Chapter 3: Old Friends

Modern Day….

Princess Celestia, clothed in her finest, approached her younger sister's room cautiously. She paused at the door, raising a hoof to knock but from within she heard Luna say:

"Enter."

Celestia used her magic to turn the handle and enter Luna's room. Luna was standing at the balcony overlooking Canterlot and the western hills of Equestria. Celestia paused, unsure what to say. She and Luna had not yet had a moment to reconnect and discuss what had happened in the old castle. She knew there were many things left to be said and many more explanations that needed to be heard. However, Celestia had been kept busy with preparations for yet another celebration in Canterlot. Today would be the unveiling of the newest stained glass window depicting Twilight Sparkle and her six friends defeating yet another foe. Luna was expected to join in the festivities but Celestia was informed by one of her guards that Luna had declined the invitation.

"Sister, you need to be present for the unveiling." Celestia said in a voice both cautious and firm.

"We are not needed." Luna said shortly. There was an edge to her tone that caused Celestia to wince. She sensed the hurt in her sister but knew better than to inquire further.

"We can discuss all we need to later. For now, it is your duty to stand beside myself, Princess Cadance, and Princess Twilight to show our ponies we are victorious over evil once more." Celestia said.

Luna didn't respond at first. She looked over her shoulder at her sister and opened her mouth but no words came. Luna used her magic to close the doors to the balcony effectively cutting herself off from Celestia. Celestia winced and followed her sister onto the balcony making sure to close the doors behind her as she did so.

"You don't trust me." Luna said matter-of-factly.

"I do, sister." Celestia protested.

"No. You did not trust me with the truth of our past, and you still do not trust me now." Luna said.

"There is time for this discussion later dear sister, but for now it is our duty to—"

"You speak of duty?" Luna said cutting off her sister. "What about the duty you had to me? Was I not worthy enough to know that I had another sister? If you had told me the story of her betrayal perhaps I could have recognized and rejected the dark magic that gripped me all those years ago. Did you recognize Astelle's magic when I became the nightmare of my former self?"

"I suspected, but I never thought her influence could…"

"You suspected?" Luna snapped.

"There was nothing I could do, Luna. You had embraced a dark magic and I could only think to protect my ponies from…" Celestia said, trailing off and ending with a sigh. "Sister please, I know there is much that needs to be said between us but this is neither the time nor the place for such a discussion. I will leave you to prepare for the ceremony. I only ask that you make an appearance; our subjects need to see that you are alive and well after the scare that we gave them from our sudden disappearance."

Luna said nothing and used her magic to open both the set of doors from the balcony and the large doors leading to the hall. Celestia sighed and left Luna alone on the balcony but not before placing a gown and crown on the bed for her to wear to the festivities. Luna looked at them and then turned her attention back outside. She saw the merriment taking place in the streets and frowned. The last thing she could feel was joy.

"Why have you come?" Luna asked suddenly. She knew Celestia was long gone, but she had recognized his presence the moment he stepped hoof in her tower. "We have nothing left to discuss you and I. Celestia was not the only one to keep the truth from me; you had a hoof to play in these lies as well."

"I never spoke a lie to you, Princess." Shadow responded. He brought himself out of the shadows and back into a solid form once Celestia had gone.

"But you never disclosed the truth." Luna countered.

"Celestia's influence was strong, and I did not wish to put my mistress in further danger by disclosing too much information. You forget that Celestia is still not aware that I even exist." Shadow said.

"And yet you too believed I was not worthy enough for the truth?" Luna said, clearly hurt by his words.

"I did not want you to have to hear the truth from me. You deserved to hear it from your sister." Shadow replied.

"Which one?" Luna asked.

"You know the answer to that, Princess." Shadow said. "Have I not proven on countless occasions the deceit and abuse of your elder sister Celestia?"

"The truth, no matter where it originates, would have spared me much heartache and pain." Luna said, walking back into her room and shutting the balcony doors behind her.

"Do you believe knowing the truth would have prevented the despair that led to your transformation, or would it have encouraged it?" Shadow asked. "Think about it, Luna. Knowing that Celestia had lied to you and had banished her own sister would only have harmed you further. I would never wish to bring you harm, nor would Astelle."

"Do not speak her name!" Luna cried angrily.

"Has Celestia's influence finally blinded you?" Shadow asked.

"She is not my sister. She has not been nor ever will be a part of my life." Luna snapped. "All she wanted was to use me for her own dark purposes. She wanted me to return to that dark place of despair and hatred."

