The Shadow Guardianby XAgentHunterChaptersI. The Shadow AwakensII. The Shadow's GreetingIII. Interview With a VampireIV. Sunny Shadow.I. The Shadow Awakens“Ugh…damn me.” The voice that was heard was deep, it gave the hint of fear from it, but as well that there are emotions in the voice. “I swear one day, doing my job is gonna get me killed…and not the way I would want to go.” The voice was a man, he picked himself up from the ground. He walks by to see a puddle, enough for a reflection, he looks at the puddle to see himself. He was a tall man with Long Snow-White Hair, Total Pale light skin, Red Eyes, and sharp teeth. He wore a long Coat along with a Hoodie, He had straps on that carried Knives. His boots were also dark along with the Pockets it provided which carried Pistols. The Person also had a scarf, which was hiding his nose and mouth. On his back looked like a Sword Holster, and next to it were two dual SMG of sorts. “Well…good to know nothing has changed.” He says. The man then grabs the SMGs and checks the magazines, “MP5K…seems to be intact,” He then looks at his waist to see many magazines as well as knives, “I’m stocked up still at least.” The man then puts the MP5s away to check the two pistols in his holsters, “M9 Pistols…mags good, chamber good, barrel good.” He then puts them back. Finally, he unsheathes the sword. It looked like a Katana that had a small curve…it glowed and was colored Red and Black, there were bandages on the handle as well as the bottom of the sword that connected to the Handle. “Not damaged…then again…nothing can really damage you.” He puts the sword back and looks around to see he was in a forest…but wasn’t far from an exit. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not in Gateway?” The man sighs as he walks towards the exit. As he was walking, he sees…unusual things, he first sees some rabbits running on deer legs, then he sees floating buildings and upside down ones. Soon he was standing at the edge of the forest and didn’t move. Why? It was raining brown liquid from pink clouds above. The man puts two fingers out and waits for a drop to hit, as soon as one does, he places it in his mouth, not moving the scarf much. He tasted the sweetness of chocolate…with milk. “Chocolate milk…what?” The man sighed as he put two hands on the back of his neck, under the coat and then pulled out a hood, he covered himself which did cover his large white hair. He then puts his two hands in his pockets as he takes his first step into this…Land of Confusion. “What the hell is this place?” He looks around at the very illogical land, he then looks to his right at a distance to see a creature in a King’s Chair. “I wonder if I’ll get some information from him.” As he walks to his destination, he looks back at the chair to see some multi-colored Ponies approaching the creature. “Wonder what the occasion is for this party…” The man walks to the crowd and hides behind the pink-checkered hills. “Oh, this again?” The creature says. “That’s right, you couldn’t break apart our friendship for long.” One of the ponies says, she had a southern accent and was wearing a red flannel, with blue jeans and a cowboy hat. “Oh, Applejack, don’t lie to me. I’m the one who made you a liar. Will you ever learn?” The creature says. “I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord: we've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!” A Purple Unicorn then says, she had a hoodie on with some jeans. “Ugh, gag. Fine, go ahead, try, and use your little Elements. ‘Friend me.’ Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here.” The creature known as Discord says. “All right, ladies, let's show him what friendship can do!” The Purple Unicorn says. Just then a flash of colors happen from the six ponies, as then they started to float. “What’s this?” The flash then created a beam which was aimed at Discord. “Oh no, you don’t!” Discord whips up a shield that completely blocks the attack. He then pushes the beam back at the Ponies which causes them to fly back a little as injuries then occur. “Did you really think it would be that easy, Twilight Sparkle?” Discord says as he walks slowly towards them. “How…did--“ “You think I wouldn’t be prepared if my plan failed…there’s always a backup plan Sparkle…and It seems I’ll have to carry on with it…since you and your friends are such a problem…I am going to have to end you all.” “What?!” Twilight says. The Mane Six then try to get up, but then they noticed they were stuck to the ground by Cotton Candy. The man looks at them as Discord lights up an orb of magic in his claws, Twilight then sees the man…standing there. The man looks back at her, then he sees Discord. “So long…Elements.” Discord says as he chuckles. “Hey!” Discord looks behind him to see the man, standing in a…stance. “Oh, my…and who are you?” “Me? Oh…I’m someone who got lost, I come from a different land…but now I don’t know where I am and I was hoping you could help me…as much as you’re busy with…executing resistance fighters.” “Oh them? Don’t worry, they won’t be a problem…what’s your name?” “Ooh a King’s Chair,” The man then sits in it and puts a knee up on top his other knee as he puts a fist to his cheek. “Name’s Samuel Knight…but I usually am called Sam.” The man finally speaks his name. “I’m Discord, the Lord of Chaos.” Sam then gets down from the chair and walks up to Discord. “Sorry, just wanted to try out the chair.” “It’s quite alright…but, may I ask you? Why do you have your muzzle covered?” Discord asks. “Oh this…well first, believe it or not, I don’t have a muzzle…just a face…and second…I can give off…’fear’ when I take this off.” “Oh, I see, but what about that?” Discord says as he points at his sword. Sam chuckles as he grabs onto the handle and pats it, “This baby has probably saved my life a few times…and I saved it’s.” “So…it has a mind?” Discord asks “You…could say that…even though it doesn’t make sense.” Sam answers “What’s the point in making sense?” Discord asks. “Wait for a sec…is this your world or something?” Sam asks. “It’s about to be…just some finishing touches.” “I see, would you like to finish? I assume it’s them.” Sam asks as he nods at the Mane Six. “Why yes, of course…excuse me for a moment.” Discord then turns around and charges up the orb again. Twilight then looks at Sam, who then nods at her, her eyes widen as to see what he was doing. Sam then unsheaths his sword and walks up to Discord. Surprise Motherfuck-- Discord then knocks him in the face, making him fall back, “Agh…godammit.” “I knew you were up to something…but why? I thought we were having a good relationship?” Discord asks. “Please…why would I be friends with a Chaos Lord,” Sam then rolls up his sleeve to show a mark, It was a tattoo-like mark that was a white star that was over a splatter of black goo, “I SLAY beings like you, I have dealt with your kind in my world which caused one of my friends to go crazy in guilt…I really wished I had killed him myself for hurting family and friends.” “Who are you?” Sam then unsheaths his sword which glowed red and black, besides the designs already, “I am the one you should fear…I am a Guardian.” The moon then rises over the land, darkening it, “Oh…perfect.” Sam smiled as then his marking glowed. He put his sleeve back down as then his entire body started to turn Pitch Black, and his Eyes shined Blood Red. “We’re about to have fun.” Sam says as he then puts a hand to the ground, which causes black smoke to surround them and the six. He then vanishes into shadows. “Where did he go?” Discord says to himself. “Right here.” Discord looks behind him to be met with a fist to his muzzle, he then falls back from the punch. Discord winced in pain as he saw blood dripping from his nose. “How did you hurt me? No one can hurt me.” Sam then puts a sword to his chin, “Maybe you didn’t hear me…I am a Guardian.” Sam then attempts to cut his stomach, which Discord proceeds to dodge by splitting his body in half and then back together. Sam then goes for a Head cut which Discord leans back to dodge. “C’mon Dissy…where was all that humor and all that power you had?” Sam says as he continues to attack. Then a Slash hits his arm which actually gives Discord pain. Blood spilled from his arm as he then grabs it. “Bet you haven’t felt that before huh?” Sam then jumps to kick Discord in the jaw. He falls back as he’s temporarily knocked out. The sun then rises and Sam returns to normal, “Guess the cycle here is fast.” Sam runs to the Mane Six crouching next to Twilight. “Stand still…I gotta remember this spell.” Sam then puts a hand to the cotton candy that was sticking her to the ground, and it started to burn away which broke Twilight free. “Alright, get your friends out and…use that…thing you did earlier…I’ll distract him, got it? Good.” Sam quickly goes back to Discord who was getting up. “Wait!” Twilight says as he already was going back to fight Discord. The five look at Twilight. “Can we trust him?” Applejack says. “I think so…he wouldn’t be fighting Discord if he wanted to help.” Twilight says. Her horn glows and the Cotton Candy disappears and all get up. “Aww…no more candy.” The Pink Pony says. The Six run to the fighting duo as they all ready themselves. Sam was clashing his Sword at Discord, as he deflected them with a metal bar. Just then he sees the girls ready themselves. Sam then grinds his sword against the bar, as he then kicked Discord’s shin. “Agh! That hurt!” Discord, acting like a baby drops to the ground, knees flat. “You are weak…” Discord looks up at the dark warrior. “You have all this power, you can bend reality, but once it’s taken away and you’re vulnerable…you become a coward…scared…well, now it’s time to learn your place…NOW!” Sam runs as Discord looks behind him to see the Mane Six release a beam at him. “No! No!” Discord stands up to see his body turn to stone. After it was finished, the whole world changed. Sam looks around to see the flat grass-covered ground, he then sees the town in its peaceful glory, and the clouds were white and the sky was blue. He then looks in front of him to see a Statue of Discord, “Justice.” Sam says. He stares at the Statue for a while then he puts his Sword back and turns around. “Hey, wait!” Sam turns his head to see the Unicorn known as Twilight put her hand out to him. He then uncovers his scarf to show his nose and mouth, there were two small sharp teeth coming from his mouth, he winked, nodded, and smiled at Twilight before putting the scarf back on and entering the Forest. Twilight was surprised by the Gesture, she was wondering who that was…and was he planning something? “I must send a letter to the Princess,” Twilight says. Author's Note Welcome Samuel, to Equestria...and Equestria...welcome your new Shadow in the Sun. Hehehehehehe.... Under 30 Days until I graduate! WOOOOOOO!!!!! II. The Shadow's GreetingAuthor's Note I decided to look at this to see what I did wrong and why would it get hate (although it’s because a certain someone added it to ‘Absolutely Disgusting’ and put it under Terrible Cover Art....which is bullshit) But I look now and see...It looks rushed...yet when I first wrote this chapter...it didn’t feel rushed yet when I look back on it...I guess I was rushed. So I rewrote this chapter, it’s actions, and most of it’s conversations and they feel more clear now. Hope you enjoy!!! II. The Shadow's Greeting Sam was slashing his sword around, it seemed he was practicing, he slashes at a tree which leaves a huge cut, more than normal scratches from a Manticore. “Hm…at least nothing has changed with combat,” Sam says. Sam then looks up past the thick trees to see it was nighttime, “I better find somewhere to sleep.” Sam walks through the forest with ease, he then discovers a fog, a thick one to be exact, “No problem,” Sam then turns into his Shadow Form and turns to smoke to ease through the fog and not get hit by obstacles that would be hard to see. After he reaches the other side of the fog, he is greeted with a Large and Abandoned Castle. Sam reverts to normal as he looks at the Damaged Castle, “I guess a battle happened here…years ago I bet.” Sam walks to the entrance and looks at the broken, cracked, leaf, and root covered walls. He then sees two banner…one of Sun and one of Moon, “Hm…fancy.” Sam walks through the main hall and up some stairs, “I think I’ll find a bedroom probably…a royal one.” Sam says as he chuckles to himself. His footsteps were the only sounds that were heard through the castle, besides some crickets and bats. He steps into some puddles as well; the splashes are heard as if they were the only thing in the castle that sounded loud. Sam then enters a large room where it was pitch black, “Well…no problem.” Sam’s hand glows as then torches around the room were lit up, as well as a chandelier. “Oh damn,” Sam says as his eyes widen. The room was a Library, it was filled with books…shelve after shelve, Sam was amazed, “I bet I can learn something about where I am.” Sam had a stack of Thirteen Books, all were pretty large as if they were a Dictionary. “Well, I’ll be here awhile…not that I’m complaining.” Sam says as he smiles. There were a few beanbag chairs so Sam happily took a seat in them and then grabbed some earbuds from his pocket. He clicked a button in his Pocket and he opened the first book while music played to him Sam had his head bumping to the music, while he read, “Equestria…huh…interesting.” Sam had not taken his eyes off the book for a second, he was amazing at the information, it was like back then when he was learning about Gateway, the Temples, and the Guardians…all its history. Now he was learning about the Land of Equestria. “Fuck me…that’s interesting,” Sam looked around him real quick, “So…this is…I guess was the Castle of the Two Sisters…if these books were here before the…attack…I guess they’re outdated.” 12 Hours Later Sam was fast asleep with a book in his hand but different from last time. The warrior awakens as he yawned, “Damn…how long has it been since I actually have slept…considering I’m a Vampire.” Sam says. Sam was back in the forest, away from the Castle…he looked around for some food. “I don’t think I’ll have some luck.” He then comes across the town again…back to normal…it seems everyone there has gone back to their normal lives, “Well, that’s good news at least,” He then looks to see the Statue of Discord was gone. “Guess they took it somewhere secure.” Sam puts his earbuds back on as he had music playing still…but not that loud. He looks at the town with ease, and a smile under his scarf, “I guess this place will be okay now.” He then turns around to walk back to the forest. “Hold it right there!” Sam straightens his posture and turns around. He is greeted with spears to his face. “Demon! You are trespassing into our home and might possibly be a threat to our land! You will come with us for Questioning!” There were three…Pony Knights in his face…more like Guards and one Knight since two of them had spears and one had a sword in their Holster. Sam looks at them with one of his eyes slightly shut and one wide open as well as a frown. “No…I’ll pass.” The Guards and the Knight look at each other, “You have no choice Demon! We will use force if we must.” “And are those your orders?” “I do not have to explain that to you Demon!” “First off, stop calling me a Demon and Second, I say no…you can’t just take someone against their will when they haven’t done anything wrong…I need to find a way home and I will not let you stop me from returning to my land.” “You will not oppose!” The Knight says as he puts his sword in his face. “…I don’t have time for this horseshit.” Sam turns around and starts to walk away into the forest. “Halt! I order you to Halt!” The Knight says. One of the Guards then charge at Sam with their spear pointed in front of them. As he was about to stab Sam, he suddenly turns around and grabs the Guard and throws him to the Ground with no damage to his body. He also had the spear in his hand in which he snaps it in half and drops it in front of the Guard, “Don’t do that…not a bright idea dude…I’ve got better things to do if you’ll excuse me.” Sam walks away from the three and he puts his earbuds back in. “You hurt?” The Knight asks the Guard. “No…not at all…not even one single pain in my body, I don’t think he wanted to hurt me.” The Guard says as he was surprised. “He basically still attacked you, however.” “Wait, but I think he’s being serious I think he just wants to go home…he doesn’t want trouble.” “That’s not going to happen.” The Knight’s horn then glowed and a light shined in the sky. Sam walked to the Castle again and he sighed. “I hope me not harming him was a message to them that I don’t want trouble.” Sam then enters the Castle and is greeted with a Platoon of Knights, “Oh for fuck sake.” One Knight Walks up dressed in a more detailed Armor…like he was a Captain or something, he had Light and Dark Blue Hair and a White Coat. “You will come with us…one way or another.” The Captain says. “I refuse to be taken away for something I didn’t do...or for doing absolutely nothing.” “You are a threat as reported! You will not walk our lands freely.” “Who says? I didn’t do anything except…stop that Discord asshole…if anything, a thank you would be nice…but I usually don’t ask for that, but it’s better than being harassed.” Sam says as he went face to face with that Captain. The Captain grabs his coat and a fist to his face, “Listen here you son of a bitch, I don’t know who you are…and I don’t care.” “That makes two of us.” “I have my orders…you will come…or I will hurt you.” Sam snaps and yanks the Captain’s hand off of him and looks at him close-up, “Do you not understand?! I just want to go home to my friends and family…or can you not comprehend that in your stupid fucking pathetic military mind?” The Captain’s anger was pushed and he decided to pull his scarf down from his face and punch him. Sam had his head turned from the punch…he then turns back looking at the Captain with a death stare…his scarf was down…showing his two sharp teeth sticking out of his mouth, “I guess not,” Sam lifts a boot to the Captain’s stomach…not hurting him, but pushing him. The Captain is pulled back into his Platoon where his body knocks all his Knights down in a Domino effect. Sam quickly turns around and sprints out of the Castle. He sees there were Knights at the outside as well now…there weren’t any when he came in. “Fuck sakes, can’t you please leave me alone?!” Sam shouts. He continues to