Light and Shadow

by oop

Chapter 7 Ageless

Shadow felt himself slowly begin to come around, blearily opening his eyes to blink away the pain of the blackout. What was that light anyway? He forced himself to his hooves, nearly succumbing to the vertigo as the ground seemed to shoot away from him, the dizziness must be more intense than he thought. He shook his head, mane flying across his face. Was his hair always that long? He looked around and saw Lightning, already standing nearby. Her face was locked in an expression of terror.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, noticing his voice sounded deeper than usual “I think my brains were knocked loose by that blast, I’ve been seeing things all crazy and my voice sounds…” he stopped dead, noticing what the shock was.

Lightning was taller, twice the height she had been before, and much stronger looking. Her mane had snapped out of it’s usual ponytail and cascaded down her neck like an electric blue waterfall. Her huge blue eyes met his in identical expressions of shock.

“Shadow…” Lightning said first, her voice had changed, sounding silkier, more womanly “what happened…?”

Shadow opened his wings, feeling them stretch wider than they ever had before, stomped his hooves on the ground experimentally, wincing as the floor cracked under the force. He noticed that his coat had darkened from it’s usual fluffy gray to deep noir. Noir, that was a word he didn’t know the meaning of. It was obvious what was going on, but his brain was rejecting it like a steel wall.

There was a muffled scream from somewhere below and Lightning quickly turned “Come on!” she said without thinking “that sounds bad!” She took off running down the hallway, slowing to a trot as she realized Shadow’s wings were now too broad to fly down the narrow hallway.

“This stinks...” Shadow muttered, running at full gallop just to keep up with Lightning’s slow job “don’t get smug, you still can’t fly.”

“I wasn’t,” said Lightning “just as long as you really are going as fast as you can.”

They came to a huge red door inlaid with golden spheres. The screaming was coming from the other side. Shadow realized this was probably the throne room, but the obvious guard posts were vacant. Lightning nodded, and Shadow pushed the door slowly open.

Neither of them were at all prepared for what greeted them on the other side, and neither were the stunned unicorn guards who had gotten there first. “Shadow…” Lightning said “are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

A white alicorn filly with a fluffy pink mane had a younger, blue filly in a headlock. The white one was pulling hard on the mane of the blue, from whom the screaming was coming from.

“Celly! Stop!” the blue one shouted “it hurts! Please! You win! You win!”

“That’s what I thought!” the white one said, voice muffled by the hair in her teeth “that’ll teach you to mess with yoru big sister!” she let the mane drop.

“It’s…Celestia…” said Lightning slowly “that means…they…we…”

The filly, who they now realized was Luna, started to bawl, “Sissy! You’re so mean!” she sobbed.

“You deserved it!” Celestia said, sticking her tongue out and sitting down, legs crossed and wings spread wide “Remember, I’m the big sister!”

“I think I can take it from here,” came a voice from the door “Guards! Dismissed!”

Shadow and Lightning turned round to see Twilight standing in the doorway. The guards quickly bowed and exited as she walked into the room and cast her gaze around.

“You two found the ageless chamber didn’t you?” Twilight said sternly “Big white room? Smooth round walls?”

“Well I had no idea it would’ve caused this!” said Shadow defensively “you honestly think I would’ve done something like this on purpose?”

“Of course not,” said Twilight sternly “but let that be a lesson about poking around in places you don’t belong.”

Luna and Celestia had started to scuffle again, Twilight seemed to want to pull them apart but was clearly hesitant to do so. The consequence of the situation was hidden by the awkwardness for the time being.

“Should we…stop them?” Shadow asked.

“Do you think we can?” Twilight asked “They’re still the princesses of Equestria after all, I don’t think I could pull them apart…”

“Just try!” Lightning said angrily “they’re really going to hurt each other if this keeps up!”

Twilight took a deep breath, a purple nimbus appearing around the two princesses, tugging them away from each other and lifting them into the air.

“Hey!” Celestia shouted “Put me down you big meanie!” Her horn sparked white as if she was trying to do magic, but quickly fizzled out.

“Alright you two,” said Twilight, clearly forcing herself to use her commanding tone “I don’t want any fighting between you two alright? We’re going to keep you here for a little while alright?”

“I gotta go potty…” Luna whined.

Twilight released Luna from her magic grip “You know where the chamber pot is,” she said “Light, Shadow, I have an emergency job for you.”

