//------------------------------// // Chapter 11- Tests and More Training // Story: Of Flame and Shadow // by Garuda IV //------------------------------// Saturday was a rather boring day for Dark to stomach. As Twilight said before, she stayed with him while he as admitted. To him, he still found it to be unusually sweet of her, but decided to not question it. Sweetie Belle and Spike also told Apple Bloom and Scootaloo about what happened to Dark, but decided to keep their newfound relationship a secret from everypony for now. Within an hour of being told about the events of that night, the Crusaders and Spike ran straight from their clubhouse to the hospital. As Dark was enjoying his one-on-one time with Twilight to get to know each other better, it was interrupted when the door was thrown open by the three fillies, who ran into the room and pouncing on Dark as he laid in his hospital bed. Spike was a bit more casual, though, as he simply walked in and shut the door behind him. Since Sweetie Belle already knew about all of what happened, she was a bit more calm with seeing him again. Scootaloo, while trying to act tough and hold herself back, was having a hard time keeping her emotions under control from almost losing her newest friend. Apple Bloom on the other hoof, wasn't as reserved as the others as she let herself go, getting a gentle pat on the head from Dark since the staff removed the I.V. and blood packet earlier that day. After a few minutes, Apple Bloom had calmed down enough to where she was no longer sobbing, but would still let out the occasional snivel. After Dark and Twilight sat up in his hospital bed so the Crusaders and Spike could have some room to lay down, Dark began telling them the censored version of what happened that night with the alpha timberwolves, by their request. Throughout his storytelling, he made sure to be extra careful with picking his words so he wouldn't accidentally disturb them with any graphic details. As his story progressed, Pinkie appeared out of nowhere to listen in with a box of cupcakes that she smuggled into the hospital to share with everyone. When Dark got over half way through the fight scene in his story, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were on edge about what was happening while Sweetie Belle, who didn't like this part of the story, scooted up against Spike. While he was trying to keep it as foal-friendly as possible, he didn't forget to tell them about how Twilight brought him to the hospital, saving his life. As he told that part, he intentionally looked over to Twilight, causing her to turn away with a blush while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle awed at how sweet they thought it was. Even Scootaloo thought the story was cool, despite the ending being too mushy in her opinion. Still, though, they were happy with the story, and even more so that everypony was alright in the end. But, as the evening rolled around, the doctor came in and gave Dark the all-clear for being released from the hospital. The only condition, though, was that Dark would have to take it easy for the rest of the day and tomorrow. That meant no flying, running, strenuous exercises, and of course, no fighting packs of alpha timberwolves the doctor jokingly added, causing Dark to chuckle at his sense of humor. He was allowed to use magic, though, just as long as he didn't go overboard with it, which Twilight assured the doctor that she would make sure he wouldn't. After checking out of the hospital and giving their thanks and goodbyes to the staff, Dark, Twilight, and Spike made their way back to the castle, while the Crusaders headed over to Sweetie Belle's place for a sleepover. Pinkie would've been there too, but she had to leave to work the counter for the afternoon shift, but she did tell them before she left that she would be paying them a visit tomorrow to makeup for not being there before. As the morning sun peeked over the horizon, its rays began shining in Dark's face, causing him to reluctantly wake up. He still felt somewhat drained from his last few nights at the hospital. Although he wouldn't get used to the food and stiff bed they provided, he did miss the warmth and comfort that he'd grown accustom to sleeping with over those last few nights. Turning his head, Dark saw the empty spot next to him that used to be occupied. Despite not waking up to see her smiling face first thing in the morning, Dark was happy to at least be out of that hospital. Sliding out of bed, he stretched himself out, each of his joints popping from being still for so long. Feeling loose and ready for the day, Dark began making his way down to the kitchen where Spike would be cooking up breakfast for them. Although he felt fine, Twilight told him that she didn't want him to do anything, including cooking, and to just rest. At least, until this afternoon anyway. But once Dark entered the kitchen, he froze in mid-walk, seeing Twilight cooking instead with Spike sitting at the table. He turned to Spike with a confused look. "She insisted," Spike shrugged. "By the way, good morning." Hearing that Dark was there, Twilight turned around to greet him with a warm smile. "Good morning, Dark. Did you sleep well?" "I suppose," Dark answered as he took his seat at the table. "'I suppose'?" Twilight questioned. "I thought that you would be happy to be out of that hospital and back in your bed." "I am happy to be back home. It's just that... well..." he trailed off, not quite sure if he wanted to finish that sentence, but he didn't have to. "Seems like somepony got a little lonely last night," Spike knowingly commented. Dark was surprised by Spike's comment, even though it was true. But something in the air caught Dark's attention. After taking a few sniffs, he looked over to Spike. "Oh, like you're one to talk," Dark retorted, completely unaware of the blush plastered across