//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Rise and Fall of Dark Fire and The Elements of Disharmony // by Shady pillow //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Cutie Mark Troublemakers Three days before the incident… Night Shadow decided to sleep in, being tired from yesterday's fight. But by the time he even decided to get out of bed, it was seven at night. Opening the door to the library, he found Twilight still looking for the book. With Twilight busy, he grabbed his black bag and easily snuck by her to check up on Spike. "Feeling any better little guy?" Night Shadow whispered to him. "I'm not little you know." Spike said coughing loudly in his bed. "Uhh… I feel terrible." "You sound like it to." Night Shadow said reaching into his black bag. "Oh great, medicine." Spike said plopping his head back into his pillow. "What's wrong with medicine?" Night Shadow asked. "It always looks, smells, and tastes horrible." Spike said sticking his tongue out. "Well it's either medicine or…" Night Shadow paused taking a huge needle out. Spike's face went to pale blue to bright white. "I'm kidding, geeze." Night Shadow said laughing. "So, can you tell me exactly what is wrong with you?" "Well I feel very cold, with lots of coughing, headache, and throat pain." Spike struggled to say. Night Shadow nodded his head before enveloping Spike with a purple glow. "It seems as if you have a fever. Poor thing, but nothing to worry about." Night Shadow said taking out a blue mountain flower, a butterfly wing, and garlic cloves. "How are flowers going to help me?" Spike asked confused. "You'd be surprised at what plants can do." Night Shadow said putting the ingredients into a bowl. Mixing the ingredients together, Spike noticed that Night Shadow was thinking about something other than brewing. "What's on your mind? You seem worked up." Spike asked sickly. "That's just the bed hair, Spike." Night Shadow replied still concentrating. "No really, what's up with you? You're not normally like this." Spike asked attempting to start a conversation. Night Shadow chuckled at his statement. "You've only known me for five days, how could you know what I normally act like?" Night Shadow asked rhetorically. "Although… now that I think about it, you're right Spike, I haven't been normal." "Do you know why?" Spike asked curious. "It's because of Twilight." Night Shadow said still brewing ingredients. "Well… what about her?" Spike asked becoming interested. "She's… well… different from anypony I've met, i-in a good way that is." Night Shadow said stuttering. "Like how?" Spike asked still coughing. "She's intelligent, social, funny, organized, loyal, fun to mess around with, attractive-" "What was that?" Spike asked rubbing his ears after he cut him off. "V-very active, that's what I said!" Night Shadow shouted blushing bright red, realizing what he just said. "Anyways, your medicine is almost ready." "Oh… great." Spike said sarcastically. "Actually Spike, I'm going to try an experiment. You remember what you said about medicine tasting horrible?" Night Shadow asked. "That's because they always taste horrible, it's like chugging a bottle of liquid hay." Spike said disgusted. "Wait… that's it!" Night Shadow exclaimed "What… what is it?" Spike asked confused. "These medicines are made for ponies!" Night Shadow shouted excited. "Which means…?" Spike asked, still wondering what he was so joyful about. "Which means they were not made for dragons!" Night Shadow said with joy. "I still don't get it." Spike said not following along. "You'll see." Night Shadow said with a goofy grin. Night Shadow spent the next five minutes focused on the potion before speaking again. "So, what is your favorite flavor or food?" Night Shadow asked. "Well, I would have to say gem stones." Spike said rubbing his hands together. This caught Night Shadow off guard as he stood there stunned. "Dragons eat priceless gems?" Night Shadow asked dumbfounded. "Yeah, you should try them sometime." Spike said jokingly. "Okay... what do gems taste like?" Night Shadow asked attempting to get useful facts. "Gems are like eating fruits in my opinion, the color represents the flavor." Spike said sickly. "Interesting. Well then, I'm going to try a sapphire, ruby mix. Or a cherry and blueberry blend if you're a pony." Night Shadow said happily. A few more minutes passed "Okay Spike, drink up." Night Shadow said levitating the bottle to him. "It looks like sludge." Spike said pushing the bottle away. "Looks can be deceiving Spike, and besides, you will feel a lot better afterwards." Night Shadow said handing him back the bottle. Spike was still resilient as he grasped the bottle and looked at it disgusted. Looking away and closing his eyes, he took a sip from the bottle and was surprised that it tasted way better than he imagined. Drinking the entire thing in less than three seconds, he handed the