Daybreak

by Shadow rift

First published 29th of December, 2016

Shadow Rift's career is important to him, and for a short time, becomes his life. But when a beautiful mare enters the picture, Shadow's world changes.

An up and coming stunt colt, Shadow Rift has been working for the past year to build his reputation up and become one of Equestria's most well known celebrities. For the past year, and almost most of his life, Shadow Rift's entire career becomes his life, and he becomes more determined than ever to achieve the expectations his parents and all of Equestria, and go down as one of the greatest stunt colts of all time.

Things, however, start to change when a young and beautiful mare enters his life, seeking his love and trying to show him there is more to life than his dangerous career, while also trying to be as supportive as possible of the young athlete and his possibly life threatening lifestyle.

Despite all of this, both the mare and Shadow have demons out for both of them. Demons in their past that will stop at nothing to ensure that both of them are left broken and reminded of their deeds and sins. Will they be able to achieve the life they both want for one another? Or will the past come back to finish the job it had started long ago? Will it be their Daybreak?

Or Nightfall?

Contains: First time sex, sock and collar uniform, mild fetish, (more to come)

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I had originally made this story as a means of getting away from my life at the time, which, in all fairness, wasn't doing so great. I decided to reboot it because the previous installment had nothing I liked about it, and nothing that I personally felt comfortable with.

This go around, I plan on making an actual story that is more than what I originally made. Hopefully, this story will also be my Daybreak.

(Also, quick side note, yes, the Aryanne in this story isn't technically a Nazi. It'll be explained over a period of time, but for now, just know that I will not have a "Nazi Aryanne".)

I'd like to thank Miss Thresha8 for her amazing art work here. It's the closest I've gotten so far to what it's originally based on.

And I'd like to thank those of you who are willing to read this story, and even more those of you who support my idea of rebooting it. I didn't do it out of selfishness, but rather to give you all what you wanted and what I wanted to see of it.

EDIT: New Cover Art by Mister FoughtDragon! Much appreciation to him for this phenomenal piece of beauty!

Chapter 1: Posters

As the night began to steadily approach, the sun set creating its vibrant colors of orange, red, and yellow, it brought on the all too familiar cool air of night, calming and relieving Shadow as he continued on through the streets of Ponyville, while chilling other ponies to the bone.

Flying at this time of day would've been a thought he'd enjoy, soaring along the heavens and feeling the cool air brush against his body and through his mane. A smile crept against his face as he thought of that, just flying up there against the sherbet of different colors. Flying, for him was more than a sport or an activity to be taken advantage of. It was an escape. An escape from reality where nothing really mattered, there were no ponies to push him along his path, to become the stallion that everypony knew and hoped he would become some day.

An escape from all the expectation, all the stress, all of his built up anger. Nothing mattered up there... It was a safe haven.

The more Shadow thought of this, the more he felt his wings flapping, wanting desperately to get him off the ground. He would've agreed with them, and allowed himself to take flight, but the aching feeling in his body and the, quite frankly, painful movement of his wings, were enough to have him remember that he wasn't in any condition to do any flying. At least, for the remainder of today.

This pain wasn't anything new to Shadow, as he had started to become accustomed to it, he had begun to wish he never did. It wasn't so much the pain that got to him, though it was a big factor in his exhaustion towards it, but more or less the feeling afterwards. Pain leads to exhaustion, exhaustion leads to not being able to do what he loves. Not being able to do what he loves meant no more shows, and there was no way in Tartarus he was going to give those up. The shows were fun, regardless as to how many ponies would show up, generally anywhere from 80 to 175 ponies, with some of them even occasionally getting more than that if he was lucky.

Today was one of those days, thankfully. Lots of ponies came this time around, and he was thankful for it. For one thing, it meant that there would be more money coming his way, and for another, it meant that more ponies could see his performance, spread the word, and hopefully either catch the attention of other ponies or some of Equestria's elite citizens. The more turnouts at the shows, the better, with the tremendous roar of the crowd cheering him on always motivated him to put his all into his performance.

Did that exactly make up for the pain in his wings and body, along with the cut in his left arm? No, but in his mind's eye, it wasn't exactly a waste either. It was fun, and because of it, maybe more ponies would spread and the word and others could join them.

A small chuckle erupted from deep inside him as he held his arm, feeling the fresh bandage wrapped around it before letting his arm fall back down to the ground and continue on his track home. It wasn't anything he was proud of, but it was the risk he ran when it came to the performances he'd put on. Daring leaps and obstacles that were far too dangerous for any mare or stallion to attempt, yet he did for the pleasure of his fans. That being said, however, it sometimes came at a cost. Today was nothing compared to some of the other injuries he had acquired through his young career as a stuntcolt, and a simple cut was something he could tolerate. It's just that he found them extremely pesky, especially when doctors would keep you around for hours just to get you bandaged up like Shadow's Doctor did with him. To the doctor's credit, he could understand why he'd be so concerned, but all he needed was a couple stitches and a bandage wrapped around his arm. Not a half hour lecture on why he should've come in sooner or how he was lucky he wasn't later otherwise this, that, and the other.

Equestria's number one problem with doctors, he thought to himself as he made it in front of his apartment building, they never get to the point.

Thankful he only had to climb up two flights of stairs, Shadow took out the keys from his saddle bag and placed them into the key frame of his apartment door, opening the door and immediately flicking on the light switch to allow the soft and clean light flood the apartment. It wasn't exactly a very bad place for all it was worth, a living room with a state of the art kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Just the necessities without being overly complicated.

Just what he needed.

Throwing his saddlebags to some unforeseen corner of his living room, his ears twitched as the sound of the bags meeting contact with some type of cardboard box, slightly catching him off guard as he travelled to the site of the sound to find a large cardboard box next to his door. On it was a note that simply read, "Shadow Rift".

Curiously opening the box, he rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly as he was met with the sight of a new design for posters, later finding that the whole freakin' box was full of them. The design of said poster was simplistic, but extremely effect for anypony who may have wanted them. It was just a simple shot of Shadow Rift taking flight with a strange font on the front of it reading "Take to the skies here in Manehatten with Shadow Rift" before listing off a few different days and times for each show.

Just add that one to the other five we've made so far, Chromium... Shadow thought to himself as he closed the box, taking only one poster for himself and placing it with the other five he had mentioned before. Looking at the posters, he was happy to look back at the day and be able to say that he managed to, for the most part, almost sell out of them entirely. This newest artist he had hired to help him work for some of them was amazing at what he did, and it was a miracle to think that such a simple piece of merchandise could be so easily created. Sure, it cost a lot to normally make said posters, but at the very least, they would normally make the money back. Shadow had thought at one point to charge for signatures, but immediately thought against it since it was probably a bad move for somepony so low on the totem pole to try and accomplish looking ponies in the eye and telling them to give him there money just for him to give them his name.

Bad for business and bad if you wanna make money without thinking of the money first, Shadow would think to himself every time he did-

Interrupted, Shadow's ear once again twitched as he heard the soft sound of the door being knocked, restraining himself from sighing as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Great, he thought to himself as he slowly made his way to the door, the landlord. Thought I told her that I'd make sure she'd get the rent by the end of the month...

"Who is it?" Shadow asked, doing his best and successfully holding back any negative tone in his voice. No answer came from behind the door as he rested his ear against it, furrowing his brow as he waited for the reply that never came. "Look I told you that..." Shadow began as he opened the door, trailing off as he looked through the door frame to see his landlord, expecting to see her face of annoyance and her left hoof placed against her hip. A clever and sarcastic quip even came to his mind to address said mare.

But all thoughts of said quip and expectations were completely thrown out the window as Shadow stood in silence like an idiot in the door frame.

Instead of seeing the stuck up expression of his landlord, Shadow was met with the sight of a white coated mare, with a beautifully rich and vibrant blond mane that gracefully flowed down to her shoulder. She stood up straight and took her gaze away from the ground beneath her, moving her eyes to meet Shadow's, her eye color being that of a clean and beautifully blue lake. As she stood up straight, she grasped her left forearm with her right hoof, keeping it close to her body as a small blush grew on her face.

Her outfit, if you could call it that, consisted of a pink collar placed around her neck, and a pair of matching socks covered her forearms, almost all of which looked and probably were expensive.

Confused, Shadow's brow furrowed as he stared at the mare, whose gaze would occasionally shift between him and the ground. She was beautiful, but why she was here, Shadow was left to assume for himself. A couple of assumptions came to mind, but one or two of them were related more... Interesting intentions. "Can I help you?" Shadow asked, finally deciding to just bite the bullet and ask why rather than who first. The mare's ear twitched once as Shadow spoke to her, and immediately her sight turned back up to him. "I'm sorry... If I'm troubling you, I can come back later..." She responded with a rich accent in her voice, perhaps from some area in Trottingham. "No need... I mean, nothing's really keeping me up now." Shadow said, now leaning against the door as the mare's blush continued to grow, looking back at his barebones apartment. "So... Do you need anything?"

The mare opened her mouth as though to respond to Shadow, her eyes moving around as though she were picking out the right words to say and, eventually, shaking her head as she looked back up at Shadow. "You are Shadow Rift, correct?" She asked, seemingly already knowing the answer as her brow slightly furrowed. "One and only..." Shadow said with a proud smile, "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping to purchase a poster from you..." She said immediately afterwards, her blushing growing to a pure red as her grip on her arm tightened. "I'm sorry... Was that too forceful?" She asked a little taken a back herself, making Shadow chuckle slightly and shake his head. "It's cool, I get it." He said as he pointed his hoof towards her, "You want a poster? Alright, I'll get you one, free of charge."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to hurt your sales in any way."

"Believe me, I'll be fine. I've got plenary of other posters I could sell. One free poster isn't gonna kill me." He said as his body came off from the doorframe and his hoof extend forward. "Nice to meet you." He said, the mare hesitating slightly as she debated with herself with accepting his offer before finally taking hold of his hoof and giving it a shake. "Come on in, I don't mind ponies being in here." He said as he let go of her hoof and proceeded inside of his apartment. "Are you sure?" The mare asked, Shadow turning back and shrugging his shoulders. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just saying you don't have to stand out there either. Besides, there's not much in here really worth taking."

Nodding her head, the mare entered into his apartment. As Shadow turned into his bedroom, he immediately took down the various posters available from the top of his closet, throwing each box on to the bed and shutting the door with relative ease. As he opened the boxes and took out one of every poster, he would occasionally look back at the mare, now sitting on a chair in the kitchen and taking in the sight of his apartment. Celestia only knew what was running through her head at the moment, though if he were to guess, chances are she was just taking in the apartment since her eyes were traveling all around it. "Uh, I didn't catch your name, by the way... What was it?" He asked as he pulled out the last poster, looking at all of them proudly, lined up side by side with one another and proudly displaying himself and a time of date for his appearances. "Oh, my name?"

"Yeah... And could you come in her for a minute? I've got all the posters set... Oh." Shadow shouted before looking back and seeing the mare in the doorway, standing upright again as she leaned slightly against the doorway. "Sorry... Didn't see you there..." He said, rubbing the back of his head and nervously smiling at the mare, who returned the favor with a soft smile of her own while she made her way into the room and looked down at the bed, all of the five posters displayed proudly as she looked through them all.

A little while had passed before Shadow decided to break the air by clearing his throat. "So, see any you like?" He asked as he stood by her side. "Aryanne..." She said softly, making Shadow furrow her brow as she turned her head to face him, "that's my name... Aryanne..."

"Oh..." Shadow said, his brow still furrowed as he looked back down at the posters before quickly looking back at her, "Nice name. Very unique." He said, making the mare giggle slightly as her gaze returned back down to the posters. Well, that's a good sign, he thought to himself as he awaited her response. "The one here is from your first show. I remember seeing it when I went." She said, pointing down at a simple poster of him spreading his wings and staring down a ring of fire. "You went to it?" He asked, making her turn back to face him, gripping her arm once more and nod, both of which accompanied by a blush and a small smile. "I've been to almost all of them, save for only one or two..." She nervously began, "I try my best to go to as many as possible but... Life seemed to meddle with me for a bit and prevented me from going."

"Well... Do you like them?" He asked, taken by surprise as he heard that this beautiful mare would even think of going to his show. "I mean, I'm sure some ponies would like them but, do you?"

"More than you know..." She replied in a hushed voice as she hid behind her mane, preventing him from seeing her beautiful eyes. "May I have this one?" She asked, as she took up a corner of the poster, Shadow nodding as a reply. "Yeah, go ahead. It's yours." He said as Aryanne turned back to look at him. "Is it possible I could have it... Signed?"

"Well... That's gonna cost you..." Shadow said, shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes over his shoulder. "It... Will?" She asked, adjusting her collar and her grasp of the poster loosened. "A date." Shadow said as his eyes turned back to meet her, "That's all. You and me. Tom-"

"Yes" she said without hesitation and almost in a shout as she looked back at Shadow, "Yes, I will."

"Really?" He asked in a questioning tone, the mare nodding as she brushed her mane to the side. "Yes. I'd love to." Furrowing his brow again, Shadow was a little bit surprised to hear her almost immediate response, yet was still happy she would agree to him and simply shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, I know a nice little place in town that we can go to in the morning. For now..." He began, stretching his arms up in the air and letting out a yawn, "I could use some rest. I'm sure I can trust you not to steal anything while I put away this stuff and head to bed?" He asked, Aryanne hesitant to begin as she placed the poster down and looked at Shadow, a shy expression on her face as she began. "Actually... I..." She hesitated before going on as Shadow began to put away the posters. "Yeah...?" He said, placing the first box away in his closet and going back for the second, "I was just hoping I... That we..."

"Uh huh?" He asked as he grabbed the second box and placed it back up on the shelf. "Well... It's just... I'm not sure if you would, but if we could I'd..." She said as Shadow went back to the bed, instead of grabbing the third box, grabbing her shoulders and gently squeezing them. "Just... Take a deep breath in..." He said, Aryanne complying and taking in a deep breath, "and let it out..." He continued in a calm voice, immediately being met with the calm breath out as her gaze hit the floor.

"Now..." He began, his hoof being placed under her chin and tilting it upwards for him to see her, now blushing profusely as her cheeks were a dark shade of pink and on the verge of turning red. "Tell me..." He asked in a calm voice, trailing down her shoulder and making contact with the pink cloth of her sock before eventually grabbing her hoof. "It's okay. Just tell me whatever you need to. Say what you need to say."

Aryanne hesitated for a moment as she choked a few ones on her words, but eventually managed to do what was requested of her. To say what she needed to say. "May I stay with you tonight?" She asked, gripping Shadow's hoof tightly as she asked. Not knowing how exactly to respond, let alone how to react, Shadow gave a smile and delicately placed a kiss on Aryanne's lips, letting go of her hooves and making his way towards the kitchen.

"So, do you wanna sleep with me, or do you want the couch tonight?"

Author's Notes:

Well, that's the first chapter. It's not much but if Mighty Number Nine had taught me anything "it's better than nothing".

I'm joking of course. The cloppy parts will be coming soon, but for now, I needed a foot hold to get my bearings. Hopefully, this does the trick.

Chapter 2: Sex in the Morning (clop)

The bed that night felt a lot more warm and full then it had before as Shadow held Aryanne is his arms, smiling to himself as he watched the mare peacefully, with a cute smile on her face and her arms wrapped around his neck. The clock behind her shined the numbers of 8:00 AM in the darkness, and if Shadow were to open the blinds of the windows, he'd swear the entire room would be filled by the bright light of the sun. At first he had thought to just simply get out of bed and get to his normal routine in the morning, that being some type of breakfast food before he went out to train, but the pain from the day before could still be felt and prevented him from doing such. Besides, if he were to get out of bed, chances were that he would wake the sleeping mare from whatever dream she was having. She seemed content in his arms, and he was perfectly fine staying in bed just a little bit longer with her.