Twilight's face. "Why don't you tell us why you have Sweetie Belle's scent all over you?" "I don't know what you're talking about?" Spike nervously denied. "I've been hanging around her and the Crusaders these last few days. It's only natural that her scent would cling onto me." "If that's true, then why don't I smell Rarity's scent, or the other crusaders on you as well?" Dark questioned. "Admit it, Spike. Because even though I'm still new to the sensitivity of my nose, I do know that you don't get that level of scent on you just by being around another pony. You two would have to be snuggling together to get that much of her scent on you." "Is this true, Spike?" Twilight asked, receiving a small nod from the little dragon. Then before he knew it, Twilight ran over and gave him a big hug. "I'm so happy for you." "Really?" Spike asked. "You're alright with it and aren't going to tease me about it?" "Of course I'm alright with it," she happily answered. "But that doesn't mean that we won't tease you about it," Dark grinned. "You know I could send those pictures of you two to the other princesses if I wanted to, right?" Spike told them. "Did you just threaten to blackmail us if we teased you about it?" Twilight asked in shock. "I didn't say it would be blackmail," he playfully said. "I just thought that maybe you'd like to think about it before the princesses found out and took a whiff of you two. I mean, the scent of you two on each other is really strong." "I don't smell like Twilight... do I?" Dark asked before taking a whiff of himself. "Never mind, I very much do." "Really," Twilight wondered as she walked over to smell Dark's coat. "Oh yeah, you definitely have my scent on you." She then turned to smell her own coat, the scent of burnt firewood hitting her nostrils. "And apparently I have yours as well." "Not really surprising," Spike commented. "Considering that you've been cuddled up against him for over a full day, not including the time spent sleeping." "Oh no. What are our friends going to think?" Twilight wondered, her panic starting to rise. "Easy, Twilight," Dark calmly said. "They're your friends. Besides, they know that you were with me those last few days." "You're right," Twilight sighed. "But what about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" "I doubt that they would know," Spike chimed. "Besides, Luna's never seen him, and Celestia hasn't been here since Dark's party." Over in Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was sitting at the dinner table with the morning paper and a cup of tea. It looked to be another fine day. What's more is that it was a Sunday, meaning that things would be generally slow today. As she took a sip of her tea, the doors to the dining room flew open with a rather chipper Princess Luna skipping over to her. "Greetings, sister," Luna cheerfully greeted. "Good morning, Luna," Celestia returned with a raised eyebrow. "Now what's gotten you in such a good mood this morning?" "Oh, nothing much," she playfully answered. "Just a little dream that I thought you might like to know of." "Oh?" Celestia questioned, her interest peaked as she sat down her paper and teacup. "And just who's dream is it that I would want to know about?" "Your former student's." "Twilight?" "Indeed so." "Alright, but why would this dream be any different from her other ones?" Celestia wondered. "She usually dreams of books doesn't she?" "Normally, yes," Luna answered, her smile growing wider. "But this time, it was about a stallion." She paused to see Celestia's eyes widen. "Or to be more precise, it was about a certain kirin that I've never seen before, until I looked into her dreams that is." "Well I'm very happy for her," Celestia said with a beaming smile. "Oh, but I'm not done yet, sister. She's been dreaming about the two of them for the last few nights." "Alright, so she's been having continuous dreams about him." Luna's smile turned into a grin. "Did I forget to mention that they were all shared dream?" Hearing her sister's words, Celestia dropped the teacup that she just started picking up while her eyes widened fully. "Luna," she slowly started, a disbelieving look of joy crossing her face. "You're not saying that they..." "Maybe," Luna slyly replied, causing Celestia to squee in joy for Twilight. "Alright, that's it," Celestia declared. "I'm going back to Ponyville to congratulate Twilight on her new relationship." "Wait, Tia," Luna halted. "Shouldn't you hold open court today? You did skip out on last week after all. And while I'm eager to see her too, we do have our duties to attend to." "You're right, dear sister," Celestia dejectedly sighed. "Though I suppose I will be seeing her at the Running of the Leaves in a few days. Perhaps you would like to join me?" Luna thought about it for a moment. "I've never been to this event before. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go." "Good to hear," Celestia replied before she broke into a sly grin and rested her head on her hooves. "So now. What were these dreams that they shared exactly?" Luna tapped her chin with a matching grin. "Oh, where to start?" After their breakfast was done, Twilight and Spike lead Dark down a corridor unfamiliar to him. As they descended a set of stairs, Dark started to become nervous of what they had planned. It wasn't until they opened a door at the bottom of the staircase that he saw that it was an underground laboratory. Looking around, he could see sets of beakers with strange liquids in them, several machines that he had no idea what they did, and many more things, including a plasma ball. "So then," Twilight began. "Are you ready for those tests we talked about?" "I suppose," Dark slowly replied. "I just didn't think it would be done in a lab is all." "Well, where else would I be able to run them?" "Point taken. So then, what do you want to do first?" "First, I'm going to need a blood