//------------------------------//
// The Shadows of Wolves 
// Story: A New Friend 
// by Shadowflame 
//------------------------------//

	Rowan felt his stomach growl as Rarity continued to use him as a model for her clothing designs. It was just about lunchtime now, but for Rowan, it felt like he had eaten breakfast yesterday. During the time that he and the rest of the group had been inside Carousel Boutique, Rainbowdash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had all left for their own different reasons.

Pinkie Pie left because she had promised to babysit the cake twins while Mr. and Mrs. Cake worked. Rainbowdash had left because she'd gotten bored from watching Rarity design clothes and she needed to move around a bit. Applejack had left because she there was some work that needed to be done at the farm, but the earth pony said that she hoped to see them there once they were done.

That left Rowan, Rarity, and Twilight in the boutique together. Rowan stood on a platform, wearing some kind of a suit, while Rarity worked furiously with the clothing. Rowan glanced over at where Twilight sat and snickered loudly. Apparently she had gotten bored, so she had decided to take a look at the Liber Tenebrarum. Now the purple unicorn sat with a puzzled expression as she tried to read the text.

Twilight heard Rowan's snickering, turning towards him, "What's so funny?"

Rowan merely smiled, "Ah, nothing. It's just that the book is magical, and it makes itself unreadable to those who can't use shadow magic." His stomach suddenly growled, reminding him of how hungry he was. Looking towards Rarity, who was sewing a thread through the fabric on him at the moment, he asked, "How much longer until you're done?"

"Oh, don't worry, Rowan. I just need to tie off this thread and then you can get out of the suit." She gave a small giggle to herself, "This is turning out more wondrous than I had imagined!" She put down all of her tools as she finished the sewing, "All right, darling. Take a look at yourself. I want to know what you think of it."

Rowan looked in the full length mirror next to him, and was immensely surprised. He was wearing a full outfit that seemed pretty casual, but it of patterns of red, black, and white. Rowan didn't really care about fashion back home, but he had to admit that he looked pretty good in this suit.

Rarity cleared her throat, "When I first started this design, I was trying to make a simple fashion for a stallion, but it wasn't going well. Once I saw you, I realized what it needed, so I made this design for your size, and colored it to compliment your mane and fur."

Rowan smiled as he was about to thank the mare, but once again, his stomach growled at him ravenously for food.

He looked towards Rarity, "Thanks, it looks great." he quickly started to take the clothes off, "But I think that we should get going. I'm starving and I was hoping that I could get something to eat at Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight nodded, "That's right. We promised that we'd meet Applejack at the farm. Why don't you come with us, Rarity?"

Rarity began to help Rowan take off the clothes, "Oh, I'm sorry, Twilight. But I have other things that I need to attend to, but thanks for thinking about me. 

Finally, Rowan managed to get out of the clothes. He stood up, picked up the Liber Tenebrarum, and walked out of the boutique with Twilight. They both waved goodbye to Rarity as they walked out onto the road.

As they walked, Rowan started to read the book of shadows. As he read, he realized that he must have gone through at least 50 pages by now, but when he looked, he'd only read through about twenty.

The book is magical. He reminded himself, That means that the information inside it could be limitless, and maybe it condenses all of the information into a small amount of pages But then, he began to worry, How long would it take me to find the spell to get me home? It could take weeks, or even months.

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he continued to read. He turned the page, and he cocked an eyebrow as he found that the next page was blank, all except for one small passage. That's strange. I've passed this page at least three times by now, but I've never seen this before. Curiously, he read the single passage.

Every bearer of magic have their spells intensified whilst in an environment suiting the nature of their magic. This has always been true with any form of magic, including shadow magic. The wielders of shadow magic find the darkest places as their sanctuary in the land. It is in a land of darkness, where the light of happiness has never settled upon, and where the most inexperienced being of darkness can control their shadows to a greater degree.

Rowan looked up from the passage, completely confused. What's that supposed to mean? Why is this passage alone on the page? He shook his head, I keep forgetting. This book is full of magic. Maybe the book itself is trying tell me something. He reread the passage carefully, trying to work out the meaning of it.

