Celestia walked up the stairs to the castle. She was growing concerned. The moon was not lowered yet, and her sister was not on the balcony. They always stood on the traditional balcony when switching shifts. Her sister had been acting strange since the visit from their brother. She walked to the top of the stairs and saw Luna looking through her bedroom window. Not much was in the room. Luna was not much of a designer, so her bedroom had just the minimum of what it needed. Luna's massive bed dwarfed the room. Across from the bed sat a lovely dresser. A fireplace that was to the left of the bed heated the room.
“Sister,” Celestia said gently in an attempt to get her sister's attention. Luna sighed and then continued staring out the window. Celestia walked toward her sister. She tried again. “Sister.” Luna kept looking through the window. She stared as if she was under a spell of some sort. The kind that makes the victim unable to notice anything around them. Celestia knew what it was. Her sister was in deep thought and depressed.
Celestia sat next to luna and said with a gentle voice. “Hello, Luna, what is on your mind. The night is over. You can lower the moon now.”
The moon lowered, and Luna spoke, “I am sorry, sister. I was just thinking.”
Celestia put a hoof around her sister. “you can tell me anything that you are thinking.”
Luna smirked. “Isn’t it funny when we were fillies, I had such a hard time raising and lowering the moon.”
Celestia smiled, “But you eventually did it on your own.”
She looked at her sister and noticed that she held something in her hoof.
Fearing the worst, Celestia took a few steps back. “Sister, what is this about.”
Luna looked at her sister. “I am very happy for twilight, that is she has come very far.” Luna took a few minutes to compose herself. “I was hoping that by this time, I would have someone that I could give the powers of the night to.”
Celestia sat in front of her sister and breathed out. “Twilight is a great student. When the time comes, she can choose someone to raise the moon. I am sure that, for now, she can control the sun and the moon.”
Celestia looked up at Luna and realized that she was hovering the small toy next to Luna. Then suddenly it clicked in her head. “Luna, I am so sorry.”
Luna replied with a small giggle, “for what.”
Celestia said. “After you went to the moon, I searched all of Equestria for them. I tried to find them, but I could not find any trace of the missing ponies.”
Luna sighed. “It has been a thousand years. Ponies don’t live that long. So they all grew up and lived their lives.” Luna breathed out and looked at the now rising sun. “I just hope that they lived long and safe lives.”
Celestia walked over to her sister, “Of course, sister, I am sure they did.”
Luna’s eyes started to tear up. “The only member of the ponies that would still be alive would be my son.”
Celestia lowered her head. She could only say, “I know.”
Luna walked over to her sister and looked her in the face. “I am never going to see him again.” She gasped for air. The look of dread was on her face, “Can’t I stay behind. Maybe there is still a chance.”
Celestia replied, “We have already been away from our home for over 1000 years. If your magic fades forever, you will be lost.”
Celestia put a wing around her sister, “I lost you once, I can’t lose you forever.”
Tears streamed down Luna's face, she bit her lip, “It is so funny in a strange way. Over 1,000 years ago, I wanted to be you and rule a kingdom of my own. Be loved by my subjects, just like my big sister. Little did I realize that it would cost me, my son. The one who loved me more than the moon. The one who needed me.”
Luna hovered the toy in front of her face, “What is funny is that I would have gotten away with it. If I didn’t go back for this stupid thing.” She levitated it into a wall. Stuffing flew into the air. The Toy pony broke into two. Its head landed in front of Celestia. Its body landed in the middle of the room. Celestia walked over to it. She gently picked it up with her magic and placed it on the fireplace mantle.
Celestia walked over to the sobbing Luna. She placed an arm around her sister. “I don’t like seeing you upset. It makes me afraid that you are going to go into your dark place again.”
Luna cackled at her sister, “Why are you afraid I am going to say yes to the shadow again.”
Celestia frowned before she could speak Luna cut her off. “I have not seen the shadow sense the Elements of harmony cured me.”
Luna pleaded, “But that doesn’t stop me from wondering if my Son grew up and how he is. For all, I know he could be….” Luna broke out in tears. She sobbed as she fell to the ground. “I can’t believe I left him there. I am the worst mother ever.”
Celestia put a wing around her sister and put her and pulled her in close. “Shhh… It is ok. Everything is going to be ok. The others took care of him, and he lived a wonderful life.” Luna sobbed on her sister.
“He is Living a wonderful life.” Celestia corrected herself. Celestia fought to put a smile on her face. “Don’t worry; your son is out there.”
Luna stopped crying long enough to ask, “How do you know?”
