The Adventures of Shadow Chaser: The Shimmer in the Desert

by RangerBeef

Chapter 3

As luck would have it, Twilight did let me sleep through my own death. I never once inquired as to how I was killed but I awoke very early the next day and made breakfast for her and Spike. Spike was also privy to the info that I was alive and he was more than happy to have another male around.

“So what’re you going to do when you get to Las Pegasus?” Spike asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

I sipped at my coffee. “I’m not sure. I suppose I’ll have to find my contact to start with. I just hope there’s nothing too dangerous going on out there. Las Pegasus has a lot of ponies living there.”

“Spike, don’t talk with your mouth full.” Twilight said, as she sat down with a small tray of fruit. “Here you go. I’ve been growing some of my favorites in a garden behind the library. I hope you like them.”

We ate and talked lightly. Spike continued to ask questions about my mission. I continued to not know the answers to his questions. Twilight continued to scold him for his bad manners and ask me of my normal detective duties.

Finally, I asked a question that had been on my mind for some time, “So my funeral is today, right?”

Spike and Twilight both stopped mid bite and looked at me. Twilight nodded in the affirmative.

“Is there any way I could go?” I looked at Twilight evenly. If she said no, I would accept that.

“Maybe. But if you’re serious, then we need to act now.”

“Serious as a heart attack.”

“Wow. That’s really serious,” Spike said.

I gave him a sly wink, “That was my point, buddy.”

Twilight stood from the table and wiped her mouth. “Then let’s be on our way. We’ll have to arrive before everyone else.”

I stood and headed for the front door before Twilight jumped in front of me.

“Hold on, you’re not just walking out there. Put these on.” She handed me a cloak and a pair of dark sunglasses.

I chuckled as I threw on the cloak and glasses. “Well, I’m a master of disguise now.”

Twilight looked peeved at my humor. “Hush. We’ll work on the real plan when we get there. Spike, you’re on breakfast clean up duty.”

“Oh man!”

“Don’t worry, Spike. You do dishes now, I’ll do ‘em tonight,” I said.

“You got it!”

Twilight and I hurried to the cemetery, where Twilight explained her full plan to me.

“Okay, you know that spell you do to appear invisible?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m going to boost your power so you can cast a more powerful version of it on yourself. With the boost, you should be able to move around freely and the spell should last for a few hours. Just be cautious when other ponies start to arrive, they’ll still be able to bump into you, obviously.”

I smiled and nodded. “I have to hand it to you, Twilight. Sometimes you’re pretty genius when it comes to spell crafting.”

With that, she leaned down, powering her horn and I watched as another magical aura glowed around me. When she told me to, I concentrated hard and cast my own spell. I could instantly tell this would work as I stood up straight and saw Twilight no longer looking directly at me but where she thought I was.

“Thanks, Twilight.”

“It’s the least I can do. Now wait here. I’m going to go home to prepare, you just make sure no one notices you.”

“Not a problem.”

I had waited for about an hour when the first ponies began to show up. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Pinkie all sat up front. Most of the back rows were made up of policecolts that had known or worked with me. The amount of ponies that turned out really surprised me. I spotted Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Zecora as well, but I noticed one rainbow colored absence that stung more than anything.

The police chief said a few words about my time on the force and how he’d been sad to see me move on to private work. Officer Berry, now long retired, made a small speech about the day she’d watched me graduate the academy and how proud she knew my parents would have been of my accomplishments.

Much to my surprise, Applejack asked to say a few words.

“Ah know ah’m not much of a public speaker but, ah had the chance to get to know Shadow and his friend, Skip, real well a few months back. We attended another funeral and Shadow said that he didn’t like the idea of a traditional funeral. Ponies bein’ sad and cryin’ their eyes out didn’t do no good now, is what he said. He said instead of mournin’ the death you should celebrate the life.

“So, ah know this may not sit well with some of you folks, but after this here service, we’re having a small party back at the farm to celebrate Shadow’s life. Y’all are all welcome to come. Ah know if he could, Shadow would be right there with us.”

Throughout the service I fought back my own tears at the kindness of their words. When everyone got up to leave I noticed a large portion heading toward Applejack’s farm. I was glad for that. I just hoped no pony told some of the stories of me in the academy. I’d been a wild stallion for a while.

I thought for a moment about following them but I figured I’d pushed my luck with this spell far enough. When the crowd had dispersed enough, I slipped away and headed back to the library.

As I closed the door behind me, I saw Spike heading for the door, he was wondering who had just come in.

“Don’t worry, Spike, it’s just me.”

He froze in place. “Just who?”

I had forgotten he couldn’t see me. “It’s Shadow, Spike. I’m under a spell to be invisible so I could watch my funeral.”

