//------------------------------// // Chapter 01 - In Equestria // Story: Shadowed Equestria // by ZedarShadow //------------------------------// I followed the gang of ponies and Zecora out of the Everfree forest and into another clearing, there was a clear path going through these less-creepy trees, and I could just barely make out a town farther up the path. The scenery was just amazing, just about every color I could visibly see was beautifully placed around my line of sight. But regardless, the idea of being surrounded by the Mane 6 hadn’t entirely settled in my mind yet. I heard Sedar’s chuckle in my mind, ‘Didn’t this fad pass by a few, I don’t know thousand years ago?’ he asked sarcastically. I trotted along without a sign of being bothered, ‘I guess it did, but it makes sense that as a universe, things here are still relevant.’ I wasn’t entirely sure whether or not that was true. After being pulled into my crazy hellhole of a life, I didn’t really stay too connected with shows. Actually, I kind of ended any contact with society for a long while after that. I was behind them by a few feet, and I noticed both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash glancing back at us, though at different times and with separate kinds of looks. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around them in circles until she hopped over next to me. “So what was your name?” she asked in midair, her hair bouncing along with her movements, “Where are you from? Why do you have a wolf-friend? Is today your birthday?” she continued without giving me time to answer, or even keep steady eye-contact with her. “Pinkie.” Twilight said sternly, having turned around, “He already said he’d talk with Princess Celestia, and that’s when he’ll talk.” “Oh, alright.” Pinkie responded, landing on the ground and sulking lightly, “How’d you know about Princess Celestia?” she asked silently. “Oh from—” I stopped myself, saying that I knew her from a T.V. show was probably going to get them against me, or at least think I was crazy; did they even have television here? Rainbow Dash jumped at my hesitation, “From?” she questioned. I shook my head, “It’s not important, but I can at least tell you my name. You can call me Angel.” I saw Fluttershy’s head peak up slightly at the mention of my name. “Just Angel?” Dash returned. It was obvious she was highly suspicious of us. I was going to answer ‘yes’, but as I opened my mouth, I felt Sedar push words through me mentally, and, “Angel Shadow.” came out instead. “Right. Whatever.” Rainbow Dash huffed and merged back with her friends. Rarity said, “Um, Isn’t that name a little too… ominous?” I shrugged my shoulders, “You’d…be surprised.” I nervously chuckled and tried my best to sound casual about it. ‘You dick.’ I thought to Sedar as I turned to him, ‘As-is, we’re not on very good terms with them, next time just tell them that they’re in a T.V. show, jackass!’ He grinned, ‘You’re the one that’s a fan, not me.’ I ignored his comment and moved closer to the group, “Look, I’m sorry if any of you are suspicious of me.” It was addressed to all of them, but my eyes rested on Rainbow Dash the longest, “But I promise I can help you, and once I’m done, I’ll be on my way.” “If we can help you.” Sedar cut in right after me. “Good.” Rainbow Dash replied, crossing her arms, “The faster the better, those damn things interrupted my flight practice.” My ears raised at the comment, “Wait, things? I thought there was just the one?” “Nope!” Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up in front of me, “Two of those nasty fox-bats appeared at the Princess’ castle and took Twilights crown! We went after that one while my good friend Applejack and our Dragon friend Spike helped stop the other one in the castle!” “And we must hurry.” Twilight said afterwards, “There’s no telling what kind or trouble those things could have caused while we were away.” “I sure hope everypony’s okay.” I heard as a whisper, it had to be Fluttershy. “I’m sure there is no need to fret Fluttershy, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are at the castle too, that creature is sure to have been caught by n—.” Twilight said but was interrupted by a screech. “Oh my!” Rarity shouted, she was looking right past me. “W-what?” I screamed looking in all directions for another surprise to pop up. “Y-y-your…” she stuttered, pointing her right hoof at me. “Omigosh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping back into my view, “Your flank!” I was confused for a moment, then I turned my neck to see what they were so concerned about. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, not counting that I was in an equine body fully set with a tail and hooves. There was only my new gray figure. “I don’t see anything.” I responded, looking back at them slightly confused. “Well, duh!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “That’s the problem, you idiot. You don’t have a Cutie Mark!” ‘Crap!’ I thought as I quickly looked back. Right above my leg, where I assumed a Cutie Mark would go, was just empty, gray fur. “But how can that be?” Twilight shook her head, “You’re obviously not a colt, and I just don’t know how a pony can’t...” she trailed off, “Wait, you’re not a pony, are you?” I saw the glimmer of what she was realizing in her eyes, a sight that was quickly replaced with the blues of the sky once Rainbow Dash shoved me onto the floor. “N-not a pony? Then w-what is he?” Fluttershy silently spoke, I glanced to my right to see her quickly hide behind Zecora. “I knew something was up!” Rainbow Dash shouted out, her rough hooves keeping me down, “What are you, some mutant changeling?” “Hey!” Sedar yelled at her, “Get the hell off of him!” he tried to come towards us, but Pinkie bounced form out of nowhere and knocked him onto the floor. Right before he could get back on his paws, with the violent desire to tear out Pinkie’s throat, Twilight screamed. “Stop!” Everyone froze immediately, all except Sedar; who would have torn Pinkie to shreds, had I not mentally held him back from doing so the last second. “Rainbow Dash, get off of him!” Twilight yelled again, “He’s not a changeling, he’s a human!” Rainbow Dash jumped off me and flew into the air, “Wait, what?! You mean he’s…” “Yes! He’s from another world!” Twilight replied. “Whoa! What!