Chapters Prologue
Long ago, before the events of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, shortly after the events of Discord, before the rebellion of Princess Luna was an ancient secret. Many believe Princess Celestia as a perfect monarch, a physical Goddess, who brought peace to Equestria with her sole power upbringing the sun, as well as her wise leadership decisions. What many don’t believe is peace cannot be earned without sacrifice. However the Princess knew well that this statement is true, but does not openly state it. Behind all the beauty, grace, and the motherly smile is a dark and troubled past.
There once lived a stallion, an Alicorn stallion. This stallion was tall, and a knight of endless power. His mane and fur was darker than the night, but Celestia didn’t care how hideous it was. He was capable of moving mountains, reaching near-light speed, magical knowledge of untold past generations, displaying humbleness and modesty was this stallion. This stallion stated his name was “Shadowmark” and came from humble beginnings to greatness. He is just about as old as Celestia, maybe even a bit older. Celestia was still young and so was Shadowmark, but they both were transfixed on each other. They both had a lot in common, being as powerful as they were. Shadowmark brought out the best of Celestia, the mare behind the royal alicorn. To Celestia, she felt like she can drop the princess act around him, and do what ordinary ponies can do like sticking your face in pies, getting dirty, and burp out loud.
When Celestia exposed to Shadowmark that she will rule Equestria when she becomes of age, after all of the Royal Triarchy passes away, Shadowmark said something she didn’t expect. Shadowmark said he is not from Equestria. Shadowmark comes from another pony planet called Volkihar. Volkihar was a poor and miserable land, not capable of maintaining life. Shadowmark was originally a Pegasus, but after solely saving his people from a civil war, he reached alicornhood. Shadowmark, being an alicorn, was next in line in ruling the dying kingdom, after his father who is on the brink of passing for ruling for 5,000 years. His dream was to find the answer to restore life back into Volkihar.
He read records in his world's grand library speaking of a gate forged by the ancient Gods themselves that went to a world similar to their world, hidden in mystery until he discovered them in the planet's castle. So he went through the forbidden interplanetary gates into Equestria, to find the answer. “Perhaps we could both rule together”, Celestia suggested.
“But why would you”, Shadowmark asked, “my land is dying, and we have nothing to offer you.” Celestia smiled cheerfully,
“a true leader must always lend a helping hand to other leaders so everyone can be happy”. Shadowmark stared into Celestia’s eyes, “thank you.” Then the two began to fall in love.
When they both became of age to rule they married. The interplanetary gates located in both castles were opened and expanded. The starving ponies in Volkihar saw peace and harmony again. The ponies of Equestria happily accepted their newfound alien brothers and sisters with open arms. Volkihar rose up from the dirt and became stronger.
Celestia and Shadowmark shortly had their own child, an Alicorn colt. “I don’t have anything in mind dear, so you should name him” said Celestia a few days after the birth of the new baby,
“ok… alright then” said Shadowmark. “Son, from now on.... your name will be... Shadowmane.”
“Shadowmane… I like it, reminds me of his father.” Celestia smiled at her new baby. As Shadowmane grew up, he showed amazing capabilities.
As a young colt, he quickly learned advanced magic, and had amazing perception and indistinct. His wing speed surpassed the Wonderbolts by the time he was school age. His strength rivaled that of his father’s. He even invented the magic of mind manipulation, warp technology, and enchantment. By combining advanced warp magic and supersonic body vibration, these both key points reduce his mass to a mere 0 grams, becoming nothing but mental and spiritual energy. However Shadowmane found the formula but could never do it himself, however it is still an amazing achievement for discovering it. If Shadowmane could ever be capable of using it, he could move at light speed.
Shadowmark and Celestia never quarreled, knowing they had the perfect son, capable of ruling as a dual monarchy. Shadowmane never seemed to develop a cutie mark but he never cared about that, he wants to expand his skills to everything he can. His blank flank became a symbol to the colts and fillies of Volkihar. When Shadowmane became a stallion, he already was a master of alchemy, medicinal practices, mind manipulating, martial arts, and much more. Everything seemed peaceful for Celestia and her family, kingdom, and loyal subjects… for a time.
A few decades later, planet Volkihar was still prospering mainly due to it leaning on its unconditional relationship with Equestria. The seasons of the planets never aligned, and the soil of Volkihar was completely infertile. The people of Equestria did not have enough agriculture to feed two planets. Volkihar’s own sun reached its galactic terminus, and triggered a supernova. The moon was destroyed but through the efforts of the royal family, and all unicorns from both Equestria and Volkihar, the radiation downpour was avoided. Shadowmark took up the job of star-bringer and brought the small and still burning white dwarf of their sun to daytime. However, nighttime stayed without a moon.
The Volkihar people however were abundant in artificial lights so night wasn’t so dark. Initially Equestria was over-abundant with fresh food and water, plenty to feed Volkihar. But with prospering kingdoms come the population growth. Volkihar’s population grew, plenty of housing, but not enough food. More and more mouths there were to feed and the earth ponies did not have enough farmers. Large majorities of ponies from Equestria and Volkihar were left undernourished. The bonds of the ponies between planets diminished, and conflict was rising. The royal family was powerless to calm the storm because they didn’t have the solution themselves.
However Shadowmark, experimenting with deep ancient magic discovered the answer he was looking for. The answer to keep his people alive and thriving was revealed. This was a transformation spell, which could be implemented through horn spell. The tests on the subject showed the unicorn, earth, and pegasus ponies had superpony strength, speed, magic reserve and comprehension, and did not rely on food.
The subjects grew fangs and the state could or could not be transferred through fangs willingly. However there were major side effects to the ponies’ new state. They grew darker, their fur fading into a darker color. Their psyches were different too; they became more sophisticated and brash. Their body temperatures were cold, like a corpse. And their skin burned while they writhed in agony when they were exposed to solar radiation.
The side effects were alarming to Shadowmark as he dug deeper into this case. He discovered it is called “Vampirism” a life form that lived off of the blood of other life forms. The side effects are debatable, but the fact that it prevents starvation is more than convincing. Shadowmark took the hard decision of never feeling sunlight normally again and ordered the spread of the state. Arvak, the Castles court mage, was ordered by Shadowmark to create a substitute to blood. Until then, Celestia commanded for biannual required blood donations from her subjects.
Shadowmark however still had to bring the sun to daytime according to theoretical universal laws. Confident in his new discovery, Shadowmark taught Shadowmane the spell as well as his finest soldiers and trusted officials how to spread Vampirism. Shadowmark and his son gave each other the “gift” and the soldiers and officials spread the gift to the rest of Volkihar. When the state of vampirism was given to the royal alicorns, their state was more powerful. They were dubbed “high vampires” since they were more resilient.
Agriculture was re-diverted back to Equestria and ponies were fed well again. This action of Vampirism however was not given to the ponies of Equestria. Celestia was sensing something ominous from the pony’s new state, and did not trust it. “You’re just over thinking things” Shadowmark said, “sure it will take time for you to get used to my subjects, me and Shadowmane, but besides that we’re all still normal.
“I don’t know…” said Celestia looking at her new transformed son and husband. Shadowmark’s eyes glow a dark red.
“Come on mom, I kind of like this new look, and it’s for the people of Volkihar.” Celestia stayed silent for a moment, and wore a warmly grin.
“You’re right sweetie, thank you.” She leaned in to kiss her son’s forehead. It was cold as ice and as hard as a rock. “I knew you would understand honey, don’t worry your ponies don’t need to have this if want to” thanked Shadowmark,
“I’m willing to sacrifice anything to keep my ponies safe.”
A few months later, all of the Volkihar population was converted to Vampires. All immigrants from Volkihar had to emigrate back to be given proper protection from the sun. The vampires got used to their nocturnal sleep cycle quickly in their home planet. Shortly after Arvak’s portal incident that “killed” him somehow turning him from a vampire into an undead skeleton, he discovered the wormhole leads to an endless sea of what supposedly was blood, just less diluted and not as potent as real blood. From here on out, the planets became fully independent. However this did not stop the vampire ponies from biting necks. A large group of vampires, sick of blood substitute, invaded through the gates and terrorized Canterlot and all other kingdoms.
The guards and the Princess were powerless because they were the vampires were too strong and too fast. They brought cloaks to resist (not fully protect) the sun and darted from shade to shade. All the townspeople were sucked dry of blood and left comatose. The Equestrian government, especially Princess Celestia was enraged from this incident. So the Volkihar government set up tighter security among the gates. This did not help as invading crowds began to become much larger, even the guards joined up. They did these raids with precision, invading when Shadowmark and his son were asleep and when it was nighttime in Equestria.
Luna couldn’t make the moon move any faster as it would disturb the universal laws. Millions of Equestrian ponies are left comatose, mentally scarred, fearful for their lives, or even dead. Even the most steeled of soldiers were unwilling to cross the gate. Luckily no one showed signs of vampirism so the crowd had no intention of spreading the state. As Equestrian and Volkihar ponies distanced each other, so did the relationship of Shadowmark and Celestia. The two never showed much love for each other.
Luna secretly asked Arvak to find a cure for Vampirism but Arvak replied stating that the book in which the spell is found says there is absolutely no cure for Vampirism. After an intense argument paired with destroyed walls and smashed family photos, Celestia and Shadowmark finally decided to divorce. Since both planets are fully independent now, the gates were to be fully deactivated. Shadowmane loved both his parents deeply but had no saying in the divorce.
Shadowmark and Celestia’s final agreement together was who would Shadowmane go with? Shadowmane created a highly powerful cloak that would fully protect him from solar radiation so he would be able to live in Equestria. As much as he liked Volkihar, he wouldn’t like a life without his mother and far away in another solar system. He never had much of a special bond with his father because he was always kept busy. Shadowmane disliked his father for not taking the time to not spend time with his only son. He decided he would go with Celestia because he knew that vampires are immortal so his father doesn’t need him.
After the closing of the gate Shadowmane was now stuck in Equestria forever. But Celestia now hated and despised vampires and began to hate her son over their actions in Equestria. So in an act of hatred and pain, Celestia cast a freezing spell on her son when he had his guard down. With the spell she added a long hibernation sleep spell. She knew that Shadowmane can be frozen forever and still live since he’s already undead.
She couldn’t even trust her own son not to bite people, and knew that he would face discrimination from her subjects, and her reputation as a princess would be ruined. She did it mostly as an act of hate but an act of protection as well. She took the ultimate sacrifice of losing her own son she loved so dearly to keep her kingdom safe. Celestia ordered that the entire presence of Volkihar be completely wiped off of Equestria. Every library book, every record, every house, every import, all of it was burned to ashes.
Every pony took a dead serious oath to never ever speak about the events that occurred and they kept their word. The sisters agreed to never speak of their past lives that involved Shadowmark or Shadowmane, or any undead pony. Shadowmane’s frozen body was sealed by Luna and Celestia themselves to an underground preservation room on top of the Library of Ponyville. He was sealed there because Celestia doesn’t want him near Canterlot at all.
Shadowmane’s day cloak was also left with him in a chest next to his body. The wooden pony head in the lobby was the key to opening the bunker; it had magical properties that only an Alicorn could detect. No one would ever know that it’s there for more than just decoration. It has been millenniums since that day, all the ponies that took the oath or experienced the pain are now long gone.
Equestria is now filled with ponies that don’t even know what vampires are, even Celestia’s top students or government officials don’t know. Only she and Luna knew the truth. Celestia continues to show the ever graceful and majestic presence in the lives of her subject, appearing to be a perfect leader and ruler of Equestria. The last words of Shadowmane as he was slowly frozen and put to sleep, her son which she loved with all her heart, still ring in her head, as if it was yesterday.
“But…I thought you loved me. Why…?”
Author's Note
I try to be as canon as possible with this story. I know I missed a mark or two with this story so... oh well!
I am so relieved to be a pony again instead of that weird two-legged thing. The ride back to Ponyville seems longer than before, mostly because I keep nodding my head in exhaustion. I couldn’t sleep at all since my friends keep asking me about the world I was in. I don’t even know how to describe it. Weird? Awesome? Crazy? I’m just gonna say all of the above. The first thing I do when I get back is crawl to bed. As we all exit the train I promised all the girls that I’ll tell them my experience when I’m able to. They all groan and say their good nights. “Finally, good night Spike” I say as I flop into bed. “Good night Twilight” Spike responded after a long yawn. I slip into sleep instantly. The next few days were relatively normal on Ponyville standards. That is until after a month when I go to bed...
