Shadow

“So what do I need to do with these necklaces?” Shadow asked as he looked them over trying to see what they were for.

“These are for your own little harem of mares.” The figure answered with its back turned to Shadow.

“I don’t need a harem of mares. I just need to get James alone and I can deal with the rest.”

“Do you truly think that you would be able to get James alone. You have been in his head long enough that you have seen who he is with. You will need your own set of mares if you want to get near him.” The figure answered as it turned around and looked Shadow in the eyes. “You will also need to change your form so they don’t recognize you.” The figure then left in a puff of smoke to Celestia knows where.

Shadow was standing near a sizeable pond trying out different forms that he could use. After several minutes of cycling through different looks this is what he settled on. He took the form of a unicorn with a black and grey coat. His mane was charcoal black and his eyes were blue. He was going to go with red eyes to add some fear to him but decided against it because he didn’t want to draw that much attention to himself. He gave himself a cutie mark that was an ink blot with stars inside of it. Shadow took another few minutes to try and decide a name for himself. Shadow decided to call himself Night Slash and he would be from Detrot.

Happy with his new look Shadow started walking through the forest to find the exit. After a few minutes of walking Shadow found a clearing and left the forest. He covered his eyes from the sun that was rising into the sky. Shadow took a seat near a tree as he waited for all the ponies to wake up and start their daily routines. As he sat at the bottom of the tree he pulled out the necklaces and looked at them again. All the necklaces shared the same stone but were all designed differently. The designs of them looked as if they were someponies cutie mark. He assumed that they were and guessed that the hooded figure already had ponies in mind that he would use.

Shadow saw the first ponies to start roaming in the center of town. He got up from his seat and made his way towards town to introduce himself. Shadow felt sick to his stomach at the thought of having to act nice to these ponies. In the end though he knew that it would be worth it when he ruled this land with Nightmare Moon. As he continued forward to the town he couldn’t help but wonder what she was up to. Even after being in the same mind for a couple of months they never really got to know each other that much. They would have regular conversations but they only the basic stuff about each other. Shadow shook these thoughts from his mind as he could see that one of the necklaces were glowing. Shadow looked at them and played hot and cold to see where they lead him.

Nightmare Moon

Nightmare was walking through the old castle ruins looking for a certain item. Before she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony she sealed away some of her magic for when she returned. She was walking around the castle trying to figure out where they were. Being away from the castle for a thousand years made it hard to find the object. The whole castle was ruined and she was getting progressively angry that she couldn’t find it. After several minutes of walking she was able to find the secret passage that she used to get to the under part of the castle. She followed the hallway to the depths of the castle where she kept the object. As she walked through the hallway she used her magic to light the torches on the wall to give her some light.

Nightmare could see the light that seeped through the cracks as the sun rose into the air. Nightmare finally reached the room that she was seeking and opened the doors. The doors creaked from their old age as they were forced open. Now that the doors were open she entered the room and activated her magic. From the center of the room rose a pedestal that had a handprint on it. She walked over and place her hand in the indention. As he hand was place in the indention she focused her magic into her hand as the wall in front of her started to open. The walls opened to show a little crystal ball that she had hidden long ago.

She picked up the crystal ball and she could feel the old magic that was still inside it. She smiled as she remembered what it was meant to be used for. She planned on using the magic inside after it had matured for a while and use it to bring total darkness. Though her revenge against her step sister and then the element bearers made it very difficult for her to get her plan into action. Nightmare placed the orb inside her satchel that she brought with her and headed out of the castle. Even after a thousand years for the magic to mature it still needed some time before it could be used to its full potential.

Nightmare couldn’t help but think about the hooded figure. There was something that seemed so familiar but she wasn’t sure what it was. The figure found her when she was in the castle after being separated from Luna. It took her into its arms and took it away to a place safe from the castle. When it found her she was weak and tired. As it took her away she couldn’t help but stare into its eyes. The yellow eyes of her savior held mixed emotions as it took her away. There were signs of sadness, anger, and even regret that she could see. Before she could say anything though the creature turned into smoke along with her and she was someplace with another creature.

