The Ultimate Lifeform In Equestria

Spike was humming a small tune to himself as he began to dust the shelves. He knew Twilight appreciated coming back to a library that was cleaner, and he was happy to help. He got the ladder used for reaching higher shelves and climbed it. With a smile he began to dust the top shelf since it always had the most dust. He was so focused that even the slightest noise would cause him to topple over. Good thing he wasn't expecting any one to barge through the door at this point and time.

The door to the library suddenly slammed open, "Spike!" Twilight called out as she entered, only to see her assistant and ladder fall to the ground with a huge crash. She rushed over to him and helped him up. "Oh my gosh, Spike, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, though what's with the whole barging in thing?" he asked, "Weren't you going to be gone longer?" he didn't mind she was home, he was just curious about her unexpectedly soon return. Twilight knew that and just sighed.

"I need you to take a letter Spike. It's important." she said.

"Alright." Spike replied before getting a parchment and quill, ready to write. Twilight cleared her throat and began.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm writing to you at this hour to inform you about the creature we discovered after saving your sister, Luna. Yes Spike Celestia has a younger sister. No don't write that. What do you mean you already wrote that?! Ugh, nevermind, let's just keep going.

Anyway, about the creature. Well first off it's a male. This is evidenced by how much deeper its voice was, very masculine. Oh yeah, he can talk too. He told me his name was Shadow and that he was a hedgehog. He's no longer here at the library...he left as soon as I let the whole we found you in the Everfree Forest part slip.

This morning the girls and I decided to track him down, we found him a little ways into the Everfree Forest. He actually seemed pretty okay despite how deep he was into the forest. He had a campfire going and was eating something. Upon questioning him we learned he was eating the cooked meat of a Manticore that he himself had killed.

It was...stomach chern chirn churning to say the least. He also claimed to have also bested a fully empowered Timberwolf. I would've been skeptical, but with Fluttershy having informed me of alarming sounds that kept her up at night I'm inclined to believe him. The worst part was when we tried to question him further he began to lick and bite the meat to make us leave. It worked, but at least I was able to learn from him that he is an Omnivore.

I'm sure convincing him to leave the Everfree will be impossible, because he diduce deduse deduced that if that's where he was found then that would be the most likely place to get him back home.

I'll do my best to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. Please write back as soon as you can.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Spike rolled up the letter and breathed fire onto it, sending it straight to the princess herself. "So...Shadow. He's pretty...unique from what I've heard." Spike said, having never met him since he was still asleep during both meetings with him.

"Unique...is an understatement." Twilight said as she sighed, hoping she got a response soon.

Shadow trekked deeper into the forest, many exotic plants filling his vision as he kept walking. Making sure to avoid those that sported vibrant colors, since his knowledge and common sense dictated that bright colors are bad which was usually the case when it came to anything in the exotic department. As he continued through he came across a hut that he could see a Zebra through the window of.

"seems I'm not the only one that decided to make the forest a home of sorts..." he thought as he turned his gaze forward and began to walk, that is until the emerald in his possession began to glow and pulse. Bringing it into his field of vision he noticed it was a calm reaction, meaning another emerald was near. "Seems the other 6 emeralds might be here"

He decided to hold his arm out and use the emerald like a dowsing rod, by pointing it in any direction from where he was standing he would determine where to look for the other emerald based on how much of a reaction he got. Holding it away at arms length seemed to garner the best result when doing this. He took note that the hut was to his right, where he came from was behind him. A great deal of forest growth was to his left and more path was to his front. He held the emerald out in front of him, the reaction seemed to lessen slightly. Turning around he held it out to the path he just took, same reaction. The growth was now to his right and he held it out toward it, and the reaction was almost non-existent. Turning to the hut he held it out and was genuinely surprised, it began to react by glowing and pulsating.

Zecora smiled to herself as she hummed a tune from her home. Brewing a potion for a plant she just found. The plant possessed a pollen that blinded anything that startled it into releasing said pollen. The plant was in a pot she had. Getting it in there was easy, since it was a seed. Growing it and making sure not to set it off was the hard part. From what she observed, loud sounds and sudden rapid movements that happen to touch the plant would set it off. Once the pollen was out the plant would wither and die. She was fortunate it was still full of pollen, for her potion. Now how would she get the pollen out of one of the bulbs? There were three on the thick green stalk, the magenta bulbs would twitch a bit. This was a sign the plant was ripe and ready to release pollen.