Celestia said. “because he is related to us. If we can survive the Alicorn war, your son can survive some forest.”
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Shadow ran through the trees. He stood on a stump and stuck his nose up in the air and took a big whiff. “I can smell the old castle. Come on, everyone, we are not that far away.”
Whitwolf laughed out loud. “Boss, I don’t think I have ever seen you this happy.”
Shadow grinned, “It feels like we were never going to get here. I am just happy to set up camp.” He walked up to an old bridge. “wow, I am surprised that the rope bridge is still here. You would think that it would have collapsed. Must be that old Equestria care.”
Whitwolf walked in front of the bridge. He looked over to Triage, who was wide-eyed and biting her lip. Blaze was waving for him to go first. He let out a big sigh. He held his breath and slowly pulled the wagon across the bridge.
Eclipse broke the silence. “You know Shadow; it is not too late to set up camp somewhere else. That does not involve crossing an old bridge.”
Shadow looked back at the group, “It is fine. The bridge is safe.”
The bridge creaked and swayed under the weight of all the iron.
Shadow smiled when the wagon reached the other side. And it was on solid ground again. “See, I told you it is safe. They don’t make bridges like this anymore.”
“I am sure there is a reason.” Eclipse Frowned.
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They walked up the stairs to the old castle. Shadow opened the main hall doors. Inside the castle, it was not as damaged as one would think. The roof was missing; however, there was no debris. At most piles of dirt littered the floor.
Shadow smiled. “See what I mean, this place is sturdy.”
Blaze spoke up. “Yeah, because half this place has already fallen down.”
Shadow said, “I can prove it.”
Shadow walked up to one of the pillars and gave it a swift kick. The column fell over, and a chunk of the roof collapsed. Shadow looked behind himself to see that it just barely missed hitting him. He looked at his pack to see everyone looked annoyed.
Shadow Hound placed a paw on the back of his head and searched for what to say next. “Well, the good news is, at least we have a great view of the sky.” He walked away from the roof as it continued to crumble. “We are all fine lets not set up camp under anything.”
Eclipse grumbled under her breath. “we would be fine in a nice hotel.”
Shadow walked into the center of the entrance area. “This is the perfect spot. Lets set up camp here.”
Whitewolf and Triage started unpacking the wagon. Eclipse rolled her eyes. Blaze started collecting wood.
Shadow looked at the group, “Continue unpacking. I need to go take care of something.”
Servo ran over to Shadow, “I should go with you.”
Shadow stepped away from Servo. “You don’t need to. I am only going to get the shards.”
Servo replied, “All the more reason why I should go with you.”
Shadow replied, “It is an easy task. I am only going to be gone a second.”
Servo replied, “I can get you a good deal.”
Shadow replied, “I need you to control things here.”
Servo said, “Your pack is fine. Whitewolf, you are in charge.”
Whitewolf yelled out. “Sweet!”
Shadow replied, “Whitewolf, you are not in charge.”
Whitewolf, “Ahh.”
Shadow continued, “Servo, you are not going with me, and that is final.” Shadow flew away.
Servo sighed, “I better go follow him. He is going to get us in trouble.” Servo flew after Shadow as fast as he could.
Blaze looked at the group. “Wait, who is in charge?”
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Sounds of hooves on cobble filled the air. Shadow searched the middle of the town square for General Seaspray. It was challenging to do because ponies rushed around him. They didn’t give him a second thought. He thought that it was slightly amusing how they didn’t notice him. The ponies were paying so much attention to what they were doing. They were bumping into him, but they wouldn’t say anything as they ran by.
Shadow began to wonder if his pack needed the pearl shards, or if the ponies would even notice Lycans in their little town. Shadow watched a guard walk past him. He quickly changed his mind. The ponies didn’t care that he was in their town, but right now, shadow was using his ability. He could transform at will into a pony form. His pack could not, so they needed the shards. If one guard found his friends, the evil ponies would probably turn them into statues. And use them to decorate the castle garden. His team needed to blend in.
He looked around for General Seaspray. After a few minutes of searching, he saw Seaspray sitting at a café in dark sunglasses and a red baseball cap. Shadow walked over to the table. “what are you doing.” Seaspray continued to look at his newspaper. Shadow cleared his throat. Seaspray continued to look at his paper. Shadow grit his teeth. He then sat down at the table. “What are you doing in that silly hat.”
Seaspray didn’t look up from the newspaper. But he finally spoke. “Sir, I am waiting for someone, and that seat is for him. Could you please move along.”
