Chapter 1: The "Rest Stop" (Revised)
It had been a long day of traveling through the skies of Equestria for Shadow Strife. This young colt is a pegasus, one with a short, black and grey mane and tail with a grey coat, and a black lightning bolt for a cutie mark. He was originally from Las Pegasus, and lived with parents who weren't exactly the best role models.... okay, they were the worst role models. He became a great flyer at age 6, and left his parents behind. To his knowledge, they didn't look for him afterwards. Ever since he left his home, he has strived to be Equestria's greatest flyer of all time. Two years pass and Shadow recieved not only his nickname, The Black Arrow, but also his cutie mark. When this colt would pass nearby, a streak of black and grey was left behind. His cutie mark was recieved when he was testing his speed.
He had grown exponentially greater at flying, so he decided it was time to put his speed to the test. His challenge was to gain enough speed to fly straight through a small tree, though the objective of this challenge failed because he missed, he went fast enough to break the sound barrier,(Note: this did NOT cause anything similar to the sonic rainboom) and left behind a clear streak black and grey... but he lost control, and having done so, plumetted into the ground and gained a massive concussion and also, lost the memory of his parents and home. After a month of healing, Shadow was able to fly again without searing headaches or fainting mid-flight. But enough background check, let's continue the story, shall we?
Shadow had left the Crystal Empire about 3 hours ago, and was feeling tired. He had flown longer before, but from the fact he ate a bit too much food before his flight made him want to take a stop now more than ever. He stopped and looked at his stomach. It growled from discomfort and he knew what it meant.
"Too much hay bacon." He said to himself as he slowly began flying again. He looked down and was amazed at what he saw. Under him was a clear field with not a visible creature in sight. He felt the urge to land and take a look at the surrounding. He thought it would be a nice change of pace to take a look around instead of choosing to keep moving.
He landed at this field and took one look at the horizon as the sun was setting. He had never seen anything more astonishing than this. It was like looking at a beautiful painting that would never be seen again.There was total silence as he marvelled in the beauty of this sight. The lucious green of the field, reflecting the shine of the son. He took a moment to fully take in the beauty until he noticed the sun was getting lower, so he decided it was time to find somewhere to stay. He flew off the ground and readied to keep moving onward, until he heard a yelling that seemed to close in on him. He looked in the direction of the voice in confusion.
"Watch out!" Said the voice, becoming even closer.
"Huh-Oof!" Shadow questioned as he was impacted by another pegasus. Both ponies fell to the ground, as a combination of their groans filled the silence of the field. Their groaning was soon replaced with yelling loud questions at one another.
"Hey, what gives?! Don't you know when to move out of the way?!" Said the pegasus that had just flown into him. This pegasus was a mare who had a cyan coat and rainbow colored mane, which kind of made him sick. She had a cutie mark of what looked like a rainbow colored lightning bolt coming out of a cloud.
"Don't you know when to watch where the hell you're flying?! How in the hell did you not notice me?!" Shadow retaliated. The two pegasi grew silent as they exchanged angry looks at each other. Shadow knew the look she was giving him: it was a challenge. Shadow was he one to break the silence and accept this mare's proposition.
"Alright, since neither of us is going to apologize, how about first one to the end if this field has to apologize?" He proposed.
"Okay, but be ready to say sorry after I leave you in the dust!" The cyan mare said as she readied herself.
"Oh, we'll see who's eating who's dust in a second!" He said with great determination as he readied himself as well.
"Ready!"
"Set!"
"Go!"
And with that, the two pegasi bolted, trying to get ahead of the other. The race lasted for what seemed like five minutes, but in reality was about an hour. There was a lot of maneuvering in front and past one another, trying to throw the opponent off and get ahead. At one point, Rainbow caught him off guard and he struggled to straighten out for a few seconds. They each gained speed as their adrenaline began pumping more and more as they both reached the end of the field.The outcome suprised both of the pegasi: it was a draw. They looked at each other in confusion and agreed to apologize at the same time.
"I'm.... sorry..." They both said hesitantly, not making eye contact. The cyan pegasus rubbed her foreleg with a hoof, nd Shadow noticed that it had grown awkward.
Shadow decided that he didn't like the awkwardness and made a change for once and forgot his anger towards the mare.
