//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Secrets in the Shadows // by Moon Solace //------------------------------// “What are we going to do?” Star Flower hid herself behind me and Rainbow. “We have two choices. One, to create several fire spells and melt them all at once. Or two, sneak by them and melt them when we turn up the heat. Problem is that, if we sneak by them, we may be discovered and get ourselves killed, and if we try and melt them in one shot, it may not work and we'll get ourselves killed, and I'm not taking any risks, especially after what happened.” “Solace I told you, I'm feel as strong as a horse, or in this case a pony.” Rainbow gave another flap of her injured wing, she winced some but was still confident and a bit arrogant. I thought over the idea of over powering the spell, another problem is that I used up quite a bit of my energy with the last opponents we dealt with, not to mention the ice wall, “I'll try one last time, but if I collapse, help me back up because I have some choice words for Frozen.” “Got it.” they said unanimously. I crawled over to the entrance of the room to peek inside. There were roughly twenty wraiths in there, big ones too. My heart skipped a beat in shock of the number of fatal ghosts inside. Come on Solace, keep it together. Ignoring the monsters, I took a mental photo of the room. The boiler was on the far side of the room, luckily the monsters were forming in the center, where the water moisture was coolest. I drew the biggest fire spell I could make without it being in range of lighting the boiler. I released the spell and the entire room lit up in a white light, blinding me temporarily. I looked in and smiled, the creatures were gone, now small puddles and gas clouds. “All cle.....” I began before I collapsed. “Sweet Celestia! Moon Solace!” I heard Star Flower call out, Rainbow came and grabbed me as I slowly lost consciousness. {****} I opened my eyes and saw I was at home, and not my new home, I was in the mansion, and it wasn't on fire. I was in the main portion of the house, where the front door was. “Mom? Dad?” I called out. “Moon”, I heard my dad answer, “you broke your promise......” “Dad, it wasn't my fault, I didn't mean to hurt Rainbow.” “You broke your promise, now she'll never forgive you.” I couldn't see Dad anywhere, I could only hear his voice. “You know I wouldn't break a promise intentionally!” I was tearing up, I knew that Rainbow was okay, I knew she forgave me. But I didn't know I was crying. “Moon......you do not deserve to become a true Shadow Wing, and you never will be forgiven.” Suddenly, everything around me burst into the same blue-white fire that I use in my spell. Everything was burning like paper, I felt the hot fire burn through my coat and onto my skin, my blood was broiling and gushing out of the burnt areas. The pain was unlike anything I've ever experienced, this was truly hell. “I'm sorry!” I called to the heavens in agony as the fire consumed me..... {****} I jumped out of bed, I was sweating to the point where the pillow under me was soaked. “Solace!” I looked over and saw Rainbow, her smile as wide as Pinkie Pie's, “Are you okay?” I rubbed my head, trying to get my thoughts together, “What happened?” “Once you turned back to give the all-clear, you suddenly fainted, Star Flower and I grabbed you and went to go get Frozen, once we got him free, we rushed you straight to the hospital.” “Where's Frozen now?” I asked. “He's outside talking to the doctor to try and get you out of here. Solace, you've been out for three days...” Wait, three days?! How was I out for three days? A pony slid open the room door and entered, he was an icy white pegasus with an equally icy blue mane combed back. “How is he?” he asked, his voice was calm and concerned. “Awake”, I gave him a smug look, letting him know how annoyed I was about what happened. “I want to apologize about what happened, I used to live in the far north where it was cold 24/7. When I do my radio session, I'd like to feel at home so I turn down the AC in the broadcasting room, but I didn't know about the wraiths.” “You're lucky the only ponies who got hurt trying to save your plot was me and Rainbow here, I don't think Star Flower would allow you to keep your job if anypony else got hurt.” “Heh, Star Flower and One Trick are still discussing my punishment about that. But I must thank you for getting me out of there, and yes I did hear that you finished off those monsters for the most part.” I heard another knock at the door, One Trick along with Star Flower came in, Star was holding a bouquet of Poison Joke. “Don't worry, I enchanted them to not effect anypony, once they leave the ground when they're enchanted, they stay like that.” I attempted to grab the flowers with my magic, but a sharp pain rushed into my head. “Woah there, you just woke up. Don't over extend yourself.” Star Flower handed me the flowers. “Thanks”, I smiled and looked at the flowers, “What do they smell like?” “Go ahead and give them a smell.” Star Flower nudged. I looked at the unicorn suspiciously and took a deep whiff. They smelled like....Skillet's apple pie, and Applejack's fritters. “How....?” I stuttered confused by the fragrance of the Poison