sample," Twilight answered as she lifted up a syringe with a foot long needle. "Whoa, hold up now!" Dark protested. "What they hay is up with that thing?!" "What about it? It's just a needle." "That's not a needle, that's a freaking spearhead!" Twilight groaned. "Look, I have to use a stronger and bigger needle to pierce your skin, otherwise I wouldn't be using something this big." "Can't I just bite myself and let the blood drip into a beaker or something?" "Nope. It has to come straight from the veins, otherwise it won't be as fresh as it could be, and thus become tainted." Dark gave a defeated sigh as he walked over to Twilight and held out his left arm. "You've done this before though, right?" he asked. "Umm, maybe?" Twilight sheepishly answered right before she plunged the needle into Dark's arm. Thankfully for Dark, she hit the vein and was already drawing blood from it. Ten seconds of drawing blood later, she was done and removed the needle from his arm. Dark could feel slightly nauseated as he lost over pint of blood in such a short amount of time. Thankfully for him, though, his regeneration managed to replace his lost blood, making his sickness dissipate. Seeing that the puncture mark left by the needle was completely healed, Dark made his way over to the desk that Twilight was sitting at. As he walked over, he saw her place a drop of his blood on a glass slide, and slid it beneath a microscope. Sitting in silence, he observed Twilight as she mumbled to herself while writing down notes. After removing the previous sample, she replaced it with another, but this one she added some purple liquid to it. As she began to observe it, Dark looked over to see Spike sitting a chair with one of his comics. "So," Dark began. "What are you doing with my blood exactly?" "The first one was to check and see what your blood simply looked like," she explained. "Since you're a kirin, your blood is slightly different from that of a normal pony's." "Alright, but what about the second one with the purple stuff?" "That's from an age potion. I'm using it to see how quickly your blood cells age. Oh, speaking of which," she began as she turned to face Dark. "I'm going to need a tissue sample as well, along with a hair sample." Though the hair didn't bother him, he wasn't exactly in the mood to flay himself like that. Even if it was just a small piece. Thankfully, he didn't have to as Spike walked over with a scalpel in his claws. "Alright fine," Dark submitted. Though he didn't like it, he was willing to tolerate it. "Which part do you want? Pony or dragon?" "One of each if you would," Twilight answered as Dark groaned. "Look, I know you don't like it, but believe me, it'll all be worth it when our questions about you are answered." "Is there a specific one you're looking to solve?" "Yes, actually. I want to know how long your lifespan will be. That's part of the reason why I'm taking so many samples." Now understanding the reasoning behind these tests, Dark was more willing to lend her what she needed. Partially because he too was curious about it as well. After she took what she needed from him, Dark looked to the area where his skin was flayed off. As he kept watching, he saw his skin and coat starting to growing back, emanating a shadowy mist as it healed. Within seconds, the open spot was completely healed with no trace of it left behind. I wonder what the limit to this regeneration thing is? Dark wondered. "Hey, Twilight?" "Yes?" "You think after you're done with all of your experiments, we could try testing my regeneration?" "You're not thinking of doing something stupid like cutting off your own arm, are you?" Twilight asked in a low voice, making Dark shiver. "... never mind." "Good," she replied as she went back to her testing. Seeing as he had nothing to do, Dark went over and sat down by Spike to join him in his reading. He never heard of Daring Do before and was quite interested in it. But once he told that to Spike, though, he was warned to start reading it before Rainbow found out. He explaining to Dark how it's her favorite series, and that she's a total fangirl. Still, though, Dark was still curious and willing to give it a try. When Dark tried to leave for the library, Twilight stopped him, asking him to say incase she needed him for something. That didn't mean the same for Spike, though, as he was willing to go fetch the first book in the series for Dark to start on. He spent his time reading for the next few hours. Though he'd prefer to read up on some fire spells, Dark was rather enjoying himself with this book. But, as he was about to start on his eighth chapter, Twilight caught his attention. "Alright, I believe I got it," she announced. "What did you find?" Dark asked. Twilight looked over her numerous sheets of paper before she answered him. "Well, which would you like to hear first?" "What are my options? You know, besides the results for my ageing." "There's your regeneration rate, ageing, overall health, and your skin's toughness." "Alright, let's start with health, regeneration, then toughness. We'll save ageing for last since that's been our biggest wonder." "Okay then, let's see." She paused as she found the right sheet. "Alright, from what this is saying about your health, it appears that you're warm-blooded, and your mineral count is a little low." "Minerals? Really?" Dark questioned. "Well, you are part dragon now," Spike chimed. "And you do have those teeth, so maybe you could eat gems now?" They all sat there as they let that little tidbit sink in. Twilight then looked over to Spike with an idea in mind. "Spike, would it be alright if we used some of your gems for another test?" she asked. "I suppose," he slowly answered. "What kind of test are you thinking?" "I want to see if Dark can eat gems like you can. And could you please bring one of each type?" "Sure, be back in a little bit," Spike said