Eventually, time did pass and she awoke from her slumber, yawning and stretching her arms up in the air before her sight turned on to Shadow, smilingly as he placed his hoof against her cheek. "Morning, sleeping beauty..." He said playfully, making Aryanne blush and giggle tiredly, "did you sleep well?"

"Very..." She whispered as she pressed her body closer against his and burying her head in his chest, Shadow's instincts taking over as he wrapped his and wings around her. "You know it's 8 in the morning, right?" He asked as he looked down at Aryanne in his her arms, making her tilt her head upwards to face him. "I had assumed it was early in the morning. It's just that I didn't expect it to be that early..." She said as she nuzzled his chest. "I'm just telling you in case you wanna get something to eat right now." Shadow replied, placing his hoof on her head and slowly brushing down her long beautiful mane, feeling silky smooth and soft as he traveled down to the bottom and rested his hoof against her back.

Rumbles came from Aryanne's stomach as she looked up at Shadow, smiling and giggling rather nervously as the eruption came from her stomach. "A bit of food would go quite a way, Mister Rift..."

"That's Shadow to you." He said with a smile, "Mister Rift just makes me sound like an old jackass..." Shadow chuckled, his response triggering another giggle from Aryanne. "Very well... Shadow it is..." Aryanne finally replied, accompanied by a kiss underneath Shadow's chin, catching him slightly off guard as he looked down at her, debating his next move very carefully as he looked into her beautifully deep blue eyes.

His mind made, he shut his eyes and slowly moved his head down to her, placing his lips against her's and letting the affection her felt for her be shown this gesture.

As Shadow continued to kiss her, he could feel Aryanne's heart beat increase in tempo and continue to pick up in pace. Unknown to him, Aryanne's eyes were as wide as saucers. She was surprised by Shadow's sudden display of affection, and just as much surprised that the colt she had the same feelings for would be so open to show them. A million thoughts ran through her mind, and almost all of them were focused on him and their potential future together.

But for now, returning the favor did nicely as she leaned into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in deeper to the kiss.

They both stayed like this for some time, simply enjoying one another's display of affection for the other, time passing by slowly as they did so. As Shadow rose from the kiss, he saw the blushing beauty that was Aryanne, with a single tear rolling down her cheek and her eyes staring up at him with both timidity and a strange awe. "You're beautiful..." He said, stroking back her mane as the warmth he felt in the bed continued to rise in temperature. "T-T-Thank you..." Aryanne stammered as she held her hoof close to her lips, unable to look at him as her pink cheeks turned to a full rose red shade of blush. Shadow softly smiled as he placed his hoof on one of her own, raising it into the air and taking a firm hold of it, which was firm, but smooth and soft because of the fabric covering it.

Studying it for a bit, Shadow Rift eventually placed the bottom of her hoof against his lips, giving it a soft kiss and garnering a giggle from the mare. "Why did you do that?" She asked, looking up at Shadow yet not denying him her hoof. "Sorry..." He said with a little shyness, bring her hoof down from his lips only a short distance, "thought you'd might like it..."

"I admit it did feel... Nice..." Aryanne said as her eyes went along her shoulder to the end of her hoof. "Oh really?" Shadow questioned, bringing her hoof back up to his lips yet keeping a gap between it and him. "Yes..." She gasped, Shadow smiling as he placed another kiss against her hoof, instead of a giggle coming from the mare came a soft sigh of content. Shadow did this another three times before, eventually, a soft moan of pleasure had come from Aryanne. At first, Shadow wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but after Shadow's leg became wrapped in Aryanne's legs and a warm feeling came from her, it didn't take long for him to put two and two together.

I don't believe it, he thought to himself as he placed her hoof against lips again in a much more passionate kiss, she's in heat.

"Uh... Aryanne..." Shadow said, looking down at his leg while feeling the warmth around it growing in intensity and her grip around his leg tightening. Opening her eyes, Aryanne came back to reality as she stared down at her current position, her legs wrapped around his and the feeling of warmth in her marehood causing her face to go red in embarrassment. "I'm I'm I'm I'm... I'm so sorry, Shadow! I didn't... I mean I had no idea... I was... I'm sorry..." She finally said as her head hit his chest in shame and a torrent of tears came flooding into her eyes, a few even coming out and causing a small stream to trickle down her face.

"Hey, it's okay. It's fine..." Shadow said as he heard Aryanne slowly begin to whimper, bringing her in close and stroking her mane. "It's fine, trust me." Shadow reassuringly said, tilting her head up to face him and kissing her lips, "I don't mind..."

"W-W-What do you m-m-mean?" Aryanne chocked out, wiping away her tears. "I've... I mean I... I..." Shadow said with a shrug, starting off confidently but falling short after not knowing what exactly to say, "I like you a lot too... Enough for... Well, that, I guess."

"R-Really?" She asked, a little shocked at Shadow for being so open to the idea. "Well..." He began, trailing down her arm and taking hold of her collar, just as smooth as it had appeared, "only if you're willing to." He whispered, gently wrapping his hoof around her collar and toying around with it, waiting patiently for her response.

She didn't know what to think, let alone do. She was infatuated with the idea of allowing him to rut her a bit, bend to his will and do as he wanted, but if she did, it'd mean shed be giving her first time to a stallion she's just met. The thing she had been saving for the perfect stallion in her life, the stallion she would trust forever, was strong and protective, yet soft and kind. Shadow was kind hearted, but whether or not he was the perfect stallion would be left for time to decide. She wanted to, but she was scared to... Horribly scared to. But if she'd let anypony have her first time... She wanted it to be him. Even if he isn't Mister Perfect, he was handsome, kind, and playful. Besides... She had put on what she had for attention... His attention. May as well have made use of it.

Her mind made, she looked up at Shadow and shyly nodded. Before that, however, Shadow simply laid there watching her expressions change, as though she were debating with herself with this, keeping him on edge. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, still getting over Aryanne's long time of silence. "Yes..." She said with a soft smile, "I do. I want to. I'd love nothing more than to do that with you, Shadow."

"We've only really known each other for, what? Not even 12 hours. Are you sure?" He asked, now a little concerned about whether or not they should or shouldn't and if this was too soon in a relationship to do so.

All of his concerns, however, floated away as Aryanne placed her lips around his, leaving them there for a short yet passion filled moment as she backed away, staring deeply into his eyes. "Please...?" She asked with her eyes half lidded, placing her arms over Shadow's shoulders, "I want you..."

She's not as timid as she appears, I like that... Shadow thought as a devilish smile plastered itself on his face, his hoof darting upwards to her collar and yanking her forwards. But I'll be damned if she out does me...

"Alright..." He said, holding her closely to him before yanking her collar once more, bringing her lips closer to his as she cried in excitement, long enough for her mouth to be opened and Shadow's tongue to travel down her throat. Aryanne was shocked by the sudden change, but figured it was all part of the act as she closed her eyes and allowed her tongue to latch onto Shadow's, his breath tasting of mints and her's of rich candies as their tongues danced with one another for dominance. Eventually, the fighting stopped, simply turning into romantic dancing as they passionately gave in to one another.

As it continued on, Aryanne was caught by surprise when Shadow's hoof had begun to travel down her curvaceous body and finally make a resting place against her cutie mark. As he continued to lustfully kiss her, Shadow decided to toy with her a bit, teasing her as he circled around her cutie mark with the tip of his hoof, sending shockwaves up Aryanne's spin and coming out as lustful cries of pleasure into Shadow's mouth. As he did so, Shadow could already feel her marehood begin to warm up and burn for attention. He was going to comply to her wishes since his own colthood had come to life, proudly standing straight up and twitching from the desire of being clamped tightly by her marehood.

It was a thought he enjoyed, wanting to desperately give his colthood the attention it desired. But he also wanted this to last. He wanted her to know that he treated his mares right, especially when it came to sex.

Instead of giving into her marehood's wishes, Shadow continued to toy with her as his hoof took hold of her cutie mark tightly, feeling like a plush little pillow as it made the mare moan once again into his mouth and almost melt into his arms. Not as tough as I thought she'd be... Shadow thought to himself as his other hoof finally released its grasp of her collar and travelled down her chest, where it stayed for some time as Shadow took time to appreciate her soft coat before it continued on its path to her other cutie mark, gripping tightly on to it and making Aryanne's marehood only rise in heat intensity and a long moan to fall down into Shadow's throat.

While all of this way happening to her, Aryanne had no idea what to do. It was her first time, and through it all, she had no idea where to begin with her own pleasuring of the stallion. It was even more difficult to think when Shadow's hooves felt almost magical as they gripped her plush soft rear end. For now, she was too preoccupied to think as to where to start with him, it was just better to let him have his way first before she had her's.

Shadow continued his toying with the mare, gripping her butt tightly and occasionally gracing past her marehood, now almost completely soaked in her own fluids. She was more or less ready, but one last thing to do was ensure her readiness. Taking his left hoof off of her cutie mark, Shadow's hoof placed itself against her now soaked marehood, pressing against it slowly as Aryanne's eyes widened in surprised pleasure. She moan as he did so, but as she did, she came off of their kiss and cried out in pure bliss, shifting their position on the bed and placing Shadow underneath herself. She had grown incredibly impatient from his constant teasing, and now her marehood Bruner with the intensity of Celestia's sun, begging for Shadow's colthood within herself.

"Just do it..." She pleaded, eyes wide and pupils dilated as she stared down at Shadow, who was devilishly smiling as his hooves came from her and onto his now hard colthood, twitching in the open air. "I'm not sure you want it that bad..." He said as his left hoof raised upwards and onto her chest, his smile never falling as he looked into her eyes, "I don't think you're ready yet..."

"PLEASE!" Aryanne screamed in a sex filled craze, "Just please! I want you in me! I need you in me! Just please do it!!!" She screamed, making Shadow thankful that he had no neighbors. However, even he couldn't take his own teasing anymore. His colthood was twitching with pride and begging for the same attention she was, and a large part of his brain wanted to take over and turn him into a sex fueled beast, ready and wanting to fuck her brains out. H couldn't take it anymore, and neither could she. The need was too great.

Slowly, he took his colt hood in his right hoof and her check in his left, bringing her head down to his and the tip of his colthood just the opening of her marehood, teasing it by massaging the tip against her opening. "You really want to do this? Are you willing?" He asked lustfully through half lidded eyes, Aryanne's breathing now hesitant as he brushed his colthood against her opening. "Y-y-yes...!" She breathed, placing her legs against his and pinning him down so that he couldn't help but give her what she desired. Complying, Shadow placed the tip of his colthood against her, making her hesitant breathing pick up in pace as she opened her eyes. "W-w-w-wait!" She screamed, looking down at Shadow who looked up at her, his pupils now just as dilated as he desired the feeling of her marehood wrapped around him. "B-b-be... Gentle... P-p-p-please...?" She asked, with Shadow responding with a nod as he pressed the tip of his colthood against her, slowly driving into her and making her cry out in lust as his entire length entered into her, eventually reaching her sweet end and pressing against her womb, making her shriek out in pleasure.

That's it... She thought to herself, he took it...

Though the thought of Shadow taking her marehood made her go cold, she wanted more. His colthood was thick, and it felt incredible as it pressed against her womb, but she wanted more of this incredible feeling. There was a trick that she had learned that supposedly gave mare's and stallions more pleasure, and trying it now that she had a stallion to try it out on made her want to experiment. For now, however, she wanted pleasure and to pleasure her stallion. This was her opportunity.

Bending forward slowly, she arched her back forward for Shadow to get a clear view of her round rear end, raising her hips up and electing a moan from Shadow , who had been lost in a sex fueled frenzy of thoughts, such as how tight the mare was and how amazing slick and warm her marehood was. He loved the feeling, and he loved how round her butt was as he looked over her back.

Aryanne soon slammed her hips back down Shadow's colthood, electing a moan from both of them as the squishing sound of both their liquids resonates in the room. That felt incredible... She thought to herself through their heavy gasping, making her do it again and electing another moan of pleasure from them both. Aryanne continued to do this and soon began to pick up the pace, going quicker and quicker and making the bed shake with each time she brought down her hips against Shadow's lap. This didn't satisfy her enough, however, and she soon pushed herself off of Shadow's body and into the air, her entire body standing proudly as she bounced up and down Shadow's lap, making him moan throughout the entire ordeal as Aryanne's walls around his colthood tightened and constricted around him. For both of them, it was an incredible experience that neither of them wanted to end. Shadow had never had sex as good as this before, and Aryanne was lost in her thoughts, perfectly content with this first time and enjoying every second of it. As a first time, it was amazing... She always knew that sex was a great feeling, but up until now, had never really experienced it. Now that she had, she could safely say it was as great as it was built up to be.

Eventually, her mare juices had built up so much that her feeling of relief was coming. The ultimate release. If she was going to do it, however, she was going to do it correctly. Falling back down on Shadow's body, she wrapped her lips around his, arched her back, and gave a few more hard falls into her womb before the flood of mare juices trickled down her marehood and onto his shaft, a small puddle forming at the base as she fell limp on his chest, feeling accomplished and relieved.

Not far behind, Shadow immediately whipped his length out of her, accompanied by a popping sound as it flew out. Not knowing where else to place it, Shadow placed his length under her stomach and allowed his white fluids fly out of his hardened colthood, hitting her in the stomach and going as far as her chest.

By the end of their excursion, neither Shadow of Aryanne had so much as a word to say to one another. Words couldn't even begin to describe how incredible that all felt for the both of them. The afterglow of their sex made them both incredibly light headed, and the smell of their sex was ripe in the air, coming off as romantic to Aryanne, but fairly disgusting for Shadow. As the both of them stayed there with one another, soaking in one another's juices and contemplating their reaction to the encounter, each of them came to their own conclusions. For Shadow, it was great, incredibly. For Aryanne, it was an amazing first time, and meant to her more than Shadow could ever hope to understand.

"I love you" Aryanne finally said, making Shadow come back to reality and furrow his brow. "Say again?" He asked. "I love you..." She said, her head pressed against his chest as she heard the elevated beat of his heart. "You don't mean that. Trust me. It's just the afterglow..." Shadow said, Aryanne offering no response as she laid there with a content smile on her face.

"Well..." He began with a sigh after a silent and short time had passed, "I think a shower is in order..." Shadow finished, grabbing Aryanne in his arms and floating off of the bed and revealing the puddles of juices they traded with one another, "Care to join me?"

Author's Notes:

Sorry if the clop here isn't as up to par or anything. In my humble opinion, I don't think it was that bad. If anything, it's much longer and enjoyable than what was there before.

People have their own opinions. Hopefully, people find this one enjoyable. My hand is killing me right now from just writing that. XD

Chapter 3: Bathing 'n Stress

As Shadow entered into the bathroom with Aryanne still in his arms, he placed her down on the toilet seat, thankful the lid was down, to turn the water on in his bath tub.

The warm water flowed from the faucet and hit the bottom of the linoleum tub, while the warm steam of the water filling up the room and relaxing both Aryanne and Shadow. With the tub being filled with the warm water, Shadow began working on Aryanne's attire, first removing her pink collar before moving on to her socks, wet and damp with Shadow's seed and her own juices. "Thank you..." She finally said, coming out of her daze and watching Shadow begin to slowly remove her pink socks. "What're you saying thank you for?" Shadow asked, a questioned look on his face as he completed his task of removing the sock, revealing her pearly white hoof. "For all of it..." She finally managed to say, shyly looking over her shoulder with half lidded eyes and dreamily looking down at the ground, "That was... Incredible..." She concluded, a smile coming across Shadow's face as he kissed the bottom of her now exposed hoof, drawing her attention up from the floor and into Shadow's ruby red eyes. "It was great for me too... You're great..." He smiled, now going to work on her other sock, taking less time to reveal her beautiful white hoof and placing her accessories in the bowl of his sink.

