Flurry Heart starts to wonder what she is supposed to do as an alicorn. Can a new friend help with that? Even if he's the son of Sombra! While no one accepts him, she does. But was that the right decision?
Flurry Heart starts to wonder what she is supposed to do as an alicorn. Can a new friend help with that?
Even if he's the son of Sombra!
While no one accepts him, she does. Was that the right decision? Will she follow her heart or will she follow her role as princess? (I do not own cover art)
Small prologue of the story: The cold wind rushed across her face as she desperately tried to outrun the pony chasing her. Her hooves hammered into the snow as she ran. She was breathing hard and fearing for her life, but it was no use. He was right behind her and catching up, but she didn't notice. The wind was loud in her ears roaring like a storm and her heart pounded in her chest. The moment she turned her head to see if he was still there he attacked, slamming her body on the ground. Her breath got knocked out of her and the shock of the impact didn't give her time to react. When she finally ignited her horn he had already cast a spell on her. She drew her last breath before darkness enveloped her vision. (read to find out what happens. ;-)
The cold wind rushed across her face as she desperately tried to outrun the pony chasing her. Her hooves hammered into the snow as she ran. She was breathing hard and fearing for her life, but it was no use. He was right behind her and catching up, but she didn't notice. The wind was loud in her ears roaring like a storm and her heart pounded in her chest. The moment she turned her head to see if he was still there he attacked, slamming her body on the ground. Her breath was knocked out of her throat and the shock of the impact didn't give her time to react. When she finally ignited her horn he had already cast a spell on her. She drew her last full breath before darkness enveloped her vision.
Much earlier...
It was a cool summer's morning. The Crystal Empire was peaceful and quiet, but a little alicorn filly was anything but quiet. "Mommy mommy mommy, are we there yet?" Flurry Heart asked.
Cadence smiled. "We're almost there sweetie, just calm down."
But Flurry Heart was not calm. This was her first day of school and she had been home schooled up until this point. Cadence thought that when she turned eight she should go to a regular school to help her socialize with other ponies.
"But I can't be calm mommy I'm so nervous and excited!" Flurry exclaimed.
Cadence giggled. "Well as your aunt Pinkie Pie would say, your nervosited."
Flurry just stared at her mom a little confused. "Ner...vosited?"
"Yes, it means nervous and excited, Cadence said.
"Oh, that makes."
When they arrived at the school it was a lot bigger than Flurry thought it was going to be. It had two tall towers on each side of it, it was a clear blue and made out of crystal (of course), it had two large wooden doors side by side at the front engraved with pink, yellow, and purple designs on it and the school had several windows all over it.
Flurry Heart stared in amazement. "Are you sure this isn't a mini castle?" She said still awe struck.
"No," Cadence said simply. "It's just very big because this is the only school in the Crystal Empire."
"Oh ok," she said no longer looking at the school. She was too busy looking at the fillies playing on the playground and on the basketball court. Flurry Heart could feel her nervousness growing.
"Do you think the other fillies will like me?" She asked quietly.
Her mother was surprised at the question but simply smiled and said, "of course they will, who couldn't?"
"Are you sure?" She said hesitantly.
"Well most of them will yes, but there may be some who might treat you differently, but if they're being mean to you you don't have to listen to what they say and you can try to be friends with them," Cadence said.
"But what if they treat me differently because I'm an alicorn?" Flurry Heart said worriedly.
"I'm sure they won't but we need to get inside I'm sure class starts soon," Cadence said.
As if on cue the school bell rang.
"Oh there's your class better get inside. I'll be back here soon to pick you up."
"Oh...ok," Flurry Heart said hesitantly.
"You'll be fine trust me." Cadence said as she gave her daughter a hug and then turned around to leave.
But Flurry Heart couldn't help but think: Will they like me?
Flurry always worried about what other ponies thought of her, but her mom always reminded her: "Don't waste your life worrying about what other ponies think of you."
Flurry Heart looked at the large school before her. She took a deep breath, "I can do this."
When Flurry stepped in the classroom she was surprised at how small it was considering how big the school was.
"Ah miss Flurry Heart welcome. Your mother, Princess Cadence told me you were coming." the teacher miss Amber Crescent said.
She was a tall earth pony, her fur was a dark purple, her eyes were light teal, and her mane was a soft lime green pulled back in a bun. She had a warm smile on her face that was very welcoming, though she was strict at times she was a kind teacher.
"Oh...hello uh thank you," she said. "Where should I sit?"
"You can sit wherever you like," miss Amber said.
"Oh ok," she said as she slowly made her way to one of the seats near the back of the class.
She noticed a lot of ponies starring at her since she walked in the classroom and started feeling a little uncomfortable. She knew they were all staring at her because she was an alicorn but she still didn't like it. Thankfully the teacher started teaching the class so the students had to pay attention.
She breathed a sigh of relief, "I just have to make it to the rest of the day, I can do this."
When it was recess Flurry Heart expected to play by herself in the beginning and then hopefully make friends, but she was surprised when she saw three fillies walking towards her. The first one was an earth pony that had a curly orange mane with yellow streaks in it pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes were fuchsia, and her fur was yellow. The second one was also an earth pony. She had a purple mane with teal streaks pulled in pigtails, her fur was a purplish pink, and her eyes were a dark purple. The third one was a sky blue pegasus with also fuchsia eyes and a blue mane with dark blue streaks pulled back in a ponytail.
They all seemed to be smiling at her, but two of those smiles were anything but friendly. The third one's smile however seemed to be genuine. Flurry Heart felt uncomfortable around them but decided to ignore it. The yellow one spoke first, "hi I'm Adagio and these are my sisters Aria and Sonata."
"We could've introduced ourselves," Aria said annoyed.
Adagio decided to ignore her as she continued, "anyway, we couldn't help but notice that you're new here and was wondering if you wanted to hangout with us."
"Really!?" said Flurry Heart.
"Of course, right girls?" Adagio said."
Sonata shook her head and smiled. Aria said rolling her eyes, "yeah sure whatever."
Adagio jabbed Aria in the side, "ow! Uh I mean yeah I would love it if you hangout with us," she said through her teeth.
"Okay thanks!" Flurry Heart said.
"No problem, were really looking forward to it," Adagio said as her unfriendly smile increased.
When Flurry Heart got home she kept thinking about what Adagio said to her: "If you're going to hang out with us then you need to do what we do."
Flurry new that could lead to trouble, but she didn't want to loose the first friends she made at school. Sure she had other friends from her aunts and uncles, but she didn't see them that often, only when they visit. Her two best friends were Screwball (Discord and Fluttershy's daughter) and Midnight Shine (Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry's son).
She had been silent the whole way home. Cadence noticed this and asked, "ok what's wrong? You haven't said a word since I picked you up."
"I'm fine, I'm just thinking." she said.
"What about?" Cadence asked.
"Nothing!" Flurry Heart said as she ran off to her room.
"What was that about?" Shining Armor asked.
"I'm not sure. I think she may of had a bad day at school or something,"Cadence said sadly.
"It's fine I'll go and talk to her," he said.
"Thanks," she said smiling.
Flurry Heart sat in her room as she thought about what she should do. Her room was fairly big and the walls were purple and teal (her favorite colors), her bed which she sat on was a light pink with lavender and light pink pillows, and her furniture was white.
Shining Armor walked in and sat down on the bed with her and said, "so what's wrong?
"What makes you think something is wrong?" She said.
"I heard mommy say you hadn't said anything since she picked you up and you love to talk." He said smiling.
"Well fine, something is wrong I made some friends today and..." Flurry was cut off by her dad.
"Wait what's wrong with that?" He asked.
"I was about to tell you." She said angrily.
"Oh right sorry," he said quickly.
"Anyway like I was saying, I made some friends but they told me that I had to do whatever they did or we couldn't be friends." She said sadly.
"Well it sounds to me like that they're not real friends." He said as he put a hoof on her shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"Real friends wouldn't say something like that."
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense," she said.
Suddenly Cadence yelled for Shining Armor, "honey get in here quick."
"What is it?" He said worriedly
Cadence had been reading a letter she just got and the more she read it her eyes widened in fear.
"Cadence?"
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia, she said she needs to see me immediately because..."
"What!? What do you mean he's been sighted that's not possible!" Shining Armor said loudly.
"Well it clearly is or they wouldn't have sent me this!" Cadence said angrily.
"Well have they caught him?"
"I don't think so they would have told me if they did."
"But he literally shattered!"
"I don't know, but I need to go," she said quickly, turning around.
Flurry Heart heard all this and wanted to help.
"Mommy wait!"
"No sweetie I need to go," Cadence said about to leave.
"I'll come with you," Flurry Heart said.
"No, you're too young and this is just for the princesses."
"But...but I am a princess," Flurry Heart said confused.
"In title yes," Cadence said hesitantly not wanting to hurt her daughter's feelings. "But you haven't earned that position yet."
"Earned?" She said tilting her head in confusion.
"Yes, earned," Cadence said knowing she needed to explain this to her daughter before she left. "You see, you may have been born an alicorn and princess, but you have not yet earned the position of a princess. You need to do that before you take on the responsibilities of one. Do you understand?"
Flurry nodded her head in response, even though she was still a little confused.
"Good," her mother said as she began to fly up. "Now I really need to hurry. I'll see you soon." She exclaimed as she waved to her daughter goodbye and took off. She figured that would be quicker than taking the train.
Flurry Heart stared at the ground thinking: how will I earn being an alicorn princess?
"Hey it will be alright they'll find him," her father said trying to comfort her.
But he didn't know that's not what she was worried about, she knew they'd find him. She was worried she'd never be able to prove she can be helpful as a princess.
What can I do? :she thought as she went back to her room.
Cadence almost crashed through the window when she got there, but quickly telaported just in time(like Twilight :-). When she got there all eyes were on her, Twilight's was one of pure fear, Celestia's was one of concern, and Luna's was one of anger, but not towards her.
"Cadence where have you been?!" Twilight exclaimed, running towards her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I just got held up. So what's going on?" She asked worriedly.
"Like I said in the letter, King Sombra has been spotted," Celestia said as she pointed to the guard in the room. "One of the guards spotted him on their patrol."
"Are you sure it was him?" Cadence asked the guard.
"I'm certain your highness," the guard said in his deep voice.
"Although," he continued before anyone could interrupt him. "He did look...different."
"Different, what do you mean?"
"I'm not exactly sure," he said slowly. "He looked weak."
"Weak, I wonder what that means?" Cadence said curiously.
"I't means," Celestia said sending the guard to get more of them. "That he's not strong enough to attack and we have time to prepare."
"You're right," Twilight said walking closer to Celestia. "We need to be ready."
"Because while we don't know where he is, he has the advantage," Celestia continued."
"But what I don't understand is why he was seen in Canterlot," Celestia said looking out the window. "Why wasn't he in the Crystal Empire?"
"I'm not sure, but we would have seen him." Cadence said hesitantly. "I think." She mumbled the last part to quietly for anyone to hear her.
"Well we don't have any time to waste." Celestia said no longer looking out the window. "You should go back to the Crystal Empire and put your guards on high alert. I will do the same."
"Of course, I'll let you know if we see anything." Cadence said as she telaported outside and flew away.
"And I let my friends know about this so they can look out for him," Twilight said as she walked out of the room.
Celestia noticed Luna had been silent the whole meeting.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Luna said quickly and probably too loud.
"Are you sure? You don't seem like it."
"I said I'm fine!" Luna said as she started to walk out of the room.
"Oh, I see," Celestia said as she walked towards her sister to face her. "You're scared and upset, just like you were the last time King Sombra returned, and with good reason, but do not worry. What you fear will not happen again."
"I don't know what you're talking about," her sister said unconvincingly. "I do not fear anything of Sombra."
"I know you don't want to admit it, but you do fear what I think, and that's okay." Celestia said as she turned around to leave. "Now I need to go and tell the guards of this new preparation. I'll leave you to your thoughts."
As Celestia left the room Luna thought about what she said. She knew she was right that she did fear something about Sombra and didn't want to admit it, but she didn't know if her sister was right about it not happening, and that's what she feared. That it would happen.
"Oh," she sighed sadly. "What am I going to do?"
Flurry sat alone in her bedroom, worrying about her mom as she played with her toys.
"Hey kiddo mommy's back," Shining Armor said peeking his head out through her door. "Why don't you go say hi?"
"She is!" Flurry squealed very loudly. She ran so fast that she almost crashed into her dad on her way out.
"MOMMY! Your back, so what's going on, are you okay, is everything alright, what's happening?" She asked all at once.
"Whoa sweetie slow down. Yes, I'm fine and...uh...," she stuttered trying to remember everything Flurry had said. "Yes everything is alright.
"Oh, I just remembered," Cadence said suddenly. "You're going to be late for your private lessons with Sunburst.
"Oh right, I forgot," Flurry said.
"That's alright, why don't you go wait in your room and I'll tell you when I'm ready to take you," Cadence said kindly.
"I'm not sure, but Princess Celestia said to put our guards on high alert and let her know if we see anything."
"That makes sense, I'll get right on it."
"Thanks," his wife said as she gave him a hug.
"See you soon," he said as he turned around and left.
Cadence slowly made her way to Flurry's room and knocked. "Flurry, honey are you ready to go?"
"Yep, all set," Flurry said as she tightened her saddle bag.
"Hey mommy do you think my cutie mark will be in magic like Aunt Twilight's?
"It could," Cadence said smiling.
"Have you been reading the new books Sunburst lent you?" Her mother asked curiously.
"Uh...yeah totally. For the most part," she mumbled the last part, but Cadence still heard it.
"For the most part huh?"
"What?" Flurry asked innocently.
"Never mind, it's fine. Just make sure you read them at least a little bit. Now come on let's go, I'll race you!" Cadence said smiling, running out the door.
"Hey that's not fair!" Flurry Heart shouted trying to catch up.
Sombra returned to his cave after collecting some things for a potion. He noticed that the cave was brighter than usual. He looked at the dimly-lit right corner of the cave. There, was a young unicorn colt that was a spitting image of him except his eyes and horn. His eyes are an emerald green and his horn was normal. The young colt was reading and practicing magic while Sombra was away (that's all he really ever did).
Sombra walked towards him and asked, "what are you practicing?"
"Oh hey, sorry I didn't see you there," the colt said nervously. "I'm practicing a teleportation spell," he held up the book smiling, very proud of himself.
But Sombra wasn't smiling or proud, "that's it!" He said angered, "you're just now learning that. You should have already known it."
"I'm sorry," he said weakly. "I'll try harder."
"There is no try. You either take what is yours or you don't. Understood?"
The colt nodded sheepishly.
"Good, now keep practicing and maybe you'll be almost as powerful as me, or as powerful as I used to be and soon will be again."