as he ran off. "Alright, now for your regeneration," Twilight began. "Now, this was actually from your idea, minus cutting off a limb to get it." "I watched the area where you and Spike took skin from earlier heal up within a few seconds," Dark told her. "Then this just confirms these test results. From what I've gathered, you can regenerate roughly one inch every three seconds. This would also further explain why your surgery took so long." "So if I lost my arm then?" "It would take a minute or so to completely regenerate it," Twilight finished. "But would I continue to bleed out?" "I don't know, and I'd rather not know." "Alright. Now, what about my skin's durability?" "Well, it appears to be somewhere between a pony's, and a dragon's, though I can't pinpoint how much so exactly." Dark thought about it for a moment until he remembered part of the timberwolf attack. "I don't know how much this will help, but when I was attacked, those alphas were able to claw through me easily, but with my wings, they could barely scratch them," he told her. "I don't know if it's because they're directly from Nocturne or what, but my wings appear to be a lot tougher than the rest of my body." "That would explain the mutation I saw in your skin cells from the samples we took." "Mutation? Is it dangerous?" Dark nervously asked. "No, it's not dangerous at all," Twilight assured him. "When I said mutation, I meant that you skin is changing, becoming stronger. Over time, your pony skin will be as strong as the skin on your wings." "Then how did they manage to scratch my left dragon arm, and not my wings?" Dark wondered. "Well, you did say that you had pony legs instead before they were lost. Perhaps they were regenerated from pony tissue instead of dragon tissue. If so, then that would probably explain why you have dragon wings, because they came directly from Nocturne. It would be better if I had some samples from Nocturne himself to help better compare." "Considering that you'd have to go to Stonewall Village to get it, I wouldn't recommend it." "Hopefully some of the ponies that were sent there will bring some back." "I guess. By the way," Dark began. "I believe that you have one more piece of info we're both eager to hear about?" Twilight beamed at him. "After running several different age tests on your blood, skin, and hair, I've come to the conclusion that your lifespan is actually beyond that of a dragons." Dark froze in shock. "What? But how?" "I have no idea!" she answered giddily. "Maybe it's because his draconic blood isn't from a normal dragon," Spike commented as he returned with a bowl of gems. "That's possible," Twilight answered, looking over her readings. "After all, you and Princess Celestia did tell me that Nocturne was a very rare and unique dragon." "Kind of an understatement there, but yeah, I suppose that would explain it," Dark agreed. "Anyway, I got those gems you wanted," Spike said as he brought Twilight the bowl over to her. "Thank you, Spike," she thanked before placing it on a table for Dark to eat. "Alright, Dark, take one at a time and explain to me what it's like." "Alright," he answered. As he sat at the table, he picked out an amethyst and held it up to his mouth, taking a few licks to determine the flavor. He then placed half of it in his mouth and slowly bit down on it, careful not to go too fast incase his teeth couldn't handle it. Sure enough, though, he bit through the gem with little resistance and started to chew the gem before swallowing it. After thinking about the taste for a moment, he plopped the rest into his mouth and began munching away. "So?" Twilight began. "How is it?" Dark gulped it down before happily answering, "It's grape-flavored." "Good. Now how about this one?" she asked as she levitated over an emerald. After chewing on it and thinking of it, he came to an answer. "Sour apple." "And this?" Spike asked, holding a ruby. "Cherry," he answered before tossing in a topaz. "And this one's orange-flavored." "Very good," Twilight said, writing down this answers. "And how about the diamond?" Taking a bite out of it, Dark mulled it over. This one was difficult to place. It had a flavor, but at the same time, he couldn't think of what it reminded him of. He continued to think about it as he took another bite. "I'm not really sure," he answered, taking another moment to think about it. "I mean, I know I've tasted it before." "Well to me, it tastes like vanilla frosting," Spike chimed. "That's it," Dark said with a snap of his claws. "Thanks little buddy." "No prob." "Alright," Twilight began as she got up and looked at the clock on the wall. "I believe that's all the testing I can think of for the moment. That, and it's already past lunchtime." Turning their attention over to the clock as well, Dark and Spike both saw that it was now 1:30 P.M. "Alrighty then, what would you two like for lunch?" Dark asked them. "I don't know if you should be cooking anything," Twilight said. "But I feel perfectly fine, and this time I mean it. Besides, my regeneration replaced the blood you drew from me soon after you took it." "... alright, fine," she conceded. "But I'm cooking with you." "Okay." Coming to an agreement, they left the laboratory with Spike closing the door behind them. As they walked down the hallway and back to the main hall, they could smell the scent of something freshly baked. Running towards the kitchen, they saw Pinkie at the stove with a chef's hat and an apron with "Kiss the Cook" written on the front of it. "Oh, hi guys," she cheerfully greeted. "Umm, Pinkie? What are you doing?" Twilight asked. "Well what does it look like? I'm making lunch, silly." "I see that. What I'm wondering is why you're making lunch?" "Because when I got here you were all down in your lab and didn't come out when it was lunch time, so I went on ahead and made lunch for you all. Think of it as apart of my apology