“Anything we can do the help…” said Shadow, watching awkwardly as Luna scurried behind the throne area.

“I need you two to go and monitor the preperations for the ceremony tomorrow,” said Twilight “It was my job but instead I’m going to have to take responsibility for Luna and Celestia. I don’t want any pony to worry about the situation so tomorrow must go smoothly, do you understand?”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Lightning stuttered “but are you sure we’re the best ponies for this?”

“Right now you’re the only ponies available,” said Twilight “now go quickly, breakfast is going to start and five minutes and we need someone there. After that I want everything moving like clockwork. The schedule is in my room, now get going!”

Not daring to ask anymore questions, Lightning and Shadow exited the room. “Alright,” Shadow said “I’ll go make sure there’s nothing going on with the workers, can you run and get the stuff from Twilight’s room?”

“Yeah,” said Lightning “just save me something to eat alright?”

They turned and headed in opposite directions. As Shadow walked he looked over himself, pondering some of the changes. He wasn’t entirely sure why his usually soft gray coat had turned such a coarse black color, or more interestingly why the fur was totally gone from his hooves. It almost seemed like he had been badly burned from something. But of course that was preposterous… He also noticed his cutie mark was still absent. This was perhaps the greatest disappointment, as it could’ve provided some useful insight on the future.

He took a deep breath as he pushed the door to the dining hall open. Everything seemed organized without his help already. The ponies were seated at long tables while unicorns walked back and forth serving them. Hopefully this was a sign his job would be relatively simple. A few ponies said hello to him as they passed into the dining hall, and he nodded back, slowly growing more confident.

“I see you’re taking things well,” came a familiar voice to his right “and what fun it is indeed…”

Shadow turned to see the brown unicorn who Luna had spoken to earlier. He narrowed his eyes, “Something you need?” he asked curtly.

“Oh nothing Prince Comet, or excuse me, Shadow Chaser,” said the Unicorn with an exaggerated bow “being omnipotent mixes me up sometimes you know. I was just noticing the subtle change you’ve made and I was enjoying the spectacle.”

“Who are you…?” asked Shadow measuring this newcomer “and more importantly how do you know who I am?”

The unicorn grinned menacingly, his eyes flashing to red and yellow for a moment as he laughed “I can answer both questions at once,” he said, extending a hoof “I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

So that’s who he was, the ‘reformed’ lord of chaos himself. This had the potential to become interesting. Shadow shook his hoof, halfway expecting some electric shock or other prank, but nothing spectacular happened.

“I’m going to guess you already know the situation,” said Shadow evenly.

“But of course,” said Discord, never losing his wide smile “and I haven’t smelled such delectable chaos in years! Why, I would say the last time I had this much fun was when I turned Ponyville absolutely upside down!”

Shadow shuddered, remembering holing up inside during that hellish week of havoc. The small house had been mostly clear of the chaos, being so close to the forest had a few perks. But the sounds of the storm were enough to scare the young colt under the covers. For the first time he realized that may have been somewhat childish.

“Not too fond of that one, eh?” Discord asked, sounding bored now “oh not many ponies are. Though I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m no good at age spells of course but if you would like I might help you liven up the party?”

“Um…” Shadow said, realizing this was his first definitive decision for keeping things in control “that wouldn’t be a bad idea no, but keep it down alright? Nothing that will hurt any pony or anything in any way, you understand?”

“Of course!” said Discord, excitement tinting his voice “Oh I do look forward to you taking the throne! Celestia forbid the use of my powers during the mealtimes!” Before Shadow could say another word, Discord was gone.

The door to the dining hall opened, and Lightning walked in, carrying a large scroll in her teeth. She set it down as she approached “I got the list, and it’s a doozy… are those candles dancing…?”

Shadow turned “Yeah… I kind of gave Discord the go ahead to make some…entertainment… I suppose…” he said sheepishly.

“Well at least they seem to be enjoying it,” said Lightning with a sigh “make sure you reign him in alright?”

“Is that my job then?” asked Shadow.

“Yeah, that actually sounds alright,” said Lightning unrolling the scroll “almost half of these jobs are Discord’s responsibility. If you could keep him in check for those I would be extremely grateful.”

“You sure you can handle that?” Shadow asked “That looks like a lot of jobs to do.”

