Note: This chapter is the backstory of Emily's minor character. Maybe someone won't like that the background of a minor character came out faster than the background of the main character. But I wanted to release a chapter about someone who will participate a lot in different events in the future.

A hundred years ago. Emily's Life…

—

Dear diary.

Today passed as usual. I walked the streets of Manehattan and tried to survive. Again…

My father kicked me out of the house again. However, in the evening, he took pity and sobered up and let me in.…

On the streets, I met my old friends again, so to speak, who beat me up again.…

I was able to steal some bread from a stall and ran away from the seller, bumping into them in the alley. And they beat me up again and took away what I had stolen.…
However, I met a stranger who didn't seem to feel disgust or anger towards me. He helped me a little, gave me food, and used a spell to heal my bruises. He introduced himself to me as Mr. Shands. He's quite kind to me, but I'm in no hurry to trust kind ponies, especially strangers I see for the first time.

Well. That's all for today. I hope the next day won't be so worthless.…

—

The beginning of the day…

Emily's life wasn't like this once. Once upon a time, she, her father and mother lived happily together, until her father started playing in underground casinos. When he returned from his games, mom always started scolding him for these trips, saying that at one moment he could lose everything we have. In the end, she was right, and one day, after another day, he returned home saying that he had lost everything. Emily's mother cried for several days. We had to sell our big house in order to somehow return to a normal life.

Emily's father was the head of an airship construction company. But in recent days, he has started to stay late at work. At first, Emily's mom thought that he had started cheating on her, but later one of their mutual friends reported that Emily's father had started gambling. Of course, Emily's mother was furious at this enlightenment. and that day she had a difficult conversation with her father, after which he stayed sleeping on the couch in the living room.

Emily's mother was an ordinary housewife. She was always at home, watching over her daughter and keeping the house in order. But after her father's first few visits from her games, she became a little distracted and often worried, which caused her to forget to do something and just sit looking out the window while waiting for her husband.

After the ill-fated loss and the sale of the house, they all settled in a small one-story house. Emily's father stopped gambling for a while. However, Emily's mother could not forgive him for that loss. She understood that sooner or later he would start playing these games again and start losing again. Over time, the fears were confirmed. Emily's father started gambling again. And once again, when Emily's mother came home, she made a scene. They yelled at each other and argued for several hours, until the sound of a broken vase drowned out the scandal.

At times of such screams, Emily always hid in her room under the covers. She loved her parents, but these scandals scared her and gave rise to thoughts that sooner or later something might happen after such a scandal. Of course, that's what happened. When the broken vase stopped another quarrel, Emily shuddered and listened to what was happening outside, but she heard nothing.

Emily hoped that nothing bad had happened and that everything would be calm in the morning. But it wasn't quiet in the morning.

When Emily woke up in the morning, she found neither her mother nor her father. Of course, this alerted her, and later, when her father returned, she assumed that something bad had happened. After all, my father returned with a bottle.

Emily woke up in her bed to a strange noise outside the door. Strange rumbling and clinking of bottles. “It looks like Father has returned...” Emily thought.

Every morning, Emily's father returned from another binge. He was fired a long time ago, and apart from begging and drinking, he did nothing. Every night he got involved in another adventure to find money and spend it on another bottle or a trip to the casino.

Emily kicked off the old blanket and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. Getting out of bed, she went to the door of her small but well-kept room. Stopping at the door to listen and find out what was going on there, she heard the rapid footsteps approaching her door. Quickly jumping away from the door, Emily saw how it opened and her father slowly entered the room, his eyes red from constant drinking.

"Are you awake?" Emily's father asked calmly.

Emily just nodded in response. She was too afraid to say anything, lest her father hurt her, as he did when he was in a very bad mood.

"Good. Then let's go have lunch." Emily's father replied, turning around and leaving the room.

Despite all the bad things, Emily's father sometimes showed his former kindness, occasionally cooking breakfast or buying an insignificant toy. He never wanted to tell Emilia what happened to her mother or why he let their lives get to this point. And if Emily tried to question him, he would get angry and could easily hit Emily.

Going into the kitchen, Emily sat down on the opposite side of where her father was sitting. Today he made a small omelet and a piece of stale bread. Nodding to Emily that she could start eating, she began to eat slowly. A minute later, her father began his usual tirade. And it was bad. When Emily's father started telling her that it wasn't his fault and that this was life. This usually led to another fight or scandal. Realizing that things were bad, Emily stopped eating, preparing to run to her room.

