"Oh I'm so excited!" Fluttershy said, standing at the train station. It was early in the day and ponies were walking to and fro in the train station, waiting to go wherever the ticket declared.
"I still can't believe you have a brother and you never told us before." Twilight Sparkle said, smiling at the yellow pony's enthusiasm.
"Oh, I'm sorry girls. It's just, I haven't seen him in so long that I guess I forgot to mention it." Fluttershy scratched the back of her foreleg with a hoof guiltily.
"It's quite alright, Fluttershy. What matters is that you finally get to see him after such a long time." Rarity said, placing a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Though how I never saw him at flight school is pretty weird if you ask me." She said, scratching her chin with her hoof.
"Well Ah'm sure it's 'cause he's prolly' just as skittish as Fluttershy." Applejack said.
"Oh, no. He's actually quite-" Fluttershy didn't get to finish her sentence as the train whistle sounded behind her.
"Oh my gosh, the trains almost here! Have-you-ever-been-this-excited-before-cause-I-haven't-well-except-for-this-one-time-where..." Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in Pinkie Pie's mouth before the hyperactive pony continued her warp speed explanation. As the train came to a stop, the doors opened, and the ponies from Manehattan stepped out.
Fluttershy eagerly looked around for her brother, her head snapping in all directions. As the last pony stepped out, Fluttershy's smile started to fade. "But... He said he would be here today..." Fluttershy whispered as her eyes started to water.
"Aw come on, sugercube. Maybe he missed the train and had to get him a new ticket fer the next one." Applejack said, hugging the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy nodded, her head hanging low as she started to walk towards the exit.
As they walked away, they heard a gruff voice say "Hey kid, wake up. Trains bout ta leave." Fluttershy looked back at the train's compartment to see a light brown earth pony rouse an unseen passenger as he moved the new passengers luggage to the storage compartment. A yawn sounded from inside the train and a light black pegasus with a messy two toned black and shadow mane and tail stepped out, draping his saddlebag over his back.
"Shade!" Fluttershy said excitedly, as she ran towards the dark colt.
"Shy!" he said, as the canary yellow mare tackled and hugged him.
"That's Fluttershy's brother?" Rainbow Dash said quizzically, looking at her other friends. "They look nothing alike."
Twilight shrugged her shoulders and walked towards the two pegasi. "Is this your brother Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, yes. Everyone, this is my brother, Night Shade. Night Shade, this is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy said, pointing to each of her friends as she named them.
"Hey. Nice to finally meet all of Fluttershy's friends. Well other than her animal friends that is." Night Shade said with a smile.
"Well howdy there, Mr. Night Shade." Applejack said, returning the smile. Night Shade blushed slightly at the formal title.
"Please, just call me Shade." he chuckled.
"Oh-my-gosh-this-is-so-cool-we-should-totally-throw-a-party-for-Shade-I-need-to-get-to-work-pronto-BYE!" Pinkie said at top speed before taking off into town. Shade leaned toward Fluttershy, a look of amusement and confusion on his face.
"Does she always do that?" Shade asked.
"Oh, no. She usually talks slower than that." Fluttershy said, smiling.
"Well what'r we all just standin' 'round here for? Why don't we all show you 'round? We can give yeh the Grand Tour of Ponyville and I'll be darned if I let a new friend of ours go without a taste of the Apple family's famous Apple Fritter." Applejack said with a wink.
"Great idea Applejack! A tour sounds perfect." Twilight said.
"Oh, yes. A tour does sound nice. Well, you know, if that's ok with you." Fluttershy smiled meekly.
"Sounds good to me." Shade said with a nod.
"Oh and maybe afterwards we can visit my boutique and find you a handsome ensemble. I'm sure you will have all the young fillies clamoring over your attention once I fit you in one of my fashionable, yet modest, outfits." Rarity said, looking shade up and down as if she was already taking his measurements. "And maybe a new mane style." she added, taking in the young colts spiky, flyaway mane.
Shade laughed at the white mares eagerness to get him all dressed up. "I'm sure I can find some time for that, though my budgets a little limited at the moment." Shade said, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh nonsense, darling. It would be my absolute pleasure to make you an ensemble, free of charge!" Rarity said excitedly.
