The Shaded Path

by Crensler

Chapter 2

It took perhaps ten or fifteen minutes before he was finally standing before the castle itself, the earth pony unable to deny that it was quite impressive, especially since it had been sprouted from the soil whole instead of being planned out and built. He idly wondered if this would become a new trend among architects, seeding buildings over empty plots of land and watching as they sprouted up like, well, magic. Of course he knew he was stalling, the stallion not having the slightest idea what was waiting for him within, the castle gates firmly shut. Honestly he was amazed that no one was investigating this bizarre, if spectacular, phenomenon yet. What was the proper etiquette for entering a magically grown castle anyway? Should he knock perhaps? Or was there even going to be anypony, or anything, within to greet him once he'd finally stopped gawking and made his way inside?

“Enough stalling,” he muttered, making his way up the short set of steps and moving over to one side of the gates, setting his shoulder against it so he could start to push. The hinges weren't visible from this side, suggesting that the gates were meant to swing inwards rather than out, so he grit his teeth and began to put some muscle in it. Thankfully he was saved from making a fool of himself as the door gradually began to swing open, the earth pony grunting as he pushed his way inside, frowning as he did so. The main hall was more of a circular foyer with two sets of staircases leading up at the other side than a proper hall, which made sense really, considering how the castle was constructed. So, with a sigh of resignation, the stallion started climbing, wondering how long it would take him to find the throne room with how the place was laid out.

He stopped at the third floor, though the second was more of a large landing considering it was still inside the “trunk”, going over in his head how the place had looked from the outside. There had been a balcony where the castle's “trunk” ended and became more of a proper building than a tree, then there were maybe two or three floors more above where he currently was. He worried at his lower lip as he thought over how the place might be laid out, though he wasn't exactly an expert when it came to architecture or castle engineering either. The balcony was likely meant for making important announcements or proclamations to the common ponies who would gather below, though he imagined that there must at least be somewhere to hold court, like a throne room or something. They wouldn't put it too far up, not unless they wanted to make it an inconvenience to come to court to file grievances and the like.

If he were the one designing the place this would be the floor where the throne room would be, with servant quarters, kitchens and the like set up along with some form of dining hall. The next floor would likely be storage and perhaps a barracks, with the final floor reserved for whoever the castle belonged to and maybe their guests. This was, of course, conjecture and he was stalling. Again. What was the hold up? He wasn't afraid, or anything so silly as that, however that energy he'd felt from before the castle sprouted up gave him pause. It had felt nice at first, but then it'd been like he was having his guts ripped out or something. Why had it been like that after feeling so right? He didn't know the first thing about magic, of course, so he was understandably cautious. Yes, caution, that was it. It was just healthy caution that had him standing around instead of finding that throne room like he should be. That rainbow hadn't come from the refraction of light through water droplets after all.

And that was when he heard the voices of multiple ponies coming from the door just behind him. The earth pony panicked, dashing halfway up the next flight of stairs to get himself out of sight, not wanting to be discovered just yet. When he heard the doors opening he dared a peek around the corner of the wall the stairs disappeared behind, watching as what had to be half the population of Ponyville filtering their way out of...the throne room, it must be!

He waited until the had all finished making their way downstairs, not paying any mind to what they were conversing about, before making his way carefully back down, not wanting to make too much noise. The stallion crept his way up to one side of the door, ears trained to pick up anything that might mean he'd been found out. Several female, at least he assumed they were female, voices were coming from within the room, talking about plans for clean up efforts regarding the attack and the fate of somepony named Tirek whom they didn't seem to like very much. That, of course, was when it happened.

“Hi! What'cha doin'?” The cheery question right next to his left ear had the Earth pony jumping out of his skin, sending him right into view of the doorway and crashing to the floor flat on his face. “Are you a spy? You were tryin' to be sneaky so you must be a spy, though you're not wearing a sneaking suit or a mask. Are you new at spying? Because I can give you some pointers, because obviously you're not very good at it!” He let out a soft groan as he separated his muzzle from the floor, laying on his belly and rubbing his abused nose gently with one hoof as he blinked the stars out of his eyes, all while that chipper, bubbly voice went on and on.

“Spying's like setting up for a surprise party, only with less cake! You gotta be sneaky and-hey guys, I caught a spy, though he's not a very good spy and clumsy to boot!” He would have glared at the source of the voice had something else not caught his attention. Five mares had gathered around the other side of the doorway, their coats ranging from white and lavender to creamy orange, buttery yellow and cyan. Only one thing passed through his mind at this point, which then flew straight out his mouth.