This was when Nightmare found Shadow and learned that there was an unknown creature that was in Equesria. She remembered the old pony tales about humans but just like others she didn’t believe that they even existed. During her time with Shadow she learned a lot about the human and she couldn’t help but connect with Shadow. She could feel that Shadow was uncared for like Luna was and she was more than willing to help him get his revenge against James. The next time though that she met with the hooded figure she was going to figure out who it was no matter what it took.

Shadow

Shadow was still playing the hot and cold game with two of the necklaces and he was starting to get angry. As he walked around town they would glow brighter and then get very dim. As he was running around town he would be stopped by some of the ponies asking if he needed any help. He would say that he didn’t need it but as he spent the last ten minutes running around he was regretting not getting any help. Shadow sat down at a table and placed his hands on his face as he took a deep sigh. Since his face was covered he didn’t notice two pegasus mares that were getting closer to him. Shadow was pulled from his slight depression when one of the mares spoke to him.

“Excuse me sir but are you okay?” Shadow looked up and was startled a little when he saw the two pegasus mares. One was a grayish lilac in color. Her cutie mark was a shooting star and her mane and tail were interesting. They looked unkempt but were very clean. They were white but had some hues of blue that went across them. Her eye color was a pale rose. The other was also grayish lilac in color. Her cutie mark was three dragonflies and her mane and tail were simple. They looked nice and were a pale opal in color. Her eye color was a pale raspberry. As Shadow stared at them he forgot that he needed to give them an answer and if he didn’t he would look suspicious.

“Yeah I’m fine. I was just looking for somepony.” He answered as he continued to stare at them. As he stared he thought about their cutie marks and discreetly looked at the necklaces. As he looked two of them were glowing and upon closer inspection he saw that they had the same cutie mark as the mares. Shadow shot up as one of the mares spoke to him again.

“Can we help you fine who you’re looking for?”

“Actually I think I found who I was looking for.” Shadow got up and presented the two necklaces to the mares. The mares looked at the necklaces with confusion. They were confused as to why he had a necklace that had their cutie mark on it. They looked back at the unicorn to see if he would explain why he had these.

“Where did you get these Mr…”

“Ah where are my manners. My name is Night Slash. What are the names of the two beautiful mares that stand before me?” The two mares blushed at the comment and were slightly shuffling in place.

“My name is Cloudchaser and this is my sister Flitter.” They extended their hands and Shadow took them both and gave a warm shake.

“To answer your question I got these while I was in Detrot. I was told that they would lead me to something that could give me happiness and I guess that was true.” The mares continued to blush as they were commented by Shadow. Shadow then unhooked the necklaces and showed them to the mares. The mares turned around and moved their manes so he could put it on them.

Shadow had to control himself so he wouldn’t laugh at how easy this was. He thought that these ponies were stupid but not at this degree. Once Shadow had the necklaces hooked around their necks he waited for the magic to take effect. After several seconds the mares turned around and he could see that their eyes were slightly glazed over. The mares had fallen for him and it was thanks to whatever magic that figure used. Shadow had a new found respect for the figure but also a new found fear. This figure had intense magical power but that may be too much for the figure to have. Shadow felt that its power would be a problem if it decided to turn on them. Shadow made a mental note as he grabbed the two mares and lead to their to warn Nightmare of what could possibly happen.

Trixie

Trixie was in her room sitting on her bed as she read a magical tome. James was in the house but was busy with Soarin and Mac trying to get the wiring to work for his entertainment room. Trixie was glad that James was able to get some things from his world thanks to the princesses so he could have something to remember his world by. Though as Trixie sat on her bed the events of last night ran through her head. She could still feel the loneliness that she felt inside of her and felt even more worried. When they were asleep and together in the shared dream she talked with James.
James told Trixie if that she felt this way she could go talk with Spitfire about her problems. If there was anypony that James felt that Trixie could talk to that could understand it would be Spitfire. Trixie let the thought mull through her head as she thought about she would talk to Trixie about this. After taking some time to think it through Trixie decided that it would probably be best if she was just straight up with Spitfire. Trixie left her room and heard James scream. She saw that James shocked himself when he put the wrong wires together and causing a little burn. He passed by her as he went for the kitchen to get some ice to put on the burn. As he passed her though he gave her a bright smile which she returned with one of her own.