Eventually, the bathtub was filled with enough water for two. Turning off the faucet with a turn of the knob, Shadow placed his hoof against the surface of the water, judging it for a short while before coming to the conclusion that it was a nice and comfortable warm temperature. "Hey..." Shadow said, turning behind him to get the attention of Aryanne, her ear flicking up and her gaze turning to him, "Water's warm..."

"Alright..." Aryanne sighed, rising from her place on the toilet seat and stepping into the warm water, standing in the tub for a short while and slowly lowering herself down. As she finally hit the bottom, Aryanne smiled, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth surrounding her. Making sure she was comfortable in the tub, Shadow entered in after her, finding a spot right next to her and grabbing a nearby cup, filling it up with water and pouring it over his head, enjoying the warm and refreshing feeling of the water as it washed away the stink and grime of the previous day. Looking over his shoulder, Shadow smiled as he saw Aryanne smiling back at him while laying on her side, ready to lose himself in those blue eyes of hers. Shame she was probably bought, must've cost quite a bit...

Debating with himself for a while, an idea sprang into Shadow's head.

"Hey..." He said, taking Aryanne's hoof and squeezing it to get her attention, "Move on top of me..." He said, Aryanne giving him a confused look yet still smiling. "Just trust me." He reassured her with a chuckle, Aryanne's response being a roll of her eyes as she slowly climbed on top of Shadow, wrapping her forearms around him and nuzzling his chest. Responding with a smile, Shadow wrapped his wings and arms around the mare, pulling her in closer with the water passing through his wings and across his body. "What is it?" Shadow asked when he noticed Aryanne biting her lower lip and her eyes trailing down his body.

"Nothing... just a funny thought..." she finally said, moving herself up to face Shadow eye to eye, giving him a small kiss on the nose and giggling as she felt the water begin to dampen her stomach. Wonder which one she works for... Shadow thought as he grabbed a bottle of shampoo, pressing down on the nozzle and letting a small amount of soap fall in the center of his hoof. Distributing the gel between both hooves, Shadow rubbed them together and placed them against Aryanne's mostly dampened mane. "Hope you don't mind..." Shadow smiled as Aryanne gave him a confused look before returning the gesture.

"Of course..." Aryanne said, taking a small pump of soap herself, running her soap covered hooves through Shadow's mane, scrubbing it in and causing a small chuckle to erupt from Shadow's chest. "Thanks..." He said as he continued his small circular motion in her mane, now fairly messy and full of the sweet smell of vanilla. "I never expected you to be the type to use vanilla..." Aryanne said, taking note of the smell, now also coming from Shadow's messy mane. "What can I say..." Shadow said with a shrug, "I like it. Makes me feel comfortable."

***************************************

By the time they finished, a good hour had already passed. Grabbing a towel as he exited the bathroom, Shadow shook his head as the phone on the counter began to ring. Damn... he thought as he heard Aryanne from the bathroom ask, "Do you happen to have a brush, Shadow?"

"Should be one in there..." Shadow responded, finally making it to the phone, "just keep looking under the sink and in the mirror..."

Taking it off of the receiver, Shadow simply said, "talk", before a stallion's voice came through the other end. "Hey, Rift. Glad you actually gave me the real number this time instead of some Pizza place or a sex hotline..." he spoke, clearly holding back annoyance. "Oh yeah... what can I say, I was bored and I was in need of a little fun." Shadow said, remembering the day as though it were just yesterday, a long and fairly thin stallion coming up to him and asking for his number to get into contact with him.

"Yeah... very funny..." the stallion said, clearly gritting his teeth as he spoke. "I'm sorry... besides, it looks like you used that last one for me..." Shadow said with a smile as he looked back down the hall. "What in Equestria are you talking about? I never ordered anything for you."

"Wait... what do you mean-?" Shadow began before being interrupted by the stallion. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about but that's not what I'm calling you for. I'm calling you to let you know that the owners of the stadium you plan on renting out for your show are gonna let you have it for the price we all agreed to. But..."

"Always gotta be a but, huh?" Shadow asked as he rolled his eyes. "There's good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Bad." Shadow responded, reluctantly awaiting the response. "They're not allowing you to have the show on the date we requested because somepony already has it booked that day, some comedian or something like that." The stallion said, Shadow's hoof making contact with his forehead and a sigh escaping his lips. "So then what's the good?" Shadow asked. "The good is that you're still getting the show. Just two weeks from tomorrow..."

"Two weeks!?"

"What do you want me to do?" The stallion replied, now a little more frustrated than before, "that's the best that I can do for you. It was already a massive pain trying to get the place reserved in advance and if I had argued any more, then I may have lost us the whole reservation."

"I get that, and I thank you for it but..." Shadow said, brushing his mane back as stress soon followed. "Look, your last show was yesterday, anyways. Chances are you're still beat from it. Take the time off, get with friends or something, rest up. It's bad to go show after show like that immediately, anyways."

"Fine..." Shadow said, a period of silence coming soon after along with a few stressful thoughts came with it. He still had the money from his last show he could use for the next two weeks, which was just enough, but if this mare with him, and she was who she thought she was, then chances are that this morning wasn't going to be cheap. "Look, Rift, I'm sorry, but I gotta go now. There's about a million different other things I've gotta take care of right now. I'll call you back later." The stallion said without a second thought, the clicking sound of the other line hanging up being heard and eventually, a long buzzing sound following soon after before Shadow hung up the phone and placed it on the receiver.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, not exactly cloppy, but I'm going to try to make the next two chapters more story related then clop. I'm going to try to get the ball rolling a bit more so that there aren't these long intervals between chapters.

Ending (April Fools!)

Got bored.

Excuse me?

Yeah, I got bored. So... that's it. Your story ends here Shadow and begins anew in the next story starring you.

But I don't want it to end yet. These people don't want it to end yet. Can't we just have this story be the one you don't reboot a million different times?

Nope. I've made up my mind.

This story needs to go on. It's not great or perfect, but you have fun writing it. I've seen you writing it and love it.

Yeah, but that was a while ago. Now I'm gonna have fun writing your new story.

...I hate you...

Oh well. Trust me, you and I and all these other people will have fun with your new story.

Chapter 4: Financial Detour

The phone hit the receiver with a small click, and once it was free of gripping the object, his hoof made a straight beeline to Shadow's temple. Brushing it a few times before trailing down his face, Shadow's eyes had shut tight as he placed his hoof against the bridge of his nose, a faint feeling of a headache forming coming soon after.

Stress was never something Shadow had dealt with well. With others, he would brush it off with a few quips or a stupid joke, acting as though it were nothing while he was with others and immediately return home to do anything that could relax him. What it was that relaxed him usually varied between times, but it was normally just flying. No location set, no time needed, no altitude or sound speed needed to be broken. Just relaxation as he soared with the puffy clouds above.

Unfortunately, he was still in no mood or condition to even think about flying.

"Shadow...?" Said a soft voice from behind him, making his ear twitch, "Who was that on the other line? Is everything alright?" Asked the mare's voice an causing Shadow's hoof to instinctively shoot behind his neck, giving it a few rubs as he made his way down the hall and back into the bedroom. Beginning with a sigh, Shadow's eyes shut and his head went limp as it faced the ground. "Just something I've gotta take care of later... you don't need to worry about it, though. With all due respect, it isn't your problem, it's mine..."

As she heard this, Aryanne's movement of brushing her dampened mane down ceased, stopping at the middle of her mane when it met with her shoulder. She couldn't help but feel slightly hurt by Shadow's statement, as though he were asking her to stay out of his business right out. Choosing to say nothing about it, she set the name down and took a look at herself in the mirror. Though her mane was still damp, it wouldn't be long before it dried and, as it stood, she was satisfied with the way it was styled. Perhaps if she had a tad bit more to work with beyond Shadow's stallion products, she could get more accomplished... but it didn't matter in the long run. Just as long as it looked nice enough to be seen in front of him.

"Anyways..." Shadow said, breaking the silence that had enveloped them in the room, going towards the top of his dresser and retrieving a small bag of bits. "Here..." Shadow began as he trotted back to the bathroom, stopping soon after as he saw Aryanne leaning against the wooden frame of the bathroom door. Wow... Shadow thought to himself, swearing that if she were to have wings, Aryanne could easily be mistaken for an angel. Such a shame that such a beautiful mare would be working in the business she is now. Even more so a shame that she is so beautiful, as off the top of Shadow's memory, the more beautiful a mare is, the more expensive she is. Hopefully this one accepts the payment given...

"What is it?" Aryanna asked as she moved away from the doorframe and towards Shadow, looking at the bag with a confused expression. "It's a bag of bits. Not much, but I hope it's enough..." Shadow said as he rubbed against his neck once more, now becoming faintly raw. "Well I know what it is... I'm just asking for what purpose are you giving this to me." Aryanne said as she took the bag in her hooves, feeling it's heft for a small time before giving it back to Shadow, who now had the same confused look on his own face.

"Wait... you don't know why I'm giving this to you?" He asked, Aryanne pondering his question for a short amount of time before shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "You sure...?" Shadow asked once more, the faintest part of his being telling him that she was telling the truth. "I can't say that I do. Am I supposed to understand why you're giving it to me?" She asked as her left eyebrow raised up and her right went down. Of course there is, Shadow thought in his head and debated on saying before scraping the idea and shaking his head. "Uh, well..." he began, thinking on the spot for an excuse that would not insinuate anything about what he was really giving the mare the money for. "I noticed you don't exactly have anything to put on yourself!" Shadow proclaimed, amazed by his quick thinking and Aryanne's seemingly genuine belief in his answer. "Put on myself?"

"Yeah, like perfume or make up. Oh, wait-! Crap!" Shadow said as his right foreleg went limp as it was weighed down by the coins and his left hoof ran through his mane. Way to screw this up, idiot! The voice in his head screamed at him as he attempted to salvage whatever he could. "I mean, you don't smell bad you smell awesome... err... that sounds weird. I mean make up in case that's your thing. You don't need it, in my opinion but if you feel as though you do, but I don't... err... damn!" He shouted as he rotated his body to face towards the wall, both embarrassed and angered at himself for being such a helpless idiot in front of Aryanne.

"Shadow... it's okay, I understand..." she calmly said, taking note of his conflict and grabbing his hoof in an attempt at calming him as she turned him to face her and placed a warm smile on her face. "I understand why you would give me your earnings, and I very much appreciate you're generosity. But I am not a mare who prides herself in caking herself in layers of make up and perfume..." she began as she cupped his cheek in her hooves, turning his head to face her as he wore a somber expression on his face. "It's alright. You needn't be so upset..." Aryanne continued smoothly as she brushed a bit of Shadow's mane out of his and placed a small kiss on his forehead. "Thanks..." he replied as he gave her a hopeful smile, mentally celebrating his ability of recovering from his screw up with relative ease while returning her kiss with one of his own. "I'm sorry about that it's just a whole bunch of stuff getting to me... first you, now my manager, and shows... it wears on you, you know?"

"To an extent. Although I do hope I'm not causing you as much trouble as these other predicaments you appear to be dealing with currently..."

"Wait, what? No... if anything you're the least troubling thing in my life right now." Shadow defensively responded. "Care to elaborate on them a bit? Perhaps speaking to somepony may relief a bit of your worries?" Aryanne asked, trying once more to get to the bottom of what was troubling Shadow. "I already told you, I don't want you worrying about it. We barely know each other and the last thing I want is to push my troubles on to some mare I met yesterday..." Shadow replied with a shaking of his head, his mental celebration cut short and his little mental image of himself dancing like a moron stopping dead in its tracks. As he argued his point, Aryanne's mind was already made up on how to respond to Shadow's statement on their lack of knowledge of one another. Smiling, she placed her hooves against Shadow's sides, sighing as she pushed him against the bed and the sound of the metallic springs supporting their weight resonated throughout the room. "Well, why not try to fix that then?" She asked, Shadow chuckling slightly when he hit the bed and amazed at how she had caught him off guard. "Fix it? I don't think another round is going to give us anymore knowledge about the other..." he began before wrapping his wings around the mare, bringing her closer to his body as he placed his hooves against her similar to how she had him. "That said, I'd still like to..."

"Shadow..." Aryanne began with a small giggle, playfully pushing him away, "That isn't what I meant... I was implying we move our date to today..."

"I thought we agreed we'd go at the end of the week."

"We had but... I would really enjoy it if we could do it today. I have no other plans for today and spending more time with you would be incredibly exciting..." she began as she stared deeply into his ruby red eyes, "You're a very interesting Stallion, Mister Rift..."

"Not exactly. I'm not as interesting as you're making me out to be..." he said with a smile, thinking of just what he has done that could constitute him as anything near interesting, all of which went to a few dark memories he'd rather chose to suppress than remember. "Besides..." he said as he attempted to pull himself further away from the unwanted memories, "You're only buttering me up so that you can find out what's bugging me..."

"Is it working?" The mare asked, Shadow responding with a kiss on her lips and a smile. "Know what? Alright, I'll tell you. Just... promise not to worry too much about it, alright?" Shadow requested, Aryanne nodding her head softly as she gave him a toothy smile, her persuasion in turning the tides in her favor proving effective as she listened eagerly and ready to help Shadow in anyway she could. "My agent called me to let me know that my next show got moved by two weeks... meaning that the amount of bits I currently have is what I have to work with for the next two weeks."

"Okay...?" Aryanne said, her eyes darting to the side and her left hoof going under her chin as she debated Shadow's predicament. "Is the amount of bits you currently have enough?" She asked, Shadow nodding and shrugging his shoulders. "It's enough, I suppose. I've got enough here to keep me going, anyways..." he replied while choosing to hold the portions of date expenses to himself. She shouldn't have to pay for herself, right? Was his mentality when holding back the information. "If you need financial help, don't be afraid to say so-"

"Don't. Okay? Just please don't..." Shadow said as he cut off Aryanne, knowing fully well where she was going. "Look, I appreciate it but, I really don't want financial help. I'm sorry but I can't accept it, especially from somepony I've only known for about a day..."

"It's alright, I understand, Shadow. But if you do need it, don't be afraid to ask..."

"Believe me, the last thing I want is to take money from you." Shadow said as he felt his pride being kicked in the chest by the thought of having to take money from a mare. Especially a mare like her. It's not a problem if he can't do it, it's a question of if he should. And as far as he was concerned, Shadow's pride wouldn't allow him to take so much as half a bit from her. "Regardless, I'm keeping my offer on the table, should you require my services..." Aryanna said as she replaced her soft smile with a much more serious expression, obviously getting annoyed by Shadow's constant declining of her offer for assistance. If she wasn't going to have her way with him on the subject of financial support, knowing she offered it was enough.

In her heart of hearts, Aryanne meant well. Shadow could tell after the tone of her voice and her attitude changed drastically, and her clear unwillingness to back down. He could appreciate her offer, but he wasn't going to take it. Telling her that in her face was probably not going to be the better option either. Because of that, Shadow immediately set about thinking of a new topic of discussion, finally settling on one subject that would, with any luck, brighten the mood.

"Fine..." Shadow lied yet did his best to make it sounds as genuine as possible. Mission accomplished, he thought as a smile graced Aryanne's face. "Let's just try changing the subject here. What were you thinking for lunch?" As she heard the words, a sigh of relief came from deep within Aryanne and past through her lips, thankful that Shadow was the one to lighten the mood and get away from the topic of finances. "Well... I was thinking perhaps..." she began before rifling off a list of every restaurant imaginable near their current location.

