"Alright, Shadow. Remember what I showed you: Keep calm, and stay vigilant." Luna said as she charged up a beam. This was the ninth time today that I was attempting to protect myself against a simple stunning bolt, and my mentor was obviously concerned for my safety as she could easily see the fatigue that I tried to hide from her. My words of assurance that I could take the stress had been betrayed by my heavy panting ever since my fifth try, but Luna was still willing to let me try. “Are you ready?”
Trying my best to shake away the temptation to collapse on the spot, I dug my hooves into the ground and cast a purple shield with what little magic I could muster. "I'm ready." I muttered through my clenched jaw, occasionally tilting off-balance as I waited for Luna to shoot. Maybe the third time was not the charm, but I was sure that I would be able to do it this time. “Bring it on!”
It had all happened so fast right after that: With a last pause of hesitance, Luna fired off her magic right at me. The bolt suddenly appeared so much more terrifying than it did in my mind, and unconsciously, my shield began faltering. In another rush to protect myself, I quickly poured more magic into the shield, but it was no match for the bolt that shattered it on impact. As if the shockwave of the shield breaking was not enough to throw me off balance, the bolt had continued in its path without slowing down at all, hitting me square in the chest a second later. I hardly registered the pain as I tumbled a few feet from my original position, but I was still quick to get back up on to my hooves.
“Okay…” I muttered to myself as I grunted, popping another shield into existence, although even a blind pony could tell that it was as thin as a sheet of paper. “Maybe the ninth time didn’t work, but I can’t keep failing… Right?”
My self-assurance was doing little to help me, but I forced myself to keep my shield up even as Luna trotted next to me with a bottle of water: A gesture that meant that I was to stop training for the day. This would be one of the rare times that I was actually unenthusiastic about finishing magic training, but who could blame me? I was so close to proving to her that I had done my shield-casting perfectly!
“Rest now, Shadow.” Luna waved the bottle in front of me, tempting me to let down my shield, but I shook my head, causing her to let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Shadow. Do you really need me to reiterate the dangers of magic overuse? We have already agreed on not spending a week in the castle infirmary because you pushed yourself too hard, haven’t we?”
“But I know I’ve gotten it this time, Luna!” I protested, silently cursing at my body for quivering in weakness. “Just one more try?”
“I-" Taking the chance to exploit her hesitance, I gave her a teary-eyed frown which was fortunately quick to cause her to change her mind. "Alright, fine. One more try, Shadow, but please do not strain yourself too much.” I grinned in gratitude, a smug smirk of confidence slowly replacing my joy as my shield thickened itself. “Are you ready?” I nodded with confidence as I watched her horn glow again, but I found myself shocked as she hurled my bottle at me instead. A projectile that travelled slower than a magic bolt was still capable of shattering my shield and bopping me on the muzzle, and I found myself stupefied as I slumped to the ground in defeat. Without anything to distract me, it was only right then that I took notice of my aching body.
“You do not have to push yourself so hard, Shadow.” Luna tsked playfully as she levitated me onto her back. I was too tired to protest, opting to remain on my mentor’s back as we went back into the castle. Some mild embarrassment was probably better than taxing my sore muscles anyway. “I have full confidence in you that you’d get that spell in no time, dear student, but pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion will not make matters any better.”
The next few moments were filled with silence, except for the clopping of her horseshoes against the marbled floor of the castle. The constant clack of hoof against marble was enough to make my heavy eyelids have a chance to make themselves known if it wasn't for an extra pair of wings beating that caught my attention. Looking up from Luna's back, I caught sight of a familiar guard landing in front of the two of us and saluting.
"Good evening, your highness, and to you too, Shadow." Swift Slash gave a small bow as he spoke. "I really hate to interrupt you at this time, Princess, but there seems to be a small disturbance south-east from here. It's just a small shift of magic, actually, but just to be on the safe side, I'm here to seek your permission to send out a patrol."
"Isn't that Ponyville?" I asked Swift as I consulted my memory. Geography really wasn't my forte, and I wasn't trying to show off or anything like that, but when you had to walk past a map every single day, you were bound to have caught on to some of the locations nearby Canterlot. It would have been a shame if I actually couldn't remember the locations adjacent to the city I lived in.
"Its on the edge of Everfree Forest, Shadow. Nearby Ponyville, but far enough from the town to force you to keep your guard up." At that, Luna paused, allowing me to catch a twinkle in her eyes as she shifted her gaze to me. "Hmm... This sounds like a good opportunity for both a test and visit, does it not?"
