Studies of a Bookworm

by Fire Soul

Wild Shadows - A Biography

Wild Shadows - A Biography

written by Twilight Sparkle

With the creation of Shadow Magic, Princess Luna found that a horrible by-product of the magic spawned from the souls of those that were lost to such dark sorcery: Wild Shadows. Creatures that long for a purpose, and loathe the living for having everything that they could not. Those are the beliefs surrounding their behaviors anyways, in truth nobody knows why Wild Shadows do what they do or fully understand what exactly happens to those that get caught by one of them, but a few survivors can assist us in figuring out the methods for evading or even defeating such creatures.

One survivor stated that they managed to stay hidden long enough for the ones in pursuit of him to leave. This likely means that these creatures, though crude and far from sentient, have a certain degree of personal intelligence, most likely left over from their experiences while still alive. This could also lend credible evidence to the theory that these abominations continuously beg and plead and even try to take what they wanted most in life because it was the last thing on their minds before their death. This could further explain why it has never been documented that these creatures long for anything inanimate or unliving, always wanting things such as love and affection, or expressing disgust at the individual currently holding their attention.

Even if one of them wishes for a pet animal, it seems that their conversion into this dark and twisted version of themselves has made them extremely violent and prone to attacking even without provocation. One need only be able to see them, for them to see you and close the distance rather quickly. This is not always true, though; these creatures prey upon the natural fears of ponies, in whatever way they can get to an individual.

Another eye-witness came forward about the encounter with one of these Wild Shadows, claiming that he was getting into bed with his mate, or so he believed. He had seen her figure laying in bed, covered up and facing away from him, he had come home from work late. They always lived close to a dark forest, one that was known for being wild and untamed, but they never really cared much about such things. When he leaned over to give his mate a kiss, that was when he felt uneasy. The uneasiness became an intense shock of terror when she rolled over to reveal a rotting face with black ooze seeping out of its eyes. He ran as fast as he could out of his house, and didn't stop until he'd reached town. To this day, we are still unsure why the Wild Shadow did not take the opportunity to consume him.

Wild Shadows are carnivorous, as well as 'emotional feeders'. They are drawn to intense focal points of negative emotion, and the previous eye-witness did note that his wife had been behaving very erratically and became very edgy and very depressed within the span of a month. What was most alarming was that this attack took place on Equestrian lands, controlled lands that Wild Shadows tend to stay away from. However, due to their proximity to the wild forest, it is assumed that it preyed upon the mare because it was an easy 'kill' and within close reach.

One thing that remains a constant throughout all of the encounters with Wild Shadows is that fear seems to set off their predatory nature. Someone that feels a faint sense of unease around one even from an excessive distance will often attract the creature's attention, and the more fear they feel, the faster it will be drawn to them. If you are being preyed upon, try to suppress your fears and think logically. Furthermore, if you hear constant whispers overlapping each other within the area, then a Wild Shadow is near and it has locked on to you. It wants to eat you, and you're the only one that can hear those whispers. The best course of action is to spot the danger, and run the opposite direction, but do NOT panic. If it cannot escalate your fear, it usually will not continue to pursue you.

Wild Shadows often appear to be solid beings, but do not be fooled: they are magical in their design. They are a solid, liquid, and gas all at once, throughout every inch of their body. Some have even questioned their existence based on this fact. Often when luring in unsuspecting ponies that choose to wander through untamed wildernesses, they will appear as a normal pony, and will try to stay silent in order to lure the curious or naturally nurturing close. Then, they will try to get close to you, get a hold of you. Their bodies will begin to change into a black, dark goo-like fluid that pools around their bodies, and their solid forms will begin to rot away. If they get that black goo around your body and manage to immobilize you, they will then eat you alive, or it is believed that one is alive until one disappears down their gullet.

The only way to truly destroy a Wild Shadow is through the very Shadow Magic that created it, or by using a kind of Runic Magic similar to Shadow Magic, produced by Princess Celestia once these creatures were discovered, known as Purification Magic. Much like Shadow Magic, Princess Celestia's Purification Magic is an enchantment placed upon armor or an object, and uses Runic Magic incantations to summon up its powers. However, only Shadow Magic can summon Wild Shadows to you.

These creatures are the original reason why ponies have the fear of the wild untamed wildernesses instilled in them from childbirth, but even the origin of that fear has been forgotten. When Wild Shadows were commonplace around Equestrian wild wildernesses, and the lingering effects of Princess Luna's Shadow Magic were prevalent, parents often told their foals of dark and twisted creatures and abominations that stood at the edge of the forest, waiting to eat those that dare lay eyes upon them. Now, that fear is instilled in young foals because of the many other creatures wandering the wildernesses, such as Manticores and Hydras. Wild Shadows have been all but forgotten by pony society, most that still remember those old tales told to them as children believing that their parents were only trying to put a particularly scary twist on the usual Cockatrice or some other creature one would only find in places like the Everfree Forest.

Comments

[Art of Shadow]

Wow, really really well written, love the Wild Shadows. Very creative, very detailed : )

[Fire Soul]

12923
Thank you! This bit of Equestrian history/scientific study is actually a part of the on-going story, Taming the Rage, in fact most of these entries will have something to do with it. Be sure to keep an eye on both, hm?

[Taliesin]

I was reading "Taming the rage" - which is really good, actually - and soon as I got to the 4th chapter I've been redirected here ^_^ The Wild Shadows remind me of the ghosts found in "story of the blanks", and they fit pretty well in that context too! I'm moving to the next chapter and then on to finish the "main" story. Please, write more stuff! You're good at it!

[kjaslwod]

ugh..
goosebumps

twilight really is an intelligent mare

[kladdos]

17271 ah, story of the blanks.. another awesome story. and yes, you are quite right there. They do remind me of that story as well.