Shaded Light

by ThecynicalGingerpony

Chapter 3: Let's Begin

Palette woke up the the sun shining in through the window next to her bed. The golden light enveloped the room. She made a mental note to get some curtains

As she looked at the light, she remembered what Dawn had spoken to her about. It had been 3 days since Palette last spoke to him and she still didn't know what to do. How was she supposed to find a small filly with no clue as to where she was?

She sent Twilight Sparkle a letter asking if the young alicorn could find some information about Aurora and Dawn. She was hoping it would give her some hint as to where to go, but there was no word from her friend yet.

During this time, Sugar Berry had shown Palette pretty much all of Hollow Shades. Sugar also introduced her to a close friend. It was a pegasus named Honey Comb. Her coat was an orange-yellow. Her mane and tail were short and a brilliant yellow color, but the tail has brown stripes. Sugar had also told her that Honey Comb's family raise honey bees and that honey was one of the main goods from the town.

Palette sighed. She wasn't really expecting to meet so many new ponies here. She didn't really think she was going to make friends at Hollow Shades. She finally got out of bed and stretched. In truth, she didn't even predict any of this.

Right then, she felt a magic presence in the room. She knew this magic anywhere. It was Spike's magic fire for the letters. She finally got a letter from Twilight! Palette was the happiest she had been since she got to Hollow Shades. She missed all of her friends back home and this was the first she had heard from them.

She opened the letter in excitement. She took a deep breath and used her magic to scan the letter so she could read it.

Dear Palette

It is so good to hear from you! We all miss you so much. Ponyville isn't the same without you and I miss my reading buddy. We just got Pinkie to calm down about the move. We had to promise her that you'll let us come down for a visit soon. We got the idea to send you a care package. It should be arriving about now.

The unicorn giggled as she heard a small thud of a box. That was just like Twilight. Right on time.

Everypony helped with it too. The Apple family added some delicious looking apples and your favorite apple tart. Fluttershy sent some pictures of your little Apollo. She said he really misses you and that he is the sweetest ferret she has ever taken care of. Rarity sent a really pretty dress. I hope you have something you can use it for. Rainbow Dash got you some of the rainbow coloring from Cloudsdale. She thought you could use it for a cool painting. I sent you some of the books we used to read. Thought you could use something to make it feel more like home.

Palette was just so excited. She went ahead and decided to open the box-

BOOM!

-just to get a face full of streamers and confetti.

And Pinkie sent...well, just be careful when you open the box.

We thought this would cheer you up. I know you miss home and you didn't really want to leave anyways. Hopefully, this will brighten your day. Have you met any nice ponies there? You better not of stayed home all day.

Anyways,down to business. I went to Canterlot to check the archives for you and I wasn't able to find anything about an Aurora or a Dawn. I asked Princess Celestia about it and she said she didn't know anything about them either.

I decided to go by how you said Aurora was a student and checked the yearbooks. I didn't find her, but I noticed that there are several years of the school's history missing since the founding date.

Since I couldn't find anything about them, I decided to start to researching Hollow Shades and The Children of the Moon. Something about it all struck a cord with me. It took me a long while to find any information, but I found one about their history. Did you know that some of them are so loyal to their ways that they don't find their cutie marks?

And it turns out that they worship Nightmare Moon, not Princess Luna. It seems that they are actually separate beings. The book also said that every few years they try to bring her back. That was when I found where some pony wrote in two things. 'Host' and 'Essence of the Elements'.

It may be something that is worth looking into. I will still be in Canterlot for a few days so I will do what I can when I am here. And don't be afraid to ask us to come there to help. You know we would love to. We all miss you. Make sure to keep writing.

From Princess Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Isn't the temple where we found Nightmare Moon nearby? It may be worth checking out. I'll send you a map where we found it. And do not go alone!

Palette folded the letter up and put it away. She felt a lightness in her heart from hearing from her good friend. She was thankful to have her.

She thought about the information she gave her. What was she going to do with it? None of it helped her with finding Spectra. Except maybe the temple? But what would it have to do with this? Well,maybe that is why Dawn sent her here. What else would be at Hollow Shades anyways?

The blue unicorn took a deep breathe and grabbed the map. She could hear Twilight screaming at her to not go alone. She shook her head. She needed to go. She had no choice. Not like she had anyone to go with her.

She stopped in her tracks. Her mind went to Sugar Berry, Will-o-wisp,and Honey Comb...they were her friends, weren't they? Palette shook her head. She couldn't get them involved. It wasn't their place. They could get hurt.

Palette ran out of her house and headed to the Everfree Forest.

Author's Note:

Yea,sorry it took so long.
And Dawn has been changed to a male,so yep

Comments

[afwes]

background information, new characters indirectly introduced, a little foreshadowing, and her leaving to go on an adventure we will see in the next chapter. Ok...SPAM WITH TWIST! and one fancy spike

[ThecynicalGingerpony]

Afwes....You are one of those people that don't need emoticons,huh?