The Thousand Year Change

by Darthvalgaav


Eye's of a Child

Big Mac walked silently as he led two newcomers to Carousel Boutique. On his back was Apple Bloom who was staring at the bat pony with wide eyes. Personally he didn’t want his baby sister to tag along, but knowing her she would have followed them anyways. And at least this way he could keep an eye on her if things turned sour.

It was just a little while ago when Apple Jack had come running up to him at full speed. Once she stopped, she began to talk quickly about two ponies that needed to be shown the way to Carousel Boutique. He asked her why she couldn’t do it herself and she replied that he would be more useful. He didn’t understand what she meant until he saw that one of the ponies was a bat pony. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the stallion and simply nodded. He would watch this one very closely. If he did anything fishy, Big Mac would put a stop to it quickly.

As they walked, Apple Bloom was crouched low as she stared at the strange pony. She had seen several pegasi before, but never one with bat wings or yellow slit eyes. Also he looked a little scary as well.

Meanwhile, both Shadow and Twilight were trying to make sense of the situation.

“They’re acting like they’ve never seen a bat pony before,” muttered Shadow in a low tone.

“Well maybe they haven’t” whispered Twilight. “Bat ponies are rare back home. They might not even have them here so it is possible that they are a bit nervous around you.”

“Maybe. But the way they’re acting is a little off putting. It’s like they expect me to attack them at any moment.”

“Excuse me,” said Apple Bloom as she got the couple’s attention. She was looking directly at Shadow. “But ah was wonderin’, are ya her special somepony?”

“Yes,” said Shadow slowly, not knowing where this was going. That question seemed to come out of nowhere. “Why do you ask?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Just curious I guess. Ya seem close, but not like a bother and sister thing.” She then paused for a moment. “So are you two from out of town? Are there more ponies like you around there?”

“Yeah, we are,” said Shadow. “We’re in town just for the Summer Sun Festival. And yes, there are other bat ponies out there. Just not a lot of us.” Big Mac let out a snort causing all the ponies to look at him. He then gestured with his hoof at a large building in front of them.

“We’re here,” said Big Mac as he walked over towards the door. Once he was right beside it he sat down life he was a guard dog or something. As he did, Apple Bloom rolled off his back. The little filly then walked over to the door and knocked. After a short while the door opened and revealed a small unicorn filly.

“Hey you’re Sweetie Belle, right?” asked Apple Bloom. “From my class?”

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle. “And you’re Apple Bloom. What’re you doing here?”

“A couple of folk’s wana talk ta your sister,” said Apple Bloom. She then looked behind her and Sweetie Belle did the same. Now both Twilight and Shadow were looking a bit nervous.

“So what do you need my sister for?” asked the little white filly. “Do you just need to talk to her or something?”

“I guess you could say that it’s business,” said Twilight with a small smile. The filly gave her the biggest grin anypony had ever seen. Sweetie then took a deep, deep breath.

“RARITY!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. It was so long and powerful that Twilight and Shadow were nearly pushed back. “YOU HAVE SOME CUSTOMERS! She’ll be here soon.”

Almost as soon as she said that, a figure came running towards them. At first, Shadow thought that it was a giant marshmallow that had grown legs. However it turned out to me a white unicorn with a purple mane. There was an angry scowl on her face as she stopped in front of the little filly.

“Sweetie Belle, this wasn’t what I meant when I said to contact me if I had any customers,” said the mare.

“But you also said not to leave,” said Sweetie Belle. “So what was I supposed to do?” Rarity face hoofed before turning to face Big Mac assuming that he was the customer. The red stallion, however, pointed behind her. The Ponyville dress maker turned around to look at the lovely young couple.

“I am so sorry about that,” she said quickly. “Now then why don’t you both come inside.” The two nodded and entered the boutique while the Apple siblings stayed outside. Once the door was closed, Rarity went right to business. “Now then, what can I do for you two dears? Are you looking for something fancy for tomorrow?”

“Not really,” said Twilight. “We were told you could help us exchange some gold for bits.”