“It’s mostly confirmation and checking,” said Lightning “just a big check list essentially, mostly a formality. The only real job is written here at the bottom, it just says to not let Discord go nuts.” She rolled up the scroll again “in a way I’m giving you the only job!”

Shadow smirked “Alright,” he said “Let’s get this done!”

A few hours later found Shadow and Discord working on the gardens on either side of the castle. The gardens were well situated, the moat still dividing them from the rest of the city but far enough from the castle to provide the perfect view. The hedges, statues, and labyrinth ringed the castle like a halo of greenery.

Discord had been magically trimming the hedges, the gardening tools carving the bushes into swirling patterns while he sat to the side, straw stuck in a cotton candy cloud. Shadow was practicing with his wider wings, finding them much stronger and more easily maneuverable. To his surprise, however, he didn’t fly much faster at all.

“Try to angle yourself a bit more downward,” Discord advised from the ground level “that should make you fly a bit faster.”

“I’ve already tried that…” Shadow said, landing again, less shaky than the last several attempts “I’ve got all sorts of crazy lift now but I can’t get my wing-beat going nearly as fast, and it’s really hard to fly downward…”

“Tough break,” said Discord, procuring a glass filled with a red fizzy liquid “Soda?”

“Thanks,” said Shadow, taking it and drinking. His eyes lit up as he tasted it “Faygo? No way, how did you know?”

Discord raised an eyebrow “I didn’t,” he said curiously “Faygo has always been one of the hallmarks of my chaotic powers. It’s because of the sugar I do believe, or perhaps its’ strange connection to juggalo culture.”

“The sugar makes it taste better, and it gives you energy,” Shadow elaborated, throwing the empty glass to the side where it exploded “you know Discord, you’re alright.” He held out a leg, and they hoof bumped.

“Shadow!” Lightning’s voice called from somewhere above “those hedges are supposed to be even! What are you doing with those spiral patterns?”

Shadow looked up to see Lightning on one of the balconies, a gray coated mare with long black hair was also with her, carrying a huge instrument case.

“I think it looks better that way!” Shadow shouted back up “it’s not like this is a formal celebration! It’s a party, Lightning! Relax!”

“I don’t care if it’s a party, it’s a party we’ve got a schedule for!” Lightning shouted down “now get those hedges in the shape they’re supposed to be in! Come on Octavia, the concert hall is this way…”

“Ignore her…” Shadow said quietly as Lightning walked back inside “gosh she’s getting to be such a killjoy…”

“Octavia isn’t a bad choice for the music,” said Discord, dispersing the hedge-clippers “though I would’ve hired Vinyl Scratch myself. Now she is a professional musician! For a pony anyway…”

“You’ve got that right!” said Shadow “I’ve actually got one of her albums, it’s the only music CD I own.”

“Well then, you my friend have quite the sense,” said Discord “of course Neon Lights is also very good, as well as Sprocket but… oh my!”

Shadow turned to see what had distracted Discord. His jaw hit the floor as he saw the goliath mass of balloons cresting the horizon in a rainbow of shapes and colors.

“What…is that…?” he asked.

“Pinkie Pie…” said Discord.

Sure enough, as the base of the balloon mountain finally came into view it was revealed that the pink earth pony had somehow tied all of the balloons to her tail. A tremendous shadow passed overhead as the balloon behemoth blocked out the sun overhead.

“Oh, hi Discord!” said Pinkie “who’s this? Oh my gosh are you the new prince? I’ve never met a Prince before! Wait… if you’re a prince why are you just a Pegasus? Your dad must have been a Pegasus! How cool! I see why they call you Shadow, your coat is the perfect color!”

Shadow recoiled, this speech was sounding way too familiar. It was also interesting to note Pinkie hadn’t recognized him from the café… was that really just the day before yesterday? The change must have really made him look different.

Before either of them could respond however, Pinkie Pie had passed them by and entered the castle, her sky full of balloons following after her in a swirl of rainbow color. They squeezed in through the gate all together with one tremendous squeak.

“Well I guess she’s Lightning’s problem now,” said Shadow “what’s next on our to-do list? Discord?”

Discord was staring after Pinkie Pie, a bit of a silly grin on his face. His eyes had turned pink and heart shaped, which Shadow supposed was probably a draconequis thing.

“I get it…” he said “I think someone’s got pink on the brain.”

Discord’s eyes went back to normal and he coughed “Well…perhaps…” he said embarrassedly “is it really that obvious?”

