, "Linen Threads". I suppose my dark mane was what made me the shadow of the herd. My mother died after giving birth to me, so I never got to see her. Dad always told me stories about her beauty and grace. She was well respected among the herd, and a fine leader. Most of all, she was a kind and loving pony. Due to her respect and social status, she was considered royalty among the herd. Her name was "Rose Threads".

As I was but a colt, the history of my parents never troubled me, as we were all brothers and sisters in the herd. I remember the nights we spent as a whole laying in the fields as the lunar mass we called, "moon" shined on us. The thought of construction of a home was amiss to us, as we were a simple nomadic herd. The days were simple and boring, so to speak. I was different among the herd, as I wanted interest and change. Change was something that I thought only I shared yet as I soon hoped, I was wrong.

It was as if it was yesterday. I was playing among the forests again with a few of my friends. "Wood Stock", a brown colt. He was my best friend, for we played together every day. We were still colts, so playing with the fillies was weird, and gross. Foals, how they never change is amusing. "Empty Space" was a slightly odd colt, though he was older than me. He basically became my older brother after his parents were killed in a wolf raid, so my father took him in and helped raise him.

The three of us played in the forest, despite the warnings of our parents. We were foals, everything seemed innocent to us. My father placed Space in charge, as if I couldn't watch myself. He seemed to be the only one who knew of the dangers of this place, but to us it was but a simple playground. We were playing the usual 'Fang Escape', a sort of type of tag. Of course, being the unlucky one out of the three, I was it.

Both of my dearest friends sprinted out in different directions, leaving me in a confusing wake of deciding which direction to go. We had our boundaries, so I knew that they weren't that far. Running around aimlessly for what seemed like thirty or so minutes, I plopped down shouting that I had ended the hunt. In other words, I gave up. To my surprise, both of the colts jumped from the branches of the tree before me. How they got there was oblivious to me but I was too tired to care.

"That was fun," Space stated. "We should go again." Wood agreed with a nod but only received a shake of the head from me.

"I don't feel like playing with a bunch of wood fairies," I said. "By the way, how did you get up there?"

Not wanting to reveal their secrets, they chuckled to each other, "you'll have to find out." With a sigh from me, they trotted over to me to join me in a break. I was fairy weak and they knew it, so being good friends they let me have my break and didn't taunt me about it. Suddenly, we all heard the same sound of movement from behind us. We each gave each other a look of fear, and a slight bit of excitement. Assuming it was a wolf, we slowly turned around and formed a tight pack.

From the bushes we heard a slight giggle. Confused, me and Wood looked at one another before shouting out a, "Who's there?" The bushes started to rustle slightly and out came two fillies, about the same size as us. One with a midnight blue coat and mane and another with a really unnatural white coat with pink hair. I had never seen these two fillies before and trust me, I knew my herd.

"Who are you?" I questioned.

The two exchanged looks, then nodded to one another. The white one spoke, "My name is Celestia," she switched her attention towards the little blue filly, "and this is my sister Luna. We are from the eastern herd across from yours."

Realization struct me among remembrance of the other herd just a few miles from ours. I remembered one night we all came together to fend off against a large wolf raid. "So what do you want?" I asked the blue filly.

We just want to," The blue filly started. She looked over at me first, then quickly changed her position of view towards space. "Play with you..."

"Play with us?" Space asked, then looked over at me, as if for approval. "I guess so." The two fillies jumped in excitement and the blue one looked down sheepishly as she approached me. I waited for answer, or a question, but was instead asked a new type of a question; a hoof to the mouth. "Tag, you're it!" She screamed, running away with her older sister in follow. With a scowl upon my face, I recovered quickly. I sighed and followed in pursuit.

"The more the better, I suppose"

"Did you really think this would go unnoticed?" The ruler asked.

Shadow chucked, "I hoped so but you know me too much." Luna giggled at that, giving Shadow a glance. Shadow gave Luna a small wink, which she noticed.

"That still doesn't mean this is over, Sis." Shadow sneered devilishly.