Okay, it says that magic can become more powerful if it's in the right environment. But how is this supposed to help me. He continued to puzzle over it, but then it hit him, Oh, if I find the spell that will send me back home, it's bound to be difficult and complex. The book must be telling me that once I find the spell, then I could easily use the spell to get back home it I do it in the right environment.

He sighed, Thanks, but I'd rather have the book show me the spell. And where is a place that is covered in darkness? I don't think that there is any place like that in Equestria.

"Hey, we're here." Rowan was jolted out of his thoughts as Twilight pointed a hoof towards the farm.

Apparently, the entire time that Rowan had been thinking, they had left town and now stood by the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. Rowan shook his head, saying in a hesitant way, "Oh... Great. Let's go."

Twilight cocked her head a bit, "What's wrong, Rowan?"

"Oh, it's..." Rowan faltered, I bet she'd know a place that the book described. But should I ask her? he sighed, Any help would be good. "Um, Twilight, is there a place around here that is full of darkness? I don't mean darkness like a dark room, but darkness that is more... I don't know, evil?"

Twilight gave him a curious look, "Well, I don't know. There's only one place that I know of that comes close to that, and that's the Everfree Forest. Why are you asking?"

Rowan felt like facehooving himself, The forest. Why didn't I think of that? he sighed, "Let's go. I'll explain as we walk."

Both of the unicorns walked into the farm, passing by the several apple trees in the orchard as Rowan told Twilight about the passage in the book. Twilight's eyes widened as he finished, "Wow, I never would have guessed that being in a certain place would affect your magic. But then again, I've never been outside of Equestria, so my magic has never been affected by this sort of thing before."

Rowan smiled, "Well, I asked you about the forest because I want to see if it's true. I want to see if my magic can really become more powerful. And since my magic is based around shadows and darkness, I'm going to test this at night."

At this Twilight's enthusiasm vanished, "But, Rowan, the forest is dangerous, even during the day. You don't know what you're going to find in there. There are dangerous creatures like timberwolves and cockatrices."

"Don't worry. I'll go into the forest, but not too deep into it. Just far enough so I can get out fast if something bad happens."

Twilight shook her head, "I still don't like it." she frowned a bit, but then she perked up at a thought, "How about I come with you? That way, if something happens, then at least I can help."

Rowan was about to object, but then a familiar voice called over to them from the trees, "Hey, Twilight, Rowan! Glad ya'll could make it!"

They both turned to see Applejack galloping towards them, carrying saddle baskets full of apples. As Rowan looked at the delicious apples, his stomach growled loudly enough that Twilight could hear it. Twilight looked at Rowan in surprise, but then her look turned into one that said, 'We'll talk about this later.'

Applejack smiled happily to see the two friends, "So, Rowan. How ya likin' the farm?"

"Oh, it's great. I was hoping that you could show me around."

The mare smiled proudly, "Why sure. Follow me and Ah'll show ya the entire Apple family farm. But first Ah just need ta stow these here apples in the cellar." She started to trot towards the barn, Rowan and Twilight following close behind her.

Rowan eyed the Applejack's baskets full of fruit, "Um, hey Applejack?"

"Yeah?" she answered, turning her head towards him.

"Um, sorry but is it too much trouble to ask for one of those apples. I never got anything to eat for lunch, and I'm starving."

Applejack smiled, "Why sure, help yourself." Rowan levitated one of the apples and gratefully began to bite into it. Applejack looked towards Twilight, "Any for you, sugarcube?"

"Sure, why not." Likewise, she took an apple and began to eat it.

As the three of them reached the barn, Applejack went to the side of the building and opened the door to the cellar. Looking at the two unicorns, "Hang tight here, you two. After I store these apples, I'll show you the rest of the farm." Rowan and Twilight nodded, and the earth pony descended down into the cellar.

