//------------------------------//
// New Role Aquired: Irritating Little Brother. 
// Story: Magic's Shadow 
// by Reykan 
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	After the two calmed down and returned to the table, they were greeted with a few questioning nickers from the parents. Twilight explained what had happened, careful to leave out the colts insults to their beloved ruler or unable to repeat them, and then asked if it was possible if the two could make a trip to the library to look for anything on changelings. The parents were dubious, but to Shadow's surprise, Shining Armor apparently volunteered to be their escort. Passing his questions through Twilight, he learned that Shining was also curious about what the library would have.
While that was his excuse, the changeling could all but taste an underlying reason. He'd never noticed another person blush back home, but damn if the white unicorn didn't light up like a Christmas tree after his answer.

Shadow was both relieved and confused that he was now free to eat as he wished. It still didn't do much for him, but he didn't feel bloated anymore. He was sure it had something to do with that strange goop he'd nearly spewed all over the table, but he didn't know what it all meant. Hell, he was now a different species, was he even eating the right things? For all he knew he was allergic to eggplant, and that's why he got sick.
'I haven't even looked at my teeth yet, if I'm some kind of predator it wouldn't be surprising they're scared of me. It's not like humans, where we were all hunter-scavengers, these guys eat nothing but plants from what I've seen.'

After the meal, the two foals went back to their shared room, discussing their plan of action. Twilight paced back and forth in the middle of the room as the changing reclined on the bed.
"Oh, I really don't like this. I always ask Ms. P for help with my projects, if I don't ask her this time, she may become suspicious!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow at the name, "Ms. P? She the librarian?"

"Yes, Miss Proper Place," the unicorn answered, momentarily halting her pacing. "She keeps track of everything in the library, she even taught me to alphabetize my searches, and how to use the Donkey Decimal system."

Shadow laughed at the alternate name of the system he'd grown up around, and shook his head at the oddity of pony names. Turning back to the filly he attempted to calm her down.
"It's fine Twilight; we can ask her. We'll just need to ask her more generalized questions. First about exotic species, then if nothing comes up, about strange animals. If that doesn't work, we'll move onto monsters and myths. I'm sure we'll find something," the colt assured her. "This isn't even a one-day project. We're going to be looking up a species that hasn't been seen for a long time, and likely isn't very well known. Some of this information we may need to puzzle out for ourselves, like what that goop was. I know darn well that wasn't stomach acid I spat out. Tonight we'll work on that entry form as well. I think Princess Celestia would be happy to help us with some of this, maybe even do some MRI's or X-rays and stuff like that."

The words seemed to work, the unicorn now imagining future studies. "I'm not sure what those are, but I think they have some magical scanning and mapping equipment in the school for research projects. Maybe we could get ahold of some of that? Oh, that's so cool, we may even learn things about magic nopony else has discovered yet!"
The filly stopped her prancing for a moment, looking back at the shape shifter. "Um, Shadow? What will we call you? I mean, we never picked names for your disguises."

"What's wrong with Shadow? Your name is Twilight, your dad's name is Night Light, your brother's name is Shining Armor. What's the difference?" Shadow shook his head, smiling at the purple filly. "Don't overcomplicate the disguise, Twi. If your friends go around messing up your name, it makes it suspicious. All I am is a little lost unicorn colt who doesn't speak the local language and is staying with your family at the moment. While we're out, don't try to talk to me while other people are around. It will look odd if I can understand what you say but no-one else."

"But, but the stories always said you need to-"

"Look at me Twilight," The colt said gesturing to himself. "This unicorn? This is who, in all likelihood, I'm going to be for the next few years at least. If it was a short term thing, then sure, I'd go with it. It's not though. Do you know how hard it gets to lie casually about basic life facts? Do you know how hard it would be for me to go around as a girl when I know I'm a boy? The more truth there is in your lie, the easier it is to defend. That, and it will be easier for you. When someone asks you, you say that I'm Shadow, that I'm new here, and that I'm going to be going to school with you."

Further conversation was interrupted by the door opening. Shining armor stuck his head inside, looking at the two for a few moments before saying something to his sister.

"Yes, we're ready. We just needed a plan." The filly said, a small scroll floating over to her along with a quill and ink. As she spoke, she wrote on the scroll.
"First we're going to look up the different sapient races. I've actually been meaning to do that for a while now, I just always had another thing to study when I went there. If nothing comes up we'll look into beasts and creatures of Equis. Oh, I'll show you what an Equestrian manticore looks like, and you can tell me if its similar to the ones you know! Finally, if neither source brings anything interesting on the topic of changelings, we'll look into monsters and myths of Equestria."
The filly made another pass over her list, reading it to herself once more before floating a small purple saddlebag onto her back. "Did I miss anything?"

Shadow just stared at the purple unicorn before swapping language with her for a moment and looking to her brother.

"Is she always like that?"


