Hello everypony.
Shadow is back with another adventure.
Sorry for the wait, but i had to get all my ideas organized for this story. Enjoy.
As for OC's, I am still accepting them, but as this story gets closer to the end, the new OC's won't like what they get.

Disclaimer: I own no MLP characters besides my four OC's. Hasbro owns the rest of the non-OC characters.

Shadow's POV

It has one year since Celestia informed us of the impending attack. Since then, we all went our separate way to hone our skills. Applejack was training with Big Mac to increase her stamina and strength. Rarity was stocking up on jewels with the help of the diamond dogs, who she befriended. Rainbow Dash was keeping her training a secret from everypony else. Fluttershy was studying under Nurse Redheart to expand her knowledge of the medical field. Pinkie Pie was doing a little bit of everything with no clear focus, as was her way. As for Twilight and I, we decided to train together with Ebony and Ivory.

At the moment, I was resting against a tree in a clearing in Everfree Forest after one of the training sessions. We decided to train there because Ebony and Ivory were very protective of what they taught us. I was flipping through my record book, remembering every one of the human-turned-ponies that I had met.

Sky Sear had basically vanished after flight school and, according to Yuri, now lived in Cloudsdale with a stallion she had fallen in love with. She had also managed to get her cutie mark, which was a phoenix, in a race with Yuri and Rainbow Dash. Her talent is the ability to cloak herself in fire while flying a great speeds. It startled her enough when it appeared, that she flew into Rainbow Dash and accidently burned Dash's wings.

Yuri also got his cutie in that same race when he dove to save Rainbow Dash. He dove at such speeds, that he was mistaken by many to actually be a comet, thus explaining his winged-fireball cutie mark. After passing flight school, he met up with Cammo, and they left for Canterlot to join the royal guard. They easily passed the entrance exam and quickly worked their way up the ranks. Yuri is currently one of Celestia's personal guards while Cammo became the leader of the recently developed stealth division.

Angel Lily chose to stay in Ponyville and put her talents to good use. She opened up a shop that sells the herbs and flowers that she grows herself. She has also got over her shyness, due to the amount of parties she had been forced to go to, and is now one of the more sociable ponies in Ponyville. In her spare time, she visits Zecora, the resident rhyming zebra, to learn about potion brewing from an expert.

Ice Breath and my daughter had become inseparable. They had joined a group called The Cutie Mark Crusaders so that Ice Breath could find his cutie mark. The group had consisted of Sweetie Bell, a white unicorn who was Rarity's younger sister; Applebloom, a yellow filly and Applejack's little sister; and finally Scootaloo, an orange pegasus who was Rainbow Dash's biggest fan. When they're all together, they cause the biggest problems around Ponyville, but they usually don't get in as much trouble thanks to Mint's talent to calm people down.

Silver Lining, a teal unicorn with silver mane and green eyes, appeared not long after Cammo and Angel Lily graduated. She decided to take my job of teaching the new arrivals, and her cutie mark by doing so, which turned out to be the silver outline of a cloud. My presence was only needed at the school when a new pony appeared so I could record their information.

Ice Blitz, a cyan unicorn with a purple mane with red highlights, was the newest pony arrival. He is shy around most ponies, and he is currently still being taught. I haven't had much time to talk to him with my training and his efforts to avoid talking to everypony.

I closed the book and stood back up. I looked over to Twilight and asked, "You ready for round two?"

She smiled and replied, "Only if you want to lose this time."

"Bring it on." I goaded.

We each took a fighting stance and prepared to fight. Ebony and Ivory laid at the edge of the clearing and refereed. The rules they had set for us were quite simple. We fought until one of us surrendered, we could not use any attack that could cause serious harm to each other, and Ebony and Ivory would randomly attack us.

"Begin." The dragons announced.

I immediately launched several of my black spears at Twilight which she easily dodged and countered with a purple beam. I sidestepped it and appeared next to Twilight while kicking at her side. It connected and sent her flying a few feet. She quickly returned the favor by tangling my feet with a vine and firing the beam again. I stopped the beam with a barrier and cut the vines with a katana. Trying to catch her off guard, I formed a few of the spears above her.

"You're getting sloppy." I goaded.

"It has only just…" she started to say, but was cut off as she dodged the spears as I let them fall. "begun." She finished before firing multiple beams at my shield. "You're the one who hiding cowardly behind his shield." She taunted.

I lowered my shield and launched a few more spears. She dodged them as well, but she hadn't realized how close she was to the tree line.

"Manticore." I yelled pointing behind her.

She turned around ready to defend herself, but there was no manticore. She turned back to call me a liar, but she was met with the tip of my katana at her throat.

"Pay attention to your surroundings." I lectured, "Instead of looking away, you should have teleported to the opposite side of the clearing so you could keep an eye on me and check for the manticore."

I heard the roar of flames getting closer to me at an alarming rate. I grabbed Twilight and reappeared on the other side of the clearing.

I turned and yelled at Ebony and Ivory, "You'll have to do better than that."

I then jumped away from Twilight as she pulled my other katana from its sheath.

"You're learning quickly." I told her.

She smiled and lunged at me with the katana in her teeth. I parried and tried to slash her side, but she vanished before the blade connected. She reappeared above me and aimed at my neck, only for me to block yet again. I didn't have time to counterattack this time as she disappeared as soon as the blades connected.

