That’s one weird pony. But he’s got me curious. Just who the hay is he? Where did he come from? And why in the hay was he in the Everfree Forest? Questions zipped through Twilight’s mind as she trotted through the streets of Ponyville. The fog had dissipated, thanks to Twilight’s magic, but by the time she finished removing the fog, it was half past three. Pinkie walked slowly behind the rest of the group, her mane flat and down. Rarity was girlishly giggling to herself like a school-filly, occasionally earning strange looks from Apple Jack, and Fluttershy. Apple Jack walked along, eyes down in thought. Fluttershy hovered just above the group, a thousand-yard-stare in her eyes. And Rainbow Dash had since departed to go practice a new trick.

However, the fact that Pinkie wasn’t bouncing around with a smile on her face scared the other four. They had only seen her this way once, when she had been corrupted by Discord. And she had been this way since Darq had managed to keep her away, and destroy her attempt at a party.

Apple Jack broke the silence, “Pinkie, why’re you so sad?”

“I’m not sad,” she replied.

“Fine. Why is yer mane not all poofy and crazy? And why is there not a smile on yer face?” Apple Jack sighed.

“That meanie unicorn didn’t want a party,” she growled. “And he pushed me!”

“You were invading his personal space. I would have pushed you off my hospital bed too,” Twilight defended.

“But it’s a party! Thrown just for him!” Pinkie nearly shouted, scaring a few ponies away.

“And he woke up in a strange town with no idea where he was or how he got there in the first place. Not exactly the best conditions for a party,” Twilight countered logically.

Pinkie, after a few seconds of thought, gasped as she did when she first met Twilight. Her mane returned to its strange poofiness and disorder, and she poofed. Not ran off. Poof. Gone.

“And there’s Pinkie bein’ Pinkie ag’in. I wonder what devious plan she has now?” Apple Jack chuckled lightly.

“I… um… h-have to go. Bye girls…” Fluttershy mumbled to the others. She climbed higher, and flew off in the direction of her cottage.

“That means it’s time for me to head back to the farm. See y’all tomorrow,” Apple Jack said, veering off, heading down the road to Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight, now realizing that she was alone with a dazed Rarity, turned off her current path, eventually making it to the library. She entered her home and work place, and looked around. The pile of books that had been there that morning had filled the hole in the shelves that had also been there that morning. She smiled a little, recognizing Spike’s work, and went to the kitchen. A daisy and carrot sandwich sat on a plate on the table in the center of the small kitchen. On top of it, a note was placed, reading:

‘Thought you’d be hungry. Knew I’d be tired. You’re welcome. Good night.
-Spike’

Twilight smiled to herself, sitting down at the table to eat the sandwich.

*

The next day went by as any normal day. The usual routine. Ponies visited shops, purchasing various items, either by necessity or desire. Young ponies went to school, learning various subjects, like math, or history. Elderly ponies went about their days with leisure, often spending time enjoying the sun’s warmth.

However, that day wasn’t the day that really interests anypony. The day afterwards was where this story shall return. The dark unicorn entered the library, Spike not noticing his entry. Twilight was buried in a particularly good book, not paying the slightest iota of attention to the pony that had just entered the library.

The ‘blind’ unicorn ‘looked’ around, browsing the shelves. He came across a large red book, and removed it from the shelf with the aid of his magic. He opened it, looking at the contents. A soft snort of approval accompanied a grin of satisfaction. He soon found a seat, and read the book that he had so carefully selected. After about ten minutes, Twilight closed her book. She looked up, seeing the dark unicorn in a seat, reading a book. She hadn’t noticed him at all till now. She stifled a gasp of surprise, but failed to remain dead silent.

“Oh. Hi. I hope you don’t mind. I’m just reading,” Darq greeted. “Don’t mind me.”

Twilight shook her head, attempting to clear her now question filled mind. She glanced at the book he was reading, instantly recognizing this book as her only copy of Advanced Arcane Mechanics. A closer look revealed the Shape-Shift spell.

“Trying to learn the Shape-Shift spell?” she asked, attempting to start a conversation.

“Already learned it when I was just a small colt,” he replied gruffly. “Just revisiting it. Trying to figure out how to extend its effects.”

“Extend it?” she asked, now genuinely curious.

“Make it last longer,” he chuckled. “The way I learned it, when I first learned it, I could only pick a shape, and remain in that form for about ten minutes before the spell wore off. I managed to train a bit, but I want to be able to maintain it for at least twice as long as I can now.”

“And you were hoping that the book had any tips for that particular spell,” she inquired. “It doesn’t, sadly. Read the book. Know it forwards and backwards.”

The male unicorn sighed, tossing the book nonchalantly, somehow landing it in its previous spot on the shelf. The feat earned a jaw drop from Twilight, which brought forth a chuckle from Darq.

“Is there a more advanced book than that one?” Darq asked.

“I… How did you… What…?” she stuttered, still stunned by his impressive toss. Spike, noticing Twilight’s strange behavior, simply walked over, and gave her a light slap on her cheek. The action was very effective, snapping Twilight back to normal almost instantly. “Right, more advanced books.”

