Shadow and Silver

by silversoul

Chapter 3: Rainy Days

"White Knight to C-6, check."

"Black Rook to C-6."

"White King to B-3"

"Black Pawn to A-4, checkmate!"

"Darn it! How'd I lose to you to you, of all ponies!?"

"Because silly, I am you, and I know how you like to think," Silver said proudly to the magic clone sitting across from him. In response to the severe boredom the unicorn had been experiencing that afternoon, he'd decided to try out a new spell capable of making a perfect living, breathing copy of the caster. It had worked, and he'd proceeded to play several rounds of chess against himself, literally. And at 2 wins and 2 losses each, he'd just earned victory over himself. An empty victory, sure, but at least he had something to do.

"Well, I guess, but I thought for sure I had you there for a minute," the clone said with a huff, crossing his front legs and looking over the board. It had only been three days since Silvers visit with Twilight, and so Spike had only just sent the letter to Celestia's School yesterday, and there was no telling how long a response would take, what if the thousands of students the school had on record. So for now, he and Shadow were stuck waiting out the time it took for the school to send Twilight a response.

The real Silver Soul just chuckled, "Relax, it wasn't a serious match or anything, just something to do to pass the time until Shadow finally gets back."

Not a minute later, his ears perked up at the familiar sound of the front door opening. "Huh, speak of Discord," he said simply. "Good game, me," he said quickly before his horn glowed, his copy vanishing seconds later. He set to work packing up the chess set as he poked his head out of the bedroom door, catching a glimpse of Shadow coming in, sure enough dripping water on the ground. He just shook his head, coming out and walking over to his friend.

The Alicorn grinned at her friend, shaking herself dry and sending water flying everywhere, including all over Silver. "Hey Silver," she greeted happily, looking up at her now-soaking friend. She gave a sheepish green and chuckle, "Um, sorry."

"Hi Shadow, glad to see at least one of us is in a good mood," Silver said, his horn glowing emerald green as he dried himself and the surrounding area off.

"Is that to say you're not?" she asked, spreading her wings and starting to preen as her friend walked over to the couch. As she straightened her feathers, she hissed a bit as one came off. Not really concerned, she spit it out into a nearby waste bin, turning and heading to the couch as well. "Of course I'm going to be in a good mood. I just spent the morning with the coolest Pegasus in the world," she claimed, sitting down next to Silver and stretching out a bit.

"Well good for you, Shadow. But I just finished playing chess against a magical copy of myself. That's how boring today has been!" Silver explained, "I know you're enjoying working for the weather patrol, but why'd your marefriend even have to schedule a downpour today?"

Shadow shrugged, "Well, the land was dry and the crops needed water. It's as simple as that." She smiled at him, lying back against the couch and yawning. Pushing clouds all day could get a bit tiring after a while if you weren't used to it yet. "But now I'm here, so is there anything you wanna do?" she asked.

Silver put a hoof to his chin, "Hmmmm… not sure. What about you, any ideas?"

"Not really," Shadow replied, hiding another yawn. "But I do need to find something to keep me up," she said quickly.

"Hmmmmm…" As Silver sat there thinking, his tail went back and forth without much thought. But, with the way the two ponies were sitting on the couch, it ended up accidentally going over one of Shadow's back hooves.

The reaction was almost immediate; Shadow jumped about a foot in the air, like she'd just been jolted with a bolt of lightning. She collapsed back on the couch, looking up to see a rather confused Silver. Quickly rubbing the tingle out of her hoof, she tried to come up with an excuse for her reaction. Doing the first thing that came to mind, she looked down at the floor and slammed a hoof down on it. "There! Gotcha you stupid... Spider!"

Silver wasn't buying it, though. His idea seemed a bit foolish, but heck, it would give him something to keep himself entertained. Deciding to play along, he nodded, "Right." He then motioned under the couch, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Shadow, can you help me with something? I lost a book I was reading under the couch, and I can't find it under there, and I can't see it clearly so I can't grab at it or anything. Think you could take a look for me?" Now if she'd just take the bait…

Shadow gave him a curious look, wondering why he couldn't have just lit up the area under the couch. But she shrugged it off rather quickly, deciding not to question her friend. "Well...I suppose," she said, standing up and turning around. She got down onto her stomach, slipping herself about halfway under the couch.

But once she was down there, she felt a weight on her back, quickly pinning her down. It didn't take much to realize who was sitting on her, "What the hay, Silver!? Get off of me!" She was already trying to pull herself out from under the larger stallion, but to no avail. She was about to try and buck him off next, but found herself stopped when Silver's magic wrapped around her hind legs, bringing them up in the air in front of him. Her eyes went wide as she finally got what was up, "You better not be about to do what I think you're about to do!"

