Shadowmere in Equestria

by Dawn Flower

The First Day

The First Day

Everything was black. The last thing that Shadowmere remembered was fighting with some sort of strange creature and then passing out afterwards. Shadowmere still had some important things to figure out. Where was he? Was he in a different realm of Oblivion? Or has he already regenerated and returned to Tamriel? Why were horses now able to talk? Shadowmere contemplated the answers to these questions, but suddenly, he began to hear voices in the darkness.

“I don’t know, girls. It just doesn’t sound possible that one pony could defeat a manticore, especially in just one hit.”

“We’re telling you, Twilight. We were there and we saw it. Sure he passed out afterwards, but he did it.”

Shadowmere didn’t know who the first voice belonged to, but he recognised the second voice as the cyan pegasus from earlier. Shadowmere then began to rouse a bit.

“Oh look, he’s waking up,” said the first voice.

Shadowmere opened his eyes and he saw a purple unicorn’s face just inches away from his own. When he had opened his eyes and looked at her, she backed away a bit. Shadowmere sat up and noticed that he was lying on another couch. He looked around at where he was now and he saw loads of shelves filled with books. He seemed to be in a library right now. He then turned back to look at the purple unicorn. The two pegasi from earlier were standing behind her and there was also an orange earth pony with a long, blonde mane tied back in a braid and wearing a light brown stetson hat. Shadowmere then hopped down off the couch and stood up.

The purple unicorn suddenly changed to a worried expression. “Careful now; don’t overexert yourself. My friends told me that you collapsed back there.”

Shadowmere responded immediately. “Don’t worry. I was feeling weak then, but now I’m back to full strength.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, that’s a relief.” She then closed her eyes while smiling for about two seconds. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”

Shadowmere again responded immediately in a simple tone. “Shadowmere.” He then started walking towards the door and walked right passed Twilight.

Twilight suddenly looked confused. “Hey, where are you going?” she said as she turned around to look at him.

Shadowmere stopped walking and addressed Twilight without turning around to look at her. “Back home.” He then turned his head around to look at her. “Can you tell me how to get to Tamriel from here?”

Twilight now looked even more confused. “Tamriel?” The other ponies in the area had the same look of confusion now as well.

Shadowmere just stood there for about three seconds and then responded. “Never mind.” He then tilted his head up in thought. “So I haven’t returned to Tamriel yet, or even Nirn for that matter. I guess that means I’m still in a realm of Oblivion. But which one?”

Twilight was about to open her mouth to say something, but then suddenly, the door of the library flung open. Everypony in the room, including Shadowmere, turned to see who was there. It was a pink earth pony with a big, poufy mane that looked like it was made of cotton candy. She then opened her mouth and took a big inhale of oxygen and started to speak. “Hey there everypony. I just heard this absolutely amazing story about a strong, dashing earth pony who valiantly came to the rescue of three young fillies who were being attacked by a big, mean manticore and then he whisked the little fillies away to safety and then defeated the manticore with just one hit.” She said all of this in the span of just a few seconds. She was making loads of different gestures as she was speaking to match what she was saying.

Suddenly everypony in the room, except for Shadowmere, shouted, “PINKIE!”

The pink earth pony suddenly stopped mid gesture and fell silent. She then sat back down and her happy expression changed to a slightly embarrassed one. “Oops, sorry.”

Twilight then stepped forward until she was standing next to Shadowmere. She then placed her hoof on his shoulder and turned to face Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, this is Shadowmere. He’s the one who saved those little fillies from the manticore.” She then lowered her hoof again.

Pinkie rose to her feet again, her face once again changing to a happy expression. “Oooooohhhhh.” She then smiled and continued just staring at him.

Shadowmere was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. He then turned to face Twilight. “Hey, Twilight was it? Can you tell me where I am right now?”

Twilight looked back at him and responded. “You’re in the Golden Oaks Library here in Ponyville.”

Shadowmere stared back at her for three seconds before responding. “Ponyville? That’s the name of this town, right?”

Twilight then nodded in agreement, with a smile on her face. “Yes.”

Shadowmere gave a short sigh. “No; I mean what realm is this?”

Twilight suddenly dropped her smile and looked confused. “What realm? Well… I guess that would be, Equestria.”

