Today was a big day. After two weeks, I had finally decided to get out of the library for good. I would go out and find something to do and make a living. The question was, what?
I walked down the street, passing the usual vendors with their stands. Everypony had something they were good at. I guess that whole cutie mark thing really came in handy. I spotted Applejack next to a stand of apples and walked over.

"Hey there!"

She looked up from the apples and smiled.

"Hey."

"Any sales yet today?"

"I just opened up."

I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a bit.

"What would this get me?"

"One apple."

I threw her the bit and grabbed the shiniest apple I could find. I bit into the juicy fruit and sighed as the flavor filled my mouth.

"Where'd you get the bits? And the saddlebag fer that matter?"

I swallowed the chunk of apple and looked down at the bag.

"Twilight gave them to me. Sort of like a going away present."

"Goin' away? Yer leavin'?"

"No! Well... Leaving the library. I figured it was time I found my own way."

"Oh. So yer lookin' for a job?"

"And a house. And if I can manage it, a new life."

"Well good luck with that. I can't imagine havin' to start from scratch."

"Thanks. Do you know of anypony that's looking to hire?"

"Hmm... Can't say that I do."

"That's alright. I'll just have to keep looking. Thanks for the apple!"

I walked off again, heading towards a row of shops. I had to be at something. I had read an entire library of books after all! I probably knew how to do everything. But I'd never done anything..
The first shop on the row was a flower shop. I knew I couldn't be picky, but flowers didn't appeal to me.
The second shop was a clock shop. Hmm... Maybe. I walked up to the door and opened it. The shop was small and cramped. Probably due to the fact that there were clocks covering every wall and shelf. I looked around at the timepieces. Each was unique and hoofmade. Impressive!

"Can I help you?"

I turned around to find a brown stallion standing behind a counter. He looked me up and down for a moment.

"You're that changeling that's been staying with Princess Twilight, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Pony now. Yeah, that's me."

"What brings you to my shop..."

"Shade."

"Shade. What brings you in?"

"Well... I was wondering if you were looking for any more hooves to help around the place."

"Looking for a job, eh?"

"If you have one!"

He looked around the shop for a minute before locking his gaze on the clock closest to him.

"See that clock? A customer brought it in to be fixed. Why don't you take a look at it."

Oh boy. Had I read a book on clocks? I think so, but... I stepped up to the counter and looked at the clock. The outside was fine. I turned it around and took off the back panel. The gears were silent. So what was wrong here? I looked over every part, inspecting them carefully. Ah-ha! I pulled out a gear and held it up to the stallion.

"Here you are."

The gear was cracked, almost all the way through. The stallion smiled.

"Impressive!"

I put the gear down and went back to the clock.

"It would also help if you oiled everything. These gears have to be at least twenty years old."

"Twenty-seven. The customer is a regular. She refuses to buy a new clock. Family heirloom or something like that."

"I don't know what you mean by that, but I'm sure it must be a good reason."

He chuckled.

"Not entirely familiar with normal things, are you?"

"I'm still learning."

"Well you know a bit about clocks, I'll give you that. How about learning more while you check all of the clocks in the store. After that, we'll talk about pay."

"Are you offering me work?"

"Sure am! There's something about you that I like. Can't say what, but it's good."

I smiled and set my saddlebag down.

"Thank you!"

"Don't dawdle now. Get to work!"

----------------------------

I walked out of the shop, thanking Time Turner yet again. He was an interesting stallion. Always talking about time and space. He kept saying how much he loved stargazing. It didn't interest me as much, but for seven bits an hour I was willing to listen to his jabbering.
I looked up to see the sun setting. Uh-oh. I had completely forgotten!

Job: Check!
House: ....

Where was I going to stay tonight?! I looked around the street. Ponies were beginning to pack up their stands. Everything was closing for the night! I began walking through town. It seemed there wasn't anywhere available. My ears drooped as I got to the edge of town.
And then something jumped on my back. I jumped in surprise. Whatever it was got off. I whirled around to discover a rabbit.

