The silence between the three was powerful enough to drown out the noise coming from beyond the chariot and held for several seconds before shattering.

Twilight cleared her throat as she stood up, wrapped Spike in a magically bubble to place him on her back before taking a shaky step.

Shadow offered a hoof to Twilight to assist her exit but Twilight gave a small shake off her head as she stepped down to which Shadow gave a nod of recogination.

Shadow quickly feel in beside her as they walked towards the library before speaking.

“Princess, I'd recommend that the next course of action to be the gathering of the Element Bearers. Based on previous events the elements are going to clear this up.” He offered to be considered as he scanned the surrounding area.

“I agree Shadow an it shouldn't be to hard to so, my friends are likely to already be together working on this.” Twilight responded with a nod as she looked at a nearby thorn runner as they moved.

Reaching the entrance to the library Shadow overtook Twilight to make sure he was the first through door to deal with any potential threats an allow Twilight to react as she saw fit.

Shadow paused for a split second to think on how to deal with the entrance before deciding a loud forceful entrance wouldn't be needed and choose to simply open the door and scan the room.

With the door clearing Shadow's line of sight he saw that finding the rest of the elements was going to be a non issue before stepping aside for Twilight.

Shadow wasn't clear if their greetings carried more relief or happiness as Twilight moved into the room and decided not to interfere.

Quietly closing the door Shadow before turning to face Ponyville. As he scanned the area he lifted and flexed his legs attempting to get rid of some of the pain.

Seeing the extent of the black vine infestation both on the ground and the air Shadow was starting to think that the guards weren't going to be able to do much.

'As long as it doesn't become a bloody delaying action.' He decided on with a grim mindset as he let out the breath he had been holding.

'Bloody as in blood or bloody as in damn?' Other Shadow inquired in a tone that mocked the accent of some of the more fancy nobles.

Shadow rolled his eyes and neck without replying before scanning for threats.

For several moments Shadow stood near the library entrance waiting for orders or threat with neither occurring before Twilight exited the library with her friends.

“Princess, have you decided on the next course of action?” Shadow asked as he unknowingly flexed his wings as he looked over the area.

“Yes, I've got an idea on who's behind this and we're going to confront them.” Twilight answered as she lead her friends from the library. Shadow quickly trotted to over take the group and take the point position even though he didn't know where to go.

When Twilight noticed she ended up telling Shadow they where simply going to a nearby area that should suit their needs.

Reaching the small clearing among the homes of Ponyville the Element Bearers moved to form a lose circle.

Shadow stood next to Twilight as she waited for her friends as he pondered what was going on and if he'd missed something.

Prior to a conclusion the Elements lifted their Bearers of the ground with Shadow following Twilight as
she used her magic to somehow activate her tiara.

Soon the guard was dumb founded as he watched a rainbow ribbon spread from the tiara and reach out towards the other Elements.

Almost immediately after the rainbow ribbon formed a circle connecting the Elements a double helix rainbow erupted from Twilight's tiara and raced towards the middle of the empty circle.

There the helix formed into an inverted tornado of rainbow ribbons to which Shadow watched in awe.

“Okay, I'll admit that's impressive.” He commented as he watched the magically event spin in place as he hovered next to Twilight.

When the magically event collapsed with a flash of bright white light Shadow fought to stop his head from moving while his eyes shut.

With the light passing Shadow had to blink several times to clear his vision and as he did he heard somepony singing but was muffled by the sound of a running shower.

Having his vision cleared Shadow was able to clearly see the source of the singing and shower. Discord was the source of both.

The fact that Twilight and her friends had seemingly willingly summoned the embodiment of Chaos shut Shadow mind down for several minutes as he processed that information.

When Shadow returned to reality he found himself staring into a pair of red and yellow eyes causing him to yelp as he moved back from them.

“You're not suppose to be here. Who are you?” Shadow heard Discord ask him as he narrowed his eyes. Before Shadow could form actually words Discord slithered towards Shadow.

Coming to a stop uncomfortable close for Shadow Discord used on finger on his loin paw to lift the patch Shadow was wearing.