"I will," the colt said going back to his book. "Father."
Flurry Heart kept lifting things off a table with her magic and slowly putting them on another one. She was always a fast learner especially with magic, even as a foal (all of her family could attest to that).
"Very good Flurry Heart," Sunburst said clapping his hooves. "You've improved very much, since our last lesson."
"Thanks," she said brightly. "Do you think that I... could possibly... maybe learn more advanced stuff now, maybe even some alicorn spells?" She asked nervously.
"Oh, definitely not," he said quickly. "Alicorn spells are way too advanced for you. We should stick on the path I have for you."
He could see the disappointment in her eyes. "But hey," he continued while fixing his glasses. "You're still going to be able to do them and you're doing really well on the spells you know now."
"Thanks," she said with a sad smile.
"Here, I have an idea," he said trying to cheer her up. "Your birthday is coming up, so why don't I teach you a special spell for it and you can show it to your parents."
"Yeah, that sounds great. I can't wait," she said excitedly.
"And you won't have to. I can teach you now!"
"Yay," Flurry said as she began to jump up and down on the floor.
"Ok, let's get started," Sunburst said as he held up a book with his magic.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLURRY HEART!" Everyone there said in unison as she walked through the door.
"Oh my gosh," she gasped in excitement. "I thought I wasn't having the party?"
"Nope," Cadence said smiling. "We just wanted you to think that so we could throw you this one."
"Yay, thank you, thank you, thank you," she said happily, hugging her parents.
"Don't thank us," Shining Armor said pointing forward. "It was mostly your aunt Pinkie Pie, she planned it all."
"Oh okay, well thank you anyway, AND THANK YOU AUNT PINKIE PIE!" She shouted across the room to her aunt.
"You're absolutely 100% welcome," Pinkie Pie said smiling. "Now get out there and party!"
"I will," she said walking to her friends. "Thanks again."
Her friends Screwball and Midnight came to her party, as did some new friends of theirs Thundercloud and Stormcloud. They were Rainbow Dash and Soarin's twins, who were two years younger then Flurry Heart and her other friends, who are all around the same age.
"Hey Flurry Heart, what's up?" Screwball asked. "Happy Birthday again, man it's been like forever!"
Screwball was a purplish pink earth pony, with a violet and white curly mane and she wore a small propeller hat, and she had purple eyes. She was very energetic and kind, but tough at the same time and she had her fathers chaotic magic.
"I know right!" Flurry Heart said.
"I can't believe you're nine! I'm not even nine yet, almost though."
"So did you guys hear about Sombra?" Midnight asked curiously.
Midnight was a dark blue pegasus, with spiky dark blue hair with purple and light blue streaks, and light blue eyes.
"Yeah," the twins said in unison. They both had their father's mane and mom's coat. Stormcloud had her mom's eyes and Thundercloud had his dad's eyes "I heard they still haven't found him and he was spotted near Canterlot." Thundercloud finished.
They were a little surprised he knew that considering he was seven and he didn't pay attention very much. His sister though was the exact opposite, she liked to know everything.
"Do you think they'll ever find him?" Flurry asked worriedly.
"Of course they will," Screwball said trying to put Flurry's mind at ease. "Now come on its Flurry Heart's birthday, let's celebrate!"
"Yeah, right," Flurry said hesitantly. "Celebrate," but she couldn't help but think: Will they find him? as she ran off with her friends to play.
Three years later
"Three years," Luna said angrily through her teeth. "Three years and we still haven't found that monster!" She yelled as she slammed her hoof on the table.
"I know, I want to find him too," Celestia said calmly, even in dire circumstances she remained calm. "But getting angry won't help us, we want to stay calm and collective if we're going to have any chance of finding him."
"Well staying calm and collective hasn't helped us these past three years has it," Luna said bitterly.
Celestia decided to not answer knowing it would do no good to help change her mind. Because once her sister has made a decision about something it's very hard to change it. She continued to look at the map on the table as Luna marched out silently.
"Uh Princess Luna, is everything alright?" Flurry asked cautiously knowing she was probably upset. Flurry Heart and her family had come to visit while all the princesses had a meeting with the Duke and Duchess of Maretopia. They also wanted to discuss the topic of King Sombra. Knowing that the meeting would take a while Cadence decided that they would stay the weekend.
"Yes," Princess Luna said trying to stay calm. "Everything is alright Flurry Heart, you need not worry about it. Just enjoy your visit," she finished with a sad smile as she walked away.
"Oh ok, thanks," Flurry said as she was left alone in the hallway trying to hide her worry.
She wasn't completely blind to the situation. She knew what was going on, but she wanted to know more and wanted to be included in what they were doing. She knew that she had not yet earned the position of princess but she still wanted to help. Her mom said she was just like her aunt Twilight when she first became a princess and that her time would come, but she was having trouble being patient. She also couldn't help but think about school because it was starting soon. She had really enjoyed her summer but now that it was time to go back she knew she would have to face those three girls. Over time she realized that they didn't really want to be her friends. They were just using her for popularity, but she was afraid of being made fun of or them getting back at her. She knew she had to stand up to them but she was afraid.
"Oh what am I going to do?" Flurry asked herself as she flew out the window to go for a fly. She wanted to clear her head.
"Alright son," Sombra told him. "Now that your thirteen you can finally practice using your magic on a pony."
"On a... p-pony," his son stammered.
"Yes, Shadow Hunter," Sombra said in his deep threatening voice. "A pony, is that a problem?"
Sombra wanted to give his son a name that would strike fear into his victims, he figured Shadow Hunter was the best fit.
"Of course not."
"Then let us depart," his father said as he walked forward to the entrance of the cave.
Their home was less than ideal but it was the only place they could live without being spotted since they were so close to Canterlot. They had to hide out there and Sombra would use his magic to get them food. Shadow was rarely let out of the cave and when he did leave his father kept a close eye on him.
"You will use your magic to capture a pony. Make sure that when you do capture them it's not near the public and is out of sight. Understand?"
Shadow nodded, "who will I be capturing?"
"Anyone you want as long as they're not in sight."
"Wait really, I get to choose?"
Sombra rarely let his son choose anything, it was always his decision.
"Yes, now go." His father said impatiently.
"Wait, you're not coming?"
"No. I don't want to distract you."
"Yes!" His son shouted way too loudly.
His father glared at him and that was his sign to go before he changed his mind.
"Oh...uh I mean bye," Shadow said as he ran out of the cave.
Sombra sighed, "let's hope he doesn't mess this up."
Flurry was flying way outside Canterlot, she knew her mother wouldn't want her to but she didn't like all the noise and busyness of the town. The forest was much quieter and much more peaceful. She liked to go there to clear her head and think. Little did she know, she wasn't alone. She decided to land and take a break from flying for a while in a small clearing of the forest.
"Gosh, you think with my big wings I wouldn't get so tired easily." She said to herself, but someone else heard her.
Shadow was quietly listening for any pony that had come near. He was a little worried he wouldn't find anyone in the forest and he would hate to be unsuccessful, especially having to tell his father that. He heard someone talking and thought it was his perfect chance, but he didn't know he was about to attack an Alicorn Princess.
"Gotcha!" He shouted as he jumped on top of her and held her down with his magic.
"What in the name of...what are you doing!?" She asked as she struggled to get out of his grasp.
"I'm capturing you and there is nothing you can do about it," he said with a triumphant smile on his face.
"Oh yeah, we'll see about that."
"Yeah try all you want but..." he trailed off once he realized what she was. He didn't recognize it immediately but once he saw that she was an alicorn he froze and it was just enough time for Flurry to make her move.
"Hi-ya," was the first thing that popped up in her head as she blasted him with her magic and sent him flying ten feet away from her.
"Wow," was all he could manage to say after the impact. He got back on his hooves and saw Flurry Heart completely for the first time. He had never seen an alicorn before, but he wasn't really focused on that. As soon as he saw her he realized how pretty she was.
"Wow," was all he could say again. No no no, focus pay attention you can't fail! He thought to himself.
"Wow what?" Flurry asked frustrated. "Why in Equestria did you try to capture me?"
"Look, I'm sorry okay," he said trying to distract her. "I shouldn't have done it."
"But why did you do it?"
"Because if I didn't I would have gotten in trouble."
Flurry Heart stared at him with wide eyes, shocked at what she heard.
"Why would you have gotten in trouble? If anything you would have gotten in trouble for capturing someone."
"Not with with my dad," Shadow said sadly. "He told me to do it."
"Really?" Flurry asked in shock. "Who's your dad?"
"Uh..." he said as he quickly tried to change the subject. "Never mind, it's not important. Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, are you? Because I hit you pretty hard with my magic," she said with a smirk.
"It wasn't that hard," he said also smiling. "I've seen better."
"Oh really huh, by who?"
"Me," he said pointing to himself.
"Wow," she said sarcastically. "Yeah right."
"You wanna bet?" He said enjoying this "argument".
"Yeah, let's see what you can do," she said pointing to him.
"Alright, watch this."
He lifted the biggest rock in sight and threw it as hard as he could with his magic, across the field. It landed about forty feet away from them and landed with a large bang.
"Ha, beat that."
"With pleasure," she said while she lifted up a bolder the same size as his. While pretending to yawn she threw the boulder, with her magic, fifty feet away.
Shadow stood there slack-jawed.
"How did you get it that far?"
"Impressed?" she said with a triumphant look. By now Shadow had completely forgotten about capturing her.
"Pfft-no, of course not."
"Anyway, that was a lot of fun. I'm Flurry Heart," she said extending her hoof to his.
"Flurry Heart, that's a pretty name," he said while shaking her hoof.
"What's your name?"
"Oh my name is... never mind it's not important." He was afraid that his name would scare her, so he was hesitant.
"Yes it is, and I told you my name."
"Alright fine, my name is... Shadow Hunter," he turned his head and closed his eyes waiting for her response. He was confused though when she didn't say anything at first.
"Shadow Hunter? Wow that's a cool name," she said with a warm smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I've never known anyone with a name like that."
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
"Well I have to go now, bye," she said about to fly off.
"Wait!" He shouted probably too loud.
"Yes?" She said turning around.
"Will I see you again?" Flurry noticed almost a hint of desperation in his voice, like she was the only friend he ever had. Little did she know, she was.
"Sure, in fact we can meet up here again tomorrow if you like?"
"That would be great! What time?"
"Does two o'clock sound good?"
"Yeah, that will work."
"Alright see ya then," she said as she flew in the air.
"See ya," he waved.
But just before she was too far away she remembered something. "Oh and Shadow?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't kidnap any ponies while I'm gone, okay?" She said with a smirk on her face.
"Very funny, but I won't."
"Good, bye," Flurry said as she flew away.
"Bye..." suddenly a thought occurred to him, Oh no, what am I going to tell father?!
Shadow slowly walked home, taking as much time as possible. He knew his father was going to be upset about him taking so long but he knew he would have been more upset about him not capturing any pony. When he finally reached the cave he dreaded the moment he would have to face his father as a failure. He knew his father hated failure, especially from his own son. As soon as Sombra heard footsteps he spun his head around to see who was there, but he was already sure it was Shadow.
"Where have you been?" Sombra asked while glaring at him.
"It was harder than I thought." Shadow said meekly.
"Who did you get?"
"I... I didn't get anyone," Shadow said waiting for the wrath to come down on him.
"What do you mean you didn't get anyone?!" Sombra spat. "How could you come here empty-hoofed?"
"There wasn't any pony around."
"I am disappointed, but as this was your first time you are forgiven."
"Oh thank goodness!" Shadow sighed in relief. " I thought you would..."
"But don't think you will be let off so easily next time," his father quickly interrupted him.
"Of course not, don't worry father, I won't fail again."
"You better not," Sombra said as he walked out of the cave.
"I will be back with dinner soon," he said before he left.
"Okay, bye," Shadow said waving with a fake smile on his face.
He figured it was best not to tell his father about the girl he met. He would probably get really mad that I didn't capture her and definitely not let me see her again :thought Shadow.
After his father left and was out of hearing range Shadow leapt with joy. "Oh I can't wait to see her again! What was her name? Uh... Flurry Heart, right. When I see her we'll... we'll, wait what will we do?"
When Flurry arrived back at the castle her mother noticed she was in very high spirits, and more than usual.
"Where have you been?" Cadence asked curiously. "You're much happier than usual."
"What do you mean?"
"Well you're skipping in the hallway and humming to yourself. You hum and sing a lot but you rarely skip."
"Oh, well I'm just happy, that's all."
"Well that's good, but what about?"
"I made a new friend."
"That's great! Who?"
"Oh uh..." just like Shadow, Flurry was also hesitant to say his name, wondering what her mom would think. "His name is Shadow Hunter."
"Shadow Hunter, huh what an interesting name," Cadence pondered.
"Yeah that's what I thought too," Flurry said with a slight laugh.
"Where did you meet him?"
"I was going for a fly a little outside Canterlot. That's where I met him." Flurry was hoping her mom didn't find out she was flying way outside Canterlot. Thankfully she was saved by a call for her mother.
Twilight was standing outside a door when she asked, "Cadence could you come here please?" Flurry noticed there was some sort of excitement in her tone, whether it good or bad she couldn't tell.
"I'll be right there," Cadence told her. "I'll be right back Flurry."
"Okay," her daughter said as she continued her skipping and humming. She was also curious why she was like this or why she was so excited to see Shadow again but she shook these thoughts off and continued her humming and skipping.
When Cadence stepped in the room Luna, Celestia, and Twilight were all there looking at a map of Equestria.
"What's going on?" Cadence asked.
Celestia was the first to speak, "we may have found where Sombra is located."
"You have!" Cadence said shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Celestia continued. "There have been reports on animal attacks and food being stolen in Canterlot as well as books. We believe the animal attacks and stolen food is how he is eating and the books are no doubt used for studying more dark magic and learning about pony society now; since he has been gone for a thousand years this would make sense."
"Where do you think he is again?"
"Just outside of Canterlot."
"But that's where Flurry Heart was!" Said Cadence even more worried now. "Thank goodness she is alright."
'"Yes we are thankful she is unharmed," Celestia said calmly. "Did she see anything unusual while she was gone?"
"I don't think so, but she did say that she made a friend."
"Odd, not many ponies live right outside Canterlot," Celestia said tapping her chin. "Was this pony by themselves?"
"I think so, but I'll ask Flurry."
"Good, because this could have been Sombra in disguise trying to get information from her."
"Oh I hope not," Twilight interjected.
"Me too," Cadence said with a worried expression on her face.
"Don't worry we will find him."
"My sister is right," Luna said finally joining the conversation. "We will find him, but only if we act now."
"Princess Luna is right," Cadence said about to leave. "I'll go ask Flurry Heart if the colt was alone right away."