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The walk to the library was fairly simple, the filly riding her brothers back while Shadow walked beside the two, eyes drinking in every detail of the city as they passed by. Thatch roofs could be seen in the distance, but most of the houses had an almost modern rich-family manor feel to them. Shops seemed to double as the living places for some of the merchants, the second floors looking like they'd be the living quarters. Some things were familiar, but one thing kept coming back to the colt. How did a bunch of horses keep their town so clean?

There was no trash in the alleyways, no layer of dirt and grime all over the main thoroughfares. There wasn't even a strange smell that he'd assume would come from so many horses living in the same area. How did they manage it? Where did the trash all-

The colt stopped, his eyes widening in horror and imagined pain. In a small shop across from him, he stared in horror as a stallion used a hammer to apply a set of horseshoes to another stallion's hooves.

The nymph's mind was a whirlwind of questions at the strange sight. 'They use horseshoes? Doesn't that hurt? Why would you do that?' Sadly, with his only conversation partner currently deeply buried in a discussion with her big brother, the questions would have to wait, likely until tonight.

Shadow looked around, realizing he'd fallen off their track while distracted. It was disconcerting, but not overly so. After all, he could see what he assumed was the library from his current position. Soon after he started walking to the large building, he felt the unnatural panic that could only be from the other side of the bond.
'I really need to talk to her about these panic attacks. She worries way too much for a kid.'

He spotted the two of them at the entrance, the filly darting back and forth as her eyes scanned the crowd before her. Shining armor stood behind her, his eyes much more calm and focused. The stallion's eyes widened as their gazes met, and he picked up his sister and came down the steps to meet the colt.
The filly hopped off her brothers back as they approached, darting ahead of the white unicorn to meet Shadow.
"Where did you go? You could have gotten lost, and then the princess would be mad because I lost you and then mom and dad would be upset because I made the princess upset a-"

"Stop." Shadow said quietly, putting a hoof to her muzzle. "I'm fine, we're here, and despite my appearance I know how to survive on my own in a city. Save your panic for when things are actually bad, not when you think they may become bad. Now, let's get to work."

The group walked into the library without further fanfare, though the colt did find the familiar push-bars on the door a little disconcerting. They walked up to the main desk, Twilight pulling her list out of her saddlebag and offering it to the librarian.

"Well, this is quite the study session, Twilight. Are you sure you can get through all of it?" the librarian asked with a kind smile.

Before Shadow knew what was happening the two were rushing from shelf to shelf, the mare seemingly have every book's location memorized. Strangely the librarian was quite adamant about helping the filly with her most recent project, passing right by the two males and whisking the filly into the different sections of the library before anyone could react. While an answer as to why would have been very nice, the nymph couldn't take the chance to pull even the written word from Twilight with Ms. Place hovering as closely as she was. Instead, he was left listening to an excited set of females jabbering in an odd language over topics he could only barely keep track of. There were clues as to the conversations through Twilights answers and her responses, but for the most part it was a constant stream of nickers and whinnies from the older pony.

Bored of the interactions he couldn't keep track of, the colt wandered off into the library, taking time to analyze the writing system used by the local population. The writing was blocky, reminding him of cuneiform writing from his history classes. It struck him as odd, why would ponies use such a simple writing style? Surely they could have managed something a bit more complex by now. Humanity had hundreds of ways to write the same simple sentence, and that was just the human species. Did everyone on the planet use the same writing system, or was it just ponies?

The colts ears flicked, the odd sensation nearly drawing enough attention that he didn't notice why. Looking around, he spotted a small group of foals listening to a story being told by a pink mare with both a horn and wings. Shadows eyes narrowed when he spotted Shining wandering nearby, constantly sneaking glances at the mare that was currently reading. Of course the stallion had a second reason to escort them. Grinning to himself, he wandered up behind the stallion and nudged him in the rear-leg, eliciting a quick whinny of surprise and a look of shock. The colt then proceeded to do the same thing that he'd have done to any older sibling had he grown up with them.

He teased the ever-loving shit out of the stallion.

It took a bit of ingenuity, of course, not being able to use hand-gestures or speak but he soon had the stallion sputtering denials and nickering angrily at him, and all it took was a quick point of a hoof, moving his hooves in the shape of a heart, and making a kissy face at the stallion.
'Wow, I needed that.' Shadow thought as he watched the two ponies interact. The mare had finished her story and heard the commotion created by the two, and had come over to see what the ruckus was about. The way Armor's face tinged pink when she spoke to him had the colt snickering loudly, even as the mare turned her attention to him, attempting to speak to him despite the warnings of the white unicorn. Strangely, the mare wasn't concerned in the slightest, attempting several patterns of speech, one that even sounded a bit like birds chirping.
Finally, just as the colt figured the mare would give up, her horn lit up with a blue glow. The glow enveloped both her and the colt, and when she opened her eyes again, she spoke.

"How's that?" the mare asked, though her lips didn't quite match the sounds he heard.

"Uh, it works. Translation spell?" Shadow asked cautiously. 

The mare nodded, "Yes, it's one my aunt just taught me for diplomatic issues. While knowing the languages is nice, it can be difficult to learn all of the variations of languages that spring up. This just allows two individuals to communicate by intention. My name is Cadance, may I ask what you call yourself?"

