~Previously~
It was time for the humans to leave Ponyville at last, as they head to Canterlot with six mares known as the Elements of Harmony. Arriving at the Royal Palace, where Celestia awaits, she confirms to the humans that their friends are alive. However, Jeremy demands proof, and any attempts to make him calm down only made him even angrier, even noting how they've been in Equestria for Four days without doing anything but waiting, so Jeremy begins to call out the monster.
The moment Jeremy calls out the 'nightmare monster' however, something suddenly crashes through the ceiling, intending to hit Jeremy where he stood. Luckily, Pinkie Pie tackled Jeremy out of the way just before that 'something' landed on him. When the smoke clears, it turns out to be three pegasi wearing a black and purple suits. Rainbow Dash knows them as the Shadowbolts. Upon Celestia's warning, Twilight immediately teleports the group out of the castle and into town square, but the Shadowbolts waste no time going after them and set their sights on Jeremy, who practically called them out. With one Shadowbolt dragging him away at high speed, the other two are told to get rid of the rest...
"JEREMYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!" Mia called out, trying to go after him, but another blade of wind cuts in front of her path, stopping her in her tracks.
Filled with fear, Mia stumbles to the ground after tripping over some rubble and finds herself backing away as fast as possible. Suddenly, a force field is conjured up to protect the group, just as the two Shadowbolts made their wings glow and began unleashing blades of wind again.
Twilight, using her magic to create the force field, found herself becoming overwhelmed by their attacks, which came at a very fast rate. Rarity used her magic to assist Twilight's force field and make it stronger.
"How are we supposed to get out of here now!?" Eva began to panic.
"Well, they have to get tired at some point!!" Twilight said, giving it her all to keep the force field up.
"Hey, when did Rainbow find a way out??" Pinkie asked.
"Wait, where is she!?" Applejack asked, surprised to see Rainbow is already out of the forcefield.
Meanwhile, Jeremy is in the air, being carried away from Canterlot, struggling to get himself free.
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PONIES! THE HELL ARE YOU USING YOUR LEGS!?" Jeremy asked, still struggling to break free from the Shadbolt's forelegs, using them like human arms.
"Shut up and be a good prisoner!!" The Shadowbolt tightened her grip, making Jeremy feel like he was being hugged by a bear.
"UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGH!!!! DAMN... YOU!!!!!" Jeremy still continued to struggle, wiggling around as much as he could.
Argh... Maybe he was right... Maybe I am over working myself. But I can't stop. I won't stop. This club is my lifeline. Without it, I have nothing. So eh... guess going to Italy won't be so bad.
The only problem will be getting mama's approval...
So I step into my house, looking around to see if anyone was awake. The first thing I hear though is Ruby greeting me.
"Welcome home, onii-chan!"
"Didn't I tell you to not say that? It's friggin' weird." I sigh every time she calls me that weird name. I know it means brother in japanese... anyone who knows of anime would know that basic thing. But it's wrecking my brain when she calls me that. Makes me suspect my crew of getting her to say it without my knowledge... "Anyway, where's mom?"
"She's still sleeping. She had another hard day at work." Ruby pointed to my mom's room.
"I see. Well, anyway, I'm gonna be gone all next week..." I quickly broke the news to Ruby. Really, she's pretty good at handling my bluntness, but I still hold back for her sake.
"Aww, where are you going?" Ruby asked, sounding dejected. She never really liked it when I wasn't around her for a long time. Guess that's what I get for getting that kid too attached to me. Not that I'm complaining.
"I'm going to Italy apparently... the crew wants to help me unwind, so-to-speak. It's not like I have any choice in the matter, since all of'em want me to take a break, and I think they just made that excuse up so they could drag me along." I griped. I still think a trip just to make me take a break is stupid. It' not gonna stop me.
"I see... well... hope you have fun on your trip. You work hard for me all the time, so..." Oh good grief... not the face! Not that face! I can't say no to that dejected face!
