Shadow takes me to a small shack on the opposite edge of town. Luckily, not a single pony seems to be still up at this hour, and I wasn't discovered. Shadow opens the door to the tiny house and slips in. I duck down, arching my back painfully like I had most of my life. I step into the house behind him and gently pull the door shut.
"Ok... uhh... bathroom is over there." Shadow says, pointing to a door at the back of the shack. "So is my bedroom, the kitchen, dining room, and everything else except the living room. Which we're in." I blink a few times.
"They're all in the same place?"
"Well, not the exact same place, the bathroom is seperate."
"Are you poor?" I ask blatantly. Shadow seems taken back by my direct question.
"Well.... uhh... Yeah, I guess."
"That's sad."
"... Look... I understand you're a bit new to the world, but you're being rude. Stop please."
"What? What'd I do?"
"First lesson in interacting with ponies. It's impolite to make comments about somepony's finacial state."
"Why?"
"Because it can make them feel bad."
"Why does the truth make them feel bad? I was only expressing observations."
"I understand that you were just expressing an observation, but it makes ponies like me sad that they can't afford more."
"Why can't you afford more?"
"Look, stop. Please. I already explained that it was rude, so stop."
"Ok, ok."
"I'm going to bed. Sleep wherever I suppose." Shadow yawns lazily as he turns and trots off to bed. I look around for a bit, and eventually settle on curling up in a corner. It isn't comfortable. The floor is rough and itchy, even then, the adrenaline pumping through me isn't allowing me to sleep anyway. I remain curled up for hours, and eventually Celestia's sun becomes visible through some cracks in the walls. Shadow reappears moments later with a messed up mane and saggy eyelids.
"You look terrible." I inform him. He shoots me an irritated glare.
"Second rule, never insult somepony based on how they look. It isn't nice." Shadow grumbles before turning back and heading into the... bathroom. I could hear running water, and since it was so early, I assumed he went to the bathroom. He shows up again a few minutes later with a fixed mane and a clean-looking coat. "So, how should we start introducing you to the ponies of Ponyville?" He muses out loud.
"What about breakfast?"
"Uhh... no breakfast today, sorry. Don't ask why, it leads back to the rudeness I was talking about last night."
"Ok." I answer obediently. Something told me Shadow might be getting annoyed with me, so I simply did as he asked.
"Ok, the simplest thing to do would be invite a few here to get to know you one-on-one. Then once some ponies know and like you, they can talk to the others and at the very least keep them from mobbing you."
"I would very much prefer to not be mobbed again."
"I figured. Now, who to get to meet you first...." Shadow starts pacing again, deep in thought.
"Oh! I know! There was this one mare that totally didn't freak out when that strange zebra mare came around. Twilight, I believe. I bet she'll accept you pretty easy."
"I guess. I'm kinda just blindly accepting what you say since I know nothing about who you're talking about. One question though; What's a zebra doing so far away from Zebraca?"
"What's Zebraca?"
"Homeland of the zebra race, neutral relationship with Equestria, mostly grasslands. You never heard of it?"
"Nnope."
"Huh. Well, you may want to read more."
"You know what? Let me do the talking. You aren't too great at it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're proving yourself to be... not socially savvy."
"... Right. Well, ok. So, are you going to go get this Twilight?"
"Yeah, be right back. First I gotta figure out where she lives." Shadow walks out of the house and leaves me alone again. I decide to explore the house a bit. I stand up, still very much bent over to keep from hitting the roof. I go through the only door, which leads right to a tiny room. It has a bed, a tiny nightstand with a small stove, portable and gas-fueled by the looks of it, and a tiny table with one chair. There was one more door that unquestionably led to a miniscule bathroom. Shadow was poor, dirt poor by the looks of it. After a little more exploring, I realize that not only is there no food, there is no place to store food either. He must be living day-to-day on what food he gets.
"Geez... I wonder why he's so--"
"Ok, now just remember not to freak out." Shadow's voice comes from the front of the house.
"Oh please Mr. Gale, I'm sure whatever your discovery is, I can handle it." A new, feminine voice assures him. "What exactly did you say you discovered again? You weren't very clear."
"It's a new species of animal. He can talk, and he seems pretty harmless."
"Right, well, let have a look at him." The door opens.
"Star!" Shadow calls.
"You've named it?" The mare asks.
"Actually, 'he' had a name already." I interrupt, stepping through the door dividing the two rooms. The mare has a lavender coat, and a dark-purple mane with a pink stripe in it. She was a unicorn, and her cutie mark was a bunch of multi-pointed stars. The symbol catches my interest greatly. "That's an interesting mark..." I note, pointing at her cutie mark with one of the odd extensions on my forehooves. The mare is oddly familiar, I had seen her somewhere...
"Whoa! What are you?!" The mare exclaimes astoundedly. I shrug at her.
"Your guess is as good as mine. My name is Star Watcher, you are Twilight Sparkle, magic prodigy and student to Celestia herself if I'm not mistaken." For the first time, instead of looking interested in me, she backs away and seems a bit scared.
"H-how do you know that? Can you r-read minds?"
"Uhhh... no. I read the article on the magical feat that led to your acceptance a while ago. You know, in the newspapers."
"You read?" Twilight asks, returning to interested instead of scared.