“Free me…” a wispy voice in my dream said.
“What the-“I find myself in a dark and cold room. I can feel every feather in my wings stand up and ready to fall off. The room is narrow, rectangular, and grey. No lights, furniture, nothing just a blank room.
“Freeee meee…” ahead of me is complete darkness; the voice is coming from a distance. I start to gallop involuntarily and find myself going faster and faster. “Freeeeee meeeee…” I going from galloping to flying now, I’m going even faster.
“Who is that? Where are you??” It gets even colder now, my muzzle is starting to go numb, but I’m going faster. I didn’t know I can go this fast on wings, I think I’m faster than Rainbow Dash by now. I can’t keep my eyes open with this much wind pressure. “Whhhhyyyyy” the voice sounds closer; I can feel cold fog on the floor as I zip past.
“Help meeee” it sounds like it’s closer in front of me now. My body begins to decelerate; I can’t open my eyes still. Now my whole body is still, rigid freezing than ever. I slowly open my eyes; I found the source of the voice. The figure it… looks like an ice sculpture, shaped like a pony. A stallion to be more specific based on the heads shape, but it looks far too sloppy work for it to be an ice sculpture. I’m feeling a presence coming from the sculpture. Was this pony frozen? This dream feels too realistic for me to be my imagination. I charge a kinetic force spell, to hopefully break him out. The moment the spell hit him, I get a brief flash of an image. I use the spell again and get a slightly slower flash. I still can’t make it out, it’s blurry and sudden, and I need to keep hitting him. The more I use the spell, the clearer the picture is. It’s the wooden horse head carving, in the center of the library. “Help me….” The voice echo is endless. “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight” the voice gets louder and monstrous, Can’t cover my ears, my body’s too frozen! “TWILIGHT, SAVE ME! TWILIGHT!” Its ear piercing! I let out a yell of agony!
I burst out of bed, breathing heavily, beads of sweat running down my face; Spike was shaking me to wake up. It’s already morning, and Pinkie Pie is beside my bed. It’s not every day Pinkie Pie looks seriously worried. “Are you okay Twilight?” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah… I’m fine… really…” I slowly replied, catching my breath.
“Did you have a nightmare? Nightmares are soooooooo terrible!” Pinkie’s about to go into her chatting sprees again, I need to stop her, my annoyance span is at a smaller limit right now.
“I’ll be okay Pinkie, trust me, I just need to be alone for a while, you too Spike.”
“Well… okay Twilight, just holler when you need me” Spike assured. Pinkie and Spike left the library; I head downstairs to the lobby. What did that dream mean? Why was there a frozen stallion? Was that pony frozen intentionally? He sounded like he was in pain. And what does all of this have to do with the Wood carving in the lobby? I can’t put my hoof on it. I should just ignore it; it was probably just a nightmare like Pinkie Pie said… a very, realistic and vivid nightmare.
After the Harmony Festival, celebrating peace and harmony throughout Equestria, I said my goodnights to my friends and Spike and I went back home. The dream I had that morning I never spoke about with my friends. They’ll all probably just think I need to stop reading my spell tomes and rest my eyes for a while. “Will you be fine tonight “asked Spike? I gently grin, reassuring him,
“don’t sweat it Spike, it was just a nightmare, go get some shuteye.”
“Okay, good night.” Spike fell asleep quicker than usual. I start to close my eyes, but I can’t seem to fall asleep. I’ve gotten used to sleeping with wings. So it shouldn’t be so hard. Twisting and turning didn’t help either. Spike must be knocked out harder than Rarity after her tailoring request from Cadence herself. I feel so drowsy right now, I don’t if I’m half-conscious or in bed right now…
“Over here.” A voice said in my head. Is it in my head? I think it’s coming from in front of me. I don’t even know, I’m like a zombie right now. I see a silhouette, looks like a pony, but it’s too blurry. It’s going downstairs; I… need to follow it… I’ve got to stay awake. The silhouette is disappearing and reappearing, and now it stopped. I managed to go down the stairs to where the pony is without passing out; the pony is in front of me now. The silhouette is growing taller, transforming into another pony I think. Its horn just got much longer, a gorgeous flowing mane is released, the fur becomes a snow white with a hint of pink, a shimmering crown with an amethyst appears, and warm loving purple eyes lock on me. I can tell from the figure that it was.
“P…princess…C-celestia…?” I spit out. Her majesty turns around, staring at the wooden horse head carving. Then something catches my eye, I can’t tell exactly my vision is too blurry, something shiny falls from her Highness’ face and breaks upon the floor. I…I think it was… a tear. Princess Celestia hardly ever cries. More tears fell from her face, a small puddle of the Princess’ tears were starting to form. I can hear soft sobbing from the silhouette. My eyes drift to the case holding the Elements of Harmony. My crown begins to start glowing in a pulsating manner, faster and faster. Then it settles down again in perfect placement. Dreams are supposed to be recollection of what your mind knows, not what it didn’t know.
This isn’t a dream; this is a vision, a vision of prophecy. The silhouette, the Princess, slowly fades away. I’m all alone again… I can’t keep my eyelids half open anymore. I collapse on the floor. What is going on in these visions I’ve been having? Am I just going crazy? Do all alicorns experience these visions? I can’t deny the truth and all the hard clues and questions that need to be answered. I’ll gather up my friends tomorrow… and maybe… we can… solve this… zzzzzz…
I wake up off of the cold wooden floor, I manage to get up on my my four legs. After a cold, awakening shower I exit my home to gather up my friends. Pinkie Pie wasn’t too hard to find, she was waiting outside my door after all. “Good MORNING SLEEPYHEAD!” Pinkie rails into my ears. Good, nothing better then my adrenal glands overloading to get the blood flowing.
“Pinkie, I need your help, gather up all of our friends, tell them this is extremely important.”
“Okey Dokey, I’ll get Rarity and Applejack faster you can say “Squeaky Belle”! I need to look desperate, make it seem completely urgent,
“all right then, I’ll get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, meet me here ASAP!” Pinkie nods and zips into the plaza, seeming really excited even though I didn’t tell her anything yet. Spike is still asleep but he’ll just slow me down, I need to get to Rainbow’s house!
I gallop to her house and ring the ground-level doorbell. I can hear the ring go off in the house pretty clearly, since the walls are just clouds. No one is answering; I ring the bell again, still nothing. I don’t want to use my new wings right now; I doubt I can fly THAT high up. I start charging a wind spell to knock that deaf pegasus out of the sky; yeah I’m this desperate right now. Right before I pull the trigger Rainbow Dash opens the door. “Morning Twilight, you need anything?” Rainbow yells down to me. I “sheath” my spell back,
“Rainbow Dash, you have to come with me, it’s urgent, like fate-of-Equestria urgent! Can you grab Fluttershy as fast you can?” Rainbow doesn’t hesitate and zooms to Fluttershy’s cottage, leaving a big stream of blue sky in the clouds in her trail. It becomes silent again, just the sounds of birds chirping softly. I can faintly hear Fluttershy’s scream 4 miles away. It continues to get louder in matter of seconds. Rainbow Dash is in front of me, with an exhausted Fluttershy hanging in her left hoof.
“We’re here” says Rainbow Dash, her turbulence catches up and blows in my face. Fluttershy lets go of Rainbow Dash and crashes into me, sending us into a patch of grass.
“Oh… hey Twilight” Fluttershy gently greets, “You said something is urgent that everyone needs to know about?” Fluttershy gets off, and I get back on my hoofs,
“yes, very urgent.” I tell with my hoof to follow me, and we rush back to the library.
Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity are outside waiting for us. Rarity doesn’t have her eye shadow on, Pinkie probably dragged Rarity halfway into her makeover. “We’re all here girl” says Applejack, “what in tarnation is this all about”?
“Darling... you better have a very good reason in dragging me here without time for me to doll up” says Rarity, looking for an answer.
“Girl’s…just bear with me and come inside.” I open the door to see Spike’s awake and standing in front of me.
“Twilight…” Spike exclaims, “You okay? How come everyone’s here?” I stare into Spike’s eyes, with a face blank for Spike to read it, he knows I’m serious.
“Spike… get the Elements of Harmony out” I ask with fierce eyes. Spike obeys, and opens the display case. I magically pick them up and fasten the amulets to my friend’s necks. I put on my crown, and we all make our formation.
I pause for a moment and look at everyone. Everyone’s puzzled, even Pinkie Pie was starting to feel a little off. “Get ready and charge up” I tell everyone. They all build up power, their body’s rise from the floor, their eyes flooding with light, their amulets glowing bright and steady, ready on my command. I charge up myself except something feels different. This is the first time I’m using the Elements of Harmony as an alicorn, it could be more potent. My focus my eyes deeply on the eyes of the wooden carving of the horse head. I’m beginning to detect a faint magic presence from the carving. I lived in this library for a long time now, how come I never felt this signature until now? This carving is no ordinary centerpiece. The Elements light is focused on my crown, I can feel the power stirring itself in my magic. Then I release.
The unicorn head wasn’t decimated, instead it absorbed to the blast, its eyes flickering the whole rainbow spectrum. My own magic is being pulled into the mixture. I stop the attack; all of us drop to the floor physically exhausted. Books are scattered all over the place, and Spike is on the wall, regaining his consciousness.
“W…what did you do Twilight?” asked Pinkie, getting back on her hooves.
“Were you aiming at the horse head?” Rainbow Dash said, getting back up as well. I, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash got back up to stare at the horse head. Everyone else including Spike got back up to join us in staring at the horse head. Its eyes were glowing dimly, and then faded away. Did it work? If that horse head was nothing, it would’ve been disintegrated or knocked off its post into a million pieces. But it’s completely fine. Suddenly a circle of light began to form around the lobby, lines of light met with the centerpiece. The light circle faded, and the wooden pieces all fell in order, revealing a staircase.
My eyes widened in disbelief, everyone else followed suit. We paused for a long moment before Fluttershy spoke up. “W-w-w-what does it… lead to…?” Rarity answered her,
“I…I don’t even… have the smallest clue.” Applejack asked me, “Twilight, do you have any idea what this is?” I looked at everyone,
“the only way we’ll know is if we go down there and find out.” Everyone nodded in agreement, except Fluttershy, who looked terrified. “Come on Fluttershy” said Rainbow Dash, “you can stay behind me the whole time.”
“O…okay” Fluttershy responded. Good, I think we might have to use the Elements of Harmony again in case there’s trouble. Everypony began the trip down; it was longer than I thought. Me and Rarity kept balls of light near us while Spike lit a torch. After what felt like forever we hit a door. The door is thick about 2 meters, and it’s freezing cold. The door opened with a large rusty creak, I can hear Fluttershy’s whimpers behind Rainbow Dash. We all get blasted by a wind of freezing air. The door revealed a narrow, dark, grey, blank, and rectangular room… just like in my dream…
Wha… what’s going on…? Where… am I? My head is killing me… was I frozen? Why would mother do this…? I’m so thristy… I can feel my vision starting to focus. Why are 6 ponies staring at me? I think I’m in a bed, it’s so warm… I can hear something that sounds like a piston?
“Why hello there.” Says the purple mare. The mare has wings AND a horn, just like me! Wait… it’s her. The one I’ve been trying to contact for a long time. I can feel her presence through my frozen prison. I can feel my throat clearing up,
“H…hello there…” her smile is inviting as well as the other mares smiles too. I need to get out of this bed, see what’s going on. But I feel something tugging from my hoof, looks like a syringe. I start to remove it, but the yellow mare with the pink mane gently grabs my hoof.
“You shouldn’t get up so soon, mister, you need your rest.” She’s right, I need to play along with the situation, get some information about where I am.
“Where am I?” I ask them.
“You’re in the Ponyville clinic. Rainbow Dash brought you here and the nurses treated you.” Rainbow Dash? Oh, she’s pointing at the blue pony, her mane is so unique, so many colors. Ponyville? I don’t remember a town called Ponyville, I must be in the future.
“Who are all of you?” I ask them. The purple pony spoke again.
“Well, the blue one’s Rainbow Dash, the purple mane pony is Rarity, the butter-colored pony is Fluttershy, the pink pony is Pinkie Pie, the orange pony with the hat is Applejack, and I’m-“ I interrupt
“Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked at me, astonished,
“How did you know?” she asked.