Shadowmere looked back at her, almost as confused as she was. “Equestria? Doesn’t ring a bell,” he muttered quietly under his breath. He then spoke louder so that she could hear him clearly. “Tell me; who’s the ruling Prince her?”

Twilight and the other ponies in the room were becoming more and more confused. After a second or two, Twilight responded. “Well, our ruler is Princess Celestia.”

“So, she refers to herself as female. I haven’t heard of her before. She must a low ranking Prince like Peryite." Shadowmere then spoke up again. “Well, what does she rule over?”

At this point in the conversation, Twilight was seriously confused. Shadowmere was definitely one strange pony. “I just told you; she rules over Equestria.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Not the realm she rules over; I mean what’s her sphere? Like how Mehrunes Dagon’s sphere is destruction or how Sheogorath’s sphere is madness.”

Before Twilight could think further about these strange names that she has never heard before, Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up next to her. “Well duh, Twilight; of course that’s not what he means. Equestria isn’t a sphere. It has an up and down.” She then closed her eyes and smiled at her.

At that moment, everypony in the room dropped their increasingly confused looks and just looked strangely at Pinkie, like she had just spoiled the moment.

After about five seconds of just standing there staring at Pinkie Pie, who, as usual, was completely oblivious to how weird she just sounded, Twilight suddenly decided to break the silence. “Oookay.” She then turned back to face Shadowmere. “Well, Princess Celestia is called ‘The Princess of the Sun’ so I guess her ‘sphere’ would be the Sun.”

“Huh, I thought that it was Akatosh that was associated with the Sun. Maybe people just forget about this Prince after all this time.” He then looked back at Twilight. “Alright, that’s enough. I heard all I needed to hear.” He then turned around and walked over to the door.

Twilight suddenly called him from behind. “Hey, where are you going?”

Shadowmere responded in a straight tone, without looking back or stopping. “Wherever I want.”

When he was almost directly in front of the door, Rainbow Dash suddenly swooped down in front of him and glared at him with an angry expression on her face. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? We all went out of our way to help you and you’re not even gonna to say thanks?”

Shadowmere looked back at her, his expression not changing in the slightest in response to what she just said. “I never asked for your help.”

Rainbow Dash’s expression didn’t change either in response to what she just heard. She responded immediately. “Of course you didn’t ask for our help, but you were in trouble. We weren’t just going to stand around and do nothing or just leave you there. This is what friends do for each other.”

Shadowmere suddenly dropped his usual expressionless face and looked down at the ground. He then whispered under his breath, so quietly that nopony in the room could hear him. “Friends?”

He then looked back up at Rainbow Dash, who still had an angry and annoyed looked on her face. He then turned his head around and looked at Fluttershy, who was quietly scratching at the ground with her head down. “Hey, your name is Fluttershy right?”

Fluttershy suddenly lifted her head up and looked at Shadowmere. “Oh… uhhmm… yes,” she said in a very timid tone of voice.

“Thank you for helping me out back there. I really appreciate it.”

Fluttershy’s expression changed to surprise and then she smiled. “Oh, you’re welcome. I was happy to help. I just can’t stand to see anypony hurt or in danger.” She looked back at Shadowmere. His face was difficult to read, but she could still tell that he really meant it.

Shadowmere then looked around the room. “And the rest of you too; thanks for your help”.

Twilight was about to say something, but then Pinkie cut her off. “You’re welcome, Shadowmere,” she said with a big smile on her face. She then placed her hoof underneath her chin and pursed her lips together. “Huh, I need to come up with a nickname for you. It might take me a while since I only just…” Pinkie suddenly shot up into the air. “Oooooooooohhhhhhh.” She then lunged at Shadowmere and grabbed him by the chest. Shadowmere was taken aback by this. “I just remembered something REALLY important. I don’t know you.”

Shadowmere didn’t know how to react to that at all. He now looked as confused as the others did earlier. He then looked down at Pinkie. “You remembered… that you don’t know me?”

Pinkie stepped back from Shadowmere. “Of course. This is bad because I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville; and if I don’t know you then you must new around here and if you’re new around here then I must not have met you before and if I never met you before then that means I never threw you a surprise party!” Pinkie’s face was now pushed right up against Shadowmere’s.

