Some Redemption

by Cupzy

Enter Ponyville

Shadow Storm opened his eyes, he was no longer on the grass of the Everfree forest. Instead, he was on a bed in somepony's home. He could feel a stabbing pain in his chest as he lifted himself up. He looked down and noticed that someone had tended to his wounds. He had other things to worry about however, he couldn't possibly return to the forest now, he would be shunned and possibly punished by his queen. She agreed to let Shadow Storm take as much time as he wanted to complete the job. By now, he was probably labeled dead by the banished. He wondered who had actually saved him, he would have surely died if he had been left as he was. He spotted his long sword at the opposite edge of the room, tilting against the wall. He checked the rest of his body, the impact from Celestia's spell sent shock throughout his entire body, even managing to disable his wings for a short duration. He had to finish what he started and kill Celestia as soon as he got out of this house.

He heard the sound of somepony walking outside of the door. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a magenta unicorn, who seemed quite happy to see him awake.

"You're awake! That's great!" The Unicorn said with a smile. Shadow Storm remained silent, who in the right mind would save a Pegasus bleeding out in the forest brandishing a long sword? Anybody who saves that kind of pony is essentially digging their own grave.

"You should probably stay in that bed for a few more hours until you get up, those magical wounds you have are seriously life threatening!" The Unicorn said. She was eyeing the long sword in the corner of the room, she seemed intimidated by it.

"Is that your sword?" The Unicorn asked. Shadow Storm nodded.

"I had trouble bringing it back, I'm really lucky I didn't cut myself with it. Why would you even have that thing on you? Did you get attacked by something in the forest?" The Unicorn asked question after question, she suddenly remembered the wounds he had were magical wounds, she realized that another pony must have caused them.

"Oh, I see. You got in a fight with another pony?" The Unicorn asked. Shadow Storm nodded.

"You're not very talkative, are you?" She asked in response. He realized that he hadn't spoken a word since he left the Everfree forest. She didn't know who she was, there was no harm in it. He grunted a few times to make sure that Celestia didn't obliterate his vocal cords.

"Yes, I lost against a Unicorn" He responded, his voice had a certain malice to it that made other ponies uncomfortable, even a few of the ponies in the forest admitted that his voice was creepy. His voice was also somewhat quiet. He didn't want to say Alicorn in case the Unicorn caught on. She extended a hoof towards him.

"Well, my name's Twilight Sparkle, what's yours?" Asked Twilight. The pony didn't respond to her handshake, he only said his name under his breath.

"Shadow Storm." He muttered. He attempted to leave the bed, only to open one of his wounds back up as he made a grunt of pain. Twilight rushed over to his side, pushing him back down and using her magic to close the wound.

"Just wait a few more hours, alright? Try and get some sleep." Twilight said. He realized that he had no choice. As Twilight left the room, he attempted to go to sleep. He eventually fell asleep, when he woke up. He could tell that a significant time period had passed, as the sun was about to set. He once again attempted to lift himself off the bed. He managed to do so with relative ease this time around. He walked over to his long sword, touching it and watching as it evaporated into magical essence. He could hide it as long as he wanted to and he could make it reappear anywhere within a short distance. He opened the door to the bedroom. He went downstairs and realized that he was being kept in a library. His chest still had a stinging sensation whenever he walked, but he could shrug it off.

He spent a little time walking around the library before Twilight saw him poking around the magic section.

"Oh, You're up!" She said as she walked over to him. He was looking at the books focused on offensive magic.

"Would you like anything to eat? A daisy sandwich or something?" Twilight offered. Deep inside, she was a bit afraid of the Pegasus, why was he looking at books focused on magic? Pegasi couldn't use magic... Shadow Storm didn't actually feel hungry, he simply wanted his wounds healed so that he could leave for Canterlot. That's when it struck him, he didn't actually know where in Equestria he was. After a few moments of silence, Twilight let out a nervous laugh, unsure of what he was thinking.

"Where exactly is this library located?" Shadow Storm asked, his voice still unsettling Twilight.

"You aren't from around here, are you? You're in Ponyville, it's a small town but it's pretty famous." Twilight explained.

"Famous? How so?" Shadow Storm replied.

"Well, it's where me and the other elements of harmony live, also a lot of other stuff happened here too..." Twilight said, she continued on about the adventures of her and her friends. Shadow Storm wasn't listening, his mind was focused on the first part.

"The elements of harmony... She's one of the mane six?" He thought to himself. He had heard of the defeat of Nightmare Moon, the queen of the changelings and Discord back in the forest, but he never would have guessed that the mane six would have a weak looking mare in it.

"-And then he got turned back to stone!" Said Twilight. Shadow Storm was still lost in thought, the mane six were loyal to Celestia. Could they help him get closer to her?

"I thank you for tending to my wounds, Twilight Sparkle. But I am afraid I must be going, I have some important business to attend to." Shadow Storm explained.

"A-are you sure? I mean, your wounds are still pretty serious." Twilight said.

"It's nothing, I assure you. Is there any place I could spend the night in Ponyville?" Shadow Storm asked.

"Yeah, there's a hotel down the street." Twilight responded. He gave a nod before opening the front door. Night had fallen on Ponyville, the fresh air outside kept Shadow Storm awake. He began to walk down the street. Once he was about to enter the hotel, he saw a cyan pony flying towards him. She settled down on the ground and looked at Shadow Storm in a confused manner.

"Huh. I could've sworn I knew every Pegasus in Ponyville, you new around here?" The Pegasus asked. Shadow Storm simply sighed and reached for the door of the hotel. The Pegasus grabbed his hand and threw it off the doorknob.

"Hey! You just gonna ignore me like that?" The Pegasus asked.

"I have no reason to speak with you. You don't look like you'd be very useful." Shadow Storm said, his voice unsettling the Pegasus a little. She also noticed the bandages on his chest.

"Whoa. What happened to you?" The Pegasus asked.

"That's none of your concern. I'm looking for information regarding Princess Celestia, if you don't have any, then leave me alone." He replied.

"I know quite a lot about Celestia actually! Being one of the elements of harmony, I-" The Pegasus exclaimed before Shadow Storm cut her off.

"You're one of the mane six?" He asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Hey, I ain't telling you nothing until you tell me who you are." The Pegasus exclaimed.

"My name is Shadow Storm." He replied.

"Depressing name... I'm gonna call you Storm for short!" She replied, Shadow Storm had never actually been given a nickname before.

"My name's Rainbow Dash, the fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria!" She gloated as she struck a pose.

"Back to my question. What do you know about Celestia?" Shadow Storm asked. Rainbow Dash went into a long winded discussion about what kind of interaction she had with Celestia, it proved to be fruitless in the end, no sign of any weaknesses.

"Well, that's all I know about her! I'm pretty tired, I'll see you around town Storm!" Rainbow said as she flapped her wings and took to the sky. Shadow Storm turned back around and opened the door to the hotel. He paid for a room with some leftover bits he had. He wandered into his room and sat down on the bed. His injuries still stung a little, by tomorrow he could probably take the bandage off.

I'll find some weakness, I'm sure of it. I won't let my people down.

He went into bed and after a few minutes, dozed off.