Sweetie's Shadow

by Note Sketch


11. Going Flying

Keeping to the shadows, Sombra softly took a few steps forward as he peeked around the corner of a building. He was taking every precaution needed to keep out of sight since they were now in the outskirts of the town, away from any buildings he could use as high ground.

"You look like you've done this before." Sweetie Belle said as she also glanced around the wall from over his head. With an annoyed tone, Sombra spoke as he moved back around, now certain there was no pony there to see them.

"It comes with years of practice and also keeping quiet." He said, emphasizing the point of being silent. "Ponies may not be able to see us if we keep hidden, but they can still hear us."

"Heheh, sorry." She responded with a light blush. Getting back on track, they once again peeked around the corner as she began to point out a building. "Applebloom lives in that house over there."

Sombra pondered for a moment as he looked around his environment. He let out a soft hum as he thought of a way to go through the open field unnoticed. "Judging by the mere size of the area, the family that owns this must be large. Perhaps if we keep to the edge of the property and look out for ponies we could cut for the house. Better idea even would be to back track a while and come around the other side of the orchard." He said as he turned around to look at the position of the sun. "We might want to hurry if we wish to get there before noon."

"Or we could just walk up to the front door." Sweetie Belle said as she jumped from his back. Looking over to him with a perplexed expression. Why was he talking such drastic measures?

"A direct approach?" Sombra asked out. "That could complicate things if things go south."

"Why would they 'go south'? I mean, they know me. They'll know I'm most likely looking for Applebloom since we're friends and all."

"Oh, right. My apologies, I suppose that was just force of habit." Sombra said as he scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed to make such a strange mistake.

"Force of habit? When did you ever have to sneak around?" Sweetie Belle said with a smile that alleviated some of the embarrassment Sombra had.

"It was back from...argh..." Sombra's words came to a halt as he grasped his forehead. The pain he felt was unlike that of a headache, but just as strong. It was though the memories he was trying to recall were blocked away by something. "...from before I was king." He finished as he shut his eyes in great discomfort.

"What were you before you were king?" She asked as she began to walk away just as Sombra had displayed his pain, oblivious to the strain Sombra was under she continued to make her way to the her friend's home.

Breaking out of his dizzy spell, Sombra shook off whatever remained of his strain. Jumping forward and merging with the ground into a shadow, he quickly made his way to Sweetie Belle where the shade took her small silhouette form.

I uh...Let's save this conversation for a later time, alright?

"Okay!" The filly responded as she made her way down the apple farm. It was a scenery she was very familiar with since she often came here whenever she felt lonely at home...which was often. Humming to a peppy tone as she walked, Sweetie Belle held a nice smile on her face from the lively animals she saw in their corals.

"Well hello youngin'." An old craggy voice called out from afar to Sweetie. Quickly looking around, the filly searched for the pony who spoke and soon found her exiting a chicken coop.

"Oh, hello Granny Smith!" Sweetie Belle shouted back as she waved at the old mare now making her way to her.

"Here to see Applebloom?"

"Yeah! I was wondering that if maybe she wasn't busy with chores or something, we could go out and play."

"She ain't busy at all. In fact, little Scootaloo came by just a few moments ago. She said something about flyin' somewhere. They're at the barn." Granny Smith said as she pointed out a very large red barn on the other side of the farm. "Ya better hurry on now. Ah'm about to set the pigs free for their morning stroll."

"Thanks Granny!" Sweetie Belle said before taking off in a gallop. One, because she was excited to see her friends after two whole days of being away from them. And two, because she's seen what happens when the pigs come out.

Just as the filly came out of view, Granny Smith opened the door to a small building and instantly dozens of pigs ran out, almost tramping over her in the process.

"Ya ain't gonna run over me today ya piggies!" She shouted as she used her bonnet to swat away the boar coming her way. "Git! Git! Oh...oh dear. I forgot about you Big Malba..." Granny said as she saw a particularly large pig run at full speed towards her.

"Yeow!!!"

