A Clean Slate
Nightshade was awoken by the chirping of the birds outside his cave. He unwound his tail from the stalactite he was sleeping on and spread his wings out, gliding down towards the cold cave floor bellow. He stretched his cold, sore back, and walked towards the calendar he had carved into the stone wall. His eyes slowly scanned the writing, attempting to find the days date. March 19th, exactly ten years since he was last thrown in exile. He turned around, and walked to the make shift table he created. On one side of the table was a pile of rocks, which he had inevitably named 'Rocky', who he used to talk to when he started feeling crazy. He leaned underneath the table and pulled out a big wooden bowl of leaves and edible plants, and set the it on the table. He emptied the bowl, and separated the greens into two piles. he slide one pile to Rocky, and kept one pile for himself.
"So Rocky, guess what today is?" he asked the rocks. the rocks, of coarse, said nothing.
"Your right! Today is the day I'm out of exile!!" he replied to the rocks as if they had answered his question.
"What's that? You want to come with me? That's crazy!! You can't come with me!!" He said, oblivious to the fact that the rock, had indeed, said nothing.
"Why you ask? Well, first off, you're just a pile of rocks, you won't be able to talk to any pony but me. Secondly, all you do is sit at that end of the table, eating my food and getting fat. I'd barley be able to carry you!" He exclaimed. A rock fell from the pile, and Nightshade lost it.
"OH! NOW YOUR BACK TALKING ME!?!" He shouted, quickly rising from his place.
"WELL THIS WILL TEACH YOU!!" he roared, and clapped his hooves together as hard as he could, creating a wave of electricity. All of the rock flew backward, and Nightshade stomped out of the cave. he stood in the warm winter sun, and let the rays soak into his black coat and warm his scales. He looked back into the cave, and laughed at himself.
"Did I really just yell at a pile of rocks?" He said aloud. This time, he heard no one. He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away.
"Oh, wait!" He said, and turned around. He ran back into the cave, and searched for the right stalagmite.
"Dang it! Were's that stupid rock!" He exclaimed scratching his head with the thumb on one of his wings. He leaned up against the nearest stalagmite, and it slid backward.
"Oh, there it is." he said, and lifted up the broken stalagmite. Embedded in the bottom was two gems. He had been saving these for when food was scarce, or if any pony ever found him again, but he guessed he wouldn't really have a need to eat them any more. He pried the gems off, and stuffed them into his coin pouch. He then left the cave once more, and started down the mountain. He looked around him, and saw all the wood land creatures coming out of hibernation. He stopped in front of a dead tree, and tapped his wing on the trunk. He watched the top of the tree and waited. Just as he suspected, a tiny hawk head peaked out.
"Come on down Stork." He said, spreading out his wing. The hawk flew down, and landed on his wing. He had named the hawk such a name because he had found the hawk when he was walking through the marsh of the ever free forest. When Stork was a baby, he had abnormally long legs, making him resemble a stork. Lucky he grew into his legs, and was now a fine young hawk.
"we're moving today. Can you guess where?" He asked Stork.
Stork let out two squawks and a click, which Nightshade had understood to be "no."
"We're going to go live with other ponies!" he told the hawk. Stork let out a squawk of joy, and fell off Nightshades wing. He laughed and held his wing down to the ground so that Stork could walk right up. Once Nightshade was sure that Stork was on his back securely, he continued his trek down the mountain. It was about two hours of travailing before they even saw a sign of pony life, and even what they did see was just a run down house. He walked up a hill, and looked down into the nearby valley. A small town was flourishing inside the valley, and he immediately recognized it.
"There it is!" He exclaimed, and burst into a full trot. He ran down the road, Stork bairly holding on. He came to a sign and made a complete stop, causing stork to fly off his back.
"Welcome to Ponyville..." He read aloud.
"Stork, we're home." He said.
"This is were she lives. This is were Fluttershy lives. I can finally see her again." He thought, and walked into town, unaware of the events that were about to transpire.
Ponyville
Nightshade slowly strolled into Ponyville, taking in the sweet bliss of the moment. Nothing had change to much. New fillies, new colts, and new stores in old building.
"Look at that Stork!" He exclaimed running to a building.
"A couch and quill shop!!" He shouted. Every pony around him stared, and he slowly slunk into the shadows. The ten years had really done a number on him. He slid out of the shadows and continued walking down the road. He needed to find out were Fluttershy live.
"Maybe I should ask some pony were everything is." He thought. He saw a pink pony and walked up.
"Hey, could you point me to the nearest Inn?" He asked. She gasped
"wait here!!" She exclaimed, and was off in a flash.
"Oooookkkkkk, I know I haven't seen ponies in a while, but that was weird." He whispered to stork. Stork nodded and let out a squawk, a click, and a chirp.
"No im not going to find some pony else!" He replied to Stork. The pony returned with a big wagon, and she pulled a lever on the side. The wagon unfolded, and a big banner saying "Welcome to Ponyville" popped out the top. She grabbed a huge megaphone, and shouted in his face,
"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!!" The sound from the megaphone was so loud that it caused Nightshade to fly backward. The pink pony let a small giggle.
"I'm sorry, I'm trying out knew greeting for new ponies." She said, stretching a hoof out to help him up. He took the hoof and pulled himself up, accidently pulling her down instead. So he got up, and helped her up.
"So what's your name?" She asked him.
"Nightshade. Your name?" He responded.
"Pinkie Pie." She responded, shutting up her wagon.
"Sayyyy!!! I'm having a party today!!! You should come!!!! there's gonna be cake, and food, and friends, and cake. Every pony will be there!!" She exclaimed.
"Every pony?" He asked, shrinking into the shadows a little.
"EVERY. PONY!!!" She exclaimed. Nightshade flashed back to his past years, and remembered all the ponies at flight school, making fun of him.
"Leather wings!" they still sang in his head. That's how he had originally made friends with Fluttershy. She was made fun of for a different reason, but they were made fun of equally. She pitied him and he liked her for that. No pony ever pitied him before. Man how much he wanted to see her.
"Wait, every ponies going to be there?" He asked, now a little curious.
"Well yeah! When I say every pony, I mean EVERY PONY!!" She said, throwing her hooves in the air.
"What about a mare named Fluttershy?" He questioned.
"EVERY. PONY." She replied, a little impatient with him.
"Ok, I'll go." He said to her.
"Great! I'll show you the way to the party!!" she said. And so, the two ponies made their way to sugar cube corner.
