Shadow yawned as he stood in front of Ponyville’s Crystal Castle. Ignoring the sound of a heavier set of hooves stopping next to him, the colt arched his back, feeling a couple joints pop as he stretched, his horn seeming to come to life on its own as he felt his burns sting in a couple places. Twisting his neck, the young alicorn looked to the older alicorn next to him, slightly confused by Twilight’s gentle smile, “Ready?”
Shadow shrugged before turning the gesture into a stretch as he rolled his shoulders, “Do I have much of a choice?”
“Not really” Twilight replied, laughing slightly at the colt’s question. Seeing her young guest shrug, the youngest Equestrian Princess followed the colt down her home’s front steps, ready to catch him if he tripped on the way down. As she watched him, Twilight couldn’t help but be impressed by the young colt. Sure he had an issue with Spike and he was extremely reticent when it came to any topic about him or where he was from, but despite that, Twilight was surprised at how polite the young alicorn was. He always cleared his plate during dinner, never leaving a scrap of food behind, despite Spike doing most of the cooking. While he was quiet and generally reserved, Twilight couldn’t help but find herself hoping that any child she had would be like him when it came to manners.
Shadow tried to ignore Twilight’s presence as the two alicorns walked through town. Looking around, the colt could barely contain his surprise at how similar Ponyville was to Red Lake. Around them, ponies were waking up to start the day, the sun barely clearing the thatched roofs of the nearby houses. Nearing the town’s center, Shadow could see a number of vendors working to set up their stalls, an array of products and produce being put out for the day. Here, bundles of carrots were being set up to display their color. Across the street, Big Mac was arranging a variety of products in his family’s stall; large jugs of juice lined the swept floor as numerous baked goods filled the shelves while a display of raw apples glistened in the sun as the morning light caught the fruit’s waxy skin. As the surprisingly gentle giant spotted the two alicorns, he nodded to them before casually flicking his tail, sending a pair of bright red apples rocketing toward them. Catching the fruit with his magic, Shadow nodded his thanks to the large red stallion as he turned back to setting up for the day. Biting down on his apple, Shadow didn’t bother to hide his smile as the apple’s flavor flooded his senses. Next to him, the second apple met a similar fate as Twilight enjoyed her treat.
As the two ponies left the town behind them, Shadow heard the familiar sound of a bell ringing in the distance, the sound coming from their destination. Cresting a small hill, the younger alicorn stopped as he surveyed the activity before him. Ahead, Ponyville’s lone school stood, its red exterior shining in the early morning light. Around the building, he could see the bright colors of fillies and colts as they ran across the grass or flew through the air, some chasing others while some were just content to enjoy the early fall morning. All at once, the students stopped what they were doing, seeming to hear a voice that drew them into the lone building. Looking up at Twilight, Shadow fell into step beside her as the pair finished the rest of their journey in silence.
Just over the sound of the gravel beneath their hooves, Shadow could hear the sound of a dozen bits clinking together in his saddlebag. The day before, he had gone over the bag with a fine toothed comb, hitting it with every spell he knew. Several hours later, the colt had come to the conclusion that despite his well-founded concerns, the saddlebag was just that, a bag made of cloth and thread. He had found no spells or charms on it anywhere. While he felt a certain amount of relief at that, he wasn’t a pony to trust appearances, even if he had checked it with his magic. Rainbow Dash had told him how experienced Twilight was with magic, so it wouldn’t surprise him if there was a spell on it that he couldn’t detect. Not that it had mattered much to the young pony, since he didn’t plan to keep anything he truly valued in the bag anyways. With his mind slightly more at ease, it had only been the work of a couple minutes before he had placed every protective spell he knew on it.
Approaching the school yard’s front gate, both alicorns could hear Cheerilee’s voice as she greeted her slightly less than enthusiastic group of students. The mulberry earth pony mare surveyed her students. She wasn’t surprised to see that a number of them were still trying to wake up. Most students she had taught would have preferred to be back in bed than here, not that she blamed them; there were a couple times she felt the same. Looking up at the open door in the back of the room, the mare smiled as Twilight and her newest student materialized, the two ponies standing unnoticed behind the students. “Before we get started this morning, I believe some of you are still wondering about what all of that is for” She said, gesturing to the pillow covered platform by the window. Seeing a number of her students nodding while a certain trio of fillies smiled eagerly; Cheerilee looked up at Shadow, tilting her head to invite him to the front of the class.
