• Published 16th Sep 2015
  • 470 Views, 16 Comments

Tale of the Shadow Pony - AtomicShockwave



Two core elements... Shadow and Light... are going out of balance. One pony must go from nothing to everything in order to retain the balance... but he can't do it alone.

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[Chapter Three: Friendships]

Soon enough I was taken to a place called Sugarcube Corner. It looked like something out of a child's fairy tale.
A house seemingly made out of candy and pastries and other delectable, I would have been more reluctant if I didn't have a shameful sweet tooth...

"Dashie! Get as many ponies as you can to come to the party!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"On it!" Rainbow Dash said as she zoomed out of the building.

"Oh! Oh! What kind of cake is your favorite Leon??" Pinkie said while bouncing and focusing on me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed as the others were looking at me.

"Marble..." I muttered as I went to a table in the corner and took a seat.

Twilight took a seat with me.

"Who... exactly are you...?" Twilight says bluntly and curiously.

"What's it to...." I paused for a moment.

"I.... I don't know..." I said truthfully.

"You don't know..." Twilight said as the others observed from a distance.

"Yes, I don't know. So what..." I said in anger.

"Well... are you from Ponyville...?" Twilight asked.

"I-" Rainbow Dash opened the door and many ponies of different types started to enter before I could say my next words.

"Alright! Let's get this party started!" Rainbow Dash yelled out in excitement.

I sighed as an oversized, frosted marble cake landed in front of me and my eyes opened widely.

The cake read 'Thanks' in big letters on it.

"Surprise! Double Layer Double Frosting Double Fun Marble Cake! For the hero himself!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly as she waited for my reaction.

I looked Pinkie Pie in the eyes for a moment and then back at the cake.

"Th..." I muttered as Pinkie Pie interrupted me.

"Oh! Oh! We have to show you to everypony first!" Pinkie Pie yelled out as she pulled me up onto a nearby table in front of everypony else.

"Hey! Wait!" I said reluctantly as Pinkie Pie got every ponies' attention.

"Hey everypony! This here is Leon! He is the hero that saved Ponyville and he is the awesome super duper reason for this super duper party!!" Pinkie Pie yelled out as everypony else cheered.

"Alrighty! Let's all get ready for some pumpin wubs of destruction!!" A white pony with aviators yelled out stranding by some large sub-woofers and a set of turntables.

"Who's that...." I said curiously.

"Oh! That's Vinyl Scratch! She's great at parties too!" Pinkie Pie yelled out as the pony known as Vinyl turned some music on and the soundwaves were so strong that the opposing wall was blown outwards straight off of Sugarcube Corner.

"Holy Shit!" I yelled as I held my ears, only for the music to be quickly turned down.

"Oh... hehe... sorry everypony! I still had the wedding settings on...." Vinyl said with a slight chuckle.

I looked at the damage done and sighed.

"It's gonna be a long night...." I said as I got down from the table.

The party went on for hours... In the mean time I had some cake, got pestered a bit with 'Thank yous' and such, and a large construction weather-proof tarp was put in place of the wall for the time being.

As all the other ponies left, only 7 of us remained and the place was cleaned up in no time what-so-ever, well besides the huge wall missing...

"That was such an awesome party!!" Rainbow Dash yelled out.

"Yeah... but it's late, we all need to head home and rest..." Twilight said.

"True. Well, I will see all you later! Cya!" Rainbow Dash said as she flew out.

"Another social event a great success!" Rarity said as she exited Sugarcube Corner.

"T-that was really fun..." Fluttershy said as she exited.

"That was a darn good time, just make sure not to give me more work in the process of it." Applejack said with a laugh as she left.

"See all you ponies later!" Pinkie said as she showed me and Twilight out of the building.

"That was alot of fun, don't you think Leon?" Twilight said as she looked at me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Well.... I have to head home now, It'll be nice if you stopped by tomorrow." Twilight said as she looked at me.

I froze... I sat there and sighed as I looked at the ground.

"You... don't have anywhere to go... do you...? Or at least you don't know where it is..." Twilight said with a concerned tone in her voice.

I looked away.

"Don't worry, I have a spare bed. You can stay with me." Twilight said.

"No thanks..." I said quietly.

"Oh come on... after all you've done for me... and my friends... It's the least I could do. I insist." Twilight said to me.

"You said the party was the least you could do..." I said, irritated about the situation.

