The Shadows

Adagio found a seat on the table with Sam and his family.

"You never said where you were from. Your parents must be worried sick." Sam said.

"I don't have any parents. I've been an orphan as long as I could remember." Adagio lied.

'I think It's best if I don't tell them about Equestria...' Adagio said to herself.

"How about you? I didn't expect you to be a cop." Adagio said.

"Well, I was placed undercover, and I needed another pay, so for my job, I run my store searching for criminals. Much like yourself." Sam said.

Adagio slightly looked down in sadness, but otherwise let the harsh comment slide. Maggie turned on the news when a suden flicker accured.

"--And remember, keep as much light after dark as possible! At night, these creatures are capable of lightning fast speeds, enhanced strength, and are said to morph into the shadows, rise out, and attack an unexpecting survivor. As for the overall virus, the eastern hemisphere is nearly overrun with these shadow zombies. Soldiers sent to exterminiate the virus have lost contact with us a few--" The T.V turned to static.

"What was that?" Anon asked.

Sam peeked through the windows and saw a form of a person looking dead at him. It looked... different; it's skin was dark green, it's eyes had a light green tint, some areas of the skin had dark crystals, and the mouth was slightly dripping blood. Sam quickly closed the blinds and told his family to turn off the outdoor lights.

They did so and they saw as over 20 of those creatures were standing in an ape-like pose in front of their house. They only stopped when loud gunfire and explosions were heard nearby.

"What were those things?" Maggie asked.

"They were like shadows..." Adagio said.

"Shadows, not a bad name." Sam said.

"How about the ones in the day?" Anon asked.

"Let's worry about getting some sleep right now. We need light, enough to keep those Shadows away." Sam said.

Twilight was standing at the portal which was being worked on, and Crimson was looking for weapons and medicine to bring to Earth.

"So, he's your son?" Twilight asked.

"Adopted. I was visiting Earth and we saw his mother place him on a doorstep. No-one was home at that time, so knowing better, I took him back to Equestria. I raised him for as long as I could. He decided to become a guard over becoming a prince." Celestia said.

"But why not my brother?" Twilight asked.

"Actually, we tried him, but he was too busy. He actually sent Crimson here himself."

"What?!" Twilight whispered.

"Yes. He personally sent Crimson to the castle as soon as he could." The princess said.

Before Twilight could ask more, Crimson came back with a bag of Equestrian medicine and a few spears.

"Are we ready to go?" Crimson asked.

"Yes. Good luck." Celestia said.

The portal was activated and the portal formed a new, red void. Twilight was the first to travel through, then Crimson. The two traveled through a manhole and climbed out. Twilight had experience with a human body, so she was able to climb out, but as for Crimson, he was limping due to a lack of experience of walking on two feet.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. I'm just trying to get used to it." Crimson said.

The two were soon walking down a highway with a sign saying

WELCOME TO NYC

Sam woke up after a long night. He went downstairs and saw Maggie and Adagio checking the windows for Shadows.

"You know it's morning, right?" Anon asked walking down the stairs.

"Better safe than sorry." Maggie said.

Sam started making breakfast, when he noticed the stove wasn't working. Or any of the lights.

"When did this happen?" Sam asked alerted.

"We don't know. We woke up and the power was out." Adagio said.

"So we could've spent the entire night with no lights?" Sam asked.

"No, we had our candles I set up." Adagio said.

San stood in shock and relief.

"Thank you." Sam said.

"You're welcome. You saved my life, so I saved yours." Adagio said.

Sam made a campfire out back and cooked some eggs and hash. The family ate in peace while Adagio was troubled.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"It's just what happened. When Chris found me, he should've kept walking. He was like a brother to me, something I didn't have in a long time." Adagio said.

"I'm sorry. I saw him go, I seemed like it wasn't real..." Sam said.

"We should head out soon." Anon said.

"What? You saw those Shadows. If we're out there and with no shelter--" Maggie was interrupted by a pounding sound at the door.

Sam peeked through and saw 4 zombies trying to get in.

"Get back." Sam said to Adagio and Anon.

Sam pulled out his .45 and aimed at the door.

The door opened and the creatures limped towards him. BLAM! One creature crumbles to the ground. BLAM! Another falls; inched away from Sam. BLAM! The third one was near Sam's face. The last one pinned him to the ground, his gun was flown across the room. The creature was snapping at Sam and his arm was pushing its neck. Before the creature took a bite, BLAM! Sam looks and sees Adagio with the gun pointed at the corpse. She quickly handed it to Sam.

"Sorry." Adagio said.

"For what? Thank you." Sam said partially confused.

"But... you're welcome." Adagio said.

Crimson and Twilight found a building, where they stayed for a while. Twilight looked out the window and saw over 70 creatures limping towards their building. They quickly got up and looked for a back exit. They escaped, but they were trapped in a dark tunnel. Crimson, being new to Earth, tried to use his horn for light. But he forgot it was gone.

"I got it." Twilight found a flare.

She tried to light the flare, and after a minute, she lit it and heard a screech behind her. She turned around and saw a creature glowing red and running into the dark.

"What was that?!" Crimson asked.

"An... Infected!" Twilight said.

"A what?" Crimson asked.

"Back in the Dark Ages, the changlings used their magic to turn ponies into vicious, murderous creatures with the purpose to infect all of Equestria and let Queen Chrysalis rule all of Equestria and beyond. It must have happened here..." Twilight said.

"Okay, now we REALLY need to find what caused this, or where the cause is." Crimson said.

"But something's wrong. That one was... darker. It seemed to be dark magic." Twilight said.

"We need to find out what's going on here." Crimson said.