to Darky for not coming to see him at the hospital." "You didn't have to do that, Pinkie," Dark told her. "Too late~" she sing-songed. "Besides, I wanted to do it." Accepting it as it was, the three sat down while Pinkie served them their lunches. Their meal was rather entertaining with her there with them as she told Dark about some of the trips she went on, and about how she and Applejack were possibly cousins. Although that was never confirmed to be true or not, it didn't matter to any of them. As Pinkie shared her stories, Dark offered her some of his more mellow ones, something appropriate to talk about during a meal. But, once they were just about finished with their lunch, Pinkie dropped the ball. "So, Darky," she happily addressed. "What were you thinking about doing for your birthday this Saturday? Because I've got a few different things all ready planned if you'd like to come and pick one out." But to Pinkie's, and Spike's surprise, Dark's mood turned glum. Even Twilight looked a little down by that question. It wasn't for another moment till Dark answered her. "Actually, Pinkie," he began. "I don't think that I'll be having one this year." "WHAT?!" Pinkie shouted in disbelief. "How could you not want your own birthday party?! You only get one a year and you're just going to skip it?!" "Pinkie," Twilight softly called. "Can we talk for a moment?" "I guess," she begrudgingly answered. "But don't think this is over, Darky. When I'm done with Twilight, where gonna continue this." "Sure," Dark half-heartedly answered. "Dark, can you and Spike can go ahead to the lounge? I'll be there after I'm done talking to Pinkie Pie." Giving a silent nod, Dark and Spike headed out, leaving Twilight and Pinkie alone. "Alright, Twilight," Pinkie started. "What's going on here?" Twilight sighed sadly before turning back to her. "There's something I need to explain to you about Dark's birthday, Pinkie." After a few minutes of explaining what happened to Dark on that specific day, Pinkie's face turned from upset to sad. Whether it was because of Dark's birthdays now being a bitter reminder of his loss, or of why they picked that day specifically, Pinkie didn't know. All she knew was that she made Dark sad, and now she had to try and fix it. Before Twilight knew it, Pinkie left in a blur heading towards the lounge. By the time she caught up with her, Pinkie already had Dark in a big hug while apologizing to him in-between sobs. Looking from Pinkie to Dark, Twilight saw only confusion on his face as he tried to calm the pink pony down. "I told her about what happened to your brother and cousin," Twilight explained. "Ah. Well, that explains this sudden mood change then," Dark said before turning back to Pinkie. "It's alright, Pinkie. I'm not mad at you." "But I-" Pinkie tried arguing, but was cut-off by Dark. "Didn't know at the time, so I can't blame you. Besides, you're not the kind of pony who'd deliberately upset somepony else, are you?" "No. All I wanted to do was make everypony smile and be happy." "Then there you go. It was a simple accident and you shouldn't feel so bad about it," Dark concluded as he tightened his comforting hug. "Okie dokie," Pinkie softly answered as she fell deeper into his hug. As she began to relax, she softly hummed in content. "You were right, Twilight, he really is warm and comfy. Now I understand why you didn't want to leave him during his entire stay at the hospital." "How did you know I was there the whole time?" Twilight asked. "Rainbow told me when she came over to Sugarcube Corner yesterday." "Well, anyway I think it's probably time you let go of him so we can start his magic practice." "You're just saying that because you aren't getting any hugs from him too," Pinkie smirked, causing Dark and Twilight to blush. "No I'm not!" Twilight immediately answered. At least, not completely anyway. "Alright," Pinkie sighed as she broke the hug. "Guess I better stop before Twilight starts to get jealous." Ignoring Pinkie's last comment, Twilight walked up beside Dark to go over the session for today. "Alright, you were wanting to try out that other spell that Nocturne used correct?" "Yeah," Dark replied. "It was like he was able to meld his body into the shadows around him." He paused to think on how to better describe it. "It was kinda like his body evaporated into shadows when he disappeared. But since he was behind me when he emerged from the shadows, I couldn't see how he looked." "Do you think you can do it?" Twilight asked. "Maybe. Could I do a quick warm-up with that other spell first?" he asked, getting a nod from Twilight before he made is attempt. Channeling his magic into his arms, Dark slowly moved his claw forward. However, it didn't disappear like it did before. Looking around, Dark saw that he was standing in the light shining through the window. Moving out of the sunlight and into the shade, Dark resumed moving his claw forward until it disappeared into a shadowy ripple, reappearing behind Spike's head and giving him a playful flick of his claw. As Spike turned to see what it was that hit him, Dark retracted his claw back, leaving him wondering what happened. That was, until Dark started putting on a false, innocent smile. "Why'd you do that?" Spike asked irritated. "Because of that little blackmailing you did earlier," Dark answered. "What blackmailing?" Pinkie asked. "Remember those pictures Spike showed everypony of Dark and I?" Twilight asked her. "Yep." "Well, Spike told us that if we made fun of him having a fillyfriend that he'll send both of them to the princesses." "Wait. Spike has a fillyfriend?! Ooh! Who is she?!" "Although these two know, I'd rather not say," Spike told her. "We're wanting it to keep it a secret until we feel more comfortable telling everypony." "Aww, that's too bad," Pinkie dejectedly said before addressing a recent comment. "But back to Spike sending those