"We should race again sometime.That was an awesome race." Shadow said. "By the way, what's your name?"
At the sound of those words, the mare perked up a bit. "Rainbow Dash. You?" She asked.
"Shadow Strife. You put up a good fight in hat race. Never met a pony in my life who could match up to me. By the way, do you happen to know a place i might be able to stay for a while? It's getting pretty late and I don't really have a home." He said, looking at the now rising moon. Rainbow took a look at the moon as well and nodded her head in agreement.
"I guess you could stay at my place for a while. It's not like there's anypony else there." Said the cyan pegasus, putting a hoof on her chin and taking a moment to think. "Yeah maybe a night or two at the max, but don't try anything funny."
"Great!" Said Shadow. "I'm getting kinda hungry too." After he finished his sentence, his stomach growled. Rainbow laughed for a few seconds, until a similar sound came from her belly as well. They both shared a laugh as they finally headed to Raibow's cloud home....
A few hours passed as he was in Rainbow's guest room, it was midnight, and Shadow couldn't help but think for about what had happened before he got here. He thought about how he was somewhat attracted to the rainbow maned mare, but he quickly tried to rid his mind of that thought. But a thought from earlier reached his mind. As she showed hime her cloud home, he realized that he was staring at her most of the time, and at one point, took a quick peek at her flank. He quickly shook his head violently.
"No, no, no! Damn it, don't think about that!" He was quickly trying to shove the thought out of his mind. He was trying to think about other things, but really, meeting Rainbow Dash was the highlight of his day."Just sleep it off, Shadow. It will go away in the morning.... Hopefully." He said as he yawned and layed back, hoping sleep would take his mind off of Rainbow. And with that he dozed off into a deep sleep...
Author's Note
Okay, so i took the advice and remade the story in a different turn of events.Please, give me your thoughts and ideas for shapters after chapter 3. chapter 3 will be when the story will be fully set in motion and i'll be fully ready to take any ideas into consideration. also, a nice cover photo that fits this story would be helpful. Thanks for reading chapter 1 of The Black Arrow! Let me know if you think it's too short or too vague or anything, i'll be sure to make necessary corrections! I revised it a bit, as i noticed it wasn't doing so great. the next chapter will be longer, I pinkie promise!
Chaper 2: A Day in Ponyville Part 1
The next day, Shadow barely opened his eyes. He felt too tired to get up, but knew he had to eventually. The sun shined through the window and he knew where he was again. He was at Rainbow's house, in her guest room. He rubbed his eyes with his foreleg and he looked out a window. He saw the field that Rainbow and him had raced on. Then, the same thoughts from last night came back. He remembered the tour, how much he stared at her, and that one little peek he took at her flank... He quickly shook his head, trying his best to take his mind off of Rainbow's flank... He shook his head even more and tried to find something to take his mind off of those thoughts. He looked around, and saw one thing in particular that caught his eye. It was a poster labeled "The Wonderbolts, Equestria's Best Fliers" with a picture background of some ponies he'd never seen before in what seemed to be their uniform. Shadow smirked after seeing this.
"Heh, maybe I should join the Wonderbolts. It's a known fact i'm Equestria's fastest flyer..... Oh wait, Rainbow and I tied in that race yesterday.... So that means we're both Equestria's fastest flyers..... I think..." He said to himself, or so he thought.
Shadow didn't notice, but Rainbow had walked in to ask if he wanted to meet her friends. She started laughing.... a lot. Shadow turned to see his new-friend had heard him talking to himself. He didn't move. He showed no sign of acknowledgement. His mind just shut down. He felt embarassed, because as soon as he heard her, his thoughts came back to him, and his face truned red and refused to turn towards Rainbow. He took a moment to regain his composure and turned to face her.
"You er, you heard that, huh?" He said as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof.
Rainbow was still laughing. She took a minute to calm herself. "Oh man, That's gold! You and me, Equestria's fastest, eh? Hahaha!" She let out a sigh as she finished laughing. "Anyway, I came to ask if you woul wanted to meet my friends back at Ponyville. So do you wanna meet my friends or talk to yourself some more?" She snickered after finishing her sentence.