"Ah... uhh, well, actually, I wanted to invite you along! I mean, how about it? You can have fun on the trip with me and my crew!" I frantically told her. I don't think I'd be able to relax if I went away and saw her sad face. "But only on one condition!"
"Oh, what is it?" Ruby looked at me with those curious eyes. She likes getting into my business, even though she never outright says it...
"Do NOT Call me onii-chan at all during the trip! It'll be embarrassing, and it'll make me look bad!" I frantically explained.
"Why?" I knew she'd ask that!
"Just... take my word for it." It figured she'd ask a whole lot of the 'why' in this, but seriously. I don't want to have a strange image in another country.
"What's this about Italy?" I heard a voice, and I instantly shuddered. I turn around to see my mom in her pajamas, just now waking up.
"Well, I'm going on a trip to Italy... and I was wondering if I could take Ruby with me." There, I said it. I didn't pull any punches either.
"Uh huh... and what makes you think you can go to another country, huh? And you think you're responsible enough to take care of Ruby?" My mom asked. Of course, this is far from the end of it.
"My crew thinks I've been working too hard." I explained to her the one reason... or, excuse, they came up with.
"What do they know about you?" My mom just had to go there.
"Mom, not now." I said. I really meant it.
"I asked you a question. What do they know about you?" My mom repeated the quested more sternly, crossing her arms. Here we go...
"I could ask you that." I gave a smart-ass reply. She doesn't know the crew like I do.
"Don't talk back to me and answer my question!" My mom glared at me, demanding I answer her.
"I would if I didn't think you were insulting my crew! It's the same thing every time! You haven't trusted my judgement ever since that day!" Ah... that day. Fun times. Ugh.
"Because you're a reckless and stupid boy that makes the school and even the police call my house so much!! Your judgement got your ass whooped! Your judgement got your feelings hurt!" My mom yelled right back, with twice the force. It's not my fault all of that happened. I did no wrong.
"Mom, you can't trust me just once!? You never acted this way with Damien!" I just had to yell... I always find myself comparing how she treats him with how she treats me...
"You're right... his mistakes got him where he may never come back... but there's still hope for you! You can stop hanging with the wrong people!" My mom spouted nonesense. Ever since that goddamn day I made a little mistake, she hasn't trusted my judgement for a really long time. She still doesn't trust my judgement.
"Aunt Nora, Onii-chan, why are you fighting??" And of course, Ruby hated seeing me and my mom argue.
"Tch..." My mom clicked her tongue. "Fine, do whatever you want... but you better ask her parents before you go, got it? If anything happens to that girl at any point while you're gone... There will be hell to pay. You hear me, baby boy?" My mom gave me a fierce glare like no other.
My crew was always scared of my mother. Even I'm scared of her. But at least I'm willing to stand my ground and defend those guys. I know I'm not hanging out with the wrong people. I'm not gonna let her say what she wants about my crew. They're nothing like the people that guy hung out with... and they're damn sure nothing like... her...!
"Ack, Wh-STOP MOVING!" The Shadowbolt became irritated at the human's struggling, tightening her grip even more, which eventually started to cut off his air flow.
"I'm not gonna take this damsel crap...!" Jeremy thought to himself, refusing with all his might to not become overwhelmed by the Shadowbolt's strength.
Not being one to give up, Jeremy still continued to struggle, eventually using his head to hit the Shadowbolt on her nose. Due to wearing his flatcap, his headbutt had enough reach to strike hard enough to force her to lose her grip on him.
"UUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jeremy started falling from several feet, and not having any idea where he is. But that didn't even matter, as he knew that death was certain. "I can't die like this...! I haven't fount Ruby yet...! I need to find her!! THIS AIN'T WHAT I PROMISED HER PARENTS!"
Seeing a river below, he knew that not even that would save him, but he held onto his hat anyway and braced for impact. After shutting his eyes, expecting to meet death, he notices that his descent has been cut short.
"Huh...? I... stopped...?" Jeremy looked below and noticed that he stopped falling mid flight, and his altitude was getting higher. "...there's no way I grew wings..."