pictures. Does he mean Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, or does this include Cadence too?" "Unfortunately," Spike began. "I can only send letters to Celestia and Luna." "Well that's good for us," Dark proclaimed. "But right now, though, I think I'm gonna try that move out." "Do you have an idea of how to do it?" Twilight asked. "I may have an idea or two," he answered as he sat down. Closing his eyes, Dark began concentrating. His first idea was to try and do what he did with his claw, but stop himself from re-emerging and stay in the shadows. Focusing his magic, Dark began moving his claw like he did before. As it pierced through the shadows, it reappeared in a different location. With his attempt failed, Dark retracted his claw back to him. "Well that didn't work," he said to himself. "Sorry we can't be of any help," Twilight told him. "Don't be. You're helping enough just by watching over me and making sure nothing happens. Besides, I have another idea in mind." With that, Dark began on his second attempt. Since his first plan failed, he now moved to test his second. His plan this time was to spread the shadows emanating from his claws and arms, around his entire body. Hoping that by covering himself in a shadowy cloak that he could more easily become one with the shadows. Focusing on the magic in his arms, he spread it until his body was covered in a thin layer of darkness. Seeing the nervous look on Twilight's face, Dark gave her a reassuring smile before continuing. As Dark closed his eyes and slowly pumped more magic into his spell, he started to feel a slight tingle. It wasn't anything bad, but instead felt welcoming. As he let himself relax and go with the feeling, Dark felt his body overcome with warmth. It wasn't until he heard Pinkie loudly gasp that he opened his eyes. He could still see everything around him, but the colors all had a tint of gray to them. Looking back to his friends, Dark saw that they looked surprised, and a little spooked. "Where did he go?!" Spike panicked. "He just vanished," Pinkie observed. "But don't you do that all the time, Pinkie?" "This is different, Spike," Twilight explained. "It looks like Dark actually did it. He melded into the shadows." "But is he still here?" Pinkie asked. As Dark listened to them, he took notice that their voices were somewhat muffled, almost as though he was trying to listen to them from underwater. Still one with the shadows, Dark decided to try some tests of his own. He instantly knew that he could breathe, otherwise he'd be suffocating by now. First, he wanted to try and get back out and let them know he's alright. Since shrouding his body in shadows seemed to allow him to pass in, perhaps removing it would let him back out. Starting from his head, Dark began to remove the shadows from him, seeing everything turn back to their original color and hearing their voices returning to normal. Upon seeing Dark reappear where he stood, Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike ran up to him. "What happened? Are you alright?" Twilight asked as she patted him down. "Twilight, I'm fine," Dark chuckled. "It actually worked." "What was it like?" Spike excitingly asked. "Everything had a gray tint to it, and your voices sounded like I was trying to listen to you from underwater. Other than that, it was kinda warm, like I was being wrapped in my old blanket that my great grandma made for me when I was a little colt." "So you're not hurt or feel anything weird then?" Twilight questioned. "Nope. I feel perfectly fine. Although, there are a few things that I was hoping to test out while in there. That is, if you're okay with it, Twilight." "I told you that you had free reign over what you did. All that I ask is that you be careful about it." "Alright," Dark answered before taking a few steps back. "I'll be right back. If you need me, just call." After receiving a collection of nods, Dark plunged himself back into the darkness of the shadows. Alright, let's see what this does, Dark thought as he pumped more magic into the spell. He started slowly, but after a steady amount of magic was added to it, Dark noticed that time started to slow down. As he pumped more and more magic into it, he saw that the more magic that was added, the slower time out there became. After he counted to ten, Dark reduced the amount of magical output until it was at it's base minimum. At that point, everything was moving in full motion. Time wasn't quickened or slowed, just a steady pace as it should. This will make traveling at night much faster, he joyfully thought as he let the spell fade and return to his friends. "So, what did you do this time?" Twilight asked. "Turns out that the more magic I put into the spell, the slower time becomes around me." "Which means?" Spike pressed confusingly. "Basically it means that Dark can speed up time when he's in the shadows by pumping more magic into the spell, which in turn causes everything outside of it to appear to slow down," Twilight answered. "Yep," Dark happily agreed. "But, although that's nice and all, I don't know how vulnerable I am in there." "Dark," Twilight slowly began. "What are you thinking this time?" "When my body is shrouded, I feel as though I can pass in and out of the shadows at will. What I'm wondering is that while I'm at this stage, if a magical blast will hit me, or pass through me?" "Are you asking me to attack you?!" Twilight incredulously asked. "Only a little one," Dark quickly added. "Just enough to sting me, but not enough to burn a hole in my chest." "Are you sure about this?" "Worse case scenario, I'll get hit and regenerate the burn." "Fine, just tell me when then," she relented as she lit her horn and took her spot. "But if it does work, then won't you be hitting the bookcase behind him?" Pinkie asked. Stopping herself, Twilight took a moment to set up a force field around