Shadow gave her a cold look and then thought. He had never heard of Ponyville before. He planned on leaving today, but who knows? It's always good to try new things and meet new ponies. After all, he didn't really have friends until he met Rainbow Dash. If she was cool, maybe her friends were too. Shadow nodded in aggreement and walked towards the door. He looked back at Rainbow, who was following behing him. A few minutes later, they were both flying, Shadow behind Rainbow, of course, because she was the one showing the way, obviously. Shadow decided he wanted to know more about Rainbow's friends.
"So, about your friends. How many are we talking here? And what are they like?" Shadow asked. Rainbow stopped flying and Shadow did too. She turned to face him and answer his question, while having a hoof on her chin to think.
"Well, there's Twilight Sparkle, the bookworm. She's a unicorn from Canterlot who lives in the library at Ponyville and is the personal student of Princess Celestia herself, though she does take her books little seriously. Then there's Rarity, a unicorn who runs the boutique in Ponyville, though she's kinda snobby, you get used to her eventually. There's also Applejack, she's a farmer who runs Sweet Apple Acres with her family. She's very tough and has some sort of farmers accent or whatever, I dunno. There's Pinkie Pie, the party pony who lives in Sugarcube Corner. She will always try to find a way to make you smile, but sometimes she gets a little.... Annoying... Don't tell her i told you. Anyway, the last pony is Fluttershy. She's a very shy pony, but around animals, she's a social butterfly(No pun intended). So yeah, those are my best friends in Ponyville. Of course, I know a lot of other ponies there too, but we'll just meet my best friends and I'll let you meet any other pony you feel like talking to or whatever." Said Rainbow, finally finishing.
"Alright, I'm ready to meet everypony. Let's get going." And with that, they began flying again. Shadow, still behind Rainbow Dash, wacthed the cyan mare as they flew to their destination. He watched as she occasionally flew a loop and they kept moving towards "Ponyville."
An hour had passed and he found his flight becoming boring, so he decided to get to know Rainbow Dash better. He asked her a few questions about herself as they flew and she answered them. He began knowing this mare better with every question; Her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt, her being an Element of Harmony, the adventures she and her friends shared, and so on. (Of course i'm not gonna bore you people with a dialouge you already know, so I shortened it to this. Honestly, I know giving details you fine people already know is just stupid to put in a fanfiction. Saved you the time of reading something you already know.) After finally knowing Rainbow Dash, they arrived at Ponyville. Rainbow turned to face Shadow.
"Alright, so who do you wanna meet first?" Asked the speedster.
Shadow put a hoof to his chin to think which of these five mares he would want to meet first. He thought for a moment, trying to decide which one he wanted to meet. His choices were the bookworm, the fashionista, the farmer, the party animal, and the animal lover. He took a minute to take in consideration of evveryponies traits. Then he decided what to say.
"Doesn't matter to me, I'll go where you go..." He thought about what he just said. He looked at Rainbow and notice her face had turned redish. He had to act quickly. "Er... That came out wrong.... What I meant was--"
"I get what you meant...." Rainbow said, her face slowly turning back to it's original cyan color. "I guess we can go to Twilight's place first."
"I'm good with that. Let's go." Shadow replied. The two pegasi flew a short ways and came up to a rather large tree with several decorations, a few windows, and of course a door. There was a sign in front of the tree that said "Ponyville Library." Shadow realized that this "Twilight Sparkle" was more of a bookworm than he thought. They both landed and walked up to the library door. Rainbow was the one to knock on the door....
"Just a second!" Said a voice from inside. Hoofsteps could be heard coming from the inside the large tree.
The library door opened and a purple unicorn soon came into view. Said unicorn gave a warming smile as she saw Rainbow at the door, but then she noticed Shadow was at the door and gave a look of confusion. He looked back at the violet unicorn, guessing to himself that this would be an intersting visit. The bookworm looked back at her friend, her expression was one full of questions, but Rainbow Dash kept a smile on her face.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash. Uh, Who's your friend here? And why is he staring at me?" Said the librarian.
"Oh, Twilight, I'd like you to meet Shadow Strife." Rainbow turned to look at Shadow. "Shadow, this is Twilight Sparkle."
"Nice to meet you..." Said Twilight. She was still looking at Shadow with confusion.