bottle back to Night Shadow and felt a healing sensation envelope him. In a dim green light, Spike was cured instantly. "H-how did you… how did you do that?" Spike asked shocked. "No need to thank me, you guys have done so much for me as it is." Night Shadow said walking away. "Oh, and stay in bed today." "Why should I do that, I feel better than ever!" Spike asked standing up on the bed. "Because you would have the rest of the day off." Night Shadow said, winking at him before he descended downstairs. He made it halfway down the stairs before Twilight addressed him. "Night Shadow, where the hay is that book!?" She shouted popping out from a pile of books. "What book?" Night Shadow asked heading to the door. "The book that had… that word in it." Twilight said paranoid. "There was no book, Twilight." Night Shadow said smirking. He could have sworn he heard some glass shatter when he said those words. Twilight just smiled and twitched as she approached him with her messed up mane. "There… was… no… book!?" She said twitching at every word still grinning. "Are you okay?" Night Shadow asked a bit freaked out. "I spent twenty-one hours looking for…NOTHING!?" She screeched. Night Shadow took this queue to run out the door before he heard a huge explosion behind him screaming his name. "I-I'm so glad you could help me out with this, Angel is always picky about his food around winter." Fluttershy said timidly. "It's no problem at all, just trying to help." Night Shadow said calmly. "I will be back soon okay? Try not to stress out too much." Fluttershy said before trotting off. "Don't stay out too long and remember what I said about assertiveness." Night Shadow said before closing the door. "So what are your names, girls?" Before Night Shadow, were three innocent looking fillies with halos over their heads sitting in front of him. He recalled them saying some kind of cheer before they came into Fluttershy's cottage to spend the night. Something to do with cutie marks was the only thing he caught out of it. "Who are you again?" The white filly asked, cocking her head. "Don't you remember stupid? He's the guy that lost to Rainbow Dash!" The orange Pegasus said. "Hey I tied her and she cheated!" Night Shadow almost shouted. "Rainbow Dash doesn't cheat, she's the best ever!" The orange Pegasus shouted defending her idol. "Hey ya'll, he just wanted to know our names, that's all." The yellow filly said in a country accent. "My name's Applebloom." "Scootaloo." The orange Pegasus said bluntly. "I'm Sweetie Belle!" She shouted making Night Shadow rub his ears. "And I am Night Shadow." He said proudly. "That's such a cool name!" Sweetie Belle said awed. "It's not as cool as Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said under her breath, crossing her hooves. "That's exactly what she said to me too, until we became friends and stuff." Night Shadow said avoiding eye contact. "So what do you girls want to do?" "We usually go crusading around outside, but it's dark out." Applebloom said, almost in a disappointed tone. "There are still crusaders in this time zone?" Night Shadow asked surprised. "Well… no, I don't think so. It's just what we call our group." Applebloom said innocently. "Are you templars by any chance?" Night Shadow asked, taking out a strange gauntlet. "No not at all, we are the cutie mark crusaders. We are trying to gain our cutie marks." Scootaloo said backing up Applebloom. "Oh, then I don't need this then." Night Shadow said throwing the gauntlet through a window, resulting in somepony screaming in agony outside. "So I was thinkin' we'd try snow shovelin' as our cutie marks." Applebloom suggested. "That sounds so stupid and boring!" Scootaloo blurted out. "Well what do you want to do then?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Something Rainbow Dash would think is cool." Scootaloo said pondering. "Is that all you think about Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked, a bit ticked. "No it isn't, and all you think about is dumb ideas that never work!" She countered. "I do not!" Applebloom shouted. "Yes you do!" Scootaloo yelled. "I DO NOT!" Applebloom practically screamed. "YES YOU DO!" Scootaloo yelled, getting in Applebloom's face. "Hey, if you two are going to yell at each other, you're going to need drinks. Do you girls want anything?" Night Shadow asked, attempting to stop the fight. "That's it, Cutie Mark Crusader drink mixers!" Applebloom shouted. "YEAH!" The all shouted in unison charging past Night Shadow to the kitchen. "Aren't you a BIT too young to be mixing… drinks?" Night Shadow asked tapping his hooves together. "We're just going to make hot chocolate, nothing much." Sweetie Belle said taking milk out of the fridge. "Oh… those kinds of drinks! Well then make me one, I will be waiting on this couch." Night Shadow said sitting down. Sitting there for five minutes, he dozed off to the sound of