"Why did you stop eating?" Emily's Father asked a little nervously.

"I-I'm not hungry." Emily whispered.

When Emily caught a hint of tension in the air, she realized that things were bad and she had to run. Jumping up and taking a couple of steps towards the corridor, to her room, she fell sharply. Her father took her by the tail and pulled, which caused her to fall.

"You damn thing!" Emily's father's voice boomed.

Emily cringed at those loud words, trying to curl up, but the slap on the back of her head wouldn't let her even move.

"O-let go of m-me." Emily said, sobbing.

Ignoring her words, Emily's Father pulled her muzzle to his and stared into her eyes. “You're just like your mother! She's just as ungrateful.” He said in disgust, grabbing Emily's mane and tossing her aside.

Standing up with difficulty, Emily felt the gaze of disgust and anger. “Get out!” Emily's father declared loudly. He quickly ran up to Emily and grabbed her by the mane, which made Emily squeak, feeling pain. He dragged Emily to the front door and threw it open, throwing his daughter out onto the street.

"Don't you dare come back until you think about your behavior." Emily's father spoke angrily as he slammed the door.

With tears in my eyes. Emily pushed herself up to sit up. “Well, why? Why is he doing this to me? What is all this for...” Emily thought to herself, sobbing. The rumbling in her stomach brought Emily out of her thoughts. Standing on all four hooves, she wiped away the last tears with her hoof and slowly lowered her head and walked down the street.

Once again, once she was on the street, Emily walked through the streets thinking where to find food. “Maybe there's a trash can in the nearest one? No, there's not much to eat there. Should I contact someone? No, they'll just turn me away, like they always do. Steal it again? It seems that this is the only thing left for me.” Emily was thinking about a plan for where to find food.

When she reached a small market with stalls, Emily began to look around for food that could be stolen unnoticed. When she found a small counter with various pastries, she saw a small piece of bread on the corner, which made her stomach rumble again.

Sighing, Emily flattened herself to the ground and slowly crawled over to the counter. Poking her head out a little, she saw a brown earth pony, a stallion with a red mane and tail. His insignia was in the form of a blue cupcake. This stallion was hurriedly walking back and forth behind the counter, cooking something, holding a bowl in his hooves. Crawling to the corner of the counter where she saw that piece of bread, Emily stuck her head out and quickly grabbed a piece. At that moment, a spoon flew into her forehead, which made Emily involuntarily squeak in fear.

Emily saw the salesman coming around the counter to approach. Before she could see the salesman approaching her, Emily quickly jumped on all fours and ran away. Without looking back, Emily ran down the street, looking for a place to hide. When she saw the alley, she ran into it and pressed herself against the wall of the building, breathing heavily.

Sticking her head out of the alley, Emily looked around to see if the salesman was nearby. Sighing with relief, Emily closed her eyes to relax a little.

"Look, this is our friend Emily." Said a mocking voice somewhere from the depths of the alley.

"And it looks like her father kicked her out again." Another voice chuckled.

Hearing those voices, Emily flinched. Abruptly opening her eyes and turning her eyes into the depths of the alley, she saw two stallions. They were the ones who often bullied her.

The first was a Unicorn stallion. His fur was dark blue, and his tail and mane were dark gray. There was disgust and amusement in his brown eyes. His insignia was a red shield with a lightning bolt.
The second stallion was a pegasus. He had a dull green coat. The mane and tail were yellow with red streaks. His lavender eyes held the same amusement and disgust as the first stallion's. And he had a hammer as a badge of honor.

The first stallion's name was Silas. The second one is a Hook. Emily didn't know who they really were or who their parents were, but she knew they were always happy to make fun of someone. They especially liked to mock her.

When she saw the two stallions approaching her, Emily quickly got up and tried to run away. However, Silas' magic grip prevented her from doing so. His magic grabbed the poor mare by the scruff of the neck, preventing her from moving.

"Did Daddy kick you out again?" The unicorn grinned, feigning sadness.

At that moment, the Pegasus grabbed a piece of bread that Emily was holding in her hooves. “It looks like it's not yours.” Hook chuckled. And throwing a piece of bread under his hooves, he began to stomp on it, finally spitting out the remains of this piece of bread.

"You don't even deserve that." He pointed a hook under his hooves.

Emily tried to break free from Silas' magical grip and escape, but she couldn't. Tears involuntarily poured down her face.

"Aww. She seems very upset." Hook chuckled, coming closer.

"O-let me go. P-please." Emily begged, crying.