Shadow growled, “I am the person that you are going to meet. How could you miss that.”
Seabreeze calmly put down the paper. “Prove it.”
Shadow Jumped over the table and put his face into Seasprays. “I am Shadow Hound, the son of King Archimedes. Prince of the Lycan kingdom. My father gave your kingdom a Pearl 1 year ago because your queen was too afraid to deal with the storm king.” Shadow grinned, “Shall I go on.”
Seaspray cleared his throat, “Just being careful. The shards are significant to us. They come from the pearl. Once they are gone, there are no more.”
Shadow frowned, “Yeah, so I have heard.” Shadow sat back down in the seat. “Did you bring them.”
Seaspray put a small jewelry box on the table and then opened it. The box was lined with red silk. Resting on the silk was five shards. “I brought some shards from the pearl for you.” He then shut the box. “They are yours as long as you brought me 5,000 bits.”
Shadow exhaled. There is always a catch; he thought to himself. “I don’t have the money now. But I can pay you in a few days if you give them to me now.”
Seaspray scoffed, “No bits, no Shards.”
Shadow pleaded, “I am the prince of the Lycan kingdom. You can trust that when I say you will get paid, you will.” Shadow tried to remain calm as he thought his next words very carefully. “Don’t forget the Lycan Kingdom and the Hippogriffs are allies.”
Seaspray said, “So much for allies. It was the ponies that stopped the storm king.”
Shadow pleaded, “And it was the Lycans that brought you the pearl. The very same pearl that your queen used to keep her kingdom safe.”
Seaspray sneered, “And you think this gives you power over us. Do you think this means that you can take it back? Shard by shard.”
Shadow tried to remain calm as he clenched his teeth, “Of course not, but right now to keep my kingdom safe, I need those shards. I only need them for the next few days. They are from the pearl. It is yours now. You can keep them after-.” Seaspray pounded his talon on his chest, “That is right. We bought the Pearl, and now you need to buy the shards. That is the way this world works.”
Shadow lost his temper. He spoke in a low growl. “I don’t think you understand. I am leaving with the shards.” Shadow giggled, “You can give them to me, or I will take them.”
Seaspray frowned, “You try anything, and the guards will destroy you before you can escape.”
Shadow smiled smugly, “Did you forget? I am ShadowHound. I can transform into a different Pony. They will never know who to look for.” He smiled from ear to ear. “I will take my chances with the guards, It was a long trip, and I am so hungry, maybe I should have a hippogryph sandwich. How do you like that, chicken wings.”
Seaspray scoffed, “Wow, you are a monster.” He pushed the box over to Shadow, “I am not going to forget this. Queen Nova will hear-” Shadow interrupted, “Relax bird brain. You can have them back in a few days. And If you keep quiet, I will even throw some bits your way.”
Shadow got off the table and hovered the box into his arms. He grinned as General Seaspray flew away.
Shadow skipped away from the table with a smile on his face.
“Did I seriously just hear that!”
Shadow dropped the box, And looked behind himself, “Oh hi Servo, it is you.”
Servo grit his teeth. “Don’t hi Servo me. I heard everything that you said.”
Shadow walked away from the café. Servo followed him down the path. He whispered to Servo, “what choice did I have. If I didn’t get the shards, then the mission would be a failure. I did what I did to secure the mission.”
Servo groaned. “This is why I wanted to go with you. It is horrible what you just said. If your father-”
Shadow ran up to Servo's face, “Don’t tell my father.”
Servo stuck a claw out and pushed Shadow away. “What are you going to do about it.”
Shadow showed his teeth, “Did you just ask me that?”
Servo replied, “yeah, I did. And before you answer, don’t forget what your dad said. If I go missing, General Claw is going to drag you back to your father by the tail.”
Servo crossed his arms and turned his back on Shadow, “you can’t threaten me.”
Shadow slammed his head against a tree. The tree broke in half. Shadow fell to his knees. “Your right.”
Servo “Excuse me.”
Shadow screamed, “I said you are right. I should have handled that differently. I was just so afraid of failing this mission. Of letting my father down. Now I could have just made things worse.”
Servo pat Shadow on the back, “It is, what it is. we can’t worry about that now.”
Shadow replied, “I am so stupid.”
Servo sighed, “You're not stupid, you just need to calm down. He was being a bully. You were right, but because of the way that you handled it, you were wrong.”
Shadow walked away, “I need to go clear my head.”
Servo yelled, “You need to bring these back to camp.”
Shadow kept walking, “I need to go do something else, can you take those back for me.”
