I was standing on the plateau again. Everything was normal; the biting cold, the rough stone, the silvery moonlight...
But something was different.
I felt something else there. It felt like I was being watched from the mist; that there was somepony in the dream with me. I wasn't alone; I could feel it.
Nothing happened that night, but as I waited for the sun to rise I was constantly looking over my shoulder, as if expecting somepony to be right behind me.
I opened my eyes. Light was streaming in through the window, and the faint sound of birdsong could be heard from the distance. It was the morning after I had earned my cutie mark. The night before, my excitement made it hard to get to sleep. However, once I had gotten some rest, I thought about the situation a bit deeper.
Now that I have the mark, what do I do?
I knew that my talent was mechanical engineering, but I had no idea how to start. It was a craft that had become obsolete centuries ago, and hardly anypony even knew about it. I myself knew almost nothing about it, and I was the one destined to pursue it.
If I'm going to do anything, I need to know more first. I'll head to the library, and see what I can find.
My father was downstairs, in the kitchen. "Good morning, Shadow!"
"Good morning."
He set a plate down on the dining table with his wing. "I made pancakes today. I hope that's alright with you."
"Why wouldn't I be okay with it?" I asked, sitting down at the table.
"I... I don't know, I guess..." he began to reply, taking a seat across from me. "I guess I don't really know why. As long as you're happy, everything is fine."
I smiled. "Thanks, dad. I'm planning on going to the library today, just to see if I can find anything to help me."
"Yeah, I suppose you would need to do some research first." He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Alright, just don't spend the whole day there, okay?"
"I won't, dad."
After I finished eating, I set out for the library. For everypony else, it was a normal day. There were only a few other ponies on the streets, and the weather above was clear and sunny. The town was quiet as always.
The library was, unsurprisingly, completely empty. It was still early morning, but I knew the library would stay empty for the whole day. Very rarely did anypony else ever decide to visit the library.
I began to look through the shelves, grabbing any book that looked helpful and placing it on the center table. I only found a few that seemed like they'd have any information I could use, and even they weren't likely to have more than a few sentences worth of good information. Once I had collected a decent number of books, I sat down and began to read through them.
I pored over several historical books. Before the three tribes were united, earth ponies often solved problems using mechanical solutions instead of magical ones; mostly for milling grain, keeping time, and harvesting crops. After Unification, however, the new cooperation led to the discovery that both pegasi and earth ponies possessed magic of their own, and before long machines became obsolete, and knowledge of how to create them was lost to time.
I paused after finishing the paragraph. If magic is an improvement on machinery in every way, how am I supposed to do anything meaningful? I wondered to myself.
I was interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind me. I jumped at the sound; nopony ever visited the library. Curious, I closed the book I had open and turned to see who had walked in.
She was a yellow-orange coated pegasus, with an orange-red mane and tail and vivid hazel eyes. She must have been new to Ponyville; I had never seen her before.
"Good morning," she said quietly.
"Same to you."
She walked over to one of the shelves, looking through them with restrained interest.
"If there's a specific book you're looking for, I can probably help you find it," I offered. "I come here a lot, so I'm familiar with how the books are organized." Mainly because I was the one doing most of the organizing, I thought.
"No, that's alright. I'm just looking to see what there is."
"May I ask why you're in Ponyville? We don't really get many new ponies here."
She froze, her muscles tensing slightly for just a moment. "I'm from Canterlot. Decided to move here for a change of pace," she said, rushing her words slightly.
I nodded. "I actually used to live in Canterlot, back when I was just a colt."
She was acting a bit nervous. "Is that so?" she said, almost reluctantly.
"Yeah. The libraries there were a lot less neglected, and probably had more books overall, but at least here I can reach the top shelves on my own."
"How come there's nopony else here?"
"I guess there really aren't many bookworms in this town. I'm always here alone."
"...and that doesn't bother you?" She was still looking through the shelves, but it didn't seem like she was actually paying attention to the books.
"No, not really."
She grabbed a book off the shelf, seemingly at random. "Well, have a good day," she said, walking across the room much quicker than before.
"Wait, I didn't get your name," I said, just before she left.
She stopped for a moment, holding the door open with her hoof. "Sunwalker," she said.
"I'm Midnight Shadow."
"Nice to meet you," she said, not turning around. Then, she left, closing the door behind her.
Well that was strange, I thought. She definitely didn't act like a Canterlot pony.
I remembered something from years ago.
I was in the Canterlot Public Library. I was about six years old, and my father had taken me to the library for the day. He had gone off to another section of the library to find a book. I was left alone. There was a specific book I wanted, too, but it was too high on the shelf for me to reach. It would've been so easy for me to get the book if I had wings, or maybe a horn to levitate it down with.
A unicorn walked past. I got his attention, asking him to help me. He looked at me for just a moment, with an annoyed expression on his face, then kept walking as if I wasn't even there.
Looking around, I saw one of the ladders attached to the shelves nearby. I rolled it over to the book, and began to climb. I had almost reached the book, and started pulling it off the shelf, when I slipped and fell backwards. I felt somepony grab me in midair.
"You need to be more careful, Shadow," my father said, setting me back down on the floor. "If I wasn't there to catch you, you would've gotten hurt. Do you understand?"
I nodded, then looked up at the book.
"Oh, so that's why you were on the ladder." He flew up and grabbed the book off of the shelf, bringing it down to me. I grabbed it happily. "Listen, Shadow. If you want a book from a high shelf, just ask me, okay? I don't want you getting hurt trying to do it yourself."
I nodded. "Yes, dad." I knew he was right, but I didn't want to rely on him all the time. I wished I was a pegasus, so I could fly up to the high shelves myself.
I realized I had been sitting there doing nothing for quite a while, just thinking about my childhood. I remembered that day more clearly than most of my days as a colt. What about that moment was so important to me?
I wished I was a pegasus.
That was when the idea struck. What if I could make myself into a pegasus?
It was a crazy idea by most ponies' standards. However, the more I considered it, the more I believed it was possible. There might have already been fight spells, but they were either incredibly difficult or temporary. A machine would, in theory, be usable by anypony and could be kept permanently, while still being as flight-capable as natural wings.
I looked through the stack of books I had pulled out, checking for any that might help with my new project. I picked out two, setting them aside, and decided to return the rest to the shelves. In their place I grabbed new books, about things like aerodynamics, pegasus anatomy, and weather patterns. I put all of the books into my saddlebags, wrote their names down on the check-out sheet, and started off towards home.
On the way, I briefly thought about Sunwalker. Something about her seemed off. I couldn't really tell what it was, exactly, so I decided to forget about it for the time being. My thoughts turned to my new endeavor.
I finally knew what to do next.