Seeing nearly thirty heads turn at once to stare at him, Shadow felt his ears drop at the sudden feeling of vulnerability, despite his confidence that he was probably more magically talented than anypony else his age here. Feeling a gentle push from behind, Shadow slowly walked down the center of the room, trying his hardest to ignore the numerous eyes following him. Reaching the front of the room after what felt like an eternity, the colt turned to stand next to Ms. Cheerilee. Before him, everypony stared at him, but he had been expecting that. What he hadn’t been expecting was seeing, and what he would later admit shocked him the most, a pair of unicorns sitting in the front row, with a pegasus colt and a few earth pony students claiming the second row. Were these the smartest students or were they the troublemakers and she kept them up front to keep a close eye on them? “Class, this is Shadow Dancer” Cheerilee said, pulling the colt back to reality as she gingerly set a hoof on his shoulder “he will be joining our class and I expect everypony here to make him feel welcome.” Near the middle of the room, a lanky dark yellow unicorn colt raised his hoof. If Shadow had to go off his first impression, the colt didn’t strike him as the brightest candle in the room.
“What does he got to do with that stuff?” The colt asked at his teacher’s nod, pointing to the mass of pillows.
“Good question, Snails.” Cheerilee replied. “I’m sure you all remember the fire, right?” Seeing her students nod, the mare continued “What you may or may not know, is that Princess Celestia didn’t just save Rainbow Dash and the Crusaders. Shadow was there as well” She continued, seeing a number of students turn to look at the three fillies in question. “In fact, he was there when Rainbow Dash crashed and saved her and the Crusaders, keeping them safe until the princess rescued them.” Around the room, ponies fell silent at their teacher’s words, though Shadow noticed that the looks directed at him ranged from awe to barely concealed skepticism. “Unfortunately, Shadow was badly injured and in fact, just got out of the hospital on Friday.” At this, Shadow flashed his horn, the illusion spell on his bandages vanishing a heartbeat later. While he hadn’t been expecting to do this, the colt didn’t like the skeptical looks from a couple of the students. “As you can see” Cheerilee said, not missing a beat, “he’s still recovering, so I expect everypony here to help him if he asks.” Seeing her students nod, the mare nodded at the pegasus colt in the second row, “Yes Rumble?”
“Is it true that you’re an alicorn?”
Shadow felt his heart jump at the innocent question. Twilight had told him that he’d probably be asked, but even having advanced warning didn’t stop the colt’s heart from stopping for a second at the question. Wordlessly, Shadow used his magic to unzip his vest, his eyes not missing the growing excitement on the faces of several of his classmates. Keeping the vest over his bandaged wing, the young alicorn extended his good wing. Looking across the class, Shadow felt a small smile form at the sight of several jaws hitting their owners’ desk. Almost at once, half the students shot their hooves into the air. Feeling a gentle nudge, Shadow looked up to see his new teacher pointing to his seat. With a quiet sigh of relief, the colt slowly walked over to the platform, gently removing his saddlebag before setting it next to him.
“Where are you from?”
Shadow leaned back to look at the filly who had all but shouted the question across the room at him. Looking at Cheerilee, the mare seemed to know the colt’s wish as she grabbed a rope hanging above the chalkboard, a map of Equestria unrolling before the class. Lighting his horn, Shadow placed a small golden ball of light over Ponyville, before moving the ball to Manehattan. “Go west until you get to Manehattan” Shadow held the ball over Equestria’s largest city for a moment “find a ship and sail west.” On the map, the ball slowly floated over the Great Ocean “Assuming you have the right heading and you survive the trip, you’ll find the island I’m from.”
Around him, the other fillies and colts stared slack-jawed at him as they tried to comprehend how far he had traveled. The silence, much to Shadow’s disappointment, only lasted for a few precious seconds before his new classmates returned to reality and began pelting him with more questions, to the point that some felt the need to shout to be heard over the others. “You are no doubt all eager to ask Shadow more questions” Cheerilee said, her voice raised as she stomped her hoof on the wooden floor to get her students’ attention, “but I’m sure Shadow wouldn’t mind if you gave him time to settle in before pelting him with more questions.” Around him, the other students lowered themselves back into their seats, some looking a little ashamed at their actions. Sighing to himself, the young alicorn turned his attention to the front of the room where Cheerilee was rolling up the map. Catching her eye, he mouthed a silent thank you, getting a smile and slight nod from the earth pony mare as she got her class focused.