“But of course darling,” said Rarity with a wide smile. “I have been meaning to get some gold around here for awhile to use in some lovely capes. This will actually save me some time. Getting a pony to run all the way to Canterlot to pick up gold up is just so expensive these days.”

As she spoke, Shadow pulled out the gold from his saddle bag and held it out in front of Rarity. As she took it with her magic, she noticed his eyes for the first time. Her mouth dropped for a moment but quickly regained her composer. Unfortunately for her both Shadow and Twilight noticed this.

“Why does every pony act like this?” demanded Shadow.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” said Rarity. “It’s just that this is the first time I have ever seen a bat pony before. I-I have only seen them in pictures before now.” She also didn’t want mention the whole Dusk series thing to him. Most stallions had expressed their extreme hate for the series and she was sure that he would especially hate it.

“So what does everypony here have against bat ponies?” demanded Twilight. Rarity sighed as she walked over to her safe. Using her magic she began to spin the dial to put in the combination.

“You two must have been living a sheltered life not to know,” said Rarity as she opened the safe. “Every story I have ever heard about bat ponies have been less than encouraging. Mostly they are thieves.” Shadow’s eyes widened when he heard this. “Now I’m sure not all of them are bad. Most of them seem to just steal food or a pony’s saddle bag. But I hope you can understand why some ponies will have similar reactions.” Rarity turned around while levitating a heavy looking bag of bits. As she released it with her magic Twilight’s took a hold of it. “There you go. I gave you a little extra than what the current market price for that much gold.”

“Oh but you didn’t have to do that,” said Twilight.

Rarity shook her head in disagreement. “No, I absolutely insist.” She then suddenly got a gleam in her eye. “But, if you feel that strongly about it, there is something that you could do for me.”

Meanwhile, Big Mac and the two little fillies had been waiting outside for some time. The red stallion kept his ears open, listening hard in case something happened inside. If Rarity so much as screamed he would break down the door and show that bat pony the error of his ways. By his side, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had been chatting amongst themselves. Big Mac wasn’t really paying any attention to what they were saying however.

It suddenly became quiet. Big Mac turned his head and saw both fillies were looking at him, as if they were waiting for him to say something. It took him a moment to realize that they had asked him a question. A moment later Apple Bloom sighed and gave her older brother a deadpanned expression.

“Ya weren’t paying attention, were ya?” she asked. Big Mac shook his head. “Alright, me and Sweetie Belle here were wonderin’ why ya don’t like Shadow. Has he done something wrong?”

“Nnope,” answered Big Mac.

“Then why ya bein’ so mean ta him?” Apple Bloom asked.

Big Mac sighed. “Ah never heard of no good bat pony. Bunch of liars and thieves.” The two fillies looked at each other for a moment before turning their confused faces back to Big Mac.

“Has Shadow ever stolen for you?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Not yet,” was the stallions answer.

“But what if he doesn’t?” asked the white filly.

“Then that means ah never gave him the chance,” said Big Mac. Yet as he said this he began to wonder. If Shadow wanted to he could have swooped down into the apple orchard, taken as many apples as he wanted, and there would have been very little they could have done to stop it.

“So is it impossible for there to be a good bat pony?” asked Apple Bloom. “Ah mean, remember when ah come home from school that one time and told ya about how Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were being mean ta me? Ah said that they had ta of been born nasty by the way they acted and ya told me ah was wrong. That no pony was born bad, that they were just makin’ poor decisions. So why are bat ponies any different?”

Big Mac opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was stumped. What made it even harder was that Apple Bloom had used his own words against him. And, truth be told, she was completely right. Shadow had done nothing to deserve the treatment that he was getting from him. He had acted friendly and Big Mac had shown him nothing but distrust.

He was then broken out of his thoughts by a scream followed by laughter. The laughter of a stallion. ‘Looks like ah was right all along,’ he thought. ‘That Shadow fella was nothing but trouble.’ Narrowing his eyes, Big Mac bucked the door down. He raced into the boutique and his jaw dropped to the floor. Shadow was on his back laughing his head off while pointing a hoof at a figure standing next to Rarity. The figure was Twilight dressed in a dress that looked like somepony had vomited pink all over. Pink bows and ribbons were in the mare’s mane as well as her tail. It looked more like an outfit a filly would wear.