Joke. “Poison Joke has a special gland in their petals that when a pony smells them, it would smell like the thing the pony desires most.” “Seems I want some apple pie and apple fritters then.” I laughed. “That's why the flower has those strange after effects, it's a protection mechanism so that they wouldn't go extinct.” Who knew? I handed Rainbow the bouquet, she too sampled the smell. “Smells like cider.” Rainbow's mouth began to water, “and boy would I love some of AJ's cider.” Everypony laughed as Rainbow regained her composure. “Now, about your punishment Frozen.” One Trick said raising an eyebrow, “you are to escort our friends back to Ponyville, unharmed, when you get back, you are to crank the heat up and make sure the place is safe, and yes, you will be the only pony in the building to make sure the coast is clear.” Frozen sighed, from what I could tell, he wasn't going to enjoy that last part. “Yes ma'am.” One Trick nodded and turned to me, “Sorry about all this.” “Oh, it's fine. I just didn't expect that to happen.” I smiled some at the pegasus. “Here, a small token of our thanks.” One Trick handed my a small black box with a string attached that ended with two small buds. “It's a miniature radio, you place the buds in your ears and you can tune into EFR any time you want. The battery is solar powered so if it dies, just put it in the sun for a little bit.” I place a bud into my ear and turned it on, as soon as I did, music blasted in my ear, I pulled out the ear bud and fumbled with the controls, figuring out the button to make it quieter. I finally figured it out and placed the bud back into my ear. It was the same song, but it didn't scare me like it did at first. “Thanks One Trick, this is very nice of you.” One Trick smiled, “Well you did get rid of those evil things, you certainly have a knack for it, even if you are a bit reckless.” After a little begging, the doctor allowed me to leave the hospital with a clean bill of health. After saying good-bye to our new friends, Frozen guided us through the Everfree back to Ponyville. “Like I said before, sorry about that.” Frozen said as we made it into the clearing. “Don't worry Frozen, as long as everypony is safe, I can rest easy”, I more or less lied about that one, that dream I had while I was out was not pleasant, I could still feel the burns somehow. But if the ponies at village are safe, I'm happy. “Hey Solace, don't you think you should talk to your dragon friend?” Rainbow asked, “You know, about what to do next, we did get a bit side tracked there.” “Good idea.” “I see, so you think this fire spell is your Spell-of-Birth?” I was in the astral world with the large ancient dragon, I explained to him about the fire spell I'm able to use. It seems by the look of his face, the spell isn't 'the one'. “Unfortunately, that spell has already been created. It's called the Lunar Flare spell, it's an extremely unpredictable spell, the blast radius is never guaranteed and can easily back 'fire'.” The dragon chuckled at his own pun. All I did was glare at him. “Then how did I learn it?” “Got lucky I guess.” the dragon shrugged casually. He's not helping at all. “Well, I don't know what to do next, is there any clues I could find to help me along so I could learn about my family?” “I suggest going to see another crystal soul. Do not forget, I was a sword so it's not exactly easy to hear stuff if I don't have ears.” The world faded away, leaving me dizzy on my couch, Rainbow went to get some weather jobs done so I was by myself, alone. “Damn it Las-Mir, if you weren't important I'd smash your crystal now.” I grumbled as I went through the bags to pull out the next stone. It was marked, '#3', back into the astral world I go. “I wonder who I'm meeting here.” I looked around, trying to figure out who was in this crystal, was this one empty? “Hello Moon Solace”, a voice came out of no where, “It is good to meet you in person.” “Who's there, show yourself.” “Sadly, I cannot show myself due to the age of my soul, but I can tell you who I was.” the voice moaned, he sounded like a lonely spirit. “Who.....are you exactly.” I questioned. “I, am the spirit of the first Earth Pony Sage, Lunar Wing.” a small cloud of energy appeared, it was a sunny yellow. “You're the first Sage?! Wow, it is an honor to meet you.” I gave a humble bow to the cloud. I'm talking to the most important pony/spirit in my family. “Same to you, but, greetings shouldn't be your first concern. I believe you needed a location to learn about your... our family.” “Wait, how did you know?” I asked. “I was speaking to your mother while you and your friend were off in the Everfree. Soul Crystals can communicate to other nearby crystals.” “Oh okay, that kind of makes sense.” I was pondering over the concept. “Sad that I need to say. You will need to go back into the Everfree.” “Can't I learn everything about my family from you? You are the first earth pony to become a Sage.” “That does not mean I know everything about the family, and I certainly don't know any of the information you are seeking. You need to travel to the Castle of the Two Sisters. There you need to find the library and find the family tome. The book is enchanted, writing the history of the Shadow Wings as time