I woke the next morning to a light knocking at my door. I heard Twilight ask from the other side of the door, "Hey, Shadow, are you awake?" I managed to roll over and drop out of bed, that was, before the soreness from the previous days flying caught up to me. Ahh, note to self: don't try to fly from Cloudsdale to Ponyville in a single day's time. Even if the city had been as close as it was going to get prior for the town's annual running of the leaves, and general winter-prep time. I'd always heard the running of the leaves was a really cool event. Not only to see but, to be a part of. And I get to see it this year! A sudden gidiness overtook my step as I started making my way, slowly over to the door to the wardrobe.
Hearing an impatient tap of hooves on the other side of the room's door, I quickly yawned and responded, "Well I am now." I gave a little chuckle to myself. "I'll be right out Twilight just let me grab my-" Crap that's right my trench coat, it's in tatters in some garbage bin near Quills and Sofas. "Never mind, I'll be right out."
"Alright, the mail pony, Derpy, came by earlier this morning and told me that some stuff arrived for you."
"Wait, you told a random mail-mare who I am, and that I was here?" Fear shot through me. What if she went blabbing to the whole town about me? What if she's already-
"Oh no, no I would never do that. She'd just came by and told me that some stuff had arrived, and was addressed to somepony she didn't know. I just made an educated guess. You sounded really worried that I'd do that. You know, I'd bet that most if not all of Ponyville, would be fine with you, and what you are. As long as you were the one to tell them."
I muttered, mostly to myself, "Yea but what if I run into the one pony who's not OK with me? Then they'd probably spread rumors of how I'm a monster." After all, wolven don't have a very good reputation in Equestria. I sighed, got up and, tried to brush my mane into some semblance of tidiness. "Alright, I'm coming out now."
"Alright, well we will need to head over to- um Shadow where's the trench coat you normally wear? I mean I'm all for you being open about your appearance, but I thought you didn't want anypony knowing about you?"
"Well I don't, but my coat kinda got ripped up last night. When I noticed that I was a good two hours late to our meeting I tried to take off and rush over here. However, in the process my coat got caught on a rack outside of Quills and Sofas. It wasn't reparable from what I could see so I threw it in the nearest trash can." I sighed and continued, "That was also a dang good battle coat."
"Oh yes I was going to ask you about your special talent. You had described it briefly in one of your early letters as sword fighting, right?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'm actually one of the top ranked professional sword fighters in Equestria, number eight in fact!" I puffed my chest out with a swell in pride. "I actually just took the thirteenth slot in all of Equus." I looked up to see a little happy smile on her face. "Um Twilight? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked inquisitively.
"Hmm? Oh nothing, it's just that I've never seen this prideful side of yourself. I like it, you should really show it more often."
"Oh, really?" I blushed a bit. Thank Celestia for my dark navy-blue fur, which I hoped covered up my blush effectively enough. "I don't know, I really don't like bragging, it doesn't seem like something I should do unprompted. I'm really not skilled at anything, other than sword dueling, and not many other ponies bring it up in conversation normally. All of the wolven in my mother's pack avoid talking about it around me, just so they can avoid talking to me." I gave a hearty chuckle. "There was actually once when I caught Silver Snap and Dawn talking about it as I walked around the corner and they immediately shut their traps. I remember asking, 'So you guys heard anything about the newest professional sword duelists match?' They both just gave me slightly irked expressions and then walked away."
"Oh, well they don't sound very nice to be hanging out with. Are they your friends?" She gave a slightly worried look.
"Hmm, oh no, no they're just some of the only ones who even acknowledge my presence in the pack." I gave a slight shrug. "I've mostly gotten used to being ignored. After my initial training by the wolven in combat, I was deemed unfit for open combat with the pack, at least in the wolven style. And wolven are all about doing things their way. But, I can still kick most of their butts in one on one combat."
"Oh, that must have been quite lonely when ever you visited your mother. I thought you said your time with your mother was more pleasant?"
