//------------------------------// // Ponyville Nights: The Ballad of Shadow Storm // Story: A New Magician in Town // by BlackMetalPony //------------------------------// “And here’s to the newcomer, Shadow Storm!” Rainbow Dash raised her glass in the air as she shouted out the toast to her friends. “Cheers!” The fillies said in unison. Not sure exactly what to do, Shadow did the same, except a couple seconds after everyone else. Everyone gave a laugh at the awkward reaction to his own toast and downed their drinks. Finally, the lone colt thinks to himself, I’ve been needing this. The familiar burn and then warmth trickles down his gullet and into his belly. For the first time since he arrived at Sugarcube Corner he lets a non-akward smile grow on his muzzle. Perhaps the night wasn’t going to be too bad. Suddenly he heard an excited voice creep up behind him. “My dear! I have just been informed by my dear friend Fluttershy that you come from Canterlot! Well I don’t know if you can tell but, I am quite a fan of your hometown!” Shadow cast his eyes downward as if trying to suppress an unwelcome memory. “Canterlot isn’t actually my hometown. I moved in with my aunt and uncle there when I was a young colt.” “Oh, well, I would imagine you’ve spent a great deal of time there. Tell me, how is that divine city?” The white unicorn leaned in with a grin. “Ah, it’s fine. They’ve rebuilt the Mane Street Bridge, and the crime rates have started to drop in the past years. So I guess you could say Canterlot is doing quite well.” “That’s... Good to hear.” The mare didn’t receive the answer she expected. The ponies apparently moved in very different circles back in Canterlot. “So, Mane Street, that’s down in the Grey district is it not?” “Indeed it is” Shadow replied, feeling a little loosened up after his second glass of cider. “Mm, well, do you get to the cloud district very often?” “Oh no, unless it’s required as part of my studies I never travel up that way. Too rich for my tastes” “Aha.. Of course you don’t.” Rarity replied with a sincere but condescending grin. “How about another glass of cider my dear.” “No objections there!” A wide smile grew on the colts face. He saw this turning into a good night. After knocking back another glass of cider, a wild Pink pony scooted up next to him. “Shads! We’re friends now right!?” Pinkie said rather loudly. “You know what friends do right?” He had no clue what the answer was, but he saw the opportunity to give a response that might make the filly laugh even more. As he began to open his mouth, the pink pony answered her own question. “They take a drink together of course!” Pinkie began a giggle that quickly evolved into a loud hooting noise. After filling up two smaller glasses from a jug that had three x’s drawn on it, Pinkie clenched her drink. Before she could raise it to her lips another pony ran up to the two and shouted “Hey hey hey. What the hay do you think y’all are doing?! Leaving me out o’ this round? I d’aint thank so!” The orange earth pony stumbled up, her eyes half closed and her speech less than coherent. Pinkie giggled and filled up another shot glass. In a deft movement the glasses were empty. Shadow began to open his mouth to speak, but realized that he was standing alone. Pinkie Pie and Applejack had run off into the center of the room and started to dance rather clumsily. The solitary unicorn began to scan around the room, his shyness all but gone, and his worries non-existent. He saw Fluttershy sitting on the same pillow in the corner that she had been for most of the night, and began to move in her direction. Unluckily for him, just as he got close enough to begin a conversation, a purple filly trotted up. Twilight opened her muzzle to say something, undoubtedly about the quality of the cider. But before she was able to compliment Applejacks handiwork, she began to fall forward. Luckily for Twilight, she had good reflexes from dodging the books that she always kept floating around her room. So with a quick movement she reached her foreleg around Shadow’s neck and kept her balance. He quickly shot her a glance, and stared her right in the eyes. Twilight responded with a stare herself, right into his eyes. Fluttershy sat in silence, staring at them both. “That was very nice of you” Twilight said, trying not to slur her speech, but not the most bang-up job. “Don’t mention it” The colt replied, trying to remember if he actually did anything. “So what school did you go back in Canterlot... umm...” The normally bright filly realized that she still couldn’t remember her fellow student’s name. “Shadow?” the colt replied, hoping that was the word the pony was looking for. “Shadow! Yes that’s the one. I’m normally a smart filly, being a student and all” Twilight explained excitedly. “But sometimes I just completely space out on things sometimes y’know. Happens to everypony from time to time I suppose. I can’t believe I couldn’t remember your name though. I’m normally a smart filly, since I’m a student right? It’s pretty hard to be a student, but I guess you would know that wouldn’t you?” Shadow tried his best to keep up with the rambling unicorn, but his brain wasn’t up for it. So when Twilight ended her rant with a question, he decided to answer with a ‘yes’, regardless of what the question was. Seeing that the yellow mare he had originally come over to talk to was still sitting right in front of him, he leaned forward and sat down beside her. Twilight, now without anypony supporting her, fell forward