Prologue: FUCK ME! (Edited)
Dark…
That’s my first thought as I came to in this new space, I couldn’t really describe it, it was just… nothing just endless darkness for miles around, not even my hands were able to be seen in this oppressively black expanse, my first thought merely being Dark.
Well… my actual first thought was…
Fuck is it dark! I… was not a man who caught onto the severity of a situation easily, I was a bit more analytical. I never had a notion of panic until I was absolutely certain my predicament was fatal, and given my senses ensured me I was not suffocating, starving or even the least bit dehydrated, I was only concerned with memory. My search into my mind was halted, however, by the sound of a voice echoing from everywhere and yet nowhere, and something about it made it impossible to discern if it was male, female or even human.
“Awaken Shade.”
Shade? Hold on, is that my name? I don’t really remember much of anything, I guess I’ll have to go with that name until I can figure it out, now lets see if I can recall anything else… I remember… Comic-Con, Rumours of a Merchant that sends people to Equestria… being a victim while wearing… so I’m one of those ‘Displaced’ people? But it makes no sense to be called Shade if I was wearing the outfit of...
“Wouldn’t I be called Alucard?”
“No.” the voice paused, a muttering informed me he spoke to several other voices that I could not identify either. “we shall explain later, for now you must learn your new body for the task ahead.”
A light flickered into being, not painful, yet very annoying, my eyes adjusted to the new state to reveal a white chamber, a sort of obstacle course set into this plain of existence. The walls floor and ceiling bore a blue grid-like pattern yet retained the dominant white, something like a virtual space, a placeholder room or a cyber-space training ground. The room was also decorated with beams and pillars that casted shadows from what I believed to be strategically placed lights across the ceiling. Overall the atmosphere was something akin to a VR Aperture and yet something inside me ensured I shouldn’t be afraid.
Expecting what these beings were going to ask of me, and honestly not seeing any other way out of this weird as hell pocket dimension, I leapt forward to accept the challenge. However I was stopped by a hard tug, holding me back and forcing me to the ground with a painful thud when my momentum was lost. Muttering angrily, I turned to what had caused such a pain, only to find a pole standing alone at the starting area. Strangely enough the structure’s shadow did not point away from the light, it pointed towards me. I followed this strange shadow as it came closer then curled upward over me-
Wait… I looked to my hands, seeing them as black claws of darkness, this was not some half-assed descriptor, my hands looked like they were literally made from the absence of light. A flex of my fingers indicated these were indeed my hands as they obeyed the command, and I could feel the tips of the claws as they touched my palms. In my panic I patted myself and even the shadow down, the sensory feedback I got from what I had believed was just the pole’s shadow, revealing it was part of me, and the look-over of my new similarly dark, legless form, caused the situation to set in.
“Shade… I’m a shadow! They made me a living shadow?! B-but-HOW?! How am I breathing? How am I standing? How-”
“Do not be alarmed, this form was chosen to be the most liable design to allow you to serve your mission, as for what your mission is, it shall be explained later, for now, come to grips with your Dark-walker form, understand yourself and you’ll be able to navigate the course.”
I took a few breaths as they spoke. Calm down Shade-or, whatever name I used to have, there’s no point panicking at this point, you’ve been in an alternate reality for like… 10 minutes now, kinda pointless at this point. With my internal… ‘assurances’ I eventually calmed, instead putting my mind to use and moving to understand the area. It would do no good to stand around and panic about what I am as I should have expected a drastic change to begin with. After all I was sent into a void by some random asshole at a convention who probably jerks off to misery, at least in this case I don’t have a craving for blood and a thousand voices in my head. First off the lights seemed dedicated to cast large shadows using the placement of the Pillars and Beams in the room, almost akin to a path.
In my desire to understand myself I began to experiment, with my new form I hypothesised that I could alter my size and shape. First I began with my claws, I willed them to extend… nothing. I hummed in thought, trying to recall another method of metamorphosis, and then tried to envision the claws growing longer and sharper… it worked! Seeing my success I moved to try and envision it becoming a sword, and marvelled at the pure black blade and gave a few experimental swipes… I was lucky the walls and floor could regenerate.
Before long I had gotten transforming my claws down-pat, setting it into muscle-memory, and moved to the rest of me. Sure enough, even though I couldn’t see myself, I could feel the changes and the alterations to my senses as I made subtle changes. I started with one part at a time, first a bulky chest like a bodybuilder, then a thin chest, not unlike the shape of the pole I was tied to. next, a pointed head like a wolf, better hearing and sight included, to a rounded head like a ball, which oddly made my head feel like one big compound eye. Finally focusing on the whole body, becoming as big as an elephant, then as tiny as an ant. By my estimates, the only limit to this shapeshifting was my own imagination, but for now I had settled on a thin, lithe body type at about six foot high, to make me more manoeuvrable. My claws then shifted to be like curved hooking daggers to dig into the floor and help adjust my movements. Finally my head, I worked it over and over until I was sure I had gotten it right, a pointed, predatory head that allowed sharper sight while still giving good peripheral vision. And finally I gave myself a maw of sharp teeth, because honestly why the fuck not? Shortly after my makeover I prowled the area around the pole slowly, making sure I could measure my limits before being pulled back as I circled, the length away from my ‘host’ getting bigger.
I stopped when I reached ten feet, and understood I couldn’t move
Not long after I saw one of the pillars of the chamber casted a shadow that reached to the edge of my area of influence, knowing these beings wouldn’t just have that be a coincidence, I reached out and touched it. Suddenly I was propelled along into this new shadow, I looked back to find that the pole’s shadow is now directly connected to this one, and I didn’t feel strained in this darkness.