"She wanted you to embrace your full potential, nothing more." Shadow corrected.

"You cannot deny she wished to use me for her own ends, Shadow. Nor can you deny the same for you. The difference between us is that I was wise enough to see behind the false declarations of love and reject her dark purposes. You, on the other hoof, fell for her lies without a second glance." Luna said.

"She still loves you, dear Luna." Shadow said, unfazed by her accusations.

"Then she does not know what it means to love." Luna replied.

"Even now she desires your friendship and your love."

"She does not know me, and cannot claim to love me."

Shadow shook his head and forgoing his solid form slithered along the ground until he latched himself onto her shadow.

"Do you remember our time together? Do you remember when I was your only friend? The only pony who understood your pain and the love for the darkness?" Shadow asked from within her shadow.

"Yes." Luna replied slowly.

"My friendship was an echo of the love Astelle had for you. I could not have been the comfort to you without Astelle's influence. She loved you even before she knew you existed." Shadow said. "And she needs you now."

"She is not in a position to be making demands! The last time she sent you for me you destroyed the throne room and consumed me in darkness, is this how she wishes to obtain my love? By force?" Luna asked.

"She did not send for you, Luna. I came here of my own accord to appeal to you." Shadow said. "She needs you in a way that you needed me. I was here for you in your darkest hours both in Equestria and on the moon. She has no one to offer such kindness."

"Why can't you offer that same kindness to her and leave me out of it completely?" Luna asked.

"There is only so much comfort I can offer. She needs to be reminded that there are those still living on this earth besides myself who cares whether she lives or dies. All she ever wanted of you, Luna, was your understanding. Astelle would never betray you as Celestia has."

Luna considered his proposal quietly. Shadow, still nestled in her own shadow, continued:

"Astelle was never given the chance to be the sister you deserved. She was still suffering the punishment that Celestia had given her. While it is true that she wished for your assistance for her darker desires, can you blame her? Can you blame her for the agony she suffered alone? Knowing you existed gave her new hope, Luna. You may be the determining factor for Astelle's rebirth into Equestrian society. You are the only pony that can stand between a lifetime of sadness and one of joy."

Luna's mind was clouded with this information. While her initial reaction was still rejection, she could not deny that he had a good point. It was true; he had never told her a lie in the time she knew him. Her entire childhood was shaped by her interaction with Shadow, though she didn't realize it at the time. Shadow had a way about him that made her mind bend to his will though whether or not it was intentional she couldn't decide. Luna's resolve softened and she felt a growing desire to comfort Astelle, a pony that moments ago she wanted nothing more to do with. From within her shadow, Shadow's eyes glistened a bright and hauntingly red glow.

1995 years ago….

A crash could be heard echoing in the hallways of the castle. Princess Celestia looked up from the scroll she had been writing and sighed. Using her magic, she rolled up the scroll and set it aside deciding to investigate. Pony servants were scrambling towards the kitchen muttering under their breath about a certain trouble-maker and the cause of the crash. Celestia cleared her throat and the ponies parted before her, mumbling their apologies and hoping she had not heard their incriminating gossip.

"Look what you've done now!" A small voice called from within the kitchen.

Celestia pushed open the kitchen door with her hoof, with a stern look of disapproval on her face. A tiny blue alicorn, covered in flour, was sitting on the floor beside a large now-empty sack. Upon closer inspection, Celestia could see that the crash she had heard came from a series of shattered glass jars that had fallen from the broken shelf above little Luna. Amidst the chaos Celestia could also see chocolate chip cookies scattered about the floor.

Luna looked up at her sister with wide and innocent eyes, dropping her ears sadly once she saw her sister's expression.

"Luna." Celestia chastised.

"But it wasn't me!" Luna protested, cutting off her sister's speech.

"I don't see anypony else in here." Celestia observed, holding out her hoof and indicating to the empty room.

"But… it was my shadow who—"

"What have I told you about sweets before dinner?" Celestia asked.

"But they weren't for me, Tia! Shadow wanted them!" Luna protested.

Celestia chuckled and couldn't help but smile. She found it amusing and adorable that her sister had invented an imaginary friend from her own shadow. On the other hoof, she thought perhaps Luna should find some real filly friends. Since the untimely passing of their parents, Luna had to spend large quantities of time on her own. It wasn't that Celestia did not want to spend time with her little sister, but her time as ruler of Equestria was still very new. Most of her days were spent with her pony council dealing with the day-to-day duties of reigning over Equestria. Celestia knew that Starswirl was counting on her to rule these ponies with great care and leadership in his absence. Since his defeat, Celestia unwillingly became both the physical and magical leader to all of ponydom; that kind of responsibility took a lot of patience and time to master.

