Hiding in the Shadows

Shadow slowly opened his eyes as a beam of sunlight shined on the side of his face. He let out a soft yawn and slowly stretched his hooves out. He scanned his surroundings and quickly remembered where he was. He looked out the window of the hospital room and saw that Celestia's sun was slowly rising up from behind the hilltops.

"I guess it's early morning," Shadow thought to himself. He stretched his hooves out again, then slung his back left hoof off of the bed. His back right hoof did the same thing, followed by both of his two front hoofs. Once all four of his hooves were on the ground, he gently lifted himself up and tried standing up straight. His muscles were aching a little bit, but besides that, he felt good. "I thought Fluttershy was meeting me here," Shadow thought to himself. He walked over to the window and peered out of it. He could see Ponyville far off in the distance, and he could see its tiny inhabitants strolling around attending to their personal business. "Maybe she forgot," Shadow concluded to himself. He sullenly backed away from the window and started trudging back to the hospital bed. He was about to climb back in, when he suddenly heard the familiar click sound of the hospital door opening. His ears perked up when the sound had reached him. He stared over at the door, hoping that it was the yellow Pegasus he had talked to the day before. But instead of the yellow Pegasus, it was a lavender unicorn who walked through the door. Shadow let out a sigh of disappointment.

The lavender pony turned her head and looked over at Shadow. "Shadow!" she exclaimed in surprise. "You're awake."

"Yes, I'm awake," he answered with disappointment still audible in his voice.

Twilight looked at him with confusion. "Why do you seem so upset? And how long have you been awake?"

"I've been up since yesterday," Shadow explained. "I also sound disappointed because Fluttershy was supposed to meet me here."

"Oh, I see. Ummm... Shadow?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask you something. What were you doing out there in the forest?"

"You seriously don't know?"

"Well, I sent a letter to Princess Celestia, but she hasn't responded yet. Did you know that I am her personal student?"

"Yeah, I already know. Fluttershy told me."

"Really? Wow. You guys must have talked about a lot."

"Sorta, but not too much."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"Just a few things she wanted to know."

"Did you explain to her what you were doing in the forest?"

Shadow paused for a moment. "No," he finally answered. "I can't explain what I don't fully understand."

"But how can you control something that you don't fully understand?"

"Think about this. Do you fully understand unicorn magic?"

"Well, not fully."

"Exactly, and yet you still control it. Same applies to me."

"But what you did out there looked extremely dangerous. It gave you those cuts on your side and face."

Shadow looked down at his cuts, then glanced back at Twilight. "That's why I don't think I can stay in Ponyville."

"Wait, what?"

"You saw how powerful it is. I don't think it's safe for me to stay here. I might need to run again."

"But you can't keep running forever. I know it's unsafe, but you can at least try and control it for a little bit, right?"

Shadow thought for a moment before saying, "I guess you're right. It's just that something weird happened yesterday."

"What happened?"

"Well, you see, my eyes started glowing and the dark power activated at its own will. I controlled it after a few seconds, but I think it's growing stronger. It's the first time it's done that to me."

"Oh my. That doesn't sound good."

"Yeah, I know right?" Shadow said sarcastically.

"Hopefully Princess Celestia has something to help you."

"How is she going to help?"

"She's ruled for a long time. She has to know what this dark power is."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

There was a long pause before Twilight spoke up. "So what are you going to do?"

Shadow looked downward at the floor. "I really don't know."

"You can stay for now, right? I mean, you can keep it under control."

"Yeah, but for how long?"

"Let's hope that you can keep it for a while."

"Why?"

"So you can stay here in Ponyville. I think you'll like it here."

Shadow turned his head and looked out the window of the hospital room. He gazed out towards the far off town in the distance. "I guess I could stay. You ponies really seem to care about," Shadow said, before pausing. "Why do you care about me so much?" he asked, turning his head towards the lavender unicorn.

She thought for a moment before answering. "When we first found you, we weren't sure if you were going to make it. Now that you're awake, we want to make sure you don't end up the same way we found you."

"Wow. That's really nice of you guys to look out for me."

"It's what friends do."

"Friends," Shadow thought to himself. "These ponies really do care about me." Shadow thought for a moment, then broke the silence, saying, "Do you consider me a friend?"

Twilight waited a moment before speaking. "Of course I do."