Even though he had been expecting more attention than he was used to, the level of attention he had gotten was far beyond what he had expected, even with Princess Twilight’s warnings. It was almost as if they’d never heard of an alicorn their age. Shadow frowned as Cheerilee turned to write something on the chalkboard. He wasn’t surprised that he was the only alicorn on Crystal Island, since the island’s pony population was less than forty thousand, but Equestria was far larger than his home, and had far more ponies than Crystal Island living just in Manehattan, if what Sea Breeze had told him was true. If that was correct, and he had no reason to believe otherwise from what he had seen, then why had his classmates practically mobbed him? Were alicorns that rare? Shadow felt a shiver race down his spine as a thought occurred to him; or were they more common than ponies thought, but nopony knew that because they didn’t survive long enough for other ponies to find out about them?
Looking around, he could see a couple of the other students sneaking glances at him as the teacher’s back was turned. Turning his attention back to Ms. Cheerilee, Shadow forced the unpleasant thoughts from his mind for the moment. He’d need to pay attention if he had any hope of remembering what Ms. Cheerilee said, and thoughts of a possible secret alicorn genocide wouldn’t help.
Shadow sighed as he felt the welcome chill of the shaded grass seep through his bandages as he settled down beneath the tree. Around him, most of the other students ran around, laughing and screaming as they chased each other, everypony seeming to avoid the damaged playground equipment. Overhead, the grounded flyer watched as a half-dozen pegasi raced through the air, playing games of tag in a three dimensional world lost on the ponies below them. Smiling in contentment, Shadow tilted his head back, twisting his neck in an attempt to work out the kinks that had developed from having been in that one position for so long. Feeling his stomach rumble, the alicorn reached over to the saddlebag next to him, channeling magic through his horn as he touched the bag’s lone buckle. Feeling the spell protecting his bag power down, he opened the bag with a flip of his hoof, his horn already glowing as he pulled out his lunch. Looking over the fare before him, the colt set the two golden yellow apples aside as he picked up the lettuce and tomato sandwich with his magic. If he’d had his way, his entire lunch would have been apples and apple related products, but Twilight had insisted that he bring something more ‘substantial’. How could a sandwich be more ‘substantial’ when an apple weighed more than the sandwich? The colt’s eyebrows tabled at the memory of asking the older alicorn just that and getting a lecture on nutrition – whatever that was – only to find himself completely lost seconds later. As it was, Shadow considered himself extremely lucky to have gotten out of that lecture, if only by agreeing to Princess Twilight’s suggestion so she’d stop talking.
Feeling the lettuce crunch in his mouth, Shadow looked up as a familiar trio of fillies walked toward him. “Mind if we join ya?” The lone colt shook his head as he swallowed, gesturing to the shaded grass around him. As the fillies sat down, a light breeze sprang up, playing with the yellowing leaves overhead, causing the fillies and colt to sigh in pleasure. “Ah know we’ve met before, but mah name’s Apple Bloom.” The yellow and red filly said, using the introduction to break the ice. “This is Sweetie Belle and this is Scootaloo” She added, gesturing to the unicorn and pegasus next to her.
Shadow nodded as he swallowed. While he knew about them from what his clone had learned and had met them at the party two days earlier, he hadn’t been able to pay much attention with all the ponies around him and the constant need to know where Princess Celestia was at all times. Now that things were decidedly calmer and quieter, Shadow found himself looking over the three fillies. Even if nopony had told him, the name and accent would have told Shadow enough to suspect that Apple Bloom was related to Applejack. To her right, Sweetie Belle was sitting quietly, chewing on an oversized carrot. The young unicorn ate with manners that reminded him of Rarity, though that and her coat color were the only things that he could use to connect her to her older sister. On the other side of Apple Bloom, the colt caught the purple-maned pegasus staring at his vest. Though he didn’t say anything, Shadow could see the gears turning in Scootaloo’s head as the filly tried to figure out his vest.