goes by. You'll know it when you see it.” Not very specific when it comes to how it looks is he. “Okay then, Rainbow and I shall go to the castle and find the tome.” “Before you go, I suggest learning a fighting spell, preferably something to summon a weapon of some sort. The spell book should have plenty of different weapons for you to choose from, it should be under alteration or summoning.” “Thank you Lunar Wing, it has been a honor.” I bowed once again. “Likewise. Now make sure you keep your promises to your parents and friends.” I returned back into my living room, my vision was blurry and for some reason very pink. My eyesight refocused and I was greeted with wide eyes and a huge smile. “Hey there Moonie.” Pinkie chirped. Her greeting caught me off guard and I jumped off the couch. “Geez Pinkie Pie, ever heard of personal space?” I said as I scrambled back onto my hooves. “Nope.” Pinkie replied. She was bouncing around the house, somehow leaving all the furniture undisturbed. “Well is there something you need?” I offered, trying to get rid of the energetic pink pony politely. She's a great friend, but she can go a bit over board sometimes. Pinkie came to a halt, “Yea, Dashie wanted me to tell you she's going to be busy since she's behind on work.” “Dang. Now I don't have somepony to guide me to the castle.” “Which castle Moonie? If it's Twi's Castle you need to go, it's on the other side of town.” “No, there's a castle in the Everfree. It's called 'The Castle of the Two Sisters'.” “You need to go there? Why would you want to go there?” Pinkie stopped her bouncing and looked at me, she seemed a bit concerned. “There's something in the castle I need to get. You know anypony that can take me?” “Well duh, of course I do. It's me Silly Billy.” Oh great, now I have to listen to Pinkie's non-stop talking about cupcakes. “Well before we go, I need to find a new spell in my book. Now where did I put it....” “Right here Moonie”, Pinkie said as she grabbed my book and passed it to me, “It was under E.” How is that possible? And how does that make sense? “Um..... thanks Pinkie.” I grabbed the spell book with my levitation spell and turned to the summoning section. Strangely enough there was a letter E on top of the book. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how in Equestria I got a letter of anything, I simply shook it off, assuming Pinkie was being Pinkie. “I wonder which weapon I should use. It should be something sharp that's for sure, but it needs to be something good for speed too.” “Wouldn't that be a long sword?” Pinkie suggested. “Needs to be strong.” “Broadsword?” Pinkie suggested once again. “Maybe.....” I wasn't a fan of those giant death knives so most likely no. “How about a regular double edge sword?” Pinkie pointed at the spell for a normal double edger. Well, it's fast and agile. I can work with that. The spell consisted of two half moons and two crescents with an X in the middle. I closed my eyes and drew the spell. Although, for some reason, Pinkie booped my nose. “What was that for Pinkie? I was about to draw out the spell.” I rubbed my nose, annoyed at the pink mare. “Silly Billy, if it's a combat spell, shouldn't you learn to draw the spells with your eyes open?” “I don't think I can Pinkie, I was taught to close my eyes when I cast a Lunar Spell Circle, by Princess Luna herself.” “Why don't you try and cast it with your eyes open? It'll make things much easier to target moving ponies.” “I don't know Pinkie, it sounds like a pretty bad idea. I rather not hurt any of my friends. It would hurt myself, and break my Pinkie Promise.” Pinkie gasped at what I said, “Why would you make a Pinkie Promise like that?!” “What do you mean?” “If you made a promise like that about not hurting anypony you consider a friend, you might break that promise and not even realize it. And that's super duper bad.” “I mean physically hurting them Pinkie Pie”, I corrected. “But, wouldn't that mean you already broke it? You let your friends and family from Canterlot get hurt pretty bad.” That got me angry, out of pure rage, I summoned the sword and pinned Pinkie to a wall with the sword behind me pointing at her throat, “You NEVER mention my family like that, EVER.” Pinkie looked at me in complete shock, realizing she went too far. Then she started.....laughing? “Why the hell are you laughing?! You just insulted me and my family......and.....everypony I loved.” “Two reasons Moonie, well actually three. One I laughed at myself for being so stupid, two I giggled at the ghosties to make myself feel better, and three I laughed at the fact you had your eyes open when you summoned the sword.” Wait a second, I summoned my sword without closing my eyes, the image just popped in my head and, poof, sword. And was it a beauty of a sword, the blade itself was a icy silver, curved inwards towards the middle, the hilt was like a navy blue crescent moon, and the grip was a cloud-like gray. “Nice sword by the way.” Pinkie smiled, “matches your personality well, deadly and strong while being graceful and agile. Although the color I might change.” I chuckled some, I don't know how but when I wasn't angry or annoyed at her, she always made me smile, just like Rainbow when she wasn't being arrogant.