Not a Bad Pony

by KleverKaos

Chapter 4 - Complications

Chapter 4 - Complications

A quick glance at my flank reveals that something is there that wasn't. I do a double take, realizing that they're not lying. My cutie mark is finally here. A brownish beige kind of bag, of bits I assume, with a blue lightning bolt behind it-the same colour as the stripe in my mane. Wow, that's kinda cool. I can't believe I have my cutie mark! That means I have a special talent in... A special talent in... uhm, I actually don't think I know. Think, Shadow. They're going to ask you no doubt what your talent is, so think! What did I do today? I went to the market, and I helped Applebloom with her stall, and...

...and I stole.

I'm a thief. My special talent is stealing. There's no way I can tell the crusaders that, or anyone for that matter. Wow, I finally get a cutie mark and I can't tell anyone. Depressing.

"That's so cool!" squeaks out Sweetie Belle excitedly, beginning to jump around me in joy, and Scootaloo joins her soon after. She stops to get a good look at it, then looks puzzled. "What is it?"

"Yeah, it looks like a bag. What's that all about?" asks Scootaloo, who also stopped jumping around me. Thank Celestia, I was getting dizzy trying to follow them. "Are you good at bagging things or something?"

"That's not it you dodo! Why would he have a cutie mark in bagging things?"

"What did I tell you about calling me names I don't know the meaning of!"

They continue to bicker on for a little bit, and it's a little amusing. I look over at Applebloom, who rolls her eyes at her friends' antics.

"Girls! Enough already! I'm sure if he wants to tell us, he'll tell us," Applebloom says, and gives me a strange smile. Weird, It's one of those kind of smiles that I can't quite place the meaning of. Why is she looking at me like that?

"Yeah, fair enough. I've got to head home too, Rarity said I shouldn't be out past sunset anyway," Sweetie Belle agrees, looking out the window at Celestia's setting sun. Quite the beautiful view, actually.

"Yeah I've got to get going too. What If Rainbow Dash decided to stop by and I wasn't there?" says Scootaloo. Really? You're worried you won't see Rainbow Dash? Sheesh, and I thought I had problems.

"Ah'll stay here for a bit and clean up, then head back tah the farm. See-ya girls!" waves Applebloom as her friends leave the clubhouse.

"Suppose I should stay and help clean up too. Can't leave a lady to do work like this by herself, can I?" I say with a smile. It's fun to poke fun at her this way, I just hope she doesn't start taking me seriously.

"Lady?" she giggles. "Ya're probably more of a lady than I am, Shadow," jokes Applebloom. I hope she's joking, or else this may turn into a competition.

I simply roll my eyes with a smile and start cleaning up. After a few minutes of easy work, all the materials we used for the day at organized and put where they should be, which arguably, wasn't much at all.

"So, are yah gonna tell them?" Applebloom says suddenly. I look over to her to see she's giving me a stern but knowing look. How does she manage that...? Oh right, my cutie mark. You'd think I wouldn't forget something so important so easily.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Smooth, Shadow. Real smooth. Why don't you just waltz up to the market and yell to everyone saying that you steal things.

"You know exactly what ah mean," continues Applebloom, who is now sitting on the floor, looking at me. Stop that, it's creepy.

"I uh, I've got to go," I say, and start to leave.

"Where will you go?" starts a new voice. Who is that? I turn around to see that Applebloom is gone, replaced by that same unicorn in the cloak. "Will you go home, to your mom and dad? Or will you perhaps find a tree someplace and settle under that again. Oh, I know, perhaps you'll ask dear Applebloom for help."

"What are you talking about? Where's Applebloom and how did you get here!" I more yell than ask. I look around in panic and begin to run out the door, stopping to open it of course.

Then I see nothing is there. Just blackness.

"And where are you going to run, Shadow?" asks the unicorn, walking up to me. His horn glows for a moment, then the blackness changes to a sky view of a green forest with a waterfall. Why does this place look so familiar?

"Perhaps you'll run to your imagination, the place of your dreams. Perhaps you'll find it, regardless of if it's real or not. Perhaps you'll run to somewhere more... realistic." he says as the view changes to the Everfree Forest. "I'm sure you're aware that the forest is full of dangers, werid things and even...monsters. You would just fit right in, wouldn't you?"