Zecora looked at the plant and sighed, she knew the plant would also release pollen naturally. When that was she never knew, but at least it was one bulb at a time. She timed it and it seemed one bulb would rupture every twenty-four hours. She had three chances once it started to naturally pollinate and that was it.

This plant wasn't the only thing she had discovered in her recent travels. Turning her eyes to a nearby shelf she could see a blue gemstone that glowed with otherworldly beauty. She didn't know what it was, but since she found it along with the seed she decided to keep it as a good luck charm. She gathered a small bowl of crushed leaves to add to her potion. The trick to it was adding the crushed bits slowly, otherwise the reaction would be extreme. Slowly she began to add the leaves when something startled her and nearly made her lose focus. It sounded like a small humming sound and a slight rumble. She realized it was the gem she found, it was making that noise and glowing brighter. Why was it doing so?

Deciding to drop it she turned back to adding the leaves, tilting the bowl just as her door slammed open. Causing her to drop the bowl in the pot. The mixture going wild and exploding in a flash of smoke and sound. The plant reacted to this by releasing its pollen. The next thing Zecora knew she could hear a masculine voice displaying agony. Turning to her door she saw a black and red creature clutching its eyes. Above the creature she could see the bright pink pollen and quickly worked to gathering as much as she could.

"What the hell was that?!" Shadow asked in discomfort as he felt his eyes burning in a pain he never could have imagined. It was like someone dipped his eyes in acid and roasted them on an open fire before putting them back into his head.

"It was the bulbing blindness. A price to pay for your rudeness." Zecora responded, having finished gathering the pollen. "Now may I ask who you are? Why have you come into the forest so far?"

Shadow just writhed, releasing grunts and pants as the pain became a dull throb. "I'm Shadow...the hedgehog" he managed to say once he caught his breath. Zecora noticed a green gem next to him on the floor, it looked just like the blue one she had. "I have seen that gem. Tell me, are there more than one of them?"

"Yes...seven in total. That's why I'm here." he said as he tried to stand up, blindly searching for something to support himself on as he got to his feet.

"You have come to claim this stone I have found. Yet you enter my house like that of a hound." she said with a glare.

Shadow began to open his eyes, but as soon as a speck of light and some air touched it the pain hit him like a jolt of electricity. Immediately he clamped his eyes shut. "Gah!" he said as the pain hit him and slowly faded.

"Opening your eyes, is not wise. That plant is your sight's demise."

"What do you mean?"

"In time, your eyesight will be obscured. Fortunately I can have it cured."

"Then do it." Shadow said, impatient and irritated.

"You will find no such help here. For your attitude must disappear. You are quite rude you see. I refuse to treat you with no apology."

Shadow growled in frustration, he really wasn't in the mood for this. "You will give me that cure and that emerald or I won't be held accountable for my actions." he said before Zecora whipped out a staff she used for meditation and swept his feet out from under him. Her staff pinned to his chest to keep him down.

"Respect you will learn. My hospitality you will earn." she said. "These stones I shall take until you learn from your mistake."

Shadow grabbed the staff, only to feel himself get pulled up by it and then swatted out of the home. Zecora then grabbed the green emerald and put it with the blue one. Turning to her door she could see Shadow standing up.

"If you think you can best me, you're wrong. I'm just as aware blind as I am with sight." he said.

"Would you like to prove that in a fight? If you defeat me I will restore your sight." she said as she walked out, still holding her staff.

Shadow wasted no time and headed straight for her, his ears working to find her location. As soon as he was close she jumped back and flicked her staff upwards, cracking Shadow in the chin before prodding him in the stomach. Shadow landed on his feet and slid back a bit. His stomach and chin aching from that. Zecora just smirked, before she took to the offensive. Shadow could hear her and ducked below her swipe. Pulling a fist back and throwing a punch. Zecora spun her staff, a satisfying crack sounding as it collided with his wrist, sending the punch off course. She jumped back to make distance between them.