"Yes and Luna and I will send guards out to search for Sombra."
"And I'll warn every pony to be on high alert and let us know if they see anything," Twilight told Celestia.
"Thank you Twilight," Celestia said with a small smile on her face.
Flurry Heart was in the bedroom she was staying in while her family was in Canterlot. She was about to open the door but her mom got to it first.
"Oh, Flurry Heart there you are. I assumed you would be here," Cadence said quickly.
Flurry was still trying to put together what her mom had said because of the shock of seeing her as soon as she opened the door and how fast she said it, but she still understood her.
"Uh yeah, did you need something?"
"Yes, I need to ask you a simple but important question."
"Okay, what is it?"
"That friend you mentioned earlier, was he alone?"
Flurry was not expecting that question, but answered truthfully, "yeah, he was alone. Why?"
"Oh no, that's not good!" Cadence said looking worried. "The other princesses think he could have been King Sombra in disguise."
"What!? Why would they think that?" Flurry asked in shock.
"Because there have been reports of attacks in Canterlot so they think he's near here. They also think that colt you met was him in disguise because he was trying to get information from you."
"But why me?"
"Because you're young and vulnerable. Not to mention a Royal.
"But I don't think it was him. He was really nice and he didn't ask me any questions about where I live or who I was."
"Still, we need to make sure. What did he look like?"
"He was a dark gray unicorn with a black mane..." the more Flurry Heart described the colt the more Cadence's eyes widened. "And he had green eyes."
While Flurry described this colt her face seemed to light up with happiness but Cadence didn't notice this because she was thinking too much about how Flurry described him.
"That's what Sombra looks like! Besides the green eyes, that's an exact image of him," Cadence said pacing back and forth the room. "I would expect him to have a better disguise then that, but maybe his magic is weak. We need to tell Princess Celestia right away!"
"Princess Celestia!" Cadence called from out the door.
"Yes?" She responded from the hallway. "Is there something you wish to tell me?"
"Yes, Flurry just described the colt to me and said that he was alone."
"That's not good. What did she say the colt looks like?"
"The way she described him," Cadence continued. "He looks exactly like Sombra, but with green eyes instead of red."
"Interesting, I would have expected Sombra to have a better disguise then just a different eye color." Said Celestia looking to the side. "His magic may still be weak even after all this time."
"That's what I thought as well."
"Even though we do not know for sure if it is him yet, make sure Flurry Heart does not go to see him again. We don't want to take the chance," Celestia said looking at her with worried eyes.
"Of course. I don't want her going back there either."
Flurry Heart had heard all of this listening from behind a corner as she thought to herself, oh no! What's he going to think when I don't show up. He might think I'm hurt or worse! That I stood him up.
"I know he's not Sombra, he can't be! Oh, but I know my mom will want more than just that as proof. I have to tell him that I won't be able to see him again so we doesn't worry."
With this Flurry flew out one of the nearby windows, "I just hope I'm right."
Shadow was reading while he waited for his father to come back, as he always did, when he could have sworn he herd the faint sound of someone calling his name.
"Huh?" He said looking up from his book. He shook the thought off as he returned to his reading.
Then he heard it again but this time a little louder. "Is... is someone calling my name?" He thought out loud. Then to himself, no it couldn't be. It was definitely not father's voice. Then who...? Suddenly realization dawned on him on the only other pony that new him.
"Flurry Heart!" He shouted with joy as he ran out the cave to see her, not caring about his father at the moment.
The closer he got the more he could hear her. When he made out the tone of her voice he realized it wasn't one of panic and sighed in relief. For some strange reason he felt that even know he had just met her once he cared about her. He thought it was just because she was the only other pony he knew besides his father.
When he got close enough to see her he shouted her name back, "Flurry Heart!"
She quickly spun her head around to see him, "Shadow Hunter there you are! I was looking for you."
"Oh sorry. I didn't know," he said sheepishly and it made her giggle. He tilted his head in confusion at this as she said...
"Of course you didn't, and I didn't expect you to. After all we didn't plan on meeting up until tomorrow afternoon," she said smiling.
This made him blush realizing she was right and he probably sounded silly saying he didn't know.
"Oh, right... I knew that," he said blushing even more now and it made Flurry giggle more too.
"Oh I almost forgot what I came hear to tell you!" She said suddenly and it was her turn to blush slightly as she thought and realized how easily he distracted her but she shook it off because of what she had to tell him.
"I...I can't..." She found herself unable to say anything as she stared into his shining emerald green eyes. She knew this couldn't have been Sombra, not with the way he was acting. She quickly covered up what she was about to say with something else.
"I can't wait to hang out with you more!" She said hoping he didn't notice the hesitation in her voice. He didn't seem to as he was smiling at her so she continued. "That's why I didn't wait until tomorrow to see you."
She hoped he bought it and he seemed to as his smile grew wider. She let out a sigh of relief seeing this and smiled herself. After all it wasn't a lie, she really couldn't wait to see him again. Then a thought occurred to her, oh no! How am I going to explain to mom where I've been. She was on her way to tell me not to come back here.
Shadow noticed the worried look on her face and asked, "are you okay?"
This snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked back at him, "huh? Oh yeah I'm fine."
"Oh okay, but what does the phrase hang out mean?"
"You know, hang out. Play with each other."
"Oh so it's another term for playing with some pony. I've never done that before, just read about it in books."
"Really?" Flurry asked in disbelief. "You've never played with any pony before?"
"No I haven't, but I read about it sometimes in books."
"Well then we'll have to fix that," she said walking past him into a clearing of the forest. He watched her curiously and followed.
"So what do you do most of the time?" Flurry asked now walking side-by-side with him.
"Study," he said with no excitement in his voice. It was clear to Flurry he did not enjoy it that much.
"So... what do you study?" She asked even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
"Magic and more magic and..., oh what do you know, more magic!" He said sarcastically.
Flurry laughed at this before he continued. "Although when I get the chance I read stories. That's how I know about playing, it sounds fun. I learned how to read with these stories. That's the only reason we have them," he said looking down knowing his father would have never gotten them just for him to enjoy.
Flurry noticed this and tried to distract him from whatever it was he was thinking about. "So I take it you like to read?"
"Yeah, I guess. I never get to do anything else anyway, except practice magic."
"I love to practice magic!" The young alicorn said enthusiastically. "What spells do you know?"
"Oh I know a lot, but you probably know more considering you're an...you know, alicorn." He said pointing to her horn and wings. "How did you do that anyway? My dad has been looking into alicorn magic for years and hasn't found out how to become one yet." He flinched at this, realizing he probably revealed too much.
"Wait, your dad is trying to find out how to be an alicorn?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Uh... nevermind!" He said quickly.
Flurry started to think about what her mother and Princess Celestia had said about him being Sombra. She started to think that he could be Sombra and got a little nervous.
"Oh, well... I think I should go." She turning around.
"No wait!" He said jumping in front of her. She could have just flown over him but she decided not to. "Please stay, I'm sorry I brought that up. I won't again, I-I promise."
His eyes were so pleading, Flurry felt she couldn't say no. Sombra wouldn't have wanted her to stay if he wasn't going to get the information he wanted. This couldn't have been him.
"Okay," she said after thinking about it hard. A thing about Flurry Heart that would surprised most ponies, is she always thought about something before she did it.
"So like I was saying before, what kind of spells do you know?"
Shadow thought about this and decided to leave out the dark magic. He didn't want her to be suspicious about anything.
"Oh, well I can do levitation spells, as you saw earlier this morning," he said smiling and something about his smile made Flurry Heart's heart beat a little faster and she blushed. Shadow didn't seem to notice this as he continued, "I also know how to turn an object into something else, usually fruit." He mumbled the last part, disappointed in himself he hadn't gotten farther than that. "Oh and I just mastered a teleportation spell."
Flurry stared at him with her mouth open a little bit. She was very impressed with how much he knew considering how young he was, granted she actually didn't know his exact age which made her wonder what it was.
"Wow, you know a teleportation spell. I haven't even gotten there yet. Those are pretty hard aren't they?"
"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged.
"You guess!?" She said shocked. "That's a really advanced spell for a pony your age."
"Thanks, but father doesn't think so," he said with his ears laid back.
"No offense, but the way you've described your father, he doesn't seem very nice."
"Yeah, I know," he said sadly. "But he's the only family I have."
"What about your mom?"
"I never knew her and my dad doesn't talk about her."
"I'm sorry," Flurry said with compassion in her voice.
"That's okay," he said turning his head away. "But I need to get back. My dad is probably wondering where I am."
"Same, see you tomorrow still?"
"Yeah," suddenly he smiled, trying not to end on a sad note. "If you can wait that long," he winked.
"Yeah yeah, I can. But I won't be able to see you again for awhile after that."
He stopped smiling, "why not, don't you live here?"
"Actually no, I live in the Crystal Empire."
"The Crystal Empire!" He shouted probably too loud.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" She asked curiously.
"Oh nothing," he said slightly worried, knowing what his father had planned for that place. "Let's just say... I think we'll be moving there soon."
"That's great! I'll get to see you more then," she said excitedly.
"Uh... yeah," he said hesitantly. "Something like that."
"Yay!" She shouted, throwing her arms around him in a hug. This made him blush crimson as he asked, "what are you doing?"
"Giving you a... hug," she said slowly, confused as to why he would ask that.
"Oh right, a hug," he said as he began to say the definition of of hug. "An act of holding some pony in their arms, typically to show affection."
She stared at him and laughed, "do you always refer something to a book?"
"Kind of, yeah."
"It's okay," she said done laughing. "I understand, well I'll see you later. Bye."
"Bye," he said waving with a smile on his face.
Flurry flew in from her guest bedroom window and saw that no pony was there. She sighed in relief. "Good, maybe no pony noticed I was gone."
Hearing her daughter's voice, Cadence opened the door. "Flurry Heart, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been?"
"I was just playing outside," she said nervously.
"Oh, well you need to tell me these things before you do it. Do you understand?"
"Yes mom, I understand."
"Good," her mom said as she gave her daughter a hug. "We were worried that Sombra may have gotten you."
"Why would you think that?" Flurry asked, getting out of her mother's embrace.
"Nevermind - it's not important. I'll be right back to tell you something. I need to let everyone know that you're ok."
"Okay, see you in a minute." Flurry said as she waved slightly.
When she was gone Flurry thought to herself, why in Equestria would they think Sombra took me. Shadow is definitely not him, but the way he described his father...
"No no no, what are you thinking Flurry?" She said to herself. "Of course his father's not Sombra... right?"
Flurry Heart sat in her room staring up at the ceiling in deep thought. It had been a week since they left Canterlot. She was thinking about her last time with Shadow and how much fun she had. He even taught her a new spell, one she probably wouldn't have been taught for a while, a reverse gravity spell. It was so much fun to learn and he was a great teacher. She was also thinking about something she wish to be rid of, but it kept plaguing her thoughts, the three fillies. What was she going to say to them, would they still be friends afterwards, and what would they do to her if they were angry? She groaned and fell back on her pillows.
"What am I going to do?" She asked herself, when there was a knock on the door.
"Flurry, sweetie are you okay?" Cadence asked from outside the door.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking out loud to myself."
"Oh okay, just wanted to let you know that it's bedtime and don't forget to brush your teeth." Cadence said, now inside her bedroom.
"Wait, bedtime, already?" She asked confused.
"Yes, because you have school tomorrow."
"Oh, right." She groaned again and laid back on her pillows. She had been trying not to think about school, because she was going to have to tell Adagio she's not going to do whatever she says.
"Are you sure everything is alright?" Her mother asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm just tired, that's all," she said with a yawn.
"Okay," Cadence said as she pulled the covers over Flurry Heart. "Goodnight sweetie, love you."
"Love you too mom," Flurry said as her mom turned off the lights and she thought to herself: gotta big day tomorrow.She inwardly groaned.
Flurry was dreading each moment they got closer to school. She kept reassuring herself, I can do this. I can do this, but she was still afraid.
"Alright have a good day Flurry," Cadence said with a smile. "I'll be back soon to pick you up."
"O-Okay," she said trying to hide the worry in her voice.
As soon as Adagio heard her voice she turned around and started walking her way. Oh no! She's coming, she's coming! Flurry Heart thought.
"Flurry, it's good to see you," Adagio said with her usual unfriendly smile.
"Hi Adagio," Flurry said, annoyed as she thought, gosh! She's so fake, how could I have not seen it before.
"So Flurry Heart we were wondering if..."
"Adagio look, there's something I need to tell you, all of you," Flurry interrupted as she looked at all of them.
Adagio looked at her in shock, for she had never interrupted her before, but didn't say anything so Flurry Heart continued. "I can't keep listening to everything you say and doing everything you want me to. I know you just wanted to be friends with me because I'm an alicorn and you can be more popular."
"What? No of course not," she said with a fake innocent look. "We really like being friends with you, right girls?"
"Of course I do!" Sonata said smiling and then she had a confused look on her face. "But I thought we were just being friends with her to get more popular."
Aria and Adagio glared at their other sister, before Adagio said, "don't listen to her. She was just joking."
Flurry knew Sonata well enough to know she wasn't a liar, even though she wasn't the brightest pony at times, she was really kind.
"I know she's right Adagio, I've heard you say it when you think I'm not listening."
"Well it doesn't matter," Adagio said turning around to face the school. "You're going to stay friends with us because you're too much of a pushover to leave us."
"What did you say?" Flurry asked in disbelief, her anger rising by the second.
Adagio turned around to face her, a bit surprised she still hadn't followed them yet. "I said that you're too much of a pushover to leave us, now come on."
That was it, Flurry had had enough. At this point she didn't even care how angry they would get.
"No," She said loud enough to get a few other ponies attention.
"Excuse me?" Adagio asked in shock. Flurry had never said no to her before.
"You heard me," Flurry said with a slight smile on her face. "I said no."
"But but... no pony says no to me, I..."
"Let me explain something to you," Flurry said when suddenly music started.
"Hey were did that music come from?" Said Adagio looking around as Flurry began to sing.
Wings
"Mamma told me not to waste my life,"
( "Oh no, please tell me you're not...")
"She said spread your wings my little butterfly,"
("You are aren't you?")
"Don't let what they say keep you up at night,"
("Oh no...")
"And if they give you shh..."
("what does that even mean?")
"Then they can walk on by..."
"My hooves, hooves can't touch the ground,"
"And and I can't hear a sound,"
"But you just keep on running up your mouth yeah,"
"Walk, walk on over there, cuz I'm too fly to care..."
"Oh yeah..."
"Your words don't mean a thing, I'm not listening"
"Keep talking all I know is...,"
"Mamma told me not to waste my life,"
"She said spread your wings my little butterfly,"
"Don't let what they say keep you up at night,"
"And they can't detain you,"
"Cuz wings are made to fly...,"
"And I don't let nopony bring me down...,"
(Adagio had heard enough as she said, "stop.")
