Parazoology: The Shadow
By Hawke Eyes
Shadows are beings comprised of living darkness, which take on a variety of forms in a sort of caste system, with lower order Shadows being more and more numerous than their higher ranked cousins. I know not where they came from, as there are no other recordings of them in Equestrian history, my reason for writing this encyclopedia, but I have reason to believe they were a construct created by the now-vanquished villain, Night Mare Moon, in response to me insulting her. As a result I can only offer my condolences to any who are negatively impacted by these nefarious creatures.
As a species they are not something to be taken lightly; Even with hoof to hoof combat training given to me before I left my homeland, I did struggle to face several forms on even footing, though my first encounter with the sub-species I call Brutes was even worse. It should also be noted that many types of shadow are almost invincible due to a variety of mutations which I was only able to counter with specialized tools from my homeland, I would not recommend anypony try to face even the weakest type of shadow on their own.
A fore word on the stats. Height and Weight are pretty easy to understand, so I will not explain those. Rank refers to the creatures standing in a hive, with one being the highest rank and five being the lowest, generally the stronger Shadows are ranked higher than the 'swarm' species. Grouping refers to how many you are likely to face at once, and how many the average hive holds. Offensive and Defensive strength refer to a particular type of Shadow's combat based abilitys, which when combined with the creature's Fear factor, average out to give it's overall strength.
Imp
The Imp was the first Shadow I ever faced. Standing around four to five feet tall, their 'fear factor' is created by their numerous skin barbs and talons, the shortest of which I recall seeing was no less than one inch in length. While a mid level Shadow, Imps are one of the more predictable types when it comes to attacking, they will charge their target (you can tell who this is as they will focus on nopony else) and attempt to eviscerate him/her with their talons. Their skin barbs provide some protection from attack, whilst injuring the pony that decided to punch it.
Stats;
Height: 4' to 5'
Weight: 100lbs
Rank: 4
Grouping: In the wild Imps can be encountered alone or in a pair; In a nest however, Imps can be found in groups of five or more, and on occasion leading lower order Shadows in battle. A hive can expect to hold twenty five to thirty Imps.
Offensive Strength: 5/10 - Just touching it is enough to give you a minor injury, and it's claws are a force to be reckoned with, it's biggest let down down however is it's pathetically predictable attack pattern.
Defensive Strength: 8/10 - Barbs cover most of the body waiting to catch a chunk of flesh off the arm of an aggressor, couple with that they seem impervious to blunt force trauma, something I found out the hard way after kicking one in the jaw, however even the weakest of weapons can pierce it's skin.
Fear Factor: 4/10 - It's some what scrawny and coupled with being only pony sized makes for a relatively low score in this area, their redeeming features are the talons, skin barbs and their eerie habit of never breaking eye contact with their target.
Overall: 5.3/10
Serpent
The Serpent, originally named Reptile, was renamed as such due to it's striking resemblance to a demonic creature of lore from my homeland (*1). They are a lower order, more bestial Shadow compared to the many varietys of bipedal Shadows among the ranks. For the most part they stand on all fours, rearing up on their hind legs to lunge at their prey in order to take it off guard, though they are suited more to stealth than front on aggression, they are better scavengers than fighters.
Stats;
Height: 1.5' nose to tail
Weight: 68lbs
Rank: 5
Grouping: Packs of seven or more in the wild. A hive houses up to one hundred and fifty Serpents
Offensive Strength: 2/10 - While they may have stealth and numbers on their side, the Serpent is not suited to front line combat. It's seventy six toothed jaw can deliver a particularly nasty bite, often from long range, Serpents have been shown to be capable of jumping approximately fifteen feet.
Defensive Strength: 4/10 - Due to their small size they are easy to be ridden of, provided one can catch them. They make up for their lack of defensive abilitys with extreme mobility and camaraderie, attacking anypony who presents a threat to one of their own from behind.
Fear Factor: 5/10 - They aren't the most lovable of creatures; They hiss to communicate with one another and to confuse prey, hide in the shadows, and don't fight fair.
Overall: 3.6/10
The Brute
This is down right my least favorite variant of Shadow, they are one of the largest, hardest to kill, and can do a lot of things you wouldn't expect. The first encounter I had with this variant was in the Castle Of The Royal Pony Sisters, and if not for the Elements of Harmony, would have been my last. As part of 'The Three Titans', they are impervious to all but the most dedicated of attacks. One should not even consider fighting one without a fully armed escort, even then I would still discourage you to do so, as a lucky break left me only in hospital for a number of weeks. Initially I called them Behemoths, but this was in fact a gross understatement, compared to the variant I now know as Behemoths
Stats;
Height: 6'
Weight: 250lbs
Rank: 2
Grouping: they are almost unstoppable alone, down right terriefying in pairs; A nest contains exactly twelve, with how powerful they are, they don't need many more.
Offensive Strength: 9/10 - It is the fact that this monster is not rated at ten that I am still alive to write this. The Brute is a being composed of pure muscle, it's jaws alone could bite through armor plates, it's strong point is it's blade arm, extending from the elbow down to its knee, The Brute is easily capable of crushing stone with this horrendous mutation.
Defensive Strength: 8/10 - Externally, your going to need something ridiculously powerful to even scratch it. Fire is the weapon of choice against them (though fire seems effective against all forms of Shadow) unless one can get a firework into it's mouth, a feat in it's self, which can make a hellish battle seem like a walk in the park.
Fear Factor: 10/10 - you try and fight one on your own, then you can disagree with me if you want.
Overall 9/10
(*1) this is the Alien series for those who don't see the reference
I sent A message to Kickass222yourmom, have't heard anything yet. Granted he's probably busy, but given I wan't to get right into the story before my exams start I don't have the time to wait, I'll probably end up just writing the story anyway and wait for someone to complain about copyrights or what ever and take it from there.
I'll also end up moving this to it's own separate story after it hits 5k words, and as for why it seems a little thread bare, I'm trying to keep some of this secret, which means you wont find out any other species or the hives until I reach them in the main story