My heart felt like it stopped as I digested her words slowly, at a loss on how to even respond. Nevertheless, I managed to stutter out a coherent sentence. "Go to Ponyville a-and see Twilight?"
"Indeed, my dear student. It does not take a fool to see that you miss your sister dearly, but you must not forget that reuniting with your sister is only a privilege you get while you tackle this problem." Luna chirped, stopping outside my room in the castle. "I have full confidence that you will be able to pull your own weight, Shadow, so you can go tonight if Swift Slash has a carriage ready for you."
"Princess I do have a carriage ready with two night guards, but are you sure you want to send your student to Ponyville?"
"Why yes, of course! He hasn't had quality time with his sister for quite a while and this would be a perfect opportunity for him to practice his attacking spells." Luna said as-a-matter-of-factly to Swift Slash, whose look of worry grew more obvious. "Go pack whatever you deem necessary, Shadow. The general and I will be waiting here for you."
I entered my room and immediately began my task of packing, but I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the two of them. "Princess, I understand you want Shadow to visit Princess Twilight, but it really is against my better judgement that we let him just go with such light guarding! What if something is only suppressing its magic to make it look minor? My duty is to keep you and your subjects safe, Princess, but it is also hard to maintain a low profile if we were to have more than a platoon of guards in town." General Swift Slash muttered, failing to keep his voice from being heard by me.
"That is exactly the point, captain. No guards are necessary for this operation, for he will only unlock his true potential if he faces a problem as such." I felt fear clutch at my heart as soon as I heard Luna's words. That was almost equal to sending me to my death if the situation was actually more grave than it appeared to be.
"Shadow..." A familiar voice softly sung my name, causing me to barely suppress a surprised yelp as I looked around for any other living soul besides the princess, the captain and I. "Don't you know that it's rude to be eavesdropping on the conversations of others?" It took a few seconds of confusion before I mentally slapped a hoof on my face, and I headed back to packing my bags.
"Oh, its just you." I thought to myself (thought to her? I don't think the pony language took this part of communication into account). "Mind giving me a heads-up before you scare me like that next time?"
"That does sound reasonable." Nightmare giggled. "That is, if you could stop yourself from even committing a sin for the rest of your life." I rolled my eyes, thinking of just how tiring it was going to be with a voice stuck in my head for the rest of my life. "Maybe I should keep this up since you do not even know how to keep your comments to yourself."
"Oh come on!" I protested in my mind, nearly raising my own hooves to gesture. "I can't possibly not think at all!"
***
In about an hour, I was done packing my bags, and both the captain and Luna had escorted me to a Pegasus-drawn carriage. With wishes for a safe trip and a letter given to me from Princess Luna, the pair of guards took off into the sky, pulling the chariot off the ground with them. I had to admit, though: I was probably going to miss Canterlot for a while, and that included the magic lessons that I had there. At Ponyville, it was going to be a new experience, and I probably was not going to have the time to do any studying with all the chaos that seemed to happen it the town almost every other week.
Of course, I gave my impression of Ponyville the benefit of the doubt. Spike loved exaggerating things, after all, so maybe I just had to experience it first-hoof.
The trip to Ponyville was a short twenty minutes, but it seemed to last longer as I took my time to admire the beauty of the towns against the sunset. Las Pegasus was the last town that the three of us passed by before we reached Ponyville, which was a few more speedy minutes away. However, I found myself puzzled as the swift pair of guards overshot the town, continuing to go straight as if the guard's had fallen asleep whilst their wings did the work.
"Umm... I think we overshot our destination, guys." I offered with the boldness of a newborn lamb. Their stoic glares when I first saw them was enough to make me think twice about chatting with them as they flew, and even as I stuck to my task of reaching my destination, I couldn't shake the fear that I'd offend them in any way. Fortunately for me, no such thing happened, and I was given a reply. "Should we turn around?"
"We are going to land on the outskirts so we don't attract too much attention from the ponies who are trying to sleep." The Pegasus on the left answered, nodding to his partner as they turned and began their descent towards a small clearing that was in the middle of an orchard. At the rate that they shot down towards the ground, I expected a trench to be left in our wake, leaving me quite pleasantly surprised when all I heard was the silent squeak of the chariot's well-oiled wheels. Glad that I had finally reached my destination, I quickly grabbed my small suitcase (whatever I was bringing. I didn't have to pack for much, anyway) and alighted, giving a nod of thanks to the pair of guards. "Follow this path and you should find yourself in Ponyville in just a few minutes. We wish you good luck, Shadow."
