A New Shade of Black

by Blueball-Blitz

Chapter 5 (revised) - A Day at Canterlot Derby

Nightshade slowly opened her eyes from her slumber and looked over at her alarm clock which was ringing out at her, she slammed a hoof down on the object with great force sending it into the air slightly before landing back onto the bedside table.

With the noise taken care of Nightshade got up and rubbed her eye with a forehoof before making her way to the other side of her room, she opened the cloud door and looked down the hallway, there was no sign of activity still, 'huh guess i'm early' Nightshade thought to herself, she turned around but something caught her eye, she looked down and saw a folded up Wonderbolts uniform

"ooh no" Nightshade mumbled to herself, she sighed and leaned down to pick it up, as she did the Wonderbolt uniform unfolded ,Nightshade looked at the design that was slightly similar to her own uniform, except the few colour changes, she then heard footsteps on the cloud floor, Nightshade looked down the corridor again to see the Spitfire walking up to her with a smug grin plastered on her face

"you know, its nearly everypony's dream to wear that uniform?" Spitfire said, Nightshade laughed

"ha your funny" Nightshade said, she saw that Spitfire's expression still hadn't changed

"whoa wait ponies actually want to be Wonderbolts, what kind of Equestria do we live in?" Nightshade protested, Spitfire rolled her eyes in annoyance

"just get changed and make your way to the stadium in 5 Minutes" Spitfire said in her captain voice, Nightshade couldn't bear saying the words 'yes captain Spitfire' and so simply nodded before she turned around and walked back inside her dorm.

a few minutes later Nightshade looked at herself in the mirror, she had left her old and prized Shadowbolt uniform on her bed and was now wearing the latest Wonderbolt uniform, she stood up on her hind legs looking at the new uniform for herself 'so this is what its come to ?' Nightshade thought, she turned around and picked up her new full circled clear goggles and put them on before heading out of her dorm.

---

Nightshade walked out onto the big stadium which was part of the Wonderbolt training center, she saw the rest of her old team mates standing in a line on the ground , she trotted up to them and saw they where all standing to attention, she looked over at Shockwave and whispered

"Whats this, I thought you only took orders from one pony?" Nightshade said mockingly, Nightshades held back the laughter as Shockwave stood back down from attention and shrugged at her he opened his mouth to speak but just then a voice made itself known around the large oval stadium.

"Okay ,listen up rookies, we have exactly five hours before the Wonderbolt Derby in Canterlot, so that means you'll be spending that time training with me!" said the voice, Nightshade raised an eyebrow, 'that isn't Spitfire's voice' Nightshade thought, her question was then answered when a stallion walked in front of the line , he had a midnight blue mane which was a few shades darker than Nightshades and he had a pale cyan coat, he looked at each one of the shadowbolts before his eyes came to rest on Nightshade.

"So your the troublemakers eh?, Spitfire's told me a lot about you" the stallion said, Nightshade smirked

"and you are?" Nightshade asked, The stallion though,only replied with anger

"You will only speak when spoken to cadet!, do i make myself clear!" the stallion barked, Nightshade forced her eyes not to do back flips at the stallions over confidence and instead managed a simple nod, The stallion seemed to calm down , but the loudness didn't leave his tone

"Ok cadets my name is lieutenant Soarin', I will be your training coach for the next few hours" the stallion said as he started to pace up and down the short line of ponies

"you will do as I say at all times, I don't want to see any fighting or smart comments are we clear" Soarin' asked, Nightshade and the rest of the team nodded in approval, but the stallion's anger immediately came back

"I want to hear a yes sir!" the stallion barked, Nightshade quickly glanced a look down at the small line to see the rest of the team trying to force out the words like babies trying to belch, she almost found it comical, finally everyone managed to say the sentence at exactly same time.

Nightshade felt like in the space of less than twenty-four hours, her dignity had been smashed into pieces and laid out in front of her, but this seemed to be a minor problem as she was more worried about how shockwave was holding up, he was acting like he was fine on the outside but Nightshade knew that inside Shockwave was just a ticking time bomb.

The morning of training happen to go by quickly, and soon the five worn out shadowbolts lazily made there way to the locker rooms, Nightshade threw her uniform in the locker ,she practically hissed at it before slamming the door shut, she started to walk out when another voice caught her attention

"Well done shadowbolts, you've got a few minutes to get rested up before we head out to the derby" Soarin' said as he made his way into the locker rooms, Nightshade took a glance at the rest of her team, she could tell the where all as annoyed as she was, but she didn't have time to help them though as soon it would be time for the derby.

