Their lips were still touching. They didn't move for a few seconds, for the kiss was so sudden, they were still trying to process what had happened. Once Shadow realized what was going on, his eyes went a little wide. He quickly pulled away while blushing madly. Fluttershy's eyes seemed to stay normal, but she was blushing harder than Shadow. They both quickly looked away.

Fluttershy didn't know what to say. Her heart was racing and thumping so hard that she thought it was gonna pop out of her chest."I-I'm so sorry about that!" "I didn't know Angel was going to do something like that." I'm so sorry."

Shadow was still a little stunned but quickly recovered."Whatever." he said. He picked up his trash and quickly walked away.

Fluttershy wanted to stop him, but what was she going to say to him after what just happened. Her heartbeat slowed down a bit. She didn't know how to feel after what had happened, but she had strange feeling that she couldn't quite identify.

She looked down in embarrassment. Angel returned with the "shining object" in his mouth. It was just a bit.(coin) "Oh Angel" she said with a little disappointment in her voice. She laid down by a stump to think.

"I don't know why I feel this way, or why he was so angry and rude to me." she said to herself. "His eyes just made me not wanna turn away. Whenever she thought of this and the "accident", her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

She quickly shook her head to try and forget about it. She also remembered the strange design on his flank. "And what was with that cutie mark of his? I don't know what three red dots could mean."

She looked down at her bunny. "What do you think it could've been Angel?" Angel gave her that"Does it look I know" face. "Heh Heh" I didn't think so." she said with a smile as she cheered up a little. "Maybe we should just have our picnic now." she said. It was a good 15 minutes when she was finished with her picnic. She was cleaning up when she heard voices a few feet away from her.

"I wonder who that could be?" She peeked through some bushes and saw Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and AJ walking and chatting about something. She smiled and walked out of the bushes. "Hi girls!"she said. The four girls jumped in terror.

"Oh, it's just you Fluttershy." said Twilight. "You scared us there for a second."

Oh hello girls, sorry if I frightened you." said Flutershy. "I can't believe we let Fluttershy scare us." said AJ. "No offense darling." said Rarity. The word "weak" along with some of the other things that Shadow said echoed through her head.

"None taken" said Fluttershy with a sigh. Pinkie ran up to Fluttershy and embraced her in a hug. "Nice to see you Flutters!" said Pinkie gleefully. "Oh hi Pinkie Pie." What were you doing all the way out here?" asked Twilight. "I was just going on a picnic with Angel, what are you doing here?" she asked back.

"Oh, we were looking for a guy named Shadow." said AJ. "Shadow?" asked Fluttershy confused. "Yeah, a scary looking pony about this tall, red eyes, black mane," said Pinkie trying her best to impersonate him in a silly way. "H-Him?! she stuttered.

"Yeah, have you seen him?

"She blushed a little when she found out who they were talking about. Twilight noticed this. "Um, Fluttershy are you alright?"asked Twilight with a concerned and curious look. "W-Why do you ask?" "Because you're turning a little red. "She felt like she was and quickly calmed down and returned to her natural color. She was about to say yes to Twilights question, but hesitated. "Um, what do you want with him?" "Um, what do you want with him?"she asked.

"Um well, Pinkie would you explain please?" asked Twilight. Pinkie took a big inhale, and quickly explained everything.

"And that's the story of how I saved Euquestria." she said as she finished. The girls gave Pinkie a funny look. "Uuuum, Pinkie? asked Twilight. Yes? asked Pinkie. "Nevermind." said Twilight with a confused look.

"Oh, so that's what's going on." said Fluttershy. "Yep, soooo, have you seen him? AJ told us he was on his way to the forest." She hesitated again, and decided to only tell part of the truth.

"Y-Yeah, I saw him heading deeper into the forest. You just missed him." she said while looking away and rubbing her left leg with her right hoof. Rarity noticed Fluttershy was acting strange and leaned in closer to her. "Are you sure that's all that happened? Y-Yes, why wouldn't it be? She asked with a nervous look.

"Did you try to go talk to him? asked AJ. AJ could usually tell when someone was lying, but she didn't bother asking any questions. Fluttershy was going to say yes, but wanted to keep what had happened between her and Shadow a secret for now.

She didn't want to try to make something up. She would just get nervous and make herself look even more suspicious. So she simply "No." I didn't. She felt a little guilty for lying.

"Aaaawww, bummer, said Pinkie with a tired face. "I know", said Twilight with the same face Pinkie had. "Every time, we miss him by a few minutes. "It's amazing how we just happened to find you in this huge forest" said AJ.

"Eh" said Rarity.I'm getting tired of all this walking," she complained. "Oh you're just too prissy and out of shape." said AJ.

"What? How dare you you say that. I'll have you know that I'm perfectly in shape." Whatever, we were two minutes into our walk when you started complaining about getting dirt on your hooves." said AJ.

"Well a lady never gets down and dirty like some ruffians I know." said Rarity while eying AJ. "Why you-,"AJ started. "Girls!" yelled Twilight.

They stopped arguing, but eyed each other angrily. "But I kinda do gotta get back too. We've already spent hours looking for this Shadow." Spike is probably worried sick about me." "Well that makes two of us." said AJ. "I gotta go buck some more apples before the sun goes down."Yes and I need to get to organizing some things at my shop. Pinkie didn't want to give up the search, but she was feeling pretty tired.

"Okay." sighed Pinkie. "I guess I'll head back to." "Don't fret Pinkie." said Twilight rubbing Pinkie's back. "We're bound to see him around somewhere around Ponyville sweetie." said Rarity. "Yeah." said Twilight. "Well find him eventually."

Pinkie smiled at that thought. "Okay Twilight!" said Pinkie happily. "Coming back with us Fluttetshy?" asked Fluttershy. "Um, sure I guess." Fluttershy replied.

AJ noticed there was something wrong with her, but decided not to ask questions. "Great!" said Twilight, and they started walking away.

Fluttershy sighed, and started walking slowely with her ears lowered. She was wondering where that mysterious pegasus that she met earlier was at. He was mysterious, she thought, and she thought that there was something more to him then just a bad attitude and menacing look. She also thought about the kiss.

She quickly shook these thoughts from her head and resumed her walking. The other girls were happily chatting about something when AJ noticed that Fluttershy was walking slower then all of them. "Hey, you girls notice that Fluttershy is acting a bit strange."

They all looked back at Fluttershy. "She is being a bit more quiet than she usually is." She was walking with her head down and her hair covering up a bit of her face. " guessed Twilight. "She hasn't said a word since we started walking back."

"I'll go talk to her" said Twilight. The girls. "We should all go talk to her." said Rarity, trying to avoid mud on the ground. "We should just talk to her one on one." "We wouldn't want to pressure her too much with all of us asking her questions."

The girls looked at each other, nodded at Twilight and continued their conversation. Twilight slowed down to meet Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, are you okay? Fluttershy's mane was hanging over her face but moved it to where she could see out of one eye and looked up. "Oh I'm fine Twilight, just a bit tired."

Twilight gave her a worried look. "Are you sure Shadow didn't say anything to you,he seemed to be angry at every pony that even bothered him." Fluttetshy finally wanted to tell her what had happened between her and Shadow. She knew that Twilight wasn't very good when it came to secrets, but she felt like she had to tell someone right away. "Well-" started Fluttershy.

"Look!" yelled Pinkie. They all looked to where she was pointing and saw two mysterious figures walking towards them. Fluttershy finally noticed that Angel was no where in sight.

"Has anyone seen Angel?" she ask worriedly.

Shadow was just casually walking through the forest with no destination in mind. He kept trying to forget about that girl he had met earlier.

"Grrr, this is getting annoying. Why am I still thinking about her. But come to think of it, her eyes do kinda remind me of-"Shadow shook his head. "What am I thinking?"Then out from behind came Angel thumping his foot. "Hm?" Shadow turned around. "You? Shouldn't you be with that girl" he asked.

Angel just started making rabbit noises, but Shadow seemed to understand what he meant.

"Mean to her?" I was just telling her truth about herself."

Angel made some more noises.

"Mabye I was a bit harsh, but it was for her own good."

Angel got even angrier and jumped to kick Shadow in the head. "Why you little vermin." Shadow was about to say something else until his head started hurting excruciatingly. "What's happening?" "Nggggggghhhhhh!" He yelled in pain.

An image of scarred up girl appeared in his head. She was a gray earth pony with a long blue mane. She was laying against a broken down building as a reddish foggy mist covered the sky. She was scared and was curled up with someone looking down angrily at her with glowing eyes.