And though highly dissuaded by the thought of all the various places to go on this date, Shadow gladly took it over the stressful nature of the call he had received that morning. I'll worry about it later, he thought through the various descriptions of restaurants that Aryanne would, on occasion, laugh and smile at.

Author's Notes:

Not what I consider the best chapter... but I'm going to try and make these next two chapters more worth the while. I'll spend Chapter 5 as a two parter (yes, I'm aware that the last story ended similarly but know that it won't end immediately afterwards...), with one part focusing mainly on story and character molding, while the second part will focus on... clop. Weirdly enough, I just barely started the second half, but know I'll have both done ASAP. Also, as a quick side note, I am aware of the fact that some people are, for the most part, upset that there isn't enough time given for the "sex scenes" and "character development" to come naturally. From a story perspective, it'll come into play later, but from a writing perspective, I'm doing it to keep the interest in this story from dwindling. Sorry if that bugs anyone...

I also cannot stress enough just how sorry I am for making these "intermissions" between stories so damned long. It's an array of various distractions and problems that force me out of writing and updating. I apologize for that, and know I'll do my best to make sure you guys have more story stuff that doesn't take months on end to make.

One final note, thank you to everyone who has continued to stick through with this. I'm aware of the fact that waiting months on end for a story to update can get extremely tiring, especially for a story you love/like. I very much appreciate it. And know that it's you who I'm trying to please with this story... (as well as myself and a certain gunmetal and red Pegasus... ;) )

Chapter 5 [Part 1 of 3]: The First Date

By the time the couple had begun their trot to the restaurant, it was already well into the afternoon. The sky had begun to fill with light gray tufts of clouds, with Pegasi working diligently above to make sure each cloud was positioned in just the right spot. Reports of rain were being discussed in the local news reports, which to some was a relief. These clouds had been brewing for days at a time, and knowing that it was finally going to pay off with rain to keep their plants hydrated was just the type of news some ponies needed.

On the trot to town, Aryanne's soft white leg wrapped itself around Shadow's front left leg, making the task for trotting somewhat difficult for both of them. Through it, however, Aryanne seemed comfortable as her head rested against Shadow's body with her eyes closed as a large, content smile grew on her face. Saying nothing against it, Shadow would occasionally look down at the beautiful mare who rested herself against him before looking straight on to their destination. The added bit of eye candy kept him calm, but at times, also unfocused...

As they continued forward, however, Shadow began to feel less and less comfortable. It was nothing involving Aryanne but rather the trot through the town, as he would occasionally notice a mare or stallion look their direction. Most would give smiles to either Shadow or the mare rested on his side, but some had turned and whispered in the ear of their friends or significant other, sometimes even glancing back at Shadow and Aryanne while they went on. That, however, wasn't what truly got to Shadow. What did were the odd looks, only comparable to that of Shock or Confusion, that some ponies or stallions would give.

The grand irony is that their looks left Shadow just as confused.

Shock was something Shadow could understand. When you're a minor celebrity in a fairly uninteresting and misty town, you're automatically the most odd and out of place object there. There are bound to be a select few who will either recognize you for your achievements or acts, and either scold or praise you. It wasn't too often it had occurred but it still did happen. But confusion? There were three different theories he had, but none of them, in his opinion, were realistic enough to be reality. Was it the bandage around his arm? The wound did look like it was caused by a slash of some sort. No, that's just stupid...

Perhaps it had something to do with Aryanne? She was beautiful and clearly quite the attention catcher when holding Shadow's arm, her white coat and golden blond mane clashing and highlighting against Shadow's metallic gray coat and highlighted red. Maybe that's what it was. Everypony was just caught off guard when they saw a beautiful mare next to Shadow. In that case, screw 'em!He thought as he smirked to himself, his mind focusing on directions and the road as the restaurant grew nearer and nearer.

"Shadow?" Asked the soft voice of the mare next to him, causing Shadow to shift his attention from a traffic guard to her. "Yeah? What's up?" He responded, glancing over to his side and seeing the guard's hoof giving the 'all clear, permission to walk' gesture. "Where is it you are taking us and when are we going to arrive?" She finally said, trotting along with Shadow across the street and past another row of small buildings to their side.

"It's a really nice place..." Shadow responded before thinking to himself on his choice of words, shaking his head. "Okay scratch that, it's not REALLY nice, but it's still nice. It's a little restaurant my friend and I went to the first time we ever met each other. Believe me, if you're a ponies and stallions kinda mare, you're gonna love this place."

"The first time you ever met a friend of yours?" Aryanne asked in a seemingly investigative way, with Shadow chuckling to himself in response. "Don't worry, this friend of mine ain't bad. He's a great guy... a scientist. Probably the smartest S-O-B I've ever met..." Shadow said as his wing brushed her arm in relief. Though it wasn't what she meant by the question, this 'other friend' of Shadow's caught her attention a small bit. Further information would be a nice topic for discussion over the table... but not so much that she would make herself out to be looking for a relationship with this friend of Shadow's instead.

"Well, why don't you tell me more about this venue, then? I'm curious about it. And please pardon me but, if the last few minutes have told me anything, it is that this location is a bit..." she said, biting her lower lip as she continued on a bit embarrassed, "far away...?"

"Yeah I'm sorry... I'm used to flying anywhere I need to go. I didn't expect it to take us this long just to get there. If it matters anything, we're almost there."

"Oh, please, don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean for it to sound impatient..." Aryanne began as Shadow mumbled to himself, "just a right over here and...", just as she was ready to go on. Turning the corner to the right, Shadow let out a "well, here we are", as they came face to face with their destination.

Said destination was a small and humble restaurant, most likely Neightalian in origin and menu selection as the smell of freshly made bread filled the air surrounding the area with a warm and inviting aura. It wasn't nearly as flamboyant or extravagant in terms of either advertising or design when compared to its peers. Nothing about it truly stood out when side by side against its pupils. But it didn't need to.

The warmth of low flowed from inside this place, a scent that enveloped the surrounding area... it didn't say "come in and start buying", it said, "Welcome". Taking in another whiff of the air, she turned back to look at Shadow, whose face also yielded the same smile as her's. His Ruby red eyes sparkled against the glow of the interior, and his eyes shut for a short moment as he felt the scent envelope him in a warm embrace. Aryanne simply looked on, impressed that a stallion such as Shadow would chose a place such as this. He certainly didn't seem like the type to enjoy this type of atmosphere.

"Ready?" He asked, opening his eyes and looking at Aryanne, gleaming with excitement.

---

Entering inside, the couple were immediately taken to a small booth not too far away from the door they had entered through. Once they were seated, Aryanne took some time to inspect their surroundings. The interior, though much darker than the exterior of the building it resided in, was lit by the natural flame of oil lamps that were hanging above the ceiling. The walls, booth, and tables surrounding them were all a different shade of brown and tan. However in combination with the natural lighting, the tan had an odd tint of orange.

It definitely seemed to be the type of place Shadow would dine, but her skepticism of his attitude towards an environment like this led Aryanne to believe the opposite. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing if he didn't truly enjoy this type of dining environment, it just didn't seem in his character. Or aura...

"Nice place, huh?" Shadow asked as he inspected every part of their surroundings, bringing back Aryanne's attention to him. With a small giggle, she brushed a bit of her mane to the side before looking at him and continuing on. "It is...", she began, "You said a friend of your's introduced you to this establishment, correct?"

"Yeah, he did. At first I didn't really think too much of the place, but after he invited me here a few more times, the place grew on me..." he replied, looking up at the ceiling and remembering the day. A cold afternoon, the sun had just set and the familiar sherbet colors had begun to spread across the sky. Shadow had just been paid from another job and he had been counting his earnings while trotting along when all of a sudden comes a blue Pegasus, bumping into him and causing Shadow to lose most of his earnings. As an apology, said Pegasus bought Shadow dinner at a local restaurant and introduces himself as Astra. A bag of bits and an address later, the two quickly became friends, writing to each other and sometimes meeting with one another at the same restaurant.

"I dunno what it is. Maybe it's the memories, the food, the music..." Shadow said as a piano played in the background slowly and rhythmically, echoing softly throughout the dining area while accompanied by a smooth saxophone, an equally rhythmic tip tap of the drums, and soft bass strum. "Something about this place is comfortable..." he concluded, crossing his front legs in front of his chest and staring down at the deep brown table, his own reflection easily seen in the polish of the table.

"I agree. The atmosphere here is indeed quite soothing..." Aryanne responded as her ears picked up on the music at the mention of it. It was simplistic in terms of strums, rhythm, and tone, and matched the scenery as well as a red sock with a brown slipper. But to a mind not as well trained as her own, she could understand the appeal.

A bit more time had passed before a waiter, a unicorn with a black mane and purple coat, had come to scribble down their orders. Shadow, not in the hungriest of moods, ordered a simple salad while Aryanne, after the smell of garlic tomato sauces reached her, ordered a pasta. Taking their menus Shadow had made one last request to the waiter before he left. A wine that, in his words, would go nicely with the food. Nodding his head, the waiter sped off into the kitchen, the menus floating above his head in a green aura as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"He's the son of the owner here." Shadow said smirking to himself. "At least, that's what the owner tells me... not the biggest on talking but, eh, what can you do?" He concluded with a shrug of his shoulders.

Silence had taken the pair over for sometime as they waited for their food and drink. To break the silence, Aryanne's imaginary 'List of questions to ask on the first date' came to mind.

"Well..." Aryanne began as she took the napkin holding the silverware, unwrapped it and delicately placed it over her lap, "while we wait, why don't you tell me about yourself, Shadow? I'm curious about you." She asked, placing the elbows of her forearms against the table and resting her head on her hooves, smiling as she waited for Shadow's reply.

Said reply came in a small chuckle and was later accompanied by an, "alright, what do you want to know about little old me?"

Too many questions immediately came to mind for Aryanne. She didn't really put any thought into which question she would first ask him, which came as a surprise to her when she found herself stuck for a question appropriate to ask. Their 'relationship' was too sudden to ask anything major, but at the same time they were farther ahead than most. Besides, she wanted to know him immediately, maybe as a result of what occurred that morning. Finally setting on a very basic question, she continued on. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked, catching Shadow off guard a bit.

"If I do, I don't know any of them." He replied with a shrug, "Do you have a sibling?"

"Yes, I have a brother who is a year or so older than me. He is an apprentice of my father's who plans on taking over our family company once my father retires." She said, Shadow catching the word 'company' and immediately growing curious.

"Company? Your family owns a company?" He asked as Aryanne nodded and smiled.

"It's not a major corporation or anything, it's just in the beginning phase. We have two locations, one here and one back in Trottingham." She replied warmly, remembering the previous location fondly before the question of whether or not it was still in operation came to mind.

"What exactly is it that your company does?" Shadow questioned as a few thoughts came to mind, either it being an escort business or something equally sensual.

"As stated before, my family's company isn't so much a company yet as it is a small business. It's nothing more than just two vacation resorts for ponies visiting the areas they are located in, where if they choose to stay are given access to a luxury spa treatment center, a small golf course with about nine or so holes and a driving range, a gym, and a small restaurant that caters meals from some of Equestria's finest chefs." Aryanne answered, her previous thoughts discarded as Shadow's eyes opened wide and his forelegs unwrapped, dropping down to his sides.

"You're crapping me, right?" Shadow asked in disbelief before Aryanne shook her head.

"If you'd like, I can give you the contact information to our closest establishment." She replied with a smile as the waiter returned, not with the food promised but with the wine Shadow had requested. Perfect... Shadow thought to himself as the waiter arrived placed a cup of dark liquid in front of him, where upon he took a gulp of the stuff as he let what Aryanne just set settle in. Red wine? Heh, how appropriate...

"What about you Shadow?" Aryanne asked, noticing Shadow's mood change slightly and wishing to change the subject, "Are high flying acts your professional career or do you do something for a secondary form of payment?"

"Actually... no... I don't do anything else. Stunts and high flying are the only two things I've done for the past..." Shadow began, trailing off and squinting his eyes in thought, "two years? Yeah... two and a half years as of now. Though I also try to enter any competitions I can."

"Really? Can you provide an example?" The mare asked as she took a delicate sip of the wine from the glass, curious to hear some of Shadow's other ventures outside of professional stunt work. "Mostly local stuff. I entered this one a while back called the Iron Stallion Competition, basically just a race with a bunch of obstacles that I spent a good chunk of my life training for. It isn't as well known as some other events, but it helped me come into contact with the ponies and stallions I know today."

"A race? What did you place in this competition?" Aryanne asked, glad to see Shadow's smile return to his face as he proudly proclaimed first.

"It took a lot out of me, but it got me where I am now. My manager came trotting up to me after the race, and one contract later I had a small event at this one place. Can't really remember where it was, but I remember it was definitely in Vanhoover." Shadow said while retaining his proud smile as he remembered his first stunt show. It was cold, but everypony there loved him and it was one of the few times he had managed to actually get a sold out show.

"I'm aware of what it is you're speaking of. It was the poster I had wished to purchase from you..." Aryanne said with a small blush, drawing Shadow's attention back to the deal from which this all spawned.

"You know what? You're right... Damn, sorry. When we get back to the apartment, remind me to get that to you." Shadow said with another chuckle as the food finally arrived, Shadow's bowl of salad just as cool as ever and Aryanne's small plate of pasta emitting fresh waves of warmth and the scent of tomatoes with garlic.

It was just about when Shadow was going to take a bit that he heard a female voice call out his name. When he heard said voice, he immediately turned his head up to see the restaurant owner come their way. "Shadow, its been too long..." said the restaurant owner, Ms. Emerald Isle, as she trot right up next to him.

"Ms. Isle, it has been a while..." he replied to the slightly old mare as Aryanne turned to look at whoever it was that had called out Shadow's name. Her answer was in the form of a slightly old unicorn mare, with a cream colored coat and faded green mane, whose smile was comforting in that motherly way with eyes that radiated with warmth, and an accent that best matched her restaurant's theme. Once she had arrived at their both, the mare Shadow addressed as Ms. Isle had bent herself down to give Shadow a small hug and a kiss on his left cheek, to which Shadow obliged with a hug and a warm smile. "You look as young as ever, Ms. Isle."

"Excuse me, Shadow...?" Aryanne asked, a bit confused as she asked through a pink blush on her face, "who is this lovely mare?"

"Ah, right. Aryanne, this is Ms. Emerald Isle, the owner of the restaurant. She's a really great friend of mine." He replied before turning to the older mare, "Ms. Isle, this is Aryanne... my...?" He began before Aryanne replied with, "date".

"Ah... Mangia bene, ridi spesso, ama molto." She laughed as she gave Shadow's back a few joyful pats, making him simply smile and laugh along with her. "Yup, that's right." Shadow replied as he also gave her pat on the back. "So, what are you guys up to around here Ms. Isle? How's business?"

"Oh... it's fine. It's slow sometimes, but it's fine. We're doing our best to make the restaurant more inviting, as you may say. More... eh..."

"Diverse?" Aryanne said, to which the older mare shook her head. "Yes! That's it. Diverse..."

"Well, whatever it's like, keep it all up. I'd hate to see anything happen to this place..." Shadow said with another hopeful smile, which seemed to lift the mare's spirits high as well.

"Thank you, Shadow..." she replied before a young stallion's voice called out from the kitchen, calling for "mama!". "Ah, I must go. Buon appetito Shadow!" She exclaimed as she gave him another hug and took off into the kitchen.

Once she was out of sight, Shadow looked back at Aryanne and simply said, "I have no idea what any of that means...", which cause the mare to giggle a bit.

"I'm serious. She used to say it to my friend and his marefriend whenever we'd come by to eat. Never really found out what it means, but my friend kept telling me not to ask." He continued, watching the kitchen for a short period before going on to his food.