"Well yea, the wolven in her pack just ignored me, when I was with my dad in Cloudsdale, outside of my tournaments, I get treated like crap when ponies discover what I am. As you know, wolven don't have the best reputation in Equestria and well...If anyone finds out they tend to be disgusted and want to punish me for what my parents did. That's my best guess anyway, as to why they treat me like they do. That's why I'm so attached to my cloak. Not just is cool to look at, it helps me hide my wolven-like appearance from ponies."
"Oh well that's quite sad, I've never met a pony who'd treat another pony like that, just because of what they are. Anyway, you said you had a pony friend, does he treat you like that?"
"Oh you mean Val? Heck no! He's actually, on more than one occasion, kicked the flank of those who try to treat me like crap. He's an awesome guy to have on your side. If Rainbow didn't hold the element of loyalty I might suggest him as it's bearer. Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually worthy of having him." I stared off to the wall, my mind wandering back to Cloudsdale when I'd first met him.
"Heh, so savage, you had enough? You finally gonna leave our town and never come back?" He rolled me over and I got a look at his sky blue coat and dark smokey gray mane. When I didn't give him a response he continued, "So I take that as a no then? Alright Butch, take him to the top floor, and throw him off, we'll see if he can still fly after one of his wings is broken."
Butch, the pony in question, who was a mountain of a pegasus looked down at me with an unsure expression clear on his broad muzzle. "I don't know Smoky...I mean I want him gone just as much as you. But, killing him probably isn't the answer. I mean we can give him another week to get out on his own."
Smoky looked over to Butch with ice in his lime green eyes. "Did I bucking stutter, Butch? Because you remember what happened to the last pony who thought they ought to go against what I said. Especially when it came to this savage." He gave one last second of unbroken eye contact before Butch buckled and walked over to me laying on the floor.
"You bucking cowards! If you hadn't jumped me you wouldn't even have the chance to do this!" I desperately struggled to move, to no avail. My wing had been broken, and then they'd placed some kind of device on my back that had sapped all the strength from my body. How could I have been so stupid as to let my guard down!? I knew this part of Cloudsdale was bad to cut through!
He fixed me with that same icy glare then began, bitterly, laughing. "And why do you think that is, Shadow? You think we don't know that you are one of the best sword duelists in all of Equestria? Now, Butch, go ahead and take him upstairs." When Butch paused for a moment Smoky turned fully towards him, leaving me open to move once again. I may be weakened, but I can still move without his weight on top of me. I quickly shambled up onto my paws as quickly as possible, and moved to support my injured wing. Then, I turned and bolted down the hall of the large building.
"Help! Somepony help!" I screamed out, normally I would have been all for a fight with a couple of asshole ponies like these, but in my current condition I wouldn't stand chance. I needed help, badly. I came up to a four-way hallway junction and ran into a medium-sized black unicorn with a cobalt blue mane, and amber eyes. "Were you the one calling for help?"
"Yes there are a couple of crazy ponies chasing me, one of them even wanted to kill me!" I turned around to see both of them chasing after me.
"Alright, I see you've got a sword there. I'm gonna need to borrow it for these punks." He glared down the hallway I had just come from with an angry glare at the two quickly approaching pegasi. I nodded, and began pulling out my sword from it's sheath.
Before I handed "You sure you know how to use it? I mean its a bit unruly even for someone of my size." I mumbled from around the grip of my sword.
"No offense, but this really isn't the best time to be asking questions is it? Also, I'm a weapon forger. Doesn't help to make a weapon if I can't tell when it's good to use, does it?" He gave me a cheeky grin and turned back down the hallway. He mumbled around the grip of my sword, "Alright you two, you really wanna start something? You just hurt somebody for, as far as I can tell, no reason. So I'll give you the option to walk away now." He glared daggers at them, before he dropped down into a defensive stance.
