I need to rest (Open)

Shadow started using his leg he was not using little at a time as his balance was affected by his labored breathing......he tried to not let it show, as he tried to keep his sense of pride that he was not weak. Shadow then stopped at a painting sometime later that caught his eye. A pegasus that was dark red standing in the middle of a bad storm from the way the mane and tail were painted as he stood on a cliff looking into the darkness of some foreign land, "This is a new one.....wait a second I know that pony I think...yeah that's the pegasus that helped my father when he was stranded on an island when I was just a filly....this must of been when he was looking for my father and the other ponies he was with."

Star Sapphire stared at Shadow in bewilderment. "Wow, you sure seem to know a lot of ponies. You sure you aren't just saying all of this to try and impress me?" She said, giving Shadow a wink. "But that must have been terrible. Having your father go missing, and at such a youn age too." She said, looking at the pegasus with care in her eyes.

Shadow said nothing at first as he truthfully did not really know at the time of this happening as he was very little. "He told me about this when he got back and I was older...I did not know what happened to him at the time..I could not even speak yet." He looked over at her not caring for her teasing as he saw her wink. "I have no reason to lie about any of this...dishonesty is nothing more if not just plain disgusting...I prefer to remain as honest as I can." Shadow started to move again as he was sweating even more for some reason and his breathing started to get heavier.

Star was a little put off by how he reacted to her teasing. There was no reason to be rude like that. She continued following him, staying behind him, her smile fading a bit. She g;acned up at the odd painting or two, but still a little upset about how he reacted.

Shadow sensed her reaction to his own cold shyness he then stopped and hung his head for a moment sighing. "Look I'm sorry if I sounded rude just now...I did not intend for my words to sound as such........it's just...I don't talk to hardly any pony....not after this happened." He said as he indicated his injuries on his left side and took a few deep wheezing breaths then started coughing slightly trying to cover his mouth.

Star continued walking. "Its ok." she said. "Its not right for ponies to avoid you, but still though....."She trailed off. She stopped at a painting and began to look at it. It was a mare, standing alone at a lake, staring at her reflection. Star Sapphire sighed.

Shadow was about to say something till she stopped and he did too to look at the painting, "This is a newer one.....hmm i think we have all been like what that mare in this one is doing at one time or another....doubting ourselves in more ways than one..." He begins to cough again and looked a little shaky till he happened to look toward the end of the hall and spotted something. "I don't believe it......after all this time it's still here...and even the memorial I left...I cannot believe they kept it." He said as he finally spotted what appeared to be the painting he was looking for, but he did not leave right away as he was worried about Star, he did not mean to make her feel bad, and he did not like seeing others like that...even he was constantly like that...but that was his own self was his reasoning...he then extended his right wing over her in a comforting manner to let her know as much as she was there for him at this moment, he was there as well...as well as he was apologizing to her in his silence not knowing what else to do.

Star Sapphire felt more comfortable when Shadow put his wing over her. She pressed up next to him and continued to look at the painting. "Its ok." She whispered, meant to be said, but to only be heard by herself. She looked up at Shadow. "Well, shall we go find your art?" She asked.

Shadow Zephyr was glad his slight blush was hidden under his dark cloak, as Star Sapphire leaned up against him making it to where she might be able to hear his pained breathing now, or even hear his heart's abnormal rhythm........."I think we are getting close, but no hurry if you want to look at this one more."

Star Sapphire shook her head. "No, I'm fine. We can leave." She said. She looked up at Shadow. "Lead the way Shadow." She said. She stepped out from under the pegasus' wings, and looked down the hallway.

Shadow was silent with worry that he has hurt her feelings unintentionally as she prepared to keep going..."Not much further now..I think I see it at the end of the hall...over here." He motioned to her as he limped over till they arrived at a painting that was much bigger than any of the others in the gallery, this one held a very special place in Shadow's heart. The painting started seemed to display a great battle...the land was burning around a large group of pegasi guards some injured...some burning alive..others dead...the whole scene was one of destruction, terror, bravery, fear, loss, battle, etc.... the other part of the picture showed several others in flight they seemed to be battling something..then throughout the rest of the painting was a large black dragon that looked tougher and more dangerous than most dragons...and in his mouth was the thing that would be the worst, and most meaningful part for Shadow Zephyr....A black pegasus with blue highlights in his mane, half of his body hanging out of the dragon's mouth, his armor in pieces and bleeding badly, and the deepest red eyes as the black pegasus seemed to be trying to fight as hard as he could to get free with an intense war face.

