Twilight's Guide To The Unexplained Anomaly 22: The Shadowmane
Author's Note
This is a special gift to my friend Harmony Pie. She has been so helpful and supportive to me in my time of need, and I wanted to make this to her as my gratitude. I know she's a major Gravity Falls fan, so I'd thought I'd make this fic as a special tribute for her. Enjoy Harmony. I hope you do.
Twilight's Guide To The Unexplained Anomaly 22: The Shadowmane
*static*
"Sunset, is the camera working?" Twilight asked.
"Hold on."
A hand kept smacking the side of the camera, until the static finally went away to focus on the excited face of human Twilight Sparkle. She was getting ready to make a video with Sunset for searching more anomalies that had existed in the world. Ever since Twilight had learned the existence of the Equestrian magic, she was now sucked into the world of myths, legends, and anomalies.
"Okay, the camera's working." Sunset replied.
"Perfect." Twilight then cleared her throat and looked into the camera with a professional look on her face.
"Hello, I'm Twilight. And welcome back to Twilight's Guide to the Unexplained. Today we're going to investigate anomaly number 22-"
Sunset adjusted the camera to zoom in closer for a dramatic effect.
"The Shadowmane." Twilight said.
"Duh-Duh-Duh!" Spike dramatically finished.
"Spike!" Twilight groaned.
*static*
Sunset had moved the camera over onto a desk showing various pictures that had been printed out, along with some newspaper articles, and several legend and myth books. All of them had something to do with a shadowy figure seen in the form of a pony.
"Locals tell tale of something they call the Shadowmane. A creature entirely in shadow, but from what they've seen, its in the form of a pony. Other alias names had been called the Phantom Horse, or the Equine Ghost."
Twilight then pulled out a book with embezzled with the title The Shadowmane, and began flipping through the pages showing photos to the camera Sunset kept holding.
"Legend has it that the Shadowmane was actually the name of a horse that belonged to an outlaw named Big Dip. Always known for getting his hands on the supernatural and legendary items and freaks. Legend also has it he was in love with a beautiful girl named Harmony Pie. She used to live around in Appleloosa."
The camera then turned over to some old articles that had been cut out of newspapers.
"And from what else I've read, the two of them started becoming a family. But a tragedy had struck their family, and their horse had ran off into the Everfree Forest, never to be seen again."
Sunset then turned the camera again to face some more photos, but they were looking more recent. Some of them shown really darkened horse shoe tracks into dirt, and a shadow of a pony that had cast onto the ground.
"However, some of these photos suggest the creature has been recently seen and there's a high possibility of finding it."
Twilight then picked up the camera to face herself.
"And I intend to find out--"
"BLAH!"
Out of nowhere Pinkie had jumped out of a closet and scared the living daylights out of Twilight so much she dropped the camera, and now the angle was on its side facing their feet.
"Pinkie! What are you doing here!?" Twilight exclaimed.
"I wanted to see if you were ready for when the Shadowmane pops out, silly." Pinkie giggled.
"Sunset, did you she was there?" Twilight asked.
"I'm sorry, she tricked me!" Sunset laughed hysterically.
*static*
The camera then changed over to on the camping grounds, as now Twilight and Sunset were interviewing some of their fellow classmates for their opinions on the Shadowmane. The first person to interview was Micro Chips, and Sunset had slipped out a small sign underneath that read: Micro Chips. Techie/Science Enthusiast.
"So, what do you know about the Shadowmane?" Twilight asked while standing beside Sunset.
"Oh the Shadowmane? Oh I know he's real. My cousin who visited this place a few times, claimed he had seen a creature that was vaguely like a horse, but only saw it as a shadow."
Little did Micro Chips know Trixie was walking on past right behind him, and decided to bomb right into the video by making silly faces.
"And I.... Why are you laughing?" Micro asked. He scratched the back of his head wondering, but quickly figured it out. He had to deal with this kind of problem before.
"Dang it Trixie!" Micro yelled.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie strikes again!"
*static*
Twilight and Sunset had moved the camera somewhere else. This time, they interviewed Sandalwood. And the sign underneath him read Sandalwood: Hippie/Possibly Treehugger's brother.