The only thing that Shadowmere could say was, “Uhhmm…”

Then Pinkie pulled her face away from his. “It’s already five o’ clock. I’m going to have to work extra hard to get everything done in time.” She then rose into the air again and bolted over to the door, closing it as she left.

The only thing that Shadowmere could say in response to what had just happened was, “What just happened?”

Twilight stepped forward. “Don’t mind her. She’s just being Pinkie Pie.”

Shadowmere had absolutely no idea what that meant; but right now, Pinkie was definitely the weirdest pony that he had met so far; and that’s saying something.

Fluttershy slowly stepped forward and started to speak. “Uhhm, Shadowmere, I was just wondering, I mean, if it’s okay with you, would you like us to show you around Ponyville? I mean, if that’s what you want.”

Shadowmere looked over at Fluttershy. She looked kind of scared. He then looked over at Rainbow Dash who looked back at him. He then looked back at Fluttershy and said, “Sure, I’d like that.”

Fluttershy raised her head up a bit and she smiled. “Oh, really? That’s wonderful.” Her smile grew even bigger. “Well then, we should probably get going.” She then walked over to the door where she joined Rainbow Dash, but then she suddenly remembered something. “Oh, that’s right; your hoof. I remember it got scratched by the manticore. We should probably treat it before we go.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Shadowmere responded. He then raised his right forehoof where the manticore had scratched him. It was completely clean. There wasn’t even a scratch or a scar or any indication that he had been scratched at all.

Fluttershy suddenly sped over to him and examined his hoof. “But that can’t be. I was sure that that manticore had scratched you.”

“Yeah it did; and I healed.”

Fluttershy looked up to look him in the eye. She had an expression of disbelief on her face. “Already?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of special like that.” He then lowered his hoof and turned his head to the side.

Fluttershy looked down and then looked up at him again and smiled. “Well, I’m glad.” She then turned around and walked back over to Rainbow Dash and the two of them opened the door and walked outside.

Shadowmere turned his head back around and watched the two of them leave. Twilight then walked past him, followed by the orange earth pony in the stetson hat. She suddenly stopped next to Shadowmere, turned her head to face him and said, “Ah’m Applejack by the way.” She then turned her head back around and continued walking towards the door. Shadowmere followed shortly after her and proceeded outside.

---

The five ponies were now walking down the streets of Ponyville. Shadowmere looked around as they walked. The streets were filled with colourful ponies. There were mares and stallions and fillies and colts, all talking to and playing with each other respectively. This place was completely different from any realm of Oblivion he had seen before; it was much more colourful and cheerful, even more so than Tamriel. What was he even doing here anyway?

Shadowmere suddenly broke away from his thoughts and looked at the ponies at either side of him. “Okay, let me see if I’ve got this.” The other ponies looked at him curiously when he said this. He looked to his left and said, “Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” He then looked to his right and said, “Twilight Sparkle and Applejack.”

Twilight looked back at him and smiled. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Shadowmere looked at her and then said, “And the pink one from before is Pinkie Pie, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. By the way, you can just call me Twilight.”

“Okay, Twilight.” Shadowmere then faced forward again.

They continued walking along for about thirty seconds and then Fluttershy decided to break the silence. “So Shadowmere, is there anywhere in particular that you would like to go?”

Shadowmere looked over at her and tensed his muscles. “Is there anywhere nearby where I can run around for a while? I need to get some energy back into my limbs. I don’t like to just sit around all day. I have to move.”

Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin trying to think of such a place. Suddenly she was interrupted by Applejack. “There sure is. There’s the White Tail Woods not too far from here. We use the area every year for the ‘Running of the Leaves’ race. It’s the perfect spot for running.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears suddenly perked up. “That’s it. We should have a race.” Everypony looked at her.

Twilight then said, “A race?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. After all, he wants to run; and after seeing how strong he is, I want to see if he’s fast too.” She then turned to face Shadowmere. “So, are you up for it?”

“Sure.”

Shadowmere and Rainbow Dash both stared at each other intently. Suddenly, Applejack broke the silence. “Well hey, count me in too. I wanna see how this turns out too.” Her expression then changed a bit. “So long as Rainbow here doesn’t use her wings.”

Rainbow Dash looked over at Applejack. She then looked away and rested her head down. “Fine, I won’t use my wings.”