"You're right, you idiot." Jeremy looked above to notice a familiar rainbow mane and the cyan 'arms' that carried him.
"YOU!?" Jeremy was clearly surprised. Rainbow Dash was the last pony he expected to be saved by.
"Hey, is that any way to thank the awesome pony who just saved your life?!" Rainbow was naturally irritated by Jeremy's lack of gratitude.
"Ugh..." Jeremy was irritated more than ever for being powerless, and he really didn't want to thank a pony.
"Well, well, Rainbow Dash! I see you've come to take our offer this time?" The Shadowbolt that was carrying Jeremy flew to their level. "You're a loyal pony, be a good mare and hand the human over."
"Heh, I figured you wouldn't take no for an answer. You did just watch a display of my pure awesomeness!" Rainbow bragged.
"Is this REALLY a time to be bragging?" Jeremy thought to himself, scowling at Rainbow.
"You're right. It's a real shame that the best flier in Equestria would stick with the sorry Wonderbolts." The Shadowbolt said, shaking her head.
"Hey, don't insult the Wonderbolts like that!!" Rainbow defended her favorite group of fliers.
"Why not? Not everyone can join the team, remember? In fact, it's your fault that somepony's dreams were destroyed!!" The Shadowbolt suddenly seethed at Rainbow Dash, as she flew straight at her in high speed, trying to snag the human from her grasp.
"What is she on about!?" Rainbow thought to herself as she continued to dodge the Shadowbolt's attacks.
Rainbow attempted to fly with great speed back to Canterlot, but the Shadowbolt did not make that easy. She found herself dodging the Shadowbolt at every turn, making it hard to fly and hold onto Jeremy at once.
"UAAAAAAH, WHOOOOAAAAAAAAAA- AAAAAAAAAGH!!" Jeremy was starting to feel more and more dizzy with all of Rainbow's flying maneuvers. Amazing as she may be, dodging this Shadowbolt's attempts to take the human back made things a little more difficult for the cyan pegasus.
"DROP THE HUMAN ALREADY!!" The Shadowbolt demanded, getting frustrated with Rainbow constantly dodging.
"What's the matter, can't keep up??" Rainbow taunted. The Shadowbolt didn't respond... instead, she stopped her flight, and took several deep breaths. "Aww, trying to calm down?"
"Yeah. I AM!" The Shadowbolt flew at Rainbow with lighting speed, tackling her hard enough to force the human out of her grasp long enough for her to snag him out of the air. "Thanks for the package!" The Shadowbolt taunted before flying off with Jeremy, honding onto him with her forelegs.
This time, Jeremy may be held by the waist and face down, his arms were free, so he quickly used his elbows to strike the Shadowbolt in her side several times, causing her to drop him once more.
"UAGH! I should've cut your arms off!!" The Shadowbolt's wings started to glow with a dark power, and suddenly she unleashed a blade of wind aimed straight at Jeremy! Luckily, Rainbow got him out of the way in time.
"Go hide somewhere!" Rainbow said to Jeremy as she landed him on the ground, then flew back into the air.
"ARGH!!!" Jeremy collapsed, still feeling incredibly dazed from all of the flying. He knew he had to hide, so he struggled to get behind a rock nearby, all while trying to resist the urge to vomit.
Rainbow engaged the Shadowbolt and tackles her out of the way so she doesn't go for Jeremy again.
"Agh! Rainbow Dash... always stealing the spotlight... crushing people's dreams with your stupid loyalty...!" The Shadowbolt became frustrated, flying straight at Rainbow fast enough to land a punch on her, which sent her flying.
The Shadowbolt used her wings to fire another blade of air, aimed at the cyan pegasus, whom dodged after stopping her plummet mid-flight. Rainbow then flew straight at the Shadowbolt fast enough to headbutt her at full speed, sending the enemy flying back to Canterlot. Rainbow then grabbed Jeremy and chased after the Shadowbolt.