I watched the pair as they lifted off and began their journey back to Canterlot, leaving me staring up at the never ending sky filled with Luna's stars that were arranged in a dazzling manner. Out of habit, I settled for sitting under a tree and staring up into the sky, identifying the constellations that accompanied the singular luminous orb that was the moon. I was content right then to just sit there for the rest of the night, but like all good things, my stargazing was brought to an end as my ears picked up the crunching of grass heading towards me. I stood up to face my new company, but the only thing I could make out was the silhouette of a pony.
“Who’s out there?!” I flinched at the hostility of the mare’s southern-accented voice, but I kept my place, waiting for the moonlight to illuminate this pony. It didn’t take long before she came into the clearing, and I was unsurprisingly greeted by a scowl from the stetson-wearing mare. Whatever the reason, she obviously did not like me being here. "Now what the hay do you think you’re doin’ on mah property? If you’re here to steal mah apples, Ah’m only giving you one chance to git!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa wait! I’m not here to steal anything!” I protested, realizing only a moment later that I had backpedaled from her for fear of violence. So much for first impressions... I thought to myself as I felt the start of regretting my participation in this task. “I’m just here to visit my sister Twilight Sparkle! Nothing that concerns being a criminal, I promise.”
"Now that can't be right..." The mare muttered to herself as she looked me over. I swore that I would have withered under her gaze if looks could kill. "Twilight only has one brother, and that's Shining Armor. You tellin' me that she has another sibling that she didn't let us know about again?"
"Um... Yeah?" I offered, making a mental note to give Twilight a piece of my mind later on. Didn't she even let her friends know about her family? What kind of pony wouldn't do such a thing? "I mean c'mon: she didn't even introduce you to Shining before she received his wedding invitation."
"Alrighty then. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but don't you even think of even hurting a single feather on her wings, are we clear? We don't have to buck you to Tartarus, now do we?" Despite the dim lighting, I didn't need to see her clearly to know that she was way too strong for me to escape. Well, it wasn't like I was going to hurt Twilight anyway. Barely suppr seeing a gulp, I nodded, silently following the mare as she brought me out of the orchard and into the deserted streets of Ponyville. "So, Shadow Sparkle. Why are you even visiting at such a late time? Couldn't you wait till morning?"
"I'm... Not exactly an early riser..." I muttered to her. The truth would've been easier to tell, but Twilight did warn me about how crazy this town could get sometimes, so maybe being a plain ol' civilian was for the best. Looking ahead, I could still see that a certain treehouse still had its lights on, and I whistled in awe as the sound of bustling activity within the library reached my ears. "Geez... And I here I was, thinking that libraries were supposed to be quiet."
Getting closer to the treehouse, I could hear Twilight's frantic muttering as books levitated back into their respective places. Unfazed by the chaos that ran rampant in the house, the Orange mare knocked at the door which was answered almost instantly by the alicorn that was my sister.
Her mane and tail were unkempt, and I spotted a few feathers sticking out from her wings at awkward angles. Just the sight of her flustered state was enough for me to guess that she had entered a panic attack just now. "Oh! Hey there, Applejack! And nice to see you again, Shadow!" Twilight chirped, levitating a brush over to comb her mane into some form of order before turning to me. "You didn't give too much trouble to Applejack, did you?"
"He was alright, sugarcube. Just thought he was a wee bit suspicious for loitering about at night. Guess he is your brother then." I trotted over to Twilight's side, giving a nod of thanks to Applejack for bringing me to the library. Sure her company was quite hostile along the way, and we didn't really talk much on amicable terms, but hey: destination is what counts, right? "Well, I guess I can rest easy then. Good night, y'all. This mare's got to get up at the break of dawn, and these hooves ain't gonna rest themselves."
After we had said our goodbyes to Applejack, a few minutes later had seen me standing at the entrance of the guest bedroom with Twilight levitating my suitcase in behind me. Flashing her a grateful smile as we proceeded to unpack my things, I decided to kick up a conversation.
"So... I've only heard stories from you, and no offense to Applejack, but does Ponyville get so crazy that somepony can't even roam on a farm at night without being accused of stealing?" I asked innocently, eliciting a giggle from Twilight.
"Ponyville gets quite crazy, alright." Twilight said as she levitated the rest of the items out, stowing the suitcase underneath the bed. "But Applejack just doesn't like it when ponies try to steal from her. Nothing to do about how this town seems to have something unique happening every other week, though."
It had been such a long time since I had last seen my sister, so it was no wonder that I found myself staying up with her as we exchanged stories and laughter throughout the night.