Hiding in the Shadows

Celestia's sun was shining through the windows of the library as Twilight slowly opened her eyes, awaking from her peaceful slumber.

"What a beautiful morning," she thought to herself. She slowly got out of bed and stretched her legs out a bit. After she did that, she walked in front of a mirror. She levitated a comb above her head and started to brush her mane, combing down the parts that were sticking up. She was staring into her reflection. She wanted to make sure her mane looked okay, or else Rarity would probably start ranting on and on about how her mane is a mess, or how she could at least try and fix it. After a little bit of brushing, she decided her mane looked good enough, and she walked down the stairs to the first floor of the library. Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she started walking towards the door. "Spike! I'm heading out!" she called behind her back as she stopped in front of the door to the library. She looked behind her, looking at the baby dragon and hoping for a response. But the baby dragon was still sleeping. She didn't think he was gonna wake up anytime soon. She decided to just turn around and head out of the library instead of interrupting his slumber. A pink aura surrounded the door as it opened up, letting the cool morning breeze flow into the library. She walked through the door and out of the library, closing the door behind her. She looked around at Ponyville. Many ponies were walking around and talking with other ponies, while some were setting up carts in the market place. Ponyville was a beautiful sight in the morning. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a white unicorn walking up next to her.

"Good morning Twilight. It's such a lovely day today, is it not?" said the white unicorn, now standing next to Twilight.

"Oh good morning Rarity! Yes, it is a beautiful morning," Twilight responded, turning her head to look at Rarity. Rarity had a snow-white coat, and a styled purple mane. Her mane was curled up into the air above her head and fell down to her side. Her tail shared a similar curl to it.

"I was just heading over to Town Hall when I saw you. Shall we head over there now?" Rarity asked, probably wanting to not be late.

"Sure thing. This should be a nice morning," Twilight responded, already starting to walk towards the Town Hall. Rarity followed closely behind her. Twilight was admiring the scenic area around her. Celestia's sun was starting to rise higher into the sky, and was blocked by only a few lone clouds floating in the air. "The weather team has really outdone themselves today," Twilight thought to herself. She slowed her pace down, much to the dismay of Rarity.

"Twilight, can we please walk faster? I don't want our friends to be waiting for us," she complained.

"Oh stop whining," Twilight responded, not looking at Rarity. "We'll get there soon."

"Whining? I am not whining, I am complaining. Do you want to her whining?"

"Oh sweet Celestia no. Please do NOT whine. I don't want my morning to be ruined."

"Very well then. Be that way. But we must hurry. I don't want to be late."

"Ugh. We'll be there soon. Look! I can already see the Town Hall." With that, Twilight stopped and pointed her right hoof forward towards the tall building in front of them. The two unicorns started walking forward a little bit faster, but were both stopped by a pink blur in front of them.

"Hi there!" exclaimed a pink pony excitedly, stopping in front of the two unicorns.

"WaHAHA!" Rarity screamed out in terror, standing back on her hind legs.

"Oh sorry silly. Did I scare you?" the pink pony asked, hopping in circles around the two unicorns. She had a fluffy pink mane that looked fluffier than the small amount of clouds in the sky. Her eyes were the same color as the sky above them.

"Oh Pinkie, you are so random sometimes," Twilight said giggling.

"Don't startle me like that again," Rarity yelled. "I don't like surprises like that."

"Sorry silly. I was just saying hi!" Pinkie said happily, still bouncing around the two unicorns.

"Well it's quite alright. We were just walking to Town Hall. Care to join us?" Rarity asked Pinkie.

"Okey dokey lokey!" she responded, still bouncing around. All three of them started to walk forward. Well, Pinkie wasn't technically walking. She was bouncing. They could see an orange earth pony and a yellow Pegasus talking to each other near Town Hall. Both of them turned their heads and saw the three ponies heading towards them. They decided to start walking towards them and meet them in the middle. Both groups were walking towards each other, when Twilight suddenly noticed something lying on a bale of hay next to Town Hall. She started walking towards it. All four of the ponies noticed her sudden change of direction, and started following her.

"Umm... Twilight, where are you going?" Rarity questioned. But Twilight didn't answer. She kept walking forward. She stopped in front of the bale of hay and looked closely at what was lying on it.

"Sh- Shadow?!" Twilight exclaimed, looking at the grey pony sleeping on the bale of hay in front of her.

"Is that really him?" Applejack asked, walking up next to Twilight and looking at the grey pony lying on the bale of hay in front of them. "Ah thought he said he was gonna find a place to stay for the night."