"What the hay?!"

The rabbit stared up at me. Was it....scowling at me? Maybe animals had feelings too? I shrugged.

"Sorry I yelled. You just surprised me."

'Twitch twitch'

"Where'd you even come from?"

"Ear scratch'

"Are you lost?"

'Scowl'

I sat down and shook my head.

"Sorry. I don't speak rabbit."

'Head shake'

"I guess we're in the same boat, huh? I don't have a home either. Not yet anyways."

I looked down at the rabbit. He rolled his eyes and began to hop away. I guess I wasn't very happy company right now.

"See ya."

The rabbit stopped and turned around, motioning for me to follow. What was that about. When I didn't move, he hopped back over and jumped on my head.

"OW!!"

He was tugging on my ears! I stood up and began to shake my head. No good. He held on tight. And he thumped my head with his foot. I stopped shaking my head and looked up.

"What do you want?!"

He yanked on my ears, turning my head towards the road out of town. And then he thumped my head again.

"Okay, okay."

Obviously the pest wanted me to go this way. And apparently he wasn't getting off my head anytime soon. I walked down the road, wondering where I was being led.

It took several minutes and a dozen more head thumps before I was standing in front of Fluttershy's cottage.

"What are we doing here?"

'THUMP!'

"Alright already!"

I walked up to the door and knocked. It opened to reveal Fluttershy. She looked at me in confusion.

"Shade?"

"Is this thing yours?"

She looked up and gasped.

"Angel! Where have you been?!"

The rabbit hopped off my head and over to the couch. I was going to make a snide remark, but Fluttershy pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you for bringing him back."

"No problem."

She eyed my saddlebag.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I left the library. I decided it was time for me to take care of myself."

"Where are you staying?"

"I... I haven't figured that out yet."

"You're homeless?! Oh my! You can't just sleep outside! You can sleep here tonight!"

She dragged me inside and began setting up a cot. I glanced at the couch where Angel was now lounging. He winked at me. I smiled and shook my head. Dumb rabbit.

——————————

Time Turner kept me busy keeping clocks ticking and the shop clean. After two weeks though, I was able to run the shop all on my own if the need arose. It was easier than I had anticipated! Sometimes Time Turner even took a couple days off and left everything to me. It was great!
The day after I crashed at Fluttershy’s, Time Turner had let me know that he knew if s place I could stay! Apparently every shop had an extra room above it. The candy shop owner, Bon Bon, had just put hers up for rent. I was glad to have my own place finally!
I sighed contently as I opened the door to my still new home. It was small, but that didn't matter. I had acquired a bed and a desk to liven the place up, but other than that it was fine.
At least I thought it was. Rarity had come by a few days after I moved in to give me a house-warming gift and had been shocked at how little I had.

“We need to get you some color dear. You can’t live in these conditions!”

“It’s really alright. I don’t need anything fancy.”

“Nonsense! I know just what to do.”

And so I got an apartment with blue and white accents. I had to admit, she knew her stuff. I had looked around the room in awe when she unveiled it.

“How?”

“How what darling?”

“How do you take the simplest things and make them so fantastic?”

She’d blushed at the comment.

“Oh! It’s nothing! I just put a little color in.”

“It’s not nothing. I wouldn’t know I had such a nice place if it weren’t for you.”

That had made her smile. It really had made all the difference. I loved coming home every day to the colors. As I arrived now I sighed again and jumped onto the bed.

'Knock knock knock'

Really? The second I get comfortable? I slowly stood up and walked to the door. Upon opening it, I found Twilight.

"Shade! Look at you! You've got a mane and tail!"

"Hey Twilight. Indeed I do! Makes me pretty handsome, wouldn't you say?"

The alicorn laughed.

"I just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing. I heard you finally found a place to stay!"

I motioned around my small apartment and smiled.

"This is it! Not much, but it's enough."