"The Shadowmane? Oh he's real dude. Real as my dreadlocks. I caught a glimpse of him during a summer vacation trip. Real scary."
"Did you see him doing anything that looks if it could harm anyone?" Twilight asked offscreen.
"Nope, all I saw was the shadow, and it just stood there. Very, menacingly..."
Sunset then turned the camera towards Twilight who looked shocked beyond all belief.
"Moving on!"
*static*
The camera then turned over this time to Rainbow Dash who seemed skeptical based on the unamused expression on her face, as well as her kicking back on the picnic table seat. And this time Twilight held the camera, and once again another sign was shown underneath that read: Rainbow Dash: Athlete/Friendship Games finalist.
"Twilight, you actually believe the Shadowmane exists?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Twilight asked.
"The Shadowmane's just a ghost story, and that's it. Its nothing too big for you to go chasing--"
But at that very moment, a shadow zoomed right by Rainbow Dash making her hair swoosh, and Twilight quickly turned the camera around towards the direction it ran off.
"That's it!" Twilight then ran off after it, all the while Rainbow kept screaming.
"I thought we were doing an interview! Twilight!"
Twilight just ignored Rainbow's complaint and ran off into the woods through some shrubs and bushes to try and find the shadow she swore she saw, and kept shaking the camera trying to run.
"I'm coming for you! Where is he? Where is he?"
*static*
Twilight finally stopped in front of a small and slightly axed at tree.
"Okay, after a few hours of extensive running, I've narrowed the Shadowmane down to this spot right here."
Twilight then turned the camera towards her face.
"I know what you guys are all thinking. How can I possibly catch a creature that's only seen in shadow and not in a physical form? Well, I'm several steps ahead of you guys."
Twilight turned the camera around to show the view of the small tree. In the background, the sun was setting and shining down, revealing the shadow of the tree.
"You see how the sun shining in the background casts a shadow on that tree? Well when I see the shadow of something that looks like an equine, we'll know its the Shadowmane."
And at that very moment, a shadow of a horse head popped out of the side.
"Aha! Its there!" Twilight then ran with the camera towards that direction, but the minute she turned around she just found a horse head on a broomstick. "Wha...What!?"
*static*
Twilight with the camera facing right at her and eyes were showing a look of anger, was less than amused.
"Okay, so Rainbow may have pranked me and I know that because she left a note on the stick that read 'ha-ha, fooled you, signed RD,' but that doesn't mean its not real. I've set up a new plan."
The camera was turned towards a bunch of lights shining down at one spot all forward, all hidden in shrubs and bushes.
"Even though there's probably thousands of other ways I could be handling this right now, I wanted to give this plan a try. All we have to do is wait."
After a few minutes had past, an actual shadow of a horse had shown in the lights. But even better, it looked as if the actual physical form had appeared.
"Yes! Its actually here! Get ready to be finally seen Shadowmane."
Twilight picked up the camera, and sped up to try and finally catch it.
"In 3, 2, 1... AHA! What?" Twilight sputtered.
The shadow that was there was just a wooden board, cut out in the shape of a horse. And on the back, was another note taped 'Fooled you!'.
"Its not funny anymore Rainbow!" Twilight shouted.
"Then why I am laughing!" Rainbow laughed hysterically.
*static*
Twilight just threw her clipboard to the ground in protest. After giving a sigh, she finally looked at the camera and talked.
"Well, based on the lack of evidence, anomaly number 22, the Shadowmane, is just... a legend."
Twilight slumped in her shoulders and walked away in defeat. But little did she know that a creature from just from the side of a tree emerged, all covered with a silhouette. The only defining features were that its shape was in the form of a horse, its mane was all messy and ruffled up, and its eyes were nothing but white voids. It began to follow Twilight, but the sound of hooves clopping against the ground alerted her ears, and she turned her head to see if anyone had been following her, but there was no one to be seen. The shadowed pony had vanished the minute she turned her head.
"What was that?... Eh, uh.... nothing. It was nothing.
Twilight began walking again, and the shadow emerged again following her once more. The sound of the hooves were heard again, and just as before, Twilight turned her head to see nothing there. She looked in all directions with just the eyes moving around, but no signs were available. And the shadowed equine reappeared and trotted right behind her going to the camp of the Everfree....