"no matter what you say it won't hurt me,"
("Stop," she said again, but Flurry Heart wasn't listening.)
"Don't matter if I fall from the sky,"
("Stop!")
"These wings are made to fly!"
When Flurry Heart had finished Adagio was glaring at her. By now she was furious as she yelled, "Fine! Have it your way! You'll regret it," and then stormed off with her two sisters. Sonata however turned around and looked at Flurry for a second and said, "I know that my sisters no longer want to hang out with you, but if you ever want to hang out with me..."
"I would love to," Flurry finished for her.
"Okay great! Bye," she said waving energetically as she caught up with her sisters.
"Bye," Flurry said waiting back. She was so happy that she finally stood up to Adagio and faced her fears.
"Today is going to be a great day," she said as she headed toward school.
Flurry Heart happily did all her chores throughout the castle. She was so proud of herself for what she did, she couldn't even complain about doing them.
"Flurry!" Her mother called from downstairs.
"Yes?" She answered.
"Come down here please," she said and Flurry walked down stairs to see what her mother needed.
"Yes?" She said again this time downstairs in front of her mom.
"Oh I just wanted to let you know that your friend Screwball will be coming over."
"Really!?" Flurry said excitedly.
"Yes, and she will be hear soon, so make sure that your room is clean."
"What are you talking about," Flurry said innocently. "My room is always clean."
"Mmm-hmm, I'm sure," Cadence said sarcastically. "So if I go up there and check it will be clean?"
"Uhh..."
"That's what I thought. Now go and clean it."
"Okay, okay I will," she said with a annoyed look on her face as she ran upstairs to her bedroom.
"Alright let's see here," she said as she began picking stuff off the floor. "That goes there and that goes there and done!"
Even though the room would not meet her mom's standards, it met hers. When she heard knocking on the door she quickly raced downstairs, knowing who it was.
"Discord, Fluttershy! Come in, It's great to see you, Flurry Heart is very excited to see Screwball."
"Well I would hope so!" The chaotic mare said as she came in. "I am her best friend."
"Of course I'm excited to see you," Flurry said, now fully downstairs. "Come on I want to tell you something," and the two fillies raced upstairs leaving their parents alone.
"Have you found anything yet?" Cadence asked Discord when they were gone.
"No, not yet," Discord said slightly annoyed. "I still can't believe he's been able to conceal himself from my magic for this long."
Fluttershy placed an affectionate hoof on her husband's shoulder. "It's okay honey, we all know you're trying."
"Thanks dear. So have you guys found anything?" He asked with hopefulness in his voice.
"Actually yes, we believe he is right outside Canterlot.
"Oh, well that's good," Fluttershy said, trying to be optimistic. "You have a better idea of where he is."
"Yes this is good. Hopefully we will find him soon." Cadence said with a sad smile.
Flurry Heart and Screwball we're both telling each other about their first day of school, even though Screwball knew about Flurry's.
"Oh that's sounds like fun," Flurry said as Screwball got done telling her about the game they played at recess.
"Okay your turn," Screwball told her friend, even though she knew what she was going to say.
"Okay so you'll never guess what I did..."
"Actually I think I can," Screwball said smiling.
"Huh?"
"Nevermind, continue."
"Anyway so I stood up to Adagio and..."
"Sang a song about not listening to her and not caring about what she says," Screwball finished for her.
Flurry stared at her with her mouth open wide. "How did you know that?"
"Well remember how you told me you were going to stand up to her when school started?"
"Yeah," Flurry said gesturing for her to continue.
"I may have gotten up early in the morning and used my magic to fly to the Crystal Empire, so I could watch you stand up to her, which was awesome by the way." She said all at once.
"Thanks."
"I also was the one to provide the music."
"So that's where the music came from."
"Yeah."
"Thank you so much," Flurry said as she embraced her friend in a hug. "It really helped."
"You're welcome, although you could have done it yourself."
"Maybe, but still, thank you. I finally faced my fears."
Shadow Hunter paced back and forth the room waiting for his father to return. He said he wanted to tell him something important when he got back and Shadow is worried of what it might be. When Sombra returned Shadow didn't say anything, he was waiting for his father to speak first.
"We're having salad for lunch," Sombra said as he set the food out on the table.
"Okay," Shadow said as he moved closer to the table and sat down. "Y-You said that you wanted to tell me something?"
"Yes, I have decided to advance in my plans."
"W-What plans?" Shadow asked, even more worried now. He did not want to be evil like his father but he felt he didn't have a choice.
"That, for right now does not concern you," his father said with a stern look. "You will find out soon enough."
"But what I will tell you is that we will no longer be staying here."
"Wait, really?" Shadow said with hopeful eyes. He was hoping it would be where Flurry Heart lived.
Sombra noticed this, "why do you seem so excited about moving?"
"Oh, no reason," he said nervously.
Sombra didn't seem to care enough to question further as he continued. "So like I was saying we will be moving to..."
'Please say the Crystal Empire,' Shadow thought before Sombra told him.
Shadow was quickly packing the few items he had. He was so excited about moving to the Crystal Empire he couldn't hide it from his father.
"I didn't know you would be so excited about this," His father said curiously. "Any reason why?"
"Oh, you know, it's a new place to see," Shadow said nervously, hoping he bought it.
"I suppose that could be exciting," Sombra said while packing some supplies into a basket "Especially for somepony young like you."
"Yeah, exactly," his son said in relief, glad that his father thought of a different reason as to why he was excited.
"Is everything packed?" Sombra asked while pointing at his saddlebag.
"Yes," He said checking everything one last time.
"Then let's get going," he said, returning back to his usual stern tone. "I don't want to waste any time."
"Neither do I," Shadow said dreamily as he followed his father outside the cave.
Cadence looked around her kingdom from a balcony in the castle, thinking about the upcoming Crystal Fair. She had a lot to do in preparing and organizing it. She was already busy with some other preparations but she still needed to go around and check to make sure everything is where it should be. Then she thought about her daughter, Flurry Heart could do it. She has been wanting more responsibilities as a princess. This will be a great opportunity for her.
"Flurry!" She called from the balcony.
"Just a second," Flurry answered back. "Okay I'm here. What do you need?"
"Actually I was wondering if you wanted to help me with some of the preparations for the Crystal Fair?"
"Really?!" She asked, very excited.
"Yes, I'm very busy and so is your father and there's just so much to do. So do think you could help?" Cadence with a smile.
"Yes yes yes yes!" She said very enthusiastically. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to go around the area where the fair is going to be held and check and make sure that everything is where it should be." Her mom said pointing towards the fair. "Do you think you can do that?"
"Yes!" Flurry said one last time before running off towards the fair.
"Wait!" Cadence called out to her. She had forgotten the list.
A few seconds after she left she came back to her mom. "By the way where's the checklist?" She asked nervously knowing that she was about to be told off for running away.
"Maybe you should wait until I'm done talking, before you run off like that." Cadence said with a stern look even though she was smiling. "The checklist is over here."
"Okay thank you," she said grabbing the checklist with her mouth. "And I'm sorry."
"That's okay, now have fun and thank you for being such a big help."
"Okay bye," she said waving and her mom waved back, "bye."
"Okay let's see here," she said looking at the list as she read. "Make sure the tents are lined up on each side of the castle." She looked around at the tents and how they were lined up.
"Check," she said noticing that they were lined up correctly and continued to keep checking to make sure everything was set up the way it should be.
Shadow followed his father through the secret entrance that only he knew about, through the Crystal Empire. When they finally reached the entrance of the Crystal Empire, Shadow Hunter's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
"Wow..." he said looking around the Crystal Empire. "This place is beautiful!"
"Not when I'm done with it," Sombra said bitterly and Shadow's heart dropped. He didn't want to see such a beautiful place in the hooves of his father.
"What do you mean?" He asked hesitantly.
"Nevermind, it's not important," Sombra said looking around. "What's important is that we find a place to stay without being noticed."
"Where are we going to stay?" His son asked curiously, knowing it couldn't be any place public.
"I'm not sure," his father said while putting on a disguise with this magic. "We'll find someplace soon."
"We could split up," Shadow suggested with hopeful eyes. He wanted to see Flurry Heart again without his father getting in the way. "It wouldn't take as long."
"I suppose you're right," his father said looking left and right. "We would cover more ground that way."
"Okay, great!" He said, anxious to leave.
"Meet me back here in hour to tell me if you found anything. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay," Shadow said, not really paying attention that much and only semi listening to his father. He had been scanning the Crystal Empire for Flurry Heart, but still didn't see her.
"Shadow Hunter, are you listening?" Sombra asked, raising his voice slightly.
This snapped him out of his thoughts as he replied, "huh? Oh, yes I'm listening.
"I said meet me back here in an hour, understand?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Good I'll see you in an hour." His father said trotting away, but Shadow wasn't listening. He was already on his way looking for Flurry Heart.
He was worried he wouldn't find her in under an hour. He didn't know how big the Crystal Empire was and didn't know where she lives inside of it. He couldn't make out her voice from the other ponies because there were so many of them. In fact there were so many outside, he wondered if there was an event going on.
"That would just make things worse," he groaned, still looking around. "Where is she?"
Just after he had said that, he was sure he heard her voice. It was very soft so he figured she was far away. He moved closer to the sound until he was just on the other side of the Crystal berry bush that she was standing in front of.
"There she is," he whispered to himself, but Flurry also heard him, even though she didn't know who it was.
"Huh?" She said looking up from her checklist. She had been done for a while and decided to look around for fun. "Is someone there?"
Shadow Hunter had a slight moment of panic as he thought, what am I going to say to her? I can't tell her why I'm here, but I want her to know that I am here. He was conflicted so he remained silent.
"Uh.. hello, is someone there?" She repeated, but he still didn't say anything, not knowing what he was going to say to her.
Flurry started to think it could be somepony sneaking around and decided to make a move. Using her back legs she jumped above the bush and tackled Shadow to the ground. He looked up in surprise, not expecting that to happen. When Flurry saw who it was she gasped. "Shadow Hunter!?"
"Hey Flurry," he said casually as if this sort of thing happened to him all the time. "You know we gotta stop meeting like this."
Flurry giggled at this and then realized she was still on top of him. Blushing, she got off of him and helped him to his hooves.
"Thanks," he said laughing at bit.
"Oh, you're welcome and sorry about tackling you," she said slightly embarrassed. "What're you doing here?"
"Well remember how I said my father and I would probably be moving to the Crystal Empire soon?"
"Yeah," she answered curiously.
"Well, it was sooner then I thought."
"Wait, so you mean that..." Flurry said in disbelief and Shadow finished for her.
"Yeah, I'm staying at the Crystal Empire," he said smiling.
"Oh my gosh! That's awesome!" She said giving him a big hug and they both blushed.
"Well I should probably get back to my dad," Shadow said sadly, not wanting to leave yet. "He'll be wondering where I am."
As he turned around to leave Flurry called after him. "Shadow wait!"
"Yes," he answered, happy that she didn't want him to leave either.
"Where will you be staying?"
"We don't know yet," he shrugged. "We're still looking for a place."
"Well, maybe you could stay at the castle," she said with hopefulness in her voice. "We have plenty of room and-"
"Wait, you live in a castle?!" He asked in shock.
"Ohhhh...," she laughed nervously. "He-He, did I forget to mention that I am kinda a princess?" She asked even though she knew the answer.
"Kind of, yeah," he said with slight sarcasm. "Y-you're a p-princess?"
"For the most part, yes. I guess the reason I didn't tell you is because I thought you would have known. The wings and the horn, I thought they were a dead giveaway."
Shadow mentally kicked himself, how could I not know she's a princess. She's an alicorn for crying out loud! Things just got a lot more complicated for him. The one pony he wanted to get closer to just happen to be a princess. Great. He thought. Just great. If she were to find out who is father was, she would never want to be friends with him again.
"It's okay. You're right, I should have known. You are an Alicorn after all."
"Don't worry, it's fine. So like I was saying, you could stay at the castle and..." She was cut off by Shadow once again.
"Definitely not," he knew they were trying to stay in hiding. They definitely couldn't stay in the castle. "I appreciate your offer, but it'd be best if we just found somewhere ourselves."
"Oh, okay," she said sadly and Shadow hated to see her like this, but he didn't know why. He figured it was because she was his only friend.
"But hey," he said trying to cheer her up. "We will be able to see each other all the time, now that I live here."
"I suppose you're right." She said smiling again. He seems to know just what to say to cheer her up. "Will you be going to the school here."
"I'm afraid not, let's just say I'm homeschooled."
"Really? I used to be homeschooled."
"You were?" He said with curiosity. "Why did you stop?"
"When I was eight my mom wanted me to go to school so I could make friends with other ponies."
"That must have been nice," he said sadly and then a thought occurred to him, one he couldn't believe he didn't think of before. "How old are you now?"
"Oh, uh," she said, not expecting this question. " I'm eleven, but I'll be turning twelve this November."
"That's coming up soon." He said with an excited smile. "I turned thirteen in August."
"You're thirteen!" She asked a little surprised.
"Yeah, is something wrong?"
"No, I just didn't expect you to be thirteen." He was a little small for his age, probably because he didn't get much exercise and outside time. He was always studying inside that cave.
"Oh, okay well I definitely need to go now. I will see you later."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye," he said giving her one last hug.
When Flurry got back to the castle her mom greeted her with a warm smile. "Flurry you're back, you were gone longer then I thought. I assume that means you had a good time."
"Yeah I did," she said enthusiastically. "I had a great time." And she wasn't just referring to the Crystal Fair preparation.
"That's great! I'm so glad you were able to help me."
"Me too," she said as she headed back to her bedroom. "But I'm kind of tired from the preparation. So I'm going to rest in my bedroom."
"Okay, but don't forget to do your homework," her mother called as she was halfway upstairs.
"I will," Flurry said with a slight whine. She really didn't want to do her homework with all the other things going on in her mind at the time.
When she got to her room and made sure she was alone as she squealed like a little school filly (which she was). "I can't believe Shadow Hunter is going to be staying in the Crystal Empire! This is so exciting!" Then a thought occurred to her, why am I so excited about this. I guess it's because he's my friend, I mean I would be this excited if it were Screwball or Midnight, right? It's not like he's anything more than a friend. Then why do I think about him differently?
Shadow arrived at there meeting place to find his father was already there. He hoped he hadn't been waiting long so he wouldn't get scolded for it.
"I found a good place for us to stay," Sombra said bluntly. "It's a giant crystal rock, that I used my magic to cut a hole in."
"That sounds good," Shadow said with little emotion. He was too focused on other things.
