//------------------------------// // The Shadows // Story: Samneo: The Earth Pony // by Samuel-Neocros //------------------------------// Sam was feeling a bit better than before, he felt like he got ran over by a truck when he awoke. Sam was sleeping in bed as Fluttershy and Twilight kept watch over him. Fluttershy looked over at Twilight. "Where do you think he came from?" "I don't know Fluttershy. He's certainly not your average pony that's for sure." Sam kept his eyes shut. To him, it felt so satisfying just to hear silence... ~In the Dream Realm~ Sam looked around in the dark room. The stone walls had a cold atmosphere resonating off them, and the ground felt like quicksand. The only light source in the room, was the moon shining through the cracks in the ceiling. The Earth Pony wandered through the room, he could only see three feet in front of him. Noises echoed off the walls, first being his hoof steps, then a bit of scratching, as if somepony was scratching the stone wall with a toothpick. "Crap..." He thought. His thoughts were burying his sense of logic, and his anxiety was building, the feeling was unbearable. Fear was the only thing that was filling his veins. "What is this place...?" Hi. A voice was heard bouncing off the walls. Sam looked around for the source, nothing was present on his right, and nothing on his left. Sam found himself looking in all directions, but nopony was there. Don't be a fool. The voice taunted. He looked around, much more desperately this time. Worry and fear at it's finest here. "Who're you!?" ... The voice went silent. Sam looked around one last time, before he then froze. He felt cold sensations resonating from his hooves, he would guess that it's the ground, but something was telling him, deep inside, that this wasn't at all the case. Boo. Sam jumped as he felt something slither out of his ears, he turned around, and was face to face with a black, humanoid figure. The creature was darker than the darkness of the room. Hi there, kid. “Huh?" Sam asked, confused. The humanoid had no face, it looked as if it's entire body was made of black goo. It’s head was circular in shape, and was oddly You look like you've seen better days. You've lost your memories... "Uhm... yeah?" Sam rose an eyebrow. You've had amnesia. "W-well... t-the purple pony with wings said that I was hit by the comet." Two red orbs on it's 'face' appeared. It then grinned, showing it's silver, razor sharp shark teeth. That's where she's wrong... "W-what do you mean?" The shadow only laughed, it's laugh echoed against the walls, making Sam's head ache. The shadow then turned into black mush, the mush hit the ground, causing a small splash to echo. The mush begun to move on it's own, and it moved away from Sam, into the unseen darkness. "N-no wait! Come back!" No... Sam didn't know what was happening to him, why was this shadow here? He wasn't sure... And he won't get his answer anytime soon. "Yeah, he seems to be sleeping fondly--" Fluttershy was interrupted by Sam, who had woke up with a start, screaming in terror. Twilight and Fluttershy snapped their heads towards the source of the scream. "Sam!? What's wrong!?" Twilight asked worriedly. Sam grunted as he rubbed his head. Later... "You had a nightmare?" Fluttershy said. The mane six, including Starlight, was gathered around, hearing Sam's encounter inside his dream. "And some shadow creature came and left?" Twilight questioned. Sam bowed his head in shame, before his eye twitched. "What did the shadow look like?" Sam described what the creature looked like. Needless to say, everpony were rather nervous. Mostly Twilight. "So this thing was upright?" Twilight asked sternly. "Does that... ring a bell?" Sam asked. Twilight shook her head. Sam frowned. "No....? Ugh..." There was an unpleasant feeling inside him, as if Twilight was hiding something... Sam's thoughts were interrupted however, by a loud bang outside. Everypony heard it as well, they look around confused. "What was that!?" Rainbow Dash questioned. A blanket of fear draped everypony. The bang was from outside, and the ground shook as more bangs followed. The bangs could only describe as sounding like gunshots. From outside, a tall figure was shooting flares at the castle. The figure was dark with a silver crest on his for-head, along with two extra spikes on the side of said crest. His tail was as long as his legs. He was a dragon-like creature, who stood upright. He had small feather-like spines on the top of his back. The dragon had blank, white eyes, that were slightly grey in coloration. His pupils were brighter than his optics. "Come on out! I know you're in there!" The dark dragon shouted aggressively, holding his flare gun like a cowboy. "And you're just as silly as I could've imagined!" Sam was about to go with the Mane Six, but he was stopped by Twilight. "No Sam, it's too dangerous!" As Twilight and her friends opened the doors, Sam watched them with seemingly determined eyes, but not the stereotypical ones. The group of mares made it outside, where the comet's crater was. The area was a plain field, so the intruder had nowhere to hide. The outdoor breeze hit them pleasantly. Soon the mares made eye contact with the unknown intruder. They were rather thrown off guard, and their eyes widened. The creature turned his head, and smirked as he watched their reaction. "T-twilight... do you think this is what Sam saw in his dream?