//------------------------------// // A New Friend // Story: Dark Hopes // by xXShadowSparklesXx //------------------------------// "Ugh..." I moaned, my face slapping against the magic tome in lying in front of me. "Is there anything to do?" A week had passed since I had first moved to the castle and started studying magic under Princess Luna's. However, when your teacher had peculiar sleeping hours from six in the morning to five in the evening, getting bored was definitely bound to happen. It was pretty understandable since she was the princess of the night, but there was nothing to do but ready to spend the time. Unlike Twilight, I was not that entertained by books. I do like reading from time to time, but I'd rather go do something outside. Anything but books, thank you very much. I trotted around my room, only to have my attention drawn by a conversation that was going on outside the window (partly because my room was quite near ground level). When I looked outside the window, I saw some royal guards going through a door on the far left of the castle. "That must be where they train." I said to myself as I cast a bubble shield spell. "I wonder if I can go over there and get some extra practice." With some apprehension, I made my way to the barracks, bracing myself for the strict demeanors of the guards that Shining warned me about. Once I had reached my destination, I opened the door, finding that the room was surprisingly empty. Trotting over to one of the practice dummies in the room, I picked up a conveniently placed sword, taking my time to examine the both of them. The dummy was full of gashes from what could only be from the sword, but as I turned my gaze to the wooden blade, I began to wonder just how they had managed to leave such deep cuts on the dummy with such a blunt and dull blade. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't realize that I finally had company. "Put the weapon down, kid." I heard a deep stern voice said from behind me, causing me to let out an undignified yelp as I twisted around to face a stallion who gave me the hardest glare I had ever seen in my whole life. The training sword was quick to fall out of my telekinetic grasp and clatter to the ground. "This is a restricted area, kid. Only residents of the castle are allowed to enter the barracks. Now if you don't mind, I need your name to contact your parents." "I'm sorry about that." I tried giving a chuckle to try to lighten the mood, but seeing the same harsh glare from him silenced me. "Uhh... The name's Shadow Sparkle, and my parents are Night Light and Twilight Velvet." At the mention of my parents' names, his glare seemed to soften to a neutral expression. "Sparkle, huh? You don't happen to be related to Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, do you?" Sensing that he was no longer hostile towards me, I decided to push my opportunity. "I am, actually." I quickly nodded, unable to stop a proud smile from reaching my muzzle. "And I'm also the-" "Sorry, kid. Security protocols and whatnot." He interrupted me as he began escorting me out of the room. I reluctantly followed, not wanting to rouse Princess Luna's anger if she found me in the dungeons when she woke up. "Residents only, nopony else." "But I am a resident here!" I protested, although I continued following him towards the exit of the barracks. "I'm princess Luna's personal student and I live at the student quarters!" The incredulous look he gave me silenced me, and I followed him until he stopped. I looked around, recognizing the castle interior. "End of the line?" "Eeyup. If you ever wanna come back here for a tour, bring princess Luna along." The guard smiled as he waved me off. "Then you can ask the guards to call General Swift Slash for a personal tour!" "Nice to meet you, General." I muttered before leaving, wishing that my luck went better. With my entrance to the barracks now barred, I headed for the Canterlot Gardens, knowing that nopony had reason to remove me from there. I would practice my magic there, especially for teleportation, because that was what Princess Luna was going to test me the next lesson. Ugh... Just the thought of the imminent test, coupled with how I had failed to cast the spell so many times was enough to make my horn ache. Nevertheless, following Twilight's advice that practice makes perfect, I began funneling my magic into my horn as I visualized another part of the gardens. I grunted as I felt resistance begin building up, but I willed for myself to continue persevering. It took a few more seconds of sweat pouring from my forehead before a split second of weightlessness followed. I opened my eyes as soon as I felt hard ground under me, and the sight before me made a grin appear on my muzzle. The tulips that stood before me weren't there just a moment ago, and the sudden change in humidity could only mean one thing. I had teleported! I let out a loud whoop of victory as I pumped