"Was it your shadow that sneaked into the kitchen?" Celestia asked warmly. Using her magic, she took a rag and began to wipe away the flour from her sister's face.

"Well… no." Luna said sadly, scrunching up her nose and sneezing when the rag accidently wiped flour by her nose.

"And was it your shadow that pulled the stool by the shelf and attempted to use magic to bring the jar of cookies down but lost balance instead?" Celestia asked.

"How did you know?!" Luna asked in surprise.

"It wasn't hard to guess. There's a stool with a broken leg and the support beam for the shelf is missing." Celestia asked.

"Well, you see, Shadow was really hungry and he wanted cookies REALLY badly so I said we could have one but we had to wait. Only he said he was really REALLY hungry and he didn't think he could wait that long and… well…"

Celestia sighed and shook her head.

"Luna, where is Miss Tenderhoof?" Celestia asked referring to her sister's nursemaid and caretaker.

"Uh… well… she thinks I'm in my room playing. I don't like her, Tia! I want to spend time with you, not that grumpy-miss-meanie hooves." Luna grumbled.

"This sort of behavior has to stop, Luna." Celestia said mustering as much authority as she could. "I'm sorry that I've been so busy but—"

"You're always busy. Even Shadow thinks so." Luna mumbled.

"I won't always be this busy, I promise. But for now, I need you to please listen to Miss Tenderhoof. If I have to keep cleaning up your messes then we'll never have time to play." Celestia said encouragingly.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Luna asserted.

"That's enough, Luna." Celestia said. She considered giving her sister the speech about imaginary friends but abstained. "Tell 'shadow' that you're not allowed to have cookies for three days for the trouble you've caused."

"Tia!"

"Go to your room, Luna." Celestia said, holding the door to the kitchen open for her. Luna hung her head and fought back tears as she solemnly walked out. Celestia ordered a few of the castle servants to take her back to her room and to find Miss Tenderhoof. Once Luna was out of sight, Celestia hung her head sadly. She hated having to be so stern with Luna; she wasn't ready to take on a parental role when she herself felt so young. She looked back at the mess in the kitchen and noticed something peculiar: there were no cookies on the floor. Instead, there were little circles in the flour where the cookies had been, but who could have taken them?

Princess Luna angrily wiped a tear from her eye and slammed her door shut. All she ever wanted was to spend time with her sister, but Celestia was always too busy to play. She began to wonder if her sister wanted to be with her at all anymore.

From across the room another little "filly" was delightfully munching on the stolen cookies.

"Don't you see what you did?" Luna said, shouting at him.

Shadow looked up at Luna with wide red eyes, a few crumbs of cookie tumbled down from his cheeks. He swallowed the mouthful that he had and gave her a sorry expression.

"Cookie?" Shadow offered, holding out one of the stolen treats.

"I'm not allowed." Luna said sarcastically. "And it's all your fault."

"I'm… sorry." Shadow said, trotting up beside her with a trail of cookies following after him.

"How come you hide when Tia's around? Why won't you come out?" Luna asked.

"I'm… afraid." Shadow said softly.

"Why?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Luna looked up at Shadow curiously. She could see the fear on his little face even though he was still mostly transparent even in this colt form.

"Where does it go?" Luna asked, tilting her head. Shadow looked up at her in confusion. "The cookies… how come I can see through you but I can't see the cookies when you eat them?"

Shadow shrugged.

"My tummy I guess."

"Do shadows have tummies?" Luna asked.

"… I do." Shadow said.

"Shadow, are you a pony like me?" Luna wondered aloud. Unfortunately, she did not get the response that she desired. Shadow dropped his ears and looked down at the ground. Although her intentions were innocent, the question hurt Shadow. He didn't know what to think of himself. He felt like a pony, but he remembered that Astelle said he couldn't possibly be one. Still, he had grown up like a pony. Like any other pony he learned how to talk, play, eat, and fly as he grew. Most of it he learned in his time inside Luna's shadow, growing along with her like they were twins.

"I am a pony." Shadow said, though he was trying to convince himself more than her.