"Did you find anything?" His father asked, even though he wasn't going to change his mind on what he found.
"Oh, yeah... I did find something." He wasn't talking about a place. "But I'm sure what you found is much for better." Yeah right, a voice said in the back of his head.
"Yes, it probably is."
Shadow Hunter resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his father's comment.
"But before I show you the place, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it," he said, unsure of what was coming.
"I will tell you on the way," his father said as he began walking towards their new home. "We have much to discuss."
As Shadow followed him, Sombra began telling him his plan. "I need you to get information from the castle."
As he said this Shadow jumped a bit, knowing his plan had to do with being in the castle where Flurry Heart was, but before he could ask how this plan would work, his father continued. "I need you to find out about their defenses, there plans for capturing me, and gain their trust." Shadow was not expecting this. He had never gained any pony's trust before. He didn't even know if he had Flurry's trust.
"Do you understand?" His father asked slowly, making sure he heard him.
"Yes..." Shadow said hesitantly. "But why?"
"Because this is our first step in taking back what's rightfully mine." Sombra said bitterly. "And I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself."
Shadow Hunter was shocked at how much trust is father was putting in him. He had never done that before, but then a thought occurred to him. So he asked his father, "but what if someone recognizes me. I look just like you except my eyes."
"Don't you think I've already thought of that?" He said coldly.
Yes, Shadow did think of that. "Of course I did. I just wanted to be sure."
"Good, don't underestimate me, Shadow." Again Shadow fought the urge to roll his eyes at his father's comment. "Trust me, I won't," he replied.
"I'm going to use my magic to disguise you," he said starting to light up his horn. "It will be the same spell that the princesses use on their guards."
"What do mean?"
"Do you really think they all look that similar?" His father said as if anypony could figure this out. "No, they cast a spell on the guards to make them all look the same so that they look more fierce as an army."
"Oh." He had never really thought of that before.
Sombra ignited his magic and cast the spell on Shadow Hunter. It felt really weird to him as his body began to tingle from everywhere inside and out. His dark grey fur became lavender and his mane and tail became a dark teal, they were also shorter. His body became bigger, like a full-grown stallions and stronger and his tiny fangs he inherited from his father turned into normal teeth, however his eyes remained the same color. They had become more round and oval shaped, but they were still emerald green. He looked at himself, unsure of what to think. He noticed he wasn't crystaly like the other guards and questioned this. As if reading his mind, his father answered him.
"I can't make you crystal like the other guards. It's not in my abilities because that's from light magic. Formed from the love and light of the Crystal Empire. A sickening thing," Sombra said as he pretended to gag. "But I can give you their armor so you'll look like you're already a guard."
"Oh, okay," Shadow said, still getting used to his new body. "What about my eyes? They're still the same color."
"Yes, I know that," Sombra said annoyed that he was still being questioned. "No other guard has green eyes. This way when I see you, I'll know it's you."
"That makes sense, but what will I say if they ask me my name?"
"You definitely can't tell them your real name, so make one up yourself."
Shadow Hunter thought about this. He wanted his new name to be somewhat like his real name but without giving it away. He decided he would use the last part of his name and combine it with something else. Finally he thought of the exact name he wanted.
"Hunter Woods," he told his father and he seemed unimpressed.
"If that's what you wish," he said handing him his armor. "And remember, you can tell nopony about who you really are."
Thinking about this, it cut him like a sword. He wouldn't be able to tell Flurry Heart. Of course, he didn't have to listen to his father, but with something like this he knew he probably should. If his father were to ever find out that he told someone who he really was, for secrecy purposes, he would kill them. Knowing his father, he wouldn't hesitate either. For her own safety, he wouldn't tell Flurry Heart. He was going to be able to see her almost everyday, but she wouldn't know who he was.
Flurry Heart couldn't have been in a happier mood. Her Aunt Twilight was visiting and she brought her kids, Midnight Shine and her daughter, Amethyst Sparkle. Amethyst was a very rambunctious kid. She loved to practice new spells and test them (not always getting them right). She loved her cousin Flurry Heart very much, they played all the time. She had a straight mane and bangs just like her mom, but it was blue like her father's and had two streaks in it, one light blue and one purple. Her fur was lavender like her mom's and she had her eyes (she was also a unicorn).
"Amethyst, calm down," Twilight told her daughter, as she was talking to Cadence and drinking some tea. "I'm trying to talk to your Aunt Cadence."
Amethyst was running up and down the hallway chasing Flurry and her brother, Midnight. She had suggested that they play tag. "It's okay Aunt Twilight," Flurry said, trying to defend her cousin. "She's only seven."
"I appreciate that, Flurry," Twilight said with a calm tone. "But she knows better than to be that loud when we're inside."
"I was just playing mommy," Amethyst told her mother innocently. "But I'm sorry it won't happen again."
"Thank you, Amethyst." Twilight told her daughter, but then she had just remembered something. "Oh Flurry, I forgot to ask, how was your first day of the new school year."
Her aunt always asked this every year and Flurry appreciated it. She was actually very eager to tell her this time, because of everything that had happened. "It was great! I made some new friends and stood up to some old ones." When she finished Twilight had a puzzled look on her face, wondering what she had meant. Cadence seemed to notice her expression and answered her.
"Flurry stood up to some fillies who were pushing her around and pretending to be her friends." Cadence smiled. "I'm very proud of her."
"That's great Flurry!" Twilight said with a bright smile. "I'm also proud of you. Just out of curiosity, what were their names?" She asked before taking a sip of tea.
"They were three sisters," Flurry stated before she answered her aunt's question. "There names were Aria, Sonata, and Adagio, she was kinda like the leader."
When she finished Twilight's eyes widened and she accidentally spit out some of her tea as she shouted, "WHAT!?" This made Cadence jump a little bit, as she was so close to her.
"What's wrong?" Cadence asked in concern.
"I'm not sure yet," Twilight answered truthfully. "It's just, the way you described them and said their names, they sound exactly like the sirens!"
Flurry looked at her aunt, confusion on her face. She had never heard of the sirens from her aunt, but Cadence had. "How could they be the sirens you told me about?" She had confusion on her face as well but also worry. "I thought you said they lost their power?"
"They did, but I don't know how they're here now." Twilight had gotten off the chair she was sitting in and began pacing. "There must be some reasonable explanation..." suddenly an idea formed in her head, like it should have been there all along. "Of course! I bet the library has information that can tell us why they're here." With that she stopped pacing and headed for the library.
"There must be something in one of these books," Twilight said while flipping through the pages of one.
"I think I found something!" Cadence exclaimed, while giving Twilight the book with her magic. "History of Magical Creatures?"
"I think this is it!" She said while looking at the book. She continued to read until she came across something. "Of course! I know why they're here!"
"You do?" Cadence asked as she walked closer.
"I still can't believe that those girls we're sirens the whole time, and I didn't notice," Flurry said, rubbing her forehead with her hoof.
"It's not your fault," Twilight told her, briefly looking up from the book. "I didn't tell you about them, but the reason they're here is because when Starswirl banished them, it was to get rid of their magic. Since that world didn't have magic, it worked, but when I went to Canterlot High, my friends and I stopped them from taking over that world. They lost their magic in the process."
"So how did they end up here?" Flurry questioned, still unsure.
"When they lost their magic," Twilight continued. "They were sent back to Equestria because they could no longer harm anyone, and the reason their younger is so they could start new, but by what you told me, they haven't changed much. The reason they're ponies however, I'm not sure. It may be because the loss of their magic, but we can't know for certain, but we do know that they're not a threat."
"That's good," said Cadence walking next to Flurry. "Right sweetie?"
"Yeah, we're safe," she said, slowly backing away. "I'll be right back."
"Oh okay," said Cadence, slightly confused because it was so sudden. "Where are you going?" But it was to late. Flurry had already left.
Flurry wanted to warn Shadow about the sirens (or the Dazzlings). Even though she knew they were not a threat magically, they weren't that nice as ponies either. She approached the same place they met last time. She figured that was best place to find him. When she started calling his name she quickly stopped, realizing that to keep him a secret from everypony because her parents still thought he was Sombra, she shouldn't shout his name. So Flurry continued searching for him quietly. When she came across a giant crystal rock she noticed it was different, it had been hollowed out. This must be it! She thought to herself as she slowly stepped inside.
When Shadow herd hoofsteps he assumed his father had come back with lunch and quickly went to go help him. He had been drawing a picture of Flurry Heart so he would be able to give it to her before he became part of the royal guard. When he saw that it wasn't his father, but Flurry Heart, he mentally panicked. Oh no! What am I going to tell her?! I can't tell her the truth! Ugh, I'll just make something up. He approached her slowly as he said, "Flurry? What are you doing here?" He was no longer in his royal guard disguise, his father showed him how to undo it. They had not yet moved along with the plans, so he figured that he didn't have to wear it yet.
"I wanted to tell you something," she said, but she was slightly confused as to why he didn't seem his usual self. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah... I'm fine," he fibbed. "But you can't stay here for long, my father will be returning soon."
"Oh okay, well I wanted to warn you about these three fillies called the sirens..." before Flurry could finish her sentence, Shadow quickly cut her off, unintentionally. "The sirens? Weren't they banished, and I thought they were fish-like ponies, not fillies?" Flurry stared at him, a bit surprised he knew all that. Shadow quickly realized that he had interrupted her and apologized for it. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"It's fine," she said smiling. "I'm just surprised you knew that."
"I wouldn't have known that if it weren't for my books," he said laughing at bit. "Honestly, I probably wouldn't know anything if it weren't for those books."
"Oh I'm sure that's not true," she said blushing slightly. "You're very smart."
"Thanks," he said, also blushing. "You're really smart too."
There was a few seconds of peaceful silence until Flurry Heart remembered what she was there for. "Anyway, like I was saying, you're right the sirens were banished, but they've returned."
"How's that possible?" He asked curiously.
"My aunt thinks that when they lost their magic a long time ago, they came back to Equestria because they were no longer a threat. Why they're fillies, we're not entirely sure, but even though they're not a threat magically, they're not very nice as ponies either. So I'm just letting you know you should probably avoid them."
Shadow processed everything for a moment and then said, "okay, I understand."
"Okay great, I'm glad I could tell you. Now I really need to get home." As she was turning around to leave, Shadow put a hoof on her shoulder, "Wait! There's... something I... need to tell you."
Seeing his hoof on her shoulder made her blush, but she didn't know why. Ugh! Why do I blush so much around him. She thought to herself. She noticed the tone in his voice as he said this and had a feeling whatever it was he needed to tell her, it wasn't going to be good.
"O-Okay, what is it?" She asked quietly, not sure if she wanted to know.
"I won't be able to see you again for a while," he had said it so quietly, she barely made out what it was, but perhaps it was better that way because she didn't like what she heard.
"W-What do you mean?" She asked quietly. She also scrunched up her nose for a split second, then returned it back to normal. He realized she did that whenever she was upset or mad about something, and he thought it was adorable. She probably didn't know she did it and if he were to tell her she did it, she would probably deny it.
"I can't tell you everything," he explained to her. "But my dad and I will very busy for a while. I won't be able to a break."
He wasn't completely lying to her, but he also wasn't telling her the truth. He was actually going to see her almost everyday day and he knew it, but she didn't, and for her own safety he wasn't going to tell her. Suddenly an idea struck him, but he would have to get back to it later, because her voice brought him back to the present.
"Busy doing what?"
"Uhh..." he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "That's part of what I can't tell you."
"Why not?" She asked, there seemed to be some upsetness in her voice now. Shadow noticed this and tried to distract her.
"But here," he said, while picking up his picture of her with his magic. "I wanted to give you this."
Flurry stared at it curiously, before he gave it to her. When she held it with her magic and fully saw it, she gasped. She had never seen such beautiful art before. It had amazing smooth lines, precise size, and it looked exactly like her. It was truly amazing, nothing like anything she could do. It had its own unique style to it that she loved and would never forget.
She continued to stare at it. "I never knew you were such a good artist," she said with a smile.
Shadow blushed slightly. "Probably not as good as some. I just do it in my free time."
"Still, this is amazing."
"Thanks," he said smiling. "I want you to keep it."
"What!?" She said in shock. "I couldn't, it's too nice and..." She was cut off by Shadow once again, this time on purpose.
"It's fine Flurry. I really want you to keep it."
"Are you sure?" She said, looking at him and then back at the picture.
"Positive."
She could tell there was no doubt in his voice, "okay... if you're sure. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He said with a slight smile.
Before Flurry left she gave him a warm comforting hug and said, "bye Shadow. Hopefully I'll see you sooner then you think."
Shadow mentally laughed a little as he thought, trust me, you will. You just won't know it's me. Then after he broke the hug he said, "bye Flurry, I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too,... but it's funny, just when we thought we'd be able to see each other more since you moved here, we'll be seeing each other less."
"Yeah," said Shadow, with a sad laugh. "Funny."
"Well, bye," Flurry said holding up the drawing. "And thank you again for the picture. You really do know how to make things beautiful." And with that, she left.
Before Shadow had the chance to answer her, he felt this tingling throughout his entire body and then he saw this light flash across his flank. Before he knew it there was a bright light blue and white crystal in replace of the flashing light. He had gotten his cutie mark.
He stared at it in disbelief, "m-my... cutie mark? I don't understand, what did I...?" Then he thought about the last thing Flurry Heart told him. "You really do know how to make things beautiful"
He thought about this for a little bit. He had always loved beautiful things, but rarely got to see them because of his father, who would love to destroy things. He also always loved to make things beautiful, he just didn't realize it. Flurry had just helped with that.
He stared outside where she had just left, "thanks Flurry, I would never have known if it weren't for you."
But he wouldn't be able to tell her.
When Flurry returned home she noticed her mom didn't look happy but worried. She was correct, when her mom rushed to her and hugged her.
"Flurry! Where have you been?" She asked, releasing the hug. "You were gone for hours."
Really, had it been hours? It seemed to have passed by so quickly, granted the trip there and back was probably a half hour total and she was with Shadow, who distracted her easily...
She quickly remembered where she was and who she was in front of so Flurry made a quick excuse as to why she was gone so long.
"I... uh...walked around for a little bit," she quickly made up. She wasn't lying either, she had walked around the town on her way back. "I took a walk through the Crystal Empire. It was just so pretty today, that's all."
Her mom stared at her for a little while, clearly trying to figure out whether or not to believe her daughter. After a lot of hesitation she finally said, "okay, I believe you, but next time you need to tell me where you're going, ok?"
Her mom had said this very sternly, but she was right. Flurry hadn't told her where she was going. Her mom didn't usually get this mad at her, it was very rare, but when she did it was no joke.
"I will also be telling daddy about this," Cadence said with her stern voice still. "And you will be grounded for a week."