"Looks like you finally perfected the spatial slip." I said impressed. "Now, if only you could use it more effectively."

"I'd like to see you to see you do better." Twilight taunted before stabbing at my flank, but hitting nothing but air.

"Your wish is my command." I whispered in her ear.

She immediately swung, but again I wasn't there. Before she could recover from that, I landed five successful blows with the blunt side of the katana. I struck both of her hind legs, her chest, the top of her head, and her hind end. The sheer speed startled her.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

Before I could answer, Ebony and Ivory attacked both of us. They tried to land a series of physical blows on us, but they couldn't. When they retreated back to the edge, I winked at Twilight and said,
"Watch closely."

I disappeared and reappeared next to Ebony and Ivory shocking them. I used the same tactic against them as I did with Twilight. I disappeared the as my katana made contact only to reappear an instant later with the blade about to hit again. When they finally recovered from the shock, I teleported back over to Twilight.

"Did you learn anything?" I asked.

"Yes, I did. Instead of teleporting and then attacking, you teleport into an attack so that you reduce the amount of time your opponent has to act before getting hit. Then you teleport immediately after the attack so they can't retaliate." Twilight answered.

"Exactly, you want to try it out?" I asked.

"Yes, I do." She answered excitedly.

"Ok then, but use the back of the blade so you don't cause any permanent damage." I said.

Twilight flipped the blade around and ran towards me. She slashed at my face which I easily blocked. She teleported directly above me, but this time, I was barely able to block it. She repeated the process and actually managed to land a blow on my hind leg. She continued her assault for a little bit longer before stopping.

"How was that?" She asked panting.

"Very good. I could barely block the attacks towards my front, and the attacks to my other half, I had no chance of blocking." I praised.

Twilight beamed with happiness at that comment.

"Time to get going." I said, noticing how late it was getting.

"Ok, see you tomorrow." Twilight said before giving me back the katana and vanishing.

I gathered the rest of my stuff and teleported home with Ebony and Ivory.

Shadow's House

I appeared in my bedroom and quickly put away my stuff. As I left my room, I was confronted by Ebony and Ivory.

"That wasn't a very nice thing you did to us." They said angrily.

"Why should Twilight and I be the only ones learning anything." I countered. "You will be participating in fighting whatever threatens Equestria, so you should also be prepared. Plus, I needed to show Twilight the best way to use the spatial slip."

"We understand, but we will get you back for it." They said before flying off.

I walked down to the kitchen and started to make dinner for Mint and myself. As I was finishing up, I heard Mint walk in the front door.

"Daddy, can Icy stay the night tonight?" Mint asked calling Ice Breath by the nickname she gave him.

"Yes he can." I replied, thankful that I always make extra food for dinner.

"Thank you." She said before dashing out of the house. She was back in a few seconds with Ice Breath in tow.

"Have you eaten dinner?" I asked Ice Breath.

"No, I haven't." He replied.

I dished out three helpings of soup and set them at the table.

"Enjoy." I said as I started eating mine.

They sat down and hurriedly ate theirs so that they could spend as much time to play before bedtime. As soon as they finished, they bolted for Mint's bedroom. I chuckled at that display and continued to leisurely eat my soup. When I finished, I quickly washed the dishes and went to check on them. I peeked into her room and saw that they were sitting in her bed talking. I got a wicked idea.

I teleported behind them and started singing, "Mint and Icy sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Daddy!" Mint protested clearly embarrassed.

I laughed at how uncomfortable she was. At that, all her embarrassment quickly turned to anger. Her horn started to glow and a magical wind blow through the room, only it didn't carry the scent of mint leaves on it. I noticed what was happening and I smiled. It was time. The room started to grow colder and colder with each passing moment. Mint had no idea about was going on around her, but Ice Breath could clearly feel it. He relaxed and enjoyed the coldness. The room grew colder still and I used a simple heat spell to keep myself warm. Then, the glass of water next to Mint's bed started to freeze. I glanced over the Ice Breath to see if the cold was starting to get to him, but e was clearly enjoying it now. The sound of shattering glass woke Mint up from her rage.

"Did I do that?" Mint asked.

"Yes, and it looks like you finally learned the rest of your special talent." I said.

"The rest of my talent?" Mint asked confused.

"Your special talent is to magically recreate the effects of mint leaves. One of those properties is calming people, and another is cooling things. Although, you took it to an extreme." I explained looking at the shattered glass.

"Really? Is there any other effects of mint leaves I should know about?" Mint asked excitedly.

"Only one, it can freshen your breath." I said jokingly.

"Oh well, at least I have two cool talents now." Mint said optimistically.

"Actually, it is only one." Ice Breath corrected.

"I wanna feel special, so I say I have two talents." Mint retorted.

"Whatever, but can you make the room cold again? I love it when it's cold." Ice Breath said.

"Ok." Mint said happily as she used her newly discovered talent.

I left the room after cleaning up the mess from the shattered glass. "Well, I know what I'm doing tomorrow." I said to myself as I went into town to find a certain mare.

Author's Notes

My chapters will probably come in at random times now that i am working full time and in college, but i will update as often as i can.

Yuri belongs to American-agent12.
Angel Lily belongs to Rainbow Lily.
Cammo belongs to ponylover8.
Ice Breath Belongs to Minimario25.
Ice Blitz belongs to doorpony94.

What mare is Shadow looking for?
I bet some of you already know.
Until next time.