Chapter 1: Arriving in…Equestria?
My story begins about a year before the fall of nightmare moon and return of Luna. Of course my story begins about a month before that when I found out that my delusions of demons and monsters were real. You see I’ve always believed in monsters, demons, and other creatures of the dark. Hell when I was younger I thought I fought them, turned out I had. Ironic to find out what everyone told you was a lie was the truth. Anyway my story begins a month before I ended up in Equestria. You’re probably wondering if I knew it was equestria and honestly, no. I knew about MLP from my niece watching the show, and being a writer including fanfiction of the show because I liked it, but the Equestria I ended up in wasn’t the Equestria of the show. Anyway that’s not important yet, first I need to tell you about the month before and how I arrived there.
It started while I was walking fence line. I owned a hundred and twenty acre ranch, and had to walk fence every couple of days to make sure the neighbors cows didn’t get in and it didn’t need to be repaired. I was smoking a cigarette; I know they’re bad for you, but hell I was stressed out. I saw a black shape standing at the end of my property. I thought it was just a coyote, because it looked vaguely canine in nature. I pulled my pistol off my hip, and took a shot at it. The bullet hit the ground in front of it, but instead of running away like a normal coyote it rose up onto its hind legs and let out an ear shattering howl. I winced as my ears rang and heard the cattle nearby lowing in terror. I pointed my gun at the thing’s head and fired three shots.
The first shot went wide from my hands shaking, the second shot hit it in the shoulder, and the third pierced its skull dropping it to the ground. I walked up slowly my pistol pointed at it. Its body twitched slowly and I jumped back. I nudged it with a stick I found on the ground nearby and it twitched a bit before lying still. I growled and put another two rounds in its head causing it to twitch twice, once with each hit. I flipped it over with the stick.
After a few seconds I had a flash back to an earlier time. In the memory I was only twelve years old, unlike my current twenty five years of age at the time, and I was running alongside my friend Zeke. He was carrying a shot gun, and I was wearing a pair of twin glock pistols. Zeke looked at me and said “How many dark hounds have we killed so far this week?” I shrugged in the memory then un-holstered my pistols as we came upon an old abandoned farm house, a few miles outside our home town. I glanced at Zeke and he said “You sense something?” I nodded and he asked “Inside, or in the fields?” I pointed at the house and he said “Shite. That means we gotta go in, which means anything could come up from the field and trap us.”
I merely nodded and said softly “It’s not dark hounds. It’s something that seems like it has fire in its veins. Dark hounds are beings of pure darkness solidified into the shape of canines. Also if it was dark hounds, they’d have been on us by now.” Zeke sighed. I looked at him and said “You wanted to get into this business. I just agreed because I was tired of all the disappearances in our town.” He nodded and we started up the steps of the farmhouse then kicked open the door. The memory faded there as if my mind wasn’t ready for what we found. As I came back to the present I mumbled “Frack I forgot all about Zeke.” I wondered what happened to my old friend, but had the feeling he didn’t live to be in his twenties.
I watched as the body of the beast turned into dust and shadow. I sighed and glanced at the stick which had a black powdery residue on it. I put out my cigarette and threw the empty pack down then crushed it into the ground and finished walking fence. When I got back to my house I fed my dog and walked inside. I plopped down on my couch after putting my gun-belt on my kitchen island. I won’t go into much detail about my home, because this story takes place in Equestria, not my ranch. Anyway after that the day passed uneventfully.
The following day, I woke up and found something sitting at the end of my bed watching me. It was a green reptilian creature with blue eyes, purple spines, and was about three feet long from tail tip to nose. I stared at it as a voice that sounded like me when I was ten said “Void walker.” I blinked and said “So this is a void walker. Not dangerous to mortals, but known to appear anywhere magic is used. They feed off ambient magic and travel between the void and earth with little to no effort. They supposedly can be made pets by mana catchers. Ah well. What do you want big fella?” It studied me and let out a hiss. I raised an eyebrow in question at the hiss and it faded into darkness. I sighed and muttered “So it just opened a portal to the void in my room. Oh boy hopefully it doesn’t lead other creatures here.”
I got out of bed and got dressed then went outside and fed my animals. After that I walked around the property doing work here and there. I repaired fence, cleaned pens, and worked on tack. When I was done the day had passed and it was getting colder. I shivered pulling my sweatshirt on, and saw something walking the perimeter of my property. I wondered if it was more dark hounds or something else. I sighed and walked back to my house knowing that whatever it was, it wasn’t attacking my horses or other animals so I had no reason to attack it. I sighed as I walked inside and grabbed a beer.
As I sat down I felt my past coming back to me. I watched my memories flow before my eyes and sipped the beer not really tasting it. I saw the first time I ran into the creatures of the dark, the first time I met Zeke, my first kill, and when I finally put my guns away. I sighed and finished my beer then mumbled “I have a feeling the world doesn’t need hunters anymore.” I let my mind wander over the guns I’d thrown away as I walked to my room and picked up my wooden sword. I walked outside and went through forms as the night went on until I was exhausted. I took a quick shower and headed to bed.