run as he leaps from tree to tree now, he then looks behind him to see a shine of light coming towards him. “Oh, shit--“ The light strikes him and he falls from the tree and onto the ground. “Ugh…by the Goddesses.” Sam wakes up in a dark cell, he looks to see he didn’t have his, Hoodie, gloves, scarf, or Waist Coat on…only his Tank top, his Jeans, and his boots…none of his weapons were on him. He looks around the room, there was a bed, a torch, and nothing else, “This is fucking stupid,” Sam says as he had an angered voice. “Oh look a being saved us all from…whatever, let’s lock him up against his will as our thanks.” Sam kicks a wall as hard as he could which leaves huge cracks as it now looked like it would shatter, “Hmph…stupid wall.” Sam checks his pocket real quick, he couldn’t find his device or earbuds, “Oh, of course, they take my player, I swear to god, I’ve had that thing for years and if they take it apart…so help me--“ “So help you what?” Sam turns around and his eyes widen a Celestial Being…a Goddess…a beautiful being, “Oh my goddesses…” The being was female, she was a pony alright…anthropomorphic like all the others…but she was probably over seven feet tall. She was wearing a clear white gown that covered her legs and…hooves, she had a long horn and large wings. Her hair flowed in a certain direction, with multiple colors. She wore a crown and band around her neck and chest. “Who…are you?” Sam says in awe. “I am Princess Celestia, I rule over Equestria.” “That’s right, I read about you in your old castle.” “So that was you peckering in my library.” Celestia giggles after her sentence. “Yeah…did you order to bring me here?” “Yes…I had my guards ordered to escort you here.” “Escort, more like kidnap…I was basically being taken against my will…especially when your soldiers but their weapons in my face.” “They had to be cautious…after what I heard what you did…and after we got you.” “Wait…did you knock me out?” “Yes…there was no other way…but I guess I can understand why you would run.” “But why? I don’t want any trouble! All I want to do is return home! I HAVE to go back! Why did you order to bring me fucking here?! Do you want to experiment on me? Do you want to see if I am a demon?!” “Well, your appearance says so…especially your hair flowing Snow-White like the Tartarus Spirit.” Sam becomes more angered and turns around as he releases an extremely frustrated sigh. I don’t want to take it out on her…even if she did order to bring me in…she has no idea who I am…I could be dangerous…I am but…I don’t want any trouble. I’m not helping my case by lashing out my anger. Sam takes a deep breath as the mark on his arm blinks red. He turns around to face Celestia. “My deepest apologies Princess…I now understand that you are just curious and worry for your subjects…I mean hey, a Dark being suddenly appears out of nowhere? Who looks like he came from hell or something…yeah, when you say it out loud it makes sense. Welp, I’m an idiot.” Celestia giggles as she puts a hand on Sam’s shoulder, “I accept your apology…and I apologize too, I do care for all my subjects and when a new creature or being appears…I just become curious and worried…and yes, You do look like a being from Tartarus…no offense at all.” “Please, don’t apologize and don’t think I’m offended, I’m meant to strike fear into anyone…it’s my job actually.” Sam says. “I’m sorry, but…what are you? I’ve never seen you before.” “Before I answer, do you have some citizens out there wondering who I am as well?” Sam asks. “I…yes there are…how did you know?” “Believe it or not, it kinda was a guess but since one of your guards said in the report I am a threat…even though I don’t think I did anything that made me a threat to your world,” Sam says as his frustrated expression returned. “Weren’t you the one who stopped Discord?” Celestia asks. Sam looks at her with a small surprise, “Well at least someone actually brought that up, but I can’t take all the credit…six girls used some magic to entrap him into stone.” “I know, everypony in the land knows…there was a ceremony for their hard work,” Celestia says. “Oh, and I get no credit?” Sam asks as he crosses his arms with a skeptical look. “Oh well, I…” “I’m just kidding your majesty…I’m usually the type of being to do and not be recognized for it, half the time,” Sam says. “I apologize, but I didn’t send all those guards…only three…did you do something to send them all?” “After I refused to come with them, one charged at me with their spear, I turned and dropped them to the ground and snapped his spear in half…I didn’t hurt him at all actually, I had no intentions to make enemies or cause trouble, but I had no intention to be forcefully taken against my will, considering I had Spears and Swords pointed at my face.” Sam says. “I see…then I can apologize for their force…but it’s their job…it’s like how you strike fear.” Celestia says as she giggles. Sam laughs along with her as he snaps his fingers, “I guess you’re right…considering I would do the same thing…I guess I am a hypocrite…a huge one.” “Why, what do you do?” “I will answer that when I come out of the cell and talk to everyone else outside.” “Oh, would you like to right now?” Celestia asks. “You sure?” Sam raises an eyebrow. “I’m sure, I trust you.” “That’s a bad thing to do considering your talking to someone in a Jail Cell.” “And you’re talking to someone who holds the power of the sun in her hands and has lived for over a thousand years,” Celestia says as she giggles again. “Heh, I read about that in your library as well,” Sam says as he laughs. “How many things did you learn about our world?” “I know you have a sister, I know there are many other lands beside this, I know that the Planet is called Equis, I know that there were more threats than Discord, and I know you are the daughter of the Goddess…Faust.” Sam says. “Wow, I know someone who might share your knowledge…you read a lot don’t you?” “Well, the job can get boring at some points,” Sam says as he chuckles Celestia giggles at the answer. The two then reach Large Gate-Like Doors, two Guards were posted at them, “He is no threat…let us in.” Celestia says. The guards push the doors open and Sam witnesses the large hallway. Glass art on each side of the walls, large pink carpet…leading up to two large Chairs, one Gold, and one Midnight Blue. There were also the same six ponies Sam assisted with taking down Discord. Then, there were a few guards, the same ones he attacked and ran away from, there were some high-end ponies as well. “Didn’t think there was a party for me,” Sam says as he smiles. “No! That comes later,” The Pink Pony says, “Oops! It was supposed to be a surprise!” Sam has a skeptical look at the Pink Pony, “Well okay then.” Sam chuckles. Celestia then walks up to the crowd of Ponies and smiles. “He would like to explain himself and introduce himself…everypony, please show some respect.” Celestia says as she then stares at the High-End Ponies. Sam walks up to the Ponies, he had a straight look and stared at them, he then smiles and bows, “Well, hello everyone…I shall introduce myself and say some other things, then I will take Questions.” Sam says as he chuckles. Everyone sees his smile and sees the two small and sharp teeth poking out of his mouth, some then had their eyes wide open, “My name is Samuel Knight, and I come from Gateway…A land filled with peace and harmony, we are hidden from the outside world of the Planet Earth.” Sam walks up looking at all the Ponies. “First off, I would like to apologize to the Knights and Guards…severely, I am a serious Hypocrite, I understood your actions and you had every right to do them, but I hope I did not hurt anyone because that was not my intention…and to the Captain…I’m sorry for insulting you, I bet you’re a good captain.” Sam looks down and puts a fist against his chest. The Captain from earlier then walks up to him, “I thank you for the apology to me and my troops…but how are you a Hypocrite?” Sam smiles and puts his hand up, and shows the mark, drifting from his hand to his arm, “This mark is something that is embedded in me, In Gateway, the place has been protected for over 3.2 Billion Years…and it’s all thanks to the Guardians. I am one of them, I am known as the Gatekeeper…I make sure anyone who is not part of our community does not step foot in, as well as disrupt the peace, and the temples that keep us hidden. What you guys did to me…I can do to outsiders in Gateway, so I deeply apologize. You were all protecting your land…and that is, and I find that very noble of you all.” The Captain as well as a few knights smiled and chuckled, “We all accept your apology…so…you’re basically a Knight from where you’re from?” The Captain asks. “I prefer Warrior…I’ve been walking the Earth even before I became a Guardian.” “Ooh, can you tell us more about what you are?” The Purple Unicorn asks happily. Sam sees the Unicorn and gives her the wink, nod, and smile like last time, “Certainly…but before I do, may I see my gear and clothes so I can go into more detail?” “Certainly…I trust you, Knights, bring his things.” Celestia says. Two Knights levitate a Table as well as all of Sam’s Belongings. Sam smiled as he saw his attire, weapons, and…wait… “Hey, what’s this…ugh, what an ugly necklace, and what are these gross names? Someone burn this.” A High-End Pony was holding onto a necklace that held at least Eight Dog Tags. Sam’s eyes shot open and he put his hand up and his mark glowed. The Dog Tags were snatched out of The Pony’s hand and shot straight towards Sam’s, “You will not do anything with those! You will not lay a hand on these if that’s how you’ll treat it!” Sam says with anger. “I Apologize Sam…what are those?” Celestia asks. “These are called Dog Tags…In my world, outside of Gateway, I served in the Military…I was part of Special Forces, and every Soldier carries these that show their name, their blood type, small things you need to know about them…All of these Dog Tags were my friends…” “You mean…they--“ “Yes…they died on the battlefield, I took their tags to remember them…after I resigned, I burned mine…I didn’t deserve to be remembered for what happened to me…especially since I didn’t die with them.” Sam says. The whole room was dead silent, “So…do you want to continue where you left off?” Twilight asks. “Sure,” Sam looks through his weapons and he grabs one of the two Handguns off the table, “This is called a gun…do you have anything like this?” Celestia and everyone else shook their heads. “Do you have any type of weapon that has a trigger or something to release something deadly?” Sam asks. “We have Crossbows.” The Captain says. Sam sighs and then he removes the magazine from one of the handguns, “This is basically like a crossbow, but more advanced, these fire little metal bolts called bullets,” Sam ejects a bullet from the magazine and holds it up to them. Celestia levitates it over to herself to look closely, “One part is what is fired, the other is the shell which keeps the bullet in there, once fired the shell ejects.” “These ‘bullets’ they hurt?” Twilight asks. “Of course…the type of bullets I carry are FMJs which can pierce through even metal, hard armor, and anything else.” Sam says as the bullet is given back to him. “So you could’ve used this to hurt the guards, but you didn’t?” The noble from earlier asks. “No, like I said, I’d rather not make enemies…besides that, I’d rather not lose my rights as a Guardian. Anyway…these bullets are used to hurt, they can pierce through skin and fur and such and really hurt, depending on where it hits, it will either wound or kill.” Sam says. “Oh my, is that what they were made for, to kill?” Celestia asks. “Or to protect, like I do…do you guys have target dummies or something?” Sam asks. “There’s the field where we have soldiers test for battle...” The Captain says “May we go out there?” The group head out to the practice field as all the targets stood there motionless. Sam starts to put his attire back on with all the darkness on him. “Alright, I’m going to demonstrate all my weapons and then I’ll show you combat,” Sam says. The group nods in understanding, “Okay, the handgun here is called an M9, it’s a classic and common gun to use, also known as Pistols.” Sam says. He turns around and fires three bullets out into the field, he then turns back to see some of the ponies had their ears covered. “Whoops…should’ve warned you first.” “It’s quite alright, but that seems fearful if they’re loud,” Celestia says. “Damn right they are,” Sam fires more bullets without looking and still staring at the crowd. All bullets hit the head, “This is not easy…not even close.” Sam reloads the M9 and places it back on the table, he then picks up one of the two SMGs, “This is called an MP5K, a Submachine Gun, besides the pistol firing one bullet at a time, this fires continuously until the magazine is empty,” Sam loads the magazine and places the mag in the gun, he then cocks it and switches off the safety, “More loud noises incoming.” He says with a smile. He fires a burst of bullets, then fires one bullet at a time, then continuously until the magazine is empty, “Ta-Da.” Sam says. The Ponies look with amazement and having their ears covered. He reloads the SMG and places it back. He then grabs the Dual Combat Knives, “These might be something you guys are familiar with.” “Kinda, but not like that.” One of the Guards said. “Well, that’s fine,” Sam says, he then does some knife tricks and swishes them around. The Ponies look with amazement. He places them down and picks up the final weapon, his prized possession, the one thing that makes him a Guardian, his Sword. “This…is something to not be messed with and not touched by any others…this is Juliet,” Sam says. Some ponies chuckled, “Juliet, you named your Sword?” The Captain asks. “This is not a normal sword, it carries Blood within it…anyone I’ve killed with it, their blood sinks into it…like so,” The sword then glows black and red along with some aura. “This is the Shadow’s Wielder…it looks a little like a Katana yeah…but it’s a little curved plus the colors and such on this bad girl.” Sam says with an evil smile. “If you want we can make the Targets come to life and look like any enemies we want,” Celestia says. “Alright, I have an idea, but put a shield around you guys so you won’t get hit,” Sam says. Celestia puts up a force field and all watch from behind, “I have another idea, bring them to life, I’ll change them to what I want them to be.” The Captain casts the spell and Sam’s mark glows and the Targets change into something Sam recognizes…PMC Forces. Sam grabs all his weapons and puts them in their places. “Here we go.” The PMCs put their Rifles up at Sam, he responded with his hand, disarming one of them and firing the gun at another PMC. He drops the rifle and takes out his Dual M9s and fires at different Soldiers, they fall to the ground dead. Sam stands his ground, firing at the Soldier’s heads. More Soldiers appear and Sam takes out his Dual MP5Ks and Fires at the sprinting PMCs. They start to drop like flies or ants tasting poison, Sam continued to fire either way, more appear with riot shields which could block the bullets, this wasn’t a problem for Sam as he ran towards them kicking three of the Shielded Soldiers, disarming them of their protection, Sam then fires on the unprotected three. He then jumps up above the soldiers firing on them where they were unprotected…they all succumb to the pain of the bullets entering their bodies and it kills them. Sam lands back down and looks to see more Soldiers coming at him with CQC Equipment like Shock Batons, Knives, Combat Axes, any type of Blunt of Sharp Weapons. Sam holsters the SMGs and takes out the Combat Knives, he runs towards them all as he swung his knives around. He slides and stabs one of them in the knee making him collapses to the floor, Sam stabs another one as he got back up and flipped his knives around at the standing soldiers. “Come on…who’s got the better balls here?” One of the Soldiers shouted and charged at him with his Shock Batton, Sam quickly circles around him and sticks his blade in the Soldier’s neck, after he takes the knife out, blood spews out quickly as the PMC falls to the ground. Sam looks at the remaining standing Soldier and he finally charges which Sam responds with throwing his knife which hits his eye. He falls and Sam takes the knife out of him and another Soldier whom he stabbed in the knee, which reminds him…he takes out his M9 and finishes off the two injured PMCs. Sam turns around to see more Soldiers standing there, weapons up, ready to fire, he slowly puts the Knives and his M9 Pistol away and he stands his ground again, his leather boots stretching their sounds. He then unsheathes his Sword…it starts to glow again, Sam chuckles and he starts to run towards the Soldiers, “Come and get it fuckers.” They fired their weapons but Sam then slowed and he swished his Sword around very quickly which was deflecting the bullets that were being fired at him. Sam continued to deflect the bullets as he reaches the first soldier and he slices him in half horizontally, The Torso and Waist split apart. He wasn’t done yet, he deflects more bullets as he turns around, he quickly pulls out his M9 and fires a round into one of the PMC’s shoulders, Sam runs over to the wounded man and he decapitates him…head clean off, the Shadow then sprints towards the next Soldier in which he cuts off both Soldier’s arms and then he impales his heart. The final Soldier stopped firing and looked at the Shadow in disbelief, he just saw him kill every single one of his comrades…he puts his weapon down and turns around to flee. Sam shook his head as he threw his Sword to the Soldier which impales the Soldier’s head and out of his mouth, Sam walks up to him and takes the Sword out, the Soldier falls to the ground…the final Soldier. “A real Soldier would’ve kept firing at least.” Celestia uncovers the Shield and looks at the Carnage. The entire crowd looks at the horror of the blood and gore…which slowly start to turn back into Target Dummies. “Is…this what you do for a living?” Twilight asks. “It’s usually not like this at all believe it or not…most of it involves standing around all day and walking back and forth temple through temple…I kill and fight only to protect…I promise you.” “You are a force to be reckoned with Sam,” Celestia says, “Do you have any bad intentions at all?” “Not at all, I’m a Guardian remember? I protect not