The Last Shadowlight

by Idhrenion

First Day

We arrived back at the castle in search for the princess. After shining and I searched for some time he decided to tell me that the princess had left Equestria in a hurry and wasn’t due back any time soon.
“And you couldn’t tell me this sooner”? I said, extremely frustrated.
“I just remembered”.
“Honestly Shining Armor, how do you even function”? I said a lot more angrily than I should have.
“Hey! Be nice”.
“I’m sorry, I’m just a bit frustrated”.
“I understand why. I should be more aware of where our princess is considering I’m captain of the guard”.
“We all make mistakes, but I did want to speak to her about twilight’s training. So what am I going to do now”?
“Oh yeah”! Shining exclaimed.
“What is it now”?
“Celestia wanted you to take over the training for a while, seeing as she won’t be back for some time”. I just stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded by is forgetfulness.
“Shining”? I asked softly.
“Yes, Shadow”?
“We were just at twilight’s house. You couldn’t tell me then”?
“Well I’ve had a rough day ok”. I sighed and shrugged it off, he probably did have a lot on his plate considering the princess was gone and his only sister was training to become a legend.
“Well then, I’m not going back over there. She made it perfectly clear she was busy”.
“But what about her training”?
“If she wants to be trained by me then she’ll just have to come over here tomorrow. I don’t feel like training anypony right now. Naturally I will be staying in the castle while I’m here”.
“I suppose that’s alright. I’ll have one of my ponies prepare a room for you”.
“That won’t be necessary I’ll stay in my old room, I like the smell”. We said our goodbyes and I made my way there. The room was small, and quaint. It smelled like my family, whom I missed very much. This was the one thing I truly couldn’t bring to my new home in the woods. I had a proper bed to sleep on, even though I wouldn’t use it. I spent the night brushing up on some old spells I planned on teaching twilight the next day. Tomorrow I would test her, see how far I could push her latent abilities. I had several high magic enchantments in mind as well.
The next thing I knew, harsh light was entering through the one window in my room. From the angle the sun was shining in it had to be mid-day. I made my way out of the room and into the castle courtyard where I told one of the guards to fetch me shining armor. He and twilight soon entered the courtyard and my exciting day of teaching would soon begin.
“Good morning miss sparkle”. I said as cheerfully as possible.
“Afternoon Mr. Shadow”.
“Right, your training will begin immediately. Every day, until Celestia returns, you will meet me here at exactly noon. Do you understand”?
“Yes sir”. She said with a bow.
“No need for sirs or misters, not any kind of protocol. It makes me feel as if I’m controlling you. I am here as your friend, nothing more. Also shining, you may leave”. They both agreed and shining left quietly.
“I am a stern believer in honesty miss sparkle, so I’m going to be frank with you. Today will not be easy. I have chosen some very difficult spells for you to perform. None of them pose any danger if not performed correctly but still use caution”
“I understand”. I could tell by the look in her eye she was eager to start. No doubt she was wondering how far she could go, much like myself. I levitated I book too her and she held it in her own magic. As I expected she would. However, without any instruction she immediately began reading it. At first I was going to tell her to turn to a specific page, but I decided to wait and see what she would do.
Even with the great length and complication of the book she read it cover to cover in under an hour. She was so engrossed in its contents that we didn’t even speak for that entire time.
“Did you, enjoy the book”? I asked, eagerly awaiting a response.
“I most certainly did”. She said smiling brightly. “Which of these did you have in mind”?
“Never mind that, just pick one that you liked and I’ll make the preparations to preform it”