Okay, so while my influence is ten feet, I can link other shadows to extend my reach…
Suddenly the chamber shifted, revealing a rail to push the pole along. In response I moved the Pole Slightly so that the pillar shadow was out of the ten feet radius. This resulted in me being pulled back to it and now unable to reach the Pillar Shadow.
… but if my ‘host’ moves away from it, I’ll be sent back… good to know… and this makes night-time a serious advantage… so long as my host isn’t in a city like las vegas or something.
I moved the pole back into position and used my reach to link a path of shadows until I came across a table in the middle of the chamber, filled with foods and beverages, a literal feast was on display.
“Though your body has left its corporeal bonds, it requires sustenance all the same, please partake for this meal is thanks for taking on such a daunting role.”
“Right… any time you want to fill me in on this task?”
“Soon, Shade, we must prepare you before you understand the weight of your duties.”
“Why?”
“You have not completed the trial, if we were to divulge to you your task before you were ready, it would impede your decision making and emotional vigour.”
I paused as I took in exactly what it said. “Why does it sound like this job is going to be horrible?”
The voice refused to answer at that point, seeing as I was not going to get any answers, I conceded and moved to enjoy the meal they’ve given me. It was enjoyable, the meal had a large amount of apple foods and beverages on top of cheeses, non alcoholic fruit cocktails and a large degree of sodas, even a massive fountain that sprayed a delicious Apple Soda with a tropical fruit tang.
With how they’re treating me, I should be a bit skeptical, no-one goes to this effort for even an unenjoyable task… meh, not like this is going to bite me in the arse later.
After finishing the food, I rushed along the path again, the ‘trial’ proved no challenge to me as I navigated the room expertly.
...then it changed.
Suddenly I was pulled back to the beginning of the room, creating a new path, I looked and found the reason for my return to the beginning, the pole was moved. Pushing it back to reach the beginning shadow, I learned the rail was on a timer, designed to spring back once it ended. I learned this because I heard a ticking once it was in place, then waited and watched it spring back at the ending chime.
I set the pole and rushed forward, wasting no time trying to reach the most distant shadows and instead making a beeline for the end. I made it to the end with but a second to spare and was pulled back, becoming a witness to another change as now spotlights were in place. Thankfully there was no timer, but the more concentrated beams of the Spotlights hurt. Lashing out at my first burn revealed they did not regenerate like the rest of the chamber, so I made my arms into longer-reaching whips to take them out from a distance. In the end I managed to get through in time for the third and final change.
This was a combination of the second and third trials with both a timer and spotlights, but now the pillars and lights saw fit to move around ever so slightly. This change subtly taught me that no matter where I made the link, so long as the ten foot rule applied between the shadows the link wouldn’t be cut, though that didn’t make it any less of a pain to think on the spot like that. The shifting shadows and spotlights made it much more difficult, and I was catapulted back to the start several times, but eventually I found the solution. Introducing an extra pair of arms, I saw fit to multitask, using quick movements of my hook-claws and the ranged attack of my whip-blades, I succeeded in reaching the end. I was exhausted, feeling burns in several places, but I won.
I recovered as the voice chimed in again. “You are now ready…”
“Thank you.” I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. No, fuck you for those fucking fire-beam bastards you… nope, don’t get mad at the reality warping entity, that’s how the holes in your face get shuffled.
“You will now awaken, bound to your charge within the land of ponies, your goal to guide and teach this new resident of the world.”
“Oh.” I paused for a moment as I thought over the task of looking over some stranger “Well I’m not much of a teacher… but I’ll try, I guess.”
“Beware… the being is difficult to tame, only one has succeeded, albeit with minimal reward.”
I felt a strange pit in my stomach. “What… what are you…”
“He is brash, unpredictable, and violent, the only reason he followed his previous master was because of a bond made in blood.”
My eyes widened in realization, one that in hindsight I should’ve caught onto a lot earlier. “No! No you can’t expect me to-”
But before I could continue my refusal, I was pulled back into the void, made unconscious once more.
I woke up at what I believed to be dawn, if the sun could be believed.
Wait, sun? I blink myself awake further, getting a view of my surroundings.
It was a glorious morning in Equestria as the sun rose above the hills, giving a gentle light that did not blind nor harm, the gentle song of birds met my ears and the cooling winds rushed against my skin, giving a calm and easy rise to the day. This was truly something only magic could accomplish as nothing natural could ever have the sun going in your eyes be pleasant, especially if you were being composed of actual shadow. The sight from my prone position was honestly breathtaking, in the distance was the beginnings of Ponyville, yet no sign of Canterlot. The lack of mountain cities revealed where in time I was, if not exact, though considering the lack of Cotton Candy Clouds, it was certainly A.D., After Discord.
In my wistful state I got up and took everything in, the sight, the sounds, the cool breeze…
All ruined as I turned to see my new host.
This tall man, dripping with Crimson Attire, if not Dripping with the same-coloured liquid already.
I knew full well who this man was, and that he was meant to be my charge…
And he opened his mouth, that ivory grin of a hungry wolf, revealing all the fears I had for this day to be as real as the land we stood on.
“So, you’re supposed to be the Conscience that vague asshole sent for me, well Jiminy Cricket, ready to have some fun?” it was the Abridged Alucard, and not the at least more reasonable Canon one.
God fucking DAMMIT! Curse you, disembodied voice!
Author's Note
And now this is where you, the reader, come into play! proceed to comment below and 'suggest' to Alucard what he should do first, and while the winning comments will have him do so, keep in mind this is Abridged Alucard, and he will be doing things his own way.
[Edit]: you can still suggest, but it's not gonna be comment-driven anymore, that takes too long.
have fun making Shade's life that much more of a nightmare!
