//------------------------------// // The Arrival // Story: Shadowmere in Equestria // by Dawn Flower //------------------------------// Arrival Shadowmere galloped quickly across the high mountains of Cyrodiil. His master’s last assassination in Bruma hadn’t quite gone according to plan and he now had the entire city guard chasing after him. There were six guards chasing after him on horseback; however, Shadowmere was the strongest, fastest horse in all of Tamriel; they would never catch up with him. However, the city guard were determined and they would not stop until they caught him; and he had to stop eventually. As Shadowmere was running along, he was coming up on a wide canyon. The distance was clearly too far for him to make it to the other side, however, his master had ordered him to continue running so he did. When he reached the edge of the cliff, he leapt off the edge. Shadowmere started falling down the deep canyon, but then, at that moment, his master stood up on his back and jumped the rest of the way. He landed safely on the other side, away from the city guards that wouldn’t be able to follow him and he would be able to make it to the safety of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. Shadowmere, however, would not be so fortunate. He started falling down the deep canyon fifty feet below. He died as soon as he hit the bottom. However, this was not the end for him. Shadowmere was a Daedra by nature. Whenever he died, his body laid where he had died and his soul returned to the Waters of Oblivion to regenerate. However, unbeknownst to him, things would turn out differently this time. Shadowmere had formed a strong bond with his new master in the few months since they had been together and he thought that he cared for him too. However, he had abandoned him to save himself the very first chance he got. It seems that his master saw him as nothing more than his steed and not a family member like the rest of the Dark Brotherhood. Shadowmere was deeply hurt by his master’s abandonment of him. All Shadowmere wanted was a little bit of… friendship. Shadowmere’s eye sight began to fade as he lay there at the bottom of the canyon, dying. Then everything went black. --- Suddenly Shadowmere began to rustle a bit. However, things felt different. The Waters of Oblivion were a red hot sea beneath a dark and empty sky and there was nothing else for as far as the eye could see. He had gotten used to it after centuries of dying and coming back to life. However, this time was different. He felt soft earth underneath his hooves. He slowly opened his eyes, picked himself up and looked around at where he was. He was lying on a dirt path with big, thick, eerie looking trees at either side. He looked behind him and he saw what looked like a path that led into a dark forest. He then turned back around and looked in front of him. He was able to make out a small town off in the distance. He turned his head to the left and he could see a small cottage. Shadowmere started to walk forward; but then, he suddenly felt very weak and he fell back down and collapsed. He lost consciousness immediately. --- Shadowmere eventually came too and he started to rustle about again. He opened his eyes slowly and he looked around at where he was. He was now inside somewhere, lying on a couch with a blanket draped over him. Shadowmere looked around at his new surroundings. He seemed to be in a small cottage. To his left, there was a flight of stairs and a doorway leading into the kitchen. Directly across from him was the door leading outside. Outside the windows, he saw the forest that he had appeared in and from that he was able to deduce that he was now in the small cottage that he saw earlier. There were two mats on the floor; one oval and one rectangular. There were also what appeared to be several small animal houses around the room. Shadowmere thought that this place was very strange. “Is this a different realm of Oblivion?” he thought. “Or have I already returned to Tamriel?” Shadowmere grabbed the blanket with his teeth, threw it off him and got off the couch. He now felt stronger than he did when he woke up in the forest earlier. More of his strength had returned. He made his way over to the door when he suddenly heard something coming from the kitchen. He turned his head to see who it was and he saw a yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane. She looked very startled when she saw him. Shadowmere was a large earth pony with a very dark reddish brown coat and mane. He had big, blank, red eyes with black pupils that didn’t seem to show any emotion. His cutie mark was an eerie Black Hand print that looked like someone had dipped their hand in black paint and pressed it on his flank. Fluttershy didn’t even know what his cutie mark was supposed to be. His expression was stern and devoid of a smile. He was very intimidating in appearance. She was a bit scared of his appearance and she stumbled to speak. “Oh, you’re awake.” She then lowered her head and backed away slightly. “A talking horse? I’ve never seen something like that before. It’s not like we have a different language that only we can understand. Well, I’m probably not in Tamriel anymore. I might be in a realm of Oblivion right now. But which one?” He then looked back at