Twilight then spoke up. “Well, I’m not really interested in racing. I think I’ll just watch.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy added.

Rainbow Dash then lifted her head up and laughed. “Well then, looks like everything’s settled. Let’s go.”

The five of them then proceeded in the direction of White Tail Woods.

---

About ten minutes later, they arrived at White Tail Woods. There was a dirt path directly in front of them that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. On either side of the path, there were big trees with leaves of all the colours of the rainbow. This wood looked a lot different from the one that Shadowmere had woken up in.

Applejack drew a line across the path with her hoof to create the starting line. When she was finished, Shadowmere and Rainbow Dash walked up to the line and got into their starting positions. Applejack immediately joined them.

Fluttershy stood at the side of the path, and Twilight walked out onto the path in front of the racers. She was holding a green flag with her unicorn magic. She then moved to address the racers. “Alright everypony; this race will be from this starting line, up to the point in the road where the path splits up to the path that leads up the mountain. From there, you will turn around and come back here. The first to cross the finish line is the winner. Does everypony understand?”

Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Shadowmere all said in unison, “Yes.”

Twilight smiled back at them. “All right then. The race will begin when I wave the flag; and remember to pace yourselves.” She shot a glare at Applejack and Rainbow Dash when she said that last part, showing that she was talking to them specifically.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hoof at Twilight. “Just get on with it.”

“Alright then.” Twilight then moved back so that she was standing on the edge of the path. “On your marks.” She raised the flag and the racers knelt down, getting ready to charge off. “Get set.” The three of them narrowed their eyes in anticipation. “GO!” Twilight waved the flag and on cue, the three of them dashed off.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Shadowmere were now running along the path a high speeds. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were neck and neck. They were both running at the exact same speed with neither passing the other one out. If one of them started running faster, the other was able to match their speed. However, both of them were still holding back. They both remember clearly what they learned during the last ‘Running of the Leaves’ and decided to pace themselves. Shadowmere, however, was running much faster than them and was already way ahead.

“Wow, he sure is fast,” Applejack said.

“I’m not worried,” Rainbow Dash responded. She then turned her head to face Applejack. “He’s doing exactly what we did before and using all of his energy from the get-go. Trust me, pretty soon he’s gonna be all tuckered out and we’ll be able to pass him by no problem.”

Rainbow Dash turned her head back around and she saw Shadowmere way out ahead of them. He was a lot faster then she thought. She then picked up her speed and started running faster, but she still didn’t seem to be getting any closer to him. In fact, it looked like the faster she ran, the further he got away. This was beginning to hurt her pride. She then decided to go her full speed and charged way ahead. Seeing this, Applejack also decided to pick up her speed, but unlike Rainbow Dash, she still decided to hold back and not give it her all just yet.

Rainbow Dash was beginning to catch up with Shadowmere. She was panting from exhaustion but she still kept running. After a while, she caught up with Shadowmere and they were now neck and neck. Rainbow Dash turned her head to face Shadowmere. “Hey, (gasp) don’t you think you should pace yourself? If you go all out then you won’t have any energy left for the finish line.”

Shadowmere turned his head to face her. “I am pacing myself. If you run at top speed for too long, then you run out of stamina and you can’t run for a while. Everyone knows that; only an idiot would make that mistake.” He looked at Rainbow Dash intently when he said that, almost like he was mocking her, though he didn’t know the whole story.

Rainbow Dash looked back at him with an angry expression on her face. “Well then, if you know all of this then why are going at your full speed?”

Shadowmere looked down at her and replied simply, “I’m not at my full speed. What you’re seeing now is just my basic speed.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes immediately widened when he said this. Her expression then changed to one of worry but then it immediately changed back. “Yeah, nice try. There’s no way that that’s true.” She then looked back at him with a smug smile on her face.

When she said this, Shadowmere simply said, “Fine then. See for yourself.” Shadowmere then lowered his head. All of a sudden, he picked up speed and dashed out ahead of her. He was so fast that he kicked up a cloud of dust as he moved. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and started coughing, but she still kept running.

When the dust had cleared, she opened her eyes and she saw Shadowmere way off in the distance and he was still getting even farther away with every passing second. Rainbow Dash was now feeling really tired after running at her top speed for so long, but she still pushed her body to move faster. However, Shadowmere was still moving even further away from her and by now, he had passed over the horizon and she couldn’t see him anymore.