"Well, whatever it means, it doesn't seem to be negative. She seems like a very kind mare." Aryanne said, wiping small amount of tomato sauce from her maw with her napkin before setting it back down on her lap. "Yeah... she is nice. Kinda like a mom, though." He said which garnered a small blank gaze from Aryanne. "Make of that whatever you want... either good or bad."

That was the last thing uttered at the table as both Shadow and Aryanne went on eating their lunch. For a few seconds, Shadow would sometimes look back up at his date to see how she was managing with the utensils given. To his surprise, with nothing but her hooves, she had actually managed to do better than he expected. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world for any pony, especially one without a horn or wings, to use utensils. It must've been even more difficult for an earth pony like her to use nothing but her hooves to use utensils. That is to say "must have" since Aryanne clearly didn't show much trouble when using her utensils. Maybe she was taught at a young age or something? Special school? Do Earth Ponies even have schools for teaching them that kind of stuff?

"Is something wrong, Shadow?" Aryanne asked, noticing Shadow sometimes watch her eat and finding it a bit off putting. "Sorry..." Shadow said, shaking his head a bit before going on. "It's nothing. Trust me..."

"Are you sure? If I'm not using proper etiquette, I'm terribly sorry. It has been sometime since I've last had to do so..." Aryanne said with a nervous smile and the return of her pink blush.

What the Tartarus is an etiquette? Shadow questioned before going on. "No, your etiquette is fine. I was just thinking..." Shadow replied, immediately thinking to himself,Shit!, as Aryanne questioned him what he was thinking about.

"Just... a little bit of everything I guess. I don't want to talk about it..." he said, sighing to himself as he placed his head on his hoof. "Eh... sorry if I'm not making this date fun any more. Its kinda been a while since I've done this..." he said, Aryanne shaking her head and placing her hoof on his.

"Shadow, I'm having a nice time. Don't let one little moment destroy everything that has happened." She replied softly, giving Shadow hoof a small squeeze.

"Thanks..." he smiled, moving forward from across the table to give the mare a small kiss.

Author's Notes:

There's something in here I know people who see it are gonna call me out on. For those of you who notice it, I assure you it was done that way as a joke.

[NEXT PIECE REMOVED/REDACTED]

Finally, and I can't stress this enough, sorry for the lack of content and failing to deliver on the day I said I would. Things got hectic around ye ol' residence of Shader and kept me from continuing on (which included a lack of willingness to write...). Rest assured that both parts of this chapter are going through editing as I post this. And yes, the final part will be clop... ;)

Thank you to all who support this, and I hope not to disappoint!

Chapter 5 [Part 2 of 3]: Aftermath of the First Date

The rest of the date between both Shadow and Aryanne went by without any further incidents. Both had occasional taken time to engage in small banter, no one subject in particular, but mostly enjoyed their meals and managed to polished off an entire bottle of wine. By the time they were done, it felt as though a large fire had started in Shadow's belly, burning the inside and, in combination with his cold salad, filling his stomach with steam, making him feel bloated beyond words.

Aryanne, for all he knew, felt about the same as he did. Tired and in desperate need of a nap as she wiped away the last of the tomato sauce from her face.

Trotting back to his home from the restaurant was much easier this time around for Shadow, aside from the rock now sitting in his stomach. If any pony had or was staring at either him or Aryanne, he could've cared less. Maybe it was the food that filled his stomach, maybe it was the alcohol burning away and clouding his mind, maybe it was just the fact that he felt more comfortable with Aryanne than before. Whatever the reason had been, he could've cared less for the odd looks of others. His stomach was gleefully warm and full, and his body just begged to get some rest in before anything happened.

The time it took to arrive home was much shorter than before since Shadow had opted to take a wagon trip to his apartment rather than trot. "Just don't have it in me to trot, I guess." Shadow told Aryanne as they both bordered the wagon and were had begun the ride to the address Shadow had given the chauffeur.

"I understand... to be honest, I truly couldn't see myself trotting much of anywhere after all of that." She said, giggling to herself for a second before leaning herself against Shadow, a content smile placed upon her face as she closed her eyes while the pace of her breaths becoming slower and slower.

"Try not to sleep too long..." Shadow said, wrapping Aryanne's body in his wing and bringing her closer to him with his right arm, "we should be there in a little". No response came from the mare aside from a light snore.

The rest of said trip back was mostly uneventful. Aside from a few more glances and smiles, Shadow watched the scenery just fly right by as he fought against the monster of sleep. It was definitely no better that Aryanne's body radiated a very soothing warmth against his side, further drawing him into the temptation of slumber. The driver must have taken notice of his desire for sleep and offered to wake up both Shadow and his marefriend up if he wanted. Shaking his head, Shadow just said that he would do his best to stay awake, with the driver giving a " 'f it's your choice..." and remaining silent the rest of the way back.

Keeping his eyes on the scenery, he kept his focus, once again, on the skies. It wasn't very late into the afternoon. Were he to guess the time, Shadow would have assumed it was some time around 2 or 3 in the afternoon now. Most ponies continued about their business, either conversing with one another about their lives, what pony did what today, spread rumors or just gossip amongst one another. What little conversations he could hear involved their fields of work. He found it all boring and decided to just keep his sights straight ahead.

A poor decision as the lack of anything to keep his mind concentrated on just made him more tired.

Upon arrival at his apartment building, Shadow flapped his right wing a bit to awaken the mare next to him. Once that failed, Shadow shook her a bit more stronger, softly saying the mare's name a few times. "Aryanne...? Aryanne...? Hey, come on." Each time he had done this, there was no response but a moan.

"Need help?" Offered the driver.

"No, it's fine... think I'll just carry her or something." Shadow responded, preparing himself mentally as he stepped out of the cab and to Aryanne's side, carefully placing her on his back and going to the driver. "How much do I owe you?"

"Let's just make it a cool seven." He said, Shadow complying and giving said amount of bits to the chauffeur, who, now having his profit, took off and left Shadow in front of his apartment building with a very food coma-ed Aryanne on his back.

Making sure that the building manager was no where in sight, Shadow peaked into the building and immediately set his gaze on the front desk. No immediate movement could be seen, making Shadow take this as a good sign as he darted up the staircase and set his destination to his third level door, a task that proved to be fairly difficult with a knocked out Earth Pony on his back. Well, that was sorta easy... Shadow thought as he reached his door, his wings and back only sore instead of completed engulfed in flames.

Unfortunately for him, as soon as the thought came to him, a much older female voice shouted, "RIIIIIFFFFTTTT!!!", from just behind him. Oh shit... Shadow thought to himself, rolling his eyes as he turned around behind himself. The figure of his land lord came into view, a mare right around her 30s or 40s with a red mane and tail, both of which hung loosely, accompanied by a fine vanilla coat and aqua marine eyes. "Hey Vanilla..." Shadow said with a nervous smile as he turned back to the mare, eyes filled with rage and annoyance as she came right up to Shadow.

"You haven't paid your rent yet..." she said through gritting teeth, Shadow's head splitting into two factions of response, either something smart ass or something legitimate. Dude, she's piiiiissed, better stick to being real about it.

"Now to be fair, I did say I was going to pay my rent soon enough... I just got caught up in all of the stuff going on. Like my show, my-"

"You told me that two weeks ago... after the rent was already due!"

"True... but I have the money now, that's all that matters, right?" Shadow asked with the same uncomfortable smile as before, praying to Celestia to make this mare just poof into a cloud of smoke and leave him alone. Magic didn't appear to work that way as immediately afterwards, Vanilla took notice of the mare rested on Shadow's back. "Who's this, Rift? Is it another one of your little one night stands?"

Shut the Tartarus up! was Shadow's immediate thought that would've been accompanied by a slap against Vanilla's cynical and unsurprised face. "No, this is a friend of mine..." was a better option in the long run. Vanilla didn't need to know about Shadow's love life anymore than she already did.

"A friend, huh? I'm very sure..." Vanilla replied with a roll of her eyes and thick layer of sarcasm and hate, "just give me what you owe me, or don't be so sure that I'll be so generous to give you another two weeks to get the rent money."

"Yeah, just give me a minute..." Shadow sighed, twisting the knob to his door and pushing it open, setting Aryanne down on a couch in the living room, and immediately taking off to his closet where a medium sized bag entitled 'rent' had rested. "Here..." he said, giving the mare the money and continuing on with, "if there's any change, let me know. Otherwise, leave me alone." And concluding with a slam of the door and lock of the knob.

It wasn't the response he wanted to give, but it was apparently the one most needed. He was already going to have enough to deal with now that he was home.

Leaning against the door, Shadow placed his head deep into his wings. With any luck, hopefully Aryanne didn't hear any of what just happened, or what the land lord said. "Shadow...?" He heard moaned from where Aryanne was laying, taking his head out of his wings and looking up to see Aryanne rubbing her right eye while laying sprawled out on the couch. Son of a... "Hey, you alright?" Was what immediately came to mind instead of the easy, "how much of that did you hear?"

"A bit tired but otherwise fine. Are you okay?" She asked as Shadow took a seat next to her on the couch. "Feel about the same... had a little run in with my landlord." He replied as he stared at the ceiling, mentally slapping himself and screaming the word idiot over and over again.

"So I heard..."

"How much?"

"I heard something about the rent, I believe. The rest of it is much more blurry than I can tell. Are you having some sort of dispute with your renter over the rent?" Aryanne asked, now seemingly more awake than before but refusing to allow her body to sit up.

"Kinda. She gave me an extra two weeks to pay my rent after I couldn't make it. It's not the first time, and I don't think it'll be the last..." Shadow said, placing his hoof against his temple and shutting his eyes tight for a short time.

"Does this mean you require assistance?" Aryanne asked cautiously, unaware of how well or how terribly her question may have been translated. "No... I don't need the help. I appreciate it but I don't need it." Shadow replied bluntly, ignoring Aryanne's look of embarrassment as her gaze turned to the ground.

Baaaaad choice of words the little voice of reason said in Shadow's head as he took in a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out in a sigh. "Sorry if that came out too blunt." He said, shifting his attention to Aryanne, barely catching a glimpse of her disappointed expression.

"I understand... it was inappropriate of me to ask that..."

After the small interruption came, nothing but silence as both Shadow and Aryanne let the day sink in. The food and wine was starting to take its toll on Shadow and soon he found himself closer than ever to rest. He debated with himself on what to do and figured that rest was perhaps his better option, until it had dawned on him that he still owed Aryanne what she came over for. "The posters..." Shadow said out loud, catching the mare's attention as her ears shot up, with one twitching a few times.

"The posters?" Aryanne questioned before it too dawned on her as to what he was talking about.

"Yeah... I still owe you one. Come on, let's go get those." Shadow said, getting back up on his hooves as he made his way to the bed room. Following him, Aryanne began making her way towards the room, already seeing Shadow's figure standing in the room with a large box placed on the still messy bed, the rest of the room reaking in disgusting fluids. "Pardon the mess..." Shadow said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, making a tired smile form on Aryanne's face as he began taking out the individual posters and laying them out in front of her.

"Truthfully, I had begun to wonder whether or not you had remembered our arrangement." She said softly as Shadow placed the last few down, trotting to his desk and grabbing a marker.

"Yeah, sorry, I think I did for a little... too busy thinking of other things, I guess." He said with a shrug of his shoulders, reaching the bed again and sprawling open his right wing towards the selection. "Your choice." He offered as Aryanne set her sight on the same one as before, the poster from his first show. "You sure? This is a once in the life time opportunity here..." Shadow said teasingly, another small giggle coming from the mare as she nodded once more.

"Yes..." she giggled, "I'm absolutely certain."

"Alright..." Shadow said, taking the marker and quickly writing a small note on the right corner of the poster.

To Aryanne... thank you for everything you've done. - Shadow

"I spelled your name correctly, right?" He asked as he showed the message to Aryanne, confirming his inquiry with a nod. With his question answered, Shadow immediately rolled the poster into a tube and placed a rubber band around it to keep it in place. "And here you are! One signed poster from yours truly..." he said with a smile as he presented the tube to Aryanne.

"Thank you, Shadow... for everything." She said with a smile, taking the tube in her hooves before setting it down on the bed, most likely to grab it later on her way out.

"I'm a stallion of my word." Shadow replied, making a small X over the spot where is heart should be with his right wing.

"For all of it, I mean... this morning, the lunch... thank you." Aryanne said, gripping her forearm once again as she blushed, her thoughts going back to the morning they had. "No prob..." Shadow said with a wink and smile as he repeated the motion he made before.

Giggling, Aryanne took the poster in her maw and began to make her way towards Shadow's door, stopping in the door frame and debating with herself as to her next course of action. Placing the poster down on the floor, Aryanne thought carefully about what she would do next. She knew that she needed to get home, and that if she were out any later her parents were not going to be pleased. But the smallest part of her legitimately wanted to stay with Shadow, at least for a little while longer. Get to know a little more about him, gaze and adore his ruby red eyes... perhaps even spend another night with him...

Even if it wasn't sex, she just wanted to be with him. To hold him close to herself and for him to do the same.

"Hey, uh... you alright?" Shadow asked from behind her, resting himself on his still incredibly un-made bed.

"Actually..." she began, turning back to Shadow before taking a small amount of time to think about her question. "I was just thinking if you'd like to... well... do this again... sometime?" She asked shyly while two pink blotches of heat formed on her cheeks.

Furrowing his brow, Shadow looked up at the ceiling for a bit, thinking a little longer than he honestly should have when it came to answering the mare's question. Why even think about that? A voice deep within himself questioned, take a good long look at her... she's beautiful, great at sex, kind, has a lot of money maybe... What more could you ask for?

I'm not a stallion whore and I'm not interested in her money... he replied to the voice. I like her and all, but what if this ends up like the last three? I don't want to put up with that again...

"You know what?" Shadow said to the mare, not even so much as using any better judgement he may have, "Yeah. I'd like to go out with you again."

"Really?" Aryanne asked, at first concerned that he didn't respond immediately but taken aback by his answer.

"Yeah, why not?" He responded with a shrug of his shoulders, "You're a mare I'd like to get to know a little bit better. You're cute, kind, and a hell of a first impressionist..." he said with a smile, Aryanne blushing as she grips her foreleg and looked to her right side, allowing her mane to block one of her eyes from view. "I'd be happy to have another date with you." He concluded, chuckling at Aryanne's display of shyness.

"T-th-thank you, Shadow... I..." she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. "Again, no prob... when do you want to meet up again?" Shadow asked, keeping a smile one his face as he leaned back a bit on the bed.

"How about we meet at my home five days from today?" She began, already knowing exactly where to go next with him. "There's a restaurant I know down by Baltimare. It's a bit more... upper class... if you're interested?" She asked excitedly, already envisioning Shadow in a great looking suit and tie as she arrived at her door step, stepping into her home like a charming knight and taking her hoof in his own.

"I don't mind going to a fancy restaurant to eat or anything..." Shadow said after some time of thought. Fucking LIAR!, "But maybe we should wait until my wound heals up a bit?" Shadow asked, pointing a hoof at the bandage from the day before, dried specks of blood now being seen along the surface.

"Oh..." she replied with a disappointed tone, "Okay."

"Soon, I promise. Just not now..." Shadow said in an attempt at salvaging this discussion. "I don't want to ruin a perfectly good suit or anything..."

"I understand..." Aryanne replied once more, now a little more understanding of Shadow's predicament. "Well... we can meet here again and perhaps brain storm an idea?"

"Sounds good to me." Shadow said with a smile as Aryanne bent over and took her poster in her maw once more, ready to leave until Shadow called out.