“How’s it fit?” Scootaloo eventually asked.
Shadow shrugged, flexing his good wing. “Not bad. A little big, though I suspect that’s on purpose.”
“It is” Sweetie Belle said around her carrot, “Rarity thought you’d want a vest that you could ‘grow into’, though she couldn’t figure out why you wore one in the first place.” At this, three sets of eyes focused on the lone colt.
“It’s a long story” The alicorn said, hoping that that would be enough. While it seemed to have become his default explanation for that particular question, Shadow knew that at some point, it wouldn’t be enough. Yet he hoped that that future point would never come, since that would mean not having to explain how getting found out would have threatened the lives of his parents and his sister. Looking at the fillies, he was relieved to see that they seemed content enough to let him keep his secret.
Hearing a groan, Shadow looked at Scootaloo, before looking to where she was glaring. Across the playground, he could see a pink furred filly trotting toward them, a grey filly with a silver mane trailing close behind. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Cutie Mark Failures…” the filly said as she approached.
“What do you want, Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo growled as the pink filly approached. While he didn’t know what was going on, Shadow knew enough from experience that it would be in his best interest to remain as quiet and invisible as possible.
“From you? Nothing, other than an explanation for why you’re annoying Shadow here.”
“We weren’t annoying him” Apple Bloom said, turning to face the new arrival “We thought we’d join him for lunch and get to know him.”
“Did you ever think that perhaps he wouldn’t want to associate with ponies with flanks as blank as yours?”
“Who asked you?”
Shadow tried to ignore the arguing fillies, his attention more focused on the final apple left. He didn’t know what was going on between the three fillies and the new arrival, but the way Diamond Tiara had less than subtly pointed out their lack of cutie marks and their subsequent responses suggested that whoever this Diamond Tiara was, she wasn’t a pony he probably wanted to be around. Biting into the apple, the colt watched as the argument continued, noting that it was starting to draw a crowd as the other students noticed what was happening.
“What do you think, Shadow?”
Shadow stopped mid chew as he heard Sweetie Belle say his name. Finishing off the apple, Shadow shrugged as he slowly stood, wincing as his burns protested. Igniting his horn, Shadow waited until the pain passed before speaking. “I don’t know what it’s like around here, but I was taught not to get between two ponies arguing.” Taking a few steps forward, Shadow stopped in front of Diamond Tiara. “I don’t know who you are, and frankly, I don’t really care to know who you are, Diamond Tiara.” Seeing the rising indignation in the filly’s face, the young alicorn continued before she could speak. “That being said, what I have seen so far tells me that you are nothing but a small dog barking at the top of your lungs, trying to make yourself look more important than you actually are.” Around him, a number of fillies and colts gasped. “My sister; Luna bless her memory, was a blank flank and got picked on every day by bullies like you.” Shadow leaned forward, until his face was less than an inch from Diamond Tiara’s “But compared to them, you are nothing more than a fly buzzing around a pony’s head like an annoying pest. I don’t know much about you, and from what I’ve seen so far, I doubt there’s much else for me to learn.” Glancing around, the young alicorn could see everypony within hearing slack jawed as he pushed back “Now I would suggest you leave us alone and go get a personality, because I have no interest in hanging around with a pony like you.” Turning around, he picked up his saddlebag in his magic, the sound of sputtering indignation warning him that Diamond Tiara wasn’t done with him. “I should also probably mention” he added, loosely tightening the strap around his barrel “you don’t scare me. I have seen things that would make you afraid of anything larger than a puddle. I have survived things that would have left you curled in a ball sucking on your hoof like a baby. You have nothing to use against me and nothing of worth to offer me, so please leave me alone.” Not waiting for a response, the injured colt walked through the crowd around them, his classmates making a path for him, as he made his way back to the school.
Shadow stretched as he slowly stood, the mid-afternoon sun lighting everything in the single room in hues of light yellow and orange. Around him, his classmates were cleaning up their desks, or putting things around the room away as the final few minutes of the school day ticked away. Making sure to stay out of his classmates’ way, the young alicorn stood by his desk, feeling his limbs slowly come back to life. As enraptured as he was with watching how the others cleaned up, Shadow considered himself fortunate that he only jumped a little as the older mare next to him spoke. “So, what did you think of your first day?”