Grinning, the two stallions exchanged glances with each other. Silas leaned over Emily's ear to whisper. “You know, if you weren't so nasty, I might have stopped.”

A sudden blow to her cheek knocked Emily aside, and she hit the wall of the building.

"Well, Hook. Let's have some fun?" Silas said, smiling maniacally.

"That would be nice." The pegasus smiled.

Both of them began to approach Emily, which made her cry even harder.…

***

A standard day in the life of Shands: To wake up Master Erzit. Serve him breakfast. Make sure that everything is in order, and escort Erzit to his personal office.

For thousands of years, this cycle has been repeated day after day. Sometimes it changed, but in the end, every day was similar to the previous one. Erzit's depression worried everyone in the castle, especially Shands himself. Many of the castle's inhabitants even considered leaving here, but their devotion to their master always stopped them. And Shands always encouraged them that everything would be fine and their master's depression would pass sooner or later.

After finishing his typical morning chores, Shands was going to visit Manehattan in search of something interesting. To dispel the typical boring days, Shands decided to start collecting various curiosities. Boredom can push anyone to different activities. This is the purchase of various interesting and unusual items from Shands.

"It's been a while since I've been here." Shands said softly to himself.

Shands walked through the pony-filled streets. There were many different stalls with food and items around. As he passed the next street, he heard quiet sobbing. Stopping and pricking up his ears, he caught the sound of crying in one of the alleys.

The sound of crying grew louder as Shands got closer and closer to the alley. Entering the alley, Shands saw a mare lying against the far wall of the alley, crying into her hooves. Her entire body was covered in bruises, and blood was dripping from one of her nostrils.

"Hey? What's wrong with you?" Shands asked calmly, coming closer.

When the mare heard an unfamiliar voice, she shuddered and covered her face with her hooves. “N-no. P-please don't touch me...” The mare sobbed, trembling with fear.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything wrong." Shands answered her with kindness in his voice.

As Shands began to get closer and closer, the mare began to tremble with fear more and more. Sighing with pity for the mare, Shands waved his horn, summoning a spell of calm. A small purple flash of light instantly calmed the mare. However, she did not stop crying, still covering her face with her hooves.

"Hey. What happened to you?" Shands asked calmly and quietly, coming close to the mare lying on the asphalt.

"Oh, that's it. They're s-again. They decided to have fun again." Emily muttered, sobbing.

"Who are they?" Shands asked.

"Silas and Hook." The mare muttered.

"Okay. Calm down. They are no longer here." Shands said calmly and softly, squatting down to look into the eyes of the mare, who lowered her hooves.

"W-who are you?" The mare asked, looking into Shands' dark blue eyes.

"My name is Shands." With these words, Shands extended his hooves to the mare, helping her up. However, when the mare stood on all four hooves, they swayed and the mare almost collapsed to the ground. If it wasn't for Shands, who lifted her up with his magic.

"Be careful, miss..." Shands said he realized he didn't know the mare's name.

"M-my name is Emily." The mare whispered.

"Yes, Miss Emily. Let me help you." Shands said, and waving his horn, the mare's body began to glow with a violet-white light. After a moment, the light disappeared, and there were no bruises, cuts, or nosebleeds on the mare. However, the mare was still weak to walk. So Shands waved his horn again and teleported himself and Emily to a nearby park bench.

"Wh-what was that!" Emily exclaimed, looking around.

"I took us to the nearest park." Shands said simply and calmly.

Emily's stunned look made Shands chuckle softly. “How did you do that? Not many unicorns can do that." Emily said in surprise.

"I know a lot of spells. If you live as long as I do, you'll learn a lot too." Shands spoke with a smile.

"And-and how old are you? Do you look like a young stallion?" Emily spoke calmly, having already stopped whimpering.

"For someone who has just been in a panic. You're not afraid to talk to a stranger." Shands said with a grin.

"Maybe. But you helped me." Emily said, lowering her head.

"That doesn't change the fact that you're a pretty young filly. Talking to an adult stranger in an empty park. And that already looks suspicious, don't you think?" After these words, Emily looked around. Indeed, there was no one else in the park but them. The thought made Emily uneasy.

"Don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you. However, I would like to know what happened in the alley. Why were you in such a state. And who are Silas and Hook." Shands asked insistently but calmly.

"H-they often bully me. When I get kicked out of the house, I often meet them. Maybe they're just waiting for me to leave the house to make fun of me." Emily was saying sadly.

"Why are you being kicked out of the house?" Shands kept asking.