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Nightshade looked out at the crowed in the many stands that made up the large stadium in Canterlot, she glanced a look at the royal box and saw a white unicorn with a tuxedo and a monocle which she guessed was Fancy Pants, she then saw the five multicolored ponies from the library as well as princess Luna, she then felt a pony tap her shoulder , she turned around to see Shockwave and Blitz

"Hay guys whats up?" Nightshade asked, Shockwave put a wing around blitz

"I checked the Wonderbolt's wing power, there fastest is a mare named FleetFoot, she's got 25.7 wing power" Shockwave explained, Nightshade lightened up when she started to catch on , Shockwave smiled as he continued

"and Blitz here has 27 wing power!" Shockwave exclaimed, Nightshade opened her mouth to speak but suddenly a boom came from a microphone, the three Shodowbolts quickly made there way to there starting lines as the announcer addressed the crowed.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts are you ready for some action?" the announcer boomed to the crowed, an eruption of cheers came along with the thunder of stamping hooves, the announcer turned towards the Wonderbolts at the start line as he started to count down

'its just 3 laps , how hard can it be?" Nightshade thought to herself, as the announcer spoke

"okay 3...2...1...GO!" the announcer bellowed as the official blew his whistle, there was a blur of blue and yellow followed by contrails of all kinds as the eight Wonderbolts and five Shadowbolts blitzed out of the starting line.

Blueball Blitz and FleetFoot were neck and neck as they rounded the first corner ,they where shortly followed by Nightshade and Shockwave who found themselves competing with Spitfire and Soarin' , at the back of the pack was Firefly and Stealth competing with the rest of the Wonderbolt squadron.

Nightshade and Shockwave dived into the inside lane as they rounded the first few corners. Nightshade could sense the presence of Spitfire as they hit the straight to complete the first lap of the race, as she passed the start line she glanced a quick look round the track and saw Blitz was yet to take the lead from her neck and neck position with FleetFoot, when she looked back her eyes widened at the incoming corner, she quickly slowed down as she corrected her wide turn, when she pulled back onto the returning straight she saw that shockwave and Spitfire were now in front of her, she saw the midnight blue mane out the corner of her eye indicating that soarin' was right next to her, as Nightshade rounded the last few corners before the straight she heard the announcer boom towards the crowed

"And we are on our final lap Ladies and Gentlecolts and its Blueball Blitz who is leading !" the announcer called.

Nightshade grinned and she pumped her wings faster as they returned to the finishing straight to complete the second lap, she was right on Shockwave's tail, taking the slipstream behind him as she rounded the first corner for the last time, Nightshade dived for the inside lane again but was blocked out by Spitfire, normally she would be annoyed by this, but Nightshade felt something different , she felt joy in doing this, a smile started to tug at her lips as she turned into the second last corner of the race, she tried diving for the inside lane again but this time it was soarin' who blocked her path.

Nightshade chuckled a bit this time, she felt a warmth of happiness wash over her, then an idea hatched in her mind, she went back into the middle lane as they rounded the final corner, she waited for shockwave to move back out from the inside lane and back in front of her again, Nightshade used her former lieutenants slipstream again as she increased her speed to overtake the unsuspecting stallion just as the finish line went passed them, Nightshade slowed down, a great beaming smile now adorned her face, she faced the cheering crowds as the rest of the Wonderbolts completed the race, she had completely forgotten about the competition involved 'Maybe I could get used to this?' Nightshade thought to herself, just then the announcer spoke down his microphone again

"and the winner is.....FleetFoot" the announcer boomed, Nightshade hadn't noticed that shockwave was standing right next to her and was surprised when she heard him gasp in shock, she turned to face him to see his eyes where full of anger

"hay its ok shock ,its not a big deal" Nightshade said still reviling in her new found joy, Shockwave didn't respond and grunted before walking back in the directions of the locker rooms, Nightshade turned around to see the stallion walking away, his head lowered to the ground, Nightshade watched with a sad expression as the stallion went out of sight.

Author's Note:

Chapter update, HORAY !, well there you have it ,maybe Nightshade is finally starting to turn around, as for shockwave well i have planned the next chapter to be on his view so we shall finally know the truth behind his eyes.

'i just want to say thank you so much to all who have liked and Favorited this story as well as the feedback that came with it, and please comment if there any errors that i need to address'

and as always thanks for reading !