Shadow felt a sharp pain in his back, as if he got whipped. He groaned, putting his back into work. Since his capture, Celestia forced him to restore the store back to it's original state. Shadow noticed this as an opportunity to show the results of his training.

"Well, I still have a job to do, so if everyone could please stand back." He motioned for Luna and Celestia to stand behind him, as long as the Royal Guard. The Guards grumbled something about his ignorance and folly under their breath but Shadow simply ignored it.

"Your highness, what is he doing?" Asked the commander, Redshock. She was a light red pegasus covered in gold armor.

Celestia glanced over at Shadow. "Do as he says, this is the power of a master of magic." The commander nodded, turning to face the large magician. Shadow looked back to see if everyone was an appropriate distance away, then laughed his final nervous chuckle before his attitude changed completely.

"Close your eyes if you don't want to feel sick." He said, looking back at the guards. They took this as a form of insult, gritting their teeth.

Shadow ignored their anger, charging his horn at an extremely fast rate. The area around Shadow started to vibrate madly, giving away some footing from the guards. Shadow then pointed his horn at the building, closing his eyes. From the guards point of the view, the image of shadow was contorted and mixed. This was exactly what Shadow was doing, he was bending space and time with his magic.

Shadow grinned madly as his work was beginning to pay off. The building debris was moving itself back into place, as if time was going in reverse. Each piece of broken debris was sent directly back into the place is was originally in. As soon as the last block found its way in, the spell crashed, causing a huge shock wave occurred, staggering everything and everyone around Shadow.

Shadow sighed, trotting back over to the shocked guards, and satisfied princesses. "I'm hungry, how about we go get something to eat?" The two looked at each other, before sharing a small smile. They turned back to Shadow, "Sounds great!"

"Master?"

"Yes, my child?"

"Do you really believe we can stop him?"

"What brings you to ask such a question? Do you not have faith, have you lost everything that I have taught you?"

"No Master, I just..."

"All you need to do is have faith in your abilities. You have a power that those two may never understand."

"What do you mean?"

"In due time, young pony. Now, concentrate!"

"Yes, Master..."

"Shadow!" A shout snapped Shadow from his trance, immediately noticing his food stuffed face. He swallowed quickly, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Sorry about that, just spaced out for a second there." He apologized quickly, with little emotion.

Tired from his long journey to Equestria, and not to mention his little magic display, Shadow was starving. He mentioned to the sisters that food was very scarce back home, mainly due to low possibilities of rain existing without magic. Shadow was in the grand banquet, sitting at the opposite end of the table from Celestia. Luna was sitting next to Shadow, which he secretly approved of. The Royal Guards were dismissed from the room due to special purposes. Shadow has yet to reveal himself to them, or any of the general public. He prefers to keep himself away from the public, as it would cause commotion in the society of ponies. If word got out there was another like their princess...

"So Shadow...How long has it been since we've last spoken?" Celestia asked in between bites of her dandelion sandwich.

Shadow swallowed his food, "Thirty minutes", then sitting up straight, as he was done with his meal. He silently thanked the chef who was standing beside him, giving him a few compliments about his cooking. The cook smiled, bowing before Shadow before setting off back to his duties.

"Shadow, don't be a smartass." Celestia stated bluntly.

Shadow and Luna nearly choked, "Whoa now, Celestia, is that any way for a princess to talk?" Shadow teased. Celestia said nothing but just stared deeply at him.

Shadow met this stare for a few seconds, then sighed to himself. "Two thousand years."

Shadow closed his eyes, silently laughing. "Always serious, aren't you?" Shadow sighed, "Fine then. Ask away."

"Where have you been these last thousand years?" She asked.

"I was only recently at home for a few months, but I have still been training with the Master."

Celestias eyes widened, "You mean?"

"Yes, and you know full well why. His release calls soon, and he will not fall for the same trick as before Celestia. If you cannot find another way to seal him away, then I will have to take action..." Shadow trailed off, "Again."

Celestia looked away for a few seconds, silently whispering curses to herself. "Don't get me wrong, Celestia. You are indeed capable of completing the job. But it is not the power you lack, it's the will."

