//------------------------------//
// Filler/Prequel - When Shady came to Ponyville 
// Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria 
// by Charlie_K 
//------------------------------//

"This stinks..." Apple Bloom sighed.

Failure was a part of life. That was a simple, undeniable fact. If one wasn't failing at something, it meant that they simply weren't trying anything. To fail was to grow in experience, to learn from mistakes, and to ultimately better oneself.

"This bites..." Scootaloo grumbled.

But as far as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were concerned, they'd had enough experience for one day. Their latest attempt at earning a cutie mark had -unsurprisingly- been another big failure for each of them. All that they'd managed to earn were new bumps, bruises, and a number of scrapes that currently burned. The only upside this time around, was the complete lack of any tree sap being involved.

"This sucks..." Sweetie Belle added without so much as a second thought, despite knowing how Rarity would react if she ever heard her saying something deemed as crude. "Sweetie Belle! A lady simply does not use that sort of language!" she could remember hearing her big sister say on more than one occasion. 

Rarity had done her best to instill within her, an understanding of what constituted proper social etiquette. And for the most part it had worked. But sometimes... sometimes it just wasn't feasible. This was one of those times.

In their quest to gain their cutie marks, through whatever means necessary, they had come up with the idea of trying for a skateboarding cutie mark. But they hadn't settled for simple skateboarding, oh no. They had gone well beyond simple skateboarding, and attempted one in extreme skateboarding. They'd seen plenty of other ponies doing it, even Pinkie Pie, so how hard could it be?

Turns out the answer to that question was extremely hard. 

They had summarily gotten their flanks hooved to them, in a brutally painful fashion. They might as well have tried live manticore taming for all the good that came from their efforts today. They would still be without their cutie marks, but they'd be a lot less injured, what with the unlikeliness of a manticore ever coming into town. 

Right now they were sitting around near the center of town, each of them nursing a cold drink, in addition to their earned injuries. Sweetie Belle noticed the looks her friends were giving her at her choice of language, as she'd gone further than either of them in her evaluation of the facts. However their looks were short lived, and they soon returned to what they'd been doing previously.

"Who knew skateboardin' could be so danged hard?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Tell me about it," Scootaloo replied, before she took a sip of her drink. "Pinkie made it look so easy when she does it."

Scootaloo's statement didn't do the facts justice as far as Sweetie Belle could see them. What Pinkie did with such ease, they had done with great disaster; like walking right into an ambush. Despite what Scootaloo could do on her scooter, she couldn't translate those skills over to a skateboard that was absent a steering column to hang onto. And despite their best efforts, they hadn't fared any better; in fact they'd even managed to find a way to do even worse than Scootaloo, which was saying something.

"Looks like we can cross extreme skateboarding off the list," Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked down at her drink. She'd ordered it, but she was having a hard time getting interested in it right now.

All things considered, she thought they were pretty lucky this time around, as they'd managed to escape any serious injuries. She'd attribute that to actually wearing their helmets.

"Well, well, well..."

There was a shared groan from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, knowing full well who that voice belonged to, and what sort of experience they were likely in for. Couldn't they catch a break even once today?

"What do we have here?" Silver Spoon asked as she and Diamond Tiara approached their position.

"Oh come on you two, do we seriously have to be doing this today? We've already been through enough," Scootaloo stated, in absolutely no mood for the teasing that was just bound to be unleashed on them.

"Aww what's the matter, Crusaders? You have a hard day not getting your cutie marks?" Diamond Tiara asked as they stepped closer.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom stated bluntly, hoping the tone of voice would serve to make them think twice before talking any further. "Ah'm already gonna be in enough trouble explainin' ta Applejack that ah need a new helmet," she added and shoved her blue helmet forward.

Diamond Tiara, who had been smirking so far, felt her eyes grow wide at inspecting the helmet, and seeing the huge dent in the side of it. That was enough to wipe to smirk right off her face.

"How in the-" she started to ask, only to be interrupted.

"Don't ask," Apple Bloom replied, in no mood to go into detail about what had happened.

"You three are gonna get yourself killed if you keep this up!" Silver Spoon stated. "Seriously, you three should be trying for something more mundane; like stamp collecting, or bug identifying, or something."