the shy pegasus standing in front of him. She looked scared. Shadowmere completely ignored this and simply asked, “Hey, can you tell me where I am right now?” Fluttershy looked back up at him. When he had addressed her, some of her fear had disappeared and she returned to the usual amount of fear that she had whenever she was involved in something different. She then spoke softly, “We’re in my cottage. I found you passed out near the Everfree Forest. I was so scared that you might have been hurt, so I brought you back here to make you feel better.” She then stepped forward again and raised her head and smiled a bit. “Are you feeling okay?” Shadowmere’s expression changed a bit. This pony seemed very strange for a Daedra. “No, I meant what realm of Oblivio…” Suddenly the front door of the cottage opened and a cyan pegasus appeared. Shadowmere and Fluttershy both turned to face her. “Hey there, Fluttershy. I was just wondering if you wanted to do something…” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and saw Shadowmere standing beside Fluttershy. She suddenly dropped her smile and she looked confused. “Hey Fluttershy, who’s your friend?” Fluttershy responded, “Oh, I found him passed out near the Everfree Forest so I brought him back here to help him.” “Uh huh.” She then turned to face Shadowmere and tilted her head. “So, what’s his name?” Fluttershy suddenly dropped her smile and it was replaced by an expression of embarrassment. She had helped out this pony and she hadn’t even asked him his name. “Oh, I’m not sure.” She then turned to face Shadowmere. “Uhhmm, what’s your name?” Shadowmere looked at her and responded simply, “Shadowmere.” Rainbow Dash dropped her confused expression and smiled again. “Shadowmere, huh? Well it’s nice to meetcha.” She then placed her hoof on her chest. “I’m Rainbow Dash; and any friend of Fluttershy’s is a friend of mine.” Shadowmere was becoming more and more confused with everything that was happening. Did these ponies actually consider him a friend after just meeting him? He wasn’t even aware that Daedra had friends. One thing that he knew for sure was that these ponies were definitely strange. Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud roar from outside. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both dropped their smiles. Fluttershy then said, “What was that?” Rainbow Dash responded, “It sounded like it came from the Everfree Forest.” The two of them then ran outside and Shadowmere ran after them. When they were outside, they looked over at the entrance to the forest and they saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders run out being followed by an angry manticore. Fluttershy then spoke with real fear in her voice. “Oh no, the girls are in trouble. We have to do something.” Rainbow Dash stepped forward confidently. “Don’t worry, we will.” She then turned around to face Fluttershy and Shadowmere. “First off: Fluttershy, Shadowmere; both of you grab one of those little fillies.” Fluttershy responded in a much stronger tone. “Right.” She also had a strong look of determination on her face. Shadowmere didn’t exactly know what was going on but he decided to help out. After all, the Dark Brotherhood never harmed the innocent, least of all children. “Right.” Rainbow Dash turned backed around and the three of them dashed in the direction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rainbow Dash quickly flew over to them and grabbed Scootaloo. Fluttershy flew over there, slower than Rainbow Dash but faster than she usually did and grabbed Sweetie Belle. The manticore was now closing in on Apple Bloom. It jumped up and prepared to pounce on her. Suddenly Shadowmere ran over to her very quickly, grabbed her with his teeth and ran off before the manticore fell to the ground. Shadowmere ran ahead and dropped Apple Bloom down. He then turned around and bore down as he faced the manticore. He then charged at it. When Apple Bloom saw this, she yelled out, “No, don’t do it. Manticores are dangerous.” Shadowmere ignored this and continued charging forward. The manticore stood back up on four legs and roared at him. When Shadowmere was right in front of the manticore, he stood up on his two back hooves and kicked at it with his two front hooves. When he did this, the manticore backed up a bit and then swiped at Shadowmere with its claws. It scratched him on his right forehoof and knocked him back. Shadowmere was knocked into the air, but he regained himself in the air and turned around and landed on his feet. He then fell down a bit on his injured hoof. The manticore then roared again and prepared to charge at him. “Shadowmere!” Rainbow Dash called out while hovering in the air with Scootaloo in her hooves. Rainbow Dash then shook her head and regained her composure. She then flew down towards the ground to put Scootaloo down so she could help Shadowmere. When she landed on the ground and put Scootaloo down, she turned around and saw the manticore charge at Shadowmere and she saw Shadowmere charge at the manticore. Shadowmere still had a lot of strength left in him even after being scratched and he closed the distance between them quickly. As he moved closer, he thought about how he would fight this thing. “It looks like my usual method of fighting isn’t going to