Greetings fellow bronies and others, I'd thought you all might appreciate a "Happy Thanksgiving" chapter, so here it is. Enjoy!
Shadow's harness rattled and his saddlebag bounced wildly as he kept running through the Everfree Forest. He finally slowed to a stop as he came upon an enormous chasm with a rope bridge being the only thing leading into the mist that rose from the depths. As he looked back Shadow noticed that he had left a trail of smoldering hoof prints through the forest 'Apples.. If I'm gonna hide successfully I can't have an obvious trail giving me away...' he thought. Donning his disguise once more Shadow continued onto the bridge.
The mist was so think the Shadow could only see a few feet in front of his own face, so it came as no surprise to him when his hoof went through one of the boards. "Buck!" Shadow yelled as he nearly fell through the bridge entirely. Getting his leg out of the destroyed board Shadow grumbled to himself as he continued on and soon reached the other side. "Good thing I'm off that stupid bridge" he thought aloud "And even better you didn't fall through, you outta be more careful on things like that" came a voice ahead of him. Jumping to look at whoever had spoken, Shadow was startled to see an ashen colored mare with a vibrantly colored green mane and tail leaning against a tree. "Who are you?" Shadow asked the strange mare, eying her warily as she approached. "My name's Cinder Coat, what's yours?" she asked flashing Shadow a warm smile "My name is Shadow Skull, pleased to meet you" he replied, still remembering his manners.
"Haha, and a gentlecolt, that's funny!" Cinder chuckled. "Am I missing something?" Shadow asked confused "And more importantly what are you doing out here?" "Isn't that kind of obvious? I was looking for you" she said as if it was completely obvious fact. "What are you..." Shadow began, only to have his jaw drop at what happened next. Cinder Coat changed, her fur, mane, and tail seemed to fade away leaving fire and bone in their place. "You're a...you're one too?" Shadow stammered dumbstruck "Yep, now loose the get-up, no reason to worry" Cinder replied, still smiling.
Shadow, still not sure what to do, let the disguise fade away, blue and green flames emerging as his fur vanished. "Good, now come on, the others are gonna want to meet you." Cinder said waving a hoof further down the road "Others?" said Shadow.
"How could ya do that Twilight? Ya promised Shadow ya wouldn' tell the Princess!" Applejack practically yelled at her friend. The whole ordeal between Shadow and the Princess having ended and the crowd dispersed, the six friends had gone back to Twilight's house.
"I..I couldn't do it, it was too important to not tell." Twilight responded looking at the ground, she knew she deserved every word her friend was giving her. But none of them expected what happened next. Fluttershy, timid and kind Fluttershy, trotted up to
Twilight and slapped her across the face with a resounding clap. The only thing the other girls could do was stare bewilderingly with dropped jaws as Fluttershy trotted out angrily and slammed the door.
"So how much farther is it until we've gotten to where ever it is we're going?" Shadow asked trying to break the silence. "Not too much farther, luckily you went in the right direction when you ran into the forest." Cinder Coat looked back and answered "But you may want to take the bone harness off before we get there, it may freak some of them out." "Then they'll have to deal with it, I am not taking it off.." he replied firmly. Cinder Coat raised an eyebrow at him "Fine, but I have to ask, what's up with your eyes?" she asked "I have absolutely no idea, I've always been and apparently always will be an oddball.." he replied curtly.
"Okay... Hold up, we're almost there. You wait here while I go and tell the others that I brought you here." Cinder Coat said holding up her hoof. Shadow stopped and stood where he was, extremely nervous about what was coming. "Ok, I'll just wait right here, I guess" Shadow said looking around. Cinder Coat stopped and looked back to make sure Shadow was still there, then continued on.
Rainbow Dash flew through Ponyville and went straight to Fluttershy's cottage. When she got there Rainbow Dash went straight inside only to see Fluttershy packing her saddlebags, a determined look on her face. "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked "I'm going into the Everfree Forest to find Shadow and bring him back." she replied bluntly. "Are you listening to yourself? You're going into the Everfree Forest, the Everfree Forest, just to try and bring back some monster that could turn you into a pile of ash whenever he wants. Think about it." Rainbow Dash tried to reason.