Applejack chuckled and leaned towards Shade. "Watch yerself. She'll probably use you teh make a new line o' fancy clothes." She whispered. Shade laughed quietly.
"Shall we get going then?" Twilight said with a smile.
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy agreed.
Shade stretched his legs and wings one last time, shaking out his messy black mane. "Lead on." Shade said, shifting his saddlebags around. As they left the train station, Shade looked behind him, feeling as if something was watching him.
As the group walked through Ponyville, Fluttershy pointed out all the important places such as Sugarcube Corner, the Ponyville market, the Hospital, and even some of the houses that ponies such as Carrot Top, Minute, and Lily Bloom lived in.
As they walked, Twilight bombarded Shade with questions. "So what do you do for a living Shade?" she asked.
"I'm an artist." Shade replied. "I make all kinds of art, from simple sketches to musical pieces. But mostly I paint."
Twilight cocked her head to the side. "So which is your special talent?"
"Painting. If you want, I can show them to you sometime." Shade answered, smiling at Twilight warmly.
Twilight blushed and looked down at her hooves. "Sure. I'll look at my schedule and see if I can make time."
After visiting a couple more places, they decided to stop by Sugarcube Corner to get something to cure the sweet tooth Rainbow Dash mentioned she had. When they opened the door though, they were greeted by an explosion of confetti and a blast that sounded like a cannon, throwing them all backwards. As they untangled themselves from the mass of limbs and confused ponies, Pinkie jumped out yelling "SURPRISE!!!!" wearing a motley assortment of party favors like googly eye glasses, a arrow-through-the-head gag hat, and seven different colored noise makers in her mouth.
"I think you went a little overboard there, Pinks." Dash said, coughing up confetti.
Pinkie blew her noise makers and laughed at her friends shocked faces as they all stood up. "Throwing a party for a new friend calls for nothing but my biggest Pinkie Pie Instant Party Cannon!"
"Ah'm pretty sure Ah just swallowed half o' the party." Applejack said, trying to separate herself from the rest of the pile.
As Shade pulled himself from the group, he started laughing at the sudden surprise. "That was awesome! I can't remember the last time someone scared me that good."
"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, her face inches from Shade's. "That's because Manehattan doesn't have Pinkie Pie to throw parties!"
Shade backed up, blushing at how close the pink pony was just seconds ago. Unfortunately Rainbow Dash noticed him blushing before he could regain his composure.
"What's up Shade?" she said, smiling maliciously. "You got a fever or something." Dash inched closer with each word until she was almost muzzle to muzzle with Shade.
Twilight moved closer to Shade as well. "You do look a little red. Maybe he's tired from his long journey."
Shade felt his face heat up even more as the lavender unicorn looked him in the eyes, her violet irises making his heart beat faster and faster.
"Ahh, quit teasin' the poor colt." Applejack said in his defense, snickering despite her firm tone.
"But I wasn't teasing him. He really does look feverish." Twilight said, confused.
"I'm sure it's because he isn't used to having so many pretty mares so close to him." Rainbow said, booping him on the nose with her hoof before turning around and going inside the giant pink and white building.
"Come on now, let's git inside before Pinkie starts roastin' marshmallows over his head." Applejack said with a chuckle.
"Did somepony say marshmallows?" Pinkie said, dressed in pirate clothing and standing atop a party cannon packed to bursting point with sugary white cylinders.
* * * *
As far as Shade could tell, Pinkie's party was the best one he'd ever been to. Those ponies in Manehattan were too sophisticated for his taste and didn't have any taste in color. He'd spent the better part of five years in Manehattan learning all kinds of art from ponies like Ruby Brush and Perfect Pallet. In the time he was there, he visited a lot of parties in the big city, all of which were high class and totally not his type. And after all that up tight stuff, it was good to finally go to an actual party.
After a couple hours of dancing, games, and Rainbow teasing him, they were all tired and ready to head home and settle down.
"So where are you staying while your here Shade?" Twilight asked.
"I'll be staying in an apartment not to far from City Hall. Since I'm low on bits right now I can't afford anything really classy, but after all that fancy living in Manehattan, it'll be nice to live someplace simple." Shade answered.