He started to stumble backwards, then passed out while banging his head on the ground pretty hard when he fell. Angel started to panic. He thought he had put an end to someone. He looked back at Shadow then ran off in the forest to look for Fluttershy.

---

The girls continued to stare at the mysterious figures and noticed that they were heading towards them. "Who are they" asked Pinkie.

"We don't know miss"I know everyone in Ponyville" joked AJ. As they got closer they could better identify their characteristics.

The first one was was a big earth pony about the size of one of the royal guards at Canterlot. He had a dark red coat of fur with a long black mane twisted in dreadlocks that were tied up in the back.

His eyes were the same color as his fur. His cutie mark were small black symbols that formed a circle around a smaller black circle.

The other one was a small unicorn about the same size of Twilight and the others.

He had a white fur coat. His mane was a shaggy, but seemingly nicely groomed one that was cut in sort of emo stylish kind of way to where it was covering up one eye. It was white and it turned into a yellowish hazel brown color as it reached the edge of his mane. His cutie mark were three reverse tear drops, the same yellowish brown color as the edge of his mane.

He also had a reverse teardrop under each of his eyes, but his eyes seemed to stay shut, along with sly convincing smile. "Hello mister?" asked Twilight. "Leo" he responded. "This is my friend Sombre, he may look mean but he's just a big softy. Sombre smiled and waved. "You'll have to excuse him, he doesn't talk much.

Leo looked at Twilight. "Oh my, an alicorn. Sorry if I withold my enthusiasm, but I've never seen one in real life before, and you seem quite educated. I bet you know lots of spells." This made Twilight blush. "Oh I know a few spells here and there. The other girls got suspicious when he didn't seem surprised that he was an alicorn.

"Leo started a conversation with Twilight about magic that the other ponies didn't understand. AJ was next to friendly when greeting new people, but she felt something was off about these two.

Fluttershy felt the same way. Being the first to always make friends with strangers, Pinkie quickly ran over to Leo and shook his hoof so quickly it made him shake a bit. "Hi mister, my names Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Leo chuckled happily. "I thought I told you already." "Yeah, well I guess I forgot." she giggled.

"That's quite alright." he said.

AJ walked up to Leo. "Oh, and what might your name be? "Apple Jack" she responded. He noticed the bothered look on her face.

"I'm sorry, did I anger you. "Doesn't matter, what did you come bothering us for?" "Oh Apple Jack, don't be so rude to the dashing young man." said Rarity.

Leo heard this and walked over to her. And what might your name be." "Rarity" she responded while giving him a seducing stare and batting her eyelashes.

"My my, there's not very many ponies around here with your beauty, and I've seen a lot of them, I mean, look at your hair, It truly matches your eyes." You look like you're well groomed." he said while picking up her hoof. She giggled after hearing his compliment and blushed a light shade of red. "Oh stop it, you're too sweet." she said.

Apple Jack just gave him a disgusted look.

He noticed the pink haired Pegasus hiding behind Apple Jack and turned to her. She seemed to flinch when he fixed his eyes upon her. "Well hello there," he said, noticing the frightened look on her face.

"H-Hi", she said nervously, as she ducked farther behind Apple Jack.

"Apple Jack, I'm not so sure about these guys. There's something strange about them." said Fluttershy. "Yeah, you're not alone." responded AJ.

He got closer to Fluttershy when AJ stepped in front of him. He raised an eyebrow. "I know I don't look like the most trustworthy pony, but I ensure you that I don't mean any harm.

She took notice of their cutie marks again. Interesting cutie marks you got there, how'd you get'm?" "AJ don't be so rude." Sorry Twi, but something doesn't feel right about these two." "It's quite alright." I'd like to tell you, but I can't." "What do you mean you can't?" asked AJ.

"It's just that it would be long story, and we are too exhausted to sit here and tell you, and I shouldn't have to tell you about my personal business." Apple Jack started to get a little irritated, but quickly calmed down. "Whatever, just tell us what you want." "Apple Jack" said Twilight.

"Yes, I guess I should get to the point." said Leo. He used his magic to shoot a beam on the ground to draw something. "We were looking for a certain someone, and we heard that he was spotted with a couple of you." he said as he finished the drawing.

"Have you seen some pony with a cutie mark like this?" Fluttershy gasped when she looked at it.

It was Shadows.

"Have you seen him?" Pinkie started to say something but Apple Jack covered her mouth. "No, we haven't.

Leo's casual smile turned into a small frown. He slightly opened his eyes a bit to show off the bright hazel colored orbs that lay in his eye sockets. "If you know something, you should tell us."

Fluttershy was getting scared again when she accidentally dropped her picnic basket.

This caught the attention of Leo, as he looked over at the wasted picnic basket. "Oh, were you having a picnic?" he asked while smiling again and closing his eyes. "Um, we were." she said while cleaning up her mess.

"We're sorry for pestering you like this. If you haven't seen him, then I take your word for it. "Thanks for your cooperation, let's go Sombre." "Bye!" yelled Pinkie as they walked off. "Well they seemed nice." I'll say said Rarity. "Alright Apple Jack, what was with you just now?"

"Sorry Twi, I just didn't trust those two." And they had something to do with that rude Shadow fella. Fluttershy was still shaking a bit. "You okay Fluttershy?" asked Rarity.

"Yes, I'm fine. "But AJ's right, those two did seem a little suspicious." said Twilight. "And Shadow's a part of it."Twilight felt something fall on her back.

She looked back, then at the sky. She saw a couple of raindrops fall from the sky. "We should go back for now, before it starts to rain. "Wait!" We have to find Angel." said Fluttershy.

"Oh I almost forgot" said Twilight. Let's split up and look for him. They spent about an hour looking for him, but had no luck. "Sorry, I couldn't find him anywhere."

The other girls said they couldn't find him neither. Fluttershy started to tear up. "don't worry darling we'll find him. Then Fluttershy started to cry. But, *sob* what if we don't. He could be hurt somewhere." The other girls developed sad looks.

"Oh Fluttershy, said Twilight while hugging her closely. "He'll come back, remember that time he ran into the Everfree forest? He came back unharmed.

Angel is a smart bunny. "I guess you're right," said Fluttershy. "Or some timberwolves might've eaten him. Fluttershy cried even harder. "Pinkie!" yelled Twilight. "Sorry" she said with a sheepish grin. ""Fluttershy, he'll come back like he always does. *sniffle* "If you say so" she said. Let's just go before it starts to rain. "Okay." she said as she started to walk home. "Don't you want us to walk you home?" asked AJ. "No thanks," responded Fluttershy. "Poor girl" said Rarity. I really hope Angel comes back." said Pinkie.

He had a happy expression on his face, but it was like his closed eyes hid his true intentions.

Fluttershy was still walking when she heard steps behind her. She stopped and looked behind her and saw nothing. She turned back around and saw something standing in front of her. She shrieked and ducked. She peeked back up at the mysterious figure and saw that it was Angel. "Oh , hey Angel. She resumed walking until she realized who it really was. "Angel!" she cried as she ran to pick him up.

"Twilight was right, you did come back , you did!" Angel struggled free from her tight hug. "Huh? What's wrong Angel?" Angel pointed towards the forest and purposely fainted.

"The forest fainted?" she asked confused. Angel face palmed and ran back into the forest. "Angel!" she called. It started to drizzle. "Oh no, not the rain." She didn't want to run back into the forest, especially when it was about to rain, but she was determined not to let her bunny get away again. She swallowed, and ran after her. After a few minutes of running, she stopped to catch her breath.

"Angel...come back." She said between pants. She ran through a clearing in the forest, catching up to Angel. She saw someone laying on the ground near a tree. She gasped when she saw who it was.

---

Leo and Sombre were through an area out of the forest but still nearby. "Hm?" He looked up at the sky. "Rain huh?" We should find some shelter for now."

Those ponies obviously knew where Shadow was, why didn't you question them further?" asked Sombre. "Well hello, you haven't talked for awhile.

"Well I thought I wouldn't bother with that, I thought it would be more fun to find him ourselves." This isn't a game Leo, you know what we're here for."

"Don't worry, we'll find find him. You doubt me too much, Sombre." Then, as if on cue, two timberwolves came out of nowhere and confronted the two.

"Oh, timberwolves," said Leo with his usual expression of closed eyes and a smile. Sombre, take care of them."

---

I know my story is definatly not as good as the other stories out there intelligent wise, but I'm trying though, I'm just lacking inspiration right now and I don't really write stories like this, but if you do like my story, then thanks for enjoying it.

Shadow was standing in a an area that was anything but light. He could barely see. Then he felt a dark malevolent darkness surround him.

As he struggled to break free from this mysterious force, he saw a light come out of the shadowy figure that appeared before him.