I could see him loosen up, “Oh. Cool! Any chance you could teach me that spell? I’d love to get into Rarity’s shop some time.”

I chuckled softly at his boyish nature. He had a lot of growing up to do. “If you could do magic, I’d be happy to teach it to you, Spike. But lay off for Rarity for a few days. She looked pretty upset at the service.”

He nodded slowly and looked at me. “There you are. Yea, I saw a lot of people headed there. You were a pretty popular guy, Shadow.”

I sat down across the room in a big comfy chair. “I don’t know if it’s that I was popular, really. My work helped me touch a lot of lives. Ponies like to show respect for someone who’s helped them.”

He nodded happily and we discussed death and the influence we have on others for a while. We turned our discussion to mares and he swooned over Rarity. I repeated my warning of giving her some space, but he said he would probably bring her a gem to cheer her up. I conceded this as a good plan. He asked me if Rainbow Dash had been crying at the service and I was forced to tell him the she wasn’t even there.

“What? Why wouldn’t she show up? Didn’t you guys date for a while?”

“Yea, but there’s a lot of reasons she could’ve missed it. She might’ve had work with the weather team or something. Some ponies just aren’t fond of public displays of affection like that.”

“Still seems weird is all. When are you going to tell her that you’re not dead?”

That was a question I could not answer. I had hoped Twilight would be able to intercept Rainbow and ask her to come by the library but she hadn’t been at the service for Twilight to speak to. I lamented that fact to Spike, and told him I would come up with something.

Noting the clock, I told him it was his turn to cook and he hopped to it, while I hung up the cloak Twilight had given me. I decided to keep the glasses.

When Twilight returned without Rainbow Dash, I was forced to ask why.

“She never showed up at the party. No one’s seen her all day.”

“I’ll find her tonight. How long does your cloud walking spell last?”

“Two days.”

“Then let’s get it cast on me and I’ll find her tonight. Luna’s meeting us tomorrow night, right?”

Twilight nodded as she led the way to her bedroom to retrieve the correct spell book. “But how’re you going to find her?”

“Easy. I know where she lives.”

Twilight didn’t question me further and cast her spell on me. We ate dinner in relative quiet while I thought of how to break the news to Rainbow. Spike and I washed the dishes together; despite my saying I would do them all.

When nighttime finally came, I donned the cloak again, grabbed my saddle bag and whisked away into the night, headed for the edge of town and Rainbow’s cloud home in the sky. When I had finally spotted it drifting overhead, I moved directly underneath it and pictured what the flat space in front of the house looked like. I concentrated hard and felt an old familiar weightless feeling grip me before it faded away.

I opened my eyes as I felt the breeze on my face. Puffy white clouds surrounded me and I smiled as I saw Rainbow’s front door. I was happy that I’d been able to make the teleport just right and happier to be somewhere familiar and safe. I moved and knocked on the cloud door. Surprisingly, it made a sound not unlike wood.

I heard some grumbling from inside and the shuffling of a pony walking to the door. I put on a casual smile, hoping for an easy way to explain what was going on. When Rainbow Dash opened the door, my smile faded. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her hair was a complete mess, and she looked like she’d been up since yesterday.

I’d hoped for an easy time explaining the situation but she slapped me the moment she recognized me for me. Just once, but as hard as she could. My eyes watered from the sting but she didn’t slam the door in my face.

I opened my mouth to explain but I was halted as she kissed me passionately, wrapping her hooves around me tightly. I kissed her back and picked her up. Walking into her home with her in my arms, I made my way to her bedroom. We made love for what seemed like an eternity. When finally we were cooled down she looked into my eyes with tears on her face.

“I thought you were dead.”

“That’s what I came here to tell you. I’m not dead. But I’m dead.”

Her face twisted to one of confusion. I explained everything Luna had told me and how I was only allowed to tell one person I was still alive and that she could never tell anyone else that I was still alive. I explained that Twilight was the only other pony who knew and that she would be talking to me for this mission.

“But why would you agree to something like that? You could die. For real this time.”

I thought carefully about my response, “I once read a book about warriors from a long time ago, who only dreamed of dying what they called, “a good death.” All things considered, this life would be a good death.”

She frowned at my answer but she brought a hoof to my face and stroked my cheek. “Don’t die on me. Promise me.”

“Rainbow, I can’t..”

She pressed her hoof into my cheek, “Promise me.”

I smiled through my slightly smushed face, “I promise.”

“That’s better.” She wrapper her hooves around me again and we drifted off to sleep like that.

I awoke the next day holding Rainbow in my arms but I could hear another voice in my ear. Twilight Sparkle’s voice rang clearly, “Shadow, if you’re somewhere safe let me know, but don’t come back to the library during the day. Just meet Luna at the train station tonight at midnight.”