Rowan shoved the rest of his apple into his mouth, smiling at the taste. But then he noticed Twilight glancing at the Liber Tenebrarum, which Rowan was levitating next to him.

"Aren't you getting tired of carrying that book? Why not just stow it someplace with magic?"

"Oh, um..." As Rowan thought about it, he noticed that he was getting tired of keeping the book up in the air. "Yeah, I'm getting a little tired, but I don't know any spells like that."

Twilight gave him a look of confusion, "Really? How many spells can you do in all?"

Rowan thought to himself, naming off all of the spells, "Well, there's the flaming crescent spell, the levitation spell, the gust spell, and the shield spell. Other than that, I don't really know anything else."

Twilight frowned, rolling her eyes sarcastically, "And you wanted to go into the forest alone." She conjured a piece of parchment and a quill, "Here, before we go into the forest, you should try to find spells like these in your book." She began to quickly scribble down several things on the paper.

Rowan shook his head, "But..." The purple unicorn continued to jot down several spells. Rowan sighed, Okay, I guess that I could really use any help that I can get.

As Twilight finished writing, she magicked away the quill and handed the paper to Rowan. "These are a couple of spells that will be pretty useful if we end up running into anything in the forest."

Rowan looked at a couple of the spells on the paper. Twilight had written down numerous spells, like a illumination spell, a storage spell, and even a small spell for navigation. "All right, when I get the chance, I'll look up these spells." He took the paper and stuck it inside of the Liber Tenebrarum.

As he did, Applejack came out of the cellar. "All right, everypony. Let's check out the farm." She smiled cheerfully as she led the two unicorns around the barn and into the orchard.


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"Glad that ya came to see the farm, Rowan." Applejack thanked him as they finished their tour of the farm. The mare shook his hoof vigorously as he and Twilight stood outside the gate of Sweet Apple Acres.

Rowan smiled, "Anytime, Applejack." But then he looked up in the sky to see that the sun was starting to sink in the sky. "Well, we have to go. I've got to do some other things."

Twilight agreed, "Thanks AJ. Sorry if we took up most of your time."

"Don't bother. Ah've already done most of my daily chores, so ya'll didn't take any of my time. Anyways, see ya both later." With that she turned and galloped back to the barn. Meanwhile, Rowan and Twilight headed back to town.

Rowan turned to Twilight, "Ok. If you're going into the forest with me, then we'll be leaving before sunset. Until then, I'll get ready and look up those spells you gave me. When you're ready, meet me outside the part of the forest closest to town."

Twilight smiled, "All right. See you then, Rowan. Right now I've got other things to do at the library." She waved goodbye as she galloped into town, leaving Rowan to walk home by himself.

After walking for a few minutes, he reached town, where everypony was going about in the afternoon daylight. Many of them took interest in him as he walked through town, but Rowan pretended not to notice them as he focused on reaching his house. Once he reached the door to his house, Rowan opened the door and walked inside, shutting the door behind him. He then went upstairs to his bedroom.

Instantly, he sat down on the bed and opened up the Liber Tenebrarum, as he began to search for the spells that Twilight gave him.


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Twilight stood just outside of the forest as she watched the sun begin to set, waiting for Rowan to meet up with her. She turned to Spike, who sat on her back, glancing nervously at the forest.

"Oh, don't worry, Spike. We're not going that far into the forest."

Spike still held his worrying gaze, "I know, but do we have to go into the Everfree Forest?"

"Yes, Spike. Rowan wanted to test something that he read out of the book that Princess Luna gave him. However, he doesn't have that much experience in the forest, so we're going to help him, just in case something happens."

Spike grumbled something about her being too nice as he slumped down on the unicorns back. Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back towards town to see Rowan galloping towards them.

He called out to them, "Hey, Twilight." But as he got closer, he noticed the dragon on the unicorn's back, "Oh, I didn't know that you were coming, Spike."

"Yeah, me neither." the purple dragon grumbled.

Twilight looked again at the setting sun, "We should get going. It'll be dark soon." With that, the three of them walked into the forest.

