Zikel watches from where he was hiding, lifting his head from the shadow he was in to see many gold platted hooves wandering around the main hall looking for him. As he saw them stop in front of the table, his sinks back in the shadow just in time as one of the guards lowers down to look. He shrugs and look back to Twilight.

"The princess received your letter Princess Twilight. But where is he? We need to take him to Canterlot for questioning and to see what his intent is. This is what she and princess Luna wanted."

Zikel noticed that they were looking away from an open window, he slowly climbed from the shadow and crept his way over to it. The girls just watched him in excitement, wondering if he will manage to escape. As he neared the window, he trips over a random floor pillow, causing the guards to look over in his direction. They then pointed to him.

"By order of the princesses, you are to come with us to Canterlot for questioning, dragon!"

"Twilight tried to protest, but the guards instantly rushed him. Zikel scrambled to his feet and took a leap of faith outside the window, but remembering he had wings, he spreads them out full span and glides away from his captives. Landing a good thirty feet away, he took to the ground and began running into the town, running through allies and climbing up building, anything to lost them. Ponies starred on in both shock and curiosity as they saw a dragon being chased by royal guards, some pegasi were flying overhead to get a good view of the show. He would now see he had to outsmart them even more now. Luckily there was a cross section up ahead.

"Alright boys, you know the drill..."

He said as the two copies split off from him and took the left and right path while he went straight. The guards stopping for a moment to decide on which one to chase. Since there was three they all split off after him and his copies. All he had to deal with was one if he ever got close now. Zikel wanted to use his wings and fly. But he was going to save that as a last resort, he was doing fine jumping over obstacles that got in his way. The guard wasn't doing so well though. All that clunky armor can weigh you down, bud. Zikel comes across an apple stand who had a large red stallion with a blonde mane, he leaps over it all the while grabbing an apple, tossing a coin behind him for the stallion to catch.

"Thanks!"

Zikel shouted as he put the apple in his mouth and continued to run off. The other guard have already made contact with his copies, but as they tackled them to the ground, they just grin and vanish into the ground, returning to Zikel. He finally comes across a nice shadowy alley, sliding into it and melting into the shadow. He watches as the guard is completely dumbfounded at how easily he had lost the target. He scratches his head and runs off to see if he could try somewhere else. Zikel just chuckles to himself.

"As long as there is even a sliver of shadow in the light...you won't catch me."

"Is that so?"

A female voice seemed to echo around him, a light brighter than the sun appeared in the alley he was in, forcing himout of the shadows and exposing him fully. He covers his eyes at the bright yellow light and backs away from  it. Out of the light appears a tall pony, she had a white coat and her mane flowed with a spectrum of pastel colors. While she was tall, she was also quite curvy in all the right places. Too many sweets perhaps? She wore golden regalia with the sun on the plate she wore on her chest along with it on her flank. She had a horn and wings like Twilight did. Could she be one of the rulers that he was told about? She took a few steps towards him, this made him back away. He was getting backed into a corner. And he didn't like that at all.

"Stay away from me...I didn't do anything wrong...please."

He said as he drew his dagger and went into a defensive stance. The alicorn stopped for a moment as he drew his weapon, but she smiled to him warmly and continued to approach him.

"You won't hurt me or anyone else here, sir. I can see behind those fierce eyes of yours that you are a warm and gentle soul who is just afraid of a new land. I understand that. But you need to come with me now. Please, lower your weapon."

Zikel knew she had him pegged, he wouldn't try to hurt her, he was hopping his bluff would have worked. But it seemed it had very much failed. He would have to resort to his final escape tactic. He sheaths his weapon and lifts his hands up in the air as if surrendering. The alicorn smiled again and nodded

"Thank you for cooperating-"

She was cut off by his wicked grin as the runes on his body began to glow their bright blue, he suddenly slams a hand into the ground and forces a large black dome over the town, creating a illusion of the night sky and moon that blotted out the sun, this shocked the princess for a few moments, Zikel runs by her with a chuckle, like a shadowy blur with glowing eyes, time slowed down fora moment as he spoke.

