//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Groundwork // Story: Arcana's Wrath // by oop //------------------------------// Shadow was ready for the day. He had forced himself to double check this fact in the bathroom mirror, as his one dimensional view so often failed him. Hair was not neat, it never was, but some poor comb had given it a firm strike and wrestled the strands to a point that was at least casually messy. His wings were preened to a solid and smooth gray, the coaly burnt patches well covered. Even the very tips, out of reach of his mouth had been nudged slowly and painstakingly into position against the doorframe. His cutie mark, the dazzling orange meteor, played a fancy contrast with the gray fluff and shorter dark patches of his fur, scrubbed clean to let every color show. Another sigh was had, the entire exercise still seemed pointless to Shadow. Getting away with a total lack of cleanliness for over a year made him doubt the need to practice it at all, let alone as regularly as the castle aides suggested. The bathmaids still had the live beetle they had uncovered between his feathers during that first scrub, it was now a popular pet. None of that was really relevant now though, he had been forced into weekly scrubbings at the very least and this pristine condition had only taken him fifteen minutes. Once upon a time one of the official dressers had suggested he cover the burns with makeup, he had almost taken her head off for that. Firstly, gross, makeup was for fillies, and secondly, those scars had been earned not brought upon. They offset his appearance somewhat even after all this, but looking it over again he felt there wsa a certain devilish flair about it. Shadow didn’t waste more than about thirty seconds checking himself in the mirror before turning back to his room. There were still five beds, one huge canopy with a bunk on either side that together comprised the back half of the room. He preferred the bunk, specifically the one on the left. It was as close to clouds as he would get inside. Most of the plush toys that had once been scattered across the mattresses were now gone, most of his play-pretend phase had been outgrown a few months ago and the faux fur menagerie went right along with it. The gaming console on the right wall was still there, with three more of other branding all hooked up to the large screen. The single row of folding theatre seats before it had played host to his plot most evenings for a few years now. Beside this was a cheap soda fountain and glass popcorn machine, neither of which were frequently used anymore save for the water tap. The left wall was mostly a row of windows, showing the castle gardens beneath. He had polished the panes thoroughly and now the sun shone brilliantly through. In fact most of the room was in far better condition than usual. The top of the south tower was in pristine shape, the usual snack crumbs painstakingly extricated from the viridian carpet, trash collected first by him then the collectors themselves. All five beds were made, and the several dozen pillows were fluffed. Controllers were put away, machines restocked, and everything was in obsessive order. And Shadow had no idea why. Luna had given him the vague instruction to make himself presentable as they would have some decorators, musicians, caterers and such in the castle to prepare for tomorrows event, but he had galloped with that, and that wasn’t like him. If there was one thing that put him at malease it was cleanliness, and in most of the castle it perturbed him. It never felt like ponies lives should be kept in straight lines and files so neither should their environments. The compulsion that brought upon his ritual this morning was still sending him shuddering. There wasn’t any time to consider how creepy this was, today was a little bit important. Two Fridays had passed since December started, meaning his eleventh birthday was tomorrow. It wouldn’t be so much of an event as his seventh, none of them had been, but still, he kind of had to talk to people if he wanted the food, music, and so on the way he liked it. There was a sense of dread involved in this, predominantly due to his doubt about how much freedom he would have this time given his lack of associates to share the event. What it would probably become would be a dinner with a bunch of Luna’s higher ups and friends of nobility. The food, and maybe a few tunes would be his particular favorites but it wouldn’t be necessarily special. Still, a few things came to mind to be speculated over and possibly anticipated. First of all, games. There would be competitions, open to any younger participants from the city, ponymon tournaments, labyrinth tag in the gardens, flight races, some things he didn’t even know about yet even. Second, music. Under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be a big deal but there was some surprise artist making a surprise visit. The guards he had overheard had seemed excited, even surprised to have them visit the castle. The idea that there was a musician usually too exclusive for a gig at Canterlot Castle was enormously interesting. Third, though this