“Yeah, you made it obvious to the point of being kind of redundant.” Said Shadow “Hey, I totally see where you’re coming from. She’s probably the only creature on Equestria as random as you are.”

“So delightfully random…” said Discord, the shrubs along the path starting to pop into heart shapes.

“Easy there buddy,” said Shadow “can you go ahead and change that back?”

“Oh yes, of course” said Discord “I was supposed to be changing those into the shapes of guards anyway.” There was a puff of green smoke as each hedge took on the shape of a pony with a helmet.

“Much better,” said Shadow “now what do you say we go get some lunch? I could really go for an egg salad sandwich right now…”

Meanwhile, inside the castle, Twilight was having a wide variety of difficulties of her own…

“I’m hungry!” Celestia would whine “when do we get to eat?”

“The servants are on their way with your lunch,” said Twilight, a headache slowly turning into a grade A migrane “can you please just wait until then?”

“But I’m hungry now!” Celestia complained, running in circles around Twilight “make the servants come faster!”

“Miss Twilight?” said Luna quietly “can you please make Celestia play with me? I’m getting bored…”

Celestia flopped down on her stomach and crossed her hooves in front of her “I’m going to absolutely faint from hunger!”

Luna quickly clambered onto her sister’s back and started to sing “I’m walking on sunshine! Whoah-oh! I’m walking on sunshine!”

“Stop it!” Celestia shouted, horn sparking uselessly “Don’t make me pull your hair again!”

Luna just kept skipping in place and singing as Celestia grew even angrier. There was a knock on the door and Twilight sighed in relief, running over to open it, a tongue lashing prepared for the bellhop who would make her wait.

“Thank goodness you’re here…” she said as she opened the door, realizing she was really more relieved than angry “I’ve been waiting so… oh… hello Pinkie Pie…”

Indeed it was Pinkie Pie who was standing in the doorway along with about a million technicolored balloons “Hi Twilight!” she said excitedly “I heard you were in here so I thought I’d stop by and say hello!”

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but I’m just incredibly busy right now,” said Twilight “could you do me a favor and talk to the red earth pony with the blue mane? She can tell you what to do with all those balloons.”

“You got it Twilight!” Pinkie said, bouncing away, followed by her utterly silly entourage.

“And if you see the bellhop on your way down, tell him his going to get his flank kicked if he doesn’t hurry up!” Twilight called after the ballon army. She sighed as she turned to where Celestia was chasing a screaming Luna in circles around the room.

“That is it!” Twilight shouted, stopping them both with her magic “You two are going to sit still and behave if it kills me! If either of you tries to hurt the other anymore, I swear I will hold you in status like this for the rest of the night!”

“But miss Twilight…” said Luna innocently “I have to go potty, I can’t do that when I’m hanging here!”

“Then behave!” Twilight shouted “I am not done with this lecture!”

“I really gotta go!” Luna whined, squirming in the air “I’m gonna pee right now!”

Twilight groaned “Fine,” she said, releasing Luna from her magic grip “just make it quick!”

Luna jumped up and kicked Celestia so hard she was knocked out of Twilight’s magic grip. She giggled and ran away before Twilight could grab her again. Celestia started bawling in pain on the floor.

There was a knock on the door “Room service!” came a voice from the other side.

I shudder to say that the poor unicorn being the bellhop today was unprepared to see Twilight burst through the door, mane askew, nostrils flaring.

“You’re late!” she shouted, so loud that a few of the windows shattered “do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you? Why I outta…”

Lightning, meanwhile, was perhaps having the most comparatively normal day of any of them. The party’s checklist ws mostly managing itself smoothy, with just a few minor adjustments at least. As lunch time began to roll around again she was found in the upper balcony of the concert hall, arguing with a white unicorn who had a startlingly similar mane to her own, electric blue and wild.

“Just hold on a second…” said Lightning, looking over the list again “You aren’t on here, who hired you?”

“The scratch goes where the music is needed,” said the unicorn casually waving a hoof “let’s just say my job pays for itself pretty well.”

“Vinyl…” said Lightning “I don’t really mean to offend you or anything, but we’re running a delicate operation here, anyone not officially hired to provide a service here has to wait for tomorrow.”

Vinyl adjusted her enormous purple shades and sighed “Alright,” she said frustratedly “Pinkie Pie’s paying me to make a surprise entrance after the official announcement, now can I unload my speakers and get going already? I need the practice!”

