"And that's how I came to Equestria, and my first month here," Julius said as he finished telling his story to Velvet and Night.

"So, you came here from another world because you listened to a magical amulet?" Velvet laughed. "Haven't your parents ever taught you not to listen to enchanted objects?" Velvet teased as Julius breathed deeply.

"No magic in my world, remember. Well, no magic that we can use. There might be something there, but if it is, it's insanely muted, or I come from a world where everything is absurdly magically resistant," Julius told Velvet. "As for listening to enchanted objects, well, I'd love to see how you'd react to an iPhone, or a computer, or a T.V. All of those are basically talking enchanted objects," Julius laughed as the group looked at him. "Right, lots of sciency stuff that I don't really understand, but trust me, we have them," Julius assured.

"Right," Night Light trailed off, "back to your story. It sounds like you skipped over a lot of stuff," Night Light insisted. "I mean, surely you couldn't have just stayed in the Everfree Forest the whole time."

"Look, I had a lot, and I mean a lot of coming to terms to do in those first few weeks," Julius sighed. "I mean, I was taken from my world, put into a whole new world, where I'm the only human. At the time, I had literally no future for all I knew. I have a family and for all I know, I'll never see them again. I was in the middle of med school, and I was forced to drop out because of this. I'm a human, and the only one here, for all I knew, that meant no children. Hell, this is a world with no evidence of my God, so nothing, even on a spiritual level. I had literally nothing and nothing to live for; that takes a lot of coming to terms with," Julius explained. "For the first week, I was a complete mess. Though I suppose to be fair, I did leave two things out, well, other than me exercising," Julius said as the group looked at him with interest.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What did you leave out?"

"Two encounters with, ummm," Julius stumbled over his thoughts. "Well, one ghost, at least I think it was a ghost. And one other thing, not sure what it was, though. Maybe a demon, Luna would know; she did play a part of that," Julius bitterly laughed as the group looked oddly at him.

"Princess Luna was a part of a demon attack?" Velvet said in surprise. "I find that a little hard to believe. The Princesses would never work with demons," Velvet assured as Julius rubbed his eyes.

"No, she did help save me from it. Though, at the time, I still thought she was a demon, so I ran, well hid, from her until she went away," Julius dryly laughed. "I suppose I should tell that event," Julius sighed as he slumped back into his chair. "OK, so one day, ummm, I think it was right after my first week with Zecora; my memory of that time is hazy about that time," Julius bitterly laughed. "Hey Zecora, when did I come in asking for a bowl of salt?" Julius asked as he looked at Zecora.

"You asked me for a bowl of salt on the eighth day of your stay. You never said what it was for though I gave it to you. After you took it, you quickly went away. If I had to guess, it had a role in the story that is to ensue," Zecora told Julius.

"It does," Julius flatly said as The door to Zecora's house opened up. Walking in, Luna rolled her wings.

"Sorry, I had an early morning. Court business and stuff," Luna tiredly sighed as she nearly flopped onto a couch.

"It's OK, you have good timing," Julius laughed, "I was about to tell them the story of the shadow demon," Julius said as Luna shot straight up, fully aware.

"Give me one moment," Luna sternly commanded as a bright, light blue surge of energy ran through her horn. Engulfing the entire area in a cool, pale blue light white spots danced in the air as Luna sat back down. "There, we should be safe, continue," Luna said as she sighed.

"Geez, are they that dangerous?" Julius nervously laughed.

"Yes," Luna sternly said. "I still have to talk to my sister about them," Luna said with narrowed eyes as the others looked at her. "Ah right, Julius, you tell your story first. I'll say what I know about them afterward. Though, never, and I mean ever repeat the story without first purifying the area and warding it well," Luna cautioned.