peace. Only to be woken abruptly to a crash in the kitchen. "What are you three doing in there!?" He called, walking into the kitchen only to see a pillar of fire on the stove. "Making hot chocolate, duh." Scootaloo replied as Night Shadow turned off the stove. "You took the term "HOT" too far! You could have hurt yourselves!" Night Shadow yelled protectively. "Why does everypony assume we're going to hurt ourselves?" Scootaloo asked annoyed. Night Shadow simply pointed to the stove. "You burned the milk… EXPLAIN HOW YOU EVEN DO THAT!" Night Shadow said aggravated. "B-but it's not our fault." Applebloom said redirecting the blame. "YOU EVEN MELTED THE POT!" Night Shadow yelled out in disbelief. "I don't even know how that happened." Scootaloo said looking towards the ceiling. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Night Shadow asked staring at them angrily. The three fillies looked at him sadly as they ducked their heads in shame, making Night Shadow feel bad for them. After all, they are just little kids that don't know any better. But to make it worse, they looked at Night Shadow with puppy dog eyes with their ears plopped down. "D-don't do that to me!" Night Shadow pleaded. The fillies only stared at him longer and then they started making their eyes teary. "Okay, okay just stop it please… you will make me cry. You're not in trouble anymore." Night Shadow said starting to beg. "Yay, we're not in trouble anymore!" The fillies all yelled in unison, happily rushing out of the kitchen. "I will only say this once, but you girls need to stay out of the kitchen and never come back!" Night Shadow shouted in a serious tone. Sweetie Belle looked at Night Shadow worried before cheering up. "I have an idea for our cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle said excited. "Does it involve more burning?" Night Shadow asked in a blunt tone. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, mane designers!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "And where are you going to find a poor victim for that, huh?" Night Shadow asked sarcastically until the fillies looked at him, smiling sinisterly. "Oh no… no, no, no, NO, NO!" "Why do you three insist on torturing me?" Night Shadow asked beginning to whine. "You're almost as bad as my sister." Sweetie Belle said jokingly. "B-but you braided my mane like a mare." Night Shadow whimpered. "That's because you look like a mare." Scootaloo said laughing. "And you look like a tom-colt." Night Shadow said before Applebloom pulled on his hair. "Oww! What was that for!" "Stop bein' mean!" Applebloom said behind him. "I'm not being mean, she's just being a jerk." Night Shadow said gesturing to Scootaloo. "I like his mane." Sweetie Belle said softly while brushing Night Shadow's hair. "Well, I'm right though, his hair is so long that all three of us could fit in it." Scootaloo said exaggerating, although in reality, they all COULD fit in his hair. "Why don't we dye it a different color?" Applebloom suggested. "You already tried all the colors in the light spectrum; my hair is PINK for goodness sake!" Night Shadow shouted shamefully. "Well here, put this blindfold on." Scootaloo said, handing him a black handkerchief. "This again… fine!" Night Shadow said irritated, putting on the blindfold. "What do we do now?" Applebloom asked in a whispering tone. "Just you wait." Scootaloo said leaving the room. Several moments later, she came back holding a shed tool. "Is that what I think it is?"Applebloom whispered. "Shhh… just watch." Scootaloo said chuckling until Night Shadow removed the blindfold. "What are you three, AAAHHH!" Night Shadow screamed at the sight of Scootaloo holding a hedge trimmer. "Hey, put the blindfold back on!" Scootaloo shouted. "Get that contraption away from me!" Night Shadow yelled in horror. "What's wrong, why are you yelling?" Sweetie Belle asked confused. "She's trying to cut my mane!" Night shadow yelled pointing to Scootaloo. "It will look better trimmed." She said approaching. "WITH A BUCKIN' HEDGE TRIMMER!" Night Shadow screamed reversing his own gravity. "Come back down here and get your haircut!" Scootaloo yelled frustrated. "No! I don't want to!" Night Shadow yelled childishly. The next fifteen minutes consisted of Night Shadow dodging a broom from Scootaloo. "Stop being a child!" Scootaloo yelled swinging the broom. "You're the one who broke the chandelier!" Night Shadow said dodging the broom. "You're just a chicken." Scootaloo said making excuses. "Excuse me… you're the chicken, not just a chicken, THE chicken." Night Shadow emphasized. