//------------------------------// // A New World // Story: Story of the Shadowmane // by Navras97 //------------------------------// Wha… what’s going on…? Where… am I? My head is killing me… was I frozen? Why would mother do this…? I’m so thristy… I can feel my vision starting to focus. Why are 6 ponies staring at me? I think I’m in a bed, it’s so warm… I can hear something that sounds like a piston? “Why hello there.” Says the purple mare. The mare has wings AND a horn, just like me! Wait… it’s her. The one I’ve been trying to contact for a long time. I can feel her presence through my frozen prison. I can feel my throat clearing up, “H…hello there…” her smile is inviting as well as the other mares smiles too. I need to get out of this bed, see what’s going on. But I feel something tugging from my hoof, looks like a syringe. I start to remove it, but the yellow mare with the pink mane gently grabs my hoof. “You shouldn’t get up so soon, mister, you need your rest.” She’s right, I need to play along with the situation, get some information about where I am. “Where am I?” I ask them. “You’re in the Ponyville clinic. Rainbow Dash brought you here and the nurses treated you.” Rainbow Dash? Oh, she’s pointing at the blue pony, her mane is so unique, so many colors. Ponyville? I don’t remember a town called Ponyville, I must be in the future. “Who are all of you?” I ask them. The purple pony spoke again. “Well, the blue one’s Rainbow Dash, the purple mane pony is Rarity, the butter-colored pony is Fluttershy, the pink pony is Pinkie Pie, the orange pony with the hat is Applejack, and I’m-“ I interrupt “Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked at me, astonished, “How did you know?” she asked. “I briefly read your mind in your sleep, I could only get out your name but that’s all could do because I needed to contact you with the little magic energy I built up over the years." Suddenly my mind fills with the events that happened before I was frozen, with mother, and watching father leave. I don’t want to think of my mother right now, I want to learn more about this new time period I’m in. If I remember correctly I’m in Equestria. I rarely went to Equestria, stayed in Volkihar most of the time. And when I did go to Equestria, I never went outside the castle. I look at the counter beside me, my cloak is there. “That was beside you when we found you.” Rarity told me. “Is it important”? I take my cloak and embrace it firmly, this is the only thing I can call my own in this new world. “It’s very important... Rarity, VERY important.” I set it back on the counter. “Well now that you know our names”, says Twilight, “what’s your name?” “My name…? Shadowmane… my name’s Shadowmane.” Suddenly Pinkie Pie stares deep and dangerously close in my eyes. “Shadowmane? That’s a funny name, are you afraid of light or something? But this room is lit up right now; maybe it’s your mane. Your mane is soooooft especially since it’s been frozen for thousands of years. Can freezing your hair make it softer? RARITY YOU SHOULD BE TAKING NOTES!” I lost her around there, everything starts to feel fuzzier. I need to shut her up; my… head… is… killing me. I cast a pacifying spell on her, the pink pony's flickered a light cyan and her friends are freaked out. What? Haven’t they ever seen an emotion manipulation spell before? Judging by their faces, I guess not. I move Pinkie Pie out of my face and back beside my bed. “I’m truly sorry, it was wrong for me to make fun of your name, I hope you’ll forgive me.” Pinkie Pie says in a more relaxed and polite way. Rainbow Dash gives me a hostile look, “What did you do to Pinkie Pie, you creep?!” Creep? I’ve been called worse. “You need to calm down, like Pinkie Pie; she was getting into my personal space so I calmed her down. She’ll be back to her old self in a minute.” “One does not simply calm down Pinkie Pie” says Applejack. “I can, don’t you ponies know what an emotion manipulation is?” I ask everyone. Everyone looks puzzled, I expected Rarity and/or Twilight to know, but I guess not. “Well like the name states, it’s magic that manipulates the emotions of your target. It was something I invented; I made spells for all kinds of emotions: love, anger, envy, happiness, you name it. “How much magic do you really know!?” Twilight asks with a gleam of excitement in her eyes. “A lot more, I invented 3 types of magic, one of them which only alicorns like you and me can practice.” I feel like I’ve collected my consciousness already. I remove the syringe and breather mask and hop out of bed. Fluttershy reacts the way a mother would react, with worry. “Don’t worry Fluttershy”, I reassure her, “I’ll be fine” I place my hoofs the ground, I still feel a bit out of shape, I charge and cast a potent healing spell, enveloping me in a golden light, easing my tense muscles, sealing any cuts, restoring my skin to an even layer, easing any trauma, and recuperating my stamina. My physical strength is coming back, my magical prowess is returning, I feel at my peak form again. My vampire senses are coming back; I can feel the life forces of everyone from a 1 mile radius. I haven’t had a bit of blood in a long time. Maybe if I can bite one of the patients when they’re sleeping I could-…wait… I forgot… the blood portal. Everyone is watching me intently and silently waiting for me to do another amazing action. Well, I can’t help but impress everyone when I’m not trying can I? I magically conjure a flask, studded with rubies with an intricate golden design near the silver cap. With everyone’s eyes on me, I open a portal small enough for me to fit my hoof through. I take the flask through the portal to scoop a swig of blood substitute. I refine it for it to have that more genuine taste of blood fresh from someone’s neck. I bring it to my mouth to take a long chug at it till it’s empty. The liquid is as clear as water, so everyone assumed it was water. No matter how much I refine it, this will never top real blood, but it quenches the thirst. “You can open portals!” Twilight exclaims, beaming with excitement. “To a few dimensions, this is a very basic portal hole. Sorry if I’m making any of you uncomfortable, I just put on a big freak show in a few minutes.” “Honey ya don’t gotta worry about we think. We trust ya, and I hope you can trust us too.” Applejack says with a cheeky smirk, she’s quite sincere. They all give me warm smiles, except for Rainbow Dash; it feels nice to experience affection. I can tell Rainbow Dash doesn’t trust me yet. “May I see my cloak?” I ask to Rainbow Dash. “Fine here you go, just don’t hit me with those freaky spells of yours.” “I promise, I only did that to Pinkie Pie cause she was kind of irritating a sickly patient who woke up after thousands of years.” I say while putting on my cloak. If my founders found out that I burn in the sunlight, they’d suspect me for a vampire. The fangs are proof enough, but I think the future ponies are unfamiliar with this blessing and curse inflicted upon me, can’t take a risk. With my cloak, I can explore this new world I never I got see but never explore. The cool breeze, the crystal blue waters, the lush green meadows, the beautiful wildlife, and everything else in between. But I’ll never be able to feel the warmth of the sun again. Father never told me the side effects of Vampirism; he knew the sun was something important to me; I hate him for taking it away from me. He just said it stops the need for food and that got me to blindly sign the deal with the devil. And now he’s gone, light years away from me. And I knew mother hated me when I saw the rage in her eyes. The rage pointed at the one she loved most, but now I’m the one she hated most. I don’t care about her anymore; I never want to see her again. If I do, I’ll suck her long neck dry. I bet she’s forgotten about me, this world is so peaceful and bright. These mares treat me like a new companion, a friend. I expected them to be afraid and disgusted by my abilities and appearance, I’d be afraid and disgusted. They’re my first friends in this world, the ones I can call home and family. I can’t let them see me for who I really am, I don’t want to lose them. I must be nice to them; they showed me nothing but friendship. I won’t have mother take them away from me. For the first time, in a long time, I can faintly feel my heart fill up with life.