Luna felt bad for her question after seeing him in such pain. She threw her hooves around him to give him a hug but she tumbled right through him as if he were a ghost. She rolled over unexpectedly and landed on the floor beside the bed.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Shadow asked worriedly as he poked his head over the side to look at her. Luna just giggled. Shadow closed his eyes and looked deep in thought for a moment before extending a hoof to help her up. This time when she reached out for him, she could easily grip onto his hoof and climbed back up on the bed.

"How do you do that?" She asked incredulously.

"I dunno." Shadow said, looking at his own hoof in bewilderment.

"You're the funniest shadow I've ever met! Well… you're the only shadow I've ever met. Do other ponies have shadows like you?" Luna asked.

"I don't think so." Shadow answered truthfully.

"Then where do you come from?"

"From… from…" Shadow was unsure how to answer her question. The very thought of Astelle caused his little heart grief. Even now he could see through Luna's window the tower where her tapestry hung. When he wasn't with Luna, he was there, watching it fervently and waiting for her to come back to him again.

"Shadow?" Luna asked quietly, she saw the tears in his eyes and didn't understand what was wrong. "Will you please meet Tia?"

"No." Shadow said, shaking his head and sniffling.

"But why? She's not that scary." Luna reassured.

"Yes she is. I don't like Celestia." Shadow mumbled. "She did a bad thing."

"What did she do?"

"I don't wanna talk about it Luna."

"But Shadow…"

"I said no!"

Shadow angrily dissolved into two dimensional form and slithered along the bed to the wall where he could hide in the shadow of her dresser. After a few moments of silence Luna could hear soft sobs. She didn't know what to think, and she hated seeing her shadow so upset.

"I'm sorry." Luna said, calling out to him. "Please come out."

"I don't want to. I want… I want…" Shadow said trailing off. He wanted to say her name but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to tell Luna all about Astelle and the tapestry but he was frightened that it would put Astelle and himself in danger. Though he looked to be about Luna's age, he felt much older. The secrets and burdens of his past had aged him significantly and his thoughts were always centered on one goal: getting Astelle back. Shadow knew he had to find his mistress's amulet if he had a chance of getting her back. He wasn't sure what to do with the amulet once he had it; all he knew was that it was crucial to her freedom. Without Astelle and her magic to keep him strong, he had to find somewhere else to hide while he searched the castle. That's when he decided he would attach himself to Princess Luna's shadow. For years he remained there, silently learning what he could and growing as a normal colt would. However, to Luna, he was a friend; someone who had always been with her for as long as she could remember.

"Do you want another cookie?" Luna asked, offering him one in her hoof. Shadow opened his eyes from his hiding place and slithered along the wall until he attached himself to her shadow. He quickly swiped the cookie from her hoof and gobbled it down.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble." Shadow said softly.

"It's okay." Luna replied softly. "I just wish…"

"Celestia has too many princess things to do than play with you, Luna."

"I know." Luna said softly. "Maybe she doesn't want to play with me anymore."

"It's not your fault, Luna. Celestia is just being selfish. She doesn't care about having fun or spending time with you."

"Sometimes she does." Luna countered. When she said that, Shadow's red eyes twinkled from within her shadow.

"Not anymore. She's too busy being the big boss of everypony that she doesn't even come to tuck you in at night." Shadow said.

"Yeah…" Luna replied quietly.

"She doesn't even know that you love watching fireflies at night, or that you sneak out of the tower to watch the stars. She doesn't know that you can fly yet! What kind of sister doesn't know that?" Shadow asked.

Luna whimpered sadly and curled up on her bed. It was all true, and hearing it said aloud made her feel even more distraught than before. Luna wiped tears of resentment from her cheeks. Shadow sensed her pain and stopped talking. He didn't mean to make her cry like that, he was simply telling her what he had seen. She always seemed highly emotional when he was nestled in her shadow that way, though he didn't know why.

"Hey, the sun is about to go down! Do you wanna play hide and seek in the dark?" Shadow asked happily springing back to a three dimensional form bouncing out of her shadow to stand in front of her. Once he had left her shadow, Luna's tears stopped flowing. She looked up at him with a half-smile and replied:

"Okay but you're it this time!"

Shadow walked over to a corner and hid his face in his hooves to begin counting. Luna squealed with delight as she went to find the perfect place to hide.

From outside her room a weary Celestia paused. She heard her sister's laughter and smiled. She had intended on tucking her in for the night after lowering the sun and bringing out the moon but she didn't want to interrupt her little game. She felt awful for the fight they'd had earlier that evening and wanted to make amends but this didn't seem like the right time. She made a mental note to say something to Luna the next day and quietly made her way towards her room for well-deserved sleep.