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight glanced over to her friend, and back over towards the figure. "I would say yes, but the figure that Sam described had red eyes instead of white!" "Hey." The figure called. It was strange hearing him go from being aggressive, to suddenly sounding like any sane person. Inside the castle though, Sam was feeling impatient, like a spoiled cult. Sam then glanced out the window. He was given a clear view of what was going on, and he wasn't happy. Fear surged within the earth pony, he was worried that somepony would get seriously hurt. But he was mostly concerned for Rainbow Dash. Sam was feeling a connection to this mare, to the point where it's at it's strongest in that moment. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm Dark. Dark Samuel! But that last part of my name means nothing t' me... Guh." He said, making a throaty growl at the end. Sam's eyes flickered in confusion, why did that last name sound so familiar? He then put two and two together. "Sam... uel... MY name...!" A small memory came back almost instantly, but only he saw them. "What're you doing here?" Twilight asked, further. Rather than giving a verbal answer, instead his right hand glowed a rather threatening, fiery red. Twilight sensed magic from the arm, but there was something rather unsettling about it, it wasn't exactly dark magic, but it wasn't normal magic either. Dark Samuel raised his right arm, before he pointed it towards the group. An orb of red light came out his hand like a projectile, the orb was the size of an apple. The group got behind Twilight, where she summoned a magical shield for them. As soon as the orb touched the shield, it exploded, causing the alicorn to recoil. She had shielded herself from magic before, but this felt like a blast from Tirak’s magic. "That's my answer." Sam jumped at the blast, falling back as a result. Dark sensed the little pony, and turned towards the window where Sam was watching. “But I’m not here to take Ponies into my care, I’m here to wreck a certain Earth Pony.” He said. He begun walking towards the window. “Hey! You’re not getting Sam!” Rainbow flew towards Dark. Dark Samuel turned around, and caught Dash by the chest. She gasped as he knocked the breath out of her, She was going that fast. Dark chuckled, before throwing her back towards her friends. “Go back, I’ve got business with that kid.” That did it for Sam. He saw Dark grab her, causing him to cringe. He begun to shake and growl. Sam's body begun to glow, and his usual green eyes begun to flash various colors. Sam felt a strange surge of power. "What is this? If this is..." He thought as he got up. His mouth opened, revealing dragon teeth. "...N-n... no matter." Dash charged again, but this time Rainbow suddenly felt magic being wrapped around her. Dark begun pulling her towards him, grinning as she struggled. Rainbow tried to fight as hard as she could, but Dark's grip was too strong. Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer aimed their horns at Dark, and fired their magical beams. "Ha!" The beams hit his chest, but the beams didn't seem to cause any sort of damage. Twilight and her student sat there, jaws at the bottom of the floor, and eyes as wide as dinner plates. Dark had absorbed their attacks. "I ain't affected by you're nonsense." As Rainbow was being slowly dragged mid-air towards him, he pointed his glowing arm at the other mares. Laughing, he shot yet another orb at them. "Watch out!" Twilight and Starlight used their horns to shield the blast, they awaited the orb to explode as it swiftly approached them. But it didn't come, instead, a blue flash came, and the orb was gone. They drop their shields. There was the sound of glass being busted. Everypony turned towards the source, and even Dark was taken off guard at the unexpected blast. Due to his confusion, he released Rainbow from his grasp. Twilight saw that one of her castle windows was busted, glass was on the floor over there, and a dark shape was seen peeking out the window. Rainbow saw this figure as well, and she felt a bizarre feeling. It was something that she couldn't describe... The dark shape itself had a slender neck with an oval shaped head, along with two horns on the sides of it's head, as well as two ears pointing outward. Suddenly, two almond shaped eyes were seen, they were light blue and glowing. Dark instantly cursed under his breath, too quiet to be heard. Ugh... I shouldn’t have said my name out loud, now that beast is awake... wait... He couldn't finish his personal, mental monologue. The figure suddenly jumped through the window. The figure landed on the ground, it's left knee and hand on the ground, while it's right foot was perfectly flat against the dirt, it's right hand was clawing into the dirt. It's eyes continued to glow as it then stood up slowly, allowing everypony to take in it's features. "Grrruughh..." It moaned as it stood up straight. It's tail wagged side to side slowly, the hair at the tip of it's tail was huge and had a fire shape to it, but no sign of red anywhere. It's mane was brown and long, flowing in the wind. It's chest glowed a cyan blue, the same shade as Rainbow's. This creature was twice as tall as a pony. "Who's that...?" Starlight said out loud. His glowing blue eyes faded, to reveal normal eyes. His opal