//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Shadows Fade 
// by Silent_Stories 
//------------------------------//



Chapter Three

By the time school rolled around again, there was no evidence of the events that had taken place over the weekend. Well, not physically anyway. I told my friends that it had been uneventful, which lead to much disappointment on their part, but I couldn't keep my mind off of
it. Everything played back in flashes. School dragged on, each day seemed like it took a thousand years. I was aware of the danger that
was contained in that district, but Shadowbane had been so kind and welcoming that I couldn't resist the temptations. As soon as the
weekend came, around I headed for the Slums once more. However, this time I was ready. I left all my valuables at home, making sure to
tousle my mane and tail and dirty my fur. I grabbed the blanket I had filled with food and headed down the path. I had no idea whether I
would encounter Shadow, but I remembered very clearly where he had taken me. It was early morning, but the atmosphere as I entered the
tree line reminded me of a dreary winter night. I recognized the eerie silence that lingered in the disheveled district. My ears were
pricked, listening for even the slightest of sounds as I continued on my journey. I was about halfway there when I heard a snap. I froze,
whipping my body towards the sound. I scanned the area intently several times, but I didn't find. I continued on with my journey, my
heart speeding up as I came close enough to see Shadow's home. Suddenly, it felt as if everything exploded. I was slammed into a tree
by what seemed like empty air. As I staggered to my feet, my assailant made himself visible. As he appeared from the air in front of me, his
glowing horn and screaming red fur brought back memories of fear and pain. Hoping he wouldn't recognize me, I turned to face the tall
stallion. He spoke to me in the odd accent once again,
"I see you return, did you not learn your lesson? You try to hide as a commoner here? YOU ARE FILTH! A LIAR! I gave you a chance... But no more will you receive. Now, YOU DIE!!!" His eyes flared as he sank into an offensive position. I noticed the magic swirling around his
body like a smoke. My heart was racing, but I knew what he was capable of and that I couldn't buy his mercy or out-run him. So I was left
with one option. To fight. So I made myself as tall as possible, flaring out my wings and puffing out my chest. As I made eye contact I
could feel the hatred and turmoil that swirled in the milky glaze of his eyes. The smoky essence of his building magic was being drawn
upward, forming a hazy ball. I knew he was about to send it crashing into me, so I braced myself and forced words to leave the knot where they had gotten caught in my throat.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" The words seemed harsher than I intended, but it was enough. The stallion in front of me looked over sharply.
"Who am I? A liar like you does not deserve to know a name as honorable as my own! You wish to know why I am here, and I shall grant you that. But only that. For you see, I am here to kill scum like you!" A small smile flitted across his face. "Well," I thought, " If I'm going to die, I may as well go down with a fight."

"Scum like me? What about you, huh? At least I don't spend my time in the poorest district in all of Canterlot just to antagonize those who try to HELP!" I took a step towards him, "Maybe you're the liar. Pssh. Claiming to be honorable. HONORABLE IN WHAT PONY'S EYES?" His breathing became noticeably heavier as his anger grew. He reared onto his hind legs. As his front hooves slammed back onto the ground, the murky ball finally rushed my way. I braced my body once more, but it never made contact. Instead, an explosion of crackling red light swept me off of my feet. The stallion was cackling, looking at a blurry figure to my left. I stood up, shaking my head to clear the fogginess. Lifting myself into the air, I flew as fast and hard as I could at the stallion, knocking him over. I heard a crack as he used his magic to drop a tree branch down. I leaped to the side just in time for it to miss me, leaving it to land on his head. A sickening snap resonated as
it made contact. The stallion wailed in pain as the branch fell to the side, with half of his horn still in it. I watched his legs turn to
smoke that worked its way up his body until nothing remained but the horn embedded in the tree.

While the sound of his agony faded, I remembered the figure I had seen before attacking the stallion. Fearful of what I would discover,
I turned towards it. There was a midnight black body, covered with what appeared to be electrical burns. Panic made itself manifest when
I saw the color of the other pony's mane and tail. Electric blue. I rushed to his side, screaming and wailing in agony. His body was still
warm, but I found no signs of life. The stallion was gone, having given his life for mine. I laid on the ground, a little scraped and
bloody, but no physical wound could match my mental pain. I was finally able to pull myself off of the ground around dusk, I used the
blanket I had brought with me and covered Shadow's body carefully. I carried him into his home and laid him gently on the floor. I sat in
front of him, silently paying him tribute for saving me twice. As I sat there, I became aware of a sound other than the deafening silence.
It was small, but in a place as quiet as the Slums, any sound was easy to detect. It was a small whimpering and it seemed very close. I began
to search through the house, what two rooms there were of it. As I crept into the back room a small movement in the far corner caught my
eye. I froze, watching what appeared to be a silver lump. I heard the whimpering again as the figure shifted slightly. It shifted in such a
way that I could see terrified emerald eyes staring up at me. Upon the realization of what it was, I softly approached the whimpering infant.
The arrangement in the room was what appeared to be a makeshift nursery, on the wall, written in mud, I could make out some very faint
letters. Getting closer allowed me to determine that they said "Silver Bloom". I spoke them softly and the young pegasus met my gaze. At this point my mind was swirling. I sorted carefully through my tangled thoughts and decided to try saying his name, if she responded
positively I would know for certain that she was Shadow's child. I softly whispered his name and her tiny ears flicked forward. My heart
kept into my throat. Suddenly, the fresh dirt I had caught a glimpse of had a much larger significance. Memories flooded my mind of tales Shadow had told me about his mare friend. They had been friends since their childhood but I never heard any talk of a filly or a colt. I was startled by the discovery, but I knew what had to be done. She was barely a year old, she would die if I left her there even for the night. The filly didn't seem to be as afraid of me, so I decided to try to pick her up. As I reached for her, she tensed, but did not protest. I took it as a sign of trust and took off as soon as I reached the beaten path. The journey home felt extremely short, so I was grateful to find that nobody was home. But as for the morning...that would be an adventure in itself. So, with the filly tucked under my wing, I allowed sleep to finally take over.