Shadow snapped back to reality after he realized she said something directed to him. "Oh, uh, likewise." Said Shadow, trying to change the way he talked a bit.
"So can we come in, Twi?" Asked the cyan mare.
"Oh, yeah, sure you can. Come on in." Twilight moved out of the way to let us in. We both walk in the library as i look around and see what I expected; books, lots and lots of books.
After about 2 hours of getting to know each other and Rainbow Dash seeing a side of Shadow she never expected to see, Twilight and Shadow became good friends as Shadow used the knowledgeable part of his travel to get along with this bookworm. He used words that he never thought would get a mare's attention ever in his life, but sure enough, Twilight was "fascinated to hear his astounding perception of various places she had never seen before." After sharing 2 hours worth of each others information about their lives and sharing some thoughts on certain books and several other conversations. Shadow and Rainbow were ready to head out and meet the next pony, but Twilight pulled Rainbow aside to discuss certain matters about Shadow.
"Okay, so I have to tell you something." Said Twilight quietly, hoping Shadow wasn't eavesdropping on their conversation.
"What is it Twi? Something important?" Asked a curious speedster.
"Well... Things is... I kinda sorta like him..." Said the bookworm as her cheeks grew redish. Rainbow laughed at what she just heard.
"You seriously like him?" Said a suprised Rainbow Dash. She never thought she's see the day when Twilight would come to like a colt. The thought of this made Rainbow's first mechanism activate: Laugh at that shit. So Rainbow laughed... and laughed... and choked. Twilight had used her magic to make Rainbow's laughing fit stop... By using it mainly around her throat.
When Twilight finally stopped trying to make her friend go into a coma, and both mares walked back to Shadow and soon after, Shadow and a struggling Rainbow Dash left Twilight's library and were walking their way through Ponyville. Shadow had become a bit thirsty, so they both stopped at a small resteraunt for a quick bite. After their meal, Rainbow asked Shadow what happened in the library. She had wondered how he knew all those things, and he told her a few years back, he traveled to learn more about the lands of Equestria, but he doesn't anymore. Now he does it just see new places, but until now, he never really talked to anypony. It was then that they decided to visit a certain pony who new everypony..... Take a guess.... I already know what you said but, yes, you guessed right!.... It's Fluttershy..... No i'm just kidding, It's Pinkie Pie. Shadow and Rainbow were en route to Sugarcube Corner when they were stopped by a mare we all know and love.... Fluttershy... Again, I was kidding. They were stopped by Applejack, who was in the market selling apples she and Big Macintosh had recently bucked. Shadow and Rainbow both walked towards the farm pony to introduce Shadow to another one of Rainbow's friends.
"Well howdy there, Rainbow Dash. Who's yer friend here?
"Hey AJ, this is Shadow Strife. He's gonna be in town for a day or two, so I decided to let him meet you ponies."
The farm pony looked at Shadow with a smile on her face. She looked him up and down and came from behind her small cart of apples and took his hoof and shook it.
"Nice ta meet'cha, Shadow! Name's Applejack! Ah reckon Rainbow told ya somethin' about me."
"Uh, yeah just a little bit. It's nice to meet you too."
And after a couple of hours of two ponies sharing more dialogue you probably don't want to hear. A few customers came and bought a few apples and went on their merry way. Rainbow found her way into their conversation at one point, feeling left out as they talked. Rainbow, Applejack, and Shadow shared stories about their lives and whatnot, sharing a few laughs and all as Applejack and Shadow got fully acquainted with each other. Afterwards, Shadow and Rainbow Dash started heading for Sugarcube Corner once again. They said goodbye to Applejack and left to go meet Pinkie Pie...
Author's Note
Okay, so I saw how many dislikes chapter 1 had gotten a bunch of dislikes, so I tried to make it better. Please tell me your thoughts. It's very appreciated.
Chapter 3: A Day in Ponyville Part 2
En route to Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash had thought she had gotten to know Shadow pretty well. She knew his lifestyle, favorite hobbies, and all sorts of things about him. But there was one thing she had forgotten to ask him. She had no idea who this stallion's family was, and little did she know that he didn't either. She stopped, and Shadow did too. He turned to the rainbow mare and gave a look of slight confusion, speaking soon after.