Trixie walked down the hallway as she headed for Spitfire’s room. She stood outside of the door looking at it. Trixie was having second doubts as she stood at the door. She knew that Spitfire was open to hearing the mares out if they had any problems since they were looking out for each other. Trixie didn’t notice but Twilight was standing at her doorway watching Trixie stand in front of Spitfire’s room. As she watched Trixie she used her magic to connect to the other minds of the mares to let them know what she was seeing. She mentioned that Trixie was outside Spitfire’s and she seemed upset. The mares said that they would be on their way to see what was going on.

Trixie was able to get enough courage as she knocked on the door. There was a few seconds of silence before she heard Spitfire. Spitfire said that the door was open and Trixie entered. Once Trixie was inside she took the time to look around the room. Trixie felt some happiness but it wasn’t without some sadness because of the pictures that Spitfire had up. James and Spitfire looked so happy together and in the group picture they all looked happy. Trixie remembered that day because it was the day that she started doubting herself. Trixie was pulled from her thoughts as Spitfire cleared her throat to gain her attention. Trixie saw that Spitfire had slight concern but wouldn’t voice it until Trixie spoke.

“So what is it that you would like Trixie?” Spitfire asked as she smiled at the azure unicorn. Trixie walked up to her little desk that she had and took a seat. She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before she spoke. Deciding on what she wanted to say she voiced her concern with Spitfire.

“I wanted to talk about some feelings that have been popping into my head for the past while.” Trixie said with her head held down low.

James

James was in the kitchen tending to the little burn that he got when messed up the wiring. James saw Trixie and the hall and guessed that she was going to go see Spitfire about how she felt. James was sure that Spitfire could help her but couldn’t help the fear of worry that he was feeling. James felt bad that Trixie didn’t think that she didn’t deserve all the love that she was getting from everypony. James would talk with her but only after she spoke with Spitfire and if she wanted to talk. James took a look at where he got burned and it was already starting to heal over. James still wasn’t used to the speedy recovery that he had but it was still pretty awesome to see.

James headed back to his entertainment room to get everything finished up. James thought that it was going to take longer but it was actually going by faster than he had thought. James could feel the slight tingle in his arm when he used the materialization spell to bring in his game consoles but it was quickly subsiding. James joined Soarin and Mac and they were almost finished with getting everything set up. James helped get the last of it set up as he connected the wires to the solar panels so that he could get power to them.

Once they were hooked up James started up his PS3 and put in his Jak and Daxter HD collection game. James remembered the time that these games first came out. He would play them all the time every chance he got. He must have beaten the games hundreds of times but they just never got old for him. James turned on his TV and set to the channel that his game would play on. The screen stayed black and James was afraid that it wasn’t going to work. After several seconds of blackness there was finally picture. James mentally cheered that it worked and sat down on the couch. Soarin and Mac joined him to watch him play the game. He selected Jak 3 as it was the last thing that he was playing before he ended up here.

James played through his game but his mind kept wandering to Trixie. No matter how hard he tried if he kept trying to move his thoughts on they would go back to Trixie. James also had this nagging in the back of his head like something was happening but couldn’t tell what. James just decided to ignore it for now and would ask Trixie for help with it later. James was pulled from his concentration as he heard a phone ring. James looked around to see whose phone it was and it turned out to be Soarin’s. Soarin smiled sheepishly as he pulled his phone out from his pocket and answered it.
Soarin said his goodbye and headed back to the farm. Apparently Soarin skipped out on his chores so he could come over and help James. Applejack was not very happy that he did this and the same could also be said for Carrot Top and Bonbon. As Soarin left Mac took this as a chance to leave also since he promised to help Cheerilee at the school. James waved them goodbye and thanked them for all their help with his stuff. Once they were gone James went back to his couch and continued playing trying to get to the next level.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the idea on this chapter.