“I can’t argue with you can I?” asked Lightning, giving up before she had really started “fine, but you’re done at eight, I don’t want dubstep keeping the place awake all night! There are children in this castle I’ll have you know.”

“Well, yeah,” said Vinyl “I’ll be responsible or whatever I guess. When do I get to meet the prince anyway?”

“Shadow’s a busy stallion,” said Lightning curtly “I’m sure he won’t have time…”

“Hey Lightning!” came a voice from the balcony’s entrance “I heard you were up here, I was just going to get lunch, you coming or not?”

Vinyl and Lightning turned to see Shadow standing in the entrance, he walked toward them, squinting a little at Vinyl.

“Hello hot stuff…” said Vinyl, loud enough for Lightning, but not Shadow to hear. She smirked and Lightning rolled her eyes, stupid DJ.

“No way…” said Shadow as he approached “You’re Vinyl Scratch aren’t you! Shadow Chaser, I am a huge fan of yours.”

“Well I guess the prince has some time after all,” said Vinyl smugly “tell you what, let’s all go grab something to eat, we deserve it.” She lowered her shades enough to let Shadow see her pink eyes, and winked.

Lightning’s tail flicked in annoyance, “I thought you had unloading to do…” she said tersely.

“Oh I can wait!” Vinyl said “come on Shadow, tell me about yourself!”

Shadow turned to lightning who mouthed the word “Lie”. He nodded in agreement, and started talking to Vinyl again.

They swapped stories all the way back down to the dining hall, Shadow’s made up but believable, and Vinyl’s…well…Lightning certainly hoped that they were made up. If this Vinyl character turned out to be any sort of trouble she would definitely be there to nip it in the bud.

“Whoah,” said Vinyl as they entered the hall “this is sweet!”

Lightning’s jaw dropped. The walls had changed from wooden to some sort of purple plastic. Neon lights danced across the now checkered patterned floor and loud dubstep was blasting from some unseen speaker.

“This is like heaven!” Vinyl shouted, dashing out quickly. Shadow and Lightning stared after her, both dumbfounded.

“Is that…white noise…?” Lightning asked slowly.

“Discord!” Shadow shouted, though it was mostly drowned out by the wild music. A few ponies walked out of the hall, looks of disgust on their faces. Lightning apologized to them quickly as Shadow pushed off the ground in search of the draconequis.

Discord was found standing on the ceiling, his pony form abandoned. His arms were crossed in front of him and he was bouncing to the sound of the music.

“Discord!” Shadow shouted, flying steadily nearby “what part of this is in any way under control?”

“Some of these ponies are enjoying themselves,” said Discord, a pair of shades and a jacket appearing on him “I mean look, the ponies that are still here are positively rocking!”

“Yeah, well the rest of the ponies in the hallway have a halfway decent sense of music,” said Shadow angrily “stop this, all of this, now.”

“Fine,” said Discord with a shrug “but I thought you said you liked Vinyl Scratch’s music.” He snapped a clawed hand and the room reverted back to the way it had been before.

“From now on, no messing with the dining hall,” said Shadow angrily “stick to your assignments, we don’t need any more nonsense you got me?”

“Of course, your royal bossypants!” said Discording, appearing on the ground in his unicorn form once again. He smirked and waved upward before turning and walking smugly out of the hall.

“Yeah! Real mature!” Shadow shouted, flying down “why don’t you come here and say it to my face wise guy?”

“Oh it wasn’t so bad,” said Vinyl walking over to him “sure it was one of my weaker beats but the drops were gorgeous. You guys must have some real wicked subwoofers stashed around here somewhere.”

Shadow turned his attention toward Vinyl “That really was your music?” he asked “I thought you did synth and techno, not dubstep.”

“I did a bit of synth when I started up,” said Vinyl, tilting her head “I haven’t done anything but dubstep in like four years dude, how old are your albums?”

“My dad got them, I wouldn’t know…” said Shadow, hoping desperately he wasn’t letting something slip with those words “it’s a pity, I really like techno.”

“Eh, techno, dubstep, it’s all sweet music, what’s the difference really?” she asked with a shrug.

Shadow’s ear twitched. He thought the difference between techno and dubstep was the difference between good music and bad music. Before he could voice his complaints, however, Lightning had galloped over to join them.