onto the pillow beside her newest subject of attention. “So Fluttershy,” Shadow started, feeling it necessary to use the mare’s name now that he finally had it right, “do tea parties always turn into such rowdy affairs?” He chuckled after he finished the sentence, although he wasn’t sure why. “Oh no!” The pegasus exclaimed. “My friends are normally very civil. Sometimes they just like to... let loose.” Shadow noted the defensive tone in her voice. He wondered what prompted it. Maybe she thinks I’m judging them. Maybe she thinks that since I’m from Canterlot I’m all reserved and snooty. Those damn Cloud District ponies give the rest of us a bad name. “Y’know, not all Canterlot ponies are from the Cloud District” The slightly inebriated pony explained. “Excuse me?” asked the yellow mare. “I’m not judging you at all, I like to let loose as much as the next pony” The mare was slightly confused as to what prompted this explanation, but decided to chalk it up to Applejack’s cider. She hadn’t had any yet, but this recent interaction made her consider breaking her rule just once. Fluttershy and Shadow got up and began to trot over to the table that held the cider, leaving Twilight alone on the pillow. The pegasus looked back, feeling a little guilty at leaving her friend behind. The feeling quickly passed however, when she noticed that the unicorn had become immersed in a book that she floated off Pinkie’s Shelves. She squinted her eyes and saw that the title was ‘Psychosis and Cupcakes: A Complete Guide’. The mare wondered what kind person would write such a book, or why Pinkie Pie would even the book. Regardless, it made her feel a bit better about leaving Twilight to herself. As the two new friends stood beside the table, they remained in their familiar silence. Finally Shadow spoke up, with the most intellectual thing he could think to say. “Umm, wanna drink?” “Oh yes.” The mare responded. She was much too reserved to take a drink herself, but on the occasion when someone offered her one, she was more than happy to accept. Without thinking, Shadow used his magic to levitate the jug of cider, and pour it into two nearby red cups. Fluttershy stared at the Unicorns horn in silent awe. It was nothing like she’d ever seen before. Shadow’s horn was glowing a rich and fiery red. But something was different, something made it stand out from the other unicorns’. The yellow mare was clueless as to what made it do so, and decided to leave it alone, now was not the time to quiz a cute unicorn about his magic. A devious thought started to rise Fluttershy’s mind, but with a little effort she managed to crush it underneath several layers of shyness. “Here’s your cider!” Shadow grinned as he levitated a cup over to the pony, still not realizing that he was breaking his first rule of going out into public. Luckily for him, the only mare in the room that would confront him about his magic, was currently engrossed in the intricacies of how to give your baked goods sentience. “Thank you very much.” Fluttershy said with a cute smile. She plucked the cup out of the air and began to drink. As her muzzle grazed through Shadow’s magical aura she felt something strange. On many occasions she had been touched by both Twilight’s and Rarity’s magic, and it’s familiar warm glow. But this was different, this was cold, this was dark, it felt as if the night sky had suddenly collapsed into the room and was caressing her face. She pulled away quickly, almost spilling her drink. She pondered what she had just felt, and debated whether or not she should question the newcomer. In a second her cup was empty. “Wow! Somepony sure likes that ponies cider .. um... what was her name again? Hm....” Shadow paused in thought for a few seconds. His eyes wandered around the room looking for the orange earth pony. Fluttershy stood still, she felt her belly grow warm and her head get light. She deftly poured another cup and finished it in a second. “Who were you looking for?” The mare said in a much louder voice than normal. “That pony, the one who brought the.. umm..uhh.. this.. stuff.” He replied as he pointed to his cup. Fluttershy giggled at how he tripped over his words. She gave a wide smile and answered his semi-coherent question. “I think you’re looking for Applejack. She went to lie down a few minutes ago” As Fluttershy talked she looked right into Shadow’s eyes. A familiar warmness raised in her cheeks, now amplified by the effects of the cider. “Oh right! Applejack! She’s the one who I was referring to when I was talking abo- oh. Hey, are you okay? You’re looking a little red.” Fluttershy gasped and immediately looked away, trying to think of anything but the colt in front of her. “Yes. Oh yes I’m fine. I was actually just thinking that I should check on Applejack, just to make sure she is okay. Do you think that’s a good idea? I think that’s a good idea.” With that she bolted away from the table they had been standing beside and through a door on the other side of the room. Shadow stood by himself, wondering what he had done wrong to scare off the filly. He recounted back through everything he had done since he talked to her on the couch. Let’s see, small talk, more small talk, walk to the table, offer her a drink, get her a drink, drink the drinks... What the hay did I do wro- In this moment his mental process shut down when he came to the sudden realization of what he did. He felt the warmth in his body turn to a cold chill. His veins no longer pumped blood, but ice. He shut his