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle laughed at his comment making Scootaloo angry enough to throw the broom right at Night Shadow, knocking him to the floor. He could have sworn he heard some mare yelling "K.O!" in the background. "You won't make fun of me after this!" Scootaloo yelled, charging at him with the hedge trimmer. Night Shadow quickly got up and converted the object into red velvet ice-cream with a golden bowl. Taking the bowl in his hooves, he ate the bowl and chucked the ice-cream out the window resulting in a burst of light and fire. "Here's an idea for a cutie mark, Cutie Mark Crusader janitors, NOW GO CLEAN IT UP!" Night Shadow yelled, ticked off. All three fillies left the room in a single file, too frightened to even look up. After five minutes, Night Shadow, feeling bad for what he did, went outside. "Hey look… I'm really sorry I yelled at you three, but you're going to get a cold if you stay out in the snow for too long..." Night Shadow paused looking for them. "Uhhh, where are you girls? This isn't funny!" He yelled. "Night Shadow how were the kids, and why is your mane pink?" Fluttershy asked coming up a pathway. "Well, you see, about that…" Night Shadow stuttered. Ten minutes later "Why would you do that, Night Shadow?" Fluttershy asked running along with him. "They tried to cut my hair." Night Shadow tried to reason with her. Following the trail of hoof prints, they ended up at the opening of the Everfree Forest. Night Shadow continued along for five seconds until turning around to see Fluttershy still at the entrance. "I know the forest is scary at night for you, but we have no choice. By the way the trees are swaying, I say there's a blizzard coming, a BIG one. Those girls don't have a chance surviving alone unless we find them now!" Night Shadow said concerned. "I-I-it's just so d-dark and there's so many animals that can h-hurt us." Fluttershy said shaking. "Then stay close to me and I will keep you safe, I promise." Night Shadow said conjuring an illumination of light from his horn. "The trail leads on this way." He said, signaling Fluttershy to proceed. Continuing along the path of hoof prints in the seemingly endless forest, Night Shadow and Fluttershy had hoped they would come across the three fillies. Unfortunately though, Night Shadow was correct about the fast approaching blizzard. With their only lead to finding the fillies covered up by snow, all seemed lost, and time was running out for both them…and the girls. Two hours later "APPLEBLOOM, SWEETIE BELLE, SCOOTALOO, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Night Shadow attempted to shout over the raging wind. "It's… its hopeless now." "We've come so far, we can't give up now." Fluttershy reassured him. "Fluttershy, this wasn't your doing, it was mine. Go back the way we came from and-" "No, I'm not leaving you here!" Fluttershy said in a serious tone, cutting him off. "Please listen to me! You and I both know that you can't withstand the harsh conditions of a blizzard. Let's cut our loses and- "You won't survive out here alone!" Fluttershy said, taking a stand after she cut him off again. There was a long pause of silence between the two ponies before Night Shadow spoke. "Neither will you." He said softly turning away from Fluttershy. "Now go, and don't look back." Fluttershy, still being resilient, eventually had to agree with his statement and turned the other way. "Please come back Night Shadow, we care about you." Fluttershy whispered to herself. Suddenly, over the rage of the storm, a large black form leaped over Night Shadow, landing right in front of Fluttershy. Creating a crash that knocked her to the ground, the figure roared into the victim's face without remorse. "FLUTTERSHY, STAY DOWN! Night Shadow shouted, about to fire a magical beam. "No wait!" Fluttershy pleaded standing to her hooves. "Are you lost little guy? Oh you poor thing, let me help you find your family again." Fluttershy said softly approaching the wild animal. Night Shadow was in a mix of amazement and confusion as he lowered his guard a little. However, when he stared into the manticore's eyes, he saw that the whites of the beast's eyes were replaced with bright green with red pupils giving off a black aura. The beast, having Fluttershy distracted, raised his paw to deliver a deadly strike. "That manticore is under the influence of dark magic! GET AWAY FROM IT, FLUTTERSHY!" Night Shadow shouted jumping in the way of the attack. Taking the entire blow, Night Shadow was thrown into Fluttershy by the great force of the animal. They came to an abrupt stop after Night Shadow, unwillingly, sandwiched Fluttershy against a tree. When the two struggled to stand, Fluttershy collapsed back down in the snow screaming in pain. Night Shadow stood in a mix of horror and anger when he saw Fluttershy's wing completely bent backwards and her chest cavity swollen from her rib cage being broken. He abruptly turned to look at the manticore with an angry look. "I promised her that she would come to no harm, that she would be safe from creatures like you. I promised this because I was confident she would be protected from the likes of you! But I never thought that a beast would