"Totally," Diamond Tiara replied and nodded. "What good is a cutie mark gonna do you, if you wind up in the hospital, paralyzed, and in full-body casts?" she asked.

"Aw what would you two know?" Scootaloo asked as she stood up, wincing as she did so. "You two are-"

"Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle spoke up in interruption, "don't. Just ignore them."

"But-" Scootaloo protested, only to be silenced by a hoof raised.

Among the Cutie Mark Crusaders, each of them filled a semi-specific role to fill. Of the three, it was Sweetie Belle who tended to be the peacemaker of the group. She was fairly certain that if she'd been born a colt, she would still fulfill that duty. She was the one with the socialite sister, who had worked to instill within her many of the hard learned lessons of what proper etiquette was. She was the one who tried to smooth things over, and see that they ran right. She was the polite one, reserved one of the three.

But she was also the one who tended to be meekest, and would rather shrink away from conflict, than try to stand up to it. That was where Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came in. They had more crudeness to them, and they were more boisterous than she would ever be, but they were also more willing to confront a problem head on. She tended to hide behind them when things got rough, as they provided her with a sense of security and protection against that which she couldn't tend to when she was on her own.

That said, however, as tried and grumpy as she was right now from their most recent failure, she was in a mood that her big sister would find appalling. And she was actually willing to act upon it.

"Do you know what Rarity once told me about social interactions?" she asked. No immediate answer, but that was to be expected. "She told me that annoying ponies are like a bad case of gas. They'll both go away on their own, you just have to grin and bear it until they do."

Scootaloo blinked at hearing this, before she burst into a fit of giggles as Diamond Tiara sputtered furiously. Apple Bloom tired furiously to drown her snickers in sucking down her drink.

"You've got a lot of nerve comparing us to a burp," Silver Spoon stated as she scowled at them.

Apple Bloom's response came in the form of a particularly obnoxious -and coincidentally timed- belch from her drink.

"Well that's one down," she stated. Scootaloo got to laughing even harder at that.

Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes at her friend's antics as she sat up, and folded her forelegs across her chest. "Oh I never said anything about that gas being due to a burp," she stated as she shook her head.

"Well then what kind of gas are you-" Diamond Tiara asked, only to stop as the conclusion hit her like a ton of bricks. Immediately her eyes bugged out, and she started sputtering again.

Scootaloo, at getting what Sweetie Belle was saying, couldn't take it anymore, and collapsed into a fit of full blown laughter, rolling over onto her back in the process with her legs kicking about in the air.

"Why you three worthless, idiotic, waste of space blank flanks!" Silver Spoon roared, her voice cracking in the process. "You just wait! I'm gonna-"

"HEY!"

The yell had been enough to make all five of them stop what they were doing, and take notice of the approaching pony; a pony that in this case was an earth pony filly, with a pink coat, yellow mane and tail, and wearing a pair of black sunglasses.

"What's going on over here?" the filly asked as she came closer to the two groups, not looking the least bit happy.

"What's it to you?" Diamond Tiara asked, still furious at the insult she and Silver Spoon had just been subjected to.

"What's it to me, is that you're hurting my ears over here! You're yellin' loud enough I can just about hear ya across town," the filly stated as she stomped her right front hoof. "Now what's goin' on?" she asked again.

"We're just having a dispute with these three losers," Diamond Tiara replied. After a slight pause, she continued talking. "And who're you anyway? Are you new in town or something?"

"Pretty much. My name's Shady," the filly replied.

"Alright, Shady, a word of friendly advice. Stay away from these three. They're real losers, and their lameness will rub off on you if you hang around with them" Diamond Tiara stated.

"Hey!" Scootaloo yelled indignantly.

"You don't say. I'll be sure to remember that," Shady replied and nodded. "So do you have much experience with them or something?"

"Ugh, years worth," Diamond Tiara said with a sigh.

"Oh. So you're speaking from experience about having lameness rubbed off on you then," Shady replied.

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to reply, but the words died in her throat as what Shady said registered in her brain; she was calling her lame!

Making matters all the worse, was how Silver Spoon had started snickering right next to her, taking pleasure in the quip. Now she was doubly mad at this new filly.

