//------------------------------// // Hearts, Hooves, and Horns // Story: Shadowed Past, Twilit Future // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// 6. Hearts, Hooves, and Horns -A/N: Warning - Possibly Mature content ahead. - As time passed, the awkwardness between Shadow and Twilight just seemed to get worse and worse. No matter how hard either of them tried, there seemed to be no way to get past it. Things finally came to a head, though, not long after Winter Wrap Up. "So...Hearts and Hooves Day?" Shadow asked, glancing at the calender. "Yeah," Twilight said, keeping her eyes on her breakfast. "It's a day everyone gets together to spend time with their certain special somepony. A special day for couples." Shadow blinked. "Oh. So...it's kind of like Valentine's Day?" "Yeah...sure." Twilight didn't actually know what Valentine's Day was, but Shadow's holiday parallels had always been accurate. For once, she didn't feel like asking him to explain so that she could understand the differences. "...ah." Shadow continued to stare at the calender. Without a word, he turned and went out the door. Twilight blinked her eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. She shook her head, pushing away her half eaten breakfast. It's not like there was anything between her and Shadow like that. It's not like she expected him to want to spend such a special day with her. It wasn't like she hadn't heard what all the mares and fillies had been saying about Shadow, about how - with his physic and strong magic - he was emminently desirable as a unicorn. It wasn't like she didn't know he could probably have his pick of the unattatched mares in town. Why should it matter to her? She'd never had a certain special somepony on any previous Hearts and Hooves Day, why should she care that she didn't have one now? ...even if, with all her friends away with their own lives, this was the first Hearts and Hooves Day where she truely felt alone... And why did she have a sudden craving for chocolate and cider? -------------- Shadow walked along the street in Ponyville, lost in his own thoughts. There had been things going on with him - and with Twilight - that he hadn't been sure how to handle, and things he didn't understand. He thought a walk would clear his head, but he'd forgotten how many couples would be out here, celebrating the holiday. WHile in the pat, seeing such gushy romance would have made him slightly nauseous...now it just made him sad. He wondered what had brought about the change? As he walked, he noticed two ponies parting. One was a large Red earth pony stallion with a blonde mane and a green apple Cutie Mark. The mare was mauve with a pale pink mane and a Cutie Mark of three smiling sunflowers. The stallion and mare were bidding each other goodbye as the stallion was leaving the mare's house. As he started walking down the street, he started singing...quite loudly. "She's mah cherry pie Cold drink o' water, what a sweet surprise! Taste so good, make a stallion cry! Sweet Cheerilee!" The mare giggled, blushing, as she closed the door. As Shadow walked by, he ehard something from the bushes across the road. He recognized the voices as belonging to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "We were totally wrong! Our teacher and mah brother never shoulda gotten together!" "What are you talking about, Apple Bloom? They look so happy together!" "But...she's makin' him eat cherries! And he likes it! He's not mah brother anymore!" As Apple Bloom ran out of the bushes, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle chasing her, Shadow rolled his eyes. "Oh, the innocence," he mumbled under his breath. At the mention that the mare in question was a teacher, Shadow had paused in thought, thoughts he now returned to. He hadn't known who to ask about the things that had him confused lately, but perhaps he should ask a teacher. Going up to the door, he knocked. The mare answered. "Oh, hello Shadow. We haven't been introduced. I'm Cheerilee. I teach the young ponies of Ponyville." Shadow nodded. "A pleasure. I was actually hoping...that you could teach me something." Cheerilee looked confused, but she invited him inside. Once they sat down, she smiled after serving tea. "What can I do for you, Shadow?" Shadow sat, wondering how to approach his issue. Somehow, he didn't feel comfortable just blurting it out. "Who was that that just left, singing?" "Oh!" Cheerilee blushed. "That was Big Macintosh." "You're certain special somepony?" "Yeah." Cheerilee drew circles on the carpet with her hoof. "We both have such busy schedules that it's hard to find time to spend together, so we enjoy what time we can make." "How did you two get together?" Shadow wondered why he was asking this. Cheerilee chuckled. "Now THAT is a story. See, I'd always kind of thought of him in a certain way - he was so handsome and strong, and mysterious since he rarely spoke - but I didn't ahve the self confidence to talk to him...beyond when I spoke to the Apple family as a whole when I had to talk to them about Apple Bloom. Anyway, one Hearts and Hooves Day, Apple Bloom and her friends apparently decided that we'd be perfect together, so they tried to set us up." Shadow chuckled. "That couldn't have ended well." Cheerilee laughed. "It didn't. Their early attempts failed miserably, and then they brewed up a love potion to get us together...that turned out to be a love poison." Shadow grinned. He remembered hearing about