"Are you calling me a monster?" I quickly defend and turn to him, flaring my nostrils in anger. I haven't done anything wrong, have I? Okay well, maybe I stole a few things but-

"No, but you are."

Wait, what? Why is he telling me all this, and how did he know that I thought that?

"You can't hide forever, Shadow. One day the truth will come out. Everyone will know, and your life will get a lot harder."

I sit down in shock. How does he know all this? Why does my heart feel so heavy? Why isn't he answering my questions now?

"What..." I start, then gulp to try and fix the lump in my throat. It's still there. "What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want, It's about you, Shadow." he says and begins walking away. "What do YOU want, Shadow?"

And like that he's gone. I'm back in the clubhouse, with Applebloom staring at me. What just happened? Did I pass out or something? It's not like I've been drinking any cider... Well, not much at least.

"I'll see yah tomorrow, then?" asks Applebloom, looking a little sad. Don't do that. Seriously, don't be sad.

"Of course. I'll swing by the farm sometime tomorrow." I answer with a smile, and turn to exit. I hold my breath when I open the door, breathing a sigh of relief when the grass and trees I expected are there. I step outside and with a quick flare of my wings, I'm airborne. I fly off for a bit, then stop.

"Where am I going?"

*******************************************************************************************************************

I wake up with a start, but I'm quickly relieved that noone smacked me this time. A quick glance around reveals that I'm... In the clubhouse? When did I get here? I guess I must've flown over here sometime last night. Well, better get up and get something to eat. I think I'll go to the market, the apple trees got me in trouble last time.

After a quick stretch, I fly up over the trees and head to the market. As I fly by, I see that the one stand with the scrolls is now gone. Well, it is a Sunday, so there's not a lot of stalls here at all. Oh no, of all the stalls to be open...

"Heya there, Shadow!" yells out Applejack as she waves to me with a smile. Well, it seems she got over me waking up in her apple orchard at least.

"Hey, Applejack," I greet her and walk over. Wow, that's a lot of apple products. "You always run the stall on Sundays?"

"Whenever there's hungry ponies out and about, ah'll be there to help 'em out!" Applejack proudly announces. Wow, did she work on that all week or something? Must be her motto then. "Speakin' a which, you hungry?"

"Matter of fact I am. I'll take..." I trail off, realizing just how many apple products are on sale. A quick check of the bits in my bag should do fine.

My bag. Oh no, I left it at the clubhouse! Aw crap. "Nevermind sorry, I don't have any bits on me," I say, a bit embarrassed. I need to start practicing my trade a bit. I could... no. No no, I can't steal from Applejack.

"That's alright, have a fritter on the house," replies Applejack with a beaming smile. What is with her today? She seems overly excited about, well, everything. Sort of like that one pink pony I see jumping around everywhere and occasionally breaking into song. In any case I gladly accept the fritter and munch on it politely.

"So how ya been?" asks Applejack, clearly making small talk. She's much better at it than I am anyway.

"Not too bad," I lie. Truthfully I've been very confused the past few days, but she doesn't need to hear about my troubles. "How about you?"

"A tad strange, truth be told. Applebloom's been around the farm less and less, and when she is there she acts all... strange," she explains. Wait, acting strange? Applejack, why are you giving me that look?

"What do you mean strange?" I inquire.

More than happy to oblige on, Applejack continues. "When she's around the farm, she walks around with 'er head in the clouds, hardly doin' the work she usually did well. I catch 'er daydreaming all the time. I wonder why..." she ends, giving me a sly smirk. What? I think it's time I get out of here.

"Thanks for the fritter Applejack, but I've got to get going. Nice talking to you," I say quickly then start walking off. After a decent distance, I turn and see her giving me a smile. Why is everypony doing that recently?

As I fly off to the clubhouse to retrieve my bag, I decide to rest on a relatively large cloud. I've always liked these things, fluffy and comfortable. Sort of like cotton candy without being sticky. As I land however, I see a certain rainbow-maned pegasus. This must be the Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo was talking about.

