My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part I

by OmegaTale

Chapter 4

White smoke puffed out from the train as it blazed on the tracks heading north. Having only been a few hours, Canterlot could still be seen on the high mountain. The train banked and began its trek east towards the coast.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the first to crack under the excitement of heading back to the big city, while Rainbow and Applejack seemed the more serious in the group, talking about ways to spread out over the city to find this shadow pony. Starlight and Starfall sat together in the booth across from Twilight and Spike.

“So, Starfall…” Starlight said, getting the Pegasus’ attention. “Will this be your first time to Manehattan too?”

Starfall nodded. “My sister has sent me many letters asking me to go with her, but I’ve always been too busy what with my position changing as much as it has.”

Twilight perked up. “Sister?” she asked. “You never told me you had a sister, does she live in Manehattan?”

“No, but she visits there a lot.” Starfall shifted his wings about, stretching them out.

“What’s her name?” Spike asked.

“Auraglow,” Starfall said, tucking his wings back in as a certain white unicorn froze in place. “She’s a-”

Rarity grabbed hold of Starfall’s cheeks. “AURAGLOW!?” she shouted, her eyes shimmering. “YOUR SISTER IS AURAGLOW!?” Ears still ringing, Starfall managed a small nod within the unicorn’s steel grip. Rarity let out an exhilarated gasp and released Starfall, spinning around as she let loose all of her excitement.

“Who in tarnation is Auraglow?” Applejack asked, eyebrow raised.

Rarity scoffed, turning to her orange friend. “Who is Auraglow!? Applejack, darling, please tell me you are joking!” Rarity spun around, grabbing at her mane. “Auraglow is only the greatest, most beautiful, and most generous fashion model in the history of fashion!” Rarity zoomed back up to Starfall. “You simply must introduce me to her!”

Twilight found it a little odd that this wasn’t something Starfall told her when she had asked him about himself. “Starfall? Is that true?”

Starfall managed a small smile. “It is, she became a successful fashion model before I set out for Canterlot. I didn’t bring it up because she was the one that called in a few favors to get me into the Royal Guard Training Program.” Starfall let out a sigh. “She always wanted to try and help me, but I figured I needed to prove I could get this far on my own.”

“Do you know if she is there now?” Starlight asked him.

Starfall looked to be in thought, trying to remember. “I….don’t know. She last asked me to come with her about two months ago, which was when I was Princess Celestia’s personal guard, and couldn’t leave my post.”

Starlight was left stunned for a moment. It had never occurred to her to imagine what good he had done to deserve the princess’ admiration. “You were Princess Celestia’s personal guard?”

Twilight answered for Starfall. “Celestia had originally chosen Starfall to become the captain of my guard detail after my castle appeared. When I refused the offer, she named Starfall her own personal guard instead.”

“Whoa…” Spike said, impressed. “So let me get this straight; your sister is a super famous celebrity, you became Princess Celestia’s own individual guard, AND you were hoof chosen by her to guard Twilight?”

“Twice.” Rainbow added, winking to Starfall.

Starfall was humbled that everypony was impressed, but a shift in the train made him remember the mission. “Maybe we should concentrate on the task at hoof.” He suggested. “We need to come up with our strategy on how to find this shadow pony in such a large city.”

Knowing he was right, Twilight nodded. “Right, so I have a plan, and-” she stopped when she noticed they were missing a pegasus. She looked over the back of her booth and saw Fluttershy sitting alone, looking out the window at the passing landscape. Turning back around, she said, “We’ll go over the plan before we arrive, but let’s just try to relax while we can.”

Everypony else dispersed as Twilight stood up, walking back towards the lonely mare.

“Fluttershy?” she asked. “Care for some company?”

Fluttershy sighed, turning to face her friend. “I’m sorry for how I acted back in Ponyville…”

Twilight sat down beside her. “You were protecting your friend, there is nothing to apologize for.”