“I briefly read your mind in your sleep, I could only get out your name but that’s all could do because I needed to contact you with the little magic energy I built up over the years." Suddenly my mind fills with the events that happened before I was frozen, with mother, and watching father leave. I don’t want to think of my mother right now, I want to learn more about this new time period I’m in. If I remember correctly I’m in Equestria. I rarely went to Equestria, stayed in Volkihar most of the time. And when I did go to Equestria, I never went outside the castle. I look at the counter beside me, my cloak is there.
“That was beside you when we found you.” Rarity told me. “Is it important”? I take my cloak and embrace it firmly, this is the only thing I can call my own in this new world.
“It’s very important... Rarity, VERY important.” I set it back on the counter.
“Well now that you know our names”, says Twilight, “what’s your name?”
“My name…? Shadowmane… my name’s Shadowmane.” Suddenly Pinkie Pie stares deep and dangerously close in my eyes.
“Shadowmane? That’s a funny name, are you afraid of light or something? But this room is lit up right now; maybe it’s your mane. Your mane is soooooft especially since it’s been frozen for thousands of years. Can freezing your hair make it softer? RARITY YOU SHOULD BE TAKING NOTES!” I lost her around there, everything starts to feel fuzzier. I need to shut her up; my… head… is… killing me. I cast a pacifying spell on her, the pink pony's flickered a light cyan and her friends are freaked out. What? Haven’t they ever seen an emotion manipulation spell before? Judging by their faces, I guess not. I move Pinkie Pie out of my face and back beside my bed. “I’m truly sorry, it was wrong for me to make fun of your name, I hope you’ll forgive me.” Pinkie Pie says in a more relaxed and polite way. Rainbow Dash gives me a hostile look,
“What did you do to Pinkie Pie, you creep?!” Creep? I’ve been called worse.
“You need to calm down, like Pinkie Pie; she was getting into my personal space so I calmed her down. She’ll be back to her old self in a minute.”
“One does not simply calm down Pinkie Pie” says Applejack.
“I can, don’t you ponies know what an emotion manipulation is?” I ask everyone. Everyone looks puzzled, I expected Rarity and/or Twilight to know, but I guess not. “Well like the name states, it’s magic that manipulates the emotions of your target. It was something I invented; I made spells for all kinds of emotions: love, anger, envy, happiness, you name it.
“How much magic do you really know!?” Twilight asks with a gleam of excitement in her eyes.
“A lot more, I invented 3 types of magic, one of them which only alicorns like you and me can practice.” I feel like I’ve collected my consciousness already. I remove the syringe and breather mask and hop out of bed. Fluttershy reacts the way a mother would react, with worry. “Don’t worry Fluttershy”, I reassure her, “I’ll be fine” I place my hoofs the ground, I still feel a bit out of shape, I charge and cast a potent healing spell, enveloping me in a golden light, easing my tense muscles, sealing any cuts, restoring my skin to an even layer, easing any trauma, and recuperating my stamina. My physical strength is coming back, my magical prowess is returning, I feel at my peak form again. My vampire senses are coming back; I can feel the life forces of everyone from a 1 mile radius. I haven’t had a bit of blood in a long time. Maybe if I can bite one of the patients when they’re sleeping I could-…wait… I forgot… the blood portal. Everyone is watching me intently and silently waiting for me to do another amazing action. Well, I can’t help but impress everyone when I’m not trying can I? I magically conjure a flask, studded with rubies with an intricate golden design near the silver cap. With everyone’s eyes on me, I open a portal small enough for me to fit my hoof through. I take the flask through the portal to scoop a swig of blood substitute. I refine it for it to have that more genuine taste of blood fresh from someone’s neck. I bring it to my mouth to take a long chug at it till it’s empty. The liquid is as clear as water, so everyone assumed it was water. No matter how much I refine it, this will never top real blood, but it quenches the thirst.
“You can open portals!” Twilight exclaims, beaming with excitement.
“To a few dimensions, this is a very basic portal hole. Sorry if I’m making any of you uncomfortable, I just put on a big freak show in a few minutes.”
“Honey ya don’t gotta worry about we think. We trust ya, and I hope you can trust us too.” Applejack says with a cheeky smirk, she’s quite sincere. They all give me warm smiles, except for Rainbow Dash; it feels nice to experience affection. I can tell Rainbow Dash doesn’t trust me yet.
“May I see my cloak?” I ask to Rainbow Dash.
“Fine here you go, just don’t hit me with those freaky spells of yours.”
“I promise, I only did that to Pinkie Pie cause she was kind of irritating a sickly patient who woke up after thousands of years.” I say while putting on my cloak. If my founders found out that I burn in the sunlight, they’d suspect me for a vampire. The fangs are proof enough, but I think the future ponies are unfamiliar with this blessing and curse inflicted upon me, can’t take a risk. With my cloak, I can explore this new world I never I got see but never explore. The cool breeze, the crystal blue waters, the lush green meadows, the beautiful wildlife, and everything else in between. But I’ll never be able to feel the warmth of the sun again. Father never told me the side effects of Vampirism; he knew the sun was something important to me; I hate him for taking it away from me. He just said it stops the need for food and that got me to blindly sign the deal with the devil. And now he’s gone, light years away from me. And I knew mother hated me when I saw the rage in her eyes. The rage pointed at the one she loved most, but now I’m the one she hated most. I don’t care about her anymore; I never want to see her again. If I do, I’ll suck her long neck dry. I bet she’s forgotten about me, this world is so peaceful and bright. These mares treat me like a new companion, a friend. I expected them to be afraid and disgusted by my abilities and appearance, I’d be afraid and disgusted. They’re my first friends in this world, the ones I can call home and family. I can’t let them see me for who I really am, I don’t want to lose them. I must be nice to them; they showed me nothing but friendship. I won’t have mother take them away from me. For the first time, in a long time, I can faintly feel my heart fill up with life.
If news got out that a black-red alicorn stallion that can make dimensional portals from thin air was in Ponyvile, Ponyville will be flooded by spectators and soon mother will catch wind of the news. She’ll probably freeze me for another several millennia. Or she’ll probably just rid of me forever by stabbing a wooden stake through my chest. I should just settle in Ponyville, no… wait that’s not a good idea. Actually I’ll build a house just outside of Ponyville; I want to visit my friends from time to time. I ask Twilight about any possible areas I can build a house near outside Ponyville. Fluttershy zooms up to me with an adorable grin,
“You can build your house near my cottage, and I’ve always wanted a neighbor to share my animals with!” Animals? She must be a caretaker to animals. She was so timid yet motherly when I saw her and now she looks excited. I think she lives rather isolated from every pony else. That’s why she wanted me to rest; she naturally has a motherly impression to the sickly or delicate. There weren’t much wildlife in Volkihar, just raging dragons and undead wolf packs. I’m living near a new friend, and I can tell she’s quite kind and loving. Applejack comes into the conversation with an offer,
“How about we help you build your house Shadowmane? Seem like a good plan?” I wave my hoof,
“It’s okay, I’ll build it myself, and I’m a bit picky with where I live.” They all didn’t seem so skeptical on how I would build the house, but they respected my response. I give Fluttershy a smile that could warm even my undead heart “I’m very grateful” I thank her, she nods in approval,
“It’s no problem really. I have a nice place where you can clear out where no animals are living in.” Well it’s a start; I’ll build my house in the timeless dimension, something I discovered when snooping around in the old Volkihar laboratory when I was a colt. The clone spell I learned will help dramatically with the construction. I’ll keep a team of clones set on forming materials and another building with them. I’ll set the dial to 1 day=1 year, its maximum output and I won’t be seeing them for a while. I won’t just keep my clones in the dimension by themselves or else they’ll grow minds of their own and leave the work unfinished. “Come on” Fluttershy says, “I’ll show the plot of land, this way.” Everypony follows Fluttershy to the plot of vacant land she was talking about. “Here it is” She points at a group of trees.
“This will do fine thank you” Using my magic, I uproot the trees in the area. To keep the place clean, I replant the trees in the grass plains. I cut out the grass and pound the surface flat. The land is as smooth as skin, perfect for placing the final piece gently. The ponies look amazed again for the magical prowess display. I take a long look at the mares that befriended me, and give them a rather sappy smile.
“Is everything alright partner?” Applejack asked me.
“Everything’s fine.” I tell her.” Goodbye every pony” I tell them. I open the portal to see my newfound friends faces disappear. It will be a year until I see them again. Normally I’m used to watching the years pass by, but with them… I find it hard to watch time pass by. If I keep my head on the goal to finishing my manor, 1 year will pass by quickly…
“What was that all about?” Asked Rainbow Dash, “the way Shadowmane said goodbye, it sounded like a last goodbye.”
“I thought he wanted to build his house near me.” Fluttershy started to look sad.
“Maybe he just went off to get supplies and that portal trick of his pretty darn handy” says Applejack, fixing her hat.
“Maybe he traveled to some freaky dimension where time goes by much faster.” suggested Pinkie Pie.
“What makes you say that Pinkie?” I ask her,
“Just a hunch,” Pinkie gives me a big grin.
“Pinkie that is so… moderately absurd” says Rarity. To be honest some part of me believes what Pinkie Pie just said. The look in Shadowmane’s eye when he got approval from Fluttershy was yelling out happiness. Shadowmane seems like that kind of pony capable of things like bending time.
“Maybe we should wait a day or two guys, and maybe he’ll show up again.” I tell everyone. We all decide to sleep over at Fluttershy’s house to see if Shadowmane will return with building material or something. We all catch some shuteye that night. I look through the window that looks over the cleared plot of land. I stop thinking about it and get some sleep. This has sure been some day I’ve never had before. I don’t need to send a letter about this to Princess Celestia, after all I'm her equal now and what does this have to do about friendship, this is just crazy… I drift into sleep faster than… I think…
*8 hours later* BOOM! I wake up to the feeling of the ground beneath me rumbling outrageously! Fluttershy’s animals are going crazy and Fluttershy is up in an instant to calm them down. Everyone’s awake on the sound of the crash. It’s already morning; I can see the sunbeams pour into the house through the windows. I can smell the morning air once the dust settled.
“What just happened?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“IT’S THE END TIMES; CELESTIA’S HAIR IS FALLING OUT!” Pinkie Pie seems normal at least, you can tell not even she expected this with her Pinkie sense.
“Relax girls”, I tell them, “it was probably a mild earthquake”. Applejack motions me to the window she’s looking out of,
“Honey…” she paused for a moment wide-eyed, “that ain’t no earthquake.” We all join her to see through the window, joining her with the eye widening. In the distance, I can see… I think it’s a manor. The manor is spectacular! Its only one floor high, about 15 meters tall, the polished and glossed granite walls added with stain glass windows shows pure royalty. The windows are detailed with patterned flowers, star constellations, and alicorn ponies. On the roof I can see an Italian Renaissance styled dome with… I think a giant telescope jutting out of a gap in the dome. Amazing… is this manor’s who I think it is? I hear a knock at the door… is that who I think it is…? Fluttershy and everyone else seem too dumbstruck to answer the door so I go to answer it. It’s Shadowmane, in his cloak.
“It’s so good to see you again Twilight, it’s been too long. I mean, for me anyways, I can sense everyone else is with you too.” Everyone else comes to the door to see Shadowmane. “May I come in?” Shadowmane asks.
“Come in…” said Fluttershy.
“Thank you” Shadowmane enters and takes off his headwear. His mane is all ragged and dirty, and I can smell him a mile away.