Shadow smiled. "That's good. I guess you and Fluttershy are the two ponies that I can consider friends."

"But what about the other ponies?"

"I've only met them. I haven't gotten to know them too well yet."

"Well, do you want to get to know them better?"

Shadow thought for a moment before answering. "Sure. But who will we meet up with first?"

Suddenly, the door of the hospital room opened up, and a familiar yellow Pegasus came trotting through the door.

"Well look who finally decided to show up," Shadow said in a half joking manner.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fluttershy apologized. "I didn't mean to show up so late."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Shadow said with a smile.

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief and walked closer to the two ponies. "I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation," she said, stopping at the foot of the bed.

"It's fine," Shadow answered. "You don't have to apologize for everything."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I don't mean to apologize for everything."

Shadow rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance. "It's fine. Just lighten up a bit, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now, back to what we were talking about. Uhhh... What were we talking about?"

"I think we were talking about you getting to know some of the other ponies better."

"Oh yeah. When are we gonna do that?"

Twilight placed her right hoof under her chin and thought for a moment before answering. "How about we meet with Applejack?" she suggested. "She's usually up early to do apple bucking."

"Sounds good. What do you think Fluttershy?"

"Sure. I'll go. Well, if you don't mind, that is," she answered softly.

"Yeah. Definitely tag along," Shadow said. His stomach suddenly growled. He placed his right hoof on his stomach. "Do you think she will let me eat a few apples?"

"Probably," Twilight answered.

"Cool. Let's head over there now," Shadow said, already heading towards the hospital room door.

"Okay, but I'm going to have to check you out of the hospital first," Twilight explained as she quickly followed Shadow.

Shadow let out a loud sigh. "Fine. Let's hurry up and get it over with." He started walking faster towards the door, when he suddenly remembered something. "Wait! I forgot my cloak," Shadow said, turning around looking around the room for his black cloak. After he scanned the room, he noticed that it wasn't there. "Uhhh... Where's my cloak?"

"Oh, Rarity kinda took it to fix it up. It had a bunch of tears in it from the rock fragments," Twilight explained quickly.

"Oh, I see. Well that was certainly nice of her." Shadow quickly started trotting towards the doorway. "Come on, let's go."

The two ponies quickly followed Shadow out of the doorway of the small hospital room.

"Applejack!" Big Macintosh called out towards the large sea of apple trees.

"Yes Big Mac?" Applejack called back.

"Some friends are here to see ya," he answered back.

"Alright. Ah'll be right there!" Applejack broke into a full gallop as she headed down a path that led towards farm. She slowed her pace down as she spotted three ponies standing side by side in the distance. The first two she recognized as her two friends named Twilight and Fluttershy. The third pony she saw was slightly smaller than the two other ponies in comparison. She recognized this pony as a pony named Shadow, who she had only met a few days ago.

"Shadow! Ya woke up!" she said happily.

"Yeah. Nice to see you again," Shadow said smiling.

"Hey Applejack," Twilight greeted.

"Howdy Twilight," Applejack greeted back. "Whatta y'all doin' here anyway?"

"Just saying hi," Twilight with a smile.

"Well that's nice of y'all to do."

"Yeah," Shadow said. "I was also wondering, can I have a few apples to eat? I'm starving."

"Well sure!" answered Applejack. "You can have these on the house," she said, pointing her hoof towards a basket full of apples.

"Wow. Thanks," Shadow said gratefully, eyeing the basket of apples.

"No problem! Ah wouldn't wanna accept bits from a friend anyway. It just doesn't seem right, ya know?"

"Yeah, I guess your right," Shadow answered half mindedly. "Did she just call me her friend?" Shadow thought to himself. "Can I consider her a friend?" Shadow stepped forward towards the basket of apples. He lowered his head and picked an apple up with his teeth. He raises his left hoof and turned it upright. He placed the apple on his hoof and take a large bite out of it. "Wow, that's juicy," Shadow said as he munched on the apple with his mouth half full.

"The best around," Applejack said with confidence and a smile.

Shadow took another bite. "I know you won't accept any bits for these apples," Shadow managed to say with his mouth full. He swallowed down the rest of the apple content in his mouth. "How about I help you around the farm for a bit instead?" he suggested.