"But..." Flurry quickly tried to argue, but realized there was no point. "Okay."
"Now next time you'll know not to go running off somewhere without telling me," her mom said, softening her voice a little. "I worry about you and so does everyone else."
"I understand," Flurry said giving her mom a hug as she quickly realized somepony wasn't there. "Hey, where's aunt Twilight and the cousins?" She said looking around.
"Oh they had to go. They told me to tell you bye. I had asked Twilight to tell me if she saw you on her way out."
"Oh,"Flurry realized she didn't get to say goodbye. "Well I'm just gonna be in my room."
"Okay honey, I'll be down here if you need me."
When Flurry got to her room she took out the picture Shadow gave her from her mane ( sometimes it's nice to have big curly hair, she thought to herself). She looked at the picture lovingly. It truly was beautiful. She would cherish it forever.
"Thank you, Shadow."
When Sombra got back Shadow quickly changed into his disguise. He didn't want his father finding out about us cutie mark. For one thing he didn't think his father would like his cutie mark being about him making beautiful things and for another thing, his cutie mark was the exact opposite of his father's. His father's was a black and grey dark crystal and his was a white and light blue light crystal. When in his disguise, he had a typical royal guard cutie mark, not that it mattered, he would be covered in armor.
Sombra didn't seem to notice anything unusual as he simply said, "sorry I'm late, but you will have to skip lunch. I'm getting you into the royal guard now."
Shadow Hunter's eyes widened and he blinked. "Wait, right now?"
"Yes Shadow Hunter, right now. What did you think I meant?"
"Uh..."
"Well nevermind, it's not important. We need to go."
Shadow was really nervous about being part of the royal guard, but also excited about seeing Flurry, I guess you could say he was nervosited ;-). So all he could manage to say was, "okay."
When they got near the castle, but not close enough for anypony to see them, Sombra suddenly stopped. Shadow looked at him curiously.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"From here you go on alone." His father stated.
"What!?" Shadow Hunter began panicking. "But I won't know what to do, I'll get caught, they'll find out who I am, and then lock me in a dungeon!" He shouted.
Sombra merely rolled his eyes, "we don't have time for this Shadow," he stated. "In a few minutes they will be lining up here outside and that's your only chance to sneak in. I already managed to put your name on files and believe me that was not an easy task."
"Okay, I understand," Shadow said meekly.
"Good," said Sombra who suddenly turned around at the sound of voices. "They're coming, now go!" Before Shadow could say anything Sombra left.
This was his chance to prove himself to his father, it was his chance to see Flurry, and it was his chance to help ponies, but he was terrified.
As soon as he saw them coming he didn't hesitate. He quickly jumped in the line they were marching in, thankfully since it had started raining nobody noticed. Unfortunately however, they quickly stopped after a few minutes of him joining the march, thankfully it was not because of him, but because they were doing roll call for the guards on night watch. In Canterlot the bat ponies usually did the night shift, but because this wasn't Canterlot and it was the Crystal Empire they had normal guards on watch. It actually never occurred to Shadow which shift he would be doing, but he would get to that later. Although, he had remembered what his father had told him about putting his name in the files and if his father wanted him to come to this time specific time, that must mean he was in this one.
He listened carefully as the head guard called out names, "Lightning Burst!," he semi shouted. "Here sir!" The stallion answered. He continued calling out names, but Shadow only heard some. He noticed that the head guard looked different from the others. He figured the guards in high position didn't where the disguise."Spearhead!" Was another one he heard, until finally the moment he dreaded where the guard called his name (or his fake name at least).
"Hunter Woods!" The guard called, but Shadow didn't respond immediately, he was still unfamiliar with the fake name. When he realized that was supposed to be him he quickly answered. "O-Oh here sir!" He called out, hoping the delay of his answer didn't change anything. When he saw the guard approach him he panicked, Oh no! He's going to find out who I am. I'll be arrested and never be able to see Flurry Heart again!
He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the guard was in front of him and looked at the paper and back at him. "Are you new here?" The guard simply asked. Shadow wondered if he should tell him the truth or not. If he said yes, he was new, then he could probably have it easier and not have to act like he knows everything they're talking about, but if he said he wasn't new then they most likely wouldn't question him as much.
He chose what he thought was the safest one and said, "yes, I am new." He waited for the guard's response, but the stallion simply just smiled for a brief moment and said...
The castle was much bigger then Shadow Hunter thought it would be, it looked smaller on the outside. The castle had many halls and doors that led to small dark rooms and bright rooms with lots of windows. He didn't know exactly what to do when he arrived there, so he just followed the lead of everypony else and hoped they didn't notice. However, Shadow knew he couldn't just stay with them all day or he would never do what his father asked of him. So, he quietly teleported when he was out of sight and appeared right outside the throne room to listen in on the princesses conversation. When who should he meet but the one pony he's trying to protect.
Flurry Heart had just left the throne room when Shadow Hunter unintentionally appeared right in front of her.
"Ahhh!" She screamed in surprise. They had almost run into each each other, if it weren't for Flurry Heart telaporting out of the way.
When Shadow heard the scream he immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry I didn't see..." but he stopped short once he realized who he was talking to.
"Flurry Heart!" He shouted with joy. He was so happy to see her.
But she just looked at him with confusion. "I'm sorry... do I know you?"
It broke his heart but he remembered who he was supposed to be. Oh yeah, she doesn't recognize me. He reminded himself. To her I'm just a guard. He then felt awkward for shouting her name and quickly made a cover up for it.
"Oh... uh no, you don't know me, I am just honored to finally meet the one and only Princess Flurry Heart," he said with a slight bow. "Forgive me for being a little over excited."
Flurry blushed slightly. It's not like she wasn't used to such a compliment, but it was just something about the way he had said it, something about him. However she quickly snapped out of her thoughts so she didn't seem rude by ignoring his apology.
"It's fine, I understand. It's nice to meet you Mr...?"
Shadow Hunter felt weird with her calling him Mr. but he just brushed it off and remembered to tell her his fake name.
"Hunter Woods," he said with a smile. "But you can just call me Hunter." He was happy she would at least be calling him by half of his real name.
"Okay, that's a nice name. Most of the guard's names that I hear are related to some piece of armor or weapon." She said laughing at bit.
This is great! Shadow thought to himself, I'malready different from the other guards to her. Then the same idea he had back when she visited him last hit him again. Just because she can't know who he really is doesn't mean he still can't get to know her as his disguised self. He actually thought it was better this way, because instead of Flurry getting to know the son of an evil king, she would be getting to know someone in the Royal Guard who helps ponies.
That's what I'll do. He thought, I'll just get to know her as Hunter Woods not Shadow Hun-
But his thoughts were interrupted by Flurry Heart. "Well it was nice meeting you Mr. Hunter," she said starting to walk away. "I'll see you later."
Before Shadow could say anything else she was gone. "Well first things first, I got to get her to stop calling me mr," he told himself. "And this is going to be harder then I thought."
And it was. Every time he tried to talk to her he was either interrupted by another guard telling him what to do or Flurry Heart didn't seem interested in conversation. He new why though, it was because she didn't know him.
It was like this every day.
"Woods!" The head guard yelled. "Stop slacking and pick up the pace!"
"Yes sir," Shadow groaned. They were doing running drills, and to be honest he wasn't the most experienced with running for long periods of time. He was exhausted and bored.
Ugh! How much longer is this going to take! Shadow thought to himself. We've been training for hours!
He had hardly gotten any time with Flurry Heart. Since he was still new they didn't give him any easy 'stand guard' or 'look out' positions, no they liked to give him the hard jobs. Shadow soon realized they liked to pick on the new guy until he earned their respect, and until that happened, it was a lot of training and a lot of going far outside the castle to look for threats. He endured it though, not that he had much of a choice because of his father, but he didn't mind as much, because he still got to see Flurry Heart.
"AND HALT!" The head guard shouted.
Oh finally! Shadow thought. We're done, and he was right, the head guard said the words Shadow had been waiting for.
"Alright break time everyone!" Yes! Shadow thought. "But immediately return to your posts afterwards."
Shadow wasn't upset about that at all this time, because this was one of the very few times he had a normal 'stand guard' job. Which meant he could see Flurry Heart.
"Hey Woods!" One of the guards yelled. "Don't forget your helmet!" He said mockingly as he chucked it at him and the hard piece of armor hit Shadow in the head.
The other guards laughed a bit but not too loud as to where their boss asked what was going on. Shadow just ignored them, he was a little embarrassed that he didn't catch it, but for the most part he was pretty good at shutting other ponies out and ignoring them so he didn't get mad at them.
Little did he know that was main reason they still picked on him.
Shadow now was at his post, waiting for Flurry Heart to pass by the halls. The other guards looked at him curiously, wondering what he was waiting for, he didn't tell them though, because he didn't want to get made fun of (well, more then he already was) for wanting to be friends with the princess. Was it just friendship though? He seemed to be awfully eager to see Flurry Heart. Could he have feelings for her? Maybe, but he just brushed these thoughts aside and told himself that it was only because she was his only friend.
Then finally he saw her approaching the hallway. He remembered to play it cool and not just jump out at her like he did the last couple of times, that certainly didn't get him anywhere with her.
She was getting closer and closer and Shadow could feel his nervousness growing. Although he wondered why, he had never been nervous like this before when he was Shadow Hunter to her, so why was he getting nervous now. Then it suddenly hit him, wait a minute, I'm getting nervous because I'm not being myself, I'm trying to be like every other guard. No wonder I don't seem any different, she became friends with Shadow Hunter, not a guard.
So when she passed him in the hallway he didn't say anything and just waved. I'll think of something later, he told himself and to his surprise she waved back. Which made him smile.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" One of the guards that was on patrol with him asked. Noticing Shadow staring at Flurry Heart.
Shadow's face quickly turned red and he averted his gaze. "W-What are you talking about? I wasn't looking at anything." He said nervously while rubbing the back of his neck unintentionally.
"W-Wait were y-you looking at the princess? The guard asked curiously, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Pfft-No, of course not," Shadow bluffed.
"Uh-huh, yeah right," The guard said with an accusing look toward Shadow. "You're about the worst liar I've ever seen."
"Well I bet you're not any better," Shadow replied bitterly, which surprised the other guard. He usually just ignored comments like that. He was surprised himself that he made a decent comeback.
"Look I don't want to start a fight, but I'm just saying, if you ever want to get good with the princess, just staring at her isn't going to do you any good."
"I know that," Shadow said while rolling his eyes. "But what do you suggest I do."
"Well if it were me," the guard took a second to finish his sentence. "I would set something up where it didn't seem like you ran into each other on purpose, as if it were a coincidence."
"That actually might work, thanks. But why are you trying to help me?"
The guard looked at him curiously as if he was trying to find the answer to that question himself.
"I guess you could say I hate to see people suffer... in any way."
"I wouldn't exactly call it suffering... let's just say I used to know her... but now we're strangers." Shadow had a longing look on his face that the guard noticed.
"Why don't you just tell her that?" the guard said, now curious about the situation.
"I wish I could, but it's not as easy as that." Shadow said with a sad look.
"Why not?"
"Because I would be putting her in danger."
The guard looked at him as if he understood exactly what he was talking about. "Oh, I see. It's hard being part of the Royal Guard when there's so many secrets to keep."
"You have no idea," Shadow said while shaking his head slowly, which made the guard laugh.
"Yeah I'm sure I don't. I'm technically not even officially part of the Royal Guard yet, I'm still in training."
Shadow looked at him surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah my parents got me this job, that's why I'm in such a good position for just starting out."
Shadow laughed, "yeah tell me about it, when I was first starting out I had to do the worst jobs possible."
"I suppose it is nice having a dad as part of the Royal Guard."
Shadow had a pleading look on his face. "What I wouldn't give for my dad to be in that position."
The guard looked at him curiously. "Why? What does your father do now?"
"Uhh...?" Shadow said nervously. "Let's just say he has his own line of work."
The guard didn't seem to take much notice of his nervous tone and simply shrugged. "Cool."
If you knew what he did you wouldn't think it was 'cool', Shadow thought to himself.
"So?" The guard continued the conversation. "What does your mom do?"
Shadow stiffened at the question and a sad expression appeared on his face. "I- uh... never knew my mom." He responded quietly.
"Oh," the guard was not expecting that answer. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your falt," Shadow said while staring at the floor.
"Not yours either."
"Yeah, I know."
"So what are you going to do to try and talk to Flurry Heart?" The guard asked enthusiastically trying to change the subject.
"I'm not exactly sure," said Shadow Hunter putting his hoof to his chin in thought. "What do you suggest?"
"Well, I happen to know that the princess likes to walk around the Royal Gardens on weekends." He said smiling.
"Really, that's great information, thanks!" Shadow said with joy, but then gave the guard a suspicious look. "But how do you know that?"
"I actually know the princess very well."
"Really?" Shadow asked in surprise.
"Yeah, but don't worry... we're only friends." He said with a smirk and wink.
Shadow's face became red. "What are you talking about?" He said quickly. "Why would I worry whether or not you guys were friends?"
"Yeah don't play dumb with me." The guard said with an accusing look toward Shadow. "I've seen the way you look at her. You can't hide it from me."
"Seriously I don't know what you're talking about." Said Shadow starting to get annoyed. "I just want to be her friend."
"Yeah sure, whatever you say," the guard said sarcastically. "What's your name by the way?"
By now Shadow was used to saying his fake name. "Hunter Woods."
"Well nice to meet you Hunter." He said while shaking his hoof.
"What's your name?" Shadow asked back.
"Midnight Shine."
"Nice to meet you too Midnight."
The head guard now came over to their area of patrol and noticed the two talking.
"Hey back to work you two!" He shouted with an angry tone. "Focus on your job!"
Shadow thought about what Midnight said and was in the process of making a plan.
"So I'll meet her in the gardens, without her knowing of course," Shadow said out loud. "And when she asks me why I'm there, I'll say I was just passing through to get to my guard position."
No, that won't work. Shadow thought. She'll think I don't like gardens...so instead I'll say, "I like to come here before I need to guard."
He then started thinking out loud again. "Great! So then she will think I like gardens and we'll have something to talk about!"
He hadn't realized he had been pacing back and forth.
Suddenly he stopped, I have got to stop talking to myself. He thought while shaking his head.
Shadow then put on his armor one piece at a time going as slowly as possible for fear of seeing Flurry Heart.
After he was finished he whispered to himself. "Alright...let's do this."
When Shadow approached the garden he noticed Flurry was already there. It took him longer then he expected to find the gardens, because he had gotten lost on the way there.
"So much for Midnight's directions," Shadow mumbled to himself.
Shadow carefully and quietly crept passed Flurry, making sure she didn't see him come in. He was careful not to make a sound when Flurry suddenly turned around.