Sweetie Belle overheard a scream out in the distance, though she seemed to disregard it completely and continued to hum as she made her way to the barn.

Was that...

"Yup."

Is she alright?

"I dunno, probably." Sweetie Belle said as she looked ahead at the open doors of the barn.

You don't sound too worried.

"From what I hear, that happens every day." Sweetie said with a smile as she sped up on the final stratch to the barn.

Reaching the barn, Sweetie Belle rushed right in to see what her friends were doing, but as she stepped inside her mouth opened in awe. In front of her was a large airplane, like the ones she had seen in magazines. Though it did look like it was made out of old junk, it was no less breath taking for a filly like her who stared in amazement.

What is that? Sombra asked from within her mind.

Taking small steps towards the large contraption, Sweetie Belle answered the voice in her head as she placed a hoof on the metal plating of the plane.

"It's called an airplane. Somepony made one recently, it's the first machine that let's Earth Ponies and Unicorns fly as fast as Pegasi. It was all over the newspapers and only the rich have it in Canterlot."

Alright. Next question, how did one of those get here?

"Sweetie Belle!" A voice called from behind the white filly. Quickly turning on her hooves, Sweetie was met with the tackled hug of two other fillies. Giggles soon followed as they all rolled around next to the plane.

"Applebloom! Scootaloo!" Sweetie shouted out in a smile as she sat up to see her two friends.

"Sweetie Belle, this was supposed to be a surprise!" Her pegasi friend said in a pout. "We were going to get you when it was finished!"

"Well it is finished now." Applebloom said as she too sat up like her friends. "We were gonna head over to yer sister's boutique to get ya. Say, did ya'll get into another fight? Ya usually come here when ya two fight."

"Uh, not really."

"Well good. Cause we can't have one of the pilots sad when she's driving the plane!"

"Wait...are you saying that..."

"Eeyup!"

All at once, the three fillies stood up to look at one another. As their club's tradition, they all jumped up and slammed their hooves together as they shouted in unison.

"Cutiemark Crusaders: Airplane Pilots!"

Once on the ground again, the three fillies began to laugh at their own antics, Sweetie Belle in particular had a very large grin upon her face. She was so happy she was able to see her friends again. It might have only been two days, but they felt like an eternity.

Oye, you okay?

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Sweetie whispered as she turned away from her friends to hide her conversation.

Just felt a strong heart ache. I figured it was yours.

"You...what?" Sweetie Belle asked as a sudden sense of shock befell her. Could he feel what she was feeling? Could he...

"So Scoots." Applebloom asked, redirecting the filly's attention. "How are we gonna get the plan to the cliff?"

"Can't your big brother help us out? I'm sure he could do it in a jiffy."

"Yeah...except that he's probably gonna tell Applejack, and then she's gonna come running over and stop our crusading...again." The farm pony said as her ears flopped against her head. Her sister always seemed to worry too much about her...then again, when she's with her friends things tend to go down.

"I can do it." Sweetie Belle blurted out.

"What?" Scootaloo and Applebloom asked out together.

"Ah know yer sister makes you carry stuff all the time, but Ah really don't think you can push the plane that far."

"Oh no, I can get-" She began but stopped as she realized what exactly she was saying.

Forgot I was supposed to stay hidden? Sombra asked with a soft chuckle.

"Yup." Sweetie Belle said through her very forced smile, only causing her friends to give her strange looks. "What I mean to say is...that I have a spell that can get the job done."

And what spell is that little one?

"The one that bound you to me." She whispered back.

"Is yer magic even strong enough to do something like that? Ah mean, no offence, but you were havin' trouble lifting a broom just a few weeks ago."

"My magic is just fine thank you very much!"

"Alright then, let's see it." Scootaloo said as she moved close, ready to see what spell Sweetie Belle was talking about.

"Uh...." Sweetie said as she looked over at the plane with her friend's eyes glued on her. "Can you help?" She whispered.

What exactly do you want me to do?

"I don't know...something!" She said in an almost loud enough voice for her friends to hear. A heavy sigh echoed in her head as she felt something strange tingle at her horn. "Mister Sombra?"

