//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Shadows Fade 
// by Silent_Stories 
//------------------------------//

	
I can do this. It's just one night. What could possibly go wrong? But... Why me? What did I do wrong? I had decided to do it. I couldn't risk losing my only friends. As far as my mother knew I was going over to My aunts house for the weekend. She trusted me enough to not question it and she was not on speaking terms with her so I had no reason to worry. I had nothing with me but a faded crimson blanket with several holes. I was hoping that by leaving behind anything that looked even remotely valuable or fancy I could blend in. The sound of birds faded as I walked down the beaten dirt road. I was becoming more and more aware of the sound of my hoof hitting the path with each timid step. The dying trees around me blocked the sunset from my view as I officially entered the Center District. The houses, if you could even call them houses, were worse than any pony could ever describe. Entire walls were missing, mold grew on the rotten wood, shattered glass lay everywhere. I continued to make my way down the path, hoping that no pony would see me there. 
As the night began to take over, the shadows seem to come to life. I could here scratching all around me and hear whimpering fillies in the distance. I twig cracked behind me and my heart leaped into my throat. I bolted directly forward towards the nearest light I could find. A street lamp in a run down playground. I thought I heard some pony galloping after me. I pressed my wings tightly against me, begging my legs to carry me faster into the safety of the light. I flew towards it rapidly. Suddenly, I was skittering across the pavement, rolling and tumbling as pain shot through my hind leg. Shaking, I lifted my head. A tall, crimson stallion was getting up off the ground several feet away. I scrambled to get to my feet before he could reach me. But as I attempted to move  my hind leg seemed to burst into flames. I squealed in pain and instantly regretted it. I heard gravel crunch as the stallion whipped around to face me. He noticed I could not stand and smiled a smile I had never seen anyone with good intentions use before. 
"P-please.. I'm sorry, I.. I thought someone was chasing me." I whimpered as he knelt down beside me. A glance toward the dark where I had come proved that no danger lurked there. I could tell that the stallion was studying me. He looked me up and down before rising back up. He held himself with a superior poise. His frosted white eyes flashed. It was apparent that he had the upper hand. I feared for my life, I had never been so afraid in my entire lifetime. Thoughts ran rampant through my head. Oh please let some pony save me. Don't let me die here.  He stared down at me with narrowed eyes. 
"Why are you here? What do you want with folk like us?" He spoke with a heavy accent I did not recognize. I had met plenty of foreigners. But none ever had an accent like this.  
"W-what? I-I live here!" It wasn't a lie. I just lived in a different part of town. The anger in his eyes flared.  He lifted me off the ground without ever touching me. I was dangling mid-air by the time I realized he was a unicorn. He held me there as he spoke again,
"You lie! It is apparent to me that you are a very wealthy young lady! And this," he reached out and ripped out a hair comb my grandmother had given me to remember her by. I had forgotten to remove it before I left! "This proves it! If you cannot obey the basic laws of life, then you are not worthy of keeping it! Why are you really here? To mock us? Beat us? You lie about who you are. Well,  I'm about to make sure every pony knows exactly what happens when you lie.. MONEY WILL NOT PROTECT THE WEAK!" With that, he flung me. I slammed heavily into a large tree. My mind muttled as pain flooded my body. My mane flew around me as I crashed to the ground. He walked toward me again, this time a large rock was suspended above his head. He brought it crashing down on my body. I don't hear anything break, but I still felt electric pain racing through me. I screamed in agony as he lifted it again. Instead of hitting me with it again, it tumbled to the ground next to me. I heard a muffled voice and a large Pegasus emerged from the shadows. He blended in well with the darkness. I was losing consciousness, my vision blurred as I tried to process what was happening. Is.. Is he fighting for me? Who... Who is.. He? Then the shadows faded.