"Your friend over there knows a good joke when she hears it. She must be the brains of your little organization. That gives me a very good idea about what sort of organization you've got," Shady stated.

Now it was Silver Spoon's turn to stop laughing, take offense at what had just been said about her. That got Diamond Tiara smirking in response to the turn of events; suddenly it wasn't so much fun when you were the one being made fun of.

"Are you making fun of us?" Silver Spoon asked her.

"Your parents beat me to the punch on that one," Shady replied as she smirked, making Silver Spoon all the more furious.

"What would you know anyway?" Diamond Tiara asked, not amused by how things were shaping up. "You're nothing but a blank flanked loser, just like those three are!"

"Now listen here," Shady stated as she turned her head in Diamond Tiara's direction. "I'll have you know that I'm not a blank flank. I've got a cutie mark," she said as she turned to bring her flank into full view.

Diamond Tiara looked at the presented flank, squinting to try and focus, thinking that perhaps the cutie mark wasn't well defined against the pink coat. But despite her best efforts, there was nothing there; just a big blank spot.

"I don't see anything!" she stated.

"What a coincidence. Because neither do I," Shady replied as she reached up and lifted her sunglasses off her face.

Diamond Tiara let out a screech of surprise and fell onto her flanks at seeing Shady's eyes come into view, being unprepared for confronting the milky, pale, lifeless orbs, with just the faintest hint of blue irises, hidden behind those dark sunglasses. She'd never seen anything like that before, and she'd just as soon never see it again!

"You're, y-y-you're blind!" Silver Spoon shouted, unsure of what else could be said about the situation.

"Really? Darn. And here I thought I'd just had my eyes shut this entire time since the day I was born," Shady quipped as she lowered her sunglasses back onto her face. "Nothing escapes you, does it? You must be a detective or something."

Off to the side, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stood in stunned silence, not knowing what to make of what was happening in front of them. This was a turn of events that they hadn't expected to see developing, and that left them with more questions than answers. But they really didn't want to just turn tail and leave right now.

"Any other pieces of brilliant insight you'd like to share with us, Captain Obvious?" Shady asked as she shifted her frame to face them in a more comfortable fashion, not that she no longer needed to leave her flank in their line of sight.

"Now look here you!" Diamond Tiara stated as she climbed back up onto her hooves.

"I'm looking, but I'm not really seeing anything," Shady quipped and gave a smirk.

"You must think you're really funny, huh?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Only when ponies laugh at what I have to say," Shady replied and shrugged.

"Do you have any idea just who you're talking to?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Nope. Sorry. I've never been good with faces," Shady replied as she continued to smirk, which served to just make Diamond Tiara all the angrier.

It was at that point, that Silver Spoon stepped closer to Diamond Tiara, and put a hoof on her wither in an effort to calm her down. "Diamond, just let it go, it's not worth it," she stated, knowing very well how ugly things could get when her friend got angry.

"You'd better listen to your friend, she knows what she's talking about, and is a lot smarter than you," Shady pointed out. After a slight pause, she continued. "But then again a houseplant is smarter than you, so..."

Off where the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood, they could do little but watch as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon got angrier, and angrier as Shady went on, making it look all so easy. And all through their shouting at her, she didn't lose her cool even once; it was like she didn't even care about what they had to say to her. It was... actually pretty awesome, watching her keep pace with the both of them like that.

"Do you know just who my Daddy is?" Diamond Tiara asked after a particular zinger had been delivered, and infuriated her to no end.

"You'd have to take that up with your mother, not me," Shady replied and shrugged dismissively. "That is, assuming you know who your mother is," she added.

That had been it. Diamond Tiara had taken a lot of insults from this blind filly, but that had been the breaking point for her. That had been the one to get her screaming incoherently, and storming off in a huff, with Silver Spoon following not far behind.

At hearing their departure, Shady let out a tired sigh and slumped. "Oh wow those two were annoying," she stated. "As for you three, I know you're still there. I didn't hear you leave. Say something already."

"Uh..." Apple Bloom paused, not expecting them being called on just like that. As she searched for what to say, only one thing immediately came to mind. "... Somethin'."

Shady turned to look at them, even if it did her no good. "That's not the first time I've heard that joke," she pointed out. But she shrugged regardless. "Those two that just left... are they always like that?"