"Something wrong, Dash?" Said Shadow, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Hey, Shadow, can I ask you one more question?" Said the speedy flyer, looking at the ground as she spoke.
Shadow gave a half-grin Rainbow Dash. "Sure! Lay it on me."
She looked up at him with a very confused look. "Who's your family?"
Shadow's half-grin instantly turned into a frown, and he turned away from his cyan and rainbow colored friend. He thought to himself for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only 2 minutes. He remembers waking up in a hospital and being told he had crashed into a tree, and may have lost a portion of his memory. Until now, he didn't know what he forgot. He tried to remember his family, his original home, his childhood, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't. He turned to face Rainbow Dash once more.
"I.... I don't know...." He looked down, still trying to remember.
"You don't? How could you forget your family?" Said Dash.
"Well, I was told I got into a pretty bad crash the day I got my cutie mark. They said I flew a few inches deep into a tree, and went into a coma. When I woke up, they told me I may have lost a portion of my memory and may never remember. Until just now, I didn't know what I had forgotten." He looked back at Dash. "But thanks for asking, Dash. If it weren't for you, I'd have never known what it was that I still can't remember..."
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but regret asking. She didn't show it on the outside though. On the inside, she felt like she gave a friend a lifetime of trouble and questions. Shadow turned from his friend and walked a little further, not noticing she hadn't moved. He walked back to her and smiled.
"Hey, Dash. Get your head out of the clouds and show me to Sugarcube Corner. I still wanna meet your friends, y'know?" He said jokingly.
Dash snapped back to reality and smiled. "Oh yeah, right. Sorry."
After a few minutes, they arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Dash was the first to walk in, and in doing so, was ambushed by a pink earth pony who was teeming with happiness. Everything this mare did and said was mostly from excitement and happiness. This strangely put a smile on Shadow's face, and he couldn't help but laugh a bit. It took him a while to notice Dash smiling, enjoying the suprise her pink friend gave her. Soon, the earth pony turned and saw Shadow. She instantly jumped in the air and gave a loud gasp. Rainbow quickly flew up the pink ball of excitement and held her up in mid-air.
"Pinkie, no party." Dash moved her head closer to Pinkie and whispered in her ear. "Yet."
Pinkie giggled. "Oh, don't be silly, Dashie. I just wanna meet this new pony!" She squirmed out of Rainbow Dash's grasp and hopped over to Shadow with a big smile.
"Hi, you must be Pinkie Pie. Dash told me you'd always be happy and always act very silly." He said with a smile.
"Yeperoo! I just love to see other ponies smile!" She said as she hopped in place in front of Shadow.
"Heh, that's nice." He said to the pink mare. "Hey, Dash, can I see you for a sec?"
"Hmm? Oh sure." She flew over to Shadow with a confused look. "What's wrong? You don't like her?"
"Heh, no. I just want you to know that I'm going to try to match her excitement and happiness for fun and to see what will happen." Said Shadow with a big smile.
"Oh, wow." Dash tried not to laugh. "Have at it."
And with that, Shadow tried to match Pinkie's excitement. It was filled with great destruction and tons of fun. Everything Pinkie got excited about, Shadow tried to be more excited. It was all fun and games, but everypony knows Pinkie won the challenge. Shadow had gotten as excited as he could, but Pinkie blew it out of the water when she broke through the 4th wall. At the end of it all, each of them were laughing loudly, but Shadow was exhausted
"That was SOOO MUCH FUN!!!" Exclaimed Pinkie.
Rainbow Dash could hardly breath from all her laughing, much less speak.
"Heh.... Yeah.... It was...." Said a very tired black and grey pegasus, trying to catch his breathe.
After their great amounts of fun, they started to get to know each other. After hours of fun and talking, both ponies became good friends and made sure to spend lots of time together. Pinkie pulled Rainbow Dash aside and assured her there would be a suprise "Welcome to Ponyville" party for Shadow Strife. When Dash and Shadow left, Dash decided she wanted to stop and talk with Shadow some more. She had the strange feeling that she had to do it or something might go wrong, and she didn't know why she had this feeling. She stopped in mid-walk again, and Shadow realized much earlier this time.
"Another question?" Said Shadow as if he knew what the question was.
"N-no, just a weird feeling that we should talk some more. Don't know why though...." She started to trail off a bit, but snapped back. "So, do you want to?"