"Who is this pony?" asked Rarity, looking at the grey pony. She didn't seem to notice the black cloak he was wrapped in.

"You're about to find out," Twilight said, taking her left hoof and pushing it into Shadow's side.

"Ugh... Five more minutes," he groaned, rolling over onto his other side.

"Shadow! Wake up!" Applejack yelled.

"What? Huh? Who's there?" Shadow exclaimed as he shot up, looking around. He noticed Twilight and Applejack standing near him. "Oh, hey there Applejack. Hey there Twilight." He also noticed the other three ponies standing next to him. "Oh, uh... Hi there."

"Shadow, do ya care to explain why you were sleeping on a bale of hay out here?" Applejack asked him.

"Oh ya, I told you I'd find a place to stay," he said, smiling. He got up and shook his body back and forth, making all of the hay stuck to him fall off. He picked his cloak up and shook it too, then slipped it on.

"When you said a place to stay, I didn't think you meant a bale of hay in the middle of Ponyville," Twilight said.

"It was comfortable. Plus, I had a nice view of the stars," Shadow said. "Anyway, care to introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh of course! This here is Rarity," Twilight said, pointing her hoof towards a white unicorn with a purple mane.

"Hey there. Wait a second... You're the one who fixed my cloak up," Shadow said, looking at Rarity, then the cloak on his back, then back at Rarity. "Thanks for doing that for me."

"Oh, it was nothing darling. I must admit, it fits your look very well," Rarity replied.

"Heh. Thanks," Shadow replied, blushing a bit.

"This here is Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, pointing a hoof towards a pink pony with a darker pink mane, which reminded Shadow of the fluffy clouds above.

"Hey there," Shadow said looking at the pink pony Twilight was pointing too.

"Yay! A new pony! Can I throw you a party? Please please please pleeaaassee!" she shouted excitedly, bouncing in place.

"A party?" Shadow asked in confusion. "Umm... No."

"Why not?" she asked with a confused expression.

"It's because I don't know if I'm gonna stay here yet."

"Oh. Okey dokey lokey!" she said bouncing in place again, then she stopped. "You should consider staying here silly. It would be fun to throw you a party!"

"Hehehe... Okay. I'll give it some thought," said Shadow nervously. He looked at the yellow Pegasus standing next to Pinkie.

"That pony there is Fluttershy," Twilight said, pointing at the yellow Pegasus.

"Hi," she said very softly, almost inaudible.

"Hey there. I see you are a Pegasus like me. That's pretty awesome," Shadow said with tiny bit of excitement in his voice.

"Oh no. I'm not much of a flyer," Fluttershy responded, still barely audible.

"Wait what?"

"I don't use my wings much. I usually only use them when I'm taking care of certain animals, like some birds."

"Animals?"

"Oh yes. I live near the woods. I take care of many creatures at my home."

"That's cool I guess," Shadow said with uncertainty in his voice. He turned his head towards Twilight. "Is that all your friends?"

"No. Not quite," she answered. "Rainbow Dash still isn't here."

"Rainbow Dash?" Shadow thought to himself. "Why does that name seem so familiar?" He tried to recall why the name was so familiar, but his thoughts were interrupted by a voice from above.

"Sorry I'm late guys!" a cyan blue Pegasus shouted from above. She had a rainbow colored mane and tail, which fluttered in the breeze. She slowly floated down and landed next to Fluttershy. "I was practicing some totally awesome new moves when-" she stopped talking when she noticed Shadow. "Who's the dude?" she asked, looking at his dark grey mane with red stripes.

"Oh there you are Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. She pointed at Shadow. "This is Shadow. Shadow, this is-"

"Rainbow Dash..." Shadow interrupted, memories flooding his brain. He rememebered who this mare was. He remembered why her name sounded so familiar. "Oh no... Not you! Of all the ponies, why you?" Shadow yelled out nervously while slowly backing away.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked with a confused expression. She took a step towards Shadow.

"Stay away from me!" he shouted, his wings shooting up from his side defensively. "I gotta get outta here!" With that, he started flapping his wing and tried to fly away. But he felt his tail being pulled on, and he couldn't fly forward.

"Woah there sugercube. Where do ya think you're goin'?" Applejack managed to say, gripping Shadow's tail between her teeth.

"Let me go!" Shadow shouted, flapping his wings faster. He felt more and more exhausted after each flap of his wings. He still hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. He didn't have much energy left.