destroy.” Sam says. “Alright, I understand you do not have a place to stay…while we try to figure out how you can get home…Twilight may Sam stay in Ponyville with you for the time being?” Celestia asks. “With me? Are you sure Princess…I…I.” “Hey, it’s okay…I don’t bite at all I promise…even though I’m a Vampire.” Sam says as he laughs at his own joke. They all then stare at him. “What? Too soon or something?” Sam asks. “Anyways…yes, Sam may stay with me for the time being.” “Okay, you two will leave back to Ponyville in a bit…for now, let’s get to know each other for a bit.” Celestia says. III. Interview With a VampireSam and Twilight both enter a large tree which seemed to be a house, the place was a library, books in every corner as well as things a normal house would have. “Oh wow…so many books…I like it.” Sam says. “You read?” Twilight asks. “Yeah, the job can get boring so I read up fiction, historical, biographies, and non-fiction,” Sam says. “Oh wow! This is amazing, someone who shares my love for books.” Twilight says. “You have an addiction for books as well?” Sam asks. “Oh yes, I have read so much in my life, It kinda got me where I am, that’s how I became Celestia’s pupil...I’ve studied magic for years and now to be an Element of Magic…it’s…wow.” Twilight giggles nervously. “You seem like you wield very strong power, it’s interesting,” Sam says. “You seem like you do too…don’t you want to take off your scarf?” Twilight asks. “Ah, what the hell,” Sam undoes the scarf showing his teeth and such…even though Twilight has seen it before, it still takes her by surprise, “So…since we’re secluded, you wanna ask me anything?” “Anything?” Twilight’s eyes widen with excitement. “Shoot.” Twilight quickly grabs a notepad and pencil and smiles excitingly, “Okay…okay um, What are your species specifically…I know you’re a Vampire but are you different?” “Why yes, I am a Shadow Vampire, we are blended with the Darkness…let’s just say we’re Hunters…we’re different from normal Vampires as they are weaker.” “Do um…the stereotypes like weaknesses and strength exist?” “I understand what you are asking…that is a Yes and No…I’ll give you examples…get your pencil sharpened.” Twilight does what Sam says as she puts the pencil to the paper. “So here’s one, Vampires hate Garlic and it is poison to them…fifty percent true…we hate it because it smells fucking awful…but it’s not poison.” “How awful?” “Think of the most rotten thing in the world with the worst smell in existence,” Sam says bluntly…but then chuckles, “I was dared to eat one…we were having fun to be fair and I took on the dare, let’s just say I regret my decisions that day.” Twilight cringed at the sound of that, but she continued to write down in the notepad. “Okay here’s another one…we can only feed on blood…not true, we can eat like normal beings…blood well can heal us and make us stronger…think of it as an energy boost or a regeneration to your health…we drink blood only when necessary or if we want to get rid of our worst enemies.” Sam says. “Did you ever do that?” Twilight asks. Sam chuckles, “Yes…they got what was coming…either that or ‘ol Juliet here takes care of them.” Sam pats the handle of his sword. “Okay,…what were those abilities you used on Discord?” “What do you mean?” “When the moon rose, your entire body including your…skin became Pitch Black but your eyes were Blood Red…what was that?” “Shadow Form…or Shadow Combat, whatever you prefer…in the darkness we’re untouchable…we can turn into black smoke and hover around you if we so desired…our eyes still glow red…so basically a smoke monster.” “Wow…that’s amazing…I feel like I should be scared…but I’m not.” “You have a courageous heart…I saw that in your eyes when I saved you from Discord.” Sam says. Twilight blushed and hid behind her notepad, she wrote down more about the Shadow Form and other information. “Okay, one more question…that mark…you said that is the mark of a Guardian…what are the Guardians specifically? What can they do?” “Guardians are the protectors of a Land called, ‘Gateway’ in this land all types of species live together in Harmony…Humanoids, Animoids or… Anthros like yourselves, Monsters, even Demons live together in peace and as one,” Twilight listened in awe…she was amazed about Gateway, “The Guardians protect this Land from outsiders…anyone non-peaceful or is not a member of our community…or any certain types of species that are not allowed…A Guardian is part of a code which is to never harm an innocent…even if they are outsiders…only attack if they do threaten and/or cause any actions that result in violence.” “What type of abilities and perks do you have as a Guardian?” “Well first, Guardians are Immortal…and not just by aging…I mean injury and others…some sicknesses can get to us but that also depends on the species…since I’m a Shadow Vampire…I actually already had this perk…and before you ask…not even decapitation could kill me.” “Amazing…anything else?” “Well certain Guardians can perform Magic…some requires some learning, however…mostly combat magic and manipulation-type magic like levitation…but hitting a light switch while in your bed is child’s play…even a Lycan can do that.” “You can do magic?!” Twilight asks excitingly. “Yep, Normal, Manipulation, and Combat…all can be used at any time…it’s exactly like how you would channel magic through your horn, I have to channel mine through my hand and arm.” Twilight continues to write down in the notepad listing off every detail as if she was making a transcript or something. “Okay, last question…what did you do before you became a Guardian?” Sam sighs as he sits forward and puts his hands together, “I was first a U.S. Special Forces Soldier, after that and when I became a Shadow Vampire, I became a Mercenary, which means I did jobs, dirty jobs like assassinations and other terrible things for money, if it weren’t for my friends, I’d be gone because of what I have been doing, that was when I became the Gatekeeper.” Twilight was somewhat surprised…he was a bad soul? Was he trying to say that? However, her fascination outweighed her surprise and worry. She continued to write in the Notepad as she then puts it away. “Wow…thank you so much…do you think, I could study your…structure…build…and physical?” Twilight asks. “Gee Twilight, if you wanted to see me shirtless, you could’ve asked up front.” Sam chuckles as he stands up. Twilight lights up red as she covers her muzzle, “Oh um…t-that wasn’t what I was asking.” Sam chuckles again and takes off his coat, hoodie, shirt, and tank-top to show his body strength and form and such, Twilight walks over to him to look closely at his form and strength…she was impressed…he seemed to be close to Big Mac somewhat. She wrote down what she thought of his form, she then sat back down and gestured he could put his attire back on. He then smiles and chuckles once again. “How was that Twilight?” “Oh! Um…it was…interesting.” Twilight says as she smiles sheepishly. “Oh so you’re attracted to it you say?” Sam says with a cocky smile. “Um…I never said that.” Twilight says nervously. Sam chuckles once again and stands up and grabs his gear, such as his weapons and others, “Where am I staying tonight?” He asks. “Oh! Well there is a bed set up in the cupboard, the closet is pretty big, it’s enough for a bed…it’s right under my bed basically.” Twilight was somewhat nervous, hoping he wasn’t mad about the circumstances. “Secluded and Dark? Perfect, thanks, Twi.” “Oh! You’re quite welcome--wait did you just call me Twi?” She asks. “Oh um…did you not like that?” “Oh no it’s fine, I was just asking.” Sam smiles going to put his gear and such in the cupboard, “Then yes, I did call you Twi.” Twilight giggles quietly and watches as Sam walks into his new room, she then looks at her notepad, seeing everything he told her, she smiled at herself in small accomplishment that she basically learned a new species. “Hey, Twi!” Sam says. Twilight looks down to see Sam in his getup and such, along with his equipment on and all. “I’m gonna explore the town and just see what I will be living in for a while.” “Oh! May I come with you? It’s nothing serious, but I was in the mood for a stroll.” Twilight smiles as she asks. “Sure, you’re the one who knows about this place better than I.” “Didn’t you read about the world of Equestria?” “Yes, but I don’t know the ponies and the exact ways through the town, you know?” Sam says as he chuckles. “You make a point there, you know you are smart…not the type to show it off…the ones who will admit they don’t know everything…I wish I was the same sometimes.” “What do you mean?” “I just try so hard to make sure there isn’t something I don’t know…it’s so I have all the information and have everything in place, including impressing the Princess.” “I see, well there was never anything wrong with that…as long as you don’t stress yourself about it and you don’t boast about it then you’re still a good perso--er…pony.” Sam chuckles at his close mistake. Twilight smiles at Sam and the two exit The Oakwood Library. The two walk through the peaceful town of Ponyville, but as they walk…the townfolk slowly start to stare at Sam, and they start whispering. Sam looks at them with a skeptical expression, later he stops as well as Twilight to see a few ponyfolk in front of them. “E-excuse me…but…are you the creature that…helped um…stop that monster Discord?” A Mare asks. Sam chuckles as he looks at them with a smile, “Yes…I am.” The townsfolk all look at him and look in small disbelief. “Allow me to introduce myself, name’s Sam Knight…Gatekeeper, Shadow Warrior, and Guardian,” Sam bows and chuckles as most of the townsfolk gather around him, “Trust me…I am a friendly, most of the time.” “Everypony don’t worry I can vouch for him, he saved me and my friends from the hands of Discord and assisted us in defeating him,” Twilight says. “Oh, my…then I must give my thanks,” A Mare that seemed middle-aged says as she scooches through the crowd. She had a Grey Mane and a Tan Fur-Color, she had a Tie and Green Glasses, “I am Mayor Mare of Ponyville…you deserve our gratitude as much as the Elements of Harmony, welcome to Ponyville…Sam Knight.” Sam bows down and chuckles, “Thank you Mayor Mare, and thank you all for the appreciation.” Author's Note Kinda short chapter...shit's been happening so...yeah. IV. Sunny Shadow. Sam was lying next to a tree that had a good view of Ponyville...not a mountain-view but to see ponies pass by and such...Sam hummed to the music with his earbuds in...the sun, shining down on him as ponies sometimes look at him as they pass by. This place isn't so bad...feels calm...Gateway is as well, but there's something about this world that makes me feel...safe. Sam felt the grass comfort against his dark clothes and hair as he breathed and put his hands under his head...he smiled and chuckled at his laziness. The music keeps playing to him as he closed his eyes, hearing the tune...the sadness and soul in it, feeling his blood flow as the music keeps going...he can see red as he hears the song. That is until he feels a small drift of wind hit him... He still had his eyes closed but he could see his dark red vision get darker...someone has with him. He cracked open his eyes without alerting the person and he sees a dark figure that was flapping its wings...Sam immediately notices it had a bucket...he clicks onto the music player in his hands, pausing the song. Sam immediately takes actions, he lifts his leg up, kicking the underside of the bucket causing it to be knocked out of the being's hands, Sam crawls back and behind the creature, while it was focused on the bucket, he stood up and grabbed the being and held it by the neck but not crushing it from breathing...yet...the Bucket hits the ground and water spills. "Hey! Let me go!" Sam's sleepy vision disappears and he sees what he was holding onto. A Blue Pegasus with Rainbow color Hair, she was wearing a tank-top and shorts...Sam immediately recognizes the Pegasus, she was with Twilight when they battled Discord. Sam grunted and loosened his lock on her. "Don't...ever, sneak up on me," Sam says. The Rainbow Pegasus looks back at the Shadow and sees his expression...it didn't look scary, he looked like he was teaching some friendship lesson to her. "Wait a second...aren't you the one who helped us stop Discord." "Ah, now you are thinking before you use action." Sam lets go of the Pegasus. "I uh...sorry, I'm usually doing things before I think really...I usually take action to anything that looks like a threat to my friends." The Pegasus "It's fine, I can sometimes do the same...Name's Sam." "Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" Rainbow says as she flexes her wings and folds her arms. "Really now? If you are so fast, how did I catch you while you were hovering over me?" Sam smirks and folds his arms. "It's...because I let you catch me so I could surprise you with a beating...that is until I recognized you." Sam chuckles and takes off his earbuds. "Can I say that you were so awesome when you fought Discord by the way?" "Oh really?" Sam raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, when you slashed your sword at him and you became a shadow, not that you aren't already, and you actually were hurting him! You looked so badass!" Sam chuckles, "Well, I do aim to please...well not really...I just get the job done." "No matter what, I thought it was cool," Rainbow says. "Maybe I should get acquainted with the others who I helped as well that day," Sam says. "Oh, you mean me and Twilight's friends?" Rainbow asks. "Yep, maybe you can guide me to where they live?" Sam asks. "Sure! I actually haven't seen them since that day, so it'd be good to see them." "Then lead the way." The Vampire followed the Pegasus through Ponyville as a few looked at him...and waved...even smiled. He chuckles and waves back...at the same time...he feels like they should fear him...then again he's not a bad guy so what's the point? "We should be coming up to our first destination, Sugarcube Corner," Rainbow says. Sam looks at the house ahead of them...there were windows of candies, cakes, and donuts, the building itself was made from different types of Sugary sweets. Oh gee, I wonder what kind of store this is... "Cool, so what is your friend like, is she chill? Laid back like you or--" Sam was immediately tackled to the ground as he heard a gasp as well...his vision came back to be face to face with a Pink-furred Pony with very large poofy hair...along with a goofy smile. "Ohmygoshyou'retheonethathelpedusstopdiscord!IwantedtothankyoubutyoudisappearedsoIcouldn'tknowwhatkindofpartyyoulikeandsuchanditmademesadkindabutatthesametimeyouseemedlikeaconfusedwhatevertheheckyouareandso--" "Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled. "Yes, Dashie?" "Can...you...please...get...off of...me..." Pinkie looked to see was putting her weight on his lungs so he couldn't breathe. "Oh! I'm so sorry, let me help you up." Pinkie says as she stands up and takes Sam's hand and pulls him up to his feet. "It's cool, but wow...that's some tackle." Sam looks at the Pink Pony, she wore a tank top like Rainbow Dash but hers revealed half of her stomach along with some shorts that showed her curvy thighs along with some large breasts that bounced showing that she wasn't wearing a bra...she had a few gold bracelets around her wrists and hooves as well as a necklace that looked like they were painted rocks. "Sorry, I got nervous-cited," Pinkie says. "What?" Sam asks. "The combination of nervous and excited...Pinkie mashes words up." Dash says as she chuckles. "Ah, I see...so exact opposite of what I asked?" Sam asks Rainbow. "Yep! I am completely energetic and can't help but sometimes do something all the time!" Pinkie answers. "How'd you--" "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it," Rainbow says as she smirks. "Well alright, wait I remember you now...you stood next to Twilight at Canterlot Castle, you said something about...something coming later?" Sam says. "Ah, that doesn't matter. So, what are you exactly? You had spooky powers and things like that when we first saw you." Pinkie asks. "Well, I am a Shadow Vampire, I have supernatural abilities that can help me like becoming a Total Shadow basically," Sam says. "Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Pinkie says. Sam chuckles at the comment, "It can be fun to trick your enemies and 'spook' them," Sam smiles and winks at Pinkie, "Twilight told me what you guys represented from the um...Elements of Harmony and you two actually show that you harness your elements quite well, especially you," Sam points at Pinkie. Pinkie giggled at the comment, "So, do you like parties?" "Uh, well they're alright, I've been thrown a couple parties but soon they kinda stopped to where they were small ones like family birthdays and such." "So, how long has it been since you have had a proper party?" Pinkie asks. "A while, I don't rest or anything when it comes to what I do...why do you ask?" Sam asks. "No particular reason." Pinkie giggled. "...Well alright then, well I can say I like your energetic personality, it's always good to stay positive and such." Sam says. "Aw, thank you, Sam, wait here," Pinkie says, she immediately storms into the sugary house behind her...only a second later she comes back out with a cupcake that had red and black frosting, "Thought I'd whip up something superduper quickly as thanks for helping us." Sam takes the cupcake and looks at it and back at Pinkie, "Thanks," Sam immediately opens his mouth showing his fangs, the two mares look in awe, Sam bites down on the cupcake, tasting the frosting and fuzzy coated sugary bread...it tasted...really fucking good actually, "Damn, I don't think I've had a cupcake that has tasted this good...then again I haven't eaten sweets in a long time. This is very good Pinkie, thank you again." "No problem Sam!" Pinkie says. "Well, it was nice meeting you, I would like to meet the rest...can you lead the way Rainbow?" Sam asks. "Sure, later Pinkie." Rainbow does a two-finger salute. "Bye Dashie, bye Sam!" Pinkie waves goodbye as the two walk to their next destination. Sam and Dashie walked towards a fancy type of home...it was decorated with a jewelry kind of decor as well as details. "Can I just say how cool your fangs are by the way?" Rainbow says. "Oh, you actually like them?" Sam asks as he smiles, showing the fangs at full length. "Yeah, they look pretty cool already since they pinch out of your