Applejack placed a hoof on her chin and turned her gaze towards the sky. "Hmmm... Ah guess ya can work for a little bit," she finally answered, turning her head towards the grey Pegasus. "Some extra help around the farm won't hurt nopony."

"Cool," Shadow said, taking another bite out of the now fully eaten apple. He dropped the apple core onto the floor and grabbed another apple from the basket. He took a large bite out of this one too.

"Ya can start when ya want. All Ah need ya to do is take baskets of apples back to the farm. Ya can fly around above the apple trees and look for any full baskets laying around," she explained.

Shadow nodded his head, showing that he understood. "I'll go get started on that." He turned his head and looked at both Twilight and Fluttershy. "Sorry guys. Maybe catch you later?"

"Sure," both of then answered at the same time.

Shadow turned back around and started flapping his wings at a slow pace. His pace quickened, and he bolted up into the air.

"Jus' look for baskets full of apples!" Applejack called from the ground.

"Got it!" Shadow called back. He glided forward and scanned the large sea of apple trees in front of him. From where he was, he spotted at least two dozen baskets full of apples. Shadow let out a soft sigh. "This is going to take longer than I thought," he said to himself as he hovered above a couple of baskets. "I better get started now," Shadow thought to himself as he dove downward to the ground.

Shadow carefully placed a large basket of apples next to another basket of apples. He looked down a large row of identical looking baskets filled over the rim with apples. The large row of baskets stretched down the large barn that he was standing inside of. The barn had a couple of wooden pillars placed an even distance away from each other, supporting the roof above Shadow's head. He quickly turned around and started trotting towards the door, but there was a small filly blocking his way.

"Hi mister!" she said in a high pitched voice. Her coat was a semi-dark yellow color, and she wore a large red bow on top of her head. She stared curiously at Shadow with bright orange eyes.

"Uh, hi?" Shadow said, unsure of who this little filly was. She continued to stare at Shadow. "Can I help you with something?" he asked the small filly.

"Ya sure can. What's your name?" she asked, stepping closer.

Shadow took an involuntary step backwards. "My name is Shadow," he answered, staring at the small filly.

"Just 'Shadow'?"

"Well. Not exactly. I do have a last name."

"What is it?"

"I haven't told anypony it recently, so I'd rather not say."

"And why not?"

"It's because I'd rather tell people who I'm close to," Shadow explained. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"Ah'm Apple Bloom," she answered, staring at Shadow. "Ah'm Applejack's lil' sister."

"Oh, cool," Shadow said, looking away from the small filly.

"Ah haven't really heard Applejack talk about ya before," Apple Bloom said with suspicion.

"So?"

"Are ya a friend of hers?" Apple Bloom asked, squinting her eyes at the grey Pegasus.

Shadow thought for a moment. "I don't know if I'm considered a friend to her. I only met her a few days ago."

"And yet y'all are working for her?" Apple Bloom said with suspicion.

"Yeah, it's my way of paying back for a few apples I had."

"And why didn't ya pay with bits?"

"I don't have any."

Apple Bloom only stared at Shadow with disbelief at first, but her expression changed back to a skeptical look. "Likely story."

"It's all true."

"How do Ah know y'all aren't lying?"

"Why would I lie to a little filly like you? What would I gain in lying?"

"Well, Ah dunno."

"Exactly. That's why I'm not lying."

"Well, Ah dunno if Ah should believe that or not."

"Aww come on. Don't you trust me?"

"Maybe only a lil' bit. Why do ya have your mane like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why is it covering the left side of your face?"

"Is it a bad thing?"

"It makes ya seem more mysterious."

"Well, why do you wear a giant red bow on your head?"

Apple Bloom didn't speak for a while, but finally responded after a while. "Ah see your point."

"Yeah. Exactly."

Suddenly, a familiar orange mare walked through the entrance of the barn. "Hey Shadow! Ah think y'all have done more than enough work," she said, before stopping in her tracks as she spotted her little sister standing in the barn. "Is she causing ya trouble?" she asked, looking at Shadow, then at Apple Bloom.

"Oh, no," Shadow said, staring over at the small filly. "She was just asking me a few questions."

"Well, alright. But don't ya be getting on his nerves okay?" she ordered, glaring at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom frowned. "Ah wasn't getting on his nerves!" she whined. "Ah was just asking questions."

"Just don't annoy him," Applejack ordered again.