Shadow gave a smile. "Sure, I don't mind."
In Shadow's head, he was thinking it was a date or something of the sort. In Dash's head, she didn't know what to think of it. She couldn't tell if she had asked him on a date or it was just two friends getting together for an intermission of some kind. Either way, they both enjoyed themselves and had a great time. They really bonded, but then they realized it was starting to reach noon, so they hurried over to go meet Rarity. On their way, they stopped to meet several other ponies, like Derpy, Carrot Top, Octavia, and Doctor Whooves, who strangely warned Shadow not to go to Sugarcube Corner in three days. Shadow didn't know why, but he would try to remember that. By the time they reached Carousel Boutique, Dash gave a noticeable shiver.
"You okay?" Asked Shadow.
"No, its just that Rarity has been begging me to get a hooficure, and no matter how much I say no, she still asks." Said Dash, giving another shiver.
Shadow tried his best not to laugh. He tried to imagine Rainbow Dash getting a hooficure. He couldn't hold it in any longer he burst out laughing. Dash quickly hit his side with a smile.
"Quick imagining me doing things I don't plan on doing anytime soon." Dash's cheeks turned dark red after that.... And Shadow's face had turned purple.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! AHH, MY SIDES ARE KILLING ME!! HAHAH!!!!" He said, nearly falling over.
After some laughs, both pegasi didn't notice the white unicorn with a stylish, purple mane opened her front door to a blushing Rainbow Dash and a dying Shadow Strife. She cleared her throat and both ponies took notice. Now that she had their attention, she could finally speak her mind.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash, darling, I see you still haven't gotten a good hoofi-" Her sentence was cut off by Dash's glare at the fashionista... And the continuation of Shadow's laughing.
"Stop it, you're gonna kill me! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!" They were a few ponies nearby who took notice of his laughter.
"Don't. Say. Another. Word." Dash said, glaring daggers at the white unicorn.
Rarity stood there, trying to figure out what she should say. "Well... Uh, why don't you two come in. Surely, you'll introduce me to your friend here..." She looked at Shadow like he was a tuxedo that was completely disastrous, and it was SHE who had made such a horrible outfit.
Finally able to breath, Shadow followed behind both mare's into the boutique. He looked around as he saw sewing-machines, dresses and tuxedos, and many other things affiliated with fashion. Shadow definitely didn't want to show that side of himself. After being properly introduced to Rarity, the two began to get to know each other over a few cups of tea that Sweetie Belle had made. Of course, neither of them drank more than one sip of the tea Sweetie made, mainly because it tasted like an old goat. With a pig. And a cow. And it did NOT taste good, so Rarity decided to make some tea that didn't taste like barn animals. Rarity talked on and on and on and on and on about how she should be living in Canterlot, but also how much she'd miss her friends if she did leave. Dash had fallen asleep at the point where she started talking about fashion design, though Shadow listened through most of it. Later, Rainbow Dash woke up from a nap that seemed to last forever because all she could here whilst she was asleep was anything and everything about fashion. The first words to come from her mouth when she woke were: "Needs more rainbow colors." When they left, Dash was still a bit drowsy, and was stumbling a little as they walked. Suddenly, a strange noise came from Rainbow Dash and she realized that she hadn't eaten lunch yet.
Shadow looked at the speedster. "Hungry?"
"Yeah, wanna get some food or something? I'm totally good for anything right now."
"Eh, we'll figure it out. Maybe we'll find a place." Replied Shadow.
The two looked around for a while and found a small place to eat and shared a few more laughs and good times. After they started heading for Fluttershy's small cottage. Since they were tired of walking, so they both flew the rest of the way. When they arrived, Rainbow Dash stopped Shadow at the bridge. She had a very serious look on her face, which meant there is no joking.
"You have to promise me you will NOT scare Fluttershy. Promise?"
"Promise." He quickly said to his rainbow friend.
"Okay." Rainbow flew over to Fluttershy's front door with Shadow behind her.
Dash knocked on the door lightly with a hoof. Soon after, the door opened a crack, and an eye could barely be seen through the crack. The mare opened the door slightly once she saw her friend, but shrunk back at the sight of Shadow.