"Oh Mr. Hunter, hi." Said Flurry Heart recognizing him by his eyes. "Sorry I didn't see you there."
"Oh princess Flurry Heart," exclaimed Shadow while he mentally slapped himself for being seen so soon. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh no, you didn't scare me, you're fine."
There was a moment of awkward silence until Shadow broke it by asking Flurry a question.
"Um... Princess Flurry Heart-"
"Oh you can just call me Flurry."
Shadow was happy to hear this as he continued his question.
"Oh ok... Flurry, how often do you come to the gardens?"
"Oh, whenever I can really. I'm always so busy with school and my responsibilities, I don't get a whole lot of time to just relax."
"I can understand that."
Flurry laughed a bit, "I could imagine, being in the Royal Guard isn't an easy task."
"You're telling me," Shadow laughed. "The commander doesn't give us a break."
"Well be happy it's not my dad training you because he would be way worse," she smiled.
"Why, who's your dad?"
"Oh you don't know?" Flurry asked, surprised by the question. "Are you new?"
Shadow pondered the question for a moment wondering how he should answer.
"Yeah, I am." He said simply.
"Oh well then that explains why you don't know who he is. Almost every pony does," she smiled. "He's captain of the Royal Guard."
"He is!?" Shadow said in shock, clearly surprised. "He's the pony who has been yelling at me all week."
Flurry giggled, "no, that's his second in command. When there's no emergency my dad usually is in the office."
"Oh ok, thank goodness!" Shadow sighed a breath of relief.
"Why?" Flurry asked teasingly. "Are you glad that's not my father?"
"Uhhh..." Of course I am! Shadow thought.
"Yeah... I would prefer if he weren't." Shadow said weakly.
This made Flurry laugh again. "You're really funny." She said half laughing.
"I am?" Shadow was surprised because he had never been told that before.
"Of course, even if you're not doing it on purpose."
"Oh, well thanks."
They talked and laughed for a little while longer, both of them enjoying every minute of it and never wanting to leave, until Shadow realized his shift was about to start.
"I gotta go," he said sadly.
"Oh, ok," she said hesitantly, not really wanting him to leave yet. "Work?"
"Yeah, duty calls." He said with a sarcastic salute while walking away.
Flurry giggled a bit at his antics as a thought occurred to her.
"Why does he seem familiar?" She questioned before leaving the gardens.
From then on Flurry paid a little more attention to the guard she found so familiar, which made Shadow Hunter very happy. A few weeks had passed and they spent them talking to one another (mostly in the gardens) and enjoying the various events that took place in the Crystal Empire, including Flurry's 12th birthday and the Crystal Fair, both of which Shadow enjoyed very much. The Crystal Fair however reminded him just how cruel his father truly was. To take such a beloved event away from the crystal ponies who were already miserable as his slaves just further proved to Shadow how evil his father is.
Flurry's birthday didn't have any painful reminders however, much to Shadow's relief. He was very happy to be able to celebrate this with his friend for the first time... or for that matter celebrate any birthday for the first time. He was worried about his gift though, because he didn't find out that you were supposed to get one until an hour before the party started.
When it came time for gifts he kept trying to look over everyone since he was in the back "guarding" the area, that was the only way he was allowed to go. He heard faint "wows" and "oohs" from the ponies in the front wishing he could be up there as well, but he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from his chief if he had found out he had left his post, so he stayed put (for now anyway). He had put his gift along all the others hoping she would open it soon so he would know whether or not she liked it. He didn't put his name on it however just in case she didn't like it. He figured if she did like it and wanted to know who it was from he could just make himself known.
He could hear little barks from a dog and hear Flurry gasping in surprise. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, thank you so much mom and dad!" She said with happiness.
It was a little husky puppy with blue eyes and black and white fur. Flurry named him Hunter, much to Shadow's surprise, but it made him smile. She now was opening his gift and Shadow's nervousness grew. He was dreading the moment, yet he was anxious for her to open it. When she did she looked at it with curiosity then smiled. His gift to her was a little silver necklace with a silver heart at the bottom, Flurry realized it was a locket. She turned it over and on the back it read...
To my one and only Flurry Heart.
That simple sentence made her smile wider than any of the other gifts had. She absolutely loved it, but was curious as to who gave it to her. And apparently so was her mother.
"Oh that's pretty!" Exclaimed Cadence, "but who gave it to you?"
"I'm...not...sure," Flurry Heart said slowly. "They didn't put their name on the bag."
"Huh?" Cadence thought for a moment. "Maybe they want it to remain a secret?"
"Maybe," Flurry Heart agreed.
Shadow was relieved she liked it (thinking the sentence he put on there was too cheesy) and was about to reveal himself when something stopped him. He didn't know what it was but something told him not to. He wanted very much to tell Flurry that it was him who gave it to her but he didn't, and instead stayed put.
"Well we can always find out later who gave it to you," her mom put a hoof on her daughter's shoulder and pointed to the last gift. "But you have one more present to open, and then we can have cake!"
Flurry looked at the necklace one last time before turning to her mom and smiling. "Ok, I guess you're right," she said quietly.
The party was now over, but Screwball and Stormcloud were spending the night. They all were playing charades when Flurry excused herself for a minute.
"Hey Flurry, you okay?" Screwball asked curiously, noticing her friend's strange behavior.
Flurry Heart thought about how she should answer, not wanting her friends to worry. "Yeah, of course! I just need some fresh air, I've been inside all day." She said, hoping her friends wouldn't question her further. They didn't, but Screwball gave her a skeptical look, which Flurry ignored.
She went to the window terrace in her bedroom inhaling the cool fresh air of the night. Most ponies would freeze at the cold air, but not Flurry Heart, the cold didn't seem to bother her. She sighed as she looked out at the starry night sky, and then looked down at the locket she had been given and smiled. Her smile quickly faded however as she thought of the one pony who wasn't at her party. The one pony she missed deeply, having not seen him in two months. She sighed again, this time quieter and more longing.
"Where could he be?" She asked herself, knowing he was no longer in the clearing of crystal where she found him for the first time in The Crystal Empire (more like ran into him).
She smiled briefly at the memory, she had only known Shadow Hunter for a short amount of time, but it felt like forever. They got along so well but met at the most unusual circumstance, when he tried to kidnap her. Flurry found herself smiling again at that memory as well, but again it went away too.
She then thought about the necklace she had received and remembered how it had no name, but said something so meaningful. The more she thought about it the more she started to put two and two together, eventually she came to a theory. What...what if...? No, she told herself. It couldn't have been him! However the thought still remained there and she couldn't shake it off.
She looked out into the night sky again, could it have been him? She questioned again, but this time not immediately trying to shake it off.
"Mabye..." she whispered. "Just mabye," she stroked the locket.
"Hey Flurry, had enough fresh air yet?" Screwball asked eagerly.
"Yeah you've been up here for a long time," Stormcloud chimed in. "You sure you're okay?" A worried expression was on her face.
Flurry smiled at her friends, she appreciated their concern. "Yeah I'm fine. Come on, I'll get us some ice cream!" She exclaimed happily as her friends followed her, matching her excitement.
Shadow awoke with a groan. He had a completely restless night. He couldn't stop thinking about why he hadn't told Flurry Heart it was him who had given her the gift. He didn't even know whether or not he regretted it! He slowly rose from his cot with great pain, some from soreness because of all the training he did (which he started to notice its effects on his muscles as they were much more developed) and some from his throbbing head because he was sleep deprived.
He sighed, "it's going to be a looong day."
"Hey Woods!" One of the guards shouted, "get up, we got to go!" He said while walking past him and pushing him back down on his cot.
Shadow groaned, "even longer with these jerks," he muttered to himself, but someone still heard him.
"Don't listen to them," Midnight said with an annoyed tone. He was now getting up from his cot and helping Shadow out of his. "They just like to get a kick out of it."
"Thanks," Shadow grumbled, but it was still sincere. "Good to know that I am what makes them laugh," he said sarcastically.
Midnight rolled his eyes, "just ignore them," he stated simply.
Shadow was about to agree, but kept thinking about how long this had been going on, and how ignoring them got him nowhere, that they still made fun of him, still pushed him around, and still ridiculed him.
And he had had enough.
"No," he said dangerously, sounding like his father for a moment, his voice cold and menacing. He actually surprised Midnight, who backed up a few steps.
"W-What do y-you mean?" Midnight asked cautiously, even surprising himself for stuttering. A very unlike him thing to do, as he usually kept his cool.
Shadow kept his cold menacing voice as he spoke. "I'm tired of them treating me like this!" He growled, "and for once..." he smiled coldly, "I am going to do something about it."
Midnight said nothing, just simply watched his friend leave. His mouth slightly open with awe. He had never seen this side of him, even if he only knew him for a short amount of time, and surprisingly he found it...well...frightening. Again, another thing rare with Midnight, he was scared of very little things.
He walked out of the room slowly, knowing where Shadow (or Hunter to him) was headed. However he dreaded seeing what his friend got himself into, but he also wanted to make sure no pony got hurt and found himself flying instead of walking.
When he got there everything was normal, much to his surprise. He looked around and spotted Shadow, approaching him cautiously.
"H-Hey Hunter, you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said very calmly... too calmly.
"Oh... okay," Midnight said with a confused look on his face. "So you're not going to do something about it?"
"Oh no, I still am," he said with that same cold smile plastered on his face, which made Midnight want to shiver in fright, but he contained himself. "I'm just waiting for them to strike first."
"Oh," Midnight said simply, not entirely sure how to react. So he decided to just sit back and see what happens.
Then it happened. One of the guards decided to have a little fun when no one important was around.
When Shadow wasn't looking the guard picked him up by the legs and shook him hard while laughing with the other guards. He shook him until his helmet fell off which the guard took quickly and then dropped him. The whole time Shadow glared at him, but the guard ignored it and continued.
"My, my... what a nice helmet," the guard said sarcastically. "It'd be a shame if the captain or general saw you without it and not in full attire." There was a smirk on his face that Shadow wanted to slap off.
Until now he remained on the ground, now slowly standing up. "Give. Me. My. Helmet," he said with that same menacing and cold tone, pausing in between each word.
The guard was actually surprised by this since Shadow rarely ever said anything and just ignored them. And his voice was so... threatening! But the guard kept his cool and his smirk (much to Shadow's annoyance) and simply replied.
"Uhhh... no," he said annoyingly. "What makes you think I'll listen to you?"
Shadow's jaw clenched. "I'll give you one last chance...before you end up embarrassing yourself in front of everyone," he finished with a smirk.
But the stallion was stubborn. "Like I said before... no," he said simply.
That was all Shadow needed to hear. Then he smiled malevolently, "fine," he said while shrugging his shoulders.
The guard was about to open his mouth to say something, but before he could react Shadow Hunter swooped in swiftly like a panther and knocked him off his legs, causing him to land with a thud and his helmet to roll across the floor right into his grasp.
Shadow smiled at the dumbfounded stallion. "Thanks," he replied cooly, his smile never leaving his face.
All the the guards were truly shocked, none more than Midnight who was trying to hold back a laugh at seeing the stallion on the floor. But then, suddenly out of nowhere the other guards laughed as well, but for a different reason.
When Shadow realized they weren't laughing at the stallion who took his helmet he was completely surprised. What could they possibly be laughing at now! Shadow thought. I stood up to him! I stood my ground! Yet they're still laughing?
Suddenly another guard's voice interrupted his thoughts. "About time!" He said in between laughs.
Shadow had no idea what he was talking about, but he was getting very annoyed and wanted to find out. "What do you mean 'about time'?" He asked impatiently.
The guard looked at him as if the answer was obvious. "About time you stood up for yourself!"
Shadow was not expecting this answer and just stared at the guard, his mouth opening to speak but no words came out. "You were waiting for this?" He finally managed to say, his voice full of disbelief and frustration.
"YES!" The stallion half shouted, again as if the answer was obvious. "We understand that it's good to ignore ponies who make fun of you, but eventually you got to stand up for yourself. Which is what you did now. We've been waiting for you to do something like this to prove you've got gut. Which now we know you do."
Shadow couldn't believe it. This whole thing, all they're making fun of, all their ridicule... was a test?
"This... was all a TEST!" His voice was barely a whisper at the beginning and then it was a shout at the end.
"Yeah, basically," the guard said simply as if he had done nothing wrong.
"That...that..." Shadow couldn't find the right words, "THAT IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS, IMMATURE, CHILDISH-"
"Hey what's going on in here?!" The commander demanded to know.
Shadow quickly contained himself and went back to his position. "N-N-Nothing sir," he stammered.
The head guard eyed him suspiciously. "Good," he spat in Shadow's face. "Make sure it stays that way," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Shadow replied before the stallion left.
"Psst-Hunter," Midnight called him quietly and Shadow leaned in. "I know they said they were doing it on purpose so you would stand up to them, but it was still awesome!"
Shadow couldn't help but smile. "Thanks," he said sincerely.
"Hey Hunter no hard feelings right?" The same stallion who took his helmet asked him.
Shadow thought about it for a second and then decided there would be no point in holding a grudge. "Yeah, no hard feelings," he replied with a slight smile. "I know you guys were just doing it for my own good."
"Exactly," he said with a smile now too, glad that he wasn't upset. He now knew what Shadow could do. "And no matter what you might think, you do have friends here in the Royal Guard."
"Thanks," he said while looking back and forth from Midnight to the other guard. "You're right I do." And for the first time in his life Shadow felt like he truly belonged somewhere.
Little did he know that a pair of light Opal eyes had watched the whole thing.
Flurry Heart was there. She had seen the whole thing go down: the guard making fun of Shadow, him defending himself, and them laughing. To say she was surprised would have been an understatement. She always thought Hunter to be a calm pony, but not this time. He was mad...really mad...and slightly cocky, much to her surprise.
Reminds me of somepony else I know,Flurry thought to herself while smiling. She quickly shook her head,no, stop comparing him to Shadow!Flurry scolded herself.
It's only because I miss him,she told herself.Because we're friends.
Are you just friends though?A tiny voice in the back of her head questioned.Of course we are!She told herself again.
"Ughhh," she groaned. "This is going to give me a headache!"
A sudden voice interrupted her thoughts. "Flurry Heart," her mother exclaimed while she moved next to her. "Come on, you're going to be late for school!"
"Okay, coming," she said as she walked towards the exit of the castle, but when she passed Shadow Hunter (who was trying not to stare at her) she quickly whispered something to him that he could only hear. "Great job defending yourself Hunter, see you later," and then she fully left.
Shadow didn't know how to react. Flurry had been there...she had been there the whole time! He didn't know whether to be happy or upset about it.
That means she saw me defend myself!Shadow thought happily.But what if she hadn't seen the whole thing! She may of thought I was being mean to him for no reason!