“It’s so good to see everyone else here. I’m very sorry if the impact of my manor startled you. If you can all follow me I can tell you everything.” Shadowmane puts his headwear back on and gestures for us to follow him. We oblige, following him to the giant house that appeared before our eyes. The mahogany doors automatically open as we enter the manor. What we see in the inside is much greater than what was outside. There are white marble diamond encrusted Corinthian pillars lined up from the entrance to welcome us with their large presence. The windows I saw were actually one-way windows; it’s just a big mirror on the interior. It’s like the Crystal castle and Canterlot Castle combined into one and compressed into a smaller surface area. The floors are made of white marble as well until we enter through the arched double doors to a smooth polished wooden floor. It was so gorgeous back in the foyer, now it’s just pleasantly comfortable. I see red silk couches and sofas on my right and an average sized kitchen with a glass dining table supported by golden legs on my left. Shadowmane is being silent until he spoke up, holding an inviting hand to the dining table, “please sit down, I’ll serve you breakfast, I know you ladies are starving.” He read us like a book, we are starving. We all take our spots in the dining table while Shadowmane goes into what I think is a pantry. He comes back holding 6 covered dishes, putting them in front of us. When he lifts the covers, our mouths start drooling. It’s our favorite breakfast foods. I have classic pancakes stacked with thick syrup and orange juice. I look around and see what everyone else got. Fluttershy has a fresh Caesar salad and sparkling lemonade. Rainbow dash got a 2 zap apple sandwiches with a protein shake. Applejack has apple fritters and a tall glass of apple cider. Rarity has low-fat waffles cooked to a golden crisp with a precise zigzag syrup pattern with tea. Pinkie has a razzleberry pie with a strawberry milkshake. “I’ll let you girls eat up while I go and get a shower, I’ll be back to tell you what happened.” Shadowmane leaves with a gentle smile. We all enjoy our meal while talking about the manor and what Shadowmane possibly did to finish a whole manor overnight. Shadowmane comes back, fresh as a daisy and without his day cloak. “I see you guys are done already, alright you can take a seat at the couches, I’ll tell you everything.” We all sit down on the soft and slippery couches, except for Pinkie, who crashed her rump on the oak coffee table. “I know you all have a lot of questions. Such as how did I know your favorite foods, how did an entire manor appear in an instant and maybe a lot more? Well it’s because I didn’t built this manor here, I built it somewhere else.” We all look at each other, puzzled. Shadowmane continues, “I call it the timeless dimension. I can complete a year’s worth of work in 1 day.” Timeless dimension, that sounds very absurd, but so interesting. Pinkie Pie was right all along, “So to me it has over a year since I saw all of you.”
“Why didn’t you want to build it here where we can help you?” asked Rainbow Dash,
“The reason is because my manor is a complicated house with a lot of things that will take a very long time“ said Shadowmane.
For the next 3 hours Shadowmane was showing us the rooms in the manor. No pony had the words to form what just happened in the past hour and a half. The place is amazing; he has an alchemy lab, a study hall, and the observatory! There are much more rooms like the acoustic room and blacksmith room. He has dimension portals set up like doors to dimensions for training and practicing. Shadowmane asked me if he can bridge a portal to the library back here and I complied. He gave me a blue glowing stone, he called it a portal beacon, and it sets up portals from one point to Shadowmane. After the tour we all leave to give Shadowmane some privacy. I need to go back to the library and finish up some new princess-related things, but I want to stay and explore this new wonderful font of knowledge just waiting to be revealed. But I have to be courteous; the black stallion really looked exhausted. Fluttershy wants to have a lunch picnic with Shadowmane tomorrow, everyone else is going to be busy tonight, but I can guess what is on their minds. So it’s just going to be him and her and her animal friends. Right when I get home Spike comes up to me with his eyes wide open,
“Who was the pony? What was his name? Where is he right now? Is he dangerous or not? ...What is that thing you’re holding?” He looks at the stone I’m levitating.
“I’ll answer all those questions in a minute Spike” I tell him, putting a hoof in his shoulder, “but that last one I’ll answer right now.” I place the beacon on the ground next to a blank spot on the wall. Shadowmane told me to send a small spark of magic through it and it will activate. I do so and the beacon glows brightly. Above the glowing blue stone the portal opens! It opens to reveal Shadowmane in some torch lit room near with what looked like a blacksmith forge. He's hammering a piece of metal and dropping it in a bucket of water, he soon turns around and sees me and Spike through the portal.
“Oh good Twilight, you got it working” says Shadowmane, putting down the hammer. I can feel the warmth of the metal and the forge pouring through the portal. This new door in my house is crystal clear, like I can hold my hoof out and poke myself on Shadowmane’s tall horn.
“Who’s the baby dragon, your pet?” asked the black stallion, looking at Spike.
“PET!?” said Spike, getting first poor impression, “listen bud, we just saved your flanks from staying in that frozen prison any longer so you should show a little respect, plus Twilight’s like a sister to me and-“ I magically cover Spike’s mouth and sheepishly laugh.
“Sorry about that, this is Spike and he still has that dragon flare, even when still a baby. Don’t worry he’s a good guy, he didn’t mean it.” I let go of Spike’s mouth letting him gasp for air.
“No I should be the one who’s sorry, I shouldn’t have called Spike your pet, and I hope you’ll forgive me.” Shadowmane says, he extends a hoof through the portal to Spike. Spike pauses a moment and firmly shakes hoofs and opens his mouth,
“I’m sorry as well, you’re just so… new to me that’s all.” They release and bring their limbs back on their respective sides of the portal. “In time I hope to change that” says Shadowmane, a gentle smile on his face, he looks back at me.
“Alright Twilight, this is how the portal works. It will not be open all the time 24/7, only when I want to check something out, retrieve information, or just want to hang out. Only you and I can open the portal since your magic is currently flowing through it. When I want to open the portal, the stone will make this sound.” He strikes the stone with his a spark of his red colored magic and the stone makes a soft, high-pitched, and wispy sound. The stone glows brightly so we could see it. “The portal will only open if you respond to it with your touch or magic so I can respect your privacy. Same goes for me, I’ll get a sense in my head that you’re wanting to open the portal to me and I’ll be able to accept or decline. It’s simple as that.” The stone stops making sounds and calms down.
“Thanks Shadowmane, this could really benefit the both of us in terms of gathering knowledge. I can’t wait to unravel this mystery I’ve discovered.” I give him a wink; he gives me a curt nod. He pauses and looks at Spike, and then at the stack of messenger scrolls used to be sent to the princess.
“Hmm… since you’re an Alicorn not in Canterlot… and you have a dragon… I assume this dragon sends messages to the princess.” I raise an eyebrow, good guess.
“Yeah, how did you know?” I ask him, a curious look in my eye again that he could read.
“Messenger dragons were very common in royalty a long time ago…” he stopped there and smiled at me. I smiled back, feeling a bit uneasy. Shadowmane's horn glows very brightly for a moment and he quickly covers it up. “I-I’m sorry Twilight, but my magic is now starting to react differently to the new environment. I’m sorry Twilight I need to say goodbye now, perhaps I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waves us goodbye and closes the portal, leaving the wall blank again.
“Do you want to send a letter to Princess Celestia about this discovery?” asked Spike, already having the parchment and quill ready.
“Sure Spike, it would be a good idea to send it to her.” I recite the words I say to Spike so he can copy it down. When he finishes he scrolls up the letter and blows on it… only to find it burnt to ashes before his feet.
“That’s weird…” said Spike, scratching his forehead. “Are you sure you used the right type of parchment? You know normal parchment doesn’t react to dragon fire like the ones we usually use.” I tell him, looking at the pile of ashes.
“I did, maybe I lost my ability to send letters or something.”
“It’s possible… you know what, let’s not send a letter to Celestia, Shadowmane looked like he needed his privacy anyways. He wouldn't want the Goddess of the Sun to visit him at such a weird time” I tell Spike. We both hit the hay for today and try to get some rest. For after what felt like a long time, I instantly fell asleep and pleasantly dreamed.
*1 day later* Okay I have everything ready with my lunch with Shadowmane… I think… I hope! Oh, I hope he doesn’t think this picnic will be terrible and think of me as a rotten neighbor. No, I have to be brave, be courteous, and be kind. I’m bringing Angel Bunny with me for the picnic as well. Angel Bunny has never seen Shadowmane before… I’m sure he’ll like him. I have to admit, I was terrified by his appearance at first, thought he was some demon out for my flesh. But I can see through the black coat, red eyes, and bat wings that he’s a yearning soul for company and a friend. I open the door and tell everyone to be good while we meet our new neighbor. And we’re off… oh wait do I have everything? Lunch, drinks, and Angel Bunny, good everything’s here. This is the first time I’ll spend some real time with Shadowmane, I’m sure he has a lot of interesting stories to tell about old Equestria. Like what were the animals of old Equestria like? Or what did the people eat back then, I’m just as curious as Twilight right now. I told him to meet me at the grass meadow at noon. He said he would also bring a picnic blanket with him. We set out and walk for about a lazy 10 minutes. Oh, I think I see him, in the fields. He’s sitting under a large parasol wearing his cloak without the headwear, lying at his side. The white picnic blanket is embroidered with amber swirling patterns, it’s very lovely. Angel Bunny gives me sign language to tell me he forgot something at the cottage.
“You go on back then; I need to see our new neighbor on time. Besides I think he sees me already.” Shadowmane is waving his hoof over to come over, ok… I can do this… I need to make a good impression. I head over and we shake hoofs, his hoof is so cold…
“Hello Fluttershy, I thought you wouldn’t make it in time” Shadowmane says.
“Oh, I would never keep my friends waiting, especially if they moved just right by me recently” I tell him. Shadowmane gently nods,
“I really do thank you for letting me clear up some land to ‘build on’. I thought someone like you would be hesitant letting me clear up trees. Are you sure no animals lived there?”
“I’m positive, I’ve been going through those parts of the forest for years, and no birds’ nest to groundhog holes was ever made there. Besides, I saw you replant the trees elsewhere, it wasn’t too hard was it?” I’m afraid he’ll say yes, but he shakes his head.
“I have a large magic reserve like Twilight. But I have more endurance and use up less magic energy. Twilight is always looking to learn new magic. But never does she learn how to refine her magic processing so she can use less. I hope some of this is getting through to you.” I get some of what he says; Twilight does have a lot of magic power. It was really something when she calmed that Ursa Minor.
“It’s getting through, some of it” I tell him. “You’re my 5th alicorn friend so far, what is it like having wings and a horn?” Shadowmane gives me a blank look in the eye. I tense up, “bad question?” I ask him.
“It isn’t, just uncommon that’s all. Well to be honest, it truly is an amazing thing. So many ponies look up to you, hoping you’ll have the leadership skills necessary to keep their lives happy. It's not easy i'll tell you that, so much responsibility one one pony...” Shadowmane gazes into the grass fields being blown by the wind. “People like me never have moments like these, to sit with a friend that doesn’t address you a “majesty” or “sire”, in a lush green meadow with no noise but the birds chirping. It’s all… so new to me… I like it…” We spend the next 5 minutes having some salad and talking about what my friends are like and how they treat me. Angel Bunny returns with a stalk of carrots in his hand.
“Oh, Angel Bunny,” I say standing up, “I’d like you to meet our new neighbor Shadowmane.” Shadowmane gently smiles and greets Angel Bunny. Angel looks at him, and suddenly gets a very irritated look in his eye. He gets furious and starts kicking Shadowmane’s leg. Not flinching in the slightest, Shadowmane looks upset.
“Did I… do something wrong?” he says disappointed.
“I don’t know, Angel please stop that, that is no way to treat a guest.” Why is he doing this? Shadowmane was just sitting there, doing nothing. Shadowmane makes a melancholy sigh,
“I made some studies that most animals make their first impressions of new ponies based off of their appearance. Angel Bunny must assume I’m dangerous and want to harm you.” Would Shadowmane do that to me? No, he would never do that, he’s one of the gentlest ponies I’ve ever met. “I guess your friend doesn’t want me here, I understand, I’ve always been alone anyway, I’ll be okay.” Shadowmane puts his headwear back on and gets up, looking depressed. “Thank you Fluttershy for the lunch, but I guess I’ll take my leave.
“Shadowmane” I get softer again “don’t go…” This isn’t happening, I won’t let him leave sad and think I’m a bad neighbor. “Angel Bunny, how could you! He is in no way threatening to harm me. He wanted to be your friend and you rudely reject him! Now you go over there and say you’re sorry this instant!” Angel Bunny looked confounded and shot a quick glance back at Shadowmane, walking away back to his manor. Angel gave scrunched his eyebrows and stared back at me. I give him “The Stare”, eyeballs piercing into his conscience, he knows I’m serious. The bunny gazed to the ground, I could smell his guilt, and quickly hopped to Shadowmane. The black stallion looked at the white bunny, his expression concealed by his silk wrappings. Angel Bunny offered his carrot, the thing he always keeps to himself. Shadowmane looks at it for a moment and speaks up,
“Thank you”. Shadowmane can see the significance of this offer just like me; he affixes the half-eaten carrot on top of his ear. The black stallion lowers his head, to Angel Bunny’s level, offering a ride. The bunny accepts the offer, gripping the pony’s tall horn. They both return to the picnic spread and sit back down. “I can see the look in Angel Bunny’s eyes that you scolded him into apologizing. But it was Angel’s genuine regret and guilt that made his apology real.” The bunny hops off of Shadowmane’s head and back to my side.