"All the time. I was kinda stuck in a house for 18 years with nothing to do but read."
"Really? Where did you live?"
"Peachington, my parents own the candy store there."
"So you were adopted. I assume, unless something very strange happened."
"I was adopted."
"Well, seeing as how you aren't still in that house, I'd have to assume that you ran away after 18 years of being stuck in the same place. Am I correct?"
"Well, yes. I guess I did. My father aided me though."
"I see. Well, Peachington is really close. You must've wandered into Ponyville on accident, huh?"
"Actually no, I came here on purpose."
"Really? How'd you manage to find your way here intentionally?"
"I had maps and the stars."
"Wow, good job. Well... Uhh... gosh, you look unfomfortable." Twilight takes note of my odd bending due to the shortness of the house.
"I grew up like this, I'm fine."
"Ok... So, why did you come here? Shadow was rather vague on details. He just kept warning me not to freak out."
"You've done a great job of not freaking out by the way. I haven't gotten mobbed again, so I'd say you're doing good. Now, as for the reason I came here... I just wanted to get out and see the world beyond my house. I was hoping to make some new friends here, and so far I've gotten mobbed and made only one friend." I motioned towards Shadow. He was sitting by me quietly, content to let Twilight and I talk.
"Friends huh? Well, I think you'll find you came to the right place. I didn't have friends when I came here either, but I have plenty now."
"That's a relief... Well... uhhh... What do we do now?" I ask nervously. I had no idea what to say next.
"You said you read a lot. What do you read about most?"
"I read a lot about magic, actually. It's very interesting. I've read a little about almost everything, but magic is my favorite subject."
"Really? Why does it intrest you so much? It's my favorite subject too, for obvious reasons, but why you?"
"Because I like using it. It's fun. Learning a new spell, finding a better way to cast something, just simply finding a way to use less energy on simple spells, or even just learning about magic itself is amazing."
"Wait, did you say you can use magic?"
"Yes, I did."
"Whoa, what? That's news to me." Shadow pipes in. "You don't have a horn! How do you use magic?"
"Well... I just... I... let me show you." I close my eyes and focus my energy on a simple levitation spell. I point at Shadow, and a dark-blue aura surrounds him, lifting him a few inches off the ground.
"W-whoa! O-o-ok! I get it! Put me down!" He shouts. I release the spell and he falls roughly. "Oof!"
"Oops... sorry."
"Wow... A being that needs no horn to use magic! What other spells can you do?!" Twilight asks excitedly. I blush.
"Well... Uhh... that's about it."
"What?"
"Yeah... I can make a tiny force-field too, but it's weak and doesn't last long."
"H-how... you just said you spent your whole life learning about magic!"
"Well... yes... but my parents didn't like me practicing a lot. I know how to do a lot of stuff, I just... can't do it."
"That's a horrible waste of knowledge! Come with me, I'll show you how to use some of your talent." Twilight turns and marches out of the front door. I stay put. Eventually she returns. "I forgot you would get mobbed."
"It's ok, happens to the best of us."
"Sorry, your massive waste of knowlege upset me a bit. Not that I blame you for it, it's just upsetting."
"Right... well..."
"Would you like me to just teach you now?"
"Whoa, sorry, but the idea of some foreign creature learning how to use magic in my little, very breakable, house, bothers me." Shadow interrupts again. "Sorry. I just can't afford to suddenly have no house because of some magic fire or explosion or something."
"Don't be silly, we'd never do anything that dangerous." Twilight argues.
"Still, I'd just prefer you didn't."
"Ok, fine..."
"Umm, well maybe I can come over to your house and learn when I'm less likely to get attacked. Sound good?" I offer. Twilight turns to me and smiles.
"Good idea! I can learn a bit more about you then too, but for now, I should write a letter to Celestia about this."
"Whoa whoa whoa! The last thing he needs is the royal guards coming here to beat him up and take him away!" Shadow shouts protectively.
"Relax! I'm just going to make sure she knows he's here. I'll make sure to be clear about his friendly nature." She turns back to me and smiles again. "After that, I'll talk to some of the townsponies and try to explain you to them that way you won't cause mass hysteria when you finally get to walk around."
"So... Does this mean we're friends now too?" I ask nervously, hoping it was a yes.
"Hee hee, maybe not quite yet, but you certainly have made a good impression on me. I'm sure we'll be friends in no time." Twilight throws me yet another smile, then trots out to do Celestia-knows-what.
"H-hey! Wait!" Shadow takes off after her. I wait patiently for him to return yet again. In a matter of moments, he comes back in. "Ok, she says we should try Pinkie Pie next. I know her, she loves friends. She'll be easy to get to like you. I'll go get her, stay here."
"Well, since I have nothing else to do..." I respond sarcastically. He rolls his eyes.
"Being a smart flank won't help you make friends either." He turns and leaves. This time I unstrap my bags from my waist, since I had finally remembered they were there. I reach into them and pull out a random book.
"Monsters and Dangerous Creatures: a Guide to Staying Alive in the Wild." I read the title out loud. I had read this book at least 100 times over, one more wouldn't hurt. I smile a bit as I realize nothing that looked like me was in this book.
I would prove it to the ponies that there was a reason for that.