“Oh, buck me.”

0o0o0o0o0o0

Twilight Sparkle, newly dubbed Princess of Friendship, sighed softly to herself as her friends continued to talk amongst themselves about what they could do to help Ponyville recover from Tirek's attack. Which had mostly been her fault in the first place, since she had fled to the Golden Oaks Library and had prompted the attack that Tirek had launched against it. Thankfully no one had been seriously hurt during the incident but she couldn't help thinking about the what ifs and could have beens.

She had just finished speaking the the citizens of Ponyville, working to assure them that every possible measure would be taken to restore order and repair the damage that had been done. Her senior princesses, Celestia and Luna, had already returned to Canterlot under the premise of organizing relief efforts, which would certainly be a big help and had done a lot to ease the concerns of her fellow ponies regarding the matter. Most of the major damage had been done to the surrounding countryside, though, so something would have to be done about that as well.

“So much to do,” Twilight groaned, looking over a list meant to tally all of the damages that had been reported so far. There were a few minor injuries and no further casualties had been reported yet, thank Celestia, but what would happen the next time some world shaking threat decided to come knocking? Four major threats in as many years, that had to be some kind of record.

She'd have to organize work crews in order to clear rubble, set up a shelter for ponies that had lost their homes, make an effort to restore the environment that she and Tirek had spectacularly torn apart and see to it that shop owners were compensated for loss of business because of this whole mess. That meant lists and maybe a few all-nighters so she could get it all done in a timely manner, plus she'd likely have to start making plans for hiring castle staff and so many other details!

“Y’all doin' okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack's concerned query made her twitch, the alicorn realizing she'd been off in her own little world again. She really needed to work on that.

“Y-yeah, I'm fine,” she assured her stetson wearing friend, even managing a small smile for her, hoping to get that worried look off her face. “Just, you know, thinking.” This earned her a flat look from the earth pony mare, as if to say “no kidding”.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Applejack replied, shaking her head slightly. “If I were a betting mare, I'd say you were sweatin' over every little detail, like usual.” Twilight's suddenly sheepish expression confirmed her suspicions. “C'mon, Twilight, just relax for a spell. We won, right? That Tirek feller is back in that Tartarus place where he belongs and won't be botherin' no one any time soon.” She gave the lavender coated alicorn a friendly nudge. “Keep this up and y'all will start remindin' me ah Rarity.” This, of course, earned her a sour look from the white unicorn in question, which she flat out ignored.

“But there's just so much to organize and take care of,” Twilight pointed out, giving the paper she'd been levitating in front of her face earlier a little jostle for emphasis. “Not to mention we have a castle now, a castle, Applejack! It needs to be staffed and supplied and I'll likely have to hold court! I've never held court before! What if I screw up somehow? What if-”

“What if the sky turns pink and parasprites come flyin' outta yer ears?” Applejack cut in, causing Twilight to stammer a bit before the mare continued. “Honestly, I love ya sugarcube, but you really ought ta just take a minute and calm down a bit.”

“Yeah, Twi, chill out,” Rainbow Dash told the alicorn as she landed next to her, throwing her left foreleg over her friend's shoulders, giving her a little squeeze. “We just kicked Tirek's flanks all the way back to Tartarus! We should be throwing a party, not freaking out over stuff that can be handled later. Right Pinkie?” She looked over to where Pinkie Pie had previously been standing, only to find her missing. “Pinkie?” They looked around the room but the equally pink colored mare was nowhere in sight. “Maybe she's-” A startled cry from an unfamiliar male voice drew their attention to the door, where a dark blue earth pony stallion had just landed flat on his face, followed by Pinkie bouncing around to his side.

“Are you a spy? You were tryin' to be sneaky so you must be a spy, though you're not wearing a sneaking suit or a mask. Are you new at spying? Because I can give you some pointers, because obviously you're not very good at it!” Pinkie's gift of gab was hard at work, even as the “spy” shook his head and rubbed his nose in discomfort. Looks were exchanged and the other five mares started to approach, though Fluttershy stayed more towards the back, which wasn't all that surprising really. “Spying's like setting up for a surprise party, only with less cake! You gotta be sneaky and-hey guys, I caught a spy, though he's not a very good spy and clumsy to boot!” Pinkie's words caused a disgruntled look to pass over the stallion's face, only for his jaw to drop slightly when he looked up to see them all staring down at him.