I pressed my throat and spoke softly, “Okay, Twilight.”

She pinged in my ear again, sounding quite relieved, “Glad to know you’re okay. Don’t scare me like that.”

I smiled at her comment as Rainbow stirred in front of me.

“Who’re you talking to?” she asked groggily.

“No one. Go back to sleep.”

More than happy to oblige, she rolled back over and pushed her back deeper into me as I embraced her. We awoke again a few hours later and spoke of the events of last night.

“I don’t think that was a one time thing, Shadow. It didn’t feel like the end of anything.”

“Yea, but Dash, we can’t do this. The whole point of me being dead is so no one is attached to me anymore, and so I’m not attached to anyone else.”

“You wouldn’t have come here last night if that was true. You know, we both made a mistake when we broke it off. We were opposites but it was fun.”

I looked at the floor and laughed a little. She was absolutely right. “Okay, Dash, we’re in this. But what happens when I’m gone for a long time? Or if I die? I hate to think how that would make you feel.”

She lifted my head with her hoof, to look in my eyes, “I can handle it. I know I looked like a mess when you got here last night but that’s just how I deal. You know I’m not open with my feelings. And like you said, if you do die, this would be a good death. A death that means something. I could live happy knowing you died doing something you were proud of.”

I leaned forward and kissed her softly, wondering how someone so closed off from her feelings was so easily able to read mine.

“Besides, you promised me you wouldn’t die. And you haven’t lied to me in months. So I think it’ll stick.”

I chuckled again. “Oh! I have something for you. It makes a little more sense now too.” I found my saddlebag and from it I produced the picture of the two of us and handed it to her.

She smiled at it as she walked into her bedroom with it, returning empty hoofed.

“Right next to the one of my parents. I think my mom would approve of my choice in stallions.” She winked playfully at me and we shared a laugh.

We enjoyed our day together. I told her I couldn’t leave so she stayed to keep me company on the last of our time together for a while. We talked of the future and how my new career would play out with our renewed relationship. We both conceded that likely we would never survive it but promised to never give up on the other as long as our company was bearable.

As the night came, we made love one last time before I was forced to leave for the train station. We shared a long embrace on the ground below her home before I was forced to pull away from her and send her back. I told her to check with Twilight if she ever got worried about me.

As I arrived at the train station, I spotted Luna waiting on the platform for me. As I approached she handed me a small notepad with a few notes already scribbled on it. I dropped it in my saddlebag as she gave me my final instructions.

“Shadow, you’re authorized to do whatever is necessary to stop these ponies. Try not to make too many waves with the local authorities and fly under the radar as much as possible. Find Shimmer and report to Twilight Sparkle as soon as you can. The quicker we can put these ponies under wraps, the quicker we can work on expanding the Code Star program.”

I nodded along. “Expand? I thought you had a whole network of people.”

“Not anymore. When Celestia broke up my networks after my banishment, the ponies that worked for me all disappeared. They’re long dead now anyway, but you are the only agent we currently have, Shadow. Shimmer is our only informant. You two are the final test for Celestia to authorize my program fully. Your performance could directly affect the survival of Equestria’s entire espionage community.”

I scoffed softly. “Well, no pressure there.”

“I admit, it’s not fair to you, or to Shimmer, but someone has to do it, and I’ve collected two of the best to kick start our entire program.”

“Thank you, Princess.” I boarded the train without another word between us and settled into the sleeping area. Las Pegasus was four or five days away. I would have plenty of time to contemplate my next move along the way.

Comments

[debio]

I know I was sad at the start, but now I'm wishing there was a way to double- or triple-thumbs-up this. Excellent work.

[RangerBeef]

1161602 I knew you wouldn't be sad for long.
Unfortunately, updates will be coming a bit slower now. I hadn't planned on releasing the chapters I had written but I got some subtle encouragement from my editor after the third chapter. (I think she just wanted other people to see that one scene with Shadow and Rainbow.) haha

Glad you're liking it.

[DaMagiks]

Eavesdropping on his own funeral? That's both sad and somewhat hilarious.
Cameo time! And AJ's speech is perfect (Also Shadow as a wild young stallion sounds great)
But Dash isn't there
And lol Spike has only thoughts about Rarity and spying on her.

Yes! Dash really was upset and did care about him despite missing the funeral (and damn nice romantic reunion and that day together )
"We both conceded that likely we would never survive it but promised to never give up on the other as long as our company was bearable." =

So another epic sized quest for Shadow (with an ultra secret organization this time) has begun.

[RangerBeef]

For all you folks waiting for the next chapter, you'll have to bear with me. Been deathly ill for the past two weeks. Not fun. So in between trying not to die I've been writing. Still a ways to go but it's coming. Promise.