"What the hell was that...?" Jeremy, who watched the whole fight, had feelings mixed with awe and frustration. He got himself kidnapped, and he felt humiliated. He felt like a damsel in distress, and he hated it.
"Oh that's just me being awesome like always!" Rainbow boasted.
".............." Jeremy didn't respond at all. He kept his mouth shut, only grumbling. He didn't even want to cross his arms to pout, knowing he'd just feel like a child who got in trouble.
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity's forcefield won't be holding out for much longer...
"UGH! WHY WON'T THESE GUYS QUIT!?" Twilight grew frustrated.
"Because they don't wanna go back to their master and hear her chew them out! She'd be like 'how dare you fail me' and they'd cower in fear of her incredible fury! It'd be worse than breaking a pinkie promise!" By the time Pinkie answered the question, the forcefield was on it's last leg, as it started to crack like a broken window.
"Ya'll folks get ready to run, ya hear!?" Applejack said to the humans, then turned to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, stay with'em!"
"M-me...?" Naturally, she was flustered at having such a huge responsibility.
"YES, YOU!" Applejack insisted with great force.
"Okay! Umm, this way, humans..." Fluttershy, despite her reserved and meek demeanor, knew the urgency of the situation and accepted the responsibility.
At that moment, two armor-wearing pegasi tackle the Shadowbolts to the ground. It was the Canterlot Royal Guard.
"Twilight, the princess ordered us to protect you while you all gather the elements of Harmony!" The guard let them know while keeping the Shadowbolt under his hooves.
"The way has already been opened! Go! We'll handle these intruders!" The second guard said, motioning for the mares and humans to get going.
Eventually, two unicorn guards arrived and began firing their magic at Shadowbolts, hoping to incapacitate them. However, before being hit with the magic of the guards, they both turn into a mist that resembles the night sky and combined together. Moving at an incredible speed, the unicorn guards fired their magic at the mist, but it proved to be almost intangible, as it dodged with water-like movements and passed them by. Eventually, the mist catches up to the humans and grabs Mina, pulling her into it's body.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Mina shrieked, as she's taken into the darkness of the monster.
"MINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kitsu became instantly enraged, seeing the object of his affections being taken away. He ran towards the mist monster and used his bag to attack it, to no avail, for It kept dodging each and every frantic swing.
When the monster attempted to get away, the royal guards swooped in, trying to attack the monster as well, but it would constantly dodge their attempts.
"Attack together!" Trisha shouted, running up to the monster, and attacking with her bag.
"What in tarnation is she doin'?!" Applejack was confused, seeing Trisha yell that, then suddenly attack the monster.
"It's as she says! It can't dodge too long if we all strike at once!" Twilight said, using her magic to fire at the monster, forcing it to dodge again.
"Marvelous strategy!" Rarity said, using her magic to attack as well.
Eventually, everyone commenced an all out attack on the monster, as it was having much trouble dodging every attack thrown at it. This distraction gave Fluttershy the chance to fly up and pull Mina out of the mist. Before the monster could grab another human, a Shadowbolt suddenly crash lands into the monster, dispersing the mist and forcing it back into it's form of two Shadowbolts.
Lying on the ground, the Shadowbolt's head gear had been dispersed into the night sky mist, revealing the head and mane of light blue coated pegasus mare, with an amber and vivid gamboge colored mane. Her matching colored eyes looked at the ponies and humans with disgust and hatred, as she knew they didn't know who she was.
"So you guys don't remember me, huh...? That's fine... I'll make you remember me. Because every time you see me, I'll make every encounter your worst nightmare." The pegasus said, glaring at everyone, catching her breath.
"What are you talking about!? You just attacked us, and you're working for Nightmare Moon too!?" Twilight asked, glaring at the pegasus. But that's just it: She was a regular pegasus unlike the other Shadowbolts.
"Heh, I'm not obligated to tell you ponies anything!" The pegasus gave a cocky smile.
Rainbow comes flying back with Jeremy in tow, only for her eyes to widen with shock, which quickly turned into a glare. "Lightning Dust... You're one of them!?"
