CHAPTER 2

The concert had been a complete success, they always were. Once he had been able to disengage himself from the excited fans and the tour crew, Knight Shade slipped away from the bright colours of the centre of Ponyville. He walked through a park, darkened by the nightfall and made his way to an area of gnarled, ancient trees and white stone slaps and solemn statues, hidden in a rarely visited corner of the town.

He had been wanting to visit this place for years, yet he dreaded coming here now. The statues surrounding him all seemed to glare at him, aware of what he had done. How could he face the monument in the back of burial ground? The white, tall headstone might not be his mothers, but he could not help but imagining himself facing his mothers instead of the unfeeling stone engraved with their names.

But he had to come here, he been away for too long and he owed it to his mothers. Stepping before the headstone, Shade bowed his head.

The notes came tumbling out, after all, he had had ample time to compose the song,

“You were once my one companion. You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and mother then my world was shattered

Wishing you were somehow here again, wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here.

Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could...

Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental
Seem, for you, the wrong companions, you were warm and gentle...
Too many years fighting back tears...
Why can't the past just die?

Wishing you were somehow here again, knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live, give me the strength to try!
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye. Help me say goodbye!”

At the final note, Shade’s voice cracked. He nestled against the stone, hoping that the cold surface would turn to the warm sides of the two mares that had raised him.

“I’ve missed you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please don’t hate me.” He looked at the engraved names with blurry eyes.

No reply came, beyond a breeze blowing through the leaves of the surrounding trees.

“You will help me, won’t you? I need your strength now. Even…” He swallowed. “Even, if you can’t forgive me. I can’t let Rarity get hurt, I have to do this.”

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Twilight had to admit, this Knight Shade was a talented singer. She had reluctantly listened to the records Pinkie Pie had shoved into her hooves and, much to her surprise, she found herself enjoying them.

Shade’s voice was clear and soft and the style of music was decidedly more classical than Twilight had expected. She could see why Pinkie had called the songs gloomy, as many of the songs had a melancholic tune to them despite the generally romanticised and hopeful lyrics.

Eventually Twilight dozed off in the middle of a particularly subdued song.

In the dream, Twilight found herself standing in what looked like an overgrown rose garden. It was only after a moment, once the haze typical to dreams had abated, that she realised that was in a graveyard of some kind.

Feeling herself being watched, the unicorn turned to see a pegasus with a dazzling light blue coat. The mare smiled at her much in the same way Celestia would sometimes smile at her.

“Child,” the pegasus said.

Even in that single word, Twilight was mesmerised by the stranger’s voice. She could not find words to describe what the mare sounded like, but she could safely say that the voice literally made her shiver in delight.

“Child, please listen to me, I have little time. You must help them.”

“Help who?”

“They are lost, so lost, please help them. I can’t bear to watch anymore. I know you can help them.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What do you want me to do?” Twilight stepped towards the pegasus who seemed to be fading away.

“Stop them,” the mare breathed out before she disappeared.

Twilight jerked awake, shaking her head. The dream had been too clear to be one of her usual dreams, obviously it meant something. But exactly what was that? Why did dreamy apparitions always have to be so vague? For once Twilight would have liked to have run into a clearly worded prophecy or nocturnal warning.

“There’s got to be a logical reason for why mystical powers are always so… mystical,” Twilight muttered to herself.

She glanced out of the closest window. The sun was barely up, only lending a dim glow to the world outside. Technically she could continue sleeping and hope that the pegasus appeared again to clarify her plea, but the chances of that happening were very unlikely and it was not too early for Twilight to get up.

Rolling unceremoniously out of the armchair she had fallen asleep in, Twilight shuffled toward the kitchen. As she was about to reach the kitchen, a loud knock came from the library’s main door.

Sighing in frustration, Twilight walked to the door and opened it. “Yes?”

Standing at the door was a copper male pegasus. His long mane was tied to a loose ponytail and there was a pair of saddlebacks slung over his hindquarters.

“Twilight Sparkle?” the pegasus said.

“Uh, yes. Can I help you?” Twilight eyed the colt with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

“I believe you can.” The pegasus smiled and inclined his head. “My name is Everfull, I’ve travelled here from Manehattan in the hopes that you could help me.”

Taken aback by the fact that someone would come such long way to ask for her aid Twilight stepped aside and allowed Everfull to enter the library.

“What can I help you with? Twilight asked as she and Everfull settled into the hall.

“It’s sort of a long story,” Everfull sighed. “I’ll try to give you the essentials. You’re no doubt aware that the singer Knight Shade has arrived in your town.”

“Yes.” Twilight’s interest was definitely piqued.

Everfull cleared his throat, suddenly troubled. “I believe that there is something seriously wrong involved in the concert. I’ve been following the tour and in every town I have visited I’ve noticed a… strange coincidence. Everypony who has been to Knight Shade’s concerts appears to be listless afterwards.”

Twilight frowned. “Are you sure it has something to do with the concerts?”

Everfull nodded. “Only those ponies who’ve been to the concerts show these symptoms. It’s like they’re depressed, going through the motions. Physically, there seems to be nothing wrong with them. It’s just that they lack something.”

“Wait.” A thought occurred to Twilight. “This might sound weird, but you say that the ponies have lost their passion? Like a fire that suddenly gone out?”

Everfull’s ear nudged. “Yes, that’s precisely what it looks like.”

Twilight stood up, pacing around the hall in full lecture mode. “There this hypothesis, though it’s unproven so far, that says that all ponies possess a spark. According to the hypothesis, it’s this spark that causes cutie marks to appear the moment a pony becomes aware of her life’s purpose.”

“Seems plausible. You think that the ponies have somehow lost the spark?”

“Well, if the spark exists, it might be possible to extract it. Losing one’s passion wouldn’t kill anyone, but sure would make a pony feel miserable.” Twilight waved her hoof around. “Though this is all conjecture, it would be hard to prove something that ethereal.”

There was a pause. Twilight’s mind was going through other potential scenarios and the likelihood of something like the spark hypothesis actually being true. But right was not the time launch into a scientific investigation, there were more pressing questions to answer.

“You think Knight Shade is somehow stealing ponies’ sparks?”

Everfull looked away. “I hope not, but… he… the concerts are doing something and it has to be stopped. Do you know where the concert will go to after Ponyville?”

Twilight shook her head.

“Canterlot. If the affects so far have been as bad as I’ve seen so far, imagine that happening to some of most important ponies in the country?”

“By Celestia,” Twilight muttered.

“My thoughts exactly. If anyone can stop Kni- this, it would be you, one of the guardian of Harmony.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to tell my friends and then-” A terrible realisation hit Twilight. “Oh no, Pinkie!”