The colt shrugged. Somehow, he was the most popular kid in class, seemingly only because of what he was. On top of that, his new found popularity only seemed to have grown since his public response to Diamond Tiara. “It’s definitely different from what I’m used to” He eventually said.
“How so?”
“I’m not used to so much color for one thing” He gestured to building around them. “Back home, the school house is painted white, and so is the inside. We also don’t have sheets of paper hanging from the walls.”
“Really? Why?”
“Paper is expensive” The colt said matter-of-factly. “It’s used mainly in books, which are also expensive, so all of this” he pointed to the colored drawings hanging around the room “would be seen as an extremely excessive waste of paper. On top of that, the only books in the building would be school related.” The teacher and her newest student watched as a pair of unicorns swept the floor. “I’m also not used to getting out on time.” Shadow could practically hear his teacher’s eyebrows rise. “Back home, we’d usually get out half an hour later than we were supposed to most days” He continued, glancing at his teacher. “The only day that I remember getting out early was my last day of school. Of course, it was a three day weekend because of a holiday, so we had plenty of reason to try and get everything done quickly.”
Cheerilee pursed her lips as she pondered what he had said, something about what he said not feeling quite right. “If paper is so expensive, how did you do homework?”
“On slate tablets with chalk?” The colt said, shrugging again. “We normally didn’t have homework; we were just constantly quizzed on what we were learning.” Shadow paused as a couple students waved at their teacher before leaving for the day. “Of course, those quizzes weren’t that hard if you paid attention.”
“So you have a good memory?”
“You have to if you don’t want ponies being constantly annoyed at you.”
“Which means I don’t have to worry about you forgetting to do your homework?” Cheerilee laughed as her new student realized how he had just blown a possible excuse for missing homework. “Don’t worry about it, Shadow. I don’t usually give out too much homework, and what I do give out isn’t too hard most of the time” She added, patting him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you grab your stuff and get going. I’m sure you want to spend some time enjoying the afternoon.” Seeing her lone student smile, the older mare smiled as Shadow gently tightened the saddlebag’s strap around his barrel. “I’m glad to have you in my class and I can’t wait until tomorrow.”
Pausing at the door, Shadow turned, bowing in respect to his teacher for a moment before turning to leave. Cheerilee sighed, smiling as he vanished into the afternoon light. Celestia knew how much she loved to teach, and it was moments like this that reinforced that love. Now only if every student of hers was more like him…
Pausing at the foot of the school’s steps, Shadow took a deep breath, the slight crispness of the air a refreshing change from the warm air of the schoolhouse. Taking a final deep breath to chase away the lingering bits of soreness from his limbs, the vested alicorn had barely taken a step before noticing the trio of fillies standing by the school’s sign along the road “Howdy.” Shadow frowned slightly as the ‘Crusaders’ as he had learned they were called approached him. Had they been waiting there for him to come out? “The girls and I were wondering if you had anything planned for this afternoon?”
“Not really” Shadow said, shrugging as he turned to walk down the road toward Ponyville, Apple Bloom and her friends falling in next to him. While he had been planning to go back to Twilight’s castle to work on his Equestrian, he didn’t exactly find the prospect of reading books written for foals particularly appealing; despite how necessary he knew it was.
“Wanna join us at Sugarcube Corner, then?” Scootaloo frowned at the colt’s look of confusion. Had she said something wrong? “You know; Sugarcube Corner? The bakery?” Seeing the continued look of confusion, Scootaloo sighed. Granted he had spent almost a month and a half in the hospital, but how had he not heard of Sugarcube Corner? “Girls, I think we have to introduce him to the greatest bakery in Equestria.” Seeing her friends nod, the orange pegasus filly took the lead, as the four ponies walked by the houses on the edge of town.
As they walked, Shadow’s head and eyes moved constantly as the colt surveyed the town. Sure he had done much the same when Twilight was showing him around after getting out of the hospital, but that had been a bit later in the day and there hadn’t been nearly as many ponies then as there were now. Around him, everything the colt saw reminded him of his old home, and yet, besides the fact he was in another country, it all felt so foreign. Around them, ponies freely conversed with other ponies, regardless of their tribe. Here a unicorn mare was taking with an earth pony stallion, while a unicorn stallion was talking to a pegasus mare as he walked down the street while she hovered nearby. Passing by a street full of vendors, Shadow found himself getting even more confused as ponies of different tribes interacted with each other, laughing and joking and generally acting like there were no obvious differences between them. Hay, for the most part he couldn’t see anypony trying to haggle over the price of something they wanted to buy.