He tried to reach for it, but access was denied as he was pulled farther in by shadows that held a tight grasp on him. As he started to sink into what seemed like nothing, three red dots came spiraling out of the light that started to slowly fade away. As they finally reached the front of his face, they slowed down as he heard a voice that seemed so icy and cold that it felt like it had pierced his soul.

"...don't resist..."

He suddenly awoke to the sound of rain. He slowly tried to look around but didn't have the strength to sit up. He felt a sharp pain in the side of his head, along with the sweat that seemed to trickle down his face. When he was finally able to lift his head up, a small wet towel fell off his fore head.

He noticed that he was inside a small cave, and noticed a blanket laid over him.

"A blanket?" he asked himself.

He moved his hoof to the spot where his head was hurting. He felt a small bump where the pain was coming from, and also felt a bandage. The area over his nose was a little red from the fever that he realized he had. He looked around the cave a bit. He noticed someone on the other side. He squinted his eyes. He was taken back a little when he realized who it was.

"Her?" he asked himself confused.

It was Fluttershy, silently sleeping near the entrance of the cave with Angel sleeping on top of her. Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. She sat up, and Shadow quickly closed his eyes again to pretend that he was sleep. Fluttershy turned back to look at Shadow. She yawned and stood up, with Angel tumbling off of her.

"Sorry Angel."

She begin to walk towards Shadow. She took a look at him and looked at the wet towel on the ground and wondered how it got there.

"He still seems to have a bit of a fever." she said. "Oh my, it seems to have gotten worse. Angel can you take this towel and wet it again?" she asked.

Angel hesitated for a moment, but decided to do what she asked. He took the towel from her and placed it in a bowl of water. She was using some of the things she had left over from the picnic. Angel brought back the now dripping wet towel.

"Thank you Angel" said Fluttershy.

She gently placed it on Shadows forehead. She sighed. "Looks like we're gonna be in her for awhile." I didn't know that they scheduled a downpour of rain for tonight." she sighed, and took another look at Shadow.

"I hope he'll be alright." And with that, she curled back up and tried to go to sleep.

Shadow opened his eyes, stretched his four legs and attempted to stand up. It was still hard for him to stand, but he managed to get up on all fours.

He walked to the entrance of the cave. He sat down to stare at the rain for a few seconds, then looked over at the now sleeping Fluttershy.

He developed a sympathetic look when he saw her shivering. He looked back at the rain and sighed. "I don't know why I'm doing this."

He took the blanket that was on him and slowly laid it over her. After a few seconds, her shivering ceased and she resumed normal breathing. He stared at her for a few more seconds.

"Stuck with her till this storm ends huh?" He looked back at the rain outside. "To think she would be the one to help me." But why, after all I said to her." He was still feeling weak from the strange fever he had. "Where did this fever come from." He stretched his wings and sat down. "But, that "girl" that showed up in my head. Why would she appear now? I didn't start to remember her until I met "this" girl. I try to think of her, but when I do..." He looked back at the mysterious pony sleeping next to him. "Why does she remind me of her?" he questioned himself.

Shadow was laying down for about 20 minutes when he was still staring beyond the forest as the rain showered down relentlessly. He sighed again. "This rain really isn't letting up." Then, he heard a soft groan. He looked over at the now awake Fluttershy, rubbing her eyes. She felt the blanket around her. "Huh? How did my blanket get here? She asked herself.

She looked around until she set her eyes on Shadow. Shadow just stared at her. Fluttershy freaked a little and backed up into the wall of the cave.

Shadow sighed heavily and looked back out at the rain. Her frightened face turned into a solemn look. She slowly walked over to him.

"Oh um h-hello. "Sorry if I did something you didn't like. I didn't know you were awake." she said nervously. "Don't be frightened. I won't yell at you again." Fluttershy felt awkward being next to the pony she had accidentally kissed. He let out a few coughs which were followed by a couple of violent ones.

"Are you okay," she asked worriedly. He coughed a few more times and regained his posture. "I'm fine." he answered. Just then, a ground shaking lightning bolt sounded off above them. Fluttershys pupils shrinked as she shrieked and accidentally rubbed up against Shadow.

She realized that she was touching him and slowly backed away blushing while smiling cheekily. "Sorry." she said while blushing a bit.

"Are you always this terrified of everything?" he questioned. Fluttershy looked down with lowered ears. "Yes, it's kinda my thing."

Shadow looked up at the sky. "But that was a big lightning strike. It would've taken me by surprise if I wasn't paying by attention."

Since the time she had seen him in the forest, she noticed his voice was much nicer, but still it's usual tone. She finally marshaled up the courage to walk up and sit next to him, but not right next to him.

There was a bit of silence until Fluttershy remembered a question she was going to ask him when he woke up. She was nervous at the fact that he might yell at her, but that thought left her head as she thought about how friendly he was starting to be.

"So, um, how did you end up passed out in the forest?" she asked cautiously. "I don't know, I was-he stopped himself. "I don't wanna talk about it, how did you find me?" "Well, my Angel Bunny ran back into the forest for a reason I don't know, and when I finally caught him, I found you laying in the grass with a big bruise on your head.

"Oh I wonder what made him run back to me", he said sarcastically while eyeing a certain bunny that was sticking his tongue out at him.

"And it had started to rain. I tried to shake you awake, but when you didn't respond, I feared the worst. So I pulled you into a nearby cave I saw on my way over here. "Oh, well, thanks for getting me out of the rain I guess." Shadow only thought it was right to say what he was about to say next.

"And," Shadow looked away, "sorry about what I said to you earlier." Fluttershy looked back at him. "I was, just in a bad mood." Fluttershy was surprised at his sudden change of personality.

"It's alright, some of things you said about me were true though," she said while pulling her blanket back over her.

"Thanks for this blanket, I was a little cold but I thought you would need it more. You were kinda in bad shape after all." "What made you take care of me though, after all those things I said to you?" asked Shadow, feeling a little embarrassed for asking that.

"Well, you were kind of mean, but I'm very quick to forgive I guess." Shadow looked at her with curiosity in his eyes, then shut them again.

"Don't worry about that. "Thanks for watching me,"said Shadow. "I couldn't just leave you there, anypony would've done what I did." said Fluttershy contentedly.

"I'm sorry I don't think I ever got your name." "Shadow" he replied. Another lightning strike struck in the distance, but it was loud enough to make Fluttershy make a small "meep" and hide under her cover shaking.

Shadow stared at her again as she slowly emerged out from under her blanket.

"Sorry, I'm not a big fan of lightning strikes," she said.

"No need to apologize" he stated. Fluttershy looked down in shame again.

She didn't want to be nosy, but she wanted to know about his cutie mark.

"What is your special talent?" she asked. "Hm?" he said with a raised eyebrow. " Your cutie mark, what does it stand for? I don't think I could've guessed it, no offense."

He looked at it, then looked back at her with a small sympathetic smile. "I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind." Fluttershy quickly responded. "Oh no, it's quite alright. "You don't have to tell me."

He smiled a little at her again, then looked away again. "You seem more kind then most ponies I meet." Fluttershy mildly blushed when hearing this, but smiled back at him. "Thanks." she said, happy that she was actually making conversation with him.

"Do you have any friends or relatives here in Ponyville?"

Shadow developed a solemn look when he was asked this. "Um no, I was just traveling.

Shadow took a look at the rabbit sleeping closely on the other side Fluttershy. "You must be good with animals, your bunny was very protective of you."

Fluttershy softly petted her sleeping bunny. "Yes, it's sort of my special talent." she said while pointing towards her cutie mark.

"Yeah, just like..." Shadow made a grunt sound while wincing at a pain in his head. "Are you okay?" she asked, getting a little closer to feel his head. "So close" he thought. "You're still a little warm."

"I'm fine" he stated while slightly jerking his head from her hoof. She backed away a bit, fearing that she had angered him.

"Sorry, but I'm fine." he said. She heard this and got a little closer. "I don't think I ever got your name neither." It's Fluttershy, nice to meet you." she said with a smile and closed eyes.

Shadow seemed to find her voice comforting.

"How's that bruise feeling?" she questioned.

"It's fine too." I'll get another small towel for you." And with that, she walked over to get the towel and wet it again and walked back over to Shadow. "So unnecessarily nice" he thought.

She walked in front of him and prepared to take the bandages off. "Sorry, she said as she started unraveling the material with her teeth.

"Um, could you bend your head down a bit please?" Shadow obliged and did what she asked.

"Sorry, this might sting a bit." She moved his mane away to find the bump on his head.

