Scootaloo was sitting under their tree in the school’s playground with her four friends all contently eating their lunch. It wasn't really their tree, they had just claimed it and ate their lunch in it's shadow everyday. The twins had become fast friends with them and were happily chattering away about cutie marks with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She was silently thinking about the last two months.
Ever since that morning when she had been awoken by Applejack’s breathing while she was snuggled up and sleeping against Shadow on the Apple family’s couch. Applejack was seemingly sniffing as if she was trying to detect some scent, much like Winona would do on occasion. It seemed she had been satisfied and had asked why Scootaloo was not in Apple Bloom’s room.
Scootaloo had explained that she had had a nightmare and that she went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She had come across Shadow sleeping on the couch on her way back to Bloom’s room and decided to sleep with him. Her answer appeared to satisfy Applejack and she had smiled and said that breakfast would be ready soon.
The past two months had been very enjoyable for all five of the fillies. They had been on numerous crusades to try and find the twins cutie marks. There had been a few close calls but nothing bad had really happened like it used to when the three older fillies had been looking for their own marks. They had been grounded only once in the last two months, that was a record as far as she was concerned. They used to get grounded every second week. It seemed that the twins did not just try things willy-nilly like she and her two oldest friends used to. If a crusade was not something they wouldn’t really enjoy or like they refused to try it.
The twins were both also not so skinny anymore. They had never really been as thin as Shadow was, but they had still been a slight bit underweight. Shadow also looked a lot better now and actually had a really good physique for a colt. He was well built with a solid layer of muscle gained from his constant work. Since he began working for the Apple family and eating meals with them his weight had improved by a lot. He was even bucking the apples out of their trees on par with the two older Apple siblings.
Scootaloo had a hard time keeping her temper whenever she saw some of the slightly older fillies eyeing Shadow as they walked around in town. They all knew he was the Crusaders’, but it didn’t seem to stop them from giving him lingering looks. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were all thankful that Shadow seemed to know when he was being watched, he simply rolled his eyes every time that happened and gave the filly he was next to a nuzzle. He made it clear that he was not interested in others. It always made Scootaloo’s insides feel warm and fuzzy when he showed his affection for them.
It was just a shame that his wings didn’t look as impressive, she knew it was because they were broken but it would have been nice if they also looked as good as the rest of him did. They did not look too bad, just as if they have never worked a day in their lives. As Scootaloo thought of this she felt a faint tingle in her head, almost like a faint headache, but she disregarded it and brought her focus back on what her friends were saying.
Before she could gain any idea of what her friends were talking about, she heard a snobbish voice call out. She sighed as she mentally prepared herself for the obnoxious bully trying to have a go at them again.
“Hey losers…” Diamond Tiara started to say but she was interrupted by a younger voice.
“Are you really that stupid? Or are you just slow?” asked Windy Skies.
Diamond Tiara was taken back by this and looked startled for a second but before she could speak again Windy continued.
“Here you are trying to bully three fillies who have better connections than you or your family ever will. They are literally the sisters of the Bearers of Harmony. They spend time with one or more of the Princesses of Equestria as personal friends. You should have been trying to be friends with them purely for status as it is all you seem to care about. So, I ask again, are you stupid or just slow?”
Windy’s rant over with she just looked at the bully who looked flabbergasted as she had never thought of this fact and had just continued to try and bully the three original Crusaders. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at Windy in surprise as they also had never thought of it like that.
Diamond Tiara was still trying to close her mouth when Miss Cheerilee’s voice rang out to call the foals back to their lessons.
Shadow’s hooves slammed into a tree trunk and he heard the apples fall into the bucket. He closed his eyes and smiled softly as he stretched his sore body. The past two months had been amazing, the twins were properly fed, they had wonderful friends and they were happy with life. His own needs came second to theirs as usual, but for first time in eight years he was also properly fed, he had picked up a decent amount of weight, his muscles had developed nicely and he was happy with how things were going.