Fluttershy gently stroked her own mane. “I’m afraid of what he’ll think of me after he finds out I told everypony where he went.”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight began, resting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I promise you I will give Shadow the chance to explain himself to Celestia and Luna-”

“That’s just it,” Fluttershy interrupted her. “He doesn’t remember anything Twilight.” She said sincerely. “He doesn’t know who he is, he doesn’t even know what he is. All he knew back at the ruins was that he was afraid and that I was his only friend….” She turned back to look out the window. “If Celestia is right, he was trapped there for thousands of years…..all that time with no friends. She even said Princess Luna spoke to him. What if he just wanted to be her friend too?” her voice became shaken, as if about to cry. She paused long enough to calm herself and turned back to Twilight. “What if he’s not the real thing Celestia is looking for? What if he’s.....?”

There was no denying that this Shadow Light was indeed imprisoned for centuries, but Fluttershy had a point. There was no proof that he was the cause of that calamity all those millennia ago; Celestia herself admitted that her mother never told her what happened. This was all one big puzzle, but it wasn’t yet ready to be solved, pieces were missing.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said to her, eyes determined. “I believe you, and I want to believe Princess Celestia is wrong, but we must discover the truth for ourselves. I promise you I will not let anything happen to Shadow, not until we know anything for sure.”

---

A grim sky loomed over Manehattan, and it looked as if it could rain at any time, though not a single drop fell from the gray clouds. Trotting off of the train, the nine friends gathered at the exit to the station.

“Alright everypony,” Twilight told them. “You all know the plan. We split Manehattan into four sections. Try to cover as much ground as you can before it starts to get dark, and we’ll meet back here. If anypony finds him, bring him here and wait for us.” Splitting up; Starlight, Fluttershy, and Spike took the north-west sector. Applejack and Pinkie took the north-east sector. Rainbow and Rarity took the south-west sector. Twilight and Starfall took the south-east sector. With only a few hours until dusk, there was no time to waste.

Twilight was paired with Starfall almost entirely because he was her guard, and didn’t want to leave her side in an unfamiliar place like this. This was only an initial effort to find Shadow, Twilight doubted they would find such a creature in such a massive city so quickly. She used the time flying around with Starfall to try and come up with a better means of searching. Starfall, on the other hoof, was in hyper-protection mode beside Twilight. He didn’t know what this creature was and whether or not it was dangerous, so his eyes scanned the surface of the city tirelessly.

Rainbow, being the fastest of the searchers, was paired with Rarity because of the unicorn’s extensive knowledge of the layout of the city. This allowed Rarity to direct Dash through certain roads and alleys allowing her to scan the sector quickly and more efficiently.

Applejack and Pinkie were paired because of their ability to ask around for anypony who could have seen Shadow. Their search mainly consisted of talking to other ponies and looking into areas suggested to have been the whereabouts of suspicious characters.

Twilight had wanted Fluttershy in the largest group, being that she was already stressed over the situation. Spike was there mostly to keep the pegasus comforted as Starlight used her advanced magic to search the sector mostly herself.

---

Dusk fell upon the city, calling all nine friends back to the station. Rainbow and Rarity waited inside the station lobby, Rarity combing her mane as Rainbow inspected a map of the city on the wall. Twilight and Starfall came in through the door, looking over at their two friends. Rainbow looked their way, shaking her head with a grimace on her face.

Starlight, Fluttershy, and Spike came in after them. “Any luck?” Starlight asked them.

“Not a hint of shadow ponies anywhere.” Rarity said, scooting aside for Spike to sit beside her.

Twilight waited for Applejack and Pinkie to return, just in case they found something. Pinkie came trotting in first, followed by Applejack. No pony even had to ask, they came up empty hooved as well.

“Let’s head on over to the library,” Twilight said to them. “We can resume our search tomorrow.”

“Why don’t we keep looking now?” Rainbow interjected. “We haven’t even been here too long.”

Applejack shook her head. “I hate to say it Dash, but if we couldn’t find a shadow pony during the day, what makes you think we’d find it at night?”

“Why the library Twilight?” Spike asked. “Why don’t we check into the Manefair Hotel?”

Twilight used her magic to open the door. “I would like to see what I can find out about shadow ponies, I know the chances are slim, but maybe there’s a book in Manehattan’s library that wasn’t in mine.”