She laid the wet towel on her hoof and started to rub his forehead, slowly reaching the side of his head wiping away sweat.

"So close" he thought.

Fluttershy looked at him smiling while blushing a bit more. He noticed she was unknowingly caressing his face while she checked for any signs that he was getting warmer. She finally looked back down to meet him eye to eye.

They stared at each other with Shadow admiring her Turquoise blue eyes, and Fluttershy staring deeply into his ruby red ones.

They noticed they were looking at each other for awhile and blushed when they noticed it. Shadow raised his head up while Fluttershy went to get get fresh bandages and quickly tied them on.

"There, I-I hope you feel better."

"I do, um, thanks." he replied.

"So where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" Shadow looked away.

" I'd rather not talk about my background." "Oh, that's okay."

"So, what were you doing in the forest anyways?" she asked.

"Oh, I was, just taking a break, thinking about some things. "Well, I was going on a picnic, until I saw you aaand," her cheeks started to turn red when she remembered what happened, and Shadow turned red as well. "W-well after that, I happened to meet back up with my friends and decided to walk home.

Then we met these two strange ponies." Strange?" Shadow asked. He seemed interested in what she was saying and was feeling a little optimistic about it.

"Yes, and..um..." she started. "Yes?" Shadow was wanting to know what she had to say if was this hard for her to say it. "What was it?" he asked again.

"Well, they were looking for you." she finished.

"Me?" "Yeah. I had a very bad feeling about them, even though they didn't do anything worth suspicion. "Why would they be looking for me." he wondered.

He thought to himself for a moment. "Who could be looking for me, I haven't-" Shadow froze for a moment. "Wait, what did they look like?" he asked, not seeming so calm anymore.

"Well, let's see if I remember. There was a short pony with a white mane, with yellowish brown highlights in it, and he had some sort of weird teardrops for a cutie mark." Shadows eyes went wide.

"Did he ask anything strange, do anything strange?"

"Well he seemed to get a little upset when we didn't tell him where you were you know them?"

Shadow reverted back to a calm look to eliminate any suspicion from her. "Um no, I don't." Shadow tried not to think about that now so she wouldn't suspect him about anything. Shadow looked back up at the sky.

"It's pretty dark out there." Fluttershy heard this and looked around the cave, noticing it was getting darker and harder to see. "U-um yeah."

"It doesn't look like the rains gonna stop any time soon. I think I'm gonna try to go to sleep, I am getting a bit tired." he said while walking to the back of the cave.

"Um, yeah me too." Fluttershy wasn't fond of sleeping in dark, cold places. She tried to think of something before Shadow fell asleep.

"Wait!" she yelled.

"Hm?"

"Well, I, um, there is just one blanket, i-if you wanted to share it?"

Shadow wasn't to fond of this, but it was a pretty big blanket and they wouldn't have to sleep too close to each other. Not that there was anything wrong with her, but it would just feel awkward. And the rain was making the cave a lot colder to the point where even Shadow was a bit cold.

He thought about it for a moment, then decided he would rather feel awkward then cold.

It was weird he thought, he usually felt fine in any weather. But he quickly forgot about about it and walked over to Fluttershy as she prepared the blanket.

Fluttershy was relieved that she wouldn't have to sleep alone, but realized what she had just asked.

"C'mon, we're about to go to sleep Angel." Angel ran and hid in Fluttershys mane while eyeing Shadow and sticking his toungue out at him. "Sorry, I don't know what's got her acting like this."

"Its alright." he said.

When Shadow saw this, another image of that other girl showed up in his head again, doing the exact same thing that Fluttershy was doing, except she called her bunny "Lady", and they weren't going to sleep. Fluttershy noticed that he was just standing still. "Um, is something wrong?" "Everything's fine." He walked over and held the blanket up while she got under the covers, followed by Shadow.

It wasn't weird at all. He actually felt better when being near her, and Fluttershy felt more safe with a pony like him sleeping next to her. They didn't know why they felt so comfortable near each other, but he didn't want to stop looking at her eyes. He got a nervous blush across his face and he looked back up at the rain.

There was a moment of awkward silence until Shadow broke it. "But, thanks for taking care of me. "You remind me another Pegasus I knew a while back."

"Really? What was she like?" she asked.

"Let's see, she was kind, had beautiful blue eyes, and her love for animals was almost as amazing as yours, even though that wasn't her special talent, and she had the most comforting voice that could just turn anything nice, kinda like y-, forget it.

"Oh my, she sounds perfect."

Yeah, but everything goes sour in the end."

"What do you mean?" she asked interested.

Shadow wanted to answer her, but decided not to, regretting that he had ever told her about the girl he was thinking about.

"Nevermind, goodnight." he said, closing his eyes. Fluttershy thought she had did something wrong, but quickly shook it off, for she was too tired to think.

"Um, goodnight." she said as she closed her eyes too and slowely drifted into a deep slumber.

---

I updated the other chapters a bit if you havn't gone back to check those out. Hope you continue reading.

Shadow was having another dream similar to the one he had yesterday. His ears twitched as he heard a sound outside and opened his eyes groggily. He heard singing and water dripping. His mind was telling him to go back to sleep but his powerful headache was keeping him from doing so.

He managed to get up while tripping a bit. He opened his wings to stretch, followed by his front and back legs. He walked outside the entrance of the cave as the early morning sun shined brightly at him. He looked around and shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the light.

"I wonder where that girl went." The whistling got louder as he got closer to a tree. When he got to the tree, he looked up and saw Fluttershy flying around the tree. She seemed to be collecting some things while humming a song. Her singing was beautiful, thought Shadow. Shadow then sneezed.

Fluttershy heard this and was frightened as she dropped her basket on top of Shadows head followed by herself. Shadow's head was feeling worse now. Fluttershy rubbed her back in pain as she saw an angry looking pegasus staring down at her.

"I-I'm so sorry. You just scared me, that's all."

Shadow felt like yelling, but what good would that do him. But that wasn't it. It was the face she was giving him. She was scared, a very familiar face he had seen before, and her pure turquoise colored eyes seemed to make him guilty for almost yelling at her again. She was probably still terrified of him because of yesterday.

Shadow quickly went back to his usual scowl cause his angry look seemed to be scaring her, and compared to other ponies reactions to his stare, she wasn't taking it pretty well.

He backed up and sighed. "It's all right." he said, walking back to help her up. "What were you doing out here anyways?" he questioned.

"W-well, I was just gathering some herbs to make medicine...to cure your headache. By the way you were moving in your sleep, I assumed that you were still sick."

"You were watching me?"

"N-No! I just happened to be woken up by your moaning."

"Moaning?"

"Yes, you kept moaning about some pony, but I forgot her name. "I'm sorry if you didn't want me to hear anything."

Shadow developed a more solemn look now. "It's fine." he said while starting to walk away.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called.

"Hm?"

Fluttershy opened her basket and pulled out a bowl with some to powder in it. "I made this out of some plants and herbs to cure your headache, i-if you wouldn't mind taking it."

Shadow wasn't too excited to just take some weird powder from a girl that probably put poison in it for payback at yelling at her. But he couldn't go walking around with the major headache he had. He had no choice.

"Fine." He walked back to take the bowl from her.

Fluttershy noticed he was more rude then last night. She wondered why. He tasted the powder and started coughing violently.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that it's a little sour."

"A little?" But then Shadow was amazed. The medicine took effect immediately, getting rid of headache.

"Um, did it work?"

"Yes, it did." said Shadow while smiling slightly. "Thanks."

Fluttershy smiled too. "I'm glad it helped." Shadow was feeling lucky that this girl had met him instead of some of the other ponies that had tried to talk to him.

She wasn't annoying, she was patient, and she had a timid personality. And she had a beautiful figure along with beautiful eyes that seemed to make Shadow shut his mouth when he was about to say something negative to her. He figured he should be more appreciative to the pony that had unnecessarily taken care of him.

"Um thanks I guess." Fluttershy noticed his sudden change in expression and smiled in relief.

Then Shadow started to walk away. "Um, uh..." Shadow noticed her weak call for him and turned back around. "Yes?" "Well, I was just... wondering if you walk me home? It's quite a walk from here back to my cottage."

Angel looked up at her confused. Why would she want him to walk her home? And she knew she wasn't alone cause she had her pet bunny. There was another reason, but he didn't muse about it for long. She seemed to be embarrassed from asking the question, for she was looking away and blushing slightly while rubbing her leg with her right hoof. He didn't have any other way of thanking her for taking care of him, so it was the least he could do.

"Um, sure, just lead the way." Fluttershy smiled gleefully and started walking back to her house near the Everfree forest. She called for Angel while Shadow sighed tiredly and followed suite.

