Twilight Sparkle gazed up at the sky, the sun setting behind the hills, as she trotted to the train station. Her assistant, Spike, followed closely behind her. She and Spike were supposed to meet with Mayor Mare at the station when the next train arrived. As they walked down the road, she saw her friend, Pinkie Pie, bouncing towards her in her Pinkie Pie way.
"Hey ya, Twilight! Hey, Spike" She said with a wide grin on her face, "Whatcha' doin'?" Even though she had known Pinkie for a very long time, Twilight still couldn't get how the pink mare could stay happy all of the time. But Twilight had learned after enough time not to question it.
"Hey, Pinkie. We're heading down to the train station right now. Princess Celestia sent me a message that said that Shining Armor was on his way to Ponyville with some new pony. She asked me to help him settle in here."
Pinkie Pie gasped, "There's a new pony coming to Ponyville today? Somepony that I don't know?!"
Spike shrugged, "Yeah, I think so."
In a flash, Pinkie raced back down the street she'd come from, rambling something about a welcome party. Twilight gave Spike a wary look.
"Wasn't this how she acted when we first came to Ponyville for the summer sun celebration?"
"Yeah, I think so..." Spike's eyes went wide when he realized what she meant, "Oh. I think we might want to warn the new pony coming to town about Pinkie Pie." They went back to their original task and continued to walk to the train station.
Spike looked at Twilight, "Who's this new pony that's coming anyway?"
The violet unicorn looked down at her assistant, "Princess Celestia said that his name was Rowan and that he's a unicorn who was talented with magic, just like me. She also said that he was the student of Princess Luna, which is surprising." She looked up as she searched through her thoughts, "Princess Luna has never had a student. Even before she became nightmare moon. I wonder what different kinds of magic he's learned from her." She suddenly perked up, "He could know a million things that I don't. I wonder if he could show me some spells."
Spike shook Twilight out of her thoughts and pointed a claw in front of them, "Hey! There's the train station. And there's the Mayor." Mayor Mare waved a hoof to them from the station platform. They both waved back as they hurried to the station platform to join her. In the distance, they heard the long whistle of the train.
Twilight smiled, "And it looks like the train is arriving on time. Let's go." Eager to meet the passengers, they walked up the steps to the station as the train came into view.
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Rowan focused on keeping both of his books, the Liber Tenebrarum and his copy of Beginning Spells for Gifted Unicorns, levitating in front of him as he compared two similar spells together. The spell that he was looking at was a shield spell, used to keep anything from hitting the unicorn who was using it. As he finished committing the spell to memory, he smiled, "I doubt that I will have to use this." But he was suddenly shook out from reading the books by Shining Armor as the train whistle blew loudly.
The white stallion pointed a hoof out the window, "Look, There's Ponyville. We finally made it." Rowan used magic to put away his book into his bag, and then glanced out the window. Even in the fading light of sunset, he could see the many houses of Ponyville as the train approached the town.
Shining tapped his shoulder with a hoof, "You might want to get your stuff. We'll be at the station in a little while."
Rowan nodded and started to gather up his saddle bags. He could feel the train begin to slow down as he levitated his bags onto his back. He looked at his travelling companion to see him already by the door of the car, packed up and ready to leave. Rowan walked over to join him by the door.
Standing by the door, they watched the town go by slowly as the train entered into the station. As the train stopped, Rowan started to open the door, but he was stopped as Shining Armor stuck out a hoof in front of him. Rowan looked at the captain to see the uneasy look on his face.
"What? What is it?" Rowan asked curiously.
Shining Armor shook his head, "Rowan, I think it'd be best if we didn't mention to anybody that you're from a different world."
Rowan cocked an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Well, I figure that the fewer ponies that know, the less trouble that we'll have. I'm sure that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will have already told those that they would want to know. We shouldn't mention it unless somebody specifically asks about it. You think you could do that?"
Rowan thought it over, finding that there was logic in what Shining said, he nodded, "Yeah, I can manage that."
Shining nodded, "Great." he looked back to the door and opened it, "Let's go."
They both exited from the train and stepped onto the station platform. Surprisingly, there was hardly anybody at the station. Everybody is probably heading home since it's about to get dark.