******************************************* Later ************************************************

A sharp pain in my flank was the first thing that my regaining consciousness earned me. I allowed my eyes to flutter open and barely lifted my head off the ground. Suddenly, as if my mind were being hit by a train, memories came flooding back. I could picture my assailant clearly. His crimson fur and glassy eyes were burned into my memory. I shook my head hard, hoping to shake out the images I decided to take note of my surroundings before something actually did kill me. I examined my body first. I needed to know just how broken I was. As I craned my neck to look behind me, I noticed that my hind leg was no longer twisted in the sickening angle it was when I passed out. But, it was crudely wrapped in the blanket I had brought with me. In my confusion, I remembered the jet black stallion that had emerged from the shadows. I had never seen any pony like him.   It had been hard to distinguish what was his fur and what was just darkness. But his electric blue mane and tail was stunning. His wings had been flared and his ears splayed as he approached the unicorn who had intended to kill me. Was he the one who wrapped my leg and moved me into the grass? I was positive I was alone and I started to panic. I couldn't move and mother would start looking for me if I was still gone by this time tomorrow. Besides the fear of what had happened the night before. There was no sign of either one of the stallions I had seen last night. My hope for survival were diminishing as I attempted to stand several times. I found the pain of moving to great to bear and collapsed down onto the matted grass. 
" Well good morning. I wasn't sure you were going to make it. You know, you shouldn't be running around getting beat up like that." I yelped at the sound of someone talking behind me. The voice was deep and soothing. It had to be a stallion. Before I could attempt to turn to face him, the stallion was standing in front of me. I timidly looked at the hooves in front of me and stopped short. They were jet black. 
"P-please... I'm sorry.. I-it wasn't my fault! They—" I was cut short when he reached out and put a hoof to my mouth. 
"I won't hurt you. I'm going to help you. Now, how is your leg?" His tone was gentle, soothing. I was comforted by his voice. I knew I should be afraid. This place was known for violence. But his demeanor showed that he was not violent at all. Quite the opposite actually. He set to work on my leg, unwrapping it, applying some odd mixture I had never seen before, then wrapping it again. I blinked back tears as I thought of my friends back home, because I knew they wanted this, I knew they were hoping I would be driven away. It hurt me to think that a stranger looked down on by my society could be so much kinder than those I had grown up with. 
"Hey, are you alright? What's wrong? I didn't hurt you did I?" He sounded sincerely worried about my well being but instead of sharing my thoughts, I smiled weakly.
"I'm ok. I'm scared, I don't even know you but you care so much."
"Oh! I can fix that! My name is Shadow. Well... Shadowbane to be exact. But you can call me Shadow. And what about you?" He looked at me with shimmering emerald eyes that told a completely different life story than what he was trying to convey to me.
"I.. My name is Silver Dawn. I.. I'm not from... Here." I choked out the words, preparing to die when he realized I was of the upper class. Instead, he chuckled softly.
"That is quite apparent. But you have a beautiful name. And I believe this is yours?" He placed my comb at my hooves and laid down in front of me. My face flushed red as I put it back into my mane where it belonged. I couldn't bring myself to say anything. He was by far the nicest stallion I had met. Not to mention his looks.
By that time it was almost night again. I decided I needed to at least try to head home so I forced my hind legs under me and slowly worked my way into a standing position. Shadow noticed my actions and stood just far enough away to where I didn't feel awkward, but could catch me if I fell. The pain was fading, but not completely gone. I staggered forward and he took a step beside me. I glanced over shyly, I was concerned about his reaction to what I was about to do but it hurt to bad to try and make my way alone. I didn't even know where I was anymore. With a deep breathe I began to gravitate towards him with each step until I was against his flank, leaning on him for support. Shadow glanced back with a brash smirk on his face but did not stop walking. 
"I know you like me and all, but let's not get too excited now!" My mouth fell open I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.
"What?!? I never—" he silenced me with a teasing laugh. I couldn't help but hope that this meant he was becoming more comfortable and we could be friends... Yeah.. Friends. I let him lead me through the district, lost in my own thoughts. It wasn't until we reached what was supposed to be a home that I realized where we were. I looked at Shadow with confusion on my face. 
"You can't go home like this! You're staying with me. No arguments. I'll escort you home tomorrow." I blushed slightly and stared at the ground bashfully. I scraped at the dust on the ground, a nervous habit. I was overwhelmed by a sudden fear. But the passionate look in his eyes and a soft nudge coaxed me in the door. He lead me to a little blanket on the floor and told me to get some rest. He sat next to me, keeping watch I assumed and I drifted off staring up at his firm expression and captivating mane. 
"Silver, hey. Silver Dawn. Get up." I drowsily became aware that Shadow was attempting to wake me. I sat up quickly. " Get up ya lazy bum." I reached out and playfully pushed him to the ground. 
"I'm not a bum! Lazy, yes. But not a bum." My leg seemed to have magically healed overnight and my bruises had faded to a normal size and color. Shadow chuckled as he stood up. He reached out to knock me over gently, but I countered him quickly and darted across the room. We wrestled like that for several minutes, before my lungs started to hurt. 
"Now, if you don't mind, I was TRYING to feed you. Here." Shadow nudged some berries towards me. I looked at him, how thin he was, and knew instantly what I would do. I nudged them back, refusing them without being rude.
"You need to eat. I have a home full of food waiting. Please. Just eat them." He looked at me with a mix of jealousy and thanks. He quickly gulped them down before motioning for me to follow him. It was time to head home. We walked slowly, chatting about whatever random topics we could. His sass surprised me. But at the same time it was funny. I told him about how I ended up in the slums. Of course plenty of teasing came along with it. We reached my front door faster than I would've liked. I turned to him before entering and hugged him tightly with tears brimming my eyes. 
"Thank you Shadow. You saved my life. I hope to see you again someday." I couldn't understand why I cared about someone I was supposed to hate, but I did. He smiled at me and turned to leave. As he walked down the path he turned,
" Hey, it's no problem. But do me a favor rich girl. Don't take dares!" And with that, he took off into the air and disappeared among the clouds.