"I said we... as in me and my friends as a group. As for me, I have yet for paying you back for the... doppelganger situation at my house. So please, let me do this for you." Twilight said as I looked her in the eyes.

"Fine...." I said with a sigh.

"Lead the way." I said as Twilight nodded and started to walk back to her house.

I followed closely behind and Twilight looked back at me.

"The other bed is in my room, if you don't mind..." She said to me.

"Do I have a choice...?" I said with a slight attitude to my voice.

"Not really." Twilight said with a slight chuckle.

I rolled my eyes as we arrived at her house. She opened the door and I entered. She turned the lights on and headed over to a nearby desk. Which she had placed the large ruby there for inspection.

She grabbed a notebook and pen out from a drawer on the desk.

"Here..." She passed me the notebook and pen.

"If at any moment you remember something, or learn something. here's something to jot it down in." Twilight said with a smile.

I looked at the book and looked at Twilight.

"So... What about the window...?" I said curiously.

"Oh... you're right... Damn.... O-oh excuse me!" Twilight said embarrassed.

"I'm not bothered by it... but seriously... What are we gonna do...?" I said back to her.

"I'll just use my magic I guess... I'm not sure if it will be a permanent fix but it'll be something." She said as she headed upstairs.

I headed up after her and I put the notebook on the end table next to the bed that I guessed was mine, due to the plain guest bed-es feeling to it.

Within moments Twilight was working on the window, removing the broken one, putting the shards in a wastebin and replacing the window temporarily using some tarp that Applejack brought.

"There... That should do for now." Twilight said as a small yawn exited her mouth.

"Well... It's time for bed now, tomorrow we can hopefully shed some light on well... you yourself Leon." Twilight said with a smile as she climbed into her bed.

"Yeah..." I got into my bed and sighed. I laid on my back, looking up at the ceiling. My eyes became heavy as I thought about how my body felt like I haven't slept in too long... Way.... too.... long....

Within moments I drifted into a calm sleep.

"I'm glad to see you're already turning around..." An anonymous voice said as I jolted up and looked around nervously. I noticed that I was in a world of absolute light.

"Who's there!?" I said as I looked around eagerly.

"You'll learn so enough... I just wanted to tell you that your... training will start soon, I expect the best." The voice said.

"Show yourself!" I yelled out as I was soon blinded by a bright flash.

"Good Morning Leon." Twilight said as she opened a pair of thick curtains covering the newly installed window.

I rubbed my eye and took a breath. It felt really good to get some sleep, but the dream left me a bit uneasy.

"I'm going out today, you should go around town and see if any-pony needs your help, or even if they could help you. Pinkie has the wall in Sugarcube Corner and Applejack needs some help with bucking trees. These are just suggestions... Trust me, it'll be alot better than just sitting around here.." Twilight said as she got ready and exited the house.

"Bucking trees...?" I sigh and exit the house.

"Wait a minute.... Dammit! I don't know my way around..." I got back inside and I eventually found a map of Ponyville, and a place labeled "Sweet Apple Acres" stood out like a sore thumb.

"So... down the path... take a right at the tree.... got it." I then left the house and followed the memorized directions.

Eventually I ended up upon the farm, I saw Applejack organizing some large wicker baskets.

"Umm... Hey..." I said to Applejack as she turned around and smiled at me.

"Oh, hey there sugar... L-leon.... It's nice to see ya! What brings ya by?" Applejack said curiously.

"Well... Twilight mentioned something about helping you buck trees... Whatever the hell that means... so... yeah...." I said with a mellow tone.

"Oh, well I'd love some help from ya, that would be just swell!" Applejack said with a smile.

"Yeah Yeah...." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Heh... So have ya ever bucked a tree before...?" Applejack said curiously.

"Yer darn tootun I have" I said mockingly.

"Alright... I can take a hint. Here, follow me." Applejack said as she walked over to the nearest tree.

"Ya jus gonna wanna face away from the tree and just lean a bit forward like this and kick the tree with your hindlegs" Applejack demonstrates this and the apples are shaken off the tree.

"Right... So where do I start...?" I said looking around the huge orchard.

"Hmm... right here, and go down the way. Also, dontcha worry, I'll be sure to make it worth your while." Applejack said pointing out a long string of trees and giving me a smile.

"Alright..." I muttered as I started to buck the trees.