Apple Bloom let out a sigh. "Fine."

"Good," Applejack said with a smile. She turned her head and looked at Shadow. "Like Ah said, y'all are done with work. Ya can head out if ya like."

"Sweet," Shadow said, already walking towards the barn door. "I guess I'll see you around then?" he asked both of the ponies in front of him.

Applejack nodded her head. "Ah'll be around, but Ah still got work to do."

"Where ya going now?" Apple Bloom asked Shadow.

"Apple Bloom! That's none of ya business!" Applejack scolded angrily.

"No, it's fine," Shadow said quickly, trying to calm the orange mare down. "I'm going back to Ponyville. I'm thinking of visiting Rarity's place to pick something up."

"Ooh! Can Ah go?" Apple Bloom asked eagerly while hopping in place.

Before Applejack could protest, Shadow answered, "Sure. I don't know where it is, so you can probably lead me there."

"Alright!" Apple Bloom exclaimed excitedly. "Can we go now? Please?"

Shadow let out a chuckle. "Sure. Let's head out now."

"Yay!" she exclaimed happily. She started trotting towards the direction of Ponyville.

Applejack turned her head and looked at Shadow. "Ya sure y'all can handle my sister?"

"Sure," Shadow replied with a smile. "Shouldn't be too tough, right?"

"Ah dunno about that. Just make sure to keep an eye on her."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shadow said. He heard the distant yell of a small filly telling him to follow. "Gotta go. See you later?"

"Yeah. Ya can bring her back later on in the evening."

"Cool, see ya," Shadow said, grabbing an apple from a basket and trotting past the orange mare. He headed towards the small filly calling out towards him. He slowly came to a stop next to the small filly, who was staring at him. "Alrighty then. Lead the way."

"Okay!" Apple Bloom said eagerly. She started walking towards Ponyville. Shadow quickly followed behind her.

As they were walking, none if them were saying anything, so Shadow decided to break the silence by asking, "Why do you want to see Rarity so badly?"

The little filly turned her head and looked at Shadow. "It's not Rarity Ah wanna see."

"Really? Who are you gonna see?"

"Sweetie Belle. She's Rarity's lil' sister," Apple Bloom explained.

"Oh. I see," Shadow said as they both kept walking forward. "Any more friends I should know about?"

"Hmmm... There's my friend Scootaloo. She's a Pegasus."

"Sweet. I wanna meet this Pegasus friend of yours."

"Ah dunno if she's around. She might be with Sweetie Belle right now if we're lucky."

"Yeah. I guess," Shadow said as he followed the little filly through Ponyville. Everything around him started to blur as he heard a deep voice echo in his head. Shadow stopped in place and placed a hoof on the side of his head.

"You help the enemy Shadow," the voice echoed. "You are foolish to do such a thing."

"Leave me alone," Shadow thought inside of his head. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

"I am a part of you. I cannot simply leave. I am permanent."

"There's gotta be a way to get rid of you."

The voice's laugh echoed through Shadow's head. "Do you really think you can just get rid of me? I am a permanent part of you. If I am purged from you, then you are killed in the process."

"If I'm dead, then what happens to you?"

"I find another pony. Just like how I found you."

"But you were weak when you were purged from the original wielder. Surely you can be destroyed in that state."

"You can try. I dare you."

There was a silence before Shadow spoke. "I'm done talking to you."

"Well I am not."

"No. I can control you, so shut up."

The voice's laugh was even louder this time. "I grow stronger everyday. You won't be able to control me once I am powerful enough."

"No!" Shadow said as his eyes started to glow a light grey color. "I will not let you hurt anypony!" Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated, attempting to keep the darkness under control. His efforts were successful as the darkness' power slowly started fading away.

"You are stronger than I thought," the voice said angrily. "I underestimated your power."

"Sucks for you. Now get out of my head," Shadow commanded. The voice didn't answer. Shadow rubbed his head, trying to calm himself down.

"Shadow?" Apple Bloom said in a quiet voice as she walked back towards him. "Are ya okay?"

"What? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine," he lied with a fake smile.

"Are ya sure?" she asked again.

"Yeah. I'm good. Let's head over to Rarity's place."

Apple Bloom nodded her head and started trotting away. Shadow quickly followed behind her. Neither one of then spoke the rest of the way.