one didn’t weigh nearly so heavy, there would be a pie eating contest with real western apple pie. Or wait, did that part just tie into the first one? He paused in front of the thick bookshelf that dominated the front wall of the room, considering it for a moment, and passing it off. The whole checklist process was useless to him other than to gain some vague order of today’s visits. He pulled a book, or rather the fake first volume of Fallout Equestria, activating the now familiar contraption that put the mahogany on a swing to reveal the entryway and a set of spiral stairs leading down the tower. Without ceremony he took his first few paces down the flight. Crash. The next thing Shadow knew he was head over hooves in the air, tumbling down the spiral, occasionally colliding with the walls, swearing all the way down. ` He was on his back when he arrived at the bottom, mane re-toussled and his bangs in his face, feathers sticking out every which way. For a few minutes he just stayed prone, contemplating the ceiling, before sitting up and clutching his aching skull, releasing another short string of profanity. On his left, dented now and clearly damaged beyond repair, was a white, metal toaster oven, the object he had tripped over at the top of the stairs. “What the buck is this?” he grumbled, kicking it with a clatter down the hallway, nostrils flared in rage and pain. A few guards on their route down the hall changed course with a sharp U-turn, not quite containing the quiet trepidation his outburst had brought. Now in a great and powerful huff, he stomped down the hallway, trying to keep his outward anger to a simmer and mostly succeeding. When he came out of the hallway into the foyer’s left side he managed to calm down immensely. The usual hustle was occurring in the lower levels, workmen and delegates; going about whatever business was usual for them. The prominent difference was the two wooden tables on either side of the lower level, the massive gilded pony statues on either side of the main staircase overlooking them. Apparently staying in the great hall wouldn’t be exciting enough for the guests, but he admitted himself that the scenery change wouldn’t hurt. What caught his attention though wasn’t any of the party preparations or typical guests. The item of the day that seemed most out of place was the frizzy haird mare leaving the tiny wooden door in the side of the stairs. She looked timid and cautious, as though keeping an eye out for someone malicious, but in the castle, with nothing exciting even on special occasions, the sight of this mare counted as something of a spectacle. “Letterheart!” Shadow shouted, prompting the mare’s neck to snap around and her ears to fold against her head. She made a motion to move back to her door, obscuring the geometric pi symbol on her flank slightly. Apparently she hadn’t emerged expecting recognition. Shadow wasn’t deterred, really no one would expect him to be even in a less interesting moment. He spread his wings, jumping onto the banister and gliding down, occasionally clicking off sparks as he careened downward, tumbling through the air to stick a four point landing in front of the crème furred pony. “Hi Letterheart!” he said, just a little bit out of breath “Do you remember me? I’m Shadow! You helped me out a bunch a few years ago!” “Um, yes, of course,” she said, as though it had been a rude question “You’re the daughter of princess, or more accurately grand duchess Luna, and the previous, thirteen years previous, captain of the royal guard, Umbra Chaser, now deceased. You’re the first Pegasus born of Equestria with the proper stature to perform the ritual of meteoric redirection, my own creation. Duke Shadow Chaser.” She blinked twice then covered her mouth with a hoof, “Oh, sorry, I felt a little bit in the spotlight just then, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Shadow seemed less offended and more confused “Uh… yeah,” he said, shrugging at the frankly bizarre greeting “That’s me I guess! I haven’t seen you in forever! What have you been doing?” Letterheart seemed to shrink at the question, peering from side to side as though on watch “Documenting and analyzing the data in the Canterlot archives and using the ars memorativa system to compositely store them mentally. It’s what I’ve been doing for twenty years, what else would you expect?” Shadow’s ears flattened, he didn’t remember her being this snappish “Well, what are you up to now?” he inquired, feeling strangely as though he were giving an interrogation. “There’s something I need to keep an eye on, I mean, something I have to confirm, no, check more closely in the public castle library. I’m noticing some things that might string together.” “You’ve been down in that dusty room for two decades and you think there’s stuff up here that isn’t down there? Are you feeling alright?” said Shadow, reaching a tone of confusion. Letterheart’s mood turned from one of anxiety to anger in what Shadow perceived as record time “Maybe I’ve checked and re-checked everything that might be useful there so I’m taking a trip up to the main library as a last-ditch attempt alright?” she said, electricity