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Really, a human? I didn’t expect that humans would look like ponies at all!” I rolled over and stood on my hooves, “Normally I don’t look like a pony, but…there are some complications with my situation.” “But why’s a human in Equestria in the first place?” Twilight asked, “We have the only means of traveling here back at the castle.” “There are a lot of ways into a world.” I sighed. A worried look appeared in Twilight’s eyes, “Does this mean that there’s another portal into Equestria?” “I...I really can’t explain.” I started, “I can’t be certain about anything, not until I speak with Celestia, I think she could help me figure out all of this,” Twilight’s ears twitched, “How do you know about Princess Celestia? The only human that could possibly know about anything about this world is Sunset Shimmer. Do you know her?” I sighed, “I’m not from that world, I’m from another one.” I could feel the tension, the confusion, and the fear spreading through the ponies. I had to calm them down, get them to listen to me and explain that I didn’t belong, or even know why I was here. Things were going to get very complicated and ugly if this situation didn’t settle down. Twilight must’ve felt the same, because she took a deep breath and spoke, “This is all very confusing, I think we really do need go talk to the Princesses.” “Yes.” Zecora agreed, “We really must speak to the royalty of the sun and the moon. I have a feeling that if not, we’ll encounter great trouble soon.” The group of ponies all gathered in front of me, Fluttershy the slowest moving and Pinkie eying me in an intrigued and suspicious way. Sedar moved over to my right, eying me angrily, and then turning to look at Pinkie Pie, ‘Lucky bitch.’ He assertively thought, fully allowing me to hear it. “I think it’s best if I teleport all of us to the castle, it’ll take too long to get to Ponyville and fly there with the balloon.” Twilight said. “Wait, could you even handle that?” Rarity chimed in, “You haven’t exactly tested your new magic on that caliber.” “Well it’s worth a shot.” Twilight exhaled, “OK everypony, gather up, this could be rough.” As I moved closer to the group; Fluttershy still hiding alongside Zecora in a semi-hunched position, I stopped next to Rarity, who lightly coughed and addressed me, “Um... I don’t mean to be rude to you or your…friend there, but I rather not get my coat dirty.” My eyebrows rose, then I looked at my body yet again; it was covered in mud and dirt. “Okay.” I replied as I shrugged, “No offense taken.” She moved to the far left of the group, next to Rainbow Dash, following her was Fluttershy and then Zecora, Pinkie Pie then zipped in front of me from my left, “I’m keeping an eye on you.” She said menacingly. “Um...” I just blinked back; I wasn’t sure how to reply. “Or would it be ‘keeping my eyes on you’? I’m not sure how easy it would be to look where I’m going with one eye and see where you’re going with the other.” She rambled. “I’ll…keep that in mind.” I held back a chuckle. “I’d rather just tear your eyes out.” Sedar mumbled as she stood looking towards Twilight, but Pinkie didn’t notice; she was still lost in thought. “Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked, standing in front of the semi-circle of ponies. We all nodded, but I was certain I heard a faint “No.” from Fluttershy. “Okay,” Twilight’s now slobber-free crown floated out of her bag, a pink glow surrounding it, “This should help teleporting us there.” She said as it landed on her head. She came closer to the group, her horn starting to glow. All of her focus placed on the spell she was trying to cast. Almost instantly, a bright, warm, flash enveloped me. I felt weightless and numb all over. The next thing I felt was solid ground, but I had managed to keep my balance. I looked around and only saw that Zecora and Sedar were on the ground. “Oh my, that was quite a thrill.” Zecora commented as she stood up, “But I think my legs prefer it when I move from place to place by will.” Sedar just grunted and ruffled his fur as he got on his paws. “Twilight!” I heard a scream from behind us. “Spike!” Twilight responded as I turned around, I saw a scruffy Spike running down a set of ebony-like stairs; I noticed Applejack at the top of the steps, her hat was all torn up and her hair was in shambles. “Well, howdy!” Applejack exclaimed as she leaped down the stairs, landing right as Spike hugged Twilight, “Did ya’ll manage to catch that strange critter?” “No, not exactly.” Twilight answered, looking in my direction. “Well who’s this new face? Don’t recon I’ve seen you in Ponyville before. ” “Well that’s because he’s from another world!” Pinkie Pie suddenly said, “Like from where Twilight went to go get her crown back, but not the same world! Also he might know more about those flying things and why they’re here in the first place.” “Okay…” Applejack started, but she froze once she saw Sedar, the glow of fear in her eyes, “W-what’s a wolf doin’ here?” she asked nervously. “He’s with him.” Rainbow Dash pointed at me, and without resent said, “I don’t like either of them.” Applejack kept a nervous eye on Sedar as Twilight spoke, “Spike, where are the Princesses?” “Oh!” he stepped back, “They’re checking out the damage the creature did to the library; apparently it got away with a book.” “The library?!” Twilight exclaimed. At the same time, I yelled, “It got away?!” Spike glanced at the both of us, “Yes…to both?” “C’mon everypony, let’s go!” Twilight called back as she bolted up the stairs. We all stood there for a second, until Pinkie Pie dashed after her, saying, “Race ya!” to Rainbow Dash. “Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash said bolting towards her. The other ponies followed suit, all in varying degrees of speed. I glanced at Sedar, and we both bolted in the direction that they were headed. As I entered the majestic castle, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh as a thought passed my mind, ‘I’m in Equestria!’