eyes were green, blue, and brown. Steam flowed out his nostrils, and his sharp hands balled into fists. One small detail to point out was, that the creature stood out from it’s environment stylistically. "I... am... Samneo..." The creature spoke, voice sounding like a much bulkier version of Sam. Dark backed away slowly. Rainbow noticed his rather pale face. She smirked devilishly at the frightened expression. Dark flinched, before he then grabbed something on his hip. A long, black, sword was unsheathed. Dark's right arm glowed again, and used his arm to make the blade become a fire sword. "So you’re awake huh?" Dark taunted. Samneo tilted his head curiously. “I’m... awake?” He said, confused. Dark’s eyes lightened up. “So you don’t know that you’re awake? Well... that’s strange. No matter, he must not know you’re using his powers, so you must be remain oblivious!” Dark said. He then ran towards Samneo, running like a ninja, as his eyes suddenly turned gray, allowing two ghostly white pupils to reveal themselves. Samneo shivered, but there was an odd sense of confidence and courage by his side. He squinted, and stepped back slightly. "Bring it on." Sam said, before he begun running towards his foe. Sam also muttered something under his breath, quiet enough for nopony to hear. “You won’t hurt that girl.” The two charged towards one another, Samneo gaining the upper hand, by going down and hitting Dark's abdomen with his horns. Dark growled as Sam pushed him back. Samneo pushed back like a bull as Dark had trouble trying to grip the ground with his feet. Dark then pointed the sword backward, so he could stab Sam in the back. Sam's tail striked like a snake, wrapping around Dark's wrists, and pulling his sword back. Dark then tried to turn to the side, but Sam's horns were locked on Dark's rather slender abdomen. Dark's arm glowed, he then pushed Sam away with his magic, freeing his wrists in the process. Sam lifted his head up, his arms spread out, and he roared. His roar sounding like a mix between a T-rex and a Spinosaur. At least that’s what Dark heard.The Shadowy dragon then swung his sword to hit Samneo's left shoulder, but Sam ducked just in time. After Dark swung his sword, Sam took this extra time and rolled away from the shadow dragon. "Ugh! Fight me! You’ll be better off fighting than knowing who you are!" Samneo got up and turned, making a rather intimidating pose at Dark. Dark also tried to intimidate his foe by swinging his blade, and using it like nun-chucks. The blade made all sorts of noises as it was lightning fast. Samneo, however, stuck to his ground. Dark attempted to hit the other dragon square in the face with the blade, Dark put all of his muscle in this one move, but Samneo blocked the sword with his right for-arm, his scales acting like steel. Sam pushed the blade to the side, before punching Dark in the right shoulder with his left. Dark's body shook at this move, causing him to fly back slightly. Dark managed to catch himself before he could fall. Dark’s arm glowed, and he begun thinking of the strongest spell he could manage. He then shot a red, electric lazer out his arm. Samneo’s eyes widened, before he rolled away. The lazer hit a nearby tree, causing it to fall after it was cut cleanly. Sam charged towards Dark. He smirked as the blue dragon was running towards him. “C’mon, hit me.” Dark Samuel muttered. Samneo was then picked up by Dark’s magic, and was thrown towards the castle. Sam hit the side of the castle wall with a loud thud, and fell down. He got up, and turned towards Dark. The two dragons were panting as they stared at each other. Samneo's mouth begun to leak a bit of liquid, from the outside, it looked to be just drool, but the way it moved, it suggested that it was water. "What is that?" Dark asked bluntly. Sam inhaled from his mouth. Twilight squinted at this, wondering what Sam was doing. She received her answer when she looked down, the ground seemingly had water flowing like snakes. The water was crawling towards Sam, before they then begun to fly into his mouth. Dark felt chills down his spine, causing him to step back as he gazed at the sight before him. Samneo's hands begun to glow a dark blue, his eyes burst with blue as water begun to bubble in his mouth. "What are you doing!?" The ground shook beneath Sam, as the blue dragon’s back dorsal spikes glowed a bright green. When he opened his mouth, it was glowing blue, the same shade as his eyes. His chest glowed brightly. He took a deep breath, and Samneo then fired a big, strong, blast of water out his mouth like a fire hose. Dark wasn't able to get out of the way in time, and was hit with the beam. Dark went flying backward, and he hit the ground right next to the crater. Everypony gasped at the moment unfolding before them. Samneo watched as Dark picked himself up, he then ran off, running with a noticeable look of terror on his face. Dark disappeared behind the hills. Samneo smirked, before he looked over at the mares watching, they all looked shocked, before they cheered. Sam then looked over at Rainbow's face, she was just as surprised as the others. He smiled softly with relief, before he was engulfed in blue tinted smoke... When the smoke cleared, Sam the earth pony fell to the ground, falling asleep as he did so. The last thing he heard before he passed out again, was Rainbow Dash's voice. "Woah! Sam!" ...