Shadow fell silent as he stared at the picture and especially at the black pegasus in the dragon's mouth.

Star Sapphire looked up at the painting she was led too. She found the painting disturbing. The images on it made her skin crawl. She looked down at her hooves. She never liked paintings like this, even though she understood their importance. But she came to the gallery to enjoy herself, and this wash not very enjoyable. She kept quiet, not wanting to kill Shadow's moment.

"I can tell you are disturbed by this...as you should be...I do not like this painting either, but there is a significance to it...it is a memorial to all the ponies on this painting.......only one survived...the rest are gone...the one was saved by some other ponies that are not shown here." Shadow looked over the painting as tears starting forming in his eyes but his face showed nothing as he kept looking it over as his mind flooded with terrible memories.....as if she could not tell..the pegasus in the dragon's mouth...was none other than Shadow Zephyr himself. "And not a day goes by that pony feels a great regret for the day this happened."

Star Sapphire looked up at the painting. "Well, regret can be useful. It helps us not repeat mistakes made in the past. Although it can be rough. I know how regret can feel." She had guessed who the pony in the painting was, but did not want to say it. "Regret can be hard to live with, but it is necessary. Without regret, society could not function, ponies would never learn." She said.

Shadow listened and pondered her words carefully as he tried to wipe away his tears without her knowing as best he could. "I suppose that is true....still I know how that pony is suffering greatly...still to this day he is....and misses all the friends he lost......that trinket right there he left for them years ago." Shadow took another few moments before he looked over to her Star Sapphire. "I thank you for coming with me this far....we can move on and enjoy the rest of the gallery as you like now."

Star nodded. "Well, it was nice of I'm to leave a memorial. Thy aren't really gone if we have their memories, correct?" She said. She smiled to try and lighten up the mood. She turned around and began to walk down the isle, enjoying the works of art as she walked.

Shadow's pace slowed down considerably as they kept walking and he was sweating more than earlier, his breathing was also more labored but he kept shaking it off as he followed her. "I believe you are right in that regard."

Star Sapphire turned around. Shadow was lagging behind her. "Do you need to rest? there is a bench over there, if you want to sit for a bit, catch your breath." She said, feeling worried. She felt responsible for this pony, and was not going to let him just drop dead. Not on her watch.

Shadow shook the slight dizziness he was having as he wiped a little sweat from his forehead and looked at Star Sapphire and then to the bench she mentioned as he nodded toward her. "I apologize for being like this...I think I should rest a moment as you suggested." Shadow limped over and sat down on the bench as best he could and not cause any more pain to himself. After a moment of resting he looked up at her, "You do not have to wait on me if I'm being too much of a burden...you are free to continue and look at the rest of the gallery."

Star Sapphire sat next to Shadow. "Well, I kinda feel responsible for you. I wouldn't want to walk off, only to have you collapse and have no pony around to help you." She said. "Besides, a break every now and then is good."

"Thank you.....I really do not deserve your kindness...but thank you regardless." Shadow said as he sat and rested on the bench and she sat with him, his breathing was still very heavy and his wing still throbbed, but he would endure it until he could get to a hospital later after he and her were done looking through the gallery. "Just give me a few minutes then we can go again for a ways."

"You may not deserve my kindness, but I'll give it all the same. The world would be better if everypony treated each other with a little more kindness." She said. Star Sapphire reclined in the bench, letting herself unwind.

"That is certainly true, this world would indeed be a bit better if we all treated every pony with a bit more kindness." Shadow said in response to what she had said as they both reclined on the bench to rest and try to unwind as a sudden jolt made Shadow turn his head into his shoulder as he started coughing again for few moments then tried to just shake it off as he gave his body a chance to rest.

Star looked on with a mix of shock and horror as Shadow went into a coifing fit. "Are you ok?" She asked, incredibly worried "Should I get you to a doctor? Or to the hospital?" She said, standing up, ready to help.

Shadow tried to stop coughing long enough to answer her as he could feel a slight pressure on his chest. "I'm sorry......it appears when I fell earlier my leg must have hit my ribs harder than I realized.....I'm starting to have difficultly breathing here and there." Shadow had hid it long enough as he was certain she could tell from how he acted the whole time she was with him, but he was trying to not worry her and ruin their time in the Gallery. He brought up his right wing and started coughing into it, his head was lowered and he even started to shut his eyes from coughing so hard to indicate it was getting worse, as he cursed himself for being so weak and looking so pathetic. "I'm so sorry ........this is ruining your day, all because of how weak my body has become over time." He barely managed to cough out.