Sighing, moisture appeared in Emily's eyes. “Father does this a lot. He was a good pony once. But he started gambling. And when my mother disappeared, he started drinking a lot...” No sooner had she finished than she began to sob

"Well, well. Calm down." Shands said, hugging her.

It took a few minutes until Emily's sobs subsided and she found herself hugging a stranger. Pulling away, she wiped her tears with a hoof.

"Why did you help me?" Emily asked.

"I couldn't leave someone in the lurch. My master always taught me to help those in need." Shands spoke calmly, looking at the sad mare.

"Y-your master?" Emily asked questioningly, looking up at Shands.

"Yes. My master. When I didn't have a very good life either. However, he helped me by taking me on as a student. I studied with him for many years. And when I finished my training, he invited me to become his first assistant. However, he needs help now. He has a lingering depression that has been going on for many years." Sighing, Shands spoke.

"Why is he depressed?" Emily asked.

"A long time ago, one of his students betrayed him. And he killed the one my master loved the most. And, of course, revenge didn't help. It only worsened the situation." Shands sounded a little sad.

When Emily wanted to say something, her stomach rumbled.

"It looks like you need to eat." Shands chuckled.

"Q-maybe a little…" Emily wanted to say no, but the hunger that had been haunting her since morning prevented her from lying.

With a wave of his horn, a camping basket with food appeared in the hooves of Shands. He took out several sandwiches and handed them to Emily, who was looking at Shands in confusion.

"Wh-what!? B-but how?" Emily exclaimed questioningly.

"Don't worry your head about it. Just eat." Shands said with a smile, removing the basket with another wave of his horn.

The remaining half hour passed in silence. Emily sat and ate while Shands thought about everything she had said. When she finished eating, Emily smiled at Shands. “Th-thank you, Mr. Shands.” Emily stammered.

"Too late. Isn't it time for you to go home?" Shands said questioningly.

"Y-yes. You're right, Mr. Shands. I have to go home now." Emily said as she jumped off the bench.

"Goodbye, Mr. Shands." Emily said as she left.

"An interesting mare." Shands muttered to himself.

"Do you think so?" A voice asked from the shadows.

"Yes. Can you follow her?" Shands asked the one who was in the shadows.

"If that's what you want." The voice said uncertainly.

"Keep an eye on her, Wrench. And if anything bad happens, let me know immediately." Shands said urgently.

"As you wish, Mr. Shands." With these words, a small stream of shadow slowly darted in the direction where Emily had gone.

***

Emily was standing at the door of her house. The light in the window was still on, which means that the father is at home. Sighing, she knocked on the door. A little while later, the door opened and my father stood outside.

"And this is you. I hope you've learned your lesson." He said indifferently, letting Emily go home.

After entering the house, Emily quickly ran to her room. Leaning back against the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. With another sigh, Emily crossed the room and got into her bed. Meanwhile, at Emily's house, a small trickle of shadow turned into a large armored stallion standing in the shade of a nearby tree.

"If Shands was interested in her, then there must be a good reason for it." Wrench said wearily.

***

The night was very quiet, except for Emily's father and his friends talking loudly in the kitchen. It was already deep into the night outside, and Emily wanted to sleep, but her father and his friends wouldn't let her sleep properly. Emily was afraid to reproach her father or say anything to him. Especially when he's with his ugly friends.

The sound of hooves outside the door brought Emily out of her reverie. The sound of hooves stopped right next to Emily's door.
The door slowly opened. Emily's father's intake along with his alcohol. “Are you awake?” An indifferent voice asked. Emily didn't answer. She was too afraid to say anything when her father was around.

"That means no. Good." - After these words, Emily's father quickly went to the bed and threw off the blanket. Emily tried to curl up to protect herself from this action, but before she could do anything, her father grabbed her by the mane and threw her towards the door.

"Let's go!" The father barked.

Standing up and wiping away a few tears, Emily followed her father. When she entered the kitchen with her father, she saw his friends giggling. One was using magic to twist a knife. And the other one licked his lips, saw Emily. “What freaks.” Emily mentally commented.

***

Wrench leaned against a tree, looking at Emily's house. It was already the middle of the night, and his eyes were starting to droop with fatigue. Wrench might have fallen asleep soon if it hadn't been for the deafening scream from Emily's house. Quickly shaking off his fatigue, he turned into a shadow and darted to the front door.