---

It’s a wonder that Twilight had never been to Manehattan Library before. She had wanted to come during her last visit, but it had ended rather suddenly with Rarity’s recital having gone the way it did. From the outside it was really impressive, with a full stone entrance and pony statues. The interior, however, was far more memorable. Vaulted ceilings, several floors of book shelves, each decorated very pristinely. It took most of the princess’ restraint to not have a massive book-mare reaction to seeing it all.

Twilight and Starlight went to the aisles to find what they could while everypony else sat in the lounge area. There were a few ponies here and there, but the library was empty for the most part.

Rainbow had considered getting up to find a Daring Do book to read, but she was too tired, and just rested like everypony else. Spike was the first to fall asleep, non-surprisingly. Pinkie became too distracted reading an upside-down dictionary to get drowsy, but Fluttershy and Applejack soon followed Spike’s lead, nodding off.

Starfall looked around at the high ceilings and vast sea of bookshelves, deciding to at least try and help Twilight. He flew up to the third floor and began slowly reading the book titles. Walking around and into the next aisle, he stopped mid-step. She was a black furred pegasus with a ring of silver fur on each wing. Her mane was cerulean blue and her cutie mark was a page-marked book with a question mark on it. Pink eyes inspected the book shelf, focusing on one spine in particular. She slowly took flight, lifting herself high enough to reach the book and pull it out, opening the cover as she descended steadily back down to the floor.

After a few moments had passed, she glanced Starfall’s way, seeing him standing there frozen in place. She quickly looked behind her, thinking he was looking at somepony else, and then returned her gaze back to him. “Can I help you?” she asked.

Starfall had not even realized he was staring and broke free when she spoke, casually acting as if he had just noticed her. “Oh….um, yes. Could you help me find a book? I’ve never been good at searching for them.” He replied.

Eye brow raised, she glanced over at the book shelf, and back at him. “Alright.” She said, walking over to him. “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“Anything on ancient creatures of Equestria.” Regaining his cool, Starfall stood up straighter.

Hearing this made her more interested. “Oh? Any ancient creature in particular?”

It took half a second for Starfall to remember what to call this thing. “Shadow ponies, or anything of that nature.”

Squinting, the pegasus looked out into the open expanse of the library, trying to remember. The lock-stare almost returned to Starfall, but he was able to stop it early this time. She turned back, saying, “I don’t recall anything like that in here. May I ask why shadow ponies?”

‘Sure is curious, isn’t she?’ Starfall thought to himself. “Sorry, but its classified.” he said, trying not to be rude. “Princess’ orders.”

She perked up a bit at hearing that. “Really?” she asked. “Are you one of the Princess’ investigators?”

The question derailed Starfall’s train of thought. “Um, no. I am Princess Twilight’s royal guard.”

“Oh!” she said quickly. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to ask you so many questions.”

Starfall smiled, nodding his head. “No, no, that’s alright. You would be surprised how often we guards are asked questions.” He held out his hoof. “My name is Starfall Blitz.”

“Moon Frost.” She replied with a smile, shaking his hoof. “I’m the head of my detective agency just down the block, so questions are kind of my life.”

Starfall couldn’t believe his luck. “You’re a detective?”

“I am.” She said proudly. “I come here often when I am off work.”

“Could you help us then?” he asked.

“Us?” Moon asked, it taking a few seconds for her to process what the question meant, and then it clicked. “Is Princess Twilight here?” she asked, excited.

Starfall nodded. “We could really use a detective right about now.”

Now Moon couldn’t believe her luck. “Absolutely, lead the way.” She replied.

Both pegusi took flight into the open space at the library’s center. They maneuvered through a few aisles until they spotted Twilight and her pupil using their magic to create an assembly line of books. Moon knew not to get overly excited, but this was definitely something that tempted it wildly.

“Twilight,” Starfall said, turning the princess’ attention from the line of books to him. “I found somepony who can help.”

Moon Frost couldn’t help but feel nervous, she had never met one of the princesses before. Twilight stood and walked over to them. “Oh, hello there.” She said to her, turning to her guard. “What do you mean Starfall?” she asked.