"Depends, what do you think I'm about to do?" Silver taunted with a playful smirk. His eyes suddenly flashed over towards the waste bin, an idea popping into his mind as he floated the feather Shadow had tossed in earlier over, dangling it over his friends raised back hooves.

Shadow just scoffed, not able to see what he was doing, "You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Again she tried to move her back legs, but her friend's magic was far too strong.
"Yeah, guess so. So let's just get to it," Silver said cheerfully. With that, he brought the tip of the feather down to Shadow's left hoof, stroking it up and down.

A yelp escaped Shadow's lips before she could hold it back. She gritted her teeth after, trying to hold in the laughter rising up her throat. But it didn't seem to work, as a snicker kept slipping through her teeth every few seconds.

"Ha, I knew there was no spider in here!" Silver said, now making the feather swirl around the middle Shadows right hoof. "Tickle tickle…" he teased, enjoying his friend trying in vain to hold in her laughter.

"Y-Yes there was!" Shadow squeaked, starting to giggle now as she tried madly to wiggle her hooves around. She made up for it, however, by twitching around under the couch and banging her front hooves gently on the ground. Seemed the middle of her hoof was rather sensitive, something he noted for the future.

Silver finally gave her a break though, stopping and setting the feather down. Another idea had come to mind, "Well then it must have stuck to your hooves, since I don't see anything on the floor. Since that's the only possible explanation, I guess I might as well do you a favor and clean your hooves off."

"Wait, what?" Shadow asked, trying to turn and look at him. But all she needed was to see his floating her hairbrush from her bedroom. Her eyes went wide as she was quick to put two and two together, "No!!" She coughed, trying to calm her voice. "I mean, uh-I can take care of it myself," she laughed nervously.

"Oh no, I insist," Silver said, clearly just messing with her right now. After all, she couldn't exactly do anything in her position. "I mean this is just what friends are for," he said as he started waving the brush back and forth across Shadows hooves.

The mare let out what sounded like a mix between a squeal and a yelp before bursting into full-on laughter, cursing herself for having such sensitive hooves. She definitely spent a lot more time flying than she did walking, and at this moment, was almost regretting it. She loved flying way too much to just walk everywhere, and it was just coming back to nip her in the flank now. She banged her hooves against the ground even more now, her mind screaming for this to stop. This wasn't like she would do with Dash now and then; this was borderline torment!

Her eyes darted around madly, trying to think of a way to escape until she spotted the feather on the ground. Of course, her wings! She flared them up and flapped them against Silvers sides, trying to use the feathers to her own advantage.
Silver was caught off guard, having not been paying attention and somehow not remembering her wings! He dropped the brush, laughing and rolling off her onto the floor as his magic failed, releasing her legs.

Shadow took her chance the moment she could. She rolled out from under the couch and leapt on top of Silver, pinning the stallion by his shoulders as her wings continued flapping against him, attacking his stomach as well now. "For you to use one of my own feathers against me and forget about my wings...Such an ironic downfall," she teased.

All Silver could really do was laugh and try to squirm free from under his friend. He couldn't concentrate enough to use his magic. And it only got worse when he felt Shadow's tail brush over his hooves, making him squeal as his cheeks went red.

Shadow couldn't help but laugh at Silvers reaction, speeding her tail up faster and faster. "You know, I'm surprised that your hooves are so sensitive for some pony that has to walk everywhere," she teased, easily keeping Silver pinned as he squirmed. She definitely had muscle for a mare with her figure.

"T-they aren't! Y-you just surprised me!" the unicorn managed through his laughter, trying to build up enough magic to get her off. It worked, but a bit too well; his horn sparked to life and his magic, seemingly working on its own, lifted Shadow off him and dropped her on the couch.

Silver sat up, gulping down fresh air and looking over at Shadow, "Sorry, I couldn't stop that. Magic reflex."

"It's okay. Guess we both kind of got carried away there, huh?" Shadow asked, standing back up with red cheeks. She shook herself off, looking back at Silver as he got to his own hooves.

"Yeah, guess we did," he said, his own cheeks going red. He gave a small smile, "Still, guess we found something to do if we ever get really bored, huh?"

Shadow giggled a bit, "Yeah, guess we did." She trotted up to him with a playful smirk, "But who says we're finished?" With that, she suddenly pounced on top of the unicorn, the two falling and rolling around in a tangle of limbs. Still, despite Shadow having been the attacker, the struggle ended with her on her stomach, pinned underneath Silver.

He chuckled, grinning down at her. He'd gotten smart now, his magic keeping Shadow's wings pinned. "I can't believe you tried to be sneaky like that. I think somepony needs to be taught a lesson," he teased.

"Oh buck," Shadow groaned before she felt Silvers tail stroking over her hind hooves, making her burst into giggles. It was all she could do to stop herself from bursting into full laughter, but then she felt the feather from earlier starting to tease down her back. The result was her bursting into a fit of foalish giggles and squeals.

"Eehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehhehehe!!! Sihihihihihilver it tickles!!!" she squeaks, her laughter sounding oddly adorable and out of character for such a so-called 'tough' pony. The thought of that made the flushed stripes on her face go even redder.

Silver couldn't help but smile at his friend's predicament. "I know Shadow, that's kind of the point," he teased, slowing down a bit but not much as tears appeared at the edges of her eyes. "So, you gonna stop trying to pounce me?" he asked.

Realizing she was pretty much stuck under the physically and magically stronger unicorn, she figured giving in was best at this point. "OK, yehehehehhehehehehehes!"

Silver finally stopped, raising a hoof in the air, "Ha, victory!"

"Oh, hush you," Shadow said, whipping at Silver with her tail.

The unicorn yipped a bit, jumping off her and snickering. "Oh come on, I know you were having fun," he said as he helped her up.

"Maybe," she said coyly, sticking her tongue out at him playfully.

"Okay, be that way," Silver snickered, "But just wait until I tell RD about this one, huh."

"Jokes on you; she already knows," Shadow retorted with a smirk. She watched as Silver just started snickering. "Wait… That didn't come out right… Oh, forget it," she groaned.
"But you just wait until I tell Twilig-" she was cut off by her friend suddenly.

"Let any of this slip and I tell Rainbow Dash that Rarity turned you onto those Fifty Sheds of Grey novels. And I know you haven't told her about that one," he cut into her threat. He just grinned at the defeated scowl she gave him.

"… Fine, you win," she groaned. She hated when he brought that threat up. After all, how could she ever admit to Rainbow that she read such a sappy clop novel. It was based off a fan-fiction, for Celestia's sake!

Silver grinned, "Glad we both agree on that. Now, how about some lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," Shadow said, heading over to the door and stretching her wings.

"Wait, you wanna go out in this downpour?" Silver asked, looking back out at the rain. "I was thinking we could just make something here," he explained.

"Oh please, this doesn't bother me," Shadow laughed. "Unless you don't wanna go out there, I was thinking of buying lunch. I figure it's the least I can do since I 'lost', but also because I tried to jump you" she said, bending her wings at the last word but still smiling.

"Really now?" Silver asked, smiling as he floated an umbrella over. "Well, who am I to refuse a free meal?" He popped open the umbrella, "Allons-y!"

Shadow looked at him, "What?"

Silver shrugged, "I always hear that guy who runs the clock shop saying it. It has a nice ring to it, you know?"

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One rather wet and muddy walk through town later, the two friends were tucked away in the café. Shadow was munching on a daisy sandwich with hay fries while Silver enjoyed daffodil soup with crackers. Shadow looked up from her meal, "Enjoying the meal, Silver?"

He nodded and smiled, "It's great. Thanks for treating."

"Ah, well, it's no big deal. My job pays well," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, rub that one in my face," Silver said with a chuckle. It was tough running the book store under their home here, but he always seemed to manage, even if it didn't exactly lead to piles of bits for them.

Shadow couldn't help but give a small laugh. "You know I could always help you out if you needed it," she pointed out. "I may be on the weather team now, but I'm always willing to help my best friend."

"Really?" Silver grinned a bit at her offer, not really surprised by it. He should have known she'd bring it up, "Well, if you ever have some off time, I could use somepony to help me out. And to keep company when there's no business. Thanks, Shadow." The two sat in silence for a while after that, both finishing off the last of their meals. "Say, I know you agreed to pay for lunch, but how about some dessert on me?" Silver suggested, smiling.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised at his offer. "You sure? I mean, I have the bits and then some..." she started.

Silver nodded, "Of course, think of it as a thanks for treating me to lunch. And for starting that little battle of ours back in the apartment."

"Well, if you say so."

"Great!" The unicorn waved a hoof, flagging down a waitress. "Excuse me, we'd like some dessert, please! I'll take a piece of apple pie."

"I'll take one too, please," Shadow added.

She nodded to them, "Sure thing." A few minutes later, the two were both munching on slices of pie.

"Not bad, but it still can't beat Applejack's pies," Silver said after a few bites. And it was true; the pie itself was pretty good, but the apples themselves just didn't taste as well as they could have.

"Tell me about it. I'm pretty sure they used Sweet Apple Acres apples, though," Shadow said as she took another bite. "After all, it only makes sense to but local."

"I'm sure they did. But still, they only got the ingredients, and not the right hooves to make it," Silver pointed out, taking another bite of his own slice.

"Yeah, it's a shame," Shadow pointed out, sounding a bit disappointed. "I wonder whether Apple Bloom or whatever that filly's name is has similar skills. It would make sense since the Apples seem to have that run in the family."