"What does it look like? I'm just here, pushing my limits, far more than you ever will!" Lightining Dust mockingly said.
"Why?!" Rainbow was genuinely surprised. She thought Lightning Dust wanted to be a Wonderbolt.
"Why not? This is a good opportunity to make you and Spitfire pay for ruining my dreams! I'd be a Wonderbolt already if you hadn't gone to Spitfire about the tornado WE made!" Lightning Dust emphasized the 'we' part.
"You nearly blew my friends away with that tornado! You expected me to just take that!?" Rainbow angrily replied. Despite having respect for Lightning Dust, she wouldn't forget her attitude that day when her friends nearly got taken out by that tornado they conjured up.
"They're a hindrance if you ask me. You'd be on my level right now if it weren't for them... But hey, becoming one of the numbers was probably the best decision I've ever made. Pretty soon, I'll be living the dream! But for now, I'm outta here. Number Twelve, Number Twenty-one, let's go." Lightning Dust said, beckoning the other two Shadowbolts to get up.
"WAIT, LIGHTING DUST!!!" Rainbow called out to her, but she and the other two Shadowbolts had already fled at high speed.
"Rainbow, we need to get the Elements of Harmony! We'll deal with her later!" Twilight said, putting a hoof on Rainbow's back, knowing that Rainbow had every intention of flying off after Lighting Dust.
"I... I can't believe she'd stoop so low! I knew she was bad, but to go for revenge?!" Rainbow was angry to see that Lightning Dust had gone from being a reckless apathetic pony who pushed herself to the limit, to a pony obsessed with vengeance enough that she'd work with the Shadowbolts, and by extension, Nightmare Moon.
As for Mina, whom Fluttershy had let down, they all check up on her, only to grow horrified when they see how her eyes were wide open...
"Mina! MINA! Snap out of it!" Kitsu opened his eyes as he held Mina in his arms. He could feel her shaking with so much fear, it felt contagious. He held her tight.
"What the heck happened...?" Jeremy too, was horrified to see his crew member in that state.
"This is your fault, dude..." Kitsu muttered, quivering with anger. Despite the boiling emotions, Kitsu wasn't one to yell.
"How the hell is this MY fault?!" Jeremy responded in kind by yelling as usual.
"Guys, don't start now!" Eva called out.
"If you hadn't called them out, this would've never happened..." Kitsu said, calmly, but it was obvious he was angry.
"What, so I somehow summoned them here?! You're saying some stupid shit now!" Jeremy began to storm up to Kitsu, but then he stopped when he heard Mina.
"It... f...e...e...l..s... c-c...ol..d... mom... ever...y...one... lef...t..." Mina started muttering, trembling, as her words barely came out.
"It's okay... I'm here..." Kitsu said to Mina, continuing to hold her tight.
"I... no... there's... there's not..." Mina continued to barely mutter to herself, her eyes wide open, her lips quivering...
"Is this related to what Princess Luna went through when she was Nightmare Moon...?" Twilight said.
"What's that about Princess Luna?" Applejack asked.
"Didn't she describe being inside Nightmare Moon as... cold, dark, and lonely?" Twilight surmised.
"She did, didn't she..." Rarity said, remembering the expression Princess Luna had upon being freed from Nightmare Moon.
"We can't let this happen again..." Twilight said, knowing just how dire the situation really is. She knew that protecting the humans was the right thing to do.
"Next time those Shadowbolts come, I'm gonna beat'em up! Gonna give'em a left, and then a right! POW, right in the kisser! Then they'll start cowering in fear but then I'll look them in the eye and make them cry for their mommy! Whee!"
"I just know that next time I see Lightning Dust, she's mine!" Rainbow said, making a punching gesture.
"For now, let's get back to the palace. I'm sure Celestia still wants us to get the Elements of Harmony just in case we have to fight the Shadowbolts again." Twilight said, using her magic to teleport herself and the rest of the group to the Royal palace...