"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. Um... W-who's your friend? If It's okay to ask." Whimpered the shy pegasus.
"Fluttershy, you mind if we come in?" Asked Dash.
Fluttershy slightly opened her door some more. "Oh, sure. Sorry to make you wait, but um.... You still haven't told me who your friend was..." She replied softly, closing the door about an inch or two.
"Oh right! Fluttershy, this is Shadow Strife." She looked back at Shadow. "Shadow, Fluttershy." She gestured to the yellow pony trying to hide behind her long, pink mane.
At that moment, Fluttershy opened her door to let them both inside her small cottage. Inside, there were a considerable amount of animals. They were rabbits, mice, squirrels, a goat, and several other woodland creatures. Shadow looked at each animal with great fascination. When he saw Fluttershy tend to her rabbit, Angel, he witnessed her talent as she met the needs of each other animal. He was simply amazed, but when the time came to speak with the shy pegasus, she turned into a complete doormat. The three pagasi sat on Fluttershy's couch, with the guest of a very awkward silence. Shadow, still hating awkward silences, broke the uncomfortable silence.
"So..... Fluttershy. I see you like to take care of animals..." He felt stupid for stating the obvious, but the shy pony's eyes widened at his words.
"Oh yes. I do whatever I can to help these poor creatures. Though sometimes I do spoil them a little..." Fluttershy shrunk back after finishing.
"I see... So.... Which one have you had the longest?" He asked. This time, Fluttershy shrunk behind her mane, hoping not to have to respond to him.
A small, soft whimper came from her, as if trying to say something. Shadow could have expected this from what Rainbow had rold him. He asked her to speak up, and finally got an audible reply.
"I've had Angel the longest...." She said in a very shy and soft voice. She shrunk back more, seeming like she wanted to be as small as the mice that scurried around on the floor on occasion.
The time spent at Fluttershy's was quiet. After an hour, Rainbow Dash and Shadow Strife decided to leave. The day seemed like it was coming to an end fast. Meeting all of Dash's friends was quite a great time for Shadow, but in his mind, he had to make the decision of prolonging his stay or not. He thought long and hard, weighing how his decision may affect his life. Many things were racing through his mind faster than he could fly. Finally, he made his decision, the ultimate choice to affect his life. He stopped before they could get any closer to Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Dash took notice and looked at him.
"Hey, c'mon we're not getting any closer by flying still y'know?" She said, but then she saw the expression on his face. "You okay?"
"Yeah.... Hey, Rainbow Dash..."
"Yeah?" She simply asked.
"I.... I think I'll stay in Ponyville a little longer. I think It's high-time I made a change." He said, his expression changing as he looked up at Rainbow.
In her mind, she was happy, but she didn't show it on the outside. "Cool. Looks like i got a new flying buddy."
"Speaking of flying...." He had a large grin on his face, and Rainbow knew just what this meant.
Without warning, both pegasi took off at astonishing speeds. Though there was a change this time around. Shadow and Rainbow Dash had both used their special talents. Though Shadow's version of the sonic rainboom never had a name, it was silent and just as fast, and Rainbow helped him name it after the nickname many ponies had given him in the past. He thought it fit, so in that race, he performed the Black Arrow and Rainbow used her Sonic Rainboom. The results of the race were the same as the first: a tie. Finally, they both returned to the cloud home, the day coming to an end rather quickly. Rainbow was in her room, and Shadow in his now official room. They were both in their beds, lost in thought about how great the day went.
"Today was amazing." They both said to themselves.
"Rainbow's friends are really something. That could possibly have been one of the greatest days in my life." Shadow said to himself.
"Shadow seemed to like my friends, though being at Rarity's and Fluttershy's was really boring." Rainbow shuffled in her bed a but.
"I'm glad I chose to stay."
"I'm sorta happy he chose to stay."
And with that, they both went to sleep, thus ending the day....
Author's Note
I know it took a while to add this chapter, but I've been busier than usual. Lightning Dust and others will appear as priorities in future chapters, but for now, I am accepting ideas for the next few chapters. Give your thoughts on this chapter and all, for future updates, like my page, the Black Arrow Fanfiction, on Facebook. Also, I'm really sorry for making Rainbow Dash so OOC in the chapter. But anywho, see ya later.