Slowly shaking his head in disbelief, the colt and three fillies passed by the large circular building in the middle of the town, which Twilight had explained to him was Ponyville’s town hall, only for Shadow to feel his jaw all but hit the ground. Sitting on the town hall’s front steps, a caramel colored earth pony stallion was sitting next to a light blue pegasus mare with a yellow mane and the two were rubbing noses! Looking around quickly, Shadow felt his heart rate return to normal as he noticed that he had fallen slightly behind the Crusaders and that no pony was paying them or him any attention. Quickly checking that nopony was looking his way, Shadow took a slightly longer look at the obvious couple, his mind all but grinding to a halt as the stallion and mare kissed. In public no less! Rejoining the three fillies, the alicorn felt his head spin as he tried to get a grip on all the questions he suddenly had. Why were the three tribes so friendly with each other? How could they be? Everything that he knew told the colt that it shouldn’t possibly be so. The only reason that the pegasi back home had anything to do with the unicorns was that the earth ponies outnumbered the other two tribes and the two lower tribes needed to stick together, even if they didn’t quite trust the other, if they had any hope of keeping the earth ponies from running roughshod over them.
On top of that, it was obvious to the colt that those two were a couple. How was that possible as well? Sure, the mare could be trying to marry up, but unless that stallion was a complete idiot, there was no way he’d let it go on for much longer. Not only that, they were showing their feelings for the other in public, when something like that should have been done in private, lest they invite the wrath of their parents and tribes. Even as these thoughts swirled around his head, Shadow couldn’t help but recall his parents, who had bucked the island’s unspoken rule when they had dated, only to get married a year later. Could something like what his parents had done be considered normal in Equestria? If so, what did that mean about his home? What did it mean about how he had been raised? Sure, he knew why the earth ponies controlled everything of any real importance – Luna knew they reminded everypony else every chance they got – yet, while one part of him resented the treatment, another part had come to tolerate it, even accept it since the earth ponies had suffered the most under Star Trail.
“Everything alright?”
Shadow started as the simple question caught him off guard. Looking up, Sweetie Belle and her friends were looking at him, concern etched on their faces as they slowed down until he was back among them. “Yeah” the colt said, even though it was a lie “just a little overwhelmed by everything.”
“Then you better brace yourself” Scootaloo said “because we’re here.”
Shadow found himself once again confused by what he was looking at. The building in question looked like somepony had taken one look at a gingerbread house and, thinking that that would make a good building, had actually tried to build it, while tossing in some candy canes and a cupcake with candles on top for good measure. While Rarity’s boutique took the prize for most garish, in Shadow’s mind, this building easily took the prize for oddest design ever. Finding himself silently hoping the building was more stable than it looked, the colt followed the three fillies in.
The inside of the questionably designed building was decorated much like the outside, which Shadow found less surprising than he probably would have under normal circumstances. A number of ponies were milling around inside, some sitting at tables along the walls while a couple stood in line; a pink mare working behind the counter to fill their orders. As he watched, Pinkie Pie’s legs seemed to become a blur as she grabbed a number of sugary confections from behind the glass display case, wrapping them in paper before depositing them in a bag, all the while chatting with the customer at a normal speed. Shaking his head as he resolutely refused to try and figure the mare out, the colt joined his guides in the line. Before he knew it, the unicorn stallion before them left, a bag of doughnuts gripped in his magic. Behind the counter, Ponyville’s most mysterious resident smiled at the four young faces, “hey there girls, hey there Shadow. What can I get ya?”
The lone colt stared at the glass display case, his eyes growing at the sight of fresh baked muffins and all the doughnuts, rolls, eclairs and other assorted pastries dripping with frosting. Looking over the sheer variety to choose from, the alicorn frowned slightly at the sight of a single price next to each type of pastry. Did everypony pay the same price, or was it like back home, where what you paid depended on the seller’s mood and whether or not you had wings or a horn?