my hooves in the air. My first time teleporting successfully! This was a cause of celebration for me, but like a cruel twist of fate, my victory was cut short as I heard a mare screaming, "Watch Out!" I looked up just in time to see a light blue pegasus with a red and orange mane flying towards me at top speed before the pain of impact shot through me. I quickly got up from the ground, although I was still in a huge daze. It took me a while before I realized that the Pegasus was unmoving on the ground. Fearing the worst, I stumbled up towards her in a hurry, but my fears quickly dissipated as she groaned out an apology. "It's alright, miss. I'm fine enough, I guess." I lied, still wobbling slightly. "I'm more worried about you, miss. Are you alright?" "Just a scratch on my side, and possibly a concussion." She said, wincing as she revealed a scratch on her left side. "It's not that bad, really. My name's Sky Breeze, by the way. What's yours?" "My name is Shadow Sparkle." I looked up to the sky, giving her a puzzled look when I looked up to see that there wasn't a race going on. "No offense, but: what's the mad rush? There's no race going on here, is there?" "Oh yeah... No race going on, but that doesn't mean a Pegasus can't practice speed!" She exclaimed, raising a hoof in determination. "I'm going to be the fastest cloud kicker that the weather pony patrol will ever see!" "So how fast are you right now?" I asked, trying my best to hide my doubt. "Well I can fly fast but..." She chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head, eliciting a wince from herself. "I tend to lose control." "Oh I see." I said, hiding the sympathy that I held for her. Pegasi never really wanted to be sympathized with, and I knew better than to mistakenly arouse her anger at undermining her abilities. "You wanna go get a smoothie?" "That would be nice." She said after giving my offer a moments thought. "I can always work off the calories later on!" Sky and I walked to the closest smoothie store there was, and although all we did to pass the time was to chat and get to know each other better, I enjoyed it throughly. Hours flew by for me, until the chime of a clock reminded sounded, remembrance dawning on me that I had to be back at the castle at four. Glancing at the clock outside, I nearly upset the balance of my smoothie when I took notice of the time. "Sweet Celestia! It's ten minutes to four!" "What's up at four, Shadow? Something big?" Sky asked, tilting her head in confusion as I quickly finished the rest of my smoothie. "I gotta go back and study." I replied, rushing for the exit. "I'll see you next time, yeah?" She giggled as she waved back at me. "Yep. Until we meet again, Shadow. Bye!" As quickly as my hooves could take me, I hurried back to the castle, dread filling my very being as I found myself at a conjunction. Although the castle was connected, one of them was the faster route of the two, and seeing that I only had five minutes left (thanks to a conveniently placed clock), I had to choose, fast. "Hmm... Which is the right way to take..." Not too far away, I heard the chime of a bell, and with a grunt of frustration, I took off in the first direction that popped into my head. "I'm sure the right way's right!" As if somepony was trying to remind me of how late I was as I ran about, every corner of the castle seemed to have a conveniently placed clock. By the time I was sure to stumble upon a fuming princess Luna, I took notice that I was back at where I started, at the same conjunction. However, if I wasn't as frantic as I was, I would have seen that the library was the first door to the left. Without the time to even slap a hoof against my face, I charged into the library, only to see Princess Luna sitting on one of the lounge chairs with a pair of reading glasses balanced stop her muzzle. Her expression was neutral, and I felt trepidation well up within me when I tried to guess the emotion that she was hiding. "About time, young colt. You do remember what our class rules were, don't you?" "I'm sorry Princess Luna! I-" Luna raised a hoof before I could finish, and I swallowed my words with a gulp. "It's quite alright, Shadow. You're a young colt after all. Surely you need some... Feminine company, don't you?" She winked playfully at me, and a smirk played at her lips. It was as if she already knew who I was with. "She's just a friend." I protested, much to her amusement. "She accidentally lost control while flying and crashed into me." "I know, I know. I saw the whole thing." Luna replied with a giggle as she watched my cheeks flush Crimson with embarrassment. "Can we start please?" I begged. "Lesson time sounds more interesting than this!" "If that is what you wish, Shadow." She chuckled as she led the way to one of the desks where a pile of books lay. I failed to stifle a groan as I caught sight of the smirk on her face which conveyed a silent message: "I got you good, Shadow."