That mare was still an issue, but not nearly as bad as it was. Since he had started eating properly and started bucking apples with the Apple family for work, his strength had increased drastically and he no longer got the worse end of the stick every time that mare wanted to go at it. He kept these fights as far from his sisters and his three fillyfriends as possible. It was also not a good idea to let anypony else catch wind of what his home life was like, especially one of the Bearers.
Shadow was extremely lucky to have found three fillies who were such good friends with his sisters. The five of them did everything together, sleepovers were an almost constant thing and he had not once denied his sisters from having a sleepover with their friends. He had even had a few sleepovers with the five of them at the Apple family farm house.
Big Mac and Applejack had each given him a separate talk before they had allowed him to sleep over. They had been adamant that there be no funny business, he had known what they meant and promised that nothing like that would happen. It was really comfortable and warm to sleep snuggled up in a pony pile.
The Bearer of Loyalty had been around a lot lately and had even slept over a few times, he knew Rainbow Dash and Applejack were very close and he suspected that they were part of a herd. He wondered if Princess Twilight was also a part of their herd, they had stayed over at her castle a few times too. He had no idea if any of the other Bearers were a part of the herd but he had his suspicions. Not that it bothered him or had anything to do with him. He was just a bit curious because his fillyfriends were the Bearers' sisters. He loved listening to their adventures and how they had saved Equestria many times over.
It was a bit of a problem that Rainbow Dash was over at the farm so much. She seemed very interested in his wings and it was very taxing on his magic to keep her curiosity away. He hated having to use his magic in that way, keeping secrets from his fillyfriends, sisters and the Bearers, they were all genuinely good ponies. But he didn’t see any other way this could go. He just had to hold out until he looked fifteen so he could get custody of the twins and finally try to get that mare out of their lives.
A gentle breeze blew through the trees and he opened his eyes. He hauled the basket of apples onto his back and made his slow way towards the barn. His front left leg buckled slightly as he put his weight on it for the first step. He grit his teeth but made sure to keep his mouth closed, even though he was now stronger that mare was still bigger than him and she had been a top athlete once upon a time.
She still gave as good as he could and won most of their fights, but she no longer just beat him to a pulp. He still walked away with bruises every time they went at it, but she was always pretty wasted and couldn’t really properly focus on the fight, she just went at him in a blind rage.
He had learned how to fight better from every skirmish they had and no longer just waited it out, he had started to fight back. The next day was always a good one when he could knock her out fast enough and not take any hits himself. It rarely happened that he didn't take any damage but it was slowly becoming more frequent. The only reason he stayed and fought was so she would not destroy the house in a fit of rage because he wasn't there to take her rage out on. He knew it would draw the attention of the other ponies in town.
If Foal Protection Services were to get wind of what was going on, he knew he would not get to see his sisters again for a few years and he had no intention of putting them through that kind of trauma.
Shadow slowly continued towards the barn with his last basket of apples for the day. He was looking forward to dinner with the apple family, his fillyfriends and his sisters were going to sleep over at Rarity’s boutique tonight. He had something he wanted to ask Granny Smith anyway.
He finally made it to the barn and put away the basket and closed the heavy barn door. He trotted over to the house with a content smile on his face. He let himself in and walked into the kitchen to see Granny Smith still busy with dinner.
“Granny, may I ask you something?” asked Shadow.
Granny heard his hesitant voice and turned to look at him. She frowned as she saw the worried look on his face.
“Wha’s the matter young’un?” asked Granny Smith.
“I… I wanted to ask a favor Granny,” Shadow hesitatingly said.
Granny Smith gave him a nod to continue. It was clear that this was important to him, she had only seen him so serious a rare few times.
“If something… were to happen to me, can you promise me that you would look after the twins. And give them a home if they need it,” said Shadow.
Granny Smith frowned as she brought her head down to his height and looked him straight in the eyes.
“They hav’a home here, as do ya. Ya know that young’un. But seeing as it’s important ta ya, I give ya mah word that ah will look after them,” said Granny Smith.
Shadow sagged slightly in relief as she watched him. She shook her head with amusement and turned back towards the stove. She was just about to start another conversation with Shadow when Applejack came into the kitchen with saddlebags on her back.
