//------------------------------//
// Chapter One 
// Story: The Shadow of Mortals 
// by Silverlinings 
//------------------------------//

	Chapter One
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As the snow fell on the quiet village of Stableton, the sun began to rise through the thin, white layer of clouds and into the sky. The town slowly began to come to life, as every pony began their daily routines, of opening their shops, and going to work. Small fillies and colts danced around the main square, sliding on the thin ice, on their way to school. The higher the sun got in the air, the more ponies became visible, doing the many various things that kept the town running.
In a small house, on the edge of town, a small filly was slowly waking up. She hadn't slept well that night, and had fallen asleep very late. A loud knock came at her door.
"Kali! You'll be late for school! Hurry up!" The filly's mother yelled through the blue, wooden door.
The purple earth pony sat bolt up and looked at the clock. It read 8-o-clock. She only had fifteen minutes to get to class! She grabbed her saddle bag, ran out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out of the house. She began sprinting at top speeds towards the school house.
She was only at the square when she heard the bell ring in the distance. She was late. The filly's teacher made sure to remind her as she entered the class room.
"Kaleidoscope Coral. You're late," She called as the young pony took her seat.
"Sorry, Miss Appleworm," Kali blushed as some other ponies looked at her and giggled, for this wasn't the first time Kaleidoscope (or Kali for short) was late for class.
"Hush," Miss Appleworm called from the front of the class, before returning her attention to Kali, "Yes, well, be sure to see me after class, dear." Miss Appleworm was an older unicorn, with a dull, grey coat, and a light orange mane, that was put up in a bun. Her cutie mark was a shining apple, with a white star on the corner. She was a nice, and caring pony, but was a stickler for the rules.
"Yes, Miss Appleworm," Kali looked down, still blushing.
"Where have you been," the unicorn colt sitting next to her whispered. He had an all black coat with a white mane, which was straight, short and went down one side, covering one of his eyes. He had deep, green eyes, which matched his cutie mark, which was a green jack-o-lantern with a white flame.
"Sleeping, Willow," she whispered back to Wailing Willow.
"Again? Why're you sleeping in so much?" he asked, quickly, "You should spend less time sleeping, and more time worrying about your blank flank. Besides, you know I can't stand one of Appleworm's lectures alone."
"Sorry, but it happened again," Kali said in a hushed yell, as she blew her green mane out of her face. It was a frizzled mess with a natural yellow streak, that was in tangles because she didn't have time to brush it.
"Hang on, I've got it," Willow said as his horn glowed green. Kali's mane began untangling and reweaving, until it was her usual, tasteful, set of curls.
"Thanks, " Kali felt around her mane to make sure it was all good.
"Now what's been happening? Why can't you sleep?" Willow tilted his head, with a confused look.
Kali sighed. She had explained it before, but it never seemed to get through to Willow. "It's like I said: I was trying to sleep last night, but I kept having those nightmares, the same nightmares. For weeks!" she shouted.
Willow made a hushing sound, and eye'd Miss Appleworm who didn't seem to notice, "Alright, what're these dreams about?"
"That's just it, I don't know," She began to get frustrated with herself. "It's all fuzzy. There were flashes of some pony I didn't recognize. She was a purple unicorn, and... I can't remember what else." She thought harder, trying to figure it all out. "There was a voice, yelling something that was too muffled to make out. But it was rhythmic, like chanting. And..." She thought some more, "you were there, too, Willow."
Willow immediately looked up at her, "I was?"
"Yeah, and you seemed kind of important for whatever the whole dream was about."
Willow looked down at his desk. He could tell he was blushing slightly, so he flipped his mane to the other side to hide his face, "That's... cool..." he eventually said.
"Is there a problem?" Miss Appleworm called to the back of the room, "I'm hearing a lot of chatter."
"No, Miss Appleworm." Kali said.
The two friends sat through the rest of class in a semi silence, whispering every now and then to each other, to see if they understood the lecture.
After class, Kali met with Miss Appleworm. "Dear," Miss Appleworm began, "is there a reason you're always late? Is something wrong at home? Can I help in anyway?" Her voice was soft and caring.
"No, Miss Appleworm," Kali lied, "everything's fine. I was just sleeping in."
"Alright," the teacher didn't seem totally convinced. "Well, as a punishment for repeatedly missing class, I need you to run a simple errand for me."
"Of course, Miss." Kali was happy she only had to run an errand.
"As you know, when I'm not teaching, I like to bake pastries for my daughter's small shop. Well the captain of our local guard ordered a batch of cinnamon and oat cookies, and I just need you to deliver them to him." Her horn glowed a dull orange and a small paper sack floated up from behind her desk and towards Kali.
"That's all? "Kali asked. She smiled, and took the bag, which she tucked into her saddlebag, "Consider in done."
"Thank you, dear," Miss Appleworm smiled. "Now run along."