"Pretty much," Sweetie Belle replied. "So... you're really blind?" she asked. Now that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both gone, and the tension with them, they were free to focus on other matters; like the aforementioned one regarding a lack of sight.

"That's what the doctors tell me," Shady replied and lifted her sunglasses again for them to see. She could practically feel the flinch of the three as they saw her eyes, so she lowered them once again. "Been that way my whole life."

"So what brings you to Ponyville?" Scootaloo asked.

"My parents mainly. We used to live in Manehattan, but I nearly got killed by a runaway carriage. After that they figured the big city was just too dangerous for a blind filly, so we moved out here," Shady explained.

"Manehattan? Hey mah cousin lives there!" Apple Bloom stated. "Her name's Babs Seed. Do ya know her?"

"Babs Seed?" Shady asked as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I dunno. But then Manehattan's a pretty big place for a foal to be. What's your cousin look like?"

Apple Bloom almost gave an answer as to what Babs looked like. But she stopped before she actually said anything when she realized what Shady was asking.

Scootaloo, however, didn't.

"Well she's about..." she started, only to be interrupted when Apple Bloom kneed her in the ribs. "What?" she asked. Apple Bloom just pointed over to Shady, who was smirking widely. Finally she put everything together, which made her frown. "That's not very funny."

"It was to me," Shady replied and shrugged dismissively. "Don't take it too hard, I snark everypony equally. Even the ones that I don't find rude or annoying."

"Wha's that word mean anyway?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Generally it means the use of sarcasm," Sweetie Belle explained.

"Give that filly a lollipop for being right," Shady replied.

Scootaloo just shook her head. But she decided to let the matter go, and instead change the subject. "So how'd you find us when you did? It seems kinda convenient and all..."

"Like I said, they were yelling pretty loud. Makes it easy to zero in on a specific location," Shady explained. "I just happened to be in the area at the time. I'm still trying to learn my way around Ponyville, but it's not as easy as it might sound. This place is no Manehattan, but there's still a lot to deal with."

"Maybe we could help," Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Yeah. We know the area about as well as anypony. We can show ya the sights an' such," Apple Bloom added.

"Can we take pictures too?" Shady asked them sarcastically.

"Sorry, Ah forgot," Apple Bloom apologized. That one had stung unexpectedly.

"Don't worry about it," Shady replied and waved her hoof dismissively. "But I'll take you up on that offer. It'll give me a chance to get to know the various sounds and smells associated with the territory."

"Cool then," Scootaloo replied. She nearly told Shady to follow them, but thought better of it. That was another setup just waiting to happen. "So how long have you been here in Ponyville anyway?"

"Just a few weeks so far. Not long enough to get properly acquainted with everything," Shady explained.

"So does that means you can't enter school until the fall semester? Or did your parents make special arrangements with Miss Cheerilee when they moved here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"School really doesn't do you much good when you can't learn how to read or write," Shady pointed out. "I mean, I could attend and all, but what would the point be? Math is no good when you can't see what you're supposed to be counting," she explained.

"Good point," Sweetie Belle replied. She really couldn't deny the reason behind that. She had no idea what she'd be doing if she'd lost her eyesight. That fact was actually scary to consider.

But then again it really wasn't an accurate comparison. If she ever lost her sight, she'd still have memories of what things looked like. Shady, however, wouldn't even have memories to draw on. Between the two standards, she really didn't know which was the worse one. 

"You'd be surprised how many things aren't important when you're blind. Math, books, appearance, jewelry, cutie marks, etc. If you can't see them, they're not really all that important to you. Makes life simpler actually," Shady explained.

Apple Bloom could do little more than nod in response. She'd been considering asking Shady about joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but that idea was shot down before it had even been voiced, based on her outlook of the situation. It was really hard to argue otherwise, as she couldn't think of how a cutie mark would have any value, if a special talent required eyesight. That... that was a lot to think about.

"Anyway. Where does this tour of the town start?" Shady asked.

"There's really only one place to properly start a tour of Ponyville. And that would be Sugarcube Corner!" Scootaloo stated.

"Fine by me. Lead the way," Shady replied.