“Okay,” she said “I’ve managed to pacify everyone who was freaking out about the lunch fiasco, but now we’ve got a report going that someone’s let a bunch of show animals loose in the labyrinth, now I’m not sure what to do about that.”

“How soon are you going to be needed again?” asked Shadow “we might have to go after them ourselves. I think Discord can go without being monitored for awhile, I just scolded him after all.”

“I think we can spare some time then…” said Lightning “we’re just monitoring after all, everyone already knows what to do.”

“Don’t jynx it…” Shadow said “If I hadn’t stopped Discord just now who knows what could’ve happened.”

“That was your fault in the first place,” said Lightning “you two were getting awfully chummy. If you had been a little more strict with him he wouldn’t have thought he would get away with that.”

“Look, not that this isn’t exciting and all…” Vinyl piped up “but if y’all don’t mind I’d like the go-ahead to use the concert hall for my afternoon practice session.”

“Fine,” said Lightning “so long as you aren’t bothering anyone I really don’t care where you practice.”

“Alright!” said Vinyl excitedly “It’s the Canterlot Scratch Sessions rocking the castle starting now! Anyone who wants a sweet show should head for the concert hall now!” she proceeded to dash out the door followed by a few excited looking ponies.

Lightning sighed “I hate dubstep…” she said “I don’t get why she’s so popular.”

“I don’t either,” said Shadow “but she did used to do some fun music, not as good as yours maybe but still pretty darn good.”

“Stop it,” said Lightning, despite her smile “come on you big oaf, lets go deal with the maze problem.”

They fought their way through the crowd of ponies gathered around the hall, many questioning exactly what had transpired inside the dining hall. Lightning moved Shadow forward, who was slightly reluctant to miss the oppritunity of being in the spotlight. It took them almost a full ten minutes to get back to the main gate and another idiotically long time to get out through to the gardens.

“I hate these huge crowds!” Lightning exclaimed as they finally separated themselves from the mass of ponies gathered by the main gate and hallway “I swear, if this ever blows over I’m never having another birthday party again as long as I live.”

Shadow pushed his mane out of his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time, it really needed to be cut “If we were usual size we could just duck under every pony’s feet you know?”

“Ew…” said Lightning “that just wouldn’t be right!”

Shadow raised an eyebrow curiously “What’s so bad about it?” he asked.

Lightning blinked, seeming to shake off a sort of trance, “I’m…not sure…” she said dazedly “I have these memories that I don’t know are mine. They keep coming to the surface and I don’t know what to think of it.”

“That’s weird…” Shadow agreed, but when he thought about it more closely he had felt some other sort of familiarity when he’d first talked to Vinyl Scratch, almost like, though he didn’t know to compare, but almost like he was meeting an old friend…

“I saw how well you got along with Vinyl,” said Lightning, a little uncannily “I’m starting to think I know her from somewhere too… And the orchestra pony, Octavia. When I first met her I immediately thought ‘teacher!’ but I’d never seen her before in my life!”

“I don’t know…” said Shadow “I do know I’m really creeped out by this whole thing though… Let’s talk about it later okay? After we get through the maze and…”

“And what?” Lightning asked as he trailed away.

“I…I don’t remember,” said Shadow “I thought something else was going to happen… but I don’t remember…”

“Good,” said Lightning quickly “come on, let’s go, try not to waste too much time on it okay?”

Shadow nodded as they started down the cobblestone path to the hedge maze. They passed through the sculpture garden with the representation of many famous ponies and ideals. The pedestal where Discord had previously sat was now occupied by the famous replica of the mane six. Much of the sculpture garden and maze had been renovated since the incident with Discord, but there were still some familiar landmarks.

The entrance, for starters, hadn’t changed a bit. The vine covered archway still loomed the same way it had years ago, proud sentinel of the largest maze in all Equestrai. Without even a flyover Shadow could tell finding circus animals in here would be little more than folly.

“I don’t know…” said Shadow hesitantly “do you think it’s still worth checking out?”

“I think I deserve a chance to go through the maze after a long day of hard work,” said Lightning “whether I can find animals or not seems suddenly irrelevant.”

They laughed together at this and started down a random passage where the hedges seemed to be in bloom with brilliant roses. They trotted along and laughed together. It seemed that even while heavy snow persisted outside the castle grounds the gardens could remain miraculously untouched.