Looking up, Shadow felt his ears flatten against his head as he found four pairs of eyes staring at him. Unable to think of anything to say, the cornered colt fell back to the one gesture he seemed to be relying on more than any other, and shrugged.
Pinkie Pie smiled at the colt’s clear indecision “That’s not a problem. Why don’t you four grab a table and I’ll bring you something yummy.”
Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Shadow followed the three fillies over to a table by one of the windows. As they approached, he saw a yellowish magical field envelop the table’s four chairs, pulling them away and setting them aside nearby. Sweetie Belle and her friends didn’t say anything, only smiling as they stood around the table, making room for him. Shadow knew why they had done it, inconveniencing themselves so he didn’t feel singled out, and while it annoyed him that they felt they had to do it, he absolutely appreciated the simple gesture.
“So, what do you think of Ponyville?”
Shadow looked at the three Crusaders, who had turned their attention to him. “Honestly? This town reminds me a lot of home, yet so many things are different.”
“Like what?”
Where do I begin Shadow wondered as he looked around. “Well, for one thing the bakery back home isn’t nearly this big.”
“Really?”
Shadow nodded. “If I had to guess, it’s probably about half the size of this place, but I can’t say for sure, since I’ve never been in there before.”
“Why not?”
The lone colt looked at Apple Bloom, her head tilted in confusion. “Mr. Angel Food likes to exercise his right to say who can and can’t come in, and I happened to be on the jerk’s list of those not allowed in.” Shadow wanted to add a few choice epithets about the despised baker, but a quick glance at the other ponies at the table stayed his tongue. While he didn't care as much about what Apple Bloom thought, he did care about what the other two fillies thought. If he alienated them, word would get back to the other foals at school and he'd find himself very much alone. If that happened, Celestia, who he had no doubt was watching him, would seize the opportunity to make him vanish. On top of that, Apple Bloom was the sister of Applejack, who along with her brother, controlled the town's apple supply, and if others were to be believed, a good part of Equestria's apple supply as well. If he let his dislike for earth ponies get out, he'd find himself unable to get his hoof on a rotten apple, much less a fresh one, faster than he could blink.
“Why would he do that?”
Shadow shrugged, if only to keep him from telling Apple Bloom and alienating himself. Being an earth pony like that broom wielding dirt kicker, she wouldn’t understand. “If he wants to stab himself in the hoof by refusing to serve part of a rather small town, who am I to stop him. Besides, it’s not like we had money lying around at home, so even if I could go in there, I could only ever look.”
“How small was your home town?”
“About half the size of Ponyville” He replied.
Before he could continue, Pinkie Pie walked up to their table, a tray perfectly balanced on her back. With a sweep of her tail, the all pink mare slid the tray onto the table, before sweeping up the hoof-full of bits on the table in one smooth motion. “There you go: two doughnuts for Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, a blueberry muffin for Sweetie Belle and one extra-large apple fritter for Shadow.”
Thanking the perpetually peppy mare, the four ponies fell silent as they ate the offered pastries. Shadow smiled; his face lighting up as he bit into his fritter, the taste of cinnamon apple exploding on his tongue.
“So what else is different about Ponyville?”
Tossing the rest of the fritter into his mouth and swallowing, Shadow ignited his horn. Above the table, the illusion spell he had been working on for the last few weeks came to life. The illusion started out with a pegasus’s-eyed view of the ocean from the air. As the spell played, the view changed as dark stone ridges grew out of the water, a town backed by mountains quickly appearing. Passing over the town’s wharf, the crusaders could see hundreds of ponies, some working on or around the ships, while many others walked or flew over the town’s cobbled streets. As Dragon’s Bay fell away, Shadow couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he noticed the enraptured fillies tilt their heads in time with the illusion as it tilted to the side, like they were banking to the side. Along the ground, trees whipped by as the ground rose up, before falling away as they passed through the gap that separated his home from the rest of the world.
Trotting to stand behind the three Crusaders, Shadow couldn’t help but admire his work, even if it looked a little rough to him. Before them, his home valley opened before them in an expansive view of what he imagined it would look like from that particular angle. The illusion dove as it reached Red Lake, ponies in boats working the water flashing by as his old schoolhouse grew in the distance. Pulling up, the illusion lost speed as it gained altitude, before coming to a complete stop, allowing the three fillies and the assembled ponies behind them a perfect view of the valley, from his hometown to the sharp, snow-capped mountains that formed most of the valley’s walls.