mouth." "Mmhm, I can say that it's not annoying actually having the sharp tips of the fangs poking out, it feels good kinda, when my mouth is open, you can see them at full length and such...and before you ask, two on top and two on the bottom," Sam says. "Cool, anyway we have arrived," Rainbow says as she then opens the door and the bell rings. "Welcome Darlings--oh Rainbow Dash and...oh my..." Sam looked at the White Coated Unicorn Mare, she wore a blouse along with a black skirt, she had red glasses on as well as a bracelet and watch...she looked like she was...blushing at Sam. She slowly stood up and walked over to the dark figure...she then put her hand on his dark clothes...the soft threaded stitches of his overcoat which seemed to have shoulder patches of some sort, the custom arm gloves he wore that seemed to be old-fashioned almost, then the hoodie under the coat...his was different...the hoodie had a lower skirt kind of part that covered the sides of him...almost like an assassin type of fashioned hoodie, his dark fatigue combat jeans that also had his gun holsters, his Dark Boots, the black scarf around his neck, then finally his Stunning Snow-White Hair...it shined along with his blood red eyes. "My...my...so you're the handsome devil that saved us the other day?" The Mare asks. "Yes, yes I am...and you are madam?" "Rarity, and you are?" "Samuel...Samuel Knight," Sam bends down, kissing Rarity's hand, "Please just call me Sam." "Such manners from a being who isn't a pony...I love it." Rarity says as she still blushes...turning redder from the kiss. "My friend Alex helped me out with a couple social skills, little does he know that I love to be a charmer sometimes." Sam chuckles. "So I must ask, why do you cover yourself in so much black?" Rarity asks. "It is how I blend in along with my kind of style, to me...this is a comfortable fit for me to be able to anything, as well as what you saw me do when I fought Discord...I've always had a thing for giving off the mysterious vibe...but I also love to look very impressive sometimes for important events," Sam says. "Ah, I see...as much as I maybe don't see the point, I can respect it...and if you ever need some clothes darling, come to me." Rarity says. "Actually, since I basically popped into this world with nothing except what I wear and carry, I actually might need some clothes," Sam says, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "So, I am guessing you are going to need a collection...possibly?" Rarity asks. "Kinda, basically undergarments, t-shirts, and if I do want to relax or not look like this, maybe a normal hoodie and jeans...actually how about I write you a list?" Sam asks. "Sure, that should help me!" Rarity says. "Wow...never seen Rarity get along with somepony this quickly, you must be special Sam," Rainbow says. Sam laughs, "Trust me, I'm no one special...I'm just a Shadow-y figure who can fight," Sam chuckles again, writing down on a piece of paper, "By the way Rarity, I do apologize if it feels like I'm using you or putting more stress or work on you when you probably have better things to do...and I'll make sure I pay you back." Sam holds the paper out. "Please darling, it is nothing at all. I enjoy making clothes and now, I will get to enjoy making clothes for a new species! Oh and do not worry about payment...this is on the house...consider it a thank you for saving me and my friends." Rarity says as she takes paper...then swipes a quick kiss on his cheek. Sam went speechless real quick, Rarity seems to really like him obviously and he didn't have to do much...he then sees the White Unicorn wink at him, "I need you to come with me." Sam was still surprised from a mare like her, but then he finally follows her, he smirks and chuckles, then feels Rainbow give him a friendly elbow, "Get 'em Vampire." She said. Sam chuckled and went upstairs with Rarity...he entered a room which was pretty large, there was practically a stage and such, along with many stitching and mending equipment along with different colored fabric and such. "Alright, I'm gonna need you to take off your coats and shirt." Rarity says. "My my Rarity...we have only just met and you want to already take the next step?" "Oh hehe, not because that darling, I must take your measurements." Rarity says as she holds up ruler tape. Sam chuckles, "My bad, however, I bet you're happy you have to do this anyway." "You have no idea Darling." Rarity giggled. Sam slowly took off his leather gauntlets untying them, them taking off his overcoat, next his Longbottom Hoodie, and then his gear straps, finally his tank-top...his pale bare chest showing to Rarity...she was frozen solid almost...his baring muscles and such, guessing being a Ranger really pays off. "My...my--uh, alright, let me take the measurements." Rarity hesitantly says. Rarity walks up to Sam, face to face, she puts out the tape and measures his weight, height, and others...even a few times Sam caught Rarity rubbing and somewhat squeezing his muscles and chest, Sam let her enjoy herself...and him, he chuckles after a bit to get her attention. Rarity wrote down the measurements and such and looking at the list that Sam wrote down as well. "Alright, I will get to work on this as soon as I can." Rarity smiles. "Don't rush yourself," Sam says as he puts his coats and gear back on. "I won't! It was nice meeting you, Sam!" Rarity says. "The Pleasure is all mine, farewell my Dear, Rarity." Sam ties the gauntlets back on and exits. Sam and Dash were walking along a dusty pathway, grass surrounded the road as they approached a small cottage, with a vast and beautiful garden field, as well as some animals just either sleeping or moving around. "Well, this seems extremely peaceful," Sam says. "Fluttershy has a love for animals and she can speak to them," Rainbow says. "Really now? Has she spoken to a Wolf before?" Sam asks. "A Wolf? Wolves haven't existed in Equestria in over a thousand years." Rainbow answers. "Never mind then." Sam and Rainbow walk up to the door and Rainbow knocks on the door. "Um...w-who is it?" A quiet voice asks. "It's Rainbow, Flutters, and I brought someone who'd like to meet you." Slowly the door creaked open to see a Yellowed Furred Pegasus, she had pink hair along with her pink tail, she had blue eyes, she wore a green knitted sweater along with some blue jeans, she had a bracelet on with some beads and such...she hugged Rainbow. "How are you doing Flutters?" "Oh...I'm doing okay, it's been quiet--oh...um..." Fluttershy looked at the Dark figure in front of her and next to Rainbow...he decided to smile and wave lightly at the pegasus, she 'eep'd' in response. "Hey, it's okay Flutters, this is Sam, he saved us from Discord...remember?" Rainbow says. Sam smiles, "Don't be freaked out by the teeth...it's natural," Sam crouches down and looks into Fluttershy's eyes, "I'm not gonna hurt you...I only hurt those who are bad...so, you're Fluttershy?" Fluttershy nods. "T-Thank you for saving us the other d-day." Sam smiles and winks, "No problem, my job is to protect the innocent...or help anyone who's trying to do good." Fluttershy slowly comes out from behind Rainbow and looks at Sam at his full height and such...he didn't seem so bad, but those two sharp fangs poking out made her a bit uneasy. "May I ask what animal are you?" Fluttershy asks. "Animal? Oh, because of the fangs...I'm not an animal...I am a Sentient Creature, I am what you call a Shadow Vampire." Sam says. "O-Oh, I see...I'm sorry if I'm being rude from how I-I am a-acting," Fluttershy says. "It's quite alright, there are a few I know who are shy like you...some today are shy because they are afraid of me...I won't convince you that I'm not gonna do anything, Trust is earned, and that will run its course." Sam says and winks. "Oh...please don't think I don't t-trust you--" Sam puts his hand up to silence Fluttershy, "I bet it's not because of that, you just met me, fair enough...and I'm a fearful one," Sam smiles deviously. "I know someone back at Gateway who would like you a lot," "Really, is he like you?" Fluttershy asks. "Kinda...but he's a wolf." Sam chuckles. "There are wolves in Equestria?!" Rainbow and Flutters both ask in unison. Sam nods, "Well, I believe you are busy with your animals Flutters, so I will be on my way, farewell--" "No! I-I mean...w-what kind of animals are in G-Gateway?" Fluttershy asks. Sam smiles and sits on the porch stairs, "There are many kinds of creatures in Gateway, there are ones that I don't think are on this planet, then there are even other kinds of creatures like you that are anthropomorphic...or feral but are sentient and can speak...there are even giants." Sam explained many creatures from his home, Fluttershy loved hearing every second of it...even the dragons sounded nice. Rainbow half the time also liked hearing some creatures that sounded badass. The Shadow even shared some small stories about some interactions he had with some of the creatures from Gateway...some made Fluttershy and Rainbow laugh. The three actually conversated for a while, Fluttershy made tea and they were sitting on the couch as a few animals listened to see the Shadow figure talking to their caretaker. "So, there are Dragons that are basically not giant or anything, they're like us and stand on two legs and have a normal height?" Fluttershy asks. "Yep! Most are usually like over ten feet tall or something...that's normal height for them, then there are usual heights and then there are anthro dragons that are still giant...there was one that seemed pretty hot." Sam says. "What?" "Nothing...anyway...yep...some creatures can vary in height," Sam says. "I would love to visit Gateway at some point now," Fluttershy says. "If I find a way back and find a way to send you home when you come, then sure." Sam chuckles. Sam notices it was kinda dark outside. "Oh shoot, we've been here for a while," Sam says. "Wait, really? Sam...meet me and Fluttershy back at Pinkie's place okay?" Rainbow asks as the three walk outside. "...Okay?" Sam looks skeptically at the two pegasuses. "Alright, see you there!" Rainbow says as she 'Dashes' off with Fluttershy. Sam shrugs and chuckles as he puts his earbuds on and listens to his tunes while walking there. Sam approaches the Sugary House and he knocks on the door...slowly the door opens...Sam didn't like it...he puts his hand close to his knife and the other near his pistol holster...he walks very slowly as he hears...whispers, just then the lights flash on. "SURPRISE!" Sam backs up and pulls out the pistol, not pointing it at anyone...but holding onto it...he then realizes everyone was ponies and had some party hats on or had something...on...it was a surprise party...Sam sighs and chuckles as he puts his pistol back. "Hi, Sam! Welcome to your surprise party!!!" "For what Pinkie?" "Well duh, you're welcome to Equestria/Ponyville/Thanks for helping us stop Discord and save the world party!" Pinkie says as she holds up a plate with a piece of cake on it...black and red frosting like Sam. "Heh, thanks, Pinkie Pie." Sam smiles...feeling very happy. "No problem! I threw this party just for you, and for something you can experience again since you said you haven't one in many many years!!!" "Yeah...a-anyway...thank you very much Pinkie." "You're welcome," Pinkie then gets on the small stage and grabs the mic, "Now let's get this party started!" A White-furred and Electric Blue Haired Unicorn with some party shades then started up some normal calm party tunes as she put her headphones on and such. Sam walks to see the ponies he all met today...Rarity, Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy, and... "Hey girls, how are you doing?" Sam asks. "Oh just fine darling, making those clothes for you was somewhat of a challenge but a fun one...I'm a few clothes away from being finished!" Rarity says. "Wow, thanks, Rarity...I can come get them or you send them to Twilight's because that's where I'm staying." Rarity puts a thumbs up and smiles, then he walks over to the Orange Earth Pony wearing a cowboy hat and a red flannel and blue jeans along with some leather cuffs. "Howdy, you mus' be Sam, ahm Applejack, ah hav' to say thank you fer saving' us the other day, otherwise we would've been in ah pickle." Applejack says as she and Sam shook hands. "Just doing my job ma'am." "Reckon you should come to the farm at some point, ahm sure the rest of mah family would love to meet ya!" "I shall whenever I can Applejack," Sam winks, "It was nice meeting you." Sam walks away and sees Twilight drinking some punch, he approaches from behind and slightly shakes her. "Boo!" Twilight yelps as she almost spilled her drink. "Sam!" Twilight puts down her drink and folds her arms. "Sorry Twi, couldn't resist...you're kinda cute when you're scared." Sam chuckles as he rubs the back of his head. "Well...I," Twilight's cheeks flustered red a bit at the teasing compliment. "Hey, let's try again alright?" Sam steps back, "Hey." "Hi...Sam." "How's your time been since I left your treehouse?" Sam asks. "Oh, nothing much read some books and actually decided to see if there any stories related to Vamponies." Twilight answers. "Vamponies? There are Vampire Ponies?" "There were speculations that they existed thousands of years ago...but I didn't believe them as much considering there wasn't much known about them, I still studied it." "I see." Sam chuckles. "Oh, I see Pinkie made a cake out of your colors," Twilight said looking at the plate of cake in his hand. "Yep, it's not bad, I like it." Sam chuckles. "So...can I ask you something?" "Shoot." "What are those white strings that are around your neck, a few seconds ago they were in...your ears?" Twilight asks considering the position of his ears were way different from ponies. "Oh, these are earbuds, they're like that DJ's headphones but they fit to play straight into your ear, they are simple and easy to put away and such...so basically I use these to listen to music." "So is that what that slim black box was you were carrying? I saw the earbuds connected to that." Twilight asks. "Correct." "So...what kind of music do you listen to?" Twilight asks. "I like rock and metal mostly." Sam answers. "Rock and...Metal?" "Is there such thing as a Guitar, Basses, Drums, and Keyboards here?" Sam asks. "Yes." "Rock consists of those instruments...the Keyboard sometimes and they create a tune of something you can jam to but not in a party like way...well maybe....and Metal is a Harder version of Rock...consists of sometimes loud sounds and such...most Metal and Rock songs are something that either tells a story or is something very relatable to many or about struggles in the world." Sam answers. "Can...I listen to some?" "Sure...try to listen to the lyrics and sometimes Metal can have a dark and evil vibe sometimes...even screaming in the songs so be warned." Sam hands the earbuds to Twilight and she notices which one goes into which ear, she then puts her thumbs up and Sam picks a song. "Here's one of my favorite Rock Tunes." Sam hit play and the music started... Twilight slowly listened and she started to smile...it sounded cheerful...she already liked it. Twilight notices from the lyrics it sounded like a song about Love or about a Mare...seemed like as if the stallion was happy where he was...Mister...Brightside? Sounds like somepony for Celestia, Twilight slightly giggles at her own joke...she let the rest of the song play. "That was pretty good Sam, anything else?" "I'll give you another one that's pretty good, my friend Alex showed me this band." Twilight already started to like the beat of this song...then she was hearing how everything was painted black...becoming dark. Was it evil or was it sadness? But then it sounded like if he was blaming himself...did he possibly lose someone? Or did he lose himself? The song ended and Twilight chuckled, "I'm taking my thinking too seriously." "Alright's let's move onto Metal...let's start with a twisted kind of tune," Sam says as he plays the next song. Twilight was immediately surprised by how loud it was...Sam turned it down a bit...he heard the vocals...it was a pitch of singing mixed with yelling...it didn't sound bad, it sounded as if there was someone on an urge in a world he doesn't...know. Sam looks at Twilight and she looks at him and he smiles and winks...after a bit the song ends. "Can I hear one more?" "Sure, I'll give you an uplifting one," Sam says. Twilight really loved the melodic voice...it sounded metal...but uplifted, then it said Darkness can show you The Light...maybe it's right, she is sitting next to a Shadowy Figure who says he works in the dark but is a good pon--person...he did save her and her friends and now she's listening to his music...she smiles at the music and moves her head a bit. "Wow...I liked that one Sam." Sam chuckles and takes the earbuds back. "Your taste in music is very interesting...I would love to hear more in the future." Twilight says. "I would love to help you experience the power of Rock and Metal...here...do this." Sam puts his one finger and his pinkie up while his two fingers in the middle were balled up while the thumb stayed as well. "This is called Rock On, it's something that most Rock and Metal enthusiasts do...come on." Twilight slowly does it and smiles, "R-Rock on!" Twilight giggled. Sam chuckles and puts his hand down, "Come on, we have a party to enjoy." Sam and Twilight arrived home...the party was over the top...Pinkie and Rainbow tried to do a water bucket prank but it immediately backfired on them as Sam saw it coming, Twilight was still giggling from it...she hic'd as she had a lot of punch, not alcoholic but it's all she drank because it was good. "I'm h-heading to bed...hehe, goodnight Sam," Twilight says as she heads upstairs. "Goodnight Twi," Sam goes into the cupboard and flops onto the bed...taking all of the clothes on his upper body off, except for his gloves, Sam kept his Fatigues on but took the Holsters and gear off...taking off his boots but leaving his socks on. "You know, I actually do like it here...a lot." Sam smiles as he turns to his side and begins to fall asleep...something he doesn't get to do too often. Author's Note I am a lazy and slow asshole XD This chapter took me too many days to finish because it took me a while to think how this will turn out, so I am basically saying that this is not my best chapter, but I wanted to have Sam be introduced to the Mane Six, but I have more ideas for future chapters, so that's where I'll be having more fun lol. Anyway, thanks for reading!