"Thanks for walking me home." said Fluttershy, in that sweet voice that seemed to catch Shadow's attention every time. "Yeah, I feel honored." said Shadow sarcastically.

"So where's your house at again?" he asked, a bit annoyed.

"It's just on the edge of the Everfree forest."

"Huh." Shouldn't be that far then."

He's so mysterious and has an almost carefree attitude. He was was the complete opposite of her, yet she was strangely attracted to him. His "I don't care attitude" seemed to make her even more curios about this strange black-maned stallion. He was pretty tall for such a young looking pony, about the size of Princess Cadence or Luna. She had told him stuff about her, but he wouldn't spill a single word about himself. And who was this Jenny pony? So many questions were running through her head, trying to escape, but her timidity kept her curiosity locked in her head like steel bars. She was afraid that she might upset him, but she had one question that just couldn't stay inside her head. And those other two ponies that were looking for him made her wonder even more.

As Shadow stretched his wings again, Fluttershy noticed a scar under his left wing. Depending on the fragility of wings and the size of the scar, it must have been a pretty serious injury. She wondered about it and decided not to ask for now. Fluttershy was getting ready to say something until Shadow said something.

"So why don't you live in Cloudsdale? You're a pegasus are you not?"

"Yes but, believe it or not... I'm afraid of heights."

"Well, I've never heard of a pegasus afraid of heights." said Shadow, somewhat surprised.

"I prefer to stay on the ground and take care of animals. "You have such nice wings. "Do you fly a lot?"

"Not really. I don't like to be seen a lot so I just lay low on the ground."

"Well that's one thing we have in common." said Fluttershy. Shadow nodded in agreement with her with a slight smile. Then a strange pain surged through his head. It weakened him as stopped and kneeled on the ground.

"Oh my goodness." said Fluttershy. "Are you okay?" she asked while letting him lean on her shoulder. As soon as she touched him, the pain went away like it was never there.

Shadow stood up firmly.

"Shadow?" said Fluttershy in a concerned voice. "I'm fine." "What was that all about?"

"I-I don't know...let's keep going." said Shadow and resumed walking.

Fluttershy developed a worried look and started walking again too.

"I felt some weird dark pain, but why did it go away when she touched me?"

It wasn't a pain from my head injury, but it felt like something was trying to corrupt me for a split second.

"Shadow, are you sure you're all right? You've been acting strange all morning and last night."

I said I'm fine."said Shadow rudely.

Fluttershy noticed this. "I'm sorry for asking a lot of questions, I'm just worried for you."

"Worried?" Shadow thought. She had only known him for a day and she was worried for him? What was with her? There's a such thing as a being nice, but she was just too kind. There was only one other pony he knew that was like that.

"It's fine.

I'm just a little on edge from yesterday. "

Fluttershy sighed in relief and walked a little closer to him. "Wow, you're more quiet then me."

"Is that an achievement?"

"It's just that my friends see me as shy and quiet. Its true, but I'm sometimes oblivious to it, and I show it without knowing.

"Well it hasn't been hard to notice." said Shadow.

"I know, I can't control it sometimes.

Even the most little of things can scare me when I'm not paying attention." "You don't seem that scared of me." Why wasn't she scared of him? "Well, I guess you're special then, hehe." Shadow nodded at her with a slight smile. "She has a cute laugh too." Shadow thought to himself.

Fluttershy mustered up the strength to ask him the question she was saving for later.

"So where did you get that scar from?"

"Hm?"

"The one under your wing."

Shadow checked the scar under his left wing. "Oh just an accident." It almost got cut off."

Fluttershy sort of recoiled at this. "Oh my, I couldn't imagine how painful it must've been. With the fragility of wings and all.

"Yeah, but others were able to fix it up and it was good as new again." said Shadow while extending his left wing a bit.

They chatted about a few more things. This was very rare, but Shadow was actually enjoying a nice conversation. Fluttershy was enjoying it too, a lot. But they finally got out of the forest when they could see her house in view. (Not the Everfree forest. Just pretend there was some other forest.) Angel sighed in relief as she hopped off Fluttershy's back and ran into the house.

"Ah, we're here. And everything in working condition. Shadow continued walking with her until they got to her doorstep.

"Alright, we're here. I guess I'll be taking my leave then."

Fluttershy seemed to motion to him as if to stop him, but couldn't form words.

"Wait." she said as he stopped walking.

"Yes?"

Fluttershy froze up again. "N-Nevermind." Shadow knew something was wrong, but he didn't bother asking and continued walking. Fluttershy sighed and went back into her house.

Rainbow Dash slowly peeked out of the bushes with a still face, which suddenly turned into a big grin.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Fluttershy has a crush!? AHAHAHA!" She took another look at the seemingly depressed Fluttershy. "But she seems to be having trouble. Mabye Rarity can help. I have to tell her." And with that, Rainbow Dash sped back to Ponyville with a smile on her face

Shadow was still walking when many dark figures with glowing eyes were watching him from some trees.

"So this is where he's been hiding at." said a stern voice." His eyes were a lavender color.

"Why are we waiting and hiding? When we can just attack him now and destroy this town.

"You idiot. Then we'd have Celestia and her royal dogs all over us." said another pony with light gray eyes. We shouldn't be attracting any suspicion anyways.

Besides you know our objective. Don't do anything that could jeopardize this for us. His eyes rolled around to look at the others. "Has anyone seen Leo? He and Sombre have been gone since yesterday to cover more ground. "This isn't a big place. So what could they be doing?

"I don't what's going through that pony's head most of the time, and I hate that smile of his." said someone else with golden yellow eyes."I don't trust him."

You don't trust anyone-" interrupted a female voice with dark blue eyes.

"And I have a good reason for it."

"Everyone just shut it." said an older and more mature sounding pony with clear colored eyes, sort of like the color of rain. "We'll break back into groups and go after him tomorrow.

"What?!" He's right there!" said the green-eyed one. Why don't we just get him now?

"In case you haven't realized genius, it's still daylight. If we were to try and capture him now, others might see it and it would cause an uproar." stated the girl."

"You're always disagreeing with everything I have to say."

"That's because half the stuff you say is straight bullshit.

"You askin' for a fight?"

"I didn't ask but I'll be happy to beat you senseless."

They seemed to mobilize towards each other until a clear aura covered and separated them from each other.

"I said be quiet."

"You never said that."

"May I remind you that I'm in charge."

"But she started it!"

"Are you really blaming me you big baby?"

"I will not have immaturity in this group." he said while glaring a glare at her that seemed to make her be quiet.

"Whatever."

He then narrowed his eyes angrily at the green eyed one.

"Fine. I'll be "quiet."

Let's just lay low for awhile. Then, we'll make our move." "We'll have to wait till tomorrow.

"But why tomorrow night?" Can't we just attack him tonight?" asked the girl.

"Yes, but there is business I must attend to."

"What kind of business?" questioned green eyes.

"None of "your" business."

"Besides, Leo is still gone. I'd rather have him with us before we do anything to serious."

"Why? We don't need him just to capture Shadow." said the one with lavender eyes.

"Just because he's alone doesn't mean he can't defend himself. "You remember that "power" that he has." It could take all of us just to restrain him."

"Yeah. Don't remind us." she said with a shiver.

"But don't you think it's suspicious that Leo's always gone off by himself, and Sombre is usually with him." asked golden eyes.

"And he probably is, but as long as it doesn't interfere with our plan, it's fine. Besides, I can trust him more then most ponies I know." he said while eying the green one."

"You trust Leo, the most secretive one out of all us?" questioned gray eyes.

"And that Sombre is no better. He barely talks, and when he does, it's only to Leo." said the lavender eye-colored one.

"Enough of this discussion." We'll start tomorrow. Let's just stay in the shadows, and don't make your presence known."

"

"

---

Sorry if it took awhile to update. I've been trying to get the beginning of school out of the way before I focus on this again. I appreciate reviews though. Good, bad, mean, nice, whatever they are. I'll probably go back and update this chapter later on though cause I wasn't quite satisfied with it. I just wanted to get this posted up so I could concentrate on the next chapter and school related stuff. And again, thanks for reading.

Before you read this chapter, it's important that you go back to the last chapter and read the last couple paragraphs. Mostly where Fluttershy gets back home. I updated it, and the rest of the story might not make sense if you don't go back and read it. And again, if there's something wrong, please tell me and I will go back and fix it. And as always, thanks for reading. I'll have the next chapter up faster then this one.

---

Rarity was doing what she usually does. Working on dresses. She had many assortments of many colored fabric, pin cushions, measuring tape,etc, flying across the room in a somewhat of an organized manner.