"OK, your timing is perfect then," Julius said as he gained his thoughts. "So, at about the seventh day of my stay here, I felt something odd in the forest. Now, given that it's the Everfree, that's pretty normal, but this, well, this was different; this felt dangerous. It happened slowly at first; stepping into shadows or shade, I felt an eery chill. Sadly I got lost, I think," Julius said as he scratched his head, trying to remember. "Time felt muddled. After I don't know how long, I saw something in the shadows. It looked like a pony but different. As I looked at it, it screamed an ungodly scream and charged at me. Stumbling backward, I fell into a clearing with some sunlight peeking through. As the shadow pony came close to the light, it backed away. Even still, I felt it glaring at me. Guessing and praying that it was afraid of light, I grabbed some sticks and started to make a fire. It was long going, but, eventually, I was able to make a torch. I made sure to stick to well-lit paths as I made my way back to Zecora's house. As I was walking back, I kept seeing things, shadow ponies, visions, hallucinations. Now, fortunately, I could recognize what was happening; I was suffering from sleep deprivation. Somehow, those shadow ponies were messing with me long enough for that to set in. Making my way back to Zecora's, I got a bowl of salt. I thought, for a moment, of staying with Zecora, but, well, those demons were hunting me. If I stayed with her, then she'd be in danger; hell, she might have been already, but I didn't want to chance it, so I left. Making my way to a nearby river, I braced myself for the encounter in case my sleep-deprived mind's idea failed. I said a quick, desperate prayer, then tried to bless the salt; fortunately, I succeeded. Pouring the salt around myself, I said five different prayers of protection, and then I passed right out," Julius said as Luna looked oddly at him.

"My mind awoke in the dream realm, though; I wish it didn't. Horrific shadow ponies surrounded me. They looked like zombie ponies, only made of dripping liquid darkness. They circled me, charging at me, though they never made it to me. A pale yellow wall of light separated them and me," Julius said as he looked off into the distance.

"On the one hand, I was safe; on the other, I was trapped. After some time, I saw a tear in the sky, and Luna came through it. Not sure what happened next. All I did was say another prayer of protection; then I hid. While hiding, I fell fully back to sleep. When I woke up, it was morning. Those demons were gone, but the area still felt off. I said an earnest prayer of thanks, then went back to Zecora's," Julius said as Luna thought back.

"It is fortunate that you are faithful. That lends itself well to purifying magic," Luna said. "Whether or not your God heard you is irrelevant; it's your faith that gave strength to the wards," Luna said. "Those demons, those shadow ponies, they're shadow walkers," Luna said as Twilight shot Luna an odd look.

"Shadow walkers? Aren't those just a filly's tale? Even if they aren't, the last anycreature has heard of them was nearly eight hundred years ago," Twilight said as Luna closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"I got rid of them a long time ago, over a thousand years ago. That said, they are 'demons' from the dream realm," Luna explained. "A part of my job is banishing bad dreams and purifying the dream realm. If that isn't done, then negative magical energy can build up, leading to creatures like shadow walkers and that other creature, the crooked shadow," Luna explained. "Normally, they're too weak to escape the dream realm, but if they're given enough time to gather strength, they can break out. Though they'll be weakened, such creatures feed off negative emotions, like fear. So if left alone long enough, they can become a major threat," Luna explained to the group.

"Now, as for your story," Luna started to say. "I felt an odd presence in the dream realm, so I went to look for the presence. As I entered the dream realm, I saw what looked to be a pony made of light but with four different heads. It ushered me down a path. See, the dreams of ponies appear as bubbles, griffons as portals, but yours, well, yours appear as a locked door at the end of a path. The odd light pony ran down the path to your dream as I followed it. As I came to the end of the path, it opened the door and vanished. Looking into your dream, I saw several shadow walkers attacking a bright whitish-yellow dome. Knowing that the shadow walkers cannot be allowed to return, I swiftly entered your dream and destroyed them. I looked around your dreamscape for a little while and inspected the dome. As I touched it, the same light pony came back. It smiled at me, then opened a door back to the broader dream realm. It ushered me out. To this day, I have no idea what it was," Luna laughed. "Though I suspect you might," Luna said as she looked at Julius.

"First, thank you for the save. I know, a few weeks late, but thank you," Julius thanked as Luna nodded. "Second, I think that was a cherubim, only taking the form of a pony," Julius said as the group looked oddly at him. "Right, cherubim are an order of angels from my world, second highest at that. Not sure who, but someone heard my prayer. I choose to believe that I got the right God. Who knows, maybe He was reaching out to you," Julius laughed.

"Interesting," Twilight said as she rubbed a hoof against her chin. "The magical interplay between two different worlds and the possibility of divine beings meeting on an astral plane could have massive ramifications," Twilight said as she paced a little. "If you see that cherubim again could you get me, Luna? I would really like to talk to it," Twilight asked as Luna sighed.