work with this thing. What should I do?” When the two had reached each other, the manticore stood up on two legs and prepared to strike him. Suddenly, Shadowmere instinctively spun around on the spot and planted his two front hooves into the ground in front of him. As the manticore came down to strike him, Shadowmere raised his two back hooves and bucked it right in the face. The force of the blow sent the manticore flying back and crashed into the trees on the edge of the forest. It was completely knocked out. The ponies in the area all dropped their jaws in response to what they just saw. One pony had just defeated a manticore with just one hit. Shadowmere lowered his hooves again and looked back at where the manticore had crashed. He suddenly felt very weak and he collapsed again. “Shadowmere!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shouted in unison. Rainbow Dash quickly flew over to him. Fluttershy followed, who was still carrying Sweetie Belle in her hooves. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo then ran over to him too. “Is he alright?” Apple Bloom asked. Rainbow Dash examined his body. “Well, he’s still breathing and he doesn’t seem to be too banged up.” She then turned her head around to look at them. “But I think maybe we should take him to Twilight’s; she should know what to do.” Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash then walked over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and said, “Listen, you fillies should head on home. After what just happened here, you ought to get some rest.” Fluttershy put Sweetie Belle down and she went to re-join her friends. “Yeah, I think we all had enough crusading for one day. It looks like we’re not gonna be Cutie Mark Crusader Jungle Explorers either,” Sweetie Belle said as she lowered her head with a sad frown on her face. “We’re really sorry for all the trouble we caused.” The three of them then frowned. Fluttershy stepped forward. “Don’t worry about it girls. You’re okay now. Now you all be careful on your way home, alright?” She then closed her eyes, tilted her head and smiled at them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at her and smiled back. “Alright, Fluttershy,” Scootaloo said. “We promise, Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom followed. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle concluded. The three of them then turned around and walked away. Rainbow Dash then walked up to where Fluttershy was and called out, “Hey Apple Bloom; when you get home, ask Applejack to come here and tell her to bring her apple cart with her.” She stopped talking but then she added, “Oh and make sure that it’s empty.” Apple Bloom turned her head around and responded, “Thanks; Ah will.” She then turned her head back around and proceeded in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The three of them then split up and headed home. When they were gone, Rainbow Dash then turned back around to look at Shadowmere. He was just lying there on the ground. She then walked over to him to get a closer look at him. He was just lying there. He was breathing lightly but he seemed to be alright. Fluttershy then walked up behind her. Her expression had changed once again, this time she looked worried. “Uhhmm, Rainbow Dash; do you think that he’ll be okay?” Rainbow Dash looked over at her and smiled smugly. “Hey, this is a pony who managed to defeat a manticore with just one hit. I think that it’s gonna take a lot more than this to keep him down.” Fluttershy looked back at her friend and smiled. “You’re right, Dashie.” Rainbow Dash then turned back around and looked at Shadowmere. As she just stared at his unconscious body, she suddenly felt a strange feeling. After about ten seconds she decided to break the silence. “So… we better get him ready for when Applejack gets here,” she said to Fluttershy without facing her; she just continued to look at Shadowmere. --- Ten minutes later, Applejack walked into the area hauling her apple cart behind her. She looked ahead and saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing together. “Hey there y’all. Apple Bloom said that y’all needed my help with something.” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both turned around when they heard her. They then both walked to the side so that Applejack could see Shadowmere lying on the ground. Applejack’s expression suddenly changed. “So, that must be that there injured pony that Apple Bloom was talking about, right?” She then giggled and smiled. “Apple Bloom told me the strangest story about how he single hoofedly defeated a manticore.” Applejack then laughed even louder. “That was one hoop dinger of a tall tale, right?” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy just kept looking back at Applejack; their expressions didn’t change at all. Applejack’s smile suddenly changed to a look of confusion and disbelief. “Y’all serious?” Rainbow Dash then walked over to Applejack and explained the situation to her. After a bit of explaining she completely understood, though she was still a bit sceptical about the notion of one pony defeating a manticore. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy then loaded Shadowmere’s body into the cart. They then all proceeded towards the library. To be continued…