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Kali left the school teacher to her work, and began trotting down the path towards the training field. When she got there, several earth ponies and unicorns were lifting weights, and pegasi were flying laps around the arena.
"C'mon, I wanna see some hussle," yelled a pegasus who was standing on the edge of the track, to all of the other ponies, "Don't let the cold stop you. You want to be apart of my ranks, don't you?" He looked up specifically at the pegasi, "I want your lap time cut in half by the end of the week!" The pegasus had a white coat with yellow eyes. His mane and tail were red and yellow with a black streak. Since he flew so much, his mane and tail were swept back. His wings and ears had red tips, and his back left hoof was red. He wore yellow flight goggles around his neck, and his cutie mark was a golden shield with a silver outline, with an off centered red saw blade, behind it.
"Hey Silverlinings," Kali called as she galloped across the field towards the white stallion, the snow crunching under her feet.
The white pegasus stallion turned to look at her, "Hey, Squirt." He smiled, and tussled her mane, "What's up?" The captain turned back to keep an eye on the royal guard trainees.
"Miss Appleworm just asked me to bring these to you," She pulled out the bag of cookies.
"Aw, sweet," Silverlinings raised his two front hooves in delight. He was about to say something else, when a brown pegasus crashed to the ground next to him.
"Burnout? What's wrong?" Silverlinings turned to look at the mare who just crashed.
Borealis Burnout was gasping for breath after the crash. Her Orange and yellow mane was in a spiky mess. Her winged comet cutie mark was scuffed, and her feathers were ruffled. She eventually managed to find her voice, "M'lady asked me to send for you. It's important."
Silverlinings' face took a serious visage, and he put his goggles on, "Alright, thanks." He turned and looked at Kali, "You can just drop those by my house." He reached under his wing and pulled out the key to his house, which he tossed to her. With that, he took off, so fast it left a vivid trail of red, yellow and black.

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Silverlinings landed with a small rumble, and immediately bowed before Lady Diamond Jubilee. She was a very old earth pony, with a dull gray coat, and a white mane. Her cutie mark was a large diamond with regal, blue streamers on either side of it. Diamond Jubilee's family was of noble blood, and had founded Stableton. They were all known for being as benevolent and kind as possible, and Diamond Jubilee was no exception. Because of how kind and generous she was, no pony ever argued with her rule. 
"M'lady," Silverlinings said, standing up, "you sent for me?"
"Yes Captain, and I'm glad you got here so fast." She smiled at him, and walked across the small roof plaza, on the castle which the royal family presided. She picked up a watering can with her teeth and began watering some lovely red and purple flowers, which were kept alive in the cold conditions, using magic. "If you could just give me a minute," She said, watering can still in her mouth.
"But, M'lady," Silverlinings was slightly off put, "Borealis Burnout said this was important." He didn't understand why she was so calm.
"Oh, but it is," Diamond Jubilee responded, as she set down the watering can. "But it's not an emergency," she chortled, "I was just wondering if you could help me with a little something."
"Of course, M'lady," Silverlinings bowed again.
"As you may know," Diamond Jubilee walked to the edge of the plaza, and looked out over Stableton, "this peaceful town was started by my ancestors, some time ago, and for a recent time, Stableton has had some... unrest," her face grew slightly darker as her tone shifted.
"Yes M'lady." Silverlinings agreed.
"We've had some problems with savage creature attacks, such as the timber wolves and that nasty baby hydra," Diamond Jubilee shook her head, trying to get the image out of her mind. Silverlinings simply listened. "We've also had some issue with ponies going missing..." She trailed off, because as she turned around she noticed Silverlinings looking rather forelorned. His niece, whom he had been the legal guardian of after his brother's untimely passing, was one of the ponies who went missing. "I'm sorry, Captain, I forgot that..." She trailed off again, as the pegasus gave a small sigh.
"It's quite alright, M'lady," the stallion stood erect, trying to recompose himself, "Now what do you ask of me, M'lady?"
"Well," the mare continued, as though nothing was the matter, "I have contacted Canterlot, and Princess Celestia is sending her top student, Twilight Sparkle, along with a few of her friends to help with the issue."
Silverlinings nodded, to signify that he was following.
"And I simply need you to show them around. Give them an idea of their surroundings, and make them feel welcome," She smiled.
Silverlinings gave her a questionable look, "But M'lady, I mean no disrespect, but I have an entire squad of new recruits to train."
She chortled, again, "I am sure you can get Burnout to train them. After all, that's what a leader does: delegates the smaller tasks to others," She said, hinting at that's what she was doing to Silverlinings.
"Right," Burnout was Silverlinings number one officer, and he trusted her, completely, to take care of this task.
"Well then," Diamond Jubilee smiled, "What're you waiting for? Get you flank in gear," she hollered, chuckling to herself.
Silverlinings gave her a puzzled look, before taking off. He always had wondered about Diamond Jubilee. He suspected that in her old age, she may have been a few ships short of a fleet. He shrugged it off though, because one: he could never say something like that to such a kind pony, and two: she was, technically, his boss.