Shadow Storm opened his eyes. He sat up on the bed, he didn't have any spare time to waste. He went downstairs and stepped out into the fresh air. It was essentially suicide to attempt the assassination again tonight, Celestia had probably doubled her security since last time. He could probably get some more information out of Twilight Sparkle, she seemed to know a lot about Celestia. He started to walk towards the library. Ponyville was certainly different from the Everfree forest, everpony was striking up friendly conversations with each other. When Shadow Storm was about to knock on the door of the library, he heard a loud scream suddenly erupt from behind him. He looked in the opposite direction, everpony seemed to be rushing towards the town square, an expression of horror on their faces. He heard the door to the library open. Twilight stood there, confused.
"Oh, hello Shadow Storm. Did you hear that scream? I think we should go and check it out!" Twilight said. He nodded, the duo started to head towards the town square. Eventually, they spotted a large mass of ponies gasping and pointing at something. Shadow Storm and Twilight made their way to the source of the trouble. Twilight gasped, Shadow Storm looked surprised at the situation. He was expecting some kind of forest monster to have accidentally wandered into Ponyville. But he was surprised at the sight; Changelings, three of them, circling a single pony. Changelings never actually came into Ponyville, what was causing their erratic behavior? Changelings had been a nuisance in the forest, they constantly attacked the small settlement that Shadow Storm used to live in, trying to take control of the area. The pony standing in the center of the Changelings dared not move, he was frozen by terror, his mouth agape with a distinct look of immense dread in his eyes.
"Shadow Storm, you know how to use a sword, right? Can't you get rid of them?" Twilight pleaded, if Shadow Storm helped the colt, it would certainly attract a lot of attention, but he couldn't exactly let a pony die. Shadow Storm stepped forward, attracting the attention of one of the Changelings. He signaled his brethren, but was ignored. One of the Changelings leaped at the colt, but Shadow Storm had run over to it. He held his long sword out, blocking the attack. The colt took the opportunity to run, the Changelings were now more focused on Shadow Storm. One leaped for him, but was quickly cut down by Shadow Storm's sword. The other Changelings were now visibly shaking. They both nodded at each other and jumped at Shadow Storm simultaneously. He ran towards one of them, blocking the attack. The other Changeling had a look on victory on his face, it's teeth were about to sink into Shadow Dash's side, his free hoof started to glow a menacing black. Right before the Changeling could bite him, he outstretched his hoof at it, shooting a powerful magic spell. The Changeling fell to the floor, not dead, but certainly unconscious.
The remaining Changeling whimpered in fear and started to run away. Returning to the forest. The unconscious one had now awoken, and was limping away, defeated. Shadow Storm made his long sword disappear, he released a sigh of exhaustion. As if on cue, all of the ponies around him started cheering. He saw Twilight move towards him.
"Well, I guess Pegasi CAN use magic then." Twilight said.
"I was merely helping the colt. There is no need for celebration." Shadow Storm said.
"No need for celebration? A royal guard would have trouble killing a Changeling, never mind three!" Twilight exclaimed. The colt that Shadow Storm had saved was walking up to them.
"I really thought I was gonna be Changeling food back there! I just recently proposed to my marefriend, and when she said yes I was the happiest colt in the world. I didn't know that I would attract Changelings with the amount of love I had for her!" The colt said.
"It was nothing." Shadow Storm replied. By this point, the ruckus had calmed down a little. And it was just Shadow Storm and Twilight left.
"So, why were you at my door before... You know..." Twilight asked.
"I was curious about your knowledge of Princess Celestia" Shadow Storm replied.
"Well, being her personal student, I obviously have a very good friendship with her." Twilight said. Shadow Storm was surprised, he knew that Celestia had a student, but he never expected it to be someone like Twilight Sparkle.
"You're... Princess Celestia's assistant?" Shadow Storm said, flustered for the first time in years.
"Yeah! I'm her student of magic! She taught me the importance and power of friendship!" Twilight replied.
"So you must know a lot about her, correct?" Shadow Storm asked.
"Well, not really actually... I've never really asked her about anything other than studies." Twilight responded.
"Ah... I see" Shadow Storm responded.
"Why do you want to know so much about the princess anyway? Rainbow Dash came along this morning told me that a pony called Shadow Storm was asking her about the princess..." Twilight asked. Shadow Storm didn't have any idea on what to say on the matter, telling her his true intentions would probably result in him being an outlaw, considering she's the student of Celestia.