"Oh hey kid." she greets with a friendly smile.

"Oh sorry, didn't realize this cloud was taken." I say awkwardly, about to leave.

"Nah, clouds don't just belong to me you know. Feel free to stay," she says with a bit of a laugh.

"You must be Rainbow Dash. I'm Shadow Flicker, but just Shadow is fine," I say as I hold out my hoof, giving her a smile. Gotta try to be polite at least sometimes, right?

She shakes my hoof and smiles back. "Yup, that's me! Guess you heard of how awesome I am?" she replies, a bit caught up in herself. "Heh, anyway, Shadow Flicker huh? I think I know you," she exclaims. "Scoots has told me quite a bit about you. Says you're one of the crusaders now. And it looks like you've succeeded a bit faster than they have."

I keep forgetting I have a cutie mark. Sheesh, I do have a problem. "Yeah I have. I'll still keep joining in on their crazy antics and what not, try to help them reach their goals and the likes."

"You know I was the first in my class to get my cutie mark," gleams Rainbow happily. Wow, she really loves bragging doesn't she?

"That's cool. Hey, sorry to break this up and all, but I've got to get going."

"Sure. no problem. I'll probably catch some Z's up here. See-ya later kid."

I wave goodbye and fly off to the clubhouse. Well, I seem to be making a lot of friends today. Maybe things are looking up.

I finally get to the clubhouse, and to my surprise the crusaders are there. I hear them talking about some things and stop at the door. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop, but considering what else I do it can't be that bad. Putting my ear to the door I faintly overhear their conversation.

"So when are you gonna do it?"

"Ah'm not! At least not any time soon.

"You liar, you're totally planning it."

"Okay maybe, but don' tell Scoots. Not sure how she'd feel."

"If all works out, she'll find out anyway right?"

"Yeah, but not like that."

"It's not a big deal Applebloom."

"Maybe not tah you, but ah don' know what to do yet. I found out some stuff the other day, and I'm not sure what ah think anymore. Gimmie some time, alright?"

"Alright fine."

Well, this is a good a time as any. I open the door and casually trot in. "Oh, hey girls." I announce, seeing Applebloom and Sweetie Belle having a chat.

"Oh uh, hey, Shadow..." blushes Applebloom.

"Sorry if I was intruding on anything. Just here to grab my saddlebag." I say, grabbing it from where I left it on the floor and strapping it onto myself. "Thanks again for the choice, Sweetie. I think it's growing on me."

Sweetie Belle smiles brightly, happy she made the right decision. "See-ya later, Shadow."

I promptly trot out of the clubhouse and down the ramp. Time to head to the library.

Author's Note:

Really sorry for the huge delay on this chapter guys. I recently got GTA V for my ps3, and well, that should explain it pretty well.
That and I've had a bit of a spike in the amount of schoolwork and such that I've been receiving, no doubt due to the holidays coming up soon. Speaking of the holidays, I'll be at my dad's house from the 20th to the 25th of December, and won't be able to put out any chapters during that time. To make up for this, I'll do my best to get another chapter out before I leave. Thanks for staying interested and the such. Don't forget to give me some feedback!

Comments

[KleverKaos]

Chapter 4 is out! Sorry again for the delay, hope everypony enjoys it. Looking forward to getting any sort of feedback.

[KleverKaos]

3632921
Glad you like it. Just in time to see Chapter 4 get added too :D
Let me know what you think, still looking for feedback or just fun commentary to what you think is going to happen (Or what you want to happen, could change things around ).

Thanks for reading guys!

[Clay]

Ok, this is the first time I get to say this, FIRST!!! HA! Finally!!! Not including the author! Great chapter by the way.

[KleverKaos]

3633164
Haha not quite first, you're just commenting on the chapter 4 page, of which noone has commented. Everypony tends to use the main page.

[Clay]

3633225
Okay, you know what...just ... SCREW MY LIFE!!!
I like to make myself laugh. HA HA.

-Clay the Draconequus

[KleverKaos]

Wow, high point of 87 views yesterday and only two today. Weird how things change :P

[UniverseDragon]

Can't wait for the next part!