“So why didn’t you just fly over?” asked Lightning once they were a good ways inside “you could’ve gotten your view of the maze just fine without me you know.”

“I couldn’t risk you getting yourself lost silly,” said Shadow with a smirk “besides I’d have it a bet I would get lonely without you.”

“Aw… how sweet,” said Lightning, an unfamiliar smile gracing her features “I didn’t know you knew how to work with words.”

“I guess I just know what makes ponies tick,” said Shadow with a grin “and I’ve known you for long enough haven’t I? You should be like putty in my hooves.” He laughed and ruffled her mane.

“You wish…” said Lightning, running ahead so she could bat at him with her tail “don’t go getting fun with me Shadow, that’s my job.”

Shadow sneezed “I can see that,” he said with a smirk, wiping his nose “just try not to let playful turn into frisky.” He honestly expected her to blush and turn away at this. To his surprise, she turned and winked at him.

“Maybe I’ve already decided to get frisky…” she said mysteriously, then walked ahead without elaborating. Shadow suddenly found himself in the most inconvenient position of embarrassment. What the hay had she meant by that…?

As he turned the next corner after Lightning he was met with a sight he was totally unprepared for. They had entered a wide open, circular portion of the maze. Apple trees lined the hedges in every color apples could be in, as well as a few he was sure they didn’t. There was a clear, sparkling lake in the center, perfectly symmetrical and glistening with the noonday sun, not a single ripple marring the surface. Huge stone statues, not unlike the ones from the sculpture garden stood along the edge of the lake. Rather than merely famous ponies, however, these statues depicted characters who were nothing short of legendary.

“No way…” said Lightning, walking around in wonder “I didn’t even know these existed!” I only recognize the princesses, and Discord I suppose.”

“This guy looks pretty cool,” said Shadow, indicating a large stallion in heavy looking armor, the horn on his head almost looked like a claw.

Lightning had walked right up to the lake and looked into the still water. She was clearly reluctant to disturb the crystal-smooth surface “Come here and have a look at this, Shadow.” She said “I can see my reflection so perfectly in the water.”

Shadow walked over and took a look for himself. Indeed it was interesting just how pristine and reflective it was. A gust of wind passing sent his mane back into his eyes but it didn’t disturb the lake at all. It was one thing to be pretty, but this was starting to get downright creepy.

Providing an interesting parallel, he now noticed Lightning’s reflection staring at his own. When he looked up he found her face uncomfortably close. He quickly took a step back, mumbling a hasty apology.

“What is it with you today?” asked Lightning with a giggle “You’re acting like a school colt with a crush. Did you hit your head when I wasn’t looking?”

Shadow mentally shook himself, realizing she was right “Nah,” he said “I’m fine… I guess I’m just not myself today…”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” said Lightning, stepping closer again “I was really starting to like you today…”

Shadow found his wings growing uncomfortably stiff now. There wasn’t any problem with what Lightning was saying, but some part of his mind seemed to totally reject it. She was his best, his only friend. This was far from a problematic direction, at least in his mind. Then what was this strange force screaming at him to stop…?

They were painfully close to each other now. They could feel each others breath on their faces. Blue eyes met red, both seeming to be in a trance. Finally, Lightning pushed forward through the haze, moving right toward Shadow.

And Shadow jerked back. He wasn’t sure why he did it, he knew more than anything else he didn’t want to do it. He felt like screaming out for backing away. It was an instinctive movement, but shouldn’t an instinctive movement have brought him forward?

“Why did you stop…?” Lightning asked, sounding hurt “I thought… we were…why…?”

He wanted to say he didn’t know, he wanted to say he was sorry, he wanted to say something, anything to salvage the moment. His mouth moved, ready to apologize, to make something of the situation before it shot past him. Instead, one word rolled off his tongue.

“Iris…” he said.

“Who’s Iris?” Lightning asked.

And just like that he didn’t know. He cursed at the barriers in his mind and further at the unknown memories that were blocking. It was an awful tantalizing feeling as he sensed the words drip out of his mouth from some unknown tap in his brain, stuck open and impossible to close.

“Lightning… I love you,” said Shadow, not even sure he knew what he was saying “Like a sister. You’re like a sister to me, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world…”

Lightning’s ears fell flat against her head. It was clear she was trying to be angry with him, but was only finding emotions of bleak disappointment. “Oh…” she said “That… that makes sense…” she turned on a dime and walked blindly forward into the statue of Luna.