this story from Twilight, who had accidentally provided the Crusaders with the recipe. Thinking of Twilight made the grin vanish from his face, however. Cheerilee continued. "When they managed to break the spell, they admitted that it was wrong of them to try and force two ponies together, and should keep their noses out of other ponies social lives. As punishment for what they did, they had to do all of Bic Mac's chores for the day. We decided to tease them a bit by retending to fo out...even calling each other by the nicknames we'd used while under the influence of the potion. ...but then the pretend date went so well, we decided to try for a real one. And...things just went from there." Shadow smiled. "So, in the end, the actual events invalidated the lesson you taught them?" "Not really. I think we've managed to keep them from knowing one thing led to the other. I don't think they're even aware we're a couple." "They were hiding in the bushes across the road when Big Mac left your house." Cheerilee blushed. "Oh, those rascals. I hope Big Mac's singing didn't upset them. They're really too young to hear about certain things-" "Apple Bloom thought you were making her big brother eat cherries." Cheerilee cracked up laughing. "Those sweet, innocent, foals..." Shadow stared into his tea for a while. "...how did you know he was the one?" he asked suddenly, wondering what had gotten into him. Cheerilee grinned. "Well, there were quite a few things. First, there was the strong emotional bond we developed over time. There's the way he always listens...oh. there's any number of things he does that make me so happy. But really, my heart and hooves told me." Shadow tilted his head. "I...don't understand." "It's something ponies experience when they are in such a strong relationship. Whenever Big Mac is near, I feel my body begin to heat up just a bit, my breathing is just a bit more shallow, and the way he smiles...I just want to spend as much time with him as I can. It's just such a pelasure - on many levels - just to be with him." Cheerilee smiled, her eyes sparkling. Shadow stood up. "Thank you for your time, Miss Cheerilee." He turned to go. "Shadow? I thought you wanted me to teach you something?" "...you did. Thank you." Shadow walked out the door and stared up into the cloudless sky. So much that had confused him before now made sense. As he ehaded back towards the library, he shook his head. "I thought it was allergies," he mumbled under his breath. ---------- Twilight sighed to herself as she organized the library, putting all the books back on their proper shelves, color coordinating her quills and parchment scrolls. She had tried once again to hide from her emotional turmoil by burying herself in work...but it wasn't working this time. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore. With a scream of frustration and a surge of magic, books, quills, parchment, and other objects flew around her in a crazed flurry, eventually settling down into a chaotic mess, reflecting the chaos of her heart and mind. "Great," she mumbled to herself. "Now I have to organize it all again." As she bent to check if anything was damaged, she heard the door open, and turned to look. Shadow was standing there, watching her...but somehow, the look in his eyes was different than before. "Are you alright?" he asked in concern. She shook her head. "Just fine, really. I'm fine." She turned, looking around for a good place to start the clean up. Shadow walked over to her, careful not to step on anything breakable. "Twilight...there's something I need to talk to you about." Twilight looked up, but didn't say anything. "Since I came here, you've been so kind to me. You opened your home to me, taught me everything about this world so I could make my home here. Our friendship has deepened, despite some things that have tested it, mistakes I've made." Twilight listened calmly, wondering - and fearing - what he was going to say. "There have been things going on with me," he continued calmly, "that I...didn't understand. I understand them now though, and I need to ask you something." He lifted her chin with his hoof until they were looking into each others eyes...and she saw the emotion in his. "Twilight Sparkle...will you be my special somepony?" Twilight felt her throat clench, as she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. As she struggled through it, she saw in her mind and heart that there was only one way she could respond, only one answer she would find acceptable. Lunging forward, she pressed her lips against his. ------------- Shadow's eyes widened as Twilight kissed him, but he let them close, breathing in her scent as the kiss deepened. As they kissed, a brief moment passed when their horns touched, and a feeling like electricity raced through hsi body from his horn. He felt Twilight shudder pleasently as it occured. When they finally pulled back for breath, a fire had ignited in Shadow's veins, a fire he had never felt before...but trusting to his instincts, he let himself be guided by the magic of the moment. Leaning forward, he touched the very tip of his horn to Twilight's. As the pleasent tingle raced through his body, he saw Twilight shudder as she closed her eyes. Carefully, he drew the tip of his horn along the length of hers, right down to the base, eliciting a gasp of shocked pleasure from her. He then drew his horn tip along the front of her horn, then slowly moved his horn back up