“Well, hello there... how quint.” Discord started with in joyful tone and smile as he read before quickly turning to annoyance and frown as he turned to looked at Twilight.

“So Twilight would you mind introducing me to... this imaginative character.” Discord asked with an overly sweet tone as he plucked the patch his finger was resting on.

Shadow shot a glance to Twilight to try and find an answer to what was going on instead she answered Discord.

“That's Shadow Walker Discord, Captain of my Guard.” She answered in the voice a professor would use with their class.

“Well, I simply can't let him interfere. Ta-ta.” Discord replied with some smugness and devilish grin as he snapped his fingers as he turned to face Twilight.

Shadow found his vision engulfed by white light and felt panic start to grow inside him again not knowing what Discord had just done.

When Shadow saw he was still in the same spot he looked again to see if Discord had change anything.

“Well with that out of the way, I think you should talk with your zebra friend Princess Twilight.” Discord commented as he somehow knitted the attacking plants into a pointing arrow.

“I don't remember you ever telling me you knew a zebra Princess.” Shadow remarked as he floated over towards Twilight after failing to find any changes.

Hearing Shadow as he floated into view caused Discord to sputter as he dropped his knitting needles as his jaw literally hit the ground and eyes widened.

“Was I suppose to tell you every detail of my life?” Twilight asked with a mix of confusion and angry as she looked around.

“Ah, no?” Shadow answered with uncertainty as he landed next to Twilight as he looked for a zebra.

While the two briefly spoke Discord picked up his jaw and put his loin paw on his chin as he thought about how to deal with Shadow.

Before those present could expand on current topic everypony saw a zebra pulling a cart exit the forest ad enter Ponyville.

While the ponies moved to help the fleeing Zebra Discord grew a grin as he chuckling to himself before snapping his fingers again.

Shadow heard the snap and a split second later saw another flash of light white out the world. As before when his vision cleared Shadow didn't notice anything different.

Hearing a frustrated groan from behind him Shadow saw Discord clenching his jaw as he balled up his fist.

As Twilight spoke with the now named zebra Shadow watched Discord snap his fingers and flashes of light afterwards.

“Are you trying to give me seizures and or blind me?” Shadow asked in annoyance with a hint of fear as he rubbed an eye with a wingtip as he blinked the other to clear out the spots as he turned to Discord.

“I'm insulted you would think that I would do something as small and pity as that.” Discord replied with his own annoyance before giving an angry snap of his fingers.

When the light cleared this time Shadow felt a cigar in his mouth and nearly let it fall but grabbed it with a wingtip to examine it before looking back at Discord.

When Shadow did he saw Discord give a silent scream as he pulled his horns off his head. Not wanting to see want Discord would do next Shadow quickly turned back to Twilight putting the cigar in a pocket.

Prior to being able to ask what was going on Shadow saw Twilight charge up her magic as she pointed her horn towards a flask on the ground. The magic had a different look and feel to it that cause Shadow to feel uneasy and bit fearful.

The next thing he saw was Twilight's magic changing the liquid in the flask after some struggle to do so.

“Um, what was that?” Shadow asked as he moved to get a better look at what Twilight had done.

“Zecora thinks that this potion will help us found out what's going on Shadow.” The princess answered as she levitated the flask off the ground with her magic.

“Are you sure that drinking a weird convenient magically potion is a good idea?” Shadow inquired as he tipped the glass with a hoof as he narrowed his eyes at its contents.

“I can't think of any other way to find answers and you?” Twilight asked and as Shadow thought of something he failed to see Zecora help to start his boss drink the potion.

“Maybe ask Discord directly with direct questions directly about what set things in motion?” He offered before moving his eyes from their corners to look back at Twilight.

“I don't think that would work and I don't think the potion is wo...” Twilight put out while waiting for the potion to do something before suddenly cutting herself off as her eyes shown with bright light.

Shadow took a resigned breath before giving a matching sigh and speaking.

“This is going to somehow come back and bite me in the ass.”

Author's Notes:

Welcome back! Thanks for stopping by and reading. Keeping this short this time.