“Oh, buck me,” he muttered, starting to shift himself around so he could get back on his hooves, only for Rainbow Dash to descend on him like a hawk, shoving him over onto his back roughly and pinning him down with her fore-hooves, glaring down into his startled face.

“Okay, pal, who are you and who sent ya?!”

0o0o0o0o0o0

You know, his day had started out fairly normally, for him that is. He got up, had a filling, if horribly bland, breakfast, broke camp and headed on his way for Ponyville. It had been a quiet, peaceful walk, no explosions, no magic castles, no rainbow-maned pegasi pinning him down, just a nice and serene morning all around. Why couldn't the rest of the day been so uneventful? Instead of a quick stop in Ponyville for supplies, here he was, pinned to the floor with an admittedly cute, if decidedly angry looking, pegasus mare glaring at him like he'd stepped on her tail or something. Did the goddess hate him for some reason or was he just really unlucky?

“Well, come on, spit it out,” the cyan pegasus ordered, pressing down on his barrel a little harder with her hooves. “You some flunky of Tirek? A changeling? Come on, come on, speak up already!” This caused him to grow increasingly more irritated, though before he could open his mouth one of the other mares, another pegasus, though her coat was a buttery yellow and her mane cotton candy pink, spoke up.

“M-maybe, um, if you don't mind, you could, perhaps, give him a chance to speak?” She suggested timidly, half hiding behind her mane as she did so. “I-I mean, you don't have to, but, it's just, you are standing on him and all so...” She trailed off, idly pawing at the floor with one hoof, seemingly having said all she had to say on the subject. At least one of them was considerate, though he supposed his introduction to them all had been rather abrupt.

“That and you're making it hard for me to breathe,” he huffed, though the cyan mare wasn't what he'd call heavy. Stronger than she looked, certainly, but not heavy. “My name is Seeker and I wasn't sent by anyone, so how about you let me up off the floor now?” The pegasus currently pinning him down scoffed, looking at her friends before staring into his eyes again.

“Fine, but I'm watching you,” she muttered, stepping back and keeping true to her word as he got back to his hooves, shaking himself a bit once he was fully upright. Resisting the urge to be childish and stick his tongue out at the suspicious mare, he turned his attention to the others as the lavender mare stepped forward a bit, causing his jaw to become unhinged. At first glance he'd mistaken her for a unicorn, but a distinct pair of wings were folded in against her sides as well, marking her as an alicorn. His shock was certainly understandable, as he only knew of three alicorns in Equestria and they were all princesses. Was this one also royalty? He hadn't been gone that long, had he?

“You'll have to forgive Rainbow Dash,” the alicorn began, glancing at the pegasus in question briefly before returning her gaze to Heart Seeker once more. “Today's been rather...eventful, to say the least.” She bit her lower lip, shifting on her hooves in a show of discomfort. “Um...why are you looking at me like that?” A chuckle from the stetson wearing earth pony reminded him of his manners, causing his jaw to shut with an audible click.

“Heck, Twilight, you've got the feller all speechless,” she said, sounding amused. “Take it this is yer first time seein' our good friend the princess here.” That confirmed that she was another member of the alicorn royalty, but when he'd left years ago he'd heard no word of another princess. “Name's Applejack and that there mare you were gawkin' at is Twilight Sparkle. These are my other friends: Fluttershy.” The aptly named pegasus that had meekly spoken up on his behalf. “Rarity.” The white unicorn with a elegantly styled purple mane nodded to him politely. “And course you've already met Pinkie Pie.”

“Hello again, mister spy!” The poofy maned Pinkie had suddenly appeared to his right, causing him to flinch slightly. He hadn't heard her approach or even move at all, so how was she sneaking up on him like that? “Though I guess you're not really a spy, which makes sense since you're really bad at being sneaky, not to mention clumsy. I mean, I was all: hi! And you were all: gah! Then you fell over for no reason at all, so you have to be clumsy, otherwise why would you fall over?” It couldn't have been the fact he'd almost had a heart attack, now could it?

“While your being a spy is up for a debate, I must ask why you were skulking about outside the door like some common ruffian,” the one named Rarity finally spoke, looking him over curiously. “It is rather inappropriate to eavesdrop and-oh, heavens, darling, you're absolutely filthy!” Seeker looked down at himself, noting that he was indeed covered liberally in dust and dirt from his time on the road, along with his trips to the floor via Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, so he was due for a bath. “Were you rolling around in the dirt before you came inside?”