the length of hers, moving his head forward so that the length of his horn drew along hers, until the tip of her horn was against the base of his. He shuddered as the pleasure raced through him, and could tell it was as strong in Twilight. He continued the slow, gentle movement for some time, rubbing their horns together in a slow circle, tip to base, base to tip. As Twilight's knees began to buckle, Shadow's magic seemed to activate of its own accord, warping them to the upstairs on Twilight's bed. Shifting positions to lay alongside her, he placed the full length of his horn against hers, gently rubbing them together. Twilight gasped in shock and pleasure, unable to keep herself up, glad they were already on the bed. As the pleasure filled her, a heat began to boil in her veins, and she shifted herself under Shadow's near foreleg. Shadow paused in his movements, staring at her. "Twilight?" "It's okay," she whispered, barely able to speak. "Don't stop." As fire filled them both, they shifted position, nno longer able to stop themselves as heart and instinct took over. ---------------- Several hours later, Shadow opened his eyes from a pleasurable dream. Blinking, he felt Twilight lean over to nuzzle him. *Oh,* he thought, smiling as he nuzzled her in return. *It wasn't a dream.* As cold rational thought returned to him, however, concern filled him. WHile what had happened had felt right, and he had no regrets...as they often did, the consequences reared in the cold light of dawn. The thoughts that had caused him to leave Mobius for Equestria began to fill him again, and fear gripped his gut. Twilight smiled. She slowly got to her hooves and stretched. "We should get up now, Shadow." She glanced at the mess of the library. "We've got work to do." Shadow managed a smile as he hopped to his hooves. "Yes, we should." As he stretched, he noticed a strange light emanating from Twilight. "Twilight, are you alright?" Twilight smiled, not noticing the light. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I-" The light grew brighter, and she doubled over in pain. "Ow...owowowowowowowOW!" Her whole body began to shudder. Snatching quill and paper, Shadow did the only thing he could think of. 'Celestia, Something's happening to Twilight! We're in the library. Get here NOW!' Using Chaos control, he sent the note, hoping his accuracy was enough at this distance to land the note at her hooves rather than up her nose like the last letter he'd sent for Twilight. "Hang on Twilight!" Shadow said, coming over to lay his horn against her forehead. "Celestia will be here soon." "I don't think...she'll get here...soon enough..." The glow suddenly flared and she screamed in agony. Huge purple energy wings suddenly erupted from her back, the glow from her body coalescing into them. They slowly sharnk to match her body size, and then solidified into feathers and flesh. With a groan, she collapsed to the floor. "What the hay just happened?" she managed to mumble as Shadow raced over to her. "I see it's finally happened," Celestia said from the balcony. Twilight looked up. "P-princess Celestia?" Shadow listened as Celestia explained what had happened, and other things to Twilight. Shadow was shocked to discover that Celestia had been grooming Twilight as her heir since day one, although in retrospect it made a strange sort of sense. However, a different realization percolated through Shadow's mind. Twilight was now an alicorn. Celestia was an alicorn. Celestia was over a thousand years old. As relief spread through Shadow's insides, dissolving the knot of fear and worry, he ehard Celestia's last question. "By the way, Twilight...what were you doing before your wings spread that left you so mussed? And this place such a mess?" Seeing Twilight was at a loss for an answer, Shadow thought quickly. "I was helping Twilight with some magical research, and things got...explosive." He told himself virtuously that nothing in that statement was an actual lie. He just didn't mention what exactly they had been 'researching'. "Oh, I see." Celestia smiled. "I hope you took proper precautions," she said blandly. Shadow was confused when Twilight shifted her mane over her horn, but Celestia's reaction confused him even more. "Oh, I hadn't realized you'd learned THAT spell." Laughing pleasantly, she left them alone. Shadow looked at Twilight. "Spell?" Blushing bright red, Twilight shifted her mane aside, making a small ring at the base of her horn glow to distinguish it from the rest of her horn. "It's...a charm to keep me from foaling," she said quietly. Shadow blushed. "Oh. ...when did you...?" "I made it while I was still living in Canterlot...though I didn't put it on until after the Running of the Leaves, when it seemed we were...well...beter safe then sorry, right?" She blushed. "I kinda...forgot it was there until Celestia mentioned precautions..." Shadow nodded. "Ah." He smiled at her. He noticed that she still had her wings unfolded and stretched out, getting used to them. Thinking to help, he leaned his head forward. Since hooves weren't dextrous enough, he gently stroked her new feathers with his horn to lay them flat and ease any discomfort. Twilight shuddered. "Shadow!" she gasped out, the caress having triggered an unexpected reaction. "Haven't you had enough?" Shadow smiled up at her as she got onto the bed. "Of you? Never." Leaning in, he kissed her once more, embracing the joy in his life and his beloved in a single act.