"Shiny!" somebody shouted out from the end of the station. They turned to see Twilight, Mayor Mare, and Spike heading towards them.
"Twily!" Shining Armor galloped over to meet them, Rowan following behind them. The captain and Twilight crashed against each other as they embraced.
"It's great to see you." Twilight said as she and her brother stepped away from each other.
"It's great to see you, too. And how are you, Spike?" he gaze dropped down to the purple dragon.
Spike grinned, "I'm doing great. Although, no matter how much I try to help, Twilight still manages to keep getting into trouble."
Rowan started to snicker a bit as everyone began to laugh.
Shining Armor grinned widely, "Some things never change."
Twilight looked unhappily at her assistant. But then she turned and noticed Rowan.
"Ah, you're Rowan, right? I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and also Shining Armor's sister. She sent me a message saying to help you settle in while you stayed here in Ponyville." She proceeded to introduce him to everybody there, pointing a hoof at each of them. "This is my assistant Spike. He's been with me ever since Princess Celestia took me on as her student. And this is Ms. Mare, Mayor of Ponyville."
Rowan smiled as he waved to all of them, "Hi. I'm glad to be here." Though in his mind he thought, The introductions are really unnecessary seeing as I know everybody here. But it's better that I just go along with it.
Mayor Mare stepped forward, "Since it is about to get dark, we should show you where you'll be staying while you are here."
Shining Armor nodded, "Right, we should get..." He was abruptly cut off as a confetti cannon fired at them. Rowan looked to see where it had come from, but to his vision was obscured as the familiar face of a pink mare popped up in front of him. Music began to play as Pinkie Pie started to sing her welcome song.
Rowan sighed, Pinkie Pie. I should have expected her to be here. She always wants to make new friends. Might as well, if I'm staying here. A smile grew on his face as he watched the pink earth pony dance around as she sung, enjoying every second of it. But then a thought occurred to him, Where's the music coming from?
He looked past Pinkie to see her welcome wagon, playing the music which was about to end. As her song ended, Pinkie Pie rushed over to stand by the wagon. With her usual smile, Pinkie opened up the door to the wagon's oven, and out shot a wave of confetti.
The colorful strips of paper rushed past Rowan, Wait, if the confetti was in the oven, then that means... He looked at the confetti cannons to see them fire out cake batter. Rowan let out a yelp as the gooey treat arced through the air and start to fly down towards him.
Quickly focusing on the shield spell, he thought to himself, I guess that I really will have to use it. I hope this works. His horn flared and a transparent wall of magic appeared right above him. The cake batter landed with a splat against the magical barrier, sending drops of it on everyone else. Rowan stepped out from under his shield and dispelled it, letting the batter drop to the station platform.
He looked back at everyone else to see them giving him unhappy looks as they tried to wipe off the cake batter. Only Pinkie Pie seemed to be enjoying herself as she licked the sweet goo off of her. "Oopsies! I guess I accidentally put the confetti in the oven and the cake batter in the confetti cannon! I wonder how many times that's happened!"
Rowan smiled sheepishly at everyone, "Sorry. That was the first time I've used that spell. I didn't know exactly what would happen."
"No, don't worry about it." Twilight reassured him as she managed to get the last of the gooey mess off of her, "But that spell was amazing! I've never seen anything like it before. Did Princess Luna teach you how to use it? If she did, then that would explain why I've never seen it before."
Shining Armor answered before Rowan could say anything, "Twilight, you've never seen that spell before because Rowan's magic is a rare form of black magic."
Twilight perked up in interest. She looked towards Rowan, "Really?"
Rowan smiled proudly as he nodded, "Yep. It's called shadow magic. It was supposedly lost in time, but Princess Luna saved a piece of it before she became Nightmare Moon." Rowan's smile faded to a more serious look, "It's great, but it does have it's downsides. For instance, I can't use any of the magic that normal unicorns can use, but the same goes for everyone else and my magic."
Mayor Mare jumped into the conversation, "Well, it's almost fully night. So, Rowan, let's show you where you'll be staying."
Rowan nodded, "Yeah, let's go. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted." But to himself he added, Partly because I woke up this morning in a prison cell.
And with that, they left the station platform and trotted onto the roads of Ponyville. The Mayor spoke as they walked, "I have to admit, I was surprised when the Princess sent the message requesting for a place where you could stay." They walked past several homes, including Twilight's library.