Both ponies looked to him, then me, and back to each other. They both apparently decided they didn't stand too much of a chance. They both turned tail and ran back the way they came. "Whew that was too damn close." The moment finally caught up with me, I felt a wave of unabating fear rise in my chest. It threatened to drown me. I broke down onto my haunches, and began to shake uncontrollably. "Sweet Celestia, they wanted to kill me! Just for being different from them!" A sudden wave of anger swelled, replacing the fear that had gripped me. I bitterly remarked, "And here I was thinking I'd finally started to make a positive name for myself, here in Cloudsdale."
I felt a tentative black hoof on my right shoulder. "Hey if it's alright with you I'll...give you a walk home, make sure they don't try the same stunt?" I looked up to see a look of worry on his face. Not worry of whether I was going to lash out and try to hurt him, but worry about my well-being. It shocked me to the very core. How is he not afraid of me? Every other pony I've ever met has been terrified of me. But he's just standing there, worrying about my well being.
"I guess it couldn't hurt right? I mean I'm in no condition to fight right now, in case they do try something." Now that the adrenaline had started to wear down I finally noticed the pain that was shooting through my left wing. "Aaahhh, damn they really did a number on my wing." I looked over my left shoulder and saw that it was bent an unnatural angle. "Damn that's gonna put me out of matches for at least a month." I looked up to the stallion who had just saved my life. I gave a halfhearted smile. "Can I at least ask the name of the pony who just saved me?"
He looked at me and smiled at me warmly. "Sure can! Name's Platinum Valor. As I said previously I'm a forger, but more specifically with rare materials. What about you? I don't recall ever meeting you, but your face definitely does ring a bell." The way he rattled off questions initially confused me into a daze.
When I finally recovered I responded, "Yeah a mug like mine is kinda hard to forget huh?" I gave a bitter chuckle. "Name's Shadow Ironsword, I'm a professional sword duelist." Instantly recognition ran across his face. He didn't seem to be even slightly afraid or unnerved by me being part wolven. Well maybe he doesn't know? I mean he could just know my name and ranking, but never seen one of my-
"Ooohh! Now I know where I know your face! I saw your last match over in Manehatten! You really do dumb down your own talent, by saying you're just a sword duelist! The match I watched was a complete shut-out. The griffon you were fighting didn't even get a single hit on you!" He seemed to pause to give a cocky smile then offered a hoof out to me. I took it and he helped me up off my haunches. Again, now that the adrenaline was almost gone I really could tell just how little energy I had. I felt a wave of exhaustion overcome me and I started to wobble back and forth. Heh, he's all wobbly! Why are there two of him? "I assume you live out at the Ironsword forge with your dad?"
"Yeah I do." I shifted most of my weight onto him, and yawned obnoxiously. His smile only grew.
"Tired huh Shadow? Don't worry I'll get you back to your home. Just stay conscious. I'm sure a med will want to take a look at whatever that thing on your back is." As we walked back to my dad's forge I began to slip into and out of unconsciousness.
When we finally arrived I heard a fuzzy conversation going on then I was moved up to my room and put on my side. As the device that was attached to my back was removed I winced in pain. Ow! That hurts like a son of a bitch! As I drifted off into sleep the last sight I saw was my father looking onto me with a worried expression.
I was brought back to reality by a firm hoof my shoulder shaking me vigorously. As I shook off the last bits of my daydream I looked up to Twilight. "Shadow are you alright?" Twilight was looking at me, heavy concern in her eyes. I felt a teardrop slide past my nose and fall to the floor.
"Damn was I crying again?" I wiped a paw across my face and looked back up to her trying my hardest to smile. "Yeah I'm alright, I just got thinking about how I met Val and well lets just say it's a bit of a bittersweet story."
"Well, if you're willing to tell me, I'm an open ear." I nodded my head. Might as well get this outta the way now. And so I told her the entire story of how I met Platinum Valor. My best, and possibly only pony friend, up until recently.