"Well if yah ever need someplace to stay, we always got an extra room down at Sweet Apple Acres fer guests." Applejack said with a smile.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind if I end up running out of bits before I find a job to keep me up on rent while I'm here." Shade said.
"How long are you staying in Ponyville?" Twilight asked.
"Haven't decided yet. I'm hoping to stay here for a little while, but if push comes to shove and I gotta get back to Manehattan, then I might have to cut the visit short." Shade noticed the worried look on Fluttershy's face and added very quickly "I don't think that'll happen though. I made sure I had enough bits for at least a month."
"Aight well, it's been fun but I think I'm gonna head home now. Gotta get up early tomorrow for work." Rainbow said. Then with a sly grin she added "Later Shade." As she said that she flew over Shade and, flirtingly, she rubbed her back against his. Shade's whole body went rigid as his face turned a deep crimson. Rainbow laughed and flew off to her cloud home before Applejack could give her 'a good talkin' to'.
"Sorry bout that Shade. She's a good girl, but sometimes she gits a little too inta her fun n' games." Applejack said with an apologetic smile.
"It's ok." Shade said, his face still tinged red. "I don't mind a little teasing."
"Ok well, we should probably start getting home. It's pretty late and I'm sure Shade needs his sleep. Plus I have to get up early. Tomorrow is re-shelving day and I want to at least get past 'D' before nightfall." Twilight said as she turned around to start walking back to the Golden Oaks Library.
"Oh yes, I have to get back home and feed all the nocturnal critters. They tend to get a little cranky if I'm late." Fluttershy said.
"I could come and help if you want." Shade offered.
"Oh, that's okay. You should probably check in at the apartment your staying in before the desk closes." She replied.
"Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow." Shade said as he started walking towards his apartment complex.
As he walked away, he could still feel that strange sensation, like something was watching him.
It was a cloudless night, and a full moon shone like a gentle phantom in the star filled sky. Shade had already checked in at his apartment and moved himself in, but he still had too much energy in him to sleep. After an hour of laying in his bed, staring at the roof, he decided he might as well go out for a little night flight. Picking up his now empty saddlebag, he placed his paints, brushes, and various other painting tools into it. Draping his saddlebag over his back and setting his easel in a custom latch where it wouldn't obstruct his wings, he opened the door and stepped into the cool night.
After locking the door behind him, he gently took off into the sky, making sure to be quiet so to not wake the other ponies living in the apartment complex.
As he flew above the small town, Shade breathed in the crisp night air, letting it's cool, moist feeling fill his lungs. 'Oh yeah, you don't get this in Manehattan,' he thought to himself as he flew towards the edge of town. Noticing a set of hills a bit outside of town, he started his decent towards them.
Landing on the top of the largest hill, he stood there for a few seconds, taking in a breath taking sight. There before his eyes was the ivory castle of Canterlot, set into the mountain. Just to it's left was the moon, the serene white orb shining brightly, giving the castle a sort of glow that could only be described as perfect.
With his inspiration before him, Shade set out his easel and a fresh canvas, laying out a couple of candles for light. Taking out a match from his saddlebag, he struck it against a small boulder next to him, lighting it. After lighting the wick on both candles, he determined he had enough light to work. Setting up his pastel, he applied several paints on it and, taking out a medium sized brush, began his work.
* * * *
Princess Luna was sitting outside on her balcony, looking up at her night sky. Today had been a rather slow and uneventful day, and she was glad that it was finally over. Now she could enjoy her night in peace and not have to sign any papers or listen to more boring reports while the droning voice of her sisters guard went on and on until she jerked herself back awake after realizing that she had missed more than half of the report. Unfortunately it would all have to start again the next day, her boring life carrying on without the slightest difference.
As she grumbled to herself, thinking about the amount of nothing that she would have to face tomorrow, a dim light flickered at the corner of her eye. She looked to her left, only to find nothing there. Thinking it as her imagination, she turned back to face her moon. Suddenly, the dim light flickered again. She looked to her left again, searching for the source of her distraction. Looking across the landscape at he bottom of the mountain, she found the dim light that had attracted her attention. It was a small ball of light, no bigger than a pin prick from her balcony.