eyes to steady to rocking room. Everything he resolved to do, all his dreams of a new life, he just through them away. There was no doubt about it, he saw the way even the kindest of ponies would react if they found him out. His head sunk low and the end of his mane fell on the floor. To make matter worse, when he opened his eyes he saw his mane sitting right in a puddle of cider. With that, he decided it was about time to get going. He looked around the room to try and find the host of the party so her could politely thank her, and let her know it was nice to meet her. He also debated whether or not to say goodbye to Fluttershy, but decided he could do that in the morning, before he left for Canterlot. Suddenly, as he was about to walk in the direction of the dancing pink pony, somepony stumbled into him. “Whohoaa, sorry there bro, my balance is just a little on the downside at the moment.” Shadow looked at the cyan pegasus that was leaning on his flank. After unsuccessfully racking his brain for her name, he gave a sullen reply. “Don’t worry about it umm.. you. It happens to the best of us.” The pegasus deftly lifted herself off of the colt, noticing his dreary tone. “Hey, what’s up? That isn’t any kind of attitude to have at a party!” “Oh, just feeling a little tired. I was thinking about heading home.” “What?! Oh no no no no. I can name at least two fillies here who would be more than a little disappointed if you did that.” Rainbow punctuated her sentence with a wink. “Ok, really? Do you have some sort of nerve damage? You wink a hellofalot.” Shadow finally got to make his joke about nerve damage, although it was really more of an observation than a joke. Luckily, it still got the reaction he had hoped for. “Haha! Nerve damage! That’s a good one! Ahahahaa!” Rainbow Dash hooted and began to laugh uncontrollably. She started to stumble backwards, but before she collapsed onto the floor, Shadow grabbed her and held her steady. Without missing a beat, the mare continued to talk with the colt that was embracing her. “Y’know what I do when I get tired and the night’s still young?” Shadow opened his muzzle to give a clueless response, but before he could say anything the mare answered her own question. “I go out for a fly in the night sky! Wanna go for a fly?” Shadow just stared at her, unsure how to respond. “Oh wait... I forgot! You’re not a pegasus! Hehe, sorry ‘bout that.” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously, hoping she hadn’t insulted the newcomer. Ever since Equestria was united thousands of years ago, it was considered a social taboo to mock or make fun of a pony for what they could or couldn’t do. However, it was a sort of understanding between the unicorns and pegasi, that as long as they kept the earth ponies out it, there wasn’t that much of a problem. Shadow stood silently, thinking it would be best to ignore the remark. Well then, if we can’t fly, how about we go for a midnight walk?” The pegasus asked, trying to redeem herself. Unsure if the cyan pony would be able to manage walking, Shadow let go of her and observed if she was able to stand on her own. “Woooaaah” Rainbow Dash moaned a little as she swayed, trying to keep upright. After a couple seconds of balancing herself out, she stood almost perfectly still, with the exception of her back leg, which clopped against the floor with the beat of the music. “Boom! It’s settled, walking through the night! Just me and my pal Shadow! Woo!” Shadow saw that she was at least mildly capable of walking, and he saw no harm in having a little company as he walked back to his cottage. “Wooo, let’s do it” He said half-heartedly, obviously feigning the same excitement the pegasus felt. As the pair trotted down the stairs, Fluttershy emerged from a door, after tending to a pony who actually was feeling quite sick. Regardless of all the excitement that was going on around her, she managed to focus only on the gray and blue flanks that descended the stairs, side by side. Oh Fluttershy, another new friend got bored of you and walked off with Rainbow Dash. Just like in flight school. You just can’t compete with her. Fluttershy looked down at the floor in dismay, and trotted over to Twilight, who hadn’t moved an inch and was still engrossed in the book, although looked slightly dismayed. Fluttershy sat down beside her, and stared at the wall in silence. Rainbow Dash and Shadow Storm exited Surgar Corner and stood at the stairs looking at their next challenge. There was no railing to lean on, unlike the two flights of stairs they just descended. Rainbow was the first to attempt to walk down them. Raising her hoof she leaned forward and tried to place it down on the next step. Unfortunately, she failed, and began to fall forwards. Her wing quickly shot out, and caught Shadow’s back. This was enough for the pegasus to regain her balance, and stand upright again. The pair stood still, remaining of the top step of the sweet shop. It was then that Shadow got to witness something that few ponies had ever seen, Rainbow Dash’s cheeks started to turn a light shade of red. The pegasus chuckled nervously as she kept her wing around Shadow. “Maaaaybe we should try and tackle these together, eh?” The cyan pony proposed, trying to act as calm and cool as possible. “Solid planning right there” Shadow replied with a chuckle. After a few false starts, the two ponies finally made down the stairs. They trotted along for a couple minutes, Rainbow’s wing still pulling Shadow in close, before Rainbow spoke