flying from the nerve that had been touched “Go back to whatever it was you were doing and kindly leave me alone!” Apparently there wasn’t much choice in the matter as Letterheart sidestepped him, moving towards the stairs. A few paces later though she sighed and turned back to the baffled Shadow. “I’m sorry if I’m in a temper, I haven’t slept in days and I’m in a hurry…” “No…problem?” said Shadow. She smiled and nodded in response “Thank you for your forgiveness,” she said, moving towards the stairs again “And congrats on meeting up with your friends again!” Waves of confusion rose up again and slammed on the beach of Shadow’s mind “What friends?” he asked. “I don’t know,” said Letterheart “But you do have that familiar spring in your step.” Shadow’s eyes followed her up the stairs and down a corridor on the right, silently pondering the phrase. It had been casual, innocuous even, but it had been so specific and nonsensical. Memory of a few months ago in the garden flashed through his mind temporarily, but in the end he shrugged the whole of it off. “There you are,” a familiar voice, quiet yet assertive came from behind “You’re awake earlier than I had expected.” Shadow resisted the urge to groan, feeling caught as he turned up to face Princess Luna. “On your way to drag me awake I’m guessing?” he said, huff back in his tone. “Actually no,” said Luna, taken aback “It’s not even eight yet, your first arrivals are at ten. I didn’t think it would be even possible to rouse you so early.” Shadow’s mind reeled again, something seemed very out of place today. Letterheart’s phrasing, his need for a tidy appearance, and he had woken perfectly naturally and destroyed the ordered chaos of his room. Worse than that even, he had done it all in the early hours before he was even used to being awake. “I suppose you have until then to yourself,” said Luna, deftly examining his lost expression “Breakfast is still being served in the dining hall. If you’d like a bagel or toast there might still be something left.” She didn’t have to tell him that, he could smell the coffee from here. There didn’t seem to be anything interesting otherwise so he didn’t consider ignoring the quiet burble of his stomach at all. “Thanks, mom.” He said, confusion changing to a smile as he brushed aside all thought of curiosities in favor of food, sidestepping Luna on the way towards the hall. “You’re welcome?” said Luna, stepping quickly out of his way as he went at his usual hyper trot towards the larder. He was certainly more energetic than he had been lately and the last time he had called her mom was… Luna smiled, and turned back to her own business. Maybe he was finally starting to heal.. Under almost any circumstance Shadow would have continued his quick pace to the cafeteria without allowing anything to interrupt him. There weren’t many things that dictated his behavior without some insubordination, and food, following pretty girls, rare ponymon, and his own curiosity, was high on his list. What was at the top however, accosted him quickly and unexpectedly when he was inches from the large wooden doors. “Hello Shadow, you and I need to have a talk.” The grey colt froze, and his blood turned to ice. He knew that voice all too well and right now it had to mean bad things. He turned, as slowly as he could, loathe to see the hooded pony he already knew was there. “Come with me, no one else need intrude.” The dark figure turned and walked parallel to the wall beside the door. Shadow didn’t follow at first, confused as he moved seemingly towards nowhere. When he put his hoof casually on the purple wallpaper the wall slid forward revealing a door leading left. He scampered forward before he could be reprimanded, following silently through as the wall slid back into place behind them. -------------------------------------------- At the Canterlot train station a young red earth filly gazed in wonder at the spires of the distant castle, and in smaller part down at the town surrounding it. The cobbled streets by the station alone held more ponies than her entire town. Every bit of space on the left side of the road was taken up by shops and businesses, on this level mainly smithing and leatherwork or other service jobs. Lightning knew that the shops above grew steadily more luxury as the streets went higher, stairways on either side of the street connecting the levels. “It’s quite a lot to take in,” the gray mare beside her stated as though it were the most casual thing in the world “Don’t worry, you’ll be bored with it all by the end of the day.” Lightning watched the stream of ponies flowing to and from either direction in curious awe. Most of them were unicorns, but this far down there was a considerable presence of bulky earth ponies as well, and one or two odd lean pegasi. The way everyone moved seemed almost practiced, clearly on schedule as they moved from place to place without giving a hello to any passerbys, even as the din of voices between friends seemed deafening. “I don’t remember there being such a steep drop there,” she said, looking at the sheer side of the path “There isn’t even a railing or anything? Someone could fall right down