The Shadow Stallion

by Ephraim Blue

Chapter 1 - Cleaning The Library

Chapter 1 - Cleaning The Library

Ponyville Library June 19th 9:30 PM

The for rest of the previous day, Pitch sat in his house as he always did. It wasn't bad. He was just bored. As previously stated, he didn't get to stretch his legs. That's the main reason he came out at night. If he stayed in his house all the time, he would have cramps for as long as he lived.

Throughout the day, he mostly slept. Being awake all night really does a number on a pony. After he awoke around three that evening, he went downstairs to eat. He usually had his friends bring him a variety of foods, which he paid for using the money that the mayor gave to him for his services on the library.

He watched the hours on the clock tick by, waiting for night to fall upon the town. After many hours of waiting, he stepped outside to the beautiful night sky. It was always beautiful. The stars that lit it up, the moon shimmering onto the town, and even the Mare in the Moon was beautiful. He never really understood why it was always there. He just allowed it to brighten up the night sky.

He walked over to the library like he always did. It had been about two days since he had cleaned the place up. It was time for the library to have another checkup.

As he approached the door, he found a note attached to it. It read:

Dear Mister Pitch Black,

We understand that you are the one who takes care of the library in Ponyville. We wished to inform you of this earlier, but there were several ponies that said you did not want to be disturbed during the day. Therefore, we have hung this note on the library door so that you may read it when you have the chance.

We had come to inform you that there would be a new guest coming to the town. She will be staying at the library until further notice. She will arrive on the 20th, so we hope that you get this note before then. Until then, you may continue to take care of the library. If of any convenience, we wish that you send us a letter saying that you agree to these terms.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

The Royal Guard

Pitch reread the letter several times to make sure he got the message. There were several things he could not get strait. First, the royal guard was Princess's personal guards. Why would they send him a letter?

Second, there was no name saying who would be staying at the library, or even how long they were staying. He was bothered by these thoughts. However, he shrugged them off and used his key to open the doors to the library.

The inside was the same it had always had been. Round and filled with books. A bit dusty, but that was nothing that he couldn't fix with a duster. He marched into the building, flicking on the lights and making the entire room light up.

He walked over to the small, hidden closet underneath the stairs. Opening it, he picked out several cleaning supplies needed to clean this place up. Lets see, he began thinking. Broom. Dustpan. Mop. Bucket. Duster... Yup. Everything still seems to be here. Picking out the broom and the dustpan, he began to sweep the floor.

Some might find doing some chores without magic to be hard, but Pitch found it quite easy. All you had to do was sweep the floor with the broom in one hoof, while the other hoof held the dustpan to the floor. He swept as much as he could before glancing at the clock. It read 10:46.

Thinking that it was time to move on to something else, he put the broom and dustpan away after cleaning them off. He then picked up the bucket and the mop. He filled the bucket with water from the sink in the kitchen. After doing so, he dipped the mop into the bucket. He let it soak a bit before pulling it out and started mopping the floor.

Mopping wasn't really a needed thing, but he still did it to get rid of the rest of the dust he could not get on the floor. He flew above the wet floor, preventing his hooves from getting wet. Once he was done mopping, he sat on top of the stairs to wait for it to dry. While doing so, he picked up a random book off the shelf and began to read.

After about two hours, he looked up from the book to see that the floor had dried. He flew down to the secret compartment inside the stairs. Picking up the duster, he began to sweep the bookshelves and all the books on them. The entire library was completely clean with about an entire night's hard work. Looking at the clock after he was completely finished, he saw that it read 4:45.

Sighing, he put away all of the materials that he had gotten out. After doing so, he turned off the lights on the library and closed the door. He locked the door using his key that he kept with him almost all the time. Once done, he began to walk home.

He started thinking about the letter that was left on the library door for him. It had said a new guest was coming to stay at the library temporarily. If I didn't know better, he thought. Pinkie Pie is going to throw her a party tomorrow at the library. That is where she was staying. Pinkie would definitely find out where she was staying sooner or later.

He opened the door to his house just as the sun had started to rise from the horizon. After slowly walking up the stairs, he fell onto his bed and immediately fell asleep.

Pitch Black's House June 20th 6:00 PM

Pitch awoke around six that evening. It totally made sense to him about waking up that late. He had used up all of his energy the night before when he cleaned the library.

He grumbled as he arose from his bed. He was used to being a heavy sleeper, but staying asleep till six meant that he was really tired. He fixed himself a quick meal before checking his mail. It was all the same stuff he normally got. Bill, bill, bill, and a single party invite.

He tore open the party letter and read to himself:

Dear Pitch Black,

You are hereby invited to attend a surprise party in the Ponyville Library at 6:30 this evening.

We hope that you will attend.

Sincerely, Pinkie Pie

He finished his small meal just as he finished reading the letter. He looked outside to see of it was dark enough for him to travel outside. It was, much to his surprise. It was supposed to be the shortest night and the longest day of the year. He just shrugged it off and headed on over to the party.

Ponyville Library June 21st 4:25

Pitch quickly lost track of time once he got to the party. They all started playing pin the tail on the pony, which turned out to be more fun than he had ever imagined. He had never really been much of a social pony, due to his ability.

This was perhaps one of the best nights that he ever had.

Then, for no reason, all of the ponies started to exit the building. He looked around in confusion. Where is everypony going? he thought. Without being one to usually try and stand out, he hung with the crowd.

He didn't notice the small red line coming from the area where the sun was supposed to rise.

Comments

[Hero of time]

Never seen an idea like this sounds good so far

[JazzyWaffles]

Ponyville Library June 19th 9:30 PM

...

We had come to inform you that there would be a new guest coming to the town. She will be staying at the library until further notice. She will arrive on the 20th, so we hope that you get this note before then. Until then, you may continue to take care of the library. If of any convenience, we wish that you send us a letter saying that you agree to these terms.

This is a tiny tiny detail but as a pedantic nerd, I'm so glad it's here. So many people place the MLP solstice in the MIDDLE of summer for some reason, and not where it's meant to go.

(Too bad this story is kaput since ancient times, but I'll take my wins where I can get them.)