“Good job Angel Bunny” I tell him, petting his head, “now will you promise to be more courteous to our guest?” Shadowmane goes back under the parasol, and takes his headwear off again, revealing his warm smile. We continue our lunch, and talk about our lives and what exciting things have happened. I tell Shadowmane about the Elements of Harmony, but however he is unfamiliar about that name. I tell him it’s what helped us thaw him from his frozen prison. When we finish our lunch we go home to introduce my animal friends. The animals didn’t take too kindly to Shadowmane’s appearance. But Angel helped make Shadowmane look nicer. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay, I mean it’s okay if you say no or not…?” I ask Shadowmane, ready to head back.
“Thank you for the offer Fluttershy, but I really need to get back home.” He starts trotting back, “if you ever want to visit me, my door is always open.” The black stallion opens a portal to his living room and vanishes. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. I think I remember Applejack saying she’s going to set up a Welcome to Ponyville potluck for Shadowmane tomorrow. Oh, I wish I could go if I wasn’t supposed to make bird nests that day. I’m sure it’ll do just fine...
“Alright Big Mac, are the Apple Pies ready?” I ask him. The beefy farmer gives me his signature “eeyup” and goes to check on the rest of the spread.
“You’ll see him soon sugar,” I tell my puzzled sister, “he told me he’ll come along.” The little filly goes back to mixing the Apple cider. “This pony is new, and he’s an Alicorn! So you best be on your good behavior alrighty?” both of my siblings look at each other wide-eyed then go back to their jobs, except with double the effort and efficiency. The barn is nice and clean, and the interior walls have been glossed to give that exciting look. This potluck has got to go perfectly for Shadowmane; disappointing ancient royalty could have its consequences. Granny Smith slowly walks over to me,
“You look a bit tense deary, you doin okay?” she asks me.
“I just want this to be perfect for him” I tell my elderly grandma, “he’s a very important pony.” Granny sweeps up some straw with her,
“Important eh? Well if he’s an alicorn, he must be mighty dashing!” Don’t know what Granny is getting to. “Is this stallion you boyfriend or somethin deary?” I can feel my face blush redder than Big Mac when Fluttershy crashed into him last week.
“H-he ain’t my colt-friend granny! I just met him not a while ago!” Not to offend Shadowmane but I doubt he would seem attractive to any pony. His black coat and mane, those blood red eyes, the fangs, and traveling through portals on a daily basis just spell out freak show. But what kind of Apple sibling am I for thinking stuff like this? Every pony would be ashamed of me thinking like that.
“I’m just tugging your stem sweetie,” Granny playfully said, sitting back in her rocking chair. “Now if you’ll excuse me it’s time for my daily nap”, Granny falls asleep instantly in her rocking chair. Maybe it’s for the best; she would probably force me to marry Shadowmane or something. I hear a knock on the barn door, must be Shadowmane.
“Alright you two” I stare at Big Mac and Applebloom, “… when our guest walks through that door his appearance may seem a bit unsettling so don’t show him any negativity or it may end badly for all of us.” They both give me an “eeyup” and I nod back. I open the barn door to see the black stallion in his cloak again except his headwear that is hanging on his neck. He’s under a large white parasol, giving him complete shade from the sun. He reminds me a lot like Rarity, except a stallion. “Howdy Sir Shadowmane, how’s Ponyville so far?” I ask him, taking my hat off. He twitched slightly then spoke up,
“Just fine really, besides the eyeballing I get from the ponies and clerks in the square when I’m grocery shopping I’m fine.” He replied with a hint of rage under his voice. I shake hoofs with him, his hoofs are colder than winter. That ain’t a good start… hope the family aren’t about to respond the same way.
“I’m really sorry about that your highness, but trust me the ponies are very nice once you get to know them.” I apologetically say to our Alicorn guest. “Come in, relax yourself for a spell!” Shadowmane walks in putting his parasol down, I take it and put it on the nearby wall shelf. Shadowmane lifts his cloak off his body and sets the clothes next to the umbrella. I can now see all of his artistic swirled tattoos on his neck, legs, jaw, and forehead. What I also saw which I didn’t notice when I first saw him was his flank, it has no cutie mark! This freaky colt can bend time, feelings, and make portals from thin air and still hasn’t found his destiny?? Just what is he!? Big Mac and Applebloom stand there perfectly still, wide-eyed towards the blank flank alicorn. “U-uh… Shadowmane,” I gesture a hand to my wordless siblings, “I’d like you to meet my big brother Big Macintosh or Big Mac for short, and my little sister Applebloom.”
“It’s a pleasure you two”, said Shadowmane, with a warm smile on his face. He extends his hoof to shake with Big Mac and Applebloom. They accept, feeling the freezing hoof I just felt a second ago.
“…Eyup…” said Big Mac, still wide-eyed until he regained his normal composure.
“Nice to meet you…” Applebloom looked like she seen a ghost, or whatever Shadowmane is anyway.
“Oh, I forgot”, I point at Granny, “the old pony in the corner is our Granny Smith, don’t mind her, she’s casting light for today.” Shadowmane looks up at the ceiling,
“Who are those fillies up there?” I raise an eyebrow, raising my head,
“What fillies- what in tarnation?!” I see two fillies in black jumpsuits hanging with plunger gloves. Based on the manes on those ninjas, its Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sticking to the top of the barnhouse probably trying out for cutie marks again.
“We’ve been spotted Scootaloo!” yelled Sweetie Belle with a sharp squeak, “attack!” They drop down, getting out Nun chucks and tanfos, striking karate yells. I was ready to hit the deck while Shadowmane just stood there, staring at the falling battle ready fillies. His bat wings perched back and took a super-fast swipe. Suddenly I felt a small rumble as a strong wind picked up from his wings, sending the fillies flying through the ceiling and into the sky. The fillies were about to plummet down until Shadowmane caught them with a levitating spell, bringing them to his face while stepping out of the sunlight. The fillies look terrified, Shadowmane spoke,
“You need to work on your approach little fillies” said Shadowmane smirking, not surprised in the slightest “your manes don’t blend very well with the shadows, let alone the outfits.” He set the out-of-breath ponies on the nearby benches.
“I told ya two should’ve had full headwear, didn't you make masks last week Sweetie Belle?” said Applebloom, walking to her friends. Sweetie Belle couldn't respond since she was still seeing two of every pony.
“You knew about this honey?” I asked the crusaders.
“I wanted us to pull a little prank on the new pony” Applebloom responded, gesturing to the ninja fillies, “I guess it didn’t work”.
“I guess… Cutie Mark Crusader ninjas are… off the list” Sweetie Belle groggily announced taking a list and quill from her tail and mane, making an X swipe.
“You three do various activities to find your cutie mark?” asked Shadowmane calmly intrigued.
“You bet mister” Said Scootaloo, instantly recuperated but still a bit loopy “say, you wanna join us? We’re always looking for new members!” Shadowmane waved his hoof, shaking his head,
“That’s quite all right, I don’t mind not having a cutie mark, I like to expand my skills, besides I’m too old for this.” Just how old is Shadowmane? Is he just as old as Celestia? That would be freaky! “I’m Shadowmane;” he said kneeling to the fillies’ eye level.
“I’m guessing your names are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?” They both nod, taking in the black stallion’s dark appearance.
“How old are you mister?” Asked Sweetie Belle, regaining her composure. What are you thinking darling? That’s rude, especially for royalty.
“Well besides the time I was frozen for who knows millenniums, I would say I’m as old as Applejack here.” I guess being frozen really does retain the youth. Shadowmane looks the 2 filly sized holes in the ceiling. “My bad, Applejack, let me get that.” I was about to say I’ll do it until the hole flashed and was mysteriously reverted back to being sealed. I didn’t see him pick up any wood, it’s still on the floor, and he just filled it up.
“How’d you do that, er uh your majesty?” I ask him, he replies while treating the fillies’ injuries with a golden light, removing the splinters and sealing any cuts, he shot a glare at me for a split second then turned back, tending to the fillies,
“Materialization, a pretty common move I use often, this spell was how I was able to build my house without buying materials.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were starting to regain their liveliness again; they were soon jumping up and down and ripping off their ninja costumes. He can treat wounds with magic? And he can make houses from thin air now? My head’s starting to feel a bit woozy.
“You wanna look at the spread now?” Big Mac spoke up, pointing at the lunch table.
“Sure,” he replied, “the rest of you should join me.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo seemed to take an instant liking to Shadowmane and joined him, not intimidated in the slightest by the black alicorn. Applebloom followed them, standing at the spread. Shadowmane examines every meal on the table with persistent eyes. He locks his eyes on one of the apple pies, cuts a slice and takes a bite. I’m ready for the hoe-down, ready for the critique to hit me with his rating. “This is… amazing!” He eats the whole slice in one bite, savoring the taste with a hearty smile across his stuffed face. I keep a proud expression on the outside, a cheering and hollering expression on the inside. The crusaders start munching down after his majesty’s first but not last bite. I give a bow to my head, lower my forelegs and put my hat over my chest,
“I’m so glad you like our humble food… your highness.” Shadowmane suddenly stops eating; I keep my head down, glancing up. He approaches me, with a disappointed look on his face. He doesn’t look too happy.
“Stop the act”, he says in an authoritative tone. I quickly shoot back up, dropping my hat on the ground. The stallion stares at me for a long time; I can feel my stomach cave into itself. Finally he goes to pick up my hat, staring at it. And speaks up
“Applejack, I know you want to impress me, the alicorn that is assumed to be royalty. But I want you to simply address me like you do with everyone else, this friend asks for humbleness.” He puts it back on his head, with his own hoof without magic. I stare into his eyes; I can feel his whole pleading send through me like telepathy. He wants equality, not inequality. Shadowmane wants to be a normal pony despite his appearance, just like me. I’ve been all uptight about every action he made since he walked in the barn and trying to impress him as much as possible. Turns out there is a normal pony under that coat. I look down, guilty, and confess
“I’m sorry partner, it’s just meeting an alicorn is such a big deal for a normal family of mine. We live in a triarchy world and 3 ponies are at the center of it, soon it’s going to be 4. I can’t help but feel so overworked every time Cadence, Luna, or Celestia show up. Now I wonder if I have to treat my friend Twilight like that now that she’s a princess.” Shadowmane looks at me, still staring, and then makes a recommendation,
“Don’t look of me as of royalty, but as an honest one like you.” The phrase hits me and lingers for a while. An honest one like me…? I give him a light smile,
“I’ll try.” Not making any promises I can’t keep, I’m sure Shadowmane understands.
“Cool, now how about you quit stiffing up and join us, it’s not about just me is it?” he walks back to the table, giving Sweetie Belle a quick rubbin on the noggin. Big Mac stops tensing before I do and plummets on the frail wooden bench, relaxing his tense muscles.
“Come on big sis, enjoy the fruits of our labor!” exclaimed Applebloom, dunking her face in an apple pie. Shadowmane laughs… and proceeds to do likewise; getting apple slices in his dark mane. He lifts his face out only to find the tin plate stuck through his horn. Every pony laughs with the unicorn-pegasus while they grab a pie and join in with the face food. I guess Shadowmane really is just an ordinary pony like me. Everyone is having a great laugh while Granny sleeps through it all. I can’t help but join in, I scoot next to Shadowmane and bump his cold skin, grabbing a pie and smashing my face in it. After we all get cleaned up, Shadowmane asks if he could know more about the Apple family. I oblige, chatting along about us being all across Equestria and where we came from. After the part where I said all of the apple families are almost nothing but Earth ponies he looks at our apple harvest today in the corner of the barn house.
“That’s a lot of apples in just a day for just 3 earth ponies. How do you do it?” I feel the need to SHOW him how we do it here at the orchard. I ask him to follow me and every pony else follows leaving Granny smith alone to her nap. I approach the ripe orchard of apples, about 1 mile long of the abundant juicy orbs. I buck a tree, making the tree drop all the apples at once. “I never thought of harvesting them that way, impressive.” He looks at the bucket full of apples. He turns to look at the abundant green apple tree next to the one I bucked. He looks me in the eye and asks, “Can I give it a shot?”
“Sure,” I reply, “just hit it as hard as you can with your hind legs, simple as that.” Right before he goes to buck he takes something out from under his cape. It looks like a white ball, the size of a gumball. The stallion sends it upward and it detonates. It forms a small grey cloud over him, protecting him from the sunlight. What’s up with him and avoiding sunlight? Maybe he has some crazy skin sensitivity disorder, I don’t know, it would seem too personal to ask. The black stallion takes off his cloak and hands it to Big Mac, perching it on his back. Shadowmane positions himself near the tree, and then gives his hind legs a good moment to build up strength… KABOOOOM!!! It took about a minute for the dust and the earthquake to settle down. What in the hay happened…? Celestia’s mane…The tree does way more than just shake. The tree splinters off its firm root in the ground and is sent flying horizontally to the other trees. The other trees also splinter off, causing a massive burst effect. That stallion just decimated almost an entire half mile of apple trees, landing only 1 measly apple in the bucket. As the dust and debris settles Shadowmane slowly turns around, freaked out by his own strength.