From behind the filly a dark crystal began to extend from the ground in a slanted direction. Slowly it grew and gently pressed against the back of the plane. Scootaloo and Applebloom opened their mouths in amazement as they saw Sweetie's horn glow purple and green with magic. Soon more and more slanted pillars were erected to push the plane forward.

"Woah!" Scootaloo shouted out. "Since when can you do that!?"

"Uh..." Sweetie Belle said as she looked over at the crystal. "Since...two days ago?"

"Cool! Now let's get the plan to the cliff!" Applebloom shouted as she raced to the cockpit and jumped in. "You can push the plan from here can't ya?"

"I uh...think so?"

Yes filly, I can do that, though I would appreciate some directions this time.

In a smile, the three fillies all jumped onto the plane and began to make their way out of the apple farm. The trip was far from short, as the crystals took time to gently press against the plane or risk damaging it from the impact. That, and Sombra had to dissolve the crystals that had been raised to avoid drawing attention. All this while the girls talked and gossiped.

"So I heard that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia came for a visit yesterday." Scootaloo said as she looked over at Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, Twilight brought them over."

"Why?"

"Uh...to catch up on current events?"

Nice save. Sombra's voice echoed from in her mind. She could only smile as small sweat drops dripped down her brow. The last thing she wanted was to be flicked on the forehead again for lying.

"Anyway, did both of you make the airplane by yourselves?" Sweetie quickly asked, trying to change the topic.

"Yeah! Scoots came by and showed me this book she got. It had a big description on how a plane works and we stared to round up all the materials we needed to make one."

"Yeah! The plane looks just like the one on the picture doesn't it?" Scootaloo asked as she began to dig through the items in the plane, finally pulling out a book with what was presumably the plane the one they were on was based out of.

"Yeah! You two did a great job! But why didn't you invite me?"

"We were gonna, but we heard about the princesses and thought that maybe you were busy. So we wanted to surprise you with it later."

"I was really surprised! Oh, we should probably make a right here." Sweetie Belle said, subtly letting Sombra know it was time to change directions.

"We made sure to get down every last detail of the plane. We didn't want us to be crashing down in a firey blaze if somethin' went wrong."

"Yeah, I think I would get grounded if I did that." Scootaloo said as she began to imagine her parents finding out about the stunt they were about to pull.

"Well, we're about to find out." Sweetie Belle said as she poked her head to the side. They had finally reached their destination. The tallest cliff by Ponyville, just barely outside of the Everfree Forest.

Stopping just a few meters away from the edge, the three fillies took a moment to take in the large view of the cliff. This wasn't the first time they were here, nor was it their first time trying to get their cutiemarks with flying. Only last time they used gliders instead of a giant metal death trap that could explode upon impact.

"Alright! Let's all make some final checks on the plane before we take off." Scoots said as she jumped off and her friends soon followed suit.

Being the only one that did not work on the plane, Sweetie Belle was left on the sidelines while the other two went to work. Her smile never wavering, she patiently waited for the preparations to be completed.

How were two fillies able to recreate a machine that took centuries to build in the first place?

"I think they just read the magazine article. It goes a little bit into detail about how the plane works. See? They have all the major parts. The propeller, the wings, this thing-a-majig." Sweetie Belle answered back as she took out the picture that her friend had showed her and pointed things out.

I'd ask if this was safe...but now I'm more curious as to whether that thing will actually get off the ground.

"Okay Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom shouted from the plane's wing. "Everything is all set, let's go!"

In a hyped trot, Sweetie made her way to the plane and quickly jumped into the cockpit along with her friends where they all began to strap in. Scootaloo, being the pegasus of the group, was the one at the wheel while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were behind her with other levers they needed to operate.

"Okay, so we just need to get a running start." Scootaloo said as she turned to look at Sweetie.

"Huh? Me?"

"Well yeah, I thought at first that Big Mac could just kinda throw us off the cliff, but since you've got that awesome new spell, think you could use it again?"