“Shadow, come with me. We need ta go git the fillies, they are sleeping over here tonight. Ya gonna be escortin’ them back here,” said Applejack.
Shadow frowned at this but quickly made his way over to Applejack and gave her a respectful nod.
Applejack smiled at him and stroked her hoof through his mane with affection. Her smile widened as she saw he didn’t flinch at the contact as he used to and even leaned into her hoof a bit. She felt the affection she had for him rise in her chest and wondered if that was what it was like to have a son. She hesitated slightly as she bent her head down but when her head was just above his, her resolve was strong. She gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.
Shadow’s eye’s widened as he felt the Bearer of Honesty kiss him like he seen other parents do for their foals. That was the first time anypony had ever done something like that for him. He felt the tears start to roll down his face and buried his head into Applejack’s soft chest fur as he gave her the strongest hug he possibly could. Applejack was surprised but soon smiled and just held him close.
“Aww just look at that Applejack. Ya made him cry,” a rough scratchy voice said.
Shadow just lifted is head and raised an eyebrow at the beautiful sky blue pegasus who was hovering a few hooves above the ground as she looked on in amusement. His smile turned mischievous for a short second then he pouted with fake sorrow at Rainbow Dash.
“Gah! Please no. Not the eyes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
She turned away but she kept looking at the colt from the corners of her eyes. He smirked internally and tilted his head ever so slightly to the side while turning the fake sorrow to eleven. Rainbow Dash shut her eyes tight for a few seconds then glanced at him again briefly.
He knew that he had her with that last glance, they played this game often. They were always competing to see who’s will was stronger, as pegasi often did. Rainbow won most of the time, but she respected him for being able to get one over on her sometimes.
“Gah! Fine. You win this one. Just please stop with those eyes,” said Rainbow Dash.
The fake sorrow vanished from Shadow’s face as he smirked at Rainbow Dash. He held his forelegs out to her and she groaned with fake exasperation. She zoomed forward and scooped him up and gave him a hug, she let go very quickly and put him down and landed next to him.
Rainbow tried to hide her smile, but soon realized everypony could see through it. She just rolled her eyes at Applejack’s smirk and stroked Shadow’s mane with affection as she put her wing over his back as well. She saw Applejack raise her eyebrows at this action but she also smiled. Rainbow Dash leaned down and gently nuzzled Shadow.
“You’re a good colt and I’m glad Scoots, Apple Bloom and Sweetie have such a good coltfriend,” said Rainbow Dash.
Shadow smiled widely at Rainbow Dash and returned her nuzzle. She pulled away and snorted once then launched herself up and started hovering again.
“Okay enough time has been wasted. Let’s go AJ,” said Rainbow Dash.
Applejack nodded and trotted out the door with Rainbow hovering beside her while Shadow broke into a canter to keep up with the larger mares. Applejack and Rainbow Dash made small talk all the way back to town and Shadow kept silent. It seemed that something serious had happened so he knew they could probably not tell him what was going on even if he asked.
As they came up to the door of Carousel Boutique, they could hear the faint voices of five fillies who were talking excitedly. Applejack reached up and knocked on the door three times. After a few moments they heard small hooves on the floor and the door swung open to reveal Sweetie Belle.
“Hi Applejack, Rainbow, are you here for Rarity?” asked Sweetie Belle.
She had not yet seen Shadow standing slightly behind the two mares.
“Yes Sweetie, did she not tell you that we had a friendship mission?” asked Applejack.
Ah. It's only a friendship mission. Shadow thought to himself.
“No, she didn’t say anything. But now that I think about it, she has been really busy this past hour. It sounded like she was packing but we didn’t see her. We were coloring in our new books,” explained Sweetie Belle.
The five fillies were at the dining table all with coloring books open. They were looking at them and smiling. Scootaloo shifted her gaze from Rainbow as she saw the mostly unkempt black mane of her coltfriend.
“Shadow!” shouted Scootaloo.
There was an orange and purple blur that streaked across the room and slammed into the colt. He was lucky to keep himself from being tackled to the ground from the energetic Scootaloo, but only barely. Sweetie had let out an exclamation and had joined the hug. Apple Bloom just shook her head and trotted over to join in the hug. The twins just smiled and went back to their coloring.