Starfall let Moon answer for him. “Hello princess, my name is Moon Frost, I’m a detective here in Manehattan.”

“Oh, good!” Twilight said, relieved that coming to the library was finally a good idea. “We could really use your help finding somepony here in the city.”

“Oh?” Moon asked, surprised. “What does this have to do with shadow ponies?”

Twilight gave Starfall a blank expression. He shrugged his shoulders, saying, “It just slipped out.”

Turning back to the detective, Twilight explained. “We believe a shadow pony may have come to the city from the Everfree Forest somewhere within the last 24 hours.” Moon seemed to take the news rather well, contemplating something to herself. “Any information would help.”

“Well let me see…” Moon began, her mind going to work. “It would have had to enter the city from the railway or the walkway beside it on the bridge….place it downtown….” Moon walked away a few steps, head looking down a bit as her hoof lifted to her chin. “If it were looking for somewhere to lay low after nightfall….Highmane Square? No, better than that….” She spun around, saying, “Aha! There is an abandoned residence building on the corner of Gallop Way, through a slim alley in the back is the only way to get in.”

“And you really think it will be there?” Starlight asked, wanting to be sure.

Moon looked confident. “Without a doubt. I imagine an abandoned building like that is the perfect place for a shadow pony to hide. That is….if it hasn’t left yet.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, it’s worth a try.”

---

The building had once been a residential structure, but it was quickly forgotten as other, more sophisticated, hotels and residencies became opened. It sat, empty and silent, for years collecting dust and broken windows.

Everypony stood hiding in the alley, just around the corner from the entrance to the building. Starlight used a magic spell to allow them to see through the alley’s corner without the other side being able to see back. “There’s only one door,” Starlight said to them all. “But there are broken windows all over it.”

Twilight knew that Applejack was right in that finding a shadow pony at night would be challenging, but if Shadow really was here, there was no guarantee he was going to stay until morning. Taking this as a gambit, she knew that if he were there, they would need to capture him immediately.

“Rainbow,” Twilight instructed. “We’ll need you to stay outside in case he makes a run for it. You have the best chances of catching him if he gets out in the open.”

“On it.” Rainbow huffed, rocketing up onto the roof of the building overhead.

“Applejack, ready with your lasso?” Twilight continued. Applejack whirled her rope about and it circled around her torso, ready for use. “Pinkie, Rarity, be ready to distract him in case something goes wrong.” Both friends nodded. “Spike, you and Starlight stay here in the alley. If for some reason Rainbow can’t spot him fleeing this way, you’ll have to catch him.” Twilight then turned to Fluttershy, who looked disheartened. “Don’t worry, the two of us together should be able to convince him to come without an issue.”

Starfall gave them a moment, and then said, “I will stay just out of sight, and if he tries anything, I’ll be right there.”

Moon looked around at all of them. “So….what should I do?”

Twilight looked over at her, thinking. “I imagine you are good at observing, why don’t you fly on up with Rainbow Dash and help her watch for if he tries to escape.” Moon Frost spread her wings and took off after Rainbow.

“Alright, here we go.” Twilight and Fluttershy walked in the entrance as Starfall kept a safe distance behind them, hiding from any watchful eyes. Rarity and Pinkie went to the door, but waited outside for a sign to run in.

Cobwebs filled the foyer and the halls. It was deathly silent, not a sound to be heard all throughout the building. Shadows loomed everywhere, making the two of them very cautious and thorough with their eyes as they scanned the rooms and halls.

Twilight gave Fluttershy a nod and the Pegasus took in a deep breath, looking around. “Shadow?” she asked aloud. “Shadow, are you there?” Nothing but silence. Walking into what seemed like a formal room, she tried again. “Shadow?”

“Fluttershy?” came a whisper from an unknown location in the dark. “I-Is that you?”

Twilight kept her cool, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little afraid herself. Fluttershy would have smiled at hearing his voice, but the situation kept it at bay. “Yes, it’s me. Can you come out?”

There were a few more moments of silence. “Who is that with you?”