have the mordacity to use me to hurt his victims! YOU MADE ME HURT HER!" Night Shadow screamed causing echoes to boom around the forest. The manticore stood up on its hind legs and then crashed back down roaring into Night Shadow's face sending riffles through his fur coat and hair. "Your intimidation strategies only reveal your weakness to the world! NOW PAY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!" Night Shadow yelled as his horn illuminated with a bright purple light. The manticore charged at the enraged unicorn to finish what he started. Night shadow, taking the initiative, leaped over the charging beast, grabbed its tail, and flung it through a tree. "Fluttershy, don't make sudden movements, I will be back to help." Night Shadow said comforting her. "D-don't hurt the poor thing, he's just confused, please help him." Fluttershy struggled to say. Night Shadow was taken aback by her kindness towards the animal that just hurt her. "The manticore is under the influence of dark magic, but I will remove it from him." Night Shadow said confidently as he chased after the beast. Five minutes later "Is that all you got!" Night Shadow shouted from behind multiple bushes. A loud roar boomed once again through the forest before the manticore flew into a clearing in the trees. When the corrupted beast stood back up, Night Shadow emerged from the thick shrubs unfazed and calm. "You disgust me, cruel beast. The only thing keeping me from destroying you where you stand is because of the mercy Fluttershy is giving you. The one you hurt in your blind rage and ignorance!" Night Shadow yelled. The manticore once again charged at Night Shadow to overpower him with strength. Instead of this happening, Night Shadow appeared above the creature's head and pinned it to the ground. Once grounded into the snow, Night Shadow stood on its head and raised his hooves into the air. Powering magic though his hooves, he slammed them into the manticores head, casting out the dark magic within the animal. "You have been freed from your curse, now live your life in peace. For I will call upon you again soon." Night Shadow declared to the manticore before it acknowledged him and walked off. "Now to find Fluttershy and fix the damage that has been done." Night Shadow said to himself before running back to Fluttershy. Not long afterwards he found Fluttershy still crying in pain as she lied under a tree. Night Shadow was experienced with alchemy and healing, but he never dealt with something like this. "Can you tell me exactly where your pain is?" Night Shadow said nervously. "I-I… it h-hurts so much, my chest I think-" Fluttershy said in pain before cutting herself off by screaming in agony when she attempted to stand up. "Don't try to move Fluttershy, it will only make it worse." Night Shadow said almost abruptly. "I-it's not worth it, Night Shadow, just…just leave me- "NO! I'm not leaving you here!" Night Shadow tried to say over the raging winds. "Isn't it funny, I said the same thing to you." Fluttershy whispered before coughing up blood and shutting her eyes. Night Shadow couldn't bear to see her in pain anymore, but he had no choice. He couldn't possibly get the needed items to save her in time. "PLEASE STAY WITH ME, FLUTTERSHY, DON'T GIVE IN TO YOUR PAIN!" Night Shadow said in tears holding Fluttershy's head up and realizing she stopped breathing. "I-I don't know what to do… I can't do anything to help." Night Shadow said to himself, letting some tears fall. "I failed you Fluttershy, I have failed every friend I have ever had... I'm sorry." Night Shadow said his final words softly before closing his eyes as he held Fluttershy in his hooves. Suddenly, as all hope seemed lost, Night Shadow's eyes shined bright blue and enveloped Fluttershy in a bright aura of magic. Placing a hoof on her and saying the words, "Dry your tears, for your pain is no more", Fluttershy was cured instantly and breathed the breath of life again. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were Night Shadow's as he gave her a warm smile. "Go get help, Fluttershy, I will find the fillies." Night Shadow said softly. Fluttershy obeyed him, but noticed that Night Shadow was different. As if a calm wave of confidence and humility had come over him to make him like this. Making him seem totally changed, but still in the same body of Night Shadow only with a gentler and caring heart. To top it all off, Night Shadow had a bright glow, making everything near him have a sense of hope and happiness. With that, Fluttershy went to get help as fast as she could. "The dark magic in this forest had prevented me from finding the fillies before, let's see if…" Night Shadow trailed off trying to sense out the girls. "There they are!" He said joyfully before teleporting in a bright blue flash of light. As soon as Night Shadow reappeared, his bright blue eyes regressed back to dark purple "Wooh, what