There was a tittering from the stairs as they all looked over and saw that Rarity had come downstairs with a large suitcase held in her magic and saddlebags on her back.
“Ah to be young and in love,” snickered Rarity.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes but had a small smile on her face and Applejack just chuckled.
“Ya ready Rare?” asked Applejack.
“Of course, darling. I just have to stop by Fluttershy’s cottage and ask her to come by tomorrow and get Opal,” said Rarity.
Rarity gestured to the white cat who had slunk into the room and made a beeline towards the colt and fillies who were still hugging. As the fillies heard Rarity say “Opal” they all looked over and jumped out of the way of the cat. Shadow merely cocked his head as the large cat came closer.
“Big bro, get away! Demon cat! Demon cat!” shouted Windy Skies.
Shadow looked at his sister for a moment then reached out a hoof for the cat to sniff. The fillies all flinched as the cat came within claw swipe range of shadow. Then to their and the three grown mare’s astonishment Opal didn’t take a swipe at him but sniffed at his hoof. She then started purring as she walked around his front legs and rubbing her body against them. The large cat’s purring increased and after a few seconds jumped up onto the colt’s back and settled down.
Shadow had turned his head to smile at the feline and gently gave her a nuzzle as she closed her eyes still purring.
It was silent in the boutique for a few moments as Shadow looked over towards his sisters and saw that they were busy coloring in the new books he had gotten them.
“Well that's a surprise. Opal usually doesn’t like anypony, even Fluttershy has had some trouble with her attitude before,” said Rarity.
“Yeah yeah whatever, come on we’re gonna be late for the train!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
Applejack shook her head and said, “She’s right Rare, we gotta git ah move on.”
“Yes, of course. Gather your things fillies. Your sleepover is going to be at Applejack’s farm tonight,” said Rarity.
“Big Mac and Granny Smith are in charge and you five be sure to listen to them,” Applejack said sternly.
The fillies all nodded happily. They knew there was more space at the farm for all five of them than in the boutique. They started happily packing up their books and packed them into saddlebags that they then slung over their backs.
“Where are ya’ll headed?” asked Apple Bloom.
“We’re going to fix on a friendship mission in Seaquestria! It’s gonna be awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
The fillies all gasped loudly and started immediately asking questions. Rainbow Dash and Applejack happily answered what they could while Rarity just tittered behind a hoof.
They were walking along the road towards the train station. There was a fork in the road up ahead where Shadow and the fillies would take a left towards the farm, the mares would go straight and stop at Fluttershy’s cottage before they continued on to the train station.
Rarity looked at the colt and saw that he was smiling softly at the fillies’ antics. Opal had jumped off of his back as soon as he came close to the door of the boutique.
“Are you also sleeping over at the farm tonight?” asked Rarity.
Shadow looked over at her and nodded with a smile.
“Will you be sleeping with the fillies or on the couch?” asked Rarity.
“Probably with the fillies, Lady Rarity,” said Shadow.
“Hmm, very well. I suppose I don’t have to worry that anything inappropriate would happen while your sisters are also there,” said Rarity.
Shadow shook head earnestly as she looked into his eyes. She saw nothing that would have worried her. She knew he was a good gentlecolt who would never take advantage of her sister or any other filly.
“You are a good colt. I’m very glad my sister has such a gentlecolt as a coltfriend,” Rarity said to him with a proud smile.
Shadow smiled back at her in thanks but still felt the sting of shame for all the lies. He knew he wasn’t as good as she and the other Bearers thought him to be.
They reached the fork in the road and the mares all hugged their respective siblings and told them to behave. Shadow bowed his head in farewell and they started the short walk to the farm. He was looking forward to sleeping in a pony pile again after two weeks of spending every night at home with that mare.
As they came to the farm, he felt that sick sinking feeling in his stomach that something was going to go wrong soon. He bit his lip as he looked back at where he had last seen the fillies’ sisters. He silently wished them a safe journey and return.