"I... Merely want to expand my knowledge of Equestrian history." Shadow Storm responded.
"Shouldn't you have learned all of that in school or something?" Twilight responded.
"Well, I never actually went to school." Admitted Shadow Storm, Twilight had started prying on his personal life a little.
"I see... Well, why don't I send a letter to the Princess about it? Maybe she'll give you some pointers or something..." Twilight offered.
"I don't want to be a bother. I don't intend on staying in Ponyville for much longer." Shadow Storm explained.
"It's no bother! I'll send a letter tonight and give you the reply tomorrow, okay?" Twilight said. He gave her a nod. Twilight walked off back in the direction of the library. Shadow Storm decided to take a walk around Ponyville, he had a feeling he was going to stay here for longer than expected. While walking through the town, his stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten anything since he left the forest. He stopped near a building, the small lettering above the door read "Sugercube Corner" and on the inside, it certainly looked like it would sell food. He approached the counter and rang a little bell that was sitting on it. After a few moments, a pink pony jumped from seemingly nowhere towards the counter.
"Hi! Welcome to Sugercube Corner! Say... I haven't seen you around here, which is weird because I could swear that I knew everpony in Ponyville, are you new here?" The pink pony asked. Shadow Storm was taken slightly aback after seeing the pony's excitement.
"I am merely a passing traveler, I was gathering information on Princess Celestia." Shadow Storm responded.
"Oh! You wanna know about Celestia? She helped me and my friends beat that Discord guy!" The pony said excitedly. Shadow Storm was sure that this was a joke, surely an overexcited pony who works in a shop during her spare time couldn't possibly be one of the mane six?
"Are you saying that you're one of the mane six?" Shadow Storm asked.
"Well, I prefer not to call us that. I just call 'em friends, but yeah!" The pony said, extending a hoof.
"My name's Pinkie Pie! What's yours?" She asked.
"My name is Shadow Storm." He replied.
"Ooooh! That's a really ominous name! So anyway, what can I get you?" Pinkie asked. He looked around, it seemed that Sugercube Corner served sugary treats and nothing more. Even though he was brought up to show hardly any kind of emotion whatsoever, he still had a sweet tooth.
"It depends what you have for sale." Shadow Storm said.
"We specialize in cupcakes but we also have stuff like coffee around here somewhere!" Pinkie said. She even sounded excited when explaining what was on the menu.
"In that case, I suppose I'll have a cupcake." Shadow Storm said. Pinkie leaned in, as to whisper something in his ear.
"Listen, because you seem like a cool colt, I'll let you have the first one on the house." Pinkie whispered. She giggled excitedly and winked at him before going off to fetch a cupcake.
"What a strange pony..." Shadow Storm thought. Pinkie came back moments later with a cupcake in her hooves.
"There you go! Please come again!" Pinkie said as Shadow Storm exited to the streets. He continued walking around Ponyville, slowly eating at the cupcake. He started thinking about his life back in the forest. He was most likely considered dead by the queen. Maybe he could go back to inform her that he was not dead? No. He would still be shunned for returning with nothing but wounds. He was so busy lost in his own thought that he accidentally walked into another pony. He had knocked the mare to her flank. She picked herself back up after a few seconds, brushing the dirt off her backside.
"I apologize, I did not look where I was going." Shadow Storm said. The mare looked distinctly well groomed, her violet hair was combed into several curls along with her tail. She was holding an expensive looking umbrella.
"It's quite alright dear, I was also lost in thought." The pony said as she finished dusting herself off. Shadow Storm couldn't help but notice that the pony looked more at home on the streets of Canterlot.
"Ma'am? Are you by chance visiting here from Canterlot?" Shadow Storm asked, he had formulated a plan in his head, if he could convince the mare to buy him a train ticket to Canterlot, he wouldn't have to spend every penny of his money buying a ticket for himself.
"No, darling. Whatever gave you that idea?" The Unicorn asked. Shadow Storm's hope dropped a little.
"You looked distinctly like an upper class Canterlot citizen, I merely assumed." Shadow Storm explained, the Unicorn blushed a little, touched by the fact that he mistaken her for a rich Canterlot citizen.
"No, I simply run the Boutique here in Ponyville. My name is Rarity. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" She asked, outstretching a hoof. Shadow Storm reluctantly shook her hoof, he just hated bodily contact with other ponies.
"My name is Shadow Storm." He replied.