"Wait a minute..." He said, catching Aryanne's attention and confusing himself slightly. Why did you stop her He thought to himself, not having an immediate answer either for Aryanne or himself. Looking around the room, he began thinking of different ways he could make whatever he had just done seem intentional. "Oh... here..." he said, noticing a piece of pink fabric quickly moving around the room, collecting each piece and presenting to Aryanne her set of pink socks and a collar. "You almost forgot these..."

"Oh, um... yes..." she replied, placing her poster down and taking the pieces in her hooves. Examining them, there thankfully didn't seem to be any damage done to them. Explaining it to her parents would've been difficult, but the same could be said for the entire situation. "Thank you." She finally said in appreciation of Shadow's actions, placing a sock down of the ground, stamping her hoof down on the balled up material, and using her maw, brought the material up her foreleg slowly as her white fur was soon covered in a pink fabric.

As Aryanne came up, she examined her foreleg delicately as she raised it up to her face, checking for any signs of damage just in case. There didn't seem to be any, and as she was just about to place her hoof down, she noticed Shadow watch her movements, almost hypnotically. Realizing immediate her circumstances, if her opportunity for another loving experience with Shadow were to occur, now was the time. Smiling at the realization, she said softly, "Its such a nice piece of clothing... isn't it?"

"I guess... it's a sock... sock's a sock, right?" Shadow said, snapping out of his hypnotic state and paying more attention to Aryanne than the fabric.

"Still... its such a shame..." she said as she stretched her arm forward, her pink wrist placed just under Shadow's chin before slowly going up his snout and stopping at his cheek, the entire time Aryanne had kept her sights on the hoof and a sultry expression on her face. "I had hoped to have some more... use... with them..."

"Really?" Shadow asked, "What kind of use...?"

An answer didn't come in the form of an immediate response, but more so Aryanne's eyes closing while her hoof brought her closer to Shadow, her lips wrapping around Shadow's and a blush beginning to form on her cheeks while her left hind leg rises in the air behind her. To say he was caught off would be an overstatement. If Shadow learned anything about this mare is that she's extremely unpredictable, to always expect the unexpected with her. There just came a point and time where he needed to learn that... accepting it, on the other hoof, wasn't all too difficult. Keeping things unexpected was what made relationships interesting, right?

So he decided to simply return her gesture with his own, moving further into her kiss and closing his eyes. It didn't last very long, not even near 20 seconds, but it was enough for the point Aryanne had wanted to make to get across to Shadow. When she pulled away from his face, she retained the same sultry look, as did Shadow for a short period of time before it turned into a look of confidence. "So... more use, huh?" He asked, Aryanne's lips turning to a smile as she nodded in agreement.

"Well... if you're up for it, maybe a little more use wouldn't hurt..."

Author's Notes:

Y'know there are apparently 69 paragraph's in this chapter? XD. Nothing more to say.

And yes, part 3 will be the dirty part... this part was more or less meant to be fluff to transition to said dirtiness.

Chapter 5 [Part 3 of 3]: Little Bit Of Extra Use (clop)

Author's Notes:

Though it is a bit unfortunate that this is coming out now considering the events of today, I at least hope this can cheer up those of you who may or may not be affected by the events that transpired. My hearts are with all of you, as well as Shadow's...

Thank you for your patience with this, I just hope you guys find it as... pleasurable as possible.

And thanks to TheImperialBrony for his help with this!

Smiling a devilish grin, Shadow threw himself against his bed, resting his head against the pillows and bringing his hooves to the back of his head. Once he was comfortable, his wings unraveled themselves from his body and stretched across the bed, his wingspan taking up a good amount of the bed he rested himself on. Patiently he waited here, fighting back the desire to sleep while allowing the desire for sexual relief to take him over.

Just as he was comfortable, he watched the door to his bedroom open as Aryanne, in a very seductive way, began to move towards him, her movement slow as she swayed her hips from left to right and kept her eyes half lidded. Shadow couldn't help but be hypnotized by her swaying, and hadn't noticed she was wearing her signature socks and collar once more until she reached the base of his bed. As she stood on her hind legs at the base of the bed, she did a small twirl, smiling as she looked at Shadow and asked, "Is somepony getting excited?" In a tone just as seductive as her movement.

"More than you know..." he responded, his length beginning to swell in anticipation as she giggled.

Still maintaining her seductive gaze on Shadow, Aryanne leaned forward and placed herself on the base of the bed, now beginning to slowly inch herself forward to him. "So... what do you want to do..." Shadow asked as Aryanne passed over his length and stopping herself at his chest, laying her front arms over it and resting her head on them.

"I have a few ideas..." she replied, blushing a small bit as she looked to one corner of the room and retained her smile.

"What kind of ideas?" Shadow asked once more, placing his hoof on the mare's cheek and tilting her head to face him.

A response came in the form of a quick movement from Shadow's chest to his face as Aryanne's lips pressed against his, her eyes closed as Shadow, shocked from the sudden movement, pressed his lips back into hers. The gesture was met with approval from the mare for a short time before she pulled away and opened her eyes only half way, the look in her eyes expressing to Shadow the emotions she felt for him at that second. "Bit quick don't you think?" Shadow asked, Aryanne's already flushed cheeks during a darker shade of pink as she brushed a bit of her mane behind her ear in embarrassment.

"Was that not what you wanted?" She questioned, Shadow thinking for a small amount of time before shrugging his shoulders.

"Nothing wrong with taking things slowly." Shadow replied, his right hoof meeting her left cheek.

"Shadow?" She asked, placing a pink covered hoof on his as he slowly moved in towards her. Understanding what his intentions were, Aryanne moved in closer to him as well, wrapping her lips around his as her tongue slid easily past Shadow's tongue and down his throat. The action Aryanne had acted out caused a small yet sudden gag reflex in Shadow which he ignored to the best of his ability.

Thankfully no bile had come up, but if it had, to say things would become incredibly awkward would be putting it lightly.

As he defeated the obstacle, Shadow simply allowed Aryanne's tongue to maneuver and take ownership of his mouth for just a small amount of time. She at least deserved that much for getting the advantage on him. In doing so, he allowed himself to indulge in the warm feeling Aryanne's body produced against his own. Though his eyes were shut, Shadow could feel the scorching heat of the mare's cheek under his hoof, with no doubt in his mind that her cheeks were some shade between his stripes and Celestia's butt.

Not an easy task to accomplish...

The scorching heat only intensified as Aryanne pressed her body closer against Shadow. Her chest against his, Shadow could feel the hard and rhythmic pounding of her heart against him, and in combination to the small wet spot pooling on Shadow's lap, he knew that this mare was just as ready as he was. Pulling back from the kiss and opening his eyes, he watched Aryanne do the same thing, still keeping his hoof safely secured onto her cheek with her pink covered hood. His assumptions were proven correct as he saw the lustful look in her eyes and the burning red of her cheeks.

"Ready?" He asked as he looked back at her with the same lustful look.

"Please..." Aryanne began as she released his hoof from her cheek and placed her forelegs over his shoulders, coming back closer to Shadow until she was once again mere inches away from his lips. "Just... try to be gentle...?" She requested, biting her lower lip as she looked down her withers and at her lower quadrant, her marehood releasing even more of her warm liquids, practically begging for relief.

Smiling, Shadow placed his left hoof against her withers and his right over the back of her neck, bringing her closer to him as his lips made contact with her neck and began placing small kisses against it. Moaning softly, Aryanne's right hoof moved up the back of Shadow's neck to the back of his head, holding him where he was for a brief moment before finally loosening and allowing his head to back away. "I'll try to be gentle..." Shadow whispered through a grin as his lips made contact with hers again, taking her tongue with his own and sucking on it while his length slowly entered the mare's opening.

As he entered, Aryanne moaned into his mouth and arched her back, trying to take in as much of Shadow as she possibly could. The walls of her marehood were tight as they constricted around Shadow's length, holding him in place while he fought to begin moving his hips backwards and forwards.

The movement was rhythmic as Shadow continued on, slow and gentle as she had requested, but pleasurable enough so that each time the base of his lap made contact with Aryanne's fiery marehood lips she would let out a small squeak of pleasure. They were just as soft as Shadow had previously experienced, only now did he have the opportunity to fully appreciate that.

They stayed like this for some time. To Shadow's dismay there was more passion, making things go by much slower than before and offer less pleasure. But something about it wasn't so bad this time. Though the movement was slow, the passion that he felt could more than made up for the lack of pure unadulterated love making. It wasn't bad, but a bit more flavor would go a much longer way.

Apparently, Aryanne soon began to feel just the same way as she began to start lifting her hips up and down against his length, moaning each time she hit the base of it and picking up her pace slightly. The pool from before begins to grow as well, now migrating from Shadow's lap down his leg and against his bed sheets. Cherry's gonna be so damn pissed at me, he thinks for a short second before continuing on, rocking his hips back and forth while Aryanne's walls continue to tighten around him.

"S... Sh-Shadow...?" Aryanne asks, pulling away from him and taking in a few quick huffs of air, still leaving his length inside of her as he continues on.

"Y-yeah?" Shadow stammers as he continues his slow thrusts, "is something wrong...? Am I doing someth... something wrong...?" He asks through a grunt.

"N-no... you're fine... we could just-" she begins before being cut off by a moan. "We could j-just... just make things little more..." she began, this time being cut off by a short cry of ecstasy as Shadow hit what he assumed to be her G-spot.

"Interesting...?" Shadow asked with the same devilish smile, Aryanne shaking her head in agreement, unable to speak to Shadow as she bit her lower lip and kept her eyes shut tight. Grinning, Shadow's length slide out of Aryanne's entrance with quite a bit of effort, making an audible popping sound as the mare's expression fell, looking slightly more disappointed than anything else. Next Shadow's hooves released their grip of the mare and began to maneuver themselves around her, with one going to her back and the other to her soft yet incredibly firm rear end.

Making sure he had a good grip on the mare, he began to flap his wings, keeping her close to him as they levitated above the bed. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see them in the air, looking back at Shadow and meeting his crimson red eyes while he wore an expression of confidence. He felt her hot breath against his face and vice versa, finding himself once again losing himself in her beautiful blue eyes.

They stayed in the air for sometime as Shadow zoned out into her gaze. "Um... Shadow...?" The mare in his arms asked, drawing him out of his zoned out state of mind. With a shake of his head he was back, and now was debating on what his next course of action was. It didn't take long for the lightbulb in his brain to flick on, for when it did, he knew exactly what to do next. As he shifted their positions he lowered them both back on the soft bed, however instead of him laying on it, it was instead Aryanne herself laying sprawled out for him.

Well, sprawled isn't the right word to use since the only thing sprawled out were her hind legs. Whatever the case, here she was, laying herself out for Shadow, her pink covered sock hooves faintly discolored to a darker shade in some spots from both his juices as well as her own. Looking down at her marehood, Shadow made his way down to her crotch where instead of being met with the lips of her vagina, he was met with the sight of her blonde tail wedged in between her legs and a pair of pink sock covered hooves holding it in place. "Not ready for that, huh?" Shadow asked with no response coming from Aryanne. Not even so much as a gesture.

Instead, he got the same look as before minus the shut eyes, and was nervously looking to his left to a corner of the room. "Okay..." he said after some time, crawling back up her body immediately and placing a small kiss on her nose.

"I... I'm sorry..." she said, looking nearly on the verge of tears. Weird... he thought to himself, deciding not to say it out loud and instead wrapping his arms and wings around her.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it..."

They stayed laying there for what felt like hours to Shadow, but in reality may have been no longer than a few minutes in complete silence. What was that about? He thought to himself as he held Aryanne close to his body, thankful yet she wasn't crying. Whatever that was, it was horrible... that look... it was cute at first but...

"Sorry if I killed the mood..." he said in an attempt to break the silence, "I just wanted you to enjoy yourself..."

"I understand..." she replied, wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes with her hoof, noticing the cloth covering it was now stained with tears and her juices and immediately tossing both off. "I'm fine, Shadow... truly, I am." She said with a smile, placing her exposed hoof on Shadow and tilting his head to face her to place a passion filled kiss on his lips. "If you want to... maybe we could keep going?"

"You sure?" Shadow asked with an unsure look, not entirely certain that Aryanne was ready. "We can stop, too. I understand if- WOAH!" He shout, now finding himself underneath Aryanne and her tail now wrapping itself around Shadow's leg. Trying to begin another sentence proved futile as her forelegs wrapped over his shoulders and her lips planted against his, once again catching him off guard again as her tongue immediately went into his mouth and down his throat.

Shit! Shadow thought to himself, his eyes wide open from the shock of such a sudden change, this mare just went from ten to a hundred!

...

Hot...

Wrapping his right hoof over her withers and his left on his length, Shadow closed his eyes and returned Aryanne's tongue with his own, returning her kiss while he gave his length a good couple of strokes, aligned it with her extremely warm vagina lips, and slowly entered into her canal. Moaning into Shadow's mouth as he did so made him even more stimulated, making his cock give a few more good pulses as it erected to full strength. Picking up where he left off, Shadow took the brunt of the effort this time, starting out slow but picking up the pace almost immediately, much to Aryanne's enjoyment.

With every thrust he made against her, he felt her walls become tighter and tighter, practically squeezing down on his length. How can a mare like her be this tight? Was what he thought as he continued pushing in and out, her insides just getting tighter and tighter, practically strangling his shaft. "Spread your legs..." Shadow huffed, pulling out of the tonguing Aryanne was currently giving him. Complying, she spread her legs open much wider and allowed Shadow more room to move.

"Sh-Sh... SHAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" She cried out as his head finally reached her plushy cervix, causing her to cry out in sheer ecstasy.

"YES! SHADOW YES!!!" She cried out, her hips rising and falling as she let out even more cries of pleasure. "DON'T STOP! PLEEEEASSE DON'T STOP!!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" She screamed out, her exposed hoof immediately in her mouth as she began biting down on it.
"Sh... Sh... SHAAAAAAADDDDOOOWWW!!!" She screamed again, "KEEP GOING! FUCK ME! FUCK ME...!!!"

Wishing to please her, he continued on, her screams of ecstasy increasing in volume the faster and harder he went. Through her own cries Shadow couldn't help but moan along with her. Hearing all of her desperate cries for more and screams of unadulterated bliss began catching on to him, craving more and more of the mare's screams of enjoyment. With her use of fowl language, it had become clear to Shadow that she had, with reckless abandon, completely forgotten her good mare from Trottingham like behavior he had come to enjoy, and instead traded it out for a sex crazed mare that desperately needed him for relief.

"FASTER! FAAAAAAAASSSSTTEEEERRR!!!"

Seeing and hearing her degraded to nothing more than that, a sex starved mare, would've made him feel terrible. Maybe even made him stop. But for now, it just made him continue on, making him want to keep going and fulfill her desire.

He couldn't take it anymore. Desire and sex was even starting to take him over as he continued to push harder and harder into her womb, each one causing a different pitch of scream to erupt from within Aryanne and him even more pleasure. It was because of this he had placed his hooves against her back and cutie mark once more, switching her positioning so that she was laying on her stomach against the bed.

It didn't take much longer for Shadow to come back down and begin his thrusting. Her nether area in the air but out of his view, Shadow placed his shaft back into Aryanne, now finding it easier to hit her cervix as she yelped out in pleasure.

Leaning over, Shadow's chest now rested against her arched back, where his head made contact with the back of her's. Going to work immediately, Shadow began to place small kisses against the back and sides of her throat, on occasion even sucking on it and leaving small pink circles on her neck. His hooves moved to her mane and neck, where the one rested on her neck held her head up a bit and the other in her mane grabbed a large amount of her hair.