“Uhhhh… sorry about that…” He sheepishly grins, showing his fangs in a more comical manner. I don’t feel mad at him or in any way negative for some odd reason. I actually feel… very impressed! And I thought Big Mac was stronger at first, well his mouth is currently gaping to the ground so I stand corrected. Every pony’s jaws are about halfway to the ground. Now Shadowmane looks worried “Applejack, I am so sorry, you said to hit it as strong as I could so I trusted you and it's been too long since been careful with my own strength and...” He looks back at the unintentional destruction he just made.
“…Dang” Big Mac one-lined, then went for two, “nice one…”.
“Hoo boy you got some kickers on your body!” I tell him, absolutely astounded.
“You’re not mad…?” He asks, as wide-eyed as I was 2 hours ago. “Well I’m impressed for you having such amazing strength; it ain’t nothing I’ve ever seen before.” I wonder if Celestia or Luna are just as physically powerful, possibly.
“I guessing you want me to help in repairing the damage…?” He said. I feel like he wants me to say it okay and he can leave… and I would totally be okay with that… but that wouldn’t be very honest now is that? Granny Smith comes out of the barnhouse, galloping towards us.
“Kids!” she yells out, extremely worried. She brings me, Big Mac, and Applebloom together in a big and warm hug. “Are y’all all right? I heard an explosion and I-“she turns to the partially destroyed apple orchard. “How and what in Celestia’s name caused something like this??” she exclaimed, her jaw dropping down her withered face.
“Shadowmane accidentally bucked too hard and the tree couldn’t handle it" says Applebloom.
“We invite you over for lunch and you destroy a part of our orchard in return?!” Granny shouted, scowling at Shadowmane, furious. She wasn’t taking a minute to take in Shadowmane’s appearance let alone greet him, since he just destroyed hundreds of trees in an instant.
“I’m truly sorry Mrs. Apple,” said Shadowmane bowing his head, “let me fix the damage for you.” Shadowmane did that nifty magic trick again, lifting hundreds of tons of trees and reaffixing them to their crudely torn stumps, they were brand new in 30 seconds! Granny looked a whole lot less angry now, giving Shadowmane credit for such such an amazing feat. Me and Big Mac repaired the grass fields while the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried their luck at speed gathering cutie marks (no avail, real shocker).
*2 hours later* “Well good job partner, you helped out a might today” I tell Shadowmane, slapping him on the hind legs.
“This was a fun experience Applejack, I hope we get to do stuff like this more soon.” He calmly replies, tilting his head. Applebloom trots over to me,
“Hey sister can I make dinner today?”
“If you can do that, I know y’all are plum tuckered out.” I tell her, nuzzling her head.
“I’m up for it, trust me!” She pulls on my foreleg, wanting to go back to the house and trying cooking cutie marks.
“Well we’ll be seeing you soon Shadowmane, keep those hindlegs strong and deadly”.
“Bye Shadowmane today was super-duper awesome!” Applebloom hopped to the house like Pinkie Pie would hop. I tip my hat and walk back to the house with her. But right when I turned around I noticed Shadowmane’s face when I was nuzzling Applebloom’s head. His face… was melancholy, a gentle smile… but obviously sad. I turned back to ask him what’s wrong, but he was already gone, going through a portal back to his manor. The wind picking up leaves where Shadowmane stood a second ago.
*2 days later* this whole world is something that really amazes me. Everything is just so… peaceful. As I walk through the plaza during the evening without a cloak, I’m given many different reactions. Ponies would look at me with confused, fearful, or astonished expressions. I walk up to a grocery clerk and ask for the basic fruits and vegetables, she says everything is on her. I give the question of why, and she says that new visitors, especially alicorns, get it for free. It would be rude to not accept the offer so I take it and leave. I don’t need the food for eating, but for just tasting and possibly experimentation.
What’s so good about living in Ponyville is that no one is telling me what to do. No curfew, no schooling, I'm my own stallion, not some stuff-shirt nobles' future heir to the throne. When the mayor of the town noticed the new citizen in her fair town, she greeted me quite fairly with a tinge of fear in her eyes, intimidated from my appearance nonetheless. “You must be the new pony that every pony has been talking about. Nice to uh… meet you…!” she says nervously extending her slightly trembing hoof to shake. I shake it and she looks back at me, and quickly glances at my appearance from the head down. I can practically read her mind when she looks at my dark body. Tall horn, black mane slicked back, red eyes, sophisticated muzzle, curvy ears, red regal swirl pattern on jaw, forehead, neck, and legs, bat wings, blank flank, royal shoes, and long tail with 3 red stripes. “What’s your name sir?” the mayor asked with a nervous smile on her face. Sometimes these ponies fear of me gets annoying.
“I’m Shadowmane”, I reply courteously, “I just moved next to Fluttershy on the edge of town and was hoping if there are any jobs available that I can fill in. What is your name ma’am?”
“M-my name…?” she responds, sweating bullets. She gives herself a quick shake and regains her courage. “I am Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville, and it’s very nice to have you here. Oh, and of course we’re always looking for spots to be filled in our fair town.” She takes out a small book form her mane and scrolls through the pages. After a small moment, she looks back up, “well there is one job in Ponyville that most ponies try to avoid and that is city guard. We always need some extra hands in guarding festivals and other events… if you’re up for it”. She stares at my blank flank and scrolls her eyes back to mine, “you don’t seem to have a cutie mark yet so it’s very unlikely that you’ll get the job. I mean no offense but you look pretty threatening yourself but looks aren’t everything. Do you have any skills in combat?” she asks, waiting on a reply.
I sharply nod and she takes off the pencil on her ear and starts writing. “So do you want to take up the job, it pays quite well.” I sharply nod again, only with a smile on my face. “Are you sure you don’t need any royal guard training, they’re really good at their jobs.” I open my mouth and ready to say no thanks before two pegasi in golden armor land in front of us and salute.
“Mayor Mare, we’ve just finished recon and there are no threats to Ponyville at… this… moment…” The guard with blue eyes stops in his line and looks at me, my mouth still open exposing my razor sharp fangs. He and the other guard look into my blood red eyes and their eyes widen. Suddenly they leap into the air and the grey furred one yell out, “HOSTILE!” the ponies around us quickly run into their homes from the sound of that word, not trying to look for a hostile. Before Mayor Mare could tell them to stop they charge at me. My indistinct instantly kick in without a thought and prepare to defend myself. I fan out my bat wings and dodge to the left and zoom up to the sky at an alarmingly fast rate. To them it looked like I disappeared until one of them looked up into the sky and zoomed towards me, the other following. They both split up and try to get me on my 3 and 9 o’ clock. Their speed and choice of maneuver are too weak for my reflexes to more than enough dodge them. I zoom up in the sky and they pursue me, hoping to subdue for no apparent reason except for looking dangerous. Unfortunately they decided to blindly assault a high vampire so it’s their loss. Besides, it’s been too long since I got to really stretch my wings. I turn around and look at the guards chasing me. Right before they think they’ve got me I dodge to the right. I can tell from their confused expression that I move too fast and lost where I was. I give a small whistle and a wave with my hoof behind them to give them an idea where I was. They get furious and charge me again, only to fall for the trick again. This kind of thing goes on for about 3 minutes, every now and then they would try to scatter but they can't seem to hit me. I would think guards were more prepared for situations of combat… that is their job after all. I don’t see any swords or weaponry on them, are their even taxes in Equestria…? Well… probably not considering how poorly trained the guards are and how everything is clean enough to eat off of. Perhaps mother and auntie thought that they truly achieved peace. Those both should know better to never grow soft, even in times like these.
Meanwhile with Sergeant Moron and Lieutenant Knucklehead, they both try the two sides flanking maneuver again. I can think of a hundred reasons why that technique doesn’t work and a hundred more why it won’t work on someone like me. I fly up again and the two guards crash into each other, rubbing their bruised heads. I can hear Mayor Mare calling for me to stop but I can’t… I’m having too much fun toying with these royal amateurs. I decided to give them a little scare, and use my multi-clone technique. I charge up my horn and spawn 5 white clouds of smoke bursting from thin air, revealing 5 Pegasus clones of me. The clones in a way are just like me, except they only have my wings and wing skill and disappear with one hit. We all surround them from all directions, trapping them in our sphere. The guards tremble at the sight of 6 six “monsters” and we close them in. They are either too chicken butt or too surprised to see their problem multiplied by 5 to do anything but whimper in fear. My clones give wide fanged grins and start slowly hissing. I very slowly fly over the terrified guards and stare at them until they look at me, their irises shrink and shiver as mine widen. I slowly put my mouth near them at biting range, and calmly and ever so softly say…
“Boo…”
Soon the ever so powerful guards and all their stature crumble as they let out an ear piercing and a filly-like scream. My clones and I keep up the act but wanting to cover our ears until both of the guards pass out and plummet to the ground. 4 of my clones disappear with a burst of white smoke. I and the remaining clone zoom down to catch the guards by their forelegs. We settle the passed out guards on the floor next to us. My final clone disappears with a nod and I’m left looking at an astonished Mayor Mare. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was hitting the ground. “I’m sorry, force of habit…” I tell her. She doesn’t respond and is still speechless. I ignore her for a second and look at the unconscious guards behind me. Maybe I overdid it a bit, I didn’t even strike back and they’re out for the count. I face-hoof, and materialize a wooden bucket of cold water. I splash it over the guards to wake them up. They scramble for air and look back up to my eyes. Right before they have the chance to scream again I cover both of their mouths with my hooves. “Listen” I tell the wide eyed ponies, “I did that to teach you a lesson to never attack some pony that looks dangerous but turns out not to be and also doesn't want conflict at all. I gave you two the scare because pre-judging people could have dire consequences. Now I came to the mayor and asked if I join you guys and I am more than capable enough to take on city guard without any formal training as you just experienced. Plus I never even laid a hoof on you two so just wait until I actually start fighting. Now I personally want to guard a night shift so you guys don’t need to waste precious sleeping hours. I’m capable of guarding the whole town by myself during the night and please take my word on it. There is no need for armor for me since my appearance enough will give people frights. Now I’m about to let go of your mouths and please say yes to my request without screaming and running away. I only want to make a living here, and this is the only chance I have to a normal life.” As I said my request, the guards look less afraid and calmer. I let go of their mouths and they get up, drenched in ice water.
“All right then,” said the blue-eyed guard. “You seem more than… capable enough to guard during the night, Princess Luna can’t have eyes everywhere at the same time. I am Captain Ironsword and this is 1st Class Private Bolthawk. I am the squad leader of the squad that guards Ponyville Squad while most of the Royal Guard Company lies in Canterlot, major towns such as Manehattan are filled with a Royal Guard Platoons. We only have 10 guards here including us to guard all of Ponyville. Someone of your skill set is invaluable to us, especially since you offered night shift. Peace has been very constant here in Ponyville minus several unusual occurrences. So the guard volunteers are wearing thin and we’ll take all the help we can get. Peace may have been constant for a while, but who knows when something unusual happens again. If you don’t require armor and want to rely on your… looks… then that’s okay with us. If you truly wish to join the city guard repeat after me… ahem” Ironsword begins to recite the Equestrian Royal Guard oath, which I already know from the top of my head for studying it when I was a colt. I straighten my back even straighter and put my right hoof over my horn. “I, state your name and respective city post…”
“I, Shadowmane of Ponyville…”
“Do hereby accept the duty of Royal Guard…”
“Do hereby accept the duty of Royal Guard…”
“To always lay my life before-“I cut him off and say the whole oath word for word,
“To always lay my life before her majesty Princess Celestia as her instrument, the bearer of her will, the sword of her wrath, the shield of her loving grace, and to defend her subjects from all that oppose the calling of peace, harmony, tranquility, and the pursuit of happiness. And with this vow my life will be to protect and honor her majesty and all the fair people who call for the light of her grace. So help me Princess Celestia, which I will carry your undying will until the day I fall in your name.” I lower my hoof and look at the guards, both wide-eyed.
“How did you know that?” asked Bolthawk, “only royal guards know that oath.”