The rest of the month passed by fairly quickly with me relearning old skills, remembering old things, and calling up old friends. All the while the things that go bump in the night were planning on getting revenge on me. I didn’t know this at the time, I only found out when the demons finally made their move. They made their move on the thirty first of January. I was working in my barn when the door blew open and in stepped a cowled figure wearing armor made of bone. I stared at them as creatures made of fire approached from behind them, then out of void portals behind me stepped a pack of dark hounds. I sighed and said “Guess my time’s finally up.”
The figure laughed darkly and said “Yes hunter, now that we’ve taken care of the rest of your kind, we can finally take care of you. You are the beast of the wood, are you not?” I smirked and nodded my eyes glowing silver despite being grey. They backed up a step and I picked up the hay fork then broke it over my knee making a spear. I stabbed a dark hound in the head. The figure snarled and said “We were told you’d forgotten everything.”
I smiled and said “It started coming back over the last month. Honestly I know I’m going to die, but I’m taking your minions with me. I probably can’t take you out, but I can sure as hell try. So since you know who I am, why don’t you tell me who you are?”
The figured chuckled and said “My name is of no importance to a dead man. However you may call me Stalker. I stalk my prey, usually hunters who think they are safe then end their lives.” I nodded accepting that and twirled the spear, which was really just a pointed hay fork handle, and bashed the first dark hound to lunge at me in the head. The one I’d killed had already turned to dust, but the one I just hit was only stunned. I quickly speared it through the chest, which was like a signal to the rest to attack. They lunged at me and I winced as had two biting into my calves preventing me from moving. I stabbed one in the head causing it to disintegrate and kicked the other off then jumped back as a spear of earth rose where I was just standing.
I glared at the demon that was in charge seeing him chanting and pointing at the ground. I hated spell casters, especially when I couldn’t stop them with magic or a gun, preferably a gun. I swung my spear at a hound that was leaping at my throat sending it flying into a pen. I screamed in pain as claws raked down my back nearly severing my spine if not for the spacing between them. As I climbed back to my feet a fire demon punched my stomach sending me flying back into the back wall. I coughed up blood wondering if the punch had ruptured any of my organs. I coughed up a bit more blood as I slowly forced myself to my feet and wiped my mouth. I picked up my makeshift spear again and stabbed a hound that charged at me.
I was suddenly impaled in a crucifixion my hands pierced by spikes of earth, my legs bound by pure energy. I screamed as dark energy slammed into my side. I held back a scream as Stalker walked up to me and said “I’m amazed you managed to fight back so long. I was expecting an easy kill like your friend the silver blade.” I spat in his face and he merely laughed at my defiance. He slammed his claws into my shoulder. I held back my scream and he, I say he though demons usually don’t have a gender, smirked and twisted his claws as he pulled them free.
I swore in Latin and spat to the side. He laughed darkly enjoying my pain and I said “Even if you kill me, another hunter will protect the land. I know my teacher is still out there. He’s training hunters in secret and none of us can have that knowledge taken from us.”
He smirked and said “I don’t care, so long as I can kill one hunter I’ll enjoy myself.” I growled at him feeling my inner animal snarling to be let free and lunged at him. He laughed and stabbed me in the side with a knife and said “Scream for me hunter.” I growled in response and he chuckled then slammed the knife into my other side. I coughed up a stream of blood. I finally let loose a scream of pain. Slowly my consciousness started to fade from the overload. I was dragged back to reality by something forcing itself into my stomach.
I let out an agonized scream holding back nothing. The demon let loose an uproarious laugh and pulled his hand out of my stomach. I felt my life fading away and saw a figure staring at me. I said softly “Please, allow me to protect someone. I don’t care who, I don’t care if it means being reborn, just allow me to save a life.” The figure seemed to nod and I felt myself fade away.
The demon seemed to realize I was fading fast as he snarled and slammed both hands into my chest saying “NO! YOUR SOUL IS MINE HUNTER!!!” I smiled and shook my head then everything faded away and I found myself floating in darkness. I heard the demon ranting as if from a distance and I couldn’t help but smile. I felt pain in my chest but it was distant, like it was happening to someone else. Suddenly a figure bathed in light appeared before me. They were vaguely equine in appearance, but it was like an equine had fused with a human.
They smiled and said “Hello little one.” I smiled feeling the motherly glow from her. She smiled more and said “My name is unimportant, as is what I am. All you need to know is I’m here to grant your wish.” I blinked confused and they said “You’re wish was to help at least one more person, correct?” I nodded and she said “Then I think I can prepare you to defend a new world. Would that work for you?”
I coughed and said softly “Yeah. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to protect others. Even if it means giving up who I was, I’m willing to do so to protect those that need it. The hunter’s oath is “In the darkness we stand, till the last light falls. Protectors of the weak and defenseless, hunters stand tall even at the fall of all. Now that I remember being a hunter I can’t go back to being a civilian.”