He heard when she landed, and went for her again. She sidestepped the frontal assault before hitting him in the back of the head. Shadow caught himself with his hands before quickly sweeping his legs in a circle motion. Using his hands to keep himself upright as he did this. Zecora was shocked at how fast he recovered from that and soon felt her own legs get swept out from under her. Shadow quicktly turned to her and with his hand grabbed her throat and pinned her down.

Zecora still had her staff in hoof and quickly flicked it, striking the side of his head. Shadow's grip faltered as he felt the momentum of the staff transfer to his head and cause him to be knocked off of her. She stood and began to attack. Striking Shadow repeatedly, taking out his elbows and knees before striking his back and then his stomach before finally hitting him in an upward strike with all her might. The blow sent Shadow a few feet into the air before he came down like a rock, hitting the ground with a hard thud.

"This fight is done. I have won." She said before looking at Shadow and gasping. Blood was cascading down his face. Sure his lip was bleeding and maybe that little gash in the side of his head, but this blood was coming from his eyes. That was bad. From what she studied victims of the pollen went through three stages. First was an infection that resulted from bacteria that was spread out with the pollen. The second was bleeding from the eyes. The third was total blindness followed by death as the bacteria entered the skull through the ocular nerve.

"This cannot be, he has entered stage two already?" She began to worry, knowing he didn't have long before stage three. At most she estimated he had 36 hours before death.

"Despite your rude demeanor, letting you die would not be keener. I will make a cure ready and your recovery will be steady." she said before dragging him into her hut and managing to get him onto the bed near a window. She got a rag and began to clean up the blood on his face before going to her pot and beginning to brew the cure.

"A lesson you shall learn. These emeralds you shall earn." she said, needing to teach him proper respect. To do that she first had to save his life and go from there.

Hours passed by and just as the moon rose the potion was complete. Zecora approached Shadow, only to see him up, and his eyes open and looking at the moon. For some reason his eyes didn't hurt as much, maybe that was because they were numb and he could barely see.

"You are awake and can see? How many can you see of me?" she asked. Shadow turned to her. A pink ring around his irises and his sclera turning a golden yellow from the infection. Some of the vessels had burst, giving him red splotches in the corners of his eyes.

"Two" he answered, she just arched a brow and gave him this look as if she expected him to say one.

"Drink this and nothing your eyes will ever miss." she said handing him the potion. He took it into his hands before sniffing it and immediately wishing he hadn't. It was putrid, and that smell stuck with you once you smell it once.

"Its scent will not last. Yet its effects last and last." she said. Shadow sighed before downing the potion. It tasted worse than it smelled and immediately he felt the need to vomit. Using his willpower he kept it down and immediately felt a tingle in his eyes before he felt bandages being wrapped around his eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked

"You must keep them bandaged to avoid further damage." she explained. Shadow let her bandage his eyes before he turned his head to her.

"Why did you save me?"

"No one deserves to die, that is the reason why." she said.

"Thank you" he said. She blinked, unsure if she heard him correctly since it was so out of nowhere.

"It was no trouble, but if you behave your emeralds will double." she said with a smirk.

"You mean you'll give me the emeralds once I'm healed?"

"Yes its true, but I have much to teach you." she replied.

"What's your name?" he asked

"Zecora is my name, brewing potions is my game." She said "Rest you must, for we do not want a morning fuss"

He nodded before laying down and resting his head on the pillow, feeling himself drift to sleep soon afterward.

Celestia yawned after such a long day, going to her room and slipping out of her regalia before noticing the letter on her night stand. Remembering she put that there after receiving it due to how busy she was. Using her magic she levitated it to her face and opened it. Her eyes skimming along the words as she read it.

"Well it seems Shadow is quite the interesting character." she said with a small chuckle. A yawn soon made itself known as her day caught up with her. She rolled it up and set it back on the night stand, deciding to respond to it tomorrow. With grace only known to a princess she began climbing into bed. Pulling the covers over her and resting her head on the pillow before falling into a deep and peaceful sleep.