It wasn't hard at all, one by one I was bucking the trees as told, and baskets were conveniently placed under the trees. I kept bucking for a good couple hours, over doing it to the point that I was doing more then told, or well requested. I'm pretty sure she didn't mind the overdoing.

I returned to Applejack and nod my head in the direction of all the trees I bucked.

"W-wow... ya sure outdone yourself Leon, but I can't just leave this work unrewarded. Come this way" Applejack says walking towards a barn, opening it up and entering.

"If it's cattle, I'm not interested." I say as she walks in.

"Very funny... Jus' come in here." Applejack says as I follow her in.

"Now... I know it's not much... my apologies..." Applejack says as she puts a tattered cloth dual bags onto my back.

"There's more to this gift isn't there..." I say as I feel there is some weight to the bag.

"Check when ya get home." Applejack says with a smile and a wink.

I give her a distrustful glare and I roll my eyes.

"I'll be on my way then... Bye." I say as I turn away and head out.

"Come back sometime if ya looking for some more work, I may have more... rewards for ya." Applejack says waving me off.

I roll my eyes and keep walking. Afterwards I decided to pick up my pace and as I walked faster, I heard... jingling?

I looked around and eased the bags off my back and opened the left bag.

There was a small sack of Bits! I want to say there was at least a hundred of them... this made me curious of the other side, so I opened it right away, and what I found surprised me more then the currency oddly enough... They were apples, but they were golden. I took one out and held it up and it shined so bright against the sun. I inspected the apple and bit more and put it back, I then threw the bags back onto my back and headed home.

I go to head into the house but it ends up being locked.

"Just my luck..." I knock on the door, and I Twilight opens the door.

"Hey Leon.... Have you seen Spike...?" Twilight says to me as I enter.

"I can't say I..." I see Spike peaking through a higher window as he then quickly retreats.

"I'll talk to him..." I say as I set the bags down and go back outside and Twilight darts me a confused look.

I go around to the window that I saw him at and I yell up.

"Hey, we need to talk." I say up there as I see him look down at me.

"I'm not coming down..." Spike says with a tone.

"Well if I come up there, I guarantee you will be 20% closer to dead." I say with a glare.

Spike then sighs and makes his way down.

"Why is Twilight looking for you...?" I say curiously.

"Because I ran away..." Spike says as he looks away from me.

"You haven't even left the property." I say back to him.

"Well I have someone helping me, I just have to wait till they come back..." He says back to me.

"Why are you gonna run away?" I say back as I lay down on the grass.

"I'm tired of Twilight using me..." says Spike.

"How does she use you?" I say turning my head.

"She constantly has me running errands or doing itty bitty stuff that she would be able to do on her own and I'm tired of it!" Spike says angered.

"Well she needs you for that kind of stuff... ever hear the term you can't make a pyramid without the base? Well you're her base, you do stuff for her so she can do bigger things that you most likely aren't ready yet, and if she spent so long on the little things, and tried to do the big things as well, it would be bad for her... She would stay up too long, end up oversleeping... and even skipping meals just to get stuff done... She needs you Spike, to make sure she doesn't fall down." I say as a strange feeling bubbles in my chest.

Spike thought to himself for a moment, and then smiled.

"You're right Leon... Thank you so much." Spike says as he runs up and hugs me.

"Yeah yeah... Now go in there, she's worried about you." I say as I get up, only to feel the feeling get stronger.

"Why do I feel like this..." I say to myself as I simply shake it off for now and I go to head inside, but a strange red pony stopped me.

"Hey, Have you seen a small purple and green dragon...? I have something for him and I was supposed to meet him here." The pony says to me.

"Who are you...?" I say curiously.

"Brian... Now, have you seen him?" He says back.

"Well, Mr. Brian... I'm sorry but the dragon no longer requires your... services. So I recommend you leave." I say as I glare at him.

The pony rolls his eyes but then smirks and strolls off with no other words...

"I have a feeling that's not gonna be the last time I see him..." I say as I walk in the house.


[End of Chapter]

Author's Note:

I plan to make a full "Notebook" based upon all the things Leon will discover and remember in the story. It will either be provided at the end of the story, or put in blog form and updated every so often, I'll figure out something. Besides that I hope you all enjoyed a calmer chapter of my story :)

P.S. Sorry for the late release, I had a bit of a personal issue... but I pushed through it so I wouldn't be even more late.

P.P.S. Sorry if the chapter is dull.... Not much more I can say... My apologies.