The pony nodded and said “Then I’ll send you where you can help. You’ll have to learn how to use your new body, but that’s ok. That said you’ll become like the inhabitants of the world. Can you handle that?” I nodded and she said “Good, then it’s time for you to awaken shadow heart.”
I gasped as I felt myself waking up in a forest. I sat up and stared at the ground. I was in a clearing, by the look of things. I stretched and felt my spine pop a few times before twisting my head and popping my neck. I yawned and mumbled “Well, it look like I’m alive again.” Standing up I felt like a new man. I gently patted myself down and found I was wearing a t shirt and jeans, but something was off about my body. I was slightly more muscled than I’d been before I’d awoken. I stretched my arms over my head and felt my face. It was extended into a muzzle, and there was something sticking up out of my forehead. I blinked feeling spiral ridges and said “Is that a horn?”
I glanced at my hands and saw they were covered in dark forest green fur. I stared at mumbled “Well this is different. I ran my hand through my hair feeling my horn pass beneath my fingers below my fringe. I glanced behind me and saw that I had a blonde fox tail. I stared aghast and said “WTF? How do I have more than one tail? I’m not a chimera, am I? You know what, who cares.” I shook my head and heard the sound of the trees around me rustling. I got into a ready stance as I was approached by a pack of wolves made of wood. I glared at them and they slowly backed off as if meeting my eyes was dangerous. They circled around me slowly then stopped and walked away. I watched them go and muttered “Well it looks like they didn’t want to taste my tasty, tasty, flesh.”
I started to follow the sound of animals further into the forest. I hoped it would eventually lead me out. After a while I did find myself on the outside of the forest, but it was surprising. Before me was a quaint cottage with bird houses surrounding it, a chicken coop, and animals going to and fro. I stared at it a bit then shook my head and walked past muttering “Someone sure loves animals.” My tail wagged behind me, and I curled it around my waist. I walked along the road leading from the house to the village and found myself staring at a sign that read “Welcome to Ponyville.”
I blinked and my ears twitched, which felt weird but not so much so that I couldn’t handle it. I covered my eyes with my left hand and said aloud “When I open my eyes I’ll find myself pinned to the barn wall and this will all have been a dream. After all, that demon wouldn’t have let me escape to a world of peace like Equestria.” I slowly lowered my hand and opened my eyes.
Amazingly it didn’t fade and I was suddenly slammed into as I hadn’t heard the pony in question shout “WATCH OUT!” while I was musing to myself. I turned about to ask why they plowed into me when a rainbow maned head lowered itself into my view and said “Hey blondie, why didn’t you listen when I said watch out.” I sighed and just shook my head. She, for this one was obviously female based on the bulges hidden by her sports bra, looked at me and said “Hello, anybody home?” I pushed myself up in a push up positon and she was now sitting on my back.
I glanced at her and said “Didn’t hear you. Now would you kindly hop off my back so I can get up?” She nodded and flew up off me then landed next to me as I stood up and popped my back. I was amazed at my own durability. She dusted me off and I asked “What were you doing that led to you plowing into me?” She smiled and spread her wings obviously about to go on a tangent. I covered her muzzle and said “Answer my question, please. After that you can go on about how awesome your tricks are, or whatever.”
She nodded and said “I was doing a trick. I’m training to be a wonderbolt.” I raised an eyebrow and she said “So who are you?” I smiled slightly and stretched then looked away. She started at me and said “Not going to tell me?” I shook my head negative to her question then ran a hand through my hair thinking about what I’d call myself. She raised an eyebrow and said “Name, pal?”
I smiled and said “Jake Shadow Heart, but you can call me Jake or Shadow.” She nodded and held out a hand which I gladly shook. She smiled slightly and I said “So know anyone who has work available for a guy who just arrived in town?” She shrugged then studied me. I raised an eyebrow in question and she muttered about something being odd. I blinked and asked “What’s odd?”
She sighed and said “You’re horn.” I raised an eyebrow questioningly and she said “Honestly it’s nothing big, just that it’s black instead of green. Most unicorns have a horn the same color as their coat.” I shrugged self-consciously and she said “Ah well, doesn’t matter. So you’re looking for work?” I nodded. She smiled and said “Well the apples could use help but they can’t really pay you, Rarity needs a gem hunting partner, and there should be jobs on the board in town hall. I’d take you there but I gotta get back to practicing so I guess I’ll see you around.” I nodded and waved her off as she prepared to fly off. She smiled and said “See you around Shadow.” I nodded at her and walked into town yawning.
I noticed nobody, I mean nopony, was watching me with any more interest than the rest of the ponies in town. I found town hall after taking a few wrong turns, running into a few ponies who helpfully pointed me in the right direction, and a lot of walking. I walked into town hall, and that was when my life in equestria truly began…
