shadow smiled as he walked through the streets of Canterlot. A young unicorn, he was a black colour with blackish, reddish hair at the end of his mane. He smiled wider, his bright, sapphire blue eyes staring up into the sky, watching the clouds roll by, tossing and turning in the windy, midday air. Life was good. The young Unicorn felt elation coursing through his veins. He’d just returned from the doctors. It was common for Unicorns to get a check-up to test his or her magic. The Doctor had told him that he would be just fine. In fact, too his parent’s utter delight, the Doctors had also told him that his powers were surprisingly well-developed, even at this young age. Shadow smiled, imagining himself levitating objects, making them fly through the air in majestic arcs. It was a rather pleasing thought for the young foal.

"Shadow? Shadow, where are you?!" The pony calling was his mother, Sunset. She had a dark blue coat with a bluish, red mane wrapped in a ponytail-like fashion. Her Violet eyes shone with a caring glow as she continued walking down the street. Shadow smiled a little sheepishly. In his happiness, the younger Unicorn had been increasingly speeding up, leaving his parents behind. His Mother smiled as she finally caught up to her son. “What’s on your mind Honey?” She asked, gently dragging her hoof through Shadow’s mane, making her son giggle, embarrassed. "C'mon," Sunset cooed teasingly, patting her son on the head again. "A mother knows you're hiding something from me," she whispered. . . She whispered, planting a kiss on her sons head, just under the horn. Shadow giggled again, blushing as his mother kissed him. He was really glad that blushes couldn’t be seen through his dark fur.

“Mom, I wanna go over to Twilight’s. Can I please Mom?” The older Unicorn frowned; gazing down into her son’s rapidly widening blue orbs. “Pleasssssse?” Asked Shadow again, his eyes widening in the most heart-warming fashion he could muster. Sunset shook her head, laughing as Shadow’s look increasingly resembled the look of a sad puppy, begging for scraps. As a Mother, Sunset was no stranger to the begging look that children could use. Though to her credit, Sunset was a lot more resistant to the charms of that look. It made her heart melt at the sight, making her chuckle. There was that name again. Twilight-Sparkle. A Unicorn filly, who lived a few streets away from them. Normally, Sunset wouldn’t pry into her sons affairs….but….

“Shadow,” Sunset said thoughtfully, gazing down at her son with a thoughtful expression on her face. “You hang around a lot with Twilight don’t you?” Shadow nodded excitedly, pleased that his mother might be considering letting him go. “I mean, ever since you met her in Magic-Kindergarten, you’ve done nothing but talk about her. I mean you practically hang out with her non-stop. I doubt you’d come home if I didn’t make you. Is there something you’re not telling me mister?” This time Shadow did blush, the red stripes burning through his black fur to shine for all to see. Sunset bit her lip, then abandoned the restraint all together and burst out laughing. Shadow pouted in the way only a little kid could turning his head to hide his bush. “Aw, I’m sorry Honey.” His mother chuckled, turning her sons head back gently.

“Moooom!” Shadow whined, knowing full well that he’d been tricked by his mother. “Twilight is not my Mare-friend. We’re just friends, that’s all.” His mother continued to smile in that annoying way. Shadow felt his temper spike slightly, but forced himself to calm down. Being rude to your mother was a sure-fire way to get grounded and he didn’t want to get grounded on a beautiful day like this. “C’mon Mom.” He added pleadingly staring up his mother, the trusty water-works coming on. “Can’t I go? Please?” He added a drooping lip and widened his eyes for added effect. Although he didn’t look it, Shadow was quite a devious foal, as his father told him during their games of hide-and-seek. He knew from experience that his sad face could not be resisted, despite their efforts to do so. His mother’s stern-expression softened and she sighed in a defeated sort of way.

“Alright Sweetie, you can go.” Sunset said smiling at her son. “But I want you back at the house by the time its dark-out. Oh and one more thing…” She added sternly fixing her son with a hard glare. Then she smiled widely. “And say hi to your sweet mare-friend for me.”   She smiled, watching as her son stalked off, pouting once again, a bright red blush burning through his black fur.  Sunset smiled widely. She supposed it was the gift of every mother to be proud of their children. “I’ll always love you Shadow.” Sunset smiled, turning back and starting on the path back down to her house.

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Twilights POV:

I smiled to myself as I made my way to school, my thoughts drifting back to…him. My friends always teased me about Shadow. Moon-dancer, Lemon-Hearts, even Minuet. They all teased me about him. Trying to introduce Shadow to the girls would be next to impossible, since he would only talk to me whenever there was a group of ponies around us. It didn’t stop ponies from trying to befriend him. He was just so…likeable. Even Spike, the baby dragon I’d hatched a few weeks before had taken to him. Though I wish he’d back off a bit. I’m starting as Celestia’s personal student today and I can’t learn anything with Shadow breathing down my neck. For some-pony claiming to be just a friend, he acts protective…Way more protective than he really should be. I don’t know what he’s worried about, but I hope to find out.