“I just do…” I tell them, “and it would be best if you two don’t find out.” I shoot a quick glare at them; they begin to shudder a little.
“Well since you beat me, a captain, and in a fight with a 1st class private without lifting a hoof at the same time, that makes you mighty impressive and possibly better than me.” Possibly…? I thought… more like out of your league… “Therefore it is only fair that you be promoted to Staff Sergeant, welcome to the squad, sir.” The two pegasi salute and fly back to their homes without any other introduction. Either they know that I know what I’m doing or they feel over-embarrassed. Mayor Mare finally absorbs what she saw and puts a grin on her face,
“Well congratulations Shadowmane, you just skipped the chain of command in less than 2 minutes.” If it was that easy, just wait till I’m Command Sergeant Major, no wait that sounds like a bad idea, mother might take notice of me. Since Staff Sergeant is higher up in the chain of command than Lieutenant all the record processing to Canterlot goes to me. It should be like that; it was no different from back home. I just won’t send any paperwork relating to me to Canterlot. If mother or auntie ever comes to Ponyville I’ll put on a disguise with my shape-shifting powers. It’s been millenniums since shape-shifters like vampires set foot on Equestria so unicorns would never spend magic energy trying to look through disguises. I noticed I paused for a long time and forgot to answer the mayor who was giving me a weird look.
“What… oh, right thank you Mayor Mare for this opportunity. Now I’m not looking for a high pay, just medium wage will do it for me. I can provide most of my needs by myself thank you very much.” Mayor Mare nods in agreement,
“All right, if you want medium wage, then that’s okay with me. I hope you have the life you’re looking for here in Ponyville!”
We shake hoofs and the mayor trots away back to the town hall. It’s nighttime and I’ll start my new job tomorrow if I remember correctly. I open a portal to my bedroom and step through. I close the portal and walk to my blood refinery. I grab a tin cup and fill it with blood substitute. Looking at the light red liquid I gulp it down in one sitting and float it to the kitchen sink. Wiping off the fake blood I walk over to my bedroom. I carefully get into my sarcophagus and magically turn off the lights. I close the casket and begin to ponder on what has happened ever since I woke up. Those guards, did they promote me because they acknowledged my skill, or did they do it out of fear? Will I ever be normal in the sight of these new ponies? Maybe I shouldn’t have left Volkihar, I would’ve been around kinsmen there who treat me equally. I think of the clerk yesterday and her giving me food for free. Did he do it out of honor that an Alicorn so humbly stopped at her shop? Did he do it because I intimidated her? Did he do it to make me go away faster? Whatever the reason is, it wasn’t out of pure kindness. I need to connect to these ponies somehow on a ground to base level. Well, can I connect to them there? I’ll sort it out when I have the energy to think…
*1 week later* Ahhh, nothing but a nice, long cloud nap after a long day of cloud management, I do feel a bit hungry though. Thanks to me, Ponyville will yet again have a nice sunny day. I rest on the group of clouds I gathered up. I’m ready to drift into sleep when I hear a huge boom. What the… it sounded like a thunder clap! Impossible, I’m relaxing on all of today’s clouds, I should be able to see all the clouds floating at this height, how could there be thunderclap- BOOM! It sounded like it came from my left, wait I think I see it. In the distance I can see a cloud, about 5 meters long. It’s a black cloud, which makes me even more curious. I zoom over to see the cloud and start scolding it for being there
“Now what is a teeny black cloud like you doing here? The Pegasus forecast called for partly cloudy, not a thunderstorm, now come on; herd up with the rest of your buddies.” I turn around and hear a loud boom from the cloud, except this boom was continuous. The thunder below it wasn’t just striking, it was continually being sent down. Ponies all over Ponyville were covering their ears and galloping into their homes. “Cut that out!” I yell at it, giving it a quick wallop. It moved an inch, but quickly sprung back to its original spot. “Persistent aren’t we?” I start to push on the cloud until I heard a voice from below
“Who’s there?” The voice sounded very smooth and masculine, like this pony is some experienced singer. I perch on the stubborn cloud to see who that was. Shadowmane emerged from under a dining bench’s shade without his cloak and with a parasol. “Oh Rainbow Dash, hey there!” he shouts up to me.
“Hey Shadowmane...” I wave down to the black stallion. “Do you have any idea why this black cloud is here, and why it’s not budging?” I ask him, irritated.
“Well that cloud is there because it’s mine.” He casually responds. I raise my eyebrow, looking at the cloud I’m laying on. It’s not as soft as other clouds and reeks of smoke.
“What… is a giant manor not enough for you?” I ask him with a confused look on my face.
“Oh no, I’m not making a cloud house,” he responds shaking his head, “I’m collecting some records on the sun in Equestria as well as the atmosphere and oxygen level. Look closely at the cloud and you should see a black panel on it.” I sift through the cloud and spot a small solar panel on it attached to some other contraptions.
“So why was the cloud making thunder?” I ask him, he could see the curiosity in my face when he sheepishly grins.
“Oh it did that because I made it do that to expel some energy that it was building up. If I didn’t make it do that my instrument would overload with energy and implode.” Implode? Whatever that means it sounds bad. Whatever the case he can’t have his cloud here, it ruins ponies’ days when they see inconsistency in their clear skies. I noticed he said he made the cloud thunder… but how did he do that from down there? I ask him this question, he stated since he’s an alicorn, he knows some spells relating to moving clouds from a distance.
“That’s cool and all Shadowmane but you need to move your cloud right now.” I request, looking around at the homes filled with frightened ponies.
”Sure, just give me one more minute.” He shouts, peering back into his contraption. After what was a minute but felt like an hour the black cloud began to dissipate. Soon it was all gone until the probe fell back to earth. Shadowmane quickly grabbed the probe right before it touched the ground and brought it into the shade. He looks at it for a while. “Sorry that took so long”, he yelled up to me. Shadowmane comes out of the shade and flies up to me with his wide parasol in his hand. The parasol just doesn't fit Shadowmane’s deadly appearance, he reminds me of Rarity. He extends his hoof to shake, “I hope you don’t get docked off your pay for my meddling.” I look at his hoof for a second, and slowly shake it. His hoof is harder than rock and is freezing like ice. He puckers his lips and makes a high-pitched whistle. All the ponies look out of their porches and windows to see us flying in the sky. He makes a magic megaphone and announces that the cloud disruption was just an experiment approved by the Ponyville Royal Guard Squad. Royal Guard Squad… so Shadowmane is a soldier? I raise an eyebrow, huh… I thought, this guy must be pretty tough to be in the Royal Guard.
“How are you part of the Royal Guard?” I asked Shadowmane, “Did you enlist recently?” As ponies walk back out of their homes, looking in the sky first, and then resuming their activities, Shadowmane and I fly over to the clump clouds I gathered today. Shadowmane sits his flank on the cloud, temporarily mesmerized by its softness. He returns his red eyes to me,
“Oh yea, I enlisted just yesterday, I’m already Staff Sergeant and head of the squad stationed here in Ponyville.” My eyes widen, how did he raise up the ranks so quickly? The royal guards are tough nuts to crack and are probably as fast as I am. The only way he could have ranked so quickly is if he won a fight… with a high-ranking officer. I remember this is something I learned in the Wonder-bolt academy.
“Did you fight the captain for the place?” I ask the black stallion. He puts a hoof on his chin
“Yes… and no…” Yes and no… just… what? “I didn’t challenge him; he and another lower ranking officer saw me with the mayor and attacked me, assuming from my appearance that I was trying to harm her. I didn’t throw a punch, just scared them into submission. They tried to double team me but I was too fast.” He won against two guards by doing nothing but dodging?? I am so curious right now!
“So, how fast would you say you really are??” I demand to know, leaning towards into his personal space. He blushes a bit, and gently pushes my head away.
“Not to boast but I would say I’m pretty darn fast. When I was a little colt, I was faster than all of the Wonder-bolts in my time, oh yea Wonder-bolts were around for a long time.” He states before taking a piece of cloud and chewing on it, smoking out the water vapor. I feel the overwhelming need to challenge him. If I beat him, I’ll be faster than the wonderbolts during his time. Maybe I’ll even be faster than all the wonderbolts now! Not only will I’ll be the fastest flier in Equestria, I’ll probably be the fastest flier that has ever existed!!!! I beam with excitement, Shadowmane looks confused,
“Oh my Gosh, Oh my Gosh Oh my Gosh Oh my Gosh Oh my Gosh can I race you pretty please say YES pleaaaaaaaase!” Shadowmane puts his hoof on his chin and stares at me. I give him my best Fluttershy puppy eyes impression and he stares into them.
“Sure…” he responds.
“Yeeeeeees!” I leap into the sky and start making random tricks out of excitement.
“But can we race during nighttime; I’m at my best when I’m under the moon. The moon gives me… inspiration”. I stop dancing and try to be more contained,
“Um sure if it’ll help you.” I reply, more relaxed. I can hardly keep my excitement in though; I’m going to fly with the faster flier of ancient Equestria! I zoom back to my house, preparing to get ready. He told me to meet him at the summit of the tallest mountain near Ponyville at 8:00pm. I wave Shadowmane later and he decides to relax on the cloud more with his parasol stuck in it. I wonder why he wants it during nighttime though… maybe he’s more of a nocturnal person.
*10 hours later* Okay, I fully stretched, I restudied my flying techniques, I drank a major energy drink, and I am ready to get it on! Shadowmane is already at the summit, surprisingly calm. “I knew you wouldn’t back out on this. You’re too prideful to let an opportunity like this down.” He says, drinking from a tin flask.
“Oh please," I respond, "I would never miss this for the world! Let’s see if you really are as fast as you say!” Shadowmane nods, and extends his hoof again. “You really know when to treat things more seriously dude” I tell him. He brings his hoof back and charges his horn.
Suddenly a white smoke cloud appears, and another Shadowmane rises from it, except without wings. I was about freak out before he told me that he can make clones and have 2 clones perched at every spot in Equestria to provide potions designed to instantly recuperate stamina, he said he’ll explain later. So apparently it’s a race across the whole planet… finally someone who gets my style!
“You ready to go?” He asks a competitive grin on his face.
“I’m raring to go buddy, hope you’re ready to face the faster flier in Equestria!” I raise my flanks in the air, ready for a push start.
“Faster flier in Equestria… that remains to be seen Rainbow Dash… prove to me that you are worthy of that title!” He fans out his bat wings and gets in position. The clone charges his horn for the starting boom.
“On your mark… get set… SOAR!” I hear the pop, and my whole world zooms into adrenaline. I’ve got to pace myself I thought, that way I’ll stay constant for the whole race. I’m only going half my speed, but Shadowmane is zipping past me. But he slows down to tell me something over the booming air resistance,
“My clones laid down a trail of light for you and I to follow so we don’t get lost so don’t worry about getting lost in the dark.” As he shouted it, a long line of white light appears in front of me and turns blue when I zip past it. Shadowmane gets slightly ahead, revealing the light turns red when he flies through it, and it fades completely after we both have crossed it.
“If that’s the case, prepare to see nothing but blue when you bite my loose feathers!” I yell to the bat pony, zipping far ahead of him. This isn’t good I thought. My competitive attitude totally screwed up my whole game plan. Well it’s too late now to change it. The race is still young and so am I! I kick it into high gear, Shadowmane catches up 3 seconds later, keeping a steady but fast speed. We both steady our pace and look at each other’s determined faces; I can taste the fierce look in his eyes. We look ahead of each other, our mach cones are narrowing… now this is a race! That’s when I did it, that’s when Shadowmane did it. We break the barrier, leaving all sound behind us. Everything is silent, everything but my screaming chest. I get that feeling of excitement again. My blood races, my senses overload, and my whole being envelops with the wind smashing into my face. I look back at Shadowmane, who is completely relaxed compared to my beaming face.
The race goes on for I think 20 minutes, watching entire towns appear ahead of me and then behind me in the blink of an eye. I’m about ready to decelerate but I can still see Shadowmane keeping his speed constant, he doesn't look in the least bit tired while I’m busting my flank to just keep up with him, let alone get ahead of him. Seeing this amazing feat of wings, keeping Mach 1 speed for 20 minutes and not break a sweat? Well… what did I expect? That he would go down so easily? As we zoom over the Marelantic Ocean I see our light pathway going down. Not wanting to be a cheater I descend down the light trail to the raging ocean. Suddenly I feel a ringing sensation in my head and Shadowmane’s voice rings in my head.