Servo strolled behind Shadow, “Sure, but this is not exactly handling it.”
“I am just a ball of disappointment,” Shadow yelled.
Servo screamed back, “That is not what I meant. Don’t be so dramatic.”
“All the more reason why I need to go clear my head,” Shadow said.
Servo sighed and flew toward the castle. Shadow walked past a sign reading “Apple Family Orchard.”
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Shadow walked down the path. He was enjoying the cool breeze through his mane. Unfortunately, he could only feel the leaves with his hooves. He liked it better when he could feel his paws in the crunchy leaves. He could transform back, but he was afraid that if a random citizen walked by it would startle them.
Shadow came to the end of the path. He saw a bright red barn with an orange pony with blond hair walking into it.
“I have an idea that is going to be hilarious.” Shadow grinned with excitement as he said to nobody in particular, “This is going to be just the thing to cheer me up.”
AppleJack picked up a barrel of cider and carried it into the barn. AppleJack’s hooves slipped under the weight, but after years of being an apple farmer, she had grown used to it. Gently she placed it in the barn with others that she had been collecting for the gala. “I know that Twilight hasn’t asked for it yet, but she is sure as shooten going to need something for those fancy ponies to drink and what is better than apple family cider.” She left the barn to get more.
She left the barn and walked out of the yard only to discover that it was empty. “Gosh, where did they all go.” Panicked, she looked around and couldn’t find them. “Barrels of cider don’t just vanish.” She walked into the barn only to discover that she couldn’t open the door.
After forcing the door open a crack, she found the barrels of cider against it. “what in the horse apples is going on here?” She blinked and did a double-take. AppleJack walked away from the barn. “Well I guess I’m done with that job.”
She turned the corner to enter the field only to see that she couldn’t. The cider was in front of the apple trees. She said under her breath. “I am really getting tired of Discord and his pranks.” She ran to the barn to see what if her theory was right. She opened the door only to see that it was empty. She stood in the middle of the barn and yelled. “Discord, I have already told you I don’t think it is funny when you play with my cider.”
The door started to creak. AppleJack ran to the door only for it to close. “Oh, come on.” AppleJack screamed in vain as the door lock. She banged on the barn door. “Not funny, Discord.”
Just then, she heard a familiar voice. “You never told me about your friend, Discord. Is he cute.”
AppleJack turned around to see Shadow Hound sitting in the middle of the barn.
Shadow grinned, “to be fair; you never told me not to touch your cider.”
AppleJack ran toward him. “You no-good varmint.”
Shadow screamed, “ahh.”
It was then that she tackled him down to the ground. He fell onto his back. Then she took her hoof and rubbed it in his mane. “This will teach you to scare me half to death.”
Shadow said, “Hey, Hey, is that any way to treat a prince.”
AppleJack responded, “I’ll prince you.”
Shadow laughed, “Ok, Ok, I get it I am sorry.”
AppleJack stopped and instead imbraced him for a hug. “How could you not talk to me for over a year.” She rested her head on his chest fur.
Shadow grabbed her with his paw and rubbed the back of her neck. “I missed you too.”
Shadow looked at AppleJack, “I didn’t plan it that way, a creature called the pony of shadows attacked me last year. I was injured so I couldn’t come to Ponyville. It took me that year to heal up.”
AppleJack got up, “The pony of shadows. We wondered where it got all that power from.”
Shadow said, “Huh, Say what.”
AppleJack looked him in the eyes, “It looks like we should catch up. Let's go grab a bite to eat, and I will explain it all to you.”
Shadow said, “That sounds nice, but.”
AppleJack lowered her head, “I understand. It is fine if you don’t want to talk to me anymore.”
Shadow grinned, “It is not that, it is just that my dad put me in charge of a pack of Lycans.”
AppleJack “It is fine. I am busy I need to move all the cider back into the barn.”
Shadow sighed, “All right, I can grab a bite. As long as wherever we go has something with protein in it.”
Shadow and AppleJack walked out of the barn. AppleJack replied, “Sounds good to me. We have so much to catch up on.”
Shadow grinned, “one more thing.” Magic erupted from Shadows Horn, and all the cider in the field disappeared. AppleJack ran to the barn and looked inside. All the cider was in the center of the barn.
AppleJack blushed. “Just making sure.”
They both walked down the path and toward Ponyville. Shadow transformed back into his pony form.
AppleJack looked at him, “Has anyone told you yet.”
Shadow frowned, “What?”
AppleJack grinned, “Welcome to Ponyville.”