“No, I was traveling for the better part of a week to get here from Dodge City on hoof,” Seeker grumbled, shaking himself a bit to dislodge some of the accumulated grime. “I was stopping into Ponyville for supplies, and a bath, when I saw smoke rising from town. Next thing I know there's some ball of light rising into the air, followed by a rainbow that grew a castle out of nowhere.” Seeing that making himself somewhat presentable was a lost cause without the aid of soap and hot water, the Earth pony stallion gave up on it for now. “So you'll have to forgive me for being cautious.”

“Oh yeah, then why are you armed, huh?” Rainbow Dash demanded, jabbing a hoof at his right side where his sword hung in its scabbard. “Most travelers don't go around carrying swords, buddy.” Seeker shot her a dirty look, finding her attitude, while somewhat understandable, rather irritating after how she'd just about tackled him back down to the floor earlier.

“Most travelers don't skirt around the Everfree forest by themselves either, Miss Dash,” Seeker shot back testily, taking a moment to calm himself before he said something regrettable. “I think with how you outnumber me and the fact you have an...oh, dear Luna, your highness!” He was in the presence of royalty and here he was ignoring her. “Forgive me, Princess Sparkle, for my earlier rudeness.” He bowed to her respectfully and lowered his head, though it was a little awkward looking since he'd never had to do this sort of thing before today. “I apologize for not simply announcing myself, but I didn't know what to expect when I entered your castle.”

“Oh, um, no, it's okay,” the princess replied, sounding a little perturbed by something. “Please, you don't have to bow to me, really, I'm not...I mean, I haven't been a princess all that long anyway and...j-just don't bow, alright?” Seeker raised his head, a little puzzled, Twilight indeed appearing uncomfortable with how he had reacted just now. Well, if she didn't want him bowing and scraping to her then it was no skin off his back.

“Okay then, princess,” he replied, straightening and looking around at the gathered mares for a moment before opening his mouth to continue. “Sorry for interrupting your meeting and all, but I should get going. I was on my way to Canterlot in the first place anyway, so I'll just head back into town and be on my way.” He turned to leave, only to freeze when Pinkie Pie stood there, looking disappointed.

“Awww, but I haven't gotten to throw you a 'welcome to Ponyville' party yet,” she pouted, the stallion raising an eyebrow at this. Well, her cutie mark was a clustered trio of balloons, so maybe she was super into parties? “You gotta at least stay till tomorrow, then I'll have time to plan and set up the party, and I'm sure you could use some food that's not that icky travel stuff.” She did have a point there, but he could see through the windows that the sun was already getting low on the horizon, so he didn't have time to linger. “Come on, come on, don't be a grumpy gus! I wanna see a smile on that gloomy face and one of my parties is a surefire way to cure a case of the grumpies!”

“You should at least have a proper bath, darling,” Rarity added, waving a hoof towards him, clearly bothered by his current state. “Honestly, you wouldn't want to show up in Canterlot looking like some common vagabond, would you? There's quite the lovely spa in town that would work wonders on those split ends and when was the last time you filed your hooves?” Seeker shifted self-consciously as he looked down at himself, having to admit that he was quite the sight. “I know you said you've been traveling for some time, darling, but that is no excuse to let yourself become so unkempt.”

“The stores and stalls in town aren't likely to be open at this point regardless,” Twilight decided to point out, causing him to suppress a groan at this latest batch of good news. Couldn't he ever catch a break? “I suggest you stop in at the inn for the night and you can head out in the morning.” That threw off his schedule by a day, but fortunately the moon wouldn't be full till tomorrow evening, so it wasn't like he couldn't stay or anything. He'd just been hoping to get some distance from town before having to find someplace where he could change without hurting anypony. “Or if you're short on bits we could put you up here at the castle.”

“No, it's fine, thank you,” Seeker told her, sighing softly. “I'll head into town and get a room at the Mareweather Inn for the night.” He nearly jumped a foot off the floor when Pinkie blew into a kazoo that she'd gotten from somewhere, happily going on about her party plans as she headed out the door, followed by others, until it was just him and Rainbow Dash left in the room. Finding her glaring at him again, Seeker sent a frown her way. “What?”

“Watching you,” she muttered, making a motion with her hoof to her eyes before pointing it at him. “You try anything funny and I'll make you regret it.” That warning out of the way, the pegasus flew out of the room and headed after her friends, leaving Seeker by himself, the stallion sighing once more.

“Well, that couldn't have gone any worse.”

Author's Note:

Well here we are after the delay of the holidays, chapter two. I just hope I did the main six justice with my portrayal of them all. Anyway, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. Chapter three should be up before next weekend, so look forward to that. Ta ta~