By this point, Rainbow Dash was exhausted and she had to stop. She just stood there, gasping for breath. She then heard hoofsteps from behind her. She turned her head around and saw Applejack catching up with her. She looked like she could still run for a while. Rainbow Dash turned her head back around and started running as fast as she could at this point, however, Applejack was still quickly catching up.

Rainbow Dash lowered her head and closed her eyes. Her pride was now in shambles. She refused to let things end like this no matter what. She then opened her eyes and she had a determined expression on her face. “That’s it. All bets are off!” She then unfurled her wings and flew off after Shadowmere.

From behind where she was, Applejack then said, to nopony in particular, “Saw that one comin’.”

---

Shadowmere was running along the path of White Tail Woods at his top speed. After about a minute, he felt his stamina falling, so he returned to his usual pace. Since he was so far ahead, he decided to take the time to admire the scenery. He had to admit that this place did look very beautiful. He never saw any realm of Oblivion that looked anything like this before. It actually reminded him of the forests near Riften. “The creatures here don’t seem very strong. Maybe that’s the reason I’ve never heard of this realm, or it’s Prince before.”

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a strange sound from behind him. He turned around to see Rainbow Dash flying towards him. She quickly caught up and over took him. When he saw this, he just simply said, “Didn’t Applejack say you weren’t allowed to use your wings?” There wasn’t any anger or annoyance in his voice.

Rainbow Dash turned her head around while she was flying ahead and said, “At this point, I don’t care about the rules. I just want to win at all cost.”

“Hmmm, well alright then,” Shadowmere said with a smug smile on his face. He had felt his stamina return so he picked up his speed again. Rainbow Dash then resumed facing forward and increased her speed.

Despite how fast Shadowmere was, Rainbow Dash is still the fastest flier in Equestria and she passed him out easily and increased the distance between them quickly. Rainbow Dash came up on the turning point: It was the bush that she had hidden in last time to trick Applejack into going the wrong way. She passed it and turned around quickly to head back to the finish line. About ten seconds later, Shadowmere rounded the turning point and headed back to the finish line. On their way back, they both whizzed past Applejack, who hadn’t reached the turning point yet.

As Rainbow Dash flew through the woods, she started to pant loudly. She had used up a lot of her energy before she started flying and it was beginning to take its toll on her. Suddenly, her wings tensed up and she fell to the ground and crashed. She slowly rose back onto her feet as she panted loudly, trying to catch her breath. She tried to take a step forward, but she was now completely out of energy and she collapsed.

A few seconds later, Shadowmere came galloping passed her, still with plenty of energy left. When he saw Rainbow Dash lying on the ground, he slowed down to his usual pace. He then gave her a smirk smile as he passed her. He took a few more steps but then he stopped and looked behind him. Rainbow Dash was just lying there on the ground. She didn’t even have the energy to move. Shadowmere looked around the forest and guessed that there were probably dangerous creatures around here that would attack a defenceless pony. He looked ahead of him for a second and then looked behind him. He thought for a moment and then he went over to Rainbow Dash’s body and just looked at her; mirroring the moment from earlier that day. He suddenly felt a strange feeling that he couldn’t explain. He quickly brushed this off and simply said, “Well, I think that I’ve already proven that I’m the fastest.” He then picked her up and put her on his back. He then started walking back towards finish line.

---

Twilight and Fluttershy were both standing at the finish line waiting for them. Fluttershy looked over at Twilight and said, “Do you see them yet?”

Twilight looked over at the horizon but she wasn’t able to see anypony. “Sorry, not yet.”

Fluttershy lowered her head and wore a worried expression on her face. “I’m worried. They should have been back by now.”

Twilight went over to comfort her friend and put her hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. These are some of the strongest ponies in all of Equestria. I’m positive that they’ll be just fine.”

Fluttershy looked up at her friend and smiled. Twilight soon followed suit. They both then looked out at the path again and something came into view. They both leaned forward to get a closer look. They were able to make out two ponies walking together. They also saw that the bigger pony was carrying something on his back. Twilight and Fluttershy got worried and ran up to meet them. When they caught up, they saw that Shadowmere was carrying Rainbow Dash on his back.

