//------------------------------// // Reunion and Answers. Part 2 // Story: Lost Shadows // by FenrirOdinson //------------------------------// Light from the morning sun poured in from the window filling the room. Whispers could be heard next to him as he began waking up from his magic induced sleep. A groan was heard from him as he opened his eyes while he turned his head toward the voices. As his vision cleared, he saw a group of ponies huddled together, looking at him as he staired at them. “Good morning, Shadow.” Fluttershy spoke as she began walking to his side carrying the small wolf pup in her arms, who looked thrilled to see him awake. A prismatic haired mare looked like she wanted to stop her but was stopped by Luna, merely giving her a gentle smile. “Good morning to you Miss Fluttershy. And to you as well little one. I’m quite surprised to see you here instead of with your family. Um, if its alright to ask can you help me sit up. Looking at everypony like this rather uncomfortable.” Shadow said with a small laugh. Smiling, Fluttershy picked up a remote and pressed a button to adjust the hospital bed, so he was sitting upright. A shocked expression could be seen on his face as the bed was being adjusted, which elicited stifled giggles from the small group of ponies that Shadow could only assume were friends of both Fluttershy and Luna. Shaking his head he said,” Technology has come a long way from my time period. I have a lot of catching up to do. But that can wait for now. Princess Celestia, it is good to see you. Please forgive for not being able show you proper respect as I’m barely able to move right now. And I hope the rest of you can do the same. Princess Luna, I understand why you did what you did to me last night. But please refrain from doing it again in the future. Unless its an emergency like last night. Now then how I start us off with introductions shall I? My name is Shadow Knight. Guardian of the Crystal Empire and adopted son of Princess Aurora and Night Gazer. Rulers of the Crystal Empire. At least, they were a thousand years ago. Which happens to be where I’m from.” Now it was their turn to have shocked expression on their faces, save for Celestia and Luna. They only smiled, with Luna giving a small chuckle. “There is nothing to forgive.” Celestia spoke as she walked forward. “Your main concern should be to recover.” “I can imagine. May I ask who the rest our compony is?” Shadow said smiling at the rest of his guests. Immediately, the prismatic mare spoke up introducing herself,” Names Rainbow Dash! Fastest Flyer in Equesteria!” she boasted proudly. “Y’all needs to settle down Rainbow. He’s in the hospital for ponies’ sake. My names Applejack. Nice to meet cha.” Said a mare with orange fur, with a long blond main, wearing a Stetson hat. Shadow noticed she spoke in a southern accent and that she had rather defined muscles through out her body. ‘She must work in heavy labor, probably on a farm or something.’ He reasoned. Suddenly a pink pony with a poofy mane and tail ran forward so quickly he could have sworn she teleported. She was also so close her face was less than an inch from is own, but the real problem was that she had placed her hands his sore and damaged shoulders. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Its nice to meet you! Let’s be friends, ok?! Do you parties? Oh, what kind of cake do you like? Do you prefer vanilla of choc- “ “Pinkie, darling, please give the poor stallion some space. The way you are all over him, you'll aggravate his injuries.” Interrupted a mare with pure white fur and a royal purple mane, as she pulled Pinkie Pie off him, “Please forgive her. She can be a little enthusiastic about meeting new ponies. My name is Rarity. And I must insist that you allow me to make you some new clothes as your old set is in complete taters.” “Thank you miss Rarity but I’m afraid I don’t have anything to pay you with.” “Don’t be silly, darling. I insist you allow me to do this for you. After all you can’t go around with out anything to wear now, can you?” Asked Rarity as she suppressed a proud smile for hitting him with this bit of logic. Sighing deeply, Shadow couldn’t help but to admit defeat as he said,” Very well, but I have every intention of paying you back as soon as I can. Deal?” “Of course, Darling. I’ll go and get some of my tools once we are done here so I can get your measurements.” Looking to an unusual pair, a lilac alicorn and a young purple and green dragon stepped forward. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and this is my best friend and number one assistant Spike.” “Hi there.” Said spike. “I didn’t thing there would be other alicorns besides Celestia and Luna. Also, it is strange to see a dragon so young be so far away from his own kind. I take it you were raised by ponies, right?” Shadow asked. “Yep. Twilight hatched me and Celestia raised me like her own son. She even legally adopted me, but we keep it a secret. There are a lot of ponies who are far to prejudice against other species to accept me as her son.” Said Spike ending with a sad note in his voice. “Well, that’s their problem. Don’t let them influence your decisions in life, and in the end, you will prove them wrong. The dragons I met were wise, courageous, warriors who not only followed the knights code but passed it along to other species. If the dragons of this time aren’t like that, then they have certainly fallen along way. I'm more than willing to not only teach you the code but also train you, if want Spike.” Shadow offered solemnly. “But we can discus it later as there are others that have yet to be introduced.” On that note, Shadow turned to a mare with light purple fur and mane with a sky-blue colored streak running through her main. With an encouraging smile from him the mare began to introduce herself. “I’m Starlight Glimmer. I have to ask. Is the spell that was used to send you here to our time made by Starswirl the Bearded?” Smiling sadly as he gave his response,” Yes and no. The spell was not only created by Starswirl, but also by my colthood friend Star Runner. Who was not only my second in command but also a powerful magic user, and magical genius.” Tears began to run down his face as he spoke as the memory turned nightmare came back to him, making him unable to continue as he broke down crying. At this point Luna spoke up and related to them all that she had seen in his nightmare. Tears began to trail down their faces as well. Fluttershy crying the most even as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug trying to comfort him as he sobbed. After a few minutes, everyone began to regain their composure. “Sorry about that. As I said, he was my friend ever since we were both orphaned colts. Hell, he and I may as well of been brothers, we were so close. The two of us had been through so much together and I thought we would die in battle alongside each other as well. But instead, he along with the rest of our platoon and friends, sacrificed their lives to save mine while sending me here to this era.” A bitter note entered Shadows voice as he spoke, telling everypony present that he wished they hadn’t. “I know how you feel.”, said the only other male in the room, “I’ve lost friends and comrades alike. All we can do is live to the best of our ability for them.” Stepping forward the stallion introduced himself,” I’m Twilights older brother, Shining Armor, co-ruler, and captain of the royal guard of the Crystal Empire. This is my wife Princess…” “CADENZA?!” Shadow shouted, taking everypony aback. “You are Mi Amore Cadenza, aren’t you?” he asked disbelievingly. “Um, yes, it is. However, I prefer to go by Cadance. How do you know name exactly? Have we met before?”, she asked. Steeling himself, Shadow slowly began to talk. “You could say that. When we first met, you were only a newborn filly. I’m your brother Cadenza.” Time seemed to stop for every creature as the two staired at one another. Unable to process what he had just said.