“The 1st breakpoint of 2 is ahead of us, grab the potion my clone gives us and goodness sake, please drink it.” Shadowmane looks at me, not in any way fatigued while I’m flying on bingo fuel right now. I should do what he says and grab the potion. As we soar along the surface of the ocean, tearing the sea behind us into two, I see a white unicorn on a raft, waving a neon green flare at us. Next to him is a table with 2 green potion bottles on it. He gestures his hands at the potion, telling us to grab and drink it. Shadowmane and I snatch the bottles, leaving the clone and his raft to face the wrath of our turbulence and heavy ripples in the sea. I look at the bottle; it’s a dark green with a white cap. I undo the cap and chug it with all my might. It tastes just like… nothing! The potion that supposedly brings me back to full strength is just water! As much as I appreciate the rehydration, it’s not going to help catch up with- whoa, what the hay?!
I feel my tense muscles involuntarily relaxing; my steaming face feels like winter! I can feel my heart calming down, my whole body feels brand new and my breathing calms down. I was wrong I suppose, he really does want this race to be fair. I drop the empty bottle into the ocean; shattering in midair from all the pressure I’m experiencing and clustering into the rippling sea. I dramatically pick up the pace, catching up with Shadowmane who got a half mile ahead of me. He’s not holding a potion, which must mean he’s already finished it.
“Looks like you caught up Rainbow Dash,” he telepathically said, “If we keep our pace at Mach 1, we should be able to reach the finish line in 30 minutes… if Mach 1 speed is all that you can take.” He looks at me with a sly smirk on his face.
“W-what are looking at me so funny? “ I think through my head to him; raising an eyebrow in the intense pressure my face is feeling.
“Let’s just see how fast you really are, fastest flier in Equestria!” On the instant Shadowmane quickly accelerated, becoming faster by almost double! He’s hitting Mach 2… I CAN SO CATCH UP WITH THAT! The passionate feeling I get to beat him burns in my gut, making break the sound barrier twice. I catch up with him again, only for him to accelerate even MORE!
He’s gone to Mach 3, now 4…
With every step up he makes, I manage to make the same step right behind him. We’re both at Mach 9 now; I can’t even see the world around me properly anymore. It feels like my teeth are about to fall out of their sockets so I can choke to death on them. Shadowmane is actually breaking a sweat now, his face scrunched up and beads of sweat launching off his cheeks like bullets. We’re only inches away next to each other; this is the part where I pull out my ultimate move. With a mute scream for power, I hit my top speed of Mach 10, unleashing my signature Sonic Rainboom!
Only this time, it’s a bit different… it’s not a rainbow. As I manage to turn my head around, I see a gigantic white light. As it fades, it becomes duller shades of white light. Grey light to black light under a white light border. The black light is INTENSE, the stars above us shimmer beautifully under this new spectrum I just broke. I quickly turn back to focus, and look at the light trail in front of me. White… which could only mean… impossible… I look to my left, my cheeks fluttering through the wind to see Shadowmane...
STILL ON ME! How is this possible?? Nobody is just as fast as my Sonic Rainboom! After we pass the Indian ocean, my limbs start to freeze. Never in my life have I ever pushed myself this hard. My face is numb, my limbs feel like they’re dead, and my wings are flapping on their own. I can feel my consciousness beginning… to… slip… the last thing I saw was Shadowmane, breaking Mach 10, leaving a trail of red light for me… I felt something freezing tear me apart; soon it was quickly embracing me… the cold fills my lungs and soon my whole body...
COUGH COUGH HACK! What in Celestia’s name?! I wake up; my entire body is numb and shivering faster than Pinkie Pie from last month’s coffee rush. I’m completely drenched down to the inside of my ears, did I… pass out? I can taste salt water on my tongue and down my throat. Suddenly I feel luxurious warmth, and see the light of a fire near me. I turn to my left to see Shadowmane, sitting at my side, with a candle of toasty fire suspended in air with his horn. On my right I see Shadowmane's unicorn clones looking down on me before they turned into magic vapor.
“You’re awake, thank goodness” says Shadowmane, bringing the fire to a fireplace next that was next to me. I struggle to regain my breath and speaking ability through the cold. The fireplace calmly erupts in flames, my first indistinct is to embrace its warmth. “If I hadn’t felt your life force not next to me when you crashed, you would’ve drowned or freeze to death” he continues, with a hospitable warm smile. I can’t seem to formulate any words right now because my vocal cords feel shot out from the air pressure invading my lungs during the flight. The black alicorn does some weird materialization trick of his to spawn a brown blanket and towel. Without asking permission, he magically rubs the towel all over my soaking body. He drapes the blanket over my shoulders; the towel mysteriously disappears with a flick of light. “This was my fault” Shadowmane confessed with his head down, “I know Pegasus ponies aren’t supposed to make races like these, across the whole planet, especially during the night, but I took your competitive spirit in as a sign of welcoming. I completely disregarded your own personal safety, and I’m so sorry.” As he said it, he scooped some water out of the sea and mixed some magic into it. He spawned a glass cup and poured the water into the cup. He levitated it in front of me, and I automatically accept it. I pour the hot and purified water into my mouth, getting rid of the salty taste that was cursing me. My insides feel toasty again; finally I can feel I can speak again.
“Thank you… Shadowmane…” I look at him, my eyes halfway open. “Why did you save me though? You could’ve won the race right there.” Shadowmane’s red eyes widen is disbelief, his mouth opens to retort,
“Rainbow Dash, where would you get such an incessant idea like that?” He strains a bit to spawn a cup of some green liquid. He pours it into my empty cup, I think its tea. “I will rather die than win unjustly; I will not leave my friends to fend for death.” I sip some tea, relaxing my throbbing muscles. “Better to lose with dignity than win with dishonor.” My body seems to be relaxing too much, I plop down and begin to drift into sleep. Shadowmane gets up and trots over to me wrap me in the blanket before I fall into a deep sleep…
I wake up again, except this time not in choking cold but in soothing warmth. I look down to see I’m in a bed, softer than clouds on a sunny day. The covers are made of red silk and the bed is compressing down like memory foam. My wings are extremely sore… how did I get here, from some unknown beach? Suddenly Shadowmane trots in through a door in my unknown room and goes to me while levitating a thermometer in front of me.
“Shadowmane… what’s going on?” I tell him, rising out of bed. I try to get up but Shadowmane puts his cold hoof on my chest, gently pushing me back down.
“Don’t get up too soon Rainbow,” he says taking his hoof off of my chest, “you need your rest, you’re lucky nothing is broken in your body.” I sit there and recuperate while he puts the thermometer in my mouth. He waits for a short moment and takes it out of my mouth observing the mercury meter, “36.6 Celsius… you’re okay.” He charges his horn, creating a ball of swirling golden light. He gestures at my wings, telling me to spread them out. I comply and he puts his horn on my right wing, I close my eyes to feel his tall horn on my wings. Suddenly my wings… I can’t describe how but they feel so much better, the terrible soreness is gone! I immediately jump out of bed, completely renewed; I do tricks and flips in the air out of sudden rejuvenation. “I see I’ve gotten good results from my friend’s recovery.” Shadowmane stated, gently smiling. I land in front of him,
“Thanks a bunch Shadowmane, if it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead right now!” He courteously nods...
“I had to save you, and after all I got you into that mess.” He gives me a bottle of aspirin just in case. “I think it’s only fair that we postpone our little race until I’m at my peak.” I look at him with a confused gaze,
“What do you mean when you’re at your peak?” I ask him, slightly furious, “I saw you break into Mach 11! That’s faster than my Sonic Rainboom!” I get into his personal space, staring deep into his eyes before he gently pushes me away and continuing,
“I can go to Mach 15 at maximum, but it’s not what I strive to be happy and stay with. I can tell you have similar goals as well.” He fans out his wings, and folds them again. He's already faster than me, and yet he still wants to progress even further? That’ll really make me look like a little filly if I don’t do anything to improve my Sonic Rainboom. I hold my hoof out, and spit on it. Shadowmane lifts an eyebrow and asks what I am doing.
“I only do this with Applejack but now with you, promise me you’ll race with me when you’re at your peak, and I’m at mine.” Shadowmane looks at my hoof covered in saliva and chuckles. He spits on his hoof and we shake,
“I promise,” he says standing with his neck straight, “this time we’ll do our races over land and in circles if that’s okay with you.” I nod and give him a smirk.
“I’ll be soaring off then Shadowmane," I tell him, rising into the air, "better keep that promise or else I’ll kick your flank!” He lightly chuckles as I zoom through his opaque stain-glassed window, and then breaks out in laughter as I crash into the brick wall behind the opaque stain-glassed window. Shadowmane regains his composure and gets back up,
“Try the front door” he suggested
“It will open up for you.”
I take the first step in the room, it freezing cold just like I predicted. Everypony stiffs up in the cold. “S-s-spike c-c-can you so kindly to bring the t-torch here”? Rarity requests. Everyone huddles near the torch except me; the cold can’t penetrate this burning feeling in my head. We walk through the dark corridor only for it to be colder. This burning feeling my head only burns hotter the colder it gets.
Thank Celestia it worked, we’re all in the grass plains outside of Ponyville. Fluttershy starts kissing the ground, “thank goodness we’re out of that terrible room!” I try to let go of the stallion only to find my hoof is stuck to the freezing ice. I pulled harder and managed to get it off with my skin intact. After we all regain ourselves we surround the frozen stallion.
“I’m sorry to bring you here in such short notice for this. And I’m also sorry for not being open about this.” I tell everyone, who is just confused and dumbfounded. Applejack looks at me,
Suddenly Pinkie Pie bursts in with her party cannon, pointing at him at close range, “NONSENSE!” she fires the cannon, but the confetti and streamers don’t as much tilt the stallion, however Pinkie Pie felt the recoil, sending her into Fluttershy. You know, when I think about it, what kind of pony can live frozen for thousands of years? Eventually your life will fade away when you’re frozen; then again I could feel a faint life force resonating. What is he? I have so many questions to ask him. I tried a heat spell to melt him out of there, but to no avail.
“Alright ponies”, I yell out, “our plan is to break this pony out of his frozen prison!”
Rarity gave me the stink eye, “that ice is harder than diamonds and colder than the ride to the Crystal Empire, what do you suggest?” I give Rarity a grin,
“what do you think, The Elements of Harmony!” Rarity’s eye twitched a bit,
“… I knew that…” We all get ready to prepare the attack and I cast the spell. When the light flashes were clear, I see the results… it worked! The pony is out of the ice unharmed and unconscious. He’s… different from ordinary stallions. His fur is black, he has royal swirl pattern across his legs, neck, and forehead, a dark red. His mane is short and luscious black and red. But the most defining feature was his bat wings and tall horn. A male alicorn? How is that even possible? His vitals are weak, but he can wake up if given good treatment.
Rainbow Dash picks up his front hooves and gives me the clothing; “got it!” she bolts toward the hospital with the unconscious alicorn in her hooves.
“Come on girls, let’s get the hospital!” We all gallop to Rainbow Dash’s cloud trail, it takes us 2 hours to get make it. Spike returns home to try to seal up the bunker again. Turns out Rainbow Dash made it to the hospital in 1 minute. Rainbow was waiting for us in the lobby, worried, and then she sees us,
“I know what you mean, and I’ve never seen such a dark and colorless pony like that before… it’s pretty… scary…!”
“You should never judge a book by its cover Fluttershy. No matters how hideously black its coat and fashion sense is” says Rarity, looking at the cloak on her back.
“What I want to know is why he’s an alicorn.” Pinkie joined in,
“Same here! Aren’t you supposed to be a mare to become an alicorn?” I felt the need to correct her,
“That’s not supposedly true Pinkie; any pony can be an alicorn, like me! I don’t have royal blood, but I have you guys for teaching me friendship that made me an alicorn.” We all talk about the mysterious stallion for a good 1 hour or so until the nurse called us up for the analysis and results.
“Well this pony is indeed not normal. His skin took some force to pierce through, and his internal body temperature is surprisingly low, about 10 degrees Celsius. His vitals are strong despite the body temperature. We had to lower the heat by a lot, any higher he would have a massive fever. When we budged open his mouth for a respirator, he had fangs, as if the black and red colors weren't creepy enough. Right now he’s sleeping; you can visit him if you want. We all go to visit him; I go in by myself while the others look through the observation window. It’s moderately warm in here, but our mystery pony is cold. Suddenly, his eyes slowly open… his red, exquisite eyes… everyone else rushes in, their eyes widen as his rise…