“Oh no, what happened?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it, y’all. Shadowmere says that Rainbow here just used up too much energy is all. She’ll be all right once she gets a little rest.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, but then she got a slightly annoyed look on her face. “I told her to pace herself and now look where she’s ended up.”

“Don’t worry about it Twi,” Applejack responded. “Considering the circumstances and all, I don’t think she could help herself.”

Twilight gave another sigh. “Alright, should we head back then?”

“Eeyup. Let’s get goin’.”

The five of them then made their way back into town.

---

The five of them had made their way back to Ponyville. It was now quite late. Celestia’s Sun was making its way down and its position in the sky combined with the clouds made the sky look orange. The streets were now completely deserted, though they all knew why, except for Shadowmere. Rainbow Dash had woken up on the walk back and was now walking on her own. She walked along slowly; her pride was bruised but it will heal.

Shadowmere was out ahead of the others. He turned around and asked, “Okay, so where do we go now?”

Twilight knew that Pinkie would have finished setting up the party by now, so they had to lead him towards Sugarcube Corner somehow. She thought for a moment and then replied, “Why don’t we go get something to eat now?”

Shadowmere suddenly felt his stomach growl and he realised that it had been a while since he had eaten anything; and all of that running hadn’t helped his stomach. He still didn’t know exactly what they ate here, but at this point he would eat anything. “Okay, sure. Where should we go?”

“Sugarcube Corner is just up ahead. It’s the building that looks like it’s made of gingerbread; you can’t miss it.”

They then all made their way over to Sugarcube Corner. When they were there, Shadowmere opened the door and stepped inside. The room was pitch black. Suddenly the lights came on and ponies jumped out and yelled “Surprise!”

Shadowmere didn’t know what was going on at all. Suddenly, a familiar pink pony jumped out and yelled, “Surprise! It’s your very own, very special, welcome to Ponyville surprise party. Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Were you?”

Shadowmere tried to grab a hold of his thoughts and then responded, “Uhhmm, yeah.”

“Oh good, I’m so glad. It’s not a surprise party if you’re not surprised. Without a surprise, a surprise party is just a party and while all parties are fun, surprise parties are extra fun because they’re a surprise.”

Shadowmere was seriously finding it hard to keep up with this pony. He had heard madmen make more sense. “Huh. Maybe she should be in the Shivering Isles.”

Pinkie snapped him back from his thoughts when she continued talking. “Come on Shadowmere, I want to introduce you to everypony.” She then grabbed Shadowmere and yanked him away. How she was strong enough to pull him he’d never know.

Back at the door, Twilight watched as Pinkie dragged Shadowmere away. “Wow. I don’t think that Shadowmere’s all that comfortable around Pinkie Pie.”

Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her face to try and keep herself from laughing at how such a fast and strong pony was being yanked away by a pony half his size. “Awww come on, Twilight, it’s pretty funny. Besides, he deserves it after how he humiliated me earlier,” Rainbow Dash replied. She then walked away as she giggled to herself.

Twilight frowned in Rainbow Dash’s direction as she left.

Pinkie Pie dragged Shadowmere into a big crowd of ponies. She then took a big breath and said, “Shadowmere, this is Lyra, Bon Bon, Colgate, Caramel, Time Turner, Derpy, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Carrot Top, Daisy, Rose, Lily, Aloe, Lotus, Linky, Candy Mane, Sparkler, Thunderlane, Raindrops, Flitter, Cloud Chaser, Berry Punch, Cheerilee, Snowflake, Mayor Mare, Mr. Cake, Mrs Cake, Lightning Flicker, Strong Steed, Diamond Flash, Cherry Blossom, and Dawn Flower.” Pinkie moved her hoof from one pony to the next to show clearly who was who. When she was finished, she took another big breath and said, “Lyra, Bon Bon, Colgate, Caramel, Time Turner, Derpy, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Carrot Top, Daisy, Rose, Lily, Aloe, Lotus, Linky, Candy Mane, Sparkler, Thunderlane, Raindrops, Flitter, Cloud Chaser, Berry Punch, Cheerilee, Snowflake, Mayor Mare, Mr. Cake, Mrs Cake, Lightning Flicker, Strong Steed, Diamond Flash, Cherry Blossom and Dawn Flower, this is Shadowmere.” Pinkie then leaned over to Shadowmere and asked, “Did you get all that?” Of course there was no way that he matched the names and faces of all those ponies just like that, but he didn’t want to have to go through that all over again, so he just lied and said that he did. Pinkie’s eyes lit up when he said this. “Really? Wow. You’re the first pony ever to learn everyponies names that fast. It even took me a few days to get them all down. I think you’re gonna fit in here very well Shadowmere.” Pinkie then threw herself around him in a big hug. Shadowmere was beginning to regret his decision.