She looked around, spying a brown covered book that she recognized. Master Level Arcane Arts: The highest level that she had read. She couldn’t do most of the spells in it, and those she could were too hard for her to do more than once. It was the same book she had found the spell to give Rarity wings for the Best Young Fliers Competition. She didn’t know anypony that could do this level magic, other than the Princesses.

“Try this one,” she said, with a hint of cynicism in her voice.

He looked through the book, stopping on the spell he wanted. He read the page carefully, his serious face curling into a grin. “Perfect,” he snorted. The book closed, returning to the shelf with the dark unicorn’s magic. “Just what I needed.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. This pony’s unreal. Nopony can do those spells but the Princesses and the unicorns that were powerful enough to invent them. I don’t comprehend!

With the new knowledge in his mind, the dark unicorn turned to leave the library. He remained unfazed by the sudden thump of Rainbow Dash crashing into the library. Twilight simply shook her head at the disturbance, while Darq left the library as if nothing had happened.

A few minutes later, a black griffin was flying above the town of Ponyville, attracting the attention of more than a handful of ponies below. However, the flight was sloppy, and made trained pegasi shudder. The griffin, failing out of a loop, hurdled through the air, causing the nearby Rainbow Dash to fly in and catch it.

“You should probably be more careful,” she scoffed. “Your form needs a lot of work before you can try doing those tricks.”

“Well that’s reasonable, considering that I’ve never flown before in my life,” the griffin replied, earning a jaw drop from Rainbow Dash. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have much practice to do, and only an hour left to do it.” The griffin struggled out of the pegasus’ grip, falling a few meters before catching himself, and continuing on. After a shake of her head, Rainbow Dash flew off to catch up with the griffin.

“First flight, eh?” Rainbow Dash asked, still confused.

“Aye. First flight. I’m not an alicorn, you know,” he replied with a flap.

Why is everypony that I meet so… weird?! She thought. “Well, of course you aren’t. You’re a griffin. What’s your name, anyway?”

“I already told you at the hospital,” he replied, climbing up to a cloud. He brushed the cloud with the tip of his wing, feeling the moisture within it. He spun, cutting the cloud with his wing, slowly carving it. He rose a little higher, before diving steeply towards the streets of Ponyville. He pulled up about one hundred meters above the ground, tucking into a loop, this time, managing to hold it. Rainbow Dash simply watched, realizing that Darq had somehow turned into a griffin, and was practicing flight.

However, with the amount of activity that Darq had been up to, the spell wore off significantly faster than he had expected. At a height of about half a mile above the town, the griffin turned back into a unicorn, wings dissipating like fog in the warm sun. Now suddenly falling uncontrollably, the unicorn did absolutely nothing.

Four hundred… Rainbow Dash sped forwards, rushing to catch the falling pony.

Three hundred… Rainbow Dash was still a ways away, and not quite fast enough. That unicorn was going to be extremely lucky if she got there in time.

Two hundred… She tucked her wings in, watching the unicorn drop. She knew she couldn’t make it in time unless she broke the sound barrier now.

One hundred… Nope. Not gonna make it. This pony’s screwed.

However, Rainbow Dash failed to account for Fluttershy rushing towards the falling pony. Playing the scene out, she saw the possibility. With one huge breath, “FLUTTERSHY! HEADS UP!”

The pale yellow pegasus looked up, seeing the black unicorn. With a squeak of terror, she bolted up to catch the pony. She braced herself for the inevitable impact, and reached to catch him.

And catch him she did. Darq now safely on the ground, ponies that witnessed the scene gathered around, staring with wide eyes. Nopony understood how the unicorn had gotten into the sky at all, not knowing that he was the griffin that was in the sky earlier.

“What the hay was that?! I thought you said you had an hour!” Rainbow Dash yelled. Though she had no idea why, she felt the need to lecture the pony. “Are you TRYING to die?!”

The unicorn snapped upright, now ‘glaring’ at Rainbow Dash. “Do not raise your voice at me, youngling. I have enough energy to turn your wing bones into apple butter for a week,” he growled lowly. Rainbow Dash backed down, shrinking back. “However, I won’t be doing that anytime soon. I simply miscalculated my time in the sky. I didn’t account for the physical strain of flight interacting with the magical strain of the spell. Oh well. I can at least learn from this, and know this for the future.”

“Are you okay, Darq?” Fluttershy asked out of the blue, bravely approaching the intimidating black pony before her.

“It seems I am unharmed, thanks to you,” he replied. “Oh, how rude of me. It seems I have forgotten your name.”

“No. You didn’t forget. I was too shy to tell you at the hospital. I’m Fluttershy,” she said with a smile in her usual half-whisper.

“Thank you, young Fluttershy,” he said. “I am in your debt.”

The pink-maned pegasus smiled with glee, and trotted off, humming a happy tune. The other amassed ponies, however, continued staring at Darq, and Rainbow Dash.

“Well. If I calculated correctly, I have another six hours before I can take to the skies again, or practice magic,” he sighed, cantering off into the crowd. As soon as he disappeared, the other ponies returned to their daily lives, leaving Rainbow Dash in a state of shocked confusion. What the hay did I just witness?

Author's Note

And this is three days without proper music. Well, until the flight scene. The flight scene actually flowed pretty well. From there on, I am proud of this chapter. But it just felt a little rough.

Lemme know what you guys think, because I have a tendency to be overly modest.