//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Stories of a Shade 
// by ConfettiColored 
//------------------------------//

	When I slipped back into reality, I noticed my body was in it's Shade form. I was curious as to why this was at first, but then theorized that the absence of my soul's magic in my body reverted me back to my original shape, a theory that my brother and sister agreed with. 
I snuck out of the forest so that no one would see me come out of it and get suspicious of what I was doing there, and went to the farm for another day at work, which was super fun. Everyone was happy I was feeling better, and I was raring to get the day started. I gave back the ice pack from yesterday and got started on applebucking. AJ and I exchanged small talk all day, apparently her sister was part of a small club called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or CMC for short. They also got their cutie marks yesterday, as well as finding a new friend in Diamond Tiara. I would have to meet these other two crusaders and see if they were as cute as Applebloom. I got one more horn ache after I was done with work and heading to the CMC's clubhouse, which resulted in me accidentally blasting a five-foot long and deep crater in the ground. I looked around franticly to see if anyone noticed, but I was in the clear. I sighed in relief and looked at the new hole in the ground.
"I might have overdone it," I said while using a spell to grow back the area that had been decimated. I really needed to work on gaining some more control over my powers. "Ah, well. No point in crying about every mistake," I thought to myself while knocking on the door to the clubhouse.
"Password?" A squeaky voice asked from inside.
"Um, please let me in?" 
"It's alright, he can come in," said the voice of Applebloom.
The door swung open and I saw four fillies sitting at a small table.
"Hi, mister!" said a pinkish-purplish earth pony with a small crown on her head. "What's your name?"
"His name is Vortex! He works on the farm now!" said the southern earth pony, who noticeably had a mark on her flank now, which was very similar to the ones on an albino unicorn and orange pegasus with characteristically small wings.
"Yep, that's me, but who are all of you?"
"I'm Scootaloo, the second-best athlete in Ponyville, with Rainbow Dash as the first best!"
"My name's Sweetie Belle!"
"And I'm Diamond Tiara!"
"Charmed," I said politely, looking around the clubhouse. "So, is this the CMC's clubhouse?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but felt obliged to ask for some reason.
"Yep!" said Scootaloo, looking very excited at the idea of me becoming their friend.
"Nice cutie marks, by the way,"
"Thanks! They mean we'll be helping others find theirs! What does yours mean?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I'm good with tools. Give me some scrap metal and I can make you anything you want," I said proudly. "But I'm fairly skilled at magic too, though probably not as good as Twilight Sparkle,"
"Ooh! Can you teach me some magic!" Sweetie Belle asked. "I'm not very good at it, and Twilight has been really busy with that magic box given to her by the Tree of Harmony, so she can't teach me that much anymore," 
"Hmm... I'm free on Sundays," I offered.
"Great! Meet me back here, that's where we'll train!"
All of a sudden my phone started ringing.
"Er, I'll get that,"
On the other end was Roam, telling me to come back to the camp.
"All right, be right there. Sorry, girls I gotta go, my brother needs me,"
"Can we meet him sometime?" Applebloom asked hopefully.
"I'll talk to him about it," I promised. "See you in two days for the training, Sweetie," I said before teleporting back to the edge of the Everfree. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I ran into it, meeting Roam and Artemis at the campfire.
"Hey, guys. What do you need me for?" I asked.
"We're not alone in the forest," said my brother.
"Well, no duh. The place is crawling with monsters." I said, rolling my eyes at how obvious that statement was.
"No, I mean there is a zebra living here," he relied, keeping his tone calm even after my remark.
"...So what do we do?"
"The abandoned castle of Celestia and Luna is close by. We're moving there," Artemis said. "So pack your things,"
And we did just that, packing up our things, and making the short walk to the castle, crossing a bridge with a large cave underneath it that seemed to have something glowing inside it. The castle was huge, but in a massive state of disrepair. 
"Well, this is a dump," Artemis said bluntly.
"Don't worry, I can fix it," I said, plopping a blue hat on my head and taking out a gold hammer.
"What's with the outfit?" Roam asked.
I rolled my eyes and said I'd show him the movie when I was done getting the place fixed.
"But while I'm doing that, I want you to go to town and make some friends," I said, knowing that neither of them were very social, hoping they would meet some nice ponies. They were hesitant at first, but me saying I wouldn't fix the place until they left got them out of my hair. After they were out of my hair, I got to work on the castle, turning around to face my work and only just now seeing how much I needed to do.
"This might take a while," I sighed, grabbing my toolbox.