I. The Shadow Awakens“Ugh…damn me.” The voice that was heard was deep, it gave the hint of fear from it, but as well that there are emotions in the voice. “I swear one day, doing my job is gonna get me killed…and not the way I would want to go.” The voice was a man, he picked himself up from the ground. He walks by to see a puddle, enough for a reflection, he looks at the puddle to see himself. He was a tall man with Long Snow-White Hair, Total Pale light skin, Red Eyes, and sharp teeth. He wore a long Coat along with a Hoodie, He had straps on that carried Knives. His boots were also dark along with the Pockets it provided which carried Pistols. The Person also had a scarf, which was hiding his nose and mouth. On his back looked like a Sword Holster, and next to it were two dual SMG of sorts. “Well…good to know nothing has changed.” He says. The man then grabs the SMGs and checks the magazines, “MP5K…seems to be intact,” He then looks at his waist to see many magazines as well as knives, “I’m stocked up still at least.” The man then puts the MP5s away to check the two pistols in his holsters, “M9 Pistols…mags good, chamber good, barrel good.” He then puts them back. Finally, he unsheathes the sword. It looked like a Katana that had a small curve…it glowed and was colored Red and Black, there were bandages on the handle as well as the bottom of the sword that connected to the Handle. “Not damaged…then again…nothing can really damage you.” He puts the sword back and looks around to see he was in a forest…but wasn’t far from an exit. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not in Gateway?” The man sighs as he walks towards the exit. As he was walking, he sees…unusual things, he first sees some rabbits running on deer legs, then he sees floating buildings and upside down ones. Soon he was standing at the edge of the forest and didn’t move. Why? It was raining brown liquid from pink clouds above. The man puts two fingers out and waits for a drop to hit, as soon as one does, he places it in his mouth, not moving the scarf much. He tasted the sweetness of chocolate…with milk. “Chocolate milk…what?” The man sighed as he put two hands on the back of his neck, under the coat and then pulled out a hood, he covered himself which did cover his large white hair. He then puts his two hands in his pockets as he takes his first step into this…Land of Confusion. “What the hell is this place?” He looks around at the very illogical land, he then looks to his right at a distance to see a creature in a King’s Chair. “I wonder if I’ll get some information from him.” As he walks to his destination, he looks back at the chair to see some multi-colored Ponies approaching the creature. “Wonder what the occasion is for this party…” The man walks to the crowd and hides behind the pink-checkered hills. “Oh, this again?” The creature says. “That’s right, you couldn’t break apart our friendship for long.” One of the ponies says, she had a southern accent and was wearing a red flannel, with blue jeans and a cowboy hat. “Oh, Applejack, don’t lie to me. I’m the one who made you a liar. Will you ever learn?” The creature says. “I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord: we've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!” A Purple Unicorn then says, she had a hoodie on with some jeans. “Ugh, gag. Fine, go ahead, try, and use your little Elements. ‘Friend me.’ Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here.” The creature known as Discord says. “All right, ladies, let's show him what friendship can do!” The Purple Unicorn says. Just then a flash of colors happen from the six ponies, as then they started to float. “What’s this?” The flash then created a beam which was aimed at Discord. “Oh no, you don’t!” Discord whips up a shield that completely blocks the attack. He then pushes the beam back at the Ponies which causes them to fly back a little as injuries then occur. “Did you really think it would be that easy, Twilight Sparkle?” Discord says as he walks slowly towards them. “How…did--“ “You think I wouldn’t be prepared if my plan failed…there’s always a backup plan Sparkle…and It seems I’ll have to carry on with it…since you and your friends are such a problem…I am going to have to end you all.” “What?!” Twilight says. The Mane Six then try to get up, but then they noticed they were stuck to the ground by Cotton Candy. The man looks at them as Discord lights up an orb of magic in his claws, Twilight then sees the man…standing there. The man looks back at her, then he sees Discord. “So long…Elements.” Discord says as he chuckles. “Hey!” Discord looks behind him to see the man, standing in a…stance. “Oh, my…and who are you?” “Me? Oh…I’m someone who got lost, I come from a different land…but now I don’t know where I am and I was hoping you could help me…as much as you’re busy with…executing resistance fighters.” “Oh them? Don’t worry, they won’t be a problem…what’s your name?” “Ooh a King’s Chair,” The man then sits in it and puts a knee up on top his other knee as he puts a fist to his cheek. “Name’s Samuel Knight…but I usually am called Sam.” The man finally speaks his name. “I’m Discord, the Lord of Chaos.” Sam then gets down from the chair and walks up to Discord. “Sorry, just wanted to try out the chair.” “It’s quite alright…but, may I ask you? Why do you have your muzzle covered?” Discord asks. “Oh this…well first, believe it or not, I don’t have a muzzle…just a face…and second…I can give off…’fear’ when I take this off.” “Oh, I see, but what about that?” Discord says as he points at his sword. Sam chuckles as he grabs onto the handle and pats it, “This baby has probably saved my life a few times…and I saved it’s.” “So…it has a mind?” Discord asks “You…could say that…even though it doesn’t make sense.” Sam answers “What’s the point in making sense?” Discord asks. “Wait for a sec…is this your world or something?” Sam asks. “It’s about to be…just some finishing touches.” “I see, would you like to finish? I assume it’s them.” Sam asks as he nods at the Mane Six. “Why yes, of course…excuse me for a moment.” Discord then turns around and charges up the orb again. Twilight then looks at Sam, who then nods at her, her eyes widen as to see what he was doing. Sam then unsheaths his sword and walks up to Discord. Surprise Motherfuck-- Discord then knocks him in the face, making him fall back, “Agh…godammit.” “I knew you were up to something…but why? I thought we were having a good relationship?” Discord asks. “Please…why would I be friends with a Chaos Lord,” Sam then rolls up his sleeve to show a mark, It was a tattoo-like mark that was a white star that was over a splatter of black goo, “I SLAY beings like you, I have dealt with your kind in my world which caused one of my friends to go crazy in guilt…I really wished I had killed him myself for hurting family and friends.” “Who are you?” Sam then unsheaths his sword which glowed red and black, besides the designs already, “I am the one you should fear…I am a Guardian.” The moon then rises over the land, darkening it, “Oh…perfect.” Sam smiled as then his marking glowed. He put his sleeve back down as then his entire body started to turn Pitch Black, and his Eyes shined Blood Red. “We’re about to have fun.” Sam says as he then puts a hand to the ground, which causes black smoke to surround them and the six. He then vanishes into shadows. “Where did he go?” Discord says to himself. “Right here.” Discord looks behind him to be met with a fist to his muzzle, he then falls back from the punch. Discord winced in pain as he saw blood dripping from his nose. “How did you hurt me? No one can hurt me.” Sam then puts a sword to his chin, “Maybe you didn’t hear me…I am a Guardian.” Sam then attempts to cut his stomach, which Discord proceeds to dodge by splitting his body in half and then back together. Sam then goes for a Head cut which Discord leans back to dodge. “C’mon Dissy…where was all that humor and all that power you had?” Sam says as he continues to attack. Then a Slash hits his arm which actually gives Discord pain. Blood spilled from his arm as he then grabs it. “Bet you haven’t felt that before huh?” Sam then jumps to kick Discord in the jaw. He falls back as he’s temporarily knocked out. The sun then rises and Sam returns to normal, “Guess the cycle here is fast.” Sam runs to the Mane Six crouching next to Twilight. “Stand still…I gotta remember this spell.” Sam then puts a hand to the cotton candy that was sticking her to the ground, and it started to burn away which broke Twilight free. “Alright, get your friends out and…use that…thing you did earlier…I’ll distract him, got it? Good.” Sam quickly goes back to Discord who was getting up. “Wait!” Twilight says as he already was going back to fight Discord. The five look at Twilight. “Can we trust him?” Applejack says. “I think so…he wouldn’t be fighting Discord if he wanted to help.” Twilight says. Her horn glows and the Cotton Candy disappears and all get up. “Aww…no more candy.” The Pink Pony says. The Six run to the fighting duo as they all ready themselves. Sam was clashing his Sword at Discord, as he deflected them with a metal bar. Just then he sees the girls ready themselves. Sam then grinds his sword against the bar, as he then kicked Discord’s shin. “Agh! That hurt!” Discord, acting like a baby drops to the ground, knees flat. “You are weak…” Discord looks up at the dark warrior. “You have all this power, you can bend reality, but once it’s taken away and you’re vulnerable…you become a coward…scared…well, now it’s time to learn your place…NOW!” Sam runs as Discord looks behind him to see the Mane Six release a beam at him. “No! No!” Discord stands up to see his body turn to stone. After it was finished, the whole world changed. Sam looks around to see the flat grass-covered ground, he then sees the town in its peaceful glory, and the clouds were white and the sky was blue. He then looks in front of him to see a Statue of Discord, “Justice.” Sam says. He stares at the Statue for a while then he puts his Sword back and turns around. “Hey, wait!” Sam turns his head to see the Unicorn known as Twilight put her hand out to him. He then uncovers his scarf to show his nose and mouth, there were two small sharp teeth coming from his mouth, he winked, nodded, and smiled at Twilight before putting the scarf back on and entering the Forest. Twilight was surprised by the Gesture, she was wondering who that was…and was he planning something? “I must send a letter to the Princess,” Twilight says. Author's Note Welcome Samuel, to Equestria...and Equestria...welcome your new Shadow in the Sun. Hehehehehehe.... Under 30 Days until I graduate! WOOOOOOO!!!!!
II. The Shadow's GreetingAuthor's Note I decided to look at this to see what I did wrong and why would it get hate (although it’s because a certain someone added it to ‘Absolutely Disgusting’ and put it under Terrible Cover Art....which is bullshit) But I look now and see...It looks rushed...yet when I first wrote this chapter...it didn’t feel rushed yet when I look back on it...I guess I was rushed. So I rewrote this chapter, it’s actions, and most of it’s conversations and they feel more clear now. Hope you enjoy!!! II. The Shadow's Greeting Sam was slashing his sword around, it seemed he was practicing, he slashes at a tree which leaves a huge cut, more than normal scratches from a Manticore. “Hm…at least nothing has changed with combat,” Sam says. Sam then looks up past the thick trees to see it was nighttime, “I better find somewhere to sleep.” Sam walks through the forest with ease, he then discovers a fog, a thick one to be exact, “No problem,” Sam then turns into his Shadow Form and turns to smoke to ease through the fog and not get hit by obstacles that would be hard to see. After he reaches the other side of the fog, he is greeted with a Large and Abandoned Castle. Sam reverts to normal as he looks at the Damaged Castle, “I guess a battle happened here…years ago I bet.” Sam walks to the entrance and looks at the broken, cracked, leaf, and root covered walls. He then sees two banner…one of Sun and one of Moon, “Hm…fancy.” Sam walks through the main hall and up some stairs, “I think I’ll find a bedroom probably…a royal one.” Sam says as he chuckles to himself. His footsteps were the only sounds that were heard through the castle, besides some crickets and bats. He steps into some puddles as well; the splashes are heard as if they were the only thing in the castle that sounded loud. Sam then enters a large room where it was pitch black, “Well…no problem.” Sam’s hand glows as then torches around the room were lit up, as well as a chandelier. “Oh damn,” Sam says as his eyes widen. The room was a Library, it was filled with books…shelve after shelve, Sam was amazed, “I bet I can learn something about where I am.” Sam had a stack of Thirteen Books, all were pretty large as if they were a Dictionary. “Well, I’ll be here awhile…not that I’m complaining.” Sam says as he smiles. There were a few beanbag chairs so Sam happily took a seat in them and then grabbed some earbuds from his pocket. He clicked a button in his Pocket and he opened the first book while music played to him Sam had his head bumping to the music, while he read, “Equestria…huh…interesting.” Sam had not taken his eyes off the book for a second, he was amazing at the information, it was like back then when he was learning about Gateway, the Temples, and the Guardians…all its history. Now he was learning about the Land of Equestria. “Fuck me…that’s interesting,” Sam looked around him real quick, “So…this is…I guess was the Castle of the Two Sisters…if these books were here before the…attack…I guess they’re outdated.” 12 Hours Later Sam was fast asleep with a book in his hand but different from last time. The warrior awakens as he yawned, “Damn…how long has it been since I actually have slept…considering I’m a Vampire.” Sam says. Sam was back in the forest, away from the Castle…he looked around for some food. “I don’t think I’ll have some luck.” He then comes across the town again…back to normal…it seems everyone there has gone back to their normal lives, “Well, that’s good news at least,” He then looks to see the Statue of Discord was gone. “Guess they took it somewhere secure.” Sam puts his earbuds back on as he had music playing still…but not that loud. He looks at the town with ease, and a smile under his scarf, “I guess this place will be okay now.” He then turns around to walk back to the forest. “Hold it right there!” Sam straightens his posture and turns around. He is greeted with spears to his face. “Demon! You are trespassing into our home and might possibly be a threat to our land! You will come with us for Questioning!” There were three…Pony Knights in his face…more like Guards and one Knight since two of them had spears and one had a sword in their Holster. Sam looks at them with one of his eyes slightly shut and one wide open as well as a frown. “No…I’ll pass.” The Guards and the Knight look at each other, “You have no choice Demon! We will use force if we must.” “And are those your orders?” “I do not have to explain that to you Demon!” “First off, stop calling me a Demon and Second, I say no…you can’t just take someone against their will when they haven’t done anything wrong…I need to find a way home and I will not let you stop me from returning to my land.” “You will not oppose!” The Knight says as he puts his sword in his face. “…I don’t have time for this horseshit.” Sam turns around and starts to walk away into the forest. “Halt! I order you to Halt!” The Knight says. One of the Guards then charge at Sam with their spear pointed in front of them. As he was about to stab Sam, he suddenly turns around and grabs the Guard and throws him to the Ground with no damage to his body. He also had the spear in his hand in which he snaps it in half and drops it in front of the Guard, “Don’t do that…not a bright idea dude…I’ve got better things to do if you’ll excuse me.” Sam walks away from the three and he puts his earbuds back in. “You hurt?” The Knight asks the Guard. “No…not at all…not even one single pain in my body, I don’t think he wanted to hurt me.” The Guard says as he was surprised. “He basically still attacked you, however.” “Wait, but I think he’s being serious I think he just wants to go home…he doesn’t want trouble.” “That’s not going to happen.” The Knight’s horn then glowed and a light shined in the sky. Sam walked to the Castle again and he sighed. “I hope me not harming him was a message to them that I don’t want trouble.” Sam then enters the Castle and is greeted with a Platoon of Knights, “Oh for fuck sake.” One Knight Walks up dressed in a more detailed Armor…like he was a Captain or something, he had Light and Dark Blue Hair and a White Coat. “You will come with us…one way or another.” The Captain says. “I refuse to be taken away for something I didn’t do...or for doing absolutely nothing.” “You are a threat as reported! You will not walk our lands freely.” “Who says? I didn’t do anything except…stop that Discord asshole…if anything, a thank you would be nice…but I usually don’t ask for that, but it’s better than being harassed.” Sam says as he went face to face with that Captain. The Captain grabs his coat and a fist to his face, “Listen here you son of a bitch, I don’t know who you are…and I don’t care.” “That makes two of us.” “I have my orders…you will come…or I will hurt you.” Sam snaps and yanks the Captain’s hand off of him and looks at him close-up, “Do you not understand?! I just want to go home to my friends and family…or can you not comprehend that in your stupid fucking pathetic military mind?” The Captain’s anger was pushed and he decided to pull his scarf down from his face and punch him. Sam had his head turned from the punch…he then turns back looking at the Captain with a death stare…his scarf was down…showing his two sharp teeth sticking out of his mouth, “I guess not,” Sam lifts a boot to the Captain’s stomach…not hurting him, but pushing him. The Captain is pulled back into his Platoon where his body knocks all his Knights down in a Domino effect. Sam quickly turns around and sprints out of the Castle. He sees there were Knights at the outside as well now…there weren’t any when he came in. “Fuck sakes, can’t you please leave me alone?!” Sam shouts. He continues to run as he leaps from tree to tree now, he then looks behind him to