Narrowing her eyes to get a better look, she saw a small figure standing next to the light. Deciding to investigate this strange shape, she spread her wings and took off into the night.
* * * *
Shade had just finished painting the landscape below the mountain, and had started to outline the base when a strange wind blew from behind him. It had almost upset his pastel, but luckily he caught it before it could fall. Letting out a sigh of relief, he began his work once more. He looked upon the mountain as he painted, taking in each crack and jagged edge, each subtle detail about the castle, and the perfect combination of regal and roughness between the two.
He placed his brush in a glass jar of water to let it soak and clean. Taking out a smaller brush, he began to outline the outer shape of the castle. With each brush stroke, he could feel his world come to life. He could see each small detail that made this world his own. And with each passing second, he felt his heart connect with the painting.
As he finished outlining the castles shape and detail, he placed his brush in the jar next to the previous brush. Taking out a thin tip brush, he dabbed it into the shaded white, beginning the detail on the castle.
* * * *
Luna had flown down from her balcony, and had started to fly towards the strange light. Steeling herself for what could possibly be at the bottom of the mountain, she started to charge a defense spell.
As she got closer though, she saw that it was a pony. But she had never seen this pony before. 'Maybe he's new' she thought to herself.
Taking great care not to be heard, she landed behind the strange colt, keeping her distance from him. She looked at the object in front of him, and saw that it was an unfinished painting. Looking at all the details on the painting, she saw that he had taken great care and attention to get every tiny detail right.
Deciding against making her presence known, she laid down upon the grassy bed beneath her and watched him as he continued to paint, oblivious to her presence.
* * * *
Shade was almost done with his painting. Just one last thing to do. As he rifled through his saddlebag, he placed the now cleaned brushes back into they're respective places.
Finally finding what he was looking for, he placed a tiny glass bottle on his pastel that was sitting on the boulder next to the candles. As he popped the lid off, he readied a new brush, this one smaller than the rest. Dipping the brush in the tiny bottle, he withdrew it, the tip of the brush coated in a clear glowing liquid. Carefully, he lightly coated the surface of the moon in his painting, giving it a faint shine. Once he had finished, he placed the lid back on the bottle and set it back in his saddlebag.
As he finished placing his equipment in his saddlebag, he heard a light cough behind him. He jumped slightly in surprise and turned around. Behind him was a dark blue unicorn with a mane and tail that looked like the night sky. Or was she a Pegasus? She had a horn, but she also had wings. Maybe a Pegacorn? Or a Unisus? Shade had never seen such a pony before. Before he could think of a more ludicrous name for the unknown species, the strange mare addressed him in an odd manner of speech.
"We-- I am Princess Luna. What is thou name?" the mare said. Shade felt his stomach tighten. 'Princess? You mean princess of the castle behind me?' Shade started to panic a little. 'Oh man, I'm in it deep, aren't I? I'm trespassing on royal property. I'll get the dungeon treatment if I even breathe wrong, won't I? Do you know what they do to colts in a dungeon? Especially lean, sinfully curvacious colts like me?' Shade could feel himself pale at the thought of dungeon treatment.
Princess Luna looked at the colt in front of her, a bit confused. He looked as if he might have a panic attack. "Is thou ok?" she asked.
"Y-yes your majesty." Shade said quickly, stuttering slightly. "My name is Night Shade."
Princess Luna smiled warmly at him, inwardly chuckling at his nervousness. "It is nice to meet thou. We-- I could not help but notice thou painting upon the hills from my balcony."
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trespass, your majesty." Shade said, his panic rising.
"It is quite alright. And if it is okay, thou mayst call me Luna." Princess Luna said with a smile.
Shade could feel his panic and anxiety start to dissipate at the Princess' kind smile. "If I may ask, how long have you been here?"
"A little while. I have been watching thou paint, and I must say, it is quite beautiful." Luna said, walking closer to Shade, looking at his finished painting.
"Thanks." Shade said. He mentally facehoofed himself at his nonchalant answer. 'Seriously? Your talking to a princess for crying out loud. You think you could be a little more sophisticated?'
"Thou even got the tiniest detail down perfectly." Luna continued. "Might I ask how thou got the moon to glow like that?"