"Why are ya trying the fly away?" Applejack asked, still gripping his tail in her mouth. All of the other ponies were looking at Shadow with confused expression. They were all sharing the same thought as Applejack. Shadow tried to flap his wings faster, but his efforts to get away were futile. He knew he didn't have much energy left. He slowed his wings down and landed on the floor. He tried walking forward, but collapsed with exhaustion.

"Ugh..." Shadow groaned, trying to stand up. He found that he could barely move, he didn't have much energy left in him. "I need... Something... To eat," Shadow managed to say between breaths.

"You don't look so good," Fluttershy said concerned. "Maybe we should bring him to my place."

"Are you sure," Twilight asked. "Maybe the hospital would be-"

"No! No hospital," Shadow shouted at the lavender pony. He tried to lift his head up to look at the group of ponies.

"My place is closer," Fluttershy told Twilight. "Plus I can make some food for us to eat since it doesn't seem like we're going to eat breakfast where we originally planned." Fluttershy's voice was the last thing Shadow heard before he closed his eyes and passed out.

"You have met six very important ponies," a familiar voice hissed to Shadow.

"You again? Why do you keep bothering me?" Shadow yelled. He noticed he wasn't lying on the ground anymore, but was floating in the darkness again. Something about it seemed different this time. "Something isn't right..."

"You are correct. The darkness has grown restless."

"Restless? How has it grown restless?"

"You have been in the presence of six very important ponies."

"Do you mean those six ponies that I saw today?"

"Yes."

"You mean Rarity? And Twilight? And Pinkie Pie? And Applejack? And Fluttershy? And Rainbow Dash?"

"Those ponies exactly."

"And why are they important?" There was a long pause before the voice answered.

"They are the reason why the darkness is in you." This statement was also followed by a long pause.

"What are you talking about?"

"They released the darkness from the original wielder."

"How?"

"I will not tell you that. For they can explain it to you later."

"Wait! But I-" Shadow was interrupted when the darkness around started to spin, slowly getting faster and faster until everything around him was a blur. The darkness changed to lighter colors until it turned fully white.

Shadow opened his eyes, and tried to look around. He seemed to be in a cottage. A cozy cottage in Shadow's opinion. He slowly lifted his head up and looked around the cottage. He noticed that he was lying on something. It was soft and comfortable, but it wasn't a bed. It seemed to be a couch or some sort of seat. An intoxicating aroma of delicious, homecooked food was flowing from the room. Shadow felt his stomach rumble.

"Food doesn't sound like a bad idea," Shadow thought to himself. He quickly got off the bed, but sat down immediately after feeling the blood rush to his head. "Wow..." he thought to himself. "I think I need some food soon." He slowly got up from his seated position and grabbed his cloak, which was hanging on a coat hanger. He slipped it on and slowly started walking towards the room where the intoxicating aromas were coming from. As he walked closer, he could hear some voices coming from the room he was about to walk in to. He recognized all six of the voices. They belonged to the six ponies he had talked to near Town Hall. He slowly crept forward towards the opening, the voices were becoming much more clear and audible.

"Dash, are ya sure ya don't know who he is?" Shadow could hear Applejack ask.

"I'm not sure. I don't recognize him, yet his name seems really familiar," Rainbow Dash answered back.

"But why did he react the way he did?" Twilight asked with curiosity.

"I'm guessing he knows me or something. But you're right. Why did he react that way?" Rainbow Dash said confused.

"She really doesn't remember," Shadow thought to himself. He looked down at the floor sadly. He didn't know what to do. Should he walk in there? Or should he run away again? "No," he thought. "I can't keep running forever. Besides, there's food in there." Food was definitely a legit reason to walk in. Shadow slowly walked through the doorway and into the room, where he saw all six of the ponies sitting at a table.

"I really don't know who he is," Rainbow Dash said, trying to remember who the pony was. "I can't remember."

"You really can't not remember Dash?" Shadow said, walking into a lighted area of the room.

"Shadow! You're awake!" Twilight exclaimed. She got up from where she was sitting and motioned for him to come to the table. "Come, sit with us." Shadow didn't move from where he was standing. He stood as still as a statue, staring at Rainbow Dash.

"How can you not remember?" Shadow whispered, only audible enough for the ponies to barely hear it. He still didn't move from where he was standing. "Twilight, Applejack. Do you remember when I told you I never told anypony about my past?"

"Yeah," answered Twilight and Applejack in unison.

"All you ponies are gonna be the first to hear my story. Maybe it'll help Dash remember me," Shadow told the group, still staring at Rainbow Dash. He slowly started walking towards the six ponies and sat next to the table. "Let's see... Where to start?"