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“The breed of Ponies known as The Alicorns is a rare genetic occurrence. This breed is typically associated with royalty and for centuries it was assumed that Alicorns were a breed specifically bred within the royal family.” Twilight-Sparkle smiled to herself as she finished the chapter. The big heavy book Princess Celestia had provided her with lots of interesting facts about the Princess’s breed. The purple filly smiled to herself as she continued reading.  The first lesson ever and she had passed through it with flying colours. Celestia had started off with something simple, growing spells. A small withered plant had been a small potted tree by the time Twilight had finished with it. Celestia had congratulated her heartily then given her homework. To any-pony else, it might’ve seemed under-hoofed but to a workaholic like Twilight, it was pure heaven.

The filly stopped suddenly, as she heard a snort of laughter from behind her seat. Pushing herself off the seat and pushing her short purple mane out of her eyes, Twilight frowned. The school bullies had chosen that moment to arrive. The one in the middle had grey fur and brown eyes with a bluish mane, the one the right was a blue unicorn with a purple mane tied in a ponytail fashion and the one on the left had mint-green fur and an orange mane. Their names were Greystorm, Lightfoot and Moonchaser.

“Well, well. Look who we have here every-pony.” Greystorm said coolly, eyeing the smaller filly with distaste. Possibly due to a heavy case of jealousy, the three bullies seemed to have a personal grudge against Twilight. The other two bullies chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying the cruel game. True to bullies form, the three always stuck together and only ever attacked a weaker pony when together.

“If it isn’t the spoiled princess. What’s wrong little baby Princess, scared?” Lightfoot asked, a grim smile widening on his face. All three Unicorns sniggered heartily. Twilight sighed, closing the book with a loud thump. A big cloud of dust rose up, making the three taller Unicorns cough slightly. Twilight knew the best way to deal with bullies was to ignore them. She glared up at them, trying to ignore the fact that she was picking a fight with three Unicorns all taller than her.

“I am not a princess, nor a baby.” The filly huffed coldly, turning to leave. “You know Celestia doesn’t like fighting between Students.” Moonchaser chuckled, swiftly stepping around the filly and barring the doorway. Twilight stopped, backing away. Moonchaser had stopped smiling now. There was an ugly grimace on the Unicorns face. Twilight knew that grimace. It was when the bullies got serious. “Celestia…” Twilight began.

“Celestia isn’t here little baby.” Moonchaser growled coldly, advancing on the younger filly. “Now give us that book.” Twilight stopped. The book…of course. That was the reason they’d stalked her here. Another attempt to sabotage the other students. “C’mon baby Twilight.” Moonchaser growled, already charging up a spell to pull the book from Twilight’s grasp. 2Just give us the book and you won’t get hurt.” Twilight continued to back away, until she hit something. Lightfoot had stepped up behind her and was also grinning down at her, showing yellowed teeth. “Give us that book you little baby!” Moonchaser yelled, losing his patience. Twilight whirled as the spell flew at her, intending to rip the book from her grasp and probably deal her serious damage. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the spell to hit.

But it didn’t. There was another rush of air, a loud banging noise and a cry of shock. Twilight cracked one eye open shakily. Shadow had appeared out of nowhere, right in front of her. A wall of red energy had appeared in front of the pair, shielding them from the spell Moonchaser had used. Twilight was frozen, dumbstruck at the sight in front of her. Shadow had never used this type of shield magic before at least…she’d never seen him use that sort of magic. Shadow turned to her, an angry look on his face.

“Twilight, go, just go! I’ll sort these bullies out!” Twilight stood, completely frozen. Shadow growled, his angry expression intensifying slightly. “GO!” he shouted. Twilight took several steps back, horrified as Shadow’s eyes flashed. Just for a second, Shadow’s eyes had changed from their usual sky-blue to a crimson-red. Shadow, apparently satisfied that Twilight had moved out of the danger zone, turned back to the bullies a small smile spreading across his face. Then he started laughing. A long, maniacal laugh that echoed around the bookcases. The three bully’s smiles had faded. Each one took a step back as Shadow began to walk forwards. As the Unicorn moved forward, the energy wall moved forward too.  

   “You fools,” The voice coming out of Shadow’s mouth was no longer his. It was deeper, slightly older than Shadows. “Did you think you could defeat me? There is much about me you do not know!” Twilight and the three bullies gasped. A scythe had appeared out of thin air, floating above Shadow’s head. The blade was long and curved, with a serrated edge and the pole was long, made of black metal. Shadow smiled, his smile widening to almost impossible length. “I am Obsidian.” The Unicorn said coldly, taking the fearful expressions on the bullies faces. “FEAR ME!” The shout was so loud that the three bullies, losing all control, keeled over, their eyes rolling backwards into their skulls. But something was wrong. Shadow’s vision was fading fast and the Unicorn was finding it hard to keep standing up. Finally his legs gave out and Shadow fell forwards, into Darkness.