After about ten seconds, Shadowmere had to pull Pinkie off him. She then said, “Alright Shadowmere, since you’re so well acquainted with everypony, you should go and mingle.” She then pushed Shadowmere away into the middle of the room. When he was alone, his stomach started rumbling again. He looked around the room and saw the snack table. He then made his way over there.

At the table, he saw all kinds of treats like cupcakes, muffins, cookies, chocolate milk and more. “This place is starting to look more and more like a five year old girls dream than a realm of Oblivion. Knowing that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Prince of this place actually was a five year old girl.” He then reached down to grab a cupcake but it fell out of his hooves immediately. He tried to grab it again but it just fell down again. He then just decided to pick it up with his mouth and eat it.

“Hey there, Mister Shadowmere.” Shadowmere heard a voice from behind talking to him, so he turned around to face them. He looked down and he saw the three young fillies that he had saved from the manticore earlier. The one that he had grabbed started talking again. “We just wanted to thank you again for saving us from that manticore earlier. Ah’m Apple Bloom and these are my friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

“It was nothing really.”

Scootaloo suddenly responded back, “It wasn’t nothing. You saved our lives.”

“You’re welcome then.”

“Yeah, but still, it was totally awesome watching you beat up that manticore. He was all like ‘rraaawwrrr’ and swiping at you, but you wouldn’t go down. Then you bucked him right in the face and sent him flying across the clearing.” Scootaloo made all sorts of gestures to go along with what she was saying. She then looked up at Shadowmere. “You must be the strongest pony in all of Equestria to defeat a manticore so easily.”

“Not really. That thing was just weak. It’s taken me longer to defeat bears.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened when she heard him say this. She then turned to face Scootaloo. “Wow; he’s so tough that he doesn’t even think a manticore is tough.”

Sweetie Belle had made her way over to Shadowmere’s side and she was inspecting his cutie mark. She then looked up at him and asked, “Hey Mister Shadowmere; what does your cutie mark mean?”

Shadowmere looked down at Sweetie Belle with a confused look. “My cutie mark?”

“Yeah; see, right here.” She then pointed to his cutie mark.

Shadowmere looked down at where she was pointing and saw the Black Hand print on his flank. “Oh that. It represents my ties to the Black Hand.”

Sweetie Belle looked confused. “The Black… Hand? What’s that?”

“It’s the ruling body of the Dark Brotherhood.”

“The Dark… Brotherhood,” Scootaloo asked quizzically. “What’s that?”

Shadowmere looked over to Scootaloo. “You mean you’ve never heard of the Dark Brotherhood here?”

“No. What is it?”

“We’re a group of assassins.”

Now it was Apple Bloom’s turn to look confused. “Assassins? What’s that?”

Just then, Pinkie Pie entered the area. “Oh Shadowmere, I almost forgot. I’d like you to meet my bestest friend Rarity.” She then pointed to a white unicorn with a long, beautiful, purple, styled mane. “I have no idea where she’s been all this time.”

Rarity stepped forward. “So, you must be the new pony in town that everypony is talking about. Word travels fast in Ponyville. They’re saying things like, you single hoofedly defeated a manticore and that you beat Rainbow Dash in a race.”

Scootaloo suddenly dropped her confused look and her ears perked up. She then turned to face Shadowmere. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Are you saying that you beat Rainbow Dash in a race?”

Shadowmere looked down at her and simply said, “Yes.”

Scootaloo’s face was in a state of disbelief. She then regained her composure, turned around, closed her eyes, folded her two front hooves together and smiled. “Yeah, well you only beat her on hoof. If she was flying then you wouldn’t stand a chance of beating her.”

“Actually she was flying and I was running and I still beat her.”

Scootaloo just stood there frozen for about three seconds and then her mouth fell open. She then turned around and simply said, “What?”