happened!?" Night Shadow asked himself. "Night Shadow, is that you?" Applebloom called from the distance. "Yeah, where are you girls!?" Night Shadow shouted, turning around to see the three of them huddled together to keep warm under a rock formation. He also noticed icicles forming under their noses, as well as their pale blue coats. "Where have you three been!?" He asked in a stern but worried voice. "We were trying to get our cutie marks." Scootaloo said shivering. "By freezing your flanks off?" Night Shadow yelled calmly. "No, Cutie Mark Crusaders lumberjacks." Applebloom said to Night Shadow. "Then it turned into Cutie Mark Crusaders rescue crew." Scootaloo said cutting in. "Except we're being rescued instead of rescuing." Sweetie Belle said disappointed. "Well you're the craziest fillies I have ever seen, and that's saying something. Come on, let's get you girls home." Night Shadow said softly. As if fate could be crueler, a large tree next to Night Shadow collapsed onto his hind legs. The fillies stood there, horrified by what happened. "Tell me… did a very large tree happen to land on my legs?" Night Shadow asked quietly. "Yes!" The girls yelled in unison. "That's what I thought…AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Night Shadow screamed as he used what little magic he had left to remove the tree from his legs. "Are… are you ok?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently. "Well let's see, a ten ton tree just landed on my legs, and I screamed so loud it would make a super saiyan jealous. Do you think I'm fine?!" Night Shadow said rhetorically. "Do… do you need help?" Sweetie Belle asked again. "Noooo, not at all, let me just walk over there with my BROKEN LEGS!" Night Shadow yelled sarcastically. "So, is that a yes or a no?" Sweetie Belle asked confused. Night Shadow face planted into the snow. "Yes!" He said muffled. The three fillies then dragged Night Shadow's limp body into their little "slice of heaven" in the wrathful blizzard. "What are you goin' to do now, Night Shadow?" Applebloom asked concerned. "What are we going to do?" Scootaloo asked fearfully. "What can we do?" Sweetie Belle asked looking outside, hopelessly. There was a long pause as the blizzard continued to release it's fury upon the group. "We're just going to have to wait it out." Night Shadow said doubtfully. "Are you crazy?" Sweetie Belle practically yelled. "Nope… just insane." Night Shadow said as he casted a magical barrier to seal off the entrance. "That was all the magic I had left… but it should keep the snow and cold out." Night Shadow said before passing out. "Great, we're all going to freeze!" Scootaloo said shivering. "Cutie Mark Crusader icicles." Applebloom said sobbing as the other two fillies hugged her for warmth. Night Shadow laid there as he heard the cries of the fillies. Feeling even worse for them than before. He couldn't help but remember that he was the reason they were in this predicament. "Girls, I'm sorry for yelling at you three before. I acted out of rage." Night Shadow said dimly. "Do you forgive me?" "Of course we forgive you, but we were the ones that made you angry, do you forgive us?" Sweetie Belle asked sorrowfully as the other two nodded their heads. "Of course I do… but this entire scene just sounds cheesy and predictable." Night Shadow said chuckling. "Anyways, you know my hair that you're so fond of Scootaloo?" "Yeah what about it." She asked puzzled. "It's not just for looks you know; it also supplies heat for me… and others." Night Shadow said softly. "Are you saying we should use it for heat?" Scootaloo said surprised. "That's exactly what I want you three to use it for, as weird as it may sound." Night Shadow said pondering. "However, the most important thing is it will keep-" "I CALL FIRST!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she dived head first into Night Shadow's hair. "Hey, it's not that bad in here." She said poking her head out. "It does look cozy in there." Applebloom said, walking towards Sweetie Belle before disappearing into the mane. "Are you kidding, this is so weird." Scootaloo said, standing alone. "Suit yourself, if you like the cold that is." Night Shadow said dozing off to sleep. Scootaloo sat alone for ten seconds before she realized how cold it really was in the rock formation. "Okay, okay, you win." Scootaloo said dashing into the hair. Soon, the fillies were fast asleep in Night Shadow's mane. However, even though the fillies were safe for now, Night Shadow could not take his mind off of Twilight. He tried to think about how he and the girls would be rescued, or how they would get out of this, and even how he was sorry for the prank he pulled on her. However, the thoughts came back to the same subject he didn't want to admit for so long. Night Shadow, the pony who defends his friends from danger and harm, had fallen in love with Twilight Sparkle.