Shadow couldn’t help feeling guilty at this. Of all the things he could’ve said…Of course now would be the time for his brain to lose all function and start babbling inane nonsense. He didn’t even know anyone named Iris!

There was a huge thud directly ahead of him, halting his train of thought like a tree along the tracks. He looked up to see Lightning’s accidental bump had completely toppled the statue of Luna. Her strength already scared him a little, but that little display was nothing but impressive.

“Oops…” said Lightning vaguely, looking at the single wing protruding from the now rippling water “that was a mistake…”

Shadow felt a little uneasy at this motion, that pool just didn’t seem like it should be disturbed. The awkwardness of this situation as well was reaching an unparalleled echelon. Lightning was deeply wounded emotionally, that was obvious. And this dumb mental barrier was blocking him from speaking the only words he knew would console her, as if the situation wasn’t already lost long ago…

Their attentions simultaneously turned back to the lake from which a huge plop had resounded. The part of the Luna statue that had still stuck up out of the water had been sucked under into the water which returned to its pristine condition.

“Lightning…” said Shadow slowly “I think we have a problem…”

Their eyes snapped back to the exit, which had vanished, replaced by a solid wall of hedge. Shadow looked around for possible escape, but the paths around were quickly growing up with new plant life. The sun was suddenly shadowed, and he was afraid to look up to see just what it was.

“Dome!” Lightning screamed, looking up to the huge cover of vines and ivy that had crossed the space overhead “What are we gonna do? We can’t survive if we’re trapped in here! What will we eat? We’re doomed!”

“We’re not doomed!” Shadow said, forcing himself once again to be the calm one “We have plenty of water, and in case you didn’t notice we’re surrounded by apple trees. Someone will come find us before tomorrow, some unicorn who knows how to reverse whatever’s going on here.”

Lightning started to calm down again, much to Shadow’s relief. “You’re right…” she said “you…always know what to say when I panic…” she suddenly threw her hooves around him, a wide smile on her face “Thank you… brother…”

Shadow blinked, returning the hug on instincts which had thus far failed him. She suddenly understood now? What was going on today? He jumped suddenly as he felt water touch his hoof.

They looked back to the lake now, and almost instantly felt the need to panic again. The water, which was now glowing a faint blue, had begun to swell in volume, bursting the bank and flooding toward them. They made a dash for the hedge, which proved impassable as the water flooded against it and began to rise.

“Quick,” said Shadow “get on my back, while my wings are still dry!”

Lightning sensed the urgency and leapt onto him swiftly, not that she would’ve had the time to argue as the water quickly swelled to knee high. Shadow managed to push up out of the water and they flew up to the dome, determined to put off the inevitable for as long as possible.

Shadow started pounding against the vines as hard as his desperation would allow. “Break!” he wailed “Celestia damn you just break!”

“Shadow…” Lightning said worriedly “the water’s almost here…”

It was giving, he could feel the vines push away from the offending pounding. He was so close, he could see the green outline of the castle. He very nearly cried out as the water touched him.

“I don’t want this!” Lightning burst into tears “I just wish we were still foals, where the biggest adventure was skipping school! I wish with all my heart! I just want to be a little girl again!”

The water finally reached the point above their heads, just as Shadow pushed through the vines. He gasped in a burst of bubbles, exultation turning to horrified anguish as he realized the miniscule hole he had made would not be enough to escape through. And the water escaping it was doing nothing to quell the oncoming mass. He stared back at Lightning, for what he was sure would be the very last time, and felt the world go dark.

Author's Note:

Yes I know, this is easily my longest chapter yet and it's probably far from the best. Still i feel like I've accomplished exactly what i wanted this chapter to achieve, so no regrets. Chapter Eight is planned to be even longer, so if you're not prepared, let me divert you to something more elegantly cut up, like Vinyl and Octavia University Days. If you've already read that I guess you're just stuck with me.
On another positive note, this also marks the beginning of my weekly updating system. From this point into the foreseeable future Light and Shadow is going to have a new chapter every Sunday until the ending of the story (sometime around twelve).
I've begun to consider doing a side story involving some of the background characters, namely Golden Harvest and/or Berry Punch. If i were to go along with this it would be entirely on the side and would not interfere with Light and Shadow's weekly updates. Opinions? Message me or leave them in the comments because believe me, I would love to hear reviews from you guys more than anything.
-CC