Sweetie Belle jumped up in excitement. “Wow. You’re strong and fast. You must be the best pony in Ponyville.”

Apple Bloom popped next to Sweetie Belle. “Hey, maybe Shadowmere should have his own fan club.”

Scootaloo just stood there with her mouth hanging open listening to her two friends. She then regained herself and started pushing her two friends away from here with her two front hooves. “Alright, I think we’ve heard enough here.”

Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Shadowmere watched as Scootaloo pushed the Cutie Mark Crusaders away from here. Pinkie then said with a smile, “Don’t walk around with your mouth open; you’ll catch flies.” She then skipped away. “La la la.”

Shadowmere then returned to eating, completely forgetting that Rarity was still there. She then backed away slowly.

At the other end of the room, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were standing there watching Shadowmere. They were joined shortly by Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo was trying to talk to Rainbow Dash, trying to get her to admit that Shadowmere didn’t actually run faster than she could fly, but Rainbow Dash stayed silent and didn’t respond.

Apple Bloom walked up to her big sister and asked, “Hey Applejack, what’s an assassin?”

Applejack looked down at her sister. “Huh, where’d ya hear that?”

“We were talking to Shadowmere about his cutie mark and he said that he was a member of the ‘Black Hand’ which runs the ‘Dark Brotherhood’ which is a group of ‘assassins’.”

After hearing Apple Bloom’s ‘explanation’, Applejack was even more confused. “Ah have absolutely no idea what any of those things are.” She then turned to face Twilight. “Hey Twi, you happen to know what an assassin is?”

Twilight looked back at Applejack, just as confused. “Sorry. I have no idea what an assassin or any of those other things are.” Twilight then looked back over at Shadowmere quizzically. She then pursed her lips together and raised her hoof to her mouth. “Hmmm.”

---

The party went on for a few more hours and then it ended when it was very late. Shadowmere, Twilight, her friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were the last to leave. Pinkie stood at the door and said goodbye to them as they left. She then closed the door and went inside.

Rarity took her sister to the side. “Come now, Sweetie Belle. We should really be getting home now. It’s very late.”

“Sure thing, Rarity.” She then gave a big yawn. She then turned around and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow girls.” Rarity and Sweetie Belle then headed home.

Applejack waved goodbye to Rarity and Sweetie Belle and then looked down at her own little sister. “Well Apple Bloom, we should be getting home too.”

“Sure thing, sis.” Applejack and Apple Bloom then proceeded in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow Dash then reached over and grabbed Scootaloo. “Come on kid. I’ll take you home.” Scootaloo smiled a smile as big as one of Pinkie Pie’s and jumped on Rainbow Dash’s back. The rest of them then started walking away.

As they were walking along, Twilight looked ahead at Shadowmere and asked, “So Shadowmere, do you have a place to stay?”

Shadowmere responded without looking back. “It’s okay; I’ll just sleep outside somewhere.”

“What? Look, Shadowmere, if you don’t have anywhere to stay, then you’re more than welcome to stay with me and Spike at the library. There’s plenty of room.”

Shadowmere looked back on his left towards Twilight. He then looked to his right and saw Rainbow Dash. He then remembered what she said to him earlier. He then turned back to Twilight. “Well, if you’re offering then I‘m not going to turn you down.”

Twilight smiled back at him. “Great, then it’s settled. You can stay with us for as long you need.”

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Well, the library is that way and the kid’s house is the other way. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Fluttershy then walked away and Twilight and Shadowmere walked towards the library in the opposite direction.

Five minutes later after walking in complete silence, they reached the library. Twilight opened the door and they both stepped inside. “Spike’s probably asleep by now so I’ll explain to him that you’re staying here in the morning. Until then, you can sleep on the couch. Is that okay?”

Shadowmere turned to face her. “That’s fine.”

Twilight smiled back at him. “Well then, good night Shadowmere. I’ll see you again in the morning.” Twilight then walked upstairs.

Shadowmere walked over to the couch, jumped on it, laid down and went to sleep. As he was falling asleep, he thought to himself, “This was definitely the weirdest day of my life; but it definitely wasn’t the worst either.” He then drifted off to sleep.

To be continued…

Comments

[gracial]

Jolly good!

[ancientofstone]

update soon, pweaze?