Yanking her up, Shadow took the chance to place his lips against her cheeks, keeping his fast pace of thrust going as tears of joy came streaming down Aryanne's eyes. Satisfied with the amount of kisses he placed, he let her head fall back on the pillows, but still kept his hold of her mane and neck.

"Please Shadow..." Aryanne whispered with her face against the pillows and hooves dancing around Shadow's body from behind her. "Keep going... use me! Use me, make me yours! I want to be yours!" Aryanne cried out as even more of her liquids began streaming down, practically creating a small lake of both Shadow and her juices.

"Don't stop! Please DON'T STOP!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" She shouted, sticking her tongue out and panting heavily as Shadow kept going, plowing himself into her again and again, scraping against her inner walls and pushing deeper into her womb. More screams of pleasure came from the mare, making Shadow lose his mind even more to his desires as thoughts of impregnating her came into his mind, both scaring and causing him to go as fast as he possibly could.

Almost immediately it hit him that both were just on the verge of a climax. He felt it all building in his stomach and falling down to the bottom of his shaft. Warm and plentiful, his seed began to fill his length, making it even hotter and harder than it had before. A small part of himself had realized this, and for a split second his better judgement went into full overdrive. As tempting as it was to fill this mare with his seed, push deep into her and truly make her his own, he knew he couldn't. Pulling out of her, Shadow flipped the mare on her back and let the torrent of seed blast over her, going as far as her chest in terms of distance.

The action set off Aryanne as well. With one last cry of sheer sex, Aryanne released her liquids practically everywhere. Over the bed, some of Shadow's lower body, everywhere in the immediate area was covered, somewhat, in her mare cum.

Exhaustion took a huge beating on Shadow as he fell on his left side, barely holding on to consciousness to see the mare he had just rutted do the same thing.

---

He had no idea when or how, but eventually Shadow had awoken from his slumber, dazed, cold, but most of all, sticky and reaking of sex. In particular, it was both the smell and feeling that immediately got to Shadow the soonest, and before he knew it he was in the bathroom next to his bed, barely so much as looking at the mess that was his bed as he took what had to have been one of the longest showers of his life.

When he finished his shower looked at his bed, he not only noticed just what a damn disaster it had become, but also lacked the familiar blue eyed blonde he had come to care for. There was certainly an intention where her body once laid, along with the now drying mare cum she left behind, but otherwise nothing else.

Least I know she was real... Shadow thought with a smile, tossing a towel over his shoulders as he flew over his bed, the smell still insulting his nostrils but the sight impressing him beyond any other related to sex.

Now that's what you call wild... he thought, looking around at their work before noticing a small piece of pink fabric on the right side of the bed. Investigating it led Shadow's smile to grow even larger as he took it up in his hooves.

She must've forgotten about this, Shadow thought to himself, bringing it closer to his face for further investigation. I should probably give it back to her, his thoughts continued as he smiled, admiring the material in his hooves before placing it on top of a nearby drawer, laying it out smooth and flat while smiling.

And with a few sniffs of himself, Shadow immediately decided a shower was in order.

Chapter 6 [Part 1 of 2]: Old Yogurt and Friends

The setting is a darkened arena, crowds of roaring, cheering fans screaming obscenities and names at the epicenter of this massive gathering... a boxing ring, where in one corner leans a leviathan of a Stallion, with an expression of pure rage and grit as bruises polkadot his face.

In the other corner is a slightly smaller Stallion, his face, body, and mind seemingly in more disarray as he clutches the corner poll, a team spraying him with water as he looks to his opponent, afraid but looking on with a gaze of determination, refusing to let his fear be seen by this adversary.

The manager to his left side mumbles a few words into his ear, presumably ones of encouragement, and pats the Stallion on his shoulder. The action evokes a wince of pain to come from the fighter but nothing more as he forces himself up and out of his corner. He staggers for a bit, but quickly regains his composure as he trots forth to the center of the ring.

The leviathan follows suit, his hooves against the mat of the ring shaking it up and down ever so slightly as he calmly trots on. He still has the same look of unbridled rage, but restrains himself as he is unable to do so much as even spit at this Stallion who dared challenge him.

A referee in the form of a Unicorn mare wearing the usual attire pops up from some unknown area and quickly comes between the two. She leans forwards to the two opponents and says... something, her words completely overtaken by the chanting and excited cries of the audience watching nearby. Nodding to both, she backs away from the two and waves her arm towards one end of the arena, and the match begins once again as a bell rings three times in the distance.

The larger Stallion jolts forwards and the other quickly shifts to the right of him, avoiding being trampled by this lumbering brute, but only narrowly. The opponent rises quickly and lunges forwards again, his body only making contact with the mat before he feels three quick strikes against his side. They seemingly leave no effect on him as he rise once more, facing the smaller fighter who already has his hooves readily guarding his face, ready to strike when needed.

The two end up in a small stalemate as they circle one another over and over again, searching and awaiting the other to leave some sort of weak spot that would leave one or the other open to an attack. The smaller fighter seemingly begins to think, his eyes darting all around the two of them in a rapid movement as he searches for anything that could turn the tide in his favor.

He finds nothing... nothing but him and his opponent.

He seems to formulate in his mind the different outcomes that could arise from different advances. If he continues to take this defensive state, nothing will get done. If he goes in for a head on collision with this Stallion, he'll lose, as he is not nearly strong enough or able enough to take this brute down with a few blows, whereas he could've taken him down with relative ease had he not used his strength so inappropriately.

The risky move to make here would be to quickly circle around the brute and attack his sides with quick blows, primarily the stomach and lower abdomens. But such an action would cause the brute to take swings at him, strong and powerful ones, or maybe even charge once more at him and ricochet off the ring's ropes, giving him more speed. With his arms being as long and as strong as they were, chances are that dodging these would be nearly impossible.

So here he continued on instead, deciding that the next best move would be to wait for his own opponent to make the first move. And hope and pray that whatever move he made could be countered...

---

“Booooooriiiing...!” Shadow let out as he slumped against his black sofa, sighing while turning off the television with a simple press of a button. Fights like these were never really entertaining to watch... no, the real excitement laid in actually partaking in them. The roaring of the crowds, the strikes against one another’s bodies, the rush of pure adrenaline that kicked all of your senses into a frenzy...

Yes, those were when fights were fun... actually being there.

As he looked upon the blackened screen, Shadow saw only his own reflection staring back at him with the same dull expression, one hoof laying on his stomach while the other lazily remained at his side. Times like these were the reason he couldn’t really appreciate vacation time as much as other ponies could. When you have all the time in the world to yourself, with nothing to do or no pony to talk to, what were you supposed to do? What CAN you do?

For a few moments, Shadow considered calling the mare he met and having another talk with her. Two days had passed since the two had last seen each other face to face, mostly due to her own busy schedule keeping her from speaking to him, but a small portion of it being that Shadow didn’t have the desire to come off as ‘too needy’. He turned his head towards the phone and thought a little bit more, his loose hoof coming under his chin to help him decide whether or not to call. Shadow shook his head a little while after, figuring that he was better off just having her call him first.

Which put him right back at square one.

He continued to look at his reflection in the television screen and immediately grew sick of it. The Stallion in the darkness mirroring his own disappointment and disdain only furthered his desire to do anything at that point. Softening his expression to that of pure boredom once again, Shadow shrugged at his reflection and simply decided to go to his kitchen in search for food to keep his mouth busy. It was a bad habit, one he fully admitted to himself and others that he needed to quit... but a habit nonetheless... eating because your bored.

Throwing open the refrigerator door, he searched high and low for anything he felt would cause the least amount of destruction to his overall well being. A small strawberry yogurt appeared to be in his future as he removed it from the fridge and slammed the door shut. Swiftly, he moved to his utensils and pulled out a decently sized spoon before slamming that back into place too and sliding into a seat on his table. With a sigh he opened the pathetic snack and was surprised to see the pink, almost flesh colored goo of fruit and milk, stare back at him. Deciding not to think about it too much, Shadow thrust his spoon in and lifted up a decent amount of the stuff, shoving it into his mouth and being met with a bitter, almost rotted taste instead of the fruity, berry freshness he expected.

Spitting out his spoon and goo of rot, Shadow quickly and frantically checked for an expiration date. Finding one, he was shocked to see that the stuff had gone bad almost three weeks before he decided to make it his snack. Tossing it into a nearby trash bin, Shadow placed his hooves against his face and sighed once more, this time longer and harder as his hooves dragged down his face, exposing an angry look underneath.

“This is so stupid!!!” Shadow exclaimed as he took up the spoon in his hoof, examining it before shouting, “Why and how the Tartarus did I even have three week old yogurt in my fridge to begin with?!” before lobbing the spoon towards the sink, a metallic clicking sound emanating through the empty apartment before fading ever so slightly. Head in hooves again, Shadow groaned once more before reminding himself over and over again that this was the reason why he hated vacation time. Upset and completely sick of doing absolutely nothing, he decided to say screw it to his manager’s words in regards to laying low and go out on a jog, maybe fly if his wings were feeling up to it today.

Decision made, Shadow quickly ran into his closet and began searching around for a jacket, specifically a black hoodie he kept around for exercise. Finding it, he threw it on and quickly threw the hood over his head, hoping it would provide him some form of shielding from having to face his annoying landlord just down the stairs. Just making it to the door, he had begun to turn the knob when all of a sudden, the phone sprung to life, a ringing emanating throughout the small apartment and causing his ear to flicker. Turning to face it, he raised an eyebrow, wondering just who could possibly be calling him now, of all times.

Could it be Aryanne, hoping to get a small chat going? Could it be his manager and/or landlord, both eager to chew his head off? Could it be a telemarketer, hoping to sell him solar panels for a building that wasn’t even his?

The thought of telemarketers calling him of all ponies made a devilish grin instantly form on his face. If there was one thing he loved, it was screwing with them... they almost always warranted it, save for the one or two older ponies clearly calling just to earn their paycheck. Still, he had his fun with them, knowing there wasn’t a chance in Hades any of them would meet him.

Picking up the phone, he thought up a few clever quips before simply clearing his throat with a cough and asking, “Hello...?”

“No swears or inappropriate introductions?” Said the voice on the other side of the phone, clearly a male voice caring a thick accent, “Is this really Shadow Rift or have I stumbled upon the wrong number?”

Groaning, Shadow’s malevolent smile dissipated, turning into a frown of disappointment knowing that the Stallion on the other side was not one of the single ponies he had just thought it might’ve been. “You ruined my fun...” he complained into the phone, making the Stallion on the other side grown.

“I’m sure I did...” he began before continuing unenthusiastically with, “What was it this time? A call service or another chance to annoy some poor unfortunate soul...”

“That last one. Telemarketers...”

“You don’t have to do that. Their lives are already hard enough as is.”

“Blah blah blah, same thing coming from a different mouth from a different pony,” Shadow joked before going on, “Now what’s up?”

Sighing, the Stallion on the other end continued. “Recently, my career has required I attend a seminar on Science and Magic, where top leading unicorns in the field of magic will attempt to... Well, knowing you the way I do, Shadow, you’re probably not interested in any of that. Bottom line, I’ll be returning to Ponyville I was hoping we could get together and have a drink or two with one another.”

“You want to grab a Cider?” Shadow asked the Stallion in an almost shocked expression, “I thought you didn’t do that stuff?”

“No, not really. Though I am you do...” the Stallion on the other line said, knowing Shadow well and causing Shadow to shake his head in agreement.

“Alright,” Shadow agreed, “when do you wanna meet up?”

“Are you busy now?” The voice asked. Two separate universes were created as a result of this question. One in the mind in which Shadow simply stated, ‘Not Really’, and the two carried on… and the universe of reality, in which Shadow decided to screw around with Astra before answering his question. With a few oo’s and aa’s, Shadow rubbed the back of his neck, making small hissing sounds emanate from the corner of his mouth to make his point.

“You know me, Astra… I’m a busy Stallion. I got a lot of shit on my mind and it’s just so… I dunno.”

He let out another sigh and smiled, struggling to maintain a straight face, “Maybe I can make a little time to see ya, buddy.”

Shadow could feel the station on the other end roll his eyes behind his head and mouth a few swears. He silently mouthed a yes! and made a hoof pump, smiling as he heard his friend groan one more time into the phone. “Shadow, sometimes I wonder why I put up with your stupidity at all…” He said, finally responding after a solid ten seconds of pure silence.

“Because you love me?” Shadow asked smugly. His friend let out another groan of frustration before simply concluding with “you know where to meet me, I’ll be an hour…” and hanging up. He couldn’t handle himself at that point. A howl of laughter later and Shadow found himself on the ground, rolling and clutching his sides. His friend meant well, Shadow was sure off that… But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try and get his fun at the stallion’s expense. He shook himself off and wiped the dust from himself, looking to a clock that read the time and revealed that the trot to Astra’s location was going to be long. Shadow let out a few extra chuckles for good measure before continuing on his way to the location.

Author's Notes:

Eh, figured I would release what I have now and get the general feel from everyone. I had this chapter on the back burner for years, I just never found the right time to upload it. What with the recent news and the reception the tease got, I figured "Hey, why not finish what you started?"

So that's the plan for now. I wanna finish Daybreak before the series officially ends and finish what I started years ago. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't what you guys were looking for, and I'm really sorry not much (seemingly) happens in it. It's just that the original chapter was getting so long I decided to just split them in half. That said, keep your eyes out for that one, I'm gonna be bringing back an old character I also had on the back burner and try to introduce the dynamic between him and Rift. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and endless support guys! Take care!

P.S. Well, there goes that plan of color coding the text. I thought this was fixed? Eh, well, these next few chapters, I'll do my best to get that down.

Chapter 6 [Part 2 of 2]: Have A Drink On Me

Shadow was thankful the trot itself didn't last, or seemingly last, as long as he believed it would. It helped quite a bit that his timing seemed impeccable as the town was mostly devoid of any life or activity. Before long, the stallion was in front of a small bar, the exterior revealing more age than he originally remembered it. He moved inside and was both happily surprised... and shocked to see that the place lacked any business. Shadow attributed most of it to the fact that it was just timing and assumed it would be full by the time night fell.

What the bar lacked in exterior design, it more than made up for in interior design. The walls were coated in a thick layer of velvet red paint, illuminated by small, blue magical flames that flickered in the center of every table in the bar. Supposedly, the Stallion (A Bat Pony) who owned the bar managed to accomplish this trick of his through means of magic that he was not yet willing to reveal to many of Ponyville’s citizens. Be it because of spite towards the general populace and their disposition towards most bat ponies, or his desire to hold true to the old "good magician never reveals his secrets’" mentality, he never said a word about them.

In the corners of the walls there lay barrels, purely placed there for decoration. In the center of the left wall was the bar itself, shelf after shelf of various bottles of all different shapes and size yielding liquids of different colors. Seated just in front of all of these was none other than the deep blue maned, light blue coated Stallion Shadow instantly recognized as his closest friend. He always did make it a point to arrive a half hour or so before the ponies he made arrangements did.

“Hey buddy!” Shadow shouted, catching the stallion’s attention and raising his hoof in front of him. The stallion known as Astra smiled and returned the favor, giving his friend a hoof bump and a warm smile.

“For a moment, I believed you wouldn’t arrive mate…” Astra commented as Shadow took his seat next to the Stallion, turning to face him.

“And miss out on a chance to meet with you after 5 months? Like Tartarus.”

Astra chuckled, “I thought you were busy?”

Shadow shrugged. “Change of plans I guess.”

Astra smiled and wrapped a kind wing over his friend’s shoulder. Despite his teasing on the phone earlier that morning, Astra could look past it and excuse it to some degree. Meeting an old friend, a good friend at that, after a long time generally makes you a bit open to their faults.

As Shadow ordered a few drinks for them, he turned back to his friend, his smile still firmly planted on his face. Trying to get the conversation going, the blue stallion began with, “How did your performance go?”