"I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve my dear princess. I may not harm the innocent. But I will find a way to escape. You cannot catch a shadow."

Time sped back up as he ran passed her, his sunk into the ground of the fake night he had created and shadow crawled away and out of sight. The ponies in the town where wondering why the sun had set so early in the day. Zikel made it outside of the dome and chuckled lightly, dispelling the dome and making a break for it, as he turned to do so, there she was again, a triumphant smirk on her face and a playful glare. As he was about to dash off again, she leaps onto him, her horn glowed brightly as they were teleported away.

They appeared in a white marble room, it had bookshelves and floor pillows all about the floor, a fireplace to one side of the room, but no windows. She knew exactly what she was doing when she brought him here. She stood over him as he laid there in a daze from the teleportation.

"Well look at that, it turns out you can catch a shadow if you don't give him a place to go hmm?"

Zikel slowly sat up and shook his head a bit,coming out of his daze and narrowed his eyes at her, arching a brow with a wise ass smirk. dusting himself off.

"Can you be sure you really caught me though, princess? Well anyways, you have me here now. And this is better than being put in a cell. So you want to ask questions, I may or may not answer depending upon them."

Celestia blinked a few times at his cryptic way of speaking. But then plops her rear on one of the floor pillows and nods.

"First off. How exactly did you get here? There was a massive magic spike near the Everfree Forest around the time you came here."

Zikel walked around the room, examining the books on the shelves and anything he could find, his eyes flashing a bit from time to time, he turns to her and shrugs.

"You got me, I was swallowed up by a beam of light that came down from the heavens. And here I am. I was in this form when I came here as well. I am not originally a dragon, I was a human."

"And...what precisely is a human?"

"That is a story for another time I am afraid."

"So you are from another world. That explains it then. Also, why are you dressed in such a manner? Are you a magical warrior of sorts?"

"No, I am just a simple shadowmancer and rogue. I steal to survive, but pay back eventually when I have the amount of currency. I am also an illusionist as well. makes for good performances for the little ones."

Celestia arched a brow, then smiled as she heard him say he returns payment, and even uses his magic to entertain children. She stands up and walks over to him, poking his chest a bit.

"You look scary to be sure, but under all that black clothe and scales, lies a heart of warmth. I do believe I trust my former student with you, and her friends as well. I would ask you more personal questions. But I do believe I must wait to get to know you first, sir."

"Well,I can at least give you my name. I am Zikel, A pleasure to meet you princess..."

"Celestia, one of the two rulers of Equestria. A pleasure to meet you as well Zikel."

"One of two you say?"

A dark blue light appears as another alicorn came out of it, she was shorter than Celestia, but she was rather adorable as well, a dark blue coat with light blue regalia on her body, the mark on the chest plate and her flank being that of the night sky and moon. She walked up beside her sister and looked up to her

"So this is the dragon we have heard about Tia?"

"Indeed he is Lulu, I was just questioning him on a few things. He seems like a good pony, despite his rather unsettling appearance."

Luna walks up to him and circles around his form, she then leans up and places her hooves on his chest and stares into his eyes for a moment, then laughs lightly as she looks over to her sister.

"I am afraid my dear sister, that you have been fooled into thinking this is the real one. This one is nothing more than an illusion created from shadow."

Zikel's mouth curls up into a wide wicked grin, crossing his arms as he looks over at the dumbfounded Celestia, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

"This must be your little sister I take it princess Celestia? She is quite perceptive. Strange how the younger one saw right through me and you couldn't?"

Luna giggled under her hoof and puffed out her chest a bit in pride. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the grinning copy. He walked passed her and slowly began to vanish before leaving her with a few words.

"As I said before Princess...you cannot catch a shadow."

--Ponyville, In A Random Tree--

Zikel laid lazily in one of the large branches with his back against the tree itself, eating his apple as he controlled his shadow puppet. He laughs as he was found out and opens his eyes, finishing off his apple and tosses the core in a trash bin that was below.

"I switched when I was heading to the outside of the dome, I knew you would be there waiting princess. And now the trail has gone cold. Good luck finding me." Next Chapter: Act 4: The Reoccuring Nightmare Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 55 Minutes