Shadow Footsteps

By MrPandaa

• November 17, 2013




Age: Unknown (Anywhere from 18-24)

Gender: Male

Species: Earth Pony

Cutie Mark: Most ponies see no more than an inexplicable blur where Shadow's cutie mark should be, but when pressed, Shadow will claim that his cutie mark is a silhouette of some unknown figure, which is what Autumn Morning told him that she saw.

Personality: Shadow is well-personified by his name. He is rarely ever seen, and when he is seen, he would rather have been overlooked. He prefers to spend his time wandering from place to place, never staying long, due to a constant terror that he will show emotion and destroy innocent ponies' lives and livelihood.<br />Shadow is slow to anger but quick to despair, and has a hilarious dry wit that he only shares with his most trusted of friends. He will never hesitate to stand up for the weak or oppressed, but will leave them as quickly as he came to their aid.

Backstory: Shadow Footsteps' origin is shrouded in mystery. Some say he was a supersoldier, alchemically engineered to assassinate Celestia; others say that he was a member of the Silver Guard, but was banished after a failed attempt to end him, for what, few could say. They are all wrong.<br />Shadow was once a normal pony, with a job and a life, but at some point during that life, he was taken and remade by some unknown agent of chaos. This remaking forces him to display his emotions outwardly as one of the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth, and denies him all memory of his previous existence.<br />But the one thing everypony can agree on is where he was first seen by any normal pony.<br />He first appeared stumbling into an inn nearby the town of Ponyville at some late hour of the night. The only pony there to see him was the innkeeper, a fairly typical Earth Pony mare named Autumn Morning. She was a kind soul, and welcomed him in without a second thought.<br />Autumn asked him his name, and he had to think for a while. Finally he told her a single word: Shadow. Thinking that this single word was far too sparse a name for a mysterious stallion, Autumn suggested that his surname be Footsteps. It felt right to him as well, and from that night forth, he was known to all as Shadow Footsteps.<br />Autumn also suggested that Shadow stay at the inn, and as Shadow adjusted to his new life there and at the nearby Ponyville, he found himself spending more and more time with Autumn. Whenever he was with her, whether he was helping her with the upkeep of the inn, keeping her company while she ran an errand, or even just staying up late at night to talk about each other's lives, he found himself enveloped with an inexplicable peace that was completely foreign to him. He wanted to keep this feeling forever.<br />After he had been staying with Autumn for several weeks, he realized (with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Cake) that he loved her, more than anything else in all of Equestria. After much thought, he decided that he would propose to her. With that decision made, he immediately began to prepare everything so that the moment would be perfect. Soon, nearly every pony in Ponyville was involved, and an excited, anxious hush fell over the town.<br />When the moment had finally came, he brought her to the door where he had stumbled into the inn and laid his eyes on her for the first time. He attempted to calm his fluttering heart and dropped to one knee, looking up into the beautiful face he had come to love so dearly.<br />For a moment, his voice caught, and words wouldn't come. But as he looked into her eyes, he found the same pure kindness that welcomed him in that cold, grey night, and found his voice again with it.<br />Eyes shifted to the ground, he said, "Autumn, when I stumbled through your door that night weeks ago, I had no idea who I was, or what I was living for. I was a blank canvas, waiting for some brushstrokes to come along and make me."<br />He looked up at her, and she smiled at his attempt at analogy, her eyes eagerly waiting for him to continue.<br />"I still don't know who I am, but I now know what I'm living for. You helped me find it..."<br />Her eyes became blurry and unfocused, and he couldn't tell if it was the fault of his tears or hers. "...or I believe I should say, her. I love you, Autumn Morning, more than anything, and I want to spend my whole life with you."<br />Shaking, he lifted up a small wooden box, hand-carved by himself for this very occasion. But as it neared Autumn's outstretched hoof, Shadow's eyes snapped shut and he collapsed to the ground, his tail glowing a brilliant red. After only a moment, he leaped to his hooves with unnatural speed and looked towards his bride-to-be.<br />Naked affection shone in his now-pupiless eyes, glowing like the embers of a fire...and as Autumn looked into those eyes, burning flames became his irises, and his pupils returned to their rightful place. They shone with a new emotion: fear.<br />He whispered two words to her, his voice shaking and full of despair, "Go, now!"<br />As Autumn galloped away, she looked back to the only building she had ever called home. An enormous grey cloud now hovered menacingly over it, threatening her life, her dreams. Without any sign or provocation, the cloud let its rain begin to fall heavily upon the building, and as the drops fell, embers appeared all over the wood.<br />Through her tears, Autumn watched her home disappear in a ball of flame. She fell down in despair to the grass beneath her hooves, and heard on the wind the anguished cry, "Autumn, I'm sorry!"<br /><br />And the gods of Equestria wept with them both.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br />Ever since that day, Shadow has wandered from place to place, never staying long, terrified that he will destroy everything he holds dear.