Once they were under the canopy of the trees, Twilight asked, "So, Rowan. Were you able to find those spells that I gave you?"

"Yeah, I was. I was able to find an equivalent shadow magic spell for all of them. In fact, right now I'm using that storage spell to carry my books as well as a couple of snacks from breakfast."

Twilight smiled, "Great! I'm actually surprised that you could learn all of those spells so quickly."

Rowan shrugged, "Well, I guess that shadow magic just comes easily to me."

Looking around the forest, Rowan said, "We need to find a place that's more open to test my spells. So, be looking for a grove or something like that."

Spike stood up on Twilight's back to get a better view, meanwhile the sun was almost out of sight behind the mountains.  

Looking between the tightly spaced trees, Spike pointed a claw, "Oh, how about there?"

The two unicorns followed the dragon's pointing claw to see a large grove on the other side of the trees.

Rowan grinned, "Nice job, Spike. That'll be perfect." The purple dragon smiled proudly as he sat back down on Twilight's back.

The three of them walked through the thick underbrush of the forest until they reached the grove. By then, the sun was completely out of sight, and the sky began to turn dark. Twilight lit up her horn, spreading light over a small portion of the grove.

Rowan did likewise, and used the illumination spell that he'd learned from the Liber Tenebrarum. Any normal illumination spell would have shone light to pierce the darkness. However, shadow magic can't emit any form of light, so a illumination spell with shadow magic pushes back the shadows themselves. As the spell took effect, Rowan grinned in satisfaction as the darkness retreated back to the line of trees surrounding the grove.

Twilight smiled as she looked around at Rowan's work, "Wow. Since we're in the forest, and it's night, then that spell should have been easier for you, right?"

Rowan nodded, "Yeah, it should have. Although, I've never used that spell in an open place like this before, so I don't know if being here made any difference."

Twilight thought to herself, "What if you used a spell that you've used before?"

Rowan nodded, "Sounds good." He reared down on his front legs as he pointed his horn towards the night sky, "Let's see if this works." His horn lit with black mist as he shot a flaming crescent into the air. Rowan was slightly startled as he used the spell, finding it surprisingly easy to cast it.

Spike, Twilight, and Rowan all watched in awe as the crescent burned brighter than any other that Rowan had done before. The projectile soared through the air at an incredible speed, flying higher than any before.

Rowan smiled as he watched the crescent arch in the air. His horn stopped glowing as he dispelled the crescent, making it vanish out of the sky. "Well, I'd say that worked." Once again, he pointed his horn in the air and fired off three crescents in quick succession. Just like the last, the three projectiles soared through the air.

As Rowan watched the three crescents, he thought to himself, Okay, at least I know that the darkness makes it easier to use spells, but how about a complex spell? What would happen if I used a difficult spell that I've never done before. Immediately, he pulled the Liber Tenebrarum out of his storage enchantment, and began to flip through it, looking for a long, complex spell.

Twilight and Spike both gave him confused glances. "Um, Rowan... What are you doing?"

"I want to try something." But then he turned onto a page with a spell that covered the length of the it. "Oh, this'll work." As he read the spell, he found that it was very complex, but it was still possible for Rowan to use.

Twilight and Spike watched Rowan curiously as he attempted to use the unknown spell. Rowan began the spell, and at the same time, he felt his body become weightless as it took effect. Rowan glanced down at his hooves to see that he wasn't touching the ground anymore, and they were starting to turn into smoke.

The other two watched in horror and awe as Rowan rose in the air, his body turning into a cloud of black smoke. Twilight gasped as she recognized the spell, "Spike, isn't that the spell that Nightmare Moon used when she first appeared in Town Hall?"

Spike scratched his head, "Oh, wait. You're right."

Rowan looked wide-eyed at his body, which was now a floating cloud of smoke. Although, he soon realized that as he looked at himself, that he couldn't feel the rest of him. Wow, I wonder if I can use this spell to fly somewhere different. Concentrating on his unfamiliar form, he tried to move around the grove.

Rowan grinned to himself as he easily glided around the outside of the grove.

