//------------------------------//
// Part 3 - Explosions And Pink Sneaks 
// Story: The Love Of Shadow And Night - The Story Of The Pony Luna Left Behind 
// by palelordhiphis 
//------------------------------//

Shadow listened to the echo of his hooves bounce off the palace walls and away into the darkness as he wandered alone for another sleepless night. At first the guards had greeted him normally, but his silence and the empty depth of his eyes soon lead them all to look away as he walked by their stations. Three times, three times the moon had grown full and faded away again since the night Luna had been exiled. Three times and soon it would be four.

A sudden burst of blue and yellow light from Starswirl's chambers followed by the faint scent of smoke pulled Shadow from his reverie and he charged towards his friend's home.

Shadow kicked in the door, "Starswirl! Star-cough-swirl! You here? Are you okay-"

Shadow heard the clatter of several pots knocking together and against the floor and then Starswirl replied, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just need to get upright that's all."

Shadow wandered further into the room as the smoke began to clear out through the open door and found Starswirl looking out from under a pile of books, pots, pans, and a few things he couldn't identify. He helped his old friend out of the pile and back to his feet.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shadow asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," replied Starswirl, "Hazards of bending the laws of space, time, and reality."

Shadow looked around at the results of Starswirl's latest experiment, "I take it from the explosion, that it's another failure."

"On the contrary," Starswirl said, "The time stopping spell absolutely stops time in a defined area. It's just that once time starts up again, well it does so with a boom. So not a complete failure. Just not quite there yet."

"I think the explosion at the end makes it a failure..." Shadow said.

"Well," Starswirl replied hopefully, "Success is rarely a straight line, young colt, almost never in fact. There are set backs that success simply can't come without. We make mistakes in order to find out what is and is not a mistake."

"I'm," Shadow paused, "I'm not sure I can ask you to keep making mistakes like this. You could have been hurt or worse. I can't ask you to risk... It is my love! I should be the one-"

"Hush," Starswirl interrupted, "I was risking my life for love and dear friends before you were born."

"Still," Shadow replied, "You're taking all the risk and all I can do... All I can do is wait and wander. I'm useless!" he shouted as he stomped down hard.

We both know that's not true," Starswirl said sternly, "You've helped me gather most of the materials I've been using for my experiments."

"Yes, because nopony else could gather plants, gems, and powders for you," Shadow replied bitterly.

Starswirl was silent for a few moments as he peered sharply Shadow, "Do you still love her?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed, "How dare you! Of course I still love her! I-"

Starswirl put a hoof on Shadow's shoulder to quiet him, "I know. And love is a strange energy. Take it from an old Wizard, there is nothing useless about true love or those that wield it."

"Thank you," Shadow said after a moment.

"Now," Starswirl cleared his throat, "I hear that you have not been present at the council meetings."

Shadow snorted, "I don't see why I should bother."

"You are a viscount, Lord Shadow," Starswirl said sternly, "and the council could use your reassurance right now. As the one who was betrothed to the princess they have just lost, they will look to you for guidance."

"Oh yes," Shadow said sarcastically, "because all the blue bloods are just waiting to hear from the country bumpkin, turned royal guard, who was granted a viscountry simply so his marriage to the princess would be a little less embarrassing to the peerage."

"You would be surprised," Starswirl replied, "at how many friends you would find among the council if you simply opened up to them."

"I don't need any more friends and I don't care about my title," Shadow replied, "Let the council rot! Let Equestria rot!"

"Stop it!" Starswirl's usually soft and understanding voice suddenly boomed like thunder, "Do you think she would want you to wallow in self pity and curse the land she loved? Do you think this is what she would have?"

Shadow stood in silent shock for a moment, "No," he finally said in nearly a whisper, "No she wouldn't."

"Then attend the council meetings, patrol the land, do your duty as your station demands," Starswirl said, his voice growing kinder with each word, "And let me work on the magic to get you to her."

"Of course," Shadow said, "You're right. I'll... I'll be sure to attend the next council meeting. And tomorrow I'll... I'll head out on patrol."

"Good," Starswirl said with an understanding smile, "Now if you wouldn't mind, I think I'll be going to bed and I'll take care of this mess tomorrow. You should get some rest as well."

"I will," Shadow agreed as he walked out into the night, "but I'm going to walk in the moonlight for a little longer first."

"Of course," Starswirl said as his horn started to glow. The door lifted back to the hinges, metal squeaked, wood popped, and in a moment the door was whole again, "Be sure to rest well," he said as Shadow wandered off into the night.

A bright pink blur broke the murky darkness at the edge of Shadow's vision as he wandered the palace garden, "No, no, no... not this..." he thought as he quickly turned a corner, "Maybe he didn't see me."

The pink blur slid from one statue to another and then vanished into a set of bushes that had been cut to look like elephants.

Shadow let out a slow sigh and came to a stop, "I know you're there. You're pink and it's nearly a full moon. You should know better than to think you're not going to be seen."

A bright pink head with a blue main poked out from around a bush, "Awe, I knew you knew I was there!"

"Sure you did," Shadow replied as a smile tugged at his lips, "Then tell me why you kept hiding."

"Oh, you know, for fun," Bright Eyes replied as he tried to lean on a leg carved out of shrubbery and fell into it.

"Hmm," Shadow replied as he helped the pink pony to his feet, "Fun?"

"Absatively," Bright replied.

"Tell me something," Shadow said as the slight smile faded away, "Everypony else avoids me on my nightly walks, why do you go out of your way to follow me? Why do you keep starting conversations with me when most times I do little more than even acknowledge you? Isn't it obvious that I want to be left alone?"

"Oh yes, even I can tell that you want to be left alone," Bright replied, "but I can also tell that it's not what you need."

"What I need?" Shadow asked.

"Sure," Bright said as they both began walking towards the labyrinth at the center of the garden, "Sometimes a pony wants to be alone, but needs to be with somepony."

"And you," Shadow asked, "you think you can tell the difference?"

"Yes," Bright said as his normally happy expression flickered away for a moment, "Yes, I know what that looks like. I've seen it before- But, I'm not gonna let anypony else go through that!"

"Hmmm," Shadow responded, "Well, I suppose I don't mind having company on my walks from time to time, as long as it isn't every night."

"Only when you need it," Bright reassured him.

Shadow sighed, "I'm sure you'll let me know when that is."

"Absatively," Bright said, "It'll pretty much be every night."

"I figured as much," Shadow replied as he fought back a smile.