up. “Soooo, you smoke?” The pegasus inquired as she pulled something out from a little bag that had been hanging at her side. “Naah,” replied Shadow, “Never really had the bits to start up on that. Student’s aren’t exactly the richest people.” “Oh, well these aren’t your conventional victory cigarettes.” Rainbow gave a wink as she finished her sentence. Shadow was about to open his muzzle to make a joke about nerve damage, but he quickly caught himself and remembered he had done that about fifteen minutes ago. They walked down an alley and leaned on the side of a building. Taking a closer look at the rolled paper the mare had, he realized it was home-rolled. A familiar scent wafted into his nose. He had a flashback to some of his days back in Canterlot. The ponies that he had spent time with, albeit on few occasions, always had this scent about them. Shadow was by no means an innocent pony, he had partaken in their smoke-up sessions as eagerly as the next pony. However, it had been quite a while since he had spent any time with those friends, in his last two years he had completely immersed himself in the study of his dark magic. It made remember why he had grown such a long mane. “Oh wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen one of those” Shadow said to the mare. “Hm?” Rainbow wasn’t sure if her new friend was a tad more prudish than she thought. She considered asking him if he was ‘cool with it’, but she had already placed the joint in her mouth. “Haha, you planning on sharing?” Shadow inquired, suddenly trying to act very cool. Rainbow smiled then giggled, the smile for what he said, the giggle was for his sudden attempt to match her coolness. In that moment, a desire swept up into her brain. “Hey Shadow?” They mare said, briefly looking to see if anypony was around. “Yeah?” He responded, looking down at the filly, awaiting her response. In a single swift action Rainbow propped herself and the colt onto their hind legs, and positioned herself in front and on top of Shadow. The couple leaned against a wall. Rainbow reached her forelegs around Shadow’s neck, and crept her wings around his torso, bringing herself closer to him. The mare felt the warmth of the colt that she pressed her body against. She felt her entire body grow warmer as her heart began to beat faster “I don’t normally do this” she whispered into her partner-in-crime’s ear. The flushed mare closed her eyes, and pressed her mouth against his. Shadow reached his forelegs around the slim filly and pulled her even closer in. The two stood still, holding the kiss under the night sky. Finally, she broke away from the kiss. “Don’t normally do what? Seduce shady colts in back alleys?” Shadow chuckled as he stared straight into Rainbow’s eyes. She grabbed the back of his head and licked his grinning muzzle before she kissed him again. The filly slipped her tongue through Shadow’s muzzle and tasted the inside of his mouth. How the buck did I end up here? Shadow asked himself, but decided to leave his question unanswered and enjoy the moment. “Hehe” Rainbow chuckled as Shadow broke the kiss. “Oh no, seducing ponies is a specialty of mine, just not colts.” She smiled slyly and kissed Shadow once more before falling back on all fours. “Now how about that smoke?” Rainbow proposed. “Sounds ideal” The confused colt replied, now wondering how indeed did he got there. Rainbow began to search through her small pouch again. Before long she shouted in frustration. “What the hay, I forgot matches! Now we’re gonna have to go back to Pinkie’s!” “Gimme one sec” Shadow said as he closed his eyes. In a second his horn gave off a dark glow, and a tiny burst of flame ignited the tip of the joint held in Rainbow Dash’s mouth. The filly inhaled deeply. As she blew the smoke out of her mouth she commended the colt. “That’s some trick you got there. Twi would be impressed.” The name gave Shadow a slight shock. The spell he used was a signature of Luna’s dark magic, if Twilight found out he knew it, nothing good could happen. “Ummm, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell her about that.” “Meh. Suit yourself boss.” Rainbow passed Shadow the smoking joint. The rest of the night his magic wasn’t brought up or used once. He saw that Rainbow Dash wasn’t the kind of pony who would judge him for what kind of magic he used. Maybe I’ll give Ponyville a second chance, he thought as he caught a glimpse of the large moon overhead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle stumbled into her library just as the sun began to rise. She felt as if she was about to collapse. “Fun night?” Spike asked with sarcastic tinge. “Ugggg Spike. Sometimes I don’t know how the hay I have any friends at all!” Twilight stumbled over to a couch and practically fell onto it. “There I was, sitting right in front of the cutest colt who came from Canterlot to Ponyville to be a student! I was sitting there right beside him, practically begging him to start talking about his studies or my studies or somebody’s studies! But then he just gets up and walks away! Do I really look so stupid that not even another magic student wants to talk to me!? Not to mention the fact that he was probably the best looking pony in Ponyville! Oh Spike, he would just be perfect. I don’t know what I’m going to do!” As Twilight’s slurred rant ended, Spike pressed his hand against his face and shook his head back and forth. He left to make himself breakfast, and fetch a blanket for the pony who had just passed out on the couch.