"He's not a monster Rainbow Dash, you know that. And just because he's different doesn't mean he doesn't deserve kindness like you or me." Fluttershy argued "And you can't change my mind, I'm going no matter what you say... but I'd really appreciate it if my best friend would come with me." "I really can't change your mind can I?" asked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy shook her head "Fine, I'll come along." Rainbow Dash said reluctantly and getting a warm smile from Fluttershy "Thank you Rainbow Dash" "Yeah, whatever, I'm gonna go get my stuff, I'll meet you back here in a bit." Rainbow Dash replied as she left and flew away.
As Rainbow Dash was flying over Ponyville she heard some pony yell "Rainbow Dash! Down here!" looking around she saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and even Rarity galloping after her. "What's up?" she asked as she landed on the ground "Is Fluttershy alright? We saw ya headin over there but couldn't catch ya in time." Applejack asked. "Well, she's planning on going to search for Shadow sooo.. probably not entirely. But I'm gonna go with her and try to help." Rainbow Dash answered "What in tarnation?! Yall plan on trying to search for Shadow alone in the Everfree Forest?" Applejack said astonished, Rainbow Dash only nodded her head "Well heck, I'll come along too" Applejack said "And me as well darling" Rarity agreed "Oh and me! I still need to throw him a party!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically.
"It's settled then, every pony go home and pack, we'll meet up with Fluttershy at her cottage as soon as possible." Rainbow Dash said with her own determined look. They all spread out and headed to their homes to a pack things they'd need. Soon the four of them were all standing outside of Fluttershy's cottage. Opening the door Fluttershy was surprised to see three more of her friends there "It's cool Fluttershy, they all wanted to come along and help too" Rainbow Dash assured her. "We couldn let ya just go lookin for Shadow with just Rainbow Dash" said Applejack "Or let you ruin your coat darling" Rarity added "What they said" Pinkie said pulling a cupcake out of her mane and eating it in one bite "Or forget snacks!" She added through a mouthful of cupcake.
"Thanks girls, I know you don't have to come along, this is really nice of you" Fluttershy said smiling at her friends. "Now come on girls, we've got a pony to find!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she and her friends made their way towards the Everfree Forest. "Wait a second, y'all think we should get Twilight to help? She did cause this whole mess." Applejack suggested, making them all pause. "What do you girls think?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends. "As much I'm disappointed with her, we could use Twilight's help. Plus she can help fix what she's done here." answered Rarity "She's gotta do something nice since she broke a promise, even if it wasn't a Pinkie promise.." Pinkie added "...okay.." Fluttershy said under her breath.
"Then it's settled, let's go get her before we all head into that there forest." Applejack stated as they started to make their way back towards Ponyville. After getting back to town the group quickly found that Twilight was still in her home moping over what happened, and her mood seemed to worsen when the girls came in. "Hey girls.." Twilight said sadly "Do you need something?" "Yeah, you. Now come on and pack some stuff, we're going to find Shadow and you're coming too." Rainbow Dash said pushing Twilight towards the stairs. "Wait, you're going after him?!" exclaimed Twilight as she jumped up "Why in Celestia's name would you do that?" "Because he deserves kindness no matter what others think" Fluttershy interrupted and giving Twilight a little glare.
Rainbow Dash stopped pushing Twilight and looked at her too "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" she asked defensively. "Ponies do but not evil monsters" Twilight answered "He isn't a monster Twilight." Fluttershy interjected "Yes he is, didn't the Princess tell you too?" Twilight asked "Tell us what, dear?" Rarity asked. "After what happened in town earlier the Princess told me why she brought all the guards. Shadow is a Nightmare." Twilight said looking at her friends.
"Oh, like that meanie Nightmare Moon?" Pinkie Pie asked popping her head up. "Sadly no, Nightmare Moon was a Nightmare in the sense that she was a mare of the night. Nightmares were supposed to be evil creatures that could change their appearance and always tried to spread chaos where ever they went. They were monsters." explained Twilight. "So you're saying that Shadow really is a monster?" asked Rainbow Dash "Ah don't believe that for a second, way he worked on the farm wasn't the way somepony that was evil would act." said Applejack. "But that's just it Applejack, they aren't ponies and they manipulated facts and ponies to suit their own needs." Twilight countered.
