The dark flame of her conscious flickered momentarily, feeling something strange as it did so. What was this sensation that she felt? The flicker roared into a burning flame, and so she became fully aware. She dug deeply into the darkness, searching for the source of the disturbance. Finally, she came across something strange. Strange, yet somewhat appealing. She could see the faded forms of horses, smiling, laughing, and talking amongst themselves in a small town. Some had wings, others had horns, and even more of them had neither. She could feel no evil coming from this place, and began to see an opportunity forming within its charming depths. She began plotting, plotting for a way to establish her presence in this care free world. She pondered over it as she returned to her own realm, thinking and thinking of how to strike. Then it came to her in a flash of inspiration. She sent her thoughts out to the one and only thing that could possibly bring her plans into action. The Night Mother would establish a sanctum in this new world, and she had one powerful ally that could get it done.
“Shadowmere......”
Chapter 1
Shadow
Her red eyes blinked open and she shook her head. Everything was blurry and the world around her seemed to be spinning. As she regained her composure, Shadowmere glanced around with a stoic face. She was in a forest, a thick one at that. It was strange considering she last remembered bucking a dragon in the snout that her silly human rider had run up to. Even while fighting the dragon, she had been on some sort of plain, not a forest. Her head turned up to look at the sky, which proved to be a futile attempt. The thick canopy of the trees blocked out all but the tiniest rays of sunlight. She could tell that it was still morning, but knowing the time of day didn't help her in the slightest. She still had no idea where she was and why she was here. Just as a hint of panic began to edge it's way into the black mares mind, a faint whisper spoke into her thoughts.
“Shadowmere....” The horse's ears flattened and she looked around suspiciously, the voice seemed incredibly familiar to her.
“Shadowmere....!” It said once more, though this time louder and with more force. Shadowmere twitched her nose and concentrated before attempting to reply.
“Hello?” the simple greeting lacked any sort of emotion, even in her thoughts.
“Good, you can hear me child....” the voice seemed pleased. After a short moment of mulling it over, Shadowmere came up with an identity for the voice.
“Night Mother,” It was more a statement than a question, but the mare received a delighted “yesss!” from the dark patron anyways. A mildly long lapse in conversation happened then, and Shadowmere was left with her thoughts in the dark forest. Her ears twitched around as she listened to the shrill cries of unknown creatures, and she began to anxiously paw at the ground.
“Do you know why you are there my child?” The Night Mother's voice asked so suddenly that Shadowmere couldn't help but jump. She shook her dark head briskly from side to side, signaling no. Even though the Night Mother couldn't see the mare's action, she continued to explain.
“You, my loyal one, shall establish a sanctuary in this world,” the Night Mother's voice whispered alluringly. Shadowmere silently questioned why she was to do this, and it didn't go unheard. “In a world of horses, why send any but a horse to complete this job?” the Night Mother cackled lightly. Shadowmere sat on her haunches and nodded in understanding, ready to listen to the rest of what the mother had to say. She jumped back up almost instantly and her red eyes narrowed. Her ears lay flat and her muscles tensed up, something was here. A fading whisper cut into her mind for a moment, “contact me when you are no longer indisposed.....,” and then she felt the presence of the Night Mother disappeared.
The black mare sighed and took a wide stance, her red eyes darting around the forest for whatever had put her on edge. A rustle in a patch of tall grass to her right sent the horse into a charge, thinking she would take whatever it was down before it got a chance to attack. Shadowmere skid to a stop though, when out of the grass popped a chicken's head. She nearly laughed at herself for getting all riled up because of such a small thing. She turned around to walk away, only to pause once more when a loud shriek split the air from the direction she had just been charging. Shadowmere turned back a just in-time to see, what she thought had been a chicken, leap out of the grass and soar at her. She had no idea what this strange creature was. It had the head of a chicken and body of a snake, and it was coming in for a kill.
Fast as lightning, Shadowmere turned on her heels and kicked her back legs out into the air with a soft grunt. She felt her hooves strike the creatures scaled hide, and listened to its painful squawk as the creature flew back and crashed into the broad trunk of a tree. It hit the ground with a loud THUMP and the mare turned and saw it trying to push itself back up. Shadowmere scowled and marched up to the weird creature, stopping a few inches away from it. She raised a hoof, and with a victorious snort, brought her powerful limb down on the creatures head. A loud crunching sounded, and then a wet squelch followed. The creature was dead, but she continued to stomp on it, making sure that every bone was thoroughly crushed beyond repair before stopping. Crimson stained her coal black hide and she dug her hooves into the dirt to try and clean them off. The action only succeeded in getting clumps of dirt stuck to the sticky crimson goop covering them.
Shadowmere spared a glance at the splattered mess of the creature that attacked her and shrugged. She merely considered it a warm up for what was to come. If the Night Mother was serious about creating a sanctum in this world, more death would inevitably follow. She prepared herself to contact the Night Mother once again, only to sigh when she discovered that she had no idea how to do so. So the horse was stuck in the middle of a new world with nothing but a mutilated corpse to keep her company. That is, until another creature charged out of the brush. Shadowmere instantly went on the defensive again, ready to kill whatever this was as well if it proved to be hostile.
“What is this that I do see? A Pony this far in the Everfree?” Shadowmere raised her head and blinked a few times at this strange black and white striped horse. Aside from its color and pattern, it was wearing a bunch of exotic accessories and trinkets. Of course, that was all ignored once Shadowmere actually registered that this horse could talk.
Zecora cocked her head to the side, staring past the pony in front of her to catch a glimpse of the totally crushed cockatrice laying at the base of a tree. The cries of the dangerous creature had been what brought her out here. Her blue eyes flickered to the unknown ponies hooves then, realizing that it had been this mare that had killed the cockatrice. She then took the time to examine the mare itself. She had a hide as black as that of Nightmare Moons with hair to match, and eyes as red as rubies. She had a strange red print on her flank, but Zecora couldn't tell what the cutie mark meant.
“I am surprised that you are uninjured from your fight, for it is rare to escape the cockatrice's might,” she said in a friendly voice and began to walk a little closer to Shadowmere. The black mare merely narrowed her eyes in response, taking a few steps back. Zecora could tell that there was something a little off with this pony, but shrugged it away. She was probably still a bit shaken from the experience with the Cockatrice. Seeing that she was going to get no immediate response from the darkly pony, Zecora nodded her head back the way she came. “My home is just around the bend, come and tell me your name my pony friend.”
Shadowmere thought for a moment about the horses invite. This was all a little strange, and by a little she meant very. Why did this striped horse keep calling her a pony? Why was she rhyming while she spoke? How in the world COULD she speak? All these questions sent her mind in a whirl. Then it struck her, she should be able to speak in this world as well. The horse began to walk off into the direction she motioned to, and Shadowmere trotted up to walk a few feet behind her. After a brief silence, Shadowmere coughed and shook her head. She opened her mouth, and after a breif pause to consider her actions, she spoke for the first time in the centuries that she had been alive. “Shadowmere,” she said, her voice was slow and silent. “My name, is Shadowmere.”