"Hey, Rowan. Are you okay?" Twilight yelled up to him.

Rowan tried to answer, but anything he said didn't come out, seeing as he no longer had a mouth. Rowan sighed an imaginary sigh, Okay, that's one downside. I can't talk to anyone in this form. And if I return back to myself, then I might have drained myself too much that I can't use this spell again. I'm definitely going to need to practice this spell. he looked outside of the grove and into the dark forest. He grinned to himself as an idea began to form in his head.

I wonder how fast this thing can go. With that, he surged himself forward through the forest. His smokey form zoomed in between the trees and branches. Behind him, he heard the voices of Twilight and Spike in the distance slowly shrink away, but Rowan didn't stop.

He was going faster than he ever would have thought he could have. He laughed to himself as he weaved up and down between the trees. Nothing could stop him, not even the trees or the low-hanging branches. Since his body was made of intangible smoke, when something was in his way, he simply split himself in half, and slid around the obstacle.

Laughing to himself, he flew up into the air above the trees. In the sky, he was meet with the glowing light of Luna's moon. Oh my gosh! This is amazing! As he continued to glide through the air, he was quickly stopped as he heard a high-pitch howl suddenly emit from the forest below him.

What was that? Looking down on the forest with non-existent eyes, Rowan began to look for the source of the howl. Right below him, he heard numerous other sounds come all at once from the forest, just as loud as the howl before. Out of the noise, Rowan could make out the sounds of growls, barks, and whines, springing up around the forest floor. Curious and cautious, Rowan descended through the canopy of the trees to see what was happening.

If he had eyes in his form, Rowan was sure that they would be as large as dinner plates as he saw the scene that was taking place before him. The glowing eyes of timberwolves pierced through the darkness around them. An entire pack of them were spread throughout the area of the forest. But it wasn't them alone. There was another pack of creatures that were fighting against the timberwolves.

Rowan landed himself on top of the tallest tree he could find in the area, and came out of his cloud spell, returning him to his unicorn body. But since he had hooves instead of hands and feet, he was thrown off balance as he made contact with the branches. He quickly grabbed onto a branch to stabilize himself, before he fell out of the tree, and righted himself up. He sighed, having had a close call, Right, ponies aren't really meant to be in trees. Now to see things more clearly.

He used his illumination spell to push back the shadows and looked on the entire scene below him. It was a pack of timberwolves and an entirely different pack of wolves, locked in a territory war. The other wolves were black as night, and they were only as large as regular wolves, half as large as the timberwolves. Plus, these other wolves were fast. They were so fast that Rowan doubted that he could outrun them, even if he was a cloud of smoke.

Rowan watched the battle unfold below him between the two wolf packs, but as he watched, he noticed that the smaller black wolves seemed to disappear once and a while. What the..? What's going on? He squinted his eyes to see what was happening, and to his surprise, the wolves were actually melting into their shadows.

Oh my gosh. They're actually melding with their shadows. That's keeping them from getting hit by the timberwolves' attacks. Rowan thought to himself, Hm, I wonder if I can do that. He shook his head and concentrated on the fight below, Oh, well. I'll figure that out later.

Rowan watched like a spectator for a sports team, as he silently rooted for the shadow wolves, growing excited as the fight wore on. Unfortunately, his excitement was short lived, since the timberwolves were greater in size, strength, and number, they were driving the shadow wolves back.

The shadow wolves, despite their cunning in the fight and their incredible speed, were reduced down to defending what ground they had. But as their enemies bore down on them, the entire pack retreated into the nighttime woods. Rowan sighed, Oh, well. I guess the timberwolves won this one. But then something caught his eye as the shadow wolves retreated. There was one wolf that limped weakly away on three legs as it held up an injured paw. Rowan looked closely at it to see that it was covered in several wounds and splinters, all seeping crimson blood.