"I...I'll see what I can do." Sweetie Belle said with a nervous laugh before turning around and looking at the ground behind them. "Think we could do that?" She whispered to Sombra.

You mean think I can do that right? And yes, but you risk breaking the plane in the process.

"Maybe you could just nudge it off the cliff and then use your magic to keep us in the air?"

That will never work.

"Well, can you try something?"

I can try, don't expect a miracle child.

Sweetie Belle could feel something build within her. It was the sensation of Sombra casting a spell within her mind. A crystal wall was conjured behind the plane as well as smaller pillars to the sides and bottom of it. All at once they moved closer and touched the plane as they began to mimic a launch pad. Extending the pillars and walls at the same time, the plane began to move forward. Though at first rather slow, it soon began to gain speed and by the time they reached the edge, they were moving fast enough for all of their manes to brush backwards.

For a moment, they all cheered and smile as they glided though the air. The sensation of the wind hitting their faces was phenomenal, especially for Scootaloo who seemed to having the most fun out of them all. But their cheers soon became screams and cries as they realized that their visions was slowly turning towards the ground. The engine didn't seem to be working, only making a few loud crackles instead of making everything move. The ground now getting dangerously close, the fillies all held onto one another as they shouted out.

"Why isn't the engine working?!"

"Did you test it first?!"

"We had just finished when you arrived, we didn't get a chance to!"

"Mister Sombra help!" Sweetie shouted out in reflex to the situation. It quickly caught the attention of her friends as a large dark stallion pulled himself out of Sweetie Belle's shadow on the seat and proceeded to jump out towards the front of the plane and push leap towards the ground.

Spinning in midair, Sombra turned himself and quickly thought of all the things he could do. The landing spot was dense with trees and rocks so simply making a ramp to slide them onto the ground wouldn't work. He really didn't have a choice, they'll need to go back into the air.

His horn glowing in purple and green, Sombra began to cast out crystal to take shape of two ramps. One to slow the fall of the incoming plane, and another one to send it right back to the air. His hooves finally touched the ground in a loud crush of the stones around him, but continued to keep his eyes locked on the falling contraption. He worked his magic as fast as he could and just as the plane came short of twenty or so meters, his crystal conjurations had finished coming to form.

The airplane soon touched the downward ramp as it slid along it, though just as Sombra had thought, it began to slide sideways and almost fell off the side of the ramp. He conjured more crystal to keep it on its course. The plane followed the assigned path Sombra had for it, and just as it reached the second ramp, he summoned more pillars to push the plane back up at high speeds. Patiently, Sombra waited for the plane to drag Sweetie Belle away and force him to her side, then he could get to them and jump out to safety with plenty of time to spare.

"Who is that?" Applebloom asked as she peeked out of the cockpit and looked over at the dark stallion on the ground. What she didn't expect was for a sudden air current to come brushing in and pull her out of the plane.

"W-Watch out!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she saw the wind begin to take Applebloom. Rushing over, she and Scootaloo tried to pull her back in. Reaching out to grab the earth pony's other hoof to pull her in, Sweetie Belle fell under the same wind trap as Applebloom and began to fall out of the plane. In one last attempt at saving her friend, Sweetie pushed Applebloom back in as she began to fall to her own demise.

"Niña tonta!" Sombra shouted out as he ran over towards the forest Sweetie was falling to. Jumping from large branch to large branch, Sombra hurried through the forest towards the surprisingly quiet filly. In a powerful leap into the air, Sombra reached the falling filly who quickly grabbed onto his mane and sat on his back as they both began to descend .

"Mister Sombra, my friends!" Sweetie Belle said as she and Sombra landed on a patch of blue flowers.

"A thank you would nice..." Sombra said as he looked over at the plane that now lost its upward momentum. "But as for your friends, I doubt we can get to them in time."

"What?!"

"They are too far away, by the time I get there they'll have crashed."

"But...we can't just leave them!"