"Well, maybe not hooves for cooking, but I've seen that she definitely has the skill for building. That tree house on the Acres? Applejack told me she restored the whole thing herself, rather proudly I might add," Silver explained with a chuckle.

"Is that so?" Shadow asked, looking to be quite intrigued now. She smiled, "That's impressive for a filly her age. She'll get her cutie mark for sure if she keeps that up."
"She should, but according to Applejack and Rarity, Apple Bloom and her friends are trying every other thing in the book except for what they seem best at! If they want to stop being called 'blank flanks', they'd better realize what's staring right at them soon," I say, sighing a bit, "Frankly, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for them, being picked on by the same other fillies over and over."

"Tell me about it," Shadow murmured softly. "I wish there was something I could do to help. Not just them, but anypony who's having trouble. Just kinda feels like my calling in a way, you know?" she asked taking another bite of pie.

"Hmmm, kinda, yeah..." Silver looked down at his own cutie mark, a compass rose, and then out the window. "I just wish I knew what our cutie marks actually meant. That might help us at least a bit..." he sighed.

"I know. A compass rose and a sword-crossed bleeding heart...what special talents could those possibly represent?" Shadow asked. The two of them had both asked that same question several times over the last few months. But neither of them had a solid answer just yet.

"No clue... The compass usually means leading others or something similar. Maybe I was in charge of something before we wound up here..." Silver suggested. It was really the only viable theory he'd managed to come up with, having so little to work with.

"Well, you do seem like a natural-born leader most of the time. But what about mine..." Shadow said in a low voice, looking back at her own mark.

"Well, it's a heart with swords through it, so it might mean that you're a good fighter. Maybe you were in the royal guard?" her friend suggested.

Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at that idea, "That would be really cool. An Alicorn who isn't royalty working FOR royalty."

Silver laugh a bit as well, "Yeah, kind of ironic if you think about it."

"Oh yes," Shadow laughed. Her look suddenly went serious when she stopped, however, "I wonder something, though. Every Alicorn I've ever seen or heard of is royalty and really tall. Why is it I'm a normal-sized and ordinary pony?"

"Well that's another thing I've been curious about, actually," Silver said, "But I have a theory about that; you may not be a full Alicorn, like the Princesses. You can have trouble using you magic, but you fly really well, so maybe you're not an Alicorn, but a horned Pegasus. I ended up reading about that kind of thing when I visited Twilight the other day." His cheeks went slightly pink at her name, but he continued, "And I was a bit surprised to find that ponies like that have popped up a few times in history. Even Princess Cadence is actually a winged Unicorn; she only holds the title 'Princess' since she was born to the royal family, like Prince Blueblood. Still, she's a bit more memorable, being head of a whole kingdom up in the north, plus she's way nicer."

Shadows jaw dropped as Silver explained his theory, but she listened patiently regardless, giving a small giggle at the end. "...Maybe...Maybe you're right...but I never knew such a thing existed; an Alicorn that isn't a true Alicorn? Maybe I'm not a pure Alicorn. But...Oh, man, what if I'm not pure-blooded!? What would our friends say if I truly am a...a...half-blood...?" She tried to think of the word, to let it sink in properly. She started taking quick, shallow breaths, "If I'm a half-blood, I'll probably be shunned. Everyone probably hangs out with me because they think I'm special, but what if I'm not? What if I'm actually nopony important, Sil?" Her ears drooped and her eyes began to tear up for a moment before she looked away, stomping a hoof on the floor. When she finally looked back, her eyes were brimming with a rare emotion, one Silver never remembered seeing before: Insecurity.

"Hey now, don't talk like that," Silver said, coming around to her side of the table and sitting next to the black and white Alicorn. He put a leg around her shoulder, "Shadow, I can tell you here and now that you are important. You're important to me, to our friends, and of course to Rainbow Dash. Otherwise we wouldn't talk to you. It doesn't matter if your half-blood; no matter what you are, I'll definitely stick beside you." He grinned a bit and pulled her a bit closer, "So come on and give me a smile; it suits you way better."

Shadow sat quietly, listening to her friend speak and remaining silent for another moment before finally speaking again. "Hm… All right," she said, giving a small smile. She turned a second later, wrapping him in a hug, "Thanks Sil, I needed that."

"Heh, that's my best friend." He smirked a bit, "Besides, if you're ever moping around, I know how to fix that now." As he spoke, his tail sneaked over and wagged on Shadows belly.
She giggled, breaking the hug and swatting it away, "I-I know." Silver pulled it away, the both of them laughing together. It may have been hard living without a past, but having a friend in the same boat could definitely help make it more bearable.

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A/N: A special thanks to my great friend Torri-chan, who edited this chapter and is truly like an awesome big sister to me. And of course to you, the readers, for sticking around and reading this. Next chapter the story should finally get moving at much more decent pace, but it'll also become action-y as well. So stay tuned.