them. Satisfied with the new precaution, Twilight and Dark resumed their positions. Feeling as though he was ready, Dark gave Twilight the all-clear to fire away. After firing her first blast of magic, Twilight looked up to see it passing through Dark unharmed. But it was a weird sight to them though as the blast passed through his chest, causing everything from the neck down turned to shadows and leaving only Dark's floating head. "Dude, that's creepy!" Spike proclaimed in a small freak-out. Looking down, Dark could see that the rest of his body was missing. After canceling his spell, the rest of his body quickly materialized before them. Testing to see how he felt after being blasted, he looked back to Twilight. "Alright, nice job," he complimented her. "Now let's try for the head." "Shooting you in the chest was bad enough. I'm not blasting you in the face," Twilight argued. As much as Dark wanted to push the limits of this new spell, he figured that he was already pushing his luck with that last little request. Deciding to not risk getting Twilight upset with him, Dark decided to go along with her. "Okay." "Really?" Twilight questioned. "You're not going to try and push for it?" "I think I've pushed my limits with you enough as it is." "Thanks." "You're welcome. But there are a few things that I'd like to check out first." "As long as it's safe, then go ahead." "Alright. Be right back," Dark told them as he vanished back into the shadows. Alright, let's see here, he thought to himself as he began his testing. After looking around the room, Dark found a place to try reaching. His theory was that since the rules were different in there, while one with the shadows, he could move to any location within the shade. As he jumped up to test it, he felt gravity fade from him. This is a lot like how it would be when swimming, except I can breathe and it doesn't look like I don't have to swim to get around, Dark thought as he floated his way up to the top of the tallest bookshelf and reappearing on it. "Wow, I can't believe that actually worked," he happily said, causing the other to jump at the sudden voice on the behind them. Turning around, Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike saw Dark sitting on the other of the room, on a bookshelf. "Dude, how'd you get way up there?" Spike asked. "You can't even fly yet." "Turns out that when I Shadow Meld, I can travel anywhere within the shadows," Dark explained. "Shadow Meld?" Twilight asked. "It's the name I'm giving this spell," he answered. "It's becoming kinda tedious talking about it without calling it something. Besides, I find it to be kinda fitting." "To blend into the shadows," Twilight thought out loud. "Yeah, I can see how that name could work." "Anyway," Dark began before vanishing in a shadowy mist and reappearing in front of Twilight. "There's one last thing I wanted to test out. Can you look over to where the light's shining through the window and tell me if you see anything when I get back?" "Sure, see you in a little bit," Twilight answered for them. Disappearing into the shadows again, Dark made his way towards the light. As he stepped into it, he felt hot, like how he used to when he would stand near a bonfire. Pushing himself through, Dark was standing fully in the light while Shadow Melded. Though it looked like the plan was working, the light was starting to burn Dark, forcing him to undo the spell. Letting the spell dissipate, Dark took a knee to catch his breath, steam rolling off of his back and wings. "What happened?" Twilight asked seeing the vapors rising off of him. "Apparently the light burns me when I Shadow Meld," he answered before looking up to them. "By the way, did you see anything?" "Yeah," Spike began. "We could see the outline of your shadow on the ground in the middle of the sunlight." "Alright, good to know," he replied as he caught his breath. "So," Twilight began as she helped Dark back up. "Were there any other crazy stunts you wanted to try?" "Now that I think about it, there is one more thing. I'm starting to wish now that I knew some incase I get attacked again." "Oh? And what would that be?" she skeptically asked. "Would you be willing to teach me how to cast shield spells?" Dark asked her. Twilight looked to him in surprise. "You mean that you don't know any defensive magic spells?" "My fighting style is more offensive than defensive, so I didn't really bother learning any defensive spells," Dark admitted. Her face softened. "I'd be happy to teach you some of the shield spells that Shining Armor taught me," she offered. "Thank you, Twilight," Dark gratefully replied, sitting himself down to listen to Twilight's instructions on how to cast defensive shield spells. In Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne as the last minutes of open court were coming to an end. She had to deal with a few farmers who would request some additional seeds for their crop, which Celestia was happy to give them. There were also a few nobles who wanted more land or wealth added to what they already had. And of course, there was Prince Blueblood, who Celestia only paid half-attention towards. He too had requested numerous times to be given more land and wealth than what he already possessed, but what really bent Celestia the wrong way was when he would ask about Twilight. She knew full well of what his intentions were, and wasn't pleased with them. But, although she wouldn't condone it, the decision of whether or not Twilight would accept him wasn't her decision, but Twilight's. Though Celestia already had a very good idea on what her answer would be, considering what Luna told her this morning. Holding onto that bit of joyous news, Celestia managed to keep her spirits high throughout the day until the doors to the throne room finally closed. With open court now ended for the day, she turned her attention towards the sun to help put