All of their heads turned when they heard the door slam shut behind them, Fluttershy no where in sight. Rainbow Dash groaned as she zipped out the window and found Fluttershy heading back towards the forest with her saddlebags still on. "Fluttershy, you can't still be going to try and find Shadow after what Twilight just told us." Rainbow Dash said "It don't care what Twilight said, Shadow isn't like that, he's not a monster." Fluttershy said trying to go around Rainbow Dash only to be blocked each time by her friend.
"Please move Rainbow Dash..Rainbow Dash...please move." Fluttershy asked but each time Rainbow Dash kept stepping into her way. "No way Fluttershy, I'm not gonna let you go and try to get yourself hurt." Rainbow Dash said as she once again stepped in front of her friend. Fluttershy only got more irritated when the rest of her friends got there "Why can't you girls just let me do this?" she pleaded.
"Why do ya wanna go after him so badly sugarcube?" asked Applejack as she put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "It's just something I really want to do." Fluttershy answered "There's more to it than that though, ain't there?" Applejack persisted causing Fluttershy to look away. "Fluttershy, is there something you're not telling us?" asked Rainbow Dash with some concern on her face.
Fluttershy looked down and sighed and when she looked back up she looked sad. "I..I didn't want to tell you all this, but there was more to that nightmare I had a while back." she said "The one about Shadow?" Rainbow Dash asked and received a nod from Fluttershy. "After I woke up the first time and went back to sleep..I dreamed of this weird place, there were scary looking ponies everywhere, like those ones we fought the other day. It was really scary, but I wasn't afraid, I just kept walking like it was something I saw everyday. Soon things got even stranger, I talked with this one ghost-like pony, but it wasn't my voice, and when I tried to do something I couldn't, it was like I wasn't in control of what was happening. Soon I found myself outside this creepy looking castle with really, really scary looking guards out front. I went inside and walked up some stairs, there were some more of those skeleton ponies talking there next to an alicorn, but she was ghosty looking too. I don't know why but I felt so happy when I saw two of those ponies, and then we all hugged and they called me sweetie and Shadow. Shadow. Somehow I was reliving what I can only guess now were Shadow's memories. Next thing I know I'm in a courtyard surrounded by those guards when one of those ghost ponies and a strange corpse-like pony came out of no where and beat them up. Then I was in some sort of chamber and the same ghost pony was telling me something about the Elements of Disharmony."
Twilight interrupted "Did he tell you who or what these Elements of Disharmony are?" "No, just that they're Lies, Greed, Rage, Disloyalty, Fear, and Sickness. For some reason it felt as if I was lost and furious, like I ha no idea who I was, like everything was fake and false. But then something exploded and more of those guards filled the chamber. The ghost pony and I ran to the other end of the chamber and onto a platform. Magic enveloped it and then there were lights everywhere and no sound, I felt a lot of pain, like my body was changing. I looked over at the ghost pony again and saw that he was changing, he turned into a harness with a gem in it, seeing that made me feel extremely sad, then I woke up."
The rest of the girls sat there dumbstruck at what they just heard. "Fluttershy dear, why didn't you tell us?" Rarity asked "I didn't know what it meant then." she answered. "So now do you all realize why I want to find him? I know what he felt, what he thinks, he isn't a monster." pleaded Fluttershy. "We understand sugarcube, and I'll still go and help ya." Applejack answered "Me too." Pinkie Pie said "And me." Rainbow Dash "I could never let you do this alone darling." said Rarity "I'm still not too sure about this whole thing, but I still want to help." Twilight said.
"Thank you girls" Fluttershy sighed "Yeah, yeah don't get to sappy, let's go find ourselves a missing pony!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed leaping into the air. They all hugged despite Rainbow Dash's comment and followed Shadow's hoof prints into the forest.
They followed his trail to the bridge before they stopped. "He couldn't have really gone over this thing, could he?" Rainbow Dash asked aloud. "His trail leads onto the bridge, so that's where we're going" Fluttershy said determinedly as she stepped onto the rickety bridge. They all soon followed suite and made it to the other side carefully. As they picked up Shadow's trail they heard rustling from the side.
Suddenly about a dozen red-flamed Nightmares jumped out of the nearby bushes. "Well, I didn't see this coming.." Rainbow Dash trailed off.
Well that was unexpected in the extreme.. What will become of the girls and Shadow? Keep reading to find out!
Hey everybrony, pegasisters, and others, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as a Thanksgiving gift. Hope you all have a wonderful week! (P.S. I'm still open to suggestions and character submissions for future chapters)