the mountain.” “Smart ponies stay away from the edge. As far as foals, well, there aren’t all that many in a city like this.” Said Octavia, giving a brief nod to the pegasi in little red hats who had the pair’s luggage between them “There isn’t any real danger from it.” “Unless someone decides to push you off the side,” said Lightning, shivering slightly “Just think, some pony comes running at you from one of those buildings and just body slams you. You’d be dead for sure…” Octavia raised an eyebrow “I don’t think any pony is going to be in much of a mind to be doing that. Though to put your mind at ease I will say that isn’t something a pony would do in broad daylight anyway.” Lightning seemed to at least be soothed by this, though still wary. Even if she had been here before four years to forget along with her brother’s propaganda had been enough to leave her fuzzy on some issues, especially that of safety. “You’ll be fine,” Octavia gently reassured, “I know that there’s a lot of pressure on you. Celestia knows it was the same for me my first time in Canterlot, but you’ll do fine. Unlike most musicians you don’t need to practice the physical material, your talent is what you need to refine and you’ve done that so well that I can’t imagine you’ll be having trouble.” A light smile managed to creep onto Lightning’s features at the comment “Yeah, I know.” She said “I don’t need you to tell me how awesome I am. Can we get something to eat before going up to the castle? I feel like I could eat a monkey.” “They have a dining hall up at the castle,” said Octavia “Surely you can wait that long?” “Castle food is so lame.” Said Lightning, rolling her eyes “Those cooks get paid to do the same thing over and over and even if they mess up they still get paid because they’re the best or whatever. Come on, please? There’s a great little donut place not far from here.” Octavia’s impulse was to point out that donuts were in no way, shape, or form, lunch food, but she was learning to dismiss these arguments. With Lightning it just wasn’t worth arguing about in the first place. “Fine,” the breathless huff of a word seemed almost choked out as they started down the cobbled road, moving with the flow of the crowd to the right. Octavia allowed the filly to lead the way, as she was apparently familiar with this seedy lower area, at least, more so than she was. Knowledge, however, is never a deterrent for tragedy, and when they were almost to the extreme right edge of the lower city Lightning stopped dead in the road, provoking a few violent slurs as ponies shuffled to move around her. Octavia pulled her quickly to the side, about to ask what the matter as when Lightning pointed at a sign in one of the glass windows. It read in fancy green and red lettering “Vinnie’s Italian Pizza Pies!” followed by a menu “They got rid of the bakery!” she said, sounding completely heartbroken “This is where it used to be, the Canterlot Pastry Shop! They got all sorts of publicity and stuff for helping stop the Discord attack. How did they close down?” “Things change,” said Octavia, suddenly feeling irrationally empathetic “Businesses change hooves in the lowest level quite a lot you know. Maybe they outsourced to somewhere higher up, or in a city more likely to attract business.” “But they had good donuts…” Lightning sounded as though she were on the verge of a fit “And Joe was so nice and gave us a discount and…” she trailed off, looking like someone had cut off a chunk of her soul. “Look,” said Octavia, mustering a pleasant tone “How about we just eat here for lunch, it’s the same place and it’s comparatively healthier. Just give it a try and we can look in to what happened to Joe okay?” “Damn right, we’re going in,” said Lightning, stamping up to the door “This Vinnie guy has got some explaining to do!” “Light, that isn’t…” Octavia trailed off as the filly disappeared through the door. A vein was going off in her forehead as she followed, red in the face with repressed rage. She was a famous cellist for Celestia’s sake not a foal sitter… When she joined Lightning it was to an atmosphere reminiscent of a fifties café. Black and white tile checked the floor, warm to the touch in a pleasant contrast to the chill outside. Green lamps hung down from the ceiling to swing over every individual table, each a booth, all done in predominant red. The scent of garlic and melted cheese hung in the air, completely blown away earlier by the winter wind, now tantalizing, drawing out hunger. Or for Lightning, a hunger for vigilante justice. She had blasted into the restaurant, cutting the line in front of several patrons by the glass counter. She was attracting a number of rude comments in very thick accents as the cashier shrank away from the display. “Hey lady!” Lightning shouted, above even the rabble of complaints “What happened to the guy who used to own this place huh?” “Vinnie!” the mare behind the counter called “Get this rube outta here!” “Oh sweet Celestia…” Octavia grumbled, muttering a few quiet apologies as she walked around a few of the gathered “Lightning,” she snapped, grabbing the furious filly’s attention “What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” “Interrogating!” Lightning shouted back, turning as a tall gray stallion with a scowl and oily black hair emerged from a back room “Do you have some answers for me big guy?” Octavia brought a hoof to her face and stepped back. If Lightning had gotten herself into this mess she was on her own for getting out of it again. She wasn’t doing a great job of that either, walking right up to the stallion and meeting his stern gaze with a scowl, close enough to read the nametag, Vinegar Mixture. “Vinnie!” the red mare darted out from behind the counter to press desperately against the stallion’s side “This little pasta stain was shouting at me and disturbing our customers! Show her out!” “Is this true?” Vinnie asked, pawing at the ground with a forehoof “Cause ain’t no pony messes with my precious Toma. If you’se insulting her then you’se ain’t leavin’ here in one piece, capiche?” “I was just asking,” said Lightning, the slight southern of her voice a massive contrast to his thick Italian accent “What happened to the guy who used to run the donut shop here. I kind of liked it.” The two stared each other down, two sets of green eyes trying to banish their equal to cowardice. An impatient customer shouted that he was getting hungry. Finally, Vinnie’s expression softened, slightly, very slightly, but enough for a shift in tone. “You know old Joe boy?” he asked. “I do,” said Lightning, not mirroring the falter “And I want to know what happened to him. I haven’t been here in a while.” Vinnie broke out into a broad grin “Get outta town,” he said “You’re one of them kids ain’t ya? Old Joe went on and on about you two. Toma! Get the rest of these folks sorted! This one’s my guest!” “This place is awful!” the same white unicorn who had shouted earlier spoke up again, turning towards to door “I’m here for dinner not a show!” Toma’s head shot around towards the voice, hitting the tiles to stand between him and the door with a forced smile “Now you weren’t leaving so soon were you?” she said “It would be such a shame to leave without being- excuse me, enjoying lunch.” The unicorn went slightly blue and turned back to the line, not daring to blink. Toma slipped into a smirk “Alright who’s next?” she called to the now-silent line, again accepting orders. Vinnie brought Lightning and Octavia to an empty table with the promise he would join them in just a moment. Octavia was perplexed and quiet, but Lightning seemed happy just to go with the flow. The wait was thankfully short as Vinnie returned minutes later with a tray loaded with three doughy lumps. “Calzones?” he offered with a smile, sliding in beside Octavia “Nah, not even a question, they’re on the house!” “Thank you very- Lightning!” Octavia exclaimed “Mind your manners!” she flinched slightly as the filly stuffed her whole face into the bready lump, and surfaced moments later, gasping at the heat. “Hey, slow down there,” said Vinnie “That’s fresh out of the oven.” He hastily pushed a plastic cup her way. Lightning attached herself to the straw and took a few hasty gulps, gasping in relief. “Thanks…” said Lightning “For the food too.” “No problem,” said Vinnie, leaning back on the seat “So you’re the infamous Lightning Strike eh? Joe had a list of folks and their pictures in the back when he left the place, close pals he had promised free food to and all that. You and that Shadow kid are right there at the top! Mind, you have sprouted up like a weed, so sorry If I didn’t know who you was straight off.” “Nah, it’s cool dude!” said Lightning “Oh and that’s Octavia, she’s my guitar teacher. We’re performing, or, I’m performing at Canterlot Castle tomorrow. We’re staying overnight.” “Must be quite the kid,” said Vinnie “Playing way up at the castle for the bigshots and the princesses and all that. I bet you’ve got some rich boyfriend up here dontcha?” “Boys are gross,” said Lightning, wrinkling her nose as she tested the heat of the calzone again, deemed it edible, and started again. “She’s at that age,” said Octavia, resisting the knowing smile to help Lightning cover her lie. “Eh, she’ll grow out of it,” said Vinnie, starting on his own dish just as hooves free as Lightning had “How’s your meal holdin’?” “Amazing!” said Lightning, surfacing from the cheesy mess “So how did you know Joe anyway?” “Ah, me and him are blood brothers,” said Vinnie, clearly about to give more of a story than Lightning had asked for “Buddies since our college years. I cheated off of him in Calculus. Dopey idea to require as a class, I mean, how often am I gonna use trig-whatever equations running a pizza place? Never, that’s when. Anyway yeah my place over in Manehatten was going under and his business was boomin’ so we arranged a sort of swap. All those nose grinder high lifes thing what we’ve got goin on here is a racket, and the MHPD is givin’ ol’ Joe more business than he can handle. I’m happier than a pig in sh-“ he paused, faltering under the glare of Octavia. Lightning looked between them for the lost word she couldn’t see. “Well that is a fascinating story,” said Octavia, taking the reigns “And the meal was fantastic, how much will this all be?” “Was?” said Vinnie “You’ve