//------------------------------// // You're not gay, you're a lesbo. Hahah. // Story: The Running Shadow... that's also really annoying. // by StreakTheFox //------------------------------// -You're not gay, you're a lesbo. Hahah.-         “Yeah! That's right, I did it!” Rainbow Dash boasted as she flew past the stands of the Cloudsdale stadium, hoof pumping nonstop after her flawless display. “I'm the best, the best!”         Everypony in the stands was cheering wildly, rooting Rainbow Dash's name, throwing gifts and confetti, while some even tossed in notes declaring their love and desire to marry her. Even mares tossed stuff in! Who knew!         Dash was surrounded by applause, and she was loving it. Over to her right she saw all of her friends on a high balcony, screaming out in joy with Fluttershy being the loudest of them all. Over to her left she saw Princess Celestia, nodding approvingly at her while a warm smile dawned her face. And behind her was the biggest surprise of all...         Spitfire and Soarin, both flying over beside each other carrying a wonderbolt uniform in their hooves. Dash froze, her mouth agape in shock and amazement. It was just like in her wildest dreams... Winning a big competition, Getting cheered on by her friends, Celestia herself watching her, and most importantly of all, proving her worth to become a wonderbolt. The two wonderbolts in her focus were flying closer, bright smiles on their faces with their goggles up even to reveal their eyes, which showed just how proud and amazed they were of the rainbow pegasus.         Dash was nervous, very nervous, but also extremely overwhelmed. She could hardly contain her euphoric state as the two wonderbolts came right up to her... and flew straight past her.         Dash froze, and she noticed a shift in the audience's applause. The chanting of her name had faded away, and some other name had arisen from it. Her heart sank as the words came into focus, and she dreaded what she would find behind her. She looked to her left, her friends cheering at something behind her, as if she didn't exist anymore. She looked to her right, and then noticed Princess Celestia actually clapping; only it wasn't to her, but to what everypony else was focused on.         She couldn't help herself anymore. She turned her head slowly, her excited and boastful demeanor completely wiped away as she gazed upon what was the center of everypony's attention. And there, standing on a lone cloud in the middle of the arena, was the shadow.         “SHA-DOW! SHA-DOW! SHA-DOW!” the crowd cheered clearly as the wonderbolts brought up the uniform in front of the bipedal figure. It held its arms out high, holding his metal bat in one hand while the other was bare. He seemed to be showing off himself, while still covered in the cloak. And then he looked at her, and she knew that he was smiling mischievously from ear to ear under that blanket.         He stared for several more seconds before he lowered one arm down as the other came up directly in front of him, extending as far up and forward as it could. And there, just as it lowered its hand, she could see a reddish glow in the eye holes as it said one word to her.         “BOINK!”         “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Rainbow Dash screamed, bolting upright out of her bead.         Hahahaha! What, you thought that was all real? Do you seriously think I would jump around so erratically from one situation to another one totally different like that? C'mon guys, you shoulda seen it coming. I hope you did, because if you didn't... well, Dash may not have been the only thing the scout bonked pretty hard on the head.         Anyways, so Rainbow Dash there was pretty distraught, all covered in sweat and what-not. She looked around her room, trying to make sure it was all just a dream.         Ya know what I hate? Those times when you dream something and then you wake up, but you're actually just dreaming you wake up, and then you wake up from that but not really, and it keeps just going on and and on like this sentence is. Ticks ya the heck off, don't it? It's so confusing!         Bah, I digress. So, after taking about five whole minutes to compose herself, Dash slowly got out of bed and made her way to her main room. Deciding she wasn't hungry, probably because of the bad dream she had, she lazily flew out of her house to try to clear her mind. As she looked up at the sky, she noticed it was already well into the afternoon, with the sun over three-fourths of the way to setting. Way to go Rainbow, ya slept in! Well, she always does that... nevermind.         As she flew to Ponyville, she raised her hoof up to her head, but winced as she touched it. She could feel a lump still there under her hair ,but it probably wasn't big enough for anypony to notice. Still, it hurt, and she knew just who to blame for it. She gritted her teeth and grunted angrily as the memories of the last several days passed through her mind. But as she did so, just like she did every other time, it lead straight back to when she first met the creature, and how completely strange it was.         Ooh! Ooh! Flashback time! Yay! -Flashback GO!-         Rainbow Dash was in the middle of practicing tricks near Fluttershy's cottage. Though her yellow friend wasn't watching at the moment, Dash simply enjoyed the area due to less traffic from other pegasai that might be wandering around the area, along with less buildings she might accidentally run into.         