Much to everypony’s disappointment, the spell died a minute later, the final image of the seemingly idyllic town burned into everypony’s mind. “Wow.”
Shadow jumped as he and the three Crusaders turned around to see Rainbow Dash standing behind them. The colt couldn’t quite read the flyer’s expression, but if he had to guess, it was a combination of shock and wonder “Hey there Rainbow Dash!”
“Hey there, Squirt” the mare replied, before turning to Shadow. “Was that your home?” Seeing him nod, she let out a low whistle. “It looks beautiful; impressive spell.”
“Thanks. I’ve had plenty of time on my hooves recently.” Shadow replied, not bothering to hide the smile from her compliment. “What brings you here?”
“Besides the awesome food? I was hoping to find you.”
“What for?” Apple Bloom asked, worry tingeing her voice.
“I’ve got some unfinished business, and I need his help.”
Ponyville’s most infamous trio of fillies looked at each other. They had all heard that tone before, and knew that if they wanted to avoid the trouble that was sure to follow, they had to make themselves scarce. Convincing absolutely nopony, all three looked at a clock hanging on a nearby wall before acting shocked at the time. “Is it that late already?” Apple Bloom said as she raced to get her saddlebag strapped on. “I have to get home before Applejack gets mad.”
“I got to help Rarity.”
“And I got homework to do.”
“Bye!” As one, the three fillies fled the bakery, not waiting to see if Shadow or Rainbow Dash responded. For his part, Shadow felt that Scootaloo’s excuse seemed a bit unconvincing, especially since Cheerilee hadn’t assigned any homework. Turning to Rainbow Dash, he could see his confusion mirrored on the older mare’s face as she stared at the shop’s front door.
With a shrug, the sky blue flyer turned to her young companion who was clearly wondering what she wanted with him. “Remember when you mentioned that chair prank a couple weeks ago?” Seeing him nod, Rainbow led them both out the door, waving to Pinkie Pie as they left, “I think now is a perfect time to see it in action.”
Shadow pursed his lips as he thought about it. It had been months since he had seen the spell used, and even longer since he had used it himself. While he could cast the spell just fine, it would take a little longer than usual, since he hadn’t used it for so long. Sure, he could have used it on High Tide on several occasions – Luna knew if any pony deserved it, it would have been him – but the only reason he hadn’t done so was that it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out who was responsible. “Who do you have in mind?”
Pausing at the street corner, Rainbow Dash pointed to a pony halfway down the street. Her target was an off-white earth pony mare with a two-toned red mane and tail operating a flower stand. As he watched, the mare got off the stool behind her cart as she helped another mare pick out some flowers. A smile slowly grew on the colt’s face as a plan slowly formed in his mind.
“Can you do it?”
Shadow nodded. He wasn’t used to casting this particular spell from this far away, but if it made Rainbow Dash smile, he’d cast it from Canterlot if he had to. “I just need you to do one thing.” Moments later, he watched his friend trot off toward the cart, a look of pleasure, seemingly at the beautiful weather plastered on the flyer’s face as she approached the mare’s cart. Stepping into the darkness between two nearby buildings, Shadow began to charge his horn, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The moment came a couple seconds later as the mare rose to greet Rainbow Dash. As soon as she stood, the alicorn released the spell, watching with barely contained glee as his magic enveloped the mare’s stool with a barely noticeable flash.
Moving out of the shadows, the colt trotted down a parallel street, making his way to where he and Rainbow Dash would meet up. Turning around a corner, Shadow couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at the smile on the older mare’s face “So how long until it goes off?” Before he could reply, both ponies jumped as a high pitched scream split the afternoon air. Racing around the corner, both stared at the luckless earth pony mare, who was clinging to a flagpole that was hanging ten feet above the ground. Below her, her stool rolled around on the ground, begging for mercy while simultaneously asking what it had done to earn her wrath. Around her, a couple ponies were clearly confused while a few tried to hide their smiles at the obvious prank. For her part, Rainbow Dash snickered quietly, tapping her newest pranking buddy on the shoulder, leading them away before anypony could think about suspecting them.