“Pretty good,” Shadow said, “The audience seemed to like it. They were all up in arms, waving and shouting and smiling when they saw me do that one corkscrew maneuver I showed you a while back.”

“The maneuver I specifically told you to never do again after you nearly lighted yourself entirely on fire?” Astra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s the one!” Shadow smiled, “Still got a few burnt specks on me, but the doctors’ said that it should heal up quick.”

Astra held the bridge of his nose when he heard the news, shaking his head and shutting his eyes tight. He should’ve known his friend wouldn’t heed his advice, despite the fact that he made it abundantly clear to him then that such a maneuver was suicidal. Not to mention just flat out ridiculous. Unfortunately, he had known Shadow long enough that once the stallion got something in his mind and became committed to it, he wouldn’t listen to anypony.

Astra let out a sigh of frustration as a Bat Pony bartender came to their seats, small glasses of a warm yet dull colored liquid balanced on a platter.

The Bat Pony looked to Astra and gave him a wink, causing him to blush madly. She smiled and bared her fangs at him, licking them before turning to Shadow and doing the same. He didn’t make an attempt to hide his feelings as he smiled evilly back at her. She gave the two their mugs before disappearing back into the kitchen of this establishment. Shadow took a sip of his liquid and smiled to his friend. “She’s into me…” he smirked, nodding while taking another sip.

Astra gave no response as he took a sip of his own drink. It was harsh, harsher than he had anticipated or expected a simple beer to be, instantly spitting a bit of the stuff out in shock. He swallowed down what he little could and wiped his lips, looking up to Shadow with a shocked expression. “What did you get us?!”

His friend laughed and took a sip of his own liquor. “That, my dear friend, is a special Bat Pony brew… the Gold Rush. Mean little bastards,” he smirked, “Be thankful… things are so dangerous I asked the bartender up there to hold back on the rum for you. Least it goes down easy…!” Shadow smiled, raising his glass in the air and taking another sip.

Though Shadow was right in the sense that it went down easy, Astra pushed the drink ahead of him and gave it an uneasy glance. “I’m not drinking that again.”

“Ah come on, you big softie, it’s not that bad…”

“I wasn’t anticipating it, Shadow,” Astra went on.

Shadow rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink. “Fine, I’m sorry.”

Silence reigned over the two for some time after. Shadow continued to sip away at his drink while Astra sat there, awaiting another drink that was much less potent than the one he had ordered from the same waitress that assisted them from before. Her playful flirtation had seemingly disappeared for the most part, but persisted long enough for her to call Astra some flirty name as a fresh bottle was placed before him. She called him some flirty name, brushed her hoof against his, and once again disappeared.

The silence began to kill Shadow and, before long, he looked to his friend. Hoping to begin another conversation, he started with, “So… how’re things going with you?”

The blue stallion shrugged after getting over the awkward situation. “My career has steadily been increasing in quality, both personally and mentally,” he began, “I doubt you’d be able to understand most of it, however know that I have been actively researching and experimenting with fairly difficult concepts and theories.”

Shadow knew Astra was probably right and figured it was probably within both their best interests to just change the subject. “What about personally? Like.. not your job or anything, but everything else in your life?” Shadow asked.

Another shrugged once more. “My parents are in good health last we spoke,” he said, turning to face his friend, “My brother is doing similarly. Octavia and I...” Shadow mentally sighed at this as Astra continued on. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for his friend’s love life, or even that Astra brought it up at all. His friend seemed happy with the mare in his life, after all. It was just a problem of the mare herself.

A Cellist and intellect in her own right, Octavia Melody seemed like a fine pony. Shadow could remember the day the two stallions met the mare. It was another stuffy party that Astra had invited his friend to. The entire night, Shadow could remember as Astra eyed the mare from afar. Though he struggled to do so, in the end, Shadow had managed to convince his friend to try getting a few words in with the Cellist on stage. The rest was history, but overtime, the mare grew to dislike Shadow… or at least, so he felt. Something about the way she always spoke to him whenever the two were alone rubbed him the wrong way.

Out of respect for his friend, he said nothing, even now when he pretended to act interested in his and her love life with one another. It was just a one time event, and Astra seemed happy enough with the mare… perhaps she’s changed since then? It had been a few months since the two ever saw each other.

“What about you, Shadow?” Astra asked as he took another sip of his bottle.

“What about me?” Shadow asked as he polished off the last of his own drink, feeling a small buzzing sensation begin to form on the side of his head, and a thick layer of lard begin to encase the back side.

“How have you been?” He carried on, “Your performance pushed aside for a moment…”

Shadow smiled and let out an amused huff, recalling the beautiful blonde mare he had met a few days prior. “Yeah, I paid my rent… got a new batch of posters for my next gig…” He moved closer to Astra with a sly smile on his face, “AND met a new mare.”

As soon as he heard the words, Astra placed his hoof over his face, setting down his bottle just as quickly. “A new mare, Shadow?” He asked bemused, turning to look his friend in the eye.

“What?”

“Shadow, how long ago was it that you and that other mare were in a relationship?” Astra continued. His friend placed hoof on his chin as he found himself lost in thought once more.

“Oh! You mean that one redhead from Fillydelphia?” He asked. Astra nodded his head. “Yeah… she kinda dumped me a few weeks ago. Don’t worry, Astra, you know me better than to cheat on a mare like that…”

“Mate, that was never my concern in the first place…” The stallion began, pushing aside his own drink, “I have no doubt that you’re seeing somepony, and I have very little reason to suspect you of cheating but… so soon after your latest ending of relations?”

Shadow raised an eyebrow at his friend. “That was for a completely legitimate reason Astra. The mare was a psychopath anyways, threw me out a fuckin' window! This mare… I dunno, she’s different than anypony I’ve met.” He let out a sigh, showing how much he thought of said mare.

Astra rolled his eyes a bit at this. The words Shadow was speaking weren’t necessarily new to his ears, as he had said the same thing about every other mare that had entered his life. Almost every one of which ended just about the same way as soon as they had begun. What was new this go around, however, was how soon he entered the relationship. And if the last one was going to be any indication, chances were that it was going to end just as bad, if not worse.

Astra sighed and nodded to himself. He decided he held his held his tongue on the matter long enough, and if he didn’t at least try reaching out to his friend, chances were this cycle would continue on until his death. Shadow was his friend, he told himself, he was only doing it for the stallion’s best interest.

“Shadow…” He begun, speaking in a low voice and turning back to give his friend a sympathetic look, “We’ve been friends for quite some time, however… I must tell you this now. If I don’t your bad patterns are only going to continue on and… the last thing I wish for you is to continue along this broken path of poor relationships.

“You can’t simply continue doing this. Jumping head first out of one relationship and into another with the same reckless abandon you give during your performances. It isn’t any more healthy here. One may argue that it’s quite worse given how the damage is much more emotional than it is physical. Though in your case, I suppose they’re both…”

Shadow hung onto his friend’s words carefully. He knew what he was saying, about it only being in his best interest, was honest but… that didn’t make things any less hard for him.

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Astra, but… I’m fine. The last relationship ended because the bitch was psychotic, nothing I can do about it except try to be more observant or whatever.”

“Oh really?” Astra asked skeptically, ”And what makes you think this new mare is any different, mate?”

“Because, when we were doing it-”

“SHADOW!” Astra yelled, cutting off his friend mid sentence through clenched teeth while darting his eyes around the bar. Once he was certain nopony had heard his friend, Astra continued on softly with, “Mate, you can’t just say that in public…”

Shadow looked around the bar and rolled his eyes. “Come on, we’re the only ones here.”

“You don’t know that,” Astra retorted, placing a hoof on the bridge of his nose, “And that’s the least of your concerns. You can’t just jump into a relationship like that, Rift. It’s dangerous…”

“What was I supposed to do?!” Shadow asked, placing a hoof on his chest, “A smokin’ hot mare shows up at my apartment all dressed up like she was, offering herself to me like that? I can’t just turn that away!”

“No, but you should! Especially if you’ve only been out of a rather disastrous relationship for as long as you have. Once more, it is dangerous and horrifically reckless of you…!”

Shadow folded his arms across his chest and gave his friend a confident smile. “What can I say? Danger is my middle name.”

Astra sighed with a bit more frustration at his friend’s stupidity. “Shadow…”

“Astra, seriously… chill. Everything is going to be okay.”

“At least promise me you’ll do your best to heed my warning. If you care for this new mare as much as you say you do, don’t continue to do what you have with other mares. Time and time again, it’s proven that your lack of judgement or foresight into these matters have resulted in nothing short of disaster. If you’re going to be careful, then with this mare is the best place to start.”

Just as Shadow was about to retort, something inside of him paused for a moment and told him to listen to his friend’s words carefully. He thought them over for a good solid while, and in doing so, the image of the mare named Aryanne came into his head. He sighed, figuring that his friend was probably right and that it would be in his best interest to be careful with her. After all, he did feel he meant it when he told Astra that this mare was different than the others. She was passionate about the way they were together, she was kind, smart… more beautiful than Celestia herself. A smile crossed his face. When he looked up to his friend, Astra knew that Shadow’s smile was genuine.

“Alright…” He sighed, “You win. I promise I’ll be more careful with this one.”

Astra nodded and returned to his drink. “You know I’m only doing this because I want you to be careful, right mate? I hate hearing about these incidents happening with you and…”

“I know, buddy, I know,” Shadow continued, nodding along and joining Astra is his drinking. “I mean it too. This mare’s worth it, I know she is… it’s this feeling, y’know? Like what you had with Octavia.”

Shadow could see the corner of his friend’s mouth curve upward in a smile. “It’s a special feeling. I hope you’re correct in your evaluation.”

Raising his glass up, Shadow nudged his friend with his free hoof, offering him a smile when Astra’s bold blue eyes met his ruby reds. “To a healthy relationship…” He joked, suppressing a chuckle. Astra nodded and returned the smile, albeit a bit less confidently. Still, the Pegasus raised his bottle to Shadow and repeated the phrase. Clinking their drinks together, they both confidently downed the remaining portions of their drinks. Today was a good day for the two.

---

With their drinks paid for, and arrangements made to try and meet with one another again later, Shadow and Astra parted ways as they left the building. Shadow’s smile from before never ceased to leave his face. He played their conversations over and over again in his mind as he travelled down and through the now somewhat populated streets of Ponyville.

It had been a good sum of hours since he entered the bar with his friend, and already, the sky with it’s sherbert colors painted beautifully before it signified that like no other. The sun had turned a deep orange color, signifying the end of another day. It was a good sign to the stallion, who thought that another day over meant one hoofstep closer to the mare from before.

Just as he about to cross the street to his apartment, a funny thought came to his mind. He remembered that not too long ago, there was a thin but long alley that could serve as the perfect short cut to his apartment. He never thought to use it before, but with his spirits high and patience somewhat thin, the stallion decided that now was probably the best chance he had of using it with purpose.

When the guard gave the signal that all was clear, Shadow began trotting along from one end to the other. Just as he about to go about his usually route, Shadow noticed the alleyway. He could see the building just at the opposite end and smiled when his suspicions were correct. His confidence, however, soon faded as he noticed just how dingy the place looked. Broken bottles of something lay close to puddles of something, and the multiple garbage cans all knocked over sent a foul stench once the wind decided to pick up and send a fresh wave of the scent Shadow’s way. The stallion couldn’t help but feel a bit nauseous at the scent alone.

With a sickening feeling in his stomach and a nervous expression on his face, Shadow debated on backing away and continue going along the normal path. The place just looked too sketchy to be trustworthy. Yet again, however, a voice from deep inside reminded him of who he was. He was Shadow Rift, Stallion of Danger. Some little alley like this wasn’t anything he hadn’t experienced before, and even since his days of alley lurking, he had faced dangers far greater than this.

His confidence returning, Shadow replaced his grim expression with a more assured smile and proceeded down the alleyway.

In truth, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t experienced before. It wasn’t anywhere near as dangerous or populated as some of the others he had gone down before, and once he was passed the garbage cans, the nauseating smell had mostly disappeared. He was halfway through when he looked up and noticed his apartment. As Shadow continued, he continued to think to himself over and over again that he was silly for even behaving in the manner he had.

“This place is a breeze…” He thought aloud, “Should come down here more often, actually…”

“Yes, you should…” Came a thick voice from behind the stallion, causing Shadow to stop and turn behind himself quickly. When he noticed the stallion, Shadow couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated.

He was much larger than him, that much was for certain, with hooves the size of tree stumps and legs that matched. The stallion was white and lacked any mane or color, aside from perhaps the small scruff of beard and mustache on his face that were a black color. His eyes were shielded by a pair of aviators, and his attire consisted of a brown sports coat and black turtleneck. He stood just behind a corner that Shadow forgot to check, which the stallion would later berate himself over.

“Uh….?” Shadow began, his fear turning to unease as he spoke to the stallion, “Can I help you?”

The stallion took a moment to ponder Shadow’s words before pursing his lips and shaking his head. “No, though perhaps you can do me a favor…” the strange stallion said, Shadow now noticing that he was speaking in an accent that was all too foreign to Shadow Rift.

“That depends, bud… I don’t do anything for free…” Shadow smiled confidently, attempting to do his best to hide his unease from both the stallion and himself.

The stallion’s chuckle was throaty and deep. He took a moment to recompose himself before removing his glasses and staring directly into Shadow’s eyes with his own piercing blue eyes. “Halte dich fern von ihr…” The stallion said.

Shadow looked at the stallion as though he were crazy before shaking his head and rubbing his ears. “Mind running that one through me again, bud?” Shadow asked, now feeling more confused than anything else.

“I said, halte dich fern von ihr, pigeon…” He repeated, leaning forward towards Shadow with a smile of his own.

“Uh…” Shadow asked, tilting his head a bit, now growing frustrated with the stallion more than anything else. Maybe the stallion was just high or drunk or something. With that mentality, Shadow continued on. “Yeah… Tell you what, bud? I’m in a good mood, I’m guessing you’ve got some shit going on right now, so I’ll let that pigeon line slide. For now, I gotta get home… see you never!” He smiled, saluting the stallion before continuing along his way.

While Shadow continued along, he could hear the stallion in the background chuckling about the situation. He couldn’t quite make out whatever it was that the stallion said afterwards, but he knew that whatever it was, chances were it would be the same random crap he said before. Shadow brushed off the incident by simply affirming to himself that the stallion was just intoxicated and wanted to pick a fight or something. Those days of Shadow’s were long since over, and all things considered, the media attention a fight would receive wasn’t worth it.

“Never going back there, though…” Shadow said, shaking his head and quickly entering the entrance to his apartment building.

Author's Notes:

Hey, remember how I said that there was a narrative reason behind the incident in Chapter 2? XD. Yeah, it's coming a bit late, but hey, there you go anyways. The plan from now on is to make things go by smoother, make this all feel a little more natural. That said, I might have a few saucy moments every now and again... 😏

I'm also trying out color coding these to make things a bit easier for people to read. Lemme know what your thoughts are, if it makes things easier or worse. It's a bit of a pain to go through and do it, but I'll bite the bullet and happily do it if you guys want.

Lastly, I wanna thank the user Mewrilah for his help with this latest chapter. I won't lie in saying that I had a huge migraine trying to finish this, and he helped me out a ton with it. Go give him plenty of love, he does some pretty awesome stuff.

So that's all for now. If you're still reading this story, I want to thank you for your support of this. I know it took me forever to get all of this stuff done, but truth be told, I kinda burnt myself out. When i heard the news about this next season, I figured I'd at least make it my job to finish the fight. And Finish the Fight I will. Stick around, I promise that plenty of more stuff like this is sure to come.