"This goes...here...and over here...oh, can't forget this spot. Ah. Perfect."

She had got done cutting out fabric and went to the sewing machine to see the pieces together.

"Careful Rarity you don't want to mess this up."

She was slowly moving the fabric up as it was sown together when-

"Yo Rarity!" called Rainbow Dash through the window, and made Rarity push her fabric up to fast and rip it in half.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Sup."

"You made me ruin this." "Sorry, but that's not important."

"What could be so important that you had to disturb me while I'm making dresses?"

"Well one: You're always making clothes. And two: I think Fluttershy has a, you-know-what."

"Rarity raised an eyebrow. "You-know-what?" Rainbow Dash sighed.

"A crush on a certain pony.

"Oooooh a crush on someone?" "Any pony would be lucky to date Fluttershy. She is very beautiful, she just doesn't know it." "And doesn't use it to her advantage like you." she said with a sly smile. "Anyways, have you seen him, what does he look like?"

Well, he's a dark-gray pegasus, almost a black color, and he has red eyes." "HIM!?" Rainbows ears rang a bit.

"I take it you've met him."

"Met him? He was so rude to me. For all the people to fall for, it has to be someone like him. How did they even meet? Why were they even talking to each other? He wasn't mean to her was she?"

"Whoa, calm down Rarity. I'm pretty sure there was a good reason."

"A good reason? What could explain her attraction towards him? She can barely talk to a regular pony without getting scared. But she talks to this guy."

"I don't think they were actually talking."

"Wait, how did you find this out anyways?"

"Well I was flying overhead and I noticed them standing at her door."

"Spying, weren't you?" Rainbow hung her head while smiling cheekily. "Yeah, you could say that."

"You shouldn't spy on Fluttershy." "I know, but aren't you glad I told you?"

"I guess." "But you know Fluttershy is too shy to talk to guys." "But there' was Discord." "Seriously? Don't compare Discord to any "normal" pony." "Yeah you're right." "Well, if she's finally found someone, then we can't let her lose him.

She could use a boyfriend." "I don't know, I don't like the idea of someone taking advantage of her kindness and timidity." "Well if that happens, we could just cut things off."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Rarity stood with a blank stare. "But...this is Fluttershy. "I'm still not sure we can pull it off."

"With the way they were staring at each other, she's totally into him! She just needs some encouragement.

"Still unsure?"

"Kinda."

"Then we should go talk to Fluttershy herself." "I don't think she'll want to talk about her crush."

"Then we'll make her talk." "I don't know about making her talk, but maybe she'll confess willingly."

"Well enough talking, let's get over there." "Actually, let's wait tilltonightor so. Im much too busy to leave right now." "Uuuuugh!" Fine. I'll be backat 8:00. And with that, she flew out of the house.

Princess Luna was in her dark room with it only being dimly lit by a candle. She was pacing back and forth like she was thinking about something. Light shined through the door as her older sister opened it and came through.

"Hello Luna. I just wanted to check up on you and..."

Luna seemed to not hear her, for she continued pacing back and forth. Celestia noticed this and used her magic horn to light up the room. This caught Luna's attention and she stopped pacing to shield her eyes.

"Oh sister, I didn't notice you there." she said. "

Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things."

"Anything you want to talk about?" "No, I'm fine." she said while walking out of her room." "Celestia was looking concerned and followed her. "Luna are you sure you're fine? You've been in your room all the time until its time to raise the moon."

"Well, I've just been having an ominous feeling."

"Ominous?" "It's hard to say, i can't exactly point out what it is.

It's like, I feel uneasy for some reason."

"You're not alone, I've been feeling these strange surges of energy in the air, lots of them in fact." "What do you think it could be?"

"I don't know, but we need to be on the lookout." I actually got a report from a guard the other day."

"What kind of report?"

"I thought you would find this suspicious, but there have been numerous sightings of monsters that belong in the Everfree Forest, outside of the forest and roaming the local woods of Ponyville, and other surrounding areas." "But I don't know why they've been leaving the forest."

"Somethings been driving them out, knowing monsters like the cockatrice and manticores don't normally leave there homes, being extremely territorial at that, even dragons that live there have been seen leaving the forest and never coming back."

"To make a dragon leave its home, thats just unheard of, except the I told Twilight to make go away. Once they choose a home, they usually stay there for awhile."

"And thats not all, there have been signs of struggle at the scenes." "She used her magic to transport a picture from her room in front of her face, then in front of Celestias.

"This really caught my attention." she said as Celestia studied the picture."

"She was a little shocked too when she saw it. It was hundreds of dead timberwolves in a huge clearing in the forestsome of them still intact."

"Oh my, who could've done this?" "It must have been someone very strong to take out that many."

"Our investigation squad discovered magic essence still on the surrounding trees when the guards were checking the area."

"Claw marks, holes and cracks in the ground, it must have been a serious struggle."

"But what are timberwolves doing out of Everfree?" They don't leave from there unless something really made them upset."

"We're still not for sure." "Someone made them angry

"Seems suspicious, I'll send Twilight and the others to investigate tomorrow."

"I hope they'll be alright. Something strange is definitely going on here."

"Don't worry, I have much faith in my student."

Celestia was about to say something else until they heard yelling.

"Come on don't run! He just wants to play with you!"

A soldier came running out of the doors while being chased by a manticore.

The soldier ran past the two sisters as the manticore continued running as if about to attack them. Right before it reached them, Celestia used her magic to teleport the manticore back to the Everfree Forest.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh! That was so hilarious AHAHAHA!"

laughed Discord as he floated back into the air while clutching his stomach.

"And you said you saw a great change in him," said Luna. Celestia developed a guilty look. When Discord saw the two angry sisters, his smile vanished. "Discord!" they both yelled.

"Uh oh." said Discord and darted for the door, but Celestia caught him with her magic and brought him towards her.

"Discord, what do you think you're doing?" asked Celestia in a serious tone.

"I was just introducing him to my pet manticore." "That manticore wasn't tamed at all," said Luna.

"So." he said while sticking his tongue out at her.

Luna growled and it made him a bit frightened. "Discord, you can't keep pulling tricks on ponies around the castle. Someone could get hurt."

"But I'm always so boooored, and you're always working. Besides, he seems fine to me."

They both looked back at the soldier still shaking by the doorway and back at Discord.

"Besides, that's not me anymore. It's all in good fun." "Life isn't a joke Discord. I'm starting to think that you haven't even been truly reformed." stated Luna.

"What? Little old me?" "Don't play innocent you little rat."

"Luna!"

"What? He hasn't done one thing to prove that he's good now. He's done nothing but pull pranks. Why can't you take anything seriously?"

"What do I get out of being serious my dearest Luna? "Like you haven't pulled a prank or too in your life."

"Well we can't all act like we don't responsibilities."

"Luna calm down."

"Why? You let him get away with everything! It would've been better if we left him in stone."

"Luna, that's a bit harsh." He's still trying to adjust." "Whatever. He's probably been using this as an excuse to play pranks and spread chaos again!"

"I think you need to cool down a bit," said Discord while snapping his fingers to make a bucket of water pour over her.

"AHAHAHAHA! "

This set Luna off as she growled and tackled him to the floor and her eyes turned a pure white. "Now you've done it, I should beat you senseless myself!"

"I'm sorry, did I touch a nerve? AHAHAAA!"

"You two! Quit it!" said Celestia as she pulled the two apart, but Luna was still steaming mad.

"Discord you need to stop your misdeeds."

"I'm sorry "Princess", it's not easy being a chaos bringer and putting it to "good" use."

"I won't hesitate to have you turned you back to stone."

"Oh really?" Celestia gave him a disapproving look which made him worried. "Okay okay, I'll "try" to act better." "No, you will." said Luna sternly.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a nap. All that laughing made me tired." said Discord as he let out a small chuckle and teleported away.

Celestia let out a small sigh. "Don't let him stress you sister. You have much more important duties then worrying about him."

"I know, but if something happens, I wanna know I can trust Discord to be a great ally."

"I know but, you let him off too easy sometimes."

"What's making you cut him so much so slack?"

"He's been encased in stone for centuries. I remember a certain someone who was a little ticked for being locked away too."

Luna looked away and blushed in embarrassment. "If he's still acting up, then it's probably cause he's been locked up for some time. He's still trying to adjust to the modern world." He might've been reformed to the point where he's stopped spreading chaos, but even I didn't expect him to be exactly"nice" he still has a slight hatred for the world."

"Besides, you know the way he used to be before we had to seal him away."

"I know, I just wish he would change a little."