Becoming a pony again, Wrench broke down the door with one blow and went inside, after sending a message to Shands with his mind. As soon as Wrench entered the house, he heard an even louder scream. I quickly realized where it was coming from. He ran and entered the presumably kitchen. After a quick glance around, Wrench saw three stallions holding a mare with cuts and bruises. Two stallions were holding the mare, and the third was hovering over the mare.

"What the hell are you…" One of the stallions holding Emily did not have time to finish when a shadow flash in the center of the room threw them in different directions.

In the center of the room stood Shands with two unicorn shadow guards. Shands looked around and nodded to the unicorns, who had grabbed all three of the ponies that had harmed Emily.

"Wrench!" Shands said loudly.

Wrench quickly ran up to Shands to tell him what had happened. “I don't know exactly what happened. When I heard the scream, I quickly ran in, broke down the door and sent you a message. When I entered this room, these creatures were already holding her.” Wrench finished his story.

"What are your instructions?" Wrench asked.

"Kill them... execute all those responsible!" Shands shouted menacingly.

"As you command!" After saluting, Wrench nodded to the other shadow guards. Carrying the three culprits out of the room.

After seeing an unconscious Emily. The blood in Shands' veins began to boil with anger. “How could they do this to her.” Shands mused.

Coming closer, Shands took poor Emily in his front hooves. She was covered in blood and bruises. “Even though Wrench was late, he made it. Before these beasts could do anything worse.” Shands said softly, holding Emily in his front hooves.

Using shadow magic, Shands teleported himself and Emily to the castle. Using the same healing spell as last time, he healed her and put Emily to bed. Shands used a calming and sleeping spell on Emily to ensure her rest.

Shands breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room where he had laid Emily. At that moment, Erzit was walking towards him from another part of the corridor. When Shands looked in the direction of Erzit, his body involuntarily shuddered.

"Shands." Erzit said casually, coming close to Shands.

"Who is she?" Erzit continued abruptly.

"What do you mean…" Shands tried to talk himself out of it.

"Who is this mare?" Erzit asked calmly.

Sighing, Shands told the story of how he met Emily and how he assigned one of the shadow Guards to follow her. He also told how he ordered the shadow guards to deal with Emily's abusers.

"What do you plan to do with it?" Erzit asked.

"I don't know yet, but…" At that moment, an idea came to Shands' head.

"Master, could you take her as your disciple?" Shands asked sharply.

"What? As an apprentice? I haven't taken students for a long time. Moreover, we don't know much about it. Maybe she has relatives who can take care of her." Erzit tried to talk himself out of it.

"Master, please. I know she has nowhere to go. According to her stories, she went through a lot of terrible things. If we take her in and make her a new shadow pony, it will only be better for her." Shands was pleading.

"Good. But you take responsibility for everything she does." Shaking his head, Erzit spoke.

"Of course the master! And thank you." Bowing, he thanked Shands.

"No need for these bows, Shands. I understand why you decided to help her. But you could talk to me first." Erzit said, putting a hoof on Shands' shoulder.

"Of course, the master."

"When she wakes up, take her to my office. Her training sessions will start next week." Turning around, Erizt said.

Shands just nodded.

***

When Emily woke up the next morning, she was at a loss. “Where am I? What is this place? Who brought me here?” - A lot of questions were running through Emily's mind. However, these thoughts disappeared when she heard the sound of hooves outside the door.

When the door opened, Emily blinked at the bright light from behind the door. Blinking several times, Emily saw Shands.

"M-Mr. Shands? Where am I?" She asked.

"You, my dear. In my master's castle. But soon he will become your master too." Shands said with a smile.

"Wh-what?!" Emily exclaimed questioningly.

"Yes. When I brought you, all wounded, to the castle, my master saw you. Although he resisted at first, but in the end, I persuaded him to accept you as a student." Shands spoke proudly.

"B-but why did you do that?" Emily asked.

"You don't have to live in that horror anymore. You're one of us now. You will become my assistant and Master Erzit's new student." Shands spoke with an even wider smile.

Emily couldn't say anything. Tears of relief did it for her.…

Author's Note

Perhaps no one expected that the backstory of some minor character would come out faster than the main one. But I just wanted to release a short chapter about a character who will have a bit of an impact on the main characters in the future.

Hopefully, the initial mini-story about Emily's father is not too tedious or incomprehensible. I tried to tell you quickly what led Emily's father to who he became, so that I could start telling you the day Emily met Shands.

Next, Emily's story will manifest itself in the form of flashbacks in different chapters.

Oh, and by the way, the next chapter will be very exciting and interesting, because there will be the return of the fallen stallion...

I also hope this backstory didn't seem too banal...