"As would I. Sadly, I haven't seen it again. Shame really, I would like to ask it some questions," Luna sighed as she and Twilight looked at Julius.

"Don't feel bad. God and the heavenly host is like that with humans too. Upside, it's comforting that he trusts us enough to allow us to make mistakes and grow. The downside, damn it, God, you got about a hundred different beliefs all fighting over minor details, like come on. Also, we done fucked up royal, come on man, we need you," Julius sighed as he took a drink of water.

"Anyways, there's the second story, but, well, Luna and I will be handling that one soon enough," Julius said as Luna looked at him. "What? Do you think I'm just going to tell you about it then go away? Oh no, sister, I'm coming along for that ride; me all out there, seeing ghosts, and a weird village, and stuff. There's a story there, and I wanna know it," Julius said as Luna chuckled.

"Perhaps we can deal with it after you learn purification magic. It could be a good test. Besides, if it is what I think it is, you might get a reward from it, well, assuming the bounty is still out for it," Luna said as the others gave her a quizzical look. "Right, long ago, a village around these parts went missing. A bounty was set for anycreature who could provide information on what happened. It's not much nowadays, only five thousand bits, but back then, that was quite a lot," Luna explained.

"Hey, five thousand is five thousand. Take that, invest it in Rarity's store, steal ideas from my world, give them to Rarity, it could work very well," Julius smiled as the others looked at him. "What, if it helps her, then it helps me. I have a vested interest here."

"Hmmm," Night Light hummed as he thought over things. "Guessing that you're from a well-off family. Considering all that you've said about yourself," Night Light said as Julius started to laugh.

"My family, well off? Hell no," Julius laughed. "Though, I suppose my father was supposed to be knighted. He turned it down for two reasons," Julius said as Velvet, Night, Twilight, and Luna gave him a bizarre look.

"He turned down being a part of the court; why?" All four asked as Julius sighed.

"Look, being knighted in England doesn't really mean anything; it's literally just a title. So there's that. Then, there's the part where the British crown somehow forgot that my father is Irish. If he accepted getting knighted by them, then he'd get disowned, and, well, my grandfather's 'friends' would have 'words' with him," Julius said as Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't look too deeply into that. I knew better than to ask about my grandfather's life; good man though," Julius laughed. "Then, well, there's the reason he was offered to be knighted in the first place. We don't like to talk about it. Short of it, my father did what was right, was punished hard for it, veterans made a hell-storm about it, and the knighting was just political theater. Please, leave it at that," Julius said as he got up to stretch.

"Fair enough," Night and Velvet both said. "Trust me; I know what that's like. Being in the military and having to do unsavory things," Night assured.

"Not like what he did," Julius sighed. "JTF2 lost a hell of a man," Julius sighed under his breath, "but at least I finally got a father; it only took sixteen years," Julius dryly laughed. "Look, it's getting late, and I have a spirit I have to see. I might have pissed it off, and I don't need any problems with them. I'ma head out and make things right before it decides to screw with me," Julius said as he stretched his limbs.

"Alright, I'll go with you; the Everfree Forest can be dangerous at night," Luna said as Julius turned around.

"No. The spirits won't appear if you're there. One of the two made that very clear," Julius said as Luna looked sternly at him. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think that they're evil or anything."

"Fine," Luna said as she walked into Zecora's kitchen. Walking back out, Luna held a small bag of salt. "At least take this with you," Luna said as she gave the salt to Julius. "I'll stay alert for any magic disruptions; if I feel any coming from you, I'll be right there," Luna assured Julius.

"Alright, and thank you," Julius thanked as he took the salt. "As for you two," Julius said as he looked at Twilight's parents. "Sorry for leaving like this, but I want to get this all cleared up as soon as possible. I'm not sorry for hitting on Velvet, though," Julius laughed as Twilight sighed and her parents giggled.

"It's OK; the spirits shouldn't be kept waiting," Velvet said.

"Yeah, it's fine. Velvet is a hot young mare, isn't she," Night laughed as Julius shook his head, smiling, Julius left Zecora's house.

"DAD!" Twilight cringed as her parents laughed.

Author's Note

The shadow ponies/walkers were inspired by Flashgen. If you want a good spooky story check out the story he wrote. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/22323/a-fleet-ng-light-n-the-darkness