Shade looked to his painting, feeling himself calm down slightly. "I used a special clear coat that is mixed with Moonstone dust. The Moonstone gives it the shine, while the clear coat makes sure it stays there and doesn't fade."
Luna looked at the painting affectionately before turning back to Shade. "Thou did a wonderful job. It is quite a beautiful piece."
Shade looked into the Princess' eyes and felt his face heat up. 'Oh come on! Really? You had to blush in front of the princess? Real professional.' "Y-yeah. I just thought I would go out for a little flight and ended up finding a picture waiting to be painted." he said, looking anywhere but the princess' eyes.
"I am glad that someone enjoys my night. Not everyone appreciates the beauty of my star filled sky and moon." Luna said with an air of sadness.
"I love the night!" Shade blurted out, maybe a bit to loudly. He blushed at his sudden outburst and continued. "It's so peaceful and quiet. I feel like I belong to the night. Like it's calling to me, and telling me that all I could achieve is within my grasp, and that it will hold me in it's protective embrace as I seek what I'm destined to do."
Luna looked at the Shade, a little surprised. She gazed thoughtfully into the sky as she pondered what the young colt said. "I am grateful to thou words. If only everypony could see my night like thou does." She said, smiling.
"I'm sure they will. One day, everypony will." Shade said.
Luna smiled at the Pegasus and looked up. Her horn glowed a deep blue and the ground beneath her stirred. A metallic stone, bright and reflective, broke the surface. As it rose to eye level it changed shape, becoming an oddly shaped ring. No sooner had it finished changing shape, a small white stone had appeared from the sky, attaching itself to a slot in the ring.
"I would like to give you this, as thanks for the company and appreciation of my night." Luna said, presenting the bright ring to Shade. "It is made from pure silver and a piece of my moon."
Shade looked at the ring, awed at it's beauty. "I... I don't know what to say." he said, shocked at such a gift.
"May I fasten it to your wing?" Luna asked. 'So that's why it looked so funny.' Shade thought. He nodded and extended his wings, allowing the princess to place the ring upon one if them. Once Luna had finished, the ring glowed brightly at the base of his left wing.
"It only glows at night, and will only shine this brightly in a full moon." She said, smiling at Shade.
Shade was still shocked. He had never received such a gift before. "Thank you. I will always wear it." Shade said, returning the princesses smile. That and he didn't know if the thing could come off.
"We-- I am glad. But for now, I am sure thou is quite exhausted, and would like to rest." Luna said. Shade didn't even realize he was tired until the princess had said something. Yawning, he looked up and noticed the moon had moved quite a bit. It must be past midnight by now.
"Yeah. I should probably get some shut eye. I got a lot to do tomorrow." he said, stretching his wings. 'Wow, I can't even feel the ring,' he thought to himself, 'Not even the weight.'
"Then I bid thee goodnight. I too have quite a lot to do come morning." Luna said, remembering the list of duties she must attend to in the morning. Spreading her wings, she started to fly back to the castle.
Shade looked up as she flew away. "Goodnight, Luna."
As he watched her disappear, he got an idea. Returning to his canvas, he retrieved a brush from his saddlebag and a couple of paints as well. Dipping his brush in one of them, he added an extra feature to the painting.
A few minutes later, he set his brush and paints back into his saddlebag and admired his now complete painting. Only one more thing to do...
* * * *
Princess Luna sat upon her throne next to her sister. The day had been as she expected. Dull. More reports. More papers. More boredom. As she talked to her sister about the next upcoming event, the Grand Galloping Gala, a messenger pony entered the hall with a large package.
He bowed before the Princesses and said "Package for Princess Luna." placing the parcel before Luna.
Puzzled, Luna thanked the messenger, and began to open the package. Before her was a painting of Canterlot Castle in the light of a still glowing full moon. Luna smiled, then noticed something new. Something that wasn't there last night. On a balcony at the upper tower was a deep blue mare with a star filled mane and tail, looking up at the beautiful night sky.
Luna smiled as she felt a tear trace down her face. Never had she met a pony who loved her night as much as she did, and now, bared in a painting before her, was proof that she wasn't alone.
"That is a beautiful painting." Princess Celestia said.
"Yes, it is." Luna said, wiping the tear from her eye.