"Shadow. My names Shadow," he told her, offering a hoof. He instantly regretted the action after realizing she wouldn't be able to give him a handshake, but surprisingly the mare matched his movements, placing her hoof against his own and bobbing them in a strange twist of the human greeting.

"Shadow, why are you causing Shiny trouble?" Cadance asked, a glint of humor in her eyes.

The pseudo-unicorn instantly saw it, but decided to have a bit of fun of his own. "Trouble?" he asked in mock innocence. "You think I'm causing trouble? I, I don't, how could you think so little of me?" he asked her, crocodile tears forming in his eyes. "I, I only want to be helpful. He just looked so lonely over here hiding in the bookshelves. I wanted to keep him company!"

The winged unicorn narrowed her eyes at his claims of innocence, apparently having none of it. "I've foalsat enough little colts to know the fake-tears of a trouble maker when I see them." She then giggled into a hoof, looking back at the stallion. "Where's your sister? I know she wouldn't let you come here without her. Is she okay?"

Shining nickered a response and Cadance gasped. "Phillidelphia? But that's a good two hours away even by flight! Oh the poor dear must have been terrified. How are your parents taking it?" A whinny and snort, the stallion shaking his head in frustration. "I will ask Auntie, thank you. Twilly!" With that final word, the mare quickly trotted up to the purple unicorn, picking her up in a fierce hug.

"Cadance!" Twilight squeaked in surprise." What are you doing here? Oh, and be quiet, this is a library."

"Oh, I wasn't that loud. Ready?"

The two mares crouched down, as if ready to pounce on each other and then...



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"What was that dance thing about?" Shadow asked as they sat in the fillies room. Scattered about the room were several large books, some regarding lost species while the one before the unicorn was some sort of monster compendium.

"What dance?" the filly asked as she looked up from her studies. "Oh, the sunshine dance? It was just something Cadance taught me a while ago. It's a lot of fun. Do you want to learn it?"

Shadow waved his hooves in front of him in a warding gesture. "Nope, I'm good. Just curious is all. She teach it to all the kids she watches?"

Twilight rubbed a hoof against the back of her head. "I uh, I don't know. I never really watched her with other foals. Oh, look here. This is a manticore!"

Once more the door was opened to interrupt their study session, this time by Night Light. Shadow listened intently to the words of the unicorn, just barely able to understand the inflection of a question. Twilight turned to him with a sad look in her eyes.
"Shiny has to go back to the castle. We're going to say goodbye to him." 

"It'll be fine, Twi. I had a friend back home who joined the Navy," the changeling reassured her. "He was gone for a while, but he was able to visit his family pretty often. Heck, the castle is just up the road, right? We could probably bug him when he's on duty or something."

Still the filly pouted, slowly walking to the stairs. "I guess. Who's going to take me to the library though?"

"Twi, we're going to be in a school with its own library, we likely won't need an escort to it, or at the very least, we'll have teachers to help us out. Where is this school anyway?" he asked her.

"It's on the castle grounds, right next to..." the filly trailed off, eyes widening. "We'll be staying next to the barracks! I can see BBBFF anytime I want!"

"I doubt you'll have that kind of access, but yea, the worlds not that big of a place."

The two soon reached the door where the rest of the family was seeing off their son. Twilight was soon in tears, hugging her big brother and bidding him farewell even as the older sibling tried reassuring her. The colt did his best to keep the bond from impacting him too much, but found his eyes tearing up regardless of his efforts. The white unicorn finally put down his sister and stopped, noticing the oddity of the colt crying as well. He asked a question of the filly and Shadow felt the slight pull of the language swap.

"I'd ask why you're crying, but I'm pretty sure I know why," Shining Armor said. He looked back at his sister for a moment before turning back to the colt. "I'm not happy about this, but you're right. The princess did tell us you wouldn't purposefully cause us any problems." The stallion offered his hoof in the same pseudo-handshake Shadow had used earlier, and Shadow obliged him by touching it with his own hoof.
"You keep Twilly out of trouble, Shadow. If you're even half as old as you claim, you should be able to keep the two of you out of most of the trouble she's usually getting into."

The changeling colt grinned at the guard in training, offering a mock salute. "It's a tall order sir, but I'll do my best."

The older stallion pulled his hoof back, ruffling the green colt's mane playfully. "I'm sure you'll be up to it, and Princess Celestia's never let us down before. She runs the country and knows how to deal with most problems, I think I can trust her to know how to deal with this as well."

The young guard gave a final round of nuzzles to his family, even planting a light kiss on his sisters head before walking out the door. Shadow walked up beside the still crying filly, pressing up against her in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.
"Come on, Twi, we've got our own problems to work out. We'll likely be so busy the time will fly until you see him next."

Twilight nodded sadly, still watching her brother walk down the path to the castle. "I know. I'll still miss him, though."

Shadow nodded, his mind turning to his own family. "I know, Twilight. Trust me, I know how it feels to miss family."


After all, at the end of the day at least the little filly was on the same planet of the rest of her family.