"A very interesting name. Please do come by the Boutique sometime, I do get ever so lonely with only my cat accompanying me. Twilight is always reading her books, Rainbow Dash is too busy... Well, being Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pi- Oh, I'm sorry. I simply just started talking to myself there." Rarity said.
"You're the friend of several members of the mane six?" Shadow Storm inquired.
"Know them? My dear, I happen to be one of them!" Rarity said. Shadow Storm was even more confused. A fashionetta? Being a member of the mane six?
"Well, I thank you for your time, Miss Rarity. But I must be going." Shadow Storm said.
"I understand, I'll be on my way." Rarity said as she away. Shadow Storm was still perplexed, was the entirety of the mane six composed of mares? He expected at least one colt. There were only two left... He decided to start heading towards the hotel. On the way there. He passed the marketplace. He saw multiple vendors selling different selections of food. His stomach grumbled once again, the cupcake didn't exactly do wonders for his stomach. He walked up to a large red stallion selling apples.
"Pardon me, but could I purchase a few of your apples?" Shadow Dash asked.
"Eeyup. Hey... Yer that colt who saved that guy from them Changelings, right?" The stallion asked him.
"Yes, that was me. How much for three apples?" He asked.
"Aw, heck. Ya'll can have the first three for free, considerin' that ya'll saved that colt from being Changeling food." The stallion replied.
"Thank you, I just came into town looking for some information on Princess Celestia." Shadow Storm replied.
"Princess Celestia... Have ya'll talked to the mane six yet? They know a lot about Celestia." The stallion asked.
"I've met four of them, yes. None of them gave me any serious information." Shadow Storm replied.
"Well, mah little sis' is part of the mane six, goes by the name o' Applejack. You met her before?" The stallion asked. Shadow Storm shook his head.
"If ya'll want to, ya can swing by the farm tomorrow and pay her a visit." the stallion continued.
"Thank you, I appreciate the help." Shadow Storm responded.
"Just tell 'em that Big Macintosh sent ya. They'll understand." He said. Big Macintosh waved goodbye to Shadow Storm as he continued walking towards the hotel, eating one of the apples he got.
"That's five members of the mane six down, I still don't know who the last one is." Shadow Storm thought to himself. Once he could see the hotel from a distance, he started walking in the direction of it. Around the halfway point. He heard an odd squeaking sound. He looked down at his feet and saw a small bunny rabbit.
"What's a rabbit doing roaming around Ponyville? Does it belong to anyone?" Shadow Storm thought, he then saw a yellow Pegasus walking down the road, he could see her mouth moving, but what she was actually saying was inaudible. She walked up to Shadow Storm, looking at the small rabbit.
"Here, Angel." The Pegasus said in a voice that Shadow Storm could barely hear. The rabbit left his side and went to hug the Pegasus.
"It's alright, Angel, the other bunnies won't laugh at you anymore." The Pegasus said. She looked up and saw Shadow Storm.
"Thank you, if you hadn't been there, Angel probably would have kept running." The Pegasus said.
"It was nothing, the rabbit just happened to cross my path when I was walking to the hotel." Shadow Storm responded. The tone of his voice made the Pegasus whimper a little, no wonder the rabbit couldn't hear her at first.
"Wait, aren't you the colt who helped that pony who was in danger the other day?" The Pegasus asked.
"Yes, although I was just there to inquire about Princess Celestia, I'm currently trying to track down the entirety of the mane six." Shadow Storm responded.
"The mane six? Well... Uh... I-I'm part of the mane six, my name's Fluttershy." She responded. The name fitted the personality. But how could such a shy pony be part of the mane six? He had found all of the members, and the all had traits which didn't make them sound heroic at all.
"Well, I merely need to visit a farm tomorrow to meet a mare named Applejack." Shadow Storm said to himself.
"Oh, Applejack? She works at Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy said.
"I appreciate the help, ma'am." Shadow Storm said before walking off, his short comment had made Fluttershy blush, she started walking back to her own home. Shadow Storm eventually came to the hotel, he walked inside and paid the bits necessary for another room. He walked upstairs and lay himself down on the bed.
"So, I came across all of the mane six apart from the mare named Applejack, I will pay her a visit tomorrow, maybe Twilight Sparkle could help me with some more research on Celestia, I'm running out of bits, so I really need to get a train ticket to Canterlot soon..." Shadow Storm thought, he got into the bed. After a few moments, he managed to doze off.