see a shine of light coming towards him. “Oh, shit--“ The light strikes him and he falls from the tree and onto the ground. “Ugh…by the Goddesses.” Sam wakes up in a dark cell, he looks to see he didn’t have his, Hoodie, gloves, scarf, or Waist Coat on…only his Tank top, his Jeans, and his boots…none of his weapons were on him. He looks around the room, there was a bed, a torch, and nothing else, “This is fucking stupid,” Sam says as he had an angered voice. “Oh look a being saved us all from…whatever, let’s lock him up against his will as our thanks.” Sam kicks a wall as hard as he could which leaves huge cracks as it now looked like it would shatter, “Hmph…stupid wall.” Sam checks his pocket real quick, he couldn’t find his device or earbuds, “Oh, of course, they take my player, I swear to god, I’ve had that thing for years and if they take it apart…so help me--“ “So help you what?” Sam turns around and his eyes widen a Celestial Being…a Goddess…a beautiful being, “Oh my goddesses…” The being was female, she was a pony alright…anthropomorphic like all the others…but she was probably over seven feet tall. She was wearing a clear white gown that covered her legs and…hooves, she had a long horn and large wings. Her hair flowed in a certain direction, with multiple colors. She wore a crown and band around her neck and chest. “Who…are you?” Sam says in awe. “I am Princess Celestia, I rule over Equestria.” “That’s right, I read about you in your old castle.” “So that was you peckering in my library.” Celestia giggles after her sentence. “Yeah…did you order to bring me here?” “Yes…I had my guards ordered to escort you here.” “Escort, more like kidnap…I was basically being taken against my will…especially when your soldiers but their weapons in my face.” “They had to be cautious…after what I heard what you did…and after we got you.” “Wait…did you knock me out?” “Yes…there was no other way…but I guess I can understand why you would run.” “But why? I don’t want any trouble! All I want to do is return home! I HAVE to go back! Why did you order to bring me fucking here?! Do you want to experiment on me? Do you want to see if I am a demon?!” “Well, your appearance says so…especially your hair flowing Snow-White like the Tartarus Spirit.” Sam becomes more angered and turns around as he releases an extremely frustrated sigh. I don’t want to take it out on her…even if she did order to bring me in…she has no idea who I am…I could be dangerous…I am but…I don’t want any trouble. I’m not helping my case by lashing out my anger. Sam takes a deep breath as the mark on his arm blinks red. He turns around to face Celestia. “My deepest apologies Princess…I now understand that you are just curious and worry for your subjects…I mean hey, a Dark being suddenly appears out of nowhere? Who looks like he came from hell or something…yeah, when you say it out loud it makes sense. Welp, I’m an idiot.” Celestia giggles as she puts a hand on Sam’s shoulder, “I accept your apology…and I apologize too, I do care for all my subjects and when a new creature or being appears…I just become curious and worried…and yes, You do look like a being from Tartarus…no offense at all.” “Please, don’t apologize and don’t think I’m offended, I’m meant to strike fear into anyone…it’s my job actually.” Sam says. “I’m sorry, but…what are you? I’ve never seen you before.” “Before I answer, do you have some citizens out there wondering who I am as well?” Sam asks. “I…yes there are…how did you know?” “Believe it or not, it kinda was a guess but since one of your guards said in the report I am a threat…even though I don’t think I did anything that made me a threat to your world,” Sam says as his frustrated expression returned. “Weren’t you the one who stopped Discord?” Celestia asks. Sam looks at her with a small surprise, “Well at least someone actually brought that up, but I can’t take all the credit…six girls used some magic to entrap him into stone.” “I know, everypony in the land knows…there was a ceremony for their hard work,” Celestia says. “Oh, and I get no credit?” Sam asks as he crosses his arms with a skeptical look. “Oh well, I…” “I’m just kidding your majesty…I’m usually the type of being to do and not be recognized for it, half the time,” Sam says. “I apologize, but I didn’t send all those guards…only three…did you do something to send them all?” “After I refused to come with them, one charged at me with their spear, I turned and dropped them to the ground and snapped his spear in half…I didn’t hurt him at all actually, I had no intentions to make enemies or cause trouble, but I had no intention to be forcefully taken against my will, considering I had Spears and Swords pointed at my face.” Sam says. “I see…then I can apologize for their force…but it’s their job…it’s like how you strike fear.” Celestia says as she giggles. Sam laughs along with her as he snaps his fingers, “I guess you’re right…considering I would do the same thing…I guess I am a hypocrite…a huge one.” “Why, what do you do?” “I will answer that when I come out of the cell and talk to everyone else outside.” “Oh, would you like to right now?” Celestia asks. “You sure?” Sam raises an eyebrow. “I’m sure, I trust you.” “That’s a bad thing to do considering your talking to someone in a Jail Cell.” “And you’re talking to someone who holds the power of the sun in her hands and has lived for over a thousand years,” Celestia says as she giggles again. “Heh, I read about that in your library as well,” Sam says as he laughs. “How many things did you learn about our world?” “I know you have a sister, I know there are many other lands beside this, I know that the Planet is called Equis, I know that there were more threats than Discord, and I know you are the daughter of the Goddess…Faust.” Sam says. “Wow, I know someone who might share your knowledge…you read a lot don’t you?” “Well, the job can get boring at some points,” Sam says as he chuckles Celestia giggles at the answer. The two then reach Large Gate-Like Doors, two Guards were posted at them, “He is no threat…let us in.” Celestia says. The guards push the doors open and Sam witnesses the large hallway. Glass art on each side of the walls, large pink carpet…leading up to two large Chairs, one Gold, and one Midnight Blue. There were also the same six ponies Sam assisted with taking down Discord. Then, there were a few guards, the same ones he attacked and ran away from, there were some high-end ponies as well. “Didn’t think there was a party for me,” Sam says as he smiles. “No! That comes later,” The Pink Pony says, “Oops! It was supposed to be a surprise!” Sam has a skeptical look at the Pink Pony, “Well okay then.” Sam chuckles. Celestia then walks up to the crowd of Ponies and smiles. “He would like to explain himself and introduce himself…everypony, please show some respect.” Celestia says as she then stares at the High-End Ponies. Sam walks up to the Ponies, he had a straight look and stared at them, he then smiles and bows, “Well, hello everyone…I shall introduce myself and say some other things, then I will take Questions.” Sam says as he chuckles. Everyone sees his smile and sees the two small and sharp teeth poking out of his mouth, some then had their eyes wide open, “My name is Samuel Knight, and I come from Gateway…A land filled with peace and harmony, we are hidden from the outside world of the Planet Earth.” Sam walks up looking at all the Ponies. “First off, I would like to apologize to the Knights and Guards…severely, I am a serious Hypocrite, I understood your actions and you had every right to do them, but I hope I did not hurt anyone because that was not my intention…and to the Captain…I’m sorry for insulting you, I bet you’re a good captain.” Sam looks down and puts a fist against his chest. The Captain from earlier then walks up to him, “I thank you for the apology to me and my troops…but how are you a Hypocrite?” Sam smiles and puts his hand up, and shows the mark, drifting from his hand to his arm, “This mark is something that is embedded in me, In Gateway, the place has been protected for over 3.2 Billion Years…and it’s all thanks to the Guardians. I am one of them, I am known as the Gatekeeper…I make sure anyone who is not part of our community does not step foot in, as well as disrupt the peace, and the temples that keep us hidden. What you guys did to me…I can do to outsiders in Gateway, so I deeply apologize. You were all protecting your land…and that is, and I find that very noble of you all.” The Captain as well as a few knights smiled and chuckled, “We all accept your apology…so…you’re basically a Knight from where you’re from?” The Captain asks. “I prefer Warrior…I’ve been walking the Earth even before I became a Guardian.” “Ooh, can you tell us more about what you are?” The Purple Unicorn asks happily. Sam sees the Unicorn and gives her the wink, nod, and smile like last time, “Certainly…but before I do, may I see my gear and clothes so I can go into more detail?” “Certainly…I trust you, Knights, bring his things.” Celestia says. Two Knights levitate a Table as well as all of Sam’s Belongings. Sam smiled as he saw his attire, weapons, and…wait… “Hey, what’s this…ugh, what an ugly necklace, and what are these gross names? Someone burn this.” A High-End Pony was holding onto a necklace that held at least Eight Dog Tags. Sam’s eyes shot open and he put his hand up and his mark glowed. The Dog Tags were snatched out of The Pony’s hand and shot straight towards Sam’s, “You will not do anything with those! You will not lay a hand on these if that’s how you’ll treat it!” Sam says with anger. “I Apologize Sam…what are those?” Celestia asks. “These are called Dog Tags…In my world, outside of Gateway, I served in the Military…I was part of Special Forces, and every Soldier carries these that show their name, their blood type, small things you need to know about them…All of these Dog Tags were my friends…” “You mean…they--“ “Yes…they died on the battlefield, I took their tags to remember them…after I resigned, I burned mine…I didn’t deserve to be remembered for what happened to me…especially since I didn’t die with them.” Sam says. The whole room was dead silent, “So…do you want to continue where you left off?” Twilight asks. “Sure,” Sam looks through his weapons and he grabs one of the two Handguns off the table, “This is called a gun…do you have anything like this?” Celestia and everyone else shook their heads. “Do you have any type of weapon that has a trigger or something to release something deadly?” Sam asks. “We have Crossbows.” The Captain says. Sam sighs and then he removes the magazine from one of the handguns, “This is basically like a crossbow, but more advanced, these fire little metal bolts called bullets,” Sam ejects a bullet from the magazine and holds it up to them. Celestia levitates it over to herself to look closely, “One part is what is fired, the other is the shell which keeps the bullet in there, once fired the shell ejects.” “These ‘bullets’ they hurt?” Twilight asks. “Of course…the type of bullets I carry are FMJs which can pierce through even metal, hard armor, and anything else.” Sam says as the bullet is given back to him. “So you could’ve used this to hurt the guards, but you didn’t?” The noble from earlier asks. “No, like I said, I’d rather not make enemies…besides that, I’d rather not lose my rights as a Guardian. Anyway…these bullets are used to hurt, they can pierce through skin and fur and such and really hurt, depending on where it hits, it will either wound or kill.” Sam says. “Oh my, is that what they were made for, to kill?” Celestia asks. “Or to protect, like I do…do you guys have target dummies or something?” Sam asks. “There’s the field where we have soldiers test for battle...” The Captain says “May we go out there?” The group head out to the practice field as all the targets stood there motionless. Sam starts to put his attire back on with all the darkness on him. “Alright, I’m going to demonstrate all my weapons and then I’ll show you combat,” Sam says. The group nods in understanding, “Okay, the handgun here is called an M9, it’s a classic and common gun to use, also known as Pistols.” Sam says. He turns around and fires three bullets out into the field, he then turns back to see some of the ponies had their ears covered. “Whoops…should’ve warned you first.” “It’s quite alright, but that seems fearful if they’re loud,” Celestia says. “Damn right they are,” Sam fires more bullets without looking and still staring at the crowd. All bullets hit the head, “This is not easy…not even close.” Sam reloads the M9 and places it back on the table, he then picks up one of the two SMGs, “This is called an MP5K, a Submachine Gun, besides the pistol firing one bullet at a time, this fires continuously until the magazine is empty,” Sam loads the magazine and places the mag in the gun, he then cocks it and switches off the safety, “More loud noises incoming.” He says with a smile. He fires a burst of bullets, then fires one bullet at a time, then continuously until the magazine is empty, “Ta-Da.” Sam says. The Ponies look with amazement and having their ears covered. He reloads the SMG and places it back. He then grabs the Dual Combat Knives, “These might be something you guys are familiar with.” “Kinda, but not like that.” One of the Guards said. “Well, that’s fine,” Sam says, he then does some knife tricks and swishes them around. The Ponies look with amazement. He places them down and picks up the final weapon, his prized possession, the one thing that makes him a Guardian, his Sword. “This…is something to not be messed with and not touched by any others…this is Juliet,” Sam says. Some ponies chuckled, “Juliet, you named your Sword?” The Captain asks. “This is not a normal sword, it carries Blood within it…anyone I’ve killed with it, their blood sinks into it…like so,” The sword then glows black and red along with some aura. “This is the Shadow’s Wielder…it looks a little like a Katana yeah…but it’s a little curved plus the colors and such on this bad girl.” Sam says with an evil smile. “If you want we can make the Targets come to life and look like any enemies we want,” Celestia says. “Alright, I have an idea, but put a shield around you guys so you won’t get hit,” Sam says. Celestia puts up a force field and all watch from behind, “I have another idea, bring them to life, I’ll change them to what I want them to be.” The Captain casts the spell and Sam’s mark glows and the Targets change into something Sam recognizes…PMC Forces. Sam grabs all his weapons and puts them in their places. “Here we go.” The PMCs put their Rifles up at Sam, he responded with his hand, disarming one of them and firing the gun at another PMC. He drops the rifle and takes out his Dual M9s and fires at different Soldiers, they fall to the ground dead. Sam stands his ground, firing at the Soldier’s heads. More Soldiers appear and Sam takes out his Dual MP5Ks and Fires at the sprinting PMCs. They start to drop like flies or ants tasting poison, Sam continued to fire either way, more appear with riot shields which could block the bullets, this wasn’t a problem for Sam as he ran towards them kicking three of the Shielded Soldiers, disarming them of their protection, Sam then fires on the unprotected three. He then jumps up above the soldiers firing on them where they were unprotected…they all succumb to the pain of the bullets entering their bodies and it kills them. Sam lands back down and looks to see more Soldiers coming at him with CQC Equipment like Shock Batons, Knives, Combat Axes, any type of Blunt of Sharp Weapons. Sam holsters the SMGs and takes out the Combat Knives, he runs towards them all as he swung his knives around. He slides and stabs one of them in the knee making him collapses to the floor, Sam stabs another one as he got back up and flipped his knives around at the standing soldiers. “Come on…who’s got the better balls here?” One of the Soldiers shouted and charged at him with his Shock Batton, Sam quickly circles around him and sticks his blade in the Soldier’s neck, after he takes the knife out, blood spews out quickly as the PMC falls to the ground. Sam looks at the remaining standing Soldier and he finally charges which Sam responds with throwing his knife which hits his eye. He falls and Sam takes the knife out of him and another Soldier whom he stabbed in the knee, which reminds him…he takes out his M9 and finishes off the two injured PMCs. Sam turns around to see more Soldiers standing there, weapons up, ready to fire, he slowly puts the Knives and his M9 Pistol away and he stands his ground again, his leather boots stretching their sounds. He then unsheathes his Sword…it starts to glow again, Sam chuckles and he starts to run towards the Soldiers, “Come and get it fuckers.” They fired their weapons but Sam then slowed and he swished his Sword around very quickly which was deflecting the bullets that were being fired at him. Sam continued to deflect the bullets as he reaches the first soldier and he slices him in half horizontally, The Torso and Waist split apart. He wasn’t done yet, he deflects more bullets as he turns around, he quickly pulls out his M9 and fires a round into one of the PMC’s shoulders, Sam runs over to the wounded man and he decapitates him…head clean off, the Shadow then sprints towards the next Soldier in which he cuts off both Soldier’s arms and then he impales his heart. The final Soldier stopped firing and looked at the Shadow in disbelief, he just saw him kill every single one of his comrades…he puts his weapon down and turns around to flee. Sam shook his head as he threw his Sword to the Soldier which impales the Soldier’s head and out of his mouth, Sam walks up to him and takes the Sword out, the Soldier falls to the ground…the final Soldier. “A real Soldier would’ve kept firing at least.” Celestia uncovers the Shield and looks at the Carnage. The entire crowd looks at the horror of the blood and gore…which slowly start to turn back into Target Dummies. “Is…this what you do for a living?” Twilight asks. “It’s usually not like this at all believe it or not…most of it involves standing around all day and walking back and forth temple through temple…I kill and fight only to protect…I promise you.” “You are a force to be reckoned with Sam,” Celestia says, “Do you have any bad intentions at all?” “Not at all, I’m a Guardian remember? I protect not destroy.” Sam says. “Alright, I understand you do not have a place to stay…while we try to figure out how you can get home…Twilight may Sam stay in Ponyville with you for the time being?” Celestia asks. “With me? Are you sure Princess…I…I.” “Hey, it’s okay…I don’t bite at all I promise…even though I’m a Vampire.” Sam says as he laughs at his own joke. They all then stare at him. “What? Too soon or something?” Sam asks. “Anyways…yes, Sam may stay with me for the time being.” “Okay, you two will leave back to Ponyville in a bit…for now, let’s get to know each other for a bit.” Celestia says.