Twilight nodded and stepped inside. She looked around and smiled.

"I love the colors!"

“I have Rarity to thank for that. What brings you my way?”

She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out three books.

"I figured you might want to read my latest additions to the library."

She set the books on the table. I stared at each cover. A book on home projects, the latest Daring Do book (that sidekick sure looked like Rainbow Dash), and a-

I froze.

"Twilight... Why did you bring a book calledThe Dating Basics?"

The alicorn blushed.

"I just thought you might want to take a look at it. I've never had books on dating in the library."

"Afraid I'm going to be lonely in my new home?"

"Of course not! It's strictly educational."

Uh-huh. Sure. I knew that education wasn't the only thing she had in mind for me. I chuckled and pat her on the shoulder.

"Don't you have enough going on without getting involved in my personal life? Plunder vines. Vampire fruit bats. I even heard that you got a visit from Discord last week."

"Nothing that me and the others couldn't handle. Besides, it's not as if you've been very social since you left. I’ve been worried about you. And again, the book is for education."

Keep telling yourself that princess.

"So how is Equestria holding up?"

"Everything's fine. How are you doing?"

"Never better! I'm really glad to have a normal life now."

"That's good."

We stood in silence for a few seconds. I could tell she wanted to say something.

"What?"

"How...How have you been sleeping?"

Sleep...

My dreams varied from one night to the next. I'd dreamt of Chrysalis taking vengeance on me, of murdering all the Canterlot royalty, and even a random dream of traveling through the stars with Time Turner. But many nights I still dreamt of revenge on Celestia. Her over all the rest. I hadn't seen her since the Summer Sun Celebration and planned to keep it that way.

"It's been...troubling."

"Your nightmares?"

"Yes."

"I can have Zecora brew something up for you."

"No. I've got to deal with these on my own."

"No you don't. You need to be able to talk about what you see. If you just keep it bottled up inside, you're going to lose it."

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!"

Twilight flinched away. I sat down and closed my eyes, a tear rolling down my cheek.

"It takes everything in me to not rip something apart! Do you know how many pillows I've been through the past few weeks?!"

"Shade, please. Just take a deep breath."

I felt the tears coming now. I hadn’t cried in a long time. And I didn't know how to stop it. The tears came faster and I began to sob. Something pressed up against me. I opened an eye to see Twilight hugging me, her wings covering me like a blanket.

"I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. This is why I've been so worried. You can't just be alone all the time."

My voice had cracked and I could only get words out every other sob.

"I.... I just... I just want it... To stop!"

"I know. But you're the only one that can do that."

"What... What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean Shade."

Yes I knew. I knew exactly what would free me from my nightmares. It was too hard though.

"I... I don't think I can."

"You'll have to someday."

Why? Why should I ever have to?! I could live the rest of my life and never do it!

And I'd be just fine... Right?

I thought back to last night's dream; my teeth bared, blood dripping from them, and the lifeless body of- I shook my head. I couldn't relive that again. I couldn't stand one more night like that. Twilight was right. If I wanted peace, I would have to talk to Celestia.
It was still too soon for me though. I had so much pent-up anger still. I had to work through some of this before I could even think of talking to her. And I didn’t know how long that would take.

-----------------------------------

Twilight sighed as she entered the library. Poor Shade. He really needed help. And she was determined to do what she could to help him. She grabbed a quill and some parchment and began.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm writing on behalf of Shade. He has been having increasing trouble sleeping due to his nightmares. I won't go into detail other than to say these dreams usually involve you. He's been finding it difficult to deal with his dreams as they seem to be the outlet for his negative feelings. I spoke with him recently and am afraid he won’t be able to handle these dreams for much longer. I’m hoping that you can help. If you want him to come to Canterlot, I’ll make the arrangements. Or if you can come here, that would work as well. I really hope you can help Celestia. He needs guidance. And he needs to confront his problems. I'm worried for him.

Twilight Sparkle

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