“Big Macintosh,” said Rarity as she looked over at the stallion. “I would appreciate it if you would refrain from breaking down my doors in the future. However, while you’re here, could you please give me your honest opinion of my latest creation? I was told that mares are looking for dresses to make themselves look a tad younger.” She then glared at Shadow. “When I asked this fellow what he thought he just fell down laughing.”

Big Mac looked at the dress for a moment before shaking his head no.

“Y-You should have seen Twilight when she saw what she was wearing,” said Shadow as he tried to control his laughter. “She took one look at that dress and just screamed.” His laughter continued until his marefriend chucked a mannequin at him.

“What’s with all the screaming,” said a loud voice. A moment later a bright pink pony came bouncing into Rarity’s shop. She looked at Twilight and grinned. “Rarity, are you making outfits for some pony’s cute-ceanera again? Because that looks just like the one I wore.”

“That’s it I’m taking it off,” growled Twilight. By this time Shadow had gotten back on his hooves, causing Pinkie’s attention to focus on him. He turned to look at her and her eyes widened. Shadow held back a groan and prepared for her to act out of fear. However, Pinkie pulled out a giant spotlight from out of nowhere, turned it on, and pointed it at Shadow.

“Ah, no sparkle?” said Pinkie in a slightly disappointed voice. “But I thought that all bat ponies sparkled.”

“By the star, why would you ever think that?” said Shadow as he raised his forelegs to shield himself from the light that was still on him.

“The Dusk series said that bat ponies sparkle,” said Pinkie like it was obvious. “That’s why they rarely ever go outside during the day. And you’re the first bat pony I have ever seen so I wanted to see you sparkle.”

“Please turn off that light,” barked Shadow. A moment later Twilight used her magic to turn it off. Before Shadow could thank his marefriend Pinkie’s face was inches from his at an alarming speed.

“Say, are you two staying here for awhile?” she asked.

“Just until tomorrow,” said Shadow. As soon as he said that the pink mare began to jump up and down like crazy.

“Well you can’t leave until I’ve thrown you a party!” she exclaimed. “No pony should ever have to leave Ponyville without having a party thrown for them. Even if they’re only staying one night. But don’t worry, I can whip one up in a couple of hours.”

“That’s very kind of you,” began Shadow, but he stopped when he felt a hoof being placed on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Twilight like she usually was in her natural beauty.

“It’s just that we have a lot we have to do today,” said Twilight as she gave Shadow a wink. “But, if you don’t mind, could you hold the party tonight? Maybe even outdoors?” Pinkie Pie’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

“That’s a great idea!” she exclaimed. “We can have all sorts of fun party game and have FIREWORKS!” She raced out the door only to come back a moment later. “Oops, I forgot to get your names. I’m Pinkie Pie.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” said the purple unicorn. “And this is Shadow Blade.”

“Great!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “See you both tonight!”

-x-

“What’s that for?” asked Shadow as the pair made their way to the Ponyville hotel. Next to him was Twilight who was levitating a piece of paper and quill.

“I’m just making a score sheet so that we can evaluate Equestria better,” she replied. “So far I really want to give them a point for being friendly. It’s just they way they are treating you is giving me some pause.”

“Yeah,” agreed Shadow. “But at least Rarity was kind enough to explain the reason. And that pink mare didn’t even seem bothered by it. She was more disappointed that I didn’t sparkle.”

“Which doesn’t make any sense,” said Twilight with a scowl. As the two entered the hotel, Twilight decided that they needed to find more about Equestrian literature and culture.

“Hello there,” said the pony behind the counter. “How can I help you today?”

“We just need a room for the night,” said Twilight. She scanned the counter and spotted a newspaper. ‘Might as well see what’s going on in Equestria,’ she thought. “Also, can I please get a newspaper?”

“You’re in luck,” said the pony. “We have one room left. That will be twenty nine bits for the room. The paper will cost you one bit”

Elsewhere, as Twilight paid for the room and newspaper, a chariot pulled by pegasi landed in the middle of Ponyville.