Darkness Incarnate

The darkness closed in around me. I walked slowly through the charred ruins of the Everfree forest, which was once green and lush. Nothing remained but a few blackened stumps and piles of ashes now, and I was eager to return to town. Then suddenly, a  dark shadow fell across the ground in front of me, blotting out the low light of the giant, blood-red moon. I swiftly turned around, only to be met with the huge claws of a giant monster about the size of a small house. I instinctively threw my hand towards the hand-and-a-half sword strapped to my belt. The action was not quick enough however, and as I spun around to see my foe, I was met with the sight of claw rending flesh.

I awoke suddenly, sweating. It was only a dream. I sat up in my bed, brushing my dark hair out of the way of my grey eyes. The house was quiet, and had been quiet since my parents had died. I didn't really have friends, and the only social interaction was at my shitty job. I had no money to pay for college and get a better job, considering the fact that I had bills to pay and food to buy to keep myself alive. I was your average high school graduate- Lots of bills to pay, and hardly enough money to pay them, he who hardly ever has time for himself. But I always had time to sink into a good episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It always brought a smile to my face and made me forget about the hardships I faced in my life.

I realized that I had fallen asleep after a long, twelve hour day of hard labor. I was still in my work clothes- A pair of hardened jeans, steel-toed work boots, and a neon yellow shirt. I lifted myself from the bed in my small apartment. Telling by the darkness outside, it was either night or very early morning. I opened the door of my small room, which led into my kitchen. I walked past the table and lazily opened the door to my small refrigerator, retrieving a half-drank bottle of water.

I took a long drag on the cold drink, soothing my dry throat, and closed the refrigerator door. Walking into the living room, I sat down and flicked on the television.

I lazily flicked through the list of programs, and nothing caught my attention. It was a little before dawn, after all, and nothing was on besides paid programming and cheap ads. Giving a small sigh, I got up from my chair and walked over to my computer, which was still on from yesterday. I powered the monitor on. I didn't know what I was going to do, maybe play Minecraft or Skyrim. Something wasn’t right though… The screen began shifting different colors, and grew extremely bright, to the point that I couldn’t see a thing. There was a loud 'boom', like the sound of a thunderclap, and I was thrown away from my screen. I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

"R-Rainbow.... Dash..?" I managed to blurt out. In front of me was the rainbow-maned pony herself. She was laying on the ground. She looked up with a lost expression on her face. Her eyes met mine, and she adopted an expression of fear.

"Wha- What the heck is going on?!" She sputtered. She got up extremely quick and pounced on me, driving me shoulders back into the floor from my half-upright position. "What are you?!" she asked fiercely.

"I- I'm a human!" I quickly responded.

"A... Human? What the hay is that? she asked me with a confused expression.

"Uh..." I was at a complete loss.

"Wait....  I remember Twilight mention something like 'human' before... I bet she knows!" Dash exclaimed in her energetic voice.

"Uh.... What exactly are you doing here, in my world?" I asked cautiously.

“That,"  she said, getting off of me, "is a good question."

"How did you.... I mean, how is that you have come? My name is Volke, by the way." I said while pulling myself to a standing position,

"I'm Rainbow Dash.... As to how I've come here, I'm not sure. I was helping my friend Twilight Sparkle find a few plants in the Everfree Forest. For some reason I blacked out and woke up here!" she told me, recounting what happened.

"This can't be good..." I said hoarsely. If a pony was here in my world.... What could it mean?

"No, this probably isn't good. I bet Twilight knows.... Come on, let's get back to Equestria!" She yelled.

“Er.... How, exactly?” I asked her.

“Um... How about there?” she suggested, pointing to the swirling rift which used to be my computer desk.

"It's worth a try..." I replied.

We walked to the rift, which was the area of the wall where my computer used to rest. The rift was a mass of swirling colors and pigments, almost like a blended kaleidoscope. We both touched it and I was instantly uncomfortable. It felt as though someone was trying to squeeze my body into a tiny rubber tube, and I couldn’t breathe. Just when I thought I was going to suffocate, I appeared in a pile of ash, surrounded by blackened stumps and the smell of charred wood. The moon was a deep blood red, which cast an eerie glow of the remains of what used to be the Everfree Forest. I had seen this before, from my dream...

“What the......” Dash's jaw dropped at the sight. "No! Twilight..! Twilight!!" She screamed.

“We need to get moving, Dash. Whatever, or whoever, did this might still be skulking around.

“Right…. woah!”  yelled Dash. I whipped around quickly, only to see a shadowy creature  jumping at her, claws and fangs outstretched and ready to strike. It was an odd sight. It was about the size of a common house dog, and had bright red orbs for what I assumed were its eyes. It had a smooth body, like it was made of pure shadow, with long insect-like tendrils perched on it's forehead. Its claws and teeth were gruesome and jagged, like it could rend even the toughest hauberk. Drawing back my fist, I smashed it with the full force of my body, definitely shattering its jawbone and sending it flying away from Rainbow Dash. It let loose a wild yelp of pain, snarled loudly, and vaulted again, this time towards me. Its gruesome claws swiped my arm, leaving a deep and bloody wound. The force of it knocked me down, and Rainbow Dash bucked it to its back.

"Thanks, Dash!" I yelled.

The creature reared for one last jump, but I had already pulled myself up, bringing a thick, tough broken branch with me. The creature lunged, and I held steady. At the last moment, I lunged forward with extreme motion and drove the end of a broken stick I had picked from the ground into the shadow's head and neck. It let out a pained gargle, then disappeared in a burst of darkness.

"That.... was intense...." I said, getting a firm handhold on the bit of wood.. "Let's go."

"Yeah...." said Dash. We turned to leave, only to be met with more of the shadowy creatures. They began coming in swarms, and I couldn’t fight them all off with merely a stick.

“Dash, run!” I yelled. The creatures began to overtake me, and I brandished the bit of wood furiously, beating back wave after wave of the shadows, but it seemed futile. I sank into the swarm of creatures, and thought surely that I would be devoured. Hand reached out to the sky, I felt something pulling on it. I opened my eyes, and Dash was there pulling.

"I'm not letting these things get you!" she yelled. I beat most of the creatures away, and we flew to safety about a hundred yards away. The beasts gave up pursuit, and disappeared into darkness. and we could see Ponyville nearby.