III. Interview With a VampireSam and Twilight both enter a large tree which seemed to be a house, the place was a library, books in every corner as well as things a normal house would have. “Oh wow…so many books…I like it.” Sam says. “You read?” Twilight asks. “Yeah, the job can get boring so I read up fiction, historical, biographies, and non-fiction,” Sam says. “Oh wow! This is amazing, someone who shares my love for books.” Twilight says. “You have an addiction for books as well?” Sam asks. “Oh yes, I have read so much in my life, It kinda got me where I am, that’s how I became Celestia’s pupil...I’ve studied magic for years and now to be an Element of Magic…it’s…wow.” Twilight giggles nervously. “You seem like you wield very strong power, it’s interesting,” Sam says. “You seem like you do too…don’t you want to take off your scarf?” Twilight asks. “Ah, what the hell,” Sam undoes the scarf showing his teeth and such…even though Twilight has seen it before, it still takes her by surprise, “So…since we’re secluded, you wanna ask me anything?” “Anything?” Twilight’s eyes widen with excitement. “Shoot.” Twilight quickly grabs a notepad and pencil and smiles excitingly, “Okay…okay um, What are your species specifically…I know you’re a Vampire but are you different?” “Why yes, I am a Shadow Vampire, we are blended with the Darkness…let’s just say we’re Hunters…we’re different from normal Vampires as they are weaker.” “Do um…the stereotypes like weaknesses and strength exist?” “I understand what you are asking…that is a Yes and No…I’ll give you examples…get your pencil sharpened.” Twilight does what Sam says as she puts the pencil to the paper. “So here’s one, Vampires hate Garlic and it is poison to them…fifty percent true…we hate it because it smells fucking awful…but it’s not poison.” “How awful?” “Think of the most rotten thing in the world with the worst smell in existence,” Sam says bluntly…but then chuckles, “I was dared to eat one…we were having fun to be fair and I took on the dare, let’s just say I regret my decisions that day.” Twilight cringed at the sound of that, but she continued to write down in the notepad. “Okay here’s another one…we can only feed on blood…not true, we can eat like normal beings…blood well can heal us and make us stronger…think of it as an energy boost or a regeneration to your health…we drink blood only when necessary or if we want to get rid of our worst enemies.” Sam says. “Did you ever do that?” Twilight asks. Sam chuckles, “Yes…they got what was coming…either that or ‘ol Juliet here takes care of them.” Sam pats the handle of his sword. “Okay,…what were those abilities you used on Discord?” “What do you mean?” “When the moon rose, your entire body including your…skin became Pitch Black but your eyes were Blood Red…what was that?” “Shadow Form…or Shadow Combat, whatever you prefer…in the darkness we’re untouchable…we can turn into black smoke and hover around you if we so desired…our eyes still glow red…so basically a smoke monster.” “Wow…that’s amazing…I feel like I should be scared…but I’m not.” “You have a courageous heart…I saw that in your eyes when I saved you from Discord.” Sam says. Twilight blushed and hid behind her notepad, she wrote down more about the Shadow Form and other information. “Okay, one more question…that mark…you said that is the mark of a Guardian…what are the Guardians specifically? What can they do?” “Guardians are the protectors of a Land called, ‘Gateway’ in this land all types of species live together in Harmony…Humanoids, Animoids or… Anthros like yourselves, Monsters, even Demons live together in peace and as one,” Twilight listened in awe…she was amazed about Gateway, “The Guardians protect this Land from outsiders…anyone non-peaceful or is not a member of our community…or any certain types of species that are not allowed…A Guardian is part of a code which is to never harm an innocent…even if they are outsiders…only attack if they do threaten and/or cause any actions that result in violence.” “What type of abilities and perks do you have as a Guardian?” “Well first, Guardians are Immortal…and not just by aging…I mean injury and others…some sicknesses can get to us but that also depends on the species…since I’m a Shadow Vampire…I actually already had this perk…and before you ask…not even decapitation could kill me.” “Amazing…anything else?” “Well certain Guardians can perform Magic…some requires some learning, however…mostly combat magic and manipulation-type magic like levitation…but hitting a light switch while in your bed is child’s play…even a Lycan can do that.” “You can do magic?!” Twilight asks excitingly. “Yep, Normal, Manipulation, and Combat…all can be used at any time…it’s exactly like how you would channel magic through your horn, I have to channel mine through my hand and arm.” Twilight continues to write down in the notepad listing off every detail as if she was making a transcript or something. “Okay, last question…what did you do before you became a Guardian?” Sam sighs as he sits forward and puts his hands together, “I was first a U.S. Special Forces Soldier, after that and when I became a Shadow Vampire, I became a Mercenary, which means I did jobs, dirty jobs like assassinations and other terrible things for money, if it weren’t for my friends, I’d be gone because of what I have been doing, that was when I became the Gatekeeper.” Twilight was somewhat surprised…he was a bad soul? Was he trying to say that? However, her fascination outweighed her surprise and worry. She continued to write in the Notepad as she then puts it away. “Wow…thank you so much…do you think, I could study your…structure…build…and physical?” Twilight asks. “Gee Twilight, if you wanted to see me shirtless, you could’ve asked up front.” Sam chuckles as he stands up. Twilight lights up red as she covers her muzzle, “Oh um…t-that wasn’t what I was asking.” Sam chuckles again and takes off his coat, hoodie, shirt, and tank-top to show his body strength and form and such, Twilight walks over to him to look closely at his form and strength…she was impressed…he seemed to be close to Big Mac somewhat. She wrote down what she thought of his form, she then sat back down and gestured he could put his attire back on. He then smiles and chuckles once again. “How was that Twilight?” “Oh! Um…it was…interesting.” Twilight says as she smiles sheepishly. “Oh so you’re attracted to it you say?” Sam says with a cocky smile. “Um…I never said that.” Twilight says nervously. Sam chuckles once again and stands up and grabs his gear, such as his weapons and others, “Where am I staying tonight?” He asks. “Oh! Well there is a bed set up in the cupboard, the closet is pretty big, it’s enough for a bed…it’s right under my bed basically.” Twilight was somewhat nervous, hoping he wasn’t mad about the circumstances. “Secluded and Dark? Perfect, thanks, Twi.” “Oh! You’re quite welcome--wait did you just call me Twi?” She asks. “Oh um…did you not like that?” “Oh no it’s fine, I was just asking.” Sam smiles going to put his gear and such in the cupboard, “Then yes, I did call you Twi.” Twilight giggles quietly and watches as Sam walks into his new room, she then looks at her notepad, seeing everything he told her, she smiled at herself in small accomplishment that she basically learned a new species. “Hey, Twi!” Sam says. Twilight looks down to see Sam in his getup and such, along with his equipment on and all. “I’m gonna explore the town and just see what I will be living in for a while.” “Oh! May I come with you? It’s nothing serious, but I was in the mood for a stroll.” Twilight smiles as she asks. “Sure, you’re the one who knows about this place better than I.” “Didn’t you read about the world of Equestria?” “Yes, but I don’t know the ponies and the exact ways through the town, you know?” Sam says as he chuckles. “You make a point there, you know you are smart…not the type to show it off…the ones who will admit they don’t know everything…I wish I was the same sometimes.” “What do you mean?” “I just try so hard to make sure there isn’t something I don’t know…it’s so I have all the information and have everything in place, including impressing the Princess.” “I see, well there was never anything wrong with that…as long as you don’t stress yourself about it and you don’t boast about it then you’re still a good perso--er…pony.” Sam chuckles at his close mistake. Twilight smiles at Sam and the two exit The Oakwood Library. The two walk through the peaceful town of Ponyville, but as they walk…the townfolk slowly start to stare at Sam, and they start whispering. Sam looks at them with a skeptical expression, later he stops as well as Twilight to see a few ponyfolk in front of them. “E-excuse me…but…are you the creature that…helped um…stop that monster Discord?” A Mare asks. Sam chuckles as he looks at them with a smile, “Yes…I am.” The townsfolk all look at him and look in small disbelief. “Allow me to introduce myself, name’s Sam Knight…Gatekeeper, Shadow Warrior, and Guardian,” Sam bows and chuckles as most of the townsfolk gather around him, “Trust me…I am a friendly, most of the time.” “Everypony don’t worry I can vouch for him, he saved me and my friends from the hands of Discord and assisted us in defeating him,” Twilight says. “Oh, my…then I must give my thanks,” A Mare that seemed middle-aged says as she scooches through the crowd. She had a Grey Mane and a Tan Fur-Color, she had a Tie and Green Glasses, “I am Mayor Mare of Ponyville…you deserve our gratitude as much as the Elements of Harmony, welcome to Ponyville…Sam Knight.” Sam bows down and chuckles, “Thank you Mayor Mare, and thank you all for the appreciation.” Author's Note Kinda short chapter...shit's been happening so...yeah.
IV. Sunny Shadow. Sam was lying next to a tree that had a good view of Ponyville...not a mountain-view but to see ponies pass by and such...Sam hummed to the music with his earbuds in...the sun, shining down on him as ponies sometimes look at him as they pass by. This place isn't so bad...feels calm...Gateway is as well, but there's something about this world that makes me feel...safe. Sam felt the grass comfort against his dark clothes and hair as he breathed and put his hands under his head...he smiled and chuckled at his laziness. The music keeps playing to him as he closed his eyes, hearing the tune...the sadness and soul in it, feeling his blood flow as the music keeps going...he can see red as he hears the song. That is until he feels a small drift of wind hit him... He still had his eyes closed but he could see his dark red vision get darker...someone has with him. He cracked open his eyes without alerting the person and he sees a dark figure that was flapping its wings...Sam immediately notices it had a bucket...he clicks onto the music player in his hands, pausing the song. Sam immediately takes actions, he lifts his leg up, kicking the underside of the bucket causing it to be knocked out of the being's hands, Sam crawls back and behind the creature, while it was focused on the bucket, he stood up and grabbed the being and held it by the neck but not crushing it from breathing...yet...the Bucket hits the ground and water spills. "Hey! Let me go!" Sam's sleepy vision disappears and he sees what he was holding onto. A Blue Pegasus with Rainbow color Hair, she was wearing a tank-top and shorts...Sam immediately recognizes the Pegasus, she was with Twilight when they battled Discord. Sam grunted and loosened his lock on her. "Don't...ever, sneak up on me," Sam says. The Rainbow Pegasus looks back at the Shadow and sees his expression...it didn't look scary, he looked like he was teaching some friendship lesson to her. "Wait a second...aren't you the one who helped us stop Discord." "Ah, now you are thinking before you use action." Sam lets go of the Pegasus. "I uh...sorry, I'm usually doing things before I think really...I usually take action to anything that looks like a threat to my friends." The Pegasus "It's fine, I can sometimes do the same...Name's Sam." "Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" Rainbow says as she flexes her wings and folds her arms. "Really now? If you are so fast, how did I catch you while you were hovering over me?" Sam smirks and folds his arms. "It's...because I let you catch me so I could surprise you with a beating...that is until I recognized you." Sam chuckles and takes off his earbuds. "Can I say that you were so awesome when you fought Discord by the way?" "Oh really?" Sam raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, when you slashed your sword at him and you became a shadow, not that you aren't already, and you actually were hurting him! You looked so badass!" Sam chuckles, "Well, I do aim to please...well not really...I just get the job done." "No matter what, I thought it was cool," Rainbow says. "Maybe I should get acquainted with the others who I helped as well that day," Sam says. "Oh, you mean me and Twilight's friends?" Rainbow asks. "Yep, maybe you can guide me to where they live?" Sam asks. "Sure! I actually haven't seen them since that day, so it'd be good to see them." "Then lead the way." The Vampire followed the Pegasus through Ponyville as a few looked at him...and waved...even smiled. He chuckles and waves back...at the same time...he feels like they should fear him...then again he's not a bad guy so what's the point? "We should be coming up to our first destination, Sugarcube Corner," Rainbow says. Sam looks at the house ahead of them...there were windows of candies, cakes, and donuts, the building itself was made from different types of Sugary sweets. Oh gee, I wonder what kind of store this is... "Cool, so what is your friend like, is she chill? Laid back like you or--" Sam was immediately tackled to the ground as he heard a gasp as well...his vision came back to be face to face with a Pink-furred Pony with very large poofy hair...along with a goofy smile. "Ohmygoshyou'retheonethathelpedusstopdiscord!IwantedtothankyoubutyoudisappearedsoIcouldn'tknowwhatkindofpartyyoulikeandsuchanditmademesadkindabutatthesametimeyouseemedlikeaconfusedwhatevertheheckyouareandso--" "Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled. "Yes, Dashie?" "Can...you...please...get...off of...me..." Pinkie looked to see was putting her weight on his lungs so he couldn't breathe. "Oh! I'm so sorry, let me help you up." Pinkie says as she stands up and takes Sam's hand and pulls him up to his feet. "It's cool, but wow...that's some tackle." Sam looks at the Pink Pony, she wore a tank top like Rainbow Dash but hers revealed half of her stomach along with some shorts that showed her curvy thighs along with some large breasts that bounced showing that she wasn't wearing a bra...she had a few gold bracelets around her wrists and hooves as well as a necklace that looked like they were painted rocks. "Sorry, I got nervous-cited," Pinkie says. "What?" Sam asks. "The combination of nervous and excited...Pinkie mashes words up." Dash says as she chuckles. "Ah, I see...so exact opposite of what I asked?" Sam asks Rainbow. "Yep! I am completely energetic and can't help but sometimes do something all the time!" Pinkie answers. "How'd you--" "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it," Rainbow says as she smirks. "Well alright, wait I remember you now...you stood next to Twilight at Canterlot Castle, you said something about...something coming later?" Sam says. "Ah, that doesn't matter. So, what are you exactly? You had spooky powers and things like that when we first saw you." Pinkie asks. "Well, I am a Shadow Vampire, I have supernatural abilities that can help me like becoming a Total Shadow basically," Sam says. "Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Pinkie says. Sam chuckles at the comment, "It can be fun to trick your enemies and 'spook' them," Sam smiles and winks at Pinkie, "Twilight told me what you guys represented from the um...Elements of Harmony and you two actually show that you harness your elements quite well, especially you," Sam points at Pinkie. Pinkie giggled at the comment, "So, do you like parties?" "Uh, well they're alright, I've been thrown a couple parties but soon they kinda stopped to where they were small ones like family birthdays and such." "So, how long has it been since you have had a proper party?" Pinkie asks. "A while, I don't rest or anything when it comes to what I do...why do you ask?" Sam asks. "No particular reason." Pinkie giggled. "...Well alright then, well I can say I like your energetic personality, it's always good to stay positive and such." Sam says. "Aw, thank you, Sam, wait here," Pinkie says, she immediately storms into the sugary house behind her...only a second later she comes back out with a cupcake that had red and black frosting, "Thought I'd whip up something superduper quickly as thanks for helping us." Sam takes the cupcake and looks at it and back at Pinkie, "Thanks," Sam immediately opens his mouth showing his fangs, the two mares look in awe, Sam bites down on the cupcake, tasting the frosting and fuzzy coated sugary bread...it tasted...really fucking good actually, "Damn, I don't think I've had a cupcake that has tasted this good...then again I haven't eaten sweets in a long time. This is very good Pinkie, thank you again." "No problem Sam!" Pinkie says. "Well, it was nice meeting you, I would like to meet the rest...can you lead the way Rainbow?" Sam asks. "Sure, later Pinkie." Rainbow does a two-finger salute. "Bye Dashie, bye Sam!" Pinkie waves goodbye as the two walk to their next destination. Sam and Dashie walked towards a fancy type of home...it was decorated with a jewelry kind of decor as well as details. "Can I just say how cool your fangs are by the way?" Rainbow says. "Oh, you actually like them?" Sam asks as he smiles, showing the fangs at full length. "Yeah, they look pretty cool already since they pinch out of your mouth." "Mmhm, I can say that it's not annoying actually having the sharp