Sombra stopped to think a moment. His mind went around in circles as he began to think of a way to take advantage of the situation. If he played his pieces right, he could kill two birds with one stone. All he needed was to push Sweetie Belle in the right direction...so to speak.

"Well, there is one way, but you'll have to trust me." Sombra said as he gestured for her to get off of him. If she knew one thing about Sombra, is that he didn't lie. With a confident nod, Sweetie Belle jumped off and stood firmly in the blue flowers as she waited for him to do something.

"Sure, anything."

"Limbs in, knees bent." Sombra said with a chuckle as he lit his magic. The ground underneath Sweetie lifted as a pillar of black crystal began to extend, bringing her to his height. He quickly stood in front of her as he tried to get the right trajectory.

In a giggled scream, Sweetie Belle was launched at full force up towards the plane. Just as she left the ground, Sombra powered an energy bolt that he managed to shoot out before Sweetie had flown far enough to activate the tethering affect.

At this point Sombra would have become Sweetie Belle's shadow, but she was high enough in the air as to not give one off. Instead, his shade sped right to her and he merged with her body. The bolt Sombra had sent out was quickly approaching her just as she too was getting close to the plane. Both Applebloom and Scootaloo were still in shock about what was happening and the fact that their friend was currently outside of the plane waving at them was no true comfort.

The three objects lined up. Sweetie Belle was currently between the energy bolt and the airplane. Just as Sombra had planned, the bolt exploded softly next to her and for a brief moment, a shadow was cast on the side of the plane from the new light source. He quickly took advantage of it and pulled himself out of the shadow to grab Sweetie Belle while also reaching for the plane.

"Applebloom, Scootaloo, grab on!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she crawled to Sombra's back. Exchanging glances for a second, the two fillies quickly obeyed and began to climb onto Sombra.

The plane was now beginning to gain speed as it came down, making them rush over to him. Sombra waited for his new 'passengers' to get adjusted well enough to withstand the force he used to throw himself towards the tall trees of forest and leaped out into the air. Engulfing his hooves in crystal, Sombra smashed right through many branches that 'softened' his fall. By the time he hit the ground, the crystal gauntlets had shattered and were nothing more than small broken shards.

"That was fun! Let's do it again." Sweetie Belle said as she raised her hooves into the air.

"Let's not..." Applebloom and Scootaloo said from behind her, they were still holding on to one another from their fright.

"Heheh...okay, maybe we should just go home then..."

<=•=>

"So ya think ya can beat me Rainbow?" Applejack said as she balanced a bucket of apples on her back. "Without cheatin' this time?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her pegasus friends said as she hovered next to her in a laid back manner.

"Don't play dumb, ya know that if ya use yer wings when playing tug-a-war ya have an unfair advantage."

"Then we'll just scrap it from the games. Come on, the Iron Pony Competition is coming up so we still have time to plan out all the games."

"Yeah yeah, maybe this time we can also pick some judges that see cheatin' when it happens."

"Why are you still mad about-"

Both mares were brought into a halt as they looked over at the pony walking into the orchard. A rather dark presence they thought they'd never seen again. What made things worse was not the prideful steps he took as he walked, no, it was the bickering of three fillies upon his back that almost ruined the image he had.

"So you kept it all a secret!?"

"I had to. Rarity and Twilight told me not to say anything."

"But how could ya keep something like this from yer best friends?"

Sombra ignored their banter and instead walked right over to the frozen mares. He made eye contact with the both of them and then proceeded levitate two of the fillies with his magic.

"I presume this filly is your sister." Sombra said as he gave Applebloom over to Applejack. "And this one wouldn't shut up about you, so you take her." He said as he gave Rainbow Scootaloo for her to hold. The mares still couldn't find a voice to speak with, but it didn't matter. Sombra wasn't going to wait around. In a quick turn, he began to make his way out of the farm and towards Ponyville.

"Bye! I'll see you later!" Sweetie Belle said a she waved her hoof at her friends.

Slowly the mares turned to the fillies they were given to hold. Finally out of shock, they asked out in unison.

"What did you two do!?"