As they passed the library, Rowan noticed Twilight looking at him strangely. "What?" he inquired.
"Oh, I was just thinking. If shadow magic is supposed to be dead, then how are you learning it?"
Rowan smiled and levitated the Liber Tenebrarum out of his saddle bag. "This is the Liber Tenebrarum, or the Book of Shadows. Princess Luna sealed it away inside herself to protect it for one thousand years, which makes it a really old book."
Twilight took the Liber Tenebrarum and began to leaf through its pages. As she looked, a confused look began to grow on her face, "How do you read this? None of this makes sense."
Rowan smiled as he took back the book, tucking it away in his saddle bag. "Well, that book has a few magical properties. One of which makes it so that only a bearer of shadow magic can read it. Although, the problem is that none of the spells in it are labeled or identified, so I have no idea which spell is which."
Rowan began to explain his process of how he identified the spells from the Liber Tenebrarum, but as he was in the middle of explaining, the Mayor called out, "Here we are."
Rowan looked at the place where he was going to be staying. It looked like any other house in Ponyville, but it looked a little unkempt. The paint of the wood was fading, and there were a couple weeds that were growing in the front.
Ms. Mare cleared her throat, "This was the only place that I could find for you on such short notice. But once it's fixed up a bit, it'll be fine. It already has all of the furniture that you might need."
Rowan started to trot to the door, "As long as it has a bed, I'm happy. I'm exhausted." As he opened the door, the gray colt looked back at Shining Armor.
"Don't worry. I'll be staying at Twilight's library if you need me. I'm going to turn in for the night as well." He, Twilight, and Spike waved goodbye, and began to head back to the library.
"That reminds me. I need to meet back at town hall for a meeting." Mayor Mare smiled widely at Rowan, "I hope that you find your stay in Ponyville enjoyable." And with that, she headed down the road.
"I'll see you in the morning, Rowan!" Pinkie Pie said in her cheery way, and likewise headed for her home at Sugarcube Corner, leaving Rowan alone.
Rowan walked into the house. He closed the door behind him, also noticing a light switch by it. He flicked it on and the room lit up in the dark night. The main room consisted of a couch, a short coffee table, and a fireplace. Everything was covered with dust, but Rowan decided that he'd deal with it later.
He looked around the house to find a small kitchen in the next room. It had a fridge, a few counter tops, and a table with chairs. Noticing that there were a few cupboards around the room, he opened all of them with his magic to find them empty. He sighed, "Note to self: Buy some food later."
He walked back into the main room and found a staircase leading upstairs. Doubting that he'd come back downstairs, the tired unicorn flicked the lights off. He walked up the steps, carrying along his saddle-bags. There were only three other rooms upstairs, all connected by a short hallway. He opened all of the doors and one by one looked inside.
The first room was a bathroom, which was also pretty dusty, so Rowan knew he'd have to clean it later as well. The next room was a study, which only contained a desk and an empty book case. Moving on to the third door, he looked inside to find the bedroom. There was only a bed inside with coverings and a small table next to it.
Entering into the room, Rowan slammed the door behind him. Tiredly, he shrugged off his saddle bags and leaped onto the bed, not caring how much dust covered it. He *had* slept on a dirt floor of a prison cell last night, so Rowan was grateful for anything to sleep on that was soft. As he laid back his head on the pillow he noticed a window that stood just above his head. Laying down he could see Luna's moon slowly rise in the night sky.
He chuckled to himself, Man, all of my friends back home would want to see this place for themselves. I'll have to tell them everything when I get back. I wonder if they would even believe me. He continued to chuckle at the thought, but his smile faded to a grimace, That is, if there's even a spell that can get me home. He looked back to his saddle bags on the floor. What if I can't find a spell to get back to my world? What do I do then?
Thoughts of doubt began to rack his mind, making him worry. He quickly shook his head, I'll find a spell. I'll make it home safely. And if I don't, I'll just have to find another way. He looked back at the shining moon in the distance, But right now, I just need to sleep. I can study the Liber Tenebrarum tomorrow, but I should try to enjoy myself here, too. He smiled as he pulled the covers over him and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, sleep overtook him and he dreamed of life back home.