tips of the fangs poking out, it feels good kinda, when my mouth is open, you can see them at full length and such...and before you ask, two on top and two on the bottom," Sam says. "Cool, anyway we have arrived," Rainbow says as she then opens the door and the bell rings. "Welcome Darlings--oh Rainbow Dash and...oh my..." Sam looked at the White Coated Unicorn Mare, she wore a blouse along with a black skirt, she had red glasses on as well as a bracelet and watch...she looked like she was...blushing at Sam. She slowly stood up and walked over to the dark figure...she then put her hand on his dark clothes...the soft threaded stitches of his overcoat which seemed to have shoulder patches of some sort, the custom arm gloves he wore that seemed to be old-fashioned almost, then the hoodie under the coat...his was different...the hoodie had a lower skirt kind of part that covered the sides of him...almost like an assassin type of fashioned hoodie, his dark fatigue combat jeans that also had his gun holsters, his Dark Boots, the black scarf around his neck, then finally his Stunning Snow-White Hair...it shined along with his blood red eyes. "My...my...so you're the handsome devil that saved us the other day?" The Mare asks. "Yes, yes I am...and you are madam?" "Rarity, and you are?" "Samuel...Samuel Knight," Sam bends down, kissing Rarity's hand, "Please just call me Sam." "Such manners from a being who isn't a pony...I love it." Rarity says as she still blushes...turning redder from the kiss. "My friend Alex helped me out with a couple social skills, little does he know that I love to be a charmer sometimes." Sam chuckles. "So I must ask, why do you cover yourself in so much black?" Rarity asks. "It is how I blend in along with my kind of style, to me...this is a comfortable fit for me to be able to anything, as well as what you saw me do when I fought Discord...I've always had a thing for giving off the mysterious vibe...but I also love to look very impressive sometimes for important events," Sam says. "Ah, I see...as much as I maybe don't see the point, I can respect it...and if you ever need some clothes darling, come to me." Rarity says. "Actually, since I basically popped into this world with nothing except what I wear and carry, I actually might need some clothes," Sam says, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "So, I am guessing you are going to need a collection...possibly?" Rarity asks. "Kinda, basically undergarments, t-shirts, and if I do want to relax or not look like this, maybe a normal hoodie and jeans...actually how about I write you a list?" Sam asks. "Sure, that should help me!" Rarity says. "Wow...never seen Rarity get along with somepony this quickly, you must be special Sam," Rainbow says. Sam laughs, "Trust me, I'm no one special...I'm just a Shadow-y figure who can fight," Sam chuckles again, writing down on a piece of paper, "By the way Rarity, I do apologize if it feels like I'm using you or putting more stress or work on you when you probably have better things to do...and I'll make sure I pay you back." Sam holds the paper out. "Please darling, it is nothing at all. I enjoy making clothes and now, I will get to enjoy making clothes for a new species! Oh and do not worry about payment...this is on the house...consider it a thank you for saving me and my friends." Rarity says as she takes paper...then swipes a quick kiss on his cheek. Sam went speechless real quick, Rarity seems to really like him obviously and he didn't have to do much...he then sees the White Unicorn wink at him, "I need you to come with me." Sam was still surprised from a mare like her, but then he finally follows her, he smirks and chuckles, then feels Rainbow give him a friendly elbow, "Get 'em Vampire." She said. Sam chuckled and went upstairs with Rarity...he entered a room which was pretty large, there was practically a stage and such, along with many stitching and mending equipment along with different colored fabric and such. "Alright, I'm gonna need you to take off your coats and shirt." Rarity says. "My my Rarity...we have only just met and you want to already take the next step?" "Oh hehe, not because that darling, I must take your measurements." Rarity says as she holds up ruler tape. Sam chuckles, "My bad, however, I bet you're happy you have to do this anyway." "You have no idea Darling." Rarity giggled. Sam slowly took off his leather gauntlets untying them, them taking off his overcoat, next his Longbottom Hoodie, and then his gear straps, finally his tank-top...his pale bare chest showing to Rarity...she was frozen solid almost...his baring muscles and such, guessing being a Ranger really pays off. "My...my--uh, alright, let me take the measurements." Rarity hesitantly says. Rarity walks up to Sam, face to face, she puts out the tape and measures his weight, height, and others...even a few times Sam caught Rarity rubbing and somewhat squeezing his muscles and chest, Sam let her enjoy herself...and him, he chuckles after a bit to get her attention. Rarity wrote down the measurements and such and looking at the list that Sam wrote down as well. "Alright, I will get to work on this as soon as I can." Rarity smiles. "Don't rush yourself," Sam says as he puts his coats and gear back on. "I won't! It was nice meeting you, Sam!" Rarity says. "The Pleasure is all mine, farewell my Dear, Rarity." Sam ties the gauntlets back on and exits. Sam and Dash were walking along a dusty pathway, grass surrounded the road as they approached a small cottage, with a vast and beautiful garden field, as well as some animals just either sleeping or moving around. "Well, this seems extremely peaceful," Sam says. "Fluttershy has a love for animals and she can speak to them," Rainbow says. "Really now? Has she spoken to a Wolf before?" Sam asks. "A Wolf? Wolves haven't existed in Equestria in over a thousand years." Rainbow answers. "Never mind then." Sam and Rainbow walk up to the door and Rainbow knocks on the door. "Um...w-who is it?" A quiet voice asks. "It's Rainbow, Flutters, and I brought someone who'd like to meet you." Slowly the door creaked open to see a Yellowed Furred Pegasus, she had pink hair along with her pink tail, she had blue eyes, she wore a green knitted sweater along with some blue jeans, she had a bracelet on with some beads and such...she hugged Rainbow. "How are you doing Flutters?" "Oh...I'm doing okay, it's been quiet--oh...um..." Fluttershy looked at the Dark figure in front of her and next to Rainbow...he decided to smile and wave lightly at the pegasus, she 'eep'd' in response. "Hey, it's okay Flutters, this is Sam, he saved us from Discord...remember?" Rainbow says. Sam smiles, "Don't be freaked out by the teeth...it's natural," Sam crouches down and looks into Fluttershy's eyes, "I'm not gonna hurt you...I only hurt those who are bad...so, you're Fluttershy?" Fluttershy nods. "T-Thank you for saving us the other d-day." Sam smiles and winks, "No problem, my job is to protect the innocent...or help anyone who's trying to do good." Fluttershy slowly comes out from behind Rainbow and looks at Sam at his full height and such...he didn't seem so bad, but those two sharp fangs poking out made her a bit uneasy. "May I ask what animal are you?" Fluttershy asks. "Animal? Oh, because of the fangs...I'm not an animal...I am a Sentient Creature, I am what you call a Shadow Vampire." Sam says. "O-Oh, I see...I'm sorry if I'm being rude from how I-I am a-acting," Fluttershy says. "It's quite alright, there are a few I know who are shy like you...some today are shy because they are afraid of me...I won't convince you that I'm not gonna do anything, Trust is earned, and that will run its course." Sam says and winks. "Oh...please don't think I don't t-trust you--" Sam puts his hand up to silence Fluttershy, "I bet it's not because of that, you just met me, fair enough...and I'm a fearful one," Sam smiles deviously. "I know someone back at Gateway who would like you a lot," "Really, is he like you?" Fluttershy asks. "Kinda...but he's a wolf." Sam chuckles. "There are wolves in Equestria?!" Rainbow and Flutters both ask in unison. Sam nods, "Well, I believe you are busy with your animals Flutters, so I will be on my way, farewell--" "No! I-I mean...w-what kind of animals are in G-Gateway?" Fluttershy asks. Sam smiles and sits on the porch stairs, "There are many kinds of creatures in Gateway, there are ones that I don't think are on this planet, then there are even other kinds of creatures like you that are anthropomorphic...or feral but are sentient and can speak...there are even giants." Sam explained many creatures from his home, Fluttershy loved hearing every second of it...even the dragons sounded nice. Rainbow half the time also liked hearing some creatures that sounded badass. The Shadow even shared some small stories about some interactions he had with some of the creatures from Gateway...some made Fluttershy and Rainbow laugh. The three actually conversated for a while, Fluttershy made tea and they were sitting on the couch as a few animals listened to see the Shadow figure talking to their caretaker. "So, there are Dragons that are basically not giant or anything, they're like us and stand on two legs and have a normal height?" Fluttershy asks. "Yep! Most are usually like over ten feet tall or something...that's normal height for them, then there are usual heights and then there are anthro dragons that are still giant...there was one that seemed pretty hot." Sam says. "What?" "Nothing...anyway...yep...some creatures can vary in height," Sam says. "I would love to visit Gateway at some point now," Fluttershy says. "If I find a way back and find a way to send you home when you come, then sure." Sam chuckles. Sam notices it was kinda dark outside. "Oh shoot, we've been here for a while," Sam says. "Wait, really? Sam...meet me and Fluttershy back at Pinkie's place okay?" Rainbow asks as the three walk outside. "...Okay?" Sam looks skeptically at the two pegasuses. "Alright, see you there!" Rainbow says as she 'Dashes' off with Fluttershy. Sam shrugs and chuckles as he puts his earbuds on and listens to his tunes while walking there. Sam approaches the Sugary House and he knocks on the door...slowly the door opens...Sam didn't like it...he puts his hand close to his knife and the other near his pistol holster...he walks very slowly as he hears...whispers, just then the lights flash on. "SURPRISE!" Sam backs up and pulls out the pistol, not pointing it at anyone...but holding onto it...he then realizes everyone was ponies and had some party hats on or had something...on...it was a surprise party...Sam sighs and chuckles as he puts his pistol back. "Hi, Sam! Welcome to your surprise party!!!" "For what Pinkie?" "Well duh, you're welcome to Equestria/Ponyville/Thanks for helping us stop Discord and save the world party!" Pinkie says as she holds up a plate with a piece of cake on it...black and red frosting like Sam. "Heh, thanks, Pinkie Pie." Sam smiles...feeling very happy. "No problem! I threw this party just for you, and for something you can experience again since you said you haven't one in many many years!!!" "Yeah...a-anyway...thank you very much Pinkie." "You're welcome," Pinkie then gets on the small stage and grabs the mic, "Now let's get this party started!" A White-furred and Electric Blue Haired Unicorn with some party shades then started up some normal calm party tunes as she put her headphones on and such. Sam walks to see the ponies he all met today...Rarity, Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy, and... "Hey girls, how are you doing?" Sam asks. "Oh just fine darling, making those clothes for you was somewhat of a challenge but a fun one...I'm a few clothes away from being finished!" Rarity says. "Wow, thanks, Rarity...I can come get them or you send them to Twilight's because that's where I'm staying." Rarity puts a thumbs up and smiles, then he walks over to the Orange Earth Pony wearing a cowboy hat and a red flannel and blue jeans along with some leather cuffs. "Howdy, you mus' be Sam, ahm Applejack, ah hav' to say thank you fer saving' us the other day, otherwise we would've been in ah pickle." Applejack says as she and Sam shook hands. "Just doing my job ma'am." "Reckon you should come to the farm at some point, ahm sure the rest of mah family would love to meet ya!" "I shall whenever I can Applejack," Sam winks, "It was nice meeting you." Sam walks away and sees Twilight drinking some punch, he approaches from behind and slightly shakes her. "Boo!" Twilight yelps as she almost spilled her drink. "Sam!" Twilight puts down her drink and folds her arms. "Sorry Twi, couldn't resist...you're kinda cute when you're scared." Sam chuckles as he rubs the back of his head. "Well...I," Twilight's cheeks flustered red a bit at the teasing compliment. "Hey, let's try again alright?" Sam steps back, "Hey." "Hi...Sam." "How's your time been since I left your treehouse?" Sam asks. "Oh, nothing much read some books and actually decided to see if there any stories related to Vamponies." Twilight answers. "Vamponies? There are Vampire Ponies?" "There were speculations that they existed thousands of years ago...but I didn't believe them as much considering there wasn't much known about them, I still studied it." "I see." Sam chuckles. "Oh, I see Pinkie made a cake out of your colors," Twilight said looking at the plate of cake in his hand. "Yep, it's not bad, I like it." Sam chuckles. "So...can I ask you something?" "Shoot." "What are those white strings that are around your neck, a few seconds ago they were in...your ears?" Twilight asks considering the position of his ears were way different from ponies. "Oh, these are earbuds, they're like that DJ's headphones but they fit to play straight into your ear, they are simple and easy to put away and such...so basically I use these to listen to music." "So is that what that slim black box was you were carrying? I saw the earbuds connected to that." Twilight asks. "Correct." "So...what kind of music do you listen to?" Twilight asks. "I like rock and metal mostly." Sam answers. "Rock and...Metal?" "Is there such thing as a Guitar, Basses, Drums, and Keyboards here?" Sam asks. "Yes." "Rock consists of those instruments...the Keyboard sometimes and they create a tune of something you can jam to but not in a party like way...well maybe....and Metal is a Harder version of Rock...consists of sometimes loud sounds and such...most Metal and Rock songs are something that either tells a story or is something very relatable to many or about struggles in the world." Sam answers. "Can...I listen to some?" "Sure...try to listen to the lyrics and sometimes Metal can have a dark and evil vibe sometimes...even screaming in the songs so be warned." Sam hands the earbuds to Twilight and she notices which one goes into which ear, she then puts her thumbs up and Sam picks a song. "Here's one of my favorite Rock Tunes." Sam hit play and the music started... Twilight slowly listened and she started to smile...it sounded cheerful...she already liked it. Twilight notices from the lyrics it sounded like a song about Love or about a Mare...seemed like as if the stallion was happy where he was...Mister...Brightside? Sounds like somepony for Celestia, Twilight slightly giggles at her own joke...she let the rest of the song play. "That was pretty good Sam, anything else?" "I'll give you another one that's pretty good, my friend Alex showed me this band." Twilight already started to like the beat of this song...then she was hearing how everything was painted black...becoming dark. Was it evil or was it sadness? But then it sounded like if he was blaming himself...did he possibly lose someone? Or did he lose himself? The song ended and Twilight chuckled, "I'm taking my thinking too seriously." "Alright's let's move onto Metal...let's start with a twisted kind of tune," Sam says as he plays the next song. Twilight was immediately surprised by how loud it was...Sam turned it down a bit...he heard the vocals...it was a pitch of singing mixed with yelling...it didn't sound bad, it sounded as if there was someone on an urge in a world he doesn't...know. Sam looks at Twilight and she looks at him and he smiles and winks...after a bit the song ends. "Can I hear one more?" "Sure, I'll give you an uplifting one," Sam says. Twilight really loved the melodic voice...it sounded metal...but uplifted, then it said Darkness can show you The Light...maybe it's right, she is sitting next to a Shadowy Figure who says he works in the dark but is a good pon--person...he did save her and her friends and now she's listening to his music...she smiles at the music and moves her head a bit. "Wow...I liked that one Sam." Sam chuckles and takes the earbuds back. "Your taste in music is very interesting...I would love to hear more in the future." Twilight says. "I would love to help you experience the power of Rock and Metal...here...do this." Sam puts his one finger and his pinkie up while his two fingers in the middle were balled up while the thumb stayed as well. "This is called Rock On, it's something that most Rock and Metal enthusiasts do...come on." Twilight slowly does it and smiles, "R-Rock on!" Twilight giggled. Sam chuckles and puts his hand down, "Come on, we have a party to enjoy." Sam and Twilight arrived home...the party was over the top...Pinkie and Rainbow tried to do a water bucket prank but it immediately backfired on them as Sam saw it coming, Twilight was still giggling from it...she hic'd as she had a lot of punch, not alcoholic but it's all she drank because it was good. "I'm h-heading to bed...hehe, goodnight Sam," Twilight says as she heads upstairs. "Goodnight Twi," Sam goes into the cupboard and flops onto the bed...taking all of the clothes on his upper body off, except for his gloves, Sam kept his Fatigues on but took the Holsters and gear off...taking off his boots but leaving his socks on. "You know, I actually do like it here...a lot." Sam smiles as he turns to his side and begins to fall asleep...something he doesn't get to do too often. Author's Note I am a lazy and slow asshole XD This chapter took me too many days to finish because it took me a while to think how this will turn out, so I am basically saying that this is not my best chapter, but I wanted to have Sam be introduced to the Mane Six, but I have more ideas for future chapters, so that's where I'll be having more fun lol. Anyway, thanks for reading!