hardly started. Oh, but really, it’d be cruel to old Joe not to keep his hospitality. Though, you couldn’t have been more than six in that picture.” Vinnie’s face contorted slightly “What all did you two do to get so high and mighty in his books?” “We sort of accidentally turned him into a harbor for renegade heroes who overthrew Discord,” said Lightning with a shrug “Or Shadow did at least. I was kind of out of it a lot of that time. He apparently went passage crawling while I was still passed out in the castle tower.” Vinnie raised an eyebrow, then shrugged “Eh, weirder stuff’s happened. I guess it’s none of my business anyway. Shadow though, have I heard that name somewhere?” “He is a somewhat prominent figure,” said Octavia, still trying to work the silverware with her hooves “He is a royal duke of Canterlot Castle, if you remember the ‘lost prince’ fiasco he was the center of attention.” “Nope,” said Vinnie “But I guess he’s an important dude. All the more reason for Joe to try and get on his good side I guess. Is he your castle boyfriend?” Octavia went quiet as the attention turned to Lightning, interested in the answer herself. The blue haired filly ignored the question as heavily as she could, focusing on polishing off the last strings of cheese on her plastic plate. When this task was completed and the silence continued she sighed and pointed her gaze towards her tutor. “No.” she said simply. The two adults looked at her inpuzzlement. There wasn’t anything prompting such a serious tone in response, but the resounding syllable at least communicated the point clearly enough. Giving in, Octavia pushed the half-finished calzone forward. “We really must be going,” she said, moving out of the booth as Vinnie shifted out of the way “She’s going to have to get settled in up at the castle and whatnot. Thank you so much for your hospitality Mr. Mixture.” “Mr. Mixture was my father!” said Vinnie, in a tone of false indignation “Really, just Vinnie is cool. And if there’s anything I can do for you just let me know alright? Just, ah, don’t talk to Toma first. I think she’s got a little grudge on the kid now.” “I think she can oblige you on that,” said Octavia, nodding to him as Lightning slid out of her own seat, wobbling slightly, “Come on light, let’s not keep them waiting.” “I ate too much,” Lightning groaned, shaking her head slowly “Hey, but you know what would be way cooler than walking all the way up to the castle? Taking a secret passage!” That’s certainly an interesting notion,” said Octavia, patting her on the back “Some other time. If you’re feeling sick we can see about getting a carriage.” “No, I’m serious!” said Lightning, backing away from Octavia “Hey Vinnie, is there any chance you could let us check out the back room?” “Uh, sure?” said Vinnie “Why?” --------------------------------------------------- “So, why am I here?” in Shadow’s case fear clearly didn’t equate to respect, and the dank and the dark that were the entirety of this passage weren’t helping anything. “We have things to discuss.” “Well yeah,” said Shadow, glaring at the back of the robe ahead, or at least, where he perceived it to be “You’ve said that, like a lot, now can you tell me what we’re discussing about?” i seemed annoyed. It wasn’t really something Shadow could tell in the darkness but his teeth were clenched, brow furrowed in a glare. He didn’t like working with this child but with him as such a pivotal point of the agenda he couldn’t afford to let his annoyance be noticed. The dark was nice for that at least, and letting their little dialogue fall into silence helped even more. “You know it’s not much of a discussion if you’re just going to walk,” said Shadow, taking a few steps at a quicker pace to catch up “So I guess you either don’t want to talk or we’re doing something else. Is there like a bomb or something down there? A bomb would be a really bad idea, even for you.” “No there is not a bomb! There are no weapons of any kind down this passage. Now if you will kindly silence yourself we will reach our destination sooner.” Fear evaporated into a sense of victory in Shadow’s chest, bursting out with a hum of a lilting tune. He couldn’t do much to this guy, but if he could tick him off that was something. His attention was called elsewhere, however, as his eyes picked up on a light at the end of the passage. The dim blue glow came into a greater clarity as they drew closer, though the light turned out to be just as dim as it had seemed from a distance. The room was almost perfectly circular, disturbingly so even, with the halls interrupted only by two half-circle ridges, pools even, overflowing with cerulean flames. At the center of this perfect circle was another like it, raised enough to stand at and look across, perfectly smooth over its polished white top. It looked vaguely like ivory but Shadow had the sinking feeling it was something entirely different. What caught his attention most in the room wasn’t any of the disturbing qualities of light or shadows though, what grabbed his eyes, his shock, and his anger, was the horselike face across the table, featuring mismatched eyes and one pointed tooth. “Discord?” he