"And he has." she added, hoping to make her feel a little better. He might pull a few pranks here and there, but he's not completely evil anymore."

"I know he plays around all the time, but try not to get on to him so much."

"He poured water on me." she said while pointing at her still damp mane. "Yes, that was a bit much."

"Whatever." she said. Celestia nuzzled against her sister's face. If it makes you feel better, I'll go talk to him.

Come on, let's go dry you off." she said with a giggle. Luna eventually smiled too and followed her sister back into a room.

Ever since Fluttershy got back to her house, she's done nothing but think about that pony that she had met in the forest while trying to take a nap. She was tired, but couldn't get the black stallion she had met yesterday out of her head. She sighed and rolled over to where the right side of her body loosely hung over her bed. She dragged her hoof lazily across the floor with a sad look on her face.

"Why do I feel so empty?" she asked herself. "I got Angel back, but why do I still feel like in missing something."

While she laid there pondering the thought, she heard a knock on her door.

"Oh my, who could that be?" she wondered while going downstairs to open the door. When she opened the door and saw RD and Rarity standing in front of her, it brightened her mood a little.

"Hi Fluttershy!" said Rarity.

"Hi girls, what brings you two here?"

"We were just checking on you. You seemed pretty sad from yesterday."

"Yes I was, but I found Angel. So I'm good now." "Mind If we come in?"

"Not at all, please," she said while opening the door up more, giving them enough room to walk in.

"So what have you been up to." asked Rainbow while calmly floating in the air above them.

"Oh nothing really, just hanging around the house."

"Well you shouldn't be hanging around the house all day." Fluttershy went over to her couch and laid down.

"Fluttershy sweetie, are you alright, you seem a little down today, did something happen?"

"No, I'm fine, really. Just a little exhausted." "Rarity and RD exchanged glances while RD floated to the ground. "Something's not right." said RD.

"What do you mean?"

"You've never been depressed for no reason." "I'm not depressed." "Well if you are you're not hiding it very well."

She just looked down and sighed again. "You're not alright. You should come back to town with us and grab a bite to eat, do some shopping." "We should get the other girls too. It's a little short notice, but we could make it work."

"I don't know, I don't do well around crowds."

"C'mon Fluttershy, whatever's wrong with you, a night out in Ponyville might help. said RD. "It'll be fun."

Fluttershy thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I could go out for a bit, I

wouldn't want to disappoint you."

"Don't be like that Fluttershy, you'll have a good time."

Fluttershy managed to usher in a smile. "Okay." "Great!" Let's go get the other girls." "I'll be back in a bit Angel." Fluttershy followed them out the door, but still felt lonely for some reason and was hoping that talking with the girls would get her mind off things and make the weird feeling go away.

"

"

Two ponies in dark black coats walked up a large hill that overlooked the lit-up Ponyville. A third pony, not wearing a coat but still too dark to see, walked between the two and stepped up closer to get a better look at the town and grinned with a tooth slightly sharper than the others.

"This is far enough, I can take it from here." he spoke to the other cloaked figures, and they quickly vanished.

---

All 6 of the girls walked through the lit up streets of Ponyville, which seemed more lively then usual, just taking in the view and chatting about things. There were a couple of street performers, such as jugglers, dancers, and other cool things. Ponies were eating and shopping at the local restaurants and stores while others were just taking strolls around the nearby park.

The girls chatted about their days while Fluttershy talked a little, but was still being laconic to most of the conversations, and barely uttered a word.

"There must be some kinda special occasion." said Apple Jack. "It's not every night that Ponyville is this active."

"I know right, all these lights make the town look much more lively." said Rarity.

"Thanks for inviting us Rarity. It's been awhile since we've all hung out like this." said the Alicorn.

"It's no problem at all darling. I just thought that if there's any stress among us, then we could release it by having a girls night."

"And the perfect time it is, look!" yelled Pinkie as she pointed toward a street vendor selling out cupcakes, pies, and other sweets. Pinkie rushed over to the pony while throwing 8 bits on the table and eating half the cupcakes that the guy was the girls giggled, except for Fluttershy.

"I'll go get her and make sure she doesn't eat too much. She's hyper enough as it is." said Apple Jack still giggling a little.

Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy was still looking a bit gloomy and hovered over to her.

"C'mon Fluttershy, loosen up a bit. You're not even trying to enjoy yourself." she said, hoping to get a smile, but was met with a frown instead.

"Fluttershy, what's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing. Just tired is all." she said as she continued walking a bit ahead of the group. Rarity walked to Rainbow Dash.

" She's still not cheered up?"

"Nope. And she won't tell me what's wrong."

"Think it has something to do with that other pony."

I hope 's just wait a bit, maybe she'll come to and start to enjoy the night."

"I hope so. I don't like this Fluttershy very much." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight pointed towards a small restaurant and all the girls agreed to go eat there. The girls sat on the pillows and each ordered something when the waiter came by. Twilight ordered a rose petal sandwich, as did AJ. Pinkie ordered a daisy sandwich along with a slice of apple pie. Rarity and Rainbow ordered a grass and oat sandwiches. Rarity ordered something for Fluttershy since she wasn't speaking to the waiter. The girls ate when their food arrived, as Pinkie dug into her apple pie, slightly slinging it over Rarity.

"Pinkie please. It's not very lady like to eat like that."

"I'm sorry Rarity, but this cake is so delicious!" she said, and attacked her cake again."

"Wow! These sandwiches are more amazing than usual, aren't they Fluttershy? I heard you hadn't eaten here before and..." she stopped when she realized that Fluttershy wasn't paying attention and was instead pushing her food around.

"Fluttershy are you alright?"

She looked back up when realized she was ignoring her.

"I'm okay. Just lost in thought."

"I think it's just you sugar cube. When was the last time you ate here?"replied AJ.

"About a month ago."

"Really? You should get out more." said Rarity.

"Yeah! Take a break from those books." added Pinkie.

"I know. It's just now that I got these wings, I'm a little self-conscious about being in public with them."

"You shouldn't be. Why if I was an alicorn, just think about the type of dresses I could make. In fact, you should come by my boutique some day do I can try some new dresses on you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Again, thanks for inviting us here."

"You probably needed this too though Rarity." said Rainbow Dash while the waiter brought by a pitcher of lemonade.

"It's okay, I did this for you after all."

"And we are grateful."

"Yeah, but we figured you were gonna work yerself over if ya didn't get some fresh air." As soon as the pitcher turned away from her glass, Applejack started to gulp down her lemonade thirstily. She had been applebucking all morning and was also looking forward to a bit of R&R.

"Yes, and a beautiful night it is. said Rarity as she chuckled to herself. "I haven't the faintest idea why I always bite off more than I can chew; I suppose it's just the look that motivates me." said Rarity.

"The look?" Rainbow Dash looked up from her nibbled appetizer daisies.

"The look," the unicorn restated matter-of-factly. "That glowing look in a mare's eyes when she slips into that perfect ensemble!" She soundly kissed the tip of her hoof and posed in a star struck manner.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash understood. They too had looks they looked forward to, like biting into a slice of perfectly baked apple pie or finding that your broken wing could fly again.

Applejack dug back into her sandwich while the other two chewed at a more reasonable pace.

"So Rarity," the cowpony began, pushing her bite of sandwich all into one cheek. The purple-maned unicorn levitated a napkin and dabbed at the grass chew dibbled on Applejack's chin. She swallowed before she spoke again. "…Who was that stallion I saw ya'll talkin' to yesterday?"

Through another sip of lemonade, Rarity gave the earth pony a coy glance.

"Oh…nopony in particular…" she mused.

"I dunno," Applejack pried, "seemed like a mighty fine slice o' cobbler to me."

Rarity sat down her sandwich.

"Well, if you must know, he just came into the boutique looking for a present for his sister. He didn't know the first thing about high fashion, so I was willing to give him a 'crash course', as it were. Completely professional."

"Whatever you say…" Applejack reluctantly dropped the subject with another bite of her grass and oat salad sandwich.

"And that reminds me, how are you and Flash Sentry doing? I know you have a crush on him "Princess Twilight."

"W-what? No I don't!"

"She definitely does. She just doesn't want to admit it." teased Rarity.

"Well you have a crush on Soarin. I saw you too talking privately one day the Wonderbolts were visiting." she said while giving her same look that Rainbow gave her.

"I do not like him! I just thought, maybe I could convince him to let me fly with them."

"How about you Apple Jack, ever had a boyfriend?" said Rainbow Dash with a crooked smile.

"Why trouble myself with one.

"I never thought you'd say that."

"I don't need someone to protect me. I can handle myself.

"Now you're just being stubborn." said Rarity.