it to rest for the night before making her way towards the dining hall to meet up with Luna for some dinner, or in Luna's case, breakfast. As she came near the dining hall, she could hear Luna loudly smacking away at her food through the giant oak doors. Opening them, she saw her greedily eating away at a stack of flapjacks with several other plates beside her. "Looks like somepony's got quite an appetite this evening," Celestia commented towards her sister. With cheeks puffed out full of flapjacks, Luna turned to the doors and waved her sister over. "I shall never be tired of these marvelous golden delicacies," Luna told her. "Especially when you pour the syrup on top of it." She took a moment to eat another fork-full, enjoying the flavors and tastes. "I wish I could have been there to meet the pony who invented this." "Funny story about him actually," Celestia began. "Do you know that he actually died one week after he invented that recipe?" "Really?" Luna asked with her mouth full. "How?" "He loved his creation so much that he ate too much at once and choked on it. He died of asphyxiation shortly after." Luna froze in mid-bite before turning to Celestia. "Thou art bluffing, sister," Luna accused. "It's the truth, Luna. And you're starting to speak in Old Equestrian again." "Sorry. Anyway, how was open court today?" "Same as usual," Celestia sighed. "Blueblood's becoming more persistent about Twilight." "Hmph, like he would ever have a chance now," Luna scoffed as she began on another tower of flapjacks. "I know, but this is still serious, Luna," Celestia urged. "We both know that Blueblood doesn't take kindly to losing, especially with matters like this." "And what's he going to do about it?" Luna questioned. "He's not the kind of pony who would 'dirty his hooves with such trifling matters', as he would put it." "That's exactly what I'm worried about. He could very well send somepony else instead to deal with him." "But does he know of Dark yet?" Celestia paused to think about it, remembering the look on his face and his reactions earlier that day. "I don't believe he does," she admitted. Then again, I have made mistakes with judgement calls before. "Then we have nothing to worry about, sister. Now come and dine with me." Heeding her sister's words, Celestia ordered her meal for the night and joined Luna. When Celestia's dinner came, Luna was already on her sixth plate, totaling fifty flapjacks that she'd eaten so far. As she was beginning to wonder how Luna could eat so much and not lose her figure, the doors to the dining room opened, revealing Iron Guard who saluted upon entering. "Welcome home, Captain," Celestia warmly greeted. "Hello, Captain," Luna welcomed, still chewing on her food. "Good evening, Your Highnesses," he returned. "I hope I'm not interrupting." "Not at all. Come, take a seat," Celestia offered. "As nice as that would be, I must respectfully decline," he replied. "We just got back and haven't bathed since we left." "I understand, but why wait so long? Wasn't there a nearby lake you and your guards could have used?" "There was, but it wasn't in use." Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Was the water tainted?" "This will explain everything, though I wouldn't recommend reading it while eating," Iron Guard warned. "What is it?" Luna asked. "It's the full report of Stonewall Village," he answered. "Really?" Luna questioned. "Honestly now, how bad can it be?" She immediately regretted those words as she read what the report said. Pushing her plate away, Luna levitated the parchment over to Celestia. "I think I'm going to be sick," she commented. "Just be happy you two weren't at that hellhole," Iron Guard told them. "If there was ever a Tartarus on Equestria, this would be it." As Celestia read over the report, her eyes began to widen. She read from the preliminary that things were rather messy, but she didn't think that it would be this bad. Tearing her gaze from the report, she looked back to the captain. "This is far worse than I thought," Celestia spoke. "And the villagers?" "They're further in the report, Princess. They were all buried in separate graves near a monumental pillar. Our troops placed the graves to have been dug almost four-to-five days before we arrived." Right after Dark's amnesia started, Celestia mentally concluded with a sad sigh. Discord was right, he's better off knowing of this on his own and at his own pace. "Also, we've found something I thought you'd might want to have a look at." Giving his three guards the signal, they walked in, carrying over a big red chest and sat it down before the two princesses. While Luna looked at it questionably, Celestia had a good idea of what it contained. "Captain, this wouldn't by chance have come from the blacksmith's forge, would it?" she asked. "How did you know about the chest and the forge?" Iron Guard surprisingly asked. "Because I've meet the owner of that forge, and in turn, this chest of his." She ran a hoof over it before returning her attention back to her captain. "Does the Draconium still reside within it?" "Yes, Princess." "Then have the chest and its contents secured in the vault for now. Luna and I will decide on what to do with it later." "At once," Iron Guard answered before turning to deliver the chest to the vault. "And Captain?" Celestia called, stopping him in his tracks and turning to face her. "This Wednesday is the Running of the Leaves in Ponyville. My sister and I will be attending, and would like it if you and the ponies you brought with you on your mission to accompany us. Not as our guards, though, but on a short, paid vacation, for all of your hard work this last week." "It would be our pleasure, Your Highness. I shall tell the others at once." "That's good to hear." She paused as a thought came to mind. "Also, how would feel about meeting the stallion that survived 'hellhole' as you called it?"