"But...We knew him. He was our friend."

"And that is why you are weak." Shadow stated coldly, even getting a small glance from Luna. "You lack to will to destroy, even if it means to restore all harmony in the process. So you seal it away, giving it another chance to obliterate." Shadow stood up, slowly trotting over to Celestia, his gaze fixed on her. She was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Did it ever cross your mind, in any way, that if he did manage to suceed in killing you, what would he do to your ponies? Did you ever think of them, dear ruler?" He asked, getting much more serious as he went on. "Did it ever occur to you that he may, once again, enslave your little ponies. We know what he will do, we have experienced it!"

"Do I have to explain the consequences of your actions to you, all mighty one?" He spat. "Your sister!" he pointed at Luna, who was on the verge of tears, "Has been driven mad by the whispers of guess who? You imprisoned her for a thousand years and it's all his fault!"

Celestia sat looking down at her hooves. She shuffled them awkwardly, her royal attitude shattered. "I just..." She managed to squeak out. Shadow approached Celestia closer than before, now hoof to hoof with her. He lowered his head down, so that he was a mere inch away from her eyes. "Because of your weakness and mercy, she had to suffer."

A loud sound of broken glass shattering across the ground caught everyponys attention. Luna, whom was previously sitting at the table, was now walking away with tears from falling her eyes. Shadow suddenly came to realization of what he said glancing back at Celestia who was on the verge of tears herself. "My offer still stands Tia. If you cannot lead this country, then I will." Without another word he set off after Lunar Princess.

Shadow ran down the halls, trying to find a way to the Lunar Princess. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you?" he whispered to himself, heading down the darker hallway. After what seemed like ages of running, he came to a stop. He felt a cold sensation come over him as he approached the end of the hallway. The closer he got, the colder it became. Finally at long last, he had come to end the hallway. The first thing he noticed was the intense cold filling the entire room. Above he saw the stars placed in their own orbits. They moved ever so slightly, lighting up the majority of the room. The room was set to be like an observatory, Shadow taking note that this must be her room.

Shadows assumptions were confirmed when he heard a sniffle of sadness over the middle. The grassy fields moved with the wind, though Shadow knew not where the wind was coming from. Ignoring these new sets of additions to her room, he made his way toward the sound. He could only see a few feet ahead of him, given the fact that the room was so dark. He could feel the aura of sadness flowing throughout the entire room. He felt his heart being crunched by this overwhelming sadness, the guilt of his actions finally catching up to him. "Luna!" he called out.

A moment passed and the crying seemed to stop. "Shadow...Please, just leave me be." The voice said, coming from the north. Shadow moved closer, not accepting her request in the slightest. He dared not say another thing, as it would probably make her more upset. The closer he came, the more intense the cold became. Shivers creeping down his spine was enough, but combining that with emotions that would crush anyponys soul?

The darkness around him started to dissipate and he immediately noticed Luna sitting on a bench next to her small fountain. She was looking down, the fountain only mere comparison of producing the amounts of liquid falling from her face. Shadow felt like crying himself at the sight of her like this. He never wanted this. Finally he reached the bench, the cold getting so intense it was starting to hurt. As he took a seat next to her...

"Shadow..."

Shadow embraced her in a long, warm hug. She shot open her eyes, tears now falling at a much faster rate than before. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up." He apologized, feeling himself on the verge of tears. She cried hard, letting out her wails of sadness and dark memories into his dark gray coat. "I'm so sorry..."

After a few minutes of relief, Luna slowly met eyes with Shadow. His deep brown eyes gazed into her bloodshot eyes, clearly worn out from the overwhelming release of emotions. Shadow sighed to himself, "Luna would you like to spend more time with me?"

Shadow sighed, turning his head toward Luna but was only met a deep kiss from her. Shadow was taken back from his approach, releasing the kiss from the midnight blue mare. He heard a giggle, "I thought you would never ask." She buried her head into his coat, and the two watched the stars that night, together.