exclaimed, almost trying to hide behind i “What? But how? When? What did you do?” The draconeqius uttered a low chuckle as i forced him forward to stand against the table, his eyes bulging as though he’d just seen a ghost. The reaction was somewhat unwarranted, and not just for the creature’s frightening chimerism. The last time Shadow had seen this creature he had been changed by some archaic magic into a newborn. “It’s been some time hasn’t it, Shadow?” the monster spoke in his usual tone, one that sounded sarcastic in every syllable “Goodness me, you’ve sprouted up like a weed! I suppose it’s all the castle food they’re giving you isn’t it? Pity, I used to have quite a lot of that stuff when I was still hanging around here. Quantity is well over quality if you ask me.” Shadow shivered slightly as dandelions sprouted up around his feet, talk of food and weeds apparently having inspired Discord. “Stop patronizing me!” he blurted out “How are you even here right now? Did the robes guy do this?” I swear I’ll-“ “Enough, my goodness,” Shadow suddenly felt harsh metal on his lips as Discord’s magic placed a zipper on them and closed it “Honestly if there is one thing I tolerate even less than a child’s crying it is an older child’s complaining.” “Undo that spell Discord, he has some speaking to do himself.” The muffled exclamations from the red faced colt were obviously agreeing with him. Discord merely shrugged. “I think it’s an improvement. I don’t think we’ll get much out of him until he’s finished his indignant fit anyway.” “Then make him happy. I don’t care how, but we have a schedule to keep.” “You’ve never been fun to work with,” said Discord, turning back to Shadow “I mean, really, he tells me about this whole brilliant plan to take over Canterlot, and I almost got it too. He said if I failed we would never speak again, sure, but here he is, and just days after I’m my old self again too. Almost a year it took, you know, growing up enough to get my magic back. From there of course it was a simple matter of reversing your childish spell.” “Discord.” “Right, right,” said the draconequis, snapping with his chicken claw to dispel the zipper muting Shadow’s words “Though I don’t see why you brought him along in the first place, I don’t work particularly well with minions.” “He’s no minion, Discord. To me you’ve proven time and time again that you cannot succeed in a position of power, even in the simplest of tasks. Shadow is firmly on our side, that is, unless he wishes to break our verbal contract.” Shadow’s heart missed a beat at i’s words. He had been meaning to say something particularly nasty to Discord about then but the next words silenced him more effectively than the muzzle. He turned his head down, remembering how he had gotten himself into this, and how much was at stake. “I don’t think I heard an agreement there. Shadow, confirm the pressing reasons for which I will be entrusting you with the next mission.” He wanted to spit, he wanted to curse, in that moment Shadow wanted to be just about anywhere else right now. Least of all did he want to do exactly what he did, which was turn to Discord, look him dead in the eye, and speak again. “I will be assisting him,” he said “In any ways necessary to uphold the contract, whether I agree with him or not. There are more important things right now than…” he trailed off, he had thought he was starting to sound determined and fierce but the scowls he received in return made him feel somewhat foolish “What I meant to say is, yeah, he’s right.” He hoped his blush wasn’t too obvious in the flickering light. “Well that doesn’t sound at all convincing to me,” said Discord, conjuring a bowl of grapes and rummaging through “I think it would be much more fun if we might have him grovel a bit before we really get started.” i stared at the bowl, and it was gone. There was no telltale puff of sparkle to indicate the use of magic, it was merely gone. Discord seemed just as confused as Shadow on this point, but quailed as i approached. “I am already more than convinced. Whether or not you will follow orders is not a question, but a single goal. Since you have proven yourself incapable thus far of executing any kind of plan you will not be in charge of the next pivotal operation. You will be taking your commands from Shadow throughout.” Discord and Shadow wore matching dumbfounded expressions “But,” said Discord “He’s just a colt! What in Equestria will he be able to do that I cannot?” “My simple orders. Now, here is how this will work. Shadow will be taking on this responsibility largely on his own. Your one and only goal is to assist where, and only where, it is necessary. I assume you are both well aware of your individual punishments should you fail this task.” Shadow was already shivering at the prospect of a certain somepony’s retribution for any imagined mistake he made, but he was more interested in Discord’s reaction. This was the first time he had ever seen genuine horror in the eyes of the snakelike being. “Fine,” he said, as though the single word toiled him horribly “Though you never did say what exactly we’re doing going forward…” “Then let me tell you…”