But his thoughts were interrupted however by a familiar voice. "Awesome, Flurry Heart even saw you!" Midnight exclaimed while patting his friend on the back. "That's great!"
"Yeah...great," Shadow said skeptically, looking in the direction Flurry had gone.
Shadow kept his skeptical look. "I'm still deciding," he said simply.
Midnight just rolled his eyes. "Well you keep doing that," he said while patting Shadow on the shoulder sarcastically. "I'm going to just say it's a good thing."
Shadow sighed, "you're right, you're right...I guess it is a good thing."
"Glad you see it my way," Midnight said mockingly.
Shadow was walking around the castle on his last hour of patrol before night shift. After he was done he would make his weekly trip to his father. It was the part of the week he hated the most. Shadow hadn't been able to gather as much information these past couple of months as Sombra would have liked. However he did have important information this time, but he didn't want to tell his father. He knew he didn't have a choice though.
However when he was about to turn in for the night a familiar voice caught his attention.
"Hunter!" Flurry called from the distance. She was trying to catch up to where he was. "Wait up!"
Shadow turned around to face her, curious as to why she was calling him, but happy about it. "Hey Flurry! What's up?" He said casually, trying to cover up his over-excitement.
"Hey...Hunter," she replied between breaths. "Been...meaning...to...ask you...about-"
"Whoa, Flurry breath!" Shadow exclaimed with a slight laugh.
"Oh yeah," Flurry said right before she inhaled a deep breath. "Thanks."
Shadow didn't say anything and just waited for her to speak first.
"Like I was saying before you reminded me to breath;" they both laughed. "What happened with you and the other guards?"
Shadow chucked quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well..."
After he finished explaining the whole thing to her and everything that happened Flurry had a slight look of confusion on her face, but then it was happiness.
"Wait...so you know Midnight?" She asked with a surprised tone.
"Uh yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you."
"Oh that's okay, I'm just surprised he didn't tell me."
Shadow wondered the same thing, if anything he thought Midnightwouldtell her so he could help him become better friends with Flurry Heart.
"Yeah I'm not sure why he didn't tell you," Shadow said with a skeptical look on his face. "But I'm sure it was just because he forgot."
"Yeah," Flurry agreed. "It happens."
Shadow Hunter would have stayed there talking to her all night if he could, especially since he didn't want to see his father, but Flurry Heart had other plans.
"Well I need to go to bed soon," she sighed. "But I will see you tomorrow!"
"Yeah see ya," he said with a slight wave. Then he turned around and walked towards the castle doors. Preparing himself to see his father.
Flurry Heart slowly walked towards her bedroom, wanting to give herself plenty of time to think. She wanted to put an end to these comparisons she made with Shadow and Hunter.
They're nothing alike!She told herself.Shadow is sweet, funny, and sometimes sarcastic.She thought about it more for a second,and at times he can be a little bitcocky.
She smiled at this, and then frowned.And Hunter is nice, quiet, polite, and sometimes awkward.She told herself, determined to prove these comparisons wrong. Flurry thought about why she was so upset about comparing them, and then she thought she knew why.
"It's just because I miss him!" She mumbled. "That's the only reason," she continued to tell herself. "It has to be, it's the only reasonable explanation!"
She noticed two guards walking by and staring at her when she raised her voice. She blushed and ran to her room, embarrassed for making a fool of herself.
When she got to her room Flurry immediately looked at the picture Shadow drew for her. Never taking her eyes off of it she ran her hoof across the paper and sighed. Finally she closed her eyes and looked down. When he gave her this picture that was the last time she saw him. Flurry knew she had only known him for a couple of months, but she missed him terribly. It had been two months since she had seen him but it felt much longer.
Flurry looked at the time and only then realized how late it was. "Gosh, I need to get to bed," she told herself and crawled into the dark pink sheets.
"I'll think more about this later," she said as she turned the light off with her magic.
Shadow approached what he and his father called home at the moment and gulped. Hereallydidn't want to tell his father the information he found out but also didn't want to disobey. When he arrived at the area where they lived Sombra was looking through papers and documents with his head down.
"You're late," he stated simply without so much as a glance towards him.
Shadow stopped wondering how his father knew when he was there without looking at him years ago and just decided not to question it. He always thought it was funny how his father taught him how to sneak around like a mouse without making a sound and yet he could always hear him when he was coming.Just one of his many qualities,he thought.
"Uh sorry I got held back a little," Shadow said while rubbing the back of his neck, hoping that was a decent excuse.
"By what?" Sombra asked, just now lifting his head and looking up at him.
Shadow grew nervous, but he was determined to keep his cool. "You know just work related...stuff."
"Stuff?" Sombra questioned sarcastically.
"Uh...yeah!" Shadow said with a fake smile.
Sombra looked at him skeptically. "Well even though I know that's not true I don't care enough to question further," he stated simply.
Phew,Shadow thought, but he was quickly interrupted by his father.
"Yet anyway," he finished and that made Shadow worry slightly.
"So?" Sombra said, giving his son a hint that it was time for him to start talking.
"Oh! Right!" Shadow exclaimed realizing the same thing. "Well I did find out...something." he said hesitantly.
"And...?" Sombra said urging him to continue.
"They have a new spell in their defenses."
"Interesting," Sombra said with a smile. Intrigued by this news. "And what would this new spell be?"
When Shadow didn't respond his father gave him a look and he quickly spoke. "It's...it's a mind manipulation spell." He looked down hating himself at that moment.
"Mind manipulation?" Sombra said in a surprised tone, but then he smirked. "I didn't know the princesses were capable of such dark magic."
For some reason he didn't know Shadow got defensive. "It's not dark magic!" He yelled, much to both his and he father's surprise.
"Excuse me?" Sombra asked with a threatening look, so Shadow decided to choose his words carefully.
"I-I mean...the spell is not technically dark magic. It can be used for that purpose but they're not using it for that."
"Oh I know that obviously," he said with a blunt look. "But itisstill a form of dark magic. So what exactlyarethey using it for?"
"They want to use it to catch criminals so they can convince them to go calmly when being arrested and will eventually remove it from them when they're in jail."
He honestly didn't know how his father would react to this so he didn't say anything and just waited for a response.
"Very clever," was all he said and Shadow was surprised by this calm reaction.
"Anything else?" He added and Shadow simply shook his head no. "Alright then, good work. You didn't completely fail. Also you will be staying here tonight."
This surprised Shadow. "What? Why?" He asked curiously.
Sombra rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. "Becauseit would be too suspicious for you to go back now at this late hour." He concluded.
"Oh," he said realizing his father was right. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
"Good, now go find yourself a spot to sleep," he said waving his hoof in the direction of a bed.
But before Shadow left to go to bed he stopped and asked a question he had been wondering for a while. "Uh...father?"
"What is it?" Sombra said in an annoyed tone through his teeth having wanted to be left alone by now.
"W-Whatareyou planning to do with the princesses?"
Sombra chuckled slightly with a smile on his face as he said in his deep dark menacing voice.
"I plan to annihilate them," by now his teeth were clenched. "And to make them pay!"
Flurry Heart couldn't sleep at all last night since she kept thinking about Shadow- and even though she hates to admit it, Hunter a little bit too- so she had dozed off a few times in class and the teacher had to get her attention just so she would stay awake.
"Flurry Heart!" Miss Amber Crescent called to get her attention. Cadence had told Flurry's teacher a long time ago that she didn't have to call her 'Princess' when she spoke to her, since the teacher was her authority she thought it made sense.
"Huh?" Flurry ever so slightly turned her head to look at the teacher. She had been looking out the school window again.
"Flurry this is the third time I've had to call you to get your attention, is everything alright?"
"Uh...y-yeah yeah everything is fine, sorry I'm just a bit tired." Flurry tried to put on the best fake smile she could to convince her teacher.
"Alright well just try and stay with us as best you can, okay?"
"Yes ma'am."
Miss Amber began the lesson again and Flurry was trying her best to listen but it was very difficult. It was like as if someone played you a song over and over again and that was the only thing that you could think of or listen to, and she hated it.
Finally school let out and Flurry practically attempted to do a Sonic Rainboom on her way to the castle. She asked her mom not to pick her up from school so she could get home faster. When her mom asked why she simply said she wanted to practice getting home on her own.
She didn't remember much from class, but one thing she did remember was the assignment they had for their family tree project. Their weekend homework was to find out where their name came from and if it was linked with any other family member. Flurry didn't really think much of it; she just figured she would ask her parents about it and get the information she needed. She was thankful it was a weekend assignment so she had plenty of time.
She bolted through the door and flew straight to her room 'accidentally' forgetting about the no flying fast in the castle rule. Her parents were surprised since she didn't even say hi to them or tell them anything at all.
Shadow quickly put on his armor and ran outside. He didn't want to be in his father's home any longer than he had to. It was weird for him to see himself in his normal form for the first time in weeks. He had looked in a mirror far off in the corner of the crystal. He noticed he was slightly taller than the last time he saw himself, and his muscles were certainly more developed then they had been. That is, he didn't look like an underfed slave.
He walked out of the Crystal cave and headed toward the castle. It was chilly this morning and Shadow could see his breath, but he didn't mind. He liked the fresh cold morning air.
When he arrived at the castle doors he nodded his head to to the guards standing at the door showing them his (fake) ID.
The moment he stepped inside the castle his mouth was covered with a hoof and he was being dragged away.
He would have fought more had he not seen a glimpse of the pony dragging him and recognized it to be Midnight. Even though he trusted his friend he was very confused and didn't like being dragged.
"Okay, okay Midnight, that's enough! I'll go with you where you want but you don't need to drag me!" He complained after he managed to free his mouth from his friend's hoof.
"Sorry," Midnight said quickly in a whisper. "But you brought this on yourself."
Shadow had no idea what that meant but then suddenly he began to panic as he thought of something.What if he found out who I really am! What if the Royal Guard found out and he was sent to turn me in! What if the princesses found out! Would they kill me!? What would Flurry Heart think?
All these questions and more swam around his head as Midnight pulled him into an empty room and quickly shut the door.
"All right spill it," Midnight said as he leaned against the door. "Who are you and how did you get here?"
Shadow swallowed the lump in his throat. Midnight had found out; he knew he wasn't really who he said he was and his friend was going to turn him in. His worst nightmares were coming true. But what Midnight said next surprised him.
"Look I'm not going to turn you in or report you, I just want answers."
This made him feel a little better but that good feeling quickly went away as he thought about this a little more.Isn't that exactly what a detective would say to calm the pony they were investigating? So they could get the answers they need before arresting them!
He wanted to trust Midnight, he was the only pony who was nice to him when he started the Royal Guard, but...he couldn't. Shadow had been raised his whole life to not trust ponies. Especially if they were associated in any way with the princesses.
Shadow didn't realize he still hadn't said a word to the pony in front of him until Midnight cleared his throat.
"Well?" Shadow knew this was no use but he still wanted to try. "What makes you think I'm someone else?" He said as his eyes shifted to the ceiling in an unconvincing manner.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that your profile for the Royal Guard is fake!" He said as he pulled out a medium size sheet of paper with information on it.
"H-How did you get that?" Shadow asked cautiously.
"I was being trained on how to manage the files today. They don't do it often but they wanted me to know if ever need be."
"Oh," was all Shadow said.
"I'm pretty sure they'll show you too."
"But...but I thought you-"
"I already told you Hunter, I'm not going to report you. You really think I would do that? You're my friend...and I'm sure that whatever reason you had for faking your identity was a good one."
Shadow felt a wave of guilt sting his chest at how untrue that statement was. He had a terrible reason for faking his identity! But he couldn't let Midnight know that. He could however, tell him who he really was...he thought he deserved at least that much.
Midnight seemed to read his mind.
"Could you at least tell me if your real name is Hunter Woods or not?"
"No...it isn't. My real name is Shadow Hunter."
"Wow," Midnight cleared his throat. "Dark."
"Yeah, not exactly a ray of sunshine kind of name," he replied bluntly.
"Yeah really," Midnight laughed.
"So how did you know it was fake?" Shadow indicated the piece of paper Midnight was holding.
"What, the profile? Well when I was filing the papers I came across your's and noticed it felt different from the others. For a second I thought it was just because I knew you so it was only different to me, but then I realized the actual paper for your profile was different. You see when ponies want to become part of the Royal Guard and they fill out their profile for it they make them use special paper. That way no one can fake anything on there. It's embedded with magic. It also feels slightly different. While most paper is soft and flimsy this kind is smooth and sturdy."
"Oh, wow. I never knew that."
"Most ponies don't unless they've done it before like I did."
"So...why did you do it?" Midnight said changing the subject.
Shadow took a deep breath and explained the situation to Midnight...well some of it anyway.
He told him how his father wanted to guarantee that he made it into the Royal Guard and didn't want to risk the chance of him not and take the time by doing it like everyone else. Shadow also told him that he actually never wanted to be in the Royal Guard and it was all his father.
"No offense Shadow but your dad sounds awful."
"None taken, I know."
"Why did you do it if you didn't want to?"
"Because...he's my dad," Shadow said softly.
Midnight knew that wasn't an answer but felt he shouldn't press further on the subject.
So he changed it.
"Then...whatdoyou want to do?"
"Well, actually I want to do something similar to the Royal Guard but more specific."
"What do you mean exactly?" Midnight squinted his eyes to look at Shadow clearly in the dimly lit room.
"I want to catch criminals and then try to reform them over time," Shadow replied and then bit his lip out of nervousness for Midnight's reaction.
Midnight stared in thought. "Sounds interesting...although I'm not sure they have something like that exactly."
"I know, but I could start it on my own."
"You could," then Midnight's eye caught sight of the old dusty clock in the room that appeared to be ancient. "But if that clock is right then we're already a little late and we need to go!"
Shadow nodded and followed his friend out the room before he suddenly stopped him. "Wait! Promise me that you won't tell anyone about this...especially Flurry Heart!"
The dark blue pony that has been Flurry's friend for years looked at his new friend now. "But...don't you want her to know?"
"Please Midnight!" Shadow cut him off and Midnight could see the fear in his friend's eyes and hear the desperation in his voice.
Midnight sighed. "I won't, I promise."
Shadow sighed in relief as if a great weight was lifted off of him. "Thank you Midnight-"
"But I thinkyoushould...at least to her."
Shadow looked down. "I...can't."
"Well I know that if I was her I'd much rather know who my friend really is then getting to know someone who's not telling the truth."
Midnight had a point and Shadow knew it, but he also knew that his friend didn't know the full reason of why he couldn't tell her.
"Just think about it," was the last thing he said before he left Shadow alone.
"He's right...I have to tell her," he said with slight determination in his eyes...however it quickly turned to fear. "But what's going to happen if I do?"