"You don't need someone just to protect you. Just someone to love dear."

"Just haven't found the right one I guess."

"There must've been someone.

"Well, there was this one pony that used to stop by the farm all the time. He would come bye apples and we would talk all the time and... he was kind of cute I guess."

"Ooooh, Apple Jack has a crush!"

"I just said he was cute, that's all. He moved anyways."

"Don't worry. You'll find someone else." said Rarity with a chuckle.

"What about you Fluttershy? Ever met that special someone?"

Fluttershy was hoping that this question wouldn't came to her as her face was drained of all color, except for the intense blush in her cheeks.

"Well...I...um...uh."

"You must have met had a crush on someone before."

"Um, no."

"Have you at least dated anyone before?"

"Not really..."

"How could you not darling? Why, with your grace and figure, I imagined that you would be able to get any pony you wanted."

"She could. Maybe she just doesn't use her beauty to her advantage like you do." said Apple Jack.

"I don't use it irresponsibly. I use it resourcefully."

"Cause seducing ponies to do your bidding is definitely not using it irresponsibly."

"Well, you girls could do it to if you tried hard enough."

"Why bother? I get stuff done without relying on my looks. Maybe I could hook her up with up my brother." said Apple Jack with a chuckle. Fluttershy pointed her teal eyes down at the floor in awkwardness.

"But in all seriousness. If any one needs a stallion in their life, it's you Fluttershy."

"Well, I-I've never been too keen on going out with someone." she said while shuffling her hooves around.

"Why not? You could get one if you tried. You just need more confidence.

"What about that pony that stopped by your house the other day?" said RD.

Fluttershy blushed even harder and hid behind her wall of hair to hide her red cheeks.

"Fluttershy, what is she talking about?" asked Twilight.

"N-Nothing, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Y'know, that black pegasus wi-"

Rarity shoved a hoof over Rainbows mouth, seeing how embarrassed Fluttershy was getting.

"It's probably nothing dear, don't worry about it too much."

Fluttershy sighed in relief, since Rarity had shut her up, but Apple Jack knew that she was hiding something.

"So Twilight, don't you have any royal duties since you're a princess now?"

"A couple, but Princess Celestia has just been sending me more books to read to gain more experience, leadership, and wiseness as an alicorn.

"Princess Twilight, that has a very nice ring to it."

"How do you think Discord is doing?"

"Hopefully not causing trouble anymore."

"Even if he is, the royal guards and princesses keep a close eye on him." But I've had faith that Fluttershys kindness made him turn over a new leaf."

"Yeah, great job again Fluttershy."

"Thanks girls." she said with a smile.

The girls talked for a bit more before finishing their meal.

"Alright I'm soooo bored here." Let's go to the dance club. I love listening to Vinyl Scratch's beats.

"That's sounds like fun, how about it girls?"

"Are you kidding?! Let's go!" yelled Pinkie as she almost knocked someone over while running out the door.

"I'd say Pinkie is a little too excited."

"Alright, let's go." said the others as they followed Pinkie out through the streets.

Twilight was walking out before being stopped by Fluttershy.

"Something the matter?"

"I-I was thinking about what you and the girls said and um..."

"Yes?" Twilight noticed she was turning red again while trying to get the words out.

"I...sort of...How do you know if you meet someone and-" they were interrupted by Pinkies laughter. They looked outside and saw Pinkie laughing at some funny looking balloons outside.

"You were saying Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy let her head hang low and walked out the door. "Nevermind."

Twilight developed a concerned look and caught up with her and the other girls as they helped the laughing Pinkie Pie off the ground.

When the girls arrived at the club, they immediately headed to the dance floor and started to dance. Except for Fluttershy, who just sat down near the catering table. The party seemed to get more lively when Pinkie Pie showed up, cause everyone knew how much she liked to party. Rarity was dancing until she noticed that Fluttershy was sitting by herself and walked over to her while Rainbow followed her.

"C'mon Fluttershy come dance with us." said Rainbow Dash still dancing.

"Yeah, don't be a loner." said RD.

"It's okay, I don't want to. You two go have fun."

"Are you sure. "We're your friends you know. You can tell us anything.

"Really Rarity, I'm fine."

Rarity and RD exchanged looks.

"Alright." she said uneasily. "But if you need anything, please tell us."

"Yes." said Fluttershy as they walked off.

"I can't have a good time knowing that Fluttershy's upset. We have to cheer her up somehow."

"Is everything alright?" asked Twilight as she and the other girls walked over to them.

"Not really. Fluttershy's all sad and she won't tell us why."

"She's sad?! We can't have a sad pony at a party." said Pinkie while rushing over to Fluttershy.

"Hi Fluttershy! Having a good time?" she said while dancing funny to make her laugh.

"Hi Pinkie." she said, trying to manage a fake smile.

"Come on! Get out of that seat, and dance to the beat! " she said, and started tugging on her hoof."

"Please Pinkie. I'm fine. You can go. I'll join you in a bit."

Pinkie gave a confused look and walked back over to the girls.

"Something is wrong, she won't show any emotion."

"But isn't this typical Fluttershy behavior?" asked the purple one.

"Kinda, but this is a bit much. Even for Fluttershy."

"I think I know what Fluttershys problem is." said RD.

"You do?"

"Yeah. She's probably lonely, she just needs a guy to talk to or something."

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure Fluttershy wouldn't want to talk to a guy. She'd probably get to nervous."

"Well, she's not gonna admit that she wants someone, so I say we hook her up with somepony."

"Like who?"

"What do you mean with who? Look at all these cute guys in here."

"They are pretty cute." said Rarity, tempted to go dance with one of them.

"Let me try real quick." said Rainbow Dash, and walked to the nearest pony. He was a brown earth pony with a blue coat of fur.

"Excuse me sir, I have a friend who isn't in the best mood. I wanted to see if you could cheer her up." she said while pointing toward Fluttershy.

"Sure thing, I'll try my best." he said and walked over to her.

"See, piece of cake." she said triumphantly.

It was three minutes later when the stallion came back to Rarity.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you with Fluttershy?"

"Well she seemed pretty upset about something, and she didn't want to talk a lot. She doesn't seem to be in a partying mood. I don't think the club is the best place for her right now." he said and walked back to the dance floor. "It's a shame too. She's very pretty. I'm surprised she doesn't have a boyfriend.

"Okay, so there might be something else wrong." assummed the white mare.

"Wait Rainbow Dash, didn't you start to mention another pony?"

"Yeah, there was this other pony that was at her house when I happened to fly by."

"Fly by, or spy?" asked AJ.

"Kinda both, heh heh."

"What did he look like."

"He was a really dark gray, almost black, black mane, and red eyes."

"Wait, that sounds exactly like...the pony that you all met."

"You mean Shadow?! asked a surprised AJ.

"It could be."

"What in tarnation was she doing with that guy?!"

"I hope he's not the reason she's upset."

"If it is, I'm gonna-"

"We don't even know what was going on."

"Why was she even talking to him."

"You think she likes him? After all, she didn't seem to go into depression mode until after he left." said Rainbow.

"You make a good point." said Rarity afterwards.

"No way! With the way he treated us, I don't know what makes you think he was any nicer to her. Besides, that's probably the reason she is upset.

"But she did smile at him, and they seemed to be talking."

"Wait, you were there to Rarity?"

"No. Rainbow came and told me."

"You think she'd tell us?"

"Apparently not. You saw how scared she was back there when I mentioned him." said Rainbow.

What does he see in her and not me anyways?"

Twilight gave her a blank stare.

"Okay, what does he see in her and not any other pony."

"I don't know, but something's going on here."

"Maybe it's none of our business."

"Are you kidding me? If somethings upsetting Fluttershy, it is our business." argued RD.

"Okay, We'll go talk to her later, let's just try to-"

"Go talk to who?"

The girls jumped and shrieked when they heard Fluttershy behind them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay Flutters, what's up?" said Pinkie.

"Well, it's just, I'm just not in the mood right now and, I think I'm gonna go home."

"What? Come on Fluttershy." begged RD.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not enjoying myself right now. And I'd really rather be in the comfort of my own home."

"Are you sure dear?" said Rarity.

"Yes."

"Okay, just be careful on your way home." replied Twilight.

"I will, bye."

Right before she left, a big explosion sounded off outside the club. Every pony was stunned when they saw what had happened outside. The city hall was an enormous fireball. There were other buildings too, including Mr. and Mrs. Cake's store.

"What's going on here!?" asked Twilight.

---

I thought I was going to have this one up sooner, but I'll try to update quicker. If you didn't like this chapter, then maybe the next chapter will be better. And again, thanks for reading.