Back home, Rowan had a deep interest for wolves, making him want to learn all that he could about them. There was one thing that he always remembered, and that was natural law among wolves, which said if one wolf can't keep up, it gets left behind. Rowan wasn't sure if this applied with wolves in Equestria, but he was reminded of it as he watched the pack abandon the lone shadow wolf.

But as he watched the wolf try to get away, he heard a growl come from the timberwolves. He looked down to see that one of the tree-like animals had spotted the lone wolf, and it started to rush towards it with teeth and claws ready. The shadow wolf turned towards its attacker and let out a whine, as it seemed to realize that it was going to die.

"No!" Rowan didn't think as he lowered his horn and shot two flaming crescents towards the ground in between the injured shadow wolf and the pursuing timberwolf. The timberwolf yelped as the projectiles burst in front of it, making a wall of fire between it and its prey.

Fire was one of the few things that could scare timberwolves, and if you have a lot of it, then they'll run away in fright. Rowan focused on the flames as he intensified his spell, making the flames roar up skyward through the canopy of leaves above. Below him, he could hear several whines and yelps come from the timberwolves as they saw Rowan's wall of flame. Keeping a firm hold on the spell, as to not spread the fire into the forest, Rowan grinned as he watched the timberwolves dash away from the fire as fast as they could.

Rowan waited for the tree-like wolves to run out of sight until he lowered the wall of fire. Rowan took in a deep breath as the familiar wave of weariness overtook him, the usual aftermath of the usage of powerful spells. But as he did, he felt the branch that he was on suddenly snap below him. Rowan looked wide eyed at the branch, and then to the ground below, "Uh, oh."

The gray unicorn let out a yelp as the branch broke out from under him, dropping him hard onto the ground below. Rowan grunted from pain as he landed, making his head spin for a bit. Once he stopped seeing stars, he looked up over to where the shadow wolf had been, to find that the black animal had fallen to the ground. Rowan quickly got back onto his hooves and rushed over to the injured creature.

Rowan sighed a breath of relief as he found that the wolf was still breathing, but only just, as it laid unconscious wolf on the dirt covered ground. Oh, man. I need to get you to Fluttershy straightaway. Careful not to hurt the wolf, Rowan levitated the animal onto his back, half carrying it, half levitating it.

Once the animal was safely on his back, Rowan concentrated as he used the navigation spell that Twilight had shown him. "Better find Twilight and Spike first." he muttered as the spell showed him which direction they both were. He began to trudge through the forest towards them, making sure to not move too much as to keep from hurting the wolf on his back.


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The changeling spy, still in his earth pony disguise, watched as the gray unicorn known as Rowan carried away the injured creature. He frowned as he recalled the entire scene that had happened before him. He had just departed for the hive, home base for the changelings, but he had become distracted when he saw the colt venture into the forest with Twilight Sparkle.

Thinking that it would be better to gather more intelligence for the queen, the spy had followed them. He watched them from a safe distance, observing everything that they did. It was apparent that they were in the forest to practice their magic without anyone interfering.

But as he had watched them, he was almost discovered when Rowan had become a small black cloud and had flown right over him into the forest. Before he lost the unicorn, he tailed the cloud, until he found Rowan in the trees above the fight between the wolves that were native to the forest.

But the spy was thrown completely off guard when the colt used magic to protect a single injured wolf. He knew that Twilight Sparkle was gifted with magic, but he never had comprehended the destructive power that Rowan bore.

Frowning to himself, the spy wondered why the unicorn had protected the animal. With all of its wounds, the creature was doomed to die anyhow. If anyone of his kind was in the wolf's predicament, then the ones around him wouldn't have hesitated to end their life, as it was the nature of the changelings.

Still watching Rowan walk away, the spy felt his body change as green flames erupted around him, changing into his native state. He frowned as he looked at himself, what anypony would call deformed or ugly. In truth, the spy was starting to see why the ponies hated his race so much, but that still didn't keep him from serving his duty to the queen.

Stretching out his transparent, bug-like wings, the spy took to the sky. High above the treetops, he oriented himself with his surroundings, and then took off in the direction of the hive, on his way to deliver the information that he'd collected.