“This is a friend of mine.” Fluttershy explained, her eyes still looking around for him.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said kindly. “We need to talk to you.”

A shudder in the air made the two mares flinch a bit. “Y-you’re an alicorn….” The voice said, sounding intimidated. “What do you want with me?”

Twilight lifted her hoof in a calming gesture. “I just want to speak with you, can you come out?”

Fluttershy had spotted him already, but kept it to herself. Shadow Light slowly emerged from a near pitch-black corner, approaching with caution. “I swear….I didn’t do anything wrong.” He tried assuring her.

“I believe you.” Twilight replied, daring to take a small step forward. “Fluttershy told me that you have no memories….I think I can help you find out who you are.”

Shadow inched forward a bit, asking, “H-how?”

Fluttershy knew it was her turn. “Shadow, we would like you to come with us to Canterlot. There may be a way for us to help you remember.”

Shadow looked at Fluttershy, more trusting of her than Twilight. He slowly walked up to her, his expression gradually becoming less afraid. As he approached, he caught a glimpse of Twilight’s cutie mark. Like before with the mention of Celestia’s name, Shadow’s vision went black.

Everything halted, there was absolute nothingness. And then, six spheres of light spiraled into sight and collided in front of him, creating a blinding light that stung the eyes to look at. A benevolent, sharp voice pierced the silence. “I see now that there is no reasoning with you….” It spoke, the flash growing and engulfing every inch of Shadow’s vision in light. “But perhaps….one day that will change.” There were howls and roars, screams and cries as the light turned into a vortex of dark magic. A dark voice then conquered over all the noise, “I am…...” Twilight’s cutie mark then sealed all of the darkness away, the sounds reverting back to silence. A claw of shadows then ripped through it and grabbed hold of Shadow, squeezing the life out of him as he could physically feel it. “You.”

“No!!!” Shadow flailed his hooves in front of his face as he yelped, the entire room becoming engulfed in darkness.

“Twilight!” Starfall shouted, diving into the darkness and grabbing the two of them, shielding them from anything that may happen. Shadow opened his eyes, seeing that the vision wasn’t real and what he had done. In panic, he turned and galloped away.

“Pinkie! Rarity!” Twilight shouted.

Just as Shadow was about to reach the door, the two distractions stepped in his way, trying to capture his attention. The attempt only made Shadow more afraid as he reeled about and galloped up the building’s stairwell.

“Shadow!” Fluttershy cried, but the shadow pony didn’t stop. He ascended the floors and headed for the roof.

Upon reaching it and opening the door, Rainbow tackled him to the ground, trying to wrestle him still. “Gotcha!” she yelled. Shadow melded into the shadows on the floor, slipping out of her grasp and re-materializing away from her. “Aww, come on!”

Shadow galloped across the concrete and leapt onto the adjacent roof, the silhouette of wings appearing around him for an instant. As he was in mid-air between the buildings, Starfall tackled him across and onto the next roof, Rainbow and Moon right behind him. Shouting in fear, a shimmer of red flashed from Shadow’s forehead, gripping the three pegusi with claws that had risen up from the shadows on the ground. Looking at what he did with even more dismay, Shadow turned to flee, but was roped by a lasso and held still. Thinking he had been grabbed by the claw from his vision, he yelped and melded into the shadows on the ground again, reappearing several yards away. But this time, a blast of magic encased his body in crystal.

Starlight used her magic to levitate herself and Spike up from the ground. Everypony then arrived and surrounded the crystal, seeing Shadow cowering inside of it. Fluttershy took a step forward to say something, but it only made him shy away from her, trembling as he covered his face with his hooves. Fluttershy backed away, guilt making her turn away and tear up.

Twilight looked around at everypony with her ears flattened in defeat, and said, “Alright….time to go.”

Author's Note:

Getting in deep here with all these mixed emotions.
What does everypony think so far? Just who is the Pony of Shadows? And what will become of all this? Whole lot of questions and a whole lot of mystery.
Stay awesome everypony!

Comments

[Midknightshadow]

i am keeping an eye on this you did well

[Snake1000]

Nice work!