As she did a loopdey loop and shot to the ground in a corkscrew, she performed her Blazing Skid move, sending a ferocious amount of sparks flying from her hooves as she slid across the ground to slow herself after the corkscrew. When she finally came to a stop, she first thanked Celestia that nothing caught on fire (Celestia said, “you're welcome,” by the way!), and then began hoof-pumping the air when she realized she just completed her new trick flawlessly for the first time.         Hey, making sparks with hooves and dirt is not easy! I bet it took a lot of practice to get that to happen, or some precariously placed flint and steel. Just saying.         But in the middle of patting herself on the back, she heard a gasp behind her. At first she assumed it was a fan simply gawking at how amazing she was, of course. She turned around with a smile to greet the pony, but instead was confronted by a tall, bipedal figure wearing a large black cloak over itself. (You know the description already, and hey, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out that it's the shadow again! Gosh, trying to make me re-describe things you already know...)         Her smile went away as she simply stared at it with a blank expression, not exactly sure what to think of it. She was still keeping herself hovering over the ground a few feet, but dropped her hooves down from her prior hoof-pumping motions. She cocked her head, wondering what the heck she was looking at. Wondering if she was even talking to something that had a brain, she decided to test it to find out.         “Uhh... hello?”         Another gasp came from the figure, and then some quick, eratic breathing. It shuddered some as its figure drooped forward a little, and finally Rainbow Dash realized what it was just starting to do.         “H-hey! Are you okay? Are, are you crying?” She floated a bit closer, a look of uneasy concern on her face. She certainly didn't want to really upset anypony or anything, but she was still cautious of whatever the heck was in front of her.         That's when the thing started sobbing openly, weeping and hollering like an idiot as it fell onto what Dash assumed were its knees. It brought up its two arms, which though caught her by surprise as bare, also made her realize that she really had no clue anymore what was under the blanket. Nothing she knew had hairless arms like that!         Dash landed and then came up to the thing, even going as far as placing a hoof on its shoulder. She looked at it, hoping it would lift its covered head to look back at her.         “Hey, it's alright, you don't have to cry. I mean, I really don't know why you're crying, but maybe me or one of my friends could help!”         “S-stupid...” it muttered softly, making Rainbow Dash lean her ear in closer to hear it better. “Stupid S-spy...”         “Huh?” Dash tilted her head more, not even comprehending what it might be going on about.         And just like flicking a switch, one that Twilight didn't have earlier in this story for her screaming episode, the waterworks turned off and the figure stopped moving altogether. At first Dash was a bit relieved, I mean c'mon, the stupid freak just stopped pissing through its eyeballs! It is good thing!         But then it went from progressively good to down right not as good anymore as she heard a low growl from the thing. She took a step back as she removed her hoof, caught off-guard as it growled angrily again, not like a beast or a monster, but like some stallion or something that just got really pissed off. The thing raised its head, and Dash for the first time could see a pair of small blue eyes looking at her through two holes in the blanket.         Then, it suddenly yelled out in anguish as it flailed its arms around wildly, making Rainbow Dash retreat several paces while becoming a bit more worried. Not too worried though because, ya know, she's Rainbow Dash. Cool ponies never get nervous and worried and all that smooth jazz.         “Oh yeah, you think you're so tough huh!?” it suddenly shouted at her in an enraged voice.         “Wait, what?” Dash reeled back, caught off guard yet again. Seriously, with how much time she spends with Pinkie Pie, you'd think not much would phase her anymore. Well, that was just proved false!         “C'mon pal, ya think ya can just get away with mockin me like that?” It approached her, raising its shoulders up aggressively as it balled its hands into fists.         “W-wait! But, but I didn't-”         “I don't even know what to say to you! Do you have any idea, ANY idea at all who you're talkin to!?”         “Hey!” Dash yelled back, her confusion turning to anger as she flared up her wings and hovered above the ground, stopping her backwards movement. “Do you have any idea who YOU'RE talking to!?”         “Oh, gee, I dunno,” the thing said as it stopped right in front of her, staring her straight in the face. “By the looks of it some freak in need of an attitude adjustment ya winged rat!”         “What did you just call me!?” Dash growled, no longer caring if the creature was some sort of new or long forgotten species. The thing was freakin bad-mouthin her, she has to do something to protect her reputation! “Why don't you come out from under you stupid little blanket and say that to my face!”         “Oh yeah, says the prissy little pony that has rainbow hair. What, is that little color display supposed to show that you're some sort of gay bozo or somethin?”         “WHAT!?” Dash practically screamed, flexing her muscles in her legs as she felt the strong desire to beat the crap out of this thing. “I am not gay!”         “Oh, right, my bad I didn't quite catch on there that you're actually a girl since, ya know, you pretty much act and talk like a guy,” the thing said mockingly as it crossed its arms, leaning back some as if it wasn't even caring about her reaction to his words. “But hey, at least you're right. You're not gay, you're a lesbo. Hahah.”         Rainbow Dash seethed in rage, just mere seconds from launching all four of her hooves into the skull of that thing. “You... better take all that back... right now!” She growled through her clenched teeth as she stared daggers at the thing.         “Aww what's the matter? You gonna cry now? Yeah, c'mon I dare ya, try to hit me, see what happens.”         And try Rainbow Dash. She yelled out in anger as she brought her right hoof back and shot it forward with intense speed. She knew nopony would ever be able to dodge her blows, especially not one still standing on the ground, but she wasn't up against any pony at all... that's the thing. The thing sidestepped it easily, grabbing a hold of her hoof as it passed by and swung her around a few times before letting go. Dash lost control and flew straight into a tree, her back slamming into it as she yelped in pain.         “Oh, you are so dead!” She yelled as she shot off the tree and aimed both her front hooves at it. The creature ducked that time, grabbing onto her tail as she went over him and managed to pull her to a stop. The thing didn't just stop her all of a sudden, it was actually dragged several feet before it managed to cause her to pause, but after her muscles relaxed for even the slightest moment, he tightened his hold on her tail even more and swung her down like a bat, slamming her straight into the ground back-first. Again.         “OW!” She yelled out again, feeling her back ache. She was used to that sort of injury to her body, but the two consecutive moves against her hurt more than that. It hurt her pride.         “Yeah drink it in pal, that's how failure tastes!” it mocked at her as it raised up a hand and brought it down to her forehead, hitting it rather hard. “Bonk!”         “GRAAH!” Rainbow Dash roared, beyond the point of caring for any part of the creature's health anymore. She wanted its flank or whatever it had kicked so hard now that she hoped to make it feel like Twilight did after getting a whole house practically dropped on her by the retarded mail pegasus.         She turned over and bucked her back legs at the creature, yet it dodged again by simply sidestepping. Dash got up and took to her wings, charging it and swinging her fists wildly. The creature ducked, moved, jumped, and even twirled around like a ballerina at one point as it dodged her attacks.         This ended up going on for quite a while, and there was so much yelling and screaming and butt-hurt talk going on that I for one am surprised that Fluttershy nor anypony else head/saw what was going on. Eventually though, even the figure got tired of showing off its Superior skills to the flying lesbo rat, and decided to humiliate her one last time.         He ducked around another one of her swings and bonked her on the head with his fist before running away as she flinched. As Dash came to, she saw the object of all her hates running away from her. “HEY!” she yelled, “Get back here so I can beat on your head 'till I hit tonsils!”         By the time Dash had begun speeding towards her, the figure had already stopped, turned around, and was readying a wooden bat by his side. He smirked mischievously under his cloak as the rainbow pegasus drew closer, and closer, and closer still, and finally closer some more, and oh look she's getting even more closerly now as well, yes. ...You get the point.         When she was right up at his face, he swung, yelling out "Batta swing!" and hitting her across the face with his bat, sending her flying the opposite direction. And out of nowhere, an audience could be heard going “Ooooooh!” along with some cheering. Home run, for sure, as Dash flew all the way across Ponyville.         “Hey look, it left a rainbow trail!” -And thus the flashback comes to an end-         So, ultimately, her remembering how everything happened started as anger and rage from recent events, curiosity and confusion to when she first saw the shadow, and finally anger and rage again from recalling how it all ended up like it did. After he came after her that night to mess with her, she started calling him a shadow by the way he liked to hide in really dark areas until she lost him. It was nerve racking, and no matter how many times she claimed him to be a coward, he always came back with some witty remark and a bonk to her head with his fish. Yuck!         But this time, she had had enough. She was going to fly straight to everypony's home